Hollings Laments Security Funding Shortfall
(The following is a statement of Senator Ernest F. On Sunday night, the President announced that the Administration will be looking for an additional $87 billion for Iraq. This would bring the total amount spent there to over $160 billion. This request alone represents three times the amount the President requested for our nation's homeland security efforts this year. I was reluctant to create a Department of Homeland Security, because I felt bureaucratic reshuffling without adequate planning and expertise would detract from our ability to fight terrorism. But we are stuck with what we have, and now the Administration must take the steps necessary to make this bureaucracy work.
Feature: Boats We Love
Every harbor has its share: hardworking boats that stand-out for some provacative reason. It's probably not for their beauty. Form follows function in most maritime architecture, and maybe there's a beauty in how functional these boats are. But such beauty resides in the mind more than the eye. And yet they're still head-turners. Every harbor has its share. In New York, three come to mind - aphabetically, Odin, Shelby Rose, and Twintube. You know 'em on sight. The first two are tugs, and sort of look it. As for the third, "I was trying to build something that would do everything," Luther Blount told us. It does. They do. They say you'll see boats that resemble her out west. We've seen similar craft heading up the Rhine in Europe. But on New York harbor, Odin looks unique.
Report: Ferries Remain Vulnerable to Attacks
The Advance reported that while terrorist attacks on Staten Island's bridges would be difficult, experts say, the Staten Island Ferry remains a high-profile, vulnerable target. Harvey Kushner, a Long Island University professor of criminal justice and a federal government counterterrorism adviser, said the payoff for terrorists would be the sea disaster spectacle value. Officials said city ferries remain vulnerable despite the post-9/11 ban on trucks and cars. Instead of using car or truck bombs to attack the ferries, terrorists simply could send suicide bombers aboard the boats posing as passengers, it was explained. Police and Coast Guard officials have beefed up security on the ferries since 9/11. The NYPD assigned additional officers to patrol the boats and the ferry terminals.
PVA:Moving Cargo, Passengers to the Water
As the U.S. Department of Transportation works to develop transportation policies to meet 21st Century needs, perhaps the most vexing problems faced are those associated with traffic congestion on the Interstate highways which parallel our Atlantic, Pacific and Gulf coastlines. Interstate 95, I-5 and I-10 carry automobile and truck traffic far beyond their design capacities. In the major metropolitan areas, which these highways intersect, the combination of interstate and local traffic increasingly slows vehicle movements to a crawl. More traffic is on the way. Additional highway lanes and intersections will not solve these problems. Properly fashioned waterborne trailer and container services and passenger ferry operations can and should.
