LMT Space Warfare, Pandemic, Russia, +PMC's

US air force inks 'tactical' space-war deal
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/30/space_war_satnobbler_sensor/

American weaponrytech behemoth Lockheed Martin has been awarded a $30m contract by the US Air Force Space Superiority Systems Wing. Under the deal, Lockheed will develop a prototype "tactical" space scanner for use in the covert orbital warfare of tomorrow.
The tech demonstrator programme is referred to as Self-Awareness Space Situational Awareness (SASSA), and will see Lockheed developing a "payload to provide tactical space situational awareness with dedicated communications".

The US military and intelligence communities operate a satellite fleet numbering in the hundreds, with missions ranging from spying to communications to navigation. Civilians worldwide also depend on some of these satellites - especially those of the Global Positioning System (GPS), used by the vast majority of the world's satnav devices. (cont...)

Experts at HHS webinar cite key pandemic planning issues

http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/cidrap/content/influenza/biz-plan/news/oct2908webcast.html

The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) today hosted an online conversation among experts, government officials, and members of the public that touched on emerging issues in pandemic planning, such as anticipating supply chain interruptions and keeping the momentum going during tough economic times.
At the beginning of the webcast, HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt made some opening remarks that focused on what the agency has accomplished, especially since the release of the HHS's Pandemic Influenza Plan in 2005.
Leavitt also spoke to the transitions that will likely occur over the next few months as the Bush administration winds down and a new administration takes over. He said during his tenure, the HHS has planned for 15 different disaster scenarios, including pandemic influenza.

Russian Navy to hold exercises in the Mediterranean in November http://en.rian.ru/russia/20081030/118036772.html

MOSCOW, October 30 (RIA Novosti) - A naval task force from Russia's Northern Fleet will depart from its main base in Severomorsk in early November to participate in joint drills with the Black Sea Fleet in the Mediterranean, a senior Navy official said on Thursday.
"The task force from the Northern Fleet [headed by the Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier] will join a naval task force from the Black Sea Fleet headed by the Moskva missile cruiser in the Mediterranean and conduct exercises simulating a sea battle between two opposing naval task forces," the source said

Minot Bomber Crews Part of Exercise (B52's)

http://www.kfyrtv.com/News_Stories.asp?news=23713

S Korea, U.S. to conduct massive landing exercises

http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90777/90851/6523654.html

South Korea and the United States will hold a massive landing exercise in South Korea in November, the South Korean Marine Corps said Wednesday. According to the South Korean Marine Corps, a total of 8,000 troops and some 70 amphibious assault vehicles will participate into the drills. It will be largest joint landing exercises in South Korea's history.

Anti-terror drill (UK)

http://www.bromleytimes.co.uk/content/bromley/times/news/story.aspx?brand=BMLYTOnline&category=news&tBrand=northlondon24&tCategory=newsbmlyt&itemid=WeED29

A FIVE-DAY anti-terrorism exercise was held at a sports centre to practise procedures for an attack. The multi-agency event, which includes police and fire services is taking place at the Crystal Palace National Sports Centre. It started on Monday and lasts until tomorrow. Parts of the Crystal Palace complex will be cordoned off to rehearse procedures should the capital suffer a terrorist attack. It is being partially funded by the European Commission and will involve participants and observers from a range of EU countries who will be sharing techniques.

Flu vaccine available at citywide drill New Haven Register - Oct 30 12:25 AM
NEW HAVEN — The New Haven Health Department will lead a pandemic flu drill with health clinics citywide Saturday. (Link removed)

Military Investigates Amnesia Beams

http://blog.wired.com/defense/2008/10/air-forces-amne.html

A team of scientists from the United States and China announced last week that, for the first time, they had found a means of selectively and safely erasing memories in mice, using the signaling molecule αCaMKII. It's a big step forward, and one that will be of considerable interest to the military, which has devoted efforts to memory manipulation as a means of treating post-traumatic stress disorder. But some military research has moved in another direction entirely.

Future systems come to Fort Leavenworth (FCS)

http://www.ftleavenworthlamp.com/articles/2008/10/30/news/news1.txt

DARPA contract sets its sights on autonomous, gear carrying robots

http://www.engadget.com/2008/10/29/darpa-contract-sets-its-sights-on-autonomous-gear-carrying-robo/

Intelligence director tells Nashville crowd terrorism still a threat

http://www.wbir.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=67867&provider=rss

He says the biggest concern is that certain groups may gain access to biological weapons

Coast Guard participates in Raytheon test

http://www.upi.com/Security_Industry/2008/10/28/Coast_Guard_participates_in_Raytheon_test/UPI-58621225218701/

* If Americans tolerate this, then we truly don't deserve good Government.

Goldman Sachs ready to hand out £7bn salary and bonus package... after its £6bn bail-out http://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1081624/Goldman-Sachs-ready-hand-7BILLION-salary-bonus-package--6bn-bail-out.html

LMT, Post Election Threataganda Cont., Russia + China

Lockheed Martin and Pictometry Collaborate to Offer Advanced Mapping and Imagery Solutions
Companies to Develop Next-Generation Technologies for 3-D Imagery and Visualization

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/Lockheed-Martin-Pictometry-Collaborate-Offer/story.aspx?guid=%7B3997343A-B0F9-47E0-BF18-0EAEE164E44C%7D

HERNDON, Va., Oct 28, 2008 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Lockheed Martin (LMT:
Lockheed Martin Corporation (Holding Company) and Pictometry International Corp., a leading provider of digital high-resolution aerial imagery for mapping and geographic analysis, have signed a collaboration agreement to provide next-generation geospatial technologies to federal, state and local government customers. The two companies will work together to integrate Pictometry's unique imagery and algorithms with Lockheed Martin's geospatial-intelligence analysis systems, creating powerful solutions for a wide variety of national and local applications.

Pentagon Advisors Warn Of Coming International Crisis
Veteran consultant echoes warnings from Biden, Powell

Pentagon Panel: Biden Was Right, Prep for 'Crisis' The McCain campaign pounced the other day, when Joe Biden said that his running mate would be tested by an international crisis at the start of his White House tenure. But the chairman of a key Pentagon advisory panel is sounding a similar warning, telling the next administration to "prepare for a likely first-270-days crisis."
Veteran Pentagon consultant Michael Bayer, chairman of the Defense Business Board, told his fellow panelists that the new president's inner circle should "set aside time in transition to identify the planning, gravitas and interagency process necessary to respond to a likely first-270-day crisis."
From Kennedy (Bay of Pigs) to Johnson (Gulf of Tonkin) to Bush (9/11)," too many presidents were ill prepared for this," Bayer warns.

http://blog.wired.com/defense/2008/10/pentagon-panel.html

Pentagon on guard for White House wartime transition

http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Pentagon_on_guard_for_White_House_wartime_transition_999.html

The Pentagon has been preparing for months for the first wartime change of presidents in 40 years, a period of heightened vulnerability that, if history is a guide, US adversaries will try to exploit.
"We will all be on heightened alert given that historically our enemies have tried to take advantage of that time around an election, either before of after," Geoff Morrell, the Pentagon press secretary, told AFP.
After the November 4 elections, the baton will be handed to the incoming administration in an awkward transition that typically continues for months after the swearing-in of a new president on January 20.
History overflows with examples of major incidents in the period before and after the elections, as evidenced by a chronology drawn up by the Joint Staff.
Three months after his arrival in the White House, John Kennedy was beset by the Bay of Pigs fiasco, which set in motion a confrontation with Havana that led to the Cuban missile crisis the following year.
The fall of Saigon occurred eight months after Gerald Ford assumed the presidency. Ronald Reagan was shot in an assassination attempt just weeks after he took office.
Only a month after Bill Clinton was sworn in, a bomb struck the World Trade Center in New York, and eight months into George W. Bush's presidency

Dump the Greenback: PM Putin suggests Russia, China ditch dollar in trade deals

http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=10734

Russia, China sign landmark oil pipeline deal

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=081028133121.m43iggtc&show_article=1

Militaries to Spend $44.5 Billion on Persistent Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) Acquisition According to New Research from G2 Solutions

http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20081028005644&newsLang=en

IBM Joins in Pentagon Quest for Fake Cat Brains

http://blog.wired.com/defense/2008/10/ibm-joins-in-pe.html

Health department runs pandemic flu test (GA)

http://news.mywebpal.com/news_tool_v2.cfm?show=localnews&pnpID=722&NewsID=932668&CategoryID=3388&on=1

The department, along with Northwest Georgia health officials, was prepared to give out as many as 2,000 doses of the vaccine during today’s test of its ability to conduct a mass inoculation. .....

Preparedness for influenza pandemic needs to be tested

http://mediaglobal.org/article/2008-10-28/preparedness-for-influenza-pandemic-needs-to-be-tested Government ministers and experts began a three-day conference Friday to look at international preparation for a possible influenza pandemic. According to the latest joint progress report by the United Nations and the World Bank (WB) on pandemic responses, 148 countries gave data about their pandemic preparedness plans, but only 53 per cent of them had tested these strategies in the past year and only a fourth had tested them at all

Twitter Terrorist Tool? Japan Drill, Russia, Expanding GWOT

Full updates later this evening..

Terrorists Could Use Twitter For Mayhem, Army Report Muses
http://www.informationweek.com/news/mobility/messaging/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=211600844"

An intelligence paper outlines technologies that terrorist organizations could use to inflict harm, including cell phone GPS data, voice-changing technology, and Twitter updates.

Terrorism and Twitter go together like Darth Vader and Tribbles -- the former aspiring to instill fear, the latter chirpy and not very threatening.
Yet a draft Army intelligence paper, "Al Qaida-Like Mobile Discussions & Potential Creative Uses," contemplates just that combination. The October 16 paper, posted on the Federation of American Scientists Web site, was written by the Army's 304 Military Intelligence Battalion Open Source Intelligence Team.
It touches briefly on "Pro Terrorist Propaganda Cell Phone Interfaces," using cell phone GPS data to assist terrorist operations, mobile phone surveillance, possible use of voice changing technology by terrorists, "Potential For Terrorist Use of Twitter," and other mobile phone technology and software that bears further consideration.
In one "Red Team" scenario -- the red team being the traditional attacker in attack/defense scenario planning -- the report imagines a terrorist operative using a cell phone with built-in camera or video capability to send Twitter messages to other terrorist operatives in near real-time updates, "similar to the movement updates that were sent by activists at the [Republican National Convention]." The goal would be to provide troop strength intelligence and to coordinate an ambush. An intelligence paper outlines technologies that terrorist organizations could use to inflict harm, including cell phone GPS data, voice-changing technology, and Twitter updates.
(Twitter could also be useful to to fight martial law...so I guess we are the terrorist contingency)

GSDF stages huge defense drill (Japan)
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20081028a5.html

BETSUKAI, Hokkaido (Kyodo) The Ground Self-Defense Force held its biggest homeland defense drill in nearly a quarter of a century Monday in Hokkaido, mobilizing some 3,000 personnel and digging some 2,000 hillside caves and trenches to hide troops, tanks and command posts.

The conventional warfare drill took place in the Yausubetsu Maneuver Area at a time when the Russian military is becoming more active around Japan and elsewhere, and amid China's continued defense buildup.

US crossing more borders in terror war?
The alleged incursions into Syria, and previously into Pakistan, could be risky.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/1028/p02s04-usmi.html


Washington - In the name of protecting its forces in Afghanistan and now Iraq, the United States appears to have begun to step up a bold gamble: conducting raids in countries it believes are not doing enough to fight extremist militants.
But taking such actions in Pakistan and now Syria may involve high diplomatic risks and offer limited military gain, say experts outside the military. "It could be morally justifiable, legally justifiable, and strategically a mistake," says Michael O'Hanlon, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington.
For the past few months, there have been reports of US airstrikes inside Pakistan as violence increased in neighboring Afghanistan. Over the weekend, the US reportedly conducted a strike inside Syria's shared border with Iraq. (cont..)

Russia military offers Cuba air defence aid
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/22/20081027/tpl-uk-russia-cuba-defense-b64c7e7.html
Russia will offer to share its air defence expertise with Cuba when a military delegation visits the Caribbean island this week, Interfax news agency reported on Monday.
"The Russian and Cuban military will exchange experience in organising tactical air defence and in training officers," Interfax quoted Russian Land Forces spokesman Igor Konashenkov as saying.
The two sides will "discuss the prospect of training Cuban servicemen at the tactical air defence academies and training centres in Russia, using upgraded Russian-made military hardware," Interfax quoted him as saying.

Nouriel Roubini: I fear the worst is yet to come
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/economics/article5014463.ece
Excerpt: "What does Roubini think is going to happen next? Rather worryingly, in London last Thursday he predicted that hundreds of hedge funds will go bust and stock markets may soon have to shut – perhaps for as long as a week – in order to stem the panic selling now sweeping the world. "

Attention Readers:
Colors Magazine
http://www.colorsmagazine.com/victims/
"We are doing an upcoming issue on post-9/11 paranoia and I'm searching for people with interesting, funny and/or disturbing stories of anti-terrorism efforts around the world, from people being stopped without cause, to strange anti-terror devices, to uncanny anti-terrorism drills and trainings, to non-governmental groups of interest."

Please send input to nixongreg@msn.com and I'll forward them to the editor.

'Dozens' of potential terrorists in U.S. under watch, Chertoff says
http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/ny-uschertoff1028,0,4206201.story

LI military contractor emerging from black op shadows http://www.newsday.com/business/ny-bzinside5899046oct27,0,1209494.storyTactronics Holdings Llc has been on Long Island since 1992, but as far as the public was concerned, the company might as well not have existed at all.It's not simply that the Bellport-based company was relatively small. It was that Tactronics worked entirely in the world of "black ops," military slang for covert operations.Few were ever invited for a visit. The privately held company never issued news releases or attracted attention to itself."The company has always been low-key and under the radar because of the customer base we serve," said Kevin Wilson, president of Tactronics Operations, the electronics side of the company. (cont...)

Raytheon demos new submarine-launched UAV http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/27/raytheon_sothoc_sub_uav/

America has gone one better than Germany in the race to develop the world's most powerful submarine-launched robot aircraft. US arms giant Raytheon has announced a model which can be deployed at depth without modification to the submarine.The new U-UAV is dubbed SOTHOC, for Submarine Over the Horizon Organic Capabilities. The launch system works by deploying a sealed can through the sub's waste disposal lock. The can then sinks away safely to get clear of the boat. On reaching a preset depth it dumps weight to become positively buoyant and ascends to the surface. Once stable at the surface, it aligns itself into wind and launches a one-shot, disposable UAV...

QinetiQ North America to support FBI http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/stories/2008/10/27/daily11.html

Carteret to offer drive-through flu clinic (NC)http://www.enctoday.com/news/flu_60297_jdn__article.html/clinic_health.html

MOREHEAD CITY - An upcoming flu clinic being offered by the Carteret County Health Department will serve two purposes.The drive-through flu clinic scheduled for Nov. 1 will offer convenience to the public while also serving as a preparedness exercise for public health officials."We are trying a new approach this year by conducting our seasonal flu clinic as a pandemic flu exercise," said Health Department Nursing Director Ann Baugham. "If we were giving out medication during a pandemic flu situation, we would not want large numbers of people gathered together inside a building. So, for our flu clinic this year, everyone will stay in their car, roll up their sleeves and roll down their windows to receive the shot."

Obama Fascism?

This past Friday I was at the University of Vermont for an anti-war rally where I
held a giant sign reading ARREST OBAMA. The visceral vitriol among the students
was omnipresent. That I had criticized Obama, the Messiah, FROM THE LEFT, was an
unpardonable offense. I had info with Obama's pro-war voting record and outlining that
he supports George Bush on the Global War on Terror, but that did not matter. He was
a candidate for "change" - the TV commercials said so. No discussion that's final.

What I came away with that afternoon was a palpable fear of a blind unthinking mass of
Obama supporters. How is this any different than the Bush flagwavers? As Webster Tarpley
has argued, historically Fascism did not emerge from a top down hierarchy, it arose from "the Left"(see link below)

I tried to argue with the students that elections were staged and Obama was a robot assembled in Brzezinski's laboratory to read P.R. scripts. The students could not fathom that the alleged opposition was a wing of the same bird.

This is not some academic exercise. My friend was arrested here in my city after asking questions during a heated exchange to an Obama political table and faces jail time. Could an Obama presidency deliver Fascism here in the United States? When the market collapses and people have no jobs and are hungry, will the mobs be ready to organize? I am just raising questions to be asked during some very strange and scary times. Stay tuned.....

Police fear riots if Obama loses US election
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/police-fear-riots-if-obama-loses-us-election/377537/
Washington, October 24: : Amid rumours that Democratic supporters might indulge in civil disobedience and protests in case their party candidate Barack Obama is defeated in the Nov 4 presidential polls, the Police here fear riots and are preparing to control the same.
“We always try to prepare for the worst,” said Oakland Police Separtment spokesman Jeff Thomason.
“This election is going to mark in history a change in the presidency: you''re going to have a woman in the presidency or an African American as president. I think everybody around here is voting for Obama, so if he gets in the White House everybody''s going to be happy. But, we’ll have our SWAT teams on standby and traffic teams here, so if something goes off we''ll organise and take care of the problem,” the 'Telegraph' quoted him as saying.
http://www.amazon.com/Obama-Postmodern-Making-Manchurian-Candidate/dp/0930852885

Origin of Fascism:
http://books.google.com/books?id=3uPYo0pS9oIC&pg=PA18&lpg=PA18&dq=tarpley+obama+fascism+originates+left&source=web&ots=jGshm5tHAd&sig=eTwxlmcqYUxo8omDQZWWromhXCg&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result#PPA26,M1

Anthrax Psyop watch, China/India War Games, +

Universal Detection Technology Responds to Declaration of Anthrax Emergency
Universal Detection Technology Offers Early Point and Standoff Anthrax Detection

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/universal-detection-technology-responds-declaration/story.aspx?guid=%7BDB55643A-BBCF-4F1D-9382-9C58E98019D9%7D&dist=hppr Universal Detection Technology ( http://www.udetection.com/) (UNDT:
universal detection technolo com new 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, responds to the effectiveness of anthrax emergency in the US until 2015.
Bioterror experts warn that an attack is only going to become easier to launch as the work that has spawned countless new biotech medical treatments continues to advance. "Unfortunately, there's going to be a dark side," says Randall Larsen, Director of the Institute for Homeland Security, a Virginia-based think tank. The biotech revolution, he said, is making it "easier for non-state actors to develop sophisticated bioweapons."
Yesterday at least five branches of Chase Bank in Colorado and Oklahoma received threatening letters, some containing an unidentified white powder. Fire Marshal Kevin Ferry of the Cunningham Fire Protection District near Denver said the powder in one package was found to be harmless, though the substance had yet to be identified. A police department spokesman in nearby Lakewood, Steve Davis, said a white substance found on a parcel there appeared not to be dangerous and resembled talcum powder.
"The biggest bioterrorism threat facing the world is an attack with anthrax spores. Anthrax is the only agent used against the US and the most likely one to be used in potential future attacks due to the simplicity to produce. Casualties caused by and attack with 2 pounds of weapons grade anthrax can be in the hundreds of thousands. The Government is well aware of this threat and the anthrax emergency is an evidence of the need to be vigilant and ready to contain a potential threat before disaster," said Mr. Jacques Tizabi, UNDT's Chief Executive Officer.

First wargames with China in India

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/First_wargames_with_China_in_India/articleshow/3630746.cms

NEW DELHI: Despite the recent chill in bilateral relations with Beijing after it tried to derail New Delhi's case for civil nuclear commerce at the Nuclear Suppliers Group, India is all set to host Chinese soldiers for the first time on its territory after the bitter 1962 war. Defence ministry sources on Wednesday said the first-ever Sino-Indian military combat exercise on Indian soil — with counter-terrorism as its primary thrust area — is likely to be held at Belgaum towards December-end.

VMI to Test Its Pandemic Flu Plan

http://www.vmi.edu/NewsCenter.aspx?id=28723

LEXINGTON, Va., Oct. 23, 2008 – The entire student body of Virginia Military Institute will have the chance to receive a flu vaccination next week as the Institute tests its ability to respond to a flu pandemic. The 1,400 members of the VMI Corps of Cadets will process through the inoculation stations on Oct. 28 and Oct. 29. The exercise is designed to test the VMI Pandemic Flu Plan administrative accountability and control system while working in conjunction with a real world medical process. After processing and signing in, the cadets can opt not to receive a vaccination. The cadets will decide when during the two-day period they check in at the processing station to avoid interfering with their class schedules...

Director of National Intelligence and Senior Intelligence Community Leaders to Speak at 2008 GEOINT Conference in Nashville http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/director-national-intelligence-senior-intelligence/story.aspx?guid=%7B570B96BE-EDE4-4157-89AC-DAC7D59A4718%7D&dist=hppr

The following advisory was issued today by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence:
What:
The United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation (USGIF), will host its fifth annual GEOINT Symposium in Nashville, Tennessee.
Mr. Mike McConnell, Director of National Intelligence (DNI), will be one of the conferences keynote speakers on Thursday, October 30, 2008 at 11:45 am CDT. (cont..)

SAIC to support Army’s biometrics toolset

http://www.washingtontechnology.com/online/1_1/33779-1.html

Science Applications International Corp. will provide engineering support to help the Army maintain and enhance a biometrics toolset under a $37 million contract (cont..)

Pentagon Wants Packs Of Robots To Detect “Non-cooperative Humans”

http://blacklistednews.com/?news_id=1997

DHS, Big 3 Autos Going Down? Pandemic, Anthrax Psyop Watch

Homeland Security lab like biodefense battleship

http://www.examiner.com/a-1650641~Homeland_Security_lab_like_biodefense_battleship.html

FREDERICK, Md. (Map, News) - The Department of Homeland Security's new laboratory building in Frederick resembles a battleship being readied for war against biological weapons.
With its curved glass exterior, 10-inch-thick walls and high-security labs, the National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center gives the government a state-of-the art tool for predicting biological attacks and identifying perpetrators of what the FBI calls "bio-crimes."
Agency officials dedicated the $128 million building Wednesday at Fort Detrick, where it is part of a biodefense campus that will also include new labs run by the Army and the National Institutes of Health.

Pakistan asks for emergency IMF funds to stave off bankruptcy
http://www.debka.com/headline.php?hid=5667
Hit by the global financial crisis, Pakistan is the second country after Iceland to ask the International Monetary Fund for help against its looming balance of payments crisis. With a population of 170 million, Pakistan is also the biggest nation and the first Muslim country to turn to the IMF, troubled equally by near bankruptcy and an encroaching al Qaeda-backed Taliban insurgency.
The IMF directors in Washington are expected to approve a $4-5 bn a first aid rescue package against outflow of cash as investors clean out their accounts in Pakistani banks. The level of cash reserves barely covers one month’s imports, inflation hovers at a 30-year high and the value of the rupee is in freefall, making food and other staples unaffordable. The new president Ali Asif Zardari is trying to raise at least $10 bn from western bankers to stave off bankruptcy within weeks from a group called Friends of Pakistan.

Kerkorian, Cerberus Retreat Spotlights Auto Collapse
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=aZFCyoZrxPh4&refer=home

Oct. 22 (Bloomberg) -- The retreat of billionaire Kirk Kerkorian and Cerberus Capital Management LP from stakes in Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC may leave the U.S. auto industry without new funding just as sales head to a 26-year low.
Kerkorian's Tracinda Corp. said yesterday it may sell its stake in Ford and investor Stephen Feinberg's Cerberus is seeking to merge Chrysler with General Motors Corp. or another automaker. The industry's recession started by $4-a-gallon gasoline and extended by the credit crunch following the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. has battered investments in the U.S. car companies.
``I don't know where else they can turn right now, that's the problem,'' said Thomas Stallkamp, a former Chrysler Corp. president who is currently a partner at buyout firm Ripplewood Holdings LLC. ``There is nowhere to turn until the credit market opens up, and even then the market will be nervous about automakers until the outlook for 2009 is clearer.

Under Water Mortgage Growing Threat To U.S.

http://www.roguegovernment.com/news.php?id=12478

The Financial Meltdown: This Time Is Different

http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=10647

U.S. Military Leader Stresses NATO Defense for Baltics
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/23/world/europe/23mullen.html?ref=world
VILNIUS, Lithuania — The United States and NATO are updating plans for defending allies neighboring Russia and will consider increasing the number of military exercises with the Baltic states, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said here Wednesday on the second and final day of a visit to the region.

Drive-thru flu shots will serve as training exercise (AL)
http://www.therandolphleader.com/articles/2008/10/22/news/168-drive%20thru%20shots.txt
The first drive-through flu shots in Randolph County will be given Thursday, Oct. 30, at the Randolph County Health Department on Main Street, but it is about far more than just preventing the flu.Kathy Green, clinic nurse supervisor with the Health Department, said the county is joining the entire Area 6 in this practice run for a pandemic flu event. The worst pandemic flu event in 1918 and 1919 killed more than 50 million people worldwide.The Health Department, along with the Roanoke Police Department and Randolph County Emergency Management Agency, will run this operation like a real crisis event. During the event all county residents can get a flu shot for $10 without leaving their vehicles."We're going to have a one driveway entrance and an exit in the other road," Green said. Police will assist with routing traffic into the entrance driveway nearest Jon Boy's Restaurant and then helping them exit the drive nearest Alabama Power, she said

CACI Awarded $406 Million in Previously Unannounced Contracts to Support National Security and Intelligence http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/caci-awarded-406-million-in,589863.shtml

New National Alert System Is Set Back

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122463147196556501.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

UN: World ready for flu pandemic

http://www.news24.com/News24/Technology/News/0,,2-13-1443_2413705,00.html

New York - The world is well prepared to beat back any major influenza pandemic with 148 countries having made contingency plans to deal with the disease, the United Nations and the World Bank said on Tuesday.

South Park: Preview of "Pandemic"

http://www.buddytv.com/articles/south-park/south-park-preview-of-pandemic-23820.aspx

On tonight's episode of South Park called “Pandemic,” the boys decide to be entrepreneurs and take advantage of the misfortune of others. (like Donald Rumsfeld and Tamiflu?)

Pandemic Flu Exercise Event, flu vaccine clinic to be combined

http://www.hannibal.net/news_local/x270975017/Pandemic-Flu-Exercise-Event-flu-vaccine-clinic-to-be-combined The pandemic flu event is scheduled each year to evaluate the readiness of the health department and the Marion County Emergency Management team to provide mass immunizations in the county in case of an actual epidemic. In a real situation, the health department would be responsible for immunizing the 28,000 people living in Marion County within 72 hours.

Roche posts sustained double-digit sales growth for the first nine months of 2008
Basel. Group sales up 10% in local currencies to 33.2 billion Swiss francs, excluding Tamiflu pandemic sales Including Tamiflu pandemic sales, Group sales total 33.3 billion francs, an increase of 6% in local currencies and 13% in US dollars, and a decline of 2% in Swiss francs Roche confirms full-year outlook Roche reaffirms commitment to Genentech offer Pharmaceuticals Division

http://swiss-press.com/newsflashartikel.cfm?art=News&key=372304&parm=detail

Police investigate white powder at New York Times (psyop watch)

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D93VM7DO1&show_article=1

7 Valley banks receive letters with white powder

http://www.azcentral.com/community/gilbert/articles/2008/10/22/20081022abrk-whitepowder1022-ON.html

Pandemic, America's Final Solution?

Albright, Biden and Powell have all chimed in
about a generated crisis to test manchurian puppet Obama when he gets selected to read
scripts for the elites. This threataganda seems
to be timed to coincide with the collapse of the US financial system when Obama takes office. It seems that a man made pandemic(read U.S. Military strain of a weaponized virus) will be unleashed. This would be the best way to manage the masses during a severe downturn - We can't have people gettting together during a depression now can we. When your neighbors get sick, you are going to tell them to get the fuck away from you, perfect way to keep people isolated and afraid, and most importantly, ready for whatever solution these sick fucks have schemed to cull and manage the herds. Please take time to read the 1st link below.

G.N.

So What Were Top Military Commanders From The US and Europe Doing at the Trudeau Institute?
Last Weekend the top military brass from the US and Europe met together in Saranac Lake NY.http://www.adirondackdailyenterprise.com/page/content.detail/id/503035.html

- Trudeau Institute and U.S. Navy receive order to continue Pandemic Influenza vaccine development project http://trudeauinstitute.org/dynamicPages/pressReleases.cfm?action=view&listingID=118&ID=100&navTable=tier2nav

Experts predict next epidemic will start in animals http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2008-10-21-next-epidemic_N.htm

World Health Organization doctor Heinz Feldmann, right, talks to reporters, left, about SARS in Hong Kong in 2003. One doctor tells USA TODAY that he fears severe acute respiratory syndrome may be a rehearsal for something worse.
Bonnie Henry calls it the most surreal episode of her life. A deadly microbe from China infected a hotel guest in Hong Kong, hitchhiked on a jumbo jet to Toronto and turned a local hospital from a sanctuary for the sick into the incubator of an epidemic.
For Henry, the doctor in charge of Toronto's operational response to SARS, the scenario was science fiction come to life. On a bleak day in March 2003, she ordered the hospital, Scarborough Grace, to close to new patients. She helped reopen a shuttered tuberculosis hospital and ordered 13 ailing health workers to check in.

Emergency drills planned for pandemic influenza, radiation release
http://www.pantagraph.com/articles/2008/10/21/news/doc48fe2e1a7e097763655871.txt
BLOOMINGTON -- Public health, hospital, law enforcement and emergency management agencies will practice responding to pandemic influenza Wednesday and to the release of radiation at the Clinton nuclear power plant on Thursday. Construction of fire station near CIRA to begin this fall"These drills allow us to review the plans we have in place and to identify areas where we need work," said Bree Davis of the McLean County Health Department. "It’s important for all agencies to communicate because we would need a joint response if an event really were to happen in McLean County."



Lloyds publishes report on pandemic impacts
http://continuitycentral.com/news04226.html
The Emerging Risks Team at Lloyd’s has issued a new report on the threat posed by a global pandemic.
Its report ‘Pandemic - Potential Insurance Impacts’ focuses on the threat to the global business community and, in particular, the insurance markets of a global pandemic.
Trevor Maynard, manager, Emerging Risks, at Lloyd’s and the report’s author says: “The significant message is that society should not optimise to one particular scenario as a worst case. Much has been said of the 1918 Spanish Flu epidemic, which is said to have killed up to 100 million people worldwide. While Avian Flu is seen as the most likely next pandemic, we have to ensure we are prepared for other types of pandemics that may require different responses and pose different challenges — some of which may well have higher rates of mortality than flu.”



Global Viral Forecasting Initiative receives $11M to implement pandemic early warning system
Google.org and the Skoll Foundation Partner with GVFI to prevent the next HIV
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/g-gvf102008.php

Chertoff Says Change in Presidency Fuels Terror `Vulnerability' (threataganda)
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=auIWPps4p6cg&refer=home

DARPA Awards Northrop Grumman Contract To Develop New Laser Technology For High-Efficiency Fiber Amplifiers http://www.fiberopticsonline.com/article.mvc/DARPA-Awards-Northrop-Grumman-Contract-To-0001?VNETCOOKIE=NO

Geo Eye Images, EMP Attack, Drill Updates

GeoEye's New Satellite Offers Unprecedentedly Sharp Images

http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?i=3778072&c=FEA&s=TEC

It's getting harder and harder to hide.
The sharpest commercial imaging satellite ever launched is now orbiting the Earth, sweeping over the North Pole and under the South Pole every 98 minutes, collecting high-resolution images of the scene below.
From 423 miles up, the GeoEye-1 satellite can spot objects as small as 16 inches across. Home plate is visible on a baseball diamond. Obviously, then, so are trucks, troops, aircraft on runways, ships at sea and other items of particular interest to the U.S. military. (cont...)

Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Attack: A Preventable Homeland Security Catastrophe http://www.heritage.org/Research/HomelandSecurity/bg2199.cfm

A major threat to America has been largely ignored by those who could prevent it. An electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attack could wreak havoc on the nation's electronic systems—shutting down power grids, sources, and supply mechanisms. An EMP attack on the United States could irreparably cripple the coun­try. It could simultaneously inflict large-scale damage and critically limit our recovery abilities. Congress and the new Administration must recognize the signifi­cance of the EMP threat and take the necessary steps to protect against it. (cont..)

Russian alliance to hold combat drills
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2008/10/20/Russian_alliance_to_hold_combat_drills/UPI-84291224535929/
MOSCOW, Oct. 20 (UPI) -- Russian military officials say an alliance of former Soviet states will combine combat aircraft for joint defense exercises.
"The exercise will involve over 50 fighters, bombers and helicopters. A particular feature of the exercise is the deployment of Russia's A-50 Mainstay AWACS aircraft," Lt. Col. Vladimir Drik said Monday.
Thursday's exercises are to be a joint effort by members of the Commonwealth of Independent States, a loose alliance comprising Russia, Moldova, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Armenia, RIA Novosti reported

Mass Drive-Through Vaccination Drill includes Free Flu Shots (VA)
http://www.nbc29.com/Global/story.asp?S=9205904&nav=menu496_2_5
Health department offers free flu shots while practicing for bio-terrorism and outbreaks
The Rappahannock-Rapidan Health District is asking residents of Culpeper, Fauquier, Madison, Orange and Rappahannock counties to roll down their car windows and roll up their sleeves for an emergency preparedness drill that will test the efficiency of mass drive-through vaccinations. Participants will receive a free flu shot.

Disaster Drill To Be Held At Nashua Mall (NH)
Weekend Exercise Designed To Test Disaster Readiness
http://www.wmur.com/news/17763022/detail.html
NASHUA, N.H. -- A major disaster drill will be held at the Pheasant Lane Mall in Nashua on Sunday.
City officials said the drill will test the readiness of police, fire and other emergency agencies in a simulated catastrophe along the state line.

Flu drill deemed a success (PA)
http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/111-10192008-1607697.html
More than 4,500 people received free flu shots Saturday at Bucks County's third annual Pandemic Flu Drill.

Boeing opens experimentation center in Virginia
http://mae.pennnet.com/display_article/343065/32/NEWS/none/none/1/Boeing-opens-experimentation-center-in-Virginia/
Boeing Integrated Defense Systems opened a new experimentation center today in Suffolk, Va., to bring its modeling, simulation, analysis, and experimentation capability to government customers in the high-tech Hampton Roads area.


National Retail Federation prepares retailers for emergencies
http://www.bizjournals.com/austin/stories/2008/10/20/daily9.html
The National Retail Federation wants to help retailers prepare for the worst.
The Washington D.C.-based trade group’s loss prevention team has partnered with the International Council of Shopping Centers and the Department of Homeland Security to create emergency response protocols for retailers to react, respond and recover from incidents of in-store violence. (like when the economy collapses and people start rioting?)


Pandemic response tested
http://online.indianagazette.com/articles/2008/10/20/news/indiana_county/10004316.txt
Emergency officials tested the county's Points of Dispensing System, or PODS, for mass distribution of medications in emergency conditions, by giving out free flu shots on Sunday.Danny Sacco, director of safety and security at Indiana Regional Medical Center, said more than 1,300 flu shots were given in a two and a half-hour time period.The shots, offered by the Indiana County Community Emergency/Disaster Planning Committee's Health and Human Services Subcommittee, were distributed at three PODS manned by about 175 volunteers. The county has nine POD sites, each with its own manager and personnel, that can be used in the event of a pandemic or biological attack...

(BidenThreataganda)
Biden to Supporters: "Gird Your Loins", For the Next President "It's Like Cleaning Augean Stables"http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2008/10/biden-to-suppor.html
ABC News' Matthew Jaffe Reports: Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., on Sunday guaranteed that if elected, Sen. Barack Obama., D-Ill., will be tested by an international crisis within his first six months in power and he will need supporters to stand by him as he makes tough, and possibly unpopular, decisions."Mark my words," the Democratic vice presidential nominee warned at the second of his two Seattle fundraisers Sunday. "It will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama like they did John Kennedy. The world is looking. We're about to elect a brilliant 47-year-old senator president of the United States of America. Remember I said it standing here if you don't remember anything else I said. Watch, we're gonna have an international crisis, a generated crisis, to test the mettle of this guy."

State urges Vermonters to prepare for pandemic
http://www.boston.com/news/local/vermont/articles/2008/10/20/state_urges_vermonters_to_prepare_for_pandemic/?p1=Well_MostPop_Emailed1
Preparing for economic collapse:
100 Items to Disappear First http://www.thepowerhour.com/news/items_disappearfirst.htm
What If US Collapses? Soviet Collapse Lessons Every American Needs To Know link to madconomist.com

China/US Space Race/War?, Agroterrorism + News

China's Space Capability Could Surpass United States, Panel Warns
http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/081016-sn-china-surpass.html

WASHINGTON — The Shenzhou 7 mission and spacewalk should serve as a reminder that China is building space capabilities that could surpass U.S. technological advances and boost China's diplomatic and economic ties with its allies, a panel of experts said here Oct. 8.
China's success this decade with three human spaceflight missions, including Shenzhou 7 in September, as well as the development of remote-sensing and satellite navigation systems, two satellite export deals and the January 2007 use of an antisatellite weapon to shoot down one of its own satellites punctuate China's broader national interest to become a "comprehensive power," the panelists said. (cont...)

Kazakhstan, Russia to hold joint missile defense drills
http://en.rian.ru/world/20081016/117774792.html

ASTANA, October 16 (RIA Novosti) - Kazakhstan and Russia will soon conduct joint missile defense exercises involving elements of Russia's Space Forces, a senior Kazakh military official said on Thursday.
"In the near future we are planning to hold large-scale Kazakh-Russian exercises, dubbed Shield-2008, in western Kazakhstan," the commander of the Republican Guard, Lt. Gen. Abai Tasbulatov, told an international security conference in the Kazakh capital.
He said the exercises will focus on joint defense against air and ballistic missile strikes, and will involve in addition to air defense units elements of Russia's Space Forces.
The two countries, both members of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), are set to conduct a number of joint military drills next year, including a naval anti-terrorism exercises in the Caspian Sea.
Russia has recently been strengthening military ties with Eurasian allies amid growing tensions over NATO expansion and U.S. missile shield plans for Central Europe.



Terrorism drill takes aim at foreign animal diseases
http://www.philly.com/dailynews/local/20081016_Terrorism_drill_takes_aim_at_foreign_animal_diseases.html
Terrorism came to Philadelphia and Chester County yesterday.
Or at least authorities acted like it had.
In an exercise that was more than a year in planning, the FBI and other law-enforcement agencies said, they conducted an "agroterrorism" test to see how the region might react to introduction of a "foreign animal disease" in livestock.
The test was deemed a success.
"The whole objective is to learn how to minimize the impact of a potential or actual outbreak," said Jerri Williams, an FBI spokeswoman. "So, it was pretty successful."
The daylong test was conducted by the FBI's Philadelphia division, in conjunction with the U.S. Attorney's Office and the Southeastern Pennsylvania Regional Task Force.
It took place at three locations: the University of Pennsylvania's School of Veterinary Medicine at the New Bolton Center, Kennett Square, Chester County; the USS Shreveport, at the Philadelphia Naval Business Center; and the Chester County Department of Energy Services, West Chester.
Among other things, FBI agents role-played with farmers about the source of an imaginary outbreak, Williams said.
Agroterrorism refers to attacks that can expose livestock to afflictions found overseas, including foot-and-mouth (also called hoof-and-mouth) and mad-cow diseases, potentially crippling the U.S. agriculture industry.
See: U.S. limits bird flu vaccine, fearing bioterror http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/10/12/MNOQ13FH9E.DTL



CAPSHIELD to affect some on-base activity
http://www.capflyer.com/stories/101608/andrews_20081016008.shtml
‘‘CAPSHIELD is an incident response exercise to execute base command and control capabilities,” said Master Sgt. Bobby V. Harris, superintendent of Plans and Exercises, 316 Wing. ‘‘It evaluates responses to a multi-attack event in the National Capital Region; demonstrates capability to maintain Department of Defense support to civil authorities; ensures all of Andrews demonstrates effective communications and response cohesion between interagency responders while discovering vulnerabilities and counter measures.”



USFK holds mass anti-terror exercise
http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=58213
CAMP RED CLOUD, South Korea — Reports of suicide bombers, mass casualties and general mayhem kept some of the key players in a five-base anti-terror exercise awake around the clock this week.



Indo-US naval exercises to begin in Arabian Sea on Saturday
http://www.app.com.pk/en_/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=55978&Itemid=2



US Air Force outlines combat raygun safety
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/16/us_airforce_death_ray_safety_guidelines/


Homeland Security Programs Grow at U.S. Institutions
http://www.aacrao.org/transcript/index.cfm?fuseaction=show_view&doc_id=4053

Defense Stocks Can Benefit Even Under Obama
http://online.barrons.com/article/SB122410737946137993.html?mod=googlenews_barrons
"Homeland security and securing global nuclear weapons are also top priorities for Republicans and Democrats alike."

U.S. Collapse, Space Defense, FCS, Games Roundup

What To Expect When Martial Law Is Declared

http://www.nolanchart.com/article5188.html

Coming Soon To A Neighborhood Near You After The World-Wide Economic Collapse

FBI warns of sweeping global threat to U.S. cybersecurity
http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20081015_7578.php
The FBI's newly appointed chief of cybersecurity warned today that "a couple dozen" countries are eager to hack U.S. government, corporate and military networks. While he refused to provide country-specific details, FBI Cyber Division Chief Shawn Henry told reporters at a roundtable cooperation with foreign law enforcement is one of the bureau's highest priorities and added the United States has had incredible success fostering overseas partnerships.

Space-based defense
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/oct/16/inside-the-ring/
Congress voted recently to approve $5 million for a study of space-based missile defenses, the first time the development of space weapons will be considered since similar work was canceled in the 1990s.
Appropriation of the money for the study was tucked away in a little-noticed provision of the Continuing Resolution passed recently by Congress and followed two years in which Congress rejected $10 million sought for the study. < Sen. Jon Kyl, Arizona Republican and a key supporter of missile defenses, said approval of the study highlights the need to provide comprehensive protection from the growing threat of missile attack and to limit the vulnerability of vital satellites to attack.
"We have the potential to expand our space-based capabilities from mere space situational awareness to space protection," Mr. Kyl said in a Senate floor speech.

Curbing Social Protest in America: Microwave "Non-lethal" Weapons to be used for "Crowd Control" (update)
Just in Time for the Capitalist Meltdown: Army, Justice Department to Field 'Pain Ray'.
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=10564

New 2-star general leads future combat army unit
http://www.elpasotimes.com/ci_10722236?source=most_emailed
Lt. Gen. Michael A. Vane, left, presided over a promotion...

FORT BLISS -- The man responsible for putting the Army's high-tech equipment -- even before it's ready for mass production -- into the hands of combat soldiers in hot spots around the world received his second star during a ceremony Tuesday morning at Fort Bliss.
Brig. Gen. James Terry, commander of the Future Force Integration Directorate, was promoted to major general under gray skies that threatened rain. The directorate is responsible for testing and distributing the Army's Future Combat Systems equipment, which includes unmanned aerial and ground vehicles and remote sensors.
"He (Terry) truly understands the operational environment our soldiers are fighting in," said Lt. Gen. Michael Vane, director of the Army Capabilities Integration Center, who presented Terry with his star. "His experience and insights ... will be critical as our nation navigates through this time of persistent conflict."
Vane cited Terry's service, including tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. And he spoke of the current style of conflict in which friend often is indistinguishable from foe...

SAIC to develop explosives sensor for DARPA
http://www.washingtontechnology.com/online/1_1/33724-1.html
Science Applications International Corp. will develop a sensor to help troops in the battlefield detect explosives and chemical or biological weapons under a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency contract potentially worth $18 million.
The award from the agency’s Defense Sciences Office calls for SAIC to design and develop a sensor inspired by a canine’s olfactory system, or sense of smell.
SAIC will model, design and develop the sensor, which will include subsystems for air and odor intake, detection using olfactory receptors, signal transduction, and pattern recognition to identify odors. The sensor could help protect U.S. forces in war zones by detecting explosives and chemical or biological weapons.

Bogus Anthrax 'State of Emergency' Protects Drugmakers, Not Public
http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/10/bogus-anthrax-s.html

Congress bars DHS from implementing biometric screening program
http://www.smartbrief.com/news/valor/storyDetails.jsp?issueid=20C30A92-22A9-49DE-BF61-BDB6CC96FEEA&copyid=234A9411-3B8A-4D44-BA4B-99D87A75408C

War Games Roundup:

Iran to flex muscle in aerial drill
http://www.tehrantimes.com/Index_view.asp?code=180159
Iran's Air Force is set to test the country's state-of-the-art military equipment and flight tactics in a large-scale aerial maneuver.

Large-scale Iranian Air force exercise simulates attack on Israel
http://www.debka.com/headline.php?hid=5651

Belarus starts major military drill with Russia
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-10/15/content_10199674.htm

U.S. To Conduct Joint War Games With Philippines
http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7012645898

Boeing ATL, Defense Cuts? Pandemic Prep....

Boeing awarded contract to continue testing advanced tactical laser

http://www.privatejetdaily.com/index.php/20081014209/Latest/Boeing-awarded-contract-to-continue-testing-advanced-tactical-laser.html

The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA] has been awarded a U.S. Air Force contract valued at up to $30 million to continue testing the Advanced Tactical Laser (ATL).The Extended User Evaluation (EUE) contract from the Air Force's Air Armament Center calls for Boeing to operate and maintain the ATL system, enabling the Air Force and other potential users to assess ATL's capabilities.ATL, a C-130H aircraft equipped with a high-energy chemical laser and a beam control system, will undergo a series of ground and flight tests during the EUE. The new contract, awarded Sept. 30, is a follow-on to the Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration (ACTD) contract under which Boeing developed and integrated the ATL system.

Defense Industry Faces Downturn

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,437484,00.html

WASHINGTON — There are few industries whose fortunes are so closely tied to government as defense contractors, companies that now provide the military with everything from fighter jets to janitors. And for the past eight years, business has been very good.
But with that government customer now ailing, the boom times are likely to end.
Long-term problems loom for the defense industry — growing Pentagon costs for items other than weapons, calls for defense contracting reform by both men vying for the White House, and uncertainty over how massive government expenditures to prop up the economy will affect defense spending, by far the largest discretionary portion of the federal budget. With the Treasury pouring billions of dollars into rescue plans, there is suspicion that Washington's appetite for expensive defense programs will diminish.
"No one really yet knows when or to what extent defense spending could be affected, but it's unrealistic to think there won't be some measure of impact," Boeing Co. Chief Executive W. James McNerney wrote in an Oct. 2 e-mail to company employees in which he warned the plans could "crowd out" defense funding.
Major military contractors are scheduled to report their quarterly earnings next week, and with defense spending still robust, there are few forecasts of an immediate downturn for the industry that has enjoyed record profits in recent years. But analysts say leaner times are ahead. (cont..)

Funding, transparency issues hobble HHS’ pandemic flu preparations

http://federaltimes.com/index.php?S=3770134

If a pandemic flu outbreak occurs, the government plans to deliver vaccines to about 20 million people deemed critical. Those first recipients will include health care workers, law enforcement, key government officials, emergency responders and power-grid electrical workers.
The idea is to keep society running until a more effective vaccine, tailored to the specific pandemic-causing strain, is produced and distributed on a large scale. And that could take 20 to 23 weeks.
But a key glitch in that plan — which would be carried out by the Health and Human Services Department — is that the government has yet to notify the public of exactly who will receive those initial vaccines and medicines when and if that time arrives, experts said.
Marcia Crosse, the Government Accountability Office’s director of health care, said that’s a problem because the public needs to understand well ahead of time how the limited number of initial vaccines will be distributed, and why, in order to prevent chaos.

Pentagon Considering Portable ‘Pain Ray’ Guns

http://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/pain_ray_gun/2008/10/14/140279.html

The Department of Defense is negotiating with Raytheon to purchase a more portable version of the contractor’s non-lethal “pain ray” weapons.
The devices, which are part of Raytheon’s Active Denial System, use high-frequency radio beams that make human targets feel like they are catching on fire.
Congress has already approved $25 million to purchase five Raytheon Silent Guardian pain ray devices for “non-lethal defense” against hostile crowds, Shawn Miller, the Raytheon manager overseeing the project, tells Newsmax. The devices weigh about 10,000 pounds and are mounted on ruggedized versions of civilian pickup trucks.
Contrary to published reports that claim the Army will deploy the new weapon, which branch of service to get it first and where it will be deployed has yet to be determined, Miller says.
“It is not necessarily a U.S. Army program. There is a $25 million contract, but it doesn’t specify the system is going to the Army,” Miller says.
In addition to the DOD, the Department of Homeland Security, various police agencies and unnamed “international customers” have displayed interest in acquiring the system, Miller says.

See also: Pain Ray Test Subjects Exposed to 'Unconscionable Risks'

http://blog.wired.com/defense/2008/10/pain-ray-accide.html

UTC scraps effort to buy Diebold ( reminder ES&S Lockheed PMCs run elections)

http://www.washingtontechnology.com/online/1_1/33718-1.html

L-1 to assist Corps of Engineers, NGA

http://www.washingtontechnology.com/online/1_1/33716-1.html

DOD Budget, Russia Missiles, Hyperinflation + News

The $8,000 in Government Spending That You Missed
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/8000-government-spending-you-missed/story.aspx?guid=%7B1ABA8276-23AC-493C-8855-C0B2769E1642%7D&dist=hppr

WASHINGTON, Oct 13, 2008 /PRNewswire-USNewswire via COMTEX/ -- This is the WashingtonWatch.com federal legislative update for the week of October 13, 2008.
While you were watching the financial service bailout, Congress spent $8,000 per U.S. family with almost no consideration and no comment in the press. The WashingtonWatch.com blog has the details.
http://tinyurl.com/538e8v
Congress has adjourned until January, but leaders may call the membership back to take care of unfinished business later this year.
The recent spending bill that passed Congress spent money on the Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security, military construction, and the Department of Veterans Affairs for the full 2009 fiscal year.
It also funded domestic, non-defense government programs for part of the 2009 fiscal year, and it contained "emergency supplemental" spending on relief and recovery from hurricanes, floods, and other natural disasters.

Russia test-fires missiles in large-scale drill
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-10/12/content_10184292.htm
Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev (L), Commander of Russia's Strategic Missile Forces Col.-Gen. Nikolai Solovtsov (C) and Defence Minister Anatoli Serdyukov visit cosmodrome Plesetsk, which is nestled among the taiga forests of Russia's north


President Dmitry Medvedev watched the launching of the RS-12M Topol intercontinental ballistic missile from the Plesetsk test ground, which hit a set target in Kamchatka of Russia's Far East.

Kemp: “The United States is now, in some very general sense, bankrupt”

http://ftalphaville.ft.com/blog/2008/10/12/16931/kemp-the-united-states-is-now-in-some-very-general-sense-bankrupt/
Why the world's new rules will punish us all
http://www.moneyweek.com/news-and-charts/economics/why-the-worlds-new-rules-will-punish-everyone-13808.aspx

"After the panic subsides, the Fed will rein in much of this new money. Right now, banks are 'stuffing it under the mattress,' so to speak. Banks and individuals are crowding into the perceived safety of Treasury bonds. That's why consumer prices aren't immediately rising; private market credit is contracting as fast as the Fed's balance sheet is expanding. The Fed will always lend when no one else is willing to do so. "The US government has a technology, called a printing press (or, today, its electronic equivalent), that allows it to produce as many US dollars as it wishes at essentially no cost," said Fed Chairman Bernanke in November 2002. This means that there will always be paper money available to lend. However, the US dollar is getting debased on an unprecedented scale.
The printing press may be the only way to prevent a self-sustaining credit panic, but it doesn't come without a price; it lowers the US dollar's stature even further in the eyes of our foreign creditors.
I'm betting that government inflation will defeat private market deflation. However, when the dust settles, I expect the Treasury and Fed to have its own set of negotiations with foreign creditors. The obligations they are assuming and monetising are simply too enormous without inciting a potential panic among our generous foreign creditors. Maybe we'll see a Bretton Woods-type agreement in 2009 - one where the US dollar is devalued by 50% against certain foreign currencies overnight."

Will Bailouts Risk Hyperinflation?
http://www.cnbc.com/id/27159117
Government bailouts of the financial system will destroy the dollar, euro and sterling because of hyperinflation, Martin Hennecke, senior manager of private clients at Tyche told CNBC. But Todd Everts, president & CEO of Wall Street Global, disagreed.
See also:
Hyperinflation in Zimbabwe a Lesson in Economics

'Mercury 08'

Qld hosts counter-terrorism exercise (AU)
http://news.theage.com.au/national/qld-hosts-counterterrorism-exercise-20081014-507q.html
Queensland and West Australian emergency services officers are testing their skills in Australia's largest ever counter-terrorism exercise.
The states are taking part in the four-day training exercise, Mercury 08, with officers responding to a simulated emergency at Whyte Island, in the Port of Brisbane.

DARPA seeks technology for seeing inside buildings
http://www.fcw.com/online/news/154056-1.html
A new Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency project hopes to give warfighters the ability to see inside buildings in urban environments.The DARPA pre-solicitation aims to develop a suite of sensing technologies for looking deep inside a building from above- and below-ground. The technologies should be suitable for a broad range of building types

U.S. limits bird flu vaccine, fearing bioterror http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/10/12/MNOQ13FH9E.DTL

When Indonesia's health minister stopped sending bird flu viruses to a research laboratory in the United States for fear Washington could use them to make biological weapons, Defense Secretary Robert Gates laughed and called it "the nuttiest thing" he'd ever heard

Terror attack drill at US embassyhttp://www.gulf-daily-news.com/Story.asp?Article=231700&Sn=BNEW&IssueID=31208

Starting in '09, a license that doubles as a passport
http://www.freep.com/article/20081013/NEWS06/81013053
New ID to ease travel to Mexico, Canada, Caribbean


Nev. communities train for disaster with flu shots
http://www.krnv.com/Global/story.asp?S=9172226&nav=8faO

Army Orders Pain Ray Trucks; New Report Shows 'Potential for Death'
For $25 Million, Army Buys System That Drives Off Rioters With Microwave-Like Beam
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=6007823&page=1