The Pentagon has unveiled an incredibly strong and agile humanoid robot. But don’t worry, it claims that this new “robo sapiens” is purely to help old ladies find their way through Nordstrom.
Feminism Marches On
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Six months after being confirmed as National Security Advisor, Susan Rice orchestrated the military coup that toppled Egypt’s democratically elected president, Mohamed Morsi. She’s leaning in!
Torturing the English Language
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If the US declares the military coup in Egypt to have been a military coup, it would be forced to suspend its “foreign aid,” which isn’t aid at all. From coups to torture to FISA, the English language is the number-one victim of enhanced interrogation techniques.
Giving Up a Little Freedom
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Who are you afraid of more? A few terrorists half a world away? Or an all-encompassing police state?
“A 29-Year-Old Hacker”
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Obama is cool, calm and collected – but he has an Achilles’ Heel: contempt for young people, as demonstrated by his condescending comment describing NSA leaker Edward Snowden as “a 29-year-old hacker.”
Gay Liberation
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After the Stonewall riots, the gay liberation movement was militant, agitating for more freedom and radical ways to live. But AIDS led to increased conservatism – and now, after gay marriage was effectively legalized, one had to ask: whatever happened to the thrilling gay movement of the 1970s?
A Little Extra
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After the 9/11 attacks, Americans reasoned that if they had to give up a little extra time at the airport in exchange for security, that was a bargain they were willing to make. As the NSA revelations demonstrate, however, that devil’s bargain led to a slippery slope.
National Conversation
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President Obama hid and lied about the fact that the NSA and FBI are spying on the emails and phone calls of ordinary Americans. But now he claims he wants to set up a national conversation about it. Given how Edward Snowden is being pursued as a criminal, and how Pfc. Bradley Manning was viciously tortured, one imagines that his idea of a national conversation begins with Snowden in a government secret prison trying to talk from underwater.
Just Because You Have Free Speech Doesn’t Mean You Should Speak Freely
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The reaction of the American mainstream media to the National Security Agency leak scandal — personalizing it by disparaging leaker Edward Snowden â has exposed cable news and other mainstream media outlets as government mouthpieces that allow for very few points of view to be aired. This was exceptionally ironic as one of the talking points against Snowden was that he went to countries with less than stellar records of press freedom, such as Russia, China and Ecuador. After all, it isn’t as though the United States offers diverse opinions on its airwaves or in its print outlets.
Legalish
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President Obama says the NSA’s surveillance programs against American citizens are “transparent.” Indeed, there is a legal veneer â memos that validate them, secret courts that supervise them, a few Congressmen who are briefed â but true legality cannot be the result of secrecy. Welcome to the Age of Legalish.
