MEDIA ROOTS- Follow the money and you will always find the truth. U.S. Marine Major General Smedley Butler, one of only 19 people to be twice awarded the Medal of Honor, wrote War is a Racket in 1935: “War is a racket. It always has been. It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious. It … Read More
SALON– Earlier this month, The Cato Institute’s Unbound published my essay on America’s Surveillance State, and then invited several commentators to reply and participate in a debate of these issues. Two of those replies were particularly critical: this one from John Eastman, former Dean of the Chapman University School of Law (recent home to John Yoo), recently defeated GOP candidate for California Attorney General, and … Read More
COMPUTER WORLD– While everyone is concerned about privacy violations from Facebook Places, government agencies may be using powerful new technology to violate Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable searches. Here’s what the Fourth Amendment says: “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no … Read More
(Video of Oscar Grant killing below) ABC– The jury has found former BART officer Johannes Mesherle guilty of involuntary manslaughter. Mehserle was accused of murdering an unarmed man, Oscar Grant, on a BART platform on New Year’s Day 2009. The jury begain deliberations Thursday around 8:30 a.m. They broke for a one-hour lunch just after noon. Around 2:10 p.m. they … Read More
EAST BAY EXPRESS– On a gloomy recent morning in West Oakland, tenants at the David Gray Building — or, Off-Ramp Studios, as everyone who lives there calls it — stood in the hallways outside their lofts. They gathered around their doors in nervous clusters and spoke in hushed tones, wondering aloud whether they should head to work or stay and … Read More
