By Brett Wilkins A former Air Force drone operator-turned-whistleblower is once again speaking out against the atrocities he committed while serving in a military he describes as “worse than the Nazis.” Brandon Bryant was a sensor operator of USAF unmanned aerial drones from 2006 to 2011. His job was targeted Read more…
Democratic and Republican members of the House of Representatives and Senate have introduced legislation that would significantly reform the US government’s foreign intelligence surveillance authorities. The Safeguarding Americans’ Private Records Act (SAPRA) was introduced last week by Sens. Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Steve Daines (R-MT) and Reps. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Read more…
By Brett Wilkins Also published at Antiwar.com An unconfirmed number of Afghan civilians – reportedly more than 40 – were killed along with the regional leader of a splinter Taliban faction and dozens of militants in a US drone attack in Herat province on Wednesday. Local sources told Tolo News, Afghanistan’s Read more…
By Brett Wilkins You don’t need to tell Ethics in Tech that war is hell. Some of the earliest childhood memories of our founder, Vahid Razavi — who was born in Iran — involve being under attack during the Iran-Iraq War. That 8-year war of attrition, which killed at least a million Read more…
By Brett Wilkins December 6, 2019 Twitter has long faced intense criticism for turning a blind eye to right-wing hate speech on its platform, including by the world’s most (in)famous tweeter, US President Donald Trump. In the face of this relentless criticism, which includes repeated calls for Twitter to slap Read more…
By Brett Wilkins November 11, 2019 Here and San Francisco and all across America, last week marked the end of another grueling political campaign season. Here in the City by the Bay, it was a time for celebration for progressives as too-close-to-call races broke in our favor. In District 5, Read more…
By Brett Wilkins October 31, 2019 A recent US drone strike targeting Islamic State (IS) militants in northeastern Somalia accidentally killed two civilians gathering frankincense, according to village elders and a survivor interviewed by Voice of America. VOA reports the attack occurred during the afternoon on October 25 near Ameyra, Read more…
By Brett Wilkins Microsoft — which recently adopted a set of six core principles for the development of ethical artificial intelligence (AI) — has come under fire for investing in an Israeli company that produces facial recognition technology used to monitor and control Palestinians living in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. AI For Read more…
It’s nice to know that an all-tech site like TechCrunch has a senior reporter focused on diversity, inclusion and social justice. Her name is Megan Rose Dickey and she moderated Friday’s opening main stage panel discussion at TechCrunch Disrupt San Francisco, a Q&A with Block Party founder and CEO Tracy Chou Read more…
The Bible says something about it being easier to thread a camel through a needle than to get a rich man into heaven. It’s not every day that I begin a post with the words “the Bible says.” It’s also not every day that I write (mostly) approvingly of a Read more…