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Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill – Time to turn "Lessons Learned" into "Lessons Applied"

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September 16, 2011

On Wednesday, the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) released their joint investigative report on the April 20, 2010, Deepwater Horizon incident in the Gulf of Mexico waters off Louisiana. There are a multitude of regulatory recommendations but two key lessons: 1) NEVER skip established safety routines and protocols, and 2) ALWAYS address risk into your decision-making.

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Jeb Bush forms new company focused on disaster response business

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September 15, 2011

Jeb Bush forms new company and gets into ‘privatized’ disaster response business | Florida politics blog: The Buzz | tampabay.com & St. Petersburg Times Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush is getting into the for-profit disaster response business. A veteran of emergency response operations — having personally weathered Hurricane Andrew and then shepherded the state through […]

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Cybersecurity – Stop Attacking Pearl Harbor

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September 15, 2011

Again the other day, another of our government cyber leaders delivered the usual canned speech about how we must increase our defenses – read expand budgets/personnel – to defend ourselves against an “electronic Pearl Harbor.” And so, once again, the muscles in the back of my neck begin to stiffen wondering when they are going to stop saying this and if, some day, they will arrive in the 21st century. Cyber attacks – they are not wars – are not about total destruction but death by a thousand cuts.

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Not All International Cargo Screened for Explosives Under Cargo Screening Mandate

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September 15, 2011

International air carriers break U.S. federal law every day. Any cargo flown on a passenger plane in U.S. airspace (whether of domestic or foreign origin) must be screened for explosives. Yet, despite the law, some cargo flown into the United States does not meet the “100 percent” standard. To satisfy the cargo screening mandate, TSA has reinterpreted the law in an attempt to achieve 100 percent screening without physically screening all international cargo on passenger planes.

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How 9/11 changed air travel

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September 14, 2011

HSPI | Newsroom: Recent News How 9/11 changed air travel MSNBC Today Show September 10, 2011 HSPI Director Frank Cilluffo comments on post-9/11 changes to aviation security. Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

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Guy Who Created The TSA Says It's Failed, And It's Time To Dismantle It

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September 14, 2011

Guy Who Created The TSA Says It’s Failed, And It’s Time To Dismantle It | Techdirt One of the politicians instrumental in creating the TSA, Rep. John Mica, who wrote the legislation that established the TSA, has apparently decided that the whole thing has been a failure and should be dismantled. He notes that “the […]

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Importance of Effective Public-Private Partnerships in Security Efforts

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September 14, 2011

By Chris Wiesinger
Recently, CSC joined the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in one of the first of what promised to be a full season of 10 years after 9/11 retrospectives. The over-arching theme of remarks centered on and around a recognition of the importance of effective public-private partnerships in countering an evolving threat that has no physical, political, bureaucratic, or corporate boundaries. Today, we recognize that the only way to respond effectively to this difficult threat environment is through active, consensual collaboration between government, the private sector and citizens.

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Perry's support for in-state tuition for illegal immigrants draws fire

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September 14, 2011

Perry’s support for in-state tuition for illegal immigrants draws fire | 2012 Presidential… Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and other GOP contenders, sensing a potential weakness on a big issue to many Republican voters, are hammering Perry for supporting a law permitting in-state college tuition for illegal immigrants. The first-in-the-nation law was passed by the Texas […]

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New "Enhanced Biographic" System Effective for Tracking Visa Overstays

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September 14, 2011

Some fifteen years after Congress first mandated the creation of an “entry-exit” system for foreign visitors, the government has finally come up with an effective solution. DHS told Congress yesterday that the administration had developed an “enhanced biographic” system that will go a long way to tackling the problem of visitors who overstay visas. The issue now is whether Congress will embrace a sensible approach or continue to insist on the utopian solution of a perfect biometric system.

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Doing Business with DHS: An Open Letter to Nick Nayak

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September 14, 2011

A continuing (and welcomed) theme of some DHS presentations has been the importance of maintaining a dialogue with all Department of Homeland Security (DHS) stakeholders, including the private sector. While the messages have been well received in the audiences where I was privileged to sit, unfortunately, those messages do not seem fully to have permeated DHS – yet. My specific concern is triggered by an event labeled as a Biowatch Gen3 Industry Day held by the Office of Health Affairs on Monday, September 12, 2011. Unlike other DHS Industry Day sessions, which have been substantively informative, procedurally interactive and programatically insightful, this event was a complete waste of time for almost everyone there.

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