The biggest threat to America: ourselves FEMA and "The X Files" -- The strange and scary history of America's disaster relief agency and its role in "continuity in government." Why more security doesn't work
Electronic Privacy information Center
The amount of homeland security we actually need is inversely related to how good our foreign policy is. |
TSA's unconstitutional no fly list up to 21,000 Homeland police jail, deport couple for twitter entry  VIA FIRETOWN Former Homeland boss wants more domestic spying and interference Behind Homeland Security's monitoring of websites: a key Obama adviser FEMA demands money back from Katrina victims
 How to get Homeland Security to sign up to your Twitter account More seniors complain about TSA abuse The biggest threat to America: ourselves Firefox refuses to go along with Homeland Security's censorship of Internet TSA finds a new way to scare you Now Homeland police want to spy on your for possible “pre-crime.” TSA’S latest way of screwing up air travel Guy who helped create TSA says it's a failure Our national government replaced by "federal family" 95 year old woman has to remove diaper to satisfy TSA search TSA Is Searching Your Car, Subway, Ferry, Bus, too TSA had "Mexican hunters" at Newark airport Homeland Security testing system that claims to predetermine whether you have a crime in mind Mozilla fights Homeland Security censorship TSA thinks complaining about procedures is a sign of terrorism Homeland Insecurity declares itself exempt from Constitution TSA planned to use video strip searches in public places Local heroes: jury acquits man of phony TSA charges Appeals court approves of warrantless searches of laptops at border Just one person can put you on the terror list
  2010 Audit: TSA wasted big bucks on technology Homeland Security prying into religious beliefs at the border It has emerged that India's UN envoy, Hardeep Puri, was reportedly asked to remove his turban at an airport in Houston, Texas, two weeks ago. When the Sikh refused to do so, he was detained in a "holding room", say Indian media. India's US ambassador Meera Shankar was frisked at a US airport this month.- BBC Things even Orwell didn't think of. . .  The odds of dying on an airplane as a result of a terrorist hijacking are less than 1 in 25 million — which, for all intents and purposes, is effectively zero — according to Paul Campos, a law professor at the University of Colorado at Boulder. By comparison, the odds of dying in a normal airplane crash, according to the OAG Aviation Database, are 1 in 9.2 million. This means that, on average, pilots are responsible for more deaths than terrorists. In the same vein, the average American is 87 times more likely to drown than die by a terrorist attack; 50 times more likely to die by lightening; and 8 times more likely to die by a police officer, according to the National Safety Council’s 2004 estimates..- Evan DeFilippis, Oklahoma Daily John Kerry owns at least a half million of strip search scanner stock ACLU receives more than 900 complaints over TSA abuse TSA recruits with pizza box ads BRITISH AIRWAYS BOSS CRITICIZES TSA RULES Obama administration declares public transportation a privilege, not a right Government spent $41 million with Chertoff's firm Janet Napolitano has long history of tolerating abuse by law enforcement Rep. John Duncan – Listen to this paragraph from a front-page story in the USA Today last November: “Since 9/11, more than three dozen Federal air marshals have been charged with crimes, and hundreds more have been accused of misconduct. Cases range from drunken driving and domestic violence to aiding a human-trafficking ring and trying to smuggle explosives from Afghanistan.''We now have approximately 4,000 in the Federal Air Marshals Service, yet they have made an average of just 4.2 arrests a year since 2001. This comes out to an average of about one arrest a year per 1,000 employees. Personal to John Pistole: You say that flying is not a right of Americans. Now strip search machines are showing up in federal courthouses. Would you say that going to a federal courthouse is also not a right of Americans?  MORE TSA BUMPER STICKERS TSA chief wants to mess up train & subway travel, too Democrats pushing bill to let Homeland police foul up Internet like airports Obama stands up for TSA absurities So does HilClin And Joe Biden TSA search of bladder cancer survivor leaves victim covered in urine TSA makes cancer survivor remove her prosthetic breast TSA inspector general admits its fondlers aren't well trained Ron Paul introduces traveller dignity act  Oleg Volk One of authors of TSA bill says it's turned into a "big Kabuke dance" Things to tell a TSA fondler: "Do I get to pick the screener?.. I'll take that Guy, he has nice firm hands.". . . "I feel like I should buy you dinner after this.". . . "I feel like I under performed, can we go again?  There is broad political opposition to the false choice between strip search and sexual assault. Full body scanners are notably opposed by Ralph Nader and Matt Drudge, Green, Libertarians, and the Constitution Party. Tweet from Clarko: Do you have any idea how much I usually have to pay people to look at me naked and touch my testicles? This TSA thing is a bargain If terrorism is so dangerous why aren't more of us dead? The number one threat to the United States is said to be international terrorism. So you'd think it would easy to find out exactly how big a threat. Unfortunately, Google will pretty much fail you on this, perhaps because, well, the numbers just aren't all that exciting. For example, the State Department, well buried in its annual report, was able to find just nine Americans worldwide who died in 2009 as a result of terrorism. And Firedog Lake came up with this domestic calculation: "If you count the Ft. Hoot shooting as a terrorist attack, 16 people have died in the United States as result of terrorism in 2009. The other three deaths include the Little Rock military recruiting office shooting, the Holocaust Museum shooting, and Dr. George Tiller’s assassination, the last two coming at the hands of right-wing extremists." And we also came upon this chart from Wired in 2006, which while a little out of date (and includes 9/11), shows terrorist risk over a ten year span compared to other ways you could die.  Why does TSA assume that terrorists overwhelmingly prefer flying in planes to going to shoppng malls, riding subway, or attending football games? Members of the Pirate Party in Germany organized a fleshmob of people who stripped down to their skivvies last Sunday and converged on the Berlin-Tegal airport.The protesters marked their bodies with a number of messages such as, Something to hide? and Be a good citizen — drop your pants.  Israeli security expert says scanners don't work Scientists warn of scanner danger Some things you may not know can't be taken on board in your carry bag: box cutters, meat cleavers, ice axes, sabers, cricket bats, spear guns, cattle prods, throwing stars, cordless portable power saws, "tools greater than seven inches in length", dynamite, hand grenades, plastic explosives, and vehicle airbags Herald Tribune, FL - In recent weeks, representatives from the International Air Transport Association, the U.S. Travel Association, the Allied Pilots Association and British Airways have criticized the T.S.A., saying it adds intrusive and time-consuming layers of scrutiny at airport checkpoints, without effectively addressing legitimate security concerns. TSA HAS SECRET NO DEPORTMENT LIST TAKING PHOTO IS AN ACT OF TERRORISM GAO says TSA program to catch terrorists has failed Flight attendants join protest against TSA fondling TSA CONSIDERING MIND READING SCANNERS ACLU HITS EXCESSIVE COMPUTER SEARCHES BY CUSTOMS POLICE HOUSTON & HOMELAND POLICE TEST DRONE TO SPY WITHOUT WARRANT ON CITIZENS REPORT: TSA DECEIVED PUBLIC ABOUT SCANNER PRIVACY TSA CONSIDERING MIND READING SCANNERS HOUSTON & HOMELAND POLICE TEST DRONE TO SPY WITHOUT WARRANT ON CITIZENS OCTOBER 2009 HOMELAND POLICE PAYING FOR LOCAL TORTURE WEAPONS APRIL 2009 HOMELAND POLICE SAY SUPPORT OF SECOND OR TENTH AMENDMENT COULD BE SIGN OF POLITICAL EXTREMISM OCTOBER 2008 HOMELAND POLICE PROCEEDING WITH NEW PLAN TO SPY ON YOU WITHOUT THEM SPYING ON YOU  HOMELAND POLICE FIND NEW WAY TO INSULT CONSTITUTION  FOR DRAWNG THIS PICTURE AUGUST 2008 HOMELAND POLICE ABUSE PASSENGERS AT JFK AIRPORT Emily Feder, AlterNet - I arrived at JFK Airport two weeks ago after a short vacation to Syria and presented my American passport for re-entry to the United States. After 28 hours of traveling, I had settled into a hazy awareness that this was the last, most familiar leg of a long journey. I exchanged friendly words with the Homeland Security official who was recording my name in his computer. He scrolled through my passport, and when his thumb rested on my Syrian visa, he paused. Jerking toward the door of his glass-enclosed booth, he slid my passport into a dingy green plastic folder and walked down the hallway, motioning for me to follow with a flick of his wrist. Where was he taking me, I asked him. "You'll find out," he said. . . No one who had been detained knew precisely why they were there. A few people were led into private rooms; others were questioned out in the open at desks a few feet from the crowd and then allowed to pass through customs. Some were sent to another section of the holding area with large computer screens and cameras, and then brought back. . . There was one British tourist in the group. Paul (also not his real name) was traveling with three friends who had passed through customs soon after their plane landed and were waiting for him on the other side of the metal barrier; he suspected he had been detained because of his dark skin. When he asked if he could go to the bathroom, one of the guards said, "I wouldn't." "What if someone has to?" I asked. "They will just have to hold it," the guard responded with a smile. Paul began to cry. I watched as he, over the course of four hours, went from feeling exuberant about his trip to New York to despising the entire country. "I speak the Queen's English," he said to me. "I'm third-generation British. I came to America because I've always wanted to come here, and now they've got me so scared that all I want to do is go home. We're paying for your stupid war anyway.". . . Within a few hours of my arrival, I saw at least 10 people denied the right to use the bathroom or buy food and water. . . After four hours, I finally demanded to speak to the guards' supervisor, and he was called down. I asked if the detainees could file a formal complaint. He said there were complaint forms (which, in English and Spanish, direct one to the Department of Homeland Security's Web site, where one must enter extensive personal information in order to file a "Trip Summary") but initially refused to hand them out or to give me his telephone number. "The Department of Homeland Security is understaffed, underfunded, and I have men here who are doing 14-hour days." He tried to intimidate me when I wrote down his name -- "So, you're writing down our names. Well, we have more on you" -- and asked me questions about my address and my profession in front of the rest of the people detained. I pointed out a few of the families who had missed their flights and had been waiting seven hours. His voice barely controlled, his lip curled into a smirk. . . JULY 2008 CUSTOMS OFFICIALS ROUTINELY SEIZING 5-10% OF LAPTOPS WHY VIRTUAL STRIP SEARCHING AIRLINE PASSENGERS IS WRONG APRIL 2008 MARCH 2008 HOMELAND POLICE BACK DOWN A BIT ON REAL ID DECEMBER 2007 STUPID HOMELAND SECURITY TRICKS: YOU CAN'T BE RESCUED WITHOUT A BACKGROUND CHECK http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/5380868.html HOMELAND POLICE USING FIRE DEPARTMENTS TO SPY ILLEGALLY ON CITIZENS SEPTEMBER 2007 HOMELAND POLICE STORING WHAT AIR PASSENGERS READ IN THEIR FILES RYAN SINGEL, WIRED - International travelers concerned about being labeled a terrorist or drug runner by secret Homeland Security algorithms may want to be careful what books they read on the plane. Newly revealed records show the government is storing such information for years. Privacy advocates obtained database records showing that the government routinely records the race of people pulled aside for extra screening as they enter the country, along with cursory answers given to U.S. border inspectors about their purpose in traveling. In one case, the records note Electronic Frontier Foundation co-founder John Gilmore's choice of reading material, and worry over the number of small flashlights he'd packed for the trip. The breadth of the information obtained by the Gilmore-funded Identity Project (using a Privacy Act request) shows the government's screening program at the border is actually a "surveillance dragnet," according to the group's spokesman Bill Scannell. "There is so much sensitive information in the documents that it is clear that Homeland Security is not playing straight with the American people," Scannell said. . . One report about Gilmore notes: "PAX (passenger) has many small flashlights with pot leaves on them. He had a book entitled 'Drugs and Your Rights.'" Gilmore is an advocate for marijuana legalization. Another inspection entry noted that Gilmore had "attended computer conference in Berlin and then traveled around Europe and Asia to visit friends. 100% baggage exam negative. Resides 554 Clay Street , San Francisco, CA. PAX is self employed 'Entrepreneur' in computer software business." "They are noting people's race and they are writing down what people read," Scannell said. http://www.wired.com/politics/onlinerights/news/2007/09/flight_tracking AUGUST 2007 IF YOU'RE AFRAID OR DISGUSTED AT THE AIRPORT, HOMELAND SECURITY WANTS TO QUESTION YOU KAITLIN DIRRIG, MCCLATCHY - Next time you go to the airport, there may be more eyes on you than you notice. Specially trained security personnel are watching body language and facial cues of passengers for signs of bad intentions. The watcher could be the attendant who hands you the tray for your laptop or the one standing behind the ticket-checker. Or the one next to the curbside baggage attendant. They're called behavior detection officers, and they're part of several recent security upgrades, Transportation Security Administrator Kip Hawley told an aviation industry group in Washington last month. He described them as "a wonderful tool to be able to identify and do risk management prior to somebody coming into the airport or approaching the crowded checkpoint." http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/18923.html POLL: 78% APPROVE OF AIRPORT STRIP SEARCHES   |
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terrorist identification chart
