Like most people, I have endured the airport screening, and have often scheduled my flights early so that I would deal with the least amount of it. However, I am becoming more on more convinced, after listening to a variety of talking heads, that this is more of a jobs program than it is about safety. It is my understanding that there are dogs out there who can sniff out various contraband, including the explosive material carried by the underwear bomber. We also have this thing called a computer which can deal with huge data bases of names with ease. There are programs which can deal with various permutations of names; and a visa can be easily revoked or flagged in such a database.
Along these same lines, it was my understanding (and maybe I got this wrong?) that Homeland Security was supposed to facilitate all of the various intelligence agencies talking to one another. However, one of the very first things that this Homeland Security chief put out was a booklet warning of right-wing radicals and terrorists and how the United States was in danger of recently returned vets being proselytized by dangerous right-wing groups. Heads at Homeland Security need to roll, if for nothing else than, not having a clue.
In the private sector, apart from unions and governmental regulations and lawsuits, one can be fired for not doing their job. Why does this not seem to be an option for governmental agencies? Various employees had pieces of information on the underwear bomber that should have flagged him. Why did they (excuse the expression) sit on this information? There are people and agencies in charge of the no-fly database and whatever other databases we have (like the terrorist watch list); why is there no integration and no movement of information across agencies? If the information was supposed to go from point A to point B, and someone did not do this, that person needs to be fired. If the system was not set up to allow this sort of information to flow (which I thought had been fixed since 9/11), then those policies need to be changed.
There were over a half-dozen red flags set off by the underwear bomber before he set foot on the plane. If the government cannot handle this, how can they handle healthcare, which is far more complex and has many more moving parts?
The American people are tired of political correctness when it comes to national security (whether we are speaking of the underwear bomber or the Fort Hood killer). Many blame, in part, political correctness for these incidents (as several recent polls have shown).
It is my understanding the Israeli flight security look people in the eyes and ask them questions. What is the one thing American security never does? They never look you in the eyes and they never ask you any real questions. Mark Steyn, this past week, talked about how carefully his driver’s license was inspected by a security person, who never spent any time looking Steyn in the face.
Surprisingly enough, what will Obama do to solve this problem? He will threw more money at the problem. Here is a problem which is clearly identifiable; and Obama’s solution: create more federal agencies, hire more federal employees and spend more money; because more federal employees and more federal agencies spending more tax dollars will solve any problem.
In any case, do not lose heart; the system sometimes works. Michael Yon, former Green Beret and war correspondent, was arrested at the Seattle Airport for failing to divulge his salary to a SeaTac official. Another dangerous right-wing radical caught by the system. So, I guess this means, the system works? Another possible right-wing terrorist act averted.
A retired math teacher who spends most of his time exegeting the Old Testament and, once a week, puts out an ezeen.
Homeland Security is all about there job security and spending our tax dollars, They dont want to fix it because its big money for them. They do not care about security, they care about there job and they make up stories to create there own importance.
The Immigration System Is Broken; What Are You Doing To Fix It?
[This post comes from Carl McGinnis, a citizen of the United States, who has seen the horrors of immigrant detention after ICE detained his legal immigrant friend, Noureddine Feddane. He tells us that it is not just about undocumented immigrants but even people who follow the rules get burned in our archaic and inhumane immigration system].
I am a citizen of the United States and I have a friend that is from Paris, France here on a student visa with a double Masters Degree and working on his PhD in International Finance. Noureddine Feddane has been here since 2005. His visa is valid until March of 2010, his passport is valid until 2014, and his I-20 is current. He is not what people call an ‘illegal immigrant.’ In 2007, he fell in love and in Dec. 2008 married a U.S. citizen that just happens to be addicted to prescription medications. He knew nothing about this. But he was arrested due to her mistakes. The reality is that his American wife was taking advantage of him and when his money was gone so was she. Janet Napolitano just wants to deport him rather than correct the problem, and make the American accountable. This is wrong. We should have some sort of protection built into the system. Judge Rex Ford would not listen to reason without the wife in court and all witnesses were not given time to testify. This is not what I thought American Justice was all about. I was wrong. It is all a game our Government plays with our lives.
Noureddine was placed in detention and scheduled for deportation. He has been in the detention center in Pompano Beach Florida for 5 months now. This couple has lost all there savings on lawyers, she lost her job, and they are in the process of losing their home. All this was caused because ICE has the wrong person in jail.
I have written many letters to Janet Napolitano, Senator Bill Nelson, Representative Ginny Brown-Waite and even President Obama. But no one will listen. What is illegal in this case is the way DHS is treating this guy, who is 51 and has never had a traffic violation. While in the detention center, He has been beaten by another inmate and suffered cracked ribs and bruised body, denied him food and proper medical treatment. Noureddine is diabetic and they will not give him the proper food or medical attention. The phone system is very poor and hardly works. I suspect that they plan it that way so the detainees cannot contact their lawyers and family. I fear he will be next on the long list of persons that have died while in detention. I beg for someone to go and listen to his story. They do not allow any form of media in because they don’t want anyone to know what they are doing.
Until you go to one of these detention centers and see with your own eyes, you will not believe what America is doing. I was shocked, on my first visit and after almost 6 months of seeing what happens and how they have to live, I am still in shock. It is all about the money. My friend has never cost America anything until they locked him up. He is in a private prison owned by a company called GEO based near Miami, Florida. They are paid very well by our tax dollars, but the treatment is unbelievable. I wonder how many politicians have stock in this company. They are doing quite well even in a bad economy.
Six months ago I had no idea that we treated immigrants in this way, especially when they are here legally and have done nothing wrong. I knew nothing about ICE and how they operate illegally. I was under the impression that DHS was here only to protect us from terrorists. And I had no idea of the millions of our tax dollars were being wasted to imprison people that could be out of detention and have their family support them until a decision is made in immigration court. I do not understand why we have to pay our hard earned tax dollars to house and feed persons that are not dangerous.
When they have to lock up a man who has done nothing wrong, make him spend thousands in fees, ICE is giving way too much importance to them selves. How can we turn such educated people away simply to boost the ego of ICE officers and add another number to the Janet Napolitano deportation list, so that the Obama Administration can look like it is doing its job of ‘cracking down on criminals?’
Something has to change soon. I feel it is my duty as an American to let as many people as possible know the truth. I visit the detention center every Saturday and spend the rest of the week writing letters. This New Year, lets do something worthwhile. Let’s go back to protecting the country rather than making up stories to justify the expansion of a national security complex. Let’s end businesses profiting from immigrant detention and restore our image as a nation of immigrants.