Frida Berrigan – Kids’ Questions on a Lockdown Planet

What did you do at school today, Seamus?” It’s a question I ask him everyday. “Well,” my proud preschooler begins, “we did not have a lockdown drill today.” And that’s about as far as he gets in the art of storytelling. Sometimes I’ll get something about “bim” (gym) or how “Bambi” (Jeremy) pinched him during free play. But the thing …

Sarah Lazare – Zuckerberg’s Facebook Giveaway: ‘Charity’ or Tax-Dodging Scheme?

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, attracted attention and praise when they announced Tuesday they plan to “give” 99 percent of their Facebook shares—worth roughly $45 billion—to the causes of “advancing human potential and promoting equality.” However, there is a key problem with the declaration, unrolled in a public letter to the couple’s newborn child. The couple …

To shield tech executives, California’s biggest water users are secret – Katharine Mieszkowski and Lance Williams

In the midst of a historic drought, Californians have no way of knowing who’s guzzling the most water. That’s not an accident. It’s by design, thanks to an obscure 1997 measure that weakened one of the state’s chief open government laws, the California Public Records Act. For the source of this legislation, look no further than Silicon Valley, where the …