Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Homeland Security Scam, India False Flag? + PMC News

Chertoff Outlines FY 2008 Homeland Security Grants

On Friday DHS secretary Michael Chertoff announced final allocations for FY08 preparedness grant programs for states and localities.
DHS, Chertoff said, had made available a total of over $3 billion in total grants for FY08 for preparedness planning and response programs including both the Homeland Security Grant Program and $844 million in Infrastructure Protection grants which had previously been announced.
The focal point of Chertoff’s announcement was an allocation of $1.69 billion under the Homeland Security Grant Program, which reflects an increase of $32 million over FY07. This year’s grants included $861 million for the State Homeland Security Program, an increase of $352 million; $781 million for the Urban Area Security Initiative, an increase of $34 million. In addition DHS allocated almost $40 million for the Metropolitan Medical Response system, and $14.5 million for Citizen Corps.
This year’s grants also included some additional grant programs under the umbrella of Operation Stonegarden. “Operation Stonegarden,” Chertoff said, “ which is focused on enforcement for border states, is going to amount to $60 million this year.” Regional Catastrophic Preparedness grants, which are designed to boost catastrophic incident preparedness, were also allotted $60 million, Chertoff said, while the Nonprofit Security Grant Program, focused on nonprofit organizations, received $15 million.
Chertoff described Operation Stonegarden as “ part of our full court press to continue to expand and intensify our work to secure the borders, southern and northern, and to bring our state and local partners into that process (cont..)
Local, federal agencies hold disaster drill (UT)
Training exercise is designed to help crews work together
http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,700246960,00.html

WEST VALLEY CITY — More than 230 firefighters and bomb technicians, both local and federal, are participating today in an extensive drill involving weapons of mass destruction.
The training exercise is designed to help federal and local emergency response crews work together while responding to a potentially catastrophic event.
"It allows us to interact with each other and see the tools we've accumulated since 9/11," said South Salt Lake Fire Chief Steve Foote.

House approves Reichert's bill to maintain Seattle-based terrorism analysts
WASHINGTON – The House has approved legislation that would ensure continued operation of an intelligence-gathering center in Seattle that helps track international and homegrown terrorists and other suspicious activity.....

American expats caught up in Indian bomb blast inquiry
(Remember British SAS caught in Arab garb w/explosives in Iraq? This crap goes back 100's of years, divide conquer and get security contracts .., will dig on this "consultant" PMC?)
When Indian police investigating bomb blasts which killed 42 people traced an email claiming responsibility to a Mumbai apartment, they ordered an immediate raid.
But at the address, rather than seizing militants from the Islamist group which said it carried out the attack, they found a group of puzzled American expats.
In a cautionary tale for those still lax with their wireless internet security, police believe the email about the explosions on Saturday in the west Indian city of Ahmedabad was sent after someone hijacked the network belonging to one of the Americans, 48-year-old Kenneth Haywood.
The IP address for the email claiming responsibility for an obscure group called the Indian Mujahideen was traced by police to Haywood's laptop. They then raided the plush 15th-floor apartment.
Officers believe the email could have been sent by anyone within two floors of Haywood's flat.
"He has never been detained, but we have called on him and questioned him as part of the investigation," said Parambir Singh, a senior officer in the anti-terrorism squad.
"He has said his email ID was hacked and evidence we have gathered shows that his network was used to forward the mail."
The Hindustan Times newspaper quoted Haywood, a business consultant,

1st ever night air defense drill set for Aug. 5 (Taiwan)
http://www.chinapost.com.tw/taiwan/national/national%20news/2008/07/30/167767/1st-ever.htm
Taipei -- The government will conduct the first ever nighttime air defense drill to be held on the evening of Tuesday, Aug. 5 covering all cities and counties in northern Taiwan.

Thomasville Medical Center to conduct emergency drill (NC)

Air Force Looks to Laser-Proof Its Weapons

Cernium appoints Tom Ridge to board of directors

Vaccine To Protect Against Black Plague Bioterror Attack Being Developed

Raytheon, Boeing team up in bid
Raytheon Company and The Boeing Company are partnering to bid for the U.S, Air Force’s Counterspace Command and Control sustainment contract.
The two defense giants are looking to reap $100 million from the deal in the next decade to build a system to protect global satellite communications systems, Waltham-based Raytheon (NYSE: RTN) said. The contract is expected to be awarded in September....

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Tweety Bird DOD Recruiter, DEW, WWIV In Asia Prep, + News


War Games: Army Lures Civilians By Letting Them Play Soldier
Recruiters Bring Lifelike Videogame To Amusement Parks, and Kids Love It

http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB121721198768289035-yJTjsyGU_fRC5RSMDSEmCAP30So_20080828.html?mod=tff_main_tff_top


GURNEE, Ill. -- In the Tweety Bird section of the parking lot at an amusement park here, visitors are trying a new attraction. They jump into Humvees or Black Hawk helicopters and use fake firearms to hunt down "genocidal indigenous forces." They shoot at huge video screens.
"I like that I got to use a gun!" said 13-year-old Spencer Padgett, after trying the "Virtual Army Experience." His dad, Scott, from Laporte, Ind., said he wanted his son to gain an appreciation of the sacrifices being made by the Army.



The Virtual Army Experience -- a traveling exhibit of the U.S. Army -- has been touring the country for the past year and a half, stopping at amusement parks, air shows and county fairs. The Army, which collects information from the thousands of people who play the game, says it's an innovative way to reach a new audience. But critics don't like the idea of the military using giant videogames as a recruiting tool...

See:Virtual World for Future Army Training
http://blog.wired.com/defense/2008/07/mmog.html

Raytheon's Tactical Directed-Energy Systems http://www.rightsidenews.com/200807291570/homeland-security/raytheon-s-tactical-directed-energy-systems.htmlIDF Begins Using Laser Defense Near GazaRaytheons DES Systems give Homeland Security in Israel and will enhance our own security here in the United StatesWhile Raytheon leads the world in tactical missiles, its revenue from adjacent markets is growing rapidly. One of these key markets is directed-energy systems that can be placed on land, sea or air platforms

'Laser jumbo' testing moves ahead (update)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7531046.stm

A US military plane equipped with a powerful laser has moved a step closer to becoming a viable weapon.
Engineers have started flowing chemical fuel through the laser to test its sequencing and control.
This will set up the first test firing of the weapon aboard the aircraft while it is on the ground.
The US Air Force's Airborne Laser (ABL) is designed to shoot down enemy ballistic missiles in the early stages of their flight.







Massive Military Drills Planned Near Dokdo
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2008/07/116_28439.html

South Korea's Navy will conduct the first of two training exercises planned for this year near the islets of Dokdo in the East Sea Wednesday, the service said Tuesday. It is the first time that the annual drill, which is to be conducted in a low-key manner, has been made public. The drill is aimed at strengthening the nation's military readiness against any possible attempt by enemies to claim the easternmost islets, it said.This year's exercise will be the largest in scale since the so-called Dokdo Protection Exercise began in 1996, Navy officials said. ..
Japan holds missile shield drill in Tokyo's center
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gJMVIQu4RK7wmB5u_3qd-kNPREoQD927C1881
TOKYO (AP) — Japan tested a ballistic missile defense unit in the center of Tokyo on Tuesday, stepping up preparations to secure the capital from what it sees as an increased threat from neighboring North Korea...


Lockheed Martin to acquire Aculight
http://www.washingtontechnology.com/online/1_1/33222-1.html
Lockheed Martin Corp. is acquiring Aculight Corp., a privately held provider of laser- based systems primarily for national defense and aerospace customers. The financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. .....

Six to vie for Strategic Command advisory tasks
http://www.washingtontechnology.com/online/1_1/33220-1.html
Six contractors have won the right to compete for $900 million worth of advisory and assistance tasks with the U.S. Strategic Command, the Defense Department announced July 25.
The winners of the Air Force indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract are:
Booz Allen Hamilton Inc.
CACI International Inc.
Client/Server Software Solutions Inc.
ITT Corp.
MacAulay Brown Inc.
Science Applications International Corp.The Strategic Command plans to issue tasks through the program that will require the contractors to deliver a broad range of services that will include opinions, analyses, evaluations and recommendations for programs and strategies, DOD said. The contract also covers training and engineering services.
The Strategic Command is responsible for managing the U.S. nuclear weapons arsenal and providing intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance information to the secretary of defense. Its other responsibilities include global command and control, military space operations and weapons of mass destruction deterrence.
The one-year contracts have four option years. The 55th Contracting Squadron at Offutt Air Force Base, Neb., will oversee the work.

Emergency groups plan ahead for crisis scenarios (KY)
http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2008/jul/29/emergency-groups-plan-ahead-for-crisis-scenarios/

Taiwan official: island needs US weapons
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/07/29/america/NA-US-Taiwan-Arms-Deal.php

Soon, vaccine against bio weapons
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/HealthSci/Soon_vaccine_against_bio_weapons/articleshow/3299933.cms
Neuroscience, National Security & the "War on Terror"
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=9701

Technology changes how battles are fought (UCLA Dept. Of the DOD)
http://www.dailybruin.ucla.edu/news/2008/jul/28/technology-changes-how-battles-are-fought/
The U.S. military has been taking active steps since the 1900s to downsize its man power and consolidate the use of advanced technologies in the battlefield, said Jason Choi, an assistant professor of military science at UCLA.
In the past, military strategy has relied more on man power than in the present, Choi said. Now the military is moving in a direction where more aspects of war are fought and enhanced by computer systems and other technologies, such as night vision.
UCLA is one university involved in helping the military move toward new technologies.....

DOD Looks To Speed Up Haystack Effort (MIT -DOD "adjunct")
http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story_channel.jsp?channel=defense&id=news/HAYSTACK072808.xml&headline=DOD%20Looks%20To%20Speed%20Up%20Haystack%20Effort
U.S. Air Force Space Command (AFSPC) is planning to accelerate upgrade work for the Haystack Ultra-wideband Satellite Imaging Radar, providing the Pentagon the ability to characterize microsatellites earlier than previously planned.
The upgrade for the X-band imaging radar in Massachusetts would be complete in fiscal 2012 with the addition of $10 million requested in the FY ‘08 omnibus reprogramming signed July 11 by Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England. The added funding would allow for an accelerated critical design review and systems integration work. Additionally, operators will be able to uncap the Haystack’s radome ahead of schedule “mitigating risks of opening the radome during the harsh Massachusetts winter,” according to the request.
The upgrade will add a W-band capability, allowing ground operators to characterize microsatellites, according to Lt. Col. Derek Ho, deputy chief of space situational awareness at Air Force Space Command. “This characterization enables us to determine satellite mission and payload as part of the threat assessment process,” he adds.
The new millimeter-wave radar will improve image resolution tenfold, according to program documents. The upgrade is jointly funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the Air Force, with MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory executing the work....

Department of Homeland Security Implements RAPIDGate Program at Facilities in D.C. Area
RAPIDGate Program to Increase Security and Streamline Access for Thousands of Private Vendors
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/department-homeland-security-implements-rapidgate/story.aspx?guid=%7B4A03721D-318D-4930-B8FB-7DB4F281B304%7D&dist=hppr

Careful science can help to fight terrorism (MI5 Bullshit)
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/0a5579ac-5ca3-11dd-8d38-000077b07658.html

Study urges intelligence against terrorism (DOD Outsource RAND Bullshit)
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=65063&sectionid=3510203

Monday, July 28, 2008

Biometircs, Universities of "Terrorism", Raytheon, + News

Biometrics - a view of the future
Biometric technology has been with us for over two decades, but how will it evolve over the next ten years? John Davies, Managing Director of access control specialist TDSi, looks at the impact of biometrics and considers how future developments might shape the security industry.

Biometrics is quite rightly viewed to be at the cutting edge of security technology. From the very first commercial application of a finger print reader in 1984, we have seen new systems and applications introduced to the market on a regular basis; some are still firmly in the development phase whilst others, like iris and facial recognition, are gradually being introduced into practical installations.
In many ways, it has taken the increased threat from global terrorism and organised crime to create an acceptance of biometric security, convincing an anxious and cynical public that systems do not necessarily pose a threat to civil liberties, provided they are properly controlled and effectively managed. (cont...)

Anti-terrorist drill ahead of Olympics
http://english.anhuinews.com/system/2008/07/28/002076229.shtml
A "terrorist" holds the "hostage" in an anti-terrorist drill in Huaibei of Anhui province on July 27, 2008. About 100 troops made up of local policemen, special forces agents and firefighters took part in this joint exercise to ensure a safe Olympics.

Armed policemen take positions in an anti-terrorist drill in Huaibei of Anhui province on July 27, 2008. About 100 troops made up of local policemen, special forces agents and firefighters took part in this joint exercise to ensure a safe Olympics (cont...)



Argentina stages naval drill with Brazil, Chile, U.S.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-07/28/content_8786228.htm


BUENOS AIRES, July 27 (Xinhua) -- Marine troops from Argentina, Brazil, Chile and the U.S. South Command on Sunday staged a joint amphibious landing exercise in Port Belgrano Naval Base, 750 km southwest of Buenos Aires, Argentine Defense authorities said Sunday.
Some 150 Argentine marines joined those from the U.S., Brazil and Chile in the landing drills designed to improve coordination and communications during U.N. missions.
The purpose of the drills, code-named "Exchange 2008," was to improve the ability to speak a common language when a U.N. mission needs the services of the forces, a spokesmen for the Argentine Defense said.
In 2007, Chile hosted the exercises and similar drills will be held in Brazil in 2009

Mass Casualty Drills Tests Burlington Airport Emergency Response
Burlington airport assesses safety. Would airport staff know what to do if a bomb exploded on a plane? Or in the terminal? An overnight drill Sunday tried to answer those questions.
First responders assess the situation, deal with wounded, and handle the media.
A real-life test for police, fire, medical, and airport personnel, so they can try-out their plans -- should an actual bomb ever touch down at Burlington International Airport. You may not realize it, but hundreds of thousands of people come in and out of the airport each year.....

Dow High to host flu triage exercise (MI)
MIDLAND -- The Midland County Public Health Department, with about 40 employees, will conduct ''Operation Triage'' Wednesday as part of its ongoing pandemic flu preparation activities.
Officials say the exercise centers on setting up a triage point in Dow High School's gym to process patients ''because if a pandemic occurred, there would be a large surge of ill people, and plans are to allow the health care system to operate without being overwhelmed with stricken individuals,'' said Fred Yanoski, Midland County public health preparedness coordinator.
After an orientation, the health staff will see ''patients'' from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. to evaluate them on their condition and send them to hospitals, alternative care facilities or home.

PATRIOT ’08 exercise meets units’ training needs

Boeing Airborne Laser Team Begins Testing Laser with Chemical Fuel
ST. LOUIS, July 28, 2008 -- The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA], industry teammates and the U.S. Missile Defense Agency have completed installing the high-energy laser aboard the Airborne Laser (ABL) aircraft and have begun testing the laser with its chemical fuel at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif.
The tests involve flowing the laser's chemicals through the laser to confirm sequencing and control. Once these tests are completed, the test team will fire the laser aboard the aircraft on the ground for the first time.
"The Airborne Laser team has done a great job preparing the high-energy laser for these fuel tests, which will lead the way toward achieving 'first light' of the laser aboard the aircraft," said Mike Rinn, Boeing vice president and ABL program director. "Once again, we made and demonstrated enormous progress toward ushering in a new age of directed-energy weapons."
Repeated laser firings aboard the aircraft will demonstrate lasing duration and power at levels suitable for the destruction of multiple classes of ballistic missiles. The laser will then be fired through the aircraft's beam control/fire control system, including the nose-mounted turret. This will be followed by functional check flights of the entire ABL weapon system. The test campaign will start with the first airborne intercept of a ballistic missile in 2009....

Green will be responsible for the full range of transformation and business initiatives involving the Joint Chiefs of Staff, joint operations, Joint Forces Command, and the military component commands in the Tidewater, Va., area. He will be based at NCS headquarters in McKinney....
HHS, DHS Announce Guidance On Pandemic Vaccination Allocation
The U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Homeland Security (DHS) released today guidance on allocating and targeting pandemic influenza vaccine. The guidance provides a planning framework to help state, tribal, local and community leaders ensure that vaccine allocation and use will reduce the impact of a pandemic on public health and minimize disruption to society and the economy.
“This guidance is the result of a deliberative democratic process,” HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt said. “All interested parties took part in the dialogue; we are confident that this document represents the best of shared responsibility and decision-making.”
“A severe pandemic has the potential to disrupt our everyday way of life,” .....
Focus on flu pandemic plans (UK)
Denver Area Emergency Responders Train For DNC
Homeland Security workers to be told: Be vigilant (defies parody!)
BAE offer for homeland security consultancy Detica
How Harvard students want to fight terrorism (..or how a Harvard degree aint no better than toilet paper)
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0729/p09s01-coop.html
Cambridge, Mass. - A course about Al Qaeda taught by Peter Bergen, the British journalist who bagged Osama bin Laden's first face-to-face interview on CNN, became last semester's must-attend event at Harvard's elite Kennedy School.
The international students crowding into the school's largest auditorium were a cross-section of Americans, Europeans, and Middle Easterners, including current members of the US Army and intelligence community on sabbatical leave. Attending it gave me a fascinating window into the mind-set of the young, global elites who will lead the next generation's fight against terrorism. ...
UM terrorism center receives federal funding

Sunday, July 27, 2008

Will Manufactured Terrorism Shift Eastward?

Terror Threats to Olympic Games
http://www.abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=5455443&page=1

A terrorist group based in western China threatens to attack the upcoming Beijing Olympics, and claims responsibility for last week's deadly bus bombings in China in a new propaganda video released July 25.

The Turkistan Islamic Party video, entitled "Our Blessed Jihad in Yunnan," warns spectators and athletes, "particularly the Muslims," not to attend the Beijing Games, which are scheduled to begin in two weeks on Aug. 8.
"Our aim is to target the most critical points related to the Olympics. We will try to attack Chinese central cities severely using the tactics that have never been employed," the group's leader, Commander Seyfullah said, according to a translation of the video provided by IntelCenter, a Washington, D.C.-based firm that monitors terrorism.
The Turkistan Islamic Party is fighting to gain autonomy for the native Muslim population in the Xinjiang Province of China, which shares a border with Pakistan and Afghanistan. The group has been linked to al Qaeda and has been monitored by U.S. and foreign intelligence agencies. ...

S'pore warship makes mark in 10-nation drill
http://www.straitstimes.com/Free/Story/STIStory_261912.html

OFF the Hawaiian coast, Singapore's largest strike ship fired a Harpoon missile, which whizzed more than 40km over the sea before smashing into a decommissioned American warship.
The salvo from the frigate RSS Steadfast on July 14 was part of a naval exercise involving 10 nations - one of the largest in the world.
It marked Singapore's maiden entry into Exercise RIMPAC (Rim of the Pacific), and brought together ships, submarines, planes and about 20,000 personnel from countries such as the United States, Canada, Japan, Australia and South Korea.
The exercise, which started on June 27, demonstrated that the 114m-long frigate was able to hold its own during long, complex operations at sea....

International Computerized Antiterror Drills End in Kyrgyzstan
http://www.istockanalyst.com/article/viewiStockNews+articleid_2439805&title=International.html
Bishkek, 26 July: The international staff exercises Regional Cooperation-2008 ended in Kyrgyzstan.
"The exercises, which were held in the republic between 15 and 24 July, were organized in accordance with a plan of bilateral cooperation between the Kyrgyz armed forces and the US Central Command," the [Kyrgyz] Defence Ministry's press service has reported.
It said that the exercises were held using computer technology and involving servicemen from Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan and Pakistan.
Under the plan of the drills, the military practised their skills on a scenario in which a crisis, connected with livestock contracting a disease and terrorists attacking a dairy in the country's largest regional centre, the town of Osh, breaks out. The scenario of the drills also envisaged that "at the same time, there will be several terrorist attacks in Bishkek, in which extremists attack vital facilities. They attack waterworks and contaminate the water, use mustard gas in public transport and blow up a chemicals plant".
"The servicemen practised mechanisms of collectively counteracting terrorist activities and ways of dealing with their consequences," the press service said.
It also said, "the first international exercises Regional Cooperation with the support of the US Central Command were held in 1997 and they were codenamed Tsentrazbat
In e-mail, Islamic group claims India blasts

AHMADABAD, India (AP) - An obscure Islamic group claimed responsibility for a series of synchronized explosions that killed at least 45 people in western India, warning of "the terror of Death" in an e-mail sent to several television stations minutes before the blasts.
Another unexploded bomb was found and defused early Sunday, said the city's police commissioner, O.P. Mathur. He said police had detained 30 people.
"In the name of Allah the Indian Mujahideen strike again! Do whatever you can, within 5 minutes from now, feel the terror of Death!" said an e-mail from the group sent to several Indian television stations minutes before the blasts began.
The e-mail's subject line said "Await 5 minutes for the revenge of Gujarat," an apparent reference to 2002 riots in the western state which left 1,000 people, mostly Muslims, dead. The historic city of Ahmadabad was the scene of much of the 2002 violence.

(AP) A cow lies dead, killed in a bomb explosion, in Ahmadabad, India, Saturday, July 26, 2008. A series...Full ImageSaturday's e-mail, sent from a Yahoo account and written in English, was made available to AP by CNN-IBN, one of the TV stations that received the warning.

TV: Istanbul twin explosions are "terror attack"
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-07/28/content_8783725.htm

Friday, July 25, 2008

Geospatial Intelligence, IL Anthrax Drill, FCS

Exploiting a geospatial information revolution (9/11 Tv fakery, case in point, see
September Clues: ) http://www.brasschecktv.com/page/108.html
http://www.janes.com/news/defence/jdw/jdw080725_1_n.shtml


The asymmetric nature of current military operations has seen the demand for - and subsequent collection of - vast amounts of actionable intelligence on a previously unimaginable scale.
The battlefield commander's information requirements have changed dramatically in recent years - a trend fuelled by the continued drive towards a measure of network-centric operations and the resultant reduced decision cycles, linking of battlefield entities and sharing of information among all players.
With some 65 per cent of all information on the battlefield in some way geo-referenced, geographic information systems (GIS) have started to become a prime conduit for the sharing of actionable data.
Speaking at the WBR Defence Geospatial Intelligence conference in London in January, retired brigadier Nick Rigby, former director of intelligence, collection strategy and plans for the UK Ministry of Defence, said that the geospatial intelligence discipline had become a key enabler in network- or information-centric operations.
"First of all, what do I mean by the term 'geospatial intelligence'? For me it is the melding of geospatial information [that of data and products] across the spectrum of the -ologies and -ographies with the intelligence disciplines to deliver a capability greater than the sum of the constituent parts - a means of visualising the instance, situation or forecasting the same," said Rigby, who is now a non-executive director with ESRI UK.
Rigby said that, while geographic information served as the foundation, true geospatial intelligence took a wider focus and melded information from the land, sea and air environments with the intelligence disciplines of human intelligence, imagery intelligence and measurement and signature intelligence.
"Simplified, it is all about situational awareness via a recognised environmental picture - but it is also more than that. Geospatial intelligence provides the foundation for the JOP [joint operations picture] or the COP [common operating picture]; it is not just geographic information," Rigby told Jane's.
The advantages provided by modern geographic information systems are clear. With the irregular, asymmetric threat of the current focus of military planners and operations increasingly in the urban environment, GIS applications help reduce decision cycles and speed up response times and precision.
"In the US this is increasingly referred to as 'human terrain' - the mapping of the social, cultural and temporal aspects of a society. This causes a demand for more non-traditional data for use in geospatial analysis, leading to the routing of convoys to avoid schools and mosques, for example," said Rigby.
This requires a means to analyse and quickly disseminate the vast amounts of data collected by the intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance assets that are now available in theatre to operational commanders. In Afghanistan, for example, UK forces currently operate the Hermes 450 tactical unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), the Desert Hawk tactical UAV and the Reaper medium-altitude long-endurance UAV in a three-tiered model.
To avoid being drowned in the resultant information, a premium has been placed on systems with sophisticated data storage, data mining and recovery techniques that allow staff to be fed only the information that is relevant to their current mission without depriving them of key facts.

Lake County tests its ability to deliver in bioterror drill
http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=223280&src=3

'It could save a lot of lives'
200 'victims' participate in bioterrorism drill (IL)

http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/newssun/news/1074115,5_1_WA25_HAZARDDRIL_S1.article


Benton High School NJROTC students Andrea Broyles (left)and Jon Langston, both seniors, and Battalion Chief Larry Swieca with the Buffalo Grove Fire Department, try to figure out what medications the students, posing as victims, need during the drill. Registered nurses Carol Swieca of Buffalo Grove (left), Marg McKee of Grayslake, and Bonnie Quirke of Libertyville assist them.
First responders, emergency crews and health officials are waiting to distribute medicines to thousands of infected residents before it is too late.

That was the scenario the Lake County Health Department and emergency agencies were faced with Thursday during a bioterrorism drill at St. Peter's United Church of Christ in Lake Zurich.
"The purpose of the exercise is to test the county's ability to respond to a local bioterrorism incident," said Health Department spokesman Leslie Piotrowski.
As part of the drill, more than 200 volunteers simulated the delivery and distribution of the national stockpile of antibiotics to some 700,000 residents at various polling sites, which are designated mass dispensing sites. Lake Zurich's goal was to serve 200 people in an hour....

Army's effort to rush technology to troops boosts defense firms
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/business/articles/2008/07/25/20080725biz-combat0725.html
A recent decision by the U.S. Army to speed delivery of advanced missiles, robots and unmanned aircraft to infantry units in Iraq and Afghanistan could be a boon to Arizona defense contractors.
Among the products being pushed into production earlier than planned are "missiles in a box" made by Raytheon Co. in Tucson and the beer-keg-shaped Micro Air Vehicle produced by Phoenix-based Honeywell Aerospace.
A reprioritizing of the Army's sweeping $160 billion Future Combat Systems modernization program also resurrects the Land Warrior individual communications system developed by Scottsdale's General Dynamics C4 Systems.
The $3 billion Land Warrior program was scrapped by the Pentagon last year, but it has been brought back as a new component of Future Combat Systems called the Ground Soldier System.
The Army's program restructuring pushes up deployment of much of the Future Combat Systems technology to 2011 from 2015 and initially distributes it to the infantry instead of the armored-brigade combat teams, as initially planned.
"It gives us the opportunity to produce more of the systems sooner and get them in the hands of those they can benefit," said Vaughn Fulton, manager of Honeywell's unmanned air-vehicle program.
Tom Moody of Raytheon called the Army's restructuring of its Future Combat Systems program good news......

Artificial Intelligence System - 100 Billion Neurons and Beyond
http://www.linuxpr.com/releases/10763.html
Toronto, Ontario, Jul. 25, 2008 - Intelligence Realm Inc. has recently completed a simulation of 100 billion neurons, the estimated size of the human brain. The simulation used distributed computing and involved over 4000 computers, 3000 volunteers, 10000 processors, 180 TB of data and lasted for a couple of months.This was the first simulation that bypassed the 100 billion level and used database files to store the data.The simulation is one of the first steps in a long-term project that is aiming to build a large-scale artificial intelligence by reverse engineering the brain.Ovidiu Anghelidi, the project leader said: "The simulation also proves that computing power is no longer a stumbling block in achieving artificial intelligence. The computational requirements for running large-scale biophysical neural networks at the cellular level can be found in distributed computing.

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Limited Hangout Readings:The Complex, The Shock Doctrine:Disaster Capitalism etc

Current Readings:

The Complex: How the Military Invades Our Everyday Lives by Nick Turse

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Complex/Nick-Turse/e/9780805078961

*See example of perp infiltration into our new terror/DHS Video fakery producing "institutions of higher learning"

ICT
The University of Southern California Institute for Creative Technologies is revolutionizing learning through the development of interactive digital media.
Collaborating with our entertainment industry neighbors, we are the leaders in producing virtual humans, computer training simulations and immersive experiences for decision-making, cultural awareness, leadership and health.
Engaging and effective. Powerful and portable. Our innovations help save lives, resources and time.
http://ict.usc.edu/
A story in the May issue of Popular Mechanics titled, “10 Genius Inventions We’re Still Waiting For,” describes the goal of ICT’s Intelligent Forces project, which is to use artificial intelligence to “simulate the behavior of civilian populations—and insurgent forces—on a citywide scale.” The story adds that researchers can even plug in different cultures. “In the coming decades, this type of technology could be used by urban planners, video-game designers and maybe even indecisive civilians who face tough life decisions,” according to the magazine. http://ict.usc.edu/news/item/icts_intelligent_forces_project_featured_in_popular_mechanices/

The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism
http://www.amazon.com/Shock-Doctrine-Rise-Disaster-Capitalism/dp/0805079831

- Sorry Naomi, the perps do not just ''exploit" disasters- they plan and CAUSE them!!!!


Naomi Klein's The Shock Doctrine advances a truly unnerving argument: historically, while people were reeling from natural disasters, wars and economic upheavals, savvy politicians and industry leaders nefariously implemented policies that would never have passed during less muddled times. As Klein demonstrates, this reprehensible game of bait-and-switch isn't just some relic from the bad old days. It's alive and well in contemporary society, and coming soon to a disaster area near you.
"At the most chaotic juncture in Iraq'' civil war, a new law is unveiled that will allow Shell and BP to claim the country's vast oil reserves… Immediately following September 11, the Bush Administration quietly outsources the running of the 'War on Terror' to Halliburton and Blackwater… After a tsunami wipes out the coasts of Southeast Asia, the pristine beaches are auctioned off to tourist resorts… New Orleans residents, scattered from Hurricane Katrina, discover that their public housing, hospitals and schools will never be re-opened." Klein not only kicks butt, she names names, notably economist Milton Friedman and his radical Chicago School of the 1950s and 60s which she notes "produced many of the leading neo-conservative and neo-liberal thinkers whose influence is still profound in Washington today." Stand up and take a bow, Donald Rumsfeld.
There's little doubt Klein's book--which arrived to enormous attention and fanfare thanks to her previous missive, the best-selling No Logo, will stir the ire of the right and corporate America. It's also true that Klein's assertions are coherent, comprehensively researched and footnoted, and she makes a very credible case. Even if the world isn't going to hell in a hand-basket just yet, it's nice to know a sharp customer like Klein is bearing witness to the backroom machinations of government and industry in times of turmoil.

A Fate Worse Than Bush...Obama

* I don't usually follow the fake S(elections) but an inordinate number of numbskull's are completely politically clueless and support "Manchurian Candidates" like Obama (who may be an AI/robot assembled in a lab (MITRE ? or the likes..) to read PR scripts for war mongers. See:
http://forum.911movement.org/index.php?showtopic=4556

In Berlin, Obama Calls For Anti-Terror Cooperation
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=92881893


Sen. Barack Obama on Wednesday called on Europeans to join America in the effort to defeat terrorism and extremism.
In a speech in Berlin, he recalled the wall that once split the city into East and West, and warned of other walls and barriers that can divide nations and people of different races and religions.
About 200,000 people turned out in Tiergarten Park to hear the Illinois senator and White House hopeful, whom polls show is immensely popular in Germany. A roar went up as he took to the stage — erected in front of the towering Victory Column, a structure built in the 1800s.
"Tonight, I speak to you not as a candidate for president, but as a citizen — a proud citizen of the United States, and a fellow citizen of the world," he said. (bullshit continued....)

China: Terrorism, Boeing DEW...

China says breaks up international terrorist cell
http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSPEK3763220080724?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews

BEIJING (Reuters) - Shanghai police have broken up an international terrorist group that had planned to attack an Olympic football preliminary match in the city, state news agency Xinhua said on Thursday.
"We have staged raids and cracked a group of terrorists," Xinhua quoted Cheng Jiulong, Shanghai Public Security Bureau deputy director and head of the Shanghai security office for the Olympics, as saying.
However, Cheng did not say when the terrorists were first discovered, how many suspects were detained or where they came from, said Xinhua.
"We have obtained information that international terrorist organizations would likely launch an attack against an Olympic venue in the city during the Games," Cheng said.
The report comes after state media said earlier in the day that Chinese paramilitary police swore to prevent terrorist attacks or "political incidents" from disrupting the Beijing Olympics in a show of force at the Games' main stadium.
"International terrorist forces are itching to strike with terror attacks against the Beijing Games, and hostile domestic forces' disruption and sabotage activities against the Games are steadily unfolding," the People's Armed Police News reported.
Chinese officials have said their main Games security worries focused on separatist militants seeking an independent Uighur homeland in the country's far west Xinjiang region and campaigners for an independent Tibet.
Human rights critics say China has grossly exaggerated the security threats from Uighurs and Tibetans to justify harsh control in those regions.
Shanghai police have been put on a "crisis" footing as part of a campaign to ensure public safety during Olympic football matches in the city next month, said Xinhua (cont...)

American Eurocopter Awarded Light Enforcement Helicopter Contract with Department of Homeland Security
http://www.verticalmag.com/control/news/templates/?a=8194&z=6
"The AS350 is a powerful and reliable aircraft that has established itself with its unmatched performance, extensive mission equipment options and the safety of its multiple-redundancy system design. With its unparalleled visibility and proven law enforcement integration, the AS350 family has established itself as the preferred platform for U.S. law enforcement agencies and has become an essential tool in the fight against crime."

Boeing completes preliminary design of beam control system for mobile laser weapon http://mae.pennnet.com/display_article/334974/32/NEWS/none/none/1/Boeing-completes-preliminary-design-of-beam-control-system-for-mobile-laser-weapon/



Boeing officials announced yesterday that the company successfully completed the preliminary design of a rugged beam control system for the U.S. Army's High Energy Laser Technology Demonstrator (HEL TD) program.
The work fell under the HEL TD Phase I contract, awarded last year to design a beam control system for a truck-mounted laser weapon system. .....

Indo-US joint military exercises on counter-terrorism
http://www.ptinews.com/pti%5Cptisite.nsf/0/E218BBC53400525B65257490004B9217?OpenDocument

General Dynamics to Deliver Trusted Virtualization Environment
http://ajax.sys-con.com/read/615547.htm

Hospitals put to the test during natural disaster drill (AR)
http://www.nwanews.com/adg/News/232184/

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

CA "Medical Surge" Exercise, Chinese False Flag?, + News

"Operation Sunrise" a medical surge exercise on July 25 and 26. (CA)
http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/2008/jul/23/csuci-site-of-emergency-response-exercise-july/

CSUCI Site of Emergency Response Exercise July 25, 26
California State University Channel Islands campus will be the site of Operation Sunrise, a medical surge exercise on July 25 and 26. Emergency responders from throughout Ventura County including the University Police Department will participate in this 36-hour exercise, which will focus on the skills needed in a medical surge emergency.
Operation Sunrise is a fictional exercise to simulate a terrorist attack. Emergency responders will simulate crimes scenes and treat volunteers playing the role of victims of the mock attack. The response of various emergency responders will be as realistic as possible. Area hospitals, city and county police, fire and emergency teams, state and local officials, government agencies, and private sector partners will be participating in Operation Sunrise. (cont...)

*Chinese False Flags could open up huge new market. See Bus Bombings:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/22/AR2008072201403.html?hpid=sec-world

Universal Detection Technology Receives Additional Contract to Provide Bioterrorism Training Equipment for the 2008 Beijing Olympics
http://www.foxbusiness.com/story/markets/industries/energy/universal-detection-technology-receives-contract-provide-bioterrorism-detection/
Universal Detection Technology (http://www.udetection.com/)

A developer of early-warning monitoring technologies to protect people from bioterrorism and other infectious health threats and provider of counter-terrorism consulting and training services, reported today that it has received a contract to provide handheld assays for bioterrorism detection for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The handheld devices are designed to detect Anthrax, Ricin, Botulinum Toxin, Plague and SEBs in as little as 3 minutes.
In an article published in the Homeland Security Daily Wire, the Chinese Minister of Public Security, Mr. Zhou Yongkang, was quoted to say that "terrorism poses the biggest threat to the holding of a successful Beijing Olympic games." Minister Yongkang asked on Monday for closer international collaboration on information sharing and risk analysis. "Although the general security situation for the Beijing Olympics remains stable, we still face the challenges of terrorism, separatism, and extremism," he added. He spoke at the International Conference on Security Cooperation for the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics, which is attended by more than 140 representatives from 32 countries and regions, and international organizations such as Interpol and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization

Funding for laser weapons research growing
http://www.pennwellblogs.com/mae/2008/07/funding-for-laser-weapons-research.html

Last week Rajiv Pandey, senior product manager at DILAS in Tucson Ariz., told me that funding for laser weapons development comes in bunches but is strong and growing especially in the U.S. market.DILAS develops diode lasers with a broad range of wavelengths for different Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) programs, Pandey said. He added that DILAS also has seen significant growth in its laser illuminator designator products, which are available for various military platforms.Moving to Arizona and forming a separate U.S. company to pursue laser development for the Department of Defense was a key for DILAS, whose parent company is based in Germany, Pandey said. This has helped foster the company's growth.DARPA continues to award research contracts for different parts of programs such as the High Energy Liquid Laser, Pandey said. It is their goal to develop a reliable high-power solid-state laser, he added......

Homeland Security Capital Corporation's Advanced Radiation, Nuclear Protection and Detection Division to Participate in Operation Golden Phoenix
Simulated Terrorism Training Event (see Yesterday's post)
http://www.epicos.com/epicos/portal/media-type/html/user/anon/page/default.psml/js_panename/News+Information+Article+View;jsessionid=65453FF6A6C68E7E22D7C5C42FB7E579.tomcat3?articleid=110524&showfull=false

ASEAN states to test readiness on bird flu pandemic
http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/news/stories/200807/s2312714.htm?tab=asia

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Operation Golden Phoenix 2008"

'Operation Golden Phoenix 2008'


City Comes Under Mock Bio-Terror Attack (SAIC San Diego Home)
http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/16956410/detail.html



SAN DIEGO -- A four-day training exercise stretching from the U.S.-Mexico border to East County puts more than 70 agencies to the test during a fake anthrax attack.



"Operation Golden Phoenix 2008" began Monday and will put physicians, nurses, Marines, Border Patrol agents and city and county officials to the test, with cameras recording every move.

Its all part of a mock bio-terrorism attack on San Diego, in which the city comes under a fake anthrax contamination. Officials said the drill involves the simulation of terrorists sneaking in anthrax at the border.
In a lab at San Diego State, the latest technology will be put to the test to see if the county is prepared to handle such a situation.
"We're doing an evaluation during this period of time to look at the technologies here to figure out which ones fit and which ones can really provide some capability to us for the future," said Bob Welty, SDSU's director of Homeland Security.
On Tuesday, during a simulation along the border, a truck with pretend anthrax was intercepted. An inflatable satellite picked up the signal and sent it back to the command post.
Temporary houses made of foil covered with foam and tape were setup for victims along with a reunification center for families affected by the mock drill.
"The key word is it's 'real play'," said professor Eric Frost, with the Visualization Center at San Diego State, "This is one of the things that people are really honestly saying we're not playing we're going stick ourselves out there and do it and if we can't do it we really better get it fixed."
Big and small companies have brought their latest technology, including chemical detectors, disaster drill video games and fancy mapping programs, to see how they might all fit together to help coordinate a response to an attack or some other disaster.

Monday, July 21, 2008

U.S Military Pandemic Prep, Directed Energy Weapons, + News

"Lightning Rescue 2008"

The military takes steps to prepare for a pandemic flu (or to cause one?)http://www.khnl.com/Global/story.asp?S=8702968


NAWILIWILI HARBOR, Kauai (KHNL) - Seven specially designed Army Humvees, trucks and a tractor-trailer loaded with communication equipment were driven onto the Army's, MG Charles P Gross support vessel at Pearl Harbor Saturday morning.
The vessel is headed to Nawiliwili Harbor in Kauai for a joint military and civilian pandemic influenza exercise scheduled to take place July 24, at Pacific Missile Range Facility.
The exercise is a part of Lightning Rescue 2008.
The emergency exercise is being conducted by the 307th Single Battalion soldiers and over 200 military person ell and civilians. Together they will take part in setting up, mobilizing and operating a mock quarantine area to stop a deadly virus from spreading.
The 307th Single Battalion is capable of controlling and commanding communications for military units anywhere in the world.

QinetiQ, Boeing Partner on Long-Endurance UAV
http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story_channel.jsp?channel=defense&id=news/QINETIQ072108.xml&headline=QinetiQ,%20Boeing%20Partner%20on%20Long-Endurance%20UAV
FARNBOROUGH — Boeing has selected QinetiQ, the U.K.-based defense technology company, as its key technology partner on Vulture — the ultra-long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) concept proposed by the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).
The $3.8-million first phase of the program will see QinetiQ participating in system definition and analysis as well as a review of system requirements. The challenge? To create a large, load-carrying UAV able to remain aloft for weeks on end (Aerospace DAILY, April 21, 22).
As part of the Boeing team, QinetiQ is expected to apply expertise gained in the development of Zephyr, a high-altitude long-endurance UAV. Launched by hand, Zephyr, is built mainly from lightweight carbon fiber. It flies on solar power by day and draws power from rechargeable lithium sulfur batteries by night.......


Navy to get weapon of light (DEW)
http://www.hindustantimes.com/storypage/storypage.aspx?sectionName=&id=37706c5f-bf8a-4906-b11e-3a4d79b4f667&&Headline=Indian+Navy+to+get+weapon+of+light&strParent=strParentID
The laser is emerging out of the realm of sci-fi to debut in combat. For the first time, coalition forces in Iraq and Afghanistan are planning to unleash the technology’s vast potential to combat the threat of insurgent missile and rocket attacks.
Signalling a revolution in military hardware, India too can grab a slice of that technology with the US proposing to equip the navy’s second-largest warship INS Jalashwa with a new generation laser system that would enable it to blast enemy missiles in the sky.
The new weapon can easily be mounted alongside the Jalashwa’s Phalanx close-in weapon system for shooting down incoming targets at the speed of light, claimed US defence firm Raytheon that has found military application for the laser. The Phalanx currently uses advanced radar and computer technology to locate, identify and direct a stream of 20 mm armour-piercing projectiles to the target......


Raytheon: Directed Energy Weapons Set To Go
http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?i=3626927&c=LAN&s=TOP

FARNBOROUGH, Britain - Work on laser, infrared and microwave defensive systems has reached a high level of readiness, with the possibility of deployment close at hand, a Raytheon executive said at the Farnborough Airshow.
Development has advanced on products that can protect troops against mortar rounds, guard against shoulder-launched missiles fired at helicopters and airliners taking off at airports, and dissuade without killing - a non-lethal laser weapon for civil security, Michael Booen, Raytheon vice president of directed energy weapons, told journalists at the show....

Flu pandemic may kill 50m worldwide http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/HealthSci/Flu_pandemic_may_kill_50m_worldwide/articleshow/3261264.cms

City hosting physicians’ disaster-training program http://www.tribune-democrat.com/local/local_story_202201422.html

U.S., Indonesia Hold Naval War Games
http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7011675157Jakarta, Indonesia (AHN) - The navies of Indonesia and the United States on Monday began a five-day joint exercise dubbed "Naval Engagement Activity or NEA 2008" in the East Java Province.
Indonesia's commander of the Eastern Fleet Command Commodore Slamet Yulistiyono launched the exercise at the Eastern Fleet Command Warship training center in Ujung, Surabaya of East Java.....

SAIC to do nuclear analysis for DOD http://www.washingtontechnology.com/online/1_1/33183-1.htmlScience Applications International Corp. will provide a broad range of technical and nuclear analysis services for the Defense Department under a five-year contract worth more than $26 million.
The Nuclear Matters Professional Services contract calls for SAIC to complete a variety of nuclear-related technical assessments for the Office of the Deputy Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Nuclear Matters. The office oversees plans for a safe and secure nuclear stockpile that also meet future security needs....

Bio Weapons Monitor System Draws Criticism
http://www.lasvegasnow.com/Global/story.asp?S=8701384&nav=168X
Homeland Security experts consider Southern Nevada a high-risk target for terrorist attacks. As such, we are one of 30 major cities nationwide that actually monitor the air for biological weapons. The program is called BioWatch.
BioWatch has drawn criticism since it began five years ago. Just this week, members of a Congressional subcommittee heard it characterized as a "parasite" by the local public health officials tasked with running it.
The early warning system to detect airborne pathogens may look good on paper. The challenge is in the practice.
In a city surveilled by thousands of eyes in the sky, the federal government has harnessed a second sense to sniff out terrorism. The program, known as BioWatch, is designed to screen the air for biological weapons -- agents like anthrax, plague and smallpox. It's like an air monitoring filtration system......

Sunday, July 20, 2008

SAIC TOPOFF 5, San Diego Space 2008 Conference...


- Daily Dose readers, I'm back from vacation and considering new additions to the blog. It seems
that focusing on "False Flags" has become passe. I think the perps are engaged in economic terrorism to cement the seeds of Fascism ( remember post WWI Germany) and to hasten the destruction of America. While on vacation, I had a chance to speak with a prominent investment banker - his exact words " the tanks are going into the streets, we are going into a deep depression." Food for thought. It will take a few days to get my new system tweaked, but expect more regular updates and new changes and extended focus...

Terror exercise contract reviewed for ethics violation; contractor may have written parts (SAIC)
http://www.newsday.com/news/politics/wire/sns-ap-terrorism-exercise-investigation,0,1231936.story


WASHINGTON (AP) _ Federal officials are investigating whether millions of dollars are being steered improperly toward a government contractor to run the country's largest counterterrorism exercise.At issue is a written request for companies to compete for the TOPOFF 5 exercise contract and whether an employee of Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC) wrote parts of the proposal, according to officials familiar with the contract who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive procurement activity.It would be considered a conflict of interest if an SAIC employee both drafted the document and intends to compete for the contract, according to Melanie Sloan, director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.The Federal Emergency Management Agency would not say how much the TOPOFF 5 contract is worth. The last exercise cost about $25 million. The contract for TOPOFF 5 has not been awarded.


TOPOFF is a congressionally mandated exercise intended to test the response of local, state and federal agencies across the country. Private businesses and other countries have participated in the past exercises as well. The first of these biennial exercises was in 2000. It has become more expensive over the years, as new capabilities have been added to the exercise — such as a fake news network.FEMA spokeswoman Debbie Wing said an agency contracting officer is looking into whether there are any conflicts of interest with the request for proposals. SAIC would not comment.The top senators on the Homeland Security oversight committee sent a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff Wednesday evening about this potential conflict of interest. The senators also expressed concern with the exercise division's director, Bill McNally. McNally used to work for Applied Marine Technology, Inc. (AMTI), which was purchased by SAIC in 2006. McNally did not respond to requests for comment (cont...)

RNC has hospitals ready for anything
http://www.startribune.com/politics/national/conventions/25638404.html?location_refer=Homepage:latestNews:4

It was a weekday morning like any other at United Hospital in St. Paul. Then the wounded began staggering in. A dirty bomb had gone off at a big event nearby.
Medical personnel scrambled to set up decontamination showers in an ambulance garage. Others donned head-to-toe hazardous materials protection suits. Pagers beeped madly as doctors and nurses rushed to help victims.
Luckily, none of it was real. It was just the latest drill by metro hospitals in more than a year of preparation for medical calamities in advance of the Republican National Convention, which comes to the Twin Cities Sept. 1 to 4.
In many ways, Minneapolis and St. Paul have never been more prepared. Like most U.S. cities, the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks were a wake-up call that spurred significant disaster planning. Then there was the Aug. 1 collapse of the Interstate 35W bridge, when emergency services and hospitals won kudos for their prompt responses. (cont...)

SPACE 2008 Conference to Be Held September 9-11 in San Diego
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/07-18-2008/0004851658&EDATE=
RESTON, Va., July 18 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The American Instituteof Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) will hold the SPACE 2008 Conferenceand Exposition September 9-11 at the San Diego Convention Center, SanDiego, Calif. The conference is co-chaired by NASA Jet PropulsionLaboratory and the U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center.Sponsors of the conference are: ATK; Northrop Grumman Corp.; OrbitalScience Corp.; Raytheon Company; Stellar Solutions, Inc.; The AerospaceCorporation; and United Space Alliance. The AIAA SPACE 2008 program will offer attendees a blend of keynoteaddresses, plenary sessions, moderated panel sessions and technical papersessions. The conference's theme: "Future Space: National Priorities,Critical Decisions," will thoroughly examine three main themes of the 2008presidential campaign: American economic competitiveness, the global war onterror, and the need for increased monitoring of global climate change. Guiding the formation of the conference are executive co-chairs: Dr.Charles Elachi, director, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory; Lt. Gen John T.Sheridan, commander, U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems; David W.Thompson, chairman and CEO, Orbital Sciences Corporation; Dr. AlexisLivanos, corporate vice president and president, Northrop Grumman SpaceTechnology; and Michael Keebaugh, president, intelligence and informationsystems at Raytheon Company.....

Top Leaders to Present at Strategic Space and Defense 2008
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=25945
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (July 15, 2008) - The top leaders of United States Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM) have made early commitments to participate at Strategic Space and Defense 2008. Featuring the foremost military, defense industry, and government leaders, the conference is set to take place at the Qwest Omaha Convention Center and Arena in Omaha, Neb., 6-8 October. Presented by the Space Foundation and Space News, Strategic Space and Defense 2008 is the global security conference for space and defense professionals. Confirmed speakers include Gen. Kevin P. Chilton, USAF, commander, United States Strategic Command; Vice Adm. Carl V. Mauney, USN, deputy commander, United States Strategic Command; Maj. Gen. Carroll F. Pollett, USA, chief of staff, United States Strategic Command; and Chief Master Sgt. Thomas S. Narofsky, USAF, command chief master sergeant, United States Strategic Command.
The conference focuses on the full spectrum of USSTRATCOM's broad range of strategic capabilities and operational mission areas. Speakers and panelists include the senior leadership of USSTRATCOM and its component and supported commands, representatives of the national security industrial base, major government contactors, federal officials, and allied partners.
Early featured keynote presentations and panel topics are "STRATCOM and the Global AOR," "Integration of Land, Sea, Air, Space, and Cyberspace" from both military and industry perspectives, "View from Capitol Hill," "Strategic Deterrence - Evolving Capability for Today's World," "Space Situational Awareness - The Key to the Protection of Critical (cont...)

SI International Wins $11 Million Air Force Space Command SSA and C2 Modernization Contract http://www.sunherald.com/prnewswire/story/688697.html
RESTON, Va., July 17 --SI International, Inc. (Nasdaq: SINT), an information technology and network solutions (IT) company, today announced that it has been awarded a contract to support the Headquarters Air Force Space Command Directorate of Requirements, Space Situational Awareness (SSA) and Command and Control (C2) Systems Division. The contract was awarded under the Contract Advisory and Assistance Services and Engineering and Technical Assistance (CAASETA) contract vehicle, and has a one-year base period with a one-year option period. The task order's value is approximately $11 million over two years, if all options are exercised

America’s Bioterrorism Nightmare
http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/publications/id.633/pub_detail.asp

Upshot of War on Terror: America Financially Collapses, Arabs Own Entire World
http://blog.wired.com/sterling/2008/07/upshot-of-war-o.html
"Despite cyclical fluctuations, world oil and energy prices will stay high, driven by long-run changes in supply and demand. This provokes a global wealth redistribution without precedent to oil exporters, mainly in the Middle East and Russia, that marches in tandem with China's export-driven current account surplus. It is an extensive transfer of economic power away from the US to nations that are not mainly democracies, a dynamic that is the subject of agonising review in seminars and debates in the US..."

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Still on Vacation


Hey DDoT Deaders,


I am still on vacation on lake Michigan and expect to be back in Vermont

soon. I am also getting a new computer which will alow me to update more regularly.

Check back in a few days. Thanks for your patience.

Greg Nixon

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

NGA, ChemBots, FCS, CACI, Northrop, + News

Pentagon will buy satellites to do more spying
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gM4mwPQcU0j446qIew8P7ZmifwNgD91L8MK00
In this June 27, 2006, file photo a Boeing's Delta 4 rocket, carrying a a spy satellite skyward on a classified mission, is launched into space at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. Military and industry officials say that in the first week of July 2008, it will be announced that the Pentagon will buy and operate up to two commercial imagery satellites and plans to design and build a third with more sophisticated capabilities to spy on enemy troop movements, spot construction at suspected nuclear sites and alert commanders to new militant training camps, government

The Pentagon will buy and operate one or two commercial imagery satellites and plans to design and build another with more sophisticated spying capabilities, according to government and private industry officials.
The satellites could spy on enemy troop movements, spot construction at suspected nuclear sites and alert commanders to militant training camps.
The Broad Area Space-Based Imagery Collector satellite system, or BASIC, will cost between $2 billion and $4 billion. It would add to the secret constellation of satellites that now circle the Earth, producing still images that are pieced together into one large mosaic.
A single satellite can visit one spot on Earth once or twice every day. BASIC's additional satellites will allow multiple passes over the same sites, alerting U.S. government users to potential trouble, humanitarian crises or natural disasters like floods.
The announcement of the BASIC program, expected this week, has been delayed for months, with Pentagon, Air Force and National Reconnaissance Office officials fighting over who should be in charge of buying, building and operating the satellites. They have also debated whose needs the system will cater to: senior military commanders or policymakers in Washington.
At stake was not just money but power: Billion-dollar budgets are up for grabs, and the agencies' traditional missions and ways of doing business have been hanging in the balance.
The National Reconnaissance Office ultimately won the right to buy and operate the satellites, besting the Air Force. And military commanders' needs trumped the White House. They will, for the first time, have the opportunity to dictate what satellites will photograph when they pass overhead. The concept is known as "assured tasking."
"The battlefield today is so dynamic the warfighter needs to be able to respond at a moment's notice. Knowing they have the opportunity to have assured tasking in the next pass of satellite becomes very critical and helpful in the planning of their operations," Josh Hartman, the Pentagon director for space and intelligence capability acquisition, told The Associated Press.
Military commanders have long desired that kind of tasking control. Now, they submit their requests to a national intelligence authority that prioritizes the missions. And sometimes those requests are delayed or rejected.
The new satellite system is meant to bridge what intelligence agencies fear will become a gap caused by the cancellation in September 2005 of a major component of the Future Imagery Architecture system overseen by the National Reconnaissance Office. Prime contractor The Boeing Co., headquartered in Chicago, ran into technical problems developing the satellite and spent nearly $10 billion, blowing its budget by $3 billion to $5 billion before the Pentagon pulled the plug, according to industry experts and government reports.
The Pentagon hopes BASIC will fill in some of the lost capabilities in key ways: (cont...)

Futuristic 'Chembots' Could Squeeze Through Small Spaces

Soft and squishy chemical robots will one day squeeze through tight spots, then expand to 10 times larger, offering an advantage over rigid robots.
Once a mission is complete, a chembot would biodegrade.
The chembots could get into a building through a crack, for example. They could explore a cave or crevice and dismantle an explosive. Or they might climb ropes, wires or trees.
Another tiny idea: One chembot could pack a smaller chembot into a situation, then release it for even more minute explorations

Researchers at Tufts University have received a $3.3 million contract from the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to build the soft automatons.
ChemBots represent "the convergence of soft materials chemistry and robotics. It is an entirely new way of looking at robots and could someday yield great technological advantage for our armed forces," said Mitchell Zakin, who oversees the program for DARPA.

Tufts neurobiologist Barry Trimmer studies the nervous systems of caterpillars, which grow 10,000-fold in mass after hatching from the larval stage. He studies how they move so flexibly without joints and control movement so precisely with a simple brain.
Using biomaterials and bioengineered polymers, genetic engineering and nanotechnology, Trimmer and colleagues in other fields hope to duplicate some of the caterpillars' traits and behaviors. His lab has already built some prototypes.
"Use of all-biodegradable biopolymer systems will allow use of the robots in a broad range of environmental applications, as well as medical scenarios, without requiring retrieval after completion of the designated tasks," said co-principal investigator David Kaplan biomedical engineer at Tufts. "We expect that these devices will literally be able to disappear after completing their mission."
The chembot would have hair-like sensors for temperature, pressure, chemical and audio/video and to use wireless communication. (cont...)

A Preview Of How Tommy Thompson Wants To Spend Nearly $3 Billion On Fighting Bioterrorism
Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson
Americans may have turned their attention to other matters over the past few months, but Thompson has been focused on shoring up the nation's public-health system. On Friday, he will present Congress with plans for spending the extra $2.63 billion in emergency bioterrorism funds that lawmakers set aside late last year-that's an amount more than 10 times what Congress spent in 2001. Thompson not only sees the new spending as a way to protect the country against bioterror but also as a chance to bolster the public-health system to fight other problems like natural-disease outbreaks. "We have a golden opportunity to really strengthen, build, improve a state and local public-health system," says Thompson.
The bulk of the money will go to the states, which will develop their own plans for bioterror preparedness. As a former governor himself, Thompson wants to give the states maximum flexibility. "We want the governor to sign off so that he or she is committed as much as we are," Thompson says (cont...)

International simulation company to open office in Suffolk
An international modeling, simulation and training company plans to open an office here, the city announced today.
Montreal-based CAE will open a field office in the Virginia Modeling, Analysis and Simulation Center in northern Suffolk, according to a release from the department of economic development.
The company employs more than 6,000 people at more than 75 sites in 20 countries. John Lenyo, president and general manager of CAE USA, said it wanted to be in Hampton Roads “because of the area's concentration of defense and homeland security departments, as well as the significant focus and support for modeling and simulation in the region," according to the city’s release.

Northrop scoops DARPA mindreader-helmet threat visor cash
American armaments goliath Northrop Grumman announced another huge technology coup this week. The company has won a Pentagon contract to develop a mindreading hat which will allow US soldiers to identify threats with unparalleled range and speed.
The military requirement was actually called Cognitive Technology Threat Warning System (CT2WS), but Northrop don't have any truck with crazy acronyms of that type. Instead, they refer to the proposed kit as HORNET (Human-aided Optical Recognition/Notification of Elusive Threats)*......

FCS Gets Absorbed By RFI
July 2, 2008: The U.S. Army has dropped any pretence of trying to roll out its new FCS (Future Combat Systems) stuff as a complete package. The Department of Defense has ordered that FCS items be readied for combat use as soon as possible. The future will arrive piecemeal, as had been happening ever since September 11, 2001, and especially since early 2003....

US Air Force Selects DAC to Develop New Technologies for Identifying Terror
Arlington, VA (PRWEB) July 2, 2008 -- Decisive Analytics Corporation (DAC) announced today that it has been selected by the US Air Force to develop new technologies for identifying terror networks. This asymmetric threat poses perhaps the most dangerous risk to US forces and assets both overseas and at home. Because of the sheer amount of data available, identifying terrorist activities can be very difficult. To overcome this problem, DAC is developing new ways to automatically identify terror networks while also understanding the context they represent. Social Networks In Context (SONIC) provides the capability to understand the roles of different network nodes, understand the semantic relationships between entities, and automatically identify important clusters of entities within a dynamic terror network. SONIC builds on DAC's BOBCAT approach to identifying and stopping the terror threat. The capabilities developed under SONIC will be made available to BOBCAT customers in late 2008 and early 2009. Terrorism expert Dr. Marc Sageman is partnered with DAC on this effort. ...

CACI calls Abu Ghraib lawsuits baseless

General Dynamics to expand Fort Meade communications