Can the U.S. Government Tell Chinese People Apart?
Drone maker DJI claims the Pentagon has unfairly smeared it as an arm of the Chinese military based on a mix-up of Chinese names.
Drones
Drones Face Supreme Court Showdown Over Free Speech Rights
State boards use outdated laws to target content creators, raising urgent questions about free speech in the digital age.
California YouTuber Faces 10 Years for Having Too Much Fun With Fireworks
The feds charged Alex Choi with “causing the placement of explosive or incendiary device on an aircraft” after he shot fireworks out of a helicopter into an empty desert.
Police Flew Drones Over One California City Nearly 20,000 Times in 6 Years
A WIRED investigation reveals the extent to which residents of Chula Vista are subjected to surveillance from the sky.
Colorado Will Replace Cops With Drones for Some 911 Calls
While drones are less likely to shoot or maim innocent civilians, they could also pose privacy issues.
AI Warfare Is Boring but Deadly
Bureaucrats in cubicles will kill more people than Terminator robots will.
Michigan Supreme Court Allows Evidence Collected by Drone, Without a Warrant
The court declined to address whether the search violated the Fourth Amendment and merely held that the evidence could not be excluded in a civil case.
Does Uncle Sam Consider Your Backyard Restricted Airspace?
The areas where you need FAA approval to fly a model plane or drone are surprisingly large.
Should It Be Illegal To Fly an RC Plane Within 3 Miles of a Sports Game?
The FAA imposes notoriously wide flight restrictions around stadiums. The consumer drone industry wants to change that.
Congress Does Not Come Back With a Warrant
Plus: A listener asks the editors for examples of tasks the government does well (yikes).
Biden Sends U.S. Forces To Protect Israel's Borders for the First Time Ever
Washington quietly funded Israeli-Iranian proxy wars for years. Now American men and women are directly involved.
Will American Troops Be Sucked Into an Israeli-Iranian War?
President Biden said that we will “do all we can to protect Israel’s security” after Israel killed an Iranian general.
How Obama Gave Trump the 'Military-Age Males' Talking Point
The same tactics used to justify drone strikes are now being used to demonize immigrant men.
America's Drone Industry Is Trying To Ban the Competition
Chinese camera drones are the most popular worldwide. American drone manufacturers argue that's a national security threat.
The One-Man 'Cult' That Put St. Louis Under Surveillance
The story behind the city's ban on unlicensed drone businesses is even weirder than the ban itself.
Florida Man Sentenced to 4 Years in Federal Prison After Shooting Down a Drone
Rather than destruction of property, Wendell Goney was convicted of possession of a firearm as a felon.
Errors and Escalations
Plus: Trump vows a costlier trade war, Elon Musk's brain implant, and more...
Politics Created the Border Crisis
Plus: A listener asks if libertarians are too obsessed with economic growth.
The Killing of 3 American Troops Was an Avoidable Tragedy
The U.S. base on the Jordanian-Syrian border has long been "strategic baggage."
The Trump Train Rolls Through Iowa
Plus: A listener asks the editors if there are any bad laws that might discourage people from having kids.
U.S. Attacks Houthis in Yemen
Plus: Biden staffers can't grow a pair, AI ancestor worship, Taiwanese elections, and more...
Should Governments Need a Warrant To Spy on You With a Drone?
The Michigan Supreme Court will hear opening arguments today in a case that could decide whether the practice is allowed.
Michigan Supreme Court To Decide If Government Can Warrantlessly Spy on You With Drones
The state court of appeals held previously that unconstitutionally collected evidence could still be used for civil enforcement.
5 Technologies That 5 Billion Will Use by 2050
Possibly changing the way we live just as profoundly as the internet did.
Michigan Court Allows Town To Use Drones To Snoop Without Warrants. One Couple Is Suing.
The Institute for Justice argues evidence from warrantless searches can’t be used for zoning enforcement.
Biden Can't Have It Both Ways on Drone Strikes
If the combat mission is over in the Middle East, Biden should follow—and make permanent—more cautious drone guidelines.
U.S. Kills Al Qaeda Leader Ayman Al-Zawahiri. Will It Matter?
Plus: Judge rejects "terrorism" label for January 6 defendant, dozens of abortion clinics have closed since June, FTC staff recommended against Meta lawsuit, and more...
When Humanitarianism Prolongs the Inhumane
"A future of bloodless global discipline is a chilling thing."
Released Video Footage Shows Disastrous U.S. Drone Strike That Killed Kabul Family
Surveillance clearly shows children nearby as strike was called on man mistaken for a terrorist.
We Said Good Riddance to the Afghan War in 2021. Unfortunately, It's Not Actually Over.
Our drones still patrol the skies, and our tax dollars will be paying off the costs of failed nation-building for decades.
Will America's Military Reckon with the Reckless Murders Perpetuated by Its Drone Wars?
A new, heavily investigated report shows a Pentagon uninterested in correcting its deadly errors.
U.S. Drone Strikes Plunge Under Biden
But those numbers don’t include Afghanistan, and that’s a problem.
Neal Stephenson's Termination Shock Is a Glorious Sci-Fi Vision of How To Respond to Global Warming, One Geoengineering Problem at a Time
In Stephenson's near-future novel, innovation, not legislation, is the best response to a changing climate.
The Defense Department Shrugs Off Drone Strike That Killed 7 Children as 'Honest Mistake'
According to the Pentagon, no crimes were committed.
Government Eyes In the Sky
The federal government and police are finding new ways to use drones to invade privacy.
A Drone Whistleblower Goes to Prison
Too often, the government punishes citizens who reveal the state's true behavior to their fellow Americans.
In U.N. Speech, Biden Says America Is Not at War for First Time in 20 Years. That's Just Not True.
Multiple military authorizations are still intact and we've still got troops in Iraq and elsewhere. And that's not even counting the drone strikes.
Pentagon Admits to Accidentally Killing Civilians, Not Terrorists, in Kabul Drone Strike
Seven children were among the 10 killed.
Military Drone Strike That Killed Afghan Aid Worker, Children Has Hallmarks of Intelligence Failure
An independent investigation hasn't turned up terrorist ties or explosives.
Was It a U.S. Drone or an ISIS Attack That Killed 3 Adults and 7 Children Outside Kabul?
The deadly Sunday explosion is a reminder of the hundreds of civilians U.S. strikes have killed in Afghanistan.
Daniel Hale Revealed America's Drone Assassinations to the Public. He's Been Sentenced to 45 Months in Prison.
Federal espionage laws are used once again to punish a whistleblower.
Appeals Court Rules Aerial Police Tracking of Citizens Violates Fourth Amendment
Baltimore kept tabs on citizens' movement across 90 percent of the city, without a warrant, to investigate crimes.
Autonomous 'Slaughterbot' Drones Reportedly Attack Libyans Using Facial Recognition Tech
Should they be banned?
North Carolina Board Threatens Private Drone Mapmakers Because They Aren't Licensed 'Surveyors'
Technological innovation makes gathering visual land data easier and cheaper—and threatens an industry’s status quo.
Government Drone Overflights May Violate Fourth Amendment, Trigger Exclusionary Rule
An interesting Michigan appellate decision.
Drone Photography Potentially Protected by First Amendment
So a district court suggests in a challenge to a Texas statute that limits drone photography that "surveil[s]" private property—but that exempts similar surveillance by academics and certain others,
