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Press release: Ottawa, August 14, 2006 “The Privacy Commissioner of Canada, Jennifer Stoddart, has officially launched an investigation of the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT), a European-based financial cooperative that supplies messaging services and interface software to a large number of financial institutions in more than 200 countries, including Canada, to determine …
Press release: “Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) today joined a coalition of groups and websites to launch an interactive online database of the more than the 1,800 earmarks in the House version of the fiscal 2007 Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act (H.R. 5647). The effort aims …
Press release: “Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales today announced the launch of a new Web site designed to safeguard the civilian employment rights, voting rights and financial security of members of the Armed Services and veterans. The Web site, http://www.servicemembers.gov, is a partnership between the Justice Department and other federal agencies that oversee these protections.”
Press release: “To enhance border security and to facilitate travel, the Department of State began issuing Electronic Passports (e-passports) to the public today. Production has started at the Colorado Passport Agency and will be expanded to other production facilities over the next few months.”
Al-Qaeda: The Many Faces of an Islamist Extremist Threat, June 2006 (47 pages, PDF) Related report: Initial Assessment on the Implementation of The Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004, July 27, 2006 (41 pages, PDF)
Use this TSA Prohibited Items site to stay abreast of the items now excluded from carry-on baggage, as well as the exceptions to prohibited items (each with their own set of specifications). See also the TSA’s Our Travel Assistant site.
Special Report: After Katrina – Uneasy Money, by Paul Singer, National Journal. See also this Follow The Money Flow Chart (PDF): “Federal hurricane relief has traveled a convoluted path from Congress to the Gulf Coast. More than 70 federal agencies have handled a portion of the approximately $87 billion that has been doled out.”
CBO, How Federal Policies Affect the Allocation of Water, August 2006 (32 pages, PDF).
Press release: “The American Civil Liberties Union’s National Prison Project today released Abandoned & Abused: Orleans Parish Prisoners in the Wake of Hurricane Katrina.” Complete National Prison Project Report Executive Summary Table of Contents Related postings on Katrina
Follow up to August 9, 2006 posting, AOL Data Breach Causes Privacy Group to File Complaint With FTC, news today “the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF)…asked the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to investigate America Online (AOL) and require changes in its privacy practices, after the company recently released search history logs that exposed the private lives …
EPA press release: “The first-ever energy efficiency ratings for corn refineries and cement plants will enable those industries to cut energy usage, save money and prevent greenhouse gases. The plant Energy Performance Indicators (EPIs) made available today by EPA as part of a national energy performance rating system, are the first of their kind for …
As reported by the WSJ in this free feature, a biometric device from Suspect Detection Systems Ltd, is currently undergoing testing by TSA at the Knoxville, TN airport. This device was previously described in an April 2006 Financial Times article. Related article, also a WSJ free feature: Republicans Weigh Push For Tougher Terror Laws – …