Somali Charged in ISIS Terrorism Ring Worked at Major U.S. Airport as baggage handler.

Somali Charged in ISIS Terrorism Ring Worked at Major U.S. Airport as baggage handler.HT: JudicialWatch.

In the latest disturbing example of the government’s failure to root out foreign Islamic terrorists a young Somali man, who bragged about building rockets that could strike landing planes, worked at a major U.S. airport as a baggage handler.

This month the Somali, 20-year-old Abdirizak Mohamed Warsame, was charged with conspiracy to help the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS).

He became the 10th Somali man to be charged with terrorism in Minnesota in a very short period of time.

Now a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agent involved in the case reveals that Warsame once worked at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport as a baggage handler. 

Local media outlets published a national newswire report on the FBI special agent’s testimony during a recent court hearing. The federal agent’s testimony featured breathtaking information that’s not included in the criminal complaint, including the fact that Warsame worked as a baggage handler at the airport “with access to the airplanes.”

The FBI agent also testified about secret recordings made by a bureau informant in which Warsame says he could build “homemade rockets” that could reach 2,000 feet, enough to strike a descending plane. Hmmmm.....As i said for years the airport staff IS THE WEAKEST LINK! Read the full story here.

Related:

The Inspector General’s statement and testimony both noted that while the TSA is required to conduct manual reviews of aviation worker records, “due to the workload at larger airports, this inspection process may look at as few as one percent of all aviation workers’ applications.”

70 Airport Workers their Secure-Zone Badges in Paris Airports cancelled.

70 Airport Workers in Paris Lose Secure-Zone Badges After Terrorist Attacks.(EX).

Secure-zone clearance has been withdrawn for nearly 70 people working at two Paris airports following the November 13 terror attacks on the French capital, the boss of the airports company said Sunday.

So-called red badges are issued to people employed in the secure zone of Roissy-Charles de Gaulle and Orly airports, working for instance as baggage handlers, aircraft cleaners and suppliers.

Augustin de Romanet, chief executive officer of Aeroports de Paris (ADP), said the prefecture -- the representative of the state -- which issues the badges had carried out a screening after the attacks on Paris, in which 130 people were killed and 350 injured.

"Nearly 70 red badges were withdrawn after the attacks, mainly for cases of radicalisation," he said in an interview with French media.

He said around 85,000 people had secure-zone clearance in the two airports, most of them working for airlines or for "several hundred" sub-contractors.

"To be issued with a red badge, you have to be cleared by police, and if you work for a company that carries out security checks of in-flight luggage, you need three police checks," De Romanet said.

He added that deployment of military personnel at the two airports had been boosted by half following the attacks, and passport officers were checking the IDs of all people leaving the country, "including flights in the Schengen zone," the European Union's border-free area.

Air traffic was down five percent compared with a year earlier, de Romanet said.

"I hope we will return to a more normal level of traffic. It has been a heavy blow," he added. Hmmm.....As i always said the airport staff is the weakest link.More here in French.

Update: Two security badges urgently cancelled from Brussels Airport as well.

Attentats de Paris: deux "badges d'accès" retirés d'urgence à l'aéroport de Zaventem https://t.co/BeJQPG1mT4

— RTBF info (@RTBFinfo) December 13, 2015

The TSA Isn’t Keeping Us Safe, Says Inspector General Report.

The TSA Isn’t Keeping Us Safe, Says Inspector General Report.(Popsci).

 Congressman: “Just thinking about the breaches there, it’s horrific”

In a couple weeks, the Transportation Security Administration, best known as the TSA, will finally be old enough to sign up for an account online. Born in the months immediately after the September 11th attacks, the TSA is meant to serve as a shield against future hijackings, it’s blue-gloved agents and security gates are supposed to be barriers through which no threat can pass. But frankly, it is terrible at its job. Yesterday, Inspector General John Roth testified before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and his verdict on the TSA was brutal.

From his statement to the committee:

Our testing was designed to test checkpoint operations in real world conditions. It was not designed to test specific, discrete segments of checkpoint operations, but rather the system as a whole. The failures included failures in the technology, failures in TSA procedures, and human error. We found layers of security simply missing. It would be misleading to minimize the rigor of our testing, or to imply that our testing was not an accurate reflection of the effectiveness of the totality of aviation security.

The majority of the Inspector General’s recommendations aren’t disclosed because the “recommendation includes Sensitive Security Information,” some changes are obvious.

The Inspector General’s statement and testimony both noted that while the TSA is required to conduct manual reviews of aviation worker records, “due to the workload at larger airports, this inspection process may look at as few as one percent of all aviation workers’ applications.” Hmmmm......As i always stated for years: "the weakest link is the staff working at airports!" Read the full story here.

Related: What have i been saying for years? 'The weakest link is Airport staff'

Republican Senator Sasse Asks Obama to Release Inspector gen. report on TSA Failures.

Republican Senator Sasse Asks Obama to Release Inspector gen. report on TSA Failures. (SP).

Last week, the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released findings of mock tests at numerous airport checkpoints across the United States. TSA agents failed to uncover 67 out of 70 threats that were presented.

“President Obama has an obligation to declassify the inspector general's investigation and to publicly release everything else the administration knows about TSA's failures,” the Republican senator from Nebraska said in an op-ed in USA TODAY.

Sasse, who is a member of the Senate's Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, added that although the publicly available facts were disturbing, the classified details were even worse.

“If moms knew what members of Congress have learned behind closed doors, they would march on Washington demanding an urgent, top-to-bottom reevaluation of airport security,” he stressed.

Mock tests of the TSA, also known as Red Team testing, have been conducted for 13 years, according to the DHS. After the failed screening tests, TSA Administrator Melvin Carraway has been reassigned to the DHS’s Office of State and Local Law Enforcement.

TSA was created to strengthen the security of the US transportation systems and ensure the freedom of movement for people and commerce, according to its website.

What have i been saying for years? 'The weakest link is Airport staff'

Another way to look at this story: The TSA has hired a group of terrorism experts -- https://t.co/oW1qqEMX5D

— Jeffrey Goldberg (@JeffreyGoldberg) June 9, 2015

What have i been saying for years? 'The weakest link is Airport staff' (IBt).

The American Transportation Security Administration was apparently so focused on nabbing would-be terrorists trying to board planes that it failed to identify at least 73 people hired at US airports with suspected links to terrorists or terrorist activity.

The active aviation workers, employed as airport vendors and hired by major airlines, should have been disqualified and flagged under terrorism-related activity codes by the TSA, reveals a new report by the Department of Homeland Security's inspector general.

They weren't identified in part because the TSA is not authorised to receive all terrorism-related information under current inter-agency policies, the report said.

Besides missing workers with terrorism links, the TSA lacked "effective controls" to keep prospective employees with criminal histories and illegal status from getting jobs at airports.

Records used to vet the employees was sometimes based on documents and job applications missing information involving things like partial Social Security numbers or initials instead of full names.

The TSA also "relied on airport operators to perform criminal history and work authorisation checks, but had limited oversight over these commercial entities," the report notes. "TSA lacked assurance that it properly vetted all credential applicants.

"Without complete and accurate information, TSA risks [giving credentials to] and providing unescorted access to secure airport areas for workers with potential to harm the nation's air transportation system," the report found.

Despite the slip-up, which could have had catastrophic results, the agency's "multi-layered process to vet aviation workers for potential links to terrorism was generally effective. In addition to initially vetting every application for new credentials, TSA recurrently vetted aviation workers with access to secured areas of commercial airports every time the Consolidated Terrorist Watchlist was updated," the report found.  Hmmmm.....For years i have been warning that airport staff is the 'Weakest link' in the security chain.Read the full story here.

TSA missing lots of Badges Used to Enter Secure Areas at Airports - Judicial Watch.

TSA missing lots of Badges Used to Enter Secure Areas at Airports - Judicial Watch. (JW).

In the latest scandal to rock the beleaguered Transportation Security Administration (TSA), badges that allow agents to access secure areas of airports are missing along with uniforms and other devices used to control entry.

Judicial Watch has obtained records that show the TSA, which was created after 9/11 to secure the nation’s transportation system, has reported hundreds of lost, stolen or missing badges since 2012.

It’s part of an ongoing JW investigation into the massive agency, which functions under the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) with a multi-billion-dollar budget and more than 60,000 employees. Earlier this month JW obtained records that detail alleged sexually-related assaults on passengers by TSA personnel at three major U.S. international airports.

Some of the documents relating to the lost badges and uniforms were withheld by the government because they were deemed “sensitive security information” that would be detrimental to the security of transportation if disclosed. However, the documents JW got reveal that 139 security badges went missing in 2012 and 131 in 2013. Last year the agency reported 123 missing or stolen badges an so far this year there have been 19, according to the records provided to JW by the TSA under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

The lost uniform items, which can also be utilized to compromise security, were broken down by airports in the TSA files obtained by JW. O’Hare International in Chicago is among the biggest consistent offenders with 336 lost uniform items in both 2013 and 2014. Washington Dulles International lost 343 uniform items last year and Philadelphia International 253. Houston Intercontinental was the leader with 220 lost items in 2012, so the numbers show the numbers are increasing with time.

On the heels of this alarming information, a mainstream news outlet reports this week that the problem is much worse than the official government records show. More than 1,400 TSA badges that allow employees to access secure areas like runways and boarding gates went missing at one airport alone, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International, over approximately two years.

The same news outlet reported that 270 badges went missing at San Diego International Airport in the last two years. It gets better. Some of the security badges weren’t reported missing for months, which means they weren’t deactivated and could still be used to enter restricted areas. Hmmmm.....Proves again my point, As i always said 'the weakest link is the staff working at airports' Read the full story here.

Video - Message to TSA : ISIS Put IED at the Inside Of A Quran.

Kurdish Peshmerga fighters found an IED placed inside of a Koran. It is believed that it was left on the sidewalk to target civilians who support the Peshmerga. Hmmmm.....Is the TSA scanning Korans at the airports?

Video - Not-so-bright Muslim terrorists try to outsmart not-so-competent TSA

HT And Source.

Hilarious #video: Not-so-bright Muslim... #terrorism http://t.co/MNcKzQuCpd pic.twitter.com/6wpjracTx1

— Terrorism Updates (@terrorism_info) December 9, 2014

Video - TSA now executes warrantless searches inside parked cars at the airport, using keys stored by valet attendants.

Video - TSA now executes warrantless searches inside parked cars at the airport, using keys stored by valet attendants.The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security that exercises authority over the security of the traveling public in the United States

Accidentally Revealed Document Shows TSA Doesn't Think Terrorists Are Plotting To Attack Airplanes.

Blog Money Jihad.

Accidentally Revealed Document Shows TSA Doesn't Think Terrorists Are Plotting To Attack Airplanes.HT: Tech Dirt.By Tim Cushing.

Jonathan Corbett, a long-time vocal critic of TSA body scanners, has been engaged in a lawsuit against the government concerning the constitutionality of those scanners. In the course of the case, the TSA gave him classified documents, which he was ordered not to reveal. In using some of that information to make his case, he needed to file two copies of his brief: a public one with classified stuff redacted, and the full brief under seal, for the government and the courts to look at. Just one problem: someone over at Infowars noticed that apparently a clerk at the 11th Circuit appeals court forgot to file the document under seal, allowing them to find out what was under the redactions... Included in there is the following, apparently quoted from the TSA's own statements:

“As of mid-2011, terrorist threat groups present in the Homeland are not known to be actively plotting against civil aviation targets or airports; instead, their focus is on fundraising, recruiting, and propagandizing.”

Elsewhere, the TSA appears to admit that "due to hardened cockpit doors and the willingness of passengers to challenge hijackers," it's unlikely that there's much value in terrorists trying to hijack a plane these days (amusingly, that statement is a clear echo of Bruce Schneier's statement criticizing the TSA's security theater -- suggesting that the TSA flat out knows that airport security is nothing more than such theatrics). Read the full story here.

Video - Saudis trusted travelers?The Department of Homeland security is considering labeling Saudi’s low risk passengers.

HT: SunNewsNetwork.

Related: Why are Saudis suddenly trusted travelers?

"Better a living coward than a dead hero" - Homeland Security training TSA workers to save themselves in shooting.

"Better a living coward than a dead hero" - Homeland Security training TSA workers to save themselves in shooting.(WT).Transportation Security Administration (TSA) checkpoint screeners are receiving training to prepare them for the possibility of a mass shooting at one of the agency’s airport checkpoints, and those TSA personnel are being instructed to “save themselves” should a shooting occur.
It is unclear whether the TSA is conducting the reported mass shooting scenario training at airports around the nation or only at the airport where our source, a veteran of the TSA, is assigned. The TSA source claims with obvious concern that his own life, along with the lives of other unarmed TSA personnel, would be in grave danger were an airport checkpoint shooting to unfold.
The TSA screener, who claims to have recently undergone agency training during which TSA personnel were confronted with a chilling checkpoint shooting scenario, now tries to remain aware of how to get out alive were such a shooting to unfold.
“Every day when I arrive for work, I look for an escape route in case someone opens fire,” said the TSA worker. “We have been told to save ourselves.”
Does the TSA already have intelligence about a possible future checkpoint shooting? Reached by phone on Friday, Haskell said that the alleged TSA training for a checkpoint shooting “doesn’t surprise me at all” and voiced fears that the government might be involved in such an incident.
“As a first-hand eyewitness to a proven false flag attack, I know that the government does stage fake attacks to further governmental policy,” Haskell said.
Haskell observes, “An airport is the perfect place setting to stage their play.”
"Terrorism" is defined as the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. Haskell believes that the government is willing to and has already terrorized the American public by staging fictitious attacks to coerce the acceptance of new government policies.
Extrapolating on that scenario, the acceptance by the public and members of Congress of new gun restrictions would constitute only the latest policy initiative pursued through a program based on the implementation of terror.
A mass shooting at a TSA checkpoint would not only be a tragedy for the families of those passengers and TSA workers killed, but would likely lead to even more calls for gun control measures, as well as discussions of arming TSA workers, propositions that would likely face stiff resistance.
As Americans grow increasingly fatigued by their experiences at TSA checkpoints, there have been calls from some quarters to scale back or eliminate the agency altogether. Read the full story here.

Video - TSA Gives Obama Supporters a Helping Hand.

More than 700,000 people packed the National Mall in Washington D.C. Monday January 21st for the Inauguration of United States President Barack Obama. Most of the 700,000 went through a layer of Security Checkpoints that concluded with hundreds of TSA agents thoroughly searched through peoples bags and use of multiple Metal Detectors. Was the use of TSA agents needed when National Guard Troops, FBI agents, Secret Service agents, ATF, DHS, DC Police were all present near and around the National Mall?


"You see these dictators on their pedestals, surrounded by the bayonets of their soldiers and the truncheons of their police ... yet in their hearts there is unspoken fear. They are afraid of words and thoughts: words spoken abroad, thoughts stirring at home -- all the more powerful because forbidden -- terrify them. A little mouse of thought appears in the room, and even the mightiest potentates are thrown into panic." ~ Winston S. Churchill - in  Blood, Sweat and Tears.

TSA Claims It Is Above Congressional Oversight.

TSA Claims It Is Above Congressional Oversight.(PP).By Steve Watson.The TSA has refused to attend a House Transportation hearing this week, with agency head John Pistole personally refusing to appear and declaring that the Congressional Committee has “no jurisdiction over the TSA”.
The hearing, schedule for Thursday, will be held by the Subcommittee on Aviation, a part of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee (TIC). It is titled HOW BEST TO IMPROVE OUR NATION’S AIRPORT PASSENGER SECURITY SYSTEM THROUGH COMMON SENSE SOLUTIONS.
Headed by Rep. Thomas Petri, it will “examine the impact that the regulations and policies of the Transportation Security Administration have on aviation passenger experience and the free flow of aviation commerce,” according to a brief on the subcommittee’s website (PDF).
The TIC’s website indicates that TSA head John Pistole has been asked to testify at the hearing. However, a statement issued on the TSA’s website made it clear that neither Pistole, nor any TSA official intends to attend the hearing.
The statement reads:

By U.S. House of Representatives rules which state that the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee has no jurisdiction over the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), no representative from TSA will be present at the Subcommittee on Aviation hearing scheduled for Nov. 29.TSA will continue to work with its committees of jurisdiction to pursue effective and efficient security solutions. In the 112th Congress alone, TSA witnesses have testified at 38 hearings and provided 425 briefings for Members of Congress.TSA also continues to work to enhance security screening measures and to improve the passenger experience including through the expansion of TSA Pre?™. As part of its risk-based security initiatives, TSA has modified screening procedures for passengers 12 and under and 75 and older while pursuing a multi-layered approach to security that includes behavior detection officers, explosives-detection systems and federal air marshals, among other measures both seen and unseen.

House Republicans on the TIC have made it clear that they believe the TSA is in dire need of reform. A section on the Committee’s website describes the TSA as “a massive, inflexible, backward-looking bureaucracy of more than 65,000.”
“TSA is a top-heavy agency in need of reform,” the site also states.
In the next Congress, Mica will make way for Pennsylvania Rep. Bill Shuster. When asked by reporters for a reaction on the TSA’s refusal to testify at Thursday’s hearing, and the agency’s declaration that it is not beholden to the Committee, Shuster said “I don’t think we have direct jurisdiction but when they impede commerce, when they impede the traveling public, they need to answer to the committee.”
Speaking to Bloomberg News, Shuster said he “absolutely” expects TSA officials to appear at transportation committee hearings. Asked what will happen if they refuse to testify, Shuster said: “We’ll cross that bridge when we get there.”
With public backlash against the TSA at an all time high, and given the scrutiny that the TSA has faced at the hands of the TIC and its subcommittees, it is somewhat unsurprising that agency head Pistole is no longer willing to face the music as it were.Read the full story here.

Shock Video: Cop Protects First Amendment.

Shock Video: Cop Protects First Amendment.(IW).A shocking video has emerged of a police officer who abides by the oath he swore to uphold the constitution by defending the free speech rights of activists who were targeted by airport officials during the opt out and film campaign.

The clip shows activists Ashley Jessica and Jason Bermas handing out flyers warning travelersabout the dangers of x-ray body scanners at Albany International Airport in New York. Almost as soon as the activists begin to hand out the flyers, they are confronted by an aggressive airport official later named as Douglas I. Myers, the airport’s Director of Public Affairs. Myers orders the activists to leave the top floor and later takes the unprecedented step of closing off the entire level and preventing family from meeting their loved ones. He subsequently claims the activists need a permit and a $1 million dollar insurance liability merely to film inside the airport, despite the fact that the TSA’s own website clearly states that TSA checkpoints can be filmed at any airport. Myers’ attempts to get the activists in trouble with police are derailed when Sheriff Stan Leneck steps in to handle the situation, pointing out to Myers that they have a right to film under the First Amendment  “Obviously this is your constitutional right, as far as we’re concerned you’re not breaking any laws,” Leneck tells Bermas. When Myers asks the Sheriff to detain the activists, Leneck responds, “I can’t do that.” Myers then asks for Bermas’ identification, to which Sheriff Leneck responds, “He doesn’t have to show you his identification.” “I need to get it from you,” Myers tells the Sheriff as he winks at him, to which Sheriff Leneck responds “I can’t give you that.” “Just so you know, he’s not doing anything wrong, Deputy Leneck forcefully tells Myers, before quoting the New York penal law code. “If I was to ask for his identification he does not have to give it to me because he’s not doing anything wrong,” adds Leneck. Myers’ claim that Jessica is blocking the escalator is also dismissed by Leneck. Myers then claims the filming is illegal because it is “commercial” and could appear on the Drudge Report – which is a news aggregator and not a commercial website. Leneck should obviously be commended for his fine job in upholding constitutional rights. If there’s an award for cop of the year he should win it hands down. He is a shining example to other police officers who have completely failed to apply the law in similar situations.

Obama Signs New Executive Order Expanding Homeland Security Mission In The U.S.

Obama Signs New Executive Order Expanding Homeland Security Mission In The U.S.(PA).Executive Order October 26, 2012 By: Kenneth Schortgen Jr

Barack Obama

Credits:

Courtesy of missionenvironment.com

On Oct. 26, President Obama signed a new Executive Order which expands the role and scope of Homeland Security in states and areas across the country. This order, which establishes a new Security Partnership Council, will have far reaching effects in the overall mission of Homeland Security, and for state and local areas that interact with the Federal agency.

Economically, the Establishing the White House Homeland Security Partnership Council Executive Order will increase funding and resources to state and local governments to fulfill Homeland Security programs and doctrines, as well as increase Federal oversight in the implementation of directives tied to the agencies mission.

The purpose of this order is to maximize the Federal Government’s ability to develop local partnerships in the United States to support homeland security priorities. Partnerships are collaborative working relationships in which the goals, structure, and roles and responsibilities of the relationships are mutually determined.
There is established a White House Homeland Security Partnership Council (Council) to foster local partnerships — between the Federal Government and the private sector, nongovernmental organizations, foundations, community-based organizations, and State, local, tribal, and territorial government and law enforcement — to address homeland security challenges.
Sec. 3. Mission and Function of the Council and Steering Committee
(ii) promote homeland security priorities and opportunities for collaboration between Federal Government field offices and State, local, tribal, and territorial stakeholders;
(iii) advise and confer with State, local, tribal, and territorial stakeholders and agencies interested in expanding or building local homeland security partnerships; – Whitehouse.gov.

Since it's creation in 2001 from the aftermath of 9/11, the Department of Homeland Security has expanded its authority over states, communities, and law enforcement each year. From expanding TSA responsibilities over airport transportation to now include trains, subways, and even highway checkpoints, to new regulations in how border control agents function in immigration conflicts, Homeland Security is one of the fastest growing government agencies in the past decade.
Through creating a new Steering Committee in partnership with how Homeland Security missions, directives, and programs are implemented in state and local levels, the fine line between state sovereignty and the need protect the country from disaster and terror attacks is becoming smaller every day. Over the past few years Homeland Security grants to local law enforcement have led to a militarization of police and public safety, and new drone technology is being used in criminal investigations outside the scope of national security.
In a little more than a decade, the Department of Homeland Security, in conjunction with its underlying and partnering Federal agencies, have infiltrated nearly every community in America. This new Executive Order, which expands the scope of the agency and gives it greater power in state and local partnerships, will mean greater loss of freedoms and liberties to both the states and citizens as the Federal government imposes greater authority over what should remain state sovereignty scope and missions.

The White House Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release

October 26, 2012

Executive Order — Establishing the White House Homeland Security Partnership Council

EXECUTIVE ORDER

- – – – – – -

ESTABLISHING THE WHITE HOUSE

HOMELAND SECURITY PARTNERSHIP COUNCIL

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and in order to advance the Federal Government’s use of local partnerships to address homeland security challenges, it is hereby ordered as follows:

Section 1. Policy. The purpose of this order is to maximize the Federal Government’s ability to develop local partnerships in the United States to support homeland security priorities. Partnerships are collaborative working relationships in which the goals, structure, and roles and responsibilities of the relationships are mutually determined. Collaboration enables the Federal Government and its partners to use resources more efficiently, build on one another’s expertise, drive innovation, engage in collective action, broaden investments to achieve shared goals, and improve performance. Partnerships enhance our ability to address homeland security priorities, from responding to natural disasters to preventing terrorism, by utilizing diverse perspectives, skills, tools, and resources.

The National Security Strategy emphasizes the importance of partnerships, underscoring that to keep our Nation safe “we must tap the ingenuity outside government through strategic partnerships with the private sector, nongovernmental organizations, foundations, and community-based organizations. Such partnerships are critical to U.S. success at home and abroad, and we will support them through enhanced opportunities for engagement, coordination, transparency, and information sharing.” This approach recognizes that, given the complexities and range of challenges, we must institutionalize an all-of-Nation effort to address the evolving threats to the United States.

Sec. 2. White House Homeland Security Partnership Council and Steering Committee.

(a) White House Homeland Security Partnership Council. There is established a White House Homeland Security Partnership Council (Council) to foster local partnerships — between the Federal Government and the private sector, nongovernmental organizations, foundations, community-based organizations, and State, local, tribal, and territorial government and law enforcement — to address homeland security challenges. The Council shall be chaired by the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism (Chair), or a designee from the National Security Staff.

(b) Council Membership.

(i) Pursuant to the nomination process established in subsection (b)(ii) of this section, the Council shall be composed of Federal officials who are from field offices of the executive departments, agencies, and bureaus (agencies) that are members of the Steering Committee established in subsection (c) of this section, and who have demonstrated an ability to develop, sustain, and institutionalize local partnerships to address policy priorities.

(ii) The nomination process and selection criteria for members of the Council shall be established by the Steering Committee. Based on those criteria, agency heads may select and present to the Steering Committee their nominee or nominees to represent them on the Council. The Steering Committee shall consider all of the nominees and decide by consensus which of the nominees shall participate on the Council. Each member agency on the Steering Committee, with the exception of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, may have at least one representative on the Council.

(c) Steering Committee. There is also established a Steering Committee, chaired by the Chair of the Council, to provide guidance to the Council and perform other functions as set forth in this order. The Steering Committee shall include a representative at the Deputy agency head level, or that representative’s designee, from the following agencies:

(i) Department of State;

(ii) Department of the Treasury;

(iii) Department of Defense;

(iv) Department of Justice;

(v) Department of the Interior;

(vi) Department of Agriculture;

(vii) Department of Commerce;

(viii) Department of Labor;

(ix) Department of Health and Human Services;

(x) Department of Housing and Urban Development;

(xi) Department of Transportation;

(xii) Department of Energy;

(xiii) Department of Education;

(xiv) Department of Veterans Affairs;

(xv) Department of Homeland Security;

(xvi) Office of the Director of National Intelligence;

(xvii) Environmental Protection Agency;

(xviii) Small Business Administration; and

(xix) Federal Bureau of Investigation.

At the invitation of the Chair, representatives of agencies not listed in subsection (c) of this section or other executive branch entities may attend and participate in Steering Committee meetings as appropriate.

(d) Administration. The Chair or a designee shall convene meetings of the Council and Steering Committee, determine their agendas, and coordinate their work. The Council may establish subgroups consisting exclusively of Council members or their designees, as appropriate.

Sec. 3. Mission and Function of the Council and Steering Committee. (a) The Council shall, consistent with guidance from the Steering Committee:

(i) advise the Chair and Steering Committee members on priorities, challenges, and opportunities for local partnerships to support homeland security priorities, as well as regularly report to the Steering Committee on the Council’s efforts;

(ii) promote homeland security priorities and opportunities for collaboration between Federal Government field offices and State, local, tribal, and territorial stakeholders;

(iii) advise and confer with State, local, tribal, and territorial stakeholders and agencies interested in expanding or building local homeland security partnerships;

(iv) raise awareness of local partnership best practices that can support homeland security priorities;

(v) as appropriate, conduct outreach to representatives of the private sector, nongovernmental organizations, foundations, community-based organizations, and State, local, tribal, and territorial government and law enforcement entities with relevant expertise for local homeland security partnerships, and collaborate with other Federal Government bodies; and

(vi) convene an annual meeting to exchange key findings, progress, and best practices.

(b) The Steering Committee shall:

(i) determine the scope of issue areas the Council will address and its operating protocols, in consultation with the Office of Management and Budget;

(ii) establish the nomination process and selection criteria for members of the Council as set forth in section 2(b)(ii) of this order;

(iii) provide guidance to the Council on the activities set forth in subsection (a) of this section; and

(iv) within 1 year of the selection of the Council members, and annually thereafter, provide a report on the work of the Council to the President through the Chair.

Sec. 4. General Provisions. (a) The heads of agencies participating in the Steering Committee shall assist and provide information to the Council, consistent with applicable law, as may be necessary to implement this order. Each agency shall bear its own expense for participating in the Council.

(b) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:

(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department, agency, or the head thereof;

(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals; or

(iii) the functions of the Overseas Security Advisory Council.

(c) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and appropriate protections for privacy and civil liberties, and subject to the availability of appropriations.

(d) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.

BARACK OBAMA

THE WHITE HOUSE,

October 26, 2012.

Steering committee : Hmmmm.......How many of these agencies have an "Obama Czar"?

TSA Removes X-Ray Body Scanners From Major Airports.

TSA Removes X-Ray Body Scanners From Major Airports.(ProPublica).By Michael Gabrell.
The Transportation Security Administration has been quietly removing its X-ray body scanners from major airports over the last few weeks and replacing them with machines that radiation experts believe are safer.

The TSA says it made the decision not because of safety concerns but to speed up checkpoints at busier airports. It means, though, that far fewer passengers will be exposed to radiation because the X-ray scanners are being moved to smaller airports.

The backscatters, as the X-ray scanners are known, were swapped out at Boston Logan International Airport in early October. Similar replacements have occurred at Los Angeles International Airport, Chicago O'Hare, Orlando and John F. Kennedy in New York, the TSA confirmed Thursday.

The X-ray scanners have faced a barrage of criticism since the TSA began rolling them out nationwide after the failed underwear bombing on Christmas Day 2009. One reason is that they emit a small dose of ionizing radiation, which at higher levels has been linked to cancer.

In addition, privacy advocates decried that the machines produce images, albeit heavily blurred, of passengers' naked bodies. Each image must be reviewed by a TSA officer, slowing security lines.

The replacement machines, known as millimeter-wave scanners, rely on low-energy radio waves similar to those used in cell phones. The machines detect potential threats automatically and quickly using a computer program. They display a generic cartoon image of a person's body, mitigating privacy concerns.

"They're not all being replaced," TSA spokesman David Castelveter said. "It's being done strategically. We are replacing some of the older equipment and taking them to smaller airports. That will be done over a period of time."

He said the TSA decided to move the X-ray machines to less-busy airports after conducting an analysis of processing time and staffing requirements at the airports where the scanners are installed.

The radiation risk and privacy concerns had no bearing on the decision, Castelveter said.

Asked about the changes, John Terrill, a spokesman for Rapiscan — which makes the X-ray scanners — wrote in an email, "No comment on this."

The TSA is not phasing out X-ray body scanners altogether. The backscatter machines are still used for screening at a few of America's largest 25 airports, but the TSA has not confirmed which ones. Last week, Gateway Airport in Mesa, Ariz., installed two of the machines.

Moreover, in late September, the TSA awarded three companies potential contracts worth up to $245 million for the next generation of body scanners — and one of the systems, made by American Science & Engineering, uses backscatter X-ray technology.

The United States remains one of the only countries in the world to X-ray passengers for airport screening. The European Union prohibited the backscatters last year "in order not to risk jeopardizing citizens' health and safety," according to a statement at the time. The last scanners were removed from Manchester Airport in the United Kingdom last month.

Here's a side-by-side comparison of the two types of body scanners the TSA uses.The X-ray scanner looks like two blue refrigerator-sized boxes. Unseen to the passenger, a thin beam scans left and right and up and down. The rays reflect back to the scanner, creating an image of the passenger's body and any objects hidden under his or her clothes.

The millimeter-wave scanner looks like a round glass booth. Two rotating antennas circle the passenger, emitting radio frequency waves. Instead of creating a picture of the passenger's body, a computer algorithm looks for anomalies and depicts them as yellow boxes on a cartoon image of the body.

According to many studies, including a new one conducted by the European Union, the radiation dose from the X-ray scanner is extremely small. It has been repeatedly measured to be less than the dose received from cosmic radiation during two minutes of the airplane flight.

Using those measurements, radiation experts have studied the cancer risk, with estimates ranging from six to 100 additional cancer cases among the 100 million people who fly every year. Many scientists say that is trivial, considering that those same 100 million people would develop 40 million cancers over the course of their lifetimes. And others, including the researchers who did the EU study, have said that so much is unknown about low levels of radiation that such estimates shouldn't be made.

Still, the potential risks have led some prominent scientists to argue that the TSA is unnecessarily endangering the public because it has an alternative — the millimeter-wave machine — which it also deems highly effective at finding explosives.

"Why would we want to put ourselves in this uncertain situation where potentially we're going to have some cancer cases?" David Brenner, director of Columbia University's Center for Radiological Research, told ProPublica last year. "It makes me think, really, why don't we use millimeter waves when we don't have so much uncertainty?"
Although there has been some doubt about the long-term safety of the type of radio frequency waves used in the millimeter-wave machines, scientists say that, in contrast to X-rays, such waves have no known mechanism to damage DNA and cause cancer.

The TSA has said that having both technologies encourages competition, leading to better detection capabilities at a lower cost.

But tests in Europe and Australia suggest the millimeter-wave machines have some drawbacks. They were found to have a high false-alarm rate, ranging from 23 percent to 54 percent when figures have been released. Even common things such as folds in clothing and sweat have triggered the alarm.

In contrast, Manchester Airport officials told ProPublica that the false-alarm rate for the backscatter was less than 5 percent.

No study comparing the two machines' effectiveness has been released. The TSA says its own results are classified.

Each week, the agency reports on various knives, powdered drugs and even an explosives detonator used for training that have been found by the body scanners.

But Department of Homeland Security investigators reported last year that they had "identified vulnerabilities" with both types of machines. And House transportation committee chairman John Mica, R-Fla., who has seen the results, has called the scanners "badly flawed."Read the full story and more here.

1984 Madness unleashed? Coming Next: TSA Taser Bracelets?

1984 Madness unleashed? Coming Next: TSA Taser Bracelets?(Matzav).The TSA’s security policies are getting more and more bizarre, from testing people’s drinks for explosives to ordering all travelers to freeze on command, but could a frightening policy that was seriously explored by the DHS be resurrected - forcing people to wear taser bracelets that would deliver an electric shock if they got out of line?
The story sounds like it belongs in on an urban myths website - but it was actually true.

In 2008, the Washington Times reported on how DHS official Paul S. Ruwaldt of the Science and Technology Directorate, office of Research and Development, wrote to Lamperd Less Lethal, Inc. indicating that the Department of Homeland Security was ready to purchase devices from the company that would be used to deliver incapacitating shocks to airline passengers, all of whom would be mandated to wear the taser bracelet once they checked in for their flight.

The so-called “safety bracelet,” also known as the Electronic ID Bracelet, was designed to replace a boarding pass and be capable of tracking the passenger through the airport by means of GPS technology. The device would also contain details about the passenger and their flight plans.

The primary function of the device was to allow airport officials and flight crews to deliver an incapacitating electric shock to travelers by means of Electro-Muscular Disruption (EMD), completely immobilizing the individual for minutes.
The bracelet would be worn by all travelers until they disembarked at their location. The patent for the device admits that all passengers could be incapacitated if the devices are activated.

“Upon activation of the electric shock device, through receipt of an activating signal from the selectively operable remote control means, the passenger wearing that particular bracelet receives the disabling electrical shock from the electric shock device. Accordingly, the passenger becomes incapacitated for a few seconds or perhaps a few minutes, during which time the passenger can be fully subdued and handcuffed, if necessary. Depending on the type of transmission medium used to send the activating signal, other passengers may also become temporarily incapacitated, which is undesirable and unfortunate, but may be unavoidable,” reads the patent for the device.

In his letter to Lamperd Less Lethal, Inc., DHS official Ruwaldt also noted how the bracelet could be used as a “method of interrogation,” in other words a torture device.
He also raised the prospect of using the device against protesters to allow the temporary “restraint of large numbers of individuals in open area environments by a small number of agents or Law Enforcement Officers.”

The letter stated that the DHS was “interested in…. the immobilizing security bracelet” and that it was “conceivable to envision a use to improve air security, on passenger planes.” 
Other letters made it clear that the DOD, the CDC, Department of Interior, Department of Agriculture Forestry service, as well as unnamed law enforcement agencies were also keen on acquiring the device.

Following a wave of negative publicity, the DHS pulled the plug on its interest in the torture bracelet, and Lamperd Less Lethal, Inc. set about removing the letters from Ruwaldt it had previously proudly displayed on its website.

However, given that the TSA is already doling out punishments for people who do not display the proper level of obedience, by either preventing them from flying or stealing their cash, how far away are we from the hideous idea of the taser bracelet being resurrected?
Especially given the heights of absurdity the TSA has already scaled by introducing its ludicrous “all stop” policy and its testing of drinks purchased inside the secure area of the airport?

The fact that the torture bracelet was ever seriously considered at all should send chills down the spine of every American who values their dignity, especially given the endless train of TSA abuse stories that pour in on a weekly basis.

Imagine a TSA goon not only having the power to squeeze your junk if you so much as look at them the wrong way, but also having the capability to deliver an electric shock to anyone who speaks out of turn. It’s a nightmare scenario, and another clear indication that the TSA is an odious insult to the very notion of America as a free country and needs to be defunded and ultimately abolished.

Given a recent survey which found that a majority of travelers were happy with the TSA’s performance and also In the interests of discovering exactly what level of indignity Americans will tolerate, Infowars is set to commission a poll to find out what passengers will tolerate when going through TSA checkpoints.

One of the questions will ask if Americans, given the apparent threat posed by terrorists who implant bombs in their own bodies, are willing to submit to an anal cavity search in order to fly. Although this sounds bizarre, we feel confident that a sizeable number would agree to it. Likewise, the idea of forcing travelers to wear a taser bracelet capable of delivering an electric shock is another question that will be included in the poll - which will be conducted by a professional polling agency.

Source: INFO WARS


             "First of All Flying isn't a right, it's a privilege"

Video - Dying Woman Mistreated by TSA on 'End Of Life Trip'.

Video - TSA to install molecular body scanners.

If you thought the x-ray scanners at the airport were bad, wait until you find out that TSA employees will soon know what you had for breakfast and how pumped you are to sit on a plane for twelve hours.
Unfortunately, you won’t know what they know, because Homeland Security’s new toy is capable of detecting every molecule on your person from over 164 feet (50 meters) away—without your permission.
CIA-Backed Company Develops New Scanners
“Within the next year or two, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security will instantly know everything about your body, clothes, and luggage with a new laser-based molecular scanner fired from 164 feet (50 meters) away. From traces of drugs or gun powder on your clothes to what you had for breakfast to the adrenaline level in your body—agents will be able to get any information they want without even touching you,” reports Gizmodo.
The scanner was developed by Genia Photonics before being subcontracted by In-Q-Tel, a company founded in 1999 “by a group of private citizens at the request of the Director of the CIA and the support of the US Congress” Although the technology is not new, In-Q-Tel made it exponentially faster and more convenient to use—which has its own implications.

Although the TSA says this technology would be used to detect explosive material, the scanners are capable of detecting countless types of molecules. Which ones will be tagged for further surveillance? The cocaine on a dollar bill you received in change after buying coffee? The used joint you unwittingly stepped on at the bus stop? (Let’s not forget Keith Brown, a father of three who had a sugar-grain-sized speck of cannabis under his shoe and was sentenced to four years in a Dubai prison.)
Because of the device’s portability and ease of use, it may even begin to show up at athletic events, movie theaters, traffic lights, and bus and train stations. While this may, for whatever reason, seem like a welcome sense of security to some, it’s a blatant breach of the Fourth Amendment to our Constitution which protects citizens from unreasonable searches and seizures. This manner of surveillance too closely resembles that of the dystopian narratives of Phillip K. Dick, and will likely do little more than result in false positives, delayed human and automobile traffic in already busy areas, and cluttered minds.
You choose—should this manner of privacy invasion be the norm? It will be unless we make noise about it today, while we still can.Read the full story here.