Submitted by John Stauber on
In New York the coalition United for Peace & Justice is in court today suing the city over its refusal to provide a permit for a non-violent peace march February 15th. Newsday noted yesterday that "the lawsuit ... sought a declaration from the court that the city's action violated the First Amendment and for an order permitting a parade of between 50,000 and 100,000 people. The Feb.
Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
Since September 11, a number of pundits have tried to demonize dissent by equating it with support for terrorism. "But none has gone so far as to suggest an actual prosecution for treason simply for voicing one's political views - until now," writes Brendan Nyhan. In a February 6 editorial, the New York Sun begins by praising the New York City government for "doing the people of New York and the people of Iraq a great service by delaying and obstructing the anti-war protest planned for February 15.
Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
Denver police intelligence bureau officers may have conducted background checks for private companies and spied on journalists, according to a federal lawsuit.
Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
"Dow Chemical and Dow's PR firm, Burson-Marsteller, tried to shut down some parody sites and ended up bringing themselves a heap of negative publicity," writes Joyce Slaton. It all began when the Yes Men, impersonating Dow, created a site detailing Dow's responsibility in the Bhopal disaster.
Submitted by John Stauber on
In Orwell's 1984, people loved Big Brother. Today, we've already embraced Big Brother technology. "In the Pentagon research effort to detect terrorism by
electronically monitoring the civilian population, the most
remarkable detail may be this: Most of the pieces of the
system are already in place. Because of the inroads the Internet and other digital
network technologies have made into everyday life over the
last decade, it is increasingly possible to amass Big
Brother-like surveillance powers through Little Brother
Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
"The Total Information Awareness System (TIA), the controversial Pentagon research program that aims to gather and analyze a vast array of information on Americans, has hired at least eight private companies to work on the effort," reports the Center for Public Integrity.
Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
"The head of the government's Total Information Awareness project, which aims to root out potential terrorists by aggregating credit-card, travel, medical, school and other records of everyone in the United States, has himself become a target of personal data profiling," reports Wired Magazine.
Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
"Colombian journalist Ignacio Gomez told a roomful of America's most influential journalists Tuesday how Washington-supported Colombian president Alvaro Uribe is connected to drug traffickers and how U.S. military trainers helped organize a massacre in his country," reports Lucy Komisar.
Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
"Nothing more starkly illustrates the federal government's post-Sept. 11 desire to learn more about its citizens and to divulge less about itself than the new homeland security legislation," write James Kuhnhenn and Drew Brown. "Approved by the Senate last week and destined for President Bush's signature, the bill would make it easier for government agencies to gather information about individuals and groups, including their e-mail, the phone calls they place, and the Web sites they view.
Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
"If the Homeland Security Act is not amended before passage, here is what will happen to you," warns William Safire.
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