Via FuturePundit, who observes that this is really much more broadly about lie detection than counterterrorism as such, note this press release from Northwestern University: For the first time, the Northwestern researchers used the P300 testing in a mock terrorism scenario in which the subjects are planning, rather than perpetrating, a crime. The P300 brain […]
Author Archive | Kenneth Anderson
Keith Hennessey Explains the White House Policy Process
As a law professor who lives and works in DC, and frequently interacts with folks in various parts of the federal government, I should probably know the bureaucratic structure and process for executive-branch policy making than I do. But I’ve never actually worked in the federal government, and I found this discussion by Keith Hennessey […]
Tony Judt, Ave Atque Vale
I note with sorrow the passing of historian Tony Judt at the far too early age of 62. He was a tremendous writer and historian, shrewd and penetrating. I did not share his social democratic politics, and less still his disdain for American conservatism, or his views on American foreign policy or Israel, sure, but […]
New Twists in Chevron Ecuador Case and Charges of Collusion
In the midst of so much other legal news in the past few days, you might have missed the latest twist in the on-going saga of the legal case regarding Chevron’s Ecuador operations. My co-blogger at Opinio Juris Roger Alford explains. It is fascinating reading, reaching far beyond international or transnational law issues, going as […]
ACLU and CCR Sue US Government over Al-Awlaki Defense
By Kenneth Anderson on August 3, 2010 9:39 pm in Targeted Killing, War and Armed Conflict, War on Terror
Adam Serwer has a post up flagging a new suit by the ACLU and the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) against the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) over funds expended over the question of whether the Obama administration can designate and then target Al-Awlaki as a terrorist hiding out presumably in Yemen. […]
Search and Rescue and the Spread of UAVs Through Civilian Uses
Although officially offline and on vacation, I thought I would share one conversation with one of the rangers here in the national park. She remarked that the ranger services – national parks, national forest, etc. – had been watching with great interest the growth of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in civilian use. So far this […]
Ken Is Off the Grid
More or less. The Anderson family is out west at the moment, combining some college visits for our daughter with a little bit – a far too little bit – of hiking in the Sierra Nevada, up out of Bishop on the eastern side, on God’s finest highway, Highway 395. Daughter will do some climbing […]
The International Court of Justice Sort of Rules for Kosovo
The International Court of Justice was asked for an advisory opinion on the question of Kosovo’s secession declaration. The request came from the General Assembly, as drafted by Serbia, and the framing of the question is partly why I title the post “sort of” rules for Kosovo. The question was framed as whether the secession […]
A Note to All the Non-JList Reporters, and a Response from Henry Farrell
(Update: Henry Farrell, GW professor and blogger at Crooked Timber, also someone who I respect a lot despite some disagreements, dropped me a note about this and gave me permission to post it. I have put it up at the end of the post, and I would ask you not to comment unless you have […]
CIA Names New National Clandestine Service Chief
CIA director Leon Panetta has named a new National Clandestine Service chief, reports Peter Finn in the Washington Post today. The new chief, John Bennett, has been serving as station chief in Pakistan, overseeing in particular the expansion of the drone campaign carried out by the CIA there. One may take that as further evidence that […]
Are There Property Rights in Rings of Power? Or … ‘My Precious’
A question for Ilya! Given that the gods have at least some property rights, I can’t help but wonder about property rights and the Rings of Power. Does the ring belong to you … or do you belong to the ring?
Deepening US Special Ops Forces in Pakistan
By Kenneth Anderson on July 20, 2010 11:59 pm in Targeted Killing, Uncategorized, War and Armed Conflict
Julian Barnes has a good story in today’s Wall Street Journal on the expanding and deepening boots on the ground role of US special operations forces in the Pakistan border region. It is well sourced and reported, and overall points to a deeper cooperation with the Pakistan military. I wanted to flag a couple of […]
Mormons in the Financial Times
James Crabtree has an interesting profile in the Financial Times on the “new generation of Mormons” as a global religion and one whose members are increasingly part of global elites in business, finance, government, in many places around the world. It is a religion that in many ways has long since transcended its Utah foundations […]
Leviathan
By Kenneth Anderson on July 16, 2010 12:16 am in Academia, Legal Scholarship, Literature, Uncategorized
One of these days I will take the plunge and compose a “greatest influences” books list, as some of the other Conspirators have done. I have hesitated in part because my list would not tend to contain works of monumental ideas, but instead plays, works of fiction, poetry, and fragments that are not always blockbusters […]
Robots and Cyberattacks, Both! Surrogates, the Movie
As many of our readers know, I have long been fascinated by robotics, and have a particular interest in battlefield robotics and related questions of law. I felt I was late to the cyberwarfare field – and don’t know enough about it – and so have left it for others. But robotics … well! Robotics […]