OUR PICKSDOJ’s Hiring Spree of Immigration Judges | A New Paradigm for U.S. Industrial Policy | Telling Biodefense from Offensive Bioweapons, and more
· US Justice Department to Go on Hiring Spree for Immigration Judges
DOJ wants to hire 965 new judicial staff, including 150 new immigration judges
· How the Gun Became Integral to the Self-Identity of Millions of Americans
Guns’ importance to their owners now goes much deeper than merely being implements of self-defense
· A New Paradigm for U.S. Industrial Policy
This policy framework has potential, particularly with its emphasis on strategic public investment
· SecDef to Senator: Your Abortion-Related Holds Are Hurting Readiness
The senator took exception to Defense Department policies issued following the overturning of Roe
· How to Tell Biodefense from an Offensive Bioweapons Program
This devastating combination of disease, conflict, and blatant misinformation makes biodefense more vital than ever
· There’s a ‘ChatGPT’ for Biology. What Could Go Wrong?
Scientists should talk to and learn from peers who focus on biosecurity risks
· Why Is Arizona Using Precious Water to Grow Alfalfa for Saudi Arabia?
How the so-called virtual water trade affects the Colorado River
· Tribalism in an Age of School Shootings
The Nashville horror and the ugly social media battlefield we endure after every shooting
US Justice Department to Go on Hiring Spree for Immigration Judges (Masood Farivar, VOA News)
The U.S. Justice Department is going on a hiring spree for immigration judges in hopes of easing an intractable case backlog.
In its budget proposal for the fiscal year 2024 that starts October 1, the department is seeking $1.46 billion for the Executive Office for Immigration Review, a subagency within the department tasked with adjudicating immigration claims.
The request represents an increase of nearly 70% in funding and will enable the agency to hire 965 new judicial staff, including 150 new immigration judges, Attorney General Merrick Garland said in written testimony before a Senate appropriations subcommittee.
How the Gun Became Integral to the Self-Identity of Millions of Americans (Sara Novak, Scientific American)
The firearm as a totemlike symbol of personal identity emerged from the psychological insecurities of former enslavers after the Civil War
A New Paradigm for U.S. Industrial Policy (Anne-Marie Slaughter and Elizabeth Garlow, The Strategist)
The United States has (re)discovered industrial policy. As President Joe Biden’s national security strategy puts it, the administration views ‘modern industrial and innovation strategy’ as the backbone of the future economy. It is an economic policy, a trade philosophy and a political strategy focused on making as much as selling, producing as much as buying, and dignity as much as efficiency.
As a foundation for a shift to a post-neoliberal economy and society, this policy framework has potential, particularly with its emphasis on strategic public investment. But to meet the full spectrum of challenges facing Americans, it must go further, embracing new ways of making goods and providing services that emphasize the value of relationships and healthy local economies.
SecDef to Senator: Your Abortion-Related Holds Are Hurting Readiness (Courtney Bouble, Defense One)
Lloyd Austin told Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., that holding up 160 promotions and appointments “creates a ripple effect through the force that makes us far less ready than we need to be.”
How to Tell Biodefense from an Offensive Bioweapons Program (Dan Regan and Rhys Dubin, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists)
For nearly three years, the world has faced a remarkable cascade of public health crises. As COVID-19, the rapid spread of mpox to more than 100 non-endemic countries, reemergent Ebola outbreaks, and a host of other threats demonstrate, biological risks are on the rise. Contrary to initial expectations, however, these disasters have not produced