Policies
The US Government Has an Internet Killswitch — and the Supreme Court Says It’s None of Your Business
The Supreme Court has refused to hear a petition concerning the Department of Homeland Security’s secretive internet and cellphone killswitch program. The author weighs in on what does this mean for your civil liberties.
Mass surveillance has “badly shaken writers’ faith that democratic governments will respect their rights to privacy and freedom of expression,” according to a January 2015 PEN America report based on the responses of 772 writers from fifty countries. Reporting for Common Dreams, Lauren McCauley covered not only the PEN America report, but also a July 2014 report by the American Civil Liberties Union and Human Rights Watch indicating that US journalists and lawyers increasingly avoid work on potentially controversial topics due to fear of government spying.
Nearly 7 million U.S. households struggle with hunger. Yet Americans throw away 40 percent of our food—the equivalent of $165 billion each year—according to the National Resources Defense Council. That’s why U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree, (D-Maine) has introduced H.R. 4184, the Food Recovery Act—a bill to address food waste.
Professor James Tracy was fired by Florida State University after questioning the official story of the Sandy Hook Shootings in 2012. He outlines 10 points that support his claim that the “Sandy Hook Massacre” was staged by government. Is this another of those false flag operations designed to facilitate gun control laws?
Do you think gun control will make our communities safer? The author deciphers the details of Obama’s executive order on gun control.
Compared with other capitalist countries, the US is unquestionably different when it comes to the level of state violence directed against minorities, Richard Becker reported in January 2015 for Liberation. Using 2011 figures, Becker wrote that, on a per capita basis, “the rate of killing by U.S. police was about 100 times that of English cops in 2011.” Similarly, US police were forty times as likely to kill as German police officers, and twenty times as likely to kill as their Canadian counterparts. This, Becker noted, is probably not the kind of “American exceptionalism” that President Obama had in mind when he addressed graduating West Point cadets in May 2014.
Meat packers and members of Congress had fought for years to repeal the COOL law, even though country-of-origin labels also appear on many foods, including peanuts, fish, and apples.
It would certainly be easy to do a piece about 10 horrible events from 2015. But that wouldn’t be a very inspiring way to bid farewell to this year and usher in a new one. So here are 10 reasons to feel good about 2015.
A bill introduced in the New Hampshire House for the 2016 session would prohibit a federal-local surveillance collaboration that the NSA’s former chief technical director called the “biggest threat since the civil war.”
The US government is broke and unable to pay its creditors thanks to a long-term trend of reckless, irresponsible behavior. With this new spending bill, Congress is willfully increasing expenses while decreasing revenue. Pure genius!
You would start by examining where a lot of gun violence takes place. I know: this is a breathtaking assumption. It makes the mind reel. In the history of our species, no one has ever suggested a solution for a problem based on where the problem is located. But there’s a first time for everything.
On World Refugee Day 2014, the global total of people who had undergone forced displacement was the highest on record since World War II. A Global Trends report compiled by the UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) established a figure of 51.2 million globally displaced people at the end of 2013, an increase of six million from 45.2 million in 2012.
Only 100 words sum up all you need to know about Gun Control. Other leaders and politicians who have instituted Gun Control subsequently have murdered massive numbers of unarmed citizens. The US Bill of Rights enshrined the right to bear arms for a reason. Do you know who the arms were to be used against and why? Find out, watch, and remember.
To really control gun violence requires a clear analysis of ALL incidents, where they happen, common elements, and causes. A somewhat tongue-in-cheek expose of governments choosing specific incidents to advance government agenda, and totally disregarding what will identify the TRUE causes of the majority of gun violence. A great expose of the REAL issues.
