Piracy – Navy Kills 3 Pirates, Rescues Ship Captain

Washington PostNavy Kills 3 Pirates, Rescues Ship Captain

An American captain held hostage for five days by Somali pirates in a lifeboat adrift in the Indian Ocean was rescued unharmed Sunday in a surprise U.S. military operation in which snipers killed three pirates with the captain tied up just feet away, American military officials said. A fourth pirate was in U.S. custody.

Geopolitics / Climate Change – The Geoengineering Option: A Last Resort Against Global Warming?

Foreign AffairsThe Geoengineering Option: A Last Resort Against Global Warming?

As climate change accelerates, policymakers may have to consider “geoengineering” as an emergency strategy to cool the planet. Engineering the climate strikes most as a bad idea, but it is time to start taking it seriously.

Piracy – FBI Hostage Negotiators Helping Navy With Ship Captain's Rescue

Washington PostFBI Hostage Negotiators Helping Navy With Ship Captain’s Rescue

A U.S.-operated container ship that was attacked by Somali pirates steamed toward a Kenyan port Thursday with armed guards on board, as the U.S. Navy and FBI hostage negotiators continued efforts to free the ship’s captain, who was being held by the pirates in a lifeboat drifting in the Indian Ocean.

Information Warfare – Electricity Grid in U.S. Penetrated By Spies

Wall Street JournalElectricity Grid in U.S. Penetrated By Spies

Cyberspies have penetrated the U.S. electrical grid and left behind software programs that could be used to disrupt the system, according to current and former national-security officials. The spies came from China, Russia and other countries, these officials said, and were believed to be on a mission to navigate the U.S. electrical system and its controls. The intruders haven’t sought to damage the power grid or other key infrastructure, but officials warned they could try during a crisis or war.

Geopolitics / Economics – The Japan Fallacy: Today's U.S. Financial Crisis Is Not Like Tokyo's "Lost Decade"

Foreign AffairsThe Japan Fallacy: Today’s U.S. Financial Crisis Is Not Like Tokyo’s “Lost Decade”

The financial crisis of 2008 need not usher in a replay of Japan’s “lost decade” of the 1990s. The current crisis is the result of correctable policy mistakes rather than deep structural flaws in the economy.