U.S. Intelligence Agency News
The Daily Signal provides coverage of intelligence operations, surveillance controversies, and the role of U.S. agencies in national security and civil liberties.
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opinion
A Question for Harvard: Who Actually Wins From Racial Preferences?
Sarah, a young African-American woman I’ve known for more than a decade, will apply soon to college. She’s gifted, motivated, and wise beyond her years. Sarah (not her real name) thrived in a neighborhood beset by sexual predators, addiction, and crime. I hope admissions officers will take into account the social and economic hardships she… -
news
Family Physicians Association Breaks Ranks, No Longer Opposes Assisted Suicide
The American Academy of Family Physicians announced Tuesday that it no longer opposes physician-assisted suicide, instead taking a neutral perspective on the matter. AAFP’s adoption of “engaged neutrality” regarding physician-assisted suicide signals a marked splinter from the American Medical Association. AAFP President Michael Munger announced the change. The committee also recommended the procedure be referred to as "medical aid in… -
opinion
E15’s Not the Problem. Special Treatment for Ethanol Is.
The Trump administration’s intention to authorize year-round sale of gasoline blended with a 15 percent ethanol mixture, announced Monday, perpetuates bad energy policy, both economically and environmentally. Having more options in what you buy is usually a good thing. However, E15, as it’s called, wouldn’t exist without mandates, subsidies, and preferential treatment from the federal… -
opinion
On a Slippery Slope, Canadian Hospital Unveils Physician-Assisted Suicide Plan for ‘Sick Kids’
Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children recently unveiled a plan for how to terminate the lives of terminally ill kids—with or without parental consent. This next step for physician-assisted suicide in Canada is shocking, yet unsurprising, given international trends. European countries that have legalized physician-assisted suicide frequently expand the practice from the elderly or terminally ill… -
opinion
Filipino Leader Is Pushing a Socialist Constitution. It Makes a Mockery of Liberty.
As U.S. politics heats up this fall, across the Pacific Ocean a political battle is unfolding in the Philippines that should interest citizens here in the United States. In 2016, Filipino President Rodrigo Duterte began speaking of federalism as a means to calm unrest in the island nation. In January of this year, he appointed… -
news
Poll: Almost a Third of Millennials Identify as Socialists
Thirty-one percent of millennials identify as a democratic socialist or socialist, according to a study by Maru/Blue and BuzzFeed News released Thursday. Participants were first asked what description “best reflects your current political leanings,” before being given options ranging from “Strong Democrat,” to “Strong Republican” or “Independent.” A total of 22 percent identified as “Strong Democrat,” versus 10… -
opinion
Why Leftists Feel Entitled to Block Highways, Shut Down Speakers, and Harass Public Officials
When I was in graduate school, I learned a lot about the left. One lesson was that while most liberals and conservatives abide by society’s rules of order and decency, most leftists do not feel bound to live by these same rules. I watched the way leftist Vietnam War protesters treated fellow students and professors…. -
opinion
Brexit Is Around the Corner. Here’s a Key Step to Renew the US-UK Special Relationship.
It is undeniable that the United States and the United Kingdom have a “special relationship.” Throughout periods of global change, and in times of tumult and war, the Anglo-American relationship has been constant. We have stood beside each other through two world wars, the Cold War, and now in our confrontation with global terrorism in… -
opinion
Ideal US-UK Free Trade Agreement Supports the Special Relationship
A group of 11 conservative and libertarian think tanks on Sept. 18 launched “The Ideal U.S.-U.K. Free Trade Agreement: A Free Trader’s Perspective.” Published by the Cato Institute, and its primary authors, Dan Ikenson and Simon Lester of Cato, it is not a plan for a free trade area, or a plea for one. It… -
opinion
Some Are More Equal Than Others in Socialist Venezuela
It’s amazing how similarly “real” socialism turns out, every time it’s tried. In George Orwell’s book, “Animal Farm”—essentially the story of the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia, told through farm animals—there is an incredible moment where the animals, who suffer under the system of communism that they’ve created, come to a horrible realization that everything has… -
opinion
I’m a Pediatrician. Here’s What You Should Know About a New Study on Transgender Suicide.
A new study is out that examines the risk of suicide among transgender teens. The results confirm a long pattern of data: Transgender teens attempt suicide more frequently than adolescents generally. Unfortunately, this data may be used to pressure parents to put their children through radical transition-affirming therapies. This would be a serious mistake. The… -
opinion
A Federal Court Just Limited Your First Amendment Right to Freely Associate
Should you be forced to disclose your charitable donations to the government? Is it an invasion of your privacy and a violation of your First Amendment rights if the government requires nonprofit membership organizations that you join and contribute to—such as the NAACP, NARAL Pro-Choice America, the National Right to Life Committee, or Americans for… -
opinion
Special Interests Are Getting Rich Off Our Politics. Here’s How.
The next time you feel the urge to join a major protest to condemn the elite, powerful forces who are supposedly making your lives worse, don’t bother. The event is most likely organized by elite, powerful forces who are getting rich off your activism while you don’t make a dime or a dime’s worth of… -
opinion
The Ugly Culture Legalizing Physician-Assisted Suicide Would Create
On World Suicide Prevention Day, Sept. 10, we recognize suicide as the tragedy it is. Yet at this very moment, activists are agitating to expand—not to prevent—physician-assisted suicide. This practice promotes the idea that some lives are more valuable than others, an idea that rips apart the social fabric of our nation. No one should… -
opinion
An Obama Judge Said Michigan’s Voting Law Was Racially Motivated. A Higher Court Disagrees.
Sanity has prevailed in the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. A three-judge panel of that court, in very strong language, has stayed the absurd decision of an Obama-appointed judge, Gershwin A. Drain, who threw out the Michigan Legislature’s decision to eliminate straight-ticket voting for supposedly violating the Constitution and the Voting Rights Act. Michigan… -
opinion
The Law Shouldn’t Give Gov. Cuomo Special Treatment
There’s been no news from New York about Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s little eagle feather and his big mistake of law. And no news is bad news for the rule of law. Congress should take note. In a speech last month, Cuomo inadvertently discussed violating a federal statute, the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, when… -
opinion
How the ‘Uber Eats’ Mentality Pushes Millennials Toward Socialism
Need new headphones? Amazon. Need to get across town? Uber. Need a date? Tinder. Need to end world poverty? Socialism. What do these all have in common? They are quick fixes to problems we face daily—things we need or like to confront in a timely manner. But how are they different? The first three work, the… -
opinion
Racial Discrimination at Harvard and America’s ‘Elite’ Universities
The Justice Department made news on Thursday when it filed a “statement of interest” in a long-running lawsuit against Harvard University that supported claims of Asian-American students that the university is discriminating in its admission process. In fact, the evidence uncovered during the discovery process of the pending lawsuit seems overwhelming that Harvard is violating the Civil… -
opinion
What to Do About the Growing Popularity of Socialism
Twenty-eight-year-old democratic socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez jumped into the national spotlight when she defeated longtime Congressman Joseph Crowley in the New York Democratic primary in June. Many view her, along with socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., as carrying the mantle for a renewed socialist trend in the United States among millennials. Indeed, socialism enjoys stronger support… -
news
Senate Ramping Up Trump Judicial Confirmations This Week
Since March, Senate Democrats have forced 30 hours of debate on each of five of President Donald Trump’s federal district court judge nominees subsequently approved with at least 95 votes. District court judges—the first jurists to rule on often contentious cases—have been stalled, but Senate Republicans plan this week to keep the Senate in session…