The basic structures and procedures of science and technology policymaking are presented in detail in a new report from the Congressional Research Service. See “Science and Technology Policymaking: A Primer” (pdf), April 18, 2008. Other noteworthy new reports from the Congressional Research Service that have not been made readily available online include the following (all […]
The implications of the expanded use of “national security letters” by the FBI and other agencies to compel disclosure of business record information will be explored in a hearing tomorrow before the Senate Judiciary Committee. For an introduction to the subject see “National Security Letters in Foreign Intelligence Investigations: Legal Background and Recent Amendments” (pdf), […]
Wolfgang Pauli is a legendary figure among physicists. He is remembered for having both one of the greatest minds of the twentieth century and one of its sharpest tongues. One student’s paper he dismissed by saying: That’s not right; it isn’t even wrong. (Or words to that effect in German; Pauli was Viennese.) If a […]
A memorandum of understanding (pdf) signed this month by the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Archivist is expected to enable the transfer of many permanently valuable historical CIA records that are 50 years old or older to the custody of the National Archives (NARA), officials of both agencies said today. Up […]
William J. Bosanko was formally named this week as the fourth director of the Information Security Oversight Offfice, the executive branch agency that is responsible for oversight of national security classification and declassification policy government-wide. A ten-year veteran of the ISOO staff, Mr. Bosanko shares an understanding of the ideals and the realities of classification […]
Prodded by a request from the Federation of American Scientists, the U.S. Marine Corps recently restored online public access to many of its doctrinal publications, Federal Computer Week reported on March 27. One of those Marine Corps documents addresses war crimes (pdf), describing prohibited actions and the need to prevent them. “While we Marines fight […]
Testimony from classification expert J. William Leonard, the former director of the Information Security Oversight Office, will “seriously undercut the government’s case” against two former officials of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) who are charged with unlawful receipt and transmission of classified information, defense attorneys argued in a dramatic new pleading (pdf) urging […]
Some unauthorized disclosures of classified information in the press can serve a constructive purpose, Sen. John McCain allowed. And so he expressed support for a pending press “shield” law that would increase reporters’ legal protection against compulsory disclosure of their confidential sources. “Despite concerns I have about the legislation, I have narrowly decided to support […]
The latest edition of Nieman Reports, the quarterly magazine of the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard, is devoted to the subject of “21st Century Muckrakers: Who Are They? How Do They Do Their Work?” It’s a meaty and highly readable issue. I contributed a piece on “Secrecy vs. Citizenship.” Ted Gup, author of the […]
The Senate Intelligence Committee has recommended creation of a new Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Intelligence to prepare the annual intelligence budget. “The [proposed] Subcommittee on Intelligence shall appropriate all funds for the National Intelligence Program (NIP) (as opposed to the current situation where appropriations for the NIP are fragmented among several subcommittees within the Appropriations […]
Noteworthy new reports from the Congressional Research Service that have not been made readily available to the public include the following (all pdf). “Tibet: Problems, Prospects, and U.S. Policy,” April 10, 2008. “Judicial Review of Removal Orders,” April 10, 2008. “Avatars, Virtual Reality Technology, and the U.S. Military: Emerging Policy Issues,” April 9, 2008. “International […]
U.S. intelligence agencies have embarked upon a process to develop a uniform classification policy and a single classification guide that could be used by the entire U.S. intelligence community, according to a newly obtained report (pdf) from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. The way that intelligence agencies classify information is not only […]