Constitution

By Andrew Crocker | (Electronic Frontier Foundation) | – We now have the first decision from a court of appeals on the NSA’s mass surveillance program involving bulk collection of telephone records under Section 215 of the Patriot Act, and it’s a doozy. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued an opinion […]

Barack Obama

HUGE WIN FOR PRIVACY! Court Rules NSA Spying Is Illegal

contributors

John Iadarola, Jimmy Dore, Ana Kasparian | (The Young Turks) | – “The second circuit court of appeals has ruled that the bulk collection and storage of Americans phone records is ILLEGAL, good news when it comes to your privacy. John Iadarola (Think Tank), Jimmy Dore (The Jimmy Dore Show), Ana Kasparian (The Point,) break […]

African-Americans

We’re all Iraqis now: How Bush’s Wars Militarized Baltimore & Ferguson Police

contributors

By Michael Gould-Wartofsky | (Tomdispatch.com) | – Last week, as Baltimore braced for renewed protests over the death of Freddie Gray, the Baltimore Police Department (BPD) prepared for battle. With state-of-the-art surveillance of local teenagers’ Twitter feeds, law enforcement had learned that a group of high school students was planning to march on the Mondawmin […]

Bill of Rights

Could the New USA Freedom Act stop NSA Bulk Collection of Americans’ Telephone Records?

contributors

By Mark Jaycox and Rainey Reitman | (Electronic Frontier Foundation) A bipartisan group of congressional leaders has reintroduced the USA Freedom Act. The bill is an attempt to rein in the intelligence community’s “Collect It All” strategy, and passing USA Freedom is a first, small step in the right direction. However, it has serious faults […]

African-Americans

What the Police Broke in Baltimore (Political Cartoon)

contributors

Via MacLeod Cartoons

Constitution

Assassination as Policy in Washington and How It Failed, 1990-2015

contributors

By Andrew Cockburn | (Tomdispatch.com) | – As the war on terror nears its 14th anniversary — a war we seem to be losing, given jihadist advances in Iraq, Syria, and Yemen — the U.S. sticks stolidly to its strategy of “high-value targeting,” our preferred euphemism for assassination. Secretary of State John Kerry has proudly […]

African-Americans

Thoughts On Freddie Grey Protest by a Young Baltimore Resident

contributors

@hotdamnirock | – A call for disciplined protest from a young Baltimore resident with a foul mouth. Warning: Language. h/t Reddit.com Hotdamnirock: “Thoughts On #FreddieGrey Protest”

Constitution

US admits it has no Idea who it is Assassinating by Drone

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) – The tragic deaths last January, just now being revealed, of two Western hostages in drone strikes on a relatively empty housing complex in northern Pakistan near the Afghanistan border underlines that the Obama administration is killing people from the air without knowing who they are and is killing […]

Central Intelligence Agency

Double Standard: Petraeus Avoids Prison, But Whistleblowers Not So Lucky

contributors

Newsy | – “Retired Gen. David Petraeus was sentenced Thursday for mishandling classified government documents, but why was his punishment relatively light?” Newsy: “Petraeus Avoids Prison, But Whistleblowers Not So Lucky”