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Perimeter security: much is yet to be done
Multiple jurisdictions, a large number of stake holders, and lack of extensive and specific mandates from TSA make airport perimeter security a daunting task — a task which many airports are yet to address effectively
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Cost versus safety debated at Albany, N.Y. chemical plant location
Greenpeace backs federal proposal for tougher chemical plant safety rules, but an Albany firm — and the chemical industry more generally — fear expense
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Second part of Secure Flight is phased in beginning Saturday
Starting Saturday, some travelers will begin providing their birth date and sex when booking their airline reservations; Secure Flight aims to match passengers’ names against the government’s terrorism watch list
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Study highlights air cargo security failings
New study: “these weak spots [in air cargo security] increase the security risk of worldwide transport, which can result in the disruption of logistical processes with considerable economic losses”
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NRC seeks tighter oversight of often-lost radioactive devices
A 3 August proposal by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) would expand the agency’s oversight, giving federal and state officials more muscle by stiffening regulations on almost 2,000 items — mostly industrial gauges containing radioactive material; there are approximately 2 million radioactive devices in factories, hospitals, research facilities — and the GAO estimates that up to 500,000 of those devices are unaccounted for
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In-building public-safety communication a growing business
The 9/11 attacks exposed a major weakness: rescue personnel had no communication coverage inside the towers; regulations now require that first responders have communications coverage everywhere in a building — or at least 95 percent of it; as businesses and local governments face deadlines for complying with these requirements, businesses offering in-building communication services will benefit
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Patent systems may discourage innovation: study
The traditional view is that patents foster innovation. A new study suggests instead that they may hinder technological progress, economic activity, and societal wealth
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Sweeping food safety bill passes House
House passes new, sweeping food safety bill requiring more government inspections and imposing new penalties on those who violate the law
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Apple says jailbreaking may knock out transmission towers
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) asked the U.S. Copyright Office to instruct Apple to allow “jailbreaking ” — that is, modification of the iPhone’s software without Apple’s approval; Apple responded that modifying the iPhone’s operating system could crash a mobile phone network’s transmission towers or allow people to avoid paying for phone calls
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DHS unveils improved online presence
DHS unveils new Web site; National Threat Advisory graphic is given much less prominence
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U.S. considers cloud security standards
Cloud computing is gaining among businesses, so the U.S. government says it may step up with a set of cloud-security standards to meet government requirements for protecting sensitive data
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Concerns over E-Verify effectiveness as illegal immigration detentions drop
The Obama administration has mandated that by 8 September, all contractors who do work with the federal government must use E-Verify to ensure their prospective employees can legally work in the United States; senators say it is too easy to fool the current E-Verify system
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Opponents of Israeli Biometric Law: "It's a Step to a True Police State"
Debate heats up in Israel over the creation of a national biometric database; the law empowers the Interior Ministry to set up a database that would include biometric identification information on every Israeli citizen
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Napolitano highlights differences between Real ID and PASS ID
DHS secretary Napolitano, in her previous post a governor of Arizona, opposed the Real ID Act and the mandates it imposes on states; now, as DHS secretary, she is charge of implementing the act; Napolitano offers the PASS ID program as a compromise
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The Obama administration would require federal contractors to use E-Verify
The Obama administration said it would support a George Bush administration regulation that would only award federal contracts to employers who use E-Verify to check employee work authorization
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The long view
The Paranoid Style in American Oversight, Part II
The criticism of the techniques used in the FBI’s investigation of the false electors plot, much like the critiques of how it was opened, do not bear scrutiny. The days of the FBI trying to speak only through indictments are apparently over, and Director Kash Patel’s willingness to endlessly provide piecemeal documents, without any explanation, annotation, or context to the bureau’s most vituperative critics is just one more sign not that a page has merely been turned, but that it has been ripped out of the book entirely and burned to cinders.
Presidential Discretion and the Insurrection Act
The Supreme Court, in Trump v. Illinois, further diminished the president’s ability to use § 12406 to federalize the National Guard in order to directly interfere in domestic activities in pursuit of his most controversial policies. With § 12406 now unavailable, the likelihood of the current president resorting to the Insurrection Act, the statute affording him the most oppressive domestic suppression capabilities, has only increased.