In 2011, President Obama issued the Presidential Policy Directive 8/PPD-8: National Preparedness with the goals of “strengthening the security and resilience of the United States through systematic preparation for the threats and hazards that pose the greatest risk to the security of the nation.” The President’s directive, summed up in...
Fulfilling President Obama’s promise of greater transparency, this week the Office of the Director of National Intelligence declassified and released a portion of Osama Bin Laden’s books and documents recovered following the 2011 raid at a compound in Abottabad, Pakistan that resulted in the death of the infamous jihadist. The eclectic...
Last week President Obama took action to ban the sale or transfer of certain military style equipment from federal agencies to state, local, and tribal police departments. President Obama approved the recommendations made by the Law Enforcement Equipment Working Group, a task force created by Executive Order 13688, “Federal Support...
Can you remember all of your passwords? If all else fails and you forget one, is one of the backup questions as simple as your mother’s maiden name? Many internet users struggle to find a balance between maintaining complex (thus secure) passwords and the ability to consistently remember them. Currently,...
As details emerge regarding yesterday’s violent events in Waco, Texas involving a gun battle between rival biker gangs, the public is being reminded of the threat that Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs (OMGs) pose to public safety. The event, which occurred on Sunday, May 17, 2015 at a restaurant in a Waco...
If you are a self-identified “history buff”, “film buff”, or “Americana enthusiast”, you might want to visit FedFlix. FedFlix is Joint Venture NTIS-1832 between the National Technical Information Service (NTIS) and Public.Resource.Org (PRO). The FedFlix project aims to digitize videos from NTIS, DoD and the National Archives and Records Administration, and...
Last month’s disastrous earthquake in Nepal set the stage for massive recovery efforts and put to the test the skills and techniques practiced by emergency responders through countless hours of exercises. Aiding the workers in the grueling task of digging survivors from the wreckage was a state-of-the-art system called FINDER,...
Back in December, the Homeland Security Digital Library blogged about the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence’s Study of the CIA’s Detention and Interrogation Program in the blog titled, CIA Interrogation Report: A Warning for the Future. As stated in the blog, “[t]his declassified report covers the CIA’s torture practices on...
Just in time for your weekend reading list – our roundup of recently entered CRS reports. 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force: Issues Concerning Its Continued Application Is this the best way to authorize counterterrorism? “Nevertheless, the Obama Administration still finds itself relying on 2001 AUMF authority not only...
President John F. Kennedy once said that “the best time to fix the roof is when the sun is shining.” While the president was probably using this weather reference as a metaphor for politics, it applies today in a more literal sense to the state of California. According to the...
