Author Archives: Michael Froomkin

Grunts Don’t Expect Pre-Election Osama Capture

Posted on March 15, 2004 by Michael Froomkin

INTEL DUMP reports on a survey of army soldiers on when/whether they think Osam bin Laden will be captured. The majority says soon, but not real soon. Of course, if there really were a Secret Plot to capture him in October — an article of faith in conspiracy-minded circles — then presumably almost no one would know about it…

Posted in National Security | 2 Comments

Crytpo Wars Starting New Round

Posted on March 15, 2004 by Michael Froomkin

For a good roundup of the current state of play on crypto tech & politics, see The Importance of…: A Race the FBI Can't Win: The Increasingly Asymmetric Costs of Wiretap Surveillance vs. Wiretap Avoidance. I'd write more on this — I used to write very long articles about it, but I have to run off ot the airport to catch my plane back to Miami….

Posted in Law: Constitutional Law | Comments Off on Crytpo Wars Starting New Round

UK’s Released Detainees Allege Torture

Posted on March 14, 2004 by Michael Froomkin

Both the UK's Observer newspaper, Revealed: the full story of the Guantanamo Britons, and the UK's tabloid Daily Mirror, My Hell in Camp X-Ray describe charges of torture and inhuman treatment at Guantanamo levvied by UK citizens returned to England after two years of detention in Guantanmo.

Outside independent review — ideally judicial review — is essential either to rebut these claims convincingly or to root out and punish those responsbile if the uglier charges are at all true.

Continue reading →

Posted in Guantanamo | Comments Off on UK’s Released Detainees Allege Torture

Move Over Doctor Draft, Meet the Geek Draft

Posted on March 14, 2004 by Michael Froomkin

Well, there's no danger of this before the election…

'Special skills draft' on drawing board / Computer experts, foreign language specialists lead list of military's needs

The government is taking the first steps toward a targeted military draft of Americans with special skills in computers and foreign languages.

The Selective Service System has begun the process of creating the procedures and policies to conduct such a targeted draft in case military officials ask Congress to authorize it and the lawmakers agree to such a request.

Richard Flahavan, a spokesman for the Selective Service System, said planning for a possible draft of linguists and computer experts had begun last fall after Pentagon personnel officials said the military needed more people with skills in those areas.

Spotted via Brian Leiter

Posted in National Security | 3 Comments

Sen. Hatch Is Not a Gentleman

Posted on March 14, 2004 by Michael Froomkin

The descent of the Senate into a Hobbesian war of all against all, in which naked power is the only currency, took another large step this week. David Neiwert describes the The Hatch act that took things down yet another notch.

Update: However, not all Republicans are willing to turn their backs on the Senate's tradition of civility. Kudos to Senate Judiciary Committee members Lindsay Graham, Saxby Chambliss and Mike DeWine who signed this letter alongside of three Democrats.

Posted in Politics: US | Comments Off on Sen. Hatch Is Not a Gentleman

Hail Sedna, 10th ‘Planet’?

Posted on March 14, 2004 by Michael Froomkin

The Australian: It's another world … but is it our 10th planet?. Think of all those maps and models of the solar system that will be obsolete…

Posted in Science/Medicine | 11 Comments