• DHS: Progress and priorities, II

    Since its creation more than five years ago, DHS has made significant progress — uneven progress — in protecting the United States from dangerous people and goods, protecting the U.S. critical infrastructure, strengthen emergency response, and unifying department operations

  • Computer model to help in smoother hurricane evacuation

    Software developed at MIT could save lives and money by improving hurricane planning

  • France delays Big Brother database

    The French government, in an effort to fight crime and juvenile delinquency, launched a police database aimed at gathering information on suspects as young as thirteen; civil libertarian groups protested the scope of the information to be gathered, and the government, for now, has relented

  • Flame-retardant grenades help firefighters, first responders

    Most hand-held fire extinguishers are pressurized with nitrogen or carbon dioxide to propel powdery potassium bicarbonate, liquid water, or a fluorocarbon at a fire; new device, using potassium carbonate, quells blazes with less risk to firefighters

  • 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