Transportation

New York State DMV shows off new equipment
The storm over Governor Elliot Spitzer’s plan to offer driver licenses to illegal aliens notwithstanding, New York state is moving forward on making the process of getting a driver license more secure
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Six teams cut in Urban Challenge qualifying round
In qualifying rounds in California, robotic vehicles are tested in self-navigation — no driver, no remote control — through a series of urban challenges; some teams don’t make it
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Software integration problems hobble SBInet
Technical problems keep hobbling SBInet; Project 28 has fallen four months behind schedule, mostly owing to software integration problems, but challenges by community and environmental groups and difficulties in acquiring rights to land will likely combine to add costs, delays to program
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Illegals in U.S. are not more likely to be involved in crime
Crime statistics do not support claims that illegal immigrants spread crime in the U.S.; percentage of incarcerated and charged illegal aliens reflects percentage in population
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U.S. destroyer in pursuit of hijacked tanker off the shore of Somalia
Somali pirates on Sunday hijacked a tanker carrying benzene; USS Arleigh Burke entered Somali territorial water in hot pursuit
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High-tech companies want separate discussion about legal immigration
High-tech companies say their ability to compete in the world’s market, and U.S. competitiveness more genrally, are hampered by limits which are too stringent on high-skill legal immigrants
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Spitzer retreats on driver licenses for illegal immigrants
New York governor Eliot Spitzer wanted to allow illegal immigrants obtain regular New York driver licenses; in the face of stiff opposition to his original plan, the governor now offers a two-tier scheme; civil libertarians cry foul
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Local law enforcement's immigration inquiries way up
The immigration reform bill has died in Congress, and the DHS’s rule tightening of Social Security Numbers’ no-match are on judicial hold; still, more and more local and state lw-enforcement units assume immigration-related responsibilities
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New baggage screening tool
U.K. researchers to combine scattered X-ray signals with high-resolution 3D X-ray images to give baggage screeners previously unseen information regarding luggage size, shape, and chemical composition of the contents contained in the luggage
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TSA tests Auto-EDS at BWI
Last week TSA sent randomly selected passengers at BWI to be screened by a new screening device from a Massachusetts company; the devices use computed axial tomography (CAT), similar to medical scanners
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DHS holds talks with U.K. minister, then detains him
Shahid Malik, U.K. minister for international development, detained at Dulles Airport after meeting with DHS to discuss tackling terrorism; this is the second time Malik, the first U.K. muslim minister, is detained by DHS at airport
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Air Force completes overhaul of global weather sensing system
USAF upgrades, improves global weather monitoring system, allowing “weather conditions almost anywhere to be factored into large-scale operations”
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Japan begins to fingerprint, take pictures of foreigners entering country
As of 20 November, all foreigners entering Japan will be fingerprinted and their photographs taken and stored; resident foreigners will also be subject to the new requirement
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Two more airports join the SPP program
The Screening Partnership Program (SPP) was established by the Aviation and Transportation Security Act (ATSA) of 2001 to meet the requirement for the TSA opt-out program; eight airports are already participating
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Questions raised about effectiveness of terror watch-list
There are now about 755,000 names on the U.S. terror watch list; since 2004, about 200,000 names have been added to the list each year; legislators, security experts say it has become unwieldy
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