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Commentary: 'The Law and H1N1'

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, director of the Integrative Center for Homeland Security at Texas A&M, says:

"Because the recent Swine Flu outbreak was a real pandemic, but with
relatively mild effects, it gave us a chance to test our preparations
for a more deadly strain. In our last two commentaries, we have learned
that our plans are generally adequate, our resources are not, and the
Department of Defense will be unable to take up the slack. This week we
will review major legal issues."

• Listen to the show.

• Read the transcript.

Subscribe to the weekly podcast:

• To get the podcast as an email, click here.
• To get the podcast with iTunes, click here.
• To get the podcast with an RSS newsreader, click here.

"Because the recent Swine Flu outbreak was a real pandemic, but with
relatively mild effects, it gave us a chance to test our preparations
for a more deadly strain. In our last two commentaries, we have learned
that our plans are generally adequate, our resources are not, and the
Department of Defense will be unable to take up the slack. This week we
will review major legal issues."

• Listen to the show.

• Read the transcript.

Subscribe to the weekly podcast:

• To get the podcast as an email, click here.
• To get the podcast with iTunes, click here.
• To get the podcast with an RSS newsreader, click here.

Bring It Home Channel: 'Tour of Disaster City, Part 1'

Disaster City is a 52-acre training facility,that delivers the full array of skills and techniques needed by today's emergency response professionals. Located at Texas A&M University, the mock community features full-scale, collapsible structures designed to simulate various levels of disaster and wreckage that can be customized for the specific training needs of any group. In this video, we get a guided tour of Disaster City from Bob McKee, director of Texas Task Force One.

New TV series from ICHS will premiere July 29 on the Research Channel

Episode One of the new ICHS TV series, "Bring It Home," will debut on the Research Channel on July 29 at 6 a.m., noon and 6 p.m. A encore is set for July 30 at midnight.

In this Texas A&M University program, Dr. David McIntyre, director of the Integrative Center for Homeland Security, brings in guest speakers to examine the definitions of Homeland Security and strategy from historical, comparative and analytical perspectives.

The first episode includes interviews with:

• Brian Linn, professor of history at Texas A&M, who discusses his book which parallels the Philippine War to the current War in Iraq.
• Jim Olson, senior lecturer at the Bush School of Government and Public Services at Texas A&M, who speaks about his work as a former C.I.A. interrogator.
• Director of the Public Service Leadership Program Joseph Cerami on leading an exercise on international negotiation.
• Daniel Sui, professor of geography at Texas A&M, on geospatial technologies and their vast implications
• Alyssa Stephens, operations officer at the Integrative Center for Homeland Security, on “Ten Key Challenges for Improving Homeland Security” and “Reorganizing U.S. Intelligence.”

For a sneak preview, click here.

This week's radio show: Is the GPS system about to fail?

Tuesday, June 30

• 7 p.m. Central on KAMU 90.9 FM

Thursday, July 2

• Noon Eastern on WFED 1500 AM (with an encore at 9 p.m. Eastern on Sunday, June 28)

Click here to listen to the podcast of the June 30/July 2 show.

Guests include:

• David Coursey of PC World on the potential failure of the GPS system.
• Reporter Matthew Harwood on the technology of drug smuggling.
• Bob Brewin of NextGov on a presidential network to survive nuclear attack.
• Joel Millman of the Wall Street Journal on doing business in a chaotic Mexico.
• John Hollywood of RTI International on the detection of terrorist activity.
• Shaun Kennedy, director of the National Center for Food Protection and Defense
• Neville P. Clarke, director the National Center for Foreing Animal and Zoonotic Disease Defense
• Laura Spencer, deputy director of the Integrative Center for Homeland Security, on the  TSA's bomb-sniffing puppies program

Joint Chiefs of Staff issue new guidance on combatting WMDs

From Secrecy News:

The Joint Chiefs of Staff issued new doctrinal guidance on combating weapons of mass destruction, including the three pillars of nonproliferation, counterproliferations, and WMD consequence management.  See "Combating Weapons of Mass Destruction" (pdf), Joint Publication 3-40, June 10, 2009.

• Download the guidance as a 173-page PDF.

START re-launches Global Terrorism Database

The National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START) has released a new version of its Global Terrorism Database (GTD), with an accompanying new website. 

The GTD is an open-source database including information on terrorist events around the world.  Unlike many other event databases, the GTD includes systematic data on domestic as well as transnational and international terrorist incidents that have occurred during this time period.  For each GTD incident, information is available on the date and location of the incident, the weapons used and nature of the target, the number of casualties, and—when identifiable—the perpetrator.  Over 80,000 of these incidents have been included in the updated database, and this information can be extracted from the database to provide reference data as it was after the attacks in Mumbai.

The previous versions of the database (GTD 1 and GTD 2) covered events that occurred from 1970 through 2004.  The update to the GTD (http://www.start.umd.edu/gtd/) synthesized previous versions and expanded the data to include events from 1970 through 2007.  Annual updates will continue to be added in the future. 

Bring It Home Channel: 'How Rural Health Can Influence Public Health'

The time is right for a new strain of influenza to sweep through the human population, says Dr. Barbara Quiram, director of the USA Center for Rural Public Health Preparedness at the School of Rural Public Health, Texas A&M Health Science Center. In this interview, Dr. Quiram explains how the USA Center is helping rural health providers to prepare for the threat.

Visit the "Bring It Home" channel on YouTube. This series of videos is produced by KAMU-TV at Texas A&M University in College Station.

How to persuade Americans to evacuate a danger zone

Tuesday, June 23

• 7 p.m. Central on KAMU 90.9 FM

Thursday, June 25

• Noon Eastern on WFED 1500 AM (with an encore at 9 p.m. Eastern on Sunday, June 28)

Click here to listen to the podcast of the June 23/25 show.

Guests include:

• Journalist Amanda Ripley of Time magazine on the art of persuading Americans to evacuate.
• Emergency response trainer Brendan McCluskey on the principles of all-hazards  planning.
• Robert Bonvino, author of "Medical Disaster Response: A Survival Guide for Hospitals  in Mass Casualty Events."
• Hurricane researcher Phil Klotzbach on his forecast for the 2009 storm season.
• Isaac Maya, interim director of the National Center for Risk and Economic Analysis of  Terrorism Events (CREATE).
• Barbara Quiram, director of the Office of Special Programs at the Texas A&M  Health Science Center's School of Rural Public Health.

Commentary: 'Early Lessons from H1N1'

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, director of the Integrative Center for Homeland Security at Texas A&M, says:

"The flu season has petered out here, but it is just getting started in Australia, where thousands of new cases suggest the H1N1 Swine Flu will return to our hemisphere next winter."

• Listen to the show.

• Read the transcript.

Subscribe to the weekly podcast:

• To get the podcast as an email, click here.
• To get the podcast with iTunes, click here.
• To get the podcast with an RSS newsreader, click here.

"The flu season has petered out here, but it is just getting started in Australia, where thousands of new cases suggest the H1N1 Swine Flu will return to our hemisphere next winter."

• Listen to the show.

• Read the transcript.

Subscribe to the weekly podcast:

• To get the podcast as an email, click here.
• To get the podcast with iTunes, click here.
• To get the podcast with an RSS newsreader, click here.

'Terrorist Financing': New report from FATF

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has issued a new report, "Terrorist Financing." From the executive summary:

"The study highlights the links between financial tools and wider counter-terrorist activity: the effectiveness of authorities at both detecting and investigating terrorist activity is significantly enhanced when counter-terrorist intelligence and financial information are used together.

"Looking ahead the study identifies four areas which could be the focus of efforts to further strengthen counter-terrorist financing efforts: (1) action to address jurisdictional issues including safe havens and failed states, (2) outreach to the private sector to ensure the availability of information to detect terrorist financing, (3) building a better understanding across public and private sectors and (4) enhanced financial intelligence to exploit the value of financial investigation as a tool in fighting terrorism."

• Download the report as a 37-page PDF.