OUR PICKSMore Americans Are Saying They’re ‘Vaxxed and Done’ | Supply Chain Woes | One Major Driver of America’s Murder Spike, and more

Why More Americans Are Saying They’re ‘Vaxxed and Done’  (Derek Thompson, The Atlantic)
COVID has always divided Americans. The Omicron wave is even dividing the vaccinated.

DHS Warns of Uptick in Threats to Lawmakers, Extremist Online Chatter  (Rebecca Beitsch, The Hill)
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) warned partners it has seen an uptick in chatter on extremist online platforms, according to a memo obtained by The Hill.
“While we still have no indication of a specific and credible plot, DHS and FBI have identified new content online that could inspire violence, particularly by lone offenders, and could be directed against political and other government officials, including members of Congress, state and local officials, and high-profile members of political parties,” including outside of Washington, John Cohen, DHS’s head of the ​​Office of Intelligence and Analysis, wrote in a memo.

Why More American Children Are Dying by Gunfire  (Jack Healy, New York Times)
Toddlers are discovering guns under piles of clothes and between couch cushions. Teenagers are obtaining untraceable ghost guns made from kits. Middle school students are carrying handguns for protection.

Supply Chain Woes Prompt a New Push to Revive U.S. Factories  (Nelson D. Schwartz, New York Times)
Companies are testing whether the United States can regain some of the manufacturing output it ceded in recent decades to China and other countries.

This Vast Wildfire Lab Is Helping Foresters Prepare for a Hotter Planet  (Henry Fountain, New York Times)
When the Bootleg fire tore through a nature reserve in Oregon this summer, the destruction varied in different areas. Researchers say forest management methods, including controlled burns, were a big factor.

More than 40 percent of Americans live in counties hit by climate disasters in 2021  (Sarah Kaplan and Andrew Ba Tran, Washington Post)
As climate-fueled extreme weather intensified last year, more than 80 percent of Americans experienced a heat wave. The impacts of fires and severe storms also spread.

CBRN Terrorism Interdictions (1990–2016) and Areas for Future Inquiry  (Wesley S. McCann, Perspective on Terrorism)
The pursuit and use of chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) weapons has been examined by scholars for more than two decades. What has not been examined are the cases in which non-state actors were prevented from obtaining or using these weapons and agents and the corresponding reasons for successful interdiction. This article uses the Profiles of Incidents Involving CBRN and Non-State Actors (POICN) database to carry out an exploratory analysis of CBRN interdictions around the world from 1990–2016. Using basic descriptives and cross-tabulations, this study finds that successful interdictions often resulted from probable cause searches, surveillance operations, but also from other, unknown reasons. However, there is a tremendous amount of variation when it comes to modes of interdiction and actor motivation. The same goes for jurisdiction, whether international collaboration aided the interdiction, and weapon acquisition and delivery. This text is intended to serve as a foundation for the study of CBRN terrorism interdiction as it seeks to undercover why some law enforcement efforts fail while others succeed.

One Year After Jan. 6 Attack, Push for Quick Reaction Force Is Dead on Capitol Hill (Jacqueline Feldscher, Defense One)
Experts also warn changes at DOD won’t speed up how quickly Guardsmen could respond to future incidents.

Defense Giants Should Stop Funding Election Deniers  (John Carl Baker, Defense One)
If it turns out that antidemocratic action is not a red line for the defense industry, we need to start asking more serious questions.

The Data Are Pointing to One Major Driver of America’s Murder Spike  (Jeff Asher and Rob Arthur, The Atlantic)
A massive increase in gun sales in early 2020 seems to have contributed to the recent rise in homicides.