Good Question

Uncle Sam Is No Imam – NYTimes.com. In each of these cases, counterterrorism has put officials on a collision course with Islamic thought and practice — and, perhaps more dangerously, with the Constitution. The First Amendment prohibits government action “respecting an establishment of religion.”

Islamic allies help Western agencies infiltrate al-Qaida » Knoxville News Sentinel. The case of Rahman, which Shah recounted to The Associated Press, falls in line with a key aspect of the fight against terror – Western intelligence agencies, with help from Islamic allies, are placing moles and informants inside al-Qaida and the Taliban. The program seems to be bearing fruit, even as many infiltrators like Rahman are discovered and killed.

Inbox Influence reveals your connections’ connections » Nieman Journalism Lab » Pushing to the Future of Journalism. A new tool from the Sunlight Foundation would seem to seek to tweak that paradigm. It’s called Inbox Influence, a Gmail plugin that requires exactly one step: installing it. When an email message arrives — from a company, a political candidate, a PR person, your aunt — you’ll see statistics about that entity’s political connections. The plugin detects names in body text, email addresses, and links.