Dirty War Documents, Directed Energy Weapons, More
Last week, Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) asked President Obama to expedite the declassification of U.S. intelligence documents pertaining to Argentina’s so-called “dirty war” during the military dictatorship that lasted from 1976 to the mid-1980s. “The substantial backlog at the National Archives and Records Administration and history of unwillingness to declassify by U.S. intelligence agencies has led me to believe that systematic declassification is not a suitable solution,” Rep. Hinchey wrote on November 2, explaining his request for Presidential intervention.
A new U.S. Air Force policy directive on “Directed Energy Weapons” specifies that whenever such a weapon is developed within a tightly-secured Special Access Program, a legal review of the classified weapon will be conducted by the Air Force General Counsel to “ensure… that any such weapon complies with domestic and international law.”
A new report from the Congressional Research Service considers the use and abuse of synthetic drugs. See “Synthetic Drugs: Overview and Issues for Congress,” October 28, 2011.
America’s affordability problem is bigger than home prices and rents. The best housing policies make it easier to build homes, and recognize how housing connects to other domains.
America’s affordability problem, for instance, is bigger than home prices and rents. How we build affects household costs like insurance and utilities.
As humans expand our geographic reach, encroach on untouched natural territories, and interact more with animal populations, we will encounter novel zoonotic diseases that threaten the human body. The sooner we act to address these risks, the better.
This report serves as a landscape assessment and toolbox from which local governments can negotiate an informed position when it comes to the levers available to them and includes a first-of-its kind analysis of eight executed community benefits agreements.