The release of President Obama’s first Presidential Policy Directive on “Organization of the National Security System” was reported by Karen DeYoung in the Washington Post and by Josh Gerstein in Politico.
“Secretary of Defense Robert Gates lifted a blanket ban on news media coverage of the honor guard ceremonies that mark the return of military casualties from abroad,” the National Security Archive noted.
The unreleased Bush Administration documents that are most coveted by reporters, civil libertarians, and others are discussed in “Opening the Files on Bush’s Secrets” by Jon Wiener in The Nation, March 16, 2009.
A new Army Field Manual on “Electronic Warfare in Operations” (pdf) has been issued as part of “an overall effort by the Army to rebuild its internal Electronic Warfare capability.” It also serves as a useful primer on the subject. The new Field Manual, FM 3-36, has been approved for unrestricted release.
A new trial date has been set in the “AIPAC Case,” in which two former employees of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee are charged with improperly receiving and transmitting classified national defense information. The new date is May 27, 2009.
Given the unreliability of private market funding for agricultural biotechnology R&D, substantial federal funding through research programs such as AgARDA is vital for accelerating R&D.
“Given the number of existential crises we must collectively confront, I have found policy entrepreneurship to be a fruitful avenue towards doing some of that work.”
We sit on the verge of another Presidential election – an opportunity for meaningful, science-based policy innovations that can appeal to lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.
Outdated Bureau of Labor Statistics classifications hampers the federal government’s ability to design and implement effective policies for emerging technologies sectors.