-
Briefly noted
Aussie cyber security needs work… D.C. policy carry iPhones… Surveillance radar in Indonesian straits… HUD awards Iowa critical infrastructure funds…
-
-
Alternatives to the H-1B visa, pt. 1: O-1 "Extraordinary ability"
The U.S. immigration services received more than 163,000 petitions for the 65,000 regular H-1B visas allocated for FY2009; the homeland security, hi-tech, and services sectors, as well as academic and research institutions, need another way to bring to the United States qualified foreign workers and researchers; one such way is the O-1 “Extraordinary Ability” visa
-
-
Neither presidential campaign has contacted DHS about transition
DHS has set up transition teams to facilitate a smooth and effective transmission of information and transition of authority to the new administration, but neither the McCain or the Obama campaign has contacted the teams
-
-
India eases foreign borrowing rules to aid infrastructure
The U.S. infrastructure is often described as “aging” or “crumbling”; in india they refer to the country’s “ramshackle infrastructure”; the Indian government, as part of a move to have $500 billion invested in improving the country’s infrastructure, eases borrowing rule, allowing Indian companies involved in infrastructure improvement to borrow more money abroad
-
-
Infrared lie detector
Rather than measure what are taken to be the symptoms of lying — increased heart and respiration rate, perspiration — new infrared detector measures brain activity
-
-
USPS to deploy IPv6-capable video surveillance
The U.S. Postal Services wants to increase security inside the more than 40,000 post offices around the country; it will install IPv6-capable CCTV systems — complying with the federal government encouragment of agnecies to migrate to IPv6
-
-
FAST-certified trucker tries to smuggle drugs into U.S.
The Free And Secure Trade (FAST) program allows truckers who drive back and forth across the U.S. border to pre-register with Customs, thus giving them the status of low-risk traveler; one FAST-certified driver used status to smuggle drugs
-
-
Treasury grants cannot be used for chemical detection
The federal government told the Boston transit authority and other municipal transportation agencies that they cannot use anti-terrorism grants to install chemical threat detection systems at subway stations
-
-
Lockheed Martin team delivers first littoral combat ship to U.S. Navy
Dealing with terrorist threats from the sea, and with other threats in the shallows, the Navy requires a different type of equipment, the and the littoral combat ship is part of the answer
-
-
Chinese dairies add organic base found in plastics and resins to products
Lab tests in Hong Kong find that Chinese company’s dairy offerings, including milk, ice cream, and yogurt, were contaminated with melamine — an organic base usually found in plastics and resins, and banned in food
-
-
Colorado to remove Social Security numbers from public Web sites
Colorado attorney general asks counties to remove documents containing Social Security numbers from public Web sites, saying that the “The availability of this information online increases the possibility of Colorado citizens becoming the victims of identity theft”
-
-
Senators skeptical about FBI's anthrax attacks conclusions
Senators of both voice doubt about the FBI’s conclusion that Bruce Ivins was the sole culprit in the 2001 anthrax attacks; criticize the FBI for its handling of the case
-
-
China, INTERPOL celebrate security success during Summer Games
The Summer Games and the Paralympics passed without any major security incident; China says this highlights the success of security efforts for the Games, in particular the collaboration between China and INTERPOL
-
-
DHS may operate under continuing resolution in the new fiscal year
Republican lawmakers and DHS officials warn that allowing DHS to operate under a continuing resolution in the new fiscal year would have consequences for several programs, possibly weakening U.S. security; Democrats strongly disagree
-
-
NYC receives $29 million to detect and prevent nuclear, radiological attack
DHS awards New York City $29 million under the Securing the Cities initiative
-
The long view
Kinetic Operations Bring Authoritarian Violence to Democratic Streets
Foreign interference in democracies has a multifaceted toolkit. In addition to information manipulation, the tactical tools authoritarian actors use to undermine democracy include cyber operations, economic coercion, malign finance, and civil society subversion.
Patriots’ Day: How Far-Right Groups Hijack History and Patriotic Symbols to Advance Their Cause, According to an Expert on Extremism
Extremist groups have attempted to change the meaning of freedom and liberty embedded in Patriots’ Day — a commemoration of the battles of Lexington and Concord – to serve their far-right rhetoric, recruitment, and radicalization. Understanding how patriotic symbols can be exploited offers important insights into how historical narratives may be manipulated, potentially leading to harmful consequences in American society.
Trump Aims to Shut Down State Climate Policies
President Donald Trump has launched an all-out legal attack on states’ authority to set climate change policy. Climate-focused state leaders say his administration has no legal basis to unravel their efforts.
Vaccine Integrity Project Says New FDA Rules on COVID-19 Vaccines Show Lack of Consensus, Clarity
Sidestepping both the FDA’s own Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee and the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), two Trump-appointed FDA leaders penned an opinion piece in the New England Journal of Medicine to announce new, more restrictive, COVID-19 vaccine recommendations. Critics say that not seeking broad input into the new policy, which would help FDA to understand its implications, feasibility, and the potential for unintended consequences, amounts to policy by proclamation.
Twenty-One Things That Are True in Los Angeles
To understand the dangers inherent in deploying the California National Guard – over the strenuous objections of the California governor – and active-duty Marines to deal with anti-ICE protesters, we should remind ourselves of a few elementary truths, writes Benjamin Wittes. Among these truths: “Not all lawful exercises of authority are wise, prudent, or smart”; “Not all crimes require a federal response”; “Avoiding tragic and unnecessary confrontations is generally desirable”; and “It is thus unwise, imprudent, and stupid to take actions for performative reasons that one might reasonably anticipate would increase the risks of such confrontations.”
Luigi Mangione and the Making of a ‘Terrorist’
Discretion is crucial to the American tradition of criminal law, Jacob Ware and Ania Zolyniak write, noting that “lawmakers enact broader statutes to empower prosecutors to pursue justice while entrusting that they will stay within the confines of their authority and screen out the inevitable “absurd” cases that may arise.” Discretion is also vital to maintaining the legitimacy of the legal system. In the prosecution’s case against Luigi Mangione, they charge, “That discretion was abused.”