In this case, a U.S. District Judge Katherine Forrest found in a lawsuit last week that Section 1021 of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) was unconstitutional. That’s the bit about “indefinite detention” — a term only Orwell would love but one used so freely by some in modern America. The ruling is a solid body blow to the Obama Administration and may help thwart their intent to make it perfectly legal and socially acceptable to jail American citizens forever with absolutely no due process whatsoever. They already assert the right to kill American citizens — and have done so at least three times — with no due process whatsoever but at least in this case a group of plaintiffs and a judge have poked back with a significant challenge. The ruling is only temporary but at least it will force the administration’s hand on appeal.

Congratulations to Chris Hedges for leading this effort. He’s one of a relatively small group of people willing to take on this president. And considering the extreme actions of this administration, I’d say Hedges and his colleagues are brave souls. Links: A Victory for All of Us, Truthdigger of the Week: U.S. District Judge Katherine Forrest, Unconstitutional NDAA Provision Blocked By Federal Judge, Journalist, Plaintiff Chris Hedges Hails “Monumental” Ruling Blocking NDAA Indefinite Detention, Federal court enjoins NDAA.

“They can lie to us, and we don’t do lie detector tests,” said outgoing JAMA editor Catherine DeAngelis, who said her publication gets thousands of submissions a year and doesn’t have the time or money to hire another staff member to check up on conflict-of-interest disclosures. And if she had the money for one more staffer? “Believe me,” she said, “it wouldn’t be for that.”

So, conflicts of interest in the scientific/medical literature are not important. Look away. Good to know.