by Joe Williams. Edward Snowden, the computer whiz who blew the whistle on widespread surveillance against American citizens, speaks for himself in a real-life spy thriller. From a Hong Kong hideout to a temporary Russian haven, documentarian Laura Poitras and reporter Glenn Greenwald uncover the story in virtual real time. ... MORE
by Cathy Young. December has not been a good month for the feminist crusade against the "rape culture." The Rolling Stone account of a horrific fraternity gang rape at the University of Virginia, which many advocates saw as a possible "tipping point"—a shocking wake-up call demonstrating that even the most brutal sexual assaults on ... MORE
Cities are gearing up for war. Custer is a nice little town in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Not quite the tourist center of the area—that’s really more up toward Keystone and Mount Rushmore—it still get its share of summer visitors’ traffic. Enough, anyway, to support just over 2,000 people, out of a county population somewhere around ... MORE
The NSA uses powers to spy on wives and girl friends. A private investigator once explained to me why he always turned down husband-and-wife cases: If your marriage has gone so sour that the best course of action you can think of is hiring a guy to spy on your spouse, then you don’t need an investigator — you need a minister, a ... MORE
by Kenneth Rapoza. Want a limited government that’s held accountable by society? Then start packing. With all this talk about fiscal responsibility in the U.S. and Europe, the World Justice Project’s latest rule of law index gives civil society a sense of which governments are fair and accountable. And the U.S. is not even in the top 15. ... MORE
by Steve Mann and Brian D. Wassom. In the wake of the fatal encounters between police and citizens in Ferguson, New York and Cleveland, President Obama recently announced millions of dollars in funding to equip police officers with body-worn video cameras. The concept is not new; scores of police departments across the ... MORE
by Stephen Dinan. Internal Revenue Service employees charged with scrutinizing tea party groups’ nonprofit status applications showed a marked antipathy to the organizations, with one examiner calling a group “icky” and others saying they were searching for ways to deny the requests, according to a congressional oversight report Tuesday. ... MORE
Wrongful death suit results from botched SWAT raid. A federal wrongful death suit against a Framingham police officer who accidentally shot to death an unarmed elderly man during a SWAT raid in 2011 was allowed to continue by a judge yesterday. U.S. District Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV ruled that the constitutional rights of Eurie ... MORE
by John W. Whitehead. As a child, my Christmas wish list came right out of the Sears and Roebuck catalogue—toys, board games, bikes, action figures, etc. My parents, like so many in their day, belonged to the working-class poor, so while I never lacked for the necessities of life, many of the items on my wish list never came to be. Even so, ... MORE
Are oil companies less greedy or what? For most Americans, the annual Christmas journey to grandma’s house will be less expensive this year. Gas prices are at their lowest levels in five years, thanks largely to booming domestic oil production on state and private lands. That surge promises to put more money in our pockets—and perhaps more ... MORE