Archive for January, 2007
Wednesday, January 31st, 2007
DHS Rated Worst of Federal Agencies by Employees
It’s official. According to 10,400 Department of Homeland Security (DHS) employees, the agency tasked with protecting The Homeland offers the least amount of job satisfaction of any federal agency. The survey, conducted by the government’s Office of Personnel Management (OPM), asked federal employees various questions about measures of job satisfaction and agency performance. The results […]
No Comments » - Posted in U.S. Homeland Security by Annie Jacobsen
Tuesday, January 30th, 2007
Airplanes & Nuclear Reactors: American Nightmare
Nuclear power plants have long been a potential target for terrorist attacks. Since 9/11, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has been conducting ongoing “top-to-bottom” reviews of security measures at all nuclear facilities across America. A 2005 Congressional Research Service (CRS) report for Congress sums up why:
“Nuclear power plants were designed to withstand hurricanes, earthquakes, and other […]
No Comments » - Posted in The Al-Qaeda Threat by Annie Jacobsen
Monday, January 29th, 2007
DHS Releases Training Videos on Arab Americans
According to the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has produced and is distributing a sensitivity training video about Muslim American cultures for “200,000 DHS employees across America.”* This news comes on the heels of a DHS-sponsored sensitivity training program involving Muslim-Americans traveling to Saudi Arabia for the Hajj — or […]
No Comments » - Posted in U.S. Homeland Security by Annie Jacobsen
Friday, January 26th, 2007
Goverment Audit: Airplanes Remain High-Risk Target
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) warns that airplanes flying over and into the United States remain at risk of being hijacked. The GAO report, called Progress Has Been Made to Address the Vulnerabilities Exposed by 9/11, but Continued Federal Action Is Needed to Mitigate Further Security Risks, states pretty much just that. The GAO is […]
No Comments » - Posted in U.S. Homeland Security by Annie Jacobsen
Wednesday, January 24th, 2007
British Airline Bombers Were Radicalized in Weeks
London Police Chief, Sir Ian Blair, held a press conference earlier today announcing that the 15 British Muslims currently held on charges to blow up as many as 10 UK-US bound airplanes were radicalized to jihad in a remarkably short time frame. The arrest of the men last August (originally part of a group of […]
No Comments » - Posted in The Al-Qaeda Threat by Annie Jacobsen
Wednesday, January 24th, 2007
Plane Hijacked in Sudan, Demands Passage to London
Earlier today, an Air West passenger plane carrying 103 people was hijacked in Sudan. The hijacker demanded to go to London. Reuters quoted Air West’s commercial manager as stating, “So far there is one hijacker with an AK-47 machine gun.” The Guardian now reports that the man hijacked the plane with a pistol. Most […]
No Comments » - Posted in Air West: Flight 612 by Annie Jacobsen
Thursday, January 18th, 2007
Northwest Airlines May Reward 40 Hajj Rule-Breakers
Northwest Airlines is discussing compensation for 40 Muslim pilgrims who, on January 7, defied international boarding protocol and tried to catch a Frankfurt-Detroit flight just 20 minutes before departure. The group was denied boarding. Northwest Airlines policy requires all passengers to check in at least 60 minutes before an international departure. In yesterday’s Washington Times, […]
No Comments » - Posted in Airport Security & Screening by Annie Jacobsen
Wednesday, January 17th, 2007
FedEx Plane Flies with Anti-Missile System
A FedEx cargo plane equipped with a defense system that protects commercial aircraft from Shoulder Fired Missiles (SFMs) took off from Los Angeles International Airport earlier this week. The laser-based system — designed by Northrop Grumman and called ‘Guardian’ — detects incoming missiles with laser technology that in turn reroutes the missile away from the […]