The inequality of income among American taxpayers has grown markedly in recent years, the Congressional Research Service confirmed in a new study of U.S. tax records. Even as total income grew between 1996 and 2006 (the last year for which individual tax data are available), many Americans were losing ground. “Inflation-adjusted income actually fell for […]
If nuclear fusion were ever to become a practical method of generating electrical energy, there would be a continuing requirement to produce significant quantities of tritium for fusion reactor fuel. The JASON scientific advisory panel was asked by the Department of Energy to assess the feasibility of large scale tritium production. Its findings were presented […]
A newly revised Army regulation prescribes the use of “red teams” that are assigned to try and penetrate the security of military communications, as if they were hackers or opposition forces. “Red Team operations expose vulnerabilities by challenging an organization’s readiness and ability to protect information. Red Team activities focus on identifying an organization’s critical […]
Updated below The U.S. electric power grid is vulnerable to damage from severe electromagnetic solar storms and remedial measures should be taken to reduce that vulnerability, a new study (large pdf) from the JASON scientific advisory panel concluded. On the other hand, the JASONs said, catastrophic worst-case scenarios advanced by some are not plausible, and […]
Congress last week enacted the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012. “The legislation we are approving today keeps funding for intelligence essentially flat from fiscal year 2011, representing the a meaningful reduction from the President’s request,” said Senate Intelligence Committee chair Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) on December 14. Curiously, Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI), the […]
The U.S. government acknowledges that U.S. military forces were involved in “armed conflict” this year in Libya, but it does not acknowledge that they were engaged in “hostilities.” Earlier this year, State Department legal advisor Harold H. Koh attempted to parse these distinctions, which have significant legal consequences, and to deflect some pointed questions from […]
New reports from the Congressional Research Service that have not been made readily available to the public include these (both pdf): “U.S. Arms Sales: Agreements with and Deliveries to Major Clients, 2003-2010,” December 16, 2011. “Pakistan: U.S. Foreign Aid Conditions, Restrictions, and Reporting Requirements,” December 15, 2011.
Congress has given the U.S. military a green light to conduct offensive military activities in cyberspace. “Congress affirms that the Department of Defense has the capability, and upon direction by the President may conduct offensive operations in cyberspace to defend our Nation, allies and interests,” said the FY 2012 defense authorization act that was adopted […]
Congress ordered the Secretary of Defense to establish an information security program for detecting “unauthorized access to, use of, or transmission of classified or controlled unclassified information.” The provision was included by the FY2012 defense authorization act that was approved in conference this week (section 922). The insider threat detection program, conceived as a response […]
In an abrupt reversal, the Central Intelligence Agency said that it will process a Freedom of Information Act request for documents pertaining to the establishment of Open Source Works, the CIA’s in-house open source intelligence organization. Intelligence historian Jeffrey Richelson had requested the charter of Open Source Works under the Freedom of Information Act, only […]
The amount of money that the Pentagon requested for the Military Intelligence Program (MIP) in FY2012 — around $25 billion — is classified and will not be disclosed, the Department of Defense said last week in response to a Freedom of Information Act request for the figure. The MIP budget request number “is currently and […]
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