The Department of Homeland Security and Wal-Mart have announced a partnership to promote the recent "If You See Something, Say Something" campaign, which urges citizens to
report "suspicious activity." At select locations, a brief DHS video message will urge shoppers to "contact local law enforcement" if they see anything out of the ordinary. Over
230 stores began playing these short videos Monday, with another 588 stores in 27 states to come on-board in the next few weeks.
[more inside]
posted by Despondent_Monkey
on Dec 7, 2010 -
189 comments
ACLU launches "Spyfiles" to track domestic surveillance. "The American Civil Liberties Union launched a
new website Tuesday to track incidents of domestic political surveillance by the government along with a
report (PDF) claiming such incidents have increased steadily since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. According to the report there have been 111 incidents of illegal domestic political surveillance since 9/11 in 33 states and the District of Columbia. The website,
Spyfiles, will serve as the ACLU's online home for all news and reports of domestic spying."
posted by homunculus
on Jun 29, 2010 -
12 comments
Sadfilter: The death of Danieal Kelly. Danieal was a 14-year-old Philadelphia girl, born with cerebral palsy, who was denied care and neglected by her mother until her death of starvation, thirst and bedsores, shut away in her bedroom from her siblings. What had social services done to help her? Nothing --
until she died, and a scramble to falsify documents began.
Nine people have now been indicted on various charges relating to her death and its investigation, including two case workers. The sight of one of her autopsy photos led the then mayor, John Street, to fire the acting commissioner of the DHS.
[more inside]
posted by Countess Elena
on Aug 2, 2008 -
65 comments
The House of Death A DHS/DEA/DoJ/US Media coverup. Another victory in the War on Drugs?
When 12 bodies were found buried in the garden of a Mexican house, it seemed like a case of drug-linked killings. But the trail led to Washington and a cover-up that went right to the top.
Other online coverage (
1,
2,
3)
posted by i_am_a_Jedi
on Dec 3, 2006 -
26 comments
DHS's CyberStorm-- --Recognizing the imminent threat hippies and assorted leftists obviously pose to us all, a massive cyber terror simulation (international and involving 115 organizations) recently came to light:
...The attack scenario detailed in the presentation is a meticulously plotted parade of cyber horribles led by a "well financed" band of leftist radicals who object to U.S. imperialism, aided by sympathetic independent actors.
At the top of the pyramid is the Worldwide Anti-Globalization Alliance, which sets things off by calling for cyber sit-ins and denial-of-service attacks against U.S. interests. WAGA's radical arm, the villainous Black Hood Society, ratchets up the tension on day one by probing SCADA computerized control systems and military networks ...
posted by amberglow
on Aug 17, 2006 -
28 comments
Red State, Meet Police State --take a big anti-Bush bumper sticker, some DHS cops, and an outspoken and educated federal employee. Put them in Boise, Idaho. Mix well.
"It's the First Amendment for a reason--not the last, not the middle. The first."
posted by amberglow
on Feb 16, 2006 -
251 comments
National Information Exchange Model (NIEM) Sometimes, its the unheralded steps, that take you most quickly to your destination.
On October 7, 2005, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), and their associated domains announced the first release of the National Information Exchange Model (NIEM) Version 0.1. NIEM "establishes a single standard XML foundation for exchanging information between DHS, DOJ, and supporting domains, such as Justice, Emergency Management, and Intelligence."
The release of this specification, and the development of the systems that utilize it may actually be the cataylst for more 'progress' in information mining on the individual than most other, well publicized efforts.
NIEM Mission: "To assist in developing a unified strategy, partnerships, and technical implementations for national information sharing — laying the foundation for local, state, tribal, and federal interoperability by joining together communities of interest."
When you say it like that, it sounds sort of cool!
posted by sfts2
on Jan 12, 2006 -
19 comments
Private Mail--Not. ...Goodman, an 81-year-old retired University of Kansas history professor, received a letter from his friend in the Philippines that had been opened and resealed with a strip of dark green tape bearing the words “by Border Protection” and carrying the official Homeland Security seal. ...the agency can, will and does open mail coming to U.S. citizens that originates from a foreign country whenever it’s deemed necessary. ...
posted by amberglow
on Jan 6, 2006 -
54 comments
Live News Filter: Federal air marshal fires shots in jet bridge of American Airlines flight in Miami.
NBC |
CNN reports.
posted by ericb
on Dec 7, 2005 -
332 comments
New Orleans: A Geopolitical Prize A very enlightening article for anyone needing a little refresher in geography.
New Orleans is not optional for the United States' commercial infrastructure.
The United States historically has depended on the Mississippi and its tributaries for transport. Barges navigate the river. Ships go on the ocean. The barges must offload to the ships and vice versa. There must be a facility to empower this exchange... Without this port, the river can't be used. Protecting that port has been, from the time of the Louisiana Purchase, a fundamental national security issue for the United States.
posted by well_balanced
on Sep 4, 2005 -
17 comments
Dept. of Homeland Security: Emergencies and Disasters Preparing America
In the event of a terrorist attack, natural disaster or other large-scale emergency, the Department of Homeland Security will assume primary responsibility on March 1st for ensuring that emergency response professionals are prepared for any situation. This will entail providing a coordinated, comprehensive federal response to any large-scale crisis and mounting a swift and effective recovery effort. The new Department will also prioritize the important issue of citizen preparedness. Educating America's families on how best to prepare their homes for a disaster and tips for citizens on how to respond in a crisis will be given special attention at DHS.
Clearly, we are in good hands.
posted by Ethereal Bligh
on Sep 3, 2005 -
83 comments
Innovative Emergency Management So this private company got the contract to develop the plan last year. The original release:
the Baton Rouge-based emergency management and homeland security consultant, will lead the development of a catastrophic hurricane disaster plan for Southeast Louisiana and the City of New Orleans under a more than half a million dollar contract with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security/Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
Now all press releases regarding it have been pulled from their
website post-Katrina.
posted by amberglow
on Sep 3, 2005 -
21 comments
Alarming Article on Security Procedures What is alarming is not necessarily that there is a "no-fly" list, or that we have security measures in response to a percieved terrorist threat. What's alarming is that there seems to be no accountabity or due process demanded from public officials. Without accountability, what's to stop public officials from acting arbitrarily, or for some political endeavor? (See the Plame case.)
Combined with the Right's seeming position that the president is above the law in prosecuting a war, U.S. Supreme Court Case No. 03-1027 (Rumsfield v. Padilla) and Case No. 03-6696 (Hamdi v. Rumsfield), (see also the recent DOJ position papers), and for the 1st time I am becoming nervous that America might devolve into something like a police state.
posted by JKevinKing
on Jul 7, 2005 -
36 comments
WSJ - "FedEx's newfound enthusiasm for a frontline role in the war on terror shows how the relationship between business and
government has changed in the past few years. In some cases, these changes are blurring the division between private commerce and public law enforcement."
"FedEx... has granted customs inspectors access to the company's database of international shipments, which includes the name and address of a shipper, the package's origin and its final destination. The databases also include credit-card information and other payment details that the government is not entitled to solicit outside of a criminal investigation. "Our guys just love it," says one senior customs official overseeing inspections at international courier companies." [
UPS, nor even the
USPS will provide this much assistance to the DHS without a warrant.]
"Two years ago, after intense lobbying by
FedEx of the Tennessee state legislature, the company was permitted to create a 10-man,
state-recognized police force. FedEx police wear plain clothes and can investigate all types of crimes, request search warrants and make arrests on FedEx property."
posted by pwb503
on May 31, 2005 -
39 comments
Be afraid: The national threat-alert level today is yellow or "
elevated," with "significant risk of terrorist attacks," says the Department of Homeland Security. In fact, the alert level has been elevated since December of 2003, when it was raised from orange. During the election season, the Fox News network flashed the terror alert level in their "crawl" as if there was breaking news -- the sort of thing that prompted some liberal
wags to ridicule the entire system. Now former DHS secretary Tom Ridge says that
the Bush administration was "really aggressive" about raising the threat-alert level during his tenure, even when the agency felt that the intelligence didn't warrant it.
posted by digaman
on May 11, 2005 -
24 comments
Less than 60 percent of federal homeland-security funding sent to New York State this year has ended up in New York City. New York’s elected officials often complain about the way the Department of Homeland Security distributes money. They repeat the finding that America spends more money per capita securing Wyoming than protecting New York State. Quietly, however, New York officials in both parties have created a local copy of Congress’ spending priorities, distributing money to places like remote Wyoming County.
For example, Ontario County (pop. 100,000) is purchasing a climate-controlled mobile command post, said Jeffrey Harloff, director of the county’s emergency-management office. Mr. Harloff will buy the vehicle with his share of the Department of Homeland Security’s main grant to the state. How will he use the command post? It depends on who’s asking.
"If it’s the federal government asking me, it is for the intended purpose of W.M.D. incidents and HazMat incidents," Mr. Harloff said. "In reality, we’re going to use it for everyday stuff in our office."
posted by Steve_at_Linnwood
on Dec 10, 2004 -
41 comments
D.H.S. - The Series. "... a multimillion-dollar episodic series, will explore the inner workings of the Department of Homeland Security, teaming the FBI, CIA, Secret Service, and National Security Administration (NSA) together with "first responders" such as local police, fire and safety administrators."
The series is being pitched to prospective networks
today and has the full support of President Bush and Tom Ridge. "They love it. They think it is fantastic," say the series' producers at Steeple Productions, located in the
Seventh-Day Adventist Community of
Zillah, Washington. Not familiar with
Steeple Productions? Well, perhaps you might find their four-episode "
Creation Vs Evolution" series enlightening.
posted by grabbingsand
on Feb 27, 2004 -
16 comments
Southeast Airlines has plans to
install digital video cameras throughout the cabins of its planes to record the faces and activities of its passengers at all times. Furthermore, the charter airline will store the digitized video for up to 10 years. And it may use face recognition software to match faces to names and personal records.
posted by Irontom
on Jul 18, 2003 -
17 comments
Muslim men have been asked to undergo "Special Registration", a Department of Homeland Security program in its early stages. Men who hail from 25 targeted countries are required to be fingerprinted, photographed, give up credit card and bank account numbers, and are then given a registration number. So far, 46 people have been arrested, but none for terrorist-related activities. Is this an acceptable security precaution or the first sign of
history repeating itself?
posted by ed
on Mar 19, 2003 -
51 comments
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 by zsazsa
on Feb 21, 2003 -
4 comments
Potential missile defense system stronger or weaker? In different days the creation of a cabinet post called "Director of the Office of Homeland Security" would make a lot of people nervous. The choice of Tom Ridge (former Governor of Pennsylvania) could be worse. He served in Vietnam and is known as being "tough on crime". An interesting note is that while in Congress he "led repeated fights against the anti-missile system nicknamed Star Wars." Meanwhile, would you want this guys job?
posted by jeremias
on Sep 22, 2001 -
5 comments
