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Ursula K. Le Guin on art and “Freedom”

American author Ursula K. Le Guin on Wednesday slammed the U.S. publishing industry’s “ignorance and greed,” and issued a cri de coeur. She spoke out for artists in a world where “hard times are coming” and writers will be needed to offer hope and freedom, and “see through our fear-stricken society and its obsessive technologies to other ways of being.” Le Guin won this year’s prestigious Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, given by the U.S. National Book Foundation to recognize “individuals who have made an exceptional impact on this country’s literary heritage.” The award was announced in September, but presented at

Vignette: On candour, scams, and shame

Caller with Indian accent, call centre noise in background: “Hello, is this “Mrs. Kennedy?” Me: who’s calling please? (No “Mrs. Kennedy” lives in my house. It’s a name used almost exclusively by scammers.) Scammer: “This is Amal calling from the technical department, about your computer Windows.” Me: “Oh for Pete’s sake, aren’t you ashamed of yourself?” I blurt out. I’d answered in the expectation of  an important call. Scammer: “Yes, I do feel shame, ma’am. But I am very poor.” Me: speechless. Period of silence, so long it’s painful. Me (quietly): “I’m really sorry, but I can’t help you.” I

A Week of Facts and Opinions

Our schedule at Facts and Opinions in the past week has been packed, with a special series each on the fall of the Berlin Wall and Remembrance/Armistice Day, in addition to our ongoing work. Here’s our stellar lineup, below. Next week, look for new columns by Jim McNiven, Tom Regan and Jonathan Manthorpe, and a careful selection of reporting and features on some of the most interesting news items in the world — work you’ll find only in F&O’s independent, employee-owned journalism boutique. There will also, of course, be an update on the European deep space probe Rosetta. (See our blog post, Rosetta: love astride a

Tom Regan: Schools should stop planning holidays around religious events

It’s a mistake to think the use of religious vacation breaks in public schools promote tolerance in any way, argues Tom Regan in his new column, Time to end religious holidays in public schools. An excerpt: Recently the Board of Education in the Virginia suburb of Montgomery County (which is just outside DC) faced a dilemma. A group of Muslim parents were pressing the board to add religious holidays that would allow Muslim children to observe the important days to their faith without missing any school. On the surface, I have no problem with this. If we’re going to allow Christian

Chris Wood: Look to the books, not diplomacy, for the climate game-changer

Natural Security columnist Chris Wood is not impressed with this week’s much-trumpeted deal between China and the United States. He writes: “optimists greeted with hosannas the announcement that the Presidents Obama of the United States and Xi of China had agreed to a common statement setting out their respective goals to contain and eventually reduce their combined greenhouse gas emissions. The popular headline word was “game-changer.”   “Sorry, but it was nothing of the sort. As numerous pundits pointed out, in restating China’s intention to allow GHG emissions to rise until 2030 before they begin to decline, and putting into words

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