Censors

By Juan Cole – (Informed Comment) – It is said that one of the things President Obama wanted to talk to comedian Jon Stewart about was his occasional cynicism. “Obama scolded him for turning young Americans cynical.” But the approach to politics taken by Obama until recently — of promising genuine change but governing as […]

Arab Americans

In defeat for Israel Lobbies, Professors’ Union censures U of Illinois Over Salaita Firing

contributors

By Lauren McCauley, staff writer | (Commondreams.org) | – – Attorneys for Professor Steven Salaita called the move by leading academic group ‘a serious blemish on the university’s record’ The university rescinded Salaita’s tenured faculty appointment at school’s the American Indian studies program after he issued a series of Tweets condemning those who defended Israel’s […]

Bill of Rights

Fighting for Privacy, Two Years After Snowden

contributors

By Richard Esguerra | (Electronic Frontier Foundation) | – – Two years ago today, Glenn Greenwald published in the Guardian a single document confirming a key piece of the NSA’s surveillance program, a document that fundamentally transformed EFF’s long-running battle for an end to unchecked government surveillance. To recap briefly, the document was a secret […]

Bill of Rights

The National Security State gets Real: 9 Ways the US is becoming Bizarro World

Tom Engelhardt

By Tomd Engledhardt | (Tomdispatch.com) | – It’s commonplace to speak of “the fog of war,” of what can’t be known in the midst of battle, of the inability of both generals and foot soldiers to foresee developments once fighting is underway. And yet that fog is nothing compared to the murky nature of the […]

African-Americans

In New Gilded Age, Social Protest dominates Academy Awards Ceremony

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) – If social and economic inequality were a mine, and if America were deep in this mine with a canary in tow, the canary would long since have expired. Some 400 billionaires have more wealth than the bottom half of Americans. We lived through a year of dramatic incidents […]

Bill of Rights

Is the NSA Responsible for N. Korea’s Hack of Sony Pictures?

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | — In all the discussions of what is alleged to be North Korea’s horrible cyber-vandalism against Sony Pictures, I haven’t seen anyone bring up a key issue: The National Security Agency has been for two decades a powerful behind-the-scenes lobby for weak internet encryption and privacy protocols. I don’t know enough […]

Bill of Rights

Watchdog Says World Internet Freedom In Decline

contributors

By RFE/RL | — A U.S.-based rights watchdog says Internet freedom around the world has deteriorated for the fourth consecutive year, with the steepest declines in Russia, Ukraine, and Turkey. In its “Freedom On The Net 2014” report, released on December 4, Freedom House says that Iran, Syria, and China are the world’s worst abusers […]

Books

Where Books Are Banned, The Internet Can Be a Lifesaver

contributors

By Jillian York via EFF The censorship or banning of books is a phenomenon that occurs in countries around the world. Books that are considered “scandalous” or inciteful in some way are often targets of censorship by governments, schools, libraries and other entities. In the United States, as NPR explains, books have historically been banned […]