Listen up kiddies, summer doesn’t mean down time when it comes to corruption in Jersey.
Archives: July 2007
FEMA ignored travel trailer formaldehyde threat
Posted: July 26, 2007 4:22 pm
Updated: July 26, 2007 4:47 pm
People who survived Hurricane Katrina, the worst natural disaster in a century, then had to face the next challenge to their survival: the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Those who survived FEMA’s first round of incompetence in New Orleans were placed in travel trailers, many of which oozed formaldehyde, making them sick and killing at least one person. But FEMA lawyers stonewalled, preventing the agency from taking steps to mitigate the formaldehyde problem.
What has government done to you?
Posted: July 23, 2007 5:07 pm
How has government violated your rights to life, liberty and property? Tell us your story.
No security at Sky Harbor
Posted: July 23, 2007 4:27 pm
“Sky Harbor’s not safe and hasn’t been for a long time.” So says one airport employee at the Phoenix, Ariz., airport.
The Transportation Security Administration has been going home at midnight and returning at 4:30 a.m. During those hours, it’s easy to walk into the sterile areas of the airport entirely unscreened.
How to stay out of government databases
Posted: July 21, 2007 4:54 am
Updated: July 21, 2007 5:09 am
As you are probably aware, the greatest threat to your privacy and well-being stems from the government, whether directly or indirectly. Even the “freest” or “most democratic” governments have committed their share of atrocities, and even if you think you’re safe today, if the political winds blow in a different direction tomorrow, you could be the next victim.
Today, governments use databases to track virtually everything, including their own people. So an important part of protecting yourself is to minimize the amount of information governments have about you.
Completely Incompetent Agents
Posted: July 21, 2007 2:45 am
The legacy of the Central Intelligence Agency is one not simply of an omnipotent spy agency which can learn anything from anyone and pull off covert operations with ease. The true legacy of the CIA, according to a new book, is its sheer incompetence.
TSA seizes water, lets bombs through
Posted: July 19, 2007 12:38 pm
Updated: July 19, 2007 1:11 pm
Several people walked into Albany International Airport in Colonie, N.Y., in late June, carry-on bags stuffed full of bomb parts, and strolled to the security checkpoint.
Transportation Security Administration screeners seized every bottle of water from all of them.
To harass and annoy
Posted: July 19, 2007 4:27 am
Updated: July 19, 2007 4:55 am
On June 18, I visited the Plainfield, N.H., home of Ed and Elaine Brown, to attend a press conference. Since then, the U.S. Department of Justice has decided they should keep an eye on me.
But one or two people have decided that they should harass and annoy me as well.
FBI launches criminal probe into national security letter misuse
Posted: July 18, 2007 8:39 pm
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is reported to have launched a criminal investigation into FBI employees’ alleged misuse of national security letters to obtain information on Americans.
The news just keeps breaking
Posted: July 18, 2007 3:22 am
Updates to stories previously covered at Homeland Stupidity.
Attrition plagues DHS senior management
Posted: July 17, 2007 2:26 am
Before you decide that, what with all those senior management positions open, a move into the Department of Homeland Security is good for your career, you should know that many people don’t last long there.
Four potential risks to intelligence fusion centers
Posted: July 16, 2007 11:08 pm
Updated: July 17, 2007 2:44 am
The more than 40 local and regional intelligence fusion centers created after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, to improve information sharing between the federal government and state, local and tribal law enforcement, are failing to accomplish their mission of protecting the homeland.
Homeland Security management positions vacant
Posted: July 14, 2007 1:06 pm
One-fourth of top management positions at the Department of Homeland Security remain vacant as of May 1, according to a congressional report released this week.
Gonzales told about national security letter violations
Posted: July 12, 2007 1:46 am
On April 27, 2005, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales told the Senate intelligence committee that Congress should renew the USA PATRIOT Act, saying that there had “not been one verified case of civil liberties abuse.”
But six days earlier, the Federal Bureau of Investigation sent Gonzales a report which said otherwise.
The news just keeps breaking
Posted: July 10, 2007 4:24 pm
Updates to stories previously covered at Homeland Stupidity include spying, spying and more spying.
Independence Day
Posted: July 4, 2007 11:59 pm
Updated: July 5, 2007 1:39 pm
This day the rain moved in early in the afternoon, and continued well into the night, and yet people still set off their fireworks here in a city where it’s, as far as I know, perfectly legal to do so. But while the star-spangled banner yet waves, the freedom it represents is a distant memory.
DHS move to lunatic asylum questioned
Posted: July 3, 2007 12:58 am
Preservationists are questioning plans by the Department of Homeland Security to move into the west campus of St. Elizabeths Hospital, a former lunatic asylum.
Gordon Unleashed
Posted: July 3, 2007 12:08 am
Updated: July 3, 2007 12:23 am
Some of you will remember the libertarian blog Hammer of Truth, which mysteriously disappeared some months ago, taking thousands of dollars of reader contributions with it. The bloggers on that site, myself included, scattered to the four winds. But last week one of them has started a new blog.
Bits of homeland stupidity
Posted: July 1, 2007 6:34 pm
Getting security right is a challenge for the best of us. But when you put security in the hands of government, getting it right is a virtually insurmountable obstacle. Here are a few ways government made you less secure and wasted your money over the last couple of weeks.
Land crossing passport requirement delayed
Posted: July 1, 2007 5:24 pm
Updated: July 1, 2007 5:56 pm
The Bush administration has suspended a pending rule which would have required travelers re-entering the country from Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean by land or sea to present passports at entry.
