Steven Brill: The State of Insecurity

Press Release 09 August 2016

The Atlantic's September Issue: Fifteen Years After 9/11, Are We Any Safer?

A yearlong investigation by Steven Brill, online today

http://www.theatlantic.com/press-releases/archive/2016/08/the-atlantics-september-issue-fifteen-years-after-911-1-trillion-dollars-spent-are-we-any-safer/495047/

Washington, D.C. (August 9, 2016)—On September 11, 2001, 19 terrorists used four jetliners as guided missiles to kill 2,977 people, enveloping the nation in an aura of fear and vulnerability. Fifteen years later, and after $1 trillion has been spent, The Atlantic's latest cover story by Steven Brill tells the story of the September 12 era: how we have confronted—sometimes heroically and sometimes irrationally—the mechanics, politics, and psychic challenges of the threat of terrorism at home.
The Atlantic's September cover story, "Are We Any Safer?," is now on TheAtlantic.com. The multimedia package includes a video in which Brill unpacks the little-discussed impact of a dirty bomb in a U.S. city, and an email exchange between President Barack Obama and Brill, in which the president reflects on the lessons of September 11 and how that has informed his approach to evolving threats to the homeland.

In a year of intensive reporting, Brill scoured the 9/11 response: interviewing key national-security players—including Obama, Jeh Johnson, James Comey, Richard Clarke, Tom Ridge, Ray Kelly, and Janet Napolitano—and poring through thousands of pages of Government Accountability Office reports and congressional testimony. The article looks at the initial shock following the "failure to connect the dots," as well as the creation of an entirely new security apparatus. It is a the story of extraordinary progress and extravagant failures. From the rise of the Islamic State and lone wolves to the seeming inevitability of a dirty bomb, threats are evolving faster than efforts against them. All of this raises a much larger question: How do we come to terms with the fact that we'll never be completely safe?

 

Post Note: In conjunction with the cover story, The Atlantic will host "Fifteen Years Later: Are We Any Safer?," a half-day event on Thursday, September 8 in Washington, D.C. The program will gather top security and policy players to examine the strengths and remaining vulnerabilities of our security apparatus and our preparedness to prevent the next terrorist attack. For more information visit theatlantic.com/15-years-later/ or be in touch with The Atlantic's Sydney Simon (ssimon@theatlantic.com)

Is America Any Safer 15 years After 9/11?

Published on Aug 9, 2016

Views: 568

As we approach the 15th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, fear remains. A CBS News poll taken in June after the shooting rampage in Orlando found two-thirds of Americans think a terror attack is very or somewhat likely in the next few months. Author Steven Brill spent a year investigating the estimated trillion-dollar security state, built since 9/11. Brill joins "CBS This Morning" to discuss his latest cover story in The Atlantic, titled, "Are we any safer?"

KEEPING YOU INFORMED: To Increase Public Engagement Before, During + After Elections

Signs for candidates who want your votes to get elected to public office - or who want to get re-elected - are all over Mesa. It's that time again! Have you paid attention at all to issues that can directly you in your district or city-at-large? Registered to vote already? Early voting is underway here in Mesa - are you informed about issues and where candidates stand go serve the public?

Do you even know who your six Mesa City Council members are? Half of the seats on the City Council are up for grabs this year in Districts 1, 2 and 3 where there is competition. Vice Mayor Dennis Kavanagh is retiring in good grace after many years of dedication of public service. He, like current Councilmember David Luna,  has endorsed Ryan Winkle, a community activist and newcomer to the wonderful world of Mesa politics, for succession to District 3 in a heated competition with Jerry Lewis, influential LDS leader and executive in Edkey a charter school corporation, endorsed by both current Mayor Giles and ex-mayor Smith.

Outgoing Alex Finter has selected and endorsed fellow LDS member Shelly Allen, who got called up after retiring from city employment.

Dave Richins whose term limits in District 1have expired remains neutral at this time.

Two days ago the City of Mesa announced changes to early voting and ballot drop off locations http://www.mesanow.org/article.php?id=1711

Mesa Mayor John Giles goes unchallenged  in the no-contest for four more years inside City Hall after the job was handed to him by ex-mayor Scott Smith who left office to run in a failed bid for Arizona governor in 2014. Giles, a graduate of BYU and ASU practiced law for 25 years specializing in personal accident injury cases and evictions [ according to his profile on LinkedIn ] - hardly the qualifications for public office - and previously held a seat on the City Council from 1996-2000, was vice-mayor, named at one point like many men "Mesa Man-of-the-Year" and appeared to be on the trajectory for higher office at that time.

What threw him off that track is a mystery, only saying in public statements that he left office with "anxiety and a lot of pent-up energy". 12 years later he gets hand-selected, not elected, and nominated/approved by a LDS-dominated City Council to hold onto the position as mayor for the few months before the next election in 2014 with a low voter turn-out but where he did muster 72.7% of people who did take the time to vote for him. Giles admits he has failed to involve or engage in government during his first two-year stint in office 

 

E.thePeople is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that is the nation’s leading provider of interactive voter guide software. Hundreds of news organizations and civic groups have their software to provide in-depth online voter guides for local, state, and national elections.
More than 13 million people have visited e.thePeople voter guides since 2004.
13,000,000 visitors have used our Voter Guides through more than 150 affiliates
http://ethepeople.org/

E.THEPEOPLE AWARDED $200,000 TO CREATE NEW COMPREHENSIVE VOTER EXPERIENCE AS PART OF THE KNIGHT NEWS CHALLENGE ON ELECTIONS

(New York, N.Y.) – E.thePeople was awarded $200,000 as a winner of the Knight News Challenge on Elections for a project that will spur informed voter participation. The winning project, “Informed Voting from Start to Finish,” is collaboration between e.thePeople, Democracy Works, and the Center for Civic Design. An initiative of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the Knight News Challenge on Elections sought ideas to better inform voters and increase civic participation before, during and after elections.
The initiative will link TurboVote, an online service developed by Democracy Works that provides registration help and reminders of when and where to vote, to hundreds of local online voter guides provided by e.thePeople in partnership with news and civic groups across the country. The Center for Civic Design will help the team refine information provided to voters and lead research to better understand how voters get and use election information. . .
Combining the knowledge and efforts of these three groups will provide unprecedented support to engage voters.

• 80% of those who re-registered using the Democracy Works tool TurboVote successfully cast ballots in 2012, while nationwide turnout dropped to 57%. 75% of voters that TurboVote helped to register for the first time also cast ballots.

• e.thePeople works with hundreds of news media and civic groups across the county to develop personalized online voter guides which have been used by over 13 million visitors.

• The Center for Civic Design has developed design guidelines for voter information (including the Field Guides to Ensuring Voter Intent and Best Practices for Official Voter Information Guides in California), and has a strong methodology for evaluating effective voter information design.

The Knight News Challenge accelerates media innovation by funding breakthrough ideas in news and information. More at www.newschallenge.org.

https://www.facebook.com/Ethepeople-194364544064749/

https://twitter.com/etppl

Shot In DTMesa Stephen Steinbrink - Impossible Hand

His hometown

Stephen Steinbrink’s New Video Captures The Dull Beauty Of The American Southwest

The songwriter debuts a mostly actionless clip for “Impossible Hand” off his seventh album

The two best dancers I know, Paul Arambula and Lay Yi Ohlsen, helped us by doing their thing in front of the Americopy print shop with the crooked palm tree where I used to make photocopied punk flyers. The abandoned AMF bowling alley and the dollar store with its depressed imprisoned Beta fish are weird decaying artifacts from when I was a kid. Ben and Saxon also grew up in Arizona, and together we took these little absurd stream of consciousness vignettes and edited them to follow no narrative and meander aimlessly, which is what growing up in Arizona feels like."

http://www.thefader.com/2016/08/08/stephen-steinbrink-impossible-hand-video

Uploaded on Jul 27, 2016

Directed and shot by Ben Kitnick & Saxon Richardson in Phoenix, AZ and edited by Stephen Steinbrink.

Impossible Hand is taken from the album 'Anagrams' by Stephen Steinbrink. Available now on LP/CD/Digital: https://www.melodic.co.uk/anagrams

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: Journalism (HBO)

HEADS UP Take the time to watch this - 2 million people have viewed what John Oliver has to say. Here in Mesa I never see journalists or reporters at City Council meetings and rarely anyone from the public.
Published on 07 August 2016
Views: 2,112,785
Running Time: 19:22

The newspaper industry is suffering. That’s bad news for journalists — both real and fictional

HEADS UP! >> Tools + Resources To Support Local Leaders and Community Organizations

Resources for Public Space Stewardship
http://publicspacestewardship.org/

This website provides inspiration, practical information, and ready-to-use tools that will support local leaders and community organizations in their public space stewardship efforts.

Event-based Models

BACKGROUND INFORMATION The event-based model centers around programming and activation. The model involves temporary alteration or creation of public spaces

Grassroots Community Partnerships

BACKGROUND INFORMATION In some scenarios, groups of residents, business owners, and other local stakeholders have formed grassroots organizations for the

Public/Private Partnership

BACKGROUND INFORMATION A public–private partnership is a government service or private business venture which is funded and operated through a

Special Assessment Districts

BACKGROUND INFORMATION Like most states, California law allows for the formation of special assessment districts - areas in which property

Maintenance and/or Technical Assistance Partnerships       

BACKGROUND INFORMATION For many small community organizations, taking on all aspects of public space management can be challenging. Particularly

FOR YOUR INFORMATION: oops! Here's John Giles

Has John Giles found his next?? ???
Taking Mesa to the Next Mesa
http://www.johngilesformayor.com/meet-john-giles/

Why Mesa  [still ] , needs John Giles?
Mesa Issues: Oops, This Page Could Not Be Found!
http://www.johngilesformayor.com/mesa-issues/