What the non-shutdown means to you
Shortly after midnight on January 20 the federal government, we are told, was shutdown. However most people haven’t noticed any differences in their daily life. CNN reports, “Essential services, such …
Is Orwell’s 1984 better than the reality of 2017?
For most of my adult life, I’ve heard about the eerie comparisons between George Orwell’s 1984 and our present day. After reading, or rather listening to the audiobook, 1984 again …
Trump to continue Obama’s War on Whistleblowers
George Orwell once wrote, “Truth is treason in an empire of lies.” This statement has become increasingly truer over the last decade with Thomas Drake, Shamai Leibowitz, Chelsea Manning, Donald …
NSA: America’s Elf on the Shelf
Since 2005 families across the country have been using The Elf on a Shelf to watch their children and report back to Santa about whether the kids should be on …
The state of Bill of Rights
I recall being told as a child that the Bill of Rights was added to the US Constitution to ensure that people retained certain rights. The Bill of Rights Institute …
DC Court of Appeals refuses to rule on NSA spying; may be forced to
The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia dealt a blow to a lawsuit challenging the NSA’s use of warrantless surveillance, claiming the plaintiff did not prove standing. …
Is the NSA bulk collection program dead?
This has been an interesting month for the future of the NSA’s bulk collection of metadata. Near the beginning of the month, the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals ruled “The …
NSA spying ruled illegal; what’s next?
In some ways, 2013 seems like it was yesterday, and in other ways it seems like 2013 was an eternity ago. On March 12 of that year, the US Supreme …
Paul Revere, 9/11 and the NSA
President Obama recently gave a speech about possible reforms at the NSA. Obama began his speech by invoking the name Paul Revere. He stated that Revere and the Sons of …
Conflicting court rulings on NSA spying
On Christmas Eve, NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden delivered a Christmas message for British TV station Channel 4, saying, “George Orwell warned us of the danger of this kind of information. …