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donal brown

Espionage Act: Washington Post questions charges against former government employee

donal brown June 6, 2011

Justice Department prosecutors are trying Thomas Drake, a former employee of the National Security Agency, for violation of the Espionage Act after Drake talked to a Baltimore Sun reporter about a program he thought was wasting billions of taxpayer dollars. A Washington Post editorial argues that the indictment and proposed punishment are not proportionate to the alleged crime. -db From a Washington Post editorial, June 5, 2011.

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Republicans demand end to ads alleging Republican plan ends Medicare

donal brown June 6, 2011

The Republican national committee is demanding that Comcast Boston take down ads claiming that a Republican plan would end Medicare. The charge is expected to play a major role for the Democrats in the 2012 election. Republicans say the ad is “blatantly and wholly false” and designed to scare voters. The ad’s defenders say that the Republican plan would not fully cover health care insurance premiums requiring seniors to purchase private coverage, in effect ending

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North Carolina college bans student from graduation for negative Facebook post

donal brown June 6, 2011

Saint Augustine’s college has banned a student from graduation ceremonies after the student posted comments on Facebook critical about how the college was handling its recovery from a tornado. FIRE claims that in the absence of a policy sanctioning the punishment, the college improvised by declaring that a Facebook post challenging their decisions could keep a student from graduation ceremonies. The college said students had an obligation to protect the reputation of the college. -db

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Commentary: Critic wrong in claiming Twitter has made traditional journalism obsolete

donal brown June 6, 2011

Writing for GigaOM, Mathew Ingram argues that a journalism professor was wrong to claim that traditional news stories on events such as the Missouri tornado are unnecessary as Twitter carries the necessary information. Ingram says that the sheer volume of information coming from such sources as Twitter makes it even more important for journalists to add context and background. The journalism professor said that his views were mischaracterized and that he was only saying that

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Student seeking Opus Dei records from CIA

donal brown June 6, 2011

A Ph.D. student is suing the Central Intelligence Agency to obtain its research into the conservative Catholic group, Opus Dei claiming that the agency could not withhold records over 30 years old that would not compromise national security if released. The student is researching the U.S. role in the Franco regime in Spain where Opus Dei was active. CIA released 200 pages in response to the request but refused to confirm or deny the existence

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