Failing a Test of the Emergency Broadcast System

Failing a Test of the Emergency Broadcast System

In the early morning hours of April 19, some residents of Watertown, Massachusetts, received an automated phone call telling them to “shelter in place” while the suspected Boston marathon bomber roamed the neighborhood. The system worked — to a degree. One...
Dancing Around the First and Fourth Amendments

Dancing Around the First and Fourth Amendments

Whether you think spying is OK or not depends on your relationship to the information being collected. If you’re on the gathering end, the invasion of someone else’s privacy doesn’t seem like a big deal. But if you’re the one whose private life...
The Internet Racket

The Internet Racket

Is your Internet bill too high? You can thank the phone and cable companies for that. Today, high-speed broadband services offered by these national carriers cost more than $500 a year and even more when customers are forced to bundle Internet access with cable or...
Dumped by Time Warner Cable

Dumped by Time Warner Cable

Time Warner Cable’s decision to drop Al Jazeera English from its lineup, right after AJE had purchased Current TV and that network’s carriage deals for $500 million, raised questions about the cable operator’s motives. But whatever the particulars...
Isolation on Both Ends of the Line

Isolation on Both Ends of the Line

When Martha Wright’s grandson went to prison more than 20 years ago, she learned a stark lesson about the cost of maintaining ties with a family member who is incarcerated. Beyond the isolation and deep wound of being separated from a loved one, there’s...