All Else

When a powerful storm flooded neighborhoods in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in April with what preliminary reports show was 25 inches of rain in 24 hours, few people were prepared. Even hurricanes rarely drop that much rain in one area that fast. Residents could do little to stop the floodwater as it spread over their yards and into their homes.

A strain of sorrow and pessimism underlies all of Kurt Vonnegut’s fiction, as well as his graduation speeches. He witnessed the worst that human beings could do to one another, and he made no secret about his fears for the future of a planet suffering from environmental degradation and a widening divide between the rich and the poor.

Each year on April 28, Canadians remember and honor those who have been killed or suffered injuries or illness at work. This day, known as the National Day of Mourning, was established by the Canadian Labour Congress in 1984 and made official in 1991. The United States has no such equivalent, though Workers Memorial Day is now worldwide.

Our apparent national impasse points to a lack of “epistemic humility,” or intellectual humility – that is, an inability to acknowledge, empathize with and ultimately compromise with opinions and perspectives different from one’s own. In other words, Americans have stopped listening.

Assessing Willie Nelson’s legacy is challenging because there are so many Willies to assess. There is historical Willie Nelson, child of the Depression. There is iconic Willie Nelson, near embodiment of Texas myth. There is outlaw Willie Nelson, revolutionizing the country music industry. There is activist Willie Nelson, Farm Aid’s co-founder and biofuel pioneer. There is Willie Nelson the songwriter of rare and poignant gifts, and more Willie Nelsons yet to be named.

Carlson’s departure came on the heels of Fox News’ US$787.5 million settlement of the lawsuit lodged by Dominion Voting Systems over the network’s promotion of misinformation about the 2020 election. Dominion had cited claims made on Carlson’s program as well as on other shows as evidence of defamation.

How to make sense of what four federal court decisions mean for the FDA’s authority to approve drugs – and where that leaves access to medication abortion, which is used in more than half of all abortions today.

America’s love affair with guns and lethal self-defense is replete with laws that selectively shield citizens from criminal responsibility when they use force and claim self-defense. Since their Florida start in 2005, these “stand your ground” laws have spread to around 30 states, transforming the United States’ legal landscape.

Throughout Thomas’ tenure he has pushed the Supreme Court to revisit prior decisions that embraced robust rights for society’s most vulnerable, and to replace Marshall’s vision with one more amenable to the powerful than the powerless.

Globally, efforts to end violence against children, including corporal punishment, have been underway for half a century. To date, 65 countries and states worldwide have banned corporal punishment. Unfortunately, Canada and the United States, including Florida, are not among them.