National Security State

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 […]

Afghanistan

Afghanistan’s Endless War: Between the US, Taliban and ISIL

contributors

By Brian M. Downing | (Informed Comment) | – War is largely a seasonal activity in Afghanistan. Winters are harsh and fighters need to work fields and tend herds. With spring, another fighting season is underway. This year will be different from its many predecessors. US ground troops are no longer engaged in large numbers; […]

Barack Obama

“Bug Splat”: Body Counts, Drones, and “Collateral Damage”

Tom Engelhardt

Tom Englehardt | (Tomdispatch.com) | – The Obama administration has adamantly refused to count. Not a body. In fact, for a long time, American officials associated with Washington’s drone assassination campaigns and “signature strikes” in the backlands of Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Yemen claimed that there were no bodies to count, that the CIA’s drones were […]

Barack Obama

US Airstrike in Syria kills 53 Civilians, 6 Children

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) As Mariam Karouny reports for Reuters, the US air strike on Friday that inadvertently hit a village of non-combatants, killing members of six families, raises new questions about the Obama administration’s approach to fighting Daesh (ISIS or ISIL) in Syria. Despite months of bombing raids, Daesh has lost no […]

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 […]

Constitution

Assassination as Policy in Washington and How It Failed, 1990-2015

contributors

By Andrew Cockburn | (Tomdispatch.com) | – As the war on terror nears its 14th anniversary — a war we seem to be losing, given jihadist advances in Iraq, Syria, and Yemen — the U.S. sticks stolidly to its strategy of “high-value targeting,” our preferred euphemism for assassination. Secretary of State John Kerry has proudly […]

Corporate Surveillance

Danger: GOP House’s “Cybersecurity Bills” are Surveillance Bills in Disguise

contributors

By Mark Jaycox | (Electronic Frontier Foundation) | – The House passed two cybersecurity “information sharing” bills today: the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence’s Protecting Cyber Networks Act, and the House Homeland Security Committee’s National Cybersecurity Protection Advancement Act. Both bills will be “conferenced” to create one bill and then sent to the Senate […]

Central Intelligence Agency

Double Standard: Petraeus Avoids Prison, But Whistleblowers Not So Lucky

contributors

Newsy | – “Retired Gen. David Petraeus was sentenced Thursday for mishandling classified government documents, but why was his punishment relatively light?” Newsy: “Petraeus Avoids Prison, But Whistleblowers Not So Lucky”