The Justice and Development Party is a “moderate” Islamist party, according to the BBC.… Read the rest
Welcome to our archive of news stories relevant to the project of fighting fashionable nonsense. The stories are drawn from the electronic pages of the world’s media. On this page, you’ll find links to those stories that have been featured on Butterflies and Wheels during the current year. At the bottom of the page, you’ll find links to separate archives of stories from previous years.
We’re always pleased to hear about news stories that you think should be featured on Butterflies and Wheels. Just send an email here, if you want to point one out to us.
A note about links
Inevitably links go out of date. We suggest, therefore, that you make hard-copies of the stories that particularly interest you.
Should religion trump laws mandating humane slaughter? 
Dec 1st, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The Federation of Veterinarians of Europe took the position in 2002 that “the practice of
slaughtering animals without prior stunning is unacceptable under any circumstances.”… Read the rest
Jailed Afghan rape victim “freed” to marry rapist
Dec 1st, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Gulnaz’s lawyer told the BBC she hoped the government would allow Gulnaz the freedom to choose whom to marry.… Read the rest
Padraig Reidy on instant outrage
Dec 1st, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The sheer volume of righteousness becomes off-putting.… Read the rest
David Colquhoun on the cruelty of the Burzynski Clinic
Nov 30th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The offering of quack cancer treatments at an exorbitant price is simple cruelty.… Read the rest
Julian Baggini offers a minimalist religion
Nov 30th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Will many believers sign up to it? If not, it might appear that the “crude and simplistic” new atheists aren’t all that crude and simplistic.… Read the rest
Rhys Morgan at Comment is Free
Nov 30th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
It seems that instead of dealing with criticisms about his treatments, Stanislaw Burzynski is only interested in silencing those with opinions contrary to his by using libel laws.… Read the rest
More damning revelations about Burzynski’s “research”
Nov 30th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Review papers do not include new, peer-reviewed data. The only published paper he has itself states that it is inconclusive without a larger study to confirm the results.… Read the rest
Jen McCreight looks at the Burzynski clinic’s publications
Nov 30th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Abstracts presented at conferences; no peer review. The one peer-reviewed article is in an alt med journal.… Read the rest
UK: Muslim students boycott lectures on evolution
Nov 29th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Steve Jones says increasing numbers of his undergraduates refuse to attend his lectures on evolution and say the subject should not be taught on their course.… Read the rest
The schoolboy blogger who took on a US clinic
Nov 29th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The Burszynski clinic has since suggested Marc Stephens is a web marketing contractor and that no one approved sending Rhys Morgan the picture of his house.… Read the rest
Sense About Science on libel threats
Nov 29th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
“It is appalling that threats of libel action are being used to try to intimidate people into silence. We have to be free to ask questions and raise concerns.”… Read the rest
QED’s Geoff Whelan interviews OB
Nov 29th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
On: B&W, being strident, are atheists mean scrooges, are we a movement, where are we going, what is new about new/gnu atheists, and more.… Read the rest
Houston Press blogger on Burzynski and Stephens
Nov 29th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
“Giving the false impression he was an attorney representing the Burzynski Clinic, Stephens demanded Morgan ‘immediately cease and desist in your actions’.”… Read the rest
Carl Zimmer profiles Steven Pinker
Nov 28th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Pinker argues that evolutionary psychology offers the best explanation for why things have gotten better, and how to make them even better.… Read the rest
School bullies student who dissed Sam Brownback
Nov 28th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
She wrote a disparaging tweet, he complained to her school. Srsly?!… Read the rest
Orac on new threats from Burzynski Clinic
Nov 28th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Sending legal threats to a teenager for having criticized the pseudoscience of antineoplastons is not the act of someone who has the evidence to back him up.… Read the rest
David Gorski on Stanislaw Burzynski and bad medicine
Nov 28th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The short version of the story behind antineoplastons is that there is no good clinical evidence to suggest that they have any significant activity against cancer.… Read the rest
Burzynski Clinic threatens a school boy
Nov 28th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Complete with sending him a screenshot of his house.… Read the rest
Mona Eltahawy talks to Democracy Now
Nov 28th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
“People have lost eyes. People have been killed, people have lost loved ones. What happened to me is minuscule compared to that. I have a voice in the media — they don’t.”… Read the rest
