Mapping Reveals Rising Use of Social Media Monitoring Tools by Cities Nationwide
The technology can be used to monitor political and social justice movements, posing risks to First Amendment-protected activity.
FAIR | Russia, Terror and Taxes Dominate Debates; Climate, Poverty, Abortion Barely Mentioned
The NSA (along with “privacy” and “surveillance”) and Native Americans have not been mentioned onstage once.
Jameel Jaffer | A Less-Secret Drone Campaign
The public’s right to information about the drone campaign, and about counterterrorism policy more generally, should not depend on the grace of executive branch officials. Transparency should be required by law.
Court Ruling Builds a Barrier Against Challenges to NSA Spying on Americans
Benson: The case now goes back to the district court from the appeals court, and it’s unlikely it will be resolved before the USA Freedom Act takes effect, according to experts contacted by Truthdig. So what do these developments mean for the surveillance state in which we live?
Tom Engelhardt |Our Jihadis and Theirs: The Real (Armed) Dangers of American Life
Armed violence in the homeland: “About half the victims,” the Post reports, “were white, half minority. But the demographics shifted sharply among the unarmed victims, two-thirds of whom were black or Hispanic. Overall, blacks were killed at three times the rate of whites or other minorities when adjusting by the population of the census tracts where the shootings occurred.”
Vice News: Inside Washington’s Quest to Bring Down Edward Snowden
Leopold: A bipartisan group of Washington lawmakers solicited details from Pentagon officials that they could use to "damage" former NSA contractor Edward Snowden's "credibility in the press and the court of public opinion."
Glenn Greenwald | Court Accepts DOJ’s ‘State Secrets’ Claim to Protect Shadowy Neocons: a New Low
Group of neocon extremists was literally just immunized by a federal court from the rule of law. By GLENN GREENWALD The Intercept firstlook.org March 26, 2015 A truly stunning debasement of the U.S. justice system just occurred through the joint efforts of the Obama Justice Department and a meek and frightened Obama-appointed federal judge, Edgardo Ramos, all in order to More
Andrew Bacevich | Tom Dispatch: How to Create a National Insecurity State
Bacevich: Once widely known as the Global War on Terror, or GWOT, it has been transformed into the War with No Name. A little bit like the famous Supreme Court opinion on pornography: we can’t define it, we just know it when we see it, with ISIS the latest manifestation to capture Washington’s attention.
Cast Into the Depths: Perilous Waters for the American Psychological Association
Only by letting go of this rotting debris can the world's largest organization of psychologists grab hold of the single reliable lifeline available to it: a renewed commitment to fundamental do-no-harm ethics and respect for human dignity.
Obama bombs Syria: More Dirty War
Too much of the world is a battlefield. Cover of Jeremy Scahill's book, Dirty Wars BOMBS AWAY IN SYRIA Huffington Post U.S. and Allies Strike ISIS Targets in Syria New York Times Bombs From Air and Sea Target Militants' Stronghold By HELENE COOPER and ERIC SCHMITT9:56 PM ET Airstrikes against the Islamic State unleashed a More
Walter Shapiro: The NSA Is off the Campaign Radar
One year after the revelations of Edward Snowden, NSA reform is not an election issue. Why? Walter Shapiro BrennanCenter.org June 24, 2014 A year ago this month, during the media frenzy set off by Edward Snowden's revelations, it would have been easy to assume that the NSA's electronic snooping would become a major issue in the 2014 More
Mattea Kramer: The Pentagon’s Phony Budget War
Tomgram: Mattea Kramer, Is the Pentagon Doomed -- To Be Flush Forever Or How the U.S. Military Avoided Budget Cuts, Lied About Doing So, Then Asked for Billions More By Mattea Kramer TomDispatch.com March 4, 2014 Read Tom Engelhardt's introduction here. Washington is pushing the panic button, claiming austerity is hollowing out our armed forces and More