• Congressional panel: political correctness hobbles efforts to deal with insider threat posed by Islamic radicals

    The House Committee on Homeland Security held a series of hearings on Islamic radicalization in the United States, and last week issued a report based on the hearings; one section deals with the insider threat Islamic radicals pose for military communities; the committee’s majority says that one reason the U.S. military is not more effective in dealing with this insider threat is that the approach to the problem is governed by political correctness

  • Supreme Court deals near-fatal blow to Arizona SB 1070; states’ immigration efforts now in question

    In a major victory for the Obama administration, the U.S. Supreme Court yesterday struck down three of the four main provisions in Arizona’s tough SB 1070 immigration law, saying these provisions were pre-empted by federal law; the Court left in place the fourth provision – the one requiring Arizona local law enforcement during routine stops to check the immigration status of anyone they suspect is in the country illegally – but in reading the provision very narrowly, the Court left its implementation open to legal challenges on grounds that it violates racial profiling prohibition and other laws; in any event, the administration moved quickly to make that remaining provision meaningless by pulling back on a program known as 287(g), which allows the federal government to deputize local officials to make immigration-based arrests; the move means that even if local police step up immigration checks, they will have to rely on federal officials to make the arrests

  • Supreme Court suggests Obama’s DREAM initiative is legal

    On 15 June the Obama administration announced a new deportation policy, saying that it would defer deportation action against undocumented immigrants in several categories; the administration based its decision on the doctrine of “prosecutorial discretion”; critics charged that such deferment policy is illegal; the Court, in its decision on Arizona SB 1070, suggests the administration is right, saying: “A principal feature of the removal system is the broad discretion exercised by immigration officials”

  • Morsi faces tough decisions

    On Sunday, the Muslim Brotherhood’s candidate, Mohammed Morsi, was declared the winner in Egypt’s first free elections, defeating General (Ret.) Ahmed Shafiq, who served as Hosni Mubarak’s last prime minister; Morsi faces many issues and problems on the domestic front and about Egypt’s regional relations – among them: the role of the military in Egypt’s life, the degree of Islamization in Egypt, the deteriorating the security situation in the Sinai, and Egypt’s regional role

  • California coastal infrastructure at risk from rising sea levels

    An exhaustive study by the National research Council finds projects that the sea level off most of California is likely to rise about one meter over the next century, an amount slightly higher than projected for global sea levels; this will place much of the state coastal infrastructure at risk, because significant development along the coast — such as airports, naval air stations, freeways, sports stadiums, and housing developments — has been built only a few feet above the highest tides; for example, the San Francisco International Airport could flood with as little as 40 centimeters of sea-level rise

  • FTC charges businesses exposed sensitive information on P2P file-sharing networks

    The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has charged two businesses with illegally exposing the sensitive personal information of thousands of consumers by allowing peer to peer file-sharing software to be installed on their corporate computer systems

  • Countdown begins to attack on Iran

    On Tuesday in Moscow, the third round of talks between the P5+1 (the five permanent members of the Security Council plus Germany) and Iran over Iran’s nuclear program ended with the gap between the two sides as wide as ever; there are no plans for more  meetings; this means that on 1 July, a new, crippling round of sanctions will be imposed on Iran; the previous round of sanctions de-linked Iranian banks and companies from the international banking system; the coming round of sanctions – which includes, among other things, the removal of insurance from tankers carrying Iranian oil – will bring an end to nearly all of Iran’s oil sales, sales which account for nearly 80 percent of Iran foreign revenues; planning, in both Israel and the United States, for an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities has now shifted to a higher gear; Congress holds hearings on Israel’s Iran-specific military equipment needs

  • Obama and Romney stopped talking about immigration until the Democrats dropped the Dream Bomb

    The 15 June announcement by DHS secretary Janet Napolitano of an executive order which, in effect, implements the Dream Act, gives the 2008 presidential election the appearance of offering a discussion of immigration issues; the fact remains, though, that since  the Immigration and Reform Act (IRCA) of 1986, both parties studiously avoided a serious debate of the issue during presidential campaigns; democracy is a messy form of government, and few other topics are as messy and convoluted as U.S. immigration policy, but both political parties are wrong to avoid a broad public discussion of this vital national issue

  • Water for central Everglades essential for reversing ecosystem's decline

    Twelve years into a $13.5billion state and federal effort to save the Florida Everglades, little progress has been made in restoring the core of the ecosystem, says a new congressionally mandated report from the National Research Council; expedited restoration projects that improve the quality and amount of water in this area are necessary to reverse ongoing declines

  • House bill allows Border Patrol to ignore environmental, safety protections along borders

    The House of Representatives passed a sweeping bill which would allow the Border Patrol to ignore dozens of environmental protection laws — among them the Wilderness Act and Endangered Species Act — on all federally managed land within 100 miles of the Mexico and Canada borders; supporters argue that the measure is necessary to give the border patrol more freedom to chase illegal immigrants and drug smugglers; critics charge that the measure has little, if anything, to do with border security, and more to do with opening federally managed land to exploitation by private businesses, or pandering to local political constituencies

  • Gun shop which sold gun to Virginia Tech killer closes its doors

    Madison, Wisconsin-based online weapon dealer TGSCO, which gained notoriety after it was disclosed that it had sold guns to three individuals – including the Virginia Tech killer — who then went on to commit mass killings, closed its doors last month

  • News: Man bites dog

    A 22-year old man name Keith Glaspie, running away from police officers in Wilmington, North Carolina was chased and caught by well-trained, 2-year old police dog named Maxx; when Maxx would not let go of the Glaspie’s pants, preventing him from moving, Glaspie tore into Maxx’s ear with his teeth, severing the dog’s ear in two

  • Preparing for Olympic terrorism

    Three previous Olympiads — Munich 1972, Atlanta 1996, Athens 2004 — were targets of terrorists or extremists; there is no specific information to indicate that terrorists have targeted the forthcoming London games, but a terrorism experts says the 2012 Summer Games offer terrorists an attractive target

  • Security increases around Pennsylvania nuclear disposal site

    Security around a nuclear waste site in western Pennsylvania has been upgraded, with DHS armed security guards replacing private guards around the site; the reason for the elevated security is the finding, by the Army Corps of Engineers, of more “complex” nuclear materials on the site; it was originally believed that the site contains only low-level nuclear material

  • Crisis deepens as third round of nuclear talks with Iran begins today in Moscow

    As the delegations of the six Western powers and Iran get set to open the third round of nuclear talks in Moscow today, diplomats involved in the talks say that the coming two days of talks are not quite the last chance for a diplomatic solution to the gathering crisis, but that we are getting uncomfortably close; Western diplomats insist “that there can be no repeat of Baghdad, where [the head of the Iranian delegation, Saeed] Jalili showed readiness to orate but not to bargain, and that they are not interested in continuing ‘talks for the sake of talks’”