Sunday, December 28, 2008

Daily Dose of Terror Archive Status

* DDOT will remain up for archives. I find terrorism passe and articles such posted below at Prison Planet (something I would post here) unhelpful to the public. What are readers supposed to do with fear? What activist projects does this lead to?
Northcom Combat Team Conducts “Humanitarian Support” Exercise in Maryland http://www.prisonplanet.com/northcom-combat-team-conducts-%e2%80%9chumanitarian-support%e2%80%9d-exercise-in-maryland.html

I encourage all to organize your communities, meet with people in person. The information we put out on the internet to counter State propaganda is important, but I want to be able to offer solutions and survive the collapse of the U.S., publishing this blog does not augment this goal.

Good luck to all and please check back to see if i change my mind.....

Greg Nixon


Sunday, December 21, 2008

Homeland Security Arming Flights, Cyber War Games +

U.S. Homeland Security seeks to arm commercial airliners with anti-missile lasers
http://www.sciam.com/blog/60-second-science/post.cfm?id=us-homeland-security-seeks-to-arm-c-2008-12-19
The persistent concern of when and where terrorists will strike next—heightened by the Mumbai attacks—has led to a number of tech innovations over the past several years, including full-body airport security scanners and adhesives designed to keep buildings from blowing to pieces if bombed. One of the most intriguing of these inventions is a laser system developed to keep terrorist-fired infrared, "heat-seeking" missiles from striking unsuspecting aircraft (both military and civilian).The Jeteye infrared beam, developed by London-based BAE Systems, blinds a heat-seeking missile's navigation capabilities, giving an airliner a better chance of getting away unscathed. (Although that doesn't solve the problem that the missile could do damage wherever it lands.) Jeteye senses the incoming missile's "infrared tracking signal (with which the missile paints its target) and pulses a super-intense beam of light into the missile's reticle, or eye, scrambling its brains," Conde Nast Traveler reported this week on its Web site.


Cyber War Games Confirm Flaws in US Security
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/cyber_war_games_confirm_flaws.php

After participating in a two day cyber war simulation last week, government and industry officials said that the United States is ill-equipped to cope with a major attack against computer networks Reuters reports.
The cyber war game brought together 230 representatives of government agencies, private companies and other groups, and revealed failings in leadership, planning, and communications.
Mark Gerencser, vice president of Booz Allen Hamilton, the consulting service which ran the simulation said: "There isn't a response or a game plan; there isn't really anybody in charge."
The threats are serious. Earlier this year, federal prosecutors charged 11 people with stealing more than 41 million credit and debit card numbers, cracking what appeared to be the largest hacking and identity theft network ever exposed.
Chairman of the Homeland Security Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, US Representative James Langevin said that a successful attack could lead to failure of banking or national electrical systems.
"We're way behind where we need to be now," said Langevin. "This is equivalent in my mind to before September 11 ... we were awakened to the threat on the morning after September 11."



Taiwan scales down military exercises amid thaw with China
http://in.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idINIndia-37104820081219



Russia to cut arms if US drops missile defense
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5i0xBv8YQwWSZqAQgjd42RCvU1uEAD955NI200

Darpa: Unleash the Stem Cells of War!
http://blog.wired.com/defense/2008/12/darpa-unleash-t.html

Roubini on U.S., Biden: Economy, Absolute Tanking Possible

8 really, really scary predictions
http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2008/fortune/0812/gallery.market_gurus.fortune/index.htmlhttp://2.bp.blogspot.com/_k_X6e30jnXY/SU5vIyA
Dow 4,000. Food shortages. A bubble in Treasury notes. Fortune spoke to eight of the market's sharpest thinkers and what they had to say about the future is frightening.

We are in the middle of a very severe recession that's going to continue through all of 2009 - the worst U.S. recession in the past 50 years. It's the bursting of a huge leveraged-up credit bubble. There's no going back, and there is no bottom to it. It was excessive in everything from subprime to prime, from credit cards to student loans, from corporate bonds to muni bonds. You name it. And it's all reversing right now in a very, very massive way. At this point it's not just a U.S. recession. All of the advanced economies are at the beginning of a hard landing. And emerging markets, beginning with China, are in a severe slowdown. So we're having a global recession and it's becoming worse.

Biden: U.S. Economy in Danger of 'Absolutely Tanking' http://blogs.abcnews.com/george/2008/12/biden-us-econom.html

Vice President-Elect Joe Biden said the U.S. economy is in danger of "absolutely tanking" and will need a second stimulus package in the $600-billion to $700-billion range.
"The economy is in much worse shape than we thought it was in," Biden told me during an exclusive interview -- his first since becoming vice president-elect-- to air this Sunday on "This Week with George Stephanopoulos."
"There is no short run other than keeping the economy from absolutely tanking. That's the only short run," Biden told me. (cont...)

Ground Zero on Wall Street
Fed Funds and T-Bills Hit 0% Interest
http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=11458

"....and the U.S. government, though insolvent,..."

China says lending to US will not go on forever
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20081217/bs_afp/financeeconomychinausbonds

World War Web
http://www.fraserinstitute.org/Commerce.web/article_details.aspx?pubID=6046
In the unseen reaches of cyberspace, our enemies are quietly taking the postmodern form of warfare we witnessed on 9/11 to a new level: They are no longer just transnational—they are non-national, hiding and attacking in a world where there are no borders. They are no longer just stateless—they are place-less. And they are no longer virtually invisible—they are, well, virtual.

Russian Plant Considers Reopening Su-25 Production Line

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Economic Riots/ U.S. Collapse, Obama Prepares for Attack

* Interest rates at zero, the US dollar headed toward toilet paper, Chrysler closing for a month...
do people realize the United Sates is bankrupt and collapsing? I am investing in people and building a strong local community. Here in Vermont we have farms and water. What is going to happen where you live? Are you prepared to see the US military in your street?.....


Recommended Reading:
http://globalresearch.ca/
http://jessescrossroadscafe.blogspot.com/


Ariz. police say they are prepared as War College warns military must prep for unrest; IMF warns of economic riots http://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/stories/2008/12/15/daily34.html


A new report by the U.S. Army War College talks about the possibility of Pentagon resources and troops being used should the economic crisis lead to civil unrest, such as protests against businesses and government or runs on beleaguered banks.
“Widespread civil violence inside the United States would force the defense establishment to reorient priorities in extremis to defend basic domestic order and human security,” said the War College report.
The study says economic collapse, terrorism and loss of legal order are among possible domestic shocks that might require military action within the U.S.
International Monetary Fund Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn warned Wednesday of economy-related riots and unrest in various global markets if the financial crisis is not addressed and lower-income households are hurt by credit constraints and rising unemployment.
U.S. Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., and U.S. Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Calif., both said U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson brought up a worst-case scenario as he pushed for the Wall Street bailout in September. Paulson, former Goldman Sachs CEO, said that might even require a declaration of martial law, the two noted.
State and local police in Arizona say they have broad plans to deal with social unrest, including trouble resulting from economic distress. The security and police agencies declined to give specifics, but said they would employ existing and generalized emergency responses to civil unrest that arises for any reason.
“The Phoenix Police Department is not expecting any civil unrest at this time, but we always train to prepare for any civil unrest issue. We have a Tactical Response Unit that trains continually and has deployed on many occasions for any potential civil unrest issue,” said Phoenix Police spokesman Andy Hill.
“We have well established plans in place for such civil unrest,” said Scottsdale Police spokesman Mark Clark.
Clark, Hill and other local police officials said the region did plenty of planning and emergency management training for the Super Bowl in February in Glendale.
“We’re prepared,” said Maricopa County Sheriff Deputy Chief Dave Trombi citing his office’s past dealings with immigration marches and major events.
Super Bowl security efforts included personnel and resources from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and U.S. military’s Northern Command, which coordinated with Arizona officials. The Northern Command was created after 9/11 to have troops and Defense Department resources ready to respond to security problems, terrorism and natural disasters.
Northern Command spokesman Michael Kucharek and Arizona Army National Guard Major. Paul Aguirre said they are not aware of any new planning for domestic situations related to the economy.
Nick Dranias, director of constitutional government at the libertarian Goldwater Institute, said a declaration of marital law would be an extraordinary event and give military control over civilian authorities and institutions. Dranias said the Posse Comitatus Act restricts the U.S. military’s role in domestic law enforcement. But he points to a 1994 U.S. Defense Department Directive (DODD 3025) he says allows military commanders to take emergency actions in domestic situations to save lives, prevent suffering or mitigate great property damage.
Dranias said such an emergency declaration could worsen the economic situation and doubts extreme measures will been taken. “I don’t think it’s likely. But it’s not impossible,” he said.
The economy is in recession. Consumer spending is down, foreclosures are up and a host of businesses are laying off workers and struggling with tight credit and the troubled housing and financial markets. The U.S. Federal Reserve Bank and U.S. Treasury Department have pumped more than $8.5 trillion into the economy via equity purchases of bank stocks, liquidity infusions, Wall Street and bank bailouts and taxpayer rebates. U.S. automakers are seeking more than $14 billion in federal loans with fears they could fall into bankruptcy without a bailout. The U.S. housing and subprime lending-induced recession also has hit economies in Europe, Japan and China.
Gov. Janet Napolitano’s office declined comment on emergency planning and possible civil unrest. Napolitano is president-elect Barack Obama’s pick for secretary of Homeland Security, an agency that oversees airport security, disaster response, border security, customs and anti-terrorism efforts.

'As one threat fades, another may come in'
Chertoff on terrorism, immigration and the challenges of his ‘24/7 job’ at Homeland Security
http://blogs.usatoday.com/oped/2008/12/as-one-threat-f.html


With just a month left before he leaves office, President Bush and his administration can claim credit for having successfully defended this country from another terrorist attack. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said as much in a recent interview with USA TODAY's editorial board. But the secretary, who has run the department since 2005, also noted the dangers that lie ahead, including the possibility of a nuclear, chemical or biological attack on U.S. soil. What about airport security, for which he is responsible? The border fence and immigration control, which also falls under his purview? Chertoff discussed these issues and others. His comments were edited for length and clarity:

Bush Helping Obama Team Prepare For Attack
http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2008/12/17/politics/politicalhotsheet/entry4673323.shtml


The Bush Administration is planning "table-top exercises" of terror attack scenarios for the Obama Transition Team next month. Briefing reporters at the White House, Ken Wainstein, assistant to the president for homeland security and counter-terrorism, expects a couple of such exercises to be run next month – no dates yet set

Wainstein, left, thinks all the members of the Obama Cabinet would take part – to get a feel for how each should respond and what each would do in the event of a terror attack on the U.S. Asked if it wouldn’t be worthwhile for Mr. Obama himself to take part, Wainstein hesitated and then said Mr. Obama is getting a series of briefings on these scenarios.


Kunsan personnel take part in crisis drills
http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=59443
Crisis-response skills were put to the test at Kunsan Air Base during training last week.
Airmen from the 8th Fighter Wing faced nine crisis situations, according to an Air Force news release.
A team from Global Security and Engineering Services — contracted by Headquarters Air Force Installation and Mission Support and the Air Force Surgeon General’s office — was at Kunsan from Dec. 8 to Dec. 11 to provide the training.
"We are moving toward a homeland security exercise evaluation program and new ways of looking at incident management," Capt. Jason Monaco, 8th Fighter Wing Plans and Programs, said in the release.


Illinois guard: No powder in suspicious mail
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-il-suspiciousletters,0,1006381.story
* I bet some AJ whackos mailed some 9/11 truth videos to the Guard

Monday, December 15, 2008

Russia/Cuba, China Drills, ABL, Plague War Threat

Russian warships head for Cuba
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20081215/wl_afp/russiacubamilitarynavy_081215151217

MOSCOW (AFP) – Russia said on Monday it was sending a group of warships to Soviet-era ally Cuba in its latest defiant naval move around US waters, part of a drive to revive old Cold War ties with Latin America.
The warships will visit Havana on December 19-23, the navy said, continuing a tour that has already taken in US foes Venezuela and Nicaragua and seen the ships pass through the Panama Canal for the first time since World War II.
"This will be the first visit to Cuba by Russian warships since the Soviet era," the Russian naval headquarters said in a statement.
The destroyer Admiral Chabanenko and two other ships already held exercises with Venezuela's navy in the Caribbean Sea last month.
The naval manoeuvres close to US waters are seen as a riposte to Washington's own moves in Russia's Soviet-era sphere of influence, including in the Black Sea.


Beijing holds air-ground collaborative anti-terror drill
http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90776/90786/6553795.html

On December 13, the Beijing police conducted an air-ground collaborative anti-terror drill. Wang Yi, deputy head of the Beijing Special Armed Police Unit and the general director of the drill, stated that the Beijing police force has drafted a complete emergency plan which can timely tackle all kinds of terrorist attacks.Wang also said that in response to recent international terror attacks, especially after the Mumbai terrorist attacks, the Beijing police have carried out a series of anti-terror drills based on in-depth investigations.

Bush Excluded by Latin Summit as China, Russia Loom
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a0a8IQrfwSFU&refer=worldwide
Dec. 15 (Bloomberg) -- Latin American and Caribbean leaders gathering in Brazil tomorrow will mark a historic occasion: a region-wide summit that excludes the United States.
Almost two centuries after President James Monroe declared Latin America a U.S. sphere of influence, the region is breaking away. From socialist-leaning Venezuela to market-friendly Brazil, governments are expanding military, economic and diplomatic ties with potential U.S. adversaries such as China, Russia and Iran.

Airborne Laser lets rip on first target (update)
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20026866.200-airborne-laser-lets-rip-on-first-target.html?DCMP=OTC-rss&nsref=online-news

Plague may ravage world again in case of another world war
http://english.pravda.ru/science/tech/16-12-2005/9398-plague-0

Random Robot Roundup
http://robots.net/article/2712.html
According to a recent research paper, it's difficult for humans to recognize disgust on an artificial face, but easier to recognize sadness and fear on a simulated face than a natural one. The ability to display emotions will come in handy as researchers develop robots capable of a wider range of emotional responses and interactions, such as those described in a recent Science Daily article on emotional robots. Why bother building emotional robots in the first place? A New Scientist article argues that adding emotion may be one of the most important of six ways we can develop robots that do now harm. For two other views on what the future of robots hold in store for us, see the TechNewsWorld article, The Coming Revolution, which contains a few quotes from me. In other news, Doug Emmes of the DPRG sent links to a Sean Reynolds' Wash UAV page showing an autonomous helicopter with open source Arduino code, and to the Sparkfun Electronics USB 32-Bit Whacker - PIC32MX460 Development Board. The Swirling Brain sent us links to robot concept art from the Terminator 4 movie, a BBC story on IBM's DARPA-funded cognitive computing initiative that hopes to develop a machine that mimics the structure and function of a brain, a gizmodo article on the ROMP robot (Remotely Operated Mobile Platform), a sort of poor-man's iRobot battlefield bot. The brain also noticed a Fox news piece on the coming age of tiny flying war robots. Roland Piquepaille let us know about his latest blog posts on razor clam robots, the future impact of robots on society, and an apple picking robot. Know any other robot news, gossip, or amazing facts we should report? Send 'em our way please.

Spotting Snipers With Sound
http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/print/6990

GeoEye wins big imagery order from US military
http://www.videsignline.com/news/212400267

Sunday, December 14, 2008

Mumbai Terror: Truth Unfolding

* Once again, 'war games/terror drills' as the operational cover for a false flag attack.

Mumbai terror: truth unfolding
http://www.paktribune.com/news/index.shtml?208871

The Indian response to the Mumbai tragedy has been unwise and hasty. In less than 24 hours of the ghastly terror that struck Mumbai, India started blaming Pakistan. The entire effort of the Indian authorities is focused incriminating Pakistan.
Some western media reports have now begun to criticise India for its unwillingness to confront its own failings. The Spanish daily El Pais has written: “Islamic extremism has its roots also in India. But it has always been trivialised by the Indian authorities”.
Interestingly, the Indian authorities name the accused first and investigate later. More recently, two serving officers of the Indian army, Col Srikant Purohit and Maj Samir Kulkarni, are facing trial for involvement in the Samjhota Express bombing in 2007, and another five, including a major-general and two colonels, are under investigation.
On Nov 26 within half an hour of the start of the terrorist attack in Mumbai, three senior police officers, Hemant Karkare, DIG Ashok Kamte and Vijay Salaskar, who were investigating Col Purohit’s case, were shot at by some one from behind and killed, as if it was pre-planned.
The Mumbai police were equipped with bolt-action Lee Enfield rifles, used in the First World War, and they expected to stop terrorists using assault rifles. Hence, during the first encounter with terrorists, 14 policemen died.
When it was clear that the Mumbai police were out of their depth, Delhi dispatched its best soldiers, the NSG’s Black Cat commandos, who were equipped with clumsy old SLR rifles. It took them nine hours to make it to Mumbai when over 100 people were already killed in the Taj Hotel.
According to private rescue group ‘Zaka’ from Israel that flew ‘on its own volition’ to Mumbai for a rescue operation after the deadly terror attacks, the Indian commandos inadvertently killed some of the Jewish Israeli hostages during the raid on Chabad House (Dec 3).
American intelligence agencies had warned their Indian counterpart in mid-October of a potential attack “from the sea against hotels and business centres in Mumbai, including the Taj Hotel”. Ratan Tata, chaiman of the Taj Hotel told CNN that security was temporarily increased following a warning but enhanced measures were later eased (Dec 3). But why didn’t the American and Indian intelligence agencies share this information with Pakistani intelligence remains a question mark?
According to an Indian navy spokesman, about two dozen terrorists had landed in Mumbai after travelling in a merchant vessel, the MV Alpha, from Karachi, and the Indian navy intercepted the vessel (Nov 28). The Indian media also spoke of RAW’s intelligence intercept of Nov 17, which showed a mysterious Pakistani ship heading for Mumbai.
Interestingly, the alleged Pakistani ship managed to penetrate through Indian waters amid an ongoing naval drill which had mobilised a large section of the Indian navy. The exercise, code-named ‘Defence of Gujarat’, was aimed at stopping ‘Al Qaeda and Pakistani ships’ and yet at the height of the exercise the Pakistani ship sneaked through with its deadly cargo. This is an unbelievable proposition.The Indian claim that the surviving member of the attacking force said he worked for Lashker-i-Taiba and was trained in Pakistan is an unreliable evidence: someone willing to die for a cause would be willing to lie for that cause, even under torture.

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Bioterror Scare, China Russia War Games, Lockheed

Letters Containing Suspicious Powder Renew Concerns Over Bioterror Attacks
http://www.findingdulcinea.com/news/science/2008/December/Letters-Containing-Suspicious-Powder-Renew-Concerns-Over-Bioterror-Attacks.html

Just days after the release of a bioterror vulnerability report, nine state governors received envelopes filled with white powder.

Although initial reports suggest the envelopes contained a substance likened to flour and have been deemed an “unfortunate prank” by the spokesman for one targeted governor, the deliveries spotlight the vulnerable state of many government offices. Letters postmarked from Dallas were received at governor’s offices in Alabama, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana and Rhode Island on Monday, in Alaska on Tuesday and in Maine on Wednesday.Early reports suggest the powder in all cases is harmless but samples have been sent to local laboratories for more extensive testing. The letters arrived just days after the Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction and Terrorism, a bipartisan congressional committee, announced the findings of their six-month study concluding that the United States is vulnerable to a bioterrorism attack.
China, Russia to Hold War Games

Russian-Chinese Anti-Terrorist Exercises Will Be Held Next Year http://www.istockanalyst.com/article/viewiStockNews/articleid/2871052
(Source: Daily News Bulletin; Moscow - English)BEIJING. Dec 10 (Interfax) - Russia and China will conduct joint anti-terrorist exercises in 2009, Chinese Defense Minister Liang Guanglie announced after talks with his Russian counterpart Anatoly Serdyukov in Beijing on Wednesday.
"We agreed to conduct joint Chinese-Russian anti-terrorist exercises that will take place next year," he said.
The further successful development of bilateral relations in defense calls for "maintaining the dynamics of high-level contacts, implementing existing projects of cooperation between the two armies, continuing contacts in military training and studying the possibilities of expanding military-technical cooperation," Liang said. ...

Rapid-Fire Killer Robot Passes Flight Test
That's the sound made by the "Multiple Kill Vehicle," a frightening but fascinatingly cool hovering robot meant to shoot down enemy ballistic missiles.
Video of a Dec. 2 flight test conducted at Edwards Air Force Base in California by defense contractor Lockheed Martin has made it onto the Web, and it looks like something out of the "Terminator" movies.
Rival defense contractor Raytheon is also working on its own multiple-kill-vehicle program.
Inside a large steel cage, Lockheed's MKV lifts off the ground, moves left and moves right, rapidly firing all the while as flames shoot out of its bottom and sides.
The plan is to mount one or more MKVs onto carrier missiles, which would launch into space to engage enemy nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles at the apogees, or peaks, of their trajectory arcs

Obama transition eyes cuts in expensive arms systems http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/dec/10/obama-transition-eyes-cuts-expensive-arms-systems/ "In particular, he mentioned "slowing" procurement of the Future Combat System (FCS), an array of land and air combat vehicles designed to take the Army into the next generation of warfare. "

Lockheed Martin TOPSCENE Upgrade for Navy Delivers Mission Rehearsal Simulations 20 Times Faster http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/Lockheed-Martin-TOPSCENE-Upgrade-Navy/story.aspx?guid=%7B2029BA52-CDD1-4D5B-A307-3918922A0842%7D

Jim Rogers calls most big U.S. banks "bankrupt" http://www.reuters.com/article/InvestmentOutlook09/idUSTRE4BA5CO20081211

When money dies: The nightmare of the Weimar collapse (Unknown Binding)by Adam Fergusson (does anyone have a copy?)


Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Economic Peril, DHS Hollywood, GMD, PMC updates +

* sorry for slacking the last few days on updates, I have been working on organizing in my city a movement to stop paying rent. We are basically slaves
in a thoroughly corrupt financial and political system. I cannot emphasize enough the need to prepare for a collapse of the United States next year. Please
see my friends blog for the stuff I find worth focusing on:
jimmyvex.wordpress.com

Economy puts emergency readiness in peril
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2008-12-09-biocutbacks_N.htm


WASHINGTON — The economic crisis is jeopardizing the nation's ability to handle public-health emergencies and possible bioterrorist attacks, according to government leaders and a new report.
Federal and state governments are cutting programs that help communities respond to disease outbreaks, natural disasters and bioterrorism incidents, and that "could lead to a disaster for the nation's disaster preparedness," a report released Tuesday warns.
"The economic crisis could result in a serious rollback of the progress we've made since Sept. 11," 2001, said Jeffrey Levi, executive director of the Trust for America's Health, a non-partisan research group. Federal funds are down, 11 states have already cut public-health budgets, and more could follow as the economic crisis worsens.


Homeland Security Goes Hollywood (military psyop



A new reality television show focused on the agencies and employees of the Department of Homeland Security is sure to find fans among bureaucrats and department observers, and also is likely to draw some criticism from those who wonder if a primetime television show is the best use of the agency's time.


"Homeland Security USA" debuts Jan. 6 on ABC. The show's producer, Arnold Shapiro (creator of the CBS reality hit "Big Brother") recently told the Hollywood Reporter, “I love investigative journalism, but that’s not what we’re doing. This show is heartening. It makes you feel good about these people who are doing their best to protect us.”
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/federal-eye/2008/12/homeland_security_gets_primeti.html?hpid=news-col-blog

Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) demonstrates system-wide integration, progress with Exo-Atmospheric, Multiple Kill Vehicle and airborne laser
http://www.defenseupdate.com/features/2008/december08/091208_missiledefensetests.html Recent testing activities conducted by the U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) culminated a busy year that marked substantial progress in the development of credible U.S. missile protection, both for tactical and strategic applications.
Among the latest technologies being demonstrated by the program were advanced stages of the high power airborne laser and exo-atmospheric multiple kill vehicle and, a full demonstration of the currently operational capabilities - the sea based AEGIS system and Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD). The most recent test was performed December 5, 2008 demonstrating the entire system, including interceptors, sensor and battle management. (more...)

National Guard Takes Part In Terrorism Drill
http://www.cfnews13.com/News/Local/2008/12/9/national_guard_takes_part_in_terrorism_drill.html INDIALANTIC -- Members of the National Guard spent the Tuesday doing a major drill to prepare for a possible terrorist attack.
The drill was part of a two-day conference on national preparedness put on by Florida Tech.
Members of the guard said the recent terror attacks in Mumbai, India show they need to be ready for any possible attack in America.
The attack simulated the explosion of a dirty bomb.
“We bring a team in -- that civil support team -- and they come down here and do a complete analysis and they find out chemical biological nuclear, what kind of hazard we're facing," said Col. Bill Beiswenger from the Florida National Guard. "(Then) we determine that the first responders can go in and pull out the victims of the disaster.”

Is the Fed Taking the First Steps to Selective Default and Devaluation?

The panopticon economy: The NSA’s new data-mining facility is one component of a growing local surveillance industry
http://www.sacurrent.com/news/story.asp?id=69607

Wearable supercomputer could provide training on the go
http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20081209_2818.php
Who says you can't take it with you? A small Indiana company, MNB Technologies Inc., claims it can stuff the power of a supercomputer that supports a range of military and civil applications into a wearable 1-pound box.
The Indiana Economic Development Corporation, a public-private partnership providing financial backing for Bloomington-based MNB, said on Monday that the company "is on the verge of a technology breakthrough that could put the power of a supercomputer on the belt of America's military." (cont..)

DARPA orders 'fridge-sized' laser energy cannon
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/12/05/fridge_sized_raygun/

Giant GM sharks with strengthened necks expected

CACI Awarded Prime Contract With $452 Million Ceiling to Continue Support for U.S. Army Intelligence and Security Command

$98M to SAIC for Militarized Gamma-Ray Imaging Systems
http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/98M-to-SAIC-for-Militarized-Gamma-Ray-Imaging-Systems-05195/?utm_campaign=newsletter&utm_source=did&utm_medium=text_Contract
Science Applications International Corp. in San Diego, CA received $98 million firm-fixed-price contract for 50 Militarized Mobile Gamma-Ray Imaging Systems for non-intrusive inspection of vehicles and cargo

Russia's General Staff announces strategic drills with Belarus
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20081210/118785608.html

DM hosts massive military drill (AZ)
http://www.kvoa.com/Global/story.asp?S=9494018&nav=HMO6HMaW

Medical Disaster Exercise at Hixson
http://www.newschannel9.com/news/hixson_973873___article.html/high_students.html
Creating an "Arc of Crisis": The Destabilization of the Middle East and Central Asia The Mumbai Attacks and the “Strategy of Tension”

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

World Government, Raytheon Missile Defense


I have never believed that there is a secret United Nations plot to take over the US. I have never seen black helicopters hovering in the sky above Montana. But, for the first time in my life, I think the formation of some sort of world government is plausible.
A “world government” would involve much more than co-operation between nations. It would be an entity with state-like characteristics, backed by a body of laws. The European Union has already set up a continental government for 27 countries, which could be a model. The EU has a supreme court, a currency, thousands of pages of law, a large civil service and the ability to deploy military force.
So could the European model go global? There are three reasons for thinking that it might.
First, it is increasingly clear that the most difficult issues facing national governments are international in nature: there is global warming, a global financial crisis and a “global war on terror”.
Second, it could be done. The transport and communications revolutions have shrunk the world so that, as Geoffrey Blainey, an eminent Australian historian, has written: “For the first time in human history, world government of some sort is now possible.” Mr Blainey foresees an attempt to form a world government at some point in the next two centuries, which is an unusually long time horizon for the average newspaper column.
But – the third point – a change in the political atmosphere suggests that “global governance” could come much sooner than that. The financial crisis and climate change are pushing national governments towards global solutions, even in countries such as China and the US that are traditionally fierce guardians of national sovereignty



Raytheon components played key roles in the destruction of a ballistic missile target during the latest flight test of the Missile Defense Agency's Ground-based Midcourse Defense system. This was the eighth intercept for the GMD system.
During the Dec. 5 test, a Raytheon-built Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle intercepted a ballistic missile target in space over the eastern Pacific Ocean. While communicating with ground sensors, the EKV detected, tracked and discriminated the target.
"This highly successful test of the GMD system once again demonstrates Raytheon's commitment to performance and reliability," said Dr. Taylor W. Lawrence, Raytheon Missile Systems president. "We continue to prove the maturity of our kill vehicle technology and our ability to provide this critical capability to the nation."
While in flight, the EKV calibrated its own position using the stars. The EKV then selected an aimpoint and maneuvered for a direct hit, intercepting the target at a closing velocity of more than 18,000 miles per hour.
The target was launched from Kodiak, Alaska, and the interceptor was fired from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.

Friday, December 5, 2008

Depression Signs, JFCOM, Hotel Security, Missile Defense

California May Pay With IOUs for Second Time Since Depression

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=washingtonstory&sid=a2TUhalNFDds

Dec. 5 (Bloomberg) -- California, the world’s eighth largest economy, may pay vendors with IOUs for only the second time since the Great Depression, State Finance Director Mike Genest said.
In a letter to legislative leaders Dec. 2, Genest said the state “will begin delaying payments or paying in registered warrants in March” unless an $11.2 billion deficit is closed or reduced. California, which approved its budget less than three months ago, may run out of cash by March, state officials say.

Mumbai attacks refocus U.S. cities
The deadly terrorist attacks in Mumbai are prompting new efforts to bolster security in the U.S. by law enforcement officials who fear the assault on India's financial capital represents an unforeseen model for future attacks on U.S. soil.
In New York, police are scheduled to participate in live exercises today simulating scenarios in the Mumbai attacks. Those will follow a morning briefing for 400 corporate security officers from businesses throughout the city, New York Police Department spokesman Paul Browne says.
Boston police have increased surveillance citywide and are monitoring hotels more closely, says Police Commissioner Ed Davis. Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske met with fire officials this week to review building plans and emergency preparations.
"I think … what happened in India is going to put a new focus on emergency preparations all over," says Kerlikowske, president of the Major Cities Chiefs Association. (cont...)

JFCOM releases study on future threats (The Bear & the Dragon)http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/12/defense_jfcom_report_120408/

A new U.S. Joint Forces Command planning document offers insights into planning for irregular conflicts, urges long-promised acquisition reform, and outlines potential threats and enemies.
Released Thursday, the “Joint Operating Environment” document is a “historically informed, forward-looking effort to discern most accurately the challenges we will face at the operational level of war, and to determine their inherent implications,” Marine Corps Gen. James Mattis, JFCOM commander, writes in its foreword. “Its purpose is not to predict, but to suggest ways leaders might think about the future.”
The study is meant to inform joint concept development and experimentation by the U.S. military and “other leaders and professionals in the national security field.” (cont...)

U.S. military sets high-stakes missile-shield test http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSTRE4B37GA20081204

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. military is set to run a "realistic" test Friday of a system built to knock out long-range missiles that could be fired by North Korea or Iran, the Pentagon said.
The drill, over the Pacific, will be the first since September 2007 involving an attempted intercept by the sole U.S. shield against long-range ballistic missiles.
Boeing Co is prime contractor for the system, called the ground-based midcourse defense. It is part of an emerging, layered shield against missiles that could be tipped with chemical, biological or nuclear warheads. (cont...)

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Iran War Games, Northrop ABM, Nuclear Terror, +

Iran holds second stage of naval drills in Gulf of Oman
http://en.rian.ru/world/20081203/118671711.html

TEHRAN, December 3 (RIA Novosti) -- Iran has conducted the second stage of a four-stage, six-day naval exercise in the Gulf of Oman, a top military commander said on Wednesday.
Over 60 warships, as well as other military hardware and equipment, are involved in a large-scale naval exercise, code-named Unity-87, that will last through December 7.
"During Stage 2 of the Unity-87 exercise, destroyers, submarines, fighter jets, and unmanned aerial vehicles rehearsed the detection and effective engagement of aggressive forces," Deputy Navy Commander Adm. Qasem Rostamabadi said.
He had previously said the drills would also include "multi-phased operations in the strategic Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf

U.S. Fires Missile Defense Laser Through Aircraft Turret

The system will shoot down ballistic missiles in their "boost-phase"

http://www.globalsecuritynewswire.org/gsn/nw_20081201_2876.php

The United States has fired a missile defense laser through an aircraft-mounted turret, the U.S. Missile Defense Agency announced Wednesday (see GSN, Sept. 10).
The aircraft remained on the ground as the Airborne Laser fired a beam that passed through a fire- and beam-control optical system and exited through the turret on the plane's nose. The beam hit an off-board range measurement device that gathered data from the test.
The Northrop Grumman-built laser is expected to undergo several, longer tests early next year. The modified Boeing 747-400F jumbo jet aircraft is then scheduled next fall to attempt to destroy a mock enemy ballistic missile in its boost phase (U.S. Missile Defense Agency release, Nov. 26).
"The ground test proves that the ABL integrated weapon system works as planned," Dan Wildt, vice president of Directed Energy Systems for Northrop Grumman Space Technology, said in a statement. "Thisimpressive achievement validates the safe operation of the high-energy laser in conjunction with all other components of the revolutionary directed energy ABL aircraft" (Northrop Grumman release, Dec. 1).

Nuclear, biological attack 'likely': US commission
http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Nuclear_biological_attack_likely_US_commission_999.html
Terrorists are "likely" to use nuclear or biological weapons in the next five years, a US commission warned Tuesday, highlighting Pakistan as the weakest link in world security.
Without urgent action, "it is more likely than not that a weapon of mass destruction will be used in a terrorist attack somewhere in the world by the end of 2013," the bi-partisan commission said in its report "World at Risk."
The report, ordered by Congress and based on six months of research, warned the incoming administration of Barack Obama: "America's margin of safety is shrinking." (cont...)

"The Broad-Spectrum Treatment of Biological Weapons and Emerging Pandemic Threats Report" released by Aethlon Medical
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/The-Broad-Spectrum-Treatment-Biological/story.aspx?guid=%7B12D44FA3-BCA7-4011-A937-6327D97196E4%7D

www.aethlonmedical.com/pdfs/BroadSpectrumTreament120308.pdf
Summary of the Report
Biological weapons of mass destruction and emerging pandemic threats represent a significant security and health challenge for all nations. The development and commercialization of traditional drug and vaccine countermeasures is an immense challenge requiring enormous resources. The advancement of single-target drug and vaccine therapies as the predominant strategy to address a universe of known and unknown bioterror and pandemic threats is clinically and economically unfeasible. Accordingly, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) of the United States has decreed that broad-spectrum therapies, able to demonstrate effectiveness in combating multiple pathogens, will become a focal point for government initiatives that encourage the development of countermeasures against bioterror and pandemic threats. This paper introduces the Aethlon Hemopurifier(R) as the most advanced broad-spectrum treatment platform as evidenced by a breadth of supporting in vitro data and human treatment experience.

Bioterror Trumps Nuclear Threat
http://blogs.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2008/12/bioterror-trump.html

Obama vows to keep military 'strongest on the planet' (change...)
http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Obama_vows_to_keep_military_strongest_on_the_planet_999.html
Terrorist response drill to be held on PATCO line in Lindenwold and Camden
http://www.nj.com/south/index.ssf/2008/12/terrorist_response_drill_to_be.html

NORAD conducting exercise in Washington region
http://www.examiner.com/a-1724017~NORAD_conducting_exercise_in_Washington_region.html

USJFCOM, NATO reach historic first for simulation federation
NATO and U.S. Joint Forces Command (USJFCOM) officials recently completed the first use of a new jointly-developed Alliance modeling and simulation training capability, the NATO Training Federation. http://www.jfcom.mil/newslink/storyarchive/2008/pa120208.html

Boeing teaming with Hollywood company
http://www.bizjournals.com/losangeles/stories/2008/12/01/daily18.html
The Boeing Co. is going Hollywood for new training systems for the military and law enforcement, striking a deal with Creative Technologies Inc.
CTI is a Hollywood-based company that creates products such as software for game-based simulations for ground forces training.
The deal is a formalization of an ongoing relationship -- CTI is a contributor to the Boeing Future Combat Systems program, and Boeing and CTI are partners in the U.S. Army's Fires Center of Excellence at Fort Sill, Okla.

DARPA seeks Hitchhikers Deep Thought program
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/12/03/darpa_deep_thought_en_mem/
Pentagon boffinry chiefs are seeking to develop radical AI software capable of boiling down information from the news, overhead spy planes, wiretaps and so on "into a form that is more suitable for human consumption". Specifically, this means using the data to produce "a cohesive story that is germane to the goals of a decision-maker".

Chrysler exec: failure could spark depression
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D94RCD7G0&show_article=1

Monday, December 1, 2008

20,000 US Troops To Be Deployed Inside USA

* anyone doubt the U.S. Will collapse in '09 anymore

Pentagon to Detail Troops to Bolster Domestic Security


The U.S. military expects to have 20,000 uniformed troops inside the United States by 2011 trained to help state and local officials respond to a nuclear terrorist attack or other domestic catastrophe, according to Pentagon officials.
The long-planned shift in the Defense Department's role in homeland security was recently backed with funding and troop commitments after years of prodding by Congress and outside experts, defense analysts said.
There are critics of the change, in the military and among civil liberties groups and libertarians who express concern that the new homeland emphasis threatens to strain the military and possibly undermine the Posse Comitatus Act, a 130-year-old federal law restricting the military's role in domestic law enforcement.
But the Bush administration and some in Congress have pushed for a heightened homeland military role since the middle of this decade, saying the greatest domestic threat is terrorists exploiting the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
Before the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, dedicating 20,000 troops to domestic response -- a nearly sevenfold increase in five years -- "would have been extraordinary to the point of unbelievable," Paul McHale, assistant defense secretary for homeland defense, said in remarks last month at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. But the realization that civilian authorities may be overwhelmed in a catastrophe prompted "a fundamental change in military culture," he said.
The Pentagon's plan calls for three rapid-reaction forces to be ready for emergency response by September 2011. The first 4,700-person unit, built around an active-duty combat brigade based at Fort Stewart, Ga., was available as of Oct. 1, said Gen. Victor E. Renuart Jr., commander of the U.S. Northern Command.
If funding continues, two additional teams will join nearly 80 smaller National Guard and reserve units made up of about 6,000 troops in supporting local and state officials nationwide. All would be trained to respond to a domestic chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, or high-yield explosive attack, or CBRNE event, as the military calls it.
Military preparations for a domestic weapon-of-mass-destruction attack have been underway since at least 1996, when the Marine Corps activated a 350-member chemical and biological incident response force and later based it in Indian Head, Md., a Washington suburb. Such efforts accelerated after the Sept. 11 attacks, and at the time Iraq was invaded in 2003, a Pentagon joint task force drew on 3,000 civil support personnel across the United States.
In 2005, a new Pentagon homeland defense strategy emphasized "preparing for multiple, simultaneous mass casualty incidents." National security threats were not limited to adversaries who seek to grind down U.S. combat forces abroad, McHale said, but also include those who "want to inflict such brutality on our society that we give up the fight," such as by detonating a nuclear bomb in a U.S. city.
In late 2007, Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England signed a directive approving more than $556 million over five years to set up the three response teams, known as CBRNE Consequence Management Response Forces. Planners assume an incident could lead to thousands of casualties, more than 1 million evacuees and contamination of as many as 3,000 square miles, about the scope of damage Hurricane Katrina caused in 2005.
Last month, McHale said, authorities agreed to begin a $1.8 million pilot project funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency through which civilian authorities in five states could tap military planners to develop disaster response plans. Hawaii, Massachusetts, South Carolina, Washington and West Virginia will each focus on a particular threat -- pandemic flu, a terrorist attack, hurricane, earthquake and catastrophic chemical release, respectively -- speeding up federal and state emergency planning begun in 2003.
Last Monday, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates ordered defense officials to review whether the military, Guard and reserves can respond adequately to domestic disasters.
Gates gave commanders 25 days to propose changes and cost estimates. He cited the work of a congressionally chartered commission, which concluded in January that the Guard and reserve forces are not ready and that they lack equipment and training.
Bert B. Tussing, director of homeland defense and security issues at the U.S. Army War College's Center for Strategic Leadership, said the new Pentagon approach "breaks the mold" by assigning an active-duty combat brigade to the Northern Command for the first time. Until now, the military required the command to rely on troops requested from other sources.
"This is a genuine recognition that this [job] isn't something that you want to have a pickup team responsible for," said Tussing, who has assessed the military's homeland security strategies.
The American Civil Liberties Union and the libertarian Cato Institute are troubled by what they consider an expansion of executive authority.
Domestic emergency deployment may be "just the first example of a series of expansions in presidential and military authority," or even an increase in domestic surveillance, said Anna Christensen of the ACLU's National Security Project. And Cato Vice President Gene Healy warned of "a creeping militarization" of homeland security.
"There's a notion that whenever there's an important problem, that the thing to do is to call in the boys in green," Healy said, "and that's at odds with our long-standing tradition of being wary of the use of standing armies to keep the peace."
McHale stressed that the response units will be subject to the act, that only 8 percent of their personnel will be responsible for security and that their duties will be to protect the force, not other law enforcement. For decades, the military has assigned larger units to respond to civil disturbances, such as during the Los Angeles riot in 1992.
U.S. forces are already under heavy strain, however. The first reaction force is built around the Army's 3rd Infantry Division's 1st Brigade Combat Team, which returned in April after 15 months in Iraq. The team includes operations, aviation and medical task forces that are to be ready to deploy at home or overseas within 48 hours, with units specializing in chemical decontamination, bomb disposal, emergency care and logistics.
The one-year domestic mission, however, does not replace the brigade's next scheduled combat deployment in 2010. The brigade may get additional time in the United States to rest and regroup, compared with other combat units, but it may also face more training and operational requirements depending on its homeland security assignments.
Renuart said the Pentagon is accounting for the strain of fighting two wars, and the need for troops to spend time with their families. "We want to make sure the parameters are right for Iraq and Afghanistan," he said. The 1st Brigade's soldiers "will have some very aggressive training, but will also be home for much of that."
Although some Pentagon leaders initially expected to build the next two response units around combat teams, they are likely to be drawn mainly from reserves and the National Guard, such as the 218th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade from South Carolina, which returned in May after more than a year in Afghanistan.
Now that Pentagon strategy gives new priority to homeland security and calls for heavier reliance on the Guard and reserves, McHale said, Washington has to figure out how to pay for it.
"It's one thing to decide upon a course of action, and it's something else to make it happen," he said. "It's time to put our money where our mouth is."