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POPSFederal Air Marshals Too Busy Being Criminals to Protect You The Federal Air Marshal Service presents the image of an elite undercover force charged with making split-second decisions that could mean the difference between stopping a terrorist and shooting an innocent passenger. The Department of Homeland Security's inspector general also flagged gaps in the background checks. "We can reassure the public that these dedicated professionals go out there every day and put their lives on the line to make sure that everyone is safe," Bray says. Before 9/11, the Air Marshal Service was a nearly forgotten force of 33 agents with a $4.4 million annual budget. Now housed in the Transportation Security Administration, the agency has a $786 million budget and an estimated 3,000 to 4,000 air marshals, although the official number is classified.
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POPSCamp Bucca: Iraq's Guantanamo It may seem hard to imagine a place where people incarcerated by the U.S. military have fewer rights than they do in Guantanamo Bay. Welcome to Iraq.
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POPSTajik exile flees Russia for safety of Paris Deciding to leave Moscow may have been a spur-of-the-moment action, but he revealed that he started thinking about the need to leave quickly when he got word that Tajik officials were mulling whether to renew their efforts to bring him back to Dushanbe. "I pre-planned some appointments with French politicians, diplomats, correspondents and NGOs to discuss Tajikistan’s problems," says Atovullo. France is likely only a transit country for Atovullo. He intends to move soon to Hamburg, where he will wait for the "whirlwind" in Moscow to abate. Atovullo hopes to return to Moscow in the not-so-distant future. He explained that because Tajiks can travel to Moscow relatively easily, he is able to be more effective as a Tajik opposition activist when operating in the Russian capital.
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POPSGerman police remove two terror suspects from plane in Cologne According to the German police, the men were not planning to hijack the plane, reports the Telegraaf. It was still unclear at press time what form of attack the suspects were planning, but the paper said they were not believed to be a threat to the Netherlands. One possibility is that the two men were planning to fly on to Africa. ( comment from Dutchnews.nl)
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POPSRadiation Detection at Ports? $3.1 Billion According to the clip, via National Journal's Earlybird news digest, the Department of Homeland Security says GAO's estimate is misleadingly high "because it includes operation and maintenance costs." Unless I'm missing something, that strikes me as an unusually lame response. Why wouldn't you consider maintenance costs for something like a system to detect nukes?
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POPSThirty killed as Mogadishu is shelled
Islamic militants with ties to al-Qaida have been fighting the government and its Ethiopian allies for control since their combined forces pushed the Islamists from the capital in December 2006. Within weeks of being driven out, the Islamists launched an Iraq-style insurgency that has killed thousands of civilians to date. In recent weeks, the militants appear to be gaining strength and sidelining the fragile government. The group, known as the Council of Islamic Courts, has taken over the port town of Kismayo, Somalia's third-largest city, and dismantled pro-government roadblocks. They also effectively closed the Mogadishu airport by threatening to attack any plane using it. "We keep recruiting new fighters to prepare them for the holy war against Ethiopian troops in our country and their Somali stooges," said Sheik Muhumed, a commander with al-Shabab, the group's military wing. The United States considers al-Shabab a terrorist group, raising fears Somalia could become a have
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POPSPakistan's PM Gilani's motorcade attacked. "The prime minister was coming back from Lahore. The firing took place on the Islamabad highway. At this point, we believe the firing was from a small hill on the roadside." A statement issued by the prime minister's office said: "Of the multiple sniper shots fired on the prime minister's vehicle, two hit the window on the driver's side. "However, because of the robust and comprehensive security measures, the prime minister and all the members of his motorcade remained unharmed."
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POPS New Orleans Orders Mandatory Evacuation
As part of the evacuation plan New Orleans developed after Katrina, residents who had no other way to get out of the city waited on a line that snaked for more than a mile through the parking lot of the city's main transit terminal. From there, they were boarding motor coaches bound for shelters in north Louisiana. The city expects to move out about 30,000 such residents by Sunday. Unlike Katrina, when thousands took refuge inside the Superdome, there will be no "last resort" shelter. "You will be on your own," Nagin said. About 1,500 National Guard troops were in the region, and soldiers were expected to help augment about 1,400 New Orleans police officers in helping patrol and secure the city. Standing outside his restaurant in the city's Faubourg Marigny district, Dale DeBruyne prepared for Gustav the way he did for Katrina - stubbornly. "I'm not leaving," he said. DeBruyne, 52, said his house was stocked with storm supplies, including generators.
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POPSHow to Hitchhike Across the Globe Without Leaving Your Living Room The 360° World Atlas DVD lets anyone with a computer become a virtual hitchhiker, no packing or neck-craning required. Creator Everen Brown does all the hard work for you. He jets around the globe, lugging a 40-pound bag full of 600 rolls of film past airport security, and picks a picture-worthy spot. Then he takes one of the world’s last Globuscope rotational cameras (no longer in production), holds it over his head (sometimes he lies on his stomach), and waits (sometimes for hours) for the right shot. When he sees it, snapping the picture takes only a second. The lens rotates full circle, so you get to see what’s across from the Taj Mahal’s minarets too. Once Brown develops the film, he embeds the images into an interactive atlas ($69.95, www.360atlas.com) that shows off head-turning views, panorama style.
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POPSContinuing coverage of the Georgian situation from Eurasianet Some reportage on the bombing of Tbilisi airport. I can't foresee this ending well. From the story: "In a conference call with reporters, Lomaia outlined what he believed to be the remaining options for Georgia in its struggle against Russia: a deployment of military equipment 'not to fight, but to deter them'; and, the arrival of 'a very, very high representative of a foreign government for a few days' to demonstrate international support for Georgia. 'Frankly speaking, we do not see any other way of stopping these people,' he said."
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