Because we don't know enough to engage in anything resembling responsible commentary. And those things that we can say something worthwhile about--including comparisons with other terrorist attacks past and present, such as what happened on the same day in Iraq; and...
Dulles Airport, just before noon. My daughter and I have dropped off my father in-law. We're sitting in our compact car, waiting for one of the vehicles blocking us to move on. After six minutes, I...
It’s great to see a few of our elected representatives fighting back against the Democratic and Republican leadership’s attempt to renew the Patriot Act for another four years without amendment or...
What would the world be like after a nuclear attack of some type? That's the question answered by the President's National Security staff in the June 2010 second edition of the Planning Guidance for...
Two weeks ago, I wrote about Pennsylvania’s Perverted War on Terror. This week the state’s Homeland Security Director James Powers, Jr. resigned. Governor Ed Rendell had refused to fire him, saying Powers was not the only one responsible for hiring the Institute of Terrorism Research and Response (ITRR). True, enough: Rendell had command responsibility, and Robert French, director of the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency, apparently had oversight too (neither has resigned). But it appears that Powers was the person who okayed the $103,000 contract that resulted in numerous...
How does America's bloated anti-terror bureaucracy spend its time and our money? A story out of Pennsylvania last week throws light on the earth-shakingly important work these saviors of our soil perform, defending us all from the scary monsters who pose such a dire menace to America.Or rather it illustrates, yet again, the myriad ways in which our homeland security hogs work to rationalize their existence and perpetuate their wallow in the "homeland security" slops-trough—even while eroding our civil liberties. The swine this time: International Terrorism Research and Resources (ITRR), a...
Though it has been in the works for a while, in recent months the TSA has implemented its "Secure Flight" program, where it assumes responsibility for those on "Don't Fly" and "Extra Search" lists. The catch? It does so by asking passengers for extra information when they book their tickets. You might have noticed this on airplane ticket purchases in recent months - you are asked for three pieces of information: your name, your birthday, and your "gender" (by which the TSA actually means sex). You can enter your name and your birthday, but then you have to select your "gender" from a...