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New biometric measures: Birth marks, scars, and tatoos
Michigan State researcher develops a system that could allow police to identify individuals by matching marks on their body with those stored in a computer database
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IG: DHS inaction cost millions
DHS Inspector General says DHS failed to implement more than 1,000 recommendations; FEMA largest offender
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Shipment of restricted technology to India brings 35-month sentence
A South Carolina businessmen is sentenced the three years in prison for smuggling restricted technology to India; technology used in India’s space and ballistic-missile programs
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New Air Force Cyber Command politically savvy
One way to secure the Hill’s backing — and bucks — for any new program is to spread it over as many states and congressional districts as possible; AFCYBER may be a new outfit, but its leaders are perfectly aware of this old political truth
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U.S. remains the dominant leader in science and technology worldwide
Perceptions to the contrary notwithstanding, the United States remains the world’s undisputed leader in science and technology; the key factor enabling U.S. science and engineering workforce to grow: inflow of foreign students, scientists, and engineers
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Congress increases DHS budget
Congress adds 6 percent — or $2.3 billion — to DHS budget over President Bush’s request; $950 million added for state homeland security grants, the same as last year, and $750 million above the requested level
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DHS launches 3 transportation initiatives
The Global Entry pilot program, the Passenger Service Program, and an expanded Model Ports Initiative, intended to strengthen customer service at U.S. ports of entry
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Tom Daschle calls for greater U.S.-U.K. bioterror cooperation
Daschle: “The threat of bioterrorism will increase exponentially because biological agents used to carry out such attacks will continue to become more accessible and more technologically advanced”
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Botnet cyberattack costs Japanese company 300 million yen
There is a new type of blackmail in Japan: Hackers use botnets in denial-of-service attacks on companies’ computers — ending the attacks only when hefty ransom is paid
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FEMA will be aggregator/gateway for CMAS
FEMA said it will be the aggregator and gateway for the Commercial Mobile Alert System, a voluntary nationwide emergency alert system
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IAEA to inspect bombed Syrian site
The UN nuclear agency has said Syria will allow inspectors to visit the country to investigate allegations that it was building a nuclear reactor; Israel destroyed facility in an air raid on 6 September
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Breakthrough: Reading fingerprints even after they are gone
The name is Bond, John Bond (of Leicester University, that is): Researchers at Leicester develop a fingerprints visualization technique which would allow reading a fingerprint even after the print itself has been removed; new method would allow solving decade-old unsolved cases
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Upcoming UCLA extension course: Biometric Identification Technology
UCLA Extension course offers comprehensive review of major biometric technologies and issues; the course is designed for both people already in the field and for newcomers
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OSHA issues guidance regarding storage of face masks, respirators
OSHA requests comments on proposed guidance on workplace stockpiling of respirators and face masks for pandemic influenza
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Iranian-born U.S. citizen charged with nuclear smuggling
The Iranian-born engineer worked for seventeen years at Palo Verde nuclear plant, about fifty miles west of downtown Phoenix, the largest U.S. nuclear plant; he loaded software onto his laptop, and took the laptop to Iran
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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.”