Who authorizes drone strikes?

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“The government says I was obsessed with violence…but I can think of no lie more ironic.”

Military commissions: justice or a mockery of it?

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The ACLU's Hina Shamsi spoke with AJStream yesterday about military commissions. Read more about the commissions, and why we think they are the wrong call.

It’s official. There is a Muslim exemption to the First Amendment.

Tarek Mehanna is no David Stone.

David Stone and members of his Hutaree anti-government militia amassed a huge arsenal of weapons, including the ingredients for explosives, and allegedly plotted to kill a police officer and bomb his funeral. A federal judge in Michigan said they were just venting and exercising their First Amendment rights.

LRAD coming to Chicago NATO protests

Following in the footsteps of police in Pittsburgh and New York City, Chicago officials say they are ready to deploy the dreaded LRAD noise weapon at NATO protesters this May. The LRAD is a noise machine that can damage hearing, and is deployed both to convey messages to large crowds and to rapidly disperse them. It basically amounts to a free speech killer.

Human Terrain Systems: cultural deciphering as weaponry

Yesterday the administration of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Harvard University sent out an email titled "Subject: Social Scientists needed - Army Human Terrain Systems program." The email reads as follows:

The monster in our midst

It’s no secret that the Department of Homeland Security with some 200,000 employees is a federal bureaucracy on steroids.

Drones today, drones tomorrow

Drones exploded in the US public imagination in March 2012, when Congress directed the FAA to open US airspace to the flying robots. Since then, drones (or in military parlance, unmanned aircraft (UA) or remotely piloted aircraft (RPA)) have become a hot topic online and a target of activist and civil libertarian protest.

Drones for all! Or maybe just police?

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Occupy Boston “Camp Charlie” evicted last night under orders by the Secret Service?

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Occupy the MBTA -- an offshoot of Occupy Boston -- began a temporary occupation of the Massachusetts State House steps to protest fare hikes and service cuts to public transportation. Last night the camp was evicted.