• Consulting firm settles H-1B discrimination case

    Against the backdrop of growing controversy over the H1-B visa program, Department of Justice fines consulting firm which advertised computer jobs for H1-B visa holders only; company was accused of discriminating against qualified U.S. workers who would have been eligible for the jobs

  • U.S. hospitals could not handle terror attack

    Inquiry into the disaster preparedness of hospitals in several major U.S. cities conclude that they are — and will be — incapable to handle even a modest terrorist attack in those cities; one reason for for the lack of hospitals’ capacity: the Bush administration’s cuts in Medicaid reimbursements to hospitals overwhelm emergency rooms with patients suffering from routine problems, leaving no capacity to absorb and treat disaster victims

  • IBM joins Next Generation Identification (NGI) system team

    NGI, the FBI’s new multi-modal, state-of-the-art biometrics system to be used by state, local, and federal authorities, will store fingerprints, palm prints, iris, and facial recognition information; it will accommodate other biometric modalities as they mature

  • Secret wiretap warrants double since 9/11

    A Justice Department report shows FISA warrants for counterterrorism, espionage cases up

  • Malicious hardware may be next hacker tool

    Next threat on the computer security front: Malicious hardware; malicious hardware is more problematic because it is more difficult to detect; China is already using an early, and simple, version of malicious hardware in its massive military and industrial espionage campaign against Western countries and companies

  • U.K. science's reputation damaged by funding fiasco

    In December 2007, the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) — the U.K. main funding body for physics and astronomy, and a body which looks after some of the largest science centers in the country — was faced with a deficit of £80 million; a new report slams the SFTC funding decisions since then

  • Senate Democrats criticize political involvement in toxic chemical decisions

    The Government Accountability Office (GAO) says extensive involvement by EPA managers, White House budget officials, and other agencies has eroded the independence of EPA scientists charged with determining the health risks posed by chemicals

  • U.S. releases annual terrorism report

    The report finds al Qaeda and its associated network continued to be the number one greatest terrorist threat to the United States and its allies

  • FDA: Heparin contamination may have been deliberate

    Blood-thinner heparin costs manufacturers $900 a pound; a similar chemical, oversulfated chondroitin sulfate, costs $9 a pound; Chinese drug manufacturer uses the latter chemical to produce fake heparin — causing the death of nearly 100 and sickness of thousands around the world; FDA initially said this was a case of “economic fraud,” but now says something more sinister may be afoot

  • Pennsylvania invests in water infrastructure

    Pennsylvania approves $72 million in low-interest loans and grants for 19 brownfields, drinking water, wastewater, and storm water projects in 15 counties

  • Stolen military items available for sale online

    GAO investigators buy dozens of prohibited military items on eBay and Craigslist; some of the time would be of direct help to terrorists and insurgents

  • FCC approves national mobile alert system

    U.S. wireless carriers will transmit to their subscribers alert and emergency messages during disasters; carriers will transmit text-based alerts to their subscribers; as technology evolves, the CMAS may eventually include audio and video services to transmit emergency alerts to the public

  • Israel to hold “routine” nationwide emergency drill today

    Israel is conducting a nation-wide emergency response drill today; worried about past mishaps and misperceptions, the government went out of its way to reassure jumpy neighbors that this is but a routine emergency drill

  • DHS grants Maine Real ID extension

    Unless a state received a Real ID extension from DHS, then the driver’s licenses it issues to its residents must be Real ID-compliant by 11 May or state residents will not be able to board a plane, open a bank account, or enter a federal building; Maine’s application was not to DHS’s liking, so the state missed the extension application deadline; DHS decided to give the state 48 hours to comply

  • "Intellectual vacuum cleaner": China's industrial espionage campaign, I

    In an effort to accelerate its rise to economic and technological hegemony, China is employing its military, intelligence services, trade missions abroad, students sent to foreign universities — and Chinese-born citizens who are sent to form espionage sleeper cells — in a massive industrial espionage campaign against Western companies