Archive for May, 2007
« Previous EntriesTB case: it all comes down to human issues
Thursday, May 31st, 2007The Andrew Speaker TB case is a graphic reminder that, no matter what kinds of policies we institute to screen people at the borders, it still comes down to human factors. Just as many of the security guards interviewed by AP for the story on chinks in the DHS armor weren’t adequately trained […]
For want of a (well-paid) rent-a-cop, the kingdom was lost
Thursday, May 31st, 2007Hmm: with last week’s NECN investigative piece about understaffing of the Federal Protective Service and this story, we seem trapped in a building protection meme — and not a good one, at that.
The news that underpaid private security guards are a weak link in anti-terrorism efforts brought back memories of two years ago, when I […]
Belated thanks to Blue Gal
Wednesday, May 30th, 2007Belated thanks to Blue Gal, who said some nice things about me and the NECN investigative story on the drastic cutbacks in the Federal Protective Service last week when she was guest editing Crooks and Liars. I ended up with more hits than I’ve ever gotten on a single day — not bad for a […]
Dutch adopt new mobile communications solution
Wednesday, May 30th, 2007The Dutch, citing the advent of “Network-Centric Operations” in the US, have adopted a new mobile communications solution from Cisco that will allow them to seamlessly share information in disasters and have an alternative to hierarchical emergency communications. Hmmm — where have I heard that argument before?
A test project in Utrecht was so successful that […]
Federal Protective Services scandal: NECN investigates
Friday, May 25th, 2007I was on New England Cable News (NECN) again last night, this time weighing in on a real scandal uncovered by NECN reporter Josh McElveen after he was tipped off by a Federal Protective Service (FPS) whistleblower upset by the cutbacks on manpower for the agency that protects non-military federal facilities.
Make that supposed to protect […]
Will Cal get with the program? cell phones for emergencies
Thursday, May 24th, 2007My posts will be quite limited for the next few days while my family struggles with my mother’s illness. However, Swan Island’s Pete O’Dell sent along this from the Christian Science Monitor about how California Lt. Gov. John Garamendi (D) wants the state to use cell phones as a major means of distributing emergency information.
Welcome […]
Time to dust off my disaster tips, with hurricanes coming
Wednesday, May 23rd, 2007Back-to-back whammies from the weather desk:
The National Weather Service (NWS) predicts there will be 13-17 major tropical storms this year, with 7=10 reaching hurricane status and 3-5 of those becomin major hurricanes.
NWS Director David Johnson and his top deputy resign because the National Hurricane Center’s research budget is being cut while an ad campaign to […]
Global warming as national security issue? Old news here!
Tuesday, May 22nd, 2007(this is one of the events that transpired while I was incommuniblogicato that I’ll be addressing belatedly because of its importance)…
The news that Director of Intelligence McConnell is has decided it is “entirely appropriate” that the intelligence community do a comprehensive intelligence estimate on the “geopolitical and security implications of global climate change” comes as […]
Administrivia: new blog, new RSS feed….
Monday, May 21st, 2007One of the miserable things about this transition from Userland is that my Feedburner feed’s URL has changed — so if you subscribed to the old feed, you probably won’t get the new one.
To subscribe, either click on the Feedburner chiclet on the sidebar, or enter this URL in your RSS reader: http://stephensonstrategies.com/wp-rss2.php
addthis_url […]
Government in your hand
Monday, May 21st, 2007Today’s Federal Computer Week runs an op-ed I wrote on a transformation I refer to as “government in your hand.”
It argues that Mayor Bloomberg’s recent decision to allow people to attach camera phone videos or photos to 311 or 911 calls is the precursor of a revolution that will transform the relationship of government and […]
