Thor Benson on Muck Rack

Thor Benson

The Moon
As seen in: Madness Newsletter, Medium, MSN, Bloomberg CityLab, Business Insider, Business Insider Singapore, HuffPost, MSN Money Canada, MSN South Africa, MSN UK, Yahoo Canada and
Journalist. Newsletter: madness.ghost.io
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21st Century Dissidents: Two Activists Speak

21st Century Dissidents: Two Activists Speak

Rolling Stone — Young activists in 2015 face a landscape unfamiliar to most veteran dissenters. Technology has helped them organize and gain attention - but it's also created a new platform for their foes to attack them. And with corporate control over their government and institutions only growing, the American dream they were promised has started to look like a distant spot on the horizon. Cecily McMillan is a 25-year-old activist who spent 58 days in New York's Rikers Island jail for allegedly striking an officer after her breast was grabbed from behind during an Occupy protest in 2012.
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'Secret' Trade Pact Stirs Up Suspicion: Thor Benson

'Secret' Trade Pact Stirs Up Suspicion: Thor Benson

truthdig.com — The new Republican majority in Congress is oiling its trickle-down economics machine in the hope of passing the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), an action that would have far-reaching impact. The TPP is a massive and secretive trade agreement that would bring together the United States, Australia, Peru, Malaysia, Japan, Vietnam, Chile, Singapore, New Zealand, Canada, Mexico and Brunei. The U.S. has strongly supported its passage since talks began in 2010. If the pact is adopted, all countries involved will have to adhere to its rules, meaning some of their existing laws could be nullified and replaced by the dictates of the agreement.
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Can America's Desert Cities Adapt Before They Dry Out And Die?

Can America's Desert Cities Adapt Before They Dry Out And Die?

Fast Company — Los Angeles traffic is worse than usual as hordes of parched citizens evacuate a concrete tomb that once supported millions of lives. Savvy entrepreneurs are selling bottled water from wheeled coolers for $40 a piece. Windshields are caked with desert dust and cars are overheating. The city is nearly engulfed by wildfires. People swarm slowly moving cars after they abandon their own on the road, because the gas stations have gone dry from overuse. Children eat canned food; it's all they have left. America is unlikely to let a city slip into that sort of dystopic future.
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PTSD and Pot: The Fight to Get Veterans Some Weed

PTSD and Pot: The Fight to Get Veterans Some Weed

Rolling Stone — American soldiers and veterans diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder are often given a duffle bag of drugs, from antidepressants like Zoloft and Paxil to any number of highly addictive opioids. Doctors who work with these soldiers in Veterans Affairs clinics are encouraged to prescribe such medications, and any thought of prescribing alternative medicine that has not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration is generally forbidden. But some doctors break the chain. Sue Sisley is a psychiatrist who's worked with veterans for 20 years. While she has never smoked marijuana herself, she's heard how it can work from some of her patients who use it on their own to treat PTSD.
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Gun-Sensor Technology Could Make It Easier to Hold Cops Accountable for Shootings

Gun-Sensor Technology Could Make It Easier to Hold Cops Accountable for Shootings

Slate — Since the grand jury decided not to indict Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson for the killing of Michael Brown, Brown's family has urged their supporters to work to put cameras on police officers. That could be a great step toward convicting officers who act abusively and adding transparency to cop-citizen interactions. However, the system is set up in a way where police officers have an advantage in cases brought against them, and body cams won't fix everything. But other technologies could further help level the playing field.
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The Briefcases That Imitate Cell Phone Towers

The Briefcases That Imitate Cell Phone Towers

The Atlantic — In the last year, Americans have become more and more aware of the scope and prevalence of tracking technology. From Snowden's revelations about the National Security Agency to privacy breaches, the fact that the government and law enforcement agents can track people's movement and data has ignited a debate about just how much privacy people are willing to give up in the name of law and order. Recently a new piece of technology used by police departments has come into focus: the Stingray. The Stingray is a briefcase-size device manufactured by Florida-based telecommunications company Harris Corporation.
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The War on Terror Has Turned Ethiopia Into a Surveillance State

The War on Terror Has Turned Ethiopia Into a Surveillance State

Vice — Image: Shutterstock There's a knock at your door. You open it, only to find several grave-looking police officers accusing you of a crime you didn't commit. They pull out records of your most recent phone calls and tie you to your alleged co-conspirator, and now you're screwed. This is Ethiopia. According to a recent Human Rights Watch (HRW) report, Ethiopian surveillance of phones and emails is rampant. Eskinder Nega, a journalist and dissident blogger, reports being shown emails, text messages, and phone recordings when approached by Ethiopian police who were investigating him.
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