Federal Insights

  • Researchers at the Oak Ridge National Lab are focusing on a suite of technologies that will put more electric and hybrid vehicles on the road. The hope is they\'ll encourage the joint research and development of clean energy technologies by the U.S. and China. The U.S.-China Clean Energy Research Center will help accelerate the development and deployment of clean vehicle and clean coal technologies here at home. The Lab will contribute to advanced systems integration, vehicle electrification, batteries and energy storage, the combustion of biofuels and other technologies. Government funding for the Clean Energy Research Center totals $25 million, and will be matched by the grantees. The center aims to have an impact on three of society\'s grand challenges: climate change, energy security and environmental sustainability

    September 27, 2010
  • NASA will host two national science competitions that challenge students - six through 12 - to develop and prepare a microgravity experiment. Both competitions are open to teams across the U.S. and Puerto Rico, and they can be formed from any type of organization or club, such as a science class, a group of friends, or youth group, and each team must have an adult advisor. A panel of NASA scientists and engineers will evaluate and select the best proposals by December first. The winning teams will design and build experiments that will be conducted in the 2.2 Second Drop Tower at NASA\'s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland. When an experiment is \"dropped\" into the 79-foot tower, it experiences weightlessness for 2.2 seconds. The top four teams get an all-expenses-paid trip to conduct their experiments with NASA personnel.

    September 27, 2010
  • This week on FEDtalk meet two associations that represent various sectors of the federal workforce - federal law enforcement and veternarians. September 24, 2010

    September 24, 2010
  • 86 years in federal prison for Aafia Siddiqui. The Pakistani neuroscientist was sentenced after being found guilty of shooting at FBI agents and soldiers after her arrest in Afghanistan. Siddiqui, 38, was arrested in July 2008 by Afghan police, who said she was carrying two pounds (900 grams) of sodium cyanide and crumpled notes referring to mass-casualty attacks and New York landmarks. Siddiqui, expecting some to protest her sentencing told supporters in the gallery not to do it.

    September 24, 2010
  • U.S. Rep. Donna Edwards (D-Md.) Ben Jealous President & CEO, NAACP Scott Paul Executive Director, Alliance for American Manufacturing

    September 23, 2010
  • The nation\'s top homeland security and counter-terrorism officials were on Capitol Hill talking yesterday about new terrorism trends. \"Recent events in intelligence show a trend toward smaller faster developing plots rather than larger longer term plots like 9-11,\" said DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano. Michael Leiter, director of the National Counterterrorism Center, said homegrown plots disrupted in New York, North Carolina, Arkansas, Alaska, Texas and Illinois in the past year demonstrate the urgency of the problem.

    September 23, 2010
  • The annual Best Places to Work survey is out. Host Bill Bransford talks with Janelle Callahan of the Partnership for Public Service about the organization\'\'s annual rankings. September 10, 2010

    September 23, 2010
  • September 20th and September 22nd Mr. Bowen has over 25 years experience in healthcare information technology management in the provider, payer, consultant and vendor areas.

    September 22, 2010
  • A week from today --the Senate Armed Services Committee is going to have a hearing about Pentagon\'s plans to close the Joint Forces Command headquarters in Norfolk to save money. Va. Sen. Jim Webb, who is a former Navy Secretary has pushed to get the hearing because they are concerned that the JFCOM closure will hit Virginia and the Tidewater region hard from an economic perspective. Webb and the rest of the Va. Congressional delegations are said to be exploring options to stop the shutdown.

    September 21, 2010
  • If you think things between the U.S. and Russia are cozy, think again. Pentagon officials say two Russian aircraft buzzed a U.S. Navy warship in the Arctic\'s Barents Sea last week, each coming within about 50 yards of the frigate. Flying by Navy ships in international waters is not unheard of. But this Cold War-style incident was enough to stir some concern. Pentagon spokesman Col. Dave Lapan said Navy personnel aboard the ship did not believe the actions were hostile. He told reporters on Friday that the U.S. was still trying to determine whether either side broke protocol.

    September 21, 2010
  • Rallies are scheduled in 18 cities across the U.S., Australia and Canada this weekend to decry the arrest of Army Private Bradley Manning. The protests were organized by supporters of Manning, who is accused of leaking classified military documents. The documents were posted on the Wikileaks web site and reveal what military officials say is very damaging information about U.S. military operations in Afghanistan. Manning is also charged with leaking a video that shows the killing of a U.S. Apache helicopter attack in Baghdad that killed 2 journalists.

    September 21, 2010
  • The private sector and Congress are showing wide support for federal telework.

    September 20, 2010
  • The uproar over a Florida pastor\'s threat to burn the Koran is not going away. Sixty people were injured in Kabul, Afghanistan during a rally against the idea Wednesday. The crowd in the western part of the city shot at police and threw stones --35 of those injured were police. The Koran has been at the heart of a number of violent struggles in Europe, Central Asia and the middle east in recent days. The concern is not just for locations outside of the U.S.. Authorities here are on alert for violence that may grow out of similar protests.

    September 16, 2010
  • Former Rep. Harold Ford Jr. (D-Tenn.) Author of \"More Davids Than Goliaths: A Political Education\" John Wilson Executive Director, National Education Association Former Rep. Bob Edgar (D-Pa.) President & CEO, Common Cause

    September 16, 2010