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KNOXVILLE, Tennessee (AP) — “That’s where I got shot,” said Rashaad Woods, nodding toward a convenience store in Knoxville’s “gun zone.”SNIPAccording to an assessment by the Rand Corp., measures that work include laws that permit charging adults who let children have unsupervised access to guns, well-enforced background checks and policies that ban guns from people subject to domestic violence restraining orders.Measures that don't: stand-your-ground and concealed carry laws, which studies consistently show increase gun homicides, and gun buyback programs, which have been shown to have little, if any, effect on crime.

 A World Without America's Military Caregivers In the classic film It's a Wonderful Life, protagonist George Bailey has to see—literally see with his own eyes—what life would be like without him before realizing his true worth. As an alternate reality unfolds before him, a despondent George slowly learns that the sacrifices he's made for his family and community are undeniably heroic. George Bailey's heroism is quiet. It is everyday. Right now, 5.5 million Americans are serving in similar anonymity. They are America's military caregivers: family and friends who care for America's ill or wounded service members and veterans. Military caregivers provide a range of indispensable...

Today is March 31, 2014: in theory, the last day you can sign up for coverage under the subsidized Obamacare insurance exchanges. If you’ve been a regular reader of this space, you know that the numbers routinely paraded by the Obama administration regarding Obamacare website sign-ups don’t tell us much about the actual number of uninsured individuals who have gained coverage. A new study from the RAND Corporation indicates that only one-third of exchange sign-ups were previously uninsured. The RAND study hasn’t yet been published, but its contents were made available to Noam Levey of the Los Angeles Times. RAND...

A little-publicized Department of Defense Directive (Number 1404.10) establishes a "DoD Civilian Expeditionary Workforce" and rescinds a prior directive dealing with the emergency use of civilian personnel. The new 1404.10, dated January 23, 2009 -- just three days after the inauguration -- is effective immediately, and cancels the prior directive of the same designation ("Emergency-Essential (E-E) DoD U.S. Citizen Civilian Employees"), that was issued in 1992 under President Clinton. The 1992 directive specifically deals with overseas deployments of civilian personnel, and mentions the term "overseas" no fewer than 33 times. The new directive does not mention the term "overseas" in...

Excerpts from Obama's speech today at the dedication of Abraham Lincoln Hall at the National Defense University in Washington, D.C.: "The attacks of 9/11 signaled the new dangers of the 21st century. And today, our people are still threatened by violent extremists ... Yet terrorism and extremism make up just one part of the many challenges that confront our nation. ... A historic economic downturn has put at stake the prosperity that underpins our strength, while putting at risk the stability of governments and the survival of people around the world. ... Poverty, disease, the persistence of conflict and genocide...

This has to be the scariest thing I have read in a very long time. The Rand Corporation was asked by the US Army to prepare a report recommending whether or not the US Needed a National Stability Police force. Basically a call for American "Brown Shirts" Rand's answer was a resounding yes. Our analysis clearly indicates that the United States needs an SPF or some other way to accomplish the SPF mission. Stability operations have become an inescapable reality of U.S. foreign policy. Establishing security with soldiers and police is critical because it is difficult to achieve other objectives—such...

Justification and Options for Creating U.S. Capabilities Establishing security is the sine qua non of stability operations, since it is a prerequisite for reconstruction and development. Security requires a mix of military and police forces to deal with a range of threats from insurgents to criminal organizations. This research examines the creation of a high-end police force, which the authors call a Stability Police Force (SPF). The study considers what size force is necessary, how responsive it needs to be, where in the government it might be located, what capabilities it should have, how it could be staffed, and its...

ESTABLISHMENT OF THE COUNCIL OF GOVERNORS By the authority vested in me as President by theConstitution and the laws of the United States of America,including section 1822 of the National Defense AuthorizationAct of 2008 (Public Law 110-181), and in order to strengthenfurther the partnership between the Federal Government and Stategovernments to protect our Nation and its people and property,it is hereby ordered as follows: Section 1. Council of Governors. (a) There is established a Council of Governors (Council).The Council shall consist of 10 State Governors appointed bythe President (Members), of whom no more than five shall be ofthe same political...

The smart folks at RAND — an actual real-life think tank, as opposed to an ideological group masquerading under the think-tank name — have taken a look at what’s likely to happen to health insurance coverage as a result of the health-care reform package signed into law earlier this year. Among other things, the RAND study published in the New England Journal of Medicine finds that work-based insurance will grow in importance under the reform, a prediction that “is very robust to variations in modeling assumptions.” In other words, they’re pretty damn sure about it. “Although the model allows employers...

I know someone who purchased this from RAND. By page 19 this report goes from discussing the need for a Special Police Force overseas to supplement interventions, to suddenly needing a force that can circumvent Posse Comitatus. Posse Comitatus exists for a reason and any attempt to circumvent it, not matter how nicely packaged, is a step on the way to "Special" police becoming "Secret" police. They call it :A STABILITY POLICE FORCE: This study asks several questions. First, is a Stability Police Force (SPF) necessary? An SPF is a high-end police force that engages in a range of tasks...

News Release OFFICE OF MEDIA RELATIONS 703-413-1100 x5117 and 310-451-6913media@rand.org FOR RELEASE Tuesday June 10, 2008 Virginity Pledges May Help Postpone Intercourse Among Youth Making a virginity pledge may help some young people postpone the start of sexual activity, according to a new RAND Corporation study. Researchers found that adolescents who made pledges to remain virgins until they are married were less likely to be sexually active over the three-year study period than other youth who were similar to them, but who did not make a virginity pledge, according to the study published online by the Journal of Adolescent...

INTRODUCTION "Wars of subversion and counter subversion are fought, in the last resort, in the minds of the people," a leading British authority on counterterrorism concluded in 1971.1 More than three decades later, there is growing recognition among U.S. government officials, journalists, and analysts of terrorism that defeating al-Qaida— arguably the preeminent challenge to U.S. security—will require far more than "neutralizing" leaders, disrupting cells, and dismantling networks. From its inception in the mid-1990s, al-Qaida has been both a terrorist organization and an international revolutionary movement, which today stretches across North America, western Europe, and the global south.2 That organization, driven...

National Guard study issued WASHINGTON, June 4 (UPI) -- The U.S. Army should create 10 National Guard task forces to respond quickly to domestic emergencies, a RAND Corp. report recommended Monday. "We believe the best way to improve the Army's response to domestic disasters is to empower the National Guard for a regional focus," said Lynn Davis, lead author of the report from RAND, a non-profit research group. "The experience of Hurricane Katrina also demonstrates that new strategies are needed to prepare Army forces for all types for domestic emergencies." As envisioned by the RAND report, each 900-member task force...

When I suggest that radical Muslims are the problem and that moderate Muslims are the solution, the nearly inevitable retort from most people is: "What moderate Muslims?" "Where are the anti-Islamists' demonstrations against terror?" they ask me. "What are they doing to combat Islamists? What have they done to reassess Islamic law?" My response: Moderate Muslims do exist. But, of course, they constitute a very small movement when compared to the Islamist onslaught. This means that the American government and other powerful institutions should give priority to locating, meeting with, funding, forwarding, empowering, and celebrating those brave Muslims who, at...

Identifying Key Partners and Audiences A critical part of U.S. network-building efforts, as well as in its broader public diplomacy and strategic communications policy, is identifying key partners and audiences. Difficulties in distinguishing potential allies from adversaries present a major problem to Western governments and organizations attempting to organize support for moderate Muslims. Work done by the RAND Corporation—in Cheryl Benard’s Civil Democratic Islam and Angel Rabasa et al., The Muslim World After 9/11—has begun to lay the framework for identifying ideological tendencies in the Muslim world,1 which is necessary in order to identify the sectors with which the United...

How the CIA Funds Anti-Bush Propaganda By Bill Gertz The Washington Times | September 14, 2004 The CIA's Counterterrorist Center has spent more than $15 million in the past three years funding studies, reports and conferences produced by former Democratic administration officials and other critics of the Bush administration. The latest effort was a $300,000 grant by the CIA to the Atlantic Council for a study co-authored by Richard A. Clarke, the former counterterrorism official who wrote a best seller accusing the Bush administration of failing in the war on terrorism by invading Iraq.

Sever Plocker Five million in five years Five million more Palestinians are expected to populate the Gaza Strip and the West Bank within the next five years Palestinian population will grow as emigrants return and new children are born Photo: AP Rand Corporation is a California research institute that has built its reputation as a conservative, strict, yet reliable and credible think tank. Last week, the institution published a complete study on the options of establishing and founding a Palestinian state. According to the report, the cost of a durable Palestinian state that sustains reasonable living standards is more than...

LOS ANGELES (AP) - High-quality, universal preschool for all 4-year-olds in California would generate $2.62 in benefits for every public dollar spent, according to a new economic analysis released Tuesday by the Rand Corp. The cost-benefits study by the Santa Monica-based think tank estimated average annual costs of $1.7 billion for universal preschool would be offset in the long-term by a reduction in the high school graduation dropout rate, less juvenile crime and a more productive work force. The David and Lucile Packard Foundation, which advocates voluntary preschool for all 3- and 4-year-olds in California by 2013, funded the study....

"In terms of perception, we've already lost the war," said Bruce Hoffman, a terrorism analyst who heads the Washington office of RAND Corp., a think tank known for its problem-solving research..

<p>LONDON, Sept. 23 (UPI) -- A Rand Corp. study released Tuesday in London warns terrorists might use container ships in terror attacks meant to cause massive casualties.</p> <p>World Tribune.com says the report warns cargo ships or shipping containers could be used to deliver weapons of mass destruction for terror groups such as al-Qaida.</p>