Kara Brandeisky writes at ProPublica When the House of Representatives recently considered an amendment that would have dismantled the NSA’s bulk phone records collection program, the White House swiftly condemned the measure. But only five years ago, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill. was part of a group of legislators that supported substantial changes to NSA surveillance […]
Obama’s Reassurances about Domestic Surveillance are not Reassuring
President Obama gave a news conference on Friday in which he addressed the controversy over Edward Snowden’s revelations regarding NSA spying on the American people. This issue is a very difficult one for Mr. Obama, given that he came to it from civil libertarian position as a senator, but now is president. When you are […]
Burma’s Muslims driven into the hands of human traffickers
While the issue of the mistreatment Rohingya Muslim minority has most involved Burma, it has roiled politics throughout Southeast Asia. Buddhist extremists have persecuted the Rohingya in Burma. In retaliation, a Buddhist monastery in Jakarta was attacked. And, Thailand now stands accused of winking at or being involved in human trafficking of the refugee minority. […]
Where is our Amsterdam? Lavabits, Snowden & Wikileaks Censorship recall age of Absolutism
The long struggle against censorship in the 18th century at the time of oppressive kings in Europe involved the hand-copying and circulation of unpublished anonymous manuscripts. Sometimes dangerous or proscribed books were printed in places beyond the reach of the French kings, in Amsterdam or Geneva. The struggle against censorship was not won with the […]
Barbecuing the Planet: With Fracking, we’ll go on investing 3x in Hydrocarbons what we will in renewables (Klare)
Michael T. Klare writes at Tomdispatch.com: When it comes to energy and economics in the climate-change era, nothing is what it seems. Most of us believe (or want to believe) that the second carbon era, the Age of Oil, will soon be superseded by the Age of Renewables, just as oil had long since superseded […]
The Miranda Warning in 2013 is Worded a little Differently (Jamiol Cartoon)
courtesy of Jamiol’s World
Sanjay Gupta: We have been Systematically Misled on Dangers of Marijuana
Dr. Gupta with Piers Morgan
“After the Ruler undermined Democracy, the people wanted the Military…” Egypt 1952 (video)
Egyptian Revolution of 1952 “the Communists called it a military dictatorship . . .” “Gen. Muhammad Naguib was considered a Muslim Brotherhood sympathizer . . .” plus ça change . . .
And another thing! Russia denies Visas to US Officials involved in Torture, including Yoo, Addington
The food fight between the United States and the Russian Federation has revolved around relatively minor issues in the two countries’ relationship like whether Obama will have a summit with Putin in September (no), whether Russia would grant Edward Snowden asylum (yes), whether Americans can adopt Russian babies (no), whether the US would sanction Russian […]
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