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From the Blogs
Assessing the Intelligence Implications of Virtual Words: A
study conducted for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence
has found that digitally based-virtual words and online games could
have profound impact on national security per a newly disclosed report
obtained via a Freedom of Information Act request by FAS. The study
warns that terrorists could create a virtual Osama Bin Laden avatar that
could be used to recruit terrorists and “preach and issue new fatwas
for hundreds of years to come.”
CIA Cuts Off Public Access to Its Translated News Reports: Beginning
in 1974, the U.S. intelligence community provided the public with a
broad selection of foreign news reports, updated daily. These were
collected and translated by the Central Intelligence Agency’s Foreign
Broadcast Information Service (FBIS), which was reconstituted in 2004 as
the Open Source Center (OSC). But the CIA has now terminated public
access to those news reports, available via the World News Connection,
as of December 31.
A Foolish Consistency:
In a new post on the ScienceWonk Blog, Dr. Y takes a look at the latest
news out of Fukushima and the science behind some concerns including
radioactivity in the water and the possibility that the melted reactors
could go critical.
The Clapper "Lie," and the Senate Intelligence Committee: Director
of National Intelligence James R. Clapper has been widely criticized
for making a false statement at a March 2013 hearing of the Senate
Intelligence Committee. Clapper was asked if the NSA collects any type
of data at all on Americans and he replied “No, sir.” He added “Not
wittingly. There are cases where they could, inadvertently perhaps,
collect — but not wittingly.” Based on this exchange, and in light of
the revelations to the contrary made by
Edward Snowden, some have concluded that DNI Clapper “lied to
Congress.” What has gone unremarked, however, is the fact that the
Committee permitted that statement to stand uncorrected.
National Security Letters: Legal Background and More from CRS:
Secrecy News has obtained recently released CRS reports on topics such
as nuclear power plant security, national security letters and legal
background, the crisis in South Sudan and Iran's nuclear program.
GAO Oversight of NSA: A Neglected Option:
Years ago, the Government Accountability Office conducted routine
audits and investigations of the NSA. Steven Aftergood writes that in
the post- Snowden era, the GAO (the investigative arm of Congress) could
perform this oversight function once again.
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