The FCC Brings Chavismo to America

In all the brouhaha over Edward Snowden’s exposure of the National Security Agency’s invasion of our home computers, we seem to have forgotten about a long-dormant threat that is now rearing its ugly little head: the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Created in 1934 by President Franklin Roosevelt to oversee our then nascent television and radio … Continue reading “The FCC Brings Chavismo to America”

Homing in on the Surveillance State

As the masterful drip-drip-drip strategy employed by Edward Snowden drops bomb after bomb on the National Security Agency’s formerly secret Panopticon, we are getting closer to the central purpose of what the world’s most famous whistleblower dubbed "the architecture of oppression." The latest revelations, reported by Glenn Greenwald and Ryan Gallagher, show that "the governments … Continue reading “Homing in on the Surveillance State”

Was Twitter Censored by the Venezuelan Government?

The media is our window on the world – but what if that window is dirtied and blurred? How can we really know what’s happening in, say, Venezuela, where an increasingly authoritarian government with Marxist inclinations is up against a rebellion by middle-and-working class folks – and the US government is further muddying the picture … Continue reading “Was Twitter Censored by the Venezuelan Government?”

Utah – Achilles’ Heel of the Surveillance State

The movement to end the Surveillance State is finally getting serious. With the failure by Congress to rein in the NSA – although the heroic Rep. Justin Amash nearly succeeded in doing so – activists on the state level are mounting a campaign that promises to hit Big Brother where it really hurts – by … Continue reading “Utah – Achilles’ Heel of the Surveillance State”

Confessions of an Unreconstructed ‘Isolationist’

I was going to write about this very interesting essay by David Rieff in The National Interest today, and weave in another fascinating piece by William Lind in The American Conservative – unfortunately, necessity has dictated another course. The response to our fundraising drive has so far been quite disappointing. If this goes on – … Continue reading “Confessions of an Unreconstructed ‘Isolationist’”

Diagnosing Sochi Media Coverage: Virulent Russophobia

Any illusions some naïve soul may have had about the objectivity of the US media has been dispelled by their embarrassing performance at the Sochi Olympics: the chorus of whining complaints might as well have been written for them by the US State Department – which, come to think of it, is entirely within the … Continue reading “Diagnosing Sochi Media Coverage: Virulent Russophobia”

Free Barrett Brown

Why is the talented journalist Barrett Brown in jail – awaiting trial on charges that could keep him there for one hundred years? A writer for Vanity Fair, the Guardian, and at one time an unofficial spokesman for the internet pirates known as "Anonymous," Brown apparently stumbled on the murky world of "private" cyber-security firms … Continue reading “Free Barrett Brown”