Monthly Archives: January 2007
The Queens Blackout and Systems Vulnerability
A report highly critical of ConEd’s performance in the Queens blackout has been released. Among many interesting dimensions of the report are: criticism of how emergency decisions get made about broader system shut-downs to prevent long-term damage to the network; … Continue reading
Counter Counterinsurgency
In this February’s Harper’s, Edward N. Luttwak of the Center for Strategic and International Studies heartily condemns the newly published Counterinsurgency Manual.
Comparative Study of Reconstructed 1918 virus and H5N1
As the New York Times reports today, “Scientists infected monkeys with a virus that caused the 1918-19 influenza pandemic and said in the Jan. 18 issue of the journal Nature that it caused an illness like that suffered by patients … Continue reading
Strain of Bird Flu Found in Egypt Is Resistant to Antiviral Drug
As the New York Times reports today, a strain of avian influenza H5N1 has been found in Egypt that is resistant to oseltamivir. This comes as no surprise, really. Other instances of resistance have already occurred in other places. It … Continue reading
Bird Flu News Picking Up
As public health blog Effect Measure puts it, “It’s January and once again the bird flu news is unsettling.”
Caruso on Risk
In her new book, “Intervention: Confronting the Real Risks of Genetic Engineering and Life on a Biotech Planet,” Denise Caruso addresses the question how we should go about to properly assess “the risks of complex technical systems, given how little … Continue reading
Counterinsurgency according to Gen. Petraeus
The army has released General Petraeus’ counterinsurgency manual, including instructions on civilian-military integration (see sections on “Provincial Reconstruction Teams in Afghanistan” and “Civil Operations and Rural Development Support in Vietnam”). Note also the definition of culture as a “web of … Continue reading
Chertoff on risk and critical infrastructure
At two recent press conferences, Chertoff explained the DHS risk management approach and talked about how critical infrastructure protection works. A snippet: “So based on analysis that we have done through our infrastructure protection programs, we’ve identified a list of … Continue reading
Bloomberg on counter-terror financing…
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg testified in Senate hearings today about the financing formulas for DHS funding. He has raised the same issues in prior hearings. The question is whether a new Congress means that these criticisms might actually go … Continue reading
