MooPig Counter Intelligence Department :: "More on DHS Fusion Centers"

Try to stay Calm
by Pat Darnell | Dec 19, 2012 | Bryan TX

" ... The U.S. government has spent up to $1.4 billion of taxpayer money since 2003 to create “threat fusion centers” under the guise of fighting terrorism. Yet a two-year bipartisan report recently released by the U. S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations has found that these “fusion centers,” operating under the control of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in efforts to engage national, state and local intelligence, have not yielded any useful information to support federal counter-terrorism intelligence efforts.
[ ... ]
Most people who rely on print and TV news probably have never heard of fusion centers. There are up to 72 of these facilities. As many as 50 state-based and 22 urban centers were set up during the Bush presidency in cooperation between the DHS and the Department of Justice (DOJ). (October 14, 2012. Source: Gregory Patin. HuffpOst. HERE) ... "

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" ... [This comment from] 'Donald W. Dickson/Austin, Texas' ... Unfortunately, there is no constituency for reform. State and local governments love these DHS dollars. The fusion center here is the pride and joy of the Texas Department of Public Safety's top brass, and they've received beaucoup dollars from the same federal bureaucrats that our governor enjoys flogging in public. ( JAMES RISEN. Published: October 2, 2012. HERE ) ... " Since I represent one of DPS's officer associations, I'd sure love to see what their fusion center has on me. Terrorists, lawyers, what's the difference, right? ... "

 National Security Network | Heather Hurlburt Quoted in Huffington Post on Romney’s Homeland Security Silence, Support for DHS Fusion Centers:

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'via Blog this'

BEFORE NOVEMBER, DURING THE POTUS DEBATES
 " ... Whether inside or outside the debate hall, the report may at least raise the issue of what Romney would do about the troubled fusion centers today and whether he would add them to his promised $500 billion in federal spending cuts if elected president.

“I’d love to hear what Governor Romney thinks about the fusion center experience,” Heather Hurlburt of the progressive National Security Network told HuffPost via email. “I don’t believe he has put forward a homeland security policy — he’s not discussed the topic in speeches or debates.

Like most of his Massachusetts record, he hasn’t seemed anxious to run on or even discuss his homeland security policies as governor. It’d be a fair question for the debate tonight.”

Rose of the Massachusetts ACLU agreed: “Given Governor Romney’s role in launching these boondoggles — and President Obama’s decision to keep funding them — both presidential candidates should be asked tonight whether and why they would continue to waste billions of our scarce tax dollars on state fusion spying centers that don’t keep us safe but do undermine the right of ordinary Americans to be free from government snooping without a warrant.” (Andrea Stone. October 3, 2012 | Huffington Post. HERE) ... "

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“Fusion centers often produced irrelevant, useless, or inappropriate intelligence reporting to DHS, and many produced no intelligence reporting whatsoever.” ( ROBERT N. CHARETTE / WED, OCTOBER 03, 2012. HERE)
 ____________________________Reference
 http://nsnetwork.org/heather-hurlburt-quoted-in-huffington-post-on-romneys-homeland-security-silence-support-for-dhs-fusion-centers/ http://www.hsaj.org/?home=8.1 http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/03/us/inquiry-cites-flaws-in-regional-counterterrorism-offices.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20121004/18132820601/dhs-our-reports-to-congress-are-successful-bullshit.shtml http://spectrum.ieee.org/riskfactor/telecom/security/u-s-senate-report-dhs-counterterrorism-fusion-centers-often-produce-crap-intel http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/02/homeland-security-fusion-centers_n_1933998.html
http://www.acapitolblog.com/2010/10/official-opening-of-texas-fusion-center.html
http://mondoweiss.net/2012/10/senate-report-fusion-centers-meant-to-combat-terrorism-found-to-spy-on-u-s-citizens.html
http://www.freedomsphoenix.com/Article/084005-2011-02-16-goldwater-institute-promotes-4th-amendment-killing-fusion-centers.htm
http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread631321/pg1
http://snippits-and-slappits.blogspot.com/2009/03/america-civil-unrest-unavoidable.html

I WoTED.... Did You?

Another Day in Pakistan for Sharpie's

It was a Burkha's and Sharpie's Day in Pakistan....
retrieved by Pat Darnell
SOURCE

It sure is nice of these demonstrators to make separate signs in English for us who can't read the other signs ! Thanks Guys and Gals...

Get your Game Face on; and cover it with your Burkha's... and throw a Block Party !! YEAH!

Never Use this Word, ...Definitely

According to a new study, "definitely" is the most misspelled word in English. *[This might be the Queen's English, and not American English though, since "manoeuvre" also made the list.]*

Also on the list were broccoli, phlegm, bureaucracy, indict, consensus, unnecessary, sacrilegious and prejudice.

General opinion surrounding the poll seems to blame text messaging for our inability to spell. You know, because people are always TEXT-ing the words "bureaucracy" and "sacrilegious." Spell check perhaps could shoulder a little blame, but typing OMG into your phone is not automatically the same thing as not being able to spell words correctly.

[Source Misplaced] Retrieved by PD

Location; location; location

Olympic-like Re-locating Sites for The Federal Government: Hey!! Why not?

Uncle Sam Going Mobile

by Pat Darnell, Correspondent

20 Mar 08

I think the US Government would have a better chance of surviving the ensuing divisive nature of global politics. Open letter to the Comm-in-chief:

March 20, 2008

Dear Dubya:
"Please unplug DC on your way out. Please sell it to Disney. Then please have our great cities in different states sponsor the Federal Government in increments of eight years."

"It breaks my heart to see my Federal Capital looking so unfriendly. That style of centralized, fortified government locale has lost all its meaning and appeal. Besides, castle balustrade structure was all about ancient day rivaling feudal warlords who provided protection for local folk. We are the land of the free and home of the brave, still aren't we?"

"I strongly suggest the beauty that is our heritage Capitol in Washington DC would be preserved as an amusement and entertainment capital. It looks like a ghetto now. Maybe it could start earning afew bucks instead of sucking dollars into its gaping pie hole!"

Thank you for listening
Sincerely,
[add your name]

Or something like that.

Could we have a change of locale every eight years or so: like the Olympics. Salt Lake City for eight years, then to Fort Lauderdale for eight years, and so on? Why not? Hey even Las Vegas could house the gambling, horny legislators for a term or two. A mobile government is much less a target for terrorist style cheap shot tactics.

It would propel the various state economies into prosperity. Also, natural selection and various tribal-like rivalries, like football rivalries could crop up. We all know how prosperous our national sports programs are. This would naturally extinguish much of the waste of federal governmental bureaucracy. It would create natural attrition, just like Uncle Sam needs in this hour of seven-hundred battlefront lines world wide.

Hey, and also why not limit lame duck re-elected Presidents to only two more years, for a total of six years, in office. We wouldn't have to watch a president going around for the last two years in office looking for things to do. And the additional benefit is off-year Presidential elections. Isn't that exciting??

Faithful Reader -- Please add your two cents, or scents, to this one... [sense, pence, tuppence, coin, bank roll]
>>mpw/ pdarnell real estate correspondent