U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is now partnering with the French Immigration Ministry as part of the Immigration Advisory Program, under which CBP deploys advisors to provide on-site training and technical assistance to foreign Customs administrations or border control agencies.

Via this USA Today article, we learn that the Reason Foundation released its 19th Annual Highway Report on Thursday. And this year's survey finds America's state highways in the best shape they've been in since 1990.

According to the Reason Foundation report, the roads are better due to state improvements, but also because people were driving less as a result of the recession.

The National Weather Service issued a hurricane warning on Wednesday (9/1) for parts of North Carolina up to the Virginia border ahead of Hurricane Earl, which is now a Category 3 hurricane.

Authorities have also issued mandatory evacuation orders for some parts of coastal North Carolina.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recognizes September as National Preparedness Month and asks that Americans take simple steps to prepare for emergencies in their homes, businesses, and communities.

With Hurricane Earl approaching the U.S. east coast as a Category 3 hurricane this is excellent advice.

For more information about emergency preparedness visit Ready.gov.

Government Security Newswire (GSN) has a lengthy article (link below) from last Friday about how the Pentagon "has shifted more than $1 billion out of its nuclear, biological and chemical defense programs to underwrite a new White House priority on vaccine development and production to combat disease pandemics."

According to a Defense Department draft memo GSN obtained, the $1 billion was taken out of a wide variety of programs deemed "essential" for defending against CBRN (chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear) weapons.

Beginning September 1, 2010 the entire southern U.S. border with Mexico will be patrolled by Predator Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) flights. Up until now there were no UAS flights on the entire Texas/Mexico border all the way to the Gulf.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) are suing the U.S. government to stop it from carrying out "targeted killings" of U.S. citizens outside of conflict zones.

The lawsuit was filed against the CIA, Department of Defense and President Obama in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

Here is the ACLU and CCR statement about their lawsuit.

The National Hurricane Center (NHC) predicts that category 2 Hurricane Earl will become a major hurricane later today (8/30). Meaning it will become a category 3 or higher storm with winds exceeding 111 mph. Earl is making its way through the Leeward Islands and is expected to spread westward into the Virgin Islands later today. For updates on Earl visit the NHC website here.

Currently, Earl's path is predicted to turn northerly later this week and move up along the U.S. east coast north of North Carolina. It is possible the hurricane could make landfall in the Mid-Atlantic or New England states.

It is also worth noting that there is another storm system behind Earl that the NHC predicts has a 90% chance of turning into a tropical cyclone in the next 48-hours.