(US GOVERNMENT) Department of Homeland Security; cabinet level position created by the Bush Administration in 2003. One of the most costly and poorly executed reorganizations in US history, it essentially blew hundreds of billions of dollars on unrelated and pointless government projects intended to reward members of congress who sided with the president.
The DHS budget's largest line items are:
*the Customs and Border Protection (CBP)-20%;
*the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)-19%;
*the Coast Guard (USCG; formerly part of the Department of Transportation {DOT})-18%;
*the Transportation Security Administration (TSA)-12%;
*Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)-10%;
*Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS)-5%.
(Percentages are of the FY 2011 DHS Budget--$57 billion
The DHS budget's largest line items are:
*the Customs and Border Protection (CBP)-20%;
*the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)-19%;
*the Coast Guard (USCG; formerly part of the Department of Transportation {DOT})-18%;
*the Transportation Security Administration (TSA)-12%;
*Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)-10%;
*Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS)-5%.
(Percentages are of the FY 2011 DHS Budget--$57 billion
The DHS was created to bring most federally-controlled law enforcement bodies into one single, union-free, whistle-blower-free, department. Riders to the Homeland Security Act cost taxpayers billions in useless programs.
by Primus Intra Pares June 19, 2010
Civil rights organization that collects information about hate groups. SPLC-affiliated lawyers also file lawsuits to enforce the constitutional rights of Americans who are denied them by the authorities.
As the name implies, beneficiaries of the SPLC include people who are poor, and require legal protection from either racist violence or abusive, indifferent agents of the state.
As the name implies, beneficiaries of the SPLC include people who are poor, and require legal protection from either racist violence or abusive, indifferent agents of the state.
Bernard Monroe Sr., an elderly black man, was shot to death on his front porch by a white police officer who had entered his house in Homer, La., without apparent justification or a warrant. The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) filed a wrongful death lawsuit that alleged two white officers created a volatile situation when they entered Monroe's property during a gathering of his family and friends on Feb. 20, 2009.
by Primus Intra Pares June 17, 2010
(US GOVERNMENT) Agency of the Department of Homeland Security tasked with the enforcement of US border protection and with the investigation of violations.
Created in 2003 from the former US Customs Service (Homeland Security Act); accounts for approximately one-fifth of the DHS's total budget. Budget is greater than the entire defense budget of Colombia, Taiwan, or Iran. It employs 52,000 people, including 17,000 border patrol agents, 1000 air and marine agents, and 22,000 port inspectors.
Created in 2003 from the former US Customs Service (Homeland Security Act); accounts for approximately one-fifth of the DHS's total budget. Budget is greater than the entire defense budget of Colombia, Taiwan, or Iran. It employs 52,000 people, including 17,000 border patrol agents, 1000 air and marine agents, and 22,000 port inspectors.
The Villarreal investigation is among scores of corruption cases in recent years...
...Department of Homeland Security officials have reconstituted an internal affairs unit at Customs and Border Protection, one of the largest federal law enforcement agencies, overseeing both border agents and customs officers.
When the Homeland Security Department was created in 2003, the internal affairs unit was dissolved and its functions spread among other agencies...
(NY Times, "Border Agents, Lured by the Other Side"--27 May 2008)
...Department of Homeland Security officials have reconstituted an internal affairs unit at Customs and Border Protection, one of the largest federal law enforcement agencies, overseeing both border agents and customs officers.
When the Homeland Security Department was created in 2003, the internal affairs unit was dissolved and its functions spread among other agencies...
(NY Times, "Border Agents, Lured by the Other Side"--27 May 2008)
by Primus Intra Pares June 17, 2010
(ECONOMICS) an official definition of poverty, in which one third of one's income is spent on food. "Food," here, is defined as the most cost-effective way of meeting basic nutritional needs.
The definition has one advantage, which is that researchers can get comparable information about poverty for any country in the world. The disadvantage is that it's arbitrary (why one third? why food? why not shelter, health care, and heating?); the other is that the cost of living varies dramatically in different neighborhoods in different cities of different US states, yet the poverty level is the same (expressed in dollar amounts) everywhere in a given country.
A better measure is the self-sufficiency standard.
The definition has one advantage, which is that researchers can get comparable information about poverty for any country in the world. The disadvantage is that it's arbitrary (why one third? why food? why not shelter, health care, and heating?); the other is that the cost of living varies dramatically in different neighborhoods in different cities of different US states, yet the poverty level is the same (expressed in dollar amounts) everywhere in a given country.
A better measure is the self-sufficiency standard.
Living under the official poverty level can be a lot worse in affluent communities like San Francisco, where the cost of basic necessities is very high. On the other hand, it's also a lot worse in areas such as rural Mississippi, where public amenities (such as libraries equipped with computers for public use) are rare.
by Primus Intra Pares July 12, 2010
(US GOVERNMENT) Immigration and Naturalization Service: former agency of the US government responsible for the enforcement of immigration law, and the processing of visa/permit requests. The INS and its successor (see below) are justly famous for treating millions of hardworking, intelligent, and creative people with the most demeaning, barbaric sort of bureaucratic cruelty imaginable.
After the attacks of 11 September 2001, Congress passed a bill creating the Department of Homeland Security (DHS); the INS was split up into its enforcement functions (which became part of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and its processing functions (Citizenship and Immigration Services, or CIS).
Prior to its dissolution in 2003, the INS was part of the Department of Justice. The CIS and ICE are both part of the DHS.
After the attacks of 11 September 2001, Congress passed a bill creating the Department of Homeland Security (DHS); the INS was split up into its enforcement functions (which became part of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and its processing functions (Citizenship and Immigration Services, or CIS).
Prior to its dissolution in 2003, the INS was part of the Department of Justice. The CIS and ICE are both part of the DHS.
Because of its extraordinary power over the lives of millions of US nationals and residents, the Immigration and Naturalization Service gained lasting notoriety. Seven years after it was superseded by the CIS, most people associated visa regulations with the INS.
"Brother from Another Planet" was a brilliant parody of INS agent behavior.
"Brother from Another Planet" was a brilliant parody of INS agent behavior.
by Primus Intra Pares June 16, 2010
(VIETNAMESE HISTORY) Army of the "Republic of Vietnam"; organization created, funded, armed, by the US government; mostly conscripts with no motivation to kill patriotic countrymen in the countryside (which is what the "Viet Cong" really were). Extremely poor fighting force; however, fairly self-confident at staging the occasional coup d'etat.
Collapsed completely in early months of 1975. Mostly behaved as one would expect a group of brutally terrorized conscripts serving a regime they despised to behave.
Collapsed completely in early months of 1975. Mostly behaved as one would expect a group of brutally terrorized conscripts serving a regime they despised to behave.
The other definition of ARVN includes a quote from the Stanley Kubrick movie, "Full Metal Jacket." It is used as a taunt of Vietnamese "cowardice" by young US soldiers. Of course, no sane conscript would risk his life to fight for occupiers, against an "enemy" consisting of patriotic citizens of his own country. So the taunt fell flat.
by Primus Intra Pares July 25, 2010
(ECONOMICS) a shock to the industrial system caused by massive errors in investment decisions. In essence, financial crises are failures of the capital markets (stock exchanges, etc.) to do their job.
In the lead-up to a financial crisis, money entrusted to capital managers to invest is spent instead on bolstering the plutonomy. Then, when those same capital managers are overleveraged, it becomes obvious that the economy has been producing the wrong stuff; its corporations are therefore worth a lot less than everyone had supposed they were.
Then people sell their shares of stock, causing a liquidity crisis for many firms, which react by firing people and dumping anything of value at reduced prices.
This requires a lot of expensive genius to do well.
In the lead-up to a financial crisis, money entrusted to capital managers to invest is spent instead on bolstering the plutonomy. Then, when those same capital managers are overleveraged, it becomes obvious that the economy has been producing the wrong stuff; its corporations are therefore worth a lot less than everyone had supposed they were.
Then people sell their shares of stock, causing a liquidity crisis for many firms, which react by firing people and dumping anything of value at reduced prices.
This requires a lot of expensive genius to do well.
While there is little evidence so far that the 2008 financial crisis was engineered by any one perpetrator, the very same economic elites who caused it are now poised to benefit from it by imposing "disaster capitalism."
by Primus Intra Pares July 11, 2010