Patriot News

Innovative Computer Scientist at Carnegie Mellon, Launched Education Initiatives, Gained Worldwide Acclaim for Last Lecture

PITTSBURGH, July 25, 2008 — Randy Pausch, renowned computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon University, died July 25 of complications from pancreatic cancer. He was 47.

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7/21/2008 -- In an effort to assist parents in watching CNN Presents: Black in America with their children, CNN Student News, CNN's cost-and-commercial-free educational program for middle and high schools, is offering an online guide to accompany the remaining documentaries in CNN Worldwide’s sweeping on-air and digital initiative. Black in America: The Black Woman & Family, airs Wednesday, July 23, at 9 p.m., and Black in America: The Black Man, airs Thursday, July 24, at 9 p.m. (ET).    » read more »

WASHINGTON, July 17, 2008 –Department of Agriculture officials will hold a public meeting on Tuesday, July 22 on the establishment of the BioPreferred voluntary labeling program. This program will allow USDA to authorize manufacturers and vendors of qualifying biobased products to use a "USDA Certified Biobased Product" label.

The 2002 Farm Bill established a program for the procurement of biobased products by federal agencies and a voluntary program for labeling of biobased products, later named the BioPreferred Program. The 2008 Farm Bill continues and expands provisions related to the BioPreferred Program.    » read more »

July 17, 2008 -- The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that the remains of two U.S. servicemen, missing from the Vietnam War, have been identified and will be returned to their families for burial with full military honors.

They are Chief Warrant Officer Bobby L. McKain, of Garden City, Kan.; and Warrant Officer Arthur F. Chaney, of Vienna, Va., both U.S. Army. McKain will be buried on Aug. 11 in Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, D.C., and Chaney will be buried Sept. 16 in Arlington.

Representatives from the Army met with the next-of-kin of these men to explain the recovery and identification process, and to coordinate interment with military honors on behalf of the secretary of the Army.    » read more »

House Homeland Security Committee must exercise oversight over DHS’s creation of militarized zones within the US

WASHINGTON, DC, 7/17/2008 – Today, when Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Michael Chertoff testifies before the House Homeland Security Committee, the American Civil Liberties Union calls on the committee to exercise vigorous oversight of the many DHS programs that endanger U.S. citizens’ privacy and civil liberties without increasing security. DHS’s unchecked detention and deportation powers have resulted in abusive interrogations of families with children at checkpoints, creation of militarized zones within the U.S. and widespread fear in immigrant communities facing natural disasters.    » read more »

John Ashcroft led DOJ when torture memos were penned; important questions remain on torture timeline and role of NSC principals

WASHINGTON, DC, 7/17/2008 – The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) calls on former Attorney General John Ashcroft, in today’s House Judiciary hearing, to provide Congress and the American people with answers to questions about when, why and how the use of torture was authorized. Ashcroft presided over the Department of Justice (DOJ) during President Bush’s first term in office, when the legal rationale for using torture and abuse during interrogations of detainees held by the United States was first articulated in a series of legal memos.    » read more »

Washington, DC, 7/17/2008 – Americans’ online privacy was discussed today at a hearing before the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet. The hearing, titled “What Your Broadband Provider Knows About Your Web Use: Deep Packet Inspection and Communications Laws and Policies,” was meant to shed light on the practice of Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) by Internet service providers (ISPs). DPI allows ISPs to track users’ Internet browsing activities and can be data mined for targeted marketing purposes. The ACLU urges members of the committee to be wary of the privacy landmines inherent in DPI.

The following can be attributed to Timothy Sparapani, ACLU Senior Legislative Counsel:    » read more »