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Administration plans drastic cuts in antiterrorism funds to large cities
New York politicians slam administration’s plans to cut antiterrorism funds to New York and other large cities; if Bush includes the cuts in his annual funding request to Congress, “They’ll be dead on arrival,” Representative Peter King (R-New York) vowed
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U.K. government looks to private sector, academia for help on security
U.K. Home Office organize a meeting of 150 scientists, venture capitalists, chief executives, and academics to exchange ideas on new capabilities and future research priorities in the figh against terrorism
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Aussies debate creation of DHS-like super-department
Kevin Rudd, leader of Australia’s opposition Labor Party, has proposed the creation of a DHS-like agency to coordinate responses to terrorism and natural disasters; critics say that the current, decentralized Australian first-response system is better
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Main Northern Ireland's Protestant militant group declares "war is over"
The UDA specialized in revenge murders of innocent Catholics after IRA attacks; it killed hundreds of people and extorted vast sums from its own community; in the last decades, many of its members turned to drug dealing and other crimes; leaders say that, as of yesterday, the “war is over” and that the organization will stand down; UDA say it will purge criminals from its ranks
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Foreign students face tightened U.K. security checks
Foreign students applying for graduate study in the U.K. in 41 science and engineering subjects now must pass extra security screening
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Government agencies over-rely on outside contractors
GAO criticizes DHS for profligate use of outside contractors; employees in other agencies write to say their agencies, too, are culpable
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GAO criticizes DHS's reliance on contractors
GAO says DHS spends too much money on contractors who do work which is usually reserved for government employees; as a result, DHS’s decision making may be unduly influenced by contractors
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Opponnents say Social Security is not the way to track illegal immigrants
Opponents of DHS’s tightening of no-match rule say this is not a good way to control illegal immigration; AFL-CIO estimates that 600,000 of its workers could be vulnerable to firing
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Bush unveils updated national homeland security strategy
President says “The purpose of our Strategy is to guide, organize, and unify our Nation’s homeland security efforts”
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Senate approves defense budget; more money to border security
Senate passes a record $459 billion budget for the Pentagon; budget, even adjusted for inflation, is more than 20 percent higher than the average cold war budget; it has gone up more than 40 percent since 9/11
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Two companies partner on public-safety computer-aided dispatch
The technology of dispatching law enforcement quickly to disaster zones is a growing business, and two specialists will market their solutions jointly to U.S. localities
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DHS big projects offer opportunities for nimble contractors
Some of DHS’s big projects — EAGLE and non-EAGLE — are underway and they offer opportunities for specialists
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U.K. homeland security market earned revenues of $609 million in 2007
U.K. homeland security market to grow steadily until 2012, then contract; emphasis on securing mass transportation, urban areas
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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.”