The NSA domestic wiretapping program has been under intense scrutiny since Edward Snowden unveiled it last spring, but to many the most troubling aspect has been the lack of strong judicial oversight of the program. Unlike most government programs, responsibility for overseeing the wiretapping project has been left up to the secretive FISA courts, which […]

The army is having difficulty finding a firm footing in the post-Muslim Brotherhood Egypt. Having lifted a nation-wide state of emergency more than a week ago, a rising tide of political assassinations, bombings, and general discontent has Egypt’s rulers flailing about and resorting to some of the same tactics that earned President Hosni Mubarak the […]

Things may be looking less bad for healthcare.gov, but for nervous Democrats and party consultants the improvement may be too little, too late. Politico reports that many rank-and-file Democrats are getting ready to put as much distance between themselves and the ACA as they can: Democrats, anxious to separate themselves from Obama before the 2014 midterm election, are gearing up […]

Samantha Power, call your office. Brutal militiamen are slitting children’s throats and throwing people to ravenous crocodiles in the Central African Republic. People are being raped and beaten to death, and towns burned and ransacked, by the rebels and thugs who took over the government in Bangui in March. The Guardian has the grisly details […]

More Americans are doubting not only President Obama’s integrity, but also his basic competence. The Hill reports: According to a CNN/ORC international poll released Monday, 40 percent said they believe Obama can manage the federal government effectively. That’s a 12-percentage-point-drop since June, and the worst score he received among nine personal characteristics measured in the poll.…The poll […]

Foxconn, the Taiwanese company responsible for manufacturing Apple computers and phones, is making inroads in the US (though many Americans still think of it as a callous exploiter of cheap foreign labor). Foxconn recently announced plans to build a $30 million plant in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania that will create 500 new jobs, a massive expansion of […]

Though most everyone was stunned last week by Henry Chao’s testimony that 30–40 percent of the Obamacare website remains to be built, WaPo reports today that the White House is optimistic about healthcare.gov. Work on the website will continue past the original November 30 deadline, but its mangers think it will be working in time to […]

Americans don’t know much about fracking, apparently. That’s the takeaway from a recent study of their knowledge and opinions of the drilling technique. Researchers asked the 1,061 respondents what comes to mind when they hear the term hydraulic fracturing, and this is what they found (h/t Climate Central): Fifty-eight percent [of respondents] specifically indicated that they did not know […]

As the powers negotiated in Geneva, and as the Israelis and Saudis hissed warnings from the sidelines, flame wars burst out among the chatterati over the nuclear agreement with Iran. Some on our Twitter feed say that the interim nuclear deal with Iran is the greatest thing since sliced bread. Others think it’s the biggest […]

A World Bank report recently stated that 53% of all Indians defecate in the open, a statistic that can cause some serious cognitive dissonance if you’re used to hearing about India’s growth miracle. For more along these lines, Pankaj Mishra recent sobering examination of the economic liberalization that took place in the 1990s under Indian Prime […]