Picture a swarm of drones entering a village programmed to fly without a human operator with instructions to shoot or immobilize anyone it deems to be holding a weapon. While this might sound like a scene from Lana Wachowski’s latest Matrix film, the technology to build these killer robots is already here. Unless states act [...]
Search Results for: 2013-04-24
Earlier this month, a digital currency based on the Netflix series “Squid Game” soared in value before collapsing dramatically as its promoters quickly pulled out their funds in what is known as a “rug pull.” The website promoting the cryptocurrency was only three weeks old and was littered with grammatical errors, tell-tale signs that it [...]
Egypt court sentences 24 people to death over alleged murder of police officers
An Egyptian court on Thursday sentenced 24 Muslim Brotherhood members to death over their alleged involvement in two diverse terrorist attacks that resulted in the death of 4 police officers. The news of these convictions was released in the state-owned Al-Ahram newspaper. The first of the two convictions, both of which have been delivered by the [...]
Most people in our societies identify as male or female, a man or a woman; but there have been people around the globe in different eras that have claimed other identities regarding their gender identity and have put this binary under challenge. Alternative genders across the globe demonstrate examples of cross-cultural gender diversity. In a [...]
Defend Democracy Before It’s Too Late: A One-Page Bill Would Do It
America faces unprecedented and existential threats to voting rights, free and fair elections, and the very future of our democracy. Congress must take urgent action now — well within its constitutional powers — to stop these threats in their tracks. All it would take is a simple one-page bill. I have proposed a draft here. [...]
Russia’s Responsibility for the Hack on the US Pipeline Under International Law
In May 2021, a major American energy pipeline faced a massive cyber-attack that caused the US to lose 1.2 million barrels of fuel a day. Shortly after the attack, US intelligence found that the party responsible for the attack was from Russia. However, in terms of the Russian government’s involvement in the hack, US President [...]
American Nuclear Strategy: A Complex Problem of Law and Intellect
“In the end, we still depend upon creatures of our own making.” -Goethe, Faust On core matters of national security, American analysts should think in terms of intellectual and legal criteria. Ignoring the day-to-day banalities of national and international politics, these strategists and policy-makers ought continuously to bear in mind that such primary standards may [...]
South Korea Supreme Court upholds 20-year prison sentence for impeached former president
The Supreme Court of South Korea on Thursday upheld a 20-year prison sentence for former President Park Guen-hye who was convicted on charges of abuse of power, bribery and coercion in 2018. The rejection of Park’s appeal exhausts all legal remedies, leaving open only the option of a special presidential pardon by incumbent President Moon [...]
Wednesday’s decision by the D.C. Circuit granting General Mike Flynn’s petition for mandamus is a dangerous precedent. In directing US District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan to grant DOJ’s motion to dismiss the false statement charges against Flynn, the court disrupted orderly court proceedings. While I believe DOJ would have ultimately prevailed in due course, the [...]
Flynn Argument in D.C. Circuit: Is the Ball Back in Judge Sullivan's Court?
The D.C. Circuit held oral argument on Friday on General Mike Flynn’s mandamus to Judge Emmet Sullivan to grant the Department of Justice (DOJ) Motion to Dismiss false statement charges against Flynn (see my preview, discussed here). A majority of the panel seemed to believe Judge Sullivan should take the first crack at deciding DOJ’s [...]