• Violence in Syria continues to spread

    The violence in Syria spread, as thousands escape to Turkey seeking refuge; over the weekend Turkey contemplated the idea of sending its military to occupy a small area inside Syria and turn it into a safe haven protected by the Turkish Army, but was talked out of it by the United States; Turkey has now accepted more than 8,000 fleeing Syrians; Syria has closed off an area near the eastern town of al-Boukamal, on the Iraqi frontier; the area was a smuggling corridor for insurgents and weapons into Iraq in the 2000s, and the Syrian government was upset that the area was now used to smuggle arms into Syria to help the anti-government protesters; the number of civilians killed has reached 1,400, and the number of arrested now stands at 10,000

  • China's sustained cyberattacks on U.S. are an economic, strategic threat

    China has been engaged in a sustained guerrilla cyber war against the United States, with two goals in mind: first, stealing research and development, software source code, manufacturing know-how, and government plans; second, to counter American military superiority by threatening to damage the underpinning of the U.S. economy; that Congress and the administration do nothing in the face of these cyber assaults is puzzling

  • New Jersey lawmakers protest transit security cuts

    On Tuesday Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-New Jersey) and Representative Rush Holt (D-New Jersey) urged lawmakers to restore funding for security measures to the nation’s railways; the House budget would cut funding for nine homeland security programs by 55 percent next fiscal year; in particular, funding to secure intercity passenger rail lines, freight trains, and mass transit systems would fall to $113 million down from $250 million, a 45 percent cut

  • New Jersey Transit unveils new terror text hotline

    NJ Transit recently unveiled its new “Text Against Terror” initiative and is encouraging public transportation riders to report any suspicious items they see via text; the New Jersey transit system is the third largest in the nation with an estimated one million riders per day; New Jersey Transit officials are hoping to enlist the aid of its passengers in the fight against terror.

  • Unions rally against proposed TSA cuts

    The National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) is rallying against two proposed amendments that would cut the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) budget and limit its employees’ collective bargaining rights; the union is urging the Senate to reject the two amendments in the 2012 DHS budget that the House passed; the amendment to cut $300 million from TSA’s budget comes as part of a broader turf war between two House Republican chairmen

  • Pakistan charges 5 with helping U.S. kill OBL

    Pakistan arrested five men and charged them with leaking information relating to the 2 May killing of Osama bin Laden; no, they were not accused of being informants for al Qaeda or the Taliban; rather, they are charged with secretly providing information to the united States — information which led to the successful operation; among the detainees are the Pakistani who rented and maintained to safe house in Abbottabad , from which CIA operatives kept an eye on bin Laden’ compound, and a Pakistani Army major who is credited with photographing the license plate of the car of bin Laden trusted couriers; following the courier’s car was the key to locating bin Laden’s hideout; deputy CIA director, when asked to rate Pakistan’s cooperation with the United States in fighting terrorism, replied: “Three”

  • Police chiefs oppose proposed Texas immigration measure

    Texas governor Rick Perry wants the legislature to pass a measure which would prohibit local police agencies from barring their officers from asking people they pull over, or otherwise detain, about their legal status in the United States; police chiefs from Houston and Dallas say the bill would impose additional costs on their already-strained budgets and would end up hampering public safety, because it would force them to divert resources and manpower to dealing with undocumented immigrants rather than criminals

  • Hattiesburg, Mississippi receives $13,000 DHS grant

    Hattiesburg, Mississippi recently received a DHS grant for $13,789 to purchase search and rescue equipment; the grant was awarded by the Mississippi Office of Homeland Security and comes as part of a $200 million DHS grant program designed to bolster emergency management and preparedness capabilities at the state, local, and community level

  • Intelligence agencies get an inside look at al Qaeda

    As analysts pour through the files confiscated from Osama bin Laden’s compound, U.S. intelligence agencies are gaining valuable insights into al Qaeda’s operations and plans as well as how they think and operate; during the raid that killed bin Laden, Navy SEALs managed to take bin Laden’s handwritten journal, five computers, ten hard drives, and 110 thumb drives; so far cyber experts and translators are “95 percent done” with decrypting and translating the confiscated information

  • N.Y. Dems push for gun microstamping legislation

    New York legislators are pushing for new gun technology that could help law enforcement officials fight crime; microstamping is a new technique that stamps a code on shell casings ejected when a gun is fired; the code can provide valuable information like the dealer who sold it and the buyer who purchased it; this week marks the end New York’s current legislative session and Democratic lawmakers are pushing to get the Republican controlled Senate to take up a bill that would require guns in New York to be microstamped

  • Fate of chemical security bill uncertain

    Late last month the House Energy and Commerce Committee approved legislation to extend federal regulations designed to keep chemical plants safe from terrorist attacks, but the bill’s ultimate passage is far from guaranteed; the bill that was recently passed is one of two competing House proposal — the proposals each envisions a different congressional panel monitoring chemical plant safety — and it is unclear which will make it to the floor for debate; in addition, many Democrats and some northeastern Republicans want the extension of the bill to be tied to toughening its language; further to examine what DHS is doing to secure the U.S. chemical facilities from terrorist attack, ASIS is hosting a panel on the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS) at ASIS annual conference in Orlando, Florida

  • Larry Summers calls for $100 billion in infrastructure spending

    A former chief White House economic advisor is urging lawmakers to approve $100 billion in additional infrastructure spending to help boost the economy and prevent stagnation; Larry Summers, the former director of the White House National Economic Council for President Obama, wrote that it would be “premature” to limit fiscal support for the economy at the end of 2011

  • Truckers push for more highway spending

    Last month truckers pushed Congress to increase investments to America’s highway system noting that cargo shipped by trucks was expected to increase sharply over the next decade; the American Trucking Association (ATA) recently predicted that by 2022, there will be an overall increase of 24 percent in freight transportation; of that 24 percent, the trucking industry will see its cargo load increase by 70 percent.

  • Massachusetts firefighters purchase chemical fire equipment

    Local firefighters in Massachusetts recently received a new foam trailer capable of pumping out 500 gallons per minute; to control chemical fires and other difficult blazes, firefighters often use foam to coat the fuel to deprive the fire of oxygen; the new foam trailer is particularly useful as Ayer is home to several chemical and electrical facilities

  • Boulder Colorado hit with plague and rabies

    On 3 June, the Boulder County Public Health (BCPH) department warned residents of the Mapleton Hill area that a domestic cat and a dead squirrel had tested positive for the plague; according to Joe Malinowski, the manager of BCPH’s Environmental Health Division, last week a second dead squirrel was found with the plague, but the cat had been successfully treated for the disease; so far there have been no other confirmed cases, but residents have reported several additional dead squirrels