Our picks this weekIran Probably Already Has the Bomb | Why Pirates Attack | Shoring Up the Metals Supply Chain, and more
Extremism & terrorism
· Bum-Rushing Extremists from the Military Might Not Help
· Domestic Extremism Is Most ‘Lethal and Persistent’ Terrorism Threat to U.S., Says Mayorkas
· What Conspiracy Theorists Don’t Believe
· How Truth Seekers Took Over the Internet
· Capitol Riot Suspects Are on a PR Blitz
· Four People Matching Terror Watchlist Arrested at Border
· American Soldiers Help Mozambique Battle an Expanding ISIS Affiliate
· U.S. Soldier Pleads Not Guilty to Plotting ISIS Attacks on NYC Landmarks
· UCLA Student Charged in Capitol Riot Took Inspiration from Online Extremist
· We Shouldn’t Forget the Horrific Crimes of ISIS Returnees
· Police Shrugged Off the Proud Boys, Until They Attacked the Capitol
· U.S. Far-Right Extremists Making Millions Via Social Media and Cryptocurrency
· Riot Suspects Bear-Sprayed Capitol Cop Brian Sicknick in the Face Before He Died: Prosecutors
More picks
· Iran Probably Already Has the Bomb. Here’s What to Do about It
· Why This Wave of Anti-Asian Racism Feels Different
· Veselnitskaya’s Trump Tower Coverup Linked to Secret Russian Chemical Weapons Program
· A Striking Rebuke to Trump Team’s Claims about China’s Election Interference
· America Is Petroleum-Independent, for Now
· Senate Panel Delves into SolarWinds Hack
· What the Biden Administration Gets Right and Wrong on ICT in the New Supply Chain Executive Order
· Time for Answers About Those Intelligence Reports DHS Filed About Me
· Anti-Asian Attacks Rise along with Online Vitriol
· Senate Democrats Call on DHS for Details on Response to Portland Protests
· For U.S. Cyber Defense, Helpful Hackers Are Only Half the Battle
· New Global Model Needed to Dismantle Ransomware Gangs, Experts Warn
· FBI Warns That Deepfakes Will Be Used Increasingly in Foreign Influence Operations
· In a Year of Racial and Political Turmoil, This Black Gun Group Is Booming
· Computing Advances, AI Make Waves for Flood Software at DHS
· Spectrum: The Pathway of the 21st Century
· Why Pirates Attack: Geospatial Evidence
· Researchers Find New Way to Locate Untapped Rare Earths Deposits Worldwide
· Why Pirates Attack: Geospatial Evidence
· Officials: A Dam in Oregon Could Fail in a Large Earthquake
· America’s Coronavirus Catastrophe Began with Data
· 5 Strategies to Prepare Now for the Next Pandemic
· White House Weighs New Cybersecurity Approach after Failure to Detect Hacks
· Police Shrugged Off the Proud Boys, Until They Attacked the Capitol
· A Border Community, ICE at Odds over Release of Detainees with Covid
· Killer Tulips Hiding in Plain Sight
· How Norway Is Folding Civilians into National Defense
· Buffalo Public Schools Cancels Classes after Cyberattack
Extremism & terrorism
Bum-Rushing Extremists from the Military Might Not Help (Todd C. Helmus, Ryan Andrew Brown, and Rajeev Ramchand, Defense One)
Interviews with a former neo-Nazi indicate that pre-discharge education and deradicalization might hinder extremist groups’ recruiting efforts.
Domestic Extremism Is Most ‘Lethal and Persistent’ Terrorism Threat to U.S., Says Mayorkas (Melissa Holzberg, Forbes)
The most “lethal and persistent terrorism-related threat” to the United States is domestic, ideologically motivated extremism, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in his opening remarks at a hearing before the House Homeland Security Committee. Mayorkas said that since the September 11 attacks, the threat landscape against the U.S. has substantially “evolved” to the point that foreign terrorism is no longer the chief concern of DHS. Mayorkas said the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol was a “searing example” of the threat the country faces. DHS announced in February that it would provide $77 million to state and local governments to combat domestic violent extremism. At the time Mayorkas wrote in a statement that “the most significant terrorist threat facing the nation comes from lone offenders and small groups” whose violent acts are motivated by “extremist ideological beliefs.” President Joe Biden directed intelligence officials to study domestic violent extremism shortly after his inauguration. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said the assessment would clarify if new methods are needed to combat domestic extremism. FBI Director Christopher Wray told the House Homeland Security Committee in September that “racially motivated violent extremism” accounted for the largest number of domestic terrorism cases the FBI handled in the last year.
What Conspiracy Theorists Don’t Believe (Tim Harford, The Atlantic)
Distinguishing excessive doubt from excessive belief can help inform how to bring a conspiracy theorist back to reality.
How Truth Seekers Took Over the Internet (Kaitlyn Tiffany, The Atlantic)
What happens to conspiracy theorists when they lose interest in the actual theories?
Capitol Riot Suspects Are on a PR Blitz (Will Sommer, Daily Beast)
In the right-wing media, they’re innocent victims.
