Slate Articles

We Need a Nuremberg Code for Big Data

Christine Rosen — Thu, 20 Jun 2013 11:17:00 GMT

Recent revelations about the federal government’s PRISM program have sparked widespread debate about the benefits and harms of state surveillance of Americans in the name of national security. But what about the surveillance we submit to in the service of more mundane activities, like improving children’s vocabularies or increasing student engagement in the classroom? This growing world of social-engineering surveillance has garnered far less attention and controversy but poses significant challenges to the future of privacy.

Sharing Is Caring

Emily Yoffe — Thu, 20 Jun 2013 10:15:00 GMT

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George W. Bush’s Great-Great-Great-Great-Grandfather Was a Slave Trader

Simon Akam — Thu, 20 Jun 2013 09:44:00 GMT

BUNCE ISLAND, Sierra Leone—Twelve American presidents owned slaves, eight while serving in office, and at least 25 presidents count slave owners among their ancestors. But new historical evidence shows that a direct ancestor of George W. and George H.W. Bush was part of a much more appalling group: Thomas Walker was a notorious slave trader active in the late 18^th century along the coast of West Africa.

Screen Capture

Farhad Manjoo — Thu, 20 Jun 2013 09:34:00 GMT

It’s difficult to overstate how completely we Americans are ruled by television. On a typical day, you and your fellow countrymen watch about four hours and 39 minutes of live TV, plus an additional 26 minutes of “time-shifted” (i.e., DVR’d) programming, according to Nielsen. That’s more time, by far, than we spend with any other technology: more than we surf the Web, more than we use our phones, more than we play video games. In a given week, the average American child will spend more than a full day—nearly 27 hours—in front of the tube. And children don’t even watch as much TV as adults. Generally, the older you get in America, the more television sucks you in. The average senior citizen spends more than two full days of every week in front of the TV.

Scandal 2.0

David Weigel — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 23:39:32 GMT

The single most important politician at Wednesday’s Tea Party rally against the Internal Revenue Service spoke for less than two minutes. He wasn’t drowned out by applause, either. Michigan Rep. Dave Camp was merely explaining how he was going to shoehorn the IRS scandal into the headlines and cable news chyrons again.

You Don’t Have the Right to Remain Silent

Brandon L. Garrett — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 22:05:09 GMT

On Monday, in a case called Salinas v. Texas that hasn’t gotten the attention it deserves, the Supreme Court held that you remain silent at your peril. The court said that this is true even before you’re arrested, when the police are just informally asking questions. The court’s move to cut off the right to remain silent is wrong and also dangerous—because it encourages the kind of high-pressure questioning that can elicit false confessions.

The Whitey Bulger Trial

Seth Stevenson — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 21:32:44 GMT

For the third straight day, blubbery Boston mob enforcer John Martorano perches on the witness stand, befouling the courthouse with his presence. For the second straight day, defense attorney Hank Brennan attempts to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Martorano is a demonic sociopath.

The Unkindest Cut?

Troy Patterson — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 20:47:46 GMT

Please send your questions for publication to gentlemanscholarslate@gmail.com. (Questions may be edited.)

Wiretaps and Drones Aren’t Everything

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 20:40:00 GMT

When we think of the war on terrorism, we tend to think about drone strikes, SEAL raids, Marine counterinsurgency campaigns, Guantanamo Bay, and, more recently, data mining and surveillance by the NSA.

Wait, Am I That Baseball Dad?

John Dickerson — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 20:22:30 GMT

For most of my son’s baseball game, the man in the red folding chair sitting behind me had been just a voice on the hill. Now he was my enemy. His son was pitching. Mine was batting. When my son fouled off the first pitch, the father was gleeful. When the second pitch was called a ball, he questioned the umpire. After a called strike, he roared: “He can’t hit you.” Impressive—he was trying to intimidate a 10-year-old batter. I wanted my son to get a hit to shut him up, or maybe a line drive foul to do so more directly. In the end, my son lined out to the shortstop.