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EFF Tells the Second Circuit a Second Time That Electronic Device Searches at the Border Require a Warrant
The number of warrantless device searches at the border and the significant invasion of privacy they represent is only increasing. In Fiscal Year 2023, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) conducted 41,767 device searches.
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Support Dwindles for Cracking Down on Nonprofit Terror Financing
The overwhelming bipartisan support a plan to revoke tax exemptions for nonprofits deemed supportive of terrorist organizations once enjoyed has dwindled as critics worry about constitutional overreach.
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Extensive Review of Champlain Towers Collapse Completed
A NIST team completed its extensive review, measurement and testing of critical building evidence extracted from the site of the 2021 partial collapse of the Champlain Towers South condominium in Surfside, Florida.
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Denver Will Stand in the Way of Mass Deportation
“More than us having DPD stationed at the county line to keep [National Guard units from other states] out, you would have 50,000 Denverites there,” Denver Mayor Mike Johnston said. “It’s like the Tiananmen Square moment with the rose and the gun, right? You’d have every one of those Highland moms who came out for the migrants. And you do not want to mess with them.”
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Texas Offers Land for Use for Trump Deportations
Trump has said he plans to declare a national emergency on his first day in office, citing the border crisis. In an effort to aid the administration, Texas offered state property in Starr County, where more than 1,400 acres could be used to construct deportation facilities and staging areas.
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Even Blue States Are Embracing a Tougher Approach to Crime
A nationwide shift toward more conservative policies continues in 3 more states. The outcomes of seven ballot measures in Arizona, California and Colorado reflect the stricter approach to crime that’s been seen across much of the country recently.
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Chinese Vessel Suspected of Severing Submarine Cables Still Anchored in Baltic Sea
European allies in the Baltic region are investigating how two fiber-optic data cables were severed earlier this week, with suspicion falling on a Chinese vessel in the area. Germany has said the incident was clearly sabotage.
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Despite Back-to-Back Deals on Water from Mexico, Relief for South Texas Farmers Is Far from Certain
Texas agreed to take 120,000 acre-feet of water from Mexico this month, only after the U.S. and Mexico agreed to an updated treaty.
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Bipartisan Effort to Make Plum Island a National Monument Advances in Congress
Plum Island, off the north-eastern coast of Long Island, has been, since 1954, home to a high-security biolab researching pathogens threatening humans and animals. The lab has been relocated to Manhattan, Kansas. A bill calling on the Department of the Interior to consider adding Plum Island to the National Park system is advancing in Congress.
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Senator Slams Gun Industry’s “Invasive and Dangerous” Sharing of Customer Data with Political Operatives
In response to a ProPublica investigation, Sen. Richard Blumenthal demanded answers from the gun industry about its “covert program” to collect information on gun owners for political purposes.
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U.S. Domestic Terrorism Is Increasingly Motivated by Partisan Politics
One of the most alarming trends in terrorism is the growth in anti-government extremism. “The heightened risk of terrorist attacks motivated by partisan beliefs does not just endanger individual lives but also threatens the democratic process itself, casting a shadow over open discourse and discouraging civic engagement,” Riley McCabe writes.
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Downsides of China’s Port Investments Go Beyond Immediate Security Risks
Chinese companies own or operate at least one port on every continent. These investments present more than immediate security concerns; they position China to fully exploit the economic potential of ports at the expense of other countries.
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Ranked Choice Voting Faces Cloudy Future After Election Setbacks
Voters in 5 states rejected the voting system, while DC voters approved it. The rejection clouds the future of an idea that had seen strong momentum in recent years.
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Misinformation Really Does Spread Like a Virus, Suggest Mathematical Models Drawn from Epidemiology
When it comes to misinformation, “going viral” appears to be more than a simple catchphrase. Scientists have found a close analogy between the spread of misinformation and the spread of viruses: how misinformation gets around can be effectively described using mathematical models designed to simulate the spread of pathogens.
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An Immigration Debate Worth Having
The best immigration policy is one that helps developing countries hold on to their best.
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The long view
Factories First: Winning the Drone War Before It Starts
Wars are won by factories before they are won on the battlefield,Martin C. Feldmann writes, noting that the United States lacks the manufacturing depth for the coming drone age. Rectifying this situation “will take far more than procurement tweaks,” Feldmann writes. “It demands a national-level, wartime-scale industrial mobilization.”
No Nation Is an Island: The Dangers of Modern U.S. Isolationism
The resurgence of isolationist sentiment in American politics is understandable but misguided. While the desire to refocus on domestic renewal is justified, retreating from the world will not bring the security, prosperity, or sovereignty that its proponents promise. On the contrary, it invites instability, diminishes U.S. influence, and erodes the democratic order the U.S. helped forge.
Fragmented by Design: USAID’s Dismantling and the Future of American Foreign Aid
The Trump administration launched an aggressive restructuring of U.S. foreign aid, effectively dismantling the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The humanitarian and geopolitical fallout of the demise of USAID includes shuttered clinics, destroyed food aid, and China’s growing influence in the global south. This new era of American soft power will determine how, and whether, the U.S. continues to lead in global development.
Water Wars: A Historic Agreement Between Mexico and US Is Ramping Up Border Tension
As climate change drives rising temperatures and changes in rainfall, Mexico and the US are in the middle of a conflict over water, putting an additional strain on their relationship. Partly due to constant droughts, Mexico has struggled to maintain its water deliveries for much of the last 25 years, deliveries to which it is obligated by a 1944 water-sharing agreement between the two countries.
How Disastrous Was the Trump-Putin Meeting?
In Alaska, Trump got played by Putin. Therefore, Steven Pifer writes, the European leaders and Zelensky have to “diplomatically offer suggestions to walk Trump back from a position that he does not appear to understand would be bad for Ukraine, bad for Europe, and bad for American interests. And they have to do so without setting off an explosion that could disrupt U.S.-Ukrainian and U.S.-European relations—all to the delight of Putin and the Kremlin.”
How Male Grievance Fuels Radicalization and Extremist Violence
Social extremism is evolving in reach and form. While traditional racial supremacy ideologies remain, contemporary movements are now often fueled by something more personal and emotionally resonant: male grievance.