• Israeli strikes kill WMD-related Hamas operatives in Sudanese port

    Sudan accused Israel of killing two men in the port city of Port Sudan; Israel declined to comment on the accusations; sources say the target was the Hamas representative in Sudan in charge of the vast Iranian weapons smuggling enterprise for the Gaza Strip via Egypt; it appears Israel acted after information emerged that Iran purchased a large quantity of chemical munitions from anti-Gaddafi rebels; the rebels found the WMDs in Libyan military bases abandoned by the Libyan military; Iran was making arrangements to have the munitions delivered to Hamas and Hezbollah to be used against Israel; Israel’s action is reminiscent of the January 2009 attack on a convoy of arms smugglers in Sudan, near the Egyptian border; the strike, which killed 119 people, was aimed to prevent an Iranian weapons shipment from reaching Hamas; in the past two years Israeli aircraft and naval units have been operating against smuggling ships in the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea; the ships carry Iranian arms to Hamas

  • Wastewater employee charged with terrorism after idling plant

    A 43-year old waste water facility employee was the sole employee during the night shift at the massive Greenfield Water Reclamation Plant in Gilbert, Arizona; last Friday night, armed with a hand gun, the employee walked through the facility alone, methodically turning off major operating systems at the plant; left untreated, the sewage in the system would cause a buildup of methane gas, which could cause a huge explosion; after a 2-hour stand-off, the police arrested the man, allowing other employees to turn on the treatment systems; the employee is being held on a $250,000 bond, charged with terrorism

  • Massachusetts to spend record $1.2 billion on road and bridge projects

    This year Massachusetts is on track to spend a record $1.2 billion on state road and bridge projects, more than double what it spent in 2007; the state’s latest project is the repair of a structurally deficient bridge over Lake Lashaway and the reconstruction of a dam spillway near the bridge in the town of East Brookfield; the reconstruction of the bridge comes as part of a broader effort by Governor Deval Patrick to invest record amounts of funding in critical infrastructure repairs; last year, the Governor spent nearly a billion dollars on 400 road and bridge projects across the state; a recent study found that one in nine bridges in Massachusetts was in need of repair

  • How many people from terrorism-sponsoring states enter the U.S. illegally?

    Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas) says the United States arrested people from nations designated as terrorism sponsors on the border with Mexico in the first nineteen months of Obama administration; an Austin newspaper investigated this claim and reached these conclusions: Cornyn is right that there were arrests of people from the four states designated by the United States as sponsoring terrorism (Cuba, Iran, Sudan, and Syria) — but: the number of people from these states arrested on the Mexican border is miniscule (0.02 percent of the 540,865 total arrests on the southwestern border in fiscal 2009); 87 percent of the people from these countries arrested while trying to enter the United States illegally do so through the Canadian border; and the numbers are dropping: there were 3,309 apprehensions of people from terrorism-sponsoring countries in 2005 (when Libya and North Korea were also on the list), 935 apprehensions in 2009, and 736 in fiscal 2010

  • Huawei tries to crack U.S. market again with U.S. Cellular deal

    Chinese giant Huawei Technologies Co. recently announced that it was the finalist for a contract to build a fourth generation wireless network for U.S. Cellular Corp, the nation’s sixth largest wireless carrier; in response to the deal, U.S. lawmakers sent a letter to President Obama to permanently stop Huawei’s efforts to sell network infrastructure in the United States; in the past, lawmakers have vocally opposed Huawei’s attempts to enter the U.S. market fearing that the telecom giant would install equipment that contains bugs that would make it easier for China to steal information, shut down communications, or make networks easier to hack; Huawei is the world’s second largest telecom manufacturer

  • DHS grant buys upgrades for MS police department's bomb squad

    The local police department of Tupelo, Mississippi is spending $50,000 to bolster its bomb squad’s capabilities thanks to a grant from DHS; the grant was awarded to Tupelo’s Explosive Ordinance Disposal Team and will be used to buy new equipment as well as a bomb disposal robot; So far Tupelo’s bomb squad has responded to three calls regarding suspicious packages, which all turned out to be false alarms; Tupelo’s bomb squad will also benefit other local police departments in the area and police chiefs are grateful

  • Qaddafi family split over next move

    Two of Gaddafi sons, Seif and Saadi — Gaddafi has seven sons — have floated the idea of having their father retire and for a transitional government to over see a transition to constitutional democracy; it is not clear whether Col. Gaddafi himself endorses the idea, but it is known that two other sons, Khamis and Mutuassim, who are considered hard-liners and who head their own militias, oppose the move; since the rebellion is fueled as much by tribal rivalry as by a desire for a more democratic Libya, rebel leaders were quick to announce that they were not interested in any solution which would include Gaddafi family members involved; on the ground, the low quality of the rebel forces and their lack of discipline and organization prevent them from exploiting the gains the coalition air strikes have made against Gaddafi’s heavy weaponry

  • Alabama proposes law enforcement technology fund

    The Alabama State Legislature is currently considering a bill that proposes adding a $10 technology fee to court costs in Chilton County; the fee is aimed at offset the rising technology costs of local law enforcement agencies; local police departments are struggling to comply with state mandates that require local agencies to electronically file tickets and other reports; the state has not provided funding to help departments pay for the operation and maintenance of computer systems; if the fee had been in place last year, it would have generated approximately $90,000

  • 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