The Data Hackers – Mining Your Information for Big Brother

Sometimes, the world sends you back to school. These last months have offered us a crash course – call it Surveillance 101 – in how Washington, enveloped in a penumbra of extreme secrecy, went to work creating a global surveillance state on a scale almost beyond the imagination. It was certainly beyond the imaginations, not … Continue reading “The Data Hackers – Mining Your Information for Big Brother”

NSA Spying Scandal – US Checks and Balances System Is Broken

The founders of the United States envisioned a federal government that was constrained by a written Constitution, which further diluted power within that government into four competing branches. Those branches were the two houses of Congress, which were clearly supposed to be dominant in the federal sphere, and the executive and the judiciary. Unfortunately, over … Continue reading “NSA Spying Scandal – US Checks and Balances System Is Broken”

Libya and Somalia: Foreign Policy as Political Theater

October 9, 2013A Note to My ReadersI’ve got some pressing business to take care of, and so no column today. But I’ll be back on Friday, all fresh and sassy.The US government may be in "shutdown" mode, but the American Empire is still operating at maximum capacity: this was underscored over the weekend by twin … Continue reading “Libya and Somalia: Foreign Policy as Political Theater”