779 articles on Politics

  • Belarus Dictator Says He's Totally Not Building a Dynasty
    Dictatorship is a hereditary business, because in a dictatorship, it's all about you. By extension, this includes your kinfolk, which can work out pretty great for them. Now Belarus' authoritarian president wants you to know he's totally not serious about handing over power to his 7-year-old son Nikolai.
    07.02.12
  • Stan McChrystal, Drone Skeptic
    ASPEN, Colorado -- The former commander of the Afghanistan war and the most elite unit in the U.S. military wants to use robotic aircraft "a lot." But retired Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal actually sounded more like a skeptic of the U.S.' robotic arsenal during a talk to an elite audience. McChrystal sounded notes of caution ...
    07.01.12
  • Mexico's Next President Won't Slow The Drug War
    At this point, there's little doubt who is likely to win Mexico's presidential election on Sunday. That would be Enrique Peña Nieto, who polls show leading with double-digits over his rival candidates. He's also calling for a (subtle) shift in the fight against the cartels: don't bother as much with stopping drugs and taking down drug lords, but focus on stopping violence and kidnapping. But as far as big changes go, don't expect much if Peña Nieto wins, at least not soon.
    06.29.12
  • The Launch Season Puzzle
    When launching a giant do-it-yourself rocket, it's easier to get permission to blast off at sea. But Copenhagen Suborbitals co-founder and Rocket Shop blogger Kristian von Bengtson describes the often unpleasant tradeoffs with ocean launches.
    06.29.12
  • Holder Held in Contempt of Congress, Which Means Almost Nothing
    Congress has voted, and Attorney General Eric Holder has been held in contempt for failing to hand over documents related to the disastrous gun-walking plan Operation Fast and Furious. Problem is, at this point, there's almost nothing left for Congress to do.
    06.28.12
  • From Copyright to Surveillance to Torture, Supreme Court Term Ends Mixed
    The outcome of the Supreme Court's 2011-2012 term, which ended Thursday, was largely favorable when it came to the justices' Wired-worthy opinions surrounding surveillance, the First Amendment, intellectual property and even profanity. But the term's overall outcome was mixed at best.
    06.28.12
  • It Only Took the Army 16 Years and 2 Wars to Deploy This Network
    In October, the Army will do something it's wanted to do for more than a decade: send a pair of combat brigades to a warzone equipped with a new data network, and the hardware to operate it. It'll let more than a thousand troops rapidly send voice, text, imagery and data across a warzone and to a soldier on patrol. It's a milestone, following years of aspirations, setbacks and adjustments. And it arrives pretty much too late for the wars.
    06.28.12
  • Russia Preps Mach 7 Missiles — With India's Help
    Russia and India are already testing a new supersonic cruise missile, which is pretty cool, we guess. But going Mach 2 or thereabouts isn't all that fast these days. Everything has to go faster. That's why the two countries are also developing a hypersonic missile capable of traveling more than five times the speed of sound. Problem is even building the engines, let alone missiles, is extremely hard to do.
    06.28.12
  • Despite Asia Talk, Navy Will Send Newest Ships to Mideast
    The Navy is eager to build up its presence in Asia and the Pacific. But the so-called "Asia Pivot" doesn't tell the full story. Over the next four years, the Navy will conduct a greater ship surge in the Middle East -- which is also where it'll send its newest, latest kinds of surface ships.
    06.27.12
  • Solyndra Scandal Could Haunt Next Darpa Chief
    Two names have emerged in the search for the next director of the Pentagon's premier research agency. Problem is, one of them has ties to Solyndra, the controversial solar energy firm that embroiled the White House in a scandal. And this isn't exactly the time for another controversy at the top of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.
    06.27.12
  • Top CIA Spy Accused of Being a Mafia Hitman
    Enrique "Ricky" Prado's resume reads like the ultimate CIA officer: a candidate for the CIA's most senior post in South Korea, a top spy in America's espionage programs against China, and right-hand-man to Cofer Black, a chief strategist in America's war on terror. But he's also suspected of starting out his career as a hitman for a notorious Miami mobster, kept working for the mob even after joining the CIA, and went on to serve as the head of the CIA's secret assassination squad against Al-Qaida.
    06.27.12
  • TIL: The Pentagon Is Building a Reddit Knockoff
    For years, the military has struggled over what to do about social media. Now the Pentagon is preparing to launch its own version of Reddit, in another small step in the military's quest to strip the fun out of everything on the internet.
    06.26.12
  • Small-Town Cops Pile Up on Useless Military Gear
    Small police departments across America are using a little-known Pentagon program to amass battlefield-grade arsenals. Which means billions of dollars' worth of U.S. military gear are in the hands of small-town cops who neither need the equipment nor are properly trained to use it, critics charge. At best, it's a waste of resources (since the gear still has to be maintained). At worst, it could cost lives.
    06.26.12
  • Army Dumps All-Seeing Chopper Drone
    This month, the Army planned to deploy to Afghanistan an unusual new drone: an unmanned eye-in-the-sky helicopter programmed to use high-tech cameras to monitor vast amounts of territory. But now the drone might be lucky to be deployed at all, as the Army has moved to shut down production -- possibly ending the program forever.
    06.25.12
  • Defense Industry Shill: Give Lockheed Credit for Bin Laden Kill
    Shed a tear for the executives at Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Northrop Grumman and the rest of the sprawling defense industry. Yes, they benefit from billions in taxpayer dollars while millions of Americans struggle to make ends meet. But they're not getting the praise they deserve for killing Osama bin Laden. Wait, what?
    06.25.12
  • Between the Bookends at GeekMom
    It¿s time for another look at the GeekMoms¿ never-ending stack of books. Collectively, we sure manage to make our way through a fair number of pages, whether we¿re reading them on dead trees or e-readers. This is what we¿ve read this month.
    06.25.12
  • Putin Wants a Darpa of His Own
    In recent years, the government has created research agencies for homeland security and energy, modeled after the Pentagon's mad-scientist wing, Darpa. Now Russia has gotten the bug, too.
    06.25.12


 

 

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