Why choose stupidity? Why ask why?… 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Inevitably links go out of date.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.
Politics Meets Science – and Wins 
May 10th, 2004 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Some decisions should be made by peer-review, not politicians.… Read the rest
Atheism is as American as Cherry Pie
May 9th, 2004 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Christopher Hitchens reads Susan Jacoby on the hidden history of secular America.… Read the rest
Why Would Icarus Want to be the Ploughman?
May 8th, 2004 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Roger Scruton admires rural silence, settling, grunts, tradition. Ecch.… Read the rest
Mistreatment of Prisoners Called Routine in U.S.
May 8th, 2004 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Humiliation, sex slavery, beatings not as rare as they might be.… Read the rest
The TLS Reviews the ‘Rapture’ Series
May 7th, 2004 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The UN as antichrist, superheated blood making people explode – such fun.… Read the rest
Kant and Epicurus Were a Bit Off the Mark
May 7th, 2004 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Simon Blackburn investigates lust; Hobbes calls it a delight of the mind.… Read the rest
So It’s Actually Not Paranoia to Fear ‘Pope-Rule’
May 7th, 2004 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Bishops are leaning on Kerry to oppose abortion rights.… Read the rest
Samantha Power Reads Hannah Arendt
May 6th, 2004 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Why we still have trouble noticing when an abyss opens.… Read the rest
Samuel Johnson Prize Shortlist
May 6th, 2004 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
John Clare, the Gulag, Everything, East Germany, Africa.… Read the rest
Richard Webster Listens to ‘In Our Time’
May 6th, 2004 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
As flat-earthers are to geography, so Freudians are to medical history.… Read the rest
Webster on Freud on Hysteria
May 6th, 2004 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Neurology had barely begun, so concussion was diagnosed as hysteria.… Read the rest
Girls Poisoned for Going to School
May 6th, 2004 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Militants angry about Karzai government’s reversal of Taliban ban on female education.… Read the rest
Anti-Vaccination Panic
May 5th, 2004 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
When immunization works, people forget how awful the disease is – and bad thinking takes over.… Read the rest
Other People Are Biased, But I’m Not
May 5th, 2004 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The idols of the tribe are alive and well, Michael Shermer points out.… Read the rest
Why Do Archbishops Still Get Attention?
May 4th, 2004 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘In a culture not characterised by respect…we are strangely reluctant to criticise irrational beliefs.’… Read the rest
Save the Imaginary Beast!
May 4th, 2004 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Sweden has a mythical lake-dwelling Something on its Endangered Species list.… Read the rest
Rise in Mumps Cases in Scotland
May 4th, 2004 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Rise illustrates value of mass immunisation programmes, BMA says. … Read the rest
A Tory Bohemian in Small-town Michigan
May 4th, 2004 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Burkean, Kirkian conservatives are more communitarian than libertarian.… Read the rest
US Losing its Edge in Science
May 4th, 2004 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Europe now the world’s largest producer of scientific literature.… Read the rest
