The administration of President Barack Obama, when boasting about Obama’s record on openness and transparency, regularly cites how it is now releasing White House visitor logs. It has been an “achievement” the administration explicitly mentions during Sunshine Week, a week where journalists and open government advocates celebrate transparency in government. During an event this week, [...]

The administration of President Barack Obama released a strategy aimed at protecting trade secrets. As White House press secretary Jay Carney stated, the strategy aims to “protect the innovation that drives the American economy and supports jobs in the United States.” He said, “We know that trade secret theft can cripple a company’s competitive advantage [...]

Dozens of people demonstrated in front of the White House to protest construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, which is being built by the multinational corporation TransCanada. Forty-eight of them engaged in civil disobedience and were arrested. Those arrested included: Michael Brune, executive director of the Sierra Club; Allison Chin, president of the Sierra Club; Bill McKibben, [...]

Three participants in the Civil Disobedience Action, wait to be processed in front of the White House on August 20th, 2011. (photo: Tar Sands Action) A major two-week action involving daily sit-ins at the White House against the granting of a permit for the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline began Saturday. Just over seventy people [...]

The White House has released its strategy for “countering violent extremism in the United States.” The strategy seeks to encourage the development and use of community approaches to addressing “all types of extremism that lead to violence, regardless of who inspires it.” It immediately makes clear that Muslim Americans have “categorically condemned terrorism” and have [...]