F&O’s lineup of Facts and Opinions

  FEATURES: Newfoundland’s Offshore Account. Photo-essay by Greg Locke/F&O  (subscription*) The few oilfields off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada, in the Northwest Atlantic, are  small compared to the hundreds of producing wells in the North Sea and Gulf of Mexico, but the royalties not

An atheist praises Pope Francis

Facts and Opinions’ Seeking Orenda  columnist Tom Regan is a fan of Pope Francis. Regan is an atheist. He explains in his column, My atheist fan letter to Pope Francis. An excerpt: When you’re an atheist you don’t spend much time thinking about “important” religious

Music videos were the lasting legacy of the Monkees’ Michael Nesmith

Michael Nesmith achieved fame as a member of the Monkees during the 1960s. But as Arts columnist Brian Brennan reports, he left a more lasting impact as the technological genius who developed the concept of music videos. An excerpt of Brennan’s Brief Encounters column, Hey,

Manthorpe on the International Criminal Court: a hobbled creature

The International Criminal Court is a “hobbled creature,” unable to bring to justice perpetrators of crimes against humanity, writes  International Affairs columnist Jonathan Manthorpe’s. It’s under-resourced, shunned by China, Russia, and America, and under attack by critics with much to gain who say it’s a

The back story behind New York’s fracking ban

  Careful, evidence-based journalism underpinned New York’s decision Wednesday to ban fracking in the state. This story by the not-for-profit investigative news room ProPublica provides the back story of the state governor’s announcement. Fracking — the technique of fracturing underground rock by piping

On the psychology of materialism, and Christmas

Tim Kasser, an American psychology professor who specializes in materialism and well being, has some thoughts on consumerism, Christmas, and well-being.  On why materialism is sometimes considered a negative, and affects people differently: To be materialistic means to have values that put

Opinion: From Lima, a Munich moment — Chris Wood

By Chris Wood, NATURAL SECURITY opinion columnist    There’s no pleasure in saying, ‘I told you so,” over the Lima climate conference. Unhappily, I did. International delegates meeting in the Peruvian capital reached a beyond-last-minute ‘agreement’ on reducing climate-disruptive greenhouse emissions by, in

Lima Accord announced on climate

Every country would be required to submit a plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions under the Lima Accord announced Sunday at global climate talks in Peru. The Lima talks aimed to set ground rules for a global climate deal between world leaders meeting

Boris Johnson: schemer or charmer? — Manthorpe

British Conservatives and the public must soon decide whether Boris Johnson is as he portrays himself — a charming Bertie Wooster, whose eccentricity masks a proven ability at administration as Mayor of London – or someone a good deal more scheming and

A brief encounter with Brian Moore

At age 60, Irish writer Brian Moore decided to switch from novels to plays. However, as Arts columnist Brian Brennan reports, it was an experiment not destined to be repeated. An excerpt of Brennan’s Brief Encounters column, A Prolific Novelist on Diverse Themes:

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