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Inevitably links go out of date.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.


BMJ exchange on homeopathy *

Oct 8th, 2011 | Filed by

Sikorski v Ernst, the Nightingale Collaboration v Sikorski, Sikorski v Sense About Science, and much more.… Read the rest



Beautiful Girlhood v. Courageous Boyhood *

Oct 7th, 2011 | Filed by

Boys are to remain “steadfast in their conviction” while girls are to guard against “anything that would rob them of purity.”… Read the rest



Adopted child, 8, dies of exposure and malnutrition *

Oct 7th, 2011 | Filed by

A witness told investigators that the Williams got their ideas for the disciplinary measures from a book, “How to Train Up Your Child,” by Michael Pearl.… Read the rest



Can al-Shabab retake Mogadishu? *

Oct 6th, 2011 | Filed by

Probably not, but it can keep on killing people.… Read the rest



Religious freedom in Turkey *

Oct 6th, 2011 | Filed by

“Turkey may look like a secular state on paper, but in terms of international law it is actually a Sunni Islamic state,” a leader of the country’s Alevi minority charged.… Read the rest



Democracy and secularism in Turkey *

Oct 6th, 2011 | Filed by

A majority of Turks, Sunni Muslims, overtly or covertly believe that they should be “more equal” than the others because they constitute the majority.… Read the rest



Sigmund on an unholy alliance *

Oct 6th, 2011 | Filed by

Between “the Iona Institute” and Brendan O’Neill of Spiked. Reactionary Catholicism pairs up with reactive ex-Trotskyist libertarian posturing.… Read the rest



Turkish cartoonist to be put on trial for teasing ‘God’ *

Oct 6th, 2011 | Filed by

Istanbul chief public prosecutor charged cartoonist Bahadir Baruter with “insulting the religious values adopted by a part of the population.”… Read the rest



Rising atheism in US puts religious right on the defensive *

Oct 5th, 2011 | Filed by

Most experts agree that the number of secular Americans has probably doubled in the past three decades.… Read the rest



Pakistan’s blasphemy laws: even judges fear for their lives *

Oct 5th, 2011 | Filed by

The mixing of religion and politics has long troubled Pakistan, but over the past 30 years that dangerous cocktail has been spiked by the army’s policy of nurturing extremists.… Read the rest



Israel: a victory for separation of state and religion *

Oct 3rd, 2011 | Filed by

“Israel is the only country in the Western world in which Jews don’t have freedom of religion.”… Read the rest



Why “we” should not let “them” drive cars *

Oct 3rd, 2011 | Filed by

“If you start now to let women drive, let them go wherever they want, let them do whatever they want, Saudi Arabia will be like New York.”… Read the rest



The barmaid cites the Dunning Kruger effect *

Oct 2nd, 2011 | Filed by

In telling the boys they don’t know enough to realize how little they know.… Read the rest



Israel court grants request to register ‘without religion’ *

Oct 2nd, 2011 | Filed by

“The court granted legitimacy to every person to live by their conscience in this land.”… Read the rest



Why Are British Muslim leaders silent about Nadarkhani? *

Oct 1st, 2011 | Filed by

Nothing from the Muslim Council of Britain. Nothing from the Federation of Student Islamic Societies. Nothing from the Muslim Public Affairs Committee.… Read the rest



Are Christians really being persecuted in the UK? *

Oct 1st, 2011 | Filed by

Or are they simply being asked to follow the same anti-discrimination laws, and
professional codes, that govern everyone else?… Read the rest



Mehdi Hasan on Iran’s death sentence on Youcef Nadarkhani *

Oct 1st, 2011 | Filed by

The silence from the world’s Muslims – especially the UK’s usually voluble Muslim organisations and self-appointed “community leaders” – has been shameful.… Read the rest



Oregon couple found guilty in faith-healing trial *

Sep 30th, 2011 | Filed by

A couple who prayed and rubbed olive oil on their dying infant rather than seek medical care was convicted Thursday of manslaughter.… Read the rest



Anwar al-Awlaki killed in Yemen *

Sep 30th, 2011 | Filed by

Using the internet and an online magazine called Inspire, Awlaki encouraged his
followers to kill lots of people.… Read the rest



Life for Saudi women is a joke *

Sep 30th, 2011 | Filed by

In 18 months a Saudi woman can be a member of parliament – providing that her male guardian allows her to and she finds a man to drive her there.… Read the rest