Our Pale Blue Dot

  “There is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves” — Carl Sagan. Happy Earth Day.

Facts, opinions, and more

An international group of jurists recently launched the Oslo Principles on Global Climate Change Obligations. The jurists, from Brazil, China, India, the United States and the Netherlands, propose a set of principles based on human rights laws to force governments to act on

On Canada’s Charter, and reading for the weekend

Today is the anniversary of Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms.  When I was a young teen I was enthralled with flying, so enthralled that I worked late nights as a convenience store cashier to pay for ground school and flying lessons.

New on F&O: Boko Haram; press freedom; Tennessee Williams, and more

  Boko Haram heaps electoral bad luck on Goodluck Jonathan, by Jonathan Manthorpe (Paywall)   Reports from the Nigerian military that they have launched a major offensive against Boko Haram, killed 300 of the group’s fighters and recaptured 11 towns and villages

Noteworthy: media on my mind

 It’s been a helluva year so far in the media world, which began with the slaughter of 12 people, including 10 journalists, outside the office of Charlie Hebdo in January, as part of a wider attack by extremists in Paris. Journalism lost

Who are you calling “American People?”

‘The American people’ do not exist, writes Tom Regan, author of F&O’s Seeking Orenda column. “They are as much of a myth as Sasquatch, Area 51, Nigerian yellow cake, and the Tooth Fairy.” An excerpt of his new column, Why the ‘American people

Rabbie Burns, och aye

On January 25, say Scotch drinkers the world over, we are all Scottish. Today’s the birthday of Robert Burns, the Scottish bard and one of the first Romantic poets. ’tis as good an excuse as any to pour a dram of single malt.

Noteworthy: Davos, Ebola, media matters

The World Economic Forum, AKA the “annual summit for the one per cent,” kicks off in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland, tomorrow. Subjects range from bicycles for African kids to global trade, Ebola to climate change, “honey laundering” to oil markets. Switzerland’s tourism industry is delighted

Research adds a weapon in our war between germs and drugs

A research breakthrough in a report in Nature  this week, A new antibiotic kills pathogens without detectable resistance,  may turn out to be the biggest and most hopeful medical news of the year.  It’s been decades since scientists made significant progress on new weapons against

New on F&O: From Peak Civilization to Birdman

   Are We at Peak Civilization? By Chris Wood (subscription required) Will 2015 be the end of our capitalist consumer cornucopia world? That world cannot go on. And as some bright person once said (the words are variously attributed to Henry Ford and economist

1 4 5 6 7 8 23