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Capitalism to strengthen U.S. response capability to epidemics, bioterrorism

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December 6, 2010

Capitalism to strengthen U.S. response capability to epidemics, bioterrorism – Homeland Security Newswire
The H1N1 flu pandemic highlighted critical gaps in response capability that the public health and homeland security sectors had warned about for years. Among them: the United States relies almost entirely on foreign suppliers for influenza vaccines and, perhaps as important, production of vaccines for a novel disease strain can take as long as six months.

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North Korea: What is the End Game?

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December 6, 2010

The most recent military development on the Korean Peninsula cannot be seen outside the overall context of US-China relations. In recent weeks, the United States and China have been engaged in a “currency war,” underscoring the race between Washington and Beijing for global influence in the 21st century. The reality is that the US-China relationship is very complex; it is governed by two forces pulling in opposite directions: economic interdependency and economic competition. As long as these two forces are at equilibrium, the U.S.-China relationship can develop on a win-win basis with tremendous benefits to the world community and the global economy. Unfortunately, current data clearly point to a trend towards imbalance favoring China.

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Bin Laden's Victory – America's Debt?

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December 2, 2010

In the days before the 2004 Presidential Election, Osama Bin Laden released a videotaped message that essentially told the world what he was up to. Within his remarks there was one sentence that has stayed with me: “We are continuing a policy in bleeding America to the point of bankruptcy.” After taking a look at our country’s financial situation and continuing explosive debt, it might be easy to declare that Bin Laden and his cronies can celebrate in their caves in “where-ever-istan” they might be currently residing. At least that is the conclusion you might derive from the recently released report of the President’s Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform.

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TSA Detecting Smuggled Items – Let's Take a Deep Breath

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December 2, 2010

I think we all need to take a deep breath and remember we live in a dangerous world. I worked as a Special Agent for the U.S. Customs Service and DHS/Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for over thirty years. In that capacity, I was assigned for a period of time to narcotics smuggling groups at Newark and JFK International Airports. While in this assignment, I was forever amazed at the various methods utilized by individuals to attempt to smuggle narcotics through the international port of entry. The bottom line – you could take nothing for granted. Should TSA be any less vigilant?

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Emergency Response, Warfare and the Coming Revolution in Decisionmaking

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December 1, 2010

Emergency Response, Warfare and the Coming Revolution in Decisionmaking – Crisis Comm
There are many ways emergency response management is like warfare: winning is about having the necessary resources and deploying them most effectively. Clear chain of command and unity of command are essential.

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Wikileaks and the Elephant in the Room

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December 1, 2010

The world is astir over the data stolen from U.S. government secure facilities by PFC Bradley Manning and passed to the self-proclaimed crusader Julian Assange. This is an unconscionable act of treason and irresponsibility by all involved. The elephant we are missing is the lack of protection of classified and sensitive data by our military and State Department.

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American Leadership: Lessons Borne of Cholera

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December 1, 2010

There are 1,721 people dead in Haiti due to a Cholera epidemic that we had the power to prevent and the ability to eradicate. How can it be that just 600 miles off the coast of Florida, Cholera is expected to eventually infect over 400,000 people? This despite the fact that we have cheap access to three different vaccines, understand disease prevention and knew it was coming.

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Legislator proposes volunteer-based Arizona border force

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November 30, 2010

Legislator proposes volunteer-based Arizona border force – Homeland Security Newswire
In another indication that illegal immigration remains a concern for Arizona lawmakers, a legislator said Monday he plans to revive once-vetoed legislation to create a new state volunteer force that could be used help patrol the U.S.-Mexico border.

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Using Predator UAVs for Border Enforcement Purposes Continues to Raise Questions

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November 30, 2010

Over the Thanksgiving week, I could not get a story from the Houston Chronicle’s Dane Schiller out of my head – “Will eye in the sky over Texas ever shift its gaze to Mexico?” The article’s prime focus is whether Predators can be used to peer across the border into Mexico. Schiller, who regularly covers drug cartel and immigration activity along the southwest border, does America a great service in publicly stating what has been one of the so-called “dirty secrets” about the use of Predator UAVs for border enforcement purposes. The Border Patrol agents who are in pursuit and most in need of information from expensive technology are not seeing anything produced by Predator cameras.

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Republican wants WikiLeaks labeled as terrorist group

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November 29, 2010

Republican wants WikiLeaks labeled as terrorist group – The Hill’s Blog Briefing Room
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton should review whether WikiLeaks can be declared a terrorist organization, according to a senior Republican.

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