Julian Assange – founder and director of WikiLeaks, claiming he was only acting as a journalist revealing the truth about government secrets – was taken into custody by the Metropolitan Police Service in London after seven years of self-imposed confinement in the Ecuadorian Embassy. In 2010, Assange and WikiLeaks published classified American military and diplomatic documents delivered to him by...

In the age of Trump everything is a cultural/political battlefield where the truth is suspect and the weapons are in most everyone’s hands. The Internet is the infrastructure and social media has become a pipeline of hate speech, conspiracies and political tribalism; a cultural free-for-all where people say whatever they want, attach a link to fear or hate, and pass...

“Wish you were here!” – tweet from InSight Mars lander, 12:03 PM – 26 Nov 2018 “@NASAInSight sent home its first photo after #MarsLanding: InSight’s view is a flat, smooth expanse called Elysium Planitia, but its workspace is below the surface, where it will study Mars’ deep interior,” the rest of the tweet reads. “The pursuit of excellence,”   » Read more...

It sounded like a good idea. (Strike that.) It sounded like a great idea: one simple blood test that required a single finger prick would give “everyday Americans unlimited control over their health,” The New York Times writes (Mar. 15). The key promise Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes made to investors and potential clients: “that drawing a tiny amount of blood...

On November 10, His Holiness Pope Francis addressed a Vatican symposium on nuclear disarmament. Francis told his audience that nuclear weapons exist “in the service of a mentality of fear that affects not only the parties in conflict but the entire human race.” Speaking to representatives from Russia, the United States and other countries, Francis made clear that “international relations...

“I call upon the scientific community in our country, those who gave us nuclear weapons, to turn their great talents now to the cause of mankind and world peace: to give us the means of rendering these nuclear weapons impotent and obsolete.” – Ronald Reagan “For the first time in the seven-decade effort to avert a nuclear war,” The New...

The battle between Apple and the F.B.I. is beginning to carry some of the same drama as the final season of the PBS series, Downton Abbey. After discussing alternatives with Apple and other Silicon Valley tech companies for the past year, F.B.I. Director James Comey has turned to the federal courts to compel cooperation from Apple CEO Tim Cook in...

Late Friday, CNN Tech reported (Feb. 19) that The House Energy and Commerce Committee has invited Apple CEO Tim Cook and F.B.I. Director James Comey “to explain to Congress and the American people the issues at play and how they plan to move forward.” This came about after Apple refused the F.B.I.’s request to create a program to unlock a...

When terrorists Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik were killed by police after they attacked and killed 14 co-workers in San Bernardino, California, the FBI immediately began examining their cell phones to determine if the husband and wife had any connections to ISIS or other terrorists. Certainly, not unreasonable. Authorities frequently search personal belongings – computers, laptops, phones, etc. – of...

When it comes to privacy and your personal information, the NSA is not the organization we need to worry about the most, data brokers are. As I discussed on Monday, data brokers are busy compiling detailed profiles not only of your likes and dislikes, but considerably more personal information than the NSA, including but not limited to, any diseases you...