The Department of Defense TALON database of threat information that compiled information on U.S. persons involved in domestic protests was implemented in compliance with U.S. law, a review by the DoD Inspector General (pdf) concluded. However, some of the raw information was improperly retained in violation of a DoD directive, the IG said in an extensive new report.
See “The Threat and Local Observation Notice (TALON) Report Program,” DoD Inspector General, June 27, 2007 (flagged by Sabrina Pacifici at BeSpacific.com).
January saw us watching whether the government would fund science. February has been about how that funding will be distributed, regulated, and contested.
This rule gives agencies significantly more authority over certain career policy roles. Whether that authority improves accountability or creates new risks depends almost entirely on how agencies interrupt and apply it.
Our environmental system was built for 1970s-era pollution control, but today it needs stable, integrated, multi-level governance that can make tradeoffs, share and use evidence, and deliver infrastructure while demonstrating that improved trust and participation are essential to future progress.
Durable and legitimate climate action requires a government capable of clearly weighting, explaining, and managing cost tradeoffs to the widest away of audiences, which in turn requires strong technocratic competency.