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Alternatives to the H-1B visa, pt. 2: L-1 "International Transferees"
The demand for H1-B visas far outstrips its supply; one alternative is the L-1 visa which allows companies to transfer employees to, and allows investors to form start-up operations in, the United States
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New nuclear watchdog created
Anti-proliferation activists create the World Institute for Nuclear Security; funded with private and government funds, it will be headquartered in Vienna — next to the IAEA; it aims to facilitate sharing information to improve security at the world’s nuclear sites
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Web browsers affected by Clickjacking
US CERT issues a warning about a new cross-browser exploit technique called “Clickjacking”; clickjacking gives an attacker the ability to trick a user into clicking on something only barely or momentarily noticeable; thus, if a user clicks on a Web page, they may actually be clicking on content from another page
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Stolen laptops "broadcast" their location to rightful owners
Huskies researchers develop a software tool which uses the Internet as a homing beam; if the thief uses the stolen laptop to connect to the Internet, the owner receives information on the laptop location (and Macintosh owners also recvied a picture of the thief)
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Group tells FTC more RFID security guidance is needed
As RFID technology proliferates, so do worries about its potential for violating people’s privacy. the Federal Trade Commission is charged with protecting consumers, and privacy advocates urge it to take a close look at RFID
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Breakthrough: "Math dyslexia," not intelignece, makes people bad at math
Generations of students who struggled with mathematics in school accepted — and their teachers and parents accepted — that they were just “not good at math”; new research show that the cause was more likely “dyscalculia” — a syndrome which is similar to dyslexia
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More debate about how best to defend Earth against asteroids
U.C. Berkeley expert says protecting Earth against incoming asteroids “is not an astronomy problem. It is a financial problem, an accounting problem, an international problem, an organizational problem, a political problem”
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Texas county weighing border fence alternatives
Cameron County, Texas, must decide which option is more beneficial to it: DHS’s fence plan which the county does not like, but which will see $37 million in contracts go to local businesses, or resubmitting the county’s alternative fence plan, which DHS had already rejected, exploiting the fact that DHS has postponed the 31 December fence deadline
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Briefly noted
Smart cluster bomb hunts down targets… Anthrax-case documents reveal bizarre Ivins’s behavior… New FISMA bill receives committee OK… L-1 in $5.9 million Mississippi driver’s license contract…
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NATO in major anti-terror drill
NATO will hold a two-week comprehensive anti-terrorrism drill in Sardinia; 15 nations, 10 agencies will coordinate land, air, sea, space assets in an effort to smooth communication, information sharing, and operational execution
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Briefly noted
Aussie cyber security needs work… D.C. policy carry iPhones… Surveillance radar in Indonesian straits… HUD awards Iowa critical infrastructure funds…
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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
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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
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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
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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
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More headlines
The long view
Factories First: Winning the Drone War Before It Starts
Wars are won by factories before they are won on the battlefield,Martin C. Feldmann writes, noting that the United States lacks the manufacturing depth for the coming drone age. Rectifying this situation “will take far more than procurement tweaks,” Feldmann writes. “It demands a national-level, wartime-scale industrial mobilization.”
No Nation Is an Island: The Dangers of Modern U.S. Isolationism
The resurgence of isolationist sentiment in American politics is understandable but misguided. While the desire to refocus on domestic renewal is justified, retreating from the world will not bring the security, prosperity, or sovereignty that its proponents promise. On the contrary, it invites instability, diminishes U.S. influence, and erodes the democratic order the U.S. helped forge.
Fragmented by Design: USAID’s Dismantling and the Future of American Foreign Aid
The Trump administration launched an aggressive restructuring of U.S. foreign aid, effectively dismantling the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The humanitarian and geopolitical fallout of the demise of USAID includes shuttered clinics, destroyed food aid, and China’s growing influence in the global south. This new era of American soft power will determine how, and whether, the U.S. continues to lead in global development.
Water Wars: A Historic Agreement Between Mexico and US Is Ramping Up Border Tension
As climate change drives rising temperatures and changes in rainfall, Mexico and the US are in the middle of a conflict over water, putting an additional strain on their relationship. Partly due to constant droughts, Mexico has struggled to maintain its water deliveries for much of the last 25 years, deliveries to which it is obligated by a 1944 water-sharing agreement between the two countries.
How Disastrous Was the Trump-Putin Meeting?
In Alaska, Trump got played by Putin. Therefore, Steven Pifer writes, the European leaders and Zelensky have to “diplomatically offer suggestions to walk Trump back from a position that he does not appear to understand would be bad for Ukraine, bad for Europe, and bad for American interests. And they have to do so without setting off an explosion that could disrupt U.S.-Ukrainian and U.S.-European relations—all to the delight of Putin and the Kremlin.”
How Male Grievance Fuels Radicalization and Extremist Violence
Social extremism is evolving in reach and form. While traditional racial supremacy ideologies remain, contemporary movements are now often fueled by something more personal and emotionally resonant: male grievance.