A recent boom in U.S. production of crude oil is generating some stress on the transportation infrastructure, according to a new report from the Congressional Research Service. “The rapid expansion of North American oil production has led to significant challenges in transporting crudes efficiently and safely to domestic markets—principally refineries—using the nation’s legacy pipeline infrastructure,” […]
It was announced today that Chief Justice Roberts has appointed Judge James E. Boasberg of the DC District Court to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court for a seven year term beginning in May 2014. He will replace the outgoing Presiding Judge Reggie Walton, whose term expires in May. The Chief Justice also appointed Judge Richard […]
The diverse economic sanctions imposed on Iran by U.S. law or executive order, and the feasibility of lifting those sanctions, are tabulated and presented in a new report from the Congressional Research Service. “The sudden possibility that the United States may ease financial sector sanctions, and perhaps commit to an eventual dismantling of the entire […]
A resolution introduced yesterday by Sen. John McCain would establish a new Senate Select Committee to investigate the unauthorized disclosures of classified information on National Security Agency collection programs and their implications for national policy. The McCain resolution is framed broadly and touches on many issues besides leaks, including intelligence policy, congressional oversight, the role […]
By law, the United States is not supposed to provide certain forms of military assistance to foreign security forces that have committed gross violations of human rights. The underlying laws, which were introduced by Sen. Patrick Leahy in the 1990s and which are known as the Leahy laws, are described in a new report from […]
As the United States struggles to deal with budget problems, as the U.S. Air Force deals with boredom, poor morale, drug use, and cheating on certification exams by their personnel entrusted with control of nuclear missiles, we have a solution that will save money as well as make the world a much safer place – […]
New and updated reports from the Congressional Research Service that Congress has withheld from online public distribution include the following. Perjury Under Federal Law: A Brief Overview, January 28, 2014 Perjury Under Federal Law: A Sketch of the Elements, January 28, 2014 Emergency Relief for Disaster Damaged Roads and Transit Systems: In Brief, January 28, […]
The primary lesson that emerges from the unauthorized disclosures of classified intelligence information by Edward Snowden is that U.S. intelligence agencies must be more transparent in their operations, said Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper yesterday. “The major takeaway for us, certainly for me, from the past several months is that we must lean […]
The potential for new technologies to harvest energy from the Earth’s crust was considered in a new report from the elite JASON science advisory board on “Enhanced Geothermal Systems” (EGS). “EGS offers important opportunities for increasing the contribution of geothermal energy to U.S. power production: by a few-fold over the next few years, according to […]
With the Sochi Olympics set to start on February 6th there has been an escalating concern about security threats to the Games. There are hunts for female suicide bombers (“black widows”), video threats from militant groups, etc., all of which have triggered a massive Russian security response, including statements by President Putin insuring the safety […]
Recent reports from the Congressional Research Service that Congress has withheld from online public distribution include the following. Identity Theft: Trends and Issues, January 16, 2014 Executive Order 13438: Blocking Property of Certain Persons Who Threaten Stabilization Efforts in Iraq, January 24, 2014 Detention of U.S. Persons as Enemy Belligerents, January 23, 2014 Trends in […]
The diverse factors that shape the execution of disaster relief and other foreign humanitarian assistance missions by the US military are described in a newly updated Department of Defense publication on the subject. See Foreign Humanitarian Assistance, Joint Publication 3-29, January 3, 2014. “Although US military forces are organized, trained, and equipped to conduct military […]