Portside

OK, you didn't see this one coming. Canada, yes, Canada, leads the world in forest degradation, according to a new mapping project.

In a dangerously provocative decision, the heads of state of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) decided last week to deploy a "rapid response force" for Eastern Europe. Citing what it termed "Russian aggression," NATO will develop a "spearhead" of some 5,000 elite troops to deploy against Russia. Russian leaders have long warned against NATO's eastern expansion as a threat to its security and a violation of agreements made to end the the Cold War.

Why We Love Beethoven's Fifth. Movie: Rosewater. Laniakea: Our Home Supercluster. Science, Religion and the Big Bang. Fast Food Workers Stage Nationwide Actions.

'The most fundamental principle of American foreign policy.'

The national media have tended to focus on which potential candidate Perry's indictment might help or hurt. But Texas reporters know Perry has a history of hardball politics, forcing people out of office, and say that we should take the charge of criminal abuse of office seriously.