National Opt-Out Day Called Against Invasive Body Scanners – Wired Threat Level
Air travelers, mark your calendar. An activist opposed to the new invasive body scanners in use at airports around the country just designated Wednesday, Nov. 24 as a National Opt-Out Day.
TSA to hold union election – GovExec
Transportation Security Administration employees soon will be able to vote for exclusive union representation. The Federal Labor Relations Authority on Friday accepted a petition from the American Federation of Government Employees and the National Treasury Employees Union to hold an election to determine which group will represent TSA workers.
Travel Industry, Pilots Meeting With Homeland Security Over TSA Checkpoint Furor – Joe Sharkey at Large
The rising furor over aggressive airport-security patdowns and the use of and procedures for those new body-imaging machines has prompted an emergency meeting today between top Homeland Security officials and travel industry representatives.
Much has been made of late about the new “hands-on” approach TSA Screeners are applying to passengers at the nation’s airports. With a flood of vocal protests coming from the various unions representing airline pilots and flight attendants, as well as religious groups and the travelling public, DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano and TSA Administrator John Pistole have the distinction of owning what can only be called the worst of In-Boxes. I guess there are lots of ways to get your hands around this hot issue and feel your way through it, but the good people at Despair, Inc. have the answers and messaging that say it all.
Shippers campaign against full screening of cargo on planes – Homeland Security Newswire
Despite knowing for decades that terrorists could sneak bombs onto planes, the U.S. government failed to close obvious security gaps amid pressure from shipping companies fearful tighter controls would cost too much and delay deliveries.
Models exist for tightening air cargo screening, specialists say – NextGov
U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Israeli government both have model procedures for securing freight with technology that the Homeland Security Department could emulate to tighten cargo screening aboard U.S.-bound flights, according to several transportation security experts.
Agendas for Homeland Security panels take shape – GovExec
The dust from last week’s elections has barely settled, but the landscape of hearings and priorities by the House and Senate homeland security committees is already becoming clear.
Chicago Bomb Plot: International Cooperation Is Not Cost Free – Counterterrorism Blog
International cooperation is key in fighting international terrorism – this has been a theme of U.S. government counterterrorism statements and talking for decades. This concept was underscored by the thwarting two weeks ago of a terrorist plot to ship two bomb-laden packages to the United States, with the apparent intention of blowing them up over an American city or upon delivery to Jewish institutions in Chicago.
Anwar al Awlaki, an American radical Muslim cleric thought to be hiding in Yemen, released a new video in which he calls for Muslims to kill Americans. Here is a clip from ABC news discussing Awlaki’s video.
In the wake of last month’s near miss with terrorist catastrophe – the successful shipping but failed detonation of PETN bombs – much focus has fallen on improving our cargo security posture, strengthening international scanning techniques and determining just how heavy a hand should fall on Yemen. There are lingering questions, however, about how the initial intelligence was uncovered. The story of Jabir al Fayfi may not be as simple as it seems.
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