The National Defense Panel -- mandated by Congress a year ago -- has concluded that the Pentagon should abandon its two-war mission readiness and prepare for "homeland defense" against electronic sabotage and chemical or biological terrorist strikes. What's needed are smaller units capable of rapid, world-wide deployment with more accurate weapons, enhanced satellite defenses, and better protection against chemical and biological attacks. [Robert L. Park, WHAT'S NEW, 05Dec97.]

Canada has extended its experimental high-tech immigration exclusion through Mar98, by which time 400-600 software specialists may have come in without having to prove that no Canadians could fill the jobs. [Ottawa Citizen, 09Dec97. EduP.]

Raphael Malyankar clarified an immigration issue for me. The limit of 65K H-1B visas is in addition to 140K employment- related immigration visas (for all fields, and counting spouses and children). Further, recent graduates of US universities can get up to 12 months of employment authorizations upon graduation -- enough to tide them over until the new visa year. You can find much more info about US immigration and work policies on , esp. Norman Matloff's "A Critical Look at Immigration's Role in the U.S. Computer Industry." Raphael has serious doubts about the recently reported worker shortages and the high wages supposedly available to techies. It's certainly possible to find lower-paying jobs, esp. for recent graduates. [, 10Dec97.] (Also, AI graduates who want to pursue their research further may find few ready-made opportunities. The high salaries are for people willing to do what needs to be done, and that seldom includes AI or research.)