The leaks about America's ever growing (and already ridiculously large) surveillance state came with a handy list of nine companies that joined the program. Those companies are, per the NSA's own leaked data, giving the NSA direct access to their servers and,...
Will NSA Whistleblower Edward Snowden Get The Mass Public Support Bradley Manning Did Not?
Today Edward Snowden, a former computer analyst for the CIA recently employed at the defense contractor Booz Allen Hamilton, voluntarily revealed his identity as the source of The Guardian and The Washington Post's massive scoops about the NSA's PRISM program, as well...
It Gets Worse…
In 48 hours of leaks we went from the NSA collecting meta-data on practically every phone call in the United States to the revelation of an overarching Internet surveillance scheme called PRISM, which collects data wholesale from nine major US Internet content...
Would a Federal Media Shield Law Just Let the Government Pick Who Counts as a Journalist?
Suddenly members of the media (thanks to some heroic, anonymous leakers) are doing what we wish they did every day -- they're enthusiastically skewering the state, and reporting in outraged detail all that the government has done to violate the sacred rights of the...
I Object!
FISA Court Chief Judge Reggie Walton objects to the characterization of his court as a "rubber stamp" that will approve literally anything. Even though they approved an order to spy on every goddamn phone call in the United States. President Obama objects to the media...
While No One Was Looking: House GOP Voted Against GITMO Closure
Just because the whole world seems to be talking about closing Guantanamo Bay prison -- not to mention the President of the United States -- doesn't mean it's going to happen any time soon. Not if congressional Republicans have anything to do with it. Distracted by...
You’re Being Watched
Last night news broke that a FISA court granted the NSA an insanely broad warrant for literally every single call made by Verizon customers over a several month period.Tens of millions of phone calls. It gets worse. Apparently even though FISA judges are essentially...
FISA grants warrant for dragnet of domestic calls — what’s next?
UPDATE: 'What's next?' Less than 24 hours later and we can answer that question. It's called total content awareness, or PRISM, reported tonight by The Washington Post. "I'm just an average man, with an average life. I work from nine to five; hey hell, I pay the...
Civ Worker on Afghanistan: “I’d give it 18 months before all hell breaks loose”
I received a sad missive from a friend who has been working in Kabul as a civilian teacher on behalf of the U.S aid effort on and off for the last 11 years. A staunch believer in the inevitable triumph of democracy over the Taliban and Afghanistan's brutal warlordism,...
Join Libertarians & Leftists for Panel at Left Forum, NYC, Sat. (June 8). Bypassing Partisan Gatekeepers to End Wars.
The sharpest minds and most dedicated activists in the progressive mold will gather under a single roof for the annual Left Forum this coming weekend (June 7-9) at Pace University in NYC. But even amongst this select assemblage, one panel will stand out. For it...


