The US Air Force (USAF) at the end of 1967 started to air-drop around 20,000 micro sensors into a country bordering Vietnam to be monitored by an IBM mainframe, in order to help direct US airstrikes. The project was an expensive disaster that became a foundation for US domestic military surveillance of non-whites. It had … Continue reading USAF Operation Igloo White→
For several years I have tried to speak openly about why I find it disappointing that analysts rely heavily (sometimes exclusively) on language to determine who is a foreigner. Back in 2011 I criticized McAfee for their rather awful analysis of language. They are making some funny and highly improbable assumptions: … The attackers used … Continue reading How the NSA Can Tell if You Are a Foreigner→
Full disclosure: I spent my undergraduate and graduate degree time researching the ethics of intervention with a focus on the Horn of Africa. One of the most difficult questions to answer was how to define colonialism. Take Ethiopia, for example. It was never colonized and yet the British invaded, occupied and controlled it from 1940-1943 … Continue reading Cyber-Colonialism and Beliefs About Global Development→
I am happy to see Secretary of State, John Kerry, saying in the Washington Post that America needs to help Africa with difficult decisions that lie ahead: The best untold story of the last decade may be the story of Africa. Real income has increased more than 30 percent, reversing two decades of decline. Seven … Continue reading US Wants to Help Africa on the Rise→