THE DAILY BLADE: Osama Bin Laden Takes A Page From Ronald Reagan’s Playbook
Just as Ronald Reagan destroyed the Soviet Union by bankrupting the Communist superpower with an arms race that its economy could not sustain, Osama bin Laden aims to do the same to the United States by forcing us to spend an increasing amount of our GNP on hardening targets ranging from national monuments to chemical plants to water treatment facilities – not to mention tightening our borders to the north and south. At least, that’s how Michael Chertoff sees it, reports The New York Times:
Congress and the American public must accept that the government cannot protect every possible target against attack if it wants to avoid fulfilling Al Qaeda’s goal of bankrupting the nation, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff told a Senate committee …
Osama bin Laden, Mr. Chertoff said, has made it clear that scaring the United States into an unsustainable spending spree is one of his aims. In a 2004 video, Mr. bin Laden, the Qaeda leader, spoke of "bleeding America to the point of bankruptcy."
"He understood that one tool he had in waging war against the United States was to drive us crazy, into bankruptcy, trying to defend ourselves against every conceivable threat," Mr. Chertoff said at a hearing of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. "We have to be realistic about what we expect and what we do. We do have limits, and we do have choices to make." …
Moving ahead will require billions of dollars in spending to finish installation of radiation detection equipment at ports by next year, build fences or high-tech barriers at borders to control illegal immigration, enhance railroad safety programs and install new explosives detection equipment at airports.
For his part, Richard A. Falkenrath, New York City Police Department’s deputy commissioner for counterterrorism took issue with Chertoff s priorities – notably, shifting anti-terrorism funding from New York City and Washington, DC to security programs for a petting zoo, a bourbon festival and a popcorn factory, while cutting such funding to high-risk cities like Washington and New York. Falkenrath also said that "there is something wrong" with spending $9 on security per jet passenger but less than half a penny per mass transit rider "Terrorists are attacking the subway system worldwide."
When It Comes To Aviation Security Be Afraid – Very Afraid, Part II
The Washington Post reports that enough put-upon airline passengers are flouting newly imposed bans against cologne, hand cream and lip gloss as to call into question the efficacy of screening procedures and the training of the screeners themselves – yet again:
A screener dug into the satchel and found a pair of scissors that [Wendy] Shanker used for knitting. The scissors' blades were shorter than the 4-inch federal limit so the screener plopped them back into the bag.
But he missed … Shanker's two-ounce container of Neutrogena hand cream, a substance banned since federal authorities clamped down last month on allowing liquids and gels into airline passenger cabins. …
Like Shanker, many people are inadvertently taking banned liquids and gels through security in their pockets and carry-on luggage, according to interviews with several dozen travelers at local airports and with pilots and security officials.
Others, however, say they're simply not going to tolerate the new rules. They admit that they ignore the restrictions, slipping expensive cologne, perfume, lip gloss, lotion and other ointments into their carry-on bags or into their pockets in hopes of sneaking them past security. Some of the items get flagged by screeners, others do not.
Unlike Shanker, the cream and liquid smugglers refused to give their full names. One woman said she slipped her Blistex lip balm into a pocket because her lips dry out on flights; another stashed her perfume in her carry-on because she didn't trust baggage handlers; another kept a small container of body lotion in her purse to apply in the aircraft lavatory.
A business executive said he always traveled with hand sanitizer in his pocket because he worries about germs on planes. He has made about 10 trips since the restrictions went into effect and hasn't been caught. …
"There are obviously limitations to this ban," said Clark Kent Ervin, a former inspector general at the Department of Homeland Security.
Ervin supports the restrictions but thinks they are flawed because authorities rely heavily on screeners' interpretations of X-ray images.
"It depends entirely on screeners' alertness and training," he said, "and there are problems with both."
Pilots groups have criticized the measures, saying they notice the security holes all the time. They say authorities should focus more on developing systems to identify potential terrorists, not just their weapons.
Update
What Hazelton Did To ACLU-Proof Its Anti-Illegal Immigration Ordinances
The Hazleton (PA) City Council approved an amended version of the Illegal Immigration Relief Act first passed in July, and mandated that English is the official language of the city:
The Code Enforcement Office (CEO) is responsible for enforcement.
Businesses will have to sign an affidavit pledging not to hire illegals. … If a violation is alleged, CEO will send the business a notice requesting information. It has three days to respond. If it does not, its business privilege license will be suspended.
If an illegal is found to be in the employ of a business, the business will have three days to "correct" the situation.
However, if two or more illegals are found, the business has to enroll in the federal Basic Pilot Program, a system set up under federal immigration law to check status of job applicants.
Once the situation has been corrected, the business privilege license will be returned. But for a second and subsequent violations, the business privilege license will be suspended for 20 days. …
The section affecting landlords is now titled "Harboring Illegal Aliens." … renting to an illegal is considering harboring. Each illegal rented to is a separate violation. …
If [a tenant is] … illegal, the landlord will have five days to act. If he doesn’t, the city will suspend the landlords certificate – contained in the separate but related Landlords Registration Ordinance, first enacted in 2004 and amended in August.
During the suspension, the landlord is barred from collecting rent. For subsequent violations, the landlord is fined $250 each.
Mayor Lou Barletta said the revised Landlord Registration Ordinance contains a $1,000 fine for renting to anyone without an occupancy permit – and getting one requires proof of legal status.
The revised English bill still makes it the city’s official language and calls for city documents to be printed only in English. It allows translations in the cases of emergency situations and also allows anyone to use an interpreter.
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