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New and Noteworthy on F&O: from the War of 1812 to Sheep Hotspots

Two centuries ago today warfare between Great Britain and America came to its legal end, with the ratification of the The Treaty of Ghent on February 16, 1815.   Writes F&O Thoughtlines columnist Jim McNiven in the first of a three-part series on the War of 1812: The War of 1812 was fought by the incompetent against the distracted. There are a few flashes of brilliance against this foggy background on land by British General Isaac Brock and American General Andrew Jackson. The war ended with both sides agreeing to roughly the status quo. Yet big things came out of this standoff.

Anwar Ibrahim and a campaign of political vilification in Malaysia

Malaysia’s Anwar Ibrahim is showing signs of eccentricity and paranoia, notes International Affairs columnist Jonathan Manthorpe. It’s not surprising — but it is also true that he will have wrought real change. An excerpt of Manthorpe’s new column, Co-opted judiciary sentences Malaysia’s Anwar Ibrahim to 5 years: Two of the most prominent finance ministers of modern times were in court this week on sex charges, which may seem like a thesis on the relationship between power, money and priapism just waiting to be written. But there are profound differences between the case of Malaysia’s former finance minister and deputy prime minister, Anwar Ibrahim, and

Brief Encounter with a child prodigy pianist-turned-comedian

When Arts columnist Brian Brennan asked the then 66-year-old Victor Borge why he continued to maintain a heavy touring schedule despite a health problem that had forced him to temporarily stop performing, the Danish-born entertainer had a simple answer: “I travel because people don’t come to me.” An excerpt of Brennan’s Brief Encounters column, The clown prince of music: Victor Borge: Victor Borge had been a child prodigy on his way to becoming a concert pianist when he discovered a flair for comedy that sent him off in another direction and brought him international fame. When I met him 40 years ago,

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 its most articulate and fiercest champion Thursday night, with the death of David Carr of the New York Times. Carr, 58, collapsed in the  newsroom late in the evening, following an event hosted by the Times. Carr brought extraordinary life experience to journalism, and heart alongside intellect. A former drug addict who turned his life around and rose to

New waterworks designs deliver larger environmental change

The designers and operators of water infrastructure have been forced, in a cost-cutting era for public works, to think outside the pipe, writes Natural Security columnist Chris Wood. And what they’ve learned hold lessons for all of us. An excerpt of Wood’s new column, Thinking Outside the Pipe: Reflections on flood season in the Pacific Northwest: Infrastructure is an ugly word, but a big part of what governments do — especially those we live closest to, our town or city government. ‘Infrastructure’ is also the service backbone of everything else we do in our active lives — the bridges we drive over to work

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