You might ask: how can anyone not be in favor of 100% cargo screening? It’s more security, right? The critical question we should be asking is whether it is enhancing security or is it just creating additional work for cargo handlers and reports for TSA?
Even as our nation is in peril on the economic front, the airline industry is facing onerous unfunded mandates and government taxes that could be crippling. With more jobs disappearing and more businesses failing, this critical industry needs leadership that is well-grounded in understanding the operations and policies that will enable a robust enterprise.
There is plenty of opportunity for the vast majority of government agencies to benefit from Web 2.0 techniques and authentically engage the public. Federal blogging advocates must overcome institutional slowness and resistance to change. Web 2.0 is quick, honest and real.
What constitutes a suspicious incident in aviation today? This is the fundamental question that led to nine Muslim passengers being kicked off an Air Tran Airways flight on New Year’s Day.
Implementing new cargo-scanning regulations that have questionable security value and will assuredly disrupt the global supply chain and further undermine American commerce, jobs and the economy at large seems like a remarkably bad idea.
One of the most misunderstood programs at DHS has been the US-VISIT program. In some ways, US-VISIT has been a victim of its own success. It is now facing new opposition as the program attempts to expand the program. Where US-VISIT has drawn the most criticism, however, is usually a result of some aspect of the original blueprint going unfunded or getting bogged down by Congressional pushback. Thus the idea of a single “person-centric” biometric database for all visitors visiting or working in the U.S. remains unfulfilled.
In her 60 Minutes segment, Leslie Stahl suggests she can spot terrorists simply by eyeballing them. Old white lady? No. Young Arab man? Could be … If it were only that easy.
Yesterday, the Department of Homeland Security hosted the last installment of exclusive blogger roundtable events that Secretary Chertoff has been attending throughout his tenure. Below is a transcript from the event which covered the current state of DHS and future of the agency.
This past Monday, I attended a Blogger’s Roundtable with Secretary Chertoff and TSA Administrator Kip Hawley to discuss aviation security initiatives. While the Secretary’s prepared remarks focused on the flurry of activity the Department is doing with General Aviation security (which I think is a step in the right direction), the discussion soon drifted to the usual set of issues – Secure Flight, Registered Traveler, shoe screening, unionization of screeners, transition activity, lines at airports ….and the list goes on.
I do not doubt the actions they are undertaking for general aviation are worthwhile and necessary, but in an era where our financial resources are becoming more and more constricted, we need to be upfront about what our homeland security actions cost and how we will pay for them. We’ve not done that with this rule – at least not in the actions of this week.
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