Virtual Fence Integration 'a Complete Failure,' Bersin Says

by Mickey McCarter
Wednesday, 21 April 2010


CBP chief stresses standalone tech, promises to evaluate McCain border plan

During a Senate hearing on border security Tuesday, the new commissioner of US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) declared that the goal of constructing a fully integrated virtual fence as originally envisioned by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is not possible at present.

CBP chief Alan Bersin told the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee that building the complete system for the Secure Border Initiative-Network (SBInet), as originally envisioned, was not possible in the near future.

"What has not worked is the total integration of technology from each of the areas along the border into an overall system that would permit a central monitoring and control--that technology integration at the very broadest level has been the complete failure the committee described," Bersin stated.

http://www.hstoday.us/content/view/12985/149/

"Aloha" Message from Howard Schmidt

Saturday, April 24, 2010

The Internet Safety Awards is proud and honored to present Howard Schmidt, Special Assistant to the President of the United States, Cyber Security Coordinator. He has a special message to the participants and attendees of the 2010 Internet Safety Awards.
http://internetsafetyawards.blogspot.com/

Aloha, and the winner is….

When Detective Chris Duque retired in 2007 after more than 30 years with the Honolulu PD, he didn’t actually retire in any true sense of the word. It was about then that he and members of his extended Ohana (Hawaiian for ‘family’) started the Internet Safety Awards program in Hawaii’s schools.

Duque said that in his last two years with HPD he worked 14 cases involving children being molested after meeting someone online. He said, “the scary thing is that in 11 of those cases, the child made the initial contact with full knowledge that they were contacting an adult. These are the kids with serious issues. These are the children who don’t have the affection, love and attention from parents, so they go online looking for adult companionship that they’re lacking.”
http://connectedcops.net/?p=1932

Reporting on Village of Manlius Board of Trustee's Meeting

Bicentennial Committee member Lori Vendetti (Laurie Venditti) assembled a grant proposal to benefit the Manlius Farmer's Market.

The $100,000 grant, which does not require matching funds, would aid in the expansion of the existing market. If approved, she said there would be no time limit to use the funds. The catch? The application needed to be postmarked by April 15, so the board had to deliver a vote promptly.

After some discussion, the board motioned to accept the submission of the grant application, contingent on Village Attorney Jeff Brown reading the application thoroughly for no hidden obligations or commitments to the village to accept the grant. Additionally, the board would further discuss Vendetti's (Venditti's) plea for a 10 percent fee – only if the proposal should be granted – at a later date.
http://www.cnylink.com/news/view_news.php?news_id=1271874779

IBM Delivers Predictive Analytic Capabilities for Data in Motion

As part of its commitment to business analytics, IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced a new collaboration with KTH Royal Institute of Technology to give city of Stockholm residents and officials a smarter way to manage and use transportation.

Researchers at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden are using IBM’s streaming analytics technology, to gather real-time information from the Global Positioning System (GPS) devices on nearly 1500 taxi cabs in the city and will soon expand to gather data from delivery trucks, traffic sensors, transit systems, pollution monitors and weather information. The data is processed using IBM’s breakthrough streaming analytics software, InfoSphere Streams, giving the city and residents real-time information on traffic flow, travel times and the best commuting options.
more....http://7thspace.com/headlines/341678/ibm_delivers_predictive_analytic_capabilities_for_data_in_motion.html

Convicted CA Sex Offender Leads Authorities to Missing Girl

A convicted sex offender led authorities to the body of Amber Dubois. SAN DIEGO -- San Diego County prosecutors say convicted sex offender John Albert Gardner led authorities to the body of 14-year-old Amber Dubois.  District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis said Friday that Gardner agreed to lead authorities to the body on the condition that they could not use that information against him in court. Dumanis says it was a difficult decision, but prosecutors had no other evidence or DNA to link him to the Amber's death. Amber's bones were discovered March 6 in a rugged, remote area north of San Diego. Gardner pleaded guilty Friday to murdering Amber and 17-year-old Chelsea King.  He faces life in prison without the possibility of parole.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/04/16/convicted-california-sex-offender-leads-authorities-missing-girl/

Napolitano's Meeting With University Presidents

“America’s colleges and universities play a vital role in developing the next generation of homeland security leaders,” said Secretary Napolitano. “I look forward to expanding our partnerships with academic institutions on educational programs and hiring initiatives that enhance our capabilities to protect our nation against evolving threats.”

During the meeting, Secretary Napolitano highlighted the Department’s strong partnerships with universities including support for training, coursework in homeland security-related fields and industries, and for research and development in science and technology, such as the DHS Centers of Excellence, which bring together multidisciplinary homeland security research and education assets of more than 200 institutions across the country.
http://www.dhs.gov/ynews/releases/pr_1271440147685.shtm

DOMESTIC TERRORISM - Sovereign Citizens

Sovereign citizens are anti-government extremists who believe that even though they physically reside in this country, they are separate or “sovereign” from the United States. As a result, they believe they don’t have to answer to any government authority, including courts, taxing entities, motor vehicle departments, or law enforcement.
http://www.fbi.gov/page2/april10/sovereigncitizens_041310.html

Napolitano Remarks to Law Enforcement Leaders

“The men and woman of our state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies serve our country honorably every day,” said Secretary Napolitano. “The Department of Homeland Security is committed to doing everything we can to support these officers on the frontlines by providing the critical training and information they need to do their jobs to secure our nation from the threats we face.”

http://www.dhs.gov/ynews/releases/pr_1271428926276.shtm

Study of Targeted Academic Campus Violence

New Study of Targeted Violence Affecting U.S. Institutions of Higher Education Released
U.S. Secret Service, U.S. Department of Education, and Federal Bureau of Investigation Collaborate on Joint Effort

On Friday, April 16, 2010, the U.S. Secret Service, the U.S. Department of Education, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation will release a study of targeted violence incidents on U.S. campuses of higher learning.

The June 2007 Report to the President on Issues Raised by the Virginia Tech Tragedy included a recommendation that the Secret Service, Department of Education, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation explore the issue of violence at institutions of higher education. This collaborative effort examines the scope of the problem of targeted violence at U.S. institutions.

In total, 272 incidents were identified through a comprehensive search of more than 115,000 results in open-source reporting from 1900 to 2008. The incidents studied include various forms of targeted violence, ranging from domestic violence to mass murder. The findings should be useful for campus safety professionals charged with identifying, assessing, and managing violent risk at institutions of higher education.

The study and its findings will be available on each of the agencies’ Internet sites: www.secretservice.gov, www.ed.gov and www.fbi.gov.

Security incidents rise in industrial control systems

.....A new report based on data gathered by the Repository of Industrial Security Incidents (RISI) database provides a rare look at trends in malware infections, hacks, and insider attacks within these traditionally cloistered operations. Cybersecurity incidents in petroleum and petrochemical control systems have declined significantly over the past five years — down more than 80 percent — but water and wastewater have increased 300 percent, and power/utilities by 30 percent, according to the 2009 Annual Report on Cyber Security Incidents and Trends Affecting Industrial Control Systems. source: http://www.darkreading.com/insiderthreat/security/attacks/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=224400280

NYPD Works to Protect Tunnels From Terror

By TOM HAYS
Associated Press Writer

NEW YORK -- The tidy, three-story brownstone looks like any other on the cobblestone block in Brooklyn, but it isn't. It's a fake, leading directly to the belly of the nation's largest subway system.

The unmarked emergency exit behind the facade is one of many posts protected by beat cops defending the city against bombings or other terror attacks in the city's intricate underground mass transit network.

Since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, officials at the nation's largest police department insist the city remains the nation's No. 1 terror target, devoting extra resources to protecting Wall Street, the Empire State Building, Brooklyn Bridge and other high-profile potential targets.
more: http://www.officer.com/online/article.jsp?siteSection=1&id=51687&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+officerrss%2Ftop_news_stories+%28Officer.com%3A+Top+News+Stories%29&utm_content=Google+Feedfetcher

Font style can help save on ink costs

MILWAUKEE – Here's a way you might save $20 this year: Change the font in the documents you print.

Because different fonts require different amounts of ink to print, you could be buying new printer cartridges less often if you wrote in, say, Century Gothic rather than Arial. Schools and businesses could save thousands of dollars with font changes.

Data on the subject from Printer.com, a Dutch company that evaluates printer attributes, persuaded the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay to make a switch. Diane Blohowiak, coordinator of information-technology user support, has asked faculty and staff to use Century Gothic for all printed documents. The school also plans to change its e-mail system so it uses Century Gothic.

"The feedback we've gotten so far has been positive," she said. "Century Gothic is very readable."

The school of 6,500 students spends about $100,000 per year on ink and toner cartridges. Although students and staff can change the default font to something more ink-intensive, Blohowiak said the university expects to save $5,000 to $10,000 per year with the font switch.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100406/ap_on_hi_te/us_tec_money_saving_fonts

Pennsylvania Man Pleads Guilty to Enticing Minor to Engage in Sexual Activity

In pleading guilty, Koch admitted the following facts. He admitted that between September of 2008 and June of 2009, in the Northern District of New York and elsewhere, while using a facility and means of interstate and foreign commerce, which included text messaging, picture messaging, and wire communications by use of cellular telephones, Koch knowingly did persuade, induce, and entice a minor to engage in sexual activity. The communications between Koch and the victim occurred via telephones and also by way of computer on MySpace and America Online Instant Messaging. Koch admitted that at the time he was the varsity soccer coach at Blue Ridge High School in Pennsylvania. The victim was 15 years old when the communications between the victim and Koch commenced. Koch purchased and provided to the victim cellular telephones for the express purpose of communicating with the victim by way of texting and telephonic conversations.
http://albany.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel10/alfo033110.htm

New Service Combats 'Sexting,' 'Cyber-Bullying'

New Service Combats 'Sexting,' 'Cyber-Bullying'
Updated: Tuesday, 30 Mar 2010, 2:39 PM CDT
Published : Monday, 29 Mar 2010, 10:30 PM CDT

NED HIBBERD
Reporter
HOUSTON - 'Sexting,' text messaging and 'cyber-bullying.' Most parents know the danger is out there, even if they are not quite sure what to do about it.

But a new service offers monitoring of a child’s cell phone in the same way software can scan websites visited by the child’s computer.

A Katy-area woman called “Mary” wishes she had heard of it sooner.

She says she tried to control her 13-year old daughter’s cell phone usage by allowing the girl to share her phone.

One day, concerned about a flurry of text messages from someone named “Mac,” she posed as her own daughter.

“I'm like, okay, so I'll text him and say, ‘hey I'm scared,’ and just generate a conversation like that,” says the mom. “And sure enough, he started texting me back.”

She showed FOX 26 one of the text messages she says she received: “i dnt think u pregnant cuz i dont think the condom broke but it might have.”

The alleged sender, Harold McArthur, 25, has been charged with two counts of “Aggravated Sexual Assault of a Child.” He remains jailed in lieu of $30,000 bond.

“He doesn't understand that what he took, he can never give back,” says Mary, whose identity is being shielded to protect her teenage daughter.

The phone’s “delete” function kept this mom in the dark.

But a newly-launched service aims at keeping parents “in the loop.”

It monitors text messages for certain keywords, alerting mom or dad if the content is sexual or bullying.

“It gives them back control that they really don't have,” says Andy Kahan, a crime victims’ advocate who is on the advisory board of the company, WebSafety.

He says its service also tackles the problem of “sexting,” which is when a teen takes a nude self-portrait with the camera-phone and sends it to a significant other.

“Whatever image is either sent to your child or your child sends to another individual, Bingo! You get it as well,” says Kahan.

With plans starting at $150 a year, WebSafety’s service isn’t cheap.

Then again, neither is the therapist treating Harold McArthur’s alleged victim, according to her mom.

“If I had known that there was technology that would send alerts to you,” says Mary, “it would have helped me a whole lot.”

She is unhappy with the plea deal she says is in the works for McArthur.

And she is preparing a “victim impact statement” to read in court at the end of May.

On the Web:

WebSafety Program to Monitor Children's Cell Phones --

http://www.mywebsafety.com/venditti

http://www.myfoxhouston.com/dpp/news/scitech/100329-new-service-combats-sexting-cyber-bullying

Frank Shea member NLEA - CBS Interview on the FL Police Shooting 3/29

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=6343185n&tag=mg;earlyshow

Laurie Venditti signs WebSafety as a Partner For Security!

WebSafety is a security solution designed to safeguard our children. Learning by their mistakes is how our children grow. This is how we as parents, aunts, uncles, sisters, brothers and grandparents learned, right?. But what happens if they make the wrong choice with electronic communications? By the time parents learn of the mistake, all too often the damage is done and it is too late. WebSafety helps parents to teach their children to make the right choices on the internet, to respect the power, limitations and dangers of the internet. For instances when children make the wrong choice, parents are alerted immediately so they are able to step in to provide guidance.

Websafety products contain the world's largest word recognition library. It is the most comprehensive and advanced database ever compiled, capable of searching more than 4,000 words, terms and phrases that spell danger for children. Once WebSafety content analytics determines a child is in harm's way, it sends an alert to parents via email and/or cell phone, empowering them to take action “proactively”. Visit http://www.partnerforsecurity.com/ or www.mywebsafety.com/venditti  to learn more about this powerful content analytics and alerting technology.

Mercy Corp worker and Syracuse University graduate gives Joe Biden some advice in Iraq

By Emily Kulkus / The Post-Standard
July 09, 2009, 5:04PM

Al Behrman/ APVice President Joe Biden, shown here speaking Cincinnati, listened to SU graduate Sahar Alnouri's advice about Iraq on July 3.
Sahar AlnouriEditor's note: Sahar Alnour is a program manager for Mercy Corps in Iraq. She spent part of her childhood in Syracuse and graduated from Syracuse University in 2001.

In packing for a recent trip to Baghdad, the furthest thing from my mind was Vice President Joe Biden. I thought I would spend much of my trip helping my colleagues move boxes into a new office, and I packed accordingly.

It took us six hours to Baghdad from Sulaimaniya, the Kurdish city in the north where I have been living. I am a program manager for the international aid organization Mercy Corps. Since February, I have been running women's programs in the country, including a literacy campaign.

I sat in the front seat, excited to be traversing new terrain. Until recently, it was considered too dangerous to make the trip to Baghdad by car.

Sadly, it was too dusty to really see much that day. It reminded me of visibility in Syracuse, my hometown, during a light snow storm. Of course, the sky on the road to Baghdad had an orange haze to it like nothing you'd see in Upstate New York.

When I got into Baghdad, I could sense a tense mood. Most Iraqis were pleased to see U.S. troops withdrawing from Iraqi cities on July 1, but two car bombs the week before, one in Kirkuk and one in Baghdad, had dampened the occasion.

I was busy last week running a series of community meetings and racing to write two grant proposals under deadline -- all while the office was in complete disarray from the move and temperatures soared to 90 degrees.

So when I received an e-mail telling me that on top of everything else, I had to represent Mercy Corps at a meeting at the U.S. embassy on July 3, I nearly lost it. I begged to get out of the meeting -- to no avail.

When I called the embassy to confirm my attendance, I mentioned that I hoped the meeting was not too formal as I didn't even have a suit with me. The embassy employee laughed and said it would be a bit formal. He told me a VIP would be joining the meeting, but he didn't say who that VIP would be.

That evening as I pulled my only pair of dress pants out of the just-hooked-up washing machine, I discovered the towel I had washed with them had shed light brown lint all over. Now, I'm not talking about a few specks. This was lint that gets stuck and never comes off.

Total panic ensued. The only other pants I had with me were jeans. My female colleagues didn't have any clothes that fit me and there was no time to pick up something new.

Thankfully, a male colleague lent me a pair of pants that nearly fit. Then we had to figure out the word for safety pin in Arabic (kelaab) and frantically call our Baghdad staff begging to borrow some. When we finally managed to get our hands on some safety pins the next morning, we hiked up the hems a good 5 inches, and off I went.

Upon arrival at the meeting place, we were escorted in almost immediately. And there was the Vice President standing in a receiving line, ready to shake everyone's hands.

As I sat at the long, oval table, I realized I was the youngest participant in the meeting by at least 10 years and the only woman. And, I was wearing men's pants with safety pins. This was clearly a sink-or-swim situation.

The Vice President facilitated the meeting himself. He began by asking about the tension between Kurds and Arabs, Shias and Sunnis -- looking for feedback about whether improved economic development would relieve some of these tensions.

I responded immediately, saying that I did not think that economic development alone would help the situation between Kurds and Arabs because the Kurds are actually doing pretty well economically -- except in areas where you have displaced Arabs in poor Kurdish communities.

Biden also asked the group how U.S. assistance could be more effective. I was the first participant to speak.

Here, I had to take a deep breath and ask if I could speak frankly. I told him that the Provincial Reconstruction Teams -- military personnel doing humanitarian assistance and development work -- are not an effective use of resources. I said that while their hearts are in the right places, ordinary Iraqis are often afraid when they see their uniforms. This means that most of the time, the military is relying on information from only a few select people. I argued that this leads to an environment rife with corruption.

We also talked about the security conditions on the ground. I highlighted Mercy Corps' no-arms policy, which means that we do not travel in armored vehicles or use security forces, and how we rely on community acceptance to accomplish our goals. Mercy Corps has been in Iraq since 2003 and operates in some of the most challenging and insecure areas in the country. Mercy Corps employs more than 180 local Iraqi staff, and only 18 internationals, which means our programs are designed and run by Iraqis.

After the 90-minute roundtable discussion, Biden walked around the table to thank me for Mercy Corps' participation. I couldn't believe the Vice President was personally thanking me. Army Gen. Ray Odierno also thanked me, and said he agreed with me. He said they've been frustrated by their inability to connect with communities, and that I made some important points.

And that is how a girl from Syracuse met the Vice President of the United States of America in men's pants and safety pins.

http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2009/07/mercy_corp_worker_and_syracuse.html

Jobs and population: controlling population

Editor's Note: This article continues our series excerpted from AC360°'s contributor David Gewirtz's book, How To Save Jobs, which is available now. AC360° viewers can download it for free at HowToSaveJobs.org. To learn more about the book, follow David on Twitter @DavidGewirtz.

David Gewirtz | BIO
AC360° Contributor
Director, U.S. Strategic Perspective Institute

There’s no doubt that as we move through the next few decades, the planet simply won’t be able to support as many people as will be born. In America alone, we need to create 2 million more jobs every year, simply to keep up with the population.

The problem of supporting a growing population becomes doubly true of hugely populous countries like China and India, which are pursuing goals to move the bulk of their population into the middle-class. China and India alone will need to consume more than 50% more energy than actually exists in the entire world.

Like issues relating to climate, population is really a world-wide issue and somehow needs to be addressed across national boundaries.

There are a variety of approaches that can be taken. These include scientific advances in generating new sources of fuel and renewable energy so our growing population doesn’t run out of power.

But, without a doubt, the planet needs to produce less people. No one likes the idea of government-imposed population control, and yet this is what China has been attempting since the late 1970s, with less than positive results.

In 1979, China instituted the jìhuà shengyù zhèngcè, unofficially known as the one-child policy. The policy restricts the number of children couples can give birth to and raise. While China claims that the program, in its first 30 years, has prevented as many births as there are people in the United States, the program is not without its serious problems.

Chinese parents who ignore the one-child policy are subject to enormous fines and heavy-handed government prosecution. As you might imagine, the rate of abortion and infanticide is off-the-charts, in part because prospective parents are often faced with no other choice than to terminate the pregnancy.

Parents who do actually go through with giving birth are often required to “dispose” of the newly born baby, according to testimony by Gao Xiao Duan (a former Chinese population control administrator) to what was then the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on International Relations human rights subcommittee in 1998.

A disturbing culture of kidnapping and black-market selling has grown out of the one-child policy. Gender roles are still strong through much of Chinese culture and some families value having a boy far more than having a girl.

This has resulted in a reduction in female children and, as Nobel Prize–winning economist Amartya Sen described, more than 100 million women are “missing” from what would have been a normal population – through abortion, infanticide, or starvation as a result of poor nutrition.

Depending on how coldly you measure it, China’s one-child policy has either been a measured success or a horrible, gruesome failure. In a country overwhelmed by population, preventing hundreds of millions of births may well have helped China manage scarce resources with more effectiveness.

But, the cost in terms of simply life itself is hard to ignore. Children being kidnapped, never to be seen again by their parents, infants being put to death, families forced to starve in order to pay the fines required to keep a beloved child - all of these are chilling effects that no one wants to see in a civilized world.

Follow David on Twitter at @DavidGewirtz.

Editor’s note: David Gewirtz is Director of the U.S. Strategic Perspective Institute and Editor-in-Chief of the ZATZ magazines. He is a leading Presidential scholar specializing in White House email. He is a member of FBI InfraGard, the Cyberterrorism Advisor for the International Association for Counterterrorism & Security Professionals, a columnist for The Journal of Counterterrorism and Homeland Security, and has been a guest commentator for the Nieman Watchdog of the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University. He is a faculty member at the University of California, Berkeley extension, a recipient of the Sigma Xi Research Award in Engineering and was a candidate for the 2008 Pulitzer Prize in Letters.

John Honovich tests Vitamin D Video Analytics

http://ipvideomarket.info/report/testing_vitamin_d_video_analytics_software