• U.S. gets a C grade in WMD report

    A blue ribbon panel of former high security official says terrorism threat remains real, and that the U.S. government’s efforts to counter WMD threats leave much to be desired

  • Rethinking strategy for finding bin Laden

    The effort to bring Osama bin Laden to justice has so far failed; there are many reasons for that: Half-hearted efforts by the Pakistani authorities; failure to win the hearts and minds of tribal leaders in Pakistan’s Northwest Territories; limits Pakistan imposed on direct U.S. action inside Pakistan; the invasion of Iraq, which consumed vast resources which otherwise would have been invested in the effort against al-Qaeda; and more; U.S., Pakistan, are now rethinking the strategy

  • New Orleans coped well with Gustav

    The planning and execution of hurricane emergency measure was far superior to what happened during Katrina, even if the challenge was not as demanding; analysts worry that with Gustav failing to live up to expectations of devastation, we may witness “evacuation fatigue” next time

  • The H-1B program: Mend it, don't end it

    Any required labor-market test must facilitate extraordinary alacrity; delays of years, months, or even weeks are unacceptable; similarly, H-1B workers should be paid the same wage as their U.S. counterparts: The H-1B program should not be a means by which “cheap foreign labor” is imported

  • Urgent inquiry as more personal data missing in Britain

    Another data loss blunder in Britain, as a disc containing the personal details of 5,000 employees of the National Offender Management Service (NOMS), who may include many prison officers, went missing

  • New York State gives company 45 days to fix problems

    New York State awarded M/A Com a contract for building the infrastructure for the statewide wireless network for first responders; the contract was to be completed by December 2006; state comptroller office, citing the delay and nearly 20 other deficiencies, gives company 45 days to fix problem or see its contract revoked

  • New first response RFID system developed

    In a scene of a disaster, first responders want to make sure they know where each member of the rescue team is; they often also need to tag and monitor the whereabouts of equipment and gear; long-range RFID is the solution

  • Anti-invisibility cloak would render invisible objects visible again

    A perfect invisibility cloak guides rays so effectively that none reaches the cloaked object within, keeping it in total darkness — a disadvantage if invisibility cloaks are ever to be used to shield tanks, steer microwaves in space, or hide humans; scientists find a solution

  • Germany tightens data protection laws after scandals

    After a wistle-blower revealtions, the German authorities decided o find for themselves how easy it was managed to obtain personal information on consumers; government agents managed, in only a few days, to buy six million items of personal data — for just €850 euros ($1,230); the government decided that tightening of regulations was necessary

  • Handgun to the front

    Defending against a handgun threat is more difficult on the street than in a training facility; the right training under the right conditions would increase the chances of surviving a possibly lethal encounter with an armed assailant

  • Israel foils Hezbollah attempts to kidnap Israelis abroad

    In February, Hezbollah’s secretive head of operation, Imad Mughniyeh, was killed in a brilliant covert operation in the middle of Damascus; Israel denied any involvement, but the Lebanese organization said it would retaliate; Israel has since been worried about Israelis abroad being kidnapped

  • Bureaucratic bafflegab hobbles Canada's disaster readiness, report says

    New Senate report slams the Canadian government’s disaster coordination efforts; the report suggests that past floods, ice storms, the SARs epidemic, blackouts in Canada, and the 9/11 attacks should have — but have not — served as a wake up call for various levels of government to hatch concrete plans to work together to ward off disaster

  • Sprint's preparations for Gustav

    Sprint Nextel invested $59 million in network preparations in coastal communities; bolstering preparations aimed to help both customers and first responders

  • Virtualization is important for back up and recovery

    Server virtualization, that is, the separation of functionality from the underlying hardware, offers organizations many advantages in preparing for coping with and recovering from disasters, but it is not a panacea

  • D.C. tests interoperable public safety system

    Interoperability between radio and mobile Internet sought, and new technology — called Radio Over Wireless Broadband, or ROW-B — has the potential to save first responders time in an emergency