| May 18, 2022 | HP Subfeatured|Peace / Security|Rights / DemocracyGrowing up in the Southern California suburbs, government surveillance never worried me. But my Syrian-American parents were more cautious. They would often warn me against talking about politics over the phone — in case Big Brother was snooping. As a teenager, I...
| Apr 13, 2016 | Economy / BusinessOK people, we need to discuss billboards. Yes, we really must. At best, these giant corporate placards are problematic — they loom garishly over us, clutter our landscapes, and intrude into our communities with no respect for local aesthetics or preferences. Now,...
| Nov 4, 2015 | Peace / SecurityI joined the CIA in January 1990. The CIA was vastly different back then from the agency that emerged in the days after the 9/11 attacks. And it was a far cry from the flawed and confused organization it is today. One reason for those flaws — and for the convulsions...
| May 20, 2015 | Rights / DemocracyJeffrey Sterling recently stood before a judge as his sentence was read. The former CIA officer, the judge declared, would spend 42 months — that’s three and half years — behind bars. The feds had convicted Sterling on nine felony charges, including seven counts...
| Oct 1, 2014 | Peace / SecurityIn a more innocent time not so long ago, perhaps only a million or so people in this country fell under the government’s suspecting glare. Achieving that distinctively fat FBI file might have required marching against a war or traveling to leftist lands. These...
