Climate change: the Pointy End of Hope

The effects of human-caused climate change are already evident on all continents and waters, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change said in its latest report March 31. The report is, undeniably, grim: agriculture, human health, water and land-based ecosystems, water supplies, and

Arbroath: Scotland’s original declaration of independence

The Scottish diaspora celebrates National Tartan Day today, a celebration that includes Australia, Canada and the United States, of the Scots who have spread around the world.  In this video professor and author Ted Cowan talks about the historical links of the

Afghan policeman kills photo-journalist, injures reporter

A police commander today shot two journalists covering Afghanistan’s election for the Associated Press, killing German photojournalist Anja Niedringhaus and injuring Canadian reporter Kathy Gannon.  Said an Associated Press statement by Gary Pruitt: It is with grief and great sadness that I

Rwanda revisited 20 years later.

I could say it seems like just last year, but it’s been twenty years this month that the first journalists headed into Rwanda, on news that a mass slaughter of one ethnic group by another was taking place. A civil war turned

Privacy Tools: Mask Your Location

  by Julia Angwin, ProPublica In the course of writing my book, Dragnet Nation, I tried various strategies to protect my privacy. In this series of book excerpts and adaptations, I distill the lessons from my privacy experiments into tips for readers.

Dirty air kills twice as many as previously thought: WHO

Air pollution is now the world’s largest single environmental health risk, prematurely killing some seven million people in 2012 alone, said the World Health Organization. People die prematurely of pollution-linked strokes, ischaemic heart disease, cancer, respiratory infections and chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases

Stillbirth and the American justice system

What tales would Charles Dickens have fashioned about the enduring miseries in the 21st Century? What might he have made of documented cases of hundreds of American women detained, arrested or convicted for things authorities viewed as harmful to their unborn children?

Canada’s health care takes a hit

Canadians tend to smugness about the country’s health care, but new research suggests private insurers rake in billions more than they pay in benefits. And a study published today, which examined 20 years of records, revealed that Canadians pay far more for

Facts and Opinions this Week

Independent, non-partisan and employee-owned, F&O is funded by readers. We do not carry advertising or solicit donations from foundations or causes. Our original work is available for a $1 site day pass or at a modest subscription price. St. Patrick’s day kicked

Global contrapment, Rube Goldberg style

I had a crazy game called Mouse Trap when I was a kid. It involved an elaborate chain of mechanisms meant to trap a plastic mouse in a cage. When I read Chris Wood’s new Natural Security column I remembered that game

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