HomelandSecurityLeader.com

From MSNBC.com

PATNA, India - An elephant nicknamed “Osama bin Laden” that killed at least 11 people and injured dozens has been shot dead, officials in eastern India said on Saturday.

The wild male elephant had been terrorizing villagers in two states in recent months, destroying their crops and homes.

Forest officials and a police team tracked down the rogue jumbo in the eastern state of Jharkhand late on Friday, where it was shot dead, senior government official Ravi Ranjan said.

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From Buell Release

Buell Ulysses® Designed For Power and Agility on Highways or Unpaved Roads

The new Buell Ulysses® Police XB12XP offers government agencies and private security firms a quick and very nimble “special duty” patrol vehicle that is capable of travel over a variety of terrain, from open highways to city streets to unpaved back-country roads.

The Ulysses Police features long-travel suspension, generous ground clearance and aggressive tires that allow it to tackle roads too rough or narrow for confident travel in an automobile or on a traditional police motorcycle. On smooth pavement, the Ulysses Police is an agile sport motorcycle. The Ulysses Police can also accommodate a passenger. Available for order through Buell dealers as of Tuesday, May 27 2008, production of the 2009 Ulysses Police is scheduled to begin in August 2008.

Special features of the Ulysses Police include hard-shell top and side cases, each removable and lockable. The side cases are narrower than the standard Ulysses accessory side cases, allowing for more clearance in tight situations. On the Ulysses Police model, the Buell Triple Tail system functions as a luggage rack with tie-down hooks over the rear seat position, or as a cushioned passenger backrest with grab rails. A tall windshield, heated hand grips, and handlebar deflectors are also standard equipment. An available emergency response kit provides a siren and an LED lighting package in three different color configurations (Red/Blue, Red/Red, or Blue/Blue).

The Ulysses Police is powered by an air/oil/fan-cooled, fuel-injected Buell Thunderstorm 1203cc V-Twin engine that delivers 103 peak horsepower. This engine’s broad powerband and abundant torque gives the Ulysses the ability to proceed at lower speeds over uneven or unpaved roads with less gear shifting, and to deliver instant bursts of acceleration. The Ulysses Police has an EPA fuel mileage rating of 51 mpg urban/64 mpg highway*. A Goodyear Hibrex final drive belt with Flexten Plus technology is durable and never needs adjustment or lubrication.

The Ulysses Police will be offered in two color choices: Birch White and Midnight Black.

Link to more info: www.buell.com

For Americans who may have been hungry for a credentialed conservative candidate in the 2008 Presidential contest, the wait is over.

Bob Barr today announced his candidacy for the presidency. Barr will run as a Libertarian and have to secure the their party’s nomination at a convention in Denver in two weeks.

In discussing the 2008 race earlier this year, GOP insider Andy Card said the early primaries and potential candidate overexposure in the media may have voters looking for options by summer.

“This year will present the perfect storm for an independent candidate,” Card advised.

Barr clearly hopes to take advantage of exactly that kind of opportunity. And, as a former CIA officer, a Reagan appointed U.S. Attorney and a Congressman who was known for hardcore conservative principles, Barr is a long way from the pro-pot fringe some may associate with the early days of the Libertarian Party.

Any honest assessment of his voting record in Congress will make both Obama and McCain look like liberals and his long time leadership on Second Amendment issues is not likely to be forgotten by the legions of N.R.A. loyalists. Finally, Barr’s pro-life credentials are certainly equal to John McCain’s, if not stronger.

As a campaigner, Barr is a thick skinned and seasoned professional. Having run severally hotly contested races in Georgia, his former opponents have come to understand that there are simply no skeletons or scandals to be found in Bob’s long history of public service.

On the major issues, Barr said he would look for a way to begin bringing troops home from Iraq and would evaluate other ways to reduce the military’s footprint abroad. He also said he doesn’t want to see America ushered into a war with Iran. On illegal immigration, he said that major reforms are needed because, “The United States of America is not a charity.”

In announcing his candidacy, Barr said that as President, he would focus on reducing the size of government, supporting original intent of the Constitution and restoring checks and balances between the three branches of government.

One thing is for sure, this race has just gotten a lot more interesting.

10:00 AM EDT Transportation Security Administration Administrator Kip Hawley will testify before the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee on budget oversight (508 Dirksen Senate Office Building).

12:15 PM CDT Secretary Michael Chertoff will participate in a press availability with Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator David Paulison and Okalahoma Governor Brad Henry following a tour of local damage caused by recent tornados in Picher, OK.

1:00 PM CDT U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Assistant Secretary Julie L. Myers will deliver remarks on the Student Exchange Visitor Program’s proposed fee rule increase to presidents, provosts and administrators of schools and universities in the greater Chicago area at an event hosted by the University of Illinois Chicago.

2:00 PM CDT Secretary Michael Chertoff will participate in a press availability with Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator David Paulison and Missouri Governor Matt Blunt following a tour of local damage caused by recent tornados in Seneca, MO.

From Al Jazeera

Paul Bremer was appointed by George Bush, the US president, as head of the Coalition Provisional Authority immediately after the invasion of the country by US-led forces, taking up his position on May 11, 2003, until June 2004 when limited sovereignty was restored.

As part of Al Jazeera’s special series War Without End, he told Hoda Abdel Hamid about the challenges he faced in trying to restructure Iraq’s government institutions and infrastructure.

“In my very first meeting with president [George] Bush, which was on May 3 2003, he made it very clear that we were going to take our time to try to put Iraq on a long-term programme for political reconstruction and, of course, rebuild the economy.

But the clear message was let’s take our time and try to get it right in terms of political reconstruction.

Two things were pretty quickly apparent. One was that we did not have adequate security even in Baghdad because the looting was going on virtually from the day I arrived.

Within a week it became clear to me that we had a major problem that I had not anticipated which was how badly deformed the economy was, how much devastation Saddam had done to the economy.”

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From DHS Release 

Baltimore - The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced today improvements aimed at strengthening aviation security while decreasing the hassle factor for travelers. Among the key improvements, DHS is providing airlines more flexibility to allow passengers to check in remotely who have been unable to do so because they have a name similar to someone on a watch list. The department also unveiled the Checkpoint Evolution prototype, which begins full operation at Baltimore-Washington International Airport (BWI) today.

Each airline will now be able to create a system to verify and securely store a passenger’s date of birth to clear up watch list misidentifications. By voluntarily providing this limited biographical data to an airline and verifying that information once at the ticket counter, travelers that were previously inconvenienced on every trip will now be able to check-in online or at remote kiosks.

“Hassles due to misidentification and the resulting necessity to stand in line to check in at the ticket counter is consistently among the deepest - and most valid - complaints of the traveling public,” said Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff. “Thousands of passengers are inconvenienced each day, and this change should provide a way to eliminate the vast majority of these situations. This is good for travelers and for security, because as we make the checkpoint environment calmer, it becomes easier to spot individuals with hostile intent.”

Additionally, DHS is providing greater clarity on the types of identification that will be accepted at checkpoints in the U.S. Beginning May 26, 2008, federal or state-issued photo ID will be accepted if it contains: name, date of birth, gender, expiration date and a tamper-resistant feature. Standardizing the list of accepted documents better aligns TSA with other DHS components and REAL ID benchmarks. More information on acceptable documents is available at www.tsa.gov.

These innovations, along with the new Checkpoint Evolution prototype, are part of a broader effort to calm the checkpoint. The BWI prototype includes Millimeter Wave technology used in random continuous use, multi-view X-ray and liquid bottle scanners. These technologies, in conjunction with changes to the checkpoint environment and processes, will be evaluated for operational efficiency over the coming months.

Transportation Security Officers and managers at BWI are the first in the country to complete a 16-hour training module designed to incorporate the latest intelligence analysis, more advanced explosives detection skills, and ways to engage with passengers to promote a calmer environment for better security. The training was developed by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Office of Intelligence, Bomb Appraisal Officers, and TSA Checkpoint Evolution team.

Checkpoint Evolution is located at B Checkpoint, Southwest Terminal at BWI. The layered security elements are both modular and flexible and designed to work individually, as well as part of an integrated package.

From CNN, by Drew Griffin and Kathleen Johnson

SAN DIEGO, California (CNN) — Their mission is to protect airline passengers from acts of terror on U.S. flights. But in a special investigation, former and current air marshals told CNN that the number of marshals assigned to police flights is so low that the federal agency overseeing them has drastically lowered its firearms and psychological testing standards just so it can qualify new hires.

More than a dozen current and former marshals said that so many federal air marshals have resigned and are not being replaced, airport screeners are being employed to fill the dwindling ranks.
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From The National Terror Alert 

A US federal judge on Wednesday declared a mistrial in case of six Florida men charged with plotting to blow up buildings with help from the Al-Qaeda terror network.

Prosecutors had asked for stiff prison sentences for the defendants known as the “Liberty City Seven” — named after the poor, predominantly African-American Miami neighborhood where they live — who were arrested in June 2006.

The group’s first trial ended in December 2007 in a hung jury. At that time one of the accused was released.

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From American Thinker, by Janet Levy

When the 2008 Summer Olympic Games were awarded to Beijing seven years ago, hope arose that China’s new-found status as a modern, world power and position in the world media spotlight would prompt increased tolerance and democracy nationwide. Clearly, that optimism has been dashed by the turmoil in Tibet.

Stellar economic performance and reforms, viewed sanguinely by the West as a sure route to liberalization, have occurred in China devoid of political reform. China’s use of brutal force and massive arrests against Tibetan protestors bear witness to this lack of progress. Indeed, China today stands revealed as one of the worst perpetrators of human rights violations and religious repression in the world.

Among those singled out for similar harshness and violence is a portion of China’s 30-million-strong Muslim community: the Islamic jihadists of the northwestern province of Xinjiang and surrounding areas.

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From www.breitbart.com

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama on Tuesday called for a “diplomatic surge” including talks with US foe Iran, to help stabilize the situation in Iraq. The Illinois Senator battling Hilary Clinton for his party’s nomination called for more pressure on the Iraqi government to embrace political reconciliation and a regional “diplomatic surge that includes Iran.”

“We should be talking to them as well,” Obama told the top US General in Iraq David Petraeus and US ambassador to Baghdad Ryan Crocker.

“I do not believe we are going to be able to stabilize the situation without that” said Obama, adding that a plan for US troop withdrawals was needed to force Iraqi factions to work together.

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