Noteworthy new reports from the Congressional Research Service that have not been made readily available to the public include the following (all pdf).
“National Security Strategy: Legislative Mandates, Execution to Date, and Considerations for Congress,” May 28, 2008.
“Science, Technology, and American Diplomacy: Background and Issues for Congress,” May 22, 2008.
“Mexico-U.S. Relations: Issues for Congress,” updated May 23, 2008.
“German Foreign and Security Policy: Trends and Transatlantic Implications,” updated April 29, 2008.
“The Army’s Future Combat System (FCS): Background and Issues for Congress,” updated May 12, 2008.
“American War and Military Operations Casualties: Lists and Statistics,” updated May 14, 2008.
A prior version of the CRS report on military casualties has been the subject of a widely reprinted spam email message that misrepresented casualties during the Clinton and Bush Administrations. A footnote in the latest CRS update states: “Distorted versions of Tables 4 and 5 have been circulating through the Internet. As the tables here and on the Department of Defense website show, total military deaths and hostile deaths increased from 2001 to 2005, and then decreased in 2006.” See also “E-mail on military deaths is shaky on facts” by Chuck Vinch, Army Times, March 27, 2008.
“One thing became increasingly clear: AI doesn’t simply introduce a new category of risk. It changes the speed, scale, complexity, and interaction of risks that already exist.”
In an ideal world, we would not have state or federal climate intervention research bans. We would have researchers and institutions that would not shy away from revealing the good, the bad, and the ugly of these technologies and doing so responsibly.
“What excites me is that it’s very tempting to be very discouraged, and say, ‘Oh, we’ve got these archaic institutions that are calcified and you could never change them.’ But I think we’re in the middle of a technological revolution that will upend lots of things, and does provide a window.”
Ask people what worries them most right now, and they’ll say the cost of living and their livelihoods, not climate change. But those concerns are not separate.