From Field to Fork

aka Pasture to Plate...

"Food Defense" is an important issue and will only grow more so as the planet becomes warmer and more crowded. I know several security professionals who protect the food supply at different points in the chain.  The chain's links form an interrelated web which includes finance, environmental concerns - land, air, and water, energy, preventing the spread of plant and animal diseases, harvest, transportation, preparation, logistics, and consumption.

"Food and Agriculture" is a DHS Critical Infrastructure.  Otherwise, in the US the FDA and the USDA "share" jurisdiction.  Our very own University of Minnesota hosts the National Center for Food Protection and Defense (NCFPD).

Different entities have staked claims to several terms which are no longer synonymous. "Food Security" is applied to the certainty of regular access to nutrition. "Food Safety" has to do with preventing unintended contamination or spoilage of food from field to fork.

NOTE: This was my reply in a LinkedIn thread started by a peer from India.  It's also letting me move Michelle's wild-eyed visage down the page.

Interesting development:  The OP on the LinkedIn thread is interested in the impact of Food Security as it is currently used - equitable and reliable distribution of nutrition - as a security issue.  My comment:

If you are in fact talking about the impact of food security - the reliable and equitable distribution of food to all persons - or the lack of it, as a contributor to social order or disorder then you are operating at a very thoughtful level indeed.  We can see the role corrupt governments and local warlords play in leveraging the impact of of drought and famine to their own purposes.  We can see the effects of NGOs attempting to serve those in need despite massive hurdles.  In the long term there are land use, water supply, air quality, investment, environmental, and technological concerns for governments as well.  Most of these issues are addressed at the level of transnational, regional, and national governments.  Are you raising awareness of a future opportunity or challenge for private sector interests or proposing a positive role for private security professionals?  Please tell us more.

New OSHA Workplace Violence Investigation and Enforcement Guidance

Yes, this is what we talk about, and the way we talk about it, at work...

On a quick first pass CPL 02-01-052 "Enforcement Procedures for Investigating or Inspecting Workplace Violence Incidents" confirms that it constitutes what OSHA regards as a "significant change," "the first instruction on the enforcement procedures for investigations and inspections that occur as a result of workplace violence incident(s)." It can be a useful document to those building or maintaining WPV prevention and response programs as one can reverse engineer OSHA instructions to refine the structure of the recordkeeping elements of a program. This directive specifically and correctly focuses on late night retail and healthcare & social service settings.

The document outlines OSHA's "criteria for initiating inspections."

a. Known risk factors to consider, listed by NIOSH in its report NIOSH Current Intelligence Bulletin #57: Violence in the Workplace: Risk Factors and Prevention Strategies (1996).

b. Evidence of employer and/or industry recognition of the potential for workplace violence in OSHA-identified high risk industries, such as healthcare and social service settings and late night retail (See Section X, C, 1 and 2.).

c. Feasible abatement methods exist to address the hazard(s). [Appendix B]

"Enforcement Procedures for Investigating or Inspecting Workplace Violence Incidents” offers several scenarios where investigation and enforcement are appropriate, notably in healthcare and late night retail settings. Strikingly, it describes a case of acquaintance on employee violence (Type IV) as not meeting any of the three criteria for enforcement. It also describes a shooting of employees at a financial services company as meeting some but not necessarily all of the enforcement criteria.

I think security practitioners need to be conversant with CPL 02-01-052 because it is the guidance OSHA inspectors will use to determine whether a company that experiences workplace violence injury or death should be subject to enforcement action. It provides some very interesting clarifications under which OSHA investigators might invoke the General Duty Clause, Section 5(a)(1). It describes a specific obligation for employers in late night retail and healthcare & social service settings. It does not seem to create specific obligations for other industries, but it is an interesting change of which all security professionals should be aware.

A Journey Revisited

Here are some slightly redacted extracts from my colloquium presentation...

...held Friday 9 September 2011 as I completed my Master of Arts in Human Development at Saint Mary's University of Minnesota School of Professional and Graduate Programs.  As I was presenting to an mixed audience, most of whom had not read my position paper, and since said paper was already approved, I took advantage of the option to review the course of my HD experience.  It turned out pretty well.

Not all days are good ones

I’ve been a warrior, sleuth, assassin, architect, teacher, friend, poet, foot soldier, lieutenant, harried executive, preventer, enabler, frustration, and inspiration. But the fates determine that companies and careers follow an arc, and some peak early. The last good fight a distant memory, I stand guard over the house-of-cards castles of bickering lords besotted by greed. Wearied by age, fatigue, and heartache, there is little to do but see that the men are fed, the horses groomed, and that the hounds – which have not hunted for far too long – are scratched behind the ears by someone who knows their plight. I fear I will never be more than a would-be warrior-poet to should-be philosopher-kings.

No locks on the doors

In the HD690 Process of Human Development seminar I decided to study the unethical use of fear to promote security agendas.  To do so I would focus on three areas.  These were Tools – the means to give voice to my learning, Self – efforts to discern my spiritual needs and see to them, and Team – coursework that increases my value to my work group, employer, profession, and society.

The Benedictine monastery where the seminar was held was also the residence of retired nuns.  There were no locks on the doors to our rooms.  I slept like a baby. 

[...] 

Meditating on the labyrinth

The fellowship at the HD/PY 585 Meditation seminar led by Priscilla, the exercises, and the homework were even more beneficial than I’d hoped they could be.

Surrounded

In HD604 Telling Our Story: Memoir Kay Harvey reawakened an atrophied talent for writing and allowed me to examine the traumas – old and new – that shaped me.  A much lamented uncle, a car crash, my long dead grandmother, [...] and the death of my best friend came uninvited to clash with pleasant memories of an earlier, simpler life.  

Nothing positive about it

The short course HD693 Psychological Transformation and the Spiritual Journey allowed me to distill a sense of my place on a continuum between New Age “woo” and Christian orthodoxy.  I found myself most comfortable somewhere between Campbell’s power of myth and Jung’s archetypes. I didn’t care for Parker Palmer on the first pass.  I have grown wiser since. [...]

Which sport?

In HD732 Principles of Spirituality and Human Development in Coaching and Team Building (Coaching, for short) Katie Cooney and I mapped a reservoir of experience and hard won insights that were given structure and reoriented toward a greater purpose…finding the strength in others.

When I answered the question “What class are you taking?”  the second question was always “Which sport?”

Father Notebaart

In MIB519 Global Religions and Belief Systems I met the priest I needed when I was still Catholic, a gleeful sage, a wise mentor, and friend. It was like drinking knowledge from a fire hose.  My final paper gave me a platform from which to examine issues related to the nature of spirituality, faith, religion, and the certainty that arises from them.

In the sweat lodge

I am immersed in earth smells, 

Pummeled by drums,

Flooded by the taste of sage and sweetgrass,

Lulled by rhythmic chants.

Other senses overfilled, my eyes beseech the darkness.

“Bring in Seven…”

In glowing orange orbs I witness

Newborn stars at the beginning of time.

In round river rocks cooling to red incandescence I see

The Earth before air or rain or green or life.

Black lines on luminous ancient stones draw for me

The thighs and belly of a Neolithic Venus.

Nearly hidden in the darkening pit appear

The dull red eyes of an angry black bull.

These fade and something in my center is stilled.

And, as ladles of cool water

Wash the last light from the rocks,

As we descend again into darkness,

The eyes of a tired but wise old dog

Open for a moment and then are closed. 

Mitakuye Oyasin. 

Leadership and decision making

Not everyone in a position of authority is a leader. Thanks to Connie Kotke in GM 625 Leadership and Decision Making I discovered servant leadership, I met Richard Leider, and I inverted my org chart.  Not since I first read Defensible Space in 1990 has a single idea made such a change in my life.  That February in 2009 I made a little placard that still sits on my desk.  It says, 

"Help create leaders worth following.”

Ethics

In GM643A Management Ethics and Issues I learned that this has all been done before, but that every generation has to learn it again.  This was my turn.  Lora Setter, who is also my boss in the Security Management program, made it fun.

Imagery

HD/PY603 Therapeutic Use of Imagery for Psychological and Spiritual Growth, expanded on my learning in the Meditation and Psychological Transformation and the Spiritual Journey classes.  I found myself growing more comfortable opening the doors to long unused rooms.  I found more tools, and a few solutions. [...]

HDIS2 Neurotheology, Mysticism, and Spirituality

My papers tend to have long titles like Seeking the Divine Light: Four Medieval Mystics and feature one page of references for every page of text.  So, what on earth did neurology of the religious ecstasies of medieval mystics have to do with a Masters in Human Development concentrating on issues of Leadership, Team Building, and Decision-making?

The limits of my credulity

I met Janet Marinelli in the HD690 Process of Human Development seminar and decided I must study with her at least once. In HD730A Eastern Movement and Philosophy I reached the limits of my credulity.  Janet created a safe environment in which to map the boundary of what I believe and why.  Not all freethinkers are so kind.

Wendy Morris’ wonderful course (HD573 Creative Leadership Development)

Cracked open my right brain.
I like it in there.
Cognitive dissonance causes real pain
but it can be mastered.
I began to envision a future designed by me.
Thank you Wendy!

[...]

GM605 Creative Problem Solving

It was not the problem he was trying to solve but Rustin Wolfe made me a better instructor by setting a powerful yet simple example.

HD691 Ethics and Social Responsibility

What do I owe my profession? 
What do I owe my community? 
What do I owe my family? 
What do I owe myself?

Finding my voice

I started my Eclectic Breakfast, a blog where I offer up a deliberately wild skillet scramble made out of my opinions about anthropology, astronomy, blogging, civics, compassion, critical thinking, education, ethics, firearms, friends, humor, hunting, law, leadership, medicine, memoir, movies, natural history, outdoors, politics, reading, religion, risk, science, security, service, and skepticism.

Putting theory into practice 

I consulted with my personal board of directors, attended Minnesota Literacy Council ESL and ABE courses, and began tutoring with ISD191 Adult Education this summer.

Time for another independent study:

Principled security leadership

There were other courses

GM610 Information and Research 
HD635 Getting Published 
HD698 Process of Writing the Position Paper

And there were still more I would have taken if there were time enough and money.  My
advisor encouraged me to do more independent study...

A model for principled security leadership

Again, with the books,
And on-line experiences,
And discussions,
And debates.
Putting it out there, with my name on it

A brief survey

Private Security Attitudes About The Role of Weapons in Preventing Workplace Violence. 

Pillboxes

Arguing against using fear to promote a bunker mentality.

But has anyone got any data?

Do workplace violence prevention programs actually work? 

So here we are

I pursued a Master’s because Don Winger said I’d need one if I wanted to teach.  I joined the HD program because Priscilla Herbison told me I needed to. When I began the Human Development program it was hard to describe – even to interested people [...] Like I told Priscilla at the end of my first contract I am pleasantly surprised that the human being developed is me.

The way of sword and brush

“Early morning

I pick up my Sword and Brush

To practice my skills”

- Kenji Sekiguchi 

Thank you all!

Photo credits: Photos8.com, Wikimedia Commons, Churchsecurityconsultant.com, Kenji Sekiguchi

We've Always Been At War With Eastasia...

Welcome to the "Global War On Terror, Cyber Crime, Illegal Immigration, and Drugs, and In Favor of the Ballistic Missile Shield Military-Defense Contractor-Law Enforcement Complex."

Bruce Schneier reminds us that the Global War On Terror™ is too big to fail.  It's not so much a war as a cash cow upon which civil government administrators are more than happy to remain dependent on for funding.  Never mind that Al Qaeda has never been weaker, if you paint it olive drab or tactical black your community can civilianize the Global War On Terror™.

I'd love to see 9/11 come and go without a mention (except for selfless bravery of the passengers of Flight 93) but it's already way too late for that. Osama bin Laden is dead and buried but he's still reaping windfall profits from his $500,000 investment.  Two trillion dollars and counting, an economy in shambles, and an American people treating 9/11 like a national holiday...

Unsurprised

I had a hunch the inevitable 9/11 ten year retrospectives would piss me off.  I didn't have to wait long... 

The excellent Homeland Security Watch blog posted a link to Homeland Security Affairs who has published a collection of essays today in remembrance of the ten-year anniversary of September 11, 2001, titled Ten Years After: The 9/11 Essays.

I've only read a couple but Chertoff's 9/11: Before and After, was everything I expected it to be.

I am not surprised Chertoff expressed disdain for the rights of criminal suspects that are guaranteed by the Constitution.

I am not surprised he was uncomfortable with rules of evidence that make it challenging to prosecute accused criminals while upholding the law.

I am not surprised Chertoff resorted to aphorisms like “refashioning our legal tool set,” “streamline information requests,” “detaining operatives,” “incapacitating terrorists,” “failure to integrate warning information,” and “less than optimal.”

Actually I was a little surprised Chertoff bothered to argue that the FISA Act Amendments created the means to resolve legal issues related to electronic surveillance, but then he didn't bother to mention that the Bush administration frequently chose not to submit their domestic spying requests to the FISA courts anyway.

I am not surprised that, except to complain that criminal courts won’t accept evidence provided by the government in many terrorism cases, Chertoff utterly failed to mention issues arising from the torture of suspects, bizarre attempts to redefine torture, and the deaths of accused terrorists in US custody or that of countries to whom the US rendered them.

I am not surprised Chertoff failed to mention the concerns of air travelers subjected to ever more intrusive searches at TSA checkpoints. He mentioned nothing at all about the controversy surrounding the deployment of nude scanners at US airports, devices the sale of which enrich him personally.

I am not surprised that in his closing paragraphs, as though he’d run out of terrorism issues with which to be concerned, Chertoff turns his attention to cyber crime and hacktivism in the context of how difficult existing law makes it for the government to monitor the internet in real time.

No, I am not surprised, disappointed, but not surprised.  I remain fearful for the moral integrity and ethical center of our nation in the hands of unelected officials the likes of Michael Chertoff.

UPDATE: Here's a sobering article on claims by Senators Ron Wyden and Mark Udall that the Obama administration is operating under a secret interpretation of the PATRIOT Act to spy on American citizens.  Al Qaeda sure got their money's worth...

REUPDATE: And for a more measured, less self-serving, viewpoint on the state of Al Qaeda these visit always interesting Stratfor.com.