Notes on the struggle to keep the US government from going back on its promises of greater transparency. John Wonderlich writes.

Dean Baker returns to robots and jobs and leisure.

Can the public really have a say in how money is spent in their cities? Amir Campos thinks so in this interview with Diana Krebs.

Can technology help civic decision making? Ed Finkel says yes in this exploration of what works in open data.

Robert J. Burrowes considers a solution to the Syrian problem that requires no mourning mothers.

Priscilla Guo gives a brief history of the United States Espionage Act and how it has routinely been used to repress information.

Zuleyka Zavallos on abortion.

The political success of the Kurds – the colonized – has intimidated not just the authoritarian AKP and ultranationalist MHP but also the nationalist, secularist, so-called social democratic CHP. Deniz Yonucu reports.

Diane Krebs interviews Nicolas Kayser-Bril about data journalism and how citizens can use data to keep tabs on government corruption.

Dean Baker writes about the other partisan mythology about deficit: the balanced budget and Clinton’s surplus.