Open Source Homeland

There are more bird strikes reported because more people are reporting bird strikes accurately. We have to tell the truth to each other before data can make any sense.

Why the increase in bird-strike reports?

Airports and airlines have become more diligent about reporting, said Mike Beiger, national coordinator for the airport wildlife hazards program at the Agriculture Department. But experts also say populations of large birds like Canada geese that can knock out engines on passenger jets have increased.

Bird-Plane Collisions Near Record 10,000 – CBS News.

Interesting unclassified reports below…

The review of our security and intelligence systems following the attempted terrorist attack on Christmas Day has been completed. The President spoke two days ago about “the urgency of getting this right,” and the identification of failures in this review, along with the immediate ordering of reforms and corrective steps both today and in the days since this incident, are a recognition of that urgency. This review is also a recognition that while there is no place for partisanship and the old Washington blame game in dealing with Al Qaeda and the threat they represent, keeping American safe depends on honest and direct accountability.

• Read the summary of the security review (pdf).
• Read the President’s Directive on corrective actions (pdf).

Release of the Security Review Conducted After the Failed Christmas Terrorist Attack | The White House.

C.I.A. Revives Data-Sharing Program With Environmental Scientists – NYTimes.com.

The trove of images is “really useful,” said Norbert Untersteiner, a professor at the University of Washington who specializes in polar ice and is a member of the team of spies and scientists behind the effort.

Scientists, Dr. Untersteiner said, “have no way to send out 500 people” across the top of the world to match the intelligence gains, adding that the new understandings might one day result in ice forecasts.

“That will be very important economically and logistically,” Dr. Untersteiner said, arguing that Arctic thaws will open new fisheries and sea lanes for shipping and spur the hunt for undersea oil and gas worth hundreds of billions of dollars.

Great site for pulling together knowledge about unknown callers: Phone Number Comments

The Pet Connection Blog has a follow-up post to the widely reported number of 300 deaths due to the pet food recall of earlier this year:

Which, of course, it won’t ever be, for reasons ranging from the lack of death certificates for animals to the number of pets especially cats who never showed up again after eating tainted food, to political issues involving powerful corporate and governmental interests.In other words, if you’re waiting for the government you pay for to tell you how many pets died, how much it cost the citizens of this country and how close the tainted ingredients came to affecting your children, well … don’t hold your breath.

This site had done their own grass-roots database in an attempt to get to the real numbers. Data sure is easy to manipulate, isn’t it?