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Category Archives: Defense

Trump’s criminal conviction won’t stop him from getting security clearance as president

Via LLRX – Trump’s criminal conviction won’t stop him from getting security clearance as president – Law professor Dakota Rudesill explains that because Trump was elected to a second term, he will again have expansive access to classified information and control over it as of noon on Jan. 20, 2025, when his term begins. He will also have control over secrets and clearances available to others. The American electorate made that decision.

GAO Congressional and Presidential Transition Resources

[On November 5, 2024] Americans voted for members of the 119th Congress and a new president. Representatives and senators will be sworn in on Friday, January 3. As they take office, our nation faces many significant challenges—including those that threaten national security, financial stability, public health, and more. Our work here at GAO highlights some… Continue Reading

What are Americans afraid of?

“The Chapman Survey of American Fears has asked Americans about their greatest fears (almost) almost every year since 2015…The top ten often shifts in response to recent events, such as the 55% who reported being afraid of the “American Healthcare Act/Trumpcare” in 2017. Yet the one thing most Americans say they’re afraid of has remained… Continue Reading

Threatening ‘the enemy within’ with force: Military ethicists explain the danger to important American traditions

Via LLRX – Threatening ‘the enemy within’ with force: Military ethicists explain the danger to important American traditions – Marcus Hedahl, Professor of Philosophy, United States Naval Academy and Bradley Jay Strawser, Professor of Philosophy, Naval Postgraduate School worry that Trump’s actions while president, and his comments about his plans for a potential second term,… Continue Reading

Foreign Malign Election Meddling Persists but Struggles to Gain Traction

Foundation for the Defense of Democracies (FDD): “In September 2024, FDD published a report documenting Russian, Chinese, and Iranian influence operations targeting the 2024 U.S. elections. This follow-up report details the ongoing efforts of U.S. adversaries who seek to undermine voters’ confidence in the electoral process in the weeks leading up to the November election.… Continue Reading

Is It Fascism? A Leading Historian Changes His Mind

The New York Times unlocked article Robert Paxton thought the label was overused. But now he’s alarmed by what he sees in global politics — including Trumpism…Paxton, who is 92, is one of the foremost American experts on fascism and perhaps the greatest living American scholar of mid-20th-century European history. His 1972 book, “Vichy France:… Continue Reading

Online Talk About ‘Civil War’ Could Inspire Real-World Violence, DHS Warns Cops

Wired [unpaywalled]: “The agency also cautioned that it’s unable to get a grasp on the full scale of the threat, due to extremists increasingly using encrypted chat tools…Last month, the agency’s intelligence office emphasized in a report that “perceptions of voter fraud” had risen to become a primary “trigger” for the “mobilization to violence.” This… Continue Reading

The National Security Case for Public AI

Vanderbilt Policy Accelerator:  In a recent op-ed in the Washington Post, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman posed a simple but striking question: “Who will control the future of AI?” Altman frames the choice as between two futures: “Will it be one in which the United States and allied nations advance a global AI that spreads the… Continue Reading

The Civil Rights Implications of Federal Use of Facial Recognition Technology

The Civil Rights Implications of the Federal Use of Facial Recognition Technology. September 19, 2024. Meaningful federal guidelines and oversight for responsible FRT use have lagged behind the application of this technology in real-world scenarios. With the advent of biometric technology and its widespread use by both private and government entities, the Commission studied how… Continue Reading

We Underfunded Our Libraries Once. It Almost Lost Us World War II

TIME – Graham is a historian and professor at Stony Brook University. – Her latest book is BOOK AND DAGGER: How Scholars and Librarians Became the Unlikely Spies of World War II: “2024 has seen many devastating budget cuts to libraries. Earlier this year, New York City’s Mayor Eric Adams proposed to cut more than… Continue Reading

Today is the 23rd anniversary of the Sept. 11 terror attacks

AP – US commemorates 9/11 attacks with victims in focus and politics in view – “The U.S. is remembering the lives taken and those reshaped by 9/11, marking an anniversary laced with presidential campaign politics as President Joe Biden, former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris stood together in the plaza where the… Continue Reading

In Tied Presidential Race, Harris and Trump Have Contrasting Strengths, Weaknesses

“Ahead of the scheduled Sept. 10 presidential debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump, the presidential race is deadlocked. About half of registered voters (49%) say if the election were held today, they would vote for Harris, while an identical share say they would back Trump. With less than two months… Continue Reading