Essay Terrorism

It'd be easy to feel powerless and demand that our elected leaders do something—anything—to keep us safe. We need to be angry and empathize with the victims without being scared.Read More → A core, not side, effect of technology is its ability to magnify power and multiply force—for both attackers and defenders.Read More → Leaks from the whistleblower Edward Snowden have catapulted the NSA into newspaper headlines and demonstrated that it has become one of the most powerful government agencies in the country.

It'd be easy to feel powerless and demand that our elected leaders do something—anything—to keep us safe. We need to be angry and empathize with the victims without being scared.Read More → A core, not side, effect of technology is its ability to magnify power and multiply force—for both attackers and defenders.

There are two basic schools of thought about how this came to pass. Read More → One of the assurances I keep hearing about the U. government's spying on American citizens is that it's only used in cases of terrorism.

Terrorism is, of course, an extraordinary crime, and its horrific nature is supposed to justify permitting all sorts of excesses to prevent it.

The Department of Homeland Security is rumored to be considering extending the current travel ban on large electronics for Middle Eastern flights to European ones as well.

The likely reaction of airlines will be to implement new traveler programs, effectively allowing wealthier and more frequent fliers to bring their computers with them.

As with the Patriot Act after 9/11, the debate over whether these new laws are helpful will be minimal, but the effects on civil liberties could be large.

Even though most people are skeptical about sacrificing personal freedoms for security, it's hard for politicians to say no to the FBI right now, and it's politically expedient to demand that something be done.

They would have to be checked and put into the cargo hold. Read More → News that the Transportation Security Administration missed a whopping 95% of guns and bombs in recent airport security "red team" tests was justifiably shocking.

It's clear that we're not getting value for the billion we're paying the TSA annually.

One side creates ceramic handguns, laser-guided missiles, and new-identity theft techniques, while the other side creates anti-missile defense systems, fingerprint databases, and automatic facial recognition systems.

The problem is that it's not balanced: Attackers generally benefit from new security technologies before defenders do. Read More → Horrific events, such as the massacre in Aurora, can be catalysts for social and political change.