US politics

By Tom Engelhardt and Laura Poitras via Tomdispatch.com Here’s a Ripley’s Believe It or Not! stat from our new age of national security. How many Americans have security clearances? The answer: 5.1 million, a figure that reflects the explosive growth of the national security state in the post-9/11 era. Imagine the kind of system needed […]

Bill of Rights

Is the Center for Jewish Life stifling free speech at Princeton University?

contributors

By Max Weiss via The Princetonian I have never met Slav Leibin. Nonetheless, it recently came to my attention that he vetoed, with the approval of the Center for Jewish Life, my right to participate in a proposed panel on the recent hostilities in Gaza. Apparently this preemptive act of exclusion was carried out on […]

Bill of Rights

Why do Politicians spend $9 billion a year to Jail the Mentally Ill?

contributors

Brave New Films “Instead of helping the mentally ill, police often put them behind bars. Watch how one police department is making a positive difference. It’s simple. Diversion programs work better than incarceration – for everyone. In cities like Seattle, San Antonio, and Salt Lake City, we see that successful solutions are a viable option […]

Bill of Rights

Islamophobia: Is Sam Harris As Dangerous As Sarah Palin? (The Young Turks)

contributors

The Young Turks: “”Whether you think him a truth-teller or a bigot, Bill Maher deserves credit for launching one of the most robust public cultural/intellectual debates in recent memory. Two weeks ago today, he said on HBO that “a vast number of Muslims across the world” believe people who do not share their religious beliefs […]

Barack Obama

Is Obama worse than Nixon on Harassing Journalists? Committee to Protect Journalists Petition

contributors

Electronic Frontier Foundation p>A free press has always been an essential part of any democracy. That’s why repressive governments insist on state control over media. That’s why the very first addition to the Constitution, the First Amendment, protects freedom of speech. And that’s why EFF is joining over 60 organizations supporting the Committee to Protect […]

National Security State

The Terrorists have our Number, and do a Number on Washington

contributors

By Tom Engelhardt, Tomdispatch.com [Note for TomDispatch Readers: I want to offer special thanks to those of you who made $100 donations to this website in return for signed, personalized copies of my new book, Shadow Government: Surveillance, Secret Wars, and a Global Security State in a Single-Superpower World. What a great crew you are! Believe me, […]

Bill of Rights

Apple and Google Take on U.S. Government Over Encryption

contributors

“ Oct. 2 (Bloomberg) — While the newest Apple and Google smartphones will automatically encrypt data stored on them, that won’t keep U.S. law enforcement and intelligence agencies from obtaining evidence linked to the devices. Bloomberg’s Jordan Robertson reports on “Bloomberg West.” (Source: Bloomberg)” Bloomberg News: ” Apple and Google Take on U.S. Government Over […]

Health

Rep. Louie Gohmert’s Ebola Theory Is Dumber Than He Is

contributors

The Young Turks “Louie Gohmert (R-TX) this week blasted President Barack Obama for sending troops to Africa to help fight an Ebola outbreak, and predicted that they would bring the disease back to infect American citizens. In an interview with Fox Business host Lou Dobbs, Gohmert explained that a series of mistakes made by the […]

Health

Anti-Science Congress cut $600 mn. from Agency Leading Ebola Response

contributors

News365 “WASHINGTON — The lead agency tasked with responding to the threat of Ebola both within the United States and abroad has seen its budget drop dramatically in the past four years. In breaking the news on Tuesday that the first Ebola patient had been diagnosed in the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control and […]