• South Carolina police departments unveil aerial drones

    Two local police departments in South Carolina recently unveiled the latest additions to their arsenal of law enforcement tools — remote controlled mini helicopters; these small helicopters are equipped with cameras and will allow police officers to conduct aerial surveillance, search for missing persons, or monitor dangerous situations from a distance; the remote controlled vehicles cost about twenty-five cents in electricity to charge the battery and less than $4,000 to purchase, far cheaper than full size helicopters; the drones’ battery can last for up to forty minutes, and helps it run silently making it ideal for discrete surveillance
    Two local police departments in South Carolina recently unveiled the latest additions to their arsenal of law enforcement tools – remote controlled mini helicopters.

  • DHS grant saves St. Louis firefighters' jobs

    Thirty St. Louis, Missouri firefighters caught a break last week after the city received a $3.2 million grant from DHS; the city had planned on cutting their jobs, but the DHS grant will allow the firefighters to stay employed;the money comes as part of the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) program which is aimed at helping local fire departments maintain adequate staffing levels; Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) administers the grant and plans to allocate $420 million this year to fire departments across the country that have been hit by budget cuts

  • U.S. lawmakers condemn Koran burning, violent reaction

    As angry protests spread in Afghanistan in response to a Florida pastor burning a Koran — a UN building was attacked, with twenty killed and more than eighty wounded — and with experts worried that anger will spread throughout the Muslim world, U.S. lawmakers of both parties are condemning the burning of a Koran by a radical American Christian pastor; Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina says that with rights come responsibilities in a free society; “I wish we could find some way to hold people accountable. Free speech is a great idea, but we are in a war. During World War II, you had limits on what you could say if it would inspire the enemy. So, burning the Koran is a terrible thing, but it doesn’t justify killing someone. Burning a Bible would be a terrible thing, but it doesn’t justify murder”

  • Senate holds Muslim civil rights hearings

    Senator Dick Durbin (D-Illinois) recently presided over a Senate hearing exploring Muslim civil rights; Durbin said that the goal of the hearings was to show that most Muslim Americans “are patriotic, law abiding people who simply want to live their life as we do”; witnesses said that anti-Muslim sentiment is on the rise; from 2008 to 2009 25 percent of all complaints to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission were Muslim bias-based; Senator Jon Kyl (R-Arizona) said he was perplexed by the need to hold specific hearings on Muslim civil rights citing the fact that most religious hate crimes in the United states are committed against Jewish people

  • "An act of extreme intolerance and bigotry"

    Florida pastor Terry Jones made good on his threat to burn a Koran; the backlash has begun: in Afghanistan, demonstrators attacked a UN building, killing twenty and wounding eighty-three; among the dead are Norwegian, Romanian, Swedish, and Nepalese nationals; experts worry that the wave of protest will sweep the Muslim world; last year, Obama, Clinton, Gates, Petraeus, Muller and others warned of the pernicious consequences burning the Koran would have; they were criticized in some quarters for having a “chilling effect” on free speech — but they were right; fighting for the hearts and minds of more than a billion Muslims is difficult enough without Jones’s reckless and narcissistic action

  • Water infrastructure budgets to see massive cuts in 2012

    Next year water infrastructure projects and programs are expected to see massive budget cuts as President Obama has proposed slashing infrastructure spending at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (SRF) will see nearly $400 million cuts and the Clean Water SRF will be cut nearly $600 million; according to Lisa Jackson, the EPA administrator, these cuts in SRF budgets reflect a return to a more “sustainable level”; states worry that cuts will make it difficult to fund future infrastructure upgrades; reports have shown that the United States faces a $500 billion shortfall for water infrastructure funding over the next twenty years

  • Safeguarding the private and public sector from insider threats

    While most discussion of insider threats have focused on cyber security concerns, a recent panel at the Government Security Convention and Expo in Washington, D.C. discussed the potential physical threats posed by insiders;businesses, government agencies, and other organizations are vulnerable to a host of threats from insiders including corporate espionage, workplace violence, and the loss of sensitive materials or data; panelists discussed efforts to reform the Federal Protection Services, which is charged with securing roughly 9,000 federal facilities, the latest technologies in detecting cell phones in secure areas, new body scanners, as well as the legality of stepped up security measures

  • Kentucky releases homeland security terrorist reporting app

    Kentucky’s Office of Homeland Security (KOHS) recently released an iPhone app designed to allow people to anonymously report any suspicious activity they see; the app, called, Eyes and Ears on Kentucky, captures tips in real-time and is capable of providing additional information using the iPhone’s camera and GPS features; the app comes as part of the broader national DHS “See Something Say Something” campaign which will gather tips from across the nation and allow local, state, and federal law enforcement officials to sift through reports of any suspicious activity

  • ICE opens office in northern Michigan

    The U.S. Immigration and Enforcement agency (ICE) recently opened a permanent facility in northern Michigan; the new ICE office will provide work space for agents conducting enforcement removal operations (ERO) and homeland security investigations (HSI); the 10,000 square-foot facility will include an evidence-processing room, modern offices, and a short-term holding cell; the facility will help ICE agents secure America’s northern border;a recent Government Accountability Report found that only thirty-two miles of the nearly 4,000 mile long northern border had “an acceptable level of security”

  • Security cameras to be installed at all DC metro stops

    In response to a rash of crimes near Washington, D.C.’s metro stations, local authorities recently announced plans to install security cameras outside all eight-six train stations; the Metro Board’s Safety and Security Committee released a report several weeks ago that found that last year the number of thefts and robberies had hit five-year highs; the Board has purchased 153 color cameras thanks to a $2.8 million DHS grant; with violent crimes around the Metro on the rise, more residents have begun to push for the installation of security cameras

  • Analysis: Support for, opposition to, Gaddafi is tribal in nature

    The biggest danger to Col. Gaddafi is not the disorganized rebel forces, not even the destruction of the Libyan air force. Rather, the one thing that will bring him down is the loss of support from the tribal coalition that has kept him in power for four decades; the key to the success of the coalition in its efforts to persuade Gaddafi to abdicate is thus the coalition’s ability to persuade the tribes which have supported Gaddafi so far that they are betting on a losing horse; the tribal support for Gaddafi has thus far held, but high-level defections by members of historically supportive tribe — for example, Libyan Foreign Minister Moussa Koussa and Ali Abdel-Salam al-Treki, former foreign minister who had been representing Libya at the U.N.— may be an indication that the Gaddafi’s tribal coalition is fraying

  • Eyeless in Libya -- and a Swiftian border security solution

    Everyone knows what the Libyan rebels are against — Gaddafi — but there is no way tell what they are for; this lack of information is not good; first, the United States and its allies may be pushing for the replacement of the devil we know with the devil we do not know; this is akin to giving Michael Phelps a three body length advantage at a swim meet: not a good idea; second, the lack of knowledge about the rebels is like a Rorschach test: outsiders look at them and see what they want to see; Jonathan Swift suggests that impoverished Irish might ease their economic troubles by selling their children as food for rich gentlemen and ladies; should we consider a Swiftian solution to problem of securing the U.S.-Mexico border?

  • Senate holds Muslim civil rights hearings

    Senator Dick Durbin (D - Illinois) recently presided over a Senate hearing exploring Muslim civil rights; Durbin said that the goal of the hearings was to show that most Muslim Americans “are patriotic, law abiding people who simply want to live their life as we do”; witnesses said that anti-Muslim sentiment is on the rise; from 2008 to 2009 25 percent of all complaints to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission were Muslim bias-based; Senator Jon Kyl (R - Arizona) said he was perplexed by the need to hold specific hearings on Muslim civil rights citing the fact that most religious hate crimes in the United states are committed against Jewish people

  • Coalition faces unappealing choices in Libya

    The Obama foreign policy and national security team has concluded that the poorly equipped opposition is probably incapable of prevailing without decisive Western intervention — either an all-out U.S.-led military assault on regime forces or a decision to arm the rebels; even though an invasion of Libya will be smaller in scope than the invasion of Iraq, the United States and the Europeans have no stomach for it, and the coalition’s Muslim members will not support it; a decision fully to coordinate Western air power with rebel ground movements would place Washington openly on the side of the rebels, whose goals and makeup are murky and whose chances of winning — even with more air support — are questionable

  • TSA fired an agent for being a witch

    TSA fires a security screener at New York’s Albany International Airport for being a witch; the screener, who practices Wicca, was accused by a fellow worker of casting a spell on her (the fellow worker’s) car’s heater so it would not work; when the screener refused to participate in mediation to dispel myths about Wicca, she was terminated