By David C. Morrison, Special to Congressional Quarterly

“It’s going to be like Dorothy going to the Land of Oz,” Heritage Foundation homeland maven James Carafano tells United Press International’s Sara Sargent, characterizing the impending red-to-blue transition at DHS. “For a government agency populated by more political appointees than any other agency, this is big news,” Homeland Security Watch’s Jonah Czerwinski adds. “Homeland security is such a new field there are relatively few well qualified people to choose from, and incoming officials may need specialized training,” Jacob Goodwin surveys for The Daily Beast — and see CQ’s Rob Margetta on “the 10 most important jobs to be filled quickly at DHS.”

Transitional: President Bush “is engineering what may be the most carefully considered and potentially successful presidential transition in modern times,” Bloomberg’s Edwin Chen finds Dems and Reps praising. “Bush will bequeath to his successor the ultimate self-licking ice cream cone,” a terror war boon “redolent with opportunity and promising to extend decades into the future,” Andrew J. Bacevich blasts in Mother Jones. “I’m a lot less worried about the tests ‘the world’ may offer Obama than about the national security booby traps the Bush administration is leaving behind for him,” the Los Angeles Times’ Rosa Brooks broods. “After a few harrowing threat briefings, maybe the new Commander in Chief won’t rush to undo Mr. Bush’s programs” to combat international terrorism, a Wall Street Journal editorial hopes.

Feds: With Dem Senate gains reducing GOP-leaning independent Joe Lieberman’s role in upholding the party’s majority status, his grasp on the Senate homeland panel is uncertain, the Los Angeles Times’ Leslie Hoffecker reviews. “Just do it. Nike’s slogan nicely captures the entrepreneurial approach to technology development that drives the Science and Technology Directorate at DHS,” Washington Technology’s Corey McKenna spotlights. A retired Navy commander has been charged with lying about his injuries in the 9/11 attack to collect more than $330,000 from a victims’ fund, The Washington Post’s Del Quentin Wilber relates.

State and local: “If FEMA can’t get its act together, it should just get out of the way and provide funding for local entities to take care of business,” The Houston Chronicle complains. The ACLU has filed a Freedom of Information Act Request with both Justice and Defense for records relating to the assignment of domestic forces to the homeland-oriented Northern Command, The Colorado Independent informs. Oaklawn Hospital “has completely rewritten its all-hazards emergency preparedness plans to comply with and coordinate with federal, state, and local entities,” The Battle Creek (Mich.) Enquirerrecounts. New York National Guards will no longer be deployed to patrol the perimeter of the Indian Point nuclear power plant, The New York Post relays.

Follow the money: Treasury’s Stuart Levy, author of U.S. efforts to enlist the private sector in levying sanctions on Iran, “has made a lot of enemies in Tehran and created a policy legacy that the next president will have to deal with,” The New York Times Sunday Magazine profiles. Russia accuses Washington of breaking international law and weakening cooperation against Iran’s nuclear program with sanctions on companies accused of passing sensitive technology to Tehran, Reuters reports. The global system targeting financiers of al Qaeda and other terror sects faces legal challenges and waning political support in many countries, The Washington Post relates. Still unpassed State and Treasury spending bills “should include sufficient funds to establish jointly operated threat finance cells to monitor Hezbollah wherever they operate,” a Counterterrorism Blog poster proposes.

Bugs ‘n bombs: “Until America and other developed nations do a better job of halting the spread of nuclear technology, the nightmare of a suicidal terrorist cell obtaining and using [nuclear] weapons remains,” The Rochester News and Democrat frets. While biometrics and forensics are “two related and similar disciplines, their differences are critical in fighting the war against terrorism,” an officer tells AP, in re: the Army’s bomb-scene training program — while U.S. News finds IEDs in Afghanistan increasing “not only in number but also in size, with devastating consequences for U.S. troops.” A laser device that screens large crowds for explosive traces, which Britain’s MI5 has been testing, allegedly can even pick up guns that have been recently fired, G2 Bulletinreviews. A prototype bio-detector “could be dipped in groundwater, dried off and read in our device to look for E. coli, plague, smallpox or other suspects on the homeland security list,” a University of Utah researcher tells ScienceDaily.

Gadgetronica: “New bombproof waste bins to be planted throughout London will address not only the city’s security concerns, but environmental issues as well,” Gadget Lab relates. DHS is looking for “teams of geeks and social scientists” to scan blogs and message boards on a near real-time basis for indications of unhealthy interest in IEDs, Danger Room relates. Feeding reprogramming fantasies, U.S. and Chinese scientists say they have, for the first time, selectively and safely erased memories in mice, ScienceDaily reports. “To compensate for its aversion to bloodshed, civilization needs a military advantage over terrorism. Drones look like a good way to achieve that,” a Slate columnist contemplates, terming the border conflict in Pakistan “a test case for this struggle.”

Terror tech: “It’s definitely possible that terrorists could send and receive messages using Twitter [but] a Twitter-based attack seems far-fetched,” Computerworld counsels. Criminal elements and rogue nation states have created more active zombie networks in the last month than ever before, Defense Tech highlights. Despite growing concern “that the ‘new media’ could become part of the jihadist arsenal, [s]ome still argue that while the concept of virtual terror is important and real, that it represents proportionately a lower risk,” Threats Watch updates. “Cyber terrorism and its tactics have badly disturbed the banking system of the European nations since the arrival of thousands cyber warriors from Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Africa and the Arab world,” an op-ed in Pakistan’s The Post posits. “Let’s quit trying to blow these guys up . . . Instead, let’s defile them with something we have lots and lots of. I propose the pork bomb. We have plenty of pork, and we have rivers of pig manure at hog farms,” a Right Side News op-ed urges.

Air turbulence: “The most absurd aspect of airport security is the government’s no-fly list . . . so transparently inadequate that it’s hard to believe any process serious about improving security could have set up such a thing,” a Salem (Mass.) News op-ed objects. A Virgin Blue pilot who tested positive for traces of explosives and then avoided security guards was allowed to continue unchecked and fly a passenger aircraft, The Australian informs. Algerian security services have foiled a twin terror attack on twoairports, following information leaked from al Qaedaites in Europe, El Khabar recounts. “Airline passengers could start seeing more ads in an unusual place: the bottoms of the plastic bins that hold their shoes, cell phones and jackets at checkpoints,” USA Today leads.

Borders and papers: Even if Enhanced Driver’s License holders keep them inside a protective foil sleeve, the unique ID number on the RFID can still be read up to two feet away, Infopackets informs. Border Patrollers arrested seven Mexican soldiers last Friday after they accidentally strayed over the line into Arizona, Reuters reports. “More than 1,100 people have been slaughtered in a bloodbath of drug-related violence in one city just south of the U.S.-Mexico border this year and some say it is just part of a large crisis that will soon spill over the border,” Tucson’s KOLD 13 News relates. For the second time, a mistrial was declared in Arizona in the case of a Border Patrol agent accused of shooting to death an illegal immigrant without provocation, The Tucson Citizen relates.

Courts and rights: One of the Fort Dix defendants told an FBI informant he was worried about getting caught and branded as a terrorist, The New Jersey Star-Ledger has jurors hearing yesterday. Six Algerians detained at Guantanamo for the last seven years will tomorrow become the first prisoners to challenge their continued imprisonment in a U.S. federal court, Agence France-Presse reports. “Defiant to the end, Osama bin Laden’s media secretary refused a telephone call home on Monday, even after he was convicted of war crimes and condemned to life in prison,” The Miami Herald mentions. “It doesn’t take long to realize that the war going on [at Guantanamo] is a public relations one. Officials are working hard against all odds to convince journalists that the military commission trial is fair,” NOW Magazine maintains.

Over there: One of Osama bin Laden’s sons has asked Spain to grant him asylum, CNN notes. The release of two Austrian hostages held by al Qaeda’s North Africa wing for eight months has generated controversy over any ransom payment Vienna may have made, Algeria’s El Khabar recounts. Britain has extradited three Tunisians to Italy to face charges of recruiting young men for military training in Afghanistan, Reuters reports. Ethiopia yesterday warned of an “imminent” terrorist attack and urged its citizens to be vigilant but did not elaborate on the nature of the risk, AFP reports. The United States thwarted a suspect shipment from North Korea to Iran by persuading the Indian government to deny the flight clearance through Indian airspace, the Post reports.

Not over ‘til its over: “In a press conference held this morning on the White House lawn, President Bush formally asked the assembled press corps and members of his own administration if, in light of yesterday’s election, he could stop being the president now,” The Onion reports. “’So it’s over, right? Can I stop being president now?’ Bush said after striding to the podium in a Texas Rangers cap and flannel shirt, carrying a fully packed suitcase. ‘Let’s just say I’m done as of now. Presidency over.’ When informed by Washington Post reporter David Broder that his presidency would continue through early January, Bush stared at him quizzically, sighed, and shuffled silently back into the White House.” See, as well, on Onion Network News: “Voting Machines Elect One Of Their Own As President.”