Rick Hind and David Halperin write: "While Bush continues to make terrorism and domestic security the centerpiece of his campaign, he has made little mention of one of the most urgent threats to our safety: the risk that terrorists could cause thousands, even millions, of deaths by sabotaging one of the 15,000 industrial chemical plants across the United States. The administration knows the dangers. Soon after the 9/11 attacks, Senator Jon Corzine, Democrat of New Jersey, highlighted the issue with legislation requiring chemical plants to enhance security and use safer chemicals and technologies when feasible... Industry groups have lobbied intensely against the Corzine legislation. While reluctant to invest in plant safety, some of these companies and their executives have found the resources to help pay for the Republican campaign. For the Bush administration, it seems, homeland security is critical except when it conflicts with the wishes of supporters who own chemical plants."

What bizarre parallel universe are the people who feel "safer" under Bush living in? Not only does a major global poll show that a frightening percentage of the world's people now dislike or actively hate the US, but our own borders are like leaky sieves across which operatives of Al Qaeda or any other group could sneak! Reports the Australian (gotta go abroad to find this story!): "THREE million people are expected to enter the United States illegally this year. The number of illegal immigrants, most of whom slip across the long border with Mexico, was three times the number of legal immigrants...Border patrols only listed illegal immigrants as being Mexicans or from other nations, without keeping tallies on how many came from third countries. But the list of other countries included Afghanistan, Brazil, Bulgaria, China, Egypt, El Salvador, Guatemala, Iran, Iraq, Nicaragua, Russia and Venezuela."

VOA News: "China's says its foreign minister has spoken with U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell by telephone, urging him to look into allegations that a U.S. customs official attacked a Chinese businesswoman. Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing called on Mr. Powell to make sure 'those responsible for the incident receive legal punishment.' The report quotes Mr. Powell as pledging to look into the matter. There has been no comment from the State Department. Chinese state-run media say a U.S. customs officer at the U.S.-Canadian border was charged Friday with civil rights after the alleged beating of 37-year-old Zhao Yan near Niagara Falls. The Chinese media reports say the U.S. customs official confused the woman with a suspected drug dealer."

BBC: "The United States has apologised to former Indian Defence Minister George Fernandes after he was body searched during visits to the US last year. US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage said on Wednesday he was 'horrified' at the way immigration officials had treated Mr Fernandes. Mr Fernandes says he was forced to take off some of his clothes. The controversy over Mr Fernandes' treatment in the US began at the weekend when details emerged in a book by former senior US diplomat Strobe Talbott. Mr Talbott said Mr Fernandes had told him that he had been 'strip-searched' twice at Washington's Dulles international airport - once on an official visit in early 2002 and again en route to Brazil in 2003."

The Daily Mislead: "Two weeks ago, Homeland Security secretary Tom Ridge said that U.S. ports and ships were in 'full compliance' with international security requirements that go into effect today. However, a new report by the non-partisan General Accounting Office (GAO) reveals that Ridge was incorrect. According to the GAO, around seven percent of all U.S. ports and half of all ships have not even been reviewed by the federal government. The Administration allowed industry groups to 'self-certify to the Coast Guard that they were using appropriate standards.' But every security plan the Coast Guard did review 'had deficiencies.' A GAO spokesman said he believed the plans that weren't reviewed by the Coast Guard were also flawed. The failure to secure U.S. ports puts America at risk."

AP: "People using stolen passports still are able to enter the country despite enhanced security checks meant to keep them out, Congress was told Wednesday. And sometimes when U.S. border authorities discover such passports and deny entry, they give the documents back to the travelers, said Clark Kent Ervin, the Department of Homeland Security's inspector general. That part of Ervin's testimony before the House Committee on International Relations rankled California Rep. Tom Lantos, the panel's top Democrat. He called such a practice "moronic" and "idiotic." "An insane asylum would be embarrassed to have such a procedure," Lantos said. Since the Sept. 11 attacks, the U.S. government has sought to keep better track of those who enter the country. But Ervin said his office found examples of people entering the country even though they carried passports entered in government databases as lost or stolen. "

Oakland Tribune: "The possible exposure of at least 7 lab workers to anthrax is raising concerns on the safety and oversight of biological agent research in the race to develop the nation's biodefenses. After 9/11 Congress and the CDC tightened laws and regulations governing the handling of potential bioweapon microorganisms. But in two revisions, the CDC removed inactivated agent and avirulent or vaccine strains from the list...exempting them from all regulation. Inactivated Bacillus anthracis are subject to none of the registration, security, shipping or biosafety rules of select agents. 'This is a gap in regulation,' Dr. Richard Ebright said. 'This incident shows that material that is purportedly inactivated can have viable, recoverable agent. And because there are no regulations, no paper trail, this is a gap through which malicious organizations could obtain select agents without a paper trail and perhaps with serious safety incidents.' "

"Tragically misguided." That is how NYC mayor Michael Bloomberg describes the Bush administration's system for allotting Homeland Security dollars. Under the current formula, 40% of Homeland Security grant dollars "must be divided equally among U.S. states. As a result, rural states with few obvious targets receive up to six times more money per capita than high risk places like New York." Worse, a recent report by the House Select Committee on Homeland Security reveals that 80% of the $6.3 billion in federal funds was either stuck in bureaucratic channels or had been misspent on questionable projects." For example, while NYC still lacks first response equipment, "a Tennessee high school got help to buy a defibrillator for use during a district basketball tournament."

If Bush thinks yet another vague terror threat will help him any, he's sadly mistaken. As John Kerry pointed out on 5/26, it only points up that Bush has not done enough to thwart a potential terrorist attack - not only that, but he hasn't supplied the nation's cities with enough funding to deal with an attack should it actually occur. Meanwhile, International Association of Fire Fighters President Harold Schaitberger said it is suspicious that the administration reportedly knew about the new threat for more than a month but only chose to publicize now because Bush's approval ratings have been sinking."I find the reports in this press conference to be politically convenient at best," said Schaitberger.Kerry, speaking at Seattle's Pier 62, said the country deserves a president "who doesn't make homeland security a photo opportunity and the rhetoric of a campaign. We deserve a president who makes America safer."

You'd think that if Tom Ridge, Bob Mueller and the rest of the cast of shady characters seriously wanted to deflect the rotten PR the Idiot in Chief has brought on himself lately they could at least try to make the NEW TERRORIST THREAT !!!!! sound halfway credible! But this new warning - first revealed by FOX news right after "24" (a show about a thwarted bioterrorism attack - get it?) - is so vague as to be embarrassing: "Although there is no specific target, time or date for the possible attack, the information is the culmination of intelligence that has been known and gathered over time -- and it is the assessment that is new." The "source" says "certain people" are being sought, but they "would not describe who those persons are and why they are wanted now." There is also no plan to raise the terror threat level, which is at yellow, or elevated." Reports say mayors of major cities have expressed more bewilderment than alarm at the latest "intelligence."

AP: "The terror scoring capability (HTF, High Terrorist Factor) was intended by the company which designed MATRIX, Seisint, to predict people's tendency to commit a crime. In initial demonstrations Seisint produced a list of 120,000 people with high terrorist factor scores. This was compiled from public and private records covering ethnicity, age, gender and "proximity to dirty address" Miraculously, this list turned out to include five of the September 11th hijackers - impressive, huh? Well it appears to have impressed the DoJ. But there are just a couple of slight snags here. Several years later most of the remaining "terror suspects" still haven't done anything." And, as it turns out, the five supposedly IDed through MATRIX "showed up in a list of 80, of which 45 were already known suspects."

The Scotsman: "Border officials in the US have issued a rare apology after they briefly barred the British author Ian McEwan from entering the US from Vancouver, Canada. McEwan, whose novels include the best-selling Atonement, was in Vancouver on 30 March, trying to board a plane for Seattle, where he was to address Seattle Arts and Lectures before more speaking engagements in Portland, Oregon, and Pasedena, California. A US inspector barred him from boarding on the grounds that the fees McEwan was to receive for his appearances - $5,000 in Seattle alone - were too big to qualify as 'honoraria.'"

Bush's "war on terror" and our overstretched Homeland Security resources are now being deployed to track down environmental activists. Incredibly, in the wake of 9/11, the FBI spent THREE YEARS hunting down one activist, whom they "captured" this week: Michael Scarpitti. Anti-environmental groups like Frontiers of Freedom are comparing Scarpitti and other such activists as "just like Al Queda." Scarpitti's "horrific crime"? Setting fire to a few unoccupied logging trucks. Yep, JUST like Al Queda. If the FBI wanted to really capture Al Queda like ecoterrorists, they should go after Bush's corporate pals - the ones who are poisoning our air and water, leading to tens of thousands of American deaths each year. Instead, the FBI have become a free security service for the logging industry. Meanwhile, the anthrax terrorist remains at large.

The Miami Herald reports: "As the Department of Homeland Security marks its first anniversary today, the mammoth agency responsible for protecting the United States is saddled with funding woes, bureaucratic power struggles and unfulfilled expectations, according to lawmakers and security analysts... critics say homeland security weaknesses still make the country vulnerable to a variety of threats, including the smuggling of biological, chemical or nuclear weapons through porous borders. Most air and sea cargo is still not properly screened, for example, and airliners remain vulnerable to easily obtained shoulder-fired missiles. Moreover, the DHS has not developed a comprehensive strategy to defend the United States against various terrorist scenarios, and its intelligence unit is woefully understaffed... In his proposed budget for the next fiscal year, President Bush has requested $40.2 billion for the department, a 10 percent increase. Critics say it is not enough."

The IAFF says that one year after the creation of Homeland Security, "Our nation's fire fighters and emergency medical personnel are still operating with too few staff, outdated equipment and the need for training to appropriately and safely respond to all of the emergencies, disasters and possible acts of terrorism we need to be prepared for today. The result is that our communities are more vulnerable because of Bush's failure in Homeland Security." Instead of fixing these significant safety problems, Bush has proposed to cut total Homeland Security funding for first responders by nearly $1 BILLION, total. "If you go into any firehouse in the country today and ask to see what the new federal commitment to homeland security has meant for first responders, no one will be able to point to anything. This all adds up to what I call Bush's Homeland Security sham. So much for Mr. Tough on Terrorism.

"Richard Levernier, a senior Department of Energy nuclear security specialist, whose job it was to test how well-prepared America's nuclear weapons sites were to defend against a terrorist attack, says security is not only inadequate, but some facilities are at high risk... Since 9/11, 60 Minutes has learned that terrorists have penetrated multiple layers of security on at least three occasions at the Y-12 nuclear complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn... and at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico... The Department of Energy says it is now taking steps to bolster security... But Matthew Zipoli, who's a member of a SWAT team of security guards at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory... says that's not enough. 'It's all window dressing'... What's more, terrorists who might want to get into a nuclear facility may not even have to fight their way in. Hundreds of master keys and electronic key cards - some of which provide access to classified areas - have disappeared."

"District Attorney Bruce L. Castor Jr. said [John] Salamone, flying a single-engine Piper Cherokee, came within 900 feet of a commercial airliner packed with passengers during the flight. Air traffic controllers at Philadelphia International Airport confirmed that four commercial airliners were diverted away from Salamone's plane while he was operating it in restricted airspace, according to the criminal complaint. Salamone's plane also came within a quarter-mile of the Limerick nuclear power plant." From a Dems.com reader: "The flew towards a commuter plane & buzzed the Limerick nuclear power plant twice! The Homeland security procedure failed. The New Jersey police did not respond. The Philadelphia police handled the situation & forced him down in Pottstown before he ran out of fuel. Doesn't this prove we are not safer? Doesn't this prove homeland security under the Bush has failed? This should be a major campaign issue."

"Bush asked Congress to eliminate an $8.2 million research program on how to decontaminate buildings attacked by toxins -- the same day a poison-laced letter shuttered Senate offices. Critics...were surprised by Bush's request, included in his 2005 budget proposal. Its release coincided with the discovery of the poison ricin in Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist's office on Monday. 'It is a stunning example of the budget choices this administration has made, where tax cuts for elites are more important than public health and homeland security,' said Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle...[whose] office was the target of an anthrax-laced letter in October 2000... Buried in documents justifying the Environmental Protection Agency's budget plan is an acknowledgment that Bush's proposed research cut 'represents complete elimination of homeland security building decontamination research.'"

"Sen. John Edwards had a penknife confiscated as part of a stepped up security search that caused a one-hour delay for the Democrat presidential candidate and others boarding his chartered plane. Albuquerque security officials gave extensive screenings to those traveling with the senator, including hand inspections of everyone's luggage and carry-on bags. 'We must look dangerous,' joked the North Carolina Democrat, who was forced to go through a metal detector along with other passengers, and to have all his bags X-rayed, before being allowed to board his campaign plane." Hey John - better make sure you're not on the Homeland Security Watch List!

Reports the Toronto Sun: "U.S. security agents have a master list of five million people worldwide thought to be potential terrorists or criminals, officials say. 'The U.S. lookout index contains some five million names of known terrorists and other persons representing a potential problem,' Brian Davis, a senior Canadian immigration official in Paris, said in a confidential document obtained by the Sun. Names on the list are compared against those applying for visas or on flights travelling to the U.S. Anyone whose name is on the list is questioned or banned from entering the U.S." Or locked up indefinitely. Or roughed up. Or sent abroad to be tortured. Or all of the above. Impeach Bush Now!

Frequent traveler Glenn Walton writes, "The questioning we were put through crossed its own lines: we were badgered, patronized, treated like disobedient children - and long after it had to be apparent to everyone that we weren't terrorists and had nothing to hide. After an hour of this unnecessary treatment we left the building humiliated and angry and cursing George W. Bush, who presided over the whole ritual in the form of a huge grinning photograph. It was particularly disturbing that the guy who went after us did so with gusto, even glee, obviously enjoying his job. He clearly got off on our helplessness, and expected absolute obsequiousness... From Iraq to Guantanamo to Calais, Maine, Bush's bullies are detaining and interrogating in the name of homeland security, and people less lucky than myself have been held in military prisons on mere suspicions, without trial, without recourse. Something unpleasant and dark has been let out of the bag by post-9-11 hysteria."

"French irritation over US controls on transatlantic flights was reinforced yesterday when the interior ministry revealed that American intelligence based its suspicions on passengers' surnames only. This led to a child with a name similar to a Tunisian terrorist, a Welsh insurance agent and an elderly Chinese woman restaurant owner being questioned by counter-terrorist police when several flights from Paris to the US were cancelled before Christmas. Three other 'suspects' who were questioned were French citizens with Arab-sounding names. All the suspects' names, supplied by the US, were found merely to be homonyms - similar in sound or spelling to those of wanted al Qaeda... 'Unfortunately the Americans did not supply either birthdate or first name in any of these cases, so we had to hold up all passengers and in some cases carry out lengthy inquiries into family backgrounds in case there was a link.'" It's just like the felon purge in Florida - Katherine Harris must be in charge!

"The Energy Department is conducting a widespread review of security at America's nuclear weapons laboratories after reports of hundreds of missing keys, some of which could allow access to sensitive areas. Sources tell CBS News that lock and key experts will begin visiting all U.S. nuclear labs next month to assess the problem of missing keys and apparent security lapses, reports CBS News Correspondent Sharyl Attkisson. The review follows reports last summer that a government facility known by its World War II code name 'Y-12' had reported 'a number' of keys missing. In fact, 200 keys were missing. Located in Tennessee, Y-12 was part of the Manhattan Project where uranium was processed for the first atomic bomb and is today considered the Fort Knox of highly enriched uranium -- the kind terrorists could use for a devastating bomb." Remember how Dan Burton's committee tried to link Clinton to the missing hard drives from Los Alamos? Those hard drives turned up behind a copy machine.

"The top senators on the Senate Finance Committee are openly questioning a key federal agency's ability to block terrorist money, citing examples in which U.S. officials failed to freeze the money of people identified as terrorist financiers by American allies [before and after 9-11]. 'Other nations look to the U.S. for leadership and information in the war on terrorism. We should not be playing catch-up,' Sens. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, and Max Baucus, D-Mont., wrote the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control....[They] cited numerous concerns about OFAC's performance, including evidence of sloppy record keeping, failure to provide required information to Congress and reliance on voluntary compliance by banks to impose sanctions against suspected terrorists. Though an internal investigation in 2002 recommended OFAC make changes to ensure it has the legal authority to test banks' compliance with sanctions, the agency hasn't taken steps to do so."

"Terror strikes from the sea could be even more catastrophic than those from the air, intelligence officials say. They fear a hijacked oil tanker could be rigged with explosives or a radioactive dirty bomb could be smuggled ashore in a shipping container. But almost 5,000 ships and about four out of every five of the nation's ports, ferry terminals and fuel-chemical tank farms failed to meet a Wednesday deadline for submitting security plans showing how they will deal with terrorism threats... One reason [they] were missing their deadline is they were given too little time, said Maureen Ellis, a spokeswoman for the Association of American Port Authorities. The government didn't finalize what it wanted until Oct. 22... For others, coming up with the money for fences, guards, lights or closed-circuit TV will be difficult, Ellis said. The Coast Guard estimates that meeting the new requirements will cost $7.4 billion over the next decade."

"A Brazilian judge has announced that US citizens will be fingerprinted and photographed on entering the country. Judge Julier Sebastiao da Silva was reacting to US plans to do the same to Brazilians entering the United States. He made the order after a Brazilian government office filed a complaint in a federal court over the new US immigration measures. From 5 January, travellers from all countries which need a visa to enter the US will undergo the same checks. 'I consider the act absolutely brutal, threatening human rights, violating human dignity, xenophobic and worthy of the worst horrors committed by the Nazis,' Federal Judge Julier Sebastiao da Silva said in the court order."

"Sweden has decided against putting armed police on its commercial flights to and from the United States," reports Al-Jazeera. Instead, Swedish airline SAS says they would prefer to cancel a flight. "Pilots working for Scandinavian carrier SAS had opposed Washington's request, saying they did not want firearms in the cabin and that they preferred tight security on the ground. SAS management said it was in principle also opposed to armed guards on flights, but deferred the issue to police and civil aviation authorities in the three Scandinavian countries."

AP reports: "The effort to protect Americans from terrorism 'appears to have waned' since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks as both the government and its citizens worry more about the latest disaster or health crisis, a federal commission said yesterday. In calling for the government to refocus on anti-terrorism efforts, the advisory panel also backed an independent board to make sure that efforts to monitor suspected terrorists do not infringe on Americans' civil liberties. The commission is chaired by former Virginia governor and Republican Party chairman James S. Gilmore III... 'We are expressing concern and a simple warning that this must be constantly thought about,' Gilmore said. 'We should not fall into the pattern of suggesting that the freedoms of the American people should be traded off for their security.'"

Hammered by the worst flooding in Maryland and D.C. in a century, people are still waiting to see National Guardsmen. But in three days of constant news coverage, one writer reports that the only guardsmen she has seen were the ones flying Gov. Bob Ehrlich over the state for a survey of the damage -- and the two on the main page of the Washington Post online. But even when you click on this photo, the corresponding article makes nary a mention of the guard. So where are they? In Iraq, on standby for Iraq, or already stretched too thin from other disasters like the West Coast fires. Worse, thousands of guardsmen from all over the US were on standby for Iraq, in motel rooms around Ft. Bragg at the time of the disaster, right in the hurricane's path.

John Gershman writes: "Two years after the 9-11 attacks, funding for emergency responders -- firefighters, law enforcement officers, public health and emergency medical personnel and others first on the scene in case of a terrorist attack -- remains dangerously low. While the Bush administration focuses on funding the occupation of Iraq, it has failed to insure the security of Americans at home... Funds are needed to place essential equipment in the hands of emergency personnel and provide them with the appropriate training. The current federal budget plans to spend $27 billion for emergency responders over the next five years, while local and state governments plan to spend up 3 times that amount over the same period. Professional associations of emergency responders and leading emergency response officials from around the country estimate that these planned expenditures fall roughly $100 billion short of what's needed."

AP reports: "In a clash between security and the First Amendment, federal authorities are threatening criminal charges against ABC News reporters who smuggled harmless [?] depleted uranium into the country for a second time during an investigation of border inspections. ABC News said Wednesday it believed its actions constituted legitimate investigative journalism that highlighted U.S. anti-terror security on the second anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. 'In our view, we do not believe we are in violation of the law because it was not our intent to defraud the U.S. government, to smuggle in contraband or to avoid duties,' ABC News Vice President Jeffrey Schneider said. 'It was to test the system.' The report by investigative correspondent Brian Ross and his producers was broadcast Thursday night."

"Americans, particularly New Yorkers, are less confident in the government's ability to handle a terrorist attack than they were a year ago, according to a new study. The Columbia University study, released Monday, found 46 percent of those surveyed believed authorities could 'respond effectively' to a biological, chemical or nuclear attack, down from 53 percent last year. The drop was most dramatic among New Yorkers, from 53 percent to 36 percent. 'This survey reflects an extraordinary lack of public confidence in the nation's level of preparedness for bioterrorism and major disasters,' said Dr. Irwin Redlener, director of the Columbia school's National Center for Disaster Preparedness. " Or is it just that the public has caught onto the fact that the Bush-Ashcroft "war on terrorism" is a corporate scam that targets law-abiding citizens?

Cheryl Seal reports: "While asking for $6 billion-plus in tax dollars to fund Project BioShield, Bush is simultaneously seeking to privatize most national biomedical research. If he succeeds, guess who'll get the keys to all those nice new taxpayer-funded "Project BioShield" facilities? Pfizer, BioPort, Bayer, and the other pharmaceutical pigs already circling the bioterrorism trough, that's who. Fighting bioterrorism is merely the ploy that will get their Gucci-clad feet in the door. Not that the bioterrorism thing hasn't proven to be a great windfall for them already. So far, Bush "terror mongering" has focused, conveniently, on a few pathogens for which there are existing vaccines, namely smallpox and anthrax, thus facilitating the whole-hearted peddling of warehoused vaccine that may be up to three decades old - a tidy overhead-free profit for the manufacturers."

"In an apparent reversal of policy, the Transportation Security Administration will immediately begin scheduling air marshals back on cross-country and international flights... The move comes less than 24 hours after MSNBC.com reported that air marshals were being pulled from those flights because of budget problems associated with the costs of overnight lodging for the marshals... The dropping of marshals from flights that many experts consider to be at the highest risk of attack came to light Tuesday when several air marshals contacted by MSNBC.com confirmed that they were alerted via a 'text message' on their TSA-issued cell phones to check their schedules for changes... The move to pull marshals from those flights was particularly disturbing to some because it coincided with a new high-level hijacking threat issued by the Department of Homeland Security. That warning memo said that 'at least one of these attacks could be executed by the end of the summer.'"

Philip Zimbardo (with Bruce Kluger) writes for Psychology Today: "The Department of Homeland Security's [web] site is just one example of a national warning system that in the end stirs up more anxiety than it quells. Loaded with scientific terminology, yet woefully bereft of any tangible data, the U.S.' early-warning mechanism has transformed us into a nation of worriers, not warriors. Forcing citizens to ride an emotional roller coaster without providing any clear instructions on how to soothe their jitters, the current security system has had a profoundly negative impact on our individual and collective mental health. I call this a 'pre-traumatic stress syndrome,' and its effect on our day-to-day lives is debilitating."

WashPost reports: "Lobbyist and former senator Tim Hutchinson (R-Ark.) had intended to inform two officials in the Department of Homeland Security that a client of his would meet with one of the department's most senior officials: Asa Hutchinson, the former senator's brother. But he accidentally sent the e-mail to nearly 70 fellow lobbyists, bringing to light the latest example of the sometimes close ties between the new federal agency and companies hoping to do business with it... Lobbyist and former senator Tim Hutchinson (R-Ark.) had intended to inform two officials in the Department of Homeland Security that a client of his would meet with one of the department's most senior officials: Asa Hutchinson, the former senator's brother. But he accidentally sent the e-mail to nearly 70 fellow lobbyists, bringing to light the latest example of the sometimes close ties between the new federal agency and companies hoping to do business with it."

"Nearly two years after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the United States remains 'dangerously unprepared' to handle another catastrophic attack, according to a study by the Council on Foreign Relations. The government says it already has implemented some of the council's suggestions and is working on other recommendations. The report said the main problem is that emergency responders on the front lines - police, fire, public health, and other officials - are drastically underfinanced and lack the equipment or training necessary. The council, a private New York-based world affairs advocacy organization, recommended spending $98 billion beyond the $27 billion it said the federal government planned to spend on first responders over the next five years." No, no, no -- Bush doesn't want that -- he wants a Big Brother state with John Ashcroft empowered by the Patriot Acts. And he wants John Poindexter building a database on every American -- the Orwellian Total Information Awareness.

From the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists: "For a quarter of a century, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) kept its dirty little secret: Despite the fact that a successful attack on a U.S. nuclear plant could cause thousands of illnesses and deaths in the surrounding area, and despite the clear increase in terrorist threats over that same period, the commission continued to require the country's nuclear power plant operators to maintain only a minimal security capability. The NRC has not required nuclear facilities to guard against an assault by more than three attackers -- and never with the help of more than a single insider. In addition, for purposes of planning security, the NRC assumed that the three attackers would act as a single team, armed with nothing more sophisticated than hand-held automatic rifles."

From USA Today: "A terrorist's radioactive 'dirty bomb' goes off blocks from your downtown apartment building... How will you be warned right away and told what to do? Chances are you won't. The nation's emergency alert system is broken. And despite frequent warnings from federal officials that terrorists could strike again - possibly with chemical, biological or radiological weapons of mass destruction - little has been done since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, to fix it... Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge has expressed support for a new national warning system, but it has yet to become a top priority... The Senate [Democrats] tried to include $10 million [for improvements] in this year's budget - a small amount by federal government standards but more than enough, experts say, to develop a decent public-warning system. But the money was stripped out of the budget." Who did the stripping? GOP leaders. So much for national security in Bushland.

"A House subcommittee met to finalize next year's homeland security appropriation. The ranking Democrat announced that he would introduce an amendment adding roughly $1 billion for areas like port security and border security that, according to just about every expert, have been severely neglected since Sept. 11. He proposed to pay for the additions by slightly scaling back tax cuts for people making more than $1 million per year. The subcommittee's chairman promptly closed the meeting to the public, citing national security -- though no classified material was under discussion. And the bill that emerged from the closed meeting did not contain the extra funding. It was a perfect symbol of the reality of the Bush administration's 'war on terror.' Behind the rhetoric -- and behind the veil of secrecy, invoked in the name of national security but actually used to prevent public scrutiny -- lies a pattern of neglect, of refusal to take crucial actions to protect us from terrorists."

"Thousands of containers of radioactive materials used in medicine, industry and research that could be used to make crude but potentially deadly 'dirty bombs' have been lost or stolen worldwide... The GAO criticized the Energy Department... for not having an adequate plan to help countries that pose the biggest security risks amid rising concerns the material could fall into the hands of rogue nations or terror groups... The Energy Department has received about $37 million since fiscal year 2002 to launch a program to help other countries control their sealed sources, and is to get $22 million more this year. But the GAO said the department's initial efforts 'have lacked adequate planning and coordination,' and said it has not worked effectively with agencies such as the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the International Atomic Energy Agency. Most of the funds have been spent in the United States, largely by the department's laboratories, instead of in the former Soviet Union."

Government Executive Magazine reports: "A senior technology official at the Homeland Security Department is on administrative leave pending an investigation into her educational credentials, a department spokeswoman confirmed Friday. On Thursday, the department placed Laura Callahan, a senior director in the chief information officer's office, on paid administrative leave following news that her degrees came from an alleged diploma mill in Wyoming. Such businesses offer college degrees for little or no course work."

WashPost reports: "The Department of Homeland Security today said it will establish an office to focus on U.S. cybersecurity, a move that may blunt criticism that the agency has not devoted enough resources and attention to Internet security. The National Cyber Security Division will 'conduct cyberspace analysis' and issue warnings and alerts about online attacks, the department said. The division also will respond to major Internet attacks and assist in 'national-level recovery efforts.'" Hopefully, it won't be used to increase the Big Brother capabilities of entities like John Poindexter's Total Information Awareness.

Dale McFeatters writes: "Earlier this month, the Department of Homeland Security's crack gumshoes at Los Angeles' airport jailed six French TV journalists for more than a day; interrogated, body-searched and fingerprinted them; then forcibly repatriated them to Paris. The six had planned to cover the huge annual video game exposition in Los Angeles, a trade show that received worldwide coverage. This kind of bureaucratic overkill and ineptitude could redound against American reporters overseas, tarnishes our ideal of a free press and makes us look like idiots. Now we have eroded our moral ground to object to this sort of Third World treatment when it is inflicted on our own reporters abroad. Was there no one with common sense and professional judgment on duty that day?

"U.S. interrogators in Iraq are building a digital catalog of prisoners of war and loyalists of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party, scanning and saving their fingerprints and other body characteristics in databases. The data banks, controlled by the FBI, CIA, Department of Homeland Security... are being used to investigate suspicious foreigners entering the United States... One of the tools, the Biometrics Automated Toolset, or BAT, is cataloguing Iraqis for 'several classified databases' shared among intelligence, law enforcement and border control agencies... the rugged laptop and its attached scanners [is used] to 'register' Iraqi prisoners, then alert law enforcers when one tries to enter the country... Some doubt the value of such a database. Since the U.S. government never showed a clear link between Saddam's regime and the Sept. 11 terror attacks, a compendium of Iraqis is probably of little use in homeland security, said Vince Cannistraro, a former CIA counterterrorism chief."

AP reports: "Foreign visitors arriving with visas at U.S. airports or seaports next year will have their travel documents scanned, their fingerprints and photos taken and their identification checked against terrorist watch lists. Such a tracking system could have stopped two of the Sept. 11 hijackers, Homeland Security Department undersecretary Asa Hutchinson said Monday as he gave details of the department's new U.S. Visitor and Immigration Status Indication Technology, or U.S. VISIT... Hutchinson said such a system could have caught hijackers Mohammed Atta, who had overstayed his visa on a previous occasion, and Hani Hanjour, when he failed to show up at school as required by his student visa." Maybe this could have stopped them. But what about the other two hijackers, Khalid al-Midhar and Nawaq Alhazmi, that the CIA let run around the country for 20 Months before putting them on a watch list?

The Baltimore Sun reports: "In a burst of patriotic fervor, thousands of top-notch accountants, lawyers, linguists, and computer specialists applied to join the FBI in the year after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, competing to fill some 900 positions created to combat terrorism. But dozens of those new hires, perhaps as many as 100, have left the bureau or are about to resign because of low pay and what they view as inadequate benefits. 'It's a nightmare,' said Nancy Savage, a special agent and president of the FBI Agents Association. ''We're getting these heartfelt letters saying they don't want to, but they have to quit. They've gone broke. 'We hired these great new agents, so qualified, highly educated -- they've got all that training, and we just can't keep them.'"

"A branch of the Department of Homeland Security got involved in the search for a plane believed to be carrying Texas House members after getting word from state law enforcement that the plane was lost or had possibly crashed... Democrats... have expressed outrage that a federal agency responsible for fighting terrorism played a role in looking for a plane that supposedly had some of the exiled legislators in it. But the agency said it was responding to an 'urgent plea' for help from Texas law enforcement officials... U.S. Rep. Jim Turner, D-Crockett, the ranking Democrat on the Select Committee on Homeland Security, [said]: 'That domestic intelligence capabilities would be used for partisan political purposes should be deeply disturbing to this committee and to all Americans'... Sen. Joseph Lieberman..., the ranking Democrat on the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, which oversees homeland security, also issued a statement demanding an investigation."

From Reuters: "The Department of Energy is seriously lagging in efforts to secure hundreds of thousands of U.S.-based sources of low-level nuclear material that could be used in 'dirty bombs,' a congressional [GAO] report said on Tuesday. [It] accused the department of dragging its feet in providing for permanent disposal of civilian use radioactive materials... 'The project is not a priority with DOE's Office of Environmental Management,' the report said, adding that the project had not received full funding even after Washington launched its war on terrorism in response to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks... The GAO... said it was estimated there could be as many as 500,000 unwanted sources of low-level radioactive material in the United States... Sen. Daniel Akaka, the Hawaii Democrat who requested the GAO probe,... introduced legislation that would force the energy department to take action to fix the problem."

Eric Alterman writes: "as with Vietnam, 'W' is AWOL and Cheney has 'other priorities.' They have not merely ignored 'homeland' protection, they have sabotaged it. [The Brookings Institution] explains, 'President [sic] Bush vetoed several specific (and relatively cost-effective) measures proposed by Congress that would have addressed critical national vulnerabilities. As a result, the country remains more vulnerable than it should be today.' A Council on Foreign Relations task force chaired by Gary Hart and Warren Rudman concurs: 'America remains dangerously unprepared to prevent and respond to a catastrophic terrorist attack on U.S. soil,' it warns... How does he get away with it? Quite easily, apparently. In the Orwellian universe of the 'liberal media,' Bush can inspire new terrorist threats, ignore the ones we already face and evade responsibility for both because he is 'tough' enough to spit in the face of world opinion."

Bushevik plans to expand a post-9-11 terrorism law face resistance from a powerful House Republican who says he's not even sure he wants the government to keep its new powers. AP reports, "James Sensenbrenner, the House Judiciary Committee chairman, complains that the Justice Department isn't sharing enough information for lawmakers to judge how well or poorly the USA Patriot Act is working. 'I can't answer that because the Justice Department has classified as top-secret most of what it's doing under the Patriot Act,'Sensenbrenner said when asked about the future of the terrorism law. Justice officials won't say what their new proposal would do, but an early draft leaked to reporters suggested creating a DNA database of 'suspected terrorists', forcing suspects to prove why they should be released on bail, rather than have the prosecution prove why they should be held; and deporting U.S. citizens who become members of or help terrorist groups" - as defined by Bushcroft.

While the U.S. Dept. of Offense wages a preemptive war on Iraq, states and cities are fighting for funds to defend the land where most Americans live. AP reports, "The war abroad has made defense at home an even more urgent priority, but the rising cost of security is sparking squabbles at all levels of government. States and cities are faced with the burden of stronger homeland defense at a time when their finances are in the worst shape of the last half-century. Security officials pledge that, come what may, they will redirect resources to keep the country safe. But the strain is obvious. L.A. Police Chief William Bratton asked his city council for $4.5 million for biohazard suits and equipment, arguing that they couldn't wait for federal help. 'There's a lack of confidence that the federal money is coming anytime soon,' Bratton said. 'By the time it gets down to the states, then to the county and then to the city, we could be into the next war.'"

Paul Krugman writes, "In the first months after Sept. 11, Republican lawmakers made it clear that they would not support any major effort to rebuild or even secure New York. And now that anti-urban prejudice has taken statistical form: under the formula the Department of Homeland Security has adopted for handing out money, it spends 7 times as much protecting each resident of Wyoming as it does protecting each resident of New York... Why adopt such a strange formula? Well, maybe it's not that strange: what it most resembles is the Electoral College... [which] allowed Mr. Bush to claim the White House despite losing the popular vote... The allocation of money confirms Mr. Chait's point: even in a time of war - a war that seems oddly unrelated to the terrorist threat - the Bush administration isn't serious about protecting the homeland. Instead, it continues to subordinate U.S. security needs to its unchanged political agenda."

CNN reports, "The FBI will detain about three dozen Iraqis in the United States who are considered sympathetic to Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein or who are deemed a threat to Americans, government officials said Wednesday. The detentions, which are expected to begin this week, will all be related to visa violations, officials said. The timing of the move does not necessarily coincide with the commencement of any military action against Iraq, because some of the detentions may take place before a U.S.-lead attack occurs. The individuals in question have been under FBI surveillance for weeks and will be detained by FBI agents on immigration issues, officials said. The operation involved at least five cities, but officials would not identify which cities. The FBI was recently granted the power to enforce immigration law by Attorney General John Ashcroft, after the Immigration and Naturalization Services moved under the umbrella of the Homeland Security Department."

South Jersey News reports, "If the nation escalates to 'red alert,' which is the highest in the color-coded readiness against terror, you will be assumed by authorities to be the enemy if you so much as venture outside your home, the state's anti-terror czar says. 'This state is on top of it,' said Sid Caspersen, New Jersey's director of the office of counter-terrorism. Caspersen, a former FBI agent, was briefing reporters, alongside Gov. James E. McGreevey, on Thursday, when for the first time he disclosed the realities of how a red alert would shut the state down. A red alert would also tear away virtually all personal freedoms to move about and associate. 'Red means all noncritical functions cease,' Caspersen said. 'Noncritical would be almost all businesses, except health-related.' ... 'The state police and the emergency management people would take control over the highways. 'You literally are staying home, is what happens, unless you are required to be out.'"

"Amnesty International USA condemned the Dept. of Homeland Security's decision to enact Operation Liberty Shield, which mandates the detention of asylum seekers from Iraq and at least 33 other countries. The plan allows the DHS to detain 'for the duration of their processing period' asylum applicants 'from nations where al-Qaeda, al-Qaeda sympathizers, and other terrorist groups are known to have operated.'. 'Al-Qaeda sympathizers are known to have operated in many European countries, throughout the Middle East, and even in the US itself,' said William Schulz of AIUSA. 'Operation Liberty Shield gives immigration authorities carte blanche to detain virtually all persons seeking asylum in the US... 'Operation Liberty Shield denies liberty to the victims of human rights abuse who come to our country seeking freedom," said Schulz. "Liberty from unwarranted detention is a hallmark of a free society. To name an operation that denies liberty to asylum seekers 'liberty shield' is Orwellian.'"

PentaPost writes, "I hate to be giving advice to Saddam Hussein at this moment, but clearly, the most effective path for any enemy of America is to put on a helmet that makes him look like Franz Liebkind, the unreconstructed Nazi in Mel Brooks' 'The Producers,' get himself a John Deere tractor and drive it into a shallow decorative pond. That'll shut down any American city but good. For more than 24 hours now, a lone farmer from Whitakers, N.C., has held the capital of the free world hostage, causing the authorities to shut down several major thoroughfares and paralyzing much of the city. The tobacco farmer, Dwight Watson, 50, supposedly questions the wisdom of U.S. tobacco farming policies." Can one person make a difference? Absolutely!

Creating the Department of Homeland Security meant creating a new government bureaucracy -- and new jobs to be filled with political appointees. These "Schedule C" positions can be filled by presidential appointment without Senate confirmation. Paul C. Light, a government scholar at the Brookings Institution, says of these new positions, "You don't get a Schedule C job unless you are [politically] connected. There's no political job in the federal government now, no matter how low level, that does not go through the White House personnel process." Yes, folks, it's yet another opportunity for George W. Bush to reward his supporters at the taxpayers' expense -- and increase the rightwing domination of our government.

NY Times reports, "Tom Ridge joined federal law enforcement officials today in warning that suicide bombings like those that have killed hundreds in Israel are inevitable in the US and will be difficult to prevent. His warning, in a television interview, came as Mr. Ridge and his Dept. stepped up preparations to raise the nation's terrorism alert level to 'high risk' [orange] out of concern over the possibility of terrorist attacks linked to an invasion of Iraq. In his interview with Fox News, Mr. Ridge said, 'we have to prepare for the inevitability' of suicide bombings in the US. 'The No. 1 thing we seek to do is to prevent any kind of terrorist attack,' he said, 'but that lone wolf, that isolated suicide bomber might be the most difficult to protect against.' He added, 'We'll never be immune from those kinds of attacks.'" So why are we INVITING attacks by INVADING Iraq??? Impeach Bush Now!

WashPost reports: "If U.S. forces invade Iraq, the FBI has plans to mobilize as many as 5,000 agents to guard against terrorist attacks, monitor or arrest suspected militants and interview thousands of Iraqis living in the United States...Sources said the plan includes a checklist of more than four dozen steps to be taken by FBI field offices and joint terrorism task forces before and after war begins... FBI headquarters and all 56 field offices would immediately staff 24-hour command centers, in conjunction with 66 joint terrorism task forces across the country...'the small percentage of agents who aren't directly involved will be on call...This is an all-hands type operation'...The FBI also warned law enforcement agencies earlier this month about the threat posed by 'lone extremists' who are not connected to al Qaeda or other terror groups but who share their radical beliefs." Do Bushcroft consider an 'extremist' anyone opposed to Bush and his War?

"At this critical point in our country's history I have decided to try once again, on an issue of even more consequence for the internal security posture of our country. That posture has been weakened by the diversion of attention from al-Qaeda to our government's plan to invade Iraq, a step that will, in all likelihood, bring an exponential increase in the terrorist threat to the U.S., both at home and abroad. In your recent testimony to the Senate, you noted that 'the al-Qaeda network will remain for the foreseeable future the most immediate and serious threat facing this country,' adding that 'the prevention of another terrorist attack remains the FBI's top priority.' You then noted that a 'U.S.-Iraq war could prompt Baghdad to more directly engage al-Qaeda and perhaps provide it with weapons of mass destruction.' But you did not connect these very important dots..."

Coleen Rowley, "the veteran F.B.I. agent who exposed the bureau's failure to heed evidence of terrorist plots before the Sept. 11 attacks is now warning her superiors that the bureau is not prepared to deal with new terrorist strikes that she and many colleagues fear would result from an American war with Iraq. 'The bottom line is this,' Ms. Rowley wrote in her Feb. 26 letter to Mr. Mueller. 'We should be deluding neither ourselves nor the American people that there is any way the F.B.I., despite the various improvements you are implementing, will be able to stem the flood of terrorism that will likely head our way in the wake of an attack on Iraq. What troubles me most is that I have no assurance that you have made that clear to [Bush].' Specifically, she said, she was alarmed that the bureau and the Justice Department had failed to try to question either [Zacarias Moussaoui or Richard Reid] about their Al Qaeda contacts, choosing instead to focus entirely on prosecution."

Capitol Hill Blue reports, "Bush has an interesting political strategy for why his domestic agenda may fail. Blame the Republicans. Bush blames the GOP-controlled Congress for underfunding programs to guard against terrorism. saying the Hill 'did not respond to the $3.5 billion we asked for -- they not only reduced the budget that we asked for, they earmarked a lot of the money' for other unrelated programs. 'That was an incredibly stupid thing for the White House to do,' a senior House GOP aide complained Thursday. Democrats agree but they don't plan to ignore the gift from the Resident and will use Bush's remarks for political ads in 2004. By accusing House and Senate Republicans of failing to protect the homeland, the resident 'is saying, in effect, Republicans shortchanged homeland security,' says a gleeful Minority Whip Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.)."

Daniel Benjamin and Steven Simon write, "As much as $160 billion in new financing has been poured into national security since 9/11, yet only a small fraction has been used to make Americans safer at home. In fact, the bulk of the money has been used for troops, conventional weapons systems and traditional military investments, not for confronting terrorism. This trend will accelerate with the president's 2004 budget: at $380 billion, spending on the military is expected to grow $40 billion over last year and almost a third since 2001, an extraordinary jump by historical standards... Whether driving a bomb-laden skiff into a warship or flying a wide-body jet into a skyscraper, Al Qaeda has shown extraordinary tactical ingenuity. Against this innovative and resilient foe, the United States needs to muster the resources and creativity for an effective defense, instead of overarming for battle with the rogue regimes that its military can already easily defeat."

Capitol Hill Blue reports, "Israeli intelligence professionals warned the United States that Osama bin Laden's al Qaida network lacked sufficient resources to mount a [new] 9-11 type large-scale attack on American targets but would instead use misinformation to keep intelligence agencies guessing just when and where the next attack would come. A report given to the CIA by Mossad, Israel's...intelligence agency, concluded American attacks against al Qaida in Afghanistan, coupled with seizure of assets in banks around the world, had, for the time being, crippled bin Laden's ability to mount any large-scale attacks against the United States. Israeli intelligence professionals feel their recommendations were ignored because their assessment did not fit the pre-planned agenda of the Bush Administration, an agenda that needs to keep Americans worried about the threat of terrorism as the country prepares for war against Iraq." Impeach Bush Now!

DC's WTOP radio reports, "An increased level of protection for the region means you'll see missile launchers around the District to guard against the possibility of an air attack... The protection measures would include Customs Service aircraft flying high, keeping track of air traffic over the metro area, Air National Guard fighter jets patrolling above and Army radar systems positioned alongside Avenger air defense missile systems mounted on HumVees... The government put these measures in place during Bush's January State of the Union message, then pulled them back. They went back into place when officials determined there was an increased likelihood for terrorist attacks and increased the nation's Homeland Security alert status to orange from yellow."

BBC reports, "More than 400 soldiers and armoured vehicles have joined police at Heathrow Airport to boost security amid concern over al-Qaeda attacks... The troops will continue to be deployed at the airport as long as they are needed... The heightened security is a precautionary measure and the public should not panic, said police... But scenes like these at the airport are unprecedented, said BBC home affairs correspondent Daniel Sandford." To appreciate this story, you must visit this page to see the pictures.

"When the Department of Homeland Security's intelligence analysis division opens for business March 1 it will be critically understaffed, MSNBC.com has learned. This vital division will be 'way behind the power curve in the intelligence game' and forced to make do with a patchwork of temporary workers on loan from various agencies and drawn from civilian contractors. The core of the new Cabinet-level department's capability to predict and prepare for potential terrorist attacks on U.S. soil will be its Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection division, scheduled to begin operations March 1. The bulk of that division will come from an existing FBI unit known as the National Infrastructure Protection Center (NIPC), which will be transferring 307 positions to the new department. But NIPC has suffered crippling defections and reassignments as FBI employees who work for it have scrambled to find other positions to maintain their career tracks within the FBI."

Reuters reports, "The FBI has concluded the information that led to a hunt for five men thought to have entered the United States illegally on Christmas Eve was fabricated by an informant, ABC News reported on Monday. Citing unnamed sources, the report said the informant identified as Michael John Hamdani, who was arrested in Canada, made up the story about 19 men who sought false passports in an attempt to get himself off the hook on criminal charges he was facing in the United States. According to the story investigators originally got, five men entered the United States from Canada using phony British passports forged by a Pakistani smuggling ring, the report said. The FBI discovered that the information about the men was a hoax during an interrogation of one of the members of the document ring in Pakistan, ABC reported. An FBI spokesman declined comment on the report" because he was too busy wiping a big fat omelet off his face.

"This is a symbolic gesture to illustrate a very real life-and-death issue," said John DeStefano, Jr., newly elected president of the National League of Cities and mayor of New Haven, CT. "We are sending badges from our cities' public safety officers, which they wear on their chests when they respond to emergencies, as a symbol of our first responders' commitment to the safety and security of our citizens. We're asking the President to hold the badges in trust and then, upon passage of first-responder funding, to keep the badges in gratitude. More than half of large cities say providing homeland security has made it harder to perform their normal public safety responsibilities, according to a survey...released last week by the League. Among all cities, 24 percent said shifting resources to homeland security has made it harder to meet normal public safety responsibilities." Watch Bush try to claim the gesture was one of "appreciation" from 1st responders!

Time.com reports: "There are also concerns among Democrats and Republicans over several last-minute provisions tacked onto the HSD bill, including one (which raised particular hackles) that provides Texas A&M University -- a favorite of retiring Senator Phil Gramm [and the favorite of BushDaddy - his libary is there] -- special consideration for the creation of an academic homeland security research center....And last but not least, there will also be thousands of applications from well-connected lobbyists, all of whom are connected with multi-national technology firms, and all of whom want a piece of the action from Washington's newest cash cow. The government has pledged at least $500 million in grants for homeland security research so far, and companies are lining up to line their pockets."

Senator Byrd (D-WV): "'That Department of Homeland Security will not add one whit of security in the near future to the American people,' he said. 'In the meantime, the terrorists are going to be very busy. I'm concerned that in our drive to focus on the war in Iraq and the Department of Homeland Security, we're going to be taking our eyes off what the terrorists may do to us.' Mr. Byrd advocated slowly creating the department, with Congress overseeing the process, and he pulled out the ever-present copy of the Constitution from his breast pocket to make his point. 'We're being recreant (unfaithful to duty or allegiance) in turning over to this president the power shift that is included in that bill,' he said....he had no illusions that his oratory was going to change the outcome of the final vote....'I stood for the Constitution. I stood for the institution. If it isn't heard today, there'll be some future member who will come through and will comb these tomes.'"

Rep. Ron Paul, M.D., (R-TX) writes: "Yet our most basic freedoms as Americans - privacy in our homes, persons, and possessions; confidentiality in our financial and medical affairs; openness in our conversations, telephone, and internet use; unfettered travel; indeed the basic freedom not to be monitored as we go through our daily lives - have been dramatically changed....administration officials...told a credulous rank-and-file Congress that the new department would be 'budget neutral'...the original 32 page proposal sent over by the White House quickly grew to 282 pages in House committees, ending up at more than 500 pages in the final version voted on last week - with a $3 billion price tag just for starters....The list of dangerous and unconstitutional powers granted to the new Homeland Security department is lengthy. Warrantless searches, forced vaccinations of whole communities, federal neighborhood snitch programs, federal information databases."

"The Senate voted decisively Tuesday to create a Homeland Security Department, delivering a triumph to [Der Kanzler] Bush and setting the stage for the biggest government reshuffling in a half-century as a way to thwart and respond to terrorist attacks...The new Cabinet-level agency will merge 22 agencies with combined budgets of about $40 billion and employ 170,000 workers the most grandiose federal reorganization since the Defense Department's birth in 1947...Senators cleared the way for the final vote by rejecting, 52-47, a Democratic bid to block provisions that will aid vaccine producers and other industries. That vote came after Republican leaders made last-minute concessions that ensured support from four moderate senators. 'This bill still needs work,' said Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., voicing the misgivings of Democrats who opposed the pro-industry provisions."

"A brand-new bill (without committee or hearings, 484 pages)....This is a hoax. This is a hoax. To tell the American people they are going to be safer when we pass this is to hoax. We ought to tell the people the truth. They are not going to be any safer with that. That is not the truth.....The Senate Appropriations Committee...tried to provide funds to programs to hire more FBI agents, to hire more border patrol agents, to equip and train our first responders, to improve security at our nuclear powerplants, to improve bomb detection at our airports....Those funds have been in bills that have been out there for 4 months. But (Mr. Bush) said no--no, he would not sign it....Bush is the man I am talking about. He would not sign that as an emergency. These moneys have been reported by a unanimous Appropriations Committee. But this administration said no....(Bush) delayed another $5 billion. This is shameful; this is cynical; this is being irresponsible."

As Jonathan Alter reports in Newsweek, Bush made "homeland security" a major campaign issue in order to get himself a rubber-stamp Congress. But his budget gives a whole different picture of his priorities. For example, only 2 percent of the contents of cargo ships are inspected; but Bush and the Republicans have fiercely resisted Democratic attempts to increase the budget for port security. Bush also declines to provide more money for border patrols. Could it be that "homeland security" is really nothing more to Bush than a pretext for eliminating the nonpartisan civil service - and crushing civil liberties by expanding internal police powers?

CNN.com reports: "The legislation creating a Department of Homeland Security is coming under fire from Democrats who say it is stuffed with special-interest provisions that have little to do with protecting the nation and a lot to do with benefiting corporate interests. The legislation, approved last week by the House, is pending in the Senate, and a vote has been scheduled for Tuesday on stripping out what Democrats have identified as seven special-interest provisions. 'This homeland security bill, the bill the president supported, was 35 pages long. The bill that I've been asked to vote on...Tuesday is 484 pages long, filled with special interest legislation, loaded up by the House Republicans in the last few days,' Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Connecticut, said Sunday on CBS' 'Face the Nation.'" Call your senators and tell them not to fall for the bum's rush like they did on the PATRIOT Act. Security measures should be throughtfully considered not hurriedly and haphazardly enacted!

BuzzFlash writes, the Bush Cartel "publicly and forcefully OPPOSED a Homeland Security Department until it needed to distract public attention from a then-snowballing examination of its actions - or non-actions - prior to September 11th. Not only did Bush shift from opposing a Homeland Security Department to supporting one as a result of damaging pre-September 11th revelations, he, on the day his administration totally reversed policy, said one was needed immediately! Of course, if we needed a Homeland Security Department immediately, then why did the Bush administration prevent the creation of one for so long? But did the Democrats take to the airwaves and scream to the high heavens that Bush was betraying the American people by accusing the Democrats of 'obstructing' a Department of Homeland Security? Hell, no, that would have forced the Democrats to get angry and shout a little, which is just too uncivilized for their way of thinking."

Moveon.org writes, "You've probably heard about the 'Homeland Security' bill that Bush is trying to rush through Congress during the last hours of the lame duck session. Quite simply, this is an incredibly scary bill. The House passed the bill last week, and now the Senate is being asked to rubber-stamp it TODAY -- on Monday Nov 18th... We're asking everyone to call their Senators [202-224-3121], before any votes, and demand that this bad bill be stopped... Ask them to put the brakes on the Homeland Security bill. Ask them to take the time to know what they are actually voting on. Ask them to amend the bill to protect our privacy from the government's new 'total information awareness' program (see below). Ask them to defeat the new riders that have nothing to do with security -- for example, protecting companies that move their corporate addresses offshore to avoid taxes. Ask them to protect the rights of federal workers." Call NOW!

"With the pretext of protecting citizens against terrorism, US legislators are happily throwing personal freedoms out the window. The Cyber Security Enhancement Act slipped into the Homeland Security bill at the last moment allows police to conduct Internet or telephone eavesdropping willy-nilly with no requirement to ask a court's permission first. The Act demands life sentences for hackers that 'recklessly' endanger lives...and allows Net surveillance to gather telephone numbers, IP addresses, and URLs or e-mail information, where an 'immediate threat to a national security interest' is suspected. ISPs will also be permitted to hand users' records over to law enforcement authorities, overturning current legislation that outlaws such behaviour." So reports the Inquirer.

The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons urges Congress to REJECT a section of the Homeland Security Bill granting HHS Secretary virtually unlimited powers to declare an emergency and order smallpox treatment. This treatment could include forced immunizations and quarantines. HR 5710 hits the House floor right now - though most Members haven't had a chance to read it yet. The section in question gives HHS powers to: Declare an actual or POTENTIAL bio-terrorist or other kind of incident; administer countermeasures to a category of individuals or everyone; and, continually extend the declaration without Congress's consent. Also, if you are harmed, you cannot sue or take any other civil remedy. "This section will give the Secretary unlimited power to define a real or potential threat, to take any measures he decides, and to do it for as long as he wants," says AAPS, "It's Alice in Wonderland time again - an emergency is just what he says it is."

"Microsoft Corp. today announced that it has appointed Thomas Richey as its new Federal Director of Homeland Security," reports US PR Newswire. "Richey will be responsible for developing and executing Microsoft's strategy as a partner in the U.S. government's evolving Homeland Security policy. Richey will be located in the Microsoft Government offices, based in Washington, D.C. Richey's responsibilities will include working with policymakers, federal, state and local government customers, and Microsoft partners and systems integrators to develop an information technology framework for homeland security." In short, Richey and Microsoft will help John Ashcroft implement his privacy-smashing Homeland Security scheme. Don't know about you, but maybe Apple or Linux operating systems are looking better all the time.

On the pretext of increasing security along our northern border, federal agents will begin stopping traffic in Michigan and questioning people whom they suspect might be terrorists. Michigan is the first northern state in which these checkpoints have been instituted. By sheer coincidence, Dearborn, Michigan, near Detroit, is home to the largest Arab/Muslim community in the U.S. But the federal agents will avoid ethnic profiling, you betcha.

"A year after 9/11, America remains dangerously unprepared to prevent and respond to a catastrophic attack on US soil, concludes a blue-ribbon panel led by former Senators Warren Rudman and Gary Hart-co-chairs of the now famous Commission on National Security that warned of such a terrorist attack three years ago. The Independent Task Force, which came to this sober conclusion and which makes recommendations for emergency action, included two former secretaries of state, two Nobel laureates, two former chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, a former director of the CIA and FBI, and some of the nation's most distinguished financial, legal, and medical experts. One of the country's leading authorities on homeland security, Council Senior Fellow Stephen Flynn, directed the Task Force. If the nation does not respond more urgently to address its vulnerabilities, the Task Force warns, the next attack could result in even greater casualties and widespread disruption to our lives and economy."

"While Bush embarks on a three-week-long fundraising and campaigning binge, Senator Daschle is keeping the United States Senate in overtime to get Homeland Security legislation passed. 'Unfortunately, devotion to a right-wing ideology and a grasp for political advantage are standing in the way of passing the Homeland Security bill. Republicans have voted five times to support the right-wing's filibuster of Homeland Security and deny an up or down vote on this legislation. The fact is that if the Senate Republicans would allow the Senate to vote on the Homeland Security bill, it would pass today. 'Congressman Armey's focus on this issue is clear. It was Democrats who proposed a Homeland Security Department over a year ago, and the Bush White House that opposed this effort for more than eight months. It was not until this summer, under pressure from the public, that the White House finally reversed its stance and agreed to support the creation of a Homeland Security Department."

Bloomberg writes, "Republicans blocked an attempt by Senate Democrats to force a vote on legislation reorganizing U.S. anti-terrorism efforts to prevent passage of provisions opposed by...George W. Bush. Texas Senator Phil Gramm raised an objection to holding the vote, throwing in doubt the bill's chances of approval before the Senate leaves for a recess." This is how the GOP works: orchestrate a mad rush to vote on an Iraq resolution, blaming the Dems for slowing the vote down and putting the security of the US in jeopardy (which is a lie and meaningless now that the UN has acted). Then when a real issue like Homeland Security is being brought to a vote, the GOP blocked it. It looks as thought it may not be resolved before the Senate recess, potentially making our country less safe against real threats.

The Center for Arms Control and Nonproliferation has conducted an in depth study of the Bush Administration's "Homeland Security" efforts. The conclusion: The 42.5% increase in terrorism prevention resources has failed to translate into a commensurate increase in security. The report warns that because these efforts are spread across numerous federal departments and agencies that do not traditionally work together, the overall effort has the potential to be "disjointed, redundant and disorganized." And, says report co-author Erik Floden, the Bush Administration's huge emphasis on Homeland Security has been a hollow show of bureaucratic posturing: - "a distraction from the government's primary responsibility to keep Americans safe."

For weeks we have been told that Bush wants "flexibility to hire and fire employees." While this union busting may be true, the real issue is that he will be given a blank check to do what "he feels necessary", which really means giving large contracts to his friends without the proper congressional appropriations. This step in his dictatorship has also altered the meaning of the Constitution by giving 1 person the authority to start a war, wherever (s)he feels it is necessary, whenever (s)he feels like it. Hasn't Congress learned what happens when this abuse of power is permitted (see Germany, Russia, Iraq)? Doesn't anyone also remember the $500+ million given to United Defense (Carlyle Group) to cancel their contract without making any new tanks? This legislation is pure Bushit and the Senators should follow Senator Byrd's lead and reject it.

From SFGate.com: "A federal 'No Fly' list, intended to keep terrorists from boarding planes, is snaring peace activists at San Francisco International and other U. S. airports, triggering complaints that civil liberties are being trampled. And while several federal agencies acknowledge that they contribute names to the congressionally mandated list, none of them could or would say which agency is responsible for managing the list. One detainment forced a group of 20 Wisconsin anti-war activists to miss their flight, delaying their trip to meet with congressional representatives by a day." The case raises a frightening question: Are citizen activists who are exercising their right to dissent being lumped together with terrorists? "What's scariest to me is that there could be this gross interruption of civil rights and nobody is really in charge," said Sarah Backus, an organizer of the Wisconsin group. "That's really 1984-ish."

The Washington Post reports: "The White House has opened a Pandora's box (of) civil service rules, union contracts and politics by insisting on new power to hire, fire, reward, discipline and transfer employees in the name of national security. Unions are raising the domino theory: If the White House can create a new personnel system for the Homeland Security department, eliminating long-standing work procedures, other federal departments could follow, including the biggest of them all, the Defense Department, with about 600,000 civilian employees... Bush... has threatened to call off the merger of 22 federal agencies rather than approve a department without significant management leeway... Union leaders (representing) 43,000 of the affected employees -- question Bush's motivation... (citing administration) efforts... to cut costs and open up some jobs to outside competition, (and) a decision earlier this year to remove about 500 employees in U.S. attorneys' offices from labor unions."

R. Gabri has created a chilling site called the "Homeland Security Cultural Bureau," which treads a thin line between satire and reality. Ask yourself: is this what American fascism would look like? If the answer is yes, then tell everyone you know to Defeat All Republicans Everywhere (DARE).

"The Byrd amendment would give Congress additional opportunities to sift through details concerning worker rights, civil liberties, secrecy, and various duties and functions. Equally important, it would ensure that the agencies and offices to be transferred can continue to perform their important work of protecting the homeland while the groundwork is being laid for their move to the new department. This is vital," Byrd said during debate on the legislation... If the Byrd amendment becomes law, agencies and their functions would be transferred to the Department one and two directorates at time, beginning on February 3, 2003... "By forcing the Administration to come back to Congress, we can insist on knowing more of the plans of this Administration with its penchant for secrecy -- plans which are now only hazy outlines," Byrd stated. Tell your Senators (202-224-3121) to support the Byrd Homeland Security Amendment!

The media didn't report it, but last week Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV) nearly single-handedly brought the Homeland Security juggernaut to a halt. Why? Two reasons: 1) There are two top jobs associated with the Homeland Security bill: A "Secretary" to be confirmed by the Senate, and a "Director" to be appointed by the President. The Director would be responsible for coordinating all aspects of "homeland security" that aren't in the Department of Homeland Security--including the CIA, the FBI, the military. Sen. Byrd argues that this post should also be confirmed by the Senate. 2) The bill setting up the department basically says "We authorize the department to be formed. You (Bush) can create it however you want to." That's the end of Congressional input. Senator Byrd wants Congress--the elected representatives of the people--to remain in the process throughout the creation of the Department. Call your Senators (202-224-3121).

"Families of Sept. 11 victims criticized President Bush on Monday for eroding civil rights in the U.S. war on terror, and said they believed airport security was no better than a year ago. Stephen Push, head of the Sept. 11 Homeland Security Alliance, gave the Bush administration a 'C-' grade on a report card in urging the government to temper military gusto with fair treatment of those placed under arrest. Push said he did not believe suspended judicial rights -- such as denying terrorist suspects access to a lawyer or expeditious trial -- were needed or desirable. 'I'm not sure it is really necessary in order to protect us,' he told reporters... Their report criticized Bush for persistent aviation security troubles, reflected in media reports of guns and knives being carried onto planes."

Paul Nyden writes: 'As the Bush administration increased pressure on Congress to create... the new Department of Homeland Security, Sen. Robert C. Byrd is saying those plans endanger the constitutional rights of all Americans... Byrd said... remarks by [OMB director Mitch] Daniels are 'incredibly ignorant... Rules like holding this new department accountable to the Congress and the American people...? Al-Qaida may not be encumbered by constitutional limitations on its powers, but, unlike the OMB director, I would scarcely argue that al-Qaida sets an example for this government to follow. For all of their blustering about how al-Qaida is determined to strike at our freedoms, this administration shows little appreciation for the constitutional doctrines and processes that have preserved those freedoms for more than two centuries... [Bush's] proposal was crafted in the bowels of the White House, cloaked in secrecy, and presented by an administration trying to regain political ground.'"

"We who grew up since the youth and social justice movements of the 1960s used to ask ourselves: How could the intelligentsia in Germany have been so acquiescent in the 1930s?" writes Anis Shivani of Counterpunch. Now we know how, according to Shivani: In recent months, "the dirty work of laying the foundations of the genocidal state occurred in full sight ... [i]t is happening even as we speak, with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), essentially the president's nearly 200,000 strong paramilitary ... What is Bush's sticking point with congress over DHS? That there not be civil service protections for the 170,000 workers that will fall under its jurisdiction. No whistle-blower and freedom of information protections. So if you don't fall in with whatever it is that they have planned for us, you can be fired immediately - no thirty-day notice! And replaced with any of a legion of workers with fascist sympathies more than happy to embark on the genocide."

The world is now officially standing on its head: the far-right John Birch Society agrees with CounterPunch! Well, not completely, but parts of this editorial by William F. Jasper would be equally at home in any far-left publications: "Bush’s proposal to create a Homeland Security Department is one of several unprecedented efforts to centralize military and law enforcement power in the executive branch in the name of fighting terrorism. ... Seen in this context, the significance of the proposed Homeland Security Department is that it would institutionalize the 'crisis' powers being claimed by the Bush administration, and set the stage for even more dramatic moves toward a centralized, militarized police state under presidential control." Although there is much in the editorial to disagree with, its central concern makes this point clear: Opposition to Bush's dictatorial power-grab spans the entire political spectrum.

From the New York Times: "The Senate's monthlong vacation from partisan floor fights ended today moments after the Pledge of Allegiance, as members stiffened their refusal to compromise over worker rights in the proposed Homeland Security Department ... Republican senators, backed by a clear veto threat from the White House today, said Resident Bush could never accept the Democratic version of the department that the Senate began debating this morning. ... Democrats, led by the majority leader, Senator Tom Daschle of South Dakota, argued just as forcefully that the protection of the 170,000 workers to be transferred to the department was an issue on which they were not prepared to yield. Mr. Daschle accused the administration of trying 'a power grab of unprecedented magnitude' over union and civil service rights and said Democrats would not roll over on the issue."

CNN.com reports: "Despite a fresh veto threat from the White House, Senate Democrats oppose... Bush's demand for greater management flexibility over the proposed Homeland Security Department's estimated 170,000 employees. Even as the Senate voted unanimously Tuesday to begin debate on the measure creating the new Cabinet agency -- which could take two or three weeks -- Republicans and Democrats dug in their heels over the contentious personnel issues. Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle called Bush's proposal 'a power grab of unprecedented magnitude' that would undermine the nonpolitical government civil service system and threaten labor union rights and protections for one-third of the workers... Tom Ridge...point man on homeland security, insisted the new department needs broader powers to hire, fire, promote or demote and pay employees -- and waive union rights in matters of national security -- to meet emerging terrorist threats." Stand firm, Democrats!

Findlaw.com reports: "A White House panel on domestic security told the administration Thursday what it wants to hear: [not our]President Bush should have broad leeway for hiring, firing and paying employees at the new Department of Homeland Security. Domestic security chief Tom Ridge summoned the [faux] President's Homeland Security Advisory Council for its second meeting at a time when the Senate is poised to resume debate next week on the shape of the new department. While the Senate and White House agree on most details of the agency, Bush has threatened to veto any measure that does not give him the flexibility he seeks in connection with the department's hiring and spending policies. Democrats say his demands amount to an assault on union collective bargaining and the civil service system." Brave whistleblowers, take note, your days are numbered!

Sen. Bob Graham (D-FL), chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, told CNN correspondent Judy Woodruff that he agreed with Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) that evidence available prior to 911 provided a "veritable blueprint" for the attacks. He said that though many sources gather information, "There was no single source that was looking at all that information to try to see if there was a pattern, a picture, a plot, that began to emerge." According to Graham, the new Homeland Security department will include "analytical capability" from not only federal sources, but will integrate information from state and local authorities as well. So, having demonstrated their ignorance of federal surveillance laws originated in 1976 which, if followed, could have prevented 911 had legal search warrants been issued and Moussaoui's computer been searched, information gathering from federal, state and local sources will be centralized for "analysis."

"The Iowa Army National Guard's 1st Battalion, 194th Field Artillery, will be ordered to federal active duty, the Department of Defense and the National Guard Bureau in Washington, D.C., have announced. The battalion, headquartered in Fort Dodge, will deploy to locations within the United States for homeland security missions as part of Operation Noble Eagle II... Approximately 350 soldiers are affected... They will receive specialized training to further prepare them for their assignments before moving to their stateside duty locations. The soldiers will provide indirect fire support, using artillery weapons accurate from a distance of 11,000 to 12,000 meters, King said. The battalion's mobilization is critical to the accomplishment of the Department of Defense Homeland Defense Security Plan, said King. The Iowa soldiers will provide security at several locations. They will take their individual equipment, individual and crew-served weapons and all other organizational equipment."

We find it just a bit TOO coincidental that four men who have been in custody for NEARLY A YEAR and - one who was once awarded a key to the city of Seattle for his good citizenship - are suddenly being charged with trying to set up a terrorist training camp. A revelation that comes conveniently just as Bush is intent on trying to whip up enough national angst to follow him over the cliff into war with Iraq. In this same report, the Bush gov. hints there will plenty of more arrests in coming months...and also hints that it will go after people who may have used "federal aid programs" (are they going after Muslim students and poor Muslim Americans on welfare now?). It is also hinted that they will focus on "Internet schemes" - this coming just a few weeks after the new Homeland Security head is named - a man whose biggest focus is on cracking down on the Internet. Wanna make a bet a desperate Bushcroft is going to make a renewed frontal assault on civil liberties as he pushes toward war?

An Ohio gaurd battallion is being called to active duty in support of Homeland Defense, but they're an Artillery Battalion. The soldiers will provide indirect fire support, using artillery weapons accurate from a distance of 11,000 to 12,000 meters. What godly use is medium range artillery for a few skulking terrorists? Given the way the Bush Admin sprayed and shot at Portland protesters, maybe they are after bigger game - our own populace.

Wanna know why John Gannon was chosen as Homeland Security Chief? Here's a hint - it isn't because of any great record of involvement with domestic security and law enforcement. It is because Gannon's number one focus has been on 'cyber threats' - i.e, the 'dangers to world security' posed by the Internet. In short, John Gannon was chosen not to protect the American people from criminals and terrorists - he was chosen to protect the Bush administration from its number one threat: Free Speech over the Internet. We knew this other shoe had to finally fall - an attack on the last bastion of non-corporate news and information dissemination left in America. What is next? In the name of 'national security,' will alternative news editors, writers, and subscribers be targeted, arrested 'on suspicion' without charge, and perhaps ultimately even rounded up as 'enemy combatants' and shipped to concentration camps?

The ACLU is launching a website to monitor the hateful TIPS program. Says Rachel King, ACLU's legislative counsel. "We're not against tip lines; we're against relying on untrained civilians to spy." King fears the system will target certain religious and ethnic minorities, notably swarthy folk and Muslims. In addition, TIPS may result in the creation of a database of "suspicious" people - with no one included on the "list" ever given a chance to prove their innocence. "Suppose you're looking for a job and you can't get security clearance because one of these volunteers thought you were a little strange and wrote down your name; this could impact your life in ways you don't know," King said. The two Joes (Stalin and McCarthy) are no doubt cheering Ashcroft on from their graves!

Phyllis Schafly writes: "One of the five components of the Citizen Corps, created by the president [sic]... is Operation TIPS (Terrorism Information and Prevention System). This is designed to be 'a nationwide program to help thousands of American truck drivers, letter carriers, train conductors, ship captains and utility workers report potential terrorist activity.' Operation TIPS calls on Americans, in their daily course of work activities, to monitor and report 'suspicious' activities to a central reporting center. You can bet that all those 'suspicious' activities will be entered on a national database available to the prying eyes of federal bureaucrats...Dick Armey objects. The homeland legislation his committee just reported out specifically prohibits implementation of Operation TIPS. And the U.S. Postal Service announced that letter carriers are not going to double as government spies...common-sense alertness is a far cry from institutionalizing a federal system of informers."

NY Times reports, "The stripes on [Senator Robert Byrd's] jacket appeared to be trembling as much from indignation as from the infirmities of his 84 years as the senator held out his palm, and the power of parliamentary rules, before the onrushing bulldozer of the proposed Homeland Security Department. 'Have we all completely taken leave of our senses?' he said... [Bush] 'is shouting, 'Pass the bill, pass the bill!... If ever there was a time for the Senate to throw a bucket of cold water on an overheated legislative process that is spinning out of control,' he said, 'it is now. Now!' ... All but single-handedly, Mr. Byrd has slowed the Homeland Security juggernaut by implicitly threatening a filibuster, almost certainly forcing the Senate to postpone debate until after the August recess... The Senate was virtually empty when he finished, but a sizable crowd of visitors in the gallery broke into applause." Thank heavens there is ONE Senator who understands the Constitution!

Stephen Greenhouse writes "President [sic] Bush is threatening to veto the legislation, which otherwise has broad support, because Democrats in the Senate do not want to give him [the power] he wants in hiring, firing and paying workers in the new department... a committee in the Democratic-controlled Senate has defied him and voted to keep traditional civil service and union protections for workers in the new agency... Democrats in Congress and their allies in organized labor say they fear that the administration is seeking to revamp the whole federal bureaucracy and strip federal workers of their civil service and union protections."

Investigative journalist Ritt Goldstein writes: "Recent pronouncements from the Bush Administration and national security initiatives put in place in the Reagan era could see internment camps and martial law in the United States...From 1982-84 Colonel Oliver North assisted FEMA in drafting its civil defence preparations. Details of these plans emerged during the 1987 Iran-Contra scandal. They included executive orders providing for suspension of the constitution, the imposition of martial law, internment camps, and the turning over of government to the president and FEMA...Disturbingly, the full facts and final contents of Mr. Reagan's national plan remain uncertain. This is in part because Bush took the unusual step of sealing the Reagan presidential papers last November. However, many of the key figures of the Reagan era are part of the present administration, including John Poindexter, to whom Oliver North later reported."

"The House tonight approved the largest reorganization of the federal government in more than half a century, voting to create a Department of Homeland Security intended to marshal and fortify the nation's defense against terrorism...Most Democrats voted against the department, angry that Republicans inserted language to limit the civil service protections of Homeland Security Department employees and protect companies that screen air travelers for weapons...Democrats were equally insistent today that they would not allow the administration to make it easier to fire or discipline the new department's 170,000 employees, most of whom would come from 22 long-established agencies that would be transferred to the department. Although Senate Republicans may succeed in altering Mr. Lieberman's bill, it will be at a conference between the chambers in September that the most divisive issues will be worked out."

"A day after Bush's release of a homeland defense strategy calling for the possible domestic use of U.S. military forces, Alabama activated a 300-soldier Army National Guard tank battalion as part of a homeland defense force. In a statement released Wednesday, Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman said the Ozark, Ala.-based 1st Battalion, 131st Armor 'is equipped with modern battle tanks, the M1A1 Abrams' and 'will serve in the homeland defense role within the United States.' Siegelman, commander-in-chief of the state's national guard, did not say what role the tank battalion would serve in homeland defense. In addition to the tank battalion, 200 guardsmen from Special Forces units based in Auburn and Huntsville were activated and 'will conduct post-mobilization training and then deploy to undisclosed locations in support of the war on terrorism,' Siegelman said."

Gene Healy of the right-wing Cato Institute writes, "The bluntness of the military instrument makes its use all the more dangerous within our borders. More widespread use of military personnel to do police work would do little to protect us from Al Qaeda; but it would increase the chances of collateral damage: innocent American citizens harmed by those who are supposed to protect them. From suppression of strikers in the 19th Century, to the deaths at Kent State, to the 1997 Marine Corps killing of an American high school student at the Mexican border, deviation from our tradition of civilian law enforcement has had grave consequences throughout American history. In 1981 Congress weakened the Posse Comitatus Act substantially to allow military involvement in the war on drugs. Misuse of the 'drug exceptions' to the act helped lead to the worst disaster in U.S. law enforcement history…in Waco." Do some on the Right fear that the Bushistas are grabbing too much power for themselves?

Rick Fulton writes, "As a nation facing challenges we have vast and untouched, untapped personnel resources to deal with the world's Bin Ladins, beginning with military veterans who are already trained to handle sentry "observe and report" duties. First responders can't do it all. First responders can't police and fight fire and patch up the injured and still be able to guard the local water supply. There needs to be a common understanding that the issues of Homeland Security are, at bedrock, most of all, a need of grassroots involvement, and not pie in the sky for those who believe they can be all things to all people while in truth only caring for the regards of the few. Propaganda and windiness only go so far. Like crime, homeland security needs are always with us, and for that matter always have been."

"Bush's plan to create a Homeland Security Department came under sharp congressional criticism yesterday, with some House committees [that's REPUBLICANS, folks] voting to prevent key agencies from moving into the new department... Sen. Robert C. Byrd (D-WV) [said] 'I'm concerned that in the process of reorganizing government, we'll reorganize the checks and balances in the constitutional system' ... An unusual provision would allow the president to appoint 16 assistant secretaries for the new agency, 10 of whom would not have to be confirmed by the Senate... Reps. David R. Obey (D-WI) and Henry A. Waxman (D-CA) wrote the White House about other objections. 'Under the proposal, the [new department's] Secretary does not have to comply with cornerstone procurement principles, such as open and competitive bidding. Basic government-in-sunshine laws, such as the Freedom of Information Act and the Federal Advisory Committee Act, have been limited in their application to the new Department.'"

When it comes to homeland security, Democrats would rather change the subject to issues like the Social Security surplus, providing a prescription drug benefit, and expanding the nation's economy. "But changing the subject is not always possible, and Democrats understand that in the nation's first post-Sept. 11 elections, they will be forced to talk about homeland security. [Democrats can say] 'I want to win the war on terrorism and promote American values throughout the world. But at the same time, we need to protect values at home, so that seniors don't have to choose between eating and buying medicine.' [i.e. Broaden the patriotism argument -- make it your own.] 'We are patriotic Americans and we stand by our men and women in the armed forces doing the tough job that they're doing. We want them to come home to a country that's secure economically, where corporations can't get away with stealing pension funds, where Wall Street can't take away our lifetime savings.'"

Dan Eggen writes in the Washington Post that FBI Director Robert Mueller is coming under fire "for agreeing to deliver a keynote address this week to the American Muslim Council, a group whose founder has declared support for the Hamas and Hezbollah militant groups... The controversy underscores the political difficulties that face the Bush administration as it attempts to reach out to segments of the American Muslim community after the Sept. 11 terror attacks... About 30 people attending the convention will also be given a briefing by White House staff prior to Mueller's speech... The briefing at the White House is part of the Bush administration's 'ongoing outreach to people of all faiths and religious beliefs'." So why is the Director of the FBI doing political outreach for the Bush White House? That's the REAL outrage!

Bush heaped it on thick to hundreds of underpaid Coast Guard members and Port Authority police officers and rescue workers in New York harbor, falsely assuring them that his Office of Homeland Security would make their jobs easier. This little speech was nothing more than a whistle stop to justify spending taxpayer dollars to campaign and raise money for Rep. Mike Ferguson of New Jersey. Meanwhile, the New York Times points out that "an overwhelmed Customs Service can search only 2 percent to 3 percent of the 3,500 containers that arrive daily at the New Jersey ports and neighboring facilities..." Hey, Shrub! Why don't you take that $700,000 you raised and give it to the U.S. Customs Service? It would do a heck of a lot more good than your OHS plans!

While the chemical industry has taken some security measures since September 11th, experts and lawmakers agree that it's not enough and that U.S. chemical plants are still vulnerable. "At least 123 plants keep amounts of toxic chemicals that, if released through explosions or other mishaps, could form deadly vapor clouds that would put more than 1 million people in danger, an EPA analysis found. More than 700 plants could put at least 100,000 people at risk." Despite the EPA and the Office of Fatherland…er…Homeland Security's recognition of the need for federal counterterrorism security standards in this area, certain Repugnicants in Congress and the Justice Department are stalling in the face of industry pressure. When will Bush and other Repugnicants stop selling out our safety and security for campaign contributions???

"Included was an idea Bush had resisted [?] for months: the creation of the Department of Homeland Security...And the overhaul did not encompass the agencies most in need of reform - the FBI and the sprawling U.S. intelligence community...Behind the scenes, a very different story was unfolding. With public confidence in the war on terrorism waning, the White House was plotting to get back in the game...Beginning in late April, a small working group - led by [Andrew] Card, budget director Mitchell Daniels and Homeland Security czar Tom Ridge - met secretly to design a plan for a new homeland-security system...An official describes the clandestine enterprise as 'sort of like the Manhattan Project,' and paranoia about leaks ran so high that meetings were moved to the secure bunker beneath the White House where senior officials had taken cover on Sept. 11. Bush intended to roll out the plan in July, but disclosures about FBI and CIA lapses ratcheted up the pressure to go public now."

Salon's Anthony York reports that Bush has used the HSD as a right wing larder, appointing "business leaders who, along with their companies, have paid big money to Republicans... The group will help guide the creation of a White House wish list in the fight to create a new Department of Homeland Security. Charles Lewis, founder of the Center for Public Integrity, says a preliminary look at the board members reveals a number of qualified members, but also raises concerns about potential conflicts of interest. 'Many large corporations certainly are sure to have business before the new department. The thing is so large and all-encompassing, it's hard to imagine that it's not a potential issue. It's a little unusual to have folks with all kinds of private interests involved in setting up government agencies. Don't they have White House staff to do that?'"

"Tonight George W. Bush told us of a rearrangement plan to spend billions of bucks, upset many Congressional Committees, disrupt the careers of a multitude of civil servants -- all in the name of Homeland Security. George W. Bush says the rearrangement is necessary to meet a four-fold mission of safeguarding borders, building a quick reaction force response, prevention of bio-terrorism, and infrastructural protection. His plan will bring order to the chaos which has reigned supreme since 9-11, protect us all from the ten foot tall bad guys, and most of all will ensure Federal integrity and accountability... Ahhh, excuse me. Accountability? Integrity? Setting up a new super agency, rivaling the Pentagon and letting the camel's nose of the military into yet another cabinet level structure is somehow going to guarantee integrity and accountability? Yeah, right." So writes Rick Fulton.

"Bush plans to announce a restructuring of his recently formed Homeland Security unit on network TV tonight. He is expected to consolidate eight federal agencies responsible for intelligence and security into a Cabinet-level post. White House spokesperson Ari Fleischer said the revamp is the government's largest since 1947… Fleischer said the former Pennsylvania Governor (Tom Ridge) 'will be the voice and the face of the message for creating this department.' Democrats were taken back by the sudden Bush announcement, especially in light of the beginning of the Congressional probe of 9/11. Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) said Congress had no news of the plan. 'We'll have to listen to their rationale and to the Senate and House intelligence committees and see what they think about this,' he told the AP. 'The question is whether shifting the deck chairs on the Titanic is the way to go.'"

Timothy Noah writes in Chatterbox, "Is the White House exaggerating the imminent danger? [It's curious] that while the national security adviser, the vice president, and now FBI director Robert Mueller are doing their best to maximize Americans' sense of danger, the... Office of Homeland Security is keeping the nation on a relatively ho-hum yellow alert (Elevated: Significant Risk of Terrorist Attacks), right smack in the middle between green (Low Risk of Terrorist Attacks) and red (Severe Risk of Terrorist Attacks). According to Homeland Security Presidential Directive Three, a yellow alert should prompt consideration of [a number of responses, including increasing surveillance & coordinating emergency plans. But nowhere on this list is] 'Spreading panic in order to stifle debate about the Bush administration's competence during prior disasters.' But these guidelines are new, and no doubt susceptible to broad interpretation." Youch!

Two months before 9/11, the right for pilots to carry guns was rescinded. Now, just as Bush issues a warning of one of the worst attacks yet, 377 soldiers who guarded the Mexican border are pulled off duty. Of course, Customs claims this is because of "budgetary concerns." But the FAA claimed in last year there was no need for the guns for pilot rule. The withdrawal of the troops is especially astounding at this time because they were assigned to help federal agents cdarry out border inspects along one of the nation's most vulnerable stretches of border in Arizona. What will Bush do next? Send prospective terrorists maps and bus fare?

Wondering what our fearless Homeland Security Director was doing when the pipe bombs were going off in the mailboxes, we searched and searched for the "Terrorism Color Code". Unable to find the terrorism color code for the pipe bombing terrorism, we found a videotape of a traffic light, and watched it change colors every few minutes and felt relief when it turned green. Jon Stewart from Comedy Central explains how Luke Helder was caught.

Robert Dreyfuss writes in the American Prospect, "For Tom Ridge, President [sic] Bush's homeland-security director, the storm clouds over his relationship with Congress began gathering almost as soon as his appointment was announced nine days after September 11. From the very beginning, a bipartisan chorus was raised about Ridge's lack of political clout and budget authority, not to mention his utter lack of operational power. And from that beginning the White House made clear that Ridge -- as a presidential adviser whose office was created by executive order and not by statute -- would not be allowed to testify before congressional committees. Now, however, that storm has erupted in full force and Ridge has become a lightning rod for all sorts of discontent and grumbling from Democrats and Republicans alike in both the House and the Senate."

Tom Ridge, Homeland Security Czar and former PA governor, owns stock in Unisys, a company that could benefit from selling anti-terrorism services to the feds. "The Unisys Web site says the firm assists 25 state criminal justice agencies that protect 55 percent of the U.S. population." Obligingly, a spokesman said Ridge would seek the advice of White House counsel if ethical questions arose. IF??? The homeland security czar profits from terrorism and it's only an "IF"??? Is there no end to their greed - or have they no shame?

"Oh, dear Lord, the world is falling apart. The Middle East is a time bomb. Nobody in charge knows what to do. There are terrorists everywhere and I don't know what color Tom Ridge says today is. The economy is in questionable condition. People are getting laid off left and right. Al Qaeda is hiding in our back yards. Ashcroft has his hands full spying on and arresting lawyers unless he's playing crappy piano on Letterman. We're going to be over run with terrorists any minute now. Oh my God, there's only one thing left to do! I'm going to call 1-800-USA-CORPS. That's what George W. Bush said. Call 1-800-872-2677 and sign up to do your part to spy on your neighbor!" So writes David Jenkins.

Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) walked out on a House Government Reform Committee briefing by Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge after saying he should testify publicly. Afterwards, Kucinich stated: "This is a very serious matter that a Director who speaks for the President on matters of national security is not accountable to the Congress, not accountable to the press and not accountable to the people. Homeland Security has a $38 billion budget. There's been no public process to review this $38 billion budget. So you have a Director who is not accountable to the Congress, not accountable to the press, and not accountable to the people." This is exactly what Bush wants - an Imperial Presidency. Let's Impeach Bush!

Tom Ridge, former PA governor, former member of Congress and current Bu$h Homeland Security Director, avoided public scrutiny by meeting with a congressional subcommittee behind closed doors while evading legal culpability in the unsworn informal discussions. The White House argues that Director Ridge, for whom the White House is seeking a $38 Billion budget for Homeland Security, cannot be compelled to testify because he is a 'presidential adviser' without operational authority. So, if he has no operational authority, no congressional oversight or budgetary accountability, how is $38 billion of your hard-earned tax dollars to be spent? Wouldn’t you like to know?

"Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge has offered to make an informal public appearance before members of Congress within the next month to talk about... Bush's counter-terrorism budget, a spokesman for Sen. Robert Byrd, D-West Virginia, said Monday. But Byrd spokesman Tom Gavin suggested the offer would not be enough to satisfy lawmakers who have sought Ridge to testify before congressional committees about the administration's plans to spend $38 billion on homeland security programs... Ridge has been in a dispute with bipartisan members of Congress for more than a month over Byrd's request that the homeland security director testify about the money the president [sic] has sought in the wake of the September 11 terror attacks. Bush has said that Ridge is simply an adviser to the president [sic] and, because he was not confirmed by Congress, he's not obliged to testify to the body. Ridge has refused to testify on those same grounds." One more reason to impeach Bush now!

Writes nuclear policy expert Daniel Hirsch in this issue of "The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists": Fifteen years ago...two colleagues and I warned even then that terrorist trends were rendering the NRC security rules inadequate. But with only a single, partial exception, the agency's primary security regulations are unchanged from a quarter century ago. And despite September 11—when the NRC's assumptions crumbled at the moment the Twin Towers fell—both the industry and the agency that regulates it continue to resist making any significant improvement to dismally inadequate and outmoded security regulations." Read the whole chilling truth about the lack of nuclear security in the U.S. - which, with the money ties that now bind Bush and the industry, are only bound to get worse.

"Congress overwhelmingly approved a compromise $20 billion anti-terrorism package on Thursday as weeks of battling between President [sic] Bush and lawmakers over the government's fiscal response to terrorism drew to a close. The House voted 408-6 to approve the package and a mammoth $318 billion defense bill to which it was attached. The Senate followed, passing it 94-2. The anti-terror money is for the Pentagon, domestic security, and New York and other areas staggered by the Sept. 11 attacks." The article fails to mention that the Democrats wanted $15 billion more for meaningful anti-terrorism measures and to help New York and the DC area, but Bush and the GOP were vehemently opposed. Democrats acceded to avoid holding up spending for the military, especially pay increases.

"The Democrats' $35 billion antiterrorism package was defeated in the Senate yesterday as Republicans handed a victory to President [sic] Bush by standing solidly against a plan the White House called too expensive...Democrats came back hours later with a $20 billion alternative, the level Bush wanted...The new Democratic plan shifted about $7 billion that Bush wanted for defense to programs tightening domestic security and helping New York and the Washington area recover...the antiterror money was attached to this year's $318 billion defense bill. One reason Democrats agreed to a smaller package is that they were unwilling to delay indefinitely a wartime spending bill for the military." Apparently real anti-terrorism policies will cut into the trillions Bush and the GOP are giving back to the wealthy and large corporations, without expanding Bush's and Ashcroft's surveillance of ordinary Americans.

"This space has received a confidential memo prepared by White House staffers providing a timetable for the institution of ever more sweeping security measures. Below is a fictionalization of the events envisioned in that document. Nov. 26: Attorney General John Ashcroft announces a plan to incarcerate anyone who is thinking about committing a crime. 'Since the Sept.11 terrorist attack, we have become ever more aware that thinking about a crime is the first step in committing one.'" From the desk of the San Francisco Chronicle's Jon Carroll.

"The nation's top military authorities favor appointing a four-star commander [CINC] to coordinate federal troops used in homeland defense, part of a broad reorganization that Pentagon officials say could change some forces' primary mission from waging war overseas to patrolling at home...Addressing a conference last week on the military's role in homeland defense, [Fatherland Security Czar Tom] Ridge said that the administration would look at whether to shift some [National] Guard units and assets. He also said that regular military troops would be deployed to handle domestic terrorist attacks only as 'the last resort,' noting that the government had plenty of other options short of that... [ACLU Counsel Tim] Edgar warned against the danger of 'mission creep' and the risk that military forces could end up threatening individual rights… Since Sept. 11, Sen. John W. Warner (R-Va.)…has led a push to revise the [Posse Comitatus] act." Ten soldiers and Bush is coming...

"A day after President Bush asked Americans to respond to the war on terror with an outpouring of volunteerism, his administration began trying to figure out how to mobilize a vast force of Americans for a still sketchy role on the home front battlefield. Mr. Bush gave a task force on citizen preparedness, run by his homeland security and domestic policy advisers, 40 days to recommend ways for Americans to help with civilian tasks...Some of the impulse for the volunteer effort is to keep national spirit up and provide a role for Americans who want to do more than display their patriotism by flying and shopping again." Volunteerism is usually a noble cause, but given how Bush and Ashcroft have slashed our rights with the USA PATRIOT Act, this latest tactic is following a familiar pattern. Bush encouraged Americans to join their Neighborhood Watch and Crimestoppers programs. Will other organizations emerge to watch out for Ashcroft-defined "terrorists"?

After posting an article about Bush's speech calling for volunteers to join in the Homeland Security program, a Freeper adds: "How about calling it a Militia and doing it right?!" To which another replies: "My thoughts exactly." A third Freeper offers this advice to the Office of Homeland Security, "Step 1: Stop infringing on the right to keep and bear arms." One of them declares: "From where I sit, the militia is me, my freinds [sic], those who I work for and with, and everyday passersby I meet during the day." Now don't you feel safer already? By the way, when linking to Free Republic we use a URL we have dedicated in their honor, "rightwingnuts.com."

"Airlines are not complying with government orders issued after last month's terrorist hijackings to scan checked baggage for bombs, the Transportation Department's inspector general says. The Federal Aviation Administration ordered broad and partly secret safety measures be put in place before allowing flights to resume after the Sept. 11 attacks. But in checks at seven of the nation's 20 highest-risk airports over the past week, the inspector general found widespread noncompliance with orders to run all bags through sophisticated bomb detection machines. 'At most of the machines we observed no bags were searched,' Kenneth M. Mead told a House subcommittee Thursday." So reports the AP.

"Army Secretary Thomas White, a former Houston energy executive, has been picked to serve as the Defense Department's top official for homeland security. White will work closely with Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge, who was named by President Bush in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks to head a new Cabinet-level Office of Homeland Security...White was named to serve as the Pentagon's liaison by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld on Tuesday. White is a retired Army brigadier general who became the Army's top civilian executive in May. Before he was nominated for the Army post by Bush, White was vice chairman of Houston-based Enron Energy Services." The responsibilities of the new HSO will likely include the security of the energy/utility infrastructure. We saw how much Enron guarded the public interest during the California energy problem. Enter 'enron' in our .Compass search engine to understand the alarming significance of this appointment.

"Senate Republicans on Wednesday blocked immediate consideration of an aviation security bill, citing worries over 'federalizing' baggage screeners and a string of proposed amendments. Senate Democrats, who have a majority of one in the chamber, had sought to bring the measure to the floor as an urgent matter on Wednesday afternoon after reports the White House had softened its opposition to making airport screeners federal employees. But Senate Republican leader Trent Lott objected, effectively blocking the Democratic attempt to get 'unanimous consent' to consider the bill. Lott cited concerns about the 'federalization' of bag screeners as well as possible amendments that he said had little to do with the bill, which seeks to make airports more secure in the wake of the Sept 11. attacks by hijacked airliners on New York and Washington."

"President Bush's new policy of shooting down commercial jets that threaten U.S. cities is unlikely to console anxious passengers, and was ridiculed by experts who doubted it would deter hijackers. 'This is born of desperation and I do think it is wildly impractical,' said analyst Nick Cook, the day after two U.S. air force generals were authorized to down planes to prevent a repetition of this month's attacks on New York and Washington." "It would not make anyone travel with any greater confidence," said Dan Solon of Avmark International. Cook added that he didn't see the plan as a deterrent, but "by shooting down airliners, we would be doing [the terrorists'] dirty work for them."

It was the ultimate hacker "scalp": the website of CERT, the world's foremost anti-hacking center at the University of Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh. For three days, the site has been at the mercy of an extremely well-coordinated attack by unknown hackers. The site, which is a government-funded early warning facility, was rendered powerless by a flood of bogus data requests. We can almost guarantee you these saboteurs were young and ultra-savvy in the ways of the Net. They are the kind of minds U.S. security needs in the 21st century. The word is that Shrub has canned anyone under 35 in the inner rings of military security and replaced them with Cold War dinosaurs who probably think "Tribes" means trouble in the Congo. A missile shield won't protect you from a superhacker, Shrub...who might just turn out to be the kid next door!

Bush visited West Virginia and told members of the National Guard and Reserve that he wants them "more involved in homeland security, confronting acts of terror and the disorder our enemies may try to create." When he was in the Air National Guard, Bush contributed his own disorder by going AWOL for the last two years of his service, a fact that would have cost Bush the election, if it had not been covered up by the corporate media (see our in-depth reports at www.smokingjet.com). Bush also said that coal is central to his energy policy, without mentioning the urgent problem of global warming. While watching a simulated flood disaster response broadcast live from a command center 100 miles away, he waved at the screen image, then suddenly frowned. "They're not waving back," he pouted.