Read a little. Learn a lot. • Tightly-written news, views and stuff • Follow us on Twitter • Be a Facebook Fan • Tumble us!

02 May 2011 13:32

tags

U.S.: Osama bin Laden’s death not enough to raise terror threat level

  • We remain at a heightened state of vigilance, but the Department of Homeland Security does not intend to issue an NTAS alert at this time.
  • Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano • Revealing that despite the death of Osama Bin Laden, Homeland Security’s new National Terrorism Advisory System (the one that doesn’t use the much-maligned color codes but instead provides specific information) won’t get its premiere thanks to the obviously front-of-mind news. At the moment, the system lists “no current alerts.” This is separate, by the way, from the State Department’s travel advisory last night, which affects U.S. nationals abroad. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

10 Mar 2011 21:10

tags

Politics: Even folks getting questioned don’t get Peter King’s hearings

  • I was overwhelmed by the number of Muslims who, while under threat from misinformed sources, were ready and willing to connect with law enforcement to help keep the peace.
  • Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca • Speaking at Rep. Peter King’s totally effed-up hearings on radical Islam about the level of outreach he received from the Muslim community after Sept. 11, 2001. Baca, one of the four witnesses who spoke the hearing, called out the hearing’s entire premise as screwed up. You and everybody else, Lee. “This hearing is playing into Al Qaeda right now,” said Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, a Texas Democrat who is exactly right. Basically, go back to what Keith Ellison said. It really nails it all. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

10 Mar 2011 10:08

tags

Politics: Rep. Peter King has good reason to be afraid of radicals

Peter King says that he’s being trailed by around-the-clock police because of an unnamed threat from overseas. Glad he’s announcing that ahead of his Islam hearings. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

06 Mar 2011 20:01

tags

Politics: White House official backs Muslims before Rep. Peter King’s hearings

  • You’ve sent a message that those who perpetrate such horrific attacks do not represent you or your faith, and that they will not succeed in pitting believers of different faiths against one another.
  • Deputy National Security Adviser Denis McDonough • Speaking to a DC-area mosque this weekend to do damage control before Rep. Peter King, the chairman of the House’s Homeland Security panel, holds hearings on Islam radicalization. King defended his efforts earlier today: “The overwhelming majority of Muslims are outstanding Americans,” he said, “but at this stage in our history there’s an effort … to radicalize elements within the Muslim community.” Is ol’ Petey boy right? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

06 Mar 2011 11:48

tags

Politics: Rep. Peter King’s radical Islam hearing not exactly winning him fans

  • First off, this is a spectacular photo of Rep. Peter King. He’s straight-up draped in America in this pic, and it’s something that we must admire. Anyway, King (the chair of the Homeland Security committee) is planning these Congressional hearings about radical Islam this week, and they have some people up in arms. For example, here’s Rep. Keith Ellison, a Muslim himself who showed up on CNN’s “State of the Union” with King: “It’s absolutely the right thing to do for the chairman of the Homeland Security Committee to investigate radicalization. But to say we’re going to investigate a — a religious minority, and a particular one, I think is the wrong course of action to take.” King claims that radical Islam poses a graver threat than other types of radicalism. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

27 Jan 2011 14:38

tags

U.S.: Terror threat level warnings to get a functional overhaul

  • The alerts will be specific to the threat. They may recommend certain actions, or suggest   looking for specific suspicious behavior. And they will have a specified end date.
  • Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano • Speaking on the topic of the oft-maligned terror threat level scale imposed following 9/11 (you know the one, orange=bad, red=really bad), Napolitano claimed that the future system of warning Americans about terrorism risks will be more informative. The old system, which merely stated the risk with no contextual information, was often accused of being vague and unhelpful. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

24 Nov 2010 07:53

tags

U.S.: About time: Color-coded threat level system may disappear

  • Anyone else feel safer because of these colors? Didn’t think so. So the Obama administration, smarting from that whole TSA backlash thing, is actually talking about replacing this overly-basic scare system with something that actually tells people what’s going on. Great. About freaking time we got out of the color business. The only people this benefited were those working in print shops who got to charge more for the extra use of color. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

17 Mar 2010 09:22

tags

U.S.: Bush’s U.S./Mexico border security just got dumped for Obama’s

  • Not only do we have an obligation to secure our borders, we have a responsibility to do so in the most cost effective way possible.
  • Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano • On her decision to take $50 billion away from the controversial Bush-era Secure Border Initiative and use it to buy proven off-the-shelf technology that does the same thing. Napolitano is also freezing most other SBI money and creating a great opportunity for the right to say that she’s soft on illegal immigration. This outghta be fun. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

07 Mar 2010 12:05

tags

U.S.: The rise of the “lone wolf” extremist hard to combat

  • We have seen an increase in the lone wolf type attacks, which, from a law enforcement and investigation perspective, are the most challenging. Why? Because by definition they’re not conspiring.
  • Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano • Discussing “lone wolf” attacks like the ones by John Patrick Bedell (who shot two Pentagon security guards last week), Joe Stack (who flew a plane into an IRS building in February) and Johnny Lee Wicks (who was killed in a January courthouse attack after losing a case regarding his Social Security benefits). For those playing at home, that’s three “lone wolf” attacks in three months, which is problematic for law enforcement, because it’s not easy to prevent such cases. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

04 Jan 2010 12:15

tags

U.S.: Someone’s gonna get in trouble for the Newark incident

  • The TSA guy who let the security-breacher through could feel the pain. Flights may be back to normal today, but last night’s security breach at Newark Airport won’t come without consequences. While they never caught the guy, everyone did go through a checkpoint again and subsequently had their night ruined. For its part, the Transportation Security Administration says they’re trying to learn lessons from the incident. “We’re reviewing the circumstances and its totality,” said TSA spokeswoman Ann Davis. “We’ll look and see if any lessons can be learned and take further action going forward.” source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
 
top tags
older >>