Afghanistan is again under Taliban control after 20 years of fighting. The Afghan Army, on the basis of agreements with the Taliban, capitulated in most areas. Without US and international military support, the Afghan government evaporated. If you’re female, or if you ever worked for or with US/international forces, things are looking bad. As a … More My $0.02 (or so) on Afghanistan
For context, I was contemplating writing something earlier this year related to deception detection and focused on The Congruency Group (TGC – more on that later). On their website they offer a “test your skills” page where you can listen to an interview with Amanda Knox and compare your skills to TGC’s “expert” assessment on … More Deception Detection: The Meredith Kercher Murder and Wrongful Conviction of Amanda Knox
Back in May of 2018 we wrote about Gina Haspel. At the time, she was going through the process of confirmation to take over as Director of the CIA. Our piece about her was brief, but our opinion was negative because of her leadership of one of the black sites that tortured detainees for information. … More Gina Haspel: A Clarification
If you haven’t heard, our pal Ed has managed to collect$1.2 million in various speaking fees based on his notoriety, as reported by Politico. Now, that sounds like a lot, but if we’re talking about $1.2 million since mid-2013, then that isn’t really such a fat paycheck, especially since he didn’t directly receive all of … More Snowden Profits from Espionage – Who Says Crime Doesn’t Pay?
It seems that “a lot of people are saying” that Trump is a traitor, and that his actions in Helsinki (and prior) constitute treason. That’s quite a statement. How well does it hold up? Well, here are some definitions: Merriam Webster definition of traitor: (1) one who betrays another’s trust or is false to an … More Treason Summit?
Yesterday, the ACLU celebrated the anniversary of Ed Snowden’s “revelations” in 2013. I’m normally on board with the ACLU, but not in this case. Ed didn’t use legal channels to bring his perceived issues to anyone’s attention, so he was and is not entitled to whistleblower protections. He was indiscriminate in his collection and release … More Ed Snowden Reboot
With Gina Haspel’s nomination to lead the CIA, the issue of torture and its euphemistic term “enhanced interrogation” has resurfaced. Haspel ran one of the CIA’s secret prisons in Thailand in the wake of the September 11 2001 attacks. We’ve written about the legality and efficacy of coercive interrogation and torture before. Some, like Lindsay … More Gina Haspel & “Enhanced Interrogation”
Previously we discussed a few deception detection methods based on biometric and behavioral indicators. To recap, we established that such methods are not independently reliable for knowing when a subjecting is lying, but that they can be successfully employed to help with development of approach strategies. While it is important to know when someone is … More Deception Detection Part Two: Control through Questioning
For people concerned with the trajectory of the US it is becoming ever more difficult to key the proverbial eye on the ball. Whether out of strategic intent as some postulate or out of near-deranged narcissism or dementia, Trump and company keep the hits coming to the point that journalists, pundits, and armchair bloggers can … More Distraction
Illegal wiretapping by former President Obama is one hell of an accusation. Even with no evidence offered, such an allegation needs to be taken seriously and investigated. It’s important to note that a President cannot unilaterally order such an intrusion. The Foreign Intelligence Security Act of 1978 (FISA – Public Law 95-511, OCT 25, 1978) … More Obama Wiretapped Trump???
The View from the Armchair 