Friends at Homeland Security is the first in the six novella McGee series by Carl Douglass. McGee is a pre-eminent private investigator whose clients include the rich, famous, infamous, the important, and the unfortunate. Decklin Marcus, scion of the very wealthy investment banker, Howard Everhart Marcus, and mother Anne—residents of exclusive Gramercy Park, New York—is found dead in his rather seedy apartment; and no one seems to know how, why, or perhaps by whom. The investigation comes to involve all of McGee's considerable resources, NYPD detectives, senior CIA agents, DNI scientists, hostile Homeland Security agents, national and international databases, a Byelorussian hit man, and eventually the Russian mafia. There is something unusual about Decklin's corpse, something not copacetic at the bank, something suspicious about the parents, and something weird about Homeland Security's involvement in the whole thing. It is McGee's job to unravel the mystery, brave the tigers in their dens, to mollify all of the agencies, to protect his clients and his associates, and finally to achieve a denouement—a stunning surprise. He does it all with style and consummate intelligence.
"As I write this, I'm sitting in a restaurant in a major U.S. airport, eating my breakfast with a plastic knife and fork. I worked up quite an appetite getting here two hours early and shuffling in the block-long lines until I got to the security checkpoint where I could take off my shoes, remove my belt, and put my carry-on luggage through the screening system . "What's going on? It's homeland security. Welcome to the new age of knee-jerk security at any price. Well, I've paid, and you've paid, and we'll all keep paying-but is it going to help? Have we embarked on a massive multibillion-dollar boondoggle that's going to do nothing more than make us feel more secure? Are we paying nosebleed prices for "feel-good" measures? . "This book was painful to write. By nature, I am a problem solver. Professionally I have made my career out of solving complex problems efficiently by trying to find the right place to push hard and make a difference. Researching the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI, CIA, INS, the PATRIOT Act, and so forth, one falls into a rabbit's hole of interdependent lameness and dysfunction. I came face to face with the realization that there are gigantic bureaucracies that exist primarily for the sole purpose of prolonging their existence, that the very structure of bureaucracy rewards inefficiency and encourages territorialism and turf warfare."
In her insider's look at American emergency and disaster management, Juliette distills years of professional experience into smart, manageable guidelines for keeping your family safe in an unpredictable world. From stocking up on coloring books to stashing duplicate copies of valuable papers out of state, Juliette's wisdom does more than just prepare us to survive in an age of mayhem--it empowers us to thrive. Her message, the result of years working where tragedy has thrived, is ultimately positive: starting in our homes, each of us--every mom, dad, aunt, uncle, yes every citizen--has the capacity to build a more resilient nation. Security Mom is an utterly modern tale about the highs and lows of having-it-all parenthood and a candid, sometimes shocking, behind-the-scenes look inside the high-stakes world of national security.
"In his scathing and deeply reported examination of the U.S. Border Patrol, Todd Miller argues that the agency has gone rogue since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, trampling on the dignity and rights of the undocumented with military-style tactics … Miller's book arrives at a moment when it appears that part of the Homeland Security apparatus is backpedaling by promising to tone down its tactics, maybe prodded by investigative journalism, maybe by the revelations of NSA leaker Edward Snowden … Border Patrol is quite possibly the right book at the right time … "—Tony Perry, Los Angeles Times "At the start of his unsettling and important new book, Border Patrol Nation, Miller observes that these days 'it is common to see the Border Patrol in places—such as Erie, Pennsylvania; Rochester, New York; or Forks, Washington—where only fifteen years ago it would have seemed far-fetched, if not unfathomable.'”—Barbara Spindel, Christian Science Monitor "Miller’s approach in Border Patrol Nation is to offer a glimpse into the secretive operations of the Border Patrol, reporting with a journalist’s objectivity and nose for a good story. Miller’s book is full of facts, and it’s clear he’s outraged, but he gives voices to people on every side of the issue … Miller’s book is a fascinating read … and bring the work of Susan Orlean to mind."—Amanda Eyre Ward, Kirkus Reviews "Todd Miller's invaluable and gripping book, Border Patrol Nation: Dispatches from the Front Lines of Homeland Security is the story of how this country’s borders are being transformed into up-armored, heavily militarized zones run by a border-industrial complex. It's an achievement and an eye opener."—Tom Engelhardt, TomDispatch "What Jeremy Scahill was to Blackwater, Todd Miller is to the U.S. Border Patrol!"—Tom Miller, author, On the Border: Portraits of America's Southwestern Frontier "Todd Miller has entered a secret world, and he has gone deep … Powerful."—Luis Alberto Urrea, author of The Devil's Highway: A True Story "Journalist Miller tells an alarming story of U.S. Border Patrol and Homeland Security's ever-widening reach into the lives of American citizens and legal immigrants as well as the undocumented. In addition to readers interested in immigration issues, those concerned about the NSA’s privacy violations will likely be even more shocked by the actions of Homeland Security."—Publishers Weekly, Starred Review Armed authorities watch from a military-grade surveillance tower as lines of people stream toward the security checkpoint, tickets in hand, anxious and excited to get through the gate. Few seem to notice or care that the US Border Patrol is monitoring the Super Bowl, as they have for years, one of the many ways that forces created to police the borders are now being used, in an increasingly militarized fashion, to survey and monitor the whole of American society. In fast-paced prose, Todd Miller sounds an alarm as he chronicles the changing landscape. Traveling the country—and beyond—to speak with the people most involved with and impacted by the Border Patrol, he combines these first-hand encounters with careful research to expose a vast and booming industry for high-end technology, weapons, surveillance, and prisons. While politicians and corporations reap substantial profits, the experiences of millions of men, women, and children point to staggering humanitarian consequences. Border Patrol Nation shows us in stark relief how the entire country has become a militarized border zone, with consequences that affect us all. Todd Miller has worked on and written about US border issues for over fifteen years.
The responsibilities of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) range from preventing foreign and domestic terrorist attacks; securing the nation's borders; safeguarding transportation systems; responding to natural disasters; nuclear detection; and more. Created in 2002 from a merger that rapidly incorporated parts of eight cabinet departments and 22 government agencies, DHS has struggled to integrate its numerous components and their unique cultures. While DHS is very accomplished at performing its many missions, the nature of the DHS work environment is inherently stressful, and employees suffer from low morale. A Ready and Resilient Workforce for the Department of Homeland Security: Protecting America's Front Line reviews current workforce resilience efforts, identifies gaps, and provides recommendations for a 5-year strategy to improve DHSTogether, the current DHS workforce resilience program. This report stresses the importance of strong leadership, communication, measurement, and evaluation in the organization and recommends content for a 5-year plan that will promote centralized strategic direction and resource investment to improve readiness and resilience at the department. While all DHS component agencies share a common mission, each have distinct roles with different stressors attached, making implementation of an organization-wide resilience or wellness program difficult. The recommendations of A Ready and Resilient Workforce for the Department of Homeland Security outline how DHS can focus its efforts on creating a common culture of workforce readiness and resilience, while recognizing the distinct, proud, celebrated cultures of its component agencies.
Homeland Security: Principles and Practice of Terrorism Response is the definitive resource on all aspects of homeland security, including incident management, threat assessment, planning for and response to terrorism and other forms of violence, the federal response plan, and weapons of mass effect. Ideal as a textbook for college-level homeland security courses or as a training text for first responders and government officials, Homeland Security: Principles and Practices of Terrorism Response explains key concepts of national security and applies them to real-world operations.
When we think of counterterrorism we often think of coercive measures, including expanded policing powers, extraordinary rendition, increased jail sentences, and no-fly lists. Yet, several countries also use surprisingly "soft" methods to deal with the rising problem of homegrown extremism--from debate training and sports competitions to citizenship education and information campaigns. Given the violent aims of homegrown extremists, why do states opt for this softer approach? In Hold Your Friends Close, Sarah Logan provides the first exploration of counter-radicalization policy and homegrown extremism through a theoretical and historical lens. Logan contends that unlike traditional counterterrorism, counter-radicalization is generally informed by ideals of citizenship and allegiance to the state as a panacea for the violence of homegrown extremism. Because the radicals these policies target are not loyal to their own state, but rather to the idea of a non-state based political or religious community, winning them back to their "home" state is the primary aim of counter-radicalization efforts. While there are some basic similarities in approach across countries, there are important divergences too. Logan argues that this stems from different ideas about the nature of citizenship and national belonging. To that end, Logan compares the different approaches of the UK and US, showing how they differ in important ways despite a basic focus on solidifying the target subject's allegiance to their home state. Providing the first detailed policy history of counter-radicalization in the US and the UK, as well as a comprehensive overview of counter-radicalization policies globally, Hold Your Friends Close is an essential read for scholars and policymakers who work on terrorism and its sources.
In Homeland Security, readers will learn about another side of the American government, both past and present. Sidebars include thought-provoking trivia, and ask questions about current events as well as the readers' own lives. Questions in the backmatter ask for text-dependent analysis. Photos, a glossary, and additional resources are included.
• Provides the latest organizational changes, restructures, and policy developments in DHS • Outlines the role of multi-jurisdictional agencies—this includes stakeholders at all levels of government relative to the various intelligence community, law enforcement, emergency managers, and private sector agencies • Presents a balanced approach to the challenges the federal and state government agencies are faced with in emergency planning and preparedness, countering terrorism, and critical infrastructure protection • Includes full regulatory and oversight legislation passed since the last edition, as well as updates on the global terrorism landscape and prominent terrorist incidents, both domestic and international • Highlights emerging, oftentimes controversial, topics such as the use of drones, border security and immigration, surveillance technologies, and pandemic planning and response • Each chapter contains extensive pedagogy including learning objectives, sidebar boxes, chapter summaries, end of chapter questions, Web links, and references for ease in comprehension
