Mon, May 19, 2014 at 2:07:23 pm
We have a rare event today, a new article at The Intercept! And yes, it's more of the same hyperbole, exaggeration and unfounded leaping to conclusions we've come to expect. By Ryan Devereaux, Glenn Greenwald and Laura Poitras: Data Pirates of the Caribbean: The NSA Is Recording Every Cell Phone ...

Tue, May 13, 2014 at 12:39:04 pm
Stephen Colbert actually asks a couple of tough questions of the Mighty Greenwald -- specifically about the fact that many of the NSA documents revealed by Greenwald and pals have nothing to do with surveillance on US citizens, but are simply exposing legitimate espionage programs. It's framed ironically, of course, and ...

Tue, May 6, 2014 at 11:33:24 am
The party that denies climate change and still refuses to accept the theory of evolution after more than a century is now planning to gut the National Science Foundation. Because of course they are. WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration and the scientific community at large are expressing serious alarm at ...

Sun, Apr 27, 2014 at 8:55:22 am
This isn't a new story, but since I commented on it extensively in one of the main threads, I figured I might as well turn it into a Page in case it ever comes up. The "Investigation" Back in mid-February right-wing activists had their fainting couches out over a Clarion Project article ...

Sat, Apr 19, 2014 at 6:05:00 pm
British Pathé has posted 85,000 (!) short historical films at YouTube. A fascinating look at the history of the 20th century through the eyes of British media, before it was called "media." For a relatively recent example: "Arnold Schwarzenegger Wins Mr Universe (1969)," with casually sexist narration. YouTube This video is two ...

Fri, Apr 18, 2014 at 11:53:30 am
Let's face it -- if Edward Snowden's appearance at Vladimir Putin's propaganda puppet show yesterday was supposed to improve his image in the US by showing him "questioning" Putin about mass surveillance, it was a miserable failure. Even many of Snowden's stongest defenders were appalled at that display. So it should ...

Fri, Apr 4, 2014 at 11:17:55 am
Yesterday, this happened: creationist Texas Governor Rick Perry came out strongly in favor of letting prison rape continue unabated. "I will not sign your form and I will encourage my fellow governors to follow suit," Perry wrote in a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder, the first governor to make ...

Sat, Mar 29, 2014 at 6:17:50 pm
YouTube Hateful and even violent speech is familiar online; what's unusual are data-driven efforts to diminish them. Experiments so far have produced intriguing results including: some 'trolls' recant or apologize in response to counterspeech, and small changes in platform architecture can improve online discourse norms. In this talk Susan Benesch ...

Wed, Mar 19, 2014 at 1:04:18 pm
Getty Image Ukrainian servicemen filed out of navy headquarters in Sevastopol on Wednesday with tears in their eyes after the base was seized by pro-Moscow militants, Russian troops and Cossack forces. The assault began when some 200 unarmed militants -- some of them in balaclavas -- sawed through a fence ...

Sun, Mar 16, 2014 at 12:36:26 pm
Here's the official statement from the White House on today's Crimean referendum to secede from Ukraine: THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 16, 2014 The United States has steadfastly supported the independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of Ukraine since it declared its independence in 1991, and we ...

Fri, Mar 14, 2014 at 10:20:35 am
Rosie Gray's article on what it's really like to work for Kremlin propaganda outlet Russia Today is our must-read of the day; it's every bit as bad as you thought: How the Truth Is Made at Russia Today. The public shake-up and skewed coverage of Ukraine has pulled aside RT's ...

Tue, Mar 11, 2014 at 7:56:43 pm
Once again I find myself in agreement with Jonathan Chait: Rand Paul's Plan to Save Ukraine is Completely Nuts. But then, I've long considered Rand Paul to be the latest manifestation of a weird trend of bad craziness in US politics. The biggest victim of the Ukraine crisis - other ...

Sat, Mar 8, 2014 at 6:02:27 pm
A few of the many special moments from this year's CPAC, courtesy of the new embed feature of Getty Images. Getty Image Getty Image Getty Image Getty Image Getty Image Getty Image Getty Image Getty Image Getty Image Getty Image Getty Image Getty Image Getty Image NATIONAL HARBOR, MD - MARCH 08: An exhibitor plays a video game in their booth during the ...

Mon, Mar 3, 2014 at 5:22:58 pm
Via Business Insider, here's the full text of US Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power's strong statement on Russia and Ukraine, from today's meeting of the Security Council. Thank you Madam President. Listening to the representative of Russia, one might think that Moscow had just become the rapid response arm ...

Mon, Mar 3, 2014 at 2:15:08 pm
Here's the latest statement from the White House on the tense situation in Ukraine and Crimea: President Barack Obama Says Putin Is on 'Wrong Side of History'. President Barack Obama said Monday that if Russia continues an incursion into the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea, the United States would take diplomatic ...

Fri, Feb 28, 2014 at 1:54:54 pm
[Live statement concluded... the discussion continues in our comments.] UPDATE at 2/28/14 3:05:23 pm A transcript of the President's remarks: STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT ON UKRAINE James S. Brady Press Briefing Room 5:05 P.M. EST THE PRESIDENT: Good afternoon, everybody. Over the last several days, the United States has been responding to events as they ...

Fri, Feb 28, 2014 at 1:15:26 pm
I'm making popcorn here at Lizard Headquarters, because the libertarians at PandoDaily are taking shots at the libertarians at First Look, and we're all winners for it: Pierre Omidyar Co-Funded Ukraine Revolution Groups With US Government, Documents Show. Just hours after last weekend's ouster of Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych, one ...

Mon, Feb 17, 2014 at 11:04:55 am
Turns out that the George Polk Award is given out by Long Island University which is also home to the Homeland Security Management Institute. Polk Award page at Long Island University: The George Polk Awards are conferred annually to honor special achievement in journalism. They were established by Long Island University ...

Fri, Jan 24, 2014 at 1:53:45 pm
The Republican National Committee is claiming that the USA Patriot Act's NSA provisions are now unconstitutional? Really? And they want investigations too? A page-long resolution also called for "a special committee to investigate, report, and reveal to the public the extent of this domestic spying." This committee would then make ...

Thu, Jan 23, 2014 at 9:23:00 pm
Vimeo My 2012 thesis film from the School of Visual Arts. In a barren post-apocalyptic wasteland, a creature and his dog find a radio that may lead them to new life. For more info, visit: http://jdweiss.blogspot.com/p/transmis sion.html Soundtrack available on limited edition cassette: http://otherworldlymystics.bandcamp.co m/album/transmission 40th Annual Student Academy Awards - Region Three Semi-finalist ASIFA-Atlanta - ...

Wed, Jan 22, 2014 at 6:42:25 pm
Parking lot of the American International School of Kabul (AISK). The school no longer exists, although alumni stay in touch through Facebook and hold reunions every few years at different cities around the U.S. The next reunion will be held in Boston in 2013. "AISK's last year was 1979, so ...

Wed, Jan 22, 2014 at 10:20:27 am
Perhaps the oddest part of the New Yorker's Snowden interview article is where it addresses Snowden's Hong Kong Russian consulate visit. Jane Mayer clearly thought the issue was worth raising in her piece, but instead of asking Snowden directly, she tosses the question to an ACLU legal adviser: Some ...

Sat, Jan 18, 2014 at 5:42:40 pm
Elvira Arellano continues to organize and lobby for immigration reform.[Photo by Maria Ines Zamudio] She crossed the border illegally, like thousands of Mexicans do every year, to find work. A decade later, she returned to her home country as the face of immigration reform. Elvira Arellano received a deportation order in ...

Fri, Jan 17, 2014 at 9:40:30 am
Here's the complete speech on proposed NSA reforms given by President Obama today, for the record. As Prepared for Delivery - At the dawn of our Republic, a small, secret surveillance committee born out of the "The Sons of Liberty" was established in Boston. The group's members included Paul Revere, and at ...

Thu, Jan 9, 2014 at 4:03:53 pm
Ah, Texas. You almost have to hand it to the Texas branch of the GOP. They're consistently dedicated to making themselves look like jackasses to the rest of the world, with an amazing lack of self-consciousness or inhibition. It's really the only way they're uninhibited at all. There are great people ...