During last year's election campaign, President Donald Trump famously promised to build a wall on the United States' southern border, and make Mexico pay for it. Now, however, it appears that U.S. taxpayers may end up paying not only for the border wall, but for a whole biometric surveillance system for the Mexican government. "The … Continue reading U.S. looks into setting up biometric surveillance system for Mexico
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While former President Barack Obama recently left office with a much higher approval rating than his predecessor, George W. Bush, his dramatic escalation of drone strikes around the world remains an undeniable and controversial component of his legacy -- and one that, like his healthcare reform law, appears to be continuing under the new … Continue reading U.S. airstrike civilian deaths escalate, no end in sight
Back in December, following his election win but prior to his inauguration, President Donald Trump made headlines with tweets criticizing America's largest military contractors, Boeing and Lockheed Martin. If investors were spooked, however, recent developments should ease their fears, as these same companies are set to profit handsomely if Trump's newly proposed budget is approved. … Continue reading After Twitter outrage, Trump rewards biggest defense contractors
President Donald Trump kicked off yet another news cycle via Twitter this weekend with allegations that former President Barack Obama had his "wires tapped" at Trump Tower in October. Yet Trump's concern about whether he was personally monitored comes as his administration is reportedly looking to reauthorize two of the National Security Agency's biggest … Continue reading Trump accuses Obama of wiretaps, pushes to renew unaccountable wiretapping authority
Ever since Donald Trump's election win took the national media and much of the country by surprise, much has been written in the press and on social media about "The Resistance" to his presidency. The phrase has been embraced by the likes of comedian Sarah Silverman and former ESPN anchor Keith Olbermann, who has adopted … Continue reading ‘The science of resistance’ and the Trump administration
On Wednesday, President Donald Trump outlined the first concrete details of his controversial new immigration plans. Already, the initial steps announced so far appear poised to disrupt the lives of millions of people living in the U.S. They include the beginning of work on Trump's long-promised border wall, cutting federal funding to "sanctuary" states and … Continue reading Trump says nation needs border wall, perhaps also CIA black sites beyond borders
Last summer, as he rallied supporters at the Republican National Convention, Donald Trump declared himself the "law and order candidate," echoing the (somewhat ironic) claims of Richard Nixon before him. Yet given the rapid development of technology available to law enforcement in the decades since Nixon occupied the Oval Office, President Trump's use of the … Continue reading Carnage, violence, law and order, biometric profiling and predictive policing under Trump
Well, it's 2017, and in less than three weeks, Donald Trump will be sworn in as the 45th president of the United States. This surreal situation still has many scratching their heads, wondering how it came to be. While some are coming to terms with Trump's election as a symptom of a broken system that … Continue reading Weaponizing the narrative in the information war with Russia
The 2017 National Defense Authorization Act, the annual military authorization bill signed by President Obama last week, reportedly includes an increase of more than 50 percent in funding for development and procurement of "directed-energy" weapons. Funding for this category of weapon -- which includes lasers, but also controversial "pain ray" crowd control devices -- has … Continue reading NDAA includes increased funding for directed-energy weapons
The New York Times is reporting this week that social media giant Facebook has developed a new "censorship tool" for use by the Chinese government, in the company's latest aggressive move to get into the potentially lucrative Chinese market. The news comes as Facebook begins new controversial blocking of "fake news" in the US, a … Continue reading China censorship extends known distance Facebook will go to please governments, maximize profits