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Extreme biological events: Medical experts react to DHS Sec. Chertoff's major speech

Recently, the secretary of homeland security devoted a major speech to the challenge posed by an extreme biological event in the United States. On this edition, co-hosts Randy Larsen and Dave McIntyre devote the entire hour as some of the nation's leading experts analyze key aspects of that speech.:

1. Anthrax: Where's the vaccine the experts say we need?
2. Providing leadership during a bio-attack
3. Quarantine vs. isolation: What's the difference?
4. How do you quarantine 500,000 people in a city of 2 million?
5. Who takes the lead when a bio-event strikes a major U.S. city?
6. Advice for families: Preparing for a major bio-event

Tuesday, May 13, 7 p.m. CDT (KAMU 90.9 FM, College Station)

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1. Outside the Beltway, Take One

Anthrax is the most likely bio-weapon of choice among our enemies, the experts say. So why doesn't the U.S. have an adequate supply of anthrax vaccine? We get an analysis from immunologist Gigi Kwik Gronvall, a senior associate at the Center for Biosecurity at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Pittsburgh. She also explores the question, "Are scientific papers giving ammunition to bioterrorists?"

2. Outside the Beltway, Take Two

Say you're the mayor of a small city, and you find out that letters containing anthrax have turned up in your local post office. What do you do? It happened to Glen Gilmore, who was mayor of Hamilton, N.J., during the anthrax crisis of October 2001. His leadership during the crisis was profiled in the New York Times, the Washington Post and Time magazine. In this interview, Gilmore explains how his township reacted to the event, and his surprise at the federal and state governments' nonchalance. "If we hadn't set up a clinic on our own," he says, "it's likely more people would have died."

3. Spotlight

What is the difference between quarantine and isolation? It's a crucial distinction during a pandemic. We get precise definitions on these and other critical terms from Jennifer Nuzzo, senior analyst at the Center for Biosecurity at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. A public health professional by training, Nuzzo’s research focuses on disease mitigation strategies for pandemic influenza as well as issues related to water security, international preparedness, mass critical care and hospital preparedness.

4. Perspectives

How effective is quarantine during a potential pandemic? We ask Peter MacIntyre, manager of special projects for Toronto Emergency Medical Services, who was the city's manager community safeguards during the 2003 SARS outbreak. He and his family also experienced quarantine during the crisis. "It's very difficult to quarantine half a million people in a city of 2 million," he says. "The logistics of it don't work."

5. Homeland Security at Home, Take One

If there was a bioattack in a major U.S. city like Baltimore, who would take the lead? We ask that of Brooke Courtney, an associate at the Center for Biosecurity at UPMC and former director of public health preparedness and response for the city of Baltimore's health department. Her research at UPMC focuses on altered standards of care, hospital preparedness, medical countermeasures dispensing, and public-private partnerships.

6. Homeland Security at Home, Take Two

What steps can families take to prepare for bio-events that overwhelm a community's health services? We get answers from Dr. Ann Norwood, a senior associate at the Center for Biosecurity at UPMC. She joined the center after serving as a Senior Policy Analyst in the Office of Preparedness and Emergency Operations, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The rising threat from radical Islam is from within the United States, Lieberman committee warns in new report

The Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, chaired by Sen. Joe Lieberman, ID-Conn., has released a report that warns that the threat of homegrown terrorism is on the rise, aided by the Internet’s capacity to spread the core recruitment and training message of violent Islamist terrorist groups.

“The long term goal of the strategy must be to isolate and discredit the ideology as a cause worthy of support,” Lieberman and ranking minority member Sen. Susan Collins said in a joint statement. “Federal, state and local officials, as well as Muslin American community and religious leaders and other private sector actors must all play a prominent role in discrediting the terrorist message.”

The report found that as the Internet breaks down physical borders and cultural barriers, permitting easy access to violent extremist ideology, the greater the likelihood that more disaffected people will buy into the global violent Islamist movement.

Read the report.

From Michigan to Arizona: Is immigration a security issue or a social issue? Plus ...

• Should spy satellites track the average American?
  
• What are the gaps in homeland security and civil defense?
  
• How should we treat spies when we catch them?
• What can one learn from a graduate level education in homeland security studies?
  

Tuesday, May 6, 7 p.m. CDT (KAMU 90.9 FM, College Station)

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1. News Media, Take One

The DHS domestic satellite surveillance program is running into fresh opposition from Congress, which says it may shut down the system if the department fails to more thoroughly address concerns over protecting privacy. Wall Street Journal reporter Siobhan Gorman talks about her coverage of this political battle.

2. Outside the Beltway

Elected as the first Hispanic senator in Michigan's history, Valde Garcia represents the 22nd District, which comprises Livingston, Shiawassee, and the southern portion of Ingham counties. 2008 represents Senator Garcia's seventh year serving as a state senator and his ninth year working as a legislator. Sen. Garcia presents the perspective of the nation's northern border on immigration issues.

3. News Media, Take Two

Two new GAO reports show that, despite progress in planning for homeland defense and civil support operations, there are significant gaps in coordination and readiness. Katherine Peters, senior correspondent for Government Executive Magazine, discusses her coverage of these two reports.

4. Outside the Beltway, Take Two

As sheriff of Arizona's Maricopa County since 1993, Joe Arpaio has earned a reputation as  “America’s Toughest Sheriff.” He is head of the nation’s third largest sheriff’s office, which employs more than 3,000 people.  Before that, he served in top management positions around the world with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). He concluded his 32-year federal career as head of the DEA for Arizona. In this interview, the sheriff presents the perspective of the southern border on immigration issues.

5. Spotlight

Jim Olson is a senior lecturer at the Bush School, where he teaches courses on intelligence, national security, and international crisis management. He served for more 25 years in the Directorate of Operations of the Central Intelligence Agency, mostly overseas in clandestine operations. He is the author of  "Fair Play: The Moral Dilemmas of Spying." In this interview, he talks about the rules for the treatment of captured spies.

6. What Would You Tell the Candidates?

Fred Burton is vice president for counterterrorism at Stratfor. In this interview, he answers the question, "If you had five minutes with the presidential candidates, what would you tell them?"

7. Homeland Security at Home

Sean O'Neil is a graduate student at the Bush School of Government & Public Service who is about to receive his master's degree. In this interview, he talks about the advantages of a graduate education in homeland security studies.

'DNA Testing- Security vs Privacy'

In the latest edition of "Just a Minute for Homeland Security" (a weekly public radio commentary produced by the Integrative Center for Homeland Security at Texas A&M University and KAMU 90.9 FM), Dr. Dave McIntyre says:

"'Bad blood' is a discredited term suggesting that crime runs in families. Now modern techonology stands to give that old bromide new life."

• Listen to the show.
• Read the transcript.
• Subscribe to the weekly podcast:
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"'Bad blood' is a discredited term suggesting that crime runs in families. Now modern techonology stands to give that old bromide new life."

• Listen to the show.
• Read the transcript.
• Subscribe to the weekly podcast:
  • 
  • 

How were 32 post office workers exposed to TB? Plus ...

• There is more to 'political Islam' than al Qaeda
  
• Can 'threat assessment teams' make college campuses safer?
  
• The challenges of tapping mobile phones to law enforcement
• What happens when an extreme event overwhelms local and state authorities?
• What one grad student is learning about homeland security

Tuesday, April 29, 7 p.m. CDT (KAMU 90.9 FM, College Station)

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1. News Media, Take One

How did 32 out of 120 employees in a post office come in contact with tuberculosis? That's the question health officials in Fairfax County, Va., are trying to answer. Jim McElhatton, a staff writer for the Washington Times, discusses his coverage of the investigation. " This thing happened back in January and the public didn't learn about it until March," he says. "There is no hard-and-fast guidance from the state health department and the CDC on when public health authorities have to notify the public."

2. Outside the Beltway

There's far more to political Islam than Osama bin Laden, says Peter Mandaville, an associate professor in the Department of Public and International Affairs at George Mason University, and co-director of Mason’s Center for Global Studies. He is the author of the book "Global Political Islam," an accessible and comprehensive account of political Islam in the 21st century. Mandaville was born and raised in Saudi Arabia, and has spent much of professional career studying Muslims living outside the Muslim world, and the impact of globalization on their cultures. "When we hear the term 'political Islam,' we think immediately of al Qaeda, bin Laden and the Jihadist movement," he says. "But ... we lose sight of the fact that al Qaeda and groups like that are actually a small, slim minority." His book, he says, attempts to give the reader a  sense of the broader ecology of political Islam."

3. News Media ,Take Two

In the aftermath of mass shootings at Virginia Tech and Northern Illinois University, some colleges are turning to the concept of the "threat assessment team" to improve campus safety. These teams provide a formal mechanism for analyzing sensitive information on troubled persons to assess whether they pose a threat and to develop a plan of response. Matt Harwood of Security Management Magazine will discuss his recent article on this concept.

4. Inside the Beltway

Tapping a telephone used to be simple for U.S. law enforcement. Every phone was connected by a copper wire to a central point. But that ended in 1985. Phones went digital, bad guys went mobile, and law enforcement is still coping. Shane Harris, a reporter with National Journal, will talk about these changes. 

5. Spotlight

When extreme events such as hurricanes, wildfires and floods overwhelm the ability of state and local authorities to cope, they can call upon the Department of Defense to provide "defense support to civil authority." ICHS Fellow Danny W. Davis provides insight in how this mission works. "The key term is 'overwhelmed,'" Davis says. "... That's when the president can, with a presidential disaster declaration, can send in federal forces to aid the locals."

6. Talk to the Candidates

Paula D. Gordon, a consultant on homeland security issues, answers the question, "If you had five minutes with the presidential candidates, what would you say?" Since 9/11, Gordon's efforts have been directed toward homeland security concerns.  She has established a web site to serve as a free resource for policymakers and implementers, analysts, administrators, and managers. "Unless those in positions of responsibility are on the same page with regard to the nature of the threats and challenges we face," she sayd, "it's going to be very difficult if not impossible to take the next steps that are needed to safeguard the nation."

7. Homeland Security at Home

Katie Stout is a graduate research assistant with the Integrative Center for Homeland Security at Texas A&M, where she assists in the ongoing construction of the Taxonomy for Education and eXploration. She discusses what she has learned from her work at ICHS, focusing on the stark contrasts between the American approach to national security and the British approach.

DHS posts Senate subcommittee testimony about progress on fusion centers

Jack Tomarchio, the DHS principal deputy under secretary for intelligence and analysis, gave testimony on April 17 to the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Ad Hoc Subcommittee on State, Local and Private Sector Preparedness and Integration. His testimony focused on the progress of the 58 fusion centers created in the past three years:

"The first and most important piece of progress I have for you today is that DHS’ Office of Intelligence and Analysis now has 23 officers deployed and serving in fusion centers around the country.  Many of you will remember how we struggled two and half years ago to get the first officer deployed to Los Angeles.  That officer and his 22 counterparts now have become the pathfinders for the way the federal government shares information and intelligence with its state, local and tribal partners – precisely what the 9/11 Commission and Public Law 110-53, Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007 said we needed to do."

http://www.dhs.gov/xnews/testimony/testimony_1208459749044.shtm