this is NOT a good idea in so very many ways

when 9/11 happened, my cell phone (in connecticut) didn't work for a few hours. many others didn't either. i believe it was a system overload. i know i was attempting to call friends and relatives and i just couldn't get through (not sure if it was the cell phones or the satellites or what).

by using kelly's logic, the mumbai terrorists used cell phones to communicate while they were slaughtering people. SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO the nypd should be able to turn off all cell phone use in the event of another emergency. well if one goes with THAT train of thought, the mumbai terrorists USED GUNS WHILE THEY WERE SLAUGHTERING PEOPLE. NO ONE IN NEW YORK SHOULD HAVE GUNS. that's how i see it (and i can live with the later but NOT the former)

disrupting cell phone service is not going to stop terrorists.

NYPD wants tech to disrupt wireless communications
In a Thursday testimony before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, New York City Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly revealed that his department is seeking technology that can disrupt cell phone and other wireless communications in the event of a crisis.

Kelly also said that in such events as a mass casualty attack on American soil, the media can pose a threat by revealing key police tactics, which could be relayed to said attackers.

Later in his testimony, Kelly revealed that the New York harbor is vulnerable to attack. He also emphasized his wish to see wiretap warrant requests to the FISA court expedited.
..............

homeland security:

keeping america SAFE from undocumented and illegal aliens!!!
High-Ranking Homeland Security Official Repeatedly Hired Undocumented Workers
Posted by Steve Benen, Washington Monthly

If you work as a high-ranking border official, it's probably not a good idea to knowingly and repeatedly hire immigrants who entered the country illegally to clean your house.

It's one of those obvious lessons that Lorraine Henderson apparently forgot.

Lorraine Henderson, the regional director of Homeland Security, Customs, and Border Protection, was arrested Friday at her home in Salem. She was expected to appear in federal court later Friday.

Henderson is responsible for stopping illegal aliens from entering the country through the Port of Boston...........

this would be funny

except for the fact that it's not. of course we know this goes on all the time, everywhere, not just maryland. we know that's it's gone on for decades. it's nothing new.

one would think they would learn by now. usually peace groups and death penalty opponents DO NOT COMMIT VIOLENT CRIMES.

is it me or shouldn't the police (or fbi or cia or whomever) be spending their money and resources on REAL crime and REAL criminals?

Police Spied on Activists In Md.

Officers Infiltrated Groups During Ehrlich Years

By Lisa Rein

Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, July 18, 2008; Page A01

Undercover Maryland State Police officers conducted surveillance on war protesters and death penalty opponents, including some in Takoma Park, for more than a year while Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. was governor, documents released yesterday show.

Detailed intelligence reports logged by at least two agents in the police department's Homeland Security and Intelligence Division reveal close monitoring of the movements as the Iraq war and capital punishment were heatedly debated in 2005 and 2006.

Organizational meetings, public forums, prison vigils, rallies outside the State House in Annapolis and e-mail group lists were infiltrated by police posing as peace activists and death penalty opponents, the records show. The surveillance continued even though the logs contained no reports of illegal activity and consistently indicated that the activists were not planning violent protests........

they are protecting america from terrorists

THAT ARE 14 DAYS OLD (and have heart conditions). how sad is this?

Baby dies in DHS/Immigration custody at airport...
Maybe DHS, can get retroactive immunity for all of the deaths piling up at their doorstep? This one will make your pull your hair out of your head:
"A 14-day-old infant traveling here for heart surgery died at Honolulu International Airport on Friday after he, his mother and a nurse were detained by immigration officials in a locked room, a lawyer for the boy's family said.
The Honolulu medical examiner's office yesterday identified the infant as Michael Futi of Tafuna, American Samoa's largest village, which is located on the east coast of Tutuila Island. Autopsy findings have been deferred.
According to police, the child died at 5:50 a.m. It is unknown why immigration officials detained the mother, the nurse and the child. Scott Ishikawa, a spokesman for the state Department of Transportation, said the child went into respiratory failure while in the customs office, which is located near the baggage claims area of the overseas terminal. Airport paramedics were called about 6:10 a.m., he said.".............

this is reassuring

NOTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT (but we really didn't need the article, we KNEW this already)
'Appalling Gap' Found in Homeland Defense Readiness
National Guard, Reserve Forces Lack Sufficient Personnel, Training to Respond to Crisis in U.S., Report Says

By Ann Scott Tyson Washington Post Staff Writer
The U.S. military is not prepared to meet catastrophic threats at home, and it is suffering from an "appalling gap" in forces able to respond to chemical, biological and nuclear strikes on U.S. soil, according to a congressional commission report released yesterday.
The situation is rooted in severe readiness problems in National Guard and reserve forces, which would otherwise be well-suited to respond to domestic crises but lack sufficient personnel and training, as well as $48 billion in equipment because of deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, according to a report by the Commission on the National Guard and Reserves.
Guard readiness has continued to slide since last March, when the panel found that 88 percent of Army National Guard units were rated "not ready," said retired Marine Maj. Gen. Arnold L. Punaro, the commission chairman. ..........

ok, i can understand

asking firefighters to report suspicious fires or suspicious activities to homeland security. BUT asking them to report people who are discontented with how things are being run in america??????????????

W T F??????????????????

i think there is something wrong with YOU if YOU don't think there's something wrong with how america is being run. take these VERY FEW examples: advocating torture, a president/king and his cabinet who lie, allowing children to go without proper healthcare, attacking another country who was NO threat to us, outing a COVERT cia agent, not helping domestic victims of natural disasters, allowing injured and wounded veterans to go unattended, being friends with a country who not only supports terrorists but sentences a victim of gang rape to prison AND 200 lashes. and as i said, that is JUST the tip of the iceburg

Firefighters asked to report people who express discontent with the government
David Edwards and Muriel Kane
It was revealed last week that firefighters are being trained to not only keep an eye out for illegal materials in the course of their duties, but even to report back any expression of discontent with the government.
A year ago, Homeland Security gave security clearances to nine New York City fire chiefs and began sharing intelligence with them. Even before that, fire department personnel were being taught "to identify material or behavior that may indicate terrorist activities" and were also "told to be alert for a person who is hostile, uncooperative or expressing hate or discontent with the United States."
Unlike law enforcement officials, firemen can go onto private property without a warrant, not only while fighting fires but also for inspections. "It's the evolution of the fire service," said a Phoenix, AZ fire chief of his information-sharing arrangement with law enforcement............

lucy, 'splain this to me please

the fbi releases a statement saying FOREIGN EXTREMISTS (i.e. TERRORISTS) are driving our children around in SCHOOL BUSES. then the next statement they make is, parents and children have NOTHING to worry about.

huh?

either terrorists are driving our school buses OR THEY ARE NOT

if they are, PARENTS AND CHILDREN DO have something to worry about. if they are not, and the powers that be are just trying to rile us up (which of course i do NOT for one second doubt) wtf?????????? (oh, i DO believe there ARE terrorists out there and i DO believe there are plots against us and i DO believe we must guard against such attacks). i just don't get THIS story at all

FBI: Foreign extremists sign up to drive school buses

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Members of extremist groups have signed up as school bus drivers in the United States, counterterror officials said Friday, in a cautionary bulletin to police. An FBI spokesman said "parents and children have nothing to fear."
Asked about the alert notice, the FBI's Rich Kolko said "there are no threats, no plots and no history leading us to believe there is any reason for concern," although law enforcement agencies around the country were asked to watch out for kids' safety.
The bulletin, parts of which were read to The Associated Press, did not say how often foreign extremists have sought to acquire licenses to drive school buses, or where. It was sent Friday as part of what officials said was a routine FBI and Homeland Security Department advisory to local law enforcement.
It noted "recent suspicious activity" by foreigners who either drive school buses or are licensed to drive them, according to a counterterror official who read parts of the document to The Associated Press.........