Government

ACLU: Terrorist Watch List hits one million names
ACLU claims terrorist watch list reached one million names; launches online watch list complaint form
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TSA: ACLU’s terrorist watch list facts and figures are a myth
The Transportation Security Administration refutes the facts and figures used by the ACLU in the latter’s claim that the list is now 1-million strong
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Shake-up at the top of New York State's homeland security office
David Sheppard, acting director of New York State Office of Homeland Security who was appointed by former governor George Pataki, resigned last week, signaling further consolidation of power by Michael Balboni, the state’s homeland security czar
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U.K. says country is a good place for scientific research
U.K. government body releases a reference work showing major research infrastructures, including light sources, research ships, innovative laboratories, and social data sets
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Cyber cafes to be monitored in India
Indian police places biometric systems and CCTV in more than 150 cyber cafes in order to catch cyber criminals in the act
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Cybercrime gangs highly structured
The chain of command of a cybercrime gang is not unlike the Mafia, an evolution which shows how online crime is becoming a broad, well-organized endeavor
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New Jersey's Stevens Tech to lead research on port security
Hoboken is poised to become a center for research into port security
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GAO strongly criticizes DoE over Hanford clean-up
More than 210 million liters of radioactive and chemical waste are stored in 177 underground tanks at Hanford in Washington State; most are more than fifty years old; GAO says there now “serious questions about the tanks’ long-term viability”
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Bioterrorism rule ineffective in salmonella outbreak
Rules and regulations passed in the wake of 9/11 were supposed to tighten monitoring and tracking food items, so an outbreak of food-borne illness could be quickly traced to its source; food supply-chain practices make these rules and regulations difficult to implement
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U.S. intelligence services aware of vast Chinese espionage campaign
Multifaceted Chinese espionage campaign in the United States and other Western countries aims not only to steal military secrets, but also industrial secrets and intellectual property in order to help Chinese companies better compete in the global economy; Chinese government and state-sponsored industries have relied not only on trained intelligence officers, but also on the Chinese diaspora — using immigrants, students, and people of second- and third-generation Chinese heritage
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Homeland security experts on priorities for next administration
Experts: The next administration’s top four homeland security priorities should be border security, emergency response, development of medical counter-measures to weapons of mass destruction, and port security
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Ground fighting and its tactical applications
Every grappler, Jiu-Jitsu practitioner, and wrestler thinks that if he can take the fight to the ground, he will win; there are, however, a few inherent problems with this approach
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Federal money for identity programs boost biometrics market
A slew of U.S. government programs — US VISIT, the Real ID Act, TWIC, the FBI’s next-generation database, and many more — depend on biometric technology; the estimated value of potential contracts to implement federal identity-solutions programs has more than doubled since 2006, rising from $890 million to $2 billion this year; biometric companies fiercely compete — and lobby — for contracts
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An HS Daily Wire conversation with Walter Hamilton of the International Biometrics Industry Association (IBIA)
Walter Hamilton, chairman of the Board of Directors of IBIA, talks about different biometric technologies, new and innovative biometric approaches, the role of biometric in security and commerce, biometrics in the theater of battle, and more
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September to be U.S. National Preparedness Month
DHS says that more than 1,200 national, regional, state, and local businesses and organizations have pledged their support for the department’s initiative
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The long view

To prevent Iranian nukes, a negotiated deal better than a military strike: David Albright
David Albright is the founder and president of the Washington, D.C.-based non-profit Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS), and author of several books on fissile materials and nuclear weapons proliferation. In a testimony before the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Wednesday, and an interview with Deutsche Welle on Thursday, Albrights says that there is every reason to be suspicious of Iran because it has cheated on its obligations in the past and has been uncooperative on an ongoing basis. Iran has also built many sites in secret, so any agreement with Iran should have extra insurance — a more powerful inspection and verification tool to try to ferret out any secret nuclear activities or facilities that Iran would build. Still, a negotiated deal, if it includes sufficiently robust inspection and verification measures, would be a more effective way than a military strike to make sure Iran does not develop nuclear weapons.
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How to verify a comprehensive Iran nuclear deal
With the negotiation between the P5+1(the United States, European Union, Britain, France, Russia, and China) and Iran resuming yesterday (Wednesday) about a set of parameters for an eventual Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the shape of a final deal about Iran’s nuclear program has emerged. Many important provisions of a final deal, however, remain to be negotiated in the coming months. David Albright, the president of the Institute for Science and International Security, says that a critical set of these provisions involves the adequacy of verification arrangements which would be in place to monitor Iran’s compliance with a deal. Tehran’s long history of violations, subterfuge, and non-cooperation requires extraordinary arrangements to ensure that Iran’s nuclear program is indeed peaceful.
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Fusion centers, created to fight domestic terrorism, suffering from mission creep: Critics
Years before the 9/11 attacks, law enforcement agencies throughout the country, alarmed by the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, began to monitor and investigate signs of domestic terrorism. That increased monitoring, and the need for coordination among various law enforcement agencies, gave rise to the fusion centers. A new report, which is supported by current and former law enforcement and government officials, concludes that post-9/11, fusion centers and the FBI teams which work with them shifted their focus from domestic terrorism to global terrorism and other crimes, including drug trafficking.Experts say that at a time when the number of domestic terrorism threats, many of which are linked to right-wing extremist groups, is surging, law enforcement must refocus their attention on the threats from within.
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Lack of evidence-based terrorism research hobbles counterterrorism strategies
The Global Terrorism Database at the University of Maryland estimates that groups connected with al-Qaeda and the Islamic State committed almost 200 attacks per year between 2007 and 2010. That number has increased to about 600 attacks in 2013. As terrorism becomes more prevalent, the study of terrorism has also increased, which, in theory, should lead to more effective antiterrorism policies, and thus to less terrorism. The opposite is happening, however, and this could be partly due to the sort of studies which are being conducted. The problem: few of these studies are rooted in empirical analysis, and there is an “almost complete absence of evaluation research” concerning anti-terrorism strategies, in the words of a review of such studies.
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CBP IA Operation Hometown reduces violence and corruption: Tomsheck shuts it down -- Pt. 5
Operation Hometown appears to be yet another example in a series of programs at Customs and Border Protection (CBP) demonstrating blatant dysfunctionality and mismanagement within the Department of Homeland Security. Meticulously designed to target border violence and corruption among CBP employees, Operation Hometown was labeled a success in reaching its stated objectives. CBP Internal Affair’s (IA) James F. Tomsheck,however, shut the program down. As Congress and President Obama debate various aspects of a new federal immigration policy,few politicians are willing to acknowledge the serious problems at CBP Internal Affairs – but they should, as these problems may directly impact the success of any or all new immigration reforms.
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California drought highlights the state’s economic divide
As much of Southern California enters into the spring and warmer temperatures, the effects of California’s historic drought begin to manifest themselves in the daily lives of residents, highlighting the economic inequality in the ways people cope. Following Governor Jerry Brown’s (D) unprecedented water rationing regulations,wealthier Californians weigh on which day of the week no longer to water their grass, while those less fortunate are now choosing which days they skip a bath.
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ACLU: Terrorist Watch List hits one million names

TSA: ACLU’s terrorist watch list facts and figures are a myth

Shake-up at the top of New York State's homeland security office

U.K. says country is a good place for scientific research

Cyber cafes to be monitored in India

Cybercrime gangs highly structured

New Jersey's Stevens Tech to lead research on port security

GAO strongly criticizes DoE over Hanford clean-up

Bioterrorism rule ineffective in salmonella outbreak

U.S. intelligence services aware of vast Chinese espionage campaign

Homeland security experts on priorities for next administration

Ground fighting and its tactical applications

Federal money for identity programs boost biometrics market

An HS Daily Wire conversation with Walter Hamilton of the International Biometrics Industry Association (IBIA)

September to be U.S. National Preparedness Month

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Who's online

The long view

To prevent Iranian nukes, a negotiated deal better than a military strike: David Albright

How to verify a comprehensive Iran nuclear deal

Fusion centers, created to fight domestic terrorism, suffering from mission creep: Critics

Lack of evidence-based terrorism research hobbles counterterrorism strategies

CBP IA Operation Hometown reduces violence and corruption: Tomsheck shuts it down -- Pt. 5

California drought highlights the state’s economic divide