Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Oil Shock Wave Sim W/Terrorism, Russia Defense, Manufactured Pandemic Watch , +

Oil ShockWave Simulation Highlights Energy Security Vulnerabilities
http://news.yahoo.com/s/usnw/20080429/pl_usnw/oil_shockwave_simulation_highlights_energy_security_vulnerabilities


Securing America's Future Energy (SAFE) and the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at the Harvard Kennedy School today jointly conducted Oil ShockWave, an exercise in which former high-level government officials led by former Treasury Secretary Robert E. Rubin were forced to contend with a series of geopolitical events that precipitated a worldwide oil crisis. The event also served as the launch of Oil ShockWave: College Curriculum, a box set containing all of the materials necessary for college and university professors to conduct Oil ShockWave in their classrooms.
"This simulation, and the opportunity to bring its lessons to classrooms across the country with the Oil ShockWave college curriculum, will serve as critical tools for emphasizing to policymakers of today and tomorrow the importance of courageous and innovative solutions," Rubin said.
In addition to Rubin, the simulation participants included former Treasury Secretary Lawrence H. Summers, former Congressman Phil Sharp, former White House Press Secretary Joe Lockhart, former Deputy National Security Advisor Meghan O'Sullivan, former Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Policy Ashton Carter, and former Executive Director of the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board Joan Dempsey.
The Oil ShockWave scenario began with a terrorist attack that forced the closure of the Bosporus Strait of Turkey. Without that vital shipping lane, more than two million barrels of oil a day were cut off from the world market during peak winter demand. The situation grew worse as terrorists in the Persian Gulf began to target oil infrastructure and western workers there. As a result of the series of attacks, oil prices shot up to $160 a barrel, and gasoline in the United States topped $5 a gallon.....

Russia develops defence programme against high-precision strikes
http://www.newkerala.com/one.php?action=fullnews&id=54280
Moscow, Apr 29: Russia has developed a new concept for unified national defence against high-precision weapons, First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov said today.
''This programme envisions the creation of a unified, combined-arms defence network to protect vital objects of military, political and economic infrastructure from strikes delivered with high-precision weapons,'' Mr Ivanov said at the meeting of the Military-Industrial Commission under the government. However, he said the implementation of the programme would require thorough modernisation of the existing arsenal of air and missile defence systems in conjunction with a complete overhaul of command-and-control structures. As a first step, Russia will strengthen air defences around Moscow and in the central part of European Russia by deploying a second regiment equipped with new S-400 air defence systems to protect the air space of the capital and industrial zones, RIA Novosti said...

Symposium shapes Army’s future
http://www.leavenworthtimes.com/articles/2008/04/29/news/news06.txt
At the recent Information-Cyberspace Symposium, officers debated vigorously amongst themselves about how to define "information," "cyberspace" and a variety of other correlating topics......"Much of the Global War on Terror is fought in the information domain."
*like trying to keep sites like mine minimized....

Northrop Grumman To Provide New STARLite Radar For US Army Unmanned Vehicle Application
http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Northrop_Grumman_To_Provide_New_STARLite_Radar_For_US_Army_Unmanned_Vehicle_Application_999.html

Toronto officials approve antivirals for city workers http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/cidrap/content/influenza/avianflu/news/apr2908tamiflu-jw.html

Apr 29, 2008 (CIDRAP News) – Toronto's city council yesterday approved a $1.5 million plan to treat nearly half of the municipal employee workforce with antiviral medication in the event of a pandemic scenario, making it the first major Canadian city to stockpile the drugs

U.S. Government Accepts $192 Million of sanofi pasteur H5N1 Bulk Vaccine Antigen for Pandemic Stockpile http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/080428/nym081.html?.v=98

Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccines division of sanofi-aventis Group, announced today that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has accepted H5N1 bulk vaccine antigen to produce approximately 38.5 million doses of vaccine to protect against a new strain of avian influenza. Sanofi Pasteur has a multi- year contract with HHS as part of its pandemic program, and will receive a payment of $192.5 million booked in the second quarter of 2008 for acceptance of the bulk vaccine lot. In 2007, sanofi pasteur received $126.9 million for its bulk pandemic vaccine

Hospital staff multitasks with disaster, pandemic scenario Bradenton Herald - Apr 28 10:04 PM (link removed)
While still on "lockdown" after taking in an influx of patients with respiratory tract infections, Lakewood Ranch Medical Center staff stepped up the intensity of their training by adding on a small-scale disaster drill midafternoon Monday....

Cubic to support Marine Corps training efforts http://www.washingtontechnology.com/online/1_1/32693-1.html