Everyday world presents intellectual challenges as daunting as those of cosmos and quantum.… 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Inevitably links go out of date.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.
The B-Word at a College of Ethnic Studies 
Jan 31st, 2005 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
He said ‘That bitch didn’t show up again?’ not ‘You, Professor X, are a bitch.’… Read the rest
Why Can’t History Be More Like Lit Crit?
Jan 31st, 2005 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Concern with facts and critical thinking makes historian ‘uncomfortable with myths.’ … Read the rest
The AAUP on Academic Bill of Rights
Jan 31st, 2005 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Academic Bill of Rights infringes academic freedom in the very act of purporting to protect it.… Read the rest
Teach Children to Call Each Other Poofs? Maybe Not
Jan 30th, 2005 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Nick Cohen: how not to conform to Daily Mail stereotypes of PC prigs.… Read the rest
History in the Service of an Ideology
Jan 30th, 2005 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
We take from the past what suits us; too often it’s a blinkered, nationalistic view … Read the rest
Proud Atheist Mother of Atheist Daughter
Jan 29th, 2005 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
She’d rather do things herself than have someone do them for her.… Read the rest
Tsunami as Missionary Opportunity
Jan 29th, 2005 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘What an incredible opportunity God is giving us to provide Bibles for the Bhojpuri for the very first time!’… Read the rest
Iraqi Trade Unionist Attacked and Kidnaped
Jan 29th, 2005 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Iraqi Federation of Trade Unions yesterday denounced attack on one of its elected officials.… Read the rest
‘Sincerely Held Religious Beliefs’
Jan 28th, 2005 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Colleges forced to choose between freedom of religion and equal protection under law.… Read the rest
Education Secretary and Opus Dei
Jan 28th, 2005 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Particularly unquestioning form of religion seems at odds with background in rational inquiry.… Read the rest
Simon Schama on Letters of Isaiah Berlin
Jan 28th, 2005 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘The strenuous journey of an exceptional mind toward its own self-realization.’… Read the rest
Buster the Bunny Visits Perverts in Vermont!
Jan 28th, 2005 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Lesbians, maple syrup, PBS – it’s all too much for US Education Secretary.… Read the rest
Wedging Creationism into the Academy
Jan 27th, 2005 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Barbara Forrest and Glenn Branch on a case study of the quest for academic legitimacy. … Read the rest
Teachers and Their Pesky Personal Preferences
Jan 27th, 2005 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘She had an attitude like because she has a PhD we were wrong and don’t know as much as her.’… Read the rest
Hitchens on Jihad in the Netherlands
Jan 27th, 2005 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Victims not just secular artists but people of Muslim origin who do not accept homicidal fundamentalism.… Read the rest
Antony Flew’s Flawed Science
Jan 27th, 2005 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Gerald Schroeder on the physics of Genesis – it’s a joke, right?… Read the rest
Katha Pollitt Asks: Jesus to the Rescue?
Jan 27th, 2005 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘God’s politics tend to be the politics of the people who claim to speak for him.’… Read the rest
‘Politically Incorrect’ History
Jan 26th, 2005 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Civil Rights Act bad, Black Codes and Japanese internment good. And this is a best seller.… Read the rest
New Laws Will Keep Freedom to Insult Religion
Jan 26th, 2005 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Director of Public Prosecutions warns against inflated expectations of what law will do.… Read the rest
