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John Sexton

John Sexton

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The Snowden Interview: Friend or Foe?

The Edward Snowden interview has been put on You Tube so if you haven’t seen it yet it’s worth watching: What to think of this individual? Some of what he’s saying about the “architecture of oppression” really should concern us

Geert Wilders Predicts a European Spring

Geert Wilders opened the conference with a key note speech in which he suggested Europe was primed for a “European spring.” Wilders comment was an obvious reference to the so-called Arab spring in which numerous countries had mass protests pushing

The Uses and Possible Abuses of Call Metadata

The Uses and Possible Abuses of Call Metadata

In a piece published Thursday a former general counsel for the National Security Agency argues that collection of call metadata is necessary to fight terrorism. But his hypothetical case fails to explain why the NSA needs data on local calls

The Turnkey Totalitarian State

Last year James Bamford wrote a lengthy story for Wired on the NSA’s new data-mining operation being built in Utah. The report contained a number of eye-opening revelations but none more so than the conclusion of one former system designer

Gawker's Mormon Bashing

Apparently Gawker had stores of Mormon bashing that didn’t get used up during the last election. The site has been running a series about the states, sort of conventional wisdom for 20-something hipsters on which parts of the US to

Susan Rice: Politics First

Susan Rice has been appointed National Security Adviser to the President in a move that is seen as a thumb in the eye of Republicans. Rice’s previous job, Ambassador to the United Nations, will be filled by Samantha Power. Back

What Initiated the IRS Targeting of the Tea Party?

Did news coverage of a Tea Party group launching a 501(c)(4) in February 2010–including a story at NPR– launch the two year scrutiny of Tea Party groups? It’s impossible to tell for certain but the IG report does offer some

Three Possible Explanations for MSNBC's Ratings Woes

With MSNBC’s ratings in the dumps, various explanations are being offered as to why this is happening to a network that, just last fall, was challenging Fox. Let’s consider the three most popular explanations. One possible explanation is that progressives

PA Democrat Anonymously Attacks Fracking Supporters Online

PA Democrat Anonymously Attacks Fracking Supporters Online

Pennsylvania State Representative Jesse White, an opponent of fracking, has been accused of using Internet sock-puppet accounts to attack fracking proponents under false names. A report by KDKA, a CBS affiliate in Pittsburgh, found that the sock-puppet accounts have the

Is This the Biggest Lie in Obama’s Drone Speech?

One of the most overlooked bits of Obama’s drone speech last week was the claim that capturing terrorists is always our first option before using drone strikes. Obama claimed “America does not take strikes when we have the ability to