Both the New York Times and Forbes report that new polls show an uptick in concern about climate change among Americans, a majority of whom now believe that global warming and climate change contribute to increasingly worse US weather, from heat waves and drought to record snowfalls...

Japan, move over: sea level rise will threaten hundreds of US energy facilities by 2030 with flooding, according to a new Climate Central analysis of data from a trio of federal agencies -- and some of the US Senate listened.

A string of suspicious incidents at Planned Parenthood clinics across the country has given the organization reason to believe that anti-abortion activists are targeting it in a new organized sting operation.

According to Planned Parenthood spokesperson Chloe Cooney, clinics in at least 11 states have reported two dozen or more "hoax visits" over the past several weeks, in which a woman walks into a clinic, claims to be pregnant and asks a particular pattern of provocative questions about sex-selective abortions, such as how soon she can find out the gender of the fetus, by what means and whether she can schedule an abortion if she's having a girl.

The Bishop of Salisbury Nicholas Holtam and Shadow Leader of the House of Commons Angela Eagle MP were among faith leaders, politicians, humanists and trades unionists uniting to fight against religious homophobia and legal discrimination against gay and transgender people at the Cutting Edge Consortium annual conference in central London this weekend.

A key intention of the conference was to expose the falsehood of conflicts between faith and sexuality. That can be achieved, if only the progressive, accepting, rational majorities, would raise their voice and assert influence within their denominations. The support of Rt Revd Nicholas Holtam, Bishop of Salisbury, who delivered a keynote speech to blast the Church of England’s ‘disastrous’ stance on marriage equality, could not have come at a better time.

I know you’re probably tired of hearing this, but I love the idea of Kickstarter. I love that anyone can come up with an idea and put up a page, explaining their project and asking for funding. Backers can pick projects based on their own merits (and personal tastes) rather than relying on what some company exec has decided people will buy. It allows people to sell to the long tail, and it helps creative folks figure out whether or not there’s actually a market for their big idea.

As with anything on the internet, it’s not all perfect. There are lousy projects, and there are great ideas with lousy pitches. But the biggest problem is that there’s just too much. I back a lot of projects myself, but there are a bunch that I wish I could have backed that I turned down simply because I’m already spread too thin. If you think I’m constantly pitching Kickstarter projects to you here on GeekDad, you should see the list of things I didn’t talk about.

In the ongoing case of ACLU v. Praeger, a Kansas law prohibiting most abortion coverage under comprehensive insurance policies was challenged. Under the law, women can still purchase a separate rider to obtain abortion coverage, but the additional coverage would cost hundreds or thousands more than would a general comprehensive policy. The ACLU challenged the constitutionality of the law under 42 USC § 1983, primarily stressing that it violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the US Constitution. As the law's challengers contended: "by prohibiting women from purchasing insurance that cover all their health needs while placing no similar restrictions on men, (the statute) impermissibly discriminates based on sex."

The college class of 2012 is in for a rude welcome to the world of work.

A weak labor market already has left half of young college graduates either jobless or underemployed in positions that don't fully use their skills and knowledge.

Young adults with bachelor's degrees are increasingly scraping by in lower-wage jobs -- waiter or waitress, bartender, retail clerk or receptionist, for example -- and that's confounding their hopes a degree would pay off despite higher tuition and mounting student loans.

When I reached Heidi Cullen, chief climatologist for Climate Central, she remarked on the glorious weather we were enjoying. But underneath our pleasure at the sunshine and blossoms, we were both feeling uneasy about the warmth. So far all 11 years of the 21st century have been among the 13 warmest years on record, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Cullen is in the habit of keeping a close eye on the weather: Climate Central is a nonprofit science research organization headquartered in Princeton, N.J. Before she joined them, Cullen, who holds a doctorate from Columbia University, was the Weather Channel’s first on-air climate expert.

In tandem with my earlier blog on the Fordham panel on digital learning, I want to direct you to a blog from Will Richardson, a former public school educator and author of several books on learning and technology.

Richardson writes in response to this week’s Education Innovation Summit at Arizona State University and begins with a series of tweets from educator and blogger Chris Lehmann about the Gates Foundation sponsored event. Lehmann is principal of the Science Leadership Academy in Philadelphia and co-chair of EduCon.

With all due respect to teams still skating in the Stanley Cup playoffs, the world's most important "hockey stick" on this 43rd Earth Day is wielded by Michael E. Mann and other climate scientists.

Mr. Mann, a Pennsylvania State University professor and director of the school's Earth Systems Science Center, produced a graph in 1998, later dubbed the "hockey stick," that showed global temperatures were level or declining for almost 1,000 years -- the long shaft of the stick -- before spiking sharply upward over the past century.