no image#Giving NEWS Day – Are you with us?
Unless you live totally off the grid, you’ve probably received at least one or two appeals for #GivingTuesday (what... (Read more)
11 / 30 / 2021
Opinion archive
Letters to the Editor, Opinion columns, Editorials
Showing 11/30/2021 to 8/11/2021
no imageno imageThe first Thanksgiving is a key chapter in America’s origin story – but what happened in Virginia four months later mattered much more
This year marks the 400th anniversary of the first Thanksgiving in New England. Remembered and retold as an allegory... (Read more)
11 / 25 / 2021
The metamorphosis of Connecticut’s transportation network is underway
Don’t look now, but we’re making history. The changing forces now at work in our society, including our transportation... (Read more)
11 / 23 / 2021
no imageNational Native American Heritage Month
The Norwalk Board of Education is proud to recognize November as National Native American Heritage Month. National Native American... (Read more)
11 / 21 / 2021
A veteran’s odyssey after hanging up the uniform in an America he doesn’t recognize
Sing in me, Muse, and through me tell the story of that man skilled in all ways of contending... (Read more)
11 / 11 / 2021
no image$1.2T infrastructure plan offers lucrative target for fraud
Lawmakers passed the US$1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill on Nov. 5, 2021, with negotiations still ongoing over Democrats’ $1.75... (Read more)
11 / 11 / 2021
no imageWhat Big Oil knew about climate change, in its own words
Four years ago, I traveled around America, visiting historical archives. I was looking for documents that might reveal the... (Read more)
11 / 7 / 2021
no imageWhy taxing US billionaires’ wealth – as Biden tried to do – will never work
The speed with which a tax on billionaires came and went as a means to pay for President Joe... (Read more)
11 / 5 / 2021
no imageWe aren’t in this for the money
Dear Readers, Today we launch our annual year-end fundraiser, with help from NewsMatch. This year, NewsMatch will only match... (Read more)
10 / 31 / 2021
no imageThe biggest nonprofit media outlets are thriving but smaller ones may not survive
Richard Tofel, ProPublica’s president and founding general manager, likes to say the U.S. nonprofit news site was “born on... (Read more)
10 / 17 / 2021
ADHD is a serious disorder, but there’s hope
ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) is more than the child who cannot sit still in his seat or remember... (Read more)
10 / 6 / 2021
no imageA giant space rock demolished an ancient Middle Eastern city and everyone in it – possibly inspiring the Biblical story of Sodom
As the inhabitants of an ancient Middle Eastern city now called Tall el-Hammam went about their daily business one... (Read more)
9 / 25 / 2021
no imageColumbus Magnet School student Skye Martin named a National Invention Convention winner
The Norwalk Board of Education is proud to recognize Columbus Magnet School Student Skye Martin for having placed first... (Read more)
9 / 18 / 2021
no imageA volcanic eruption 39 million years ago buried a forest in Peru – now the petrified trees are revealing South America’s primeval history
In the hills outside the small village of Sexi, Peru, a fossil forest holds secrets about South America’s past... (Read more)
9 / 5 / 2021
no imageDanish children struggle to learn their vowel-filled language – and this changes how adult Danes interact
Denmark is a rich country with an extensive welfare system and strong education. Yet surprisingly, Danish children have trouble... (Read more)
9 / 3 / 2021
no imageMelting Mongolian ice reveals fragile artifacts that provide clues about how past people lived
In the world’s high mountain regions, life needs ice. From the Rockies to the Himalayas, glaciers and other accumulations... (Read more)
9 / 2 / 2021
Dinosaurs were already in decline before the asteroid wiped them out – new research
Some 66 million years ago, on the Yucatán peninsula in Mexico, a 12 kilometre-wide asteroid crashes to Earth. The impact... (Read more)
9 / 1 / 2021
Global evidence links rise in extreme precipitation to human-driven climate change
The Research Brief is a short take about interesting academic work. The big idea Human activities, such as burning... (Read more)
8 / 31 / 2021
no imageThe ocean is full of tiny plastic particles – we found a way to track them with satellites
Plastic is the most common type of debris floating in the world’s oceans. Waves and sunlight break much of... (Read more)
8 / 30 / 2021
no imageFar more adults don’t want children than previously thought
Fertility rates in the United States have plunged to record lows, and this could be related to the... (Read more)
8 / 28 / 2021
no imageWhat is ISIS-K? Two terrorism experts on the group behind the deadly Kabul airport attack and its rivalry with the Taliban
An attack on a crowd gathered outside Kabul’s airport Thursday has left at least 60 people dead, including at... (Read more)
8 / 27 / 2021
no imageWhile debate rages over glyphosate-based herbicides, farmers are spraying them all over the world
As North America enters its peak summer growing season, gardeners are planting and weeding, and groundskeepers are mowing parks... (Read more)
8 / 26 / 2021
no imageWhat is Pegasus? A cybersecurity expert explains how the spyware invades phones and what it does when it gets in
End-to-end encryption is technology that scrambles messages on your phone and unscrambles them only on the recipients’ phones, which... (Read more)
8 / 24 / 2021
Taking a break
Folks, it’s not obvious yet but I’m on vacation. I’m still posting things but soon we’ll be shutting off... (Read more)
8 / 24 / 2021
no imageBiden made the right call
The images coming out of Afghanistan are heartbreaking, but the rapid takeover by the Taliban is not a reason... (Read more)
8 / 19 / 2021
no imageThe Taliban are megarich – here’s where they get the money they use to wage war in Afghanistan
This article was originally published on Dec. 8, 2020. The Taliban militants of Afghanistan have grown richer and more... (Read more)
8 / 17 / 2021
Time to combine Planning and Zoning Commissions
Following the recommendation of Norwalk’s new Plan of Conservation and Development (POCD), the Ordinance Committee of the Common Council... (Read more)
8 / 17 / 2021
no imageAs Afghanistan falls, what does it mean for the Middle East?
In the 19th century, the phrase “The Great Game” was used to describe competition for power and influence... (Read more)
8 / 16 / 2021
no imageComplicity and silence around sexual harassment are common – Cuomo and his protectors were a textbook example
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s resignation came after more than a week of bad news, starting with a damning... (Read more)
8 / 12 / 2021
no imageWhy refusing the COVID-19 vaccine isn’t just immoral – it’s ‘un-American’
Decades ago I helped organize a conference that brought together vaccine skeptics and public health officials. The debate... (Read more)
8 / 11 / 2021