Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Bioterrorism, Blue Brain Project, NGA, LMT


Bioterrorist Attack: Fact or Fiction?
Where do all those Homeland Security Dollars Go? (My blog header explains all: it's a scam for corporate welfare..duh!)

DR. DOUG HANSONForensics Contributor
The recent Ricin incident in Las Vegas in February of this year has once again brought new attention to the potential for a biological terrorism attack on US soil. However, given the fact that no actual incident of any magnitude has occurred nor has any plot been uncovered to produce a major event so far it leads one to wonder what is the real potential for a biological weapons attack. Movies like Outbreak have lead Americans to believe that some terrorist group can wipe out a whole city with a biological agent and send in the men in white space suits to rescue the few survivors. While the potential devastation (in human lives) from an attack with a biological agent like Ebola virus or anthrax bacillus is much greater again there is no evidence of any effort to undertake such an attack in this or any other country.
Those who would disagree with the above will undoubtedly call to mind the ricin mail letters

made front page headlines for weeks the actual number of people that were adversely affected was small. Likewise, in the 2001 Anthrax letter mailing episode the total number of people effected was small. A list of actual ricin related attacks or events is provided in the Special Ricin Study performed by the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (cited at end of article). This list shows that no large number of deaths or injuries resulted from any of these events. A suicide bomber with a vest full of explosives would have rained much more havoc in each of these cases.
The Point - The point to all this is that by the end of the 2008 fiscal year the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will have spent $50 billion on defense against bioterrorism attacks. Let's assume for the moment that the biological weapons threat is more fantasy then fact, how much law enforcement and emergency response equipment would State and local police department have bought with that amount of your tax payer dollars? Need updated cruisers, computers, commutations systems and centers, or weapons and ammo for use on your beat? Fifty billion will buy a bunch of that stuff. (cont...)


Simulation challenge: Mimicking Earth and the brain

Simulating the human brain and the Earth's climate are two of the most important challenges in science, according to Robert Bishop, chairman of the advisory board to the Blue Brain Project.
Ecole Polytechnique Fdrale de Lausanne in Switzerland and IBM Corp. are cooperating on simulating the brain, a project which started about two years ago. NEC's Earth Simulator is the key component of the latter project.
"The Blue Brain Project is currently in Phase 1.5 of its 10-year horizon and still has a long way to go," Bishop, chairman of a Geneva-based connsulting firm, told EE Times in an interview during a recent conference here. "It needs six to seven steps to move up the mammalian chain [from] mouse, rat, cat, primate and finally the human brain, with each step dealing with greater and greater complexity.
"If we were able to understand the architecture and functioning of the human brain accurately, it is quite possible that we could eventually mimic the brain in our own semiconductor design," Bishop added. "If we were able to understand the architecture and functioning of planet Earth in all of its detail, then we could ultimately predict natural disasters before they occur."
Bishop predicted that ten years from now design engineers will be "specifying application-specific integrated circuits that take into account our accumulating knowledge of the human brain and the Earth, respectively. Such ASICs would be combined into a broader system involving scalar, vector, field programmable gate arrays and graphic processing units to deal with the holistic job at hand," he added.
There are well over 100 billion neurons in the human brain and more than 100 trillion synapses to be modeled. "We [have] yet to build a good mathematical model of all this," Bishop said, "although work is well along on one small and important building block--the cortical column."
Simulating conditions on Earth is an equally daunting task. "Countless substances and materials are blending in complex structures and processes: the movement of tectonic planes, dynamic magnetic fields, the Earth's spin and orbit, space weather and local weather are all transforming the Earth simultaneously," he said.
Bishop said he works within the technology triangle bounded by science, simulation and supercomputing. IBM's BlueGene/L supercomputer installed at Lawrence Livermore Laboratory in California has a peak speed of 478 teraflops. Bishop projected that supercomputers will surpass the petaflop mark by the end of 2008, and that future machines will break the exaflop barrier in the next decade.
Brain and Earth simulation will leverage growing computing power along with software advances Bishop said, ultimately yielding new insights that can be accurately modeled and simulated.
Meanwhile, governments and other institutions need to step up to advance simulation technology, the futurist added. "The brain simulator and the Earth simulator will eventually create [intellectual property] for commercial use, but we cannot expect commercial value to be available in the short term."

( Psyop "message force multiplier")

Richard Danzig, a former Navy secretary and now a biowarfare consultant to the Pentagon, said that while there are 1,000 to 10,000 "weaponeers" worldwide with experience working on biological arms, there are more than 1 million and perhaps many millions of "broadly skilled" scientists who, while lacking training in that narrow field, could construct bioweapons. "It seems likely that, over a period between a few months and a few years, broadly skilled individuals equipped with modest laboratory equipment can develop biological weapons," Danzig said. "Only a thin wall of terrorist ignorance and inexperience now protects us." --Washington Post, December 29, 2004
This letter to you is like the letter Dr. Albert Einstein wrote United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt on August 2, 1939.....


Intermap wins $6.8 mln order from National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency
LONDON (Thomson Financial) - Intermap Technologies Corp. said its Intermap Federal Services Inc. unit has won a $6.8 million delivery order from the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA).
The digital mapping company said the order completes the purchase of licensed imagery and elevation data from Intermap's NEXTMap USA geospatial dataset.
Intermap said the order is the sixth purchase of NEXTMap data from the company for the combined purchase of about 8 million square kilometres of data or 3.1 million square miles of the contiguous United States and Hawaii.


UAE seeks $7 bln Lockheed weapon system

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Russia: Pacific Drill, FCS SUGV, X Maple Flag, + News

Al Qaeda Tape to Call for Use of WMDs (Pentagon/Al Qaeda: when U.S. Military Psyops flop worse than an S.N.L. Skit)
Authorities: New Tape to Urge Use of Weapons of Mass Destruction on Civilians
http://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/FedCrimes/story?id=4941724


Intelligence and law enforcement sources tell ABC News they are expecting al Qaeda operatives will post a new video on the Internet in the next 24 hours, calling for what one source said is "jihadists to use biological, chemical and nuclear weapons to attack the West."

There have been several reports that al Qaeda will release a new message calling for the use of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) against civilians," FBI spokesman Richard Kolko told ABC News in an e-mail. (cont...but do u need to read?...)

Report: Billions in defense spending unchecked
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D90U74D01&show_article=1

Russian 'killer of aircraft carriers' starts drills in Pacific
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20080526/108442780.html

VLADIVOSTOK, May 26 (RIA Novosti) - The Varyag, a Russian Slava-class missile cruiser dubbed 'the killer of aircraft carriers,' has started a series of live-firing exercises in the Pacific for the first time since a recent overhaul, a fleet spokesman said Monday.
Varyag, the flagship of the Russian Pacific Fleet, was commissioned in Russia's Pacific Fleet in 1989 and re-entered service in early 2008 following a major refit that lasted almost a year.
"The Varyag's crew is scheduled to conduct a series of live firing drills against ground, surface, and air targets," said Captain 1st Rank Roman Martov.
He said the exercise was aimed at checking the performance of all on-board weapons systems.
"The cruiser is equipped with a powerful array of missile systems, torpedoes and artillery systems," Martov said, adding that NATO experts had dubbed Russian combat ships of this class "the killer of aircraft carriers," as it can carry 1,000kg of high-explosives, or a tactical nuclear warhead out to a range of 300 nautical miles...

Army Demos Video Game-Controlled Robot (FCS)
http://blog.wired.com/defense/2008/05/army-demos-vide.html

Making robots that are intuitive and easy to use is one of the many challenges of unmanned systems. It turns out iRobot's small unmanned ground vehicle (SUGV), one of the robots going into the Army's Future Combat System, can be controlled with a pair of specially equipped eye-glasses and a video-game handset. Bettina Chavanne, writing at Aviation Week's ARES blog, took the SUGV out for a spin this week at Ft. Bliss, in Texas: ...




Seven countries hone fighter pilot skills during Maple Flag
http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123100233
5/27/2008 - COLD LAKE, Alberta, Canada (AFPN) -- Fighter pilots from seven different countries, including the United States, participate in Maple Flag 41May 5-16 and May 19-30 at Cold Lake in Alberta, Canada. "Ask any U.S. fighter pilot and he'll tell you the best part about flying here is the unrestricted air space," said Maj. Derrick Johnson, Maple Flag project officer from Nellis Air Force Base, Nev. Roughly 3,000 servicemembers are participating in this year's exercise, according to the 4 Wing Public Affairs. The exercise is divided into two periods; "Four Wing Cold Lake is proud to host Exercise Maple Flag 41, one of the largest coalition exercises in the world,"

Mock disaster drill at Kolkata Metro stations (India)
http://www.hindu.com/2008/05/25/stories/2008052551761100.htm

SIMULATED ATTACK: A team of the National Disaster Management Authority, with fire brigade, medical and Railway Police Force personnel, demonstrating how to combat a terrorist attack, at the Chandni Chowk Metro Rail station in Kolkata on Saturday.

KOLKATA: Sirens blared; passengers ran helter-skelter, panic writ on their faces; people lay on the ground writhing in pain and gasping for breath; police shouted eviction orders; medical staff rushed through the crowd with stretchers; and commandos took positions behind pillars, aiming their rifles at an unknown enemy.
This was the scene at the Chandni Chowk station of the city’s Metro Railway early on Saturday. It was no terrorist attack but a mock disaster management drill organised by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) at two underground railway stations. The exercise caught commuters unawares, even as volunteers as ‘mock commuters’ mingled with the passengers to simulate an attack scene at the stations......

Police stage mock terrorist attack in Hamilton (Canada)http://www.thespec.com/News/BreakingNews/article/375754
Operation Midnight Express was about as close to a terrorist attack as Hamilton would ever want to experience. It was an exercise staged over a 14-hour period at Pier 15 on the bay and was designed to test the ability of police and other agencies to deal with a major threat to public security....

Philippines, US to hold naval exercises near Spratlys: report
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jgg6_Kv4N_gdQ3FUI8OfmBXI8xrQ
MANILA (AFP) — US and Philippine forces will carry out joint naval exercises off Palawan, the closest major Philippine island to the disputed Spratlys chain in the South China Sea, a report said Saturday.
The joint exercises will begin Monday, Vice Admiral William Douglas Crowder, commander of the US seventh fleet flagship the USS Blue Ridge, told the Philippine Star newspaper.
About four US ships will sail to Palawan, southwest of Manila, for the combined naval war games involving about a thousand US and Filipino sailors, the newspaper said.
The Spratlys, a chain of islands and atolls believed to be rich in oil and gas deposits, are claimed in full or in part by Brunei, China, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam. All but Brunei have troops posted on some of the islands......

"Bold Monarch 2008"

NATO Drill
http://www.avionews.com/index.php?corpo=see_news_home.php&news_id=1090067&pagina_chiamante=index.php
Rome, Italy - For research and rescue of submersibles on trouble(WAPA) - "'Bold Monarch 2008', the most important international drill for the rescue of submarines on trouble, has started in the North Sea, Norway. Ending on next June, 6th, many International air-sea and submarine trims will join the drill as Canadian, French, Greek, British, Israeli, Italian, Norwegian, Holland, Polish, Russian, Turkish, Ukrainian and American.

Russian TV Reports on Antiterror Drill at N-Plant
http://www.redorbit.com/news/business/1401088/russian_tv_reports_on_antiterror_drill_at_nplant/
Strategic Simulation (Russia + China)
http://www.kommersant.com/p895011/The_first_visit_of_President_Medvedev_to_China/
Today starts Russian President Dmitry Medvedev’s visit to China, which is meant to prove Moscow’s assertion that the People’s Republic of China is Russia’s crucial geopolitical ally, and that they can challenge the West together. But Dmitry Medvedev will have to discuss problems in Beijing mainly. These include a drastic decrease in military and technical cooperation, the vague prospects of the energy alliance of Russia and China, and the Chinese government’s reluctance to back Moscow in its struggle against NATO expansion.

Argon ST, Inc. Awarded Next Phase of DARPA Robust Surface Navigation Program
http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20080527005844&newsLang=en
FAIRFAX, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Argon ST, Inc. (NASDAQ:STST), a leading systems engineering, development and services company providing full-service C5ISR (command, control, communications, computers, combat systems, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance) systems and services to a wide range of defense and intelligence customers, was awarded a contract option for Phase 1B of the Robust Surface Navigation (RSN) program from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

Scientists identify second H7 strain of bird flu that could cause pandemic
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/science/article4009755.ece

Battling Bird Flu By The Numbers
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080527120211.htm
ScienceDaily (May 27, 2008) — A pair of Los Alamos National Laboratory theorists have developed a mathematical tool that could help health experts and crisis managers determine in real time whether an emerging infectious disease such as avian influenza H5N1 is poised to spread globally

US Emergency Rooms are not Ready for a Surge of Patients
http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/05/emergency-rooms.html
In this month's Annals of Emergency Medicine, Maryn McKenna made a particularly strong case that emergency rooms were terribly overcrowded during flu season and they would not be able to handle the surge of patients who would appear in the event of a pandemic.

Friday, May 23, 2008

Memorial Day


We have a brief moment in a seeming infinity, some experience
bliss.....arts, music, reading, good food, the pleasure of freindship,
lovers, - these men were killed for lies and the criminal greed of the elites. I will not rest until a tribunal sees justice for the madness these perps unleashed on our World. I hold my Monday post in sadness for the stupidity that reigns supreme
over our little World and all those lost in the battles.....
Unhappy Memorial Day....
may we stop WWIV before it's all over.......
Greg Nixon



Held from last post:
China, Russia condemn US missile defense plans


AP Photo: Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, left, is shown the way by Chinese President Hu Jintao, right,...
BEIJING - China and Russia sharply condemned U.S. missile defense plans Friday, taking a harder common line that reinforces an already strong strategic partnership during Dmitry Medvedev's first foreign trip as Russian president.


Pushing forward their robust energy cooperation, Russia also signed a $1 billion deal to build a uranium enrichment facility in China and supply low-enriched uranium for use in China's nuclear power industry over the next decade.
Rivals throughout much of the Cold War, Moscow and Beijing have forged close political and military ties since the Soviet collapse, seeking to counter the perceived U.S. global domination. They have spoken against the U.S. missile defense plans in the past, but Friday's declaration by Medvedev and Chinese President Hu Jintao sounded tougher than before.


Without naming the United States, the two leaders said that "the creation of global missile defense systems and their deployment in some regions of the world ... does not help to maintain strategic balance and stability and hampers international efforts in arms control and nuclear nonproliferation."
They also warned against the deployment of arms in space — another clear reference to the United States. "The parties stand for the peaceful use of space and against the deployment of weapons in space and arms race in space," Medvedev and Hu said in the statement released after an afternoon of talks.
The joint position appears to raise the stakes for Washington, which has been trying to persuade Beijing and Moscow not to see the missile shields as threatening. At the same time, the cooperation on diplomatic issues masks deep Russian unease at China's growing power and differences over military and energy sales.
The White House said Friday that it is not disappointed that Medvedev has not changed the stance taken by his predecessor, Vladimir Putin. (cont...)




Thursday, May 22, 2008

IL Coliseum Drill, "Falcon Virgo" Pandemic, Lockheed Martin, Military Robotics

National Guard performs hazmat exercise at Coliseum
http://www.pantagraph.com/articles/2008/05/22/news/doc48342ca5094f3713593696.txt
BLOOMINGTON -- U.S. Cellular Coliseum was the site of a practice session Wednesday, but the professionals weren’t using hockey sticks or footballs and wore very different kinds of protective gear.

Twenty-two members of the Bartonville-based Illinois National Guard 5th Civil Support Team were being evaluated during a formal training exercise simulating a hazardous event at the Coliseum. Guardsmen were clad in hazardous materials suits, and an array of emergency trucks and trailers filled a lot northwest of the building.In Wednesday’s scenario, a “dissident group” attacked people attending a volleyball match the night before, said Lt. Col. Larry Ritter, from U.S. Army North in Fort Sam Houston, Texas.

"Falcon Virgo"
Training Flights Scheduled For Overnight
http://www.nbc4.com/news/16354351/detail.html
WASHINGTON -- Residents in the D.C. area can expect military flights Wednesday night and into Thursday morning, police said.
An exercise scheduled to begin at 11:45 p.m. and end at 6 a.m. comprises a series of training flights coordinated with the Federal Aviation Administration, the National Capital Region Command Center, the Joint Air Defense Operations Center, the Civil Air Patrol and NORAD.

Offutt, Bellevue hope to land Air Force Cyber Command
http://www.southwestiowanews.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=19704096&BRD=2703&PAG=461&dept_id=627131&rfi=6
A high-speed fiber-optic network, high-tech workers and ample security top the Air Force's wish list for the home of its new Cyber Command, which Nebraska and 17 other states are bidding to land.

Pandemic Drill At Washburn University; "A Success"
http://www.wibw.com/home/headlines/19183939.html
An anthrax scare is the pandemic drill held Thursday afternoon on the campus of Washburn University.
It was a real life look at what to do in a mass emergency where thousands would need immediate care.
Imagine a situation of panic, desperation and confusion, a drill of those that ingested anthrax through food was put to the test.

County officials and volunteers drill with emergency equipment (AZ)
http://www.douglasdispatch.com/articles/2008/05/22/news/doc48348fe34a5d8598213671.txt
SIERRA VISTA — In case of emergency, disaster or an epidemic, local emergency workers won’t be the only ones prepared to help.About 20 local volunteers learned how to turn 700 pounds of canvas, metal and plastic into an emergency shelter Saturday.The Base-X shelter structure, a new $28,000 county purchase with funds from the Centers for Disease Control, is a large tent that could be used for sleeping, surgery and many other emergency needs, said Maureen Kappler, spokeswoman for the drill and public health nurse for Cochise County.

Steve Balzac Helps Facilitate Pandemic Flu Exercise
http://www.expertclick.com/NewsReleaseWire/default.cfm?Action=ReleaseDetail&ID=21574
Stephen Balzac helped facilitate a Pandemic Flu Preparedness Exercise at Northeastern University on May 21st. The exercise is part of an effort to help businesses prepare for a potential flu pandemic....

About Steve BalzacSteve Balzac started designing serious live roleplaying games over 25 years ago, as an undergraduate at MIT. He has over two dozen major games to his credit, most recently including a Pandemic Flu Simulation for the US National Capitol Region. His games have ranged in length from two hours to two weeks, and in size from eight to over two hundred participants. They are noted for their richness of detail, depth of characterization, intricate plotting, and carefully-designed, easy-to-use mechanics. Players become immersed in the game scenario, acting and reacting in highly realistic ways, and building transferable skills in negotiation, communication, public speaking, leadership, teamwork, flexible planning, and crisis management. His articles have appeared in Metagame, The Journal of Interactive Drama, The IBM Systems Journal, The Lincoln Journal, Mass High Tech, and the Worcester Business Journal.


Dangers of mainland disease lab debated at hearing
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gDdJ3UTsqcN2JyaG8SKq_yCh8cpwD90QTK300

WASHINGTON (AP) — One of the nation's oldest farm groups said Thursday a proposed foot-and-mouth disease research laboratory on the U.S. mainland, near livestock, could be an inviting target for terrorists. Commercial livestock representatives and the Bush administration insisted it would be safe to move an island lab to sites near animals....









Lockheed's 'Spooky Radar' Gets U.S. Patent
http://blog.wired.com/defense/2008/05/lockheeds-spook.html
The ability to propagate radar signals at frequencies that are independent of the resolution frequency may allow quantum radar system 100 to attain near zero attenuation rates in the atmosphere, and greatly diminished attenuation rates in other media including foliage, building materials, earthen layers, etc. Quantum radar system 100, thus, can be adapted to visualize useful target details through background and/or camouflaging clutter, through plasma shrouds around hypersonic air vehicles, through the layers of concealment hiding underground facilities, IEDs, mines, and other threats--all while operating from an airborne platform or other suitable platform. Quantum radar system 100 may also improve the performance of advanced image processing and pattern recognition systems, as well as defeat most RF signature management systems when the propagation frequency is tuned to the resonant wave length of the target.


Riddle Me This, General Dynamics (military robotics )
http://www.fool.com/investing/high-growth/2008/05/22/riddle-me-this-general-dynamics.aspx

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

NATO Finland Exercise, Pitt Terror Drill, FCS, W.H.O. Pandemic Conf., +

Disaster Drill To Be Held Today Downtown (Pitt. PA)
http://kdka.com/local/disaster.drill.Pittsburgh.2.729056.html

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) ― Downtown Pittsburgh may look like a disaster area later today, but it's only a drill. The Federal Emergency Management Agency is conducting the drill for dozens of federal, state and local agencies. Approximately 300 participants from 42 federal, state, local and private sector agencies will take part. They will be put to the test on how to handle emergencies, like a terror attack. The disaster drill begins at 10 a.m




Capital Region To Host NATO Disaster Response Exercises (Finland )
http://www.yle.fi/news/left/id91286.html

Finland will be host a major NATO disaster response exercise during the first week of June. Held in the capital region, the exercise will include over one thousand personnel from 25 countries.

The Euro-Atlantic Disaster Response Coordination Centre (EADRCC) will conduct the disaster response field exercise "UUSIMAA 2008" from 1 to 5 June 2008 in the region of the Finnish capital Helsinki. Finland has taken part in Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council (EAPC) exercises since 2002.Teams from twenty-five EAPC nations will participate in the June exercise.NATO and Partner countries are to practice disaster response mechanisms and capabilities and to enhance co-operation in emergency situations. The fictitious scenario for the exercise will be flooding and storms along the coastline of the Gulf of Finland. According to the scenario, water levels will rise during the spring and the storms will damage critical infrastructure objects. There will be also chemical, biological and radiological threat simulations.

U.S. Army May Field FCS Systems Early
http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story_channel.jsp?channel=defense&id=news/FCS052008.xml&headline=U.S.
Demand from commanders in Iraq is driving an evaluation of Class I unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) and small unmanned ground vehicles (SUGV) that may result in earlier fielding of the Future Combat Systems (FCS) components, U.S. Army officials say.
Paul Mehney, the Army’s FCS communicator, said there are advantages to fielding the systems earlier than planned. “The Class I UAV provides a hover-and-stare capability we don’t have on the battlefield,” he said. “And the SUGV provides enhanced sensing capabilities.”
Soldiers with the Army Evaluation Task Force at Ft. Bliss, Texas, are in the final stages of training on the two platforms, Mehney said. They will begin evaluating the systems, providing the Army with a full report in September or October 2008. Based on the report, the Army will make a decision whether to begin fielding the Class I UAV and SUGV, keep the two components as a core program or take variants out into the field.

Global Health Conference Addresses Pandemic Flu, Climate Effects
http://newsblaze.com/story/20080521101533tsop.nb/newsblaze/TOPSTORY/Top-Stories.html
Pandemic influenza preparedness, sharing of flu virus samples for research and the effects of climate change on human health are on the agenda May 19-24 in Geneva for the 61st annual meeting of the World Health Assembly (WHA) - the supreme decisionmaking body of the World Health Organization (WHO).

NEW: Firefighters plan emergency drill at Jamestown Mall(MO)
http://northcountyjournal.stltoday.com/articles/2008/05/21/news/doc4834713e453c7269717208.txt
Top U.S. official says lab security strong despite exercise (CA: update)
http://www.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_9325144?nclick_check=1

The Spies Who Come In with the Gold?
The CIA and 15 other agencies are targeted for a corporate-style pay for performance plan by U.S. Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell.
http://www.cfo.com/article.cfm/11402555/c_11400982?f=home_todayinfinance

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Homeland Security Scam Updates, CA "Disaster" Drill+

The US federal government wants to build a system to detect Internet attacks before they occur.
http://www.gameshout.com/news/cyber_attacks_new_initiative_for_homeland_security/article2358.htm

Cyber attacks can't be prevented or protected by the government alone, Chertoff said. The homeland security chief is calling on Silicon Valley to send some of its best to Washington to work on the effort on protecting the Internet from terrorist hijacking.
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff described chilling scenarious at the RSA Conference, a group of cyber security specialists, in San Francisco Tuesday.
Chertoff demonstrated that through the Internet, terrorists and criminals can do the kind of damage they could never do on their own. He cited the massive denial-of-service attack launched against the Estonian government computers last year.
"Imagine what would happen if a sophisticated attack on our financial systems caused them to be paralyzed. It would be a shaking of the foundation of trust on which commercial intercourse depends," Chertoff said.
The sophisticated attack, ran by a remote-controlled " botnet", shut down the Estonian's financial system as well as media and police Web sites. More than a million computer systems were hit, as Estonian government sites that normally received a thousand visitors a day were swamped by up to 2,000 visits a second.
Cyber attacks can't be prevented or protected by the government alone, he said. The homeland security chief is calling on Silicon Valley to send some of its best to Washington to work on the effort on protecting the Internet from terrorist hijacking.




SAS forming subsidiary to help with homeland security
http://www.bizjournals.com/triangle/stories/2008/05/19/daily2.html
SAS is launching a subsidiary that will focus on providing data analysis tools to the federal government, especially the homeland security and intelligence agencies, the Cary software maker announced Monday.
The subsidiary, which is yet to be named, will be based in Cary and will be organized over the next several months, says SAS spokesman Trent Smith. More than 50 SAS employees will be allocated to the subsidiary, which will hire an -as-yet-to-be-determined number of additional employees with the security requirements needed to assist intelligence and homeland security efforts.

SPACEHAB Product Earns SAFETY Act Designation from U.S. Department of Homeland Security http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20080520006159&newsLang=en
HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--SPACEHAB Inc., (NASDAQ:SPAB) today announced its receipt of a formal Developmental Testing and Evaluation (DT&E) Designation from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for the Company’s new in house developed Miniature Mass Spectrometer (MMS) technology named “1st Detect.”
The designation was instituted by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to encourage the development of ‘promising anti-terrorism technologies’ by providing legal liability protections under the Support Anti-terrorism by Fostering Effective Technologies Act of 2002, or the SAFETY Act. The designation letter that was received April 10, 2008, states “SPACEHAB, Incorporated’s Miniature Mass Spectrometer is such a technology.”

OTI to Present at Morgan Keegan Homeland Security Conference
http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/prnewswire/200805200800PR_NEWS_USPR_____NYTU036.htm
FORT LEE, N.J., May 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- On Track Innovations Ltd, (OTI) (Nasdaq: OTIV), a global leader in contactless microprocessor-based smart card solutions, for homeland security, payments, petroleum payments and other applications, will be presenting at Morgan Keegan Homeland Security Conference to be held at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York located at 301 Park Avenue, New York, NY, United States, 10022.
On Track Innovations Ltd. (OTI) is a leading contactless smart card solution provider. Applications developed by OTI include product solutions for: 1. SmartID - Homeland security solutions- national ID cards, e-passports
and medical cards.
2. Payments - Cashless solution for small ticket items.
3. EasyFuel - Fuel management and petroleum solution

SONOMA CO.: FLU PANDEMIC DISASTER DRILL TODAY (CA)
http://cbs5.com/localwire/22.0.html?type=bcn&item=FLU-DRILL
The staff at two Sonoma County hospitals will be dressed a little differently this morning.
They will be wearing space-walk type protective suits with ventilators as part of a countywide pandemic flu disaster drill.
The drill at hospitals, clinics and skilled nursing facilities, referred to as "Code Pandora", entails a hypothetical scenario in which the dangerous H5N1 avian flu has begun to spread rapidly from human to human in countries outside the United States and is considered imminent here.
In the scenario, the Governor has issued an alert to county preparedness agencies to gear up and prepare for the first likely bird flu cases in California....

SAIC wins $20M contract for space, naval warfare
http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2008/05/20/ap5028754.html

Boeing-SAIC Team, Future Combat Systems Program Play Key Roles in Joint Expeditionary Force Experiment 2008http://pressmediawire.com/article.cfm?articleID=19084
Boeing [NYSE: BA] and Science Applications International Corp. [NYSE: SAI], the Lead Systems Integrator (LSI) for the U.S. Army's Future Combat Systems (FCS) program, today announced that FCS played a pivotal role in the U.S. Air Force-led Joint Expeditionary Force Experiment 2008 (JEFX 08), marking an important step toward integrating critical FCS technologies into the current force.
JEFX, conducted biennially in select lab and field environments at U.S. military facilities across the United States, is a multinational, multi-service military experiment intended to accelerate the research, development and fielding of new combat systems. The experiment, divided into four separate events, or "spirals," culminated in April with a field demonstration designed to test full joint connectivity and situational awareness in an operational setting. ....
Disaster drill planned in New Bedford
http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080520/NEWS/805200365

Monday, May 19, 2008

NC4 'Crisis management", Bioterrorism, Nano Robots, + News

NC4 Provides Government Agencies with New Situational Response Tools in Preparation for Hurricane Season
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/nc4-provides-government-agencies-with,399311.shtml
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. - (Business Wire) NC4, Inc., a leader in situational awareness, incident monitoring, crisis management, and secure collaboration, today announced several new features within the E Team emergency management solution that will assist government agencies in preparing for the upcoming hurricane season. The new features include External Situational Awareness (ESA) Incident Monitor (EIM), a tool that tracks incidents in real time; a Web Service Definition Language (WSDL) Interface, a standard Extensible Markup Language (XML) for application integration with E Team; and E Team Live, which gathers incident information from Web sites....

"NC4’s EIM is a virtual watch command center that provides situational awareness of all-hazards incidents worldwide that may affect government or business operations.."

About NC4
NC4, through its incident monitoring centers, improves the Situational Awareness to both business and government clients by providing real-time, global, 24x7 proactive incident information and alerts. NC4 issues timely, relevant, and personalized alerts covering incidents near an organization’s key locations that may impact life and safety, physical assets, and continuity of operations. This includes incidents such as transportation, severe weather, hazmat, law enforcement, fire, terrorism, and other incidents that have the potential to cause disruption.
Additionally, NC4 provides Situational Response through its E Team offering, which provides sophisticated planning and operational tools to enable emergency managers to effectively process the massive amounts of information generated during a major event, crisis, or disaster. E Team’s Windows-based, browser-accessible software has been used to manage events ranging from 9/11, multiple Olympics, and political conventions to hurricanes and other natural disasters



Bioterror defenses in lobbying crunch
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0508/10351.html



The government’s program to defend the country against bioterrorism attacks has become embroiled in a lobbying war, as rival biotechnology companies seeking hundreds of millions of dollars in contracts turn to influential K Street hired guns.
The Bush administration’s $5.6 billion Project BioShield has come under heavy criticism in the wake of contracting problems that led to delays in the purchase of vaccines designed to protect against biological weapons.

A key factor in the program’s problems, say critics, was the heavy lobbying push by Emergent BioSolutions that helped to derail a promising anthrax vaccine being produced by a rival. The competitor, VaxGen, eventually lost its $877 million government contract and was forced to sell its formula. The buyer, announced last week, was Emergent.
Immediately after its purchase was announced, Emergent sought and received a 60-day extension to apply for the new vaccine contract to produce 25 million doses of anthrax vaccine, valued at an estimated $500 million....


Law enforcement practice drill over the weekend causes slight worry (NY)
http://www.wktv.com/news/local/19073169.html





NEW HARTFORD - A practice drill at Sangertown Square Mall this weekend had a lot of people worried that it was the real thing.It was a multi-agency response drill, and teams from New Hartford, Utica, and Willowvale participated.

Sunday, the practice scene was an active shooter and a chlorine bomb simulation. Teams practice both response and decontamination.
The Police Department intends on conducting more multi-agency exercises in the future......



Glaxo Wins Approval to Sell Pre-Pandemic Flu Vaccine
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601085&sid=aVYYmgV9JWGQ&refer=europe
May 19 (Bloomberg) -- GlaxoSmithKline Plc, Europe's largest drugmaker, won European Union permission to sell its pre-pandemic flu vaccine, the first approval in the region of a shot to prevent an outbreak sparked by the deadly bird flu virus.
The vaccine, called Prepandrix, was cleared for sale in 29 countries to protect people against the virus before or at the beginning of a pandemic, London-based Glaxo said today in an e- mailed statement. The European regulator's advisory panel recommended adopting the product in February.
``This is a vaccine that can be produced in advance of a pandemic, that can be stockpiled ahead of a pandemic, which really allows governments to be ready in the event of a pandemic,'' Emmanuel Hanon, director and vice president of the influenza vaccine franchise at Glaxo's GSK Biologicals in Rixensart, Belgium, said in a telephone conference with reporters on May 14.
Governments are trying to prepare for a possible pandemic caused by the fatal H5N1 strain of bird flu that has spread across Asia to Africa, the Middle East and Europe since 2003. Makers of the vaccines are seeking a share of a $1 billion to $2 billion potential market, analyst Andrew Fellows of Helvea in London said last year.
Glaxo has invested about $2 billion in flu vaccine manufacturing capacity and is going to double production at factories in Germany and Canada to 120 million doses at each site, Hanon said.


Nanorobots to improve health care ( or wreak havoc as military weapon?)
http://blogs.zdnet.com/emergingtech/?p=927
Using nanorobots to deliver drugs and fight diseases is not a new idea (check here or there). Of course, nanorobots floating inside our bodies to improve our health are still years away. However, an international team of American and Australian researchers is developing a nanorobot hardware architecture for medical defense (PDF format, 1.02 MB). They have developed a nanorobot control design (NCD) software which helps them to simulate the behavior of these future nanorobots. Their 3-D approach shows ‘how nanorobots can effectively improve health care and medical defense and should enable innovative real time protection against pandemic outbreaks.’ But read more…


New Mid-infrared Lasers Show Doubled Efficiency (DARPA)
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080519165935.htm
ScienceDaily (May 19, 2008) — Researchers at the Center for Quantum Devices at the McCormick School of Engineering at Northwestern University have recently doubled the efficiency of infrared lasers under the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s Efficient Mid-wave Infrared Lasers (EMIL) program.
As these types of lasers become more efficient, they could be used in next-generation laser-based defense systems to fool incoming missile attacks or detect explosives or toxins in the atmosphere. Such lasers could also be used in commercial applications like trace chemical analysis, pollution monitoring, and free space communication.

Sunday, May 18, 2008

Report Back on Keene NH: New England 9/11 Symposium

Keene NH New England 9/11 Symposium

First off, starting a Symposium at 9;30am in a small town in the middle of nowhere requires getting up at an ungodly hour (5:00am for me) or a hotel room. The symposium was set in an auditorium of a Keene High School where speakers would talk with NO Q and A until five pm - all for $15.

How many times can the COINTLEPRO "truth" movement drag Barry Zweiker out to talk about the evidence - and John Gold a "researcher"? This 9/11 activist couldn't even bear to enter the auditorium. What is the point of an all day talk on the evidence in 2008? I went to these "conferences" FOUR YEARS AGO WITH THE EXACT SAME PEOPLE. Back then I implored that we need ACTIVISM as the focus. This meeting seem designed to put people to sleep.

We are approaching a decade as the amount of time past the crime and these people are still talking about investigating 9/11! The research was basically done years ago, key perps named -method, US Military run terror drills cloaked in war games, Directed energy -FCS TV fakery and psyop....World War IV looms and there is no resistance in place to stop it.

My day wasn't a total loss, I drove downtown into Keene and discovered an anti War rally on the towns' Common. I talked with the activists about 9/11 and asked if they knew there was a 9/11
conference in their town? NOPE. I held my flag upside down for our lost country and our 9/11
"movement".......

Friday, May 16, 2008

Off to Keene NH for 9/11 Conference

Off to Keene NH for COINTLEPRO conference:


The New England 9/11 Symposium:.
http://www.sst911.org/newsite/events.htm





will report back Saturday evening on my attempt to infiltrate this conference where "researchers" speak out......

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Disaster in Chicago? FCS, NC Car Bomb Drill, + News

Mass Casualty Simulation Will Better Prepare Chicago Hospitals’
http://www.healthnewsdigest.com/news/Safety_310/Mass_Casualty_Simulation_Will_Better_Prepare_Chicago_Hospitals_Emergency_Personnel.shtml
CHICAGO – Physicians and nurses from hospitals throughout the Chicago area will experience the chaos, confusion and stress of treating a large group of severely injured patients all at once in a unique simulation lab training program at Rush University Medical Center on Wednesday, May 28.The goal of the program is to prepare emergency department personnel from hospitals, large and small, on managing an influx of victims brought in from mass casualty events.The workshop, which will be held in the Rush University Simulation Laboratory, will focus on creating a realistic, potential situation where a trolley full of passengers explodes and the glass windows of the trolley are blown out as it pulls up to the entrance of Navy Pier on Labor Day. There will be numerous, life-sized computer-controlled ‘virtual patients’ set up to simulate the types of patient cases the trainees may need to triage during a mass casualty scenario. These simulators have life-like human functions that enhance training. They are capable of simulating any possible human medical or traumatic emergency such as loss of limb from a blast injury, penetrating wounds due to the flying glass, open head injuries, penetrating leg injuries, blunt injuries to the head, chest and abdomen, and much more. All 12 simulators will be programmed individually to survive or expire based on the timely interventions of the participants and the severity of the injuries incurred.“The purpose of the exercise is to overwhelm the emergency department personnel with the quantity and severity of casualties with limited time and resources,” said Dr. Phillip A. Jacobson, pediatric critical care physician, Rush University Medical Center

Robotic suit could usher in super soldier era (update)
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D90M7EDO7&show_article=1

Rex Jameson bikes and swims regularly, and plays tennis and skis when time allows. But the 5-foot-11, 180-pound software engineer is lucky if he presses 200 pounds—that is, until he steps into an "exoskeleton" of aluminum and electronics that multiplies his strength and endurance as many as 20 times.
With the outfit's claw-like metal hand extensions, he gripped a weight set's bar at a recent demonstration and knocked off hundreds of repetitions. Once, he did 500.
"Everyone gets bored much more quickly than I get tired," Jameson said.
Jameson—who works for robotics firm Sarcos Inc. in Salt Lake City, which is under contract with the U.S. Army—is helping assess the 150-pound suit's viability for the soldiers of tomorrow. The suit works by sensing every movement the wearer makes and almost instantly amplifying it.
The Army believes soldiers may someday wear the suits in combat, but it's focusing for now on applications such as loading cargo or repairing heavy equipment. Sarcos is developing the technology under a two-year contract worth up to $10 million, and the Army plans initial field tests next year.
Before the technology can become practical, the developers must overcome cost barriers and extend the suit's battery life. Jameson was tethered to power cords during his demonstration because the current battery lasts just 30 minutes.
But the technology already offers evidence that robotics can amplify human muscle power in reality—not just in the realm of comic books and movies like the recently debuted "Iron Man," about a wealthy weapons designer who builds a high-tech suit to battle bad guys.
"Everybody likes the idea of being a superhero, and this is all about expanding the capabilities of a human," said Stephen Jacobsen, chief designer of the Sarcos suit.
The Army's exoskeleton research dates to 1995, but has yet to yield practical suits. Sarcos' technology sufficiently impressed Raytheon Co., however, that the Waltham, Mass.-based defense contractor bought Sarcos' robotics business last November. Sarcos also has developed robotic dinosaurs for a Universal Studios' "Jurassic Park" theme park ride.

Drill preps responders for bioterrorism disaster (IL)
http://www.pioneerlocal.com/hoffmanestates/news/948257,he-disasterdrill-051508-s1.article

Crowds lined up outside the Sears Centre Arena mid-day Tuesday to take part in a large-scale disaster drill.
The purpose was to simulate biological terrorism or disease outbreak, helping government employees from numerous departments and municipalities to learn their roles in case of a major emergency

Fake names and symptoms were given to participants who were then sent to various lines to receive the appropriate placebo medicine and fill out forms.
"The biggest problem is processing people," Village President Bill McLeod said.
Some nursing home residents participated, which McLeod said helped simulate the effect of older citizens affected by a disease. Some people wore ankle bracelets to gauge response time. Others in the drill were interested in how to cope with a disaster. ...


'Car bomb' on Thursday? It's just a drill (NC)
http://www.news-record.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080514/NRSTAFF/837901378

GREENSBORO — Emergency responders will respond to a fictional car bomb Thursday morning.
The drill, from 10 a.m. to noon, will be held at the former post office building at the corner of East Market and South Dudley streets.
City police officers, firefighters and rescue teams will take part in the drill, a response to a post-blast incident. The blast "scene" will include smoke, fire, victims with simulated injuries and fake body parts.
"Typically we think of a car bomb as something that happens in other countries," said Trent Walker, critical incident planning officer for the Greensboro Police Department, "but the fact is it can happen here.
"Terrorists and criminal organizations will take advantage of 'soft targets,' those communities that may not have the amount of money, equipment or expertise in dealing with these types of instances," he added. "We have critical infrastructure here in Greensboro that could be targeted, so we need to stay one step ahead."

Russia's missile defense systems: past, present and future
http://en.rian.ru/analysis/20080514/107346494.html
The Russian rearmament program was adopted in response to new U.S. missile-defense plans stipulating the deployment of space-based attack weapons. Washington may decide to return to the Brilliant Pebbles project, a non-nuclear system of satellite-based, watermelon-sized mini-missiles designed to use a high-velocity kinetic warhead under the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) program.
At any rate, Washington rejects all Russian and Chinese initiatives aimed at preventing the militarization of outer space.

TURKMENISTAN STAGES MILITARY EXERCISES
http://jamestown.org/edm/article.php?article_id=2373053

Turkmenistan’s President Gurbanguly Berdimukhamedov attended the high profile Galken 2008 military exercises held in the Kelete training range on May 5. Turkmenistan conducted these exercises with an “antiterrorist dimension” both to boost its international image as a neutral country taking the threat of terrorism seriously and to showcase selected facets of its armed forces.....

Lockheed, Boeing warplanes boosted by House panel
http://www.reuters.com/article/ousiv/idUSN1451664620080514

Bird flu pandemic seen needing multiple drugs
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSL1393725920080514

LONDON (Reuters) - Governments need to stockpile different sorts of flu drugs -- not just Roche Holding AG's Tamiflu -- to counter the danger of resistance in a pandemic triggered by bird flu, British experts said on Wednesday.
The warning could boost demand for GlaxoSmithKline Plc's inhaled medicine Relenza, which has been largely overlooked in favor of Roche's more convenient pill.
Scientists analyzing the structure of a key flu virus protein found that both H5N1 and seasonal flu could develop resistance to Tamiflu, while still remaining highly susceptible to Relenza...

May/June 2008 Issue of NGA’s Pathfinder Magazine Now Online May 15, 2008
Company: National Geospatial-Intelligence AgencyIndustry: Military/DefenseLocation: Bethesda, MD, United States of America
The May/June 2008 issue of the Pathfinder is available online at: http://www.nga.mil/. This issue, titled “Unifying the Intelligence Profession,” highlights intelligence community efforts to discover new ways to better integrate our disciplines.

Dominant Cyber Offensive Engagement and Supporting Technology (Air Force is ready for dissidents)
https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=b34f1f48d3ed2ce781f85d28f700a870&tab=core&_cview=0&cck=1&au=&ck=
"This effort includes any and all techniques to enable user and/or root level access to both fixed (PC) or mobile computing platforms, using robust methodologies to enable access to operating systems, patch levels, applications, and hardware of interest. Further techniques include enabling of stealth and persistence capabilities on an adversarial infrastructure, possibly in combination with hardware and/or software focused development. In addition, other areas include techniques to enable exfiltration on both fixed and mobile computing platforms with consideration given to maintaining a "low and slow" gathering paradigm to enable stealthy operation. Finally the effort includes any and all techniques to enable D5 effects to computers/networks; and integration of these effects with access, stealth, persistence, Cybint capabilities; command and control of effects; and determination of effects link operational impact. Deliverables will be technical reports, software, demonstrations, and results of experiments which provide evidence and metrics concerning the assertions/claims about the research. Demonstrations may involve exploratory development models (ie brassboards) if appropriate"

See also:
Air Force Aims for 'Full Control' of 'Any and All' Computers
http://blog.wired.com/defense/2008/05/air-force-mater.html

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Livermore Nuke Psyop, Gates Next War Itis, NZ WMD, +


Security Flaws Exposed at Nuke Lab (U.S. Military Psyop)

If you were a terrorist looking for weapons-grade nuclear material in America, the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory might be a good place to start. At the core of the nuclear-weapons research facility about an hour's drive from San Francisco stands the "Superblock," a collection of buildings surrounded by multi-story steel-mesh fencing, a no-man's-land, electronic security gear, armed guards and cables to prevent a helicopter landing on the roof. These defenses are in place largely to protect Building 332, a repository for roughly 2,000 pounds of deadly plutonium and volatile, weapons-grade uranium — enough fissile material to build at least 300 nuclear weapons. But a recent simulated terror attack tested those defenses, and sources tell TIME that the results were not reassuring.....


Gates Wants Weapons to Be Useful in Current Conflicts

COLORADO SPRINGS — Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates issued a clear warning to the military and its industrial partners on Tuesday that expensive, new conventional weapons must prove their value to current conflicts, marked by insurgency and terrorism, if they hope for a place in future budgets.
In his most direct comments to date on the expected division of labor across the military, Mr. Gates said that the Army and Marine Corps would continue to carry the brunt of the nation’s combat effort. The Air Force and Navy, he said, would be cast as “America’s main strategic deterrent” against potential adversaries such as Iran, North Korea and China.
“I have noticed too much of a tendency towards what might be called ‘Next-War-itis’ — the propensity of much of the defense establishment to be in favor of what might be needed in a future conflict,” Mr. Gates told a conference here sponsored by the Heritage Foundation, a conservative policy institute......

NZ to host interntl counter-proliferation exercise

New Zealand's ability to deal with shipments concealing weapons of mass destruction (WMD) will be put to the test in a major international exercise hosted in Auckland in mid-September, Customs Minister Nanaia Mahuta announced today.
"Exercise Maru will test our ability to halt shipments containing chemical, biological or nuclear weapons, their delivery systems or dual-use goods (goods that can be used to make such weapons) as they cross New Zealand's borders and will also test our post-seizure procedures," Nanaia Mahuta said.

Emergency training exercise scheduled for tomorrow (MA)
http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080513/NEWS11/80513013

BOURNE - Several federal, state and local agencies will stage a training exercise tomorrow at Otis Air National Guard Base for the Cape Cod Emergency Traffic Plan, an operational plan developed to move a high volume of motor vehicle traffic off the Cape in case of a hurricane or other hazard.







Knowing the drill: WMD exercise at Camp San Luis

Local government emergency responders joined more than 250 state, federal and military personnel May 1 at Camp San Luis to participate in a large-scale, simulated weapons of mass destruction exercise.
The all-day, 15-hour simulation drill tested the emergency responders’ skills that are necessary and critical for real-life emergencies, according to a Cal Fire/County Fire Department spokesperson....

ECS receives $800,000 homeland security contract

The contract, the first the Orlando company has received from the department, requires ECS to design and deliver a virtual classroom in which instructors and students will interact and collaborate within a 3D secure social network environment and controlling representations of themselves, called avatars.
Korean DMZ droids 'unfit for combat'
The South Korean armed forces have announced that a year-long trial of robotic guard systems versus human troops has been judged a failure for the mechanoids. South Korea remains committed to significant automation of its defences, but intends to move forward with different kit - possibly with overseas involvement.
Raytheon-Led Team Demonstrates Innovative Technique Growing Semiconductor Compounds on Silicon http://www.examiner.com/p-164673~Raytheon_Led_Team_Demonstrates_Innovative_Technique_Growing_Semiconductor_Compounds_on_Silicon.html
TEWKSBURY, Mass., May 13, 2008 /PRNewswire/ -- A Raytheon Company-led team (NYSE: RTN) has accomplished a key step demonstrating that affordable, high-performance circuits for military applications can be produced by growing semiconductor compounds directly on silicon.
Demonstrating this highly innovative technique is part of a $6.5 million contract awarded by the Office of Naval Research and funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. It is a critical building block contributing to the ultimate success of DARPA's Compound Semiconductor Materials on Silicon, or COSMOS, program....
SAIC, CACI Int'l win Defense Dept. awards
SAIC, CACI Int'l among those awarded contracts under Defense Department's $12.23B program
SAN DIEGO (AP) -- Government engineering services provider Science Applications International Corp. and information technology services company CACI International Inc. said Tuesday they have received awards to provide IT services to the Department of Defense under a $12.23 billion task order contract.

Monday, May 12, 2008

Military Contractors Top 100, GD, Mid-East Drill, + News

Top 100: The challenge to stay on topContractors face uncertainty with tight budgets, procurement woes and a lame-duck administration http://www.washingtontechnology.com/print/23_08/32776-1.html




Duane Andrews, chief executive officer at QinetiQ North America, has seen years like 2008 before. Agencies have faced tight budgets in the past, and every shift from one presidential administration to the next — even within the same party — means contractors must weather a period of uncertainty.
But having been through this before doesn’t make it any easier for QinetiQ and other companies on this year’s Top 100. “We are certainly in a year that is going to be very disruptive to the normal acquisition system,” said Andrews, whose company ranks No. 24 on the Top 100 with $855.8 million in prime contracting revenue in fiscal 2007.
To continue to grow in today’s market, Top 100 companies are forging closer customer ties, streamlining internal operations and chasing emerging opportunities. All of this is happening against a backdrop of tight budgets, shifting buying patterns and increased oversight of government operations.
“Tight budgets are always a two-edged sword,” said Linda Mills, corporate vice president and president of the information technology sector at Northrop Grumman Corp., No. 3 on the Top 100 with $7.9 billion in prime contracts. “The pressure to do more with less drives demand for IT because IT drives productivity. On the other hand, it can slow new system starts.”

THE HUNT FOR OPPORTUNITIES Although most companies are bullish on their prospects in the market, budget documents for fiscal 2009 show spending holding steady.
An analysis of government budget documents by market research firm FedSources shows that the Defense Department will have only 21 new initiatives worth $2 million in 2009. Civilian agencies will have 85 new initiatives worth $156 million. FedSources analyzed Exhibit 53s that agencies file with the Office of Management and Budget and DOD’s IT-1 Report, which it uses to disclose its IT spending plans...

General Dynamics: Change and Opportunity
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121046151624483057.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
General Dynamics, the world's sixth-largest military contractor, is getting a new leader. And if he can deliver like the current chief executive officer, Nicholas Chabraja, has over the past decade, shareholders will be very pleased.
When he retires in June 2009, the 65-year-old Mr. Chabraja will be succeeded by Jay Johnson, chief executive officer of Dominion Virginia Power, and currently a member of the General Dynamics' board of directors.
US, Arab states in joint air drill
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=55222&sectionid=351020205

The United States, western countries and the Persian Gulf littoral Arab states have conducted a joint aerial drill on Sunday. According to Bahrain's official news agency (BNA), the exact location and duration of the exercise was kept secret, but it said that Bahrain's armed forces chief of staff, Sheikh Duaij bin Salman al-Khalifa, also participated in part of the war game....







Norad to be key player in Games security
http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=d09a8092-e116-4f8f-a4c6-2197bd8fd765
The North American Aerospace Defence Command is already planning how it will protect the 2010 Olympics with potentially everything from fighter aircraft to sophisticated surveillance planes.
Canadian Lt.-Gen. Charlie Bouchard, deputy commander of the joint U.S.-Canada military organization Norad, says work is under way on how to best provide air protection for the Games in Vancouver and Whistler.
The RCMP is the lead agency in organizing security, but Norad has been given the job of providing protection from the air and monitoring the airspace over the Olympics....

State closes storm drills to media (LA)
http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/18791834.html
Three days of hurricane preparedness drills by local, state and
and federal representatives were closed to the media this week in Baton Rouge.
The hurricane preparedness drills, which end today, are held to cover hypothetical situations and to promote discussions about issues such as contraflow traffic plans, public information efforts, shelters and more......


Preventing an arms race in outer space http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2008/05/12/preventing_an_arms_race_in_outer_space/


"Indeed, the United States, in various Pentagon documents published during the Bush administration, is explicit in aiming to put weapons in space - lasers, directed energy weapons, kinetic kill vehicles. The US Space Command, in its "Vision for 2020," plans for "counterspace operations." The already deployed missile defense system is a first step toward an anti-satellite capability, giving the Pentagon control of the "high frontier."......"

Is Japan trying to militarise space? http://www.newscientist.com/blog/space/2008/05/is-japan-trying-to-militarise-space.html

A new law expected to be passed by the Japanese parliament will allow the country to have a military presence in space for the first time. But don't panic. Japan isn't gearing up to make space into a shooting gallery. The country wants to bolster its space operations so it can keep a wary eye on North Korea and China, and so it can develop its own space industry.Japan has been feeling uneasy and bolstering its defenses in recent years - in December, for example, it launched a sea-based interceptor that destroyed a test missile over the Pacific in the first test of the country's missile-defence system, which is based on US technology. North Korea sparked the unease by pressing for the development of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles. China's anti-satellite test last year only added to the anxiety....

87% of U.S Employers Not Prepared for a Pandemic Outbreak the W.H.O. Claims is 'Serious' http://www.newswiretoday.com/news/34049/


How one death, sick passengers led to fears of pandemic http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080510.wtrainupdate0510/BNStory/National

The Canadian was rolling through Northern Ontario early Friday morning when a passenger began to have trouble breathing. A crew member gave her oxygen, but by the time a retired doctor from Britain sitting in the same car went to her side, she was already unconscious.
Within minutes, the 86-year-old woman — who, originally thought to be in her 60s, boarded the Via Rail train two days earlier in Jasper, Alta., and was in good spirits the night before — was dead, leaving passengers and crew members in shock.
It was the beginning of a dramatic day in which six more passengers fell ill, seemingly all at once, and the train, with its 264 passengers and 30 crew, was placed under quarantine.
Health officials from across Canada were in a high state of anxiety amid fears of an outbreak of an infectious disease, and, along with emergency services, broke into their planned responses.


Pandemic preparation: Angelina County & Cities Health District creates Web site to educate community about chance of a future global disaster http://www.lufkindailynews.com/hp/content/news/stories/2008/05/12/pandemic_flu.html