Tag: civil liberties

Data Mining You

I was out of the country only nine days, hardly a blink in time, but time enough, as it happened, for another small, airless room to be added to the American national security labyrinth. On March 22, Attorney General Eric Holder and Director of National Intelligence James Clapper Jr. signed off on new guidelines allowing … Continue reading “Data Mining You”

Coming to a Neighborhood Near You

I assume most, if not all, readers of Antiwar.com are familiar with drones, aka unmanned aerial vehicles or UAVs. I’ve written previously about drones in two Antiwar.com columns: “Memo to Rep. Ron Paul” and “Commuting to War.” Armed drones have become the weapon of choice for the Obama administration to go after would-be terrorists in … Continue reading “Coming to a Neighborhood Near You”

Everybody’s a Target in the American Surveillance State

“Everybody’s a target; everybody with communication is a target.” – A senior intelligence official previously involved with the Utah Data Center In the small town of Bluffdale, Utah, not far from bustling Salt Lake City, the federal government is quietly erecting what will be the crown jewel of its surveillance empire. Rising up out of … Continue reading “Everybody’s a Target in the American Surveillance State”

Get Ready for the Crackdowns

The show of paramilitary force at the national party conventions held since the 9/11 attacks has been nothing less than shocking, though the vast majority of America doesn’t know it because they weren’t there, or they simply don’t care. Still, since the Occupy movement has brought on new and creative crackdowns on Constitutionally-protected protest activity … Continue reading “Get Ready for the Crackdowns”

Is the CIA in Your Kitchen?

If this question had been asked by a fictional character in a spy thriller, it might intrigue you, but you wouldn’t imagine that it could be true in reality. If the Constitution means what it says, you wouldn’t even consider the plausibility of an affirmative answer. After all, the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution was … Continue reading “Is the CIA in Your Kitchen?”

NYPD Should Leave Muslims Alone

Attorney General Eric Holder is to be lauded for looking into the constitutionality of the New York City Police Department’s wholesale snooping into the lives of people based purely on their Muslim faith. Because Holder is a busy man, he could save a lot of time by just pulling out the U.S. Constitution and reading … Continue reading “NYPD Should Leave Muslims Alone”

Demolishing Due Process

It is ironic but perhaps sadly appropriate that Attorney General Eric Holder would choose a law school, Northwestern University, to deliver a speech earlier this month in which he demolished what was left of the rule of law in America. In what history likely will record as a turning point, Holder bluntly explained that this … Continue reading “Demolishing Due Process”

Groups Reject Holder’s Defense of Targeted Assassination

Two days after U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder outlined the statutory justifications for “targeted killings,” civil liberties groups here continue to question the legality of the Obama administration’s policy, particularly as it applies to the rights and very lives of both U.S. citizens and foreign nationals. Speaking before law school students on Monday, Holder rebuffed … Continue reading “Groups Reject Holder’s Defense of Targeted Assassination”

Weaponizing the Body Politic

When I covered the Occupy Wall Street protests last fall, I just couldn’t stay focused, despite the fact that people from across the country and around the world were traveling to that block-long half-acre park of granite walls and honey-locust trees in lower Manhattan to build a new mini-society. It boasted free housing, free food, … Continue reading “Weaponizing the Body Politic”

Spies in New Brunswick

On June 2, 2009, a janitor in an office building in New Brunswick, N.J., noticed what he thought was terrorist-related literature and sophisticated surveillance equipment in an office he had been assigned to clean. He told his boss, who called the local police, who notified the FBI. Later in the day, the FBI and the … Continue reading “Spies in New Brunswick”