Kerry Frustrated By Pace Of Smart Grid – Tech Daily Dose
Senate Commerce Communications, Technology, and the Internet Subcommittee Chairman John Kerry, D-Mass., expressed “frustration” Tuesday that the Obama administration has not moved fast enough to build out the country’s electricity infrastructure.
U.K. shipper complies with “known shipper” requirements by installing Avigilon surveillance system – Homeland Security Newswire
By August this year, 100 percent of cargo on U.S. passenger planes will have to be screened. Most of the screening — and the safe warehousing and delivery of the screened goods — will be handled not by the government, but by private shippers who, if they comply with government regulations, will be certified as “safe shipper” (or “known shippers,” as they are called in some countries). The goods delivered to airports by these safe shippers will be subjected to less rigorous — and, hence, speedier — security checks.
Someone needs to buy Janet Napolitano a beer. Or at least give her a double of whatever she wants. After two consecutive days on Capitol Hill testifying in front of four different Congressional Committees, she’s earned it. In defending the Administration’s proposed 2011 budget, she took on a whole set of bipartisan punches and barbs from an array of political players who weren’t exactly happy with what she was trying to sell them.
The Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee held a long awaited hearing on Cyber Security. Chairman John Rockefeller began with the thought that a major cyber attack could shut down our nation’s most critical infrastructure. He called for legislation to “modernize the relationship between the government and the private sector on cyber security.” A stellar group of witnesses appeared, all who added to the growing discussion on cyber security.
Amidst the news today are reports that DHS employs more contractors than career civil servants. Lawmakers, notably Sen. Joseph Lieberman (ID-CT) and Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), have described this situation as “unacceptable, untenable and unsustainable.” The other notable word that they have used to describe this situation is “astounding.” This is a situation that has been known about for some time. If we really want to be “astounded” and have a system that is “acceptable, tenable and sustainable,” we can start by fixing the problem that created the civil service and contractor imbalance.
Yesterday’s actions by the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) to represent TSA’s 40,000 screeners has upped the ante in the high stakes poker game the Obama Administration seems to have avoided playing. Will there or will there not be a union at TSA? If we are to ever move forward, the White House’s deafening silence has to end. Whatever decision it makes will have tremendous consequences and will leave some players at the poker table inflamed and outraged.
DHS Counter Terrorism Exec Takes Office – Information Week
The Department of Homeland Security has a new leader for its efforts to use IT and other means to share intelligence information with state and local law enforcement officials to counter terrorist threats.
Well, the week of 15 – 19 Feb 2010 was a fascinating one if you follow cybersecurity events. The bellwether stories are numerous, and reaction to them has been varied. Even if you don’t join in the debates of the blogosphere, it sure is fun to “watch.” On the serious side, these issues are all critical ones, and the number of experts (real ones, not the self-proclaimed variety) who hold widely varying positions shows the challenge of this field.
Bush Recess Appointee To Obama: Make Recess Appointments – Huffington Post
John Bolton, President Bush’s most high-profile recess appointee, urged President Obama on Friday to use similar authority to move some of his own nominees into administration jobs.
Have Goldman Sachs focused on their operational risks to the exclusion of all else, to the extent that their destruction is now politically convenient in the current US climate, and what tools could be used to achieve that end? I began, two weeks ago, by writing a blog entitled “Has Goldman Sachs caught the Blackwater Disease?” However, the more I explored the issue, the more I believe that the implications stretch wider. While I am not a fan of the concept of the “Perfect Storm,” I do believe Goldman Sachs has ignored non-financial risks at their peril. This blog is not a reflection on whether Goldman Sachs are good, bad or indifferent; it is a reflection upon how disregarding all risks can create the conditions to destroy a company, just when that company appears to be at the top of its game.
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