Category «Defense»

The Number of Veterans That Use VA Health Care Services: A Fact Sheet

Follow-up to posting, Wait Times for Veterans Health Not New – see CRS – The Number of Veterans That Use VA Health Care Services: A Fact Sheet. Erin Bagalman, Analyst in Health Policy, June 3, 2014. “It’s a simple question—how many veterans use services at the Veterans Health Administration (VHA)? It’s a question being asked a lot these days, and it …

Subjects: Defense, Government Documents, Health Care, Medicine

EPIC v. NSA: EPIC Obtains Presidential Directive for Cybersecurity

EPIC –  After almost five years, EPIC has obtained National Security Presidential Directive 54. The previously classified Presidential Directive contains the full text of the Comprehensive National Cybersecurity Initiative and “establishes United States policy, strategy, guidelines, and implementation actions to secure cyberspace.” This Directive, which is the foundational legal document for all cybersecurity policies in the …

Subjects: Courts, Cybercrime, Defense, E-Government, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Legal Research

Secret Service seeks software to monitor current and historical social media data

Via NextGov: “The Secret Service is purchasing software to watch users of social networks in real time, according to contract documents. In a work order posted on Monday, the agency details information the tool will collect — ranging from emotions of Internet users to old Twitter messages. Its capabilities will include “sentiment analysis,” “influencer identification,” “access to historical Twitter data,” “ability to detect …

Subjects: Blogs, Civil Liberties, Defense, E-Government, Internet, Privacy

DARPA research program focusing on traumatic brain injuries

Via DefenseTech: “The Pentagon has ambitious plans to develop a prosthetic for the brain that, if successful, will restore memory functions lost to troops who suffered brain injuries as well as people losing their pasts to Alzheimer’s disease. The Restoring Active Memory — or RAM — is just one project among a broad, multi-agency program underway …

Subjects: Defense, Government Documents, Health Care, Medicine

New GAO Reports – Medicare Physical Therapy, Passport Fraud

MEDICARE PHYSICAL THERAPY: Self-Referring Providers Generally Referred More Beneficiaries but Fewer Services per Beneficiary, GAO-14-270: Published: Apr 30, 2014. Publicly Released: Jun 2, 2014. STATE DEPARTMENT: Pervasive Passport Fraud Not Identified, but Cases of Potentially Fraudulent and High-Risk Issuances Are under Review, GAO-14-222: Published: May 1, 2014. Publicly Released: Jun 2, 2014.

Subjects: Defense, Government Documents

New GAO Reports – DOD Financial Management, DOE Loan Programs, Info Security, Treasury IG, Public Transit, SBA, Trusted Travelers

DOD FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT: Improvements Needed in Army’s Efforts to Ensure the Reliability of Its Statement of Budgetary Resources, GAO-14-60: Published: May 30, 2014. Publicly Released: May 30, 2014. DOE LOAN PROGRAMS: DOE Has Made More Than $30 Billion in Loans and Guarantees and Needs to Fully Develop Its Loan Monitoring Function, GAO-14-645T: Published: May 30, 2014. Publicly Released: May 30, 2014. …

Subjects: Defense, Economy, Financial System, Government Documents, Transportation

New GAO Reports – Army Networks, Defense Acquisitions, Defense Research, Foster Care, Foster Children

ARMY NETWORKS: Select Programs Are Utilizing Competition to Varying Degrees, GAO-14-460: Published: May 29, 2014. Publicly Released: May 29, 2014. DEFENSE ACQUISITIONS: Assessment of Institute for Defense Analyses’ C-130 Avionics Modernization Program Analysis, GAO-14-547R: Published: May 29, 2014. Publicly Released: May 29, 2014. DEFENSE RESEARCH: Improved Management of DOD’s Technical Corrosion Collaboration Program Needed, GAO-14-437: Published: May 29, 2014. Publicly Released: May 29, 2014. …

Subjects: Defense, Government Documents, Health Care, Medicine

DHS Privacy Complaints Increase in 2013, Many Databases Kept Secret

EPIC – “The Department of Homeland Security Quarterly Report to Congress details programs and databases affecting privacy. According to the agency, DHS received 964 privacy complaints between September 1, 2013 and November 30, 2013. By contrast, DHS received 295 privacy complaints during the same period in 2011. According to the report, most DHS systems complies with Privacy Act notice …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Defense, Free Speech, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Internet, PC Security, Privacy

Crisis Standards of Care – Institute of Medicine

“Catastrophic disasters occurring in 2011 in the United States and worldwide–from the tornado in Joplin, Missouri, to the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, to the earthquake in New Zealand–have demonstrated that even prepared communities can be overwhelmed. In 2009, at the height of the influenza A (H1N1) pandemic, the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response …

Subjects: Defense, Government Documents, Health Care, Medicine

VA National Gravesite Locator Tool

“The database of burial information is updated each day. Search for burial locations of veterans and their family members in VA National Cemeteries, state veterans cemeteries, various other military and Department of Interior cemeteries, and for veterans buried in private cemeteries when the grave is marked with a government grave marker. The Nationwide Gravesite Locator includes burial …

Subjects: Defense, E-Government, Government Documents

Libya: Transition and U.S. Policy – CRS

Libya: Transition and U.S. Policy. Christopher M. Blanchard, Specialist in Middle Eastern Affairs, May 19, 2014. “More than three years after the start of the 2011 anti-Qadhafi uprising in Libya and more than 18months after the September 2012 attacks on U.S. facilities and personnel in Benghazi, Libya’s security situation is dire and the direction of its political transition …

Subjects: Congress, Defense, Government Documents

UK CCTV code of practice – revised

“This revised code of practice on CCTV is intended to replace the last revision which was published in 2008.  The aim of this revision is to reflect the developments in existing technologies that have taken place since the last revision, to discuss the emergence of new surveillance technologies and the issues they present, to reflect …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Defense, E-Government, EU Data Protection, Government Documents, Privacy