All US Air Passengers to be Profiled, and 1% Will be Banned from Boarding. In the most aggressive -- and, some say, invasive -- step yet, the federal government and the airlines will phase in a computer system next year to measure the risk posed by every passenger on every flight in the United States. Up to 8 percent of passengers who board flights will be coded "yellow" and pulled for additional screening. An estimated 1 to 2 percent will be labeled "red" and will be prohibited from boarding. These passengers also will face police questioning and may be arrested. [More Inside....]
posted on Sep 9, 2003 - View this thread

Airport Security Confiscates Food TV Star's Omelet Pan! Another example of our slippery slide into Fascism, or just another whiny Celebrity who needs to shut up? Or just a well-written anecdote that those of us who grew up as 'bully fodder' can relate to? Hey, give the man some respect; his book just won the James Beard Award. And who else would have a kitchenware version of the Periodic Table on his site? One celebrity blogger I wish would post more often, via Medley, via Fusion Reaction.
posted on Jun 13, 2003 - View this thread

Arizona may ignore the next Homeland Security Orange Alert "It creates incredible problems: overtime, financial, functional," said Frank Navarrete, the state's homeland security director. "It's not quite to the point where it creates havoc, but it's quite disruptive."
posted on Jun 4, 2003 - View this thread

Quoram busting Democrats tracked as terrorists. Disagree with the majority Party, and Homeland Security may like a word with you.
posted on May 15, 2003 - View this thread

Terror and Technology Online Shockwave-demos its mid-May virtual trade show, marketed vigorously to the readership of the Journal of Homeland Security. "A new perspective on how the war on terror can and should be fought. Exhibitors will gain brand influence by presenting to influential market players."
posted on May 5, 2003 - View this thread

The Government is acting quickly. Quickly, to stem the deluge of Mexican terrorists.
posted on Apr 29, 2003 - View this thread

Technology comes to the rescue via the Department of Homeland Security. Now we will never have to fear terrorists, or criminals again. This post is 23 days late, but remains ever so relevant.
posted on Apr 24, 2003 - View this thread

University City, Missouri stands up against homeland security and gets reprimanded by a U.S. Attorney. A resolution passed by the city council to protect citizens' rights from being violated by city employees, including police, "puts all citizens at risk" and could result in "catastrophic loss of life," according to U.S. Attorney Ray Gruender.
posted on Feb 21, 2003 - View this thread

The Skyline Terrorist Survival Kit. Tom Ridge's suggested kit may not be enough. How can you be prepared for a terrorist attack without a martini glass, a can of Ranch Style Beans and a copy of Red Dawn?
posted on Feb 20, 2003 - View this thread

N.C. Congressman OK with the internment of Japanese-Americans during WWII What is even scarier is this man is the head of a Homeland Security subcommittee. This is without question as repelling, hurtful and unfit to come out of US leader as Trent Lott's comments but somehow I do not believe this will get as much press nor condemnation. It is really chilling to wonder how many others on the committees and the Bush administration hold this or similar attitudes. It makes you wonder how far would they go in the name of Homeland Security if they thought they could get away with it.
posted on Feb 6, 2003 - View this thread

What should I pack? According to the official list Toy Transformer Robots are OK (presumably real ones are not), but I'll have to put my throwing stars in my checked luggage.
posted on Jan 15, 2003 - View this thread

"Feith and Luti see everybody not one hundred per cent with them as one hundred per cent against them—it's a very Manichaean world," a defense consultant said. the "Office of Special Plans"???? i thought the new homeland security bill was going to get people to start working together?
posted on Dec 26, 2002 - View this thread

Watch those Waterway in Florida says the U.S. Coast Guard. Possible terrorist threats include drawing or taking photographs of the shore, being near the shore for a long time, and under no circumstances would any law abiding citizen be doing something as daring and thoroughly terrorist-like as renting a boat.
posted on Aug 23, 2002 - View this thread

House likely to approve homeland security bill that erodes labor protections "But the Senate, which likely takes up the matter next week, so far has pursued a much different course. On Thursday, the Democratic-led Senate Governmental Affairs Committee crafted legislation that would protect all current civil service protections and make it more difficult for the president to move workers out of unions. Bush and other Republicans said the measure would give the president less authority than he has now."

The House seems to be so much more conservative and extremist than the Senate. Heck they're still working on trying to ban selected types of abortion procedures even when there's a strong chance it won't pass constitutional muster and the Senate isn't likely to support them.

Is it your perception that the House is more conservative? If so, why do you think that's true?
posted on Jul 26, 2002 - View this thread

Department of Homeland Security to be exempt from the Freedom of Information Act and the Whistleblower Protection Act? The last episode of NOW ran a piece on the FOIA which described how back in 1974 President Ford and his staff, which included Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney, opposed Congress' strengthening of the FOIA, and Ford tried unsuccessfully to veto it. Now this new exemption looks like the continuation of a 28 year-old feud. Ridge says it is in order to not "draw a road map of critical infrastructure vulnerabilities," but are complete exemptions really necessary for that? The potential for abuse seems quite dangerous. (Some previous discussions of FOIA revelations here and here).
posted on Jul 1, 2002 - View this thread

I don't know about you, but I won't feel truly secure until the Office of Homeland Security has its own logo. The White House is still just using the presidential seal: boring. The Patent Office's entry has a nice retro feel to it, but some might find it too menacing. The USDA's is maybe a bit too subject-specific. What do you think: should we keep it simple, or go with something a little more strongly stated? What sort of design would make you feel secure?
posted on Jun 25, 2002 - View this thread

Homeland security loophole discovered in 1999: "In the Appalachians of West Virginia, the sun was going down and I was stuck for a place to stay.   I knocked on the door of a private farm house.  Three college-age girls were in the middle of an LSD trip.  They recognized me as Art Garfunkel.  I learned that they were three of thousands (millions?) who are "invisible" - pay no taxes, avoid the census taker; they are not on America's books."
posted on Jun 11, 2002 - View this thread

I'm sure the U.S. would have given them money for rooms at the Holiday Inn. Canadian immigration officers say a lack of detention space forced them to release a dozen men into the Toronto area who are suspected of having links to al-Qaida terrorists. Good friends, those Canadians.
posted on Dec 2, 2001 - View this thread