In the wake of the September 11 attacks, the “Global War on Terror” has marginalized the rule of law. From the dragnet detentions in the aftermath of the initial attacks, to novel and secretive surveillance authority under the Patriot Act, to the incarceration and torture of “enemy combatants,” the administration’s “war” has sought to establish zones of maneuver free of both legal constraint and of political oversight. In the first half decade of these efforts, the tripartite constitutional structure which is said to guard against executive usurpation remained largely quiescent. Opponents both inside and outside of the government turned instead to subconstitutional structures to expose this self-avowed “dark side,” and to lay the foundation for a return to the rule of law. This Article examines four case studies of this strategy of transparency. At the center of each account lies the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The studies highlight, however, the crucial roles played by a broader complex of structures of transparency that have come to constitute the framework of national governance during the last generation, the importance of the integrity of the civil servants administering those structures, and the fulcrum of sustained advocacy.

Rays of Sunlight in a Shadow “War”: FOIA, the Abuses of Anti-Terrorism, and the Strategy of Transparency

George Packer, on New Hampshire.

The only Republican who seems capable of holding things together a little longer is McCain. Just how good a candidate he is becomes clear as soon as he begins to speak and a group of protesters erupt in a chant: “People with AIDS are dying and you’re not even trying!” When they won’t stop, security men start to lead them out of the gym, but McCain invites them to come back and wait their turn to ask a question. “Frankly, that’s why we’re winning this election,” McCain says. “This is what democracy is all about ... One of the great traditions of a town-hall meeting is that we treat each other with respect.”

McCain encourages follow-ups, he addresses the questioner in a direct and personal way, he seems to relish what he calls “open and honest disagreement” and emphasizes that he will sometimes tell people what they don’t want to hear. But he doesn’t give an inch.

Back from the dead, he’s now talked about in New Hampshire as the likeliest Republican nominee. He’s also the only one with a good chance of winning in November.

...

After today, the campaign will be all about TV.

Scenes from a Primary

What works is hanging out with people who do the work you want to do, and developing substantive friendships based on ... the work. That's how others get to see you in action. It's how they assess your value. People love to talk shop. They hate to talk about where you'll get your next job.

If you devote from now until the end of your life hanging out with peers and revealing your value in a way that engages them and makes them want to keep in touch with you ... well, that's where job leads come from, without your ever having to ask.

Is There an Emergency Exit?

Perhaps beyond the stage lights, a new group of younger intellectuals has taken shape. That is what one of my angrier critics, the New York-based freelancer Rick Perlstein claims. "A well-stroked three-wood aimed out my Brooklyn window could easily hit half a dozen" bright, talented, gutsy public intellectuals, he claims. But who are they? He doesn't say.

The Internet provides instant communication and quick access to vast resources, but has it altered the quality or content of intellectual discussions? Too many voices may cancel each other out.

Ortega y Gasset's fear almost a century ago of the "revolt of the masses" needs an update. We face a revolt of the writers. Today everyone is a blogger, but where are the readers?

On the Internet, articles, blog posts, and comments on blog posts pour forth, but who can keep up with them? And while everything is preserved (or "archived"), has anyone ever looked at last year's blogs? Rapidly produced, they are just as rapidly forgotten.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to find the MemeStreams thread with the longest temporal gap between recommendations, where the subsequent recommendation was created by memetic replication, not by coincidence (in which the second user had no awareness of the earlier post).

Big Brains, Small Impact

Where we've been, and where we're going, in the long, sordid saga of keeping Americans safe from the administration's spying.

What's Next for FISA?

Virginia Postrel talks with Gary Hustwit — director of Helvetica — about filmmaking, creativity, and the expressive implications of one of the world's most popular typefaces

See also, from the archives:

In 1995 Microsoft released the font Comic Sans originally designed for comic book style talk bubbles containing informational help text. Since that time the typeface has been used in countless contexts from restaurant signage to college exams to medical information. These widespread abuses of printed type threaten to erode the very foundations upon which centuries of typographic history are built.

While we recognize the font may be appropriate in a few specific instances, our position is that the only effective means of ending this epidemic of abuse is to completely ban Comic Sans.

Typography is not simply a frou-frou debate over aesthetics orchestrated by a hidden coterie of graphic-design nerds. You need only imagine a STOP sign that utilizes the heavy-metal typefaces favoured by bands Dokken or Krokus to realize that clear, clean and direct typography can save lives, or at the very least prevent drivers from prolonged bouts of confused squinting.

Why should you care?

Because everything you read, every sign, book and logo, is in a font.

And don't forget:

The reality is that, despite fears that our children are "pumped full of chemicals," everything is made of chemicals, including Helvetica, and even Comic Sans.

Most of the blame for the obesity epidemic in America rests squarely on the fat font face of Comic Sans.

What's in a Font?

In the last 2.5 years, Google has conducted the largest corporate experiment with prediction markets we are aware of. In this paper, we illustrate how markets can be used to study how an organization processes information. We document a number of biases in Google’s markets, most notably an optimistic bias. Newly hired employees are on the optimistic side of these markets, and optimistic biases are significantly more pronounced on days when Google stock is appreciating. We find strong correlations in trading for those who sit within a few feet of one another; social networks and work relationships also play a secondary explanatory role. The results are interesting in light of recent research on the role of optimism in entrepreneurial firms, as well as recent work on the importance of geographical and social proximity in explaining information flows in firms and markets.

Using Prediction Markets to Track Information Flows: Evidence from Google

“In this age of interactive media, the number of entertainment choices can be overwhelming,” Mr. Roberts said. “In one place, Fancast helps consumers figure out where the content is, all the information they want about entertainment, and then watch it wherever and whenever they want, including on the Internet.”

Comcast Plans to Offer a Huge Menu of Films

Charlie Wilson's War is a truly dangerous piece of pro-war propaganda from Hollywood.

Chalmers Johnson attempts a serious critical analysis of a film whose pre-release coverage by the New York Times was entitled, Sex! Drugs! (And Maybe a Little War). In it, Richard Berke wrote:

If “Charlie Wilson’s War,” with a budget of $75 million, is a commercial success (*), its creators will have found a winning formula. You can make a movie that is relevant and intelligent — and palatable to a mass audience — if its political pills are sugar-coated, in this case thanks to Mr. Wilson’s high jinks, his sometime romance with a right-wing socialite played by Ms. Roberts and his escapades with a coarse CIA officer played by Mr. Hoffman. But Hollywood has long found it tricky to find the balance between being taken seriously on geopolitics without falling short on what movies are supposed to do: entertain.

Mike Nichols' latest film is "pro-war" in the way that Eli Roth's last two horror films were "anti-backpacking."

(*) So far, the domestic total is at $53M. It will surely break even after it has opened worldwide, but it's not going to be considered a success.

Charlie Wilson's War: An Imperialist Comedy

IRS made limited progress toward correcting previously reported information security weaknesses. It has corrected or mitigated 29 of the 98 information security weaknesses that GAO reported as unresolved at the time of its last review. For example, IRS implemented controls for user IDs for certain critical servers, improved physical protection for its procurement system, developed a security plan for a key financial system, and upgraded servers that had been using obsolete operating systems. In addition, IRS established enterprise-wide objectives for improving information security, including initiatives for protecting and encrypting data, securing information technology assets, and building security into new applications. However, about 70 percent of the previously identified information security weaknesses remain unresolved. For example, IRS continues to, among other things, use passwords that are not complex, grant excessive access to individuals who do not need it, and install patches in an untimely manner.

In addition to this limited progress, other significant weaknesses in various controls continue to threaten the confidentiality and availability of IRS’s financial processing systems and information, and limit assurance of the integrity and reliability of its financial and taxpayer information. IRS has not consistently implemented effective controls to prevent, limit, or detect unauthorized access to computing resources from within its internal network. For example, IRS did not always (1) enforce strong password management for properly identifying and authenticating users, (2) authorize user access to only permit access needed to perform job functions, (3) encrypt sensitive data, (4) effectively monitor changes on its mainframe, and (5) physically protect its computer resources. In addition, IRS faces risks to its financial and taxpayer information due to weaknesses in implementing its configuration management policies, as well as appropriately segregating incompatible job duties. Accordingly, GAO has reported a material weakness in IRS’s internal controls over its financial and tax processing systems. A key reason for the weaknesses is that the agency has not yet fully implemented its agency-wide information security program to ensure that controls are effectively established and maintained. As a result, IRS is at increased risk of unauthorized disclosure, modification, or destruction of financial and taxpayer information.

This report is addressed to the Acting Commissioner of Internal Revenue, one Ms. Stiff.

IRS Needs to Address Pervasive Information Security Weaknesses, says GAO