A Mosque of a Mess – Absence of Candor at Ground Zero
Twenty years ago, I graduated from college as a double major in political science and religion. When asked by family and friends what I intended to do with those degrees, I explained that I wasn’t quite sure, but...
DetailsTed Stevens, Sean O’Keefe and a Powerful Gesture
Yesterday's sad news from Alaska about the tragic plane crash that killed former Senator Ted Stevens and four others, and seriously injured former NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe, his son and two others, brought to mind a chance encounter I...
DetailsTed Alden on U.S. Competitive Immigration
Every now and then you come across an article that cuts through the surface layer of superficial, short-term issues and illuminates the long-term challenges. Ted Alden's thinking has always been this way, and he nails it in his recent...
DetailsRaising Caps, Killing Industry and Holding America Hostage
First off, let me state for the record that I am not taking a page out of the Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX) book of apologies. I may have said some humdingers in the past, but I am not about...
DetailsPolitics vs. Security – A Tale of Two Committees
Two Senate committees, three chemical security bills and one issue to rule them all – the role of so-called Inherently Safer Technologies (ISTs) in America's approach to safeguarding communities from acts of terrorism. With DHS' Chemical Facilities Anti-Terrorism...
DetailsFEMA’s Steps in the Right Direction
As the country celebrates the 20th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), it presents an opportunity to see how far we have come since the enactment of one of our country's great civil rights laws, but it...
DetailsLip Service and the National Infrastructure Bank
In 2008, when the then Obama Campaign issued its proposed vision for homeland security, it impressed a lot of people when it described the creation of a national infrastructure bank. This federally chartered structure would fund critical projects around...
DetailsSecrets in the News: Classified Crossings that Go Too Far
For the second straight week, Washington, DC and the nation are reeling from headlines and news coverage of events on the national security stage. Last week, it was the Washington Post's series on Top Secret America, which details the...
DetailsBuilding a 21st-Century Strategy to Counter Piracy and al Shabaab
The piracy question and how to deal with it is huge and is about to become a much larger question in the global supply-chain management continuum. I, like other folks, would like nothing more then to send in the...
DetailsThe Disturbing Value of the Washington Post’s Work
There is always something in the media that captures the conversation of people in Washington, whether it is some unfortunate gaffe that a political figure makes, some new gossip about a government official’s missteps, or the latest poll numbers...
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