[vox_mundi]

Some light reading from Homeland Security ...

Identifying Security Checkpoint Locations to Protect the Major US Urban Areas

Checkpoints are Funny Things - they can KEEP PEOPLE OUT - or they can KEEP PEOPLE IN

ABSTRACT: Transit networks are integral to the economy and to society, but at the same time they could allow terrorists to transport weapons of mass destruction into any city. Road networks are especially vulnerable, because they lack natural checkpoints unlike air networks that have security measures in place at all major airports. One approach to mitigate this risk is ensuring that every road route passes through at least one security checkpoint. Using the Ford-Fulkerson maximum-flow algorithm, we generate a minimum set of checkpoint locations within a ring-shaped buffer area surrounding the 50 largest US urban areas. We study how the number of checkpoints changes as we increase the buffer width to perform a cost-benefit analysis and to identify groups of cities that behave similarly. The set of required checkpoints is surprisingly small (10-124) despite the hundreds of thousands of road arcs in those areas, making it feasible to protect all major cities.

Daniel Watkins et.al. “Identifying Checkpoint Locations to Protect Major Urban Areas.” Homeland Security Affairs 11, Article 8 (September 2015). https://www.hsaj.org/articles/6311

Phoenix M(15, 45) = 36 Arcs crossing the inner and outer circles are colored in blue and arcs in the cut set are colored in red

Cluster 1 - San Francisco, San Diego, Las Vegas, Virginia Beach, Jacksonville, Salt Lake City, New Orleans

Cluster 2 - Miami, Tampa, Baltimore, Riverside, Portland, Sacramento, San Jose, Orlando, Austin, Charlotte, Memphis, Louisville, Nashville, Richmond, Buffalo, Bridgeport, Raleigh

Cluster 3 - New York City, Washington, DC, Boston, Detroit, Phoenix, Seattle, Denver, St. Louis, Cleveland, San Antonio, Cincinnati, Milwaukee, Columbus, Providence, Hartford

Cluster 4 - Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, Minneapolis, Pittsburgh, Kansas City, Indianapolis, Oklahoma City

We discovered that there are substantial similarities among the 50 urban road networks in our study, particularly in that the number of checkpoints required to protect urban areas drops precipitously as the size of the buffer area increases until a minimum value is reached. This value is usually reached within a 16-mile-wide buffer area, although geographical features such as mountains and lakes can allow for further decreases.

We also see that a few of the largest cities in the United States are particularly vulnerable to disruptions in the road network, in that damages to a small number of roads could severely limit connections to the regional road network, or even completely prevent all road-based transportation to and from the city.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/12/1 ... o-America#

You can check-out any time you like, - But you can never leave!

[SeaGypsy]

Example looming over main freeway between Melbourne Australia & its airport.

[SeaGypsy]

Since the pic above was taken, the surrounding area is surrounded by high rise. The base of 'the fish' (of the colloquially named fish & chips) has a fence & bunch of cameras on it, as does the entire CBD of the city. Other overhanging structures abound on all freeways, mostly pedestrian bridges. Arty looking structures surround these- like the 'chips' which can be dropped into barricade positions in minutes with a few bags of thermite.

Two things surprise me about this stuff, one being how most people don't see it, although it is so very obvious, the other is how easily the same chokepoints might be used by terrorists.

[C8]

The US is truly awful at stopping movement of any kind, marijuana, guns, human trafficking, all flow freely and continuously. Every form of prohibition seems to fail and produce mass incarceration. This is why I favor drug legalization, as many guns as you want, legalized prostitution, etc. We are terrible at preventing people from getting things- just terrible. Let it flow.

[SeaGypsy]

That's not really relevant. The point is about how easily lock down can be achieved by blocking completely a few key distributers, then commandeer check points on every in/out alternative/ these plans for whatever reason are being worked on & developed continuously. Overall big brother surveillance is deliberately underdone because so much of the black economy crosses over to the grey & white.

[dissident]

So if you are walking down the street in the USA, then you will be stopped and asked for your papers? Wow. Maybe it is time for Americans to wake up and stop drinking the propaganda koolaid dished out by their "free" media. In case it is not clear, such checks are not normal.

[Lore]

The US is truly awful at stopping movement of any kind, marijuana, guns, human trafficking, all flow freely and continuously. Every form of prohibition seems to fail and produce mass incarceration. This is why I favor drug legalization, as many guns as you want, legalized prostitution, etc. We are terrible at preventing people from getting things- just terrible. Let it flow.

Yes... Let anarchy prevail... I'm mad I tell you mad!!! ....

Let me remind you, nature abhors chaos. Everything under the sun is in tune and only so briefly is it eclipsed by the moon.

[careinke]

The US is truly awful at stopping movement of any kind, marijuana, guns, human trafficking, all flow freely and continuously. Every form of prohibition seems to fail and produce mass incarceration. This is why I favor drug legalization, as many guns as you want, legalized prostitution, etc. We are terrible at preventing people from getting things- just terrible. Let it flow.

Yes... Let anarchy prevail... I'm mad I tell you mad!!! ....

Let me remind you, nature abhors chaos. Everything under the sun is in tune and only so briefly is it eclipsed by the moon.

I'm not sure where all this fear of anarchy comes from. Sure, we shot one president, but it gave us Teddy!

[Newfie]

Not unexpected.

Isaac Asimov bathroom metaphor.

[In response to this question by Bill Moyers: What do you see happening to the idea of dignity to human species if this population growth continues at its present rate?] "It's going to destroy it all. I use what I call my bathroom metaphor. If two people live in an apartment, and there are two bathrooms, then both have what I call freedom of the bathroom, go to the bathroom any time you want, and stay as long as you want to for whatever you need. And this to my way is ideal. And everyone believes in the freedom of the bathroom. It should be right there in the Constitution. But if you have 20 people in the apartment and two bathrooms, no matter how much every person believes in freedom of the bathroom, there is no such thing. You have to set up, you have to set up times for each person, you have to bang at the door, aren't you through yet, and so on. And in the same way, democracy cannot survive overpopulation. Human dignity cannot survive it.