I was starting to get worried that it's been much, much, much too long since his last "we're all going to die" warning. If only he could show us color coded warnings just like Tom Ridge because nothing works the American public into a frenzy like color coded fear messages.
And for good reason. It's a complete hassle and the already poor airline quality gets worse by the day, not to mention more expensive. Whenever I can I avoid air travel and opt for the train, when I have to but that's not as much of an option in the US. As annoying as it is in Europe I find it much worse in the US. It might be easier to tolerate the hassles if there was a sense of it all going somewhere but the entire process strikes me as just another effort to continue the fear tactics that are so well loved by the Bush administration.
Surely there has to be a better way, but who really trusts Chertoff and his bumbling band of idiots to get this right? Maybe now that business is screaming and losing billions in revenue, someone might wake up and re-think the current (failed) model.
Forget about what Bush, Chertoff and the Republicans say, they are failing across the board year after year. Once again the issue of port security is making headlines and today the Times has a major piece on Border Agents and cross-border smuggling. Of course, this is what the GOP will tell us only happens in poor countries but looking at what they have done to the economy, they've done their best to take the US in that direction. Is this what the GOP considers "safe" for the US?
Increased corruption is linked, in part, to tougher enforcement, driving smugglers to recruit federal employees as accomplices. It has grown so worrisome that job applicants will soon be subject to lie detector tests to ensure that they are not already working for smuggling organizations. In addition, homeland security officials have reconstituted an internal affairs unit at Customs and Border Protection, one of the largest federal law enforcement agencies, overseeing both border agents and customs officers.
Just when you think FEMA has hit rock bottom, something even more disgusting comes out. With Chertoff, the problems never seem to end. FEMA gets worse by the day.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency will provide mobile homes to victims of last week's tornadoes in Arkansas and Tennessee, despite a health warning about high formaldehyde levels in trailers used by the victims of the 2005 hurricanes.
Bush has no issue with asking for even more details on passengers coming from Europe - soon pushing for advanced notifications before even buying a ticket - yet in the US anyone can buy a gun with less information. Last time I checked, many more people die from guns in the US than from terrorism, but no, we would never want to disrupt the god-given right to buy an AK-47. Bush even wants to know who pushed granny or a sick child to the gate in a wheelchair. If only this administration showed as much interest in monitoring business activity that is costing American jobs and retirements.
The demand to put armed air marshals on to the flights is part of a travel clampdown by the Bush administration that officials in Brussels described as "blackmail" and "troublesome", and could see west Europeans and Britons required to have US visas if their governments balk at Washington's requirements.
According to a US document being circulated for signature in European capitals, EU states would also need to supply personal data on all air passengers overflying but not landing in the US in order to gain or retain visa-free travel to America, senior EU officials said.
And within months the US department of homeland security is to impose a new permit system for Europeans flying to the US, compelling all travellers to apply online for permission to enter the country before booking or buying a ticket, a procedure that will take several days.
Thanks. That much is obvious to anyone with a brain but where the hell was this guy when times were tough? It's great to hear people like this speak out but I've about had it with them all saying nothing when we really need them. What, does he want to get a new job or something? Is that why he's now talking? My lasting memory of Ridge is him scaring the American public with ridiculous terrorist warnings that turned out to be false, time after time. Great for election victories, but not so great for the supposed leader of the free world.
"One of America's greatest strengths is the soft power of our value system and how we treat prisoners of war, and we don't torture," Ridge said in the interview.
Wonderful, but I always thought one of our greatest strengths was telling the truth and not just leaning on the word "democracy" when it was convenient. Where was our value system when Ridge was at Homeland Security? What an ass.
Via Raw Story (which also has CNN video), confirmation that the "cheesebomb" BS was in fact BS, thanks to the TSA.
The Transportation Security Agency's national security bulletin issued was based on bogus examples that were combined to give the impression of ominous terrorist plotting, CNN reports.
"That bulletin for law enforcement eyes only told of suspicious items recently found in passenger's bags at airport checkpoints, warned that they may signify dry runs for terrorist attacks," CNN's Brian Todd reported Friday afternoon. "Well it turns out none of that is true."
Todd highlights the case of Sara Weiss, who was detained in San Diego after two ice packs covered in tape were found in her baggage. Weiss, who works for a faith-based organization, also was carrying a survey about Muslim Americans, which CNN says also raised law enforcement provisions.
"The FBI now says there were valid explanations for all four incidents in that bulletin, and a US government official says no charges will be brought in any of these cases," Todd reported.
