Daily Highlights

The Associated Press reports power companies are working to develop technology to reduce emissions of mercury and other harmful pollutants, as pressure mounts from government regulators and environmental activists. (See item 4)

According to government databases and aviation experts, the pilots of Comair Flight 5191, who tried to take off from the wrong runway, were repeating a common error; the related risk of planes that stray into the paths of other planes on runways is considered one of the top aviation risks in the country. (See item 15)

According to a post on Griper Blade :

"As of today [Aug. 28, '06], we've spent over $310,000,000,000 in Iraq (for a good idea of the rate of spending, visit the National Priorities Project's counter ). Thats about $12,000 per Iraqi. In 2005, we spent $412,700,000,000 on federal domestic spending or roughly $1,375 per American. In three years, we've spent about three times more on any given Iraqi than we have on any given American"

The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) can be used to monitor U.S. persons who engage in unlawful "collection or transmission of information that is not generally available to the public" even if they are not acting on behalf of a foreign power. That is the upshot of an August 14 ruling disclosed last week in the case of two former officials of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).

Daily Highlights

The Associated Press reports a Comair commuter jet crashed in Kentucky during take off early Sunday, August 27, and burst into flames, killing 49 people and leaving the lone survivor in critical condition. (See item 11)

The Associated Press reports U.S. and Argentine authorities are investigating how a stick of dynamite in a college student's checked luggage ended up on a Houstonbound flight; the incident raises questions about security in overseas airports. (See item 12)

Homeland security advisers from West Virginia and other states likely to receive potentially seven million refugees from a disaster in the Washington, DC, area have formally agreed to work together on regional evacuation plans. (See item 29)

The American Society of Civil Engineers External Review Panel has issued a report outlining a set of essential recommendations for overcoming the deficiencies in Gulf region's hurricane protection system and instituting real change in its governance, management, and engineering. (See item 33)

Daily Highlights

USA TODAY reports air travelers are checking an unprecedented amount of luggage after the recent disclosure of an alleged terrorist plot, an onslaught that threatens to overwhelm bomb detectors and create security gaps. (See item 13)

Reuters reports Gulf Coast emergency rooms could not cope if a hurricane the size of Katrina strikes this year, according to a survey of the region's emergency physicians released on Thursday, August 24. (See item 22)

The Border Governors Conference including governors from U.S. and Mexican border states meets August 24, and 25, in Austin, Texas; border security will top an agenda of economic issues, technology exchanges, oil and gas production, and electricity. (See item 25)

OK, so...the Monkey is going Techno. Technorati , that is.

This post is being made to verify our  claim to the ShadowMonkey blog on Technorati, which requires that we paste in the following code: Technorati Profile

There you have it, then.