Domestic Surveillance

( Commondreams.org joint project ) Greenwald vs NSA's Hayden: Glenn Wins in a Slam Dunk Journalist Glenn Greenwald, who brought the Edward Snowden documents to the world, debated former CIA and NSA head Michael Hayden last night in Toronto. The debate was hosted by Munk Debates and also featured Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian and rightwing […]

Constitution

Former FBI Agent: NYPD’s Muslim-Spying Demographics Unit Was Almost Completely Useless

Juan Cole

Certain demographics are desirable. 18-34? Taste-makers and early adopters. 35-49? Money. Muslim and New York City resident? Being a member of this group meant (until recently) having First Amendment-protected activities being closely scrutinized by…

Constitution

Too Big to Jail? Why Kidnapping, Torture, Assassination, and Perjury Are No Longer Crimes in Washington

Juan Cole

(By Tom Engelhardt via Tomdispatch.com) How the mighty have fallen. Once known as “Obama’s favorite general,” James Cartwright will soon don a prison uniform and, thanks to a plea deal, spend 13 months behind bars. Involved in setting up the earliest military cyberforce inside U.S. Strategic Command, which he led from 2004 to 2007, Cartwright […]

Domestic Surveillance

NYPD closes Unit that Spied on Muslims

Juan Cole

The New York Police Department has ended its “secret” spying on Muslims. The decision by the nation’s largest police force to shutter the surveillance program represents the first sign that William J. Bratton, the department’s new commissioner…

Dissent

The FBI’s Facial Recognition Database Combines Lo-Res Photos With Zero Civil Liberties Considerations

Juan Cole

Another FOIA lawsuit brought against the government by the EFF has resulted in the release of previously withheld documents. The papers cut loose this time detail the FBI’s facial recognition database and other parts of its “Next Generation Identification…

Dissent

Rep. Peter King sees Red over Pulitzers Honoring Snowden, Journalists covering NSA

Juan Cole

Rep. Peter King has made it clear that he will stop at nothing to attack anyone who thinks Ed Snowden did something useful. He was one of the first to call for the reporters who revealed the NSA’s surveillance to be prosecuted and has no qualms about…

Domestic Surveillance

Screenwriters On Total Info Awareness in “Capn America 2”: “The Whole Society is Corrupt”

Juan Cole

(By Scott Huver) BAM! POW! ZAP!: The ‘Winter Soldier’ Screenwriters Dish About Their Story Decisions and Cap’s Future (via Fandango Movie Blog) By: Scott Huver on April 11, 2014 at 3:01PM If you’ve seen Captain America: The Winter Soldier, prepare yourself for a SPOILER-LOADED look at the creative decisions and tempting sequel possibilities faced by screenwriters […]

Central Intelligence Agency

Top 6 Pulitzer Prize “Traitors” in American Journalism

Juan Cole

(By Juan Cole) The Pulitzer Prize committee’s opinion that Edward Snowden is a public servant rather than a traitor or criminal, as evidenced in its award to The Guardian and The Washington Post for their reporting from his trove of government documents, is a scandal on the American Right. But it is not a new […]