Tag archives for Terrorism

Homeland Security’s Guide to “Indicators of Suspicious Behavior at Hotels”

In July 2010, the Department of Homeland Security put together a memo documenting suspicious behaviors people engage in at hotels indicating they may be terrorists (PDF of full memo (100k)). Possible indicators of terrorist behaviors at hotels: The observation of multiple indicators may represent—based on the specific facts or circumstances—possible terrorist behaviors at hotels: Not providing…

The Terrorist’s Favorite Watch

If you harbored any illusions that the United States government is in any way competent at fighting terrorism, you might want to take a look at this Wikipedia page about the favorite watch of terrorists, the Casio F91W. The Wikipedia list notes that possession of a Casio F91W by a detainee is repeatedly cited in…

Just How Vital Is God to Homeland Security?

The American Atheists are suing the state of Kentucky over a provision that a fundamentalist Christian legislator managed to slip into the state’s law governing the state Office of Homeland Security, (2) The executive director shall: (a) Publicize the findings of the General Assembly stressing the dependence on Almighty God as being vital to the…

Barack Obama, Bill Ayers and Political Violence

Xeni Jardin over at Boing! Boing! highlights an absurd interview with Bill Ayers featuring (in Jardins words) “his suggestions on what those swept up in the current wave of hope following [Barack] Obama’s election might do to harness that excitement.” Ayers, of course, is the former Weather Underground terrorist and Obama associate whom McCain tried…

New Yorker Profile of “24″ Co-Creator

Jane Mayer has written an excellent profile of “24″ co-creator and executive producer Joel Surnow. Much of the article focuses on the television show’s depiction of torture and other tactics. Mayer writes, The show’s appeal, however, lies less in its violence than in its giddily literal rendering of a classic thriller trope: the “ticking time…