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Melissa Hathaway highlights nine important cyber bills
Congress is getting more and more involved in cyber issues; Melissa Hathaway, former White House cybersecurity official, examines the pending legislation and highlights nine bills — out of the 40-odd bills at various stages in the legislative process — which she considers to be the most important ones to watch
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Growth in U.S. regulatory spending continues
Since 2000, the U.S. annual budget outlays for regulatory activities increased by more than 75 percent; one example: the fiscal 2011 budget calls for more than $59 billion dollars to be spend on homeland security — this is the largest federal regulatory budget to date
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The real battle over Iran's nuclear weapons program takes place in courts, intelligence centers
Iran has a voracious appetite for technology to feed its nuclear, missile, and other military programs; while diplomats in striped suits debate the fine points of new UN sanctions on Tehran because of its nuclear weapons program, the real struggle over Iran’s capabilities is taking place in courtrooms and intelligence centers, via sting operations, front companies, and falsified shipping documents
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Congress to address important cybersecurity initiatives
Congress is setting to tackle important cybersecurity-related issues — including the confirmation hearing on Army Lt. Gen. Keith Alexander to be military cyber commander, markup sessions on bills to fund cybersecurity research and development, and realign the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST) laboratories
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TV operators say FCC's broadband plan is a threat to homeland security
The National Association of Broadcasters, a group that represents TV broadcasters, says that what it regards as the Federal Communication Commission’s (FCC) anti-broadcast, pro-broadband prejudice is a threat to homeland security: in the event of a national disaster, broadband service will overload and shut down because it is not meant to accommodate everyone’s data-communications needs at once
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Intellectual Ventures: A genuine path breaker or a patent troll?
Intellectual Ventured has amassed 30,000 patents, spent more than $1 million on lobbying last year, and its executives have contributed more than $1 million to Democratic and Republican candidates and committees; the company says it wants to build a robust, efficient market for “invention capital”; critics charge that some of its practices are closer to that of a patent troll
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New Zealand rated least corrupt country; Somalia declared most corrupt
The authoritative Transparency International’s annual corruption report, which rates 180 countries, found New Zealand to be the least-corrupt country in the world — scoring 9.4 out of 10; Somalia is the world’s most corrupt country, scoring a lamentable 1.1, propping up Afghanistan (1.3), Myanmar (1.4), Sudan (1.5), and Iraq (1.5); perennial most-corrupt winner Nigeria secured the joint 130th place on the list, sharing a score of 2.5 with Honduras, Lebanon, Libya, Maldives, Mauritania, Mozambique, Nicaragua, and Uganda
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House tightens chemical plant safety bill
A House bill is set to tighten some provisions of the original chemical plant safety bill of two years ago; specifically, the House bill demands that chemical plants be obligated to replace the most toxic and volatile — and, hence, the most dangerous — chemicals they use in their operations with safer substitutes — but in a nod to the chemical industry, the bill focuses only on the highest-risk plants, and it would make them use safer chemicals or processes only when DHS determines that they are feasible and cost-effective
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Tighter immigration control spells troubles for the border economy
There are many facets to the debate about the best way to handle illegal immigration into the United States, but for the 210 U.S. border counties, where the economy and immigration are tied closely together, tighter immigration control means slowdown in business activity
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FDA to host traceability meeting
FDA, USDA to hold a day-long conference to discuss the core elements of product tracing systems, gaps in current product tracing systems, and mechanisms to enhance product tracing systems for food in an effort to increase the speed and accuracy of traceback investigations and trace forward operations
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Obama's approach to illegal immigration has businesses worried
The Bush administration tried to reduce that number by trying to stop the flow of illegal immigrants into the country; the Obama administration announced a new strategy: going after an illegal immigrant’s employer and its managers
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Guarding the guardians in South Africa
Criminals in South Africa found a new way to make money: they open security companies; there are two advantages to these ventures: they get paid for their “security” services, and they are able to learn all they need to know, for their own criminal purposes, about the organizations they are supposedly protecting
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Victims of foodborne illness press White House for food safety reform
Visit to White House comes after victims and their families press Senate to pass legislation to protect the public from foodborne illness
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DHS recommends three emergency management standards
DHS, under its Voluntary Private Sector Preparedness Accreditation and Certification Program (PS-Prep), is proposing the use of three existing emergency management and business continuity standards; the three were selected from twenty-five standards submitted to DHS for consideration
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Senate weakens ban on off-shore companies with federal contracts
The “Buy American” provisions in the $787 billion stimulus package prohibited DHS contracts from going to foreign companies — or from “inverted” companies (that is, companies with phony foreign headquarters); in March the ban was extended to other government agencies — but the ban has now been loosened
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More headlines
The long view
Are We Ready for a ‘DeepSeek for Bioweapons’?
Anthropic’s Claude 4 is a warning sign: AI that can help build bioweapons is coming, and could be widely available soon. Steven Adler writes that we need to be prepared for the consequences: “like a freely downloadable ‘DeepSeek for bioweapons,’ available across the internet, loadable to the computer of any amateur scientist who wishes to cause mass harm. With Anthropic’s Claude Opus 4 having finally triggered this level of safety risk, the clock is now ticking.”
The “Invasion” Invention: The Far Right’s Long Legal Battle to Make Immigrants the Enemy
The Trump administration is using the claim that immigrants have “invaded” the country to justify possibly suspending habeas corpus, part of the constitutional right to due process. A faction of the far right has been building this case for years.
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.”
Autocrats Don’t Act Like Hitler or Stalin Anymore − Instead of Governing with Violence, They Use Manipulation
Modern autocrats don’t always resemble their 20th-century predecessors. Instead, they project a polished image, avoid overt violence and speak the language of democracy. They wear suits, hold elections and talk about the will of the people. Rather than terrorizing citizens, many use media control and messaging to shape public opinion and promote nationalist narratives. Many gain power not through military coups but at the ballot box.