CQ Behind the Lines

From CQ Homeland Security

Behind the Lines for Friday, Aug. 12, 2011 — 3 P.M. By David C. Morrison, Special to Congressional Quarterly Home away from home: West Virginia counties prepping for "Mountain Host" exercise testing readiness for mass evacuation from Washington . . . Two cans and a string: High-tech FBI, DHS digital radios "designed so poorly they can be jammed by a $30 children's toy" . . . More risk for risk underwriters: "Terrorism reinsurance market remains vulnerable to a major terrorism loss as the nature of terrorism evolves." These and other stories lead today's homeland security coverage. --------------------------------- Emergency officials in nine central West Virginia counties have spent months preparing for a " Mountain Host " exercise testing their readiness for a "mass migration"-cum- evacuation from D.C. and other points east, Stacy Jacobson reports for Clarksburg's WBOY 12 News . For background, also check MITRE 's presentation detailing "National Capitol Region Mass Evacuation Modeling," and the D.C. government 's " planning tool to find alternate routes out of the city during an evacuation." Homies: "Texas Gov. Rick Perry was right to pursue a ban on intrusive airport pat-downs," a congressman "who was instrumental in forming post-Sept. 11 aviation security policy," tells The Fort Worth Star-Telegram 's Gordon Dickson . An ex-TSA employee has pleaded guilty to hate crime charges in last year's assault on an 83-year-old Somali man, yelling that his victim was a Muslim who should go back to Africa, The Minneapolis Star Tribune 's Randy Furst reports. DHS officials have told auditors that collecting data to decide when to begin planning for a major procurement is a waste of time, Federal Computer Week 's Matthew Weigelt learns from a GAO report . Let's have DHS behavioral detection officers stop TSA screeners from robbing passengers , The New American 's Becky Akers asserts. Complaint window: The White House seems genuinely taken aback by the notion it may have compromised security by "having a chat with Hollywood " about the Osama bin Laden raid, The Christian Science Monitor 's Patrik Jonsson follows up. Immigrant advocates have filed a multimillion-dollar lawsuit alleging that ICE officers violated the constitutional rights of two Maryland families during a 2008 raid, The Annapolis Capital 's Heather Rawlyk relates — while The Michigan Messenger 's Eartha Jane Melzer sees activists in Detroit "bitterly disappointed" by an internal ICE probe that allegedly whitewashes profiling and abuse charges. Expensive high-tech digital radios used by the FBI, Secret Service and DHS "are designed so poorly that they can be jammed by a $30 children's toy ," CNET News ' Declan McCullagh accuses. State and local: With recent DHS grant cuts , "New York's National Guard and state government must evaluate how they will continue to provide protection from possible terrorist attacks," The Legislative Gazette relates. Baltimore is expanding its CitiWatch video surveillance program with the addition of 12 new cameras, bringing the total to 538 lenses, Government Technology tells — while Security Info Watch spotlights Houston 's own steadily growing 330-unit CCTV network, and Memphis's ABC 24 News sees the cameras going up in quaint ole Oxford, Miss . Ninety-seven Omni Corp. employees at Maryland's National Emergency Training Center will lose their jobs Oct. 1 thanks to FEMA's failure to renew the contract, The Frederick News-Post reports. Chasing the dime: " 7-Eleven is taking convenience into the skies with a new line of travel health and beauty products that come in sizes approved by the TSA ," Convenience Store News notes. "The terrorism reinsurance market remains vulnerable to a major terrorism loss as the nature of terrorism evolves," Business Insurance sees a market report finding. Pace Global Energy Services announces the appointment of Tom Ridge , the nation's first DHS secretary, to the company's board of advisers, The Sacramento Bee relays. Rep. Hansen Clarke , D-Mich., hosted a forum this week for local biz owners about contracting with DHS, Crain's Detroit Business relates. Financial institutions went on alert this week when the London riots "caused damage across the city, including properties owned by banks and private equity firms," The Financial News notes. Close air support: Those white, ad-bearing TSA bins are a brainchild of the CEO of Security Point Media , who came up with the idea not long after Sept. 11, USA Today profiles. A Playboy playmate was arrested when Orlando screeners found a .45 loaded with hollow-points in her duffle bag, the Sentinel says — and, apropos of nothing, really, check The New York Post on the JetBlue flight from hell. A bat got loose on a Madison-Atlanta Delta flight , speaking of hellishness, terrifying passengers and forcing a return to Wisconsin, The Consumerist recounts. Some experts are criticizing the newly adopted express lane checkpoint for pilots at O'Hare International, CBS Chicago follows up. "Travelers soon won't need to worry about revealing too much skin during security scans at Tampa International Airport ," The St. Petersburg Times soothes. Borders and papers: Recent immigration laws are meant to impel undocumented workers to "pack their bags and head home. But the reality on the border is that departing the country has become more complicated than ever," The New York Times spotlights — as National Geographic nags that while the U.S.-Mexico fence "is intended to stop smuggling, terrorism and illegal immigration, endangered animals are also being stopped at the border," and The Arizona Daily Star sees a 40-foot stretch of border fence washed out by rushing rainwater. Sen. Charles Schumer , D-N.Y. wants wire transfer services to work with DHS to block cash payment transfers to operators in China that peddle convincing fake drivers' licenses, Buffalo Business First relates. Bugs 'n bombs: FBI agents are looking into who left a crude explosive device attached to a natural gas line in rural Oklahoma, CNN notes. "In the aftermath of any foodborne illness outbreak . . . one thought is often likely to cross the minds of experts in food defense and bioterrorism: At least this outbreak wasn't intentional ," Food Safety News leads. "The Minnesota Department of Health is investigating an 'extremely rare' case of inhaled anthrax , but officials said there is no threat to the public," The Minneapolis Star Tribune leads. A violent anti-technology group linked to attacks against academics in Europe was responsible for a package bomb that injured two professors in Mexico, FOX News Latino relates. " Beverly Hills police blew up an aspiring screenwriter's laptop and script when investigating a suspicious package Thursday morning on Rodeo Drive," the Los Angeles Times leads. Courts and rights: An Al Shabaab recruiter extradited from Holland will make his first Minnesota court appearance today, The Minneapolis Star Tribune tells. A Virginia judge promises to rule two weeks hence on dismissing a lawsuit filed by a college student arrested after stripping to his shorts at a Richmond checkpoint to protest TSA procedures, AP reports. A federal judge , meanwhile, has delayed the trial for two men accused of conspiring to attack a military processing station in Seattle until May 1, The Seattle Times tells. A New York State man , an adherent of Sovereign Citizen , arrested for filing $736 billion in fraudulent liens against local officials, so-called " paper terrorism ," has been handed six months in prison, The Middletown (N.Y.) Times Herald-Record records Over there: Israel's pending Counterterrorism Bill , which passed its first reading in the Knesset this week, is intended to replace existing outdated terror legislation, The Jerusalem Post spotlights. Not a few influential former U.S. officials are addressing rallies in support of removing an Iranian opposition organization with a violent anti-American history from the U.S. terrorist list , The Christian Science Monitor spotlights — and see Salon on "U.S. Politicians' Favorite Terrorist Group." North Korea's military trains more than 165,000 troops "tasked with launching various types of terror attacks on South Korea," The World Tribune tells. Kulture Kanyon: "It's eerie that a book decrying the folly of a concerted 'war on terror' appears just as events in Norway remind us that terror can happen when and where we least expect it," The Montreal Gazette remarks, in re: Graham Swift 's new novel " Wish You Were Here " (Vintage Canada). " The Guys ," one of the first dramatic stage responses to Sept. 11, is returning for performances (again starring Sigourney Weaver , but absent Bill Murray ) commemorating the attacks' 10th anniversary, The New York Times tells. " We Shall Never Forget: The Kids Book of Freedom " (ColoringBook.com) is a 36-page graphic-novel-qua-coloring-book "designed to be a tool that parents can use to help teach children about the facts surrounding the attacks," Prison Planet relays. New Jersey's Medford Arts Center is calling for works to hang in " America, An Artist's Reflection ," a Sept. 11-related exhibition running Sept. 9 through Oct. 2, The Bucks Country Courier Times alerts. "Could art vandalism become the new terrorism?" Big Think muses largely. A Vast Wasteland: The driving force of the new Cinemax series, " Strike Back ," is "a stealth British military unit known as Section 20 that pulls out all the stops to capture a heinous Pakistani terrorist known by one name, Latif," The N.Y. Post previews. Paul Scheer 's 15-minute [adult swim] parody series, " NTSF:SD:SUV:: " (a/k/a "National Terrorism Strike Force: San Diego: Sport Utility Vehicle::") "takes a playful jab with its title at the acronym-loving police procedurals on television today," Airlock Alpha relates. Claire Danes , the leading light of Showtime 's upcoming CIA drama " Homeland ," jokes "that starring in those ads for the eyelash-enhancement product Latisse have given her new character an edge in fighting terrorism," Reuters reports. Airing a month after Sept. 11's tenth anniversary, the series' timing "is significant, accidental and fortuitous," the L.A. Times quotes producer (and " 24 " alumnus) Alex Gansa . To Reject and Swerve: "Citing revenge for a consistently deteriorating support base and general lack of appreciation, area police are gearing up to get even with the community this evening," The Onion reports from Los Angeles. "Their plan, known as ' Operation Psycho Pig Rampage ,' calls for the pillaging of homes , harassment of passersby and random shooting of harmless motorists . . . Police department insiders went on to cite years of verbal abuse by citizenry, public portrayals of police as villainous cogs of the system, and repeated lampooning in trucker-themed feature films as further reason for their rage. 'Operation Psycho Pig Rampage will undoubtedly be the average white middle-class liberal 's nightmare,' Officer Harrison Timkin said. 'Not only will we subdue citizens with gas and billy clubs , but we hope to terrorize them psychologically as well, using menacing pig-faced tear gas masks to strike fear into their hearts.'" 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