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It came as a slight shock to me to learn today that the President of Guinea-Bissau was assassinated late Sunday/early Monday in the United States. What is also shocking is that there has been no mention of the assassination all day on any of the major new networks.

If you ever want to know what’s a priority in Washington the old adage, “follow the money” will tell you very quickly. That little phrase holds true again especially when it comes to cyber security and DHS.

At the present time, the Department has its component headquarters spread all over downtown DC while its top executive leadership, support offices and personnel operate out of facility that would probably make a North Korean prison camp look like a three-star hotel.

FEMA Administrator David Paulison will hold a social media press conference through Twitter on Monday, January 12th at 3 PM. Mr. Paulison will communicate using FEMA’s Twitter account @FEMAinFocus, and will open the floor to questions after making a brief opening statement.

If you’re like me, you no doubt are back at work trying to get restarted on your ‘To Do’ list following the Holiday Break. While shaking off the fog, hustle and break from the office of the past several weeks, you may have missed some pretty big things that have occurred in the homeland security world. Some of these items will have some far reaching ramifications for the incoming Obama Administration as it takes the reigns of the federal government in just under three weeks.

Recently, Security Debrief contributor, Scott Weber, spoke with Francis Rose of Federal News Radio’s “In Depth” about the appointment of Gov. Janet Napolitano.

There have been lots of articles over the past few days that chronicle the history of this week’s election and its impact upon the fabric of our nation. This piece in today’s Washington Post by Wil Haygood is by far one of the most interesting and moving as it describes this week’s election from the eyes of a man who was truly ‘there’ amongst some of the historical giants of the 20th Century.

What is it with some American politicians and their fawning over terrorists? Has 9/11 become blasé? Jimmy Carter goes on a highly publicized Terror Tourism trip to sit at the feet of Hamas. Chicago Mayor Richard Daley pronounces Weather Underground bomber Bill Ayers a “distinguished” and “valued” member of the Chicago community.

Recent news stories chronicle efforts by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to implement a nationwide emergency alert system that notifies users of an emergency via text messages to cell phones and other electronic devices. The FCC and others are to be applauded for putting forward such a system. It certainly complements the work of the post-Katrina Report that came out in June 2006, but part of me feels that the train has already left the station on this issue.

The RNC Welcoming Committee, which describes itself as an anarchist / anti-authoritarian organizing body preparing for the 2008 Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota, announced the purchase of tasers to equip rioters – excuse me, ‘members and friends’, – during the upcoming Convention. This raises two equally worrying possibilities about the public order dangers presented by the group.

As violence stemming from human rights activism in Tibet spreads, outsiders are trying to determine the cause of the unrest. The Tibetans wished to protest the occupation and their treatment at the hands of the Chinese. The Chinese did not want that to happen, and so moved swiftly to suppress peaceful protest. When peaceful protest is forbidden, violent protest will eventuate. There is one more step in the chain; when violent protest is forbidden and suppressed, an insurgency will start. The introduction of mobile telephony to Tibet will only enable the insurgency to operate more effectively, but by using methods unpredictable and unforeseen by the Chinese authorities.

Today’s post is the fourth recommendation in a five-part series outlining recommendations to the next Administration on the Department of Homeland Security’s transitioning.

Continuing the series on DHS’s Transition that offers advice to the next Administration, today’s recommendation focuses on the important role that career leaders will play in ensuring continuity within the Department.

Columnist Bob Novak offers some interesting observations about the connection between the Democrats’ decision to let the FISA reform expire rather than offering a house vote, suggesting that the power of the trial lawyers within the Democratic Party was too powerful to overcome: The recess by House Democrats amounts to a judgment that losing the [...]

The psychological effect in each of these cases is for the psychiatrists, medical experts and ultimately the legal apparatus to decide. My concern is that the crimes demonstrate that the federal safety net in place to catch and treat sufferers is not effective, and that merely educating the soldiers themselves is not working. PTSD is a legitimate threat to anyone who has served in combat or experienced conditions of high stress. Knowing that, and mixing alcohol, loaded weapons and an aggravating situation is a recipe for disaster.

Some of the recommendations of the recently published Congressional Report into the Reserves and National Guard seem ill-advised and counter-productive. Targeting the Department of Defense’s reported upon lack of ability to respond to nuclear, biological and chemical threats, one conclusion drawn is that the non-active elements should be refocused exclusively on domestic disasters. The other, [...]

Under the REAL ID Act, federal agencies are prohibited, effective May 11, 2008, from accepting a driver’s license or a state-issued personal identification card for an “official purpose” unless the issuing state is meeting the requirements of the REAL ID Act. Bottom line? Travelers from non-compliant states will likely encounter significant travel delays because they will be required to undergo secondary screening.

Members of Congress call for tougher border security in one breath and then demand that tougher policies be dismantled in the next. Next up: Demands for more short people who are tall.

As of January 31, 2008, all individuals seeking to enter the U.S. at land borders will have to present documentary proof of citizenship. Until this change in policy takes effect, any individual in the Western Hemisphere can enter the United States by attesting they are a United States citizen and presenting a driver’s license. This approach places entry into our country into the realm of the honor system – a concept that has failed in our immigration policies – and relegated DHS Inspectors to the realm of bartenders attempting to distinguish a phony driver’s license from a real one.

And now the latest is Ron Paul, who has run a maverick campaign based on libertarian principles — except when such principles seem to get in the way of political expediency. He has now launched an ad proclaiming himself to be the tough-on-illegal-immigrants candidate, even going so far as to call for a ban on student visas from “terrorist nations.” (Would that include France?) For a guy who is supposed to embrace civil liberties, the idea of a blanket ban of any student who comes from any “terrorist nation,” no matter how deserving the individual student, is ironic to say the least.