Last week, following U.S. President Donald Trump's speech on Afghanistan, Erik Prince, founder of the controversial mercenary contractor firm Blackwater, said that Trump would soon have to rethink what he described as "a kind of Obama-lite policy." Now, however, it appears that it is Prince who is rethinking his policy proposal, or at least his … Continue reading After Trump speech, Blackwater founder still pushing Afghanistan mercenary plan
Month: August 2017
It's no surprise that tech companies such as Google and GoDaddy came under pressure to drop clients such as the neo-Nazi website the Daily Stormer following extremist violence in Charlottesville earlier this month. But given the ongoing controversies over internet censorship not only in the United States but around the world, it is also understandable … Continue reading Tech companies, governments cracking down on free speech online
In places like Pakistan, people have grudgingly learned to live with the psychological impact of omnipresent drones. They may hate and fear the incessant buzzing of the unmanned aerial vehicles overhead -- and hate the United States all the more for having to hear it -- but on a daily basis there's not much one … Continue reading Military drones could replace police helicopters within a decade
In the wake of the 2016 U.S. election, Wikileaks and its founder Julian Assange have become, if possible, even more controversial than they were previously. Yet their latest contribution to the political chaos swirling in Washington may set some kind of new record. In March, Wikileaks began publishing a trove of Central Intelligence Agency documents … Continue reading CIA spies on ‘liaison services’ — including other US intel community members?
This week, Reuters published a lengthy three part series on deaths linked to police use of Tasers, the "less lethal" stun gun weapons that have become ubiquitous among law enforcement agencies in the United States over the past two decades or so. While the series, "Shock Tactics" is worth reading in its entirety, for … Continue reading Tasers linked to hundreds of deaths despite company denials
The United States' military has been in Afghanistan for nearly 16 years. Yet details of the situation today in that country tend to remain unclear to many Americans, as the war has long faded into the background of the often asinine 24-hour news cycle. While U.S. civilians should probably pay more attention to their country's … Continue reading Thousands more U.S. troops stationed overseas than previously acknowledged
Recent revelations that U.S. diplomats in Cuba were allegedly targeted with some kind of "sonic weapon" of mysterious origin appear even more alarming this week, as reports emerge that the victims had received diagnoses as serious as "mild traumatic brain injury," beyond the previously reported symptoms such as hearing loss. The acoustic attacks on ten … Continue reading U.S. diplomats suffered ‘brain injury’ from sound weapon in Cuba
Several robot manufacturers were warned earlier this year of vulnerabilities in the security of their products, but most of the problems have yet to be fixed, the researchers who identified them say, according to Reuters. "In this research, we focused on home, business, and industrial robots, in addition to robot control software used by … Continue reading Robot makers haven’t fixed security flaws, researchers say
President Donald Trump gave a much-anticipated speech Monday "to lay out our path forward in Afghanistan and South Asia." But while many predicted a definite announcement of a troop increase in the long-running Afghanistan War, Trump was instead vague, seemingly leaving the door open to a privatized, mercenary contractor option that has been floated. "I’ve … Continue reading Trump offers vague Afghan strategy, leaves mercenary option on table
The U.S. military, building on the perceived success of its first "bug bounty" contest last year, has once again opened its cyber-defenses to scrutiny by outside hackers -- and this time not only by Americans. And, once again, the winner was a teenager. "Though inviting foreigners to hack military networks may sound unsafe, Air Force … Continue reading Pentagon opens ‘bug bounty’ to Five Eyes, teenager wins again
MirrorWilderness.com 