Former CIA spy hunter Paul Redmond, who helped catch notorious Moscow mole Aldrich Ames, has withdrawn from consideration to become the Bush administration’s top counterspy, U.S. intelligence officials say. Mr. Redmond had been selected to be national counterintelligence executive, but backed out after the FBI held up his formal appointment by conducting a lengthy background…

A bipartisan push on Capitol Hill to strip the hue from the government’s color-coded terrorist alert system is gaining momentum. A package of legislation moving through the House eliminates the Department of Homeland Security’s use of colors to change the threat level, and calls for more specific threat information to be shared with the private…

True this: In Posner’s analysis, the director of national intelligence (DNI), created by Congress to be the president’s top intelligence adviser, was given too much to do. DNI John D. Negroponte oversees the CIA and 15 other intelligence agencies, including those at the Pentagon. Negroponte’s staff, which has grown to about 1,000, “has become a…

The Homeland Security Department is losing top managers and rank-and-file employees in a brain drain that could affect morale and the nation’s safety, according to members of Congress and labor experts. Homeland Security is “hemorrhaging on the front lines and higher up,” says New York University professor Paul Light, an expert on the federal workforce.…

“. . . Colorado . . .” The idea that a whole lot of people all checking each other can converge on acceptably accurate results, and do it faster than a few experts, is relatively new. But once people have seen it work, they’re eager to try it. During the period leading up to the…

. . . when the “pros” can’t be bothered to do the job properly: The top US general this week suggested that the Pentagon had not adequately vetted documents that allege Russia passed intelligence about US troop movements to Saddam Hussein early on during the 2003 invasion of Iraq. On Tuesday – the same day…

A U.S. State Department purchase of more than 15,000 computers made by Lenovo Group of China is starting to draw criticism, in the latest sign of American unease about the role of foreign companies in the domestic economy. I’m sorry; last year wasn’t this called “IBM”? I know somewhere in the DC area a certain…

Sometimes the most useful information is in plain sight—as long as you know where to look for it. . . . and “One of the non-negotiables I will impose [is single sign-on],” Jardines said. “We may not take the five or six separate networks and tell them, ‘You have to do away with yours,’ [but]…

Uncle Cofer wants you! Upon further reflection, I have to add, what a joy it must be to deploy with such an outfit. Imagine every Army (or Marine) deployment you’ve ever been on only without the hurry-up-and-wait, the endless paperwork, the outrageously clumsy and oudated equipment, and the drudgery. How successful would such an endeavor…

I won’t attempt to pile on the good work that has been done here and here in addressing those would wave a dismissive hand at the public release of captured media. I’ll merely point out to all the nay-sayers and unoriginal thinkers that there is nothing stopping you from forming your own Army and producing…

Installing radiation detectors at U.S. entry points is taking too long and costing too much, says a congressional watchdog agency whose undercover investigators breached security by slipping nuclear material into the United States. In a test last year, the small amounts of cesium-137, which is used in industrial gauges, triggered radiation alarms in Texas and…

According to FBI chief information officer Zalmai Azmi, the agency lacks the funds necessary to deploy essential technology, such as e-mail, for its investigators. Azmi said the bureau’s annual budget of $10 billion for unclassified networks barely covers costs and can only provide e-mail for 22,000 of its 30,000 employees. The FBI has set up…

Commentary on the released docs from beyond the grave.

Did I mention that the gargoyles are here?

If you or someone you know is up on naval history – in particular piracy issues – from the1700-1800s, please drop me a line. Working on a little side writing project and need some expertise. You can be as anonymous as you want to be.