August 28, 2008 by Tim McDowell.

 By next year, about 40 percent of Orange County, California, buses will be equipped with cameras to monitor passengers and record onboard incidents. A pilot program to allow transit police to monitor the cameras in real time from patrol vehicles is being developed and should be in place later this year, said an Orange Country Transportation Authority (OCTA) spokesman. Cameras “help strengthen the nation’s transportation network against the risks associated with potential terrorist attacks,” he said. OCTA used about $2 million in homeland security money over the last two years to buy cameras. This week, OCTA accepted another grant for about $1.5 million, most of which will go toward putting cameras on 126 more buses. About $100,000 of the grant will be used to support an emergency preparedness exercise and training program. The money comes from $11.3 million in homeland security funds allotted to Orange and Los Angeles counties for increased bus and rail security, officials said. The security systems will be installed on new vehicles as they join OCTA’s fleet. Video is kept indefinitely, and the system is computerized so drivers can push a button and tag an incident if needed, the official said. In Los Angeles County, the Metropolitan Transit Authority has cameras on its entire fleet of more than 2,500 buses, many of which were funded with homeland security money, a spokesman said. Source: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-cameras27-2008aug27,0,2939872.story

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August 28, 2008 by Tim McDowell.

Mass flight delays caused by an electronic communication failure at a Federal Aviation Administration facility drew new criticism. The Northeast was hardest hit by the delays prompted Tuesday by a glitch at a Hampton, Georgia, facility that processes flight plans for the eastern half of the U.S. By early evening, the FAA said that the situation around the country was returning to normal, with delays remaining in Atlanta and Chicago. At one point, an FAA Web site that tracks airport status showed delays at some three dozen major airports across the country. An FAA spokeswoman said there were no safety issues and officials were still able to speak to pilots on planes on the ground and in the air. She said she did not know exactly how many flights were affected, but she said it was in the hundreds. The FAA did not expect to have total figures until Wednesday. She said that in a 24-hour period the FAA processes more than 300,000 flight plans in the U.S. The official said the problem that occurred Tuesday afternoon involved a failure in a communication link that transmits flight plan data from the Georgia facility to a similar facility in Salt Lake City. As a result, the Salt Lake City facility had to process those flight plans, causing delays in planes taking off. She said the delays were primarily affecting departing flights. The official added that there was an unrelated hardware problem at the Hampton facility on Aug. 21 that resulted in issues processing flight plans. The FAA says on its Web site that a glitch that day involving the Hampton facility delayed the departure of at least 134 flights. Source: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jRgDahJp29m0syjpH485FiJuXktwD92QGASO0

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August 28, 2008 by Tim McDowell.

From January until August this year, 449 American businesses, government agencies and schools reported consumer data loss, according to the Identity Theft Resource Center. In contrast, 446 data breaches were recorded by the center for 2007 covering 127 million consumer records. The bulk of the record breach incidents were traced to retail chain TJX, which runs T.J. Maxx outlets. The District of Columbia and 44 states have legislation requiring companies that were victims of data loss to inform their affected clients. But only Maryland, New Hampshire and Wisconsin regularly publish data breach cases in their states online, Foley said. The center said 13 percent of the data breach is done by hacking, 15.6 percent to information theft done by company employees, 21 percent to lost laptops and other digital gadgets, 14 percent accidental publishing of sensitive consumer information and 11 percent breaches done by subcontractors. Source: http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7012070780

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August 28, 2008 by Tim McDowell.

August 26, KMGH 7 Denver – A small explosion at a chemical plant just outside Commerce City, Colorado, forced a temporary evacuation Tuesday afternoon, but there were no injuries. The area around the site of the plant was originally evacuated and 104th Avenue was closed, but the road has reopened and evacuations were lifted. No further evacuations were ordered. Source: http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/17303175/detail.html

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August 28, 2008 by Tim McDowell.

U.S. Gulf of Mexico oil and natural gas producers were closely watching Tropical Storm Gustav on Wednesday morning while making plans to evacuate workers from offshore platforms. U.S. crude oil CLV8 was up more than $3, trading above $119 per barrel, on fears about Gustav’s impact on Gulf production, which provides 25 percent of U.S. oil output and 15 percent of the nation’s natural gas production. “More and more of the tracks are all in agreement. Somewhere between Houston and New Orleans we’re going to have a problem. That’s the heart of the platforms. And they’re still saying Category 3 or higher,” said an advisor at Commercial Brokerage Corp. on Wednesday. U.S. forecasters said the storm was expected to strengthen to a major hurricane when it entered the Gulf of Mexico by Sunday with winds greater than 111 miles per hour. On Wednesday, a Petrobras PET4.SA spokesman said the company was nearing a decision on evacuations. “Depending on the way it takes, tomorrow they are going to make a decision whether to evacuate the platforms, either Friday or Saturday,” he said on Wednesday. Shell Oil said on Tuesday it could decide as early as Wednesday to evacuate nonessential workers from its platforms. Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssEnergyNews/idUSN2744306120080827

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August 26, 2008 by Tim McDowell.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Ready Campaign (www.ready.gov) is sponsoring the fifth annual National Preparedness Month (NPM) in September with support from more than 2,700 NPM coalition members, the largest amount to date. NPM coalition members, consisting of national, regional, state, and local organizations, will combine efforts throughout the month of September to encourage all Americans to take steps to prepare for emergencies before they happen.

http://www.dhs.gov/xnews/releases/pr_1219767770497.shtm

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August 26, 2008 by Tim McDowell.

On 26 August 2008 Russian President Dmitry Medvedev recognized both Abkhazia and South Ossetia and ordered the foreign ministry to sign partnership agreements with the two Georgian separatist regions. Various Western governments and international organizations have strongly criticized the move, which increases tensions in the region and with the West. Georgian officials have called the recognition an “unconcealed annexation” of the regions. Meanwhile, the announcement was met with street celebrations in the two regions’ capitals, Sukhumi and Tskhinvali. South Ossetian leadership has also requested that Russia build a military base in the region.

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August 25, 2008 by Tim McDowell.

BALAD AIR BASE, Iraq —  It looks more Star Wars than Iraq War, an unmanned aerial killer ready to fly its first combat mission in Iraq. But the MQ-9 Reaper is more than just a stunning sight — it may represent the future of combat aviation.

The Reaper’s streamlined form stands out in its hangar in Balad Air Base in central Iraq, now the busiest in the world for the Department of Defense, with F-16s and cargo planes taking off and landing every few minutes.

The Reaper looks like its predecessor, the Predator drone, which was originally built as a reconnaissance plane and is already widely in use in Iraq and Afghanistan in support of troops on the ground.

But the Reaper was built with offense in mind. It can carry four Hellfire missiles (the Predator carries only two), and it is equipped with a pair of 500-pound laser-guided bombs.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,389962,00.html

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August 25, 2008 by Tim McDowell.

BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan —  Emergency workers combed through the wreckage of a passenger jet Monday after it crashed outside Kyrgyzstan’s main airport, killing 65 people in an accident officials said was likely caused by technical problems.

The Boeing 737 was headed to Tehran when it crashed Sunday near Bishkek’s Manas International Airport, government officials said. Twenty-five people survived the accident.

The crew reported a technical malfunction only five minutes into the flight, and it crashed shortly after as it was heading back to the airport, Transport and Communications Minister Nurlan Salaimanov said.

The plane burst into flames upon hitting a field about seven miles outside the airport.

Government spokeswoman Roza Daudova said the crash was likely caused by a decompression on board the jet. The plane belonged to the Kyrgyz company Itek Air, which was banned from operating in European Union’s airspace because of failure to meet safety and aviation standards.

The U.S. air base in the ex-Soviet republic of Kyrgyzstan supports operations in nearby Afghanistan, but Salaimanov ruled out terrorism as a cause of the crash.

“Without a doubt, this was not a terrorist act,” Salaimanov told reporters Monday.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,409534,00.html

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August 25, 2008 by Tim McDowell.

On 23 August 2008 the U.S. Department of State issued the following Travel Warning: “This Travel Warning updates information on the current security situation in Georgia to include the return of U.S. Embassy eligible family members to Tbilisi, the resumption of visa services, and the status of roads within the country. This Travel Warning supersedes the Travel Warning for Georgia issued August 12, 2008. The Department of State authorized the return of U.S. Embassy eligible family members to Tbilisi on August 23, 2008. However, since Russian troops remain in some parts of the country near Poti, Zugidi and Senaki as well as in the conflict zones, Embassy staff and family members will travel outside of Tbilisi only with the concurrence of the Regional Security Officer. The Department of State urges U.S. citizens in Georgia to exercise caution while traveling.

“American citizens in Georgia are advised to register with the Department of State on-line at https://travelregistration.state.gov/ibrs or in person at U.S. Embassy Tbilisi so that they can obtain updated information on travel and security. Travel in some parts of western Georgia remains unpredictable.”

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