Seaports Still At Risk of Biological and Chemical Threats

U.S. Customs and Border Protection should consider taking additional steps to counter biological and chemical threats in maritime cargo, according to the Homeland Security Department’s inspector general.

The IG recommends that the agency update its guidance for inspecting sea cargo containers for biological and chemical threats, and assess the benefits of deploying new detection devices in a maritime environment, according to a redacted version of a report released Nov. 2.

CBP is responsible for examining cargo containers entering the country. During a performance audit conducted between November 2008 and March, the IG’s office observed different operating procedures at several ports that were visited, the report states.

As a result, the IG recommended that CBP develop and issue guidance to help ensure its officers use consistent examination processes for all potential threats. The agency agreed with the recommendation and said it was making updates.

Meanwhile, CBP officials said new technologies are being developed and tested to help officers rapidly identify such threats during inspections, according to the report. However, CBP hasn’t formally identified the pathways through which biological and chemical threats are most likely to enter the country, the IG said.

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DHS Urged to Implement Ammonium Nitrate Regulations

The Department of Homeland Security is being urged to implement regulations designed to make it harder for terrorists to build homemade bombs. The legislation was created 2 years ago and members of the House Committee on Homeland Security are saying it’s time enact the laws.

From ABC News
“This delay in implementing the rules for ammonium nitrate regulation is unacceptable. We are talking about matters of life and death,” says Rep. Pete King (R-NY), the Republican ranking member of the House Committee on Homeland Security. “The Department of Homeland Security must move quickly.”

Congressman Bennie Thompson (D-MS), Chairman of House Committee on Homeland Security, agrees that the delays have been frustrating and worrisome. “Congress addressed the threat of ammonium nitrate through legislation over two years ago. Regulating the sale of this chemical is vital to the security of the nation.”

The Department of Homeland Security issued a statement saying that the “Notice of Proposed Rulemaking” is complete and that they are in the final stages of internal vetting.

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Fusion Centers Expand Criteria to Identify Militia Members – Updated

UPDATE: The head of the Missouri Highway Patrol has quashed a controversial report linking conservative groups with the modern militia movement.

Superintendent James Keathley said distribution of the report has been halted, and that a new system is being created to review future reports before they’re released.

Lt. Governor Peter Kinder said the report unfairly targets conservative Missourians.

“We had a focus on pro-lifers, folks who are concerned about enforcement of our borders and the immigration issue, and other people all on the conservative side of the spectrum, and I think the focus is wrong,” Kinder said.

Kinder is calling for an investigation into the report and wants Public Safety Director John Britt placed on administrative leave.

A spokesman for Governor Jay Nixon voiced support for Britt and for the Missouri Information Analysis Center, which produced the report.

Press Secretary Scott Holste said the report’s premature release is due to a flawed oversight system that existed long before Nixon took office.
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If you’re an anti-abortion activist, or if you display political paraphernalia supporting a third-party candidate or a certain Republican member of Congress, if you possess subversive literature, you very well might be a member of a domestic paramilitary group.

That’s according to “The Modern Militia Movement,” a report by the Missouri Information Analysis Center (MIAC), a government collective that identifies the warning signs of potential domestic terrorists for law enforcement communities. Read more

Bill Forthcoming To Move Cybersecurity From Homeland Security To White House

Forthcoming legislation would wrest cybersecurity responsibilities from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and transfer them to the White House, a proposed move that likely will draw objections from industry groups and some conservatives.

CNET News has obtained a summary of a proposal from Senators Jay Rockefeller (D-W.V.) and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) that would create an Office of the National Cybersecurity Advisor, part of the Executive Office of the President. That office would receive the power to disconnect, if it believes they’re at risk of a cyberattack, “critical” computer networks from the Internet. Read more

Pakistan Terror Attack Prompts Warning From Homeland Security, FBI

The attack on Sri Lanka’s cricket team in Pakistan this week has prompted US intelligence officials to caution local authorities to be on the lookout for possible similar assaults at American sports events.

The notice, along with details of the attack in Lahore, Pakistan, is part of an intelligence assessment that points out no plots are known to exist against sports events in the United States. Read more

Homeland Security Response Network Launched

The Homeland Security Response Network will launch today as part of our “Prepared Communities” Initiative. This network was created to promote emergency preparedness through awareness, education, community involvement and partnerships between individuals, groups and organizations.

Although the site has not yet launched, registration is open and nearly 1000 people have already registered.

We look forward to working with each of you and your groups as we begin building a vibrant, prepared online community. Register today!

Details wil be released via a Press Release later this week.

Visit The Homeland Security Response Network

Homeland Security Seeks Next Generation REAL ID

Privacy advocates are issuing warnings about a new radio chip plan that ultimately could provide electronic identification for every adult in the U.S. and allow agents to compile attendance lists at anti-government rallies simply by walking through the assembly.

The proposal, which has earned the support of Janet Napolitano, the newly chosen chief of the Department of Homeland Security, would embed radio chips in driver’s licenses, or “enhanced driver’s licenses.”

“Enhanced driver’s licenses give confidence that the person holding the card is the person who is supposed to be holding the card, and it’s less elaborate than REAL ID,” Napolitano said in a Washington Times report.

REAL ID is a plan for a federal identification system standardized across the nation that so alarmed governors many states have adopted formal plans to oppose it. However, a privacy advocate today told WND that the EDLs are many times worse.

Read More – WND

US Agencies Chase Down Potential Inauguration Day Terror Threat

US intelligence services chased reports of a potential terrorist threat Tuesday as President Barack Obama was sworn in before massive crowds amid an unprecedented security lockdown.

Officials were tightlipped about the seriousness of the terrorist threat, with the Department of Homeland Security saying the information was “of limited specificity and uncertain credibility.”

But a Homeland Security official, who asked not to be identified, said it was linked to a militant Somali group called al-Shabab.

“The FBI has acknowledged publicly that there has been a lot of incoming information, all of which we are running to ground. This is the only specific bulletin that has gone out,” the official said.

With an estimated two million or more people jammed into the heart of Washington to celebrate the inauguration of the first African American president, security officials braced for a potential security nightmare.

But the most vulnerable moment of the day passed without incident when Obama and his wife Michelle stepped down from a slow moving motorcade and walked along Pennsylvania Avenue to the deafening cheers of the multitudes.

Secret Service agents in black coats walked the route, at the ready as Obama’s motorcade crept from the Capitol to the White House.

The Obamas moved through a city blanketed by more than 12,500 active troops and military reservists, thousands of metropolitan police with reinforcements from 99 law enforcement agencies around the nation.

via S ource – Yahoo News.

DHS to Regulate Buying and Selling Ammonium Nitrate

In an effort to prevent future terrorist attacks, the Department of Homeland Security has announced new plans to regulate the selling and purchasing of ammonium nitrate. The widely used fertilizer was used in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing that killed 186 people and was the subject of a 2006 ABC News investigative report that found lethal quantities of the fertilizer was frighteningly easy to obtain.

“Terrorist organizations have and will continue to use explosives, including [ammonium nitrate]-based explosive, in future terrorist attacks,” the amendment says, explaining that the availability of bags of the fertilizer around the country means the potentially deadly chemical could end up in the hands of terrorists.

Source

Watch Brian Ross Report

Homeland Security Will Track Fertilizer Buyers

The Department of Homeland Security has proposed new regulations that would make it harder to buy ammonium nitrate — an agricultural fertilizer that can be used as a bomb-making ingredient.

In a notice issued late last month, the department proposed new rules that would tighten restrictions on the sale of ammonium nitrate. Among other things, the regulations would require prospective buyers to apply for registration numbers from Homeland Security; the department will also run terrorist screening database checks on all prospective registrants.

The proposed rules (read here) will bring regulations in line with a recent amendment to the Homeland Security Act. The amendment requires the department to “regulate the sale and transfer of ammonium nitrate by an ammonium nitrate facility to prevent the misappropriation or use of ammonium nitrate in an act of terrorism.”

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