What Fate Awaits Orwell’s Birthplace?

Alexander Reed Kelly / Truthdig May 3, 2013 Would you bulldoze the house where the beloved author of "Animal Farm" and "1984" was born to build a park in honor of Mahatma Gandhi? Officials in the state of Bihar, India, are considering it. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

The Enemy-Industrial Complex

By Tom Engelhardt, TomDispatch Apr 16, 2013 If you opened the American door marked “Enemy,” what would you find? As a start, scattered hundreds or, as the years have gone by, thousands of jihadis, mostly in the poorest backlands of the planet and with little ability to do anything to the United States. Dig deeper ( 16 Min. Read )

Stop Whining About Privacy, Bloomberg Says

Alexander Reed Kelly / Truthdig Mar 23, 2013 New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg thinks your concerns about privacy in a world of city- and drone-mounted surveillance cameras are unimportant. His advice to radio audiences Friday morning? "Get used to it!" Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Spy Agencies to Have Access to Your Finances

Alexander Reed Kelly / Truthdig Mar 15, 2013 The Obama administration plans to give all U.S. intelligence agencies full access to a database that contains information on the financial activity of American citizens and others who bank in the country, a Treasury Department document seen by Reuters says. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

The Orwellian Consequences of the War on Drugs

Alexander Reed Kelly / Truthdig Mar 13, 2013 Without much notice, the drug war has expanded government search and seizure powers, turned children into their parents' monitors and urged many Americans toward blind obedience to authority, Kevin Carson writes in CounterPunch. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

NSA Whistle-Blower: Obama’s ‘Disposition Matrix’ is an ‘Undisciplined Slaughter’

Alexander Reed Kelly / Truthdig Oct 28, 2012 Former National Security Agency official and whistle-blower William Binney is appalled but unsurprised by last week’s revelation that President Obama has institutionalized a mechanism for generating targets for his secretive assassination list.William Binney is appalled but unsurprised that President Obama has institutionalized a mechanism for generating targets for his secretive kill list. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

Orwell’s Weather Reports

By Michael Dirda Sep 19, 2012 The writer's diaries reveal that he was happiest while gardening and watching his hens. But he also comments that "apparently nothing will ever teach [the rich] that the other 99 percent of the population exist." Dig deeper ( 5 Min. Read )

Being Gay

Mr. Fish / Truthdig Sep 9, 2012 Being gay was an expression of nonconformity that had less to do with an urge to proclaim my affection for one type of sex over another than a desire to lodge a formal protest against convention. Dig deeper ( 10 Min. Read )

Dems Cheer Obama’s Whistle-Blower Persecutions

Alexander Reed Kelly / Truthdig Sep 6, 2012 Glenn Greenwald sees through the carnival of establishmentarian pieties on display at the Democratic National Convention this week: “Excuse me if I don't join in Democrats' sycophantic cheerleading for an Obama presidency that has shredded laws and liberties,” he writes at The Guardian.“Excuse me if I don't join in Democrats' sycophantic cheerleading for an Obama presidency that has shredded laws and liberties,” Glenn Greenwald writes at The Guardian. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Big Brother Gets Established in NYC

Alexander Reed Kelly / Truthdig Aug 9, 2012 New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Ray Kelly on Wednesday revealed that for the last six months the city has been monitoring its residents via a network of roughly 3,000 closed circuit television cameras that feed into NYPD headquarters. The technology is termed the “Domain Awareness System.” Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

That Makes No Sense!

By Tom Engelhardt, TomDispatch Jul 20, 2012 When my daughter was little and I read to her regularly, one illustrated book was a favorite of ours. In a series of scenes, a frustrated young girl booms out: “that makes me mad!” For our present national security moment, however, I might amend the book’s punch line slightly. Dig deeper ( 8 Min. Read )

Throwing Up for Peace

Mr. Fish / Truthdig Apr 2, 2012 The sad fact is that all traditional modes of dissent, whether they're protest marches or boycotts or sit-ins, must ultimately fail because they are generally powerless to prevent their own inception. What does that mean? The sad fact is that all traditional modes of dissent, whether they're protest marches or boycotts or sit-ins, must ultimately fail because they are generally powerless to prevent their own inception. Dig deeper ( 6 Min. Read )