Bill of Rights

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 […]

Bill of Rights

Does Sen. Lindsey Graham want to Drone Americans for Thought Crimes?

contributors

John Iadarola & Jimmy Dore | (The Young Turks) | – “”Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., is ready to join the crowded 2016 presidential race — and he’s having a blast in doing it. The defense hawk and pragmatic Republican said Monday morning on CBS’s This Morning that he would make an announcement on June 1 […]

Bill of Rights

United Nations: “No confidence vote” on America’s Post-9/11 Human Rights Record

contributors

By Gustavo Capdevila | (Inter Press Service) | – GENEVA (IPS) – Without the emperor’s clothes, like in the Hans Christian Andersen story, the United States was forced to submit its human rights record to the scrutiny of the other 192 members of the United Nations on Monday. Washington attended the country’s second universal periodic […]

Barack Obama

Just how Illegal has the NSA’s Domestic Spying Been?

contributors

By Andrew Crocker | (Electronic Frontier Foundation) | – We now have the first decision from a court of appeals on the NSA’s mass surveillance program involving bulk collection of telephone records under Section 215 of the Patriot Act, and it’s a doozy. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued an opinion […]

Barack Obama

HUGE WIN FOR PRIVACY! Court Rules NSA Spying Is Illegal

contributors

John Iadarola, Jimmy Dore, Ana Kasparian | (The Young Turks) | – “The second circuit court of appeals has ruled that the bulk collection and storage of Americans phone records is ILLEGAL, good news when it comes to your privacy. John Iadarola (Think Tank), Jimmy Dore (The Jimmy Dore Show), Ana Kasparian (The Point,) break […]

African-Americans

We’re all Iraqis now: How Bush’s Wars Militarized Baltimore & Ferguson Police

contributors

By Michael Gould-Wartofsky | (Tomdispatch.com) | – Last week, as Baltimore braced for renewed protests over the death of Freddie Gray, the Baltimore Police Department (BPD) prepared for battle. With state-of-the-art surveillance of local teenagers’ Twitter feeds, law enforcement had learned that a group of high school students was planning to march on the Mondawmin […]

Bill of Rights

Could the New USA Freedom Act stop NSA Bulk Collection of Americans’ Telephone Records?

contributors

By Mark Jaycox and Rainey Reitman | (Electronic Frontier Foundation) A bipartisan group of congressional leaders has reintroduced the USA Freedom Act. The bill is an attempt to rein in the intelligence community’s “Collect It All” strategy, and passing USA Freedom is a first, small step in the right direction. However, it has serious faults […]

African-Americans

Tensions Boil Over After Baltimore Police Call Protesters “Lynch Mob”

contributors

By Lauren McCauley, staff writer | (Commondreams.org) Demonstrators still seeking answers over the mysterious and troubling death of Freddie Gray, who died of a spinal injury while in the custody of the Baltimore Police Department, circled City Hall on Thursday after Maryland Governor Larry Hogan announced that he had called in state troopers to help […]

Bill of Rights

Execution without Trial: A Short History of the Predator Drone

contributors

By Grégoire Chamayou | (Tomdispatch.com) Initially, the English word “drone” meant both an insect and a sound. It was not until the outbreak of World War II that it began to take on another meaning. At that time, American artillery apprentices used the expression “target drones” to designate the small remotely controlled planes at which […]