CA Terror Drill, DARPA, Purdue U, FEMA +

Terror drill scheduled for county disaster unit
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20080123-0637-1bo23terrordrill.html
CHULA VISTA: More than 100 officers, deputies, firefighters and hazardous-materials personnel will be at Coors Amphitheatre tomorrow to practice responding to a potential terrorist attack.
The drill, by the San Diego region's Metropolitan Medical Strike Team, will be held from 8 a.m. until 3 p.m. or later at the amphitheater and Knott's Soak City on Entertainment Circle near Heritage Road, sheriff's Lt. Phil Brust said.
The team consists of firefighters, emergency medical workers and peace officers from agencies throughout San Diego County. The drill will use up to 100 emergency vehicles, Brust said. –M.A.

NATO AWACS coming to San Diego for exercise
http://www.navytimes.com/news/2008/01/navy_nato_jointexercise_080122w/
SAN DIEGO, Calif. — A German E-3A Component aircraft is coming to San Diego for a weeklong joint training exercises with U.S. naval forces off the California coast, military officials said Tuesday.
The NATO Airborne Early Warning and Control System aircraft is coming from its home base in Germany with a NATO trainer cargo aircraft and about 80 crew members and support personnel representing 12 nations, NATO officials said in a news release. They will provide air control and air surveillance as the “eyes in the sky” during the at-sea exercises, scheduled through Jan. 31.

Defence research: Still in the lead?
http://www.nature.com/news/2008/080123/full/451390a.html
Half a century after its creation, the Pentagon's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is considered a paragon of government innovation. But some question whether it is still relevant. Sharon Weinberger reports.

Cell Phone Sensors Detect Radiation To Thwart Nuclear Terrorism (Purdue Again!)
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080122154415.htm

Purdue physics professor Ephraim Fischbach, at right, and nuclear engineer Jere Jenkins review radiation-tracking data as part of research to develop a system that would use a network of cell phones to detect and track radiation. Such a system could help prevent terrorist attacks with radiological "dirty bombs" and nuclear weapons by blanketing the nation with millions of cell phones equipped with radiation sensors able to detect even light residues of radioactive material. Because cell phones already contain global positioning locators, the network of phones would serve as a tracking system.

Bush Administration Lied 935 Times About Iraq Before Invasion: Study
http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1580119/20080123/index.jhtml
For years, the Bush administration has faced charges that it bent the truth or flat-out misled the public about Iraq's alleged stockpile of weapons of mass destruction in the lead-up to the 2003 invasion of the country. Now, a study by two nonprofit journalism organizations claims that President Bush and top officials in his administration issued nearly 1,000 false statements about the security threat posed by Iraq in the wake of 9/11…..

Are Pakistan's nuclear weapons safe?
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has dismissed fears that his country's nuclear weapons could be acquired by Islamist militants.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7190033.stm

Advance Nanotech Adds Homeland Security Expert to Its Board of Directors
http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/prnewswire/CLW005A23012008-1.htm

Don't rely on drugs to delay flu pandemic
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSN2236848820080123
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Vaccines and drugs will not be enough to slow or prevent a pandemic of influenza, according to a U.S. government report released on Tuesday.
The report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office confirms what most experts have been stressing for years -- that the pharmaceutical industry cannot be relied on alone to protect the world from bird flu.
The GAO, the investigational arm of Congress, reached its own conclusion independently.
"The use of antivirals and vaccines to forestall the onset of a pandemic would likely be constrained by their uncertain effectiveness and limited availability," the GAO report reads.
Health experts almost universally agree that a global epidemic -- a pandemic -- of influenza is inevitable and even overdue. Flu is always circulating but, every few decades, a completely new strain emerges and makes millions sicker than usual.

Emergency response plans restore local authority (FEMA)
http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/ny-usemer235548371jan23,0,2692850.story
WASHINGTON - In the first overhaul of emergency response planning since the botched response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff unveiled a blueprint yesterday that restores authority to state and local officials, emphasizes preparedness and strengthens the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

IAF "Brazen Chariots", WWIV Watch, + News

"Brazen Chariots"

Army, IAF to showcase might in March
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Army_IAF_to_showcase_might_in_March/articleshow/2722625.cms
NEW DELHI: After "soft power", it's time to flex the military muscle now. In keeping with its aspirations to be viewed as an emerging superpower, India will showcase its hard military power to an international audience with a huge Army-IAF combat exercise in March. Defence ministry sources say plans are afoot to call around 150 foreign military observers, including defence attaches based in New Delhi, for the exercise named "Brazen Chariots". It will be held in the deserts of Rajasthan in the third week of March.

Russian bombers to test-fire missiles in Bay of Biscay
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article3230615.ece
Russia has sent two long-range bombers to the Bay of Biscay, off the French and Spanish Atlantic coasts, to test-fire missiles in what Moscow billed as its biggest naval exercise in the area since the Soviet era.
Firing missiles off the coastline of two Nato members is the latest in a series of Kremlin moves flexing Moscow’s military muscle on the world stage.
Russian bombers joined aircraft carriers, battleships and submarine hunters from the Northern and Black Sea fleets for the Atlantic exercises, which come as the country enters an election campaign to choose a successor to President Putin.
“The air force is taking a very active part in the exercises of the navy’s strike force in the Atlantic,” the Russian air force said in a statement reported by Reuters. “Today, two strategic Tu-160 bombers departed for exercises in the Bay of Biscay, which ... will carry out a number of missions and will conduct tactical missile launches."

Nuclear First Strike Needed Vs Weapons Of Mass Destruction - NATO Generals
http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7009797009
Brussels, Belgium (AHN) - A pre-emptive nuclear strike is necessary as a deterrent to the proliferation of nuclear and weapons of mass destruction, international terrorism, political fanaticism and religious fundamentalism, according to former American, British, German, French and Dutch military chiefs.
The use of force without approval from the United Nations is also necessary "to protect large numbers of human beings," they say
The unprecedented recommendation comes from Gen. John Shalikashvili, the former chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff and former NATO supreme commander in Europe; Lord Inge, Field Marshal and former head of the general staff and the defense staff in Britain; Gen. Klaus Naumann of Germany and former chairman of NATO's military committee; Admiral Jacques Lanxade, former French chief of staff; and Gen. Henk van den Breemen, ex-Dutch chief of staff.
The manifesto - which has been submitted to the Pentagon and NATO - is likely to be discussed in April at a NATO summit in Romania, according to The Guardian.

Next in flight: antimissile system (update)
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0123/p02s02-usgn.html
Three 767s will start running the technology in April, but experts question this use of homeland-security resources.
(cont…)

Carlyle may buy Booz Allen Hamilton
http://www.bizjournals.com/pacific/stories/2008/01/14/daily34.html
The Carlyle Group is in discussions to buy the government consulting business of Booz Allen Hamilton Inc., according to a source familiar with the negotiations.
The source spoke to the Baltimore Business Journal on the condition of anonymity because the talks are still ongoing. The price tag for the deal is around $2 billion, according to media reports, though the source could not confirm this amount.
Officials with Washington, D.C.-based Carlyle and McLean, Va.-based Booz Allen Hamilton, a technology consulting firm, declined to comment.

Logan begins new fingerprint system for international travelers
http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/general/view.bg?articleid=1068279&srvc=rss

A Pandemic That Wasn’t but Might Be
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/22/science/22flu.html?ref=science
Last year, for the first time since avian flu emerged as a global threat, the number of human cases was down from the year before. As the illness receded, the scary headlines — with their warnings of a pandemic that could kill 150 million people — all but vanished
But avian flu has not gone away. Nor has it become less lethal or less widespread in birds. Experts argue that preparations against it have to continue, even if the virus’s failure to mutate into a pandemic strain has given the world more breathing room…..

Robotic Fly to Descend on New York
http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?no_d2=1&sid=08/01/22/1548208
"Harvard University's tiny microrobotic fly, hailed by its creators as 'the first robotic fly that is able to generate enough thrust to takeoff,' will be showcased at New York's Museum of Modern Art starting Feb. 24. The life-sized 'Flybot' reportedly has a wingspan of 1.2 inches (3 cm) and weighs a mere 0.002 ounces (60 mg). This project of the Harvard University Microbotics Lab has received funding from DARPA, the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, which hopes to gain access to micro-miniature surveillance technologies."

Massive Russian Exercise, DARPA, Super Bowl Security +

* I give a moment of silence in tribute to M.L.K. - probably killed for his anti-Vietnam War stance, rather than anything racial. Activists like him are no longer possible with Military control of media and COINTLEPRO infilitration of EVERYTHING.

The Russians are coming! - Atlantic exercise starts

http://www.russiatoday.ru/news/news/19850

A massive naval training exercise is underway in the Atlantic Ocean. It’s the largest operation of its kind since the fall of the Soviet Union.




Russian warships in Atlantic for exercise
http://www.interfax.ru/e/B/politics/28.html?id_issue=11948710

MOSCOW. Jan 20 (Interfax) - A large group of Russian warships has moved to the Atlantic from the Mediterranean on a military training mission, the Russian Navy announced in a press release.
"A strike naval group comprising the heavy aircraft carrying cruiser Admiral Kuznetsov, the missile carrying cruiser Moskva, the large anti-submarine ships Admiral Levchenko and Admiral Chabanenko, and the supply ships Sergei Osipov and Nikolai Chiker left the Mediterranean on January 19, passed through the Strait of Gibraltar and reached the Atlantic," Russian Navy spokesman Igor Dygalo said, according to the press release....

Russia warns it can use nuclear weapons
http://www.kansascity.com/659/story/451847.html

Russia's military chief of staff said Saturday that Moscow could use nuclear weapons in preventive strikes to protect itself and its allies, the latest aggressive remarks from increasingly assertive Russian authorities.
Gen. Yuri Baluyevsky's comment did not mark a policy shift, military analysts said. Amid disputes with the West over security issues, it may have been meant as a warning that Russia is prepared to use its nuclear might.
"We do not intend to attack anyone, but we consider it necessary for all our partners in the world community to clearly understand ... that to defend the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Russia and its allies, military forces will be used, including preventively, including with the use of nuclear weapons," Baluyevsky said at a military conference in a remark broadcast on state-run cable channel Vesti-24.
According to the state-run news agency RIA-Novosti, Baluyevsky added that Russia would use nuclear weapons and carry out preventive strikes only in accordance with Russia's military doctrine.
The military doctrine adopted in 2000 says Russia may use nuclear weapons to counter a nuclear attack on Russia or an ally, or a large-scale conventional attack that poses a critical risk to Russia's security. (cont...)

Aircraft carrier readies for exercises off coast
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/347987_lincoln19.html

The Everett-based aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln is readying for exercises off the coast of Southern California in advance of a new deployment overseas.

ANALYSIS: New Israeli spy satellite sends Iran a message
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/946765.html



The pre-dawn launch Monday of a new reconnaissance satellite further establishes Israel as one of the world's superpowers in space, and grants it an important further intelligence advantage over its rivals. The primary intelligence contribution of the TECSAR satellite, manufactured by Israel Aerospace Industries, lies in improving capabilities of intelligence gathering and coverage over Iran.


'Biometrics' used to identify terrorists
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23087674-2,00.html

THE combination of a facial expression, a spoken word, or a fingerprint could be enough to stop a terrorist attack.
Computer scientists and engineers are working with intelligence agencies on an international collaborative database that will use biometrics or unique individual facial, voice and physical "signatures", to identify and trace terrorists and persons of interest.
U.S.-based Professor Patrick Wang of Boston's North Eastern University told the first international "e-Forensics" conference, held in Adelaide this week, Australia is working with the U.S., UK, Canada, Japan and China on the database.
"Biometrics is working with Homeland Security to try to prevent terrorist attacks using artificial intelligence," he said. "Cross-country collaboration is already under way. There have been some very minor achievements, but people still expect to spend more money and time and to achieve a solution that cannot afford any more mistakes - aiming for 100 per cent accuracy," he said.

Giuliani Had Ties to Company Trying to Sell Border Technology
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/18/us/politics/18fence.html?_r=1&em&ex=1200805200&en=0adbae44eba50365&ei=5087%0A&oref=slogin

On the presidential campaign trail, former Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani often promotes the installation of electronic monitoring devices at the border to stem illegal immigration, without mentioning that until a few months ago, he was partner in a company trying to market such technology.
Mr. Giuliani and his consulting company were part owners of SkyWatch L.L.C., a closely held start-up company that says it has developed a sensor capable of monitoring illegal border crossings. SkyWatch, in collaboration with Raytheon, a large military contractor, is now looking to market the technology to the federal government and elsewhere.
Mr. Giuliani’s company, Giuliani Partners, was invited to join the venture more than two years ago by Abdol Moabery, then the chief executive of SkyWatch’s parent company, who went on to help the Giuliani campaign raise money in Florida....

Pocket plasma planes (DARPA)
http://www.newscientist.com/blog/technology/2008/01/pocket-plasma-planes.html

Novel Explores Bioterrorism and National Security Measures for Weapons of Mass Destruction (PSYOP WATCH)
http://www.send2press.com/newswire/2008-01-0117-001.shtml

Fighter jets part of Super Bowl security plan
http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/106913

The roar emanating from the stadium stands on Super Bowl Sunday will be more than equaled in the skies over the West Valley on Feb. 3. Heightened security measures for the game will include a strong air presence of F-16 jets from Luke Air Force Base.Phoenix police Sgt. Andy Hill said Tuesday the increased fighter jet traffic is a precautionary measure.“Since 9/11 times have changed,” he said.On the ground, too, West Valley residents will see stepped-up security, public safety officials said Tuesday......

Local Company To Provide Security At Super Bowl
http://news.yahoo.com/s/wcvb/20080121/lo_wcvb/15104711

A local company is providing high-tech security for the Arizona stadium that is hosting the Super Bowl.
NewsCenter 5's Jim Boyd reported that Security Detection of Watertown is headed to Arizona to provide screening systems for the Super Bowl. Its equipment will augment an extremely tight security operation.
"It's actually a national security event, so they're not going to mess around with anything or take any chances," said Michael White, of Security Detection. White's company is sending 41 walk-through metal detectors to Arizona.
The company is also providing 250 hand-held devices, along with four X-ray machines.....

Saturday Editorial

"Global War on Terror"/Iraq, Vietnam....Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose

"Thirty-eight years ago Sunday, network television was interrupted at 11:36 p.m. EDT so President Lyndon B. Johnson could tell the nation that U.S. warships in a place called the Gulf of Tonkin had been attacked by North Vietnamese PT boats.In response to what he described as "open aggression on the open seas," Johnson ordered U.S. airstrikes on North Vietnam.The airstrikes opened the door to a war that would kill 1 million Vietnamese and 58,000 Americans and divide the nation along class and generational lines.Over the years, debate has swirled around whether U.S. ships actually were attacked that night, or whether, as some skeptics suggest, the Johnson administration staged or provoked an event to get congressional authority to act against North Vietnam

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines02/0805-09.htm

Recently released tapes of White House phone conversations indicate the attack never happened.

One of the reasons I stay in the 9/11 movement, besides fighting for our very freedom, is for vindication in history. It took almost Four decades for the Gulf of Tonkin to be officially declared a staged event, how long will it take for 9/11?
In research for my blog, I stumbled across a high school class in Iowa being indoctrinated with lies about the attacks:
Central students study terrorism http://www.thonline.com/article.cfm?id=187385World

cultures/global studies class continues ambitious research projects"Ever since the events of 9/11 in New York City, Washington, D.C., and Shanksville, Pa., Americans have been on heightened alert against terrorist attacks," said John Adelmann, of Central's world cultures/global studies class. "The young men who flew the passenger planes into the World Trade Center Towers and the Pentagon were very religious, and were willing to die for what they believed in -- that America is the symbol of evil and must be destroyed."It isn't a typical "read the chapter and take the test class," Adelmann added, "far from it."

my comment posted:

“Nice to see the U.S has subverted schools to the level seen in the USSR with Stalinist Science: "The young men who flew the passenger planes into the World Trade Center Towers and the Pentagon were very religious, and were willing to die for what they believed in.." - Is this true? One of the alleged "hijackers" ate pork chops did cocaine and lived with a stripper in Florida as per Daniel Hopsicker, investigative journalist. Has this "teacher" looked into ANY elements of the official story around 9/11? 9/11 was false flag terrorism conducted by our own military to create a rationale for foreign plunder and corporate welfare. God help this nation when reason has been replaced with propaganda”

I would imagine all the schools across the nation are indoctrinating the youth with this propaganda. What hope is there for change from this madness unless the masses realize that what they think is reality was manufactured by elites for their sick agenda?

At six plus years, officials are slowly coming out from hiding: "Twenty-five U.S. Military Officers Challenge Official Account of 9/11 -Official Account of 9/11: “Impossible”, “A Bunch of Hogwash”, “Total B.S.”, “Ludicrous”, “A Well-Organized Cover-up”, “A White-Washed Farce”
January 14, 2008 – Twenty-five former U.S. military officers have severely criticized the official account of 9/11 and called for a new investigation. They include former commander of U.S. Army Intelligence, Major General Albert Stubblebine, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, Col. Ronald D. Ray, two former staff members of the Director of the National Security Agency; Lt. Col. Karen Kwiatkowski, PhD, and Major John M. Newman, PhD, and many others. They are among the rapidly growing number of military and intelligence service veterans, scientists, engineers, and architects challenging the government’s story. The officers’ statements appear below, listed alphabetically." http://www.opednews.com/articles/genera_alan_mil_080112_twenty_five_u_s__mil.htm

How will we see America when it becomes official that we slaughtered 3,000 of our very own to go to war and kill Hundreds of thousands abroad? Can the nation survive?History will decide, but only through our persistant involvement in challenging whatis now considered as fact, i.e. 9/11 was Arab terrorism, done because "they hate our freedom"
9/11 was self inflicted terrorism, done because our Government in Washington hates our freedom. I can only hope it doesn't take decades and countless lives before the truth-seekers are vindicated around 9/11. No more wars for lies, no more control from a sham Government.

Noble Resolve '08, Robotic Armies, Space War +

"Noble Resolve 2008" *thanks to Michael Vail

Joint forces to sharpen disaster response

http://www.washingtontechnology.com/online/1_1/32120-1.html

The U.S. Joint Forces Command and Northern Command are planning a series of computer-based disaster drills with four states this year as part of their Noble Resolve 2008 preparedness exercises.
The drills are intended to enhance military support during and after natural disasters, accidents and terrorist attacks. The participating states are Indiana, Oregon, Texas and Virginia.
Although the Joint Forces Command is based in Suffolk, Va., and Northcom is at Peterson Air Force Base, Colo., the exercises will bring together participants using computer models and common scenarios, Rear Adm. Dan Davenport, director of the joint concept development and experimentation directorate for the joint forces, said in a news release.

Although the Joint Forces Command is based in Suffolk, Va., and Northcom is at Peterson Air Force Base, Colo., the exercises will bring together participants using computer models and common scenarios, Rear Adm. Dan Davenport, director of the joint concept development and experimentation directorate for the joint forces, said in a news release.
The scenarios will focus on maritime domain awareness, tracking of weapons of mass destruction, information sharing and tracking of populations.
Participants will make decisions and work together online just as they would in case of a real crisis. By using the models, no troops or emergency personnel will have to actually deploy or respond to events, saving money and time, the news release stated.
"We can let them actually see the scenario and provide their responses and execute their procedures in their own locations, fusion centers and operating centers," Davenport said.
Other participants in the exercises include the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Homeland Security Department, U.S. Pacific Command, National Guard Bureau and National Guard organizations from several states. Several smaller Noble Resolve events will be held throughout the year, as well as a major exercise in July.
Disaster drills typically involve government employees, contractors, public officials and volunteers. Government contractors sometimes are called on to provide additional support during major preparedness exercises.

US Army proto-Dalek combat robots enter testing

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/01/18/dalek_fcs_uav_ducted_fan_war_robot/

Monster Pentagon contractors Boeing and SAIC jointly announced today that two of their latest offerings for the future robot armies of America have entered military testing early. The machines in question are a relatively dull lightweight groundcrawler job and a frankly splendid ducted-fan flying Dalek.
The two mechanoid warriors are known as the Small Unmanned Ground Vehicle (SUGV) and the Class I (Block 0) Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, aka Micro Air Vehicle or MAV. According to a joint Boeing/SAIC release, 25 SUGVs and 11 MAVs will be shipped to US Army test facilities starting this month.

"The decision to accelerate, driven in part by feedback from soldiers in theatre... confirms that we are on the right track to deliver a crucial capability that is needed and desired by our soldiers currently serving in combat operations," said Boeing wardroid veep Dennis Muilenburg.

Disharmony in the spheres

http://www.economist.com/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10533205

Modern American warfare relies on satellites. They make America powerful but also vulnerable, particularly in light of China's new celestial assertiveness

A HUSHED, dimmed hall in the nerve centre that controls America's air operations from Somalia to Afghanistan is dominated by giant video screens tracking coalition aircraft. Blue dots show the location of ground forces, with “troops in contact” highlighted for priority air support. Smaller screens show live black-and-white footage, relayed by satellite from unmanned drones which, in their turn, are remotely controlled by pilots in America.
The Combined Air Operations Centre's exact location in “southwest Asia” cannot be disclosed. But from here commanders supervise tens of thousands of sorties a year. Through aircraft surveillance pods they get a god's eye view of operations that range from old-fashioned strafing to the targeted killing of insurgent leaders with bombs guided by global positioning system (GPS) satellites, and emergency air drops to isolated soldiers using parachutes that steer themselves automatically to the chosen spot. (cont...)

Staging the Largest Terrorism-Response Drill in US History (TOPOFF Summary)

http://www.wired.com/politics/security/magazine/16-02/ps_homeland

Lasers Zap With 'Nonlethal' Pulses

http://blog.wired.com/defense/2008/01/laser-for-micro.html

Zapping lenses and sensors is just the beginning. The same technology behind the Laser Crazer weapon I describe in Wired News may ultimately be used to produce ray guns designed for "personnel incapacitation."

The are a whole family of lasers that create intense pulses of laser energy, that, in turn, produces a plasma flash-bang at the target's surface. The Laser Crazer is just the latest example.The big bear of this technology is the Pulsed Energy Projectile, a chemical laser weighing several hundred pounds that's being developed as a nonlethal antipersonnel weapon. It fires pulses slowly -- at a rate of less than ten per second.The middle bear is the Plasma Acoustic Shield System, a solid state laser producing hundreds of pulses a second as a screening device and to stun and disorientate. The latest device is the little bear of the three, based on a femtosecond laser firing ten thousand plus pulses a second, creating a series of minute explosions at the target surface. That's enough to scratch glass and damage lenses, but little else. The photo at left shows the laser hitting a glass target.But there's more to it than that. When the PEP's predecessor was being developed – the Pulsed Impulsive Kill Laser or PIKL – the emphasis was on the shockwave it produced. Then it was discovered that against living targets, there was a more dramatic effect of pain and paralysis. This turned out to be due to the electromagnetic pulse caused by the expanding plasma, and the PEP took a new direction.
In 2005, documents released under the FoIA showed that PEP was being tuned to maximise the pain effect of the plasma blasts . The term to watch out for is "nociceptor activation." Nociceptors are the pain-sensing nerve cells, and activation is setting them off. The problem is that these laser-generated plasmas are not yet well understood.
A session at the Directed Energy & Non-Lethal Weapons conference in December was supposed to have included a session on the PEP. The topic: "identify & specify bio-effects parameters that would cause personnel incapacitation and to determine if a laser system can produce that incapacitation effect." But apparently this was canceled, alas.
So, naturally, I was interested in a paper on "detection and analysis of RF emission generated by laser-matter interactions" -- especially because the contributors included researchers into femtosecond laser and those who had done the "maximum pain" work. Basically, they fired ultrashort, one-joule pulses at copper and dielectric targets and measured the EMP produced. In the results the authors record fields of 400 volts/meter, noting that somewhat higher fields (10,000 volts/meter) are needed for nociceptor activation.
The femtosecond laser they used is not quite capable of causing agony at the receiving end. But that seems to be the intention (the fact that the study was sponsored by the Joint Nonlethal Weapons Directorate may be a clue, too). DARPA-back researchers are already working on a shoebox-sized femtosecond laser, and it's likely they will succeed in the near future. Of course, humans aren’t the only ones vulnerable to electromagnetic pulse. The same technology could be used to develop anti-missile, anti-aircraft, anti-satellite and other weapons which would use a relatively weak laser to zap the target with EMP from a plasma burst on its surface. The US Army is developing an ultra-short pulse laser which aims to destroy IEDs and other targets.
The technology is advancing fast; how long it remains in the open is anyone's guess

World Bank Washington Buildings Closed Today After Bomb Threat

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aBponGcsyKaE&refer=us

Terror Drill (NE,IA), Holographic Simulator, FCS + News

Agencies use mock terror attack for drill
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=19203569&BRD=2703&PAG=461&dept_id=555106&rfi=6
Many agencies prepared for a large-scale terrorist attack Tuesday, including Civil Service Teams from Nebraska and Iowa, as part of a training simulation.
Teams expected a drill at around 10 a.m. The call came in at 8 a.m. announcing a terrorist attack on the ConAgra Campus near 10th and Farnam streets in Omaha.
"They're trying to rattle us," Assistant Chief Matt Thomas with the Council Bluffs Fire Department said.
A Nebraska Civil Service Team handled the ConAgra incident and discovered the chemical agents used were manufactured in Council Bluffs.
"We got a phone call on a suspicious vehicle parked in front of a warehouse, " Thomas said.
The warehouse, at 1001 S. Sixth St., became the terrorists' mock headquarters, complete with two chemical warfare labs and a floor dedicated to making bombs.
Pottawattamie County Sheriff's Office Bomb Squad members tackled the suspicious maroon minivan parked out front.
"The van had chemicals and a dispersion agent inside, so we called out the bomb squad to send in their robot and take a look," Captain Brad Nocita with Council Bluffs HAZMAT said. (cont…)

High-tech simulator unveiled at Camp Pendleton
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/military/20080116-9999-1n16train.html
Holographic technology is among the high-tech elements of the Infantry Immersion Trainer at Camp Pendleton.

The Marine Corps is embracing breakthrough holographic technology to teach combat tactics and battlefield ethics at Camp Pendleton as troops there begin another major round of deployments to Iraq.
Marine officials yesterday unveiled the Infantry Immersion Trainer, a high-tech prototype simulator that resides in a former – and decidedly low-tech – tomato-packing plant that still bears directions for truck drivers.
The 32,000-square-foot, $2.5 million training ground became reality after a request from Gen. James Mattis, former commander of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Pendleton. The program capitalizes on 15 years of Navy and Marine research on everything from body movements to urban warfare, coupled with the latest advancements in simulation from defense companies such as Lockheed Martin. (cont…)

KODIAK ISLAND BECOMES KEY STAR WARS TEST SITE
http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_bruce_k__080116_kodiak_island_become.htm

HOMELAND SECURITY UPDATE: Chertoff Announces New Border-Crossing ID Rules
http://www.rotor.com/Default.aspx?tabid=510&newsid905=57500

Showing off FCS: Officials must realize program's importance
http://www.elpasotimes.com/opinion/ci_7980826
Future Combat Systems is exactly what it says -- the future. FCS is the future of the Army and reflects what it will require in terms of personnel, equipment and communications to successfully conduct combat in future arenas. It is the core of the force modernization that is going on now.
It's important that U.S. government officials, elected or otherwise, have a solid grasp of FCS' importance and the necessity of keeping it adequately funded. (cont..)

Japan ABM Shield, Sim Urban Panic, SAIC, GD, + News

Japan plans Tokyo missile shield
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7188698.stm
Japanese officials have carried out exercises to see whether a missile defence shield could be deployed in the capital, Tokyo.
Teams set up radio masts and tested communications at two separate locations in the city.
The military was assessing whether Patriot Advanced Capability 3 (PAC-3) surface-to-air interceptor missiles could be deployed at such sites.
Concern over North Korea has prompted Japan to up its missile defence.
In 1998 Pyongyang test-fired a long-range Taepodong-1 missile over northern Japan.
In 2006 the communist state also tested a longer-range missile, as well as carrying out a nuclear test. (cont..)

Modeling Urban Panic
http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/01/14/1924212&from=rss
Schneier is reporting that Arizona State University's Paul Torrens has been developing a computer simulation to model urban panic. "The goal of this project is to develop a reusable and behaviorally founded computer model of pedestrian movement and crowd behavior amid dense urban environments, to serve as a test-bed for experimentation." The simulation tests behaviors from how a crowd flees from a burning car to how a pathogen might be transmitted through a mobile pedestrian over time among others
“"The goal of this project is to develop a reusable and behaviorally founded computer model of pedestrian movement and crowd behavior amid dense urban environments, to serve as a test-bed for experimentation," says Torrens. "The idea is to use the model to test hypotheses, real-world plans and strategies that are not very easy, or are impossible to test in practice."
Such as the following: 1) simulate how a crowd flees from a burning car toward a single evacuation point; 2) test out how a pathogen might be transmitted through a mobile pedestrian over a short period of time; 3) see how the existing urban grid facilitate or does not facilitate mass evacuation prior to a hurricane landfall or in the event of dirty bomb detonation; 4) design a mall which can compel customers to shop to the point of bankruptcy, to walk obliviously for miles and miles and miles, endlessly to the point of physical exhaustion and even death; 5) identify, if possible, the tell-tale signs of a peaceful crowd about to metamorphosize into a hellish mob; 6) determine how various urban typologies, such as plazas, parks, major arterial streets and banlieues, can be reconfigured in situ into a neutralizing force when crowds do become riotous; and 7) conversely, figure out how one could, through spatial manipulation, inflame a crowd, even a very small one, to set in motion a series of events that culminates into a full scale Revolution or just your average everyday Southeast Asian coup d'état -- regime change through landscape architecture.” (cont...)

SAIC working on the cutting edge (anthrax/Ft Detrick)
http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sections/business/display.htm?StoryID=70004
Science Application International Corp., or SAIC, has been a mainstay of Frederick's biotechnical research community since 1995.
A contractor for the National Cancer Institute, SAIC-Frederick's mission is to provide scientific, technical, management, administrative, and logistical support to National Institutes of Health intramural laboratory research and development into causes of and cures for cancer and AIDS.
Since President Nixon's declaration of the war on cancer in 1972, the area where SAIC-Frederick is located at Fort Detrick has been owned by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
SAIC-Frederick employs about 1,770 people, and operates on the largest single research contract awarded by the Department of Health and Human Services.
SAIC-Frederick occupies 68 acres and 116 buildings at Fort Detrick.
The Frederick location and proximity of the buildings is well sited. The National Institutes of Health is nearby, as well as the I-270 biotech corridor.
Satellite locations off-base, such as a genotyping facility in Gaithersburg and the vaccine pilot plant off Md. 85 are easily accessible to the operation.....

Government Awards Passport Card DealsTuesday January 15, 1:37 pm ET
General Dynamics, Unisys Win Government Contracts for Work on Passport Card
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080115/general_dynamics.html?.v=1
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The government has awarded contracts worth up to $99.3 million to General Dynamics Corp. and up to $62 million to Unisys Corp. to produce identification cards and reader technology.
Under a five-year State Department contract announced Tuesday, General Dynamics Information Technology will produce so-called passport cards, which will contain Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology. The cards will allow citizens to return to the U.S. from Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean by land or water.
And under a separate five-year contract announced by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, part of the Department of Homeland Security, Unisys will produce the technology and infrastructure needed to read the cards at U.S. borders

Do U.S. pandemic plans threaten rights, ACLU asks
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080114/pl_nm/birdflu_rights_dc_3
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. policy in preparing for a potential bird flu pandemic is veering dangerously toward a heavy-handed law-enforcement approach, the American Civil Liberties Union said on Monday.
The group, which advocates for individuals' legal rights based on the U.S. Constitution, said federal government pandemic plans were confusing and could emphasize a police and military approach to outbreaks of disease, instead of a more sensible public health approach.
"Rather than focusing on well-established measures for protecting the lives and health of Americans, policymakers have recently embraced an approach that views public health policy through the prism of national security and law enforcement," the ACLU report reads.
But the U.S. Health and Human Services Department (HHS) said the group had misunderstood the government's approach and said current plans already incorporate many of the ACLU's recommendations.
Infectious disease experts agree that a pandemic of some sort of influenza is inevitable, and most worries focus on H5N1 avian influenza. Although it mainly attacks birds, the virus has infected 349 people since 2003 and killed 216 of them.
A few mutations could turn it into a highly infectious disease for people and could kill millions globally.
Most countries are working to develop plans to deal with the potential consequences. The U.S. plans are available on Web sites such as http://pandemicflu.gov.
The ACLU said it was worried that the plan called for military and police involvement in enforcing a quarantine.
The ACLU experts said they were especially disturbed by an October executive order from President George W. Bush that directed HHS to establish a task force to plan for potential catastrophes like a terrorist attack, pandemic influenza or a natural disaster that would ensure full use of Department of Defense resources.

PROMISING PRACTICES FOR PANDEMIC PLANNING

Health workers in Texas prepare national border for pandemic flu
http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/cidrap/content/influenza/panflu/news/jan1408borderpp.html
Juvaris BioTherapeutics enters research deal with CDC http://www.bizjournals.com/eastbay/stories/2008/01/14/daily18.html?ana=from_rss


NATO, Russia to hold theater missile defense exercise
http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90777/6338446.html
NATO and Russia are going to conduct a joint Theater Missile Defense (TMD) exercise next week in Germany, the alliance said in a press release Monday. The computer-assisted exercise will be the fourth in a series of joint NATO-Russia TMD exercises. While previous exercises have focused on command and control of the TMD forces and the execution of operations in a joint theater of operations, this exercise will concentrate on the planning processes required to enable an effective and efficient employment of such forces, NATO said.