• Birth Year Predicts Exposure to Gun Violence

    In long-term study, risk of getting shot or witnessing a shooting varied by respondents’ race, sex, and when they came of age. The study found that more than half of Black and Hispanic respondents witnessed a shooting by age 14 on average.

  • Students’ Troubling Reaction to School Violence Compounds the Problem

    Among U.S. high school students, the decision to carry a weapon to school is tied to experiencing violence at school, reports a new study. But weapons increase the potential for injury and death when there is interpersonal conflict, so understanding the relationship between exposure to violence and weapon carrying is essential for developing effective public health interventions.

  • What the Iraq War Can Teach the U.S. About Avoiding a Quagmire in Ukraine – 3 Key Lessons

    The Iraq and Ukraine wars have notable differences from a U.S. foreign policy perspective – chiefly, thousands of American soldiers died fighting in Iraq, while the U.S. does not have any ground troops in Ukraine. But assessing the Iraq War, and its long aftermath, can still help articulate concerns about the United States’ getting involved in intense violence in another faraway place.

  • Should Nine Oath Keepers Receive Terror-Enhanced Sentences?

    More than 1,000 people have now been charged with federal crimes stemming from the Capitol insurrection. Of them, about 665 have been convicted, and roughly 485 sentenced. Among the convicted are nine members of the extremist group Oath Keepers, six of whom were found guilty of seditious conspiracy. The government wants the judge to impose terror-enhanced sentences on the nine, but Roger Parloff writes that the government’s request seems excessive -  with one exception: Oath Keepers’ leader Elmer Stewart Rhodes. “A terrorism enhancement for him seems appropriate and, indeed, unavoidable.”

  • DC Police Officer Indicted for Leaking Information to Proud Boys Leader

    A DC police lieutenant was indicted on for leaking to Enrique Tarrio, the leader of The Proud Boys, information about a police investigation of Tarrio, and then lying about his communication with Tarrio.

  • Tech Mandated by U.K. Online Safety Bill “Could Turn Phones into Surveillance Tools”

    Tech mandated by the U.K. government’s Online Safety Bill could be used to turn millions of phones into facial recognition tools. It would be possible, for example, for governments to use client-side scanning (CSS) to search people’s private messages, for example performing facial recognition, without their knowledge.

  • Why Putin Will Use Nuclear Weapons in Ukraine

    Recent developments in Ukraine suggest Russian military commanders have exhausted their ability to effectively respond to a Ukrainian escalation in fighting, which is expected any day. It is becoming clear, in my view, that the only way he can meet escalation with escalation is by introducing nuclear weapons.

  • PEGA Committee Votes on Spyware Recommendations

    In July 2021, the Pegasus Project—a consortium of 80 journalists from 17 media organizations in 10 countries—broke the story that several governments were using the Israel-made Pegasus spyware against journalists, activists, politicians, academics, and even heads of state. Responding to the public backlash, the European Parliament set up a committee of inquiry (PEGA committee) to investigate the allegations concerning misuse of spyware on the continent.

  • Colorado Law Will Require Homes to Be More Wildfire Resistant

    The state will develop building standards for homes in high-risk areas after ProPublica’s reporting showed previous efforts to require fire-resistant housing materials had been repeatedly stymied by developers and municipalities.

  • A Lawsuit to Protect Streams Could Take Away an Important Firefighting Tool

    The U.S. Forest Service uses millions of gallons of fire retardant to fight wildfires. There have long been concerns about what happens when that mix of ammonium phosphate, emulsifiers, and colorants finds its way into water.

  • Controlled Burns Help Prevent Wildfires, Experts Say. But Regulations Have Made It Nearly Impossible to Do These Burns.

    Even though the 2021 Marshall Fire made it clear that the fire threat posed by Colorado’s grasslands endangers large urban areas, federal, state and local rules continue to make it difficult to address the risk.

  • Backgrounder: Police and Security Unions

    The history of unionizing police officers and security guards in the United States is complex. It spans over a century, and has been shaped by different factors, including changes in the political and economic landscape, shifts in public opinion toward organized labor, and the evolving roles and responsibilities of law enforcement professionals.

  • Is Taiwan Prepared for a Potential Chinese Attack?

    Leaked U.S. documents cast doubt on Taiwan’s air defense capability against potential attacks. Experts, however, say that the island has some robust defense systems.

  • China’s Defense Spending Growth Continues Apace

    China, India and Japan are leading a surge in military spending in the Asian region with geopolitical tensions pushing South Korea, Australia and Taiwan, among others, to follow suit. China’s military spending now exceeds the combined outlays of the next 25 biggest nations in the region, for which there are reliable estimates.

  • Helping the U.S. Fast-track Hypersonic Conventional Weapons

    Hypersonic weapons have been a top priority for modernizing the armed forces, with ultrafast, long-range and maneuverable munitions being touted as a revolutionary advance in modern warfare. The U.S. has fast-tracked their development and announced plans to field the first conventional hypersonic missile battery this year. Sandia National Lab is helping the U.S. achieve this goal.