Maryland announced this week that the state government plans to create a single communications system for all of the state’s first responders, as noted in a recent article in The Examiner. Ensuring effective emergency communications remains an important issue on the nation’s homeland security to do list. A Heritage paper I wrote last year with Richard Weitz about improving emergency communications discussed the need and necessary measures for improved communication among emergency responders. In its final report, the 9/11 Commission stated that “the inability to communicate was a critical element …
In what can only be described as a rare occurrence, two events occurred that show there is still hope when it comes to disaster management in the United States. The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has proposed placing an insurance surcharge on every California home and business that would raise roughly $130 million each year to pay for wildland firefighting. Due to the number of wildland fires that have occurred in California over the last year and the ever-increasing number of Californians who build homes …
In an editorial today, The Washington Post does a decent job responding to completely overblown claims coming from Senate liberals about what the FISA bill does and doesn’t do: Sen. Russell Feingold (D-Wis.) … said the measure overhauling the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, on the verge of congressional passage, “gives the government broad new powers to collect information on innocent Americans within the United States without providing nearly enough protections for privacy.” It means, Mr. Feingold said, that “Americans e-mailing relatives abroad or calling business associates overseas could be monitored …
News, as reported by the San Francisco Chronicle, that the UK intends to extend its proscription of Hezbollah as a terrorist group to include its entire military wing is a long overdue step in the right direction. The proscription means that it will soon be a crime to be a member or supporter of the military wing of this violent entity, which has supported terrorist acts on both coalition forces and civilians in Iraq. It’s now time for the EU to follow suit and add Hezbollah to its common list …
The truth is out: Congress’ attempt at “energy security” helped cause a global food crisis. According to a confidential World Bank study, as reported by The Guardian, biofuels are the primary cause of the global food crisis, forcing up world food prices by 75%. This is a shocking difference from the usual 3% impact the U.S. government has been reporting. In America, the production of these biofuels was legislated by Congress, through subsidies and mandates requiring their production. The biofuel bonanza began with the rush to provide what Congress terms …
Following last week’s Colombia military rescue of hostages held by FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia), Venezuela strongman Hugo Chavez and Colombian President Alvaro Uribe agreed to meet this Friday in Caracas. Earlier this year at a presidential summit in Brazil Chavez told Uribe: “We haven’t been giving money to the FARC.” But a laptop found by the Colombian military earlier this year, whose contents have been confirmed authentic by Interpol, suggests otherwise.The documents showed: Venezuela appears to be making concrete offers to help arm the rebels, possibly with rocket-propelled …
The verdict is in: Al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) is on the ropes. Apparently this extraordinary news has not reached everyone though. A New York Times opinion article today points to the desperate need for increased focus on Al Qaeda in Afghanistan, while discounting the same efforts in Iraq. The alarming resurgence of Al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan makes it even more imperative for the United States to begin planning for a swift and orderly withdrawal from Iraq. The notion that fighting Al Qaeda in one …
The US has pledged $400 million to Mexico to help in the fight against drug and weapons smuggling and put a stop to an issue that often plagues the US-Mexican border at its source. However, in a recent Houston Chronicle article, Texas Sheriffs are criticizing the Merida Initiative because it is spending money in Mexico rather than the US. Neither strategy is right on its own; rather the US government should be tackling the problem from both sides. Heritage expert, Dr James Carafano is calling for just that—spending on both …
Women are again charging into what was once seen as a realm that was only populated by men—the illegal immigrant workforce. After a recent raid of a factory in Texas, where the majority of those detained were women, the Houston Chronicle published an article discussing this new trend. With heightened border control and visa regulation, many men are finding it harder to come to the U.S. to work and then return home to their families in their native countries. Hence, many are now bringing their families with them. A noticeable …
Yesterday the Associated Press reported that the last major remnants of Saddam Hussein’s nuclear program had been dismantled in Iraq. This Saturday marked the end of a top secret two-week airlift of 550 metric tons of yellowcake uranium from Baghdad to a Canadian uranium producer. Also removed earlier this year from the Tuwaitha nuclear complex 12 miles south of Baghdad were four radiation-exposure devices that experts say could be used in a nuclear weapon. The success of this operation and news from both Baghdad and Mosul that al Qaeda is …
