The Homeland Security Act was a direct response by the President and Congress to the September 11, 2001 terrorist acts and the mailing of anthrax spores that same year.

The Homeland Security Act was designed to meet the following goals.

1. Establish the Department of Homeland Security – The Homeland Security Act established this new cabinet department of the federal government. The department is responsible for protecting the territories of the United States from terrorist attacks, man made accidents, and natural disasters. The Secretary of Homeland Security, a position created by the Homeland Security Act, heads the department.
2. To be an agency that fulfilled a previously unaddressed role – The Department of Homeland Security, under the Homeland Security Act, is designed to prevent terrorist acts. The responsibility for prosecuting terrorists, for example, remains with the FBI.
3. To make the country better prepared for disaster – Another of the goals of the Homeland Security Act is to improve the nation’s preparedness for natural disasters and terrorism, including the government’s response to these situations.
4. To secure the borders – While not replacing traditional border patrols, the Department of Homeland Security is responsible for securing the nation’s borders, waterways and ports from terrorists.
5. Securing transportation – The Department of Homeland Security also has responsibility for protecting the country’s air, land and sea transportation systems. This directive of the Homeland Security Act was responsible for the creation of Federal Air Marshal jobs on US commercial flights.
6. Protecting Information Security –The department is also responsible for protecting the sensitive information of the US government from terrorists. This applies to the security of computer systems, as well as the information that might be contained on those systems, as well as government information not housed on computer systems.

In 2003, the Department of Homeland Security absorbed the Immigration and Naturalization Service and its directives. Under the Department of Homeland Security, the INS was divided into two divisions: Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Citizenship and Immigration Services. In addition, the following other departments currently fall under the purvey of the Department of Homeland Security:

• Coast Guard
• US Customs and Border Protection
• Transportation Security Administration
• United States Secret Service
• Federal Emergency Management Agency

Today, the Department of Homeland Security is the government’s third largest cabinet, with more than 200,000 employees and a 2011 budget of $98.8 billion. Its scope and responsibilities have changed to reflect the country’s needs and changes in national security. As the responsibilities of the organization have matured, they have taken on greater influence. But, the chief goal of the Department of Homeland Security and the Homeland Security Act continues to be preventing terrorist attacks and protecting the nation from internal and external forces that desire to bring harm to the nation’s citizens.

Phyllis T. Zerkle enjoys blogging in order to help students find the information they need about online homeland security degrees.

The study also says that most people who are suffering are not receiving treatment – only 30% have attempted to get help. And, sadly, only about half of them are receiving effective treatment. That is a lot of depression and sadness around you if you live in Europe. What a sad report.

If I have a full hour to spend on R&R I’ll try to find a good partner and play one or two Spades games. If I only have a few minutes I’ll play something fast, like backgammon or cribbage. Sometimes I like the cutthroat strategies of Hearts to sharpen my mind. These are not time wasters as much as they are mental exercises to keep me alert and sharpen my critical thinking skills.

At home he usually falls asleep watching TV and his mom moves him to his bed and leaves his clothes on him, then in the morning he gets a bath in a big hurry because he has to leave for school.

At my house (my rules!) he takes a bath after dinner and puts on pajamas, then he is allowed to watch TV or a movie and then he puts himself to bed. I tuck in the covers and say, “Sleep tight – don’t let the bedbugs bite!”

The earthquake in China was devastating. The reported number of people killed keeps growing, by practically hundreds by the hours. The last time I looked it was over 12,000 dead and 18,000 missing or trapped in the wreckage of schools, office buildings and apartment homes. My heart goes out to these people and I hope that the rest of the world steps up to help provide aid to these victims.

Something I do for fun when I am watching a DVD on the set with a remote control is to use the Spanish subtitles and then watch it again in Spanish if the DVD has that option. I took Spanish in school and I can understand a lot of it when I hear it, but I never have the opportunity to speak it to anyone. I feel terribly handicapped when I am around a lot of Spanish speaking people and cannot participate in the conversation.

I would love to go to the Spanish immersion camp they host every month out west. You go for 2 weeks and everything around you is in Spanish. Being able to speak it and have feedback from someone interested in helping you improve your speaking ability would be the best part for me.

• Record of the Year
• Song of the Year
• Best New Artist

One listen to her album and you immediately know why she has gotten so much acclaim. This woman has a great voice and a talent for songwriting – she wrote or co-wrote every song on the record. Her song, “Put Your Records On” makes me smile and hum along every time I hear it. Her other hit song, “Like a Star,” is so easy to listen to, time after time. I love her voice and her songs.

Sadly, song very bad has happened in her world these past couple of days. Her husband was found dead in their London home. I was so sorry to learn that and when I came across her album at the store today, I bought it. I hope this in some small way encourages her to get through these hard times and continue working on her singing career – she is a bright star who needs to shine.

Again tonight we are having severe weather warnings. I’m glad for the rain, as last year was a drought for most of the southeastern states. But the wind does a lot of damage and the tornadoes do kill people when buildings collapse or cars flip over.

I wish the government had a better handle on the global warming and could lead the way for the rest of the world – especially China – to treat our Earth with more respect and care.

Hope my Irish friends have a wonderful holiday and lots of fun – but please be smart and safe about getting home. If you’ve been drinking, take a cab or have a sober friend friend drive you. I’d like to keep my friends around for a good long time! And here is an Irish Blessing from 123 Greetings to share with all my friends:

The new Corporate Manslaughter Act goes into full force and effect next month. This new Act is a strengthening of previous legislation that tried to do the same thing, but it unfortunately was limited to prosecuting just the individuals in the company who it could be proven had enough seniority and responsibility for the company to be deemed the “directing mind” of the company.

The new law has lifted that limitation so that the entire company can be held liable if there is a death as a result of the company’s gross negligence.

I was reading about the new Corporate Manslaughter Act on a website that focuses on workplace safety issues. The website is uncluttered yet full of information. There are easy to follow links to more information on a variety of safety issues. Since these issues are important to me, it is also interesting to me to read the perspective of people outside of the U. S. that are dealing with this, too.