Digital Government
Virginia Task Force 1 to Haiti
One of the first outfits to respond to the disaster in Haiti was the all volunteer Fairfax Co., Va., Fire and Rescue Department -sponsored urban search and rescue team, known as Virginia Task Force 1.
Digital Government
Establishing telecommunications systems tops feds' to-do list for Haiti
Some of the first personnel deployed included communications specialists from a special Air Force operations squadron, with a Marines' ship loaded with health technology to follow.
Digital Government
A Suicide Averted
The Defense and the Veterans Affairs departments offer a wide range of tools to help soldiers and veterans on the brink of suicide, including counseling centers and 800 number help lines.
Modernization
Amtrak to offer passengers wireless Internet on high-speed trains
Railroad plans to expand the Wi-Fi to other trains, and the service could attract more business passengers, transportation specialists say.
Digital Government
St. Damien and the Bureaucrats
I spent eight out of 12 days of my Hawaii Christmas vacation on the island of Molokai and decided it made sense to read a biography of <a href=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Father_Damien>St. Damien</a>, the Belgian priest who volunteered to care for lepers banned to that island.
Digital Government
Here Comes the Navy Cyber Forces
The Navy plans to stand up its new cyber outfit, Navy Cyber Forces, at the Joint Expeditionary Base in Little Creek - Fort Story in Virginia on jan. 26. It will ultimately have some 40,000 cyber warriors under its command, I'm told.
Modernization
Public safety officials seek additional spectrum for first responders
Groups will urge lawmakers to require FCC to turn over the 700 megahertz D block cellular spectrum.
Digital Government
Top Posts of 2009
Here are the top 10 most read What's Brewin blog items in 2009, in order:
Digital Government
Senate Health Care Bill: Reader Beware
If you really want to ruin your day, try reading and comprehending the health care bill, which I did Tuesday and much of Wednesday.
Digital Government
Who Needs Boring Spending Tables?
I know they're real busy on the Hill right now, adding verbiage to an already incomprehensible 2,000 page-plus health care bill, but I'm appalled at the sloppy work done on the fiscal 2010 <a href=http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/Z?r111:H16DE9-0030>Defense appropriations bill</a> signed by President Obama on Monday.
Digital Government
Congress takes and gives in funding major Defense IT projects
Hill cuts Air Force's budget for upgrading network infrastructures on bases and for global communications but fully funds radio and UAV programs.
Digital Government
Defense's Senior Mentor Slush Fund
Folks on the Hill evidently read <em>USA Today</em>, which <a href=http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20091118/1amentors18_cv.art.htm>reported</a> last month that the Defense Department's senior mentor program amounted to a slush fund for retired generals and admirals, who just happen to work for contractors.
Digital Government
Congress directs Defense and VA to consider common health IT systems
Departments are to give lawmakers a report in early January, listing the systems that could be combined and outlining a plan for joining forces.
Digital Government
The Year of the Earmark Restraint?
The final version of the 2010 Defense appropriations bill debated in the Senate on Friday contains a mere 1,720 earmarks worth $4.2 billion. The number is down 17 percent and the value dropped 14 percent from the fiscal 2009 bill, the green eyeshade folks at Taxpayers for Common Sense <a href=http://www.taxpayer.net/resources.php?category=&type=Project&proj_id=2696&action=Headlines%20By%20TCS>reported</a>.
Digital Government
SkyGrabber How To
The Wall Street Journal <a href=http://online.wsj.com/article/SB126102247889095011.html>reported</a> on Thursday that the bad guys in Afghanistan and Iraq have cleverly figured out how to use a $29.95 software package called SkyGrabber to intercept video feeds from unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
Digital Government
Marines on the Moon
Gen. James Conway, the Marine Corps commandant, told a Pentagon press briefing on Tuesday that he strongly disagreed with a U.S. Central Command directive that the infrastructure in Afghanistan needs beefing up before more troops can be sent there.
Digital Government
On or off campus, that's the question for Social Security's new data center
One study concludes the center should be built off site while another recommends SSA conduct more research into costs and risks.
Digital Government
Where's Mullen?
I have not hung out in the Web-sphere with the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in about a month, so I decided to do some social networking with him this afternoon.
Digital Government