Why Are Reasonable People At War With Scientific Consensus?

Joel Achenbach National Geographic
We live in an age when all manner of scientific knowledge—from climate change to vaccinations—faces furious opposition. Some have doubts about the moon landing. Industry PR, however misleading, isn’t enough to explain why 40 percent of Americans accept that human activity is the dominant cause of global warming. Empowered by their own sources of information and their own interpretations of research, doubters have declared war on the consensus of experts.

Charlie Sifford: The Jackie Robinson of Golf, Dead at 92

Mike Kupper and Nathan Fenno Los Angeles Times
Charlie Sifford, the man characterized as the Jackie Robinson of golf for his heroic efforts to break the racial barrier in this country's most segregated sport, died at 92 on February 3rd. Sifford rose from being a caddy in his home state of North Carolina to become the first Black player to gain membership in the Professional Golfers Association of America (PGA), which wasn't forced to drop its "Caucasians only" clause until 1961.

Housing in San Francisco: Only Affordable for the Upwardly Mobile

Toshio Meronek AlJazeera America
In exceedingly expensive housing markets like San Francisco and New York, even the tools supposedly designed to preserve affordability for average working families, such as Below Market Rate set asides for supposedly “affordable housing,” are being used to benefit the upwardly mobile. San Francisco and other cities are effectively subsidizing upper-middle-class people to move in, paving the way for gentrification of historically low-income neighborhoods.

Southern African Women Stand Their Ground Against Big Coal

Samantha Hargreaves and Hibist Kassa The South African Civil Society Information Service
More than 50 grassroots women activists from throughout Southern Africa met in late-January to coordinate their stand against the ravages of Big Coal, which includes sickness, displacement from stolen lands and food insecurity. The six-day strategy meeting, organized by WoMin, a regional alliance of women’s organizations fighting the impact of natural resource extraction, involved dozens of organizations in South Africa, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Botswana.

A Story of Drinkers, Genocide and Unborn Girls

David Bauer Quartz
Men now outnumber women on the planet by 60 million, the highest ever recorded. Preference for sons in India and China is driving the trend, but those two countries are not the only ones struggling with an imbalanced population.

Safety Is Life-or-Death, Say Refinery Strikers

Samantha Winslow Labor Notes
So far 3,800 workers are off the job. Non-striking refinery locals are getting 24-hour contract extensions each day. But the unions says, if need be, it will bring more sites out. It's the first national refinery strike since 1980. Back then workers at all represented refineries went out together, and stayed out for three months before they got a deal.

Diane Nash -- Bio of a Civil Rights Activist

This short biography of Diane Nash features contemporary footage of Nash and her comrades in the Freedom Rides, in boycotts, sit-ins, marches and demonstrations, challenging segregation and facing down official and unofficial violence and hatred. Angela Bassett narrates.