Fake Iran Encounter Simmed in '02, CO Pandemic X, + News

Community plays out a devastating scenario in a tabletop exercise (CO)
http://www.montrosepress.com/articles/2008/01/14/news/doc478af4c796da5168636056.txt
From left, Montrose Memorial Hospital CEO Ken Platou, David Dreitlein, M.D., and Emergency Room Director Sharon Holbrook study what the chain of command would look like in the event of an outbreak of pandemic flu during a tabletop exercise at the hospital Wednesday. (Barton Glasser / Daily Press)

MONTROSE — “What if?” was the question local law, emergency and health officials faced last week during a pandemic tabletop exercise.Montrose County Health and Human Services collaborated with Montrose Memorial Hospital to present a devastating scenario involving the avian flu. The exercise was to test the readiness of important community entities including the police and sheriff departments, the hospital, health and human services, Montrose County and city, the fire department and school district.
“The outcome for us was to get the conversation started and get different players working together,” said Dr. Dick Gingery, MCHHS facilitator for the event. “We would all have to work together in this situation if it was a reality.”
Representatives from the different organization were given a packet that laid out a series of events which participants found daunting and overwhelming to their department.
The scenario started with an explosion at a chicken farm outside of Montrose. At the same time, there is “buzzing” in the community about the discovery of the avian flu virus in a chicken farm in Delta.
A pandemic is an outbreak of a disease that is prevalent over a whole county or the world.

Air Forces to launch relief exercises
http://www.guampdn.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080114/NEWS01/801140320/1002
Pacific Air Forces will launch its first-ever total force humanitarian assistance and disaster relief exercise, known as Pacific Lifeline, from three locations within the Hawaiian Islands, Jan. 20 through Feb. 9, according to a news release from the Air Force.
About 900 Department of Defense personnel will participate in the 13th Air Force-led exercise, which will train and integrate Air Force and Army active duty, Air National Guard and Reserve component forces to respond to a real-world humanitarian crisis or national disaster in the Pacific Region. Initial forces will begin prepositioning at Kona International Airport Jan.11 via U.S. Air Force transport aircraft.
"We live in a region were natural disasters occur, unfortunately, all too often, and Pacific Air Forces are postured and ready to respond quickly and effectively when the call for help comes in," said Lt. Gen. Loyd S. "Chip" Uttterback, 13th Air Force commander. "Pacific Lifeline is a terrific venue to exercise our ability to organize, plan, rapidly deploy and lead a joint force to provide disaster relief and humanitarian assistance anywhere in the Pacific theater."

Iran Encounter Grimly Echoes ’02 War Game
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/12/washington/12navy.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin
WASHINGTON — There is a reason American military officers express grim concern over the tactics used by Iranian sailors last weekend: a classified, $250 million war game in which small, agile speedboats swarmed a naval convoy to inflict devastating damage on more powerful warships.
In the days since the encounter with five Iranian patrol boats in the Strait of Hormuz, American officers have acknowledged that they have been studying anew the lessons from a startling simulation conducted in August 2002. In that war game, the Blue Team navy, representing the United States, lost 16 major warships — an aircraft carrier, cruisers and amphibious vessels — when they were sunk to the bottom of the Persian Gulf in an attack that included swarming tactics by enemy speedboats.
“The sheer numbers involved overloaded their ability, both mentally and electronically, to handle the attack,” said Lt. Gen. Paul K. Van Riper, a retired Marine Corps officer who served in the war game as commander of a Red Team force representing an unnamed Persian Gulf military. “The whole thing was over in 5, maybe 10 minutes.”

WorldView satellite delivers its first views of the world
http://www.lompocrecord.com/articles/2008/01/14/news/centralcoast/news04.txt
A high-resolution imaging satellite that launched in September from Vandenberg Air Force Base has delivered extremely detailed first pictures, according to DigitalGlobe, the spacecraft's owner-operator.
The firm released images from the WorldView-1 satellite, showing skyscrapers in Houston, Texas; the port of Yokohama, Japan; and an area around a traffic circle in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, while announcing that WorldView-1 has reached full operating capability for all customers.

Homeland Security proposes delayed Real ID rollout
http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9848924-7.html?tag=nefd.pulse

Russian missile cruiser near Malta
http://www.di-ve.com/Default.aspx?ID=72&Action=1&NewsID=49140&newscategory=37


India, China to hold 2nd military exercise this year: PM
http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?id=715466ec-6f22-4d53-a78d-fb810086b086&ParentID=3249e99e-8473-4433-8cd7-464efe5e749a&&Headline=India%2c+China+to+hold+2nd+military+exercise+this+year%3a+PM
India and China on Monday announced to hold their second joint military exercises this year and welcomed the "progress" in negotiations on the boundary issue.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Chinese counterpart Wen Jiabao during extensive talks agreed to substantially enhance economic engagement by stepping up bilateral trade target from $40 billion to $60 billion by 2010.
Building on the goodwill generated by the landmark handshake between the world's two powerful armies last month in Kumming in China, the two leaders decided to have a second military exercise in India.
"We have agreed to continue to deepening mutual understanding and trust between our armed forces and welcome the successful first exercise in Kumming," Singh said.

NYC Bioterror Sensors, "Imediate Response 2008", + News

New York City battles feds for bio-terror sensors

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/newyork/ny-nybio105532180jan10,0,4089751.story

A new generation of early warning sensors for biological terrorism is proving to be controversial in New York City, as city officials battle with the federal government over the number of sensors.City officials want more of the units, which cost $100,000 each. But officials with the Department of Homeland Security in Washington, D.C., which funds 90 percent of the units' cost, say they prefer to wait for even newer technology, saying the government wants "accurate and affordable" bioterrorism protection for all cities."It needs to be better," Russ Knocke, a spokesman for the DHS, said of the current units. Their technology was developed by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, Calif. (cont...)

"IMMEDIATE RESPONSE 2008"

The U.S. European Command 30-Person Delegation Visited Georgia

http://eng.primenewsonline.com/news/121/ARTICLE/18076/2008-01-10.html

Tbilisi. January 10 (Prime-News) – The U.S. European Command 30-Person delegation visited Georgia. The purpose of the visit is to work out action planes concerning the wide-ranging military exercises.
Prime News was told at the Ministry of Defense of Georgia that American militaries visited and observed Vaziani Base infrastructure.
In the framework of the visit members of the delegation are going to attend Poti Navy base.
International military exercises (IMMEDIATE RESPONSE 2008) starts in July current year. In exercises together with Georgian and American military servants will take part Armenian, Azeri, Ukrainian and Turkish servicemen as well.
During two months militaries will be trained how to engage in combat operations in populated regions. The exercise will proceed in Krtsanisi, Vaziani and Poti military bases. (cont...)

China for more joint military exercises with India

http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/000200801101001.htm

New Delhi (PTI): With India and China breaking new ground in their ties by holding first-ever joint military exercises, Beijing favours more such endeavours, saying these would enhance "confidence and trust" necessary for tranquillity along the border and stability in the region.
The two sides could be holding the second joint military exercises, details of which are to be worked out. (cont..)

Prepare for big flu pandemic economic hit, UN says

http://africa.reuters.com/top/news/usnBAN042538.html

LONDON (Reuters) - Governments around the world need to do more to prepare for the dramatic economic impact of the next flu pandemic, the United Nations influenza coordinator said on Thursday.
David Nabarro said his team had recently collected information from nearly 150 countries to see how prepared they were for a pandemic and the picture was mixed.
"Most countries have now focused on pandemic as a potential cause of catastrophe and have done some planning. But the quality of the plans is patchy and too few of them pay attention to economic and social consequences," he told BBC radio. ( cont...)

SciScientists Find Key to What Could Make Bird Flu a Human Pandemic

http://www.wired.com/medtech/health/news/2008/01/bird_flu_receptor

Scientists have identified a key mechanism necessary for bird flu to morph from a rare but deadly infection into a pandemic that could kill millions of people.
MIT scientists reported in Sunday's issue of Nature Biotechnology that the shape of certain structures in the virus could be key to allowing it to easily pass from human to human. In birds, the shape of the structures match the shape of sugars in the animals' respiratory tracts, allowing the infection to easily latch onto the animals. In humans, those shapes don't match up -- but if the virus morphed so they did, it could lead to a pandemic. (cont....)

GE Healthcare and Novavax collaborate on flu vaccine manufacturing system

http://www.mtbeurope.info/news/2008/801009.htm

GAO: Global ports need security overhaul

http://www.washingtontechnology.com/online/1_1/32083-1.html

MQ-9 "Robo Planes", Iran Calls Out USM, + News

Reaper airborne war-droids to patrol 2012 Olympics
The RAF will use its new force of MQ-9 "Reaper" robo-planes to patrol the skies above the London Olympics in 2012, according to reports.
The Herald of Scotland reports today that the five-tonne unmanned drones will fly above the capital providing surveillance as part of the enormous security effort planned for the Games. The machines are fitted with a multi-spectral telescopic imaging system, able to detect a human's body heat and see in the dark. They also carry a synthetic-aperture radar capable of tracking individual people walking on the ground, though this may be of limited use in the context of Olympic crowds.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/01/09/reaper_war_robots_above_london_olympics_2012/

Iran Accuses U.S. of Faking Persian Gulf Video http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/10/world/middleeast/10iran.html?em&ex=1200027600&en=5444374451d93021&ei=5087%0A

TEHRAN — The Revolutionary Guards in Iran accused the United States on Wednesday of fabricating a video showing Iranian speedboats confronting United States Navy warships in the Persian Gulf over the weekend, according to a report carried by the semi-official Fars news agency and state-run television.
“Images released by the U.S. Department of Defense about the Navy vessels are from archive, and sounds on it are fabricated,” an unnamed Revolutionary Guards official said, according to Fars. The news agency has close links to the Revolutionary Guards. The comments were Iran’s first on the video, which the Pentagon released Tuesday.
The Pentagon immediately dismissed the assertion. Bryan Whitman, a Pentagon spokesman, told correspondents that Iran’s “allegation is absurd, factually incorrect and reflects the lack of seriousness with which they take this serious incident.”
President Bush chastised Iran on Tuesday for committing a “provocative act.” On Wednesday, at the start of a trip with Mr. Bush to the Middle East, Stephen J. Hadley, his national security adviser, again warned Iran, saying that it had “to be very careful about this, because if it happens again, they are going to bear the consequences of that incident.”
The unnamed Revolutionary Guards official asserted that the video had been released to coincide with Mr. Bush’s trip and “was in line with a project of the Western media to create fear.” The official said the sounds and the images on the video did not go together. “It is very clear that they are fake,” the official said.
The video and audio were recorded separately and then matched, Naval and Pentagon officials said Tuesday.
The episode was first described by American officials on Monday, who said it took place the day before in the strategic Strait of Hormuz.
They said five armed Iranian speedboats had approached three United States Navy warships in international waters, then maneuvered aggressively as radio threats were issued that the American ships would be blown up. (cont...)

See: http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=7755



Amaox Battles Bioterrorism with Virtual Software
http://www.baselinemag.com/article2/0,1540,2247310,00.asp

If it's a potential bioterrorist weapon, chances are that Amaox— a little known biotech company 'based' in Paw Paw, MI— has a treatment in the works to stop such an outbreak or at least mitigate the effects of an attack before it could kill large numbers of people.
Arming itself with cutting-edge visual collaboration software, Amaox is able to share and integrate complex ideas from medical researchers around the country and North America.

"We are 'the little engine that could,'" said Dr. Milton Smith, an emergency medical physician by training and founder and CEO of Amaox (pronounced AM-ox) Ltd. "This technology allows us to be competitive, enabling our organization to do in two or three months what it would otherwise have taken 10 years to do."
The potential size of a chemical or biological weapons attack in this country or anywhere else is mind-boggling, yet the U.S. has yet to come to grips with the problem. "We're woefully unprepared if an incident should occur," Dr. Smith warned.
Amaox has received funding from the Department of Defense for its current research programs, and in December its research team applied for an additional $1.5 million grant to investigate chlorine toxicity to see if Amaox technology can be used to treat sufferers of a chlorine gas bomb or accidental spill.
"The government wants to develop these antidotes because no one else is going to do it. The larger pharmaceutical companies don't see a big enough market for these antidotes to weapons of mass destruction," said Dr. Smith. (cont...)

Tom Ridge to Advise TechRadium On 'IRIS' Technology http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS167259+09-Jan-2008+PRN20080109

First Homeland Security Secretary and Ridge Global CEO to Serve as SeniorAdvisorWASHINGTON, Jan. 9 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Tom Ridge, the nation's firstSecretary of Homeland Security and chief executive officer of Ridge GlobalLLC, will serve as a senior advisor to TechRadium, Inc., a leading Texas-basedsecurity technology company that provides its patented alert and notificationsystem IRIS (Immediate Response Information System) to a wide range of usersfrom public schools and universities to military programs. (cont...)

Ribbon cut for new SOCJFCOM headquarters http://www.jfcom.mil/newslink/podcasts/2007/pod121007.htm

CSC wins big with NASA http://www.washingtontechnology.com/online/1_1/32057-1.html

Iran "Gulf of Tonkin" Watch, Russia, STRATCOM, DARPA: Robo limbs+

Recordings Show Iran-US Clash in Gulf

In this photo released by the U.S. Navy, The guided missile cruiser USS Port Royal (CG 73) is seen underway in November 2003. An Iranian fleet of high-speed boats charged at and threatened to blow up a three-ship U.S. Navy convoy, including the USS Port Royal, passing near Iranian waters, then vanished as the American ship commanders were preparing to open fire, the top U.S. Navy commander in the area said Monday, Jan. 7, 2008. (AP Photo/U.S. Navy, Christopher Mobley)

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20080108/D8U1UNM80.html

WASHINGTON (AP) - Video and audio recordings clearly show Iranian boats confronting U.S. Navy ships in the Persian Gulf, and a voice speaking in heavily-accented English can be heard threatening that the American vessels were going to explode, military officials said Tuesday.
The incident, which President Bush denounced Tuesday as a "provocative act," was videotaped by a crew member on the bridge of the destroyer USS Hopper, one of the three ships that faced down five Iranian boats in a flare-up early Sunday.
The recordings were described by several military officials who viewed them. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the recordings were still being reviewed and had not been released to the public.
"It is a dangerous situation," Bush said during a White House news conference. "They should not have done it, pure and simple. ... I don't know what their thinking was, but I'm telling you what my thinking was. I think it was a provocative act." (cont...)

Russia Holds Drills in Mediterranean

http://www.alalam.ir/english/en-NewsPage.asp?newsid=032030120080108191807

MOSCOW, Jan 8--Russian fighter jets, helicopters and warships held maneuvers Tuesday in the central Mediterranean, a navy spokesman was quoted as saying as Russia moved to boost its naval presence in the region.RIA Novosti news agency quoted navy spokesman Igor Dygalo as saying: "Planned flights by our seaborne aircraft took place today," and added, "The flights will continue all day."Su-33 and Su-25 fighter jets were involved in the exercises along with rescue and anti-submarine helicopters, he said. The Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier was joined by an anti-submarine ship and a supply vessel.Dyaglo said two other Russian vessels were holding joint exercises with the Italian navy near the port of Taranto on Tuesday.The exercises are part of a series of naval maneuvers in the north Atlantic and the Mediterranean announced by Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov in December in what he said was a bid to boost the country's maritime presence and protect shipping.Vessels from Russia's Northern, Black Sea and Baltic fleets were to take part in the exercises, Serdyukov said.

Russian fleet will sail in Pacific war games

http://starbulletin.com/2008/01/04/news/story07.html

For the first time, Russia will join the armada of foreign and U.S. warships participating this summer in the largest naval war games in the world.
Adm. Robert Willard, commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, told the members of the Chamber Commerce of Hawaii yesterday that the Russian navy will join the estimated three dozen warships from 11 nations in the Rim of the Pacific exercise held every two years in waters off Oahu and Kauai.
The other foreign navies participating this year have not been announced. In 2006 the participants included Australia, Japan, Chile, Canada, Peru, South Korea and the United Kingdom. (cont...)

Osiris stock climbs on bioterror contract win

http://www.bizjournals.com/baltimore/stories/2007/12/31/daily33.html

Shares in Osiris Therapeutics surged more than 20 percent Friday on news that the Baltimore biotechnology company won a federal contract worth up to $225 million to develop and stockpile a stem cell treatment for radiation exposure.

Synth Skin for Robo-Limbs

http://blog.wired.com/defense/2008/01/synth-skin.html

It's not enough to have thought-controlled, artificial limbs that can let wearers type, cook, and play the piano just as easily as they had organic hands. Pentagon-backed researchers want the prosthetics to feel like real limbs, too. So they're creating patches of synthetic skin that'll provide direct feedback to the brain. (cont...)

Advanced Hypersonic Weapon, Arms Control and Conventional Counterforce

http://sciencesecurity.livejournal.com/68280.html

One thing that is not often mentioned about “prompt global strike” is the possibility of “conventional counterforce”. Conventional counterforce is made possible by the development of highly accurate hypersonic weapons with conventional payloads or that utilize high velocity impact i.e. kinetic energy counterforce against hardened targets such as ICBM silos (but not deeply buried command and control). The Russians have expressed concern about the prospect of conventional counterforce.

BAE/DHS, FCS, China Threat, + News

BAE/DHS

Counter MANPADS system to be Evaluated Under Regular Airline Operations and Maintenance
http://www.defense-update.com/newscast/0108/news/040108_jeteye.htm
BAE Systems has received a $29 million award from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to test an infrared aircraft missile defense system on passenger aircraft. The tests will evaluate the system’s compatibility with daily passenger airline operations and maintenance

Russian Bombers to Continue Long Range Patrols
http://www.defense-update.com/newscast/1207/news/211207_bombers.htm
Refuting claims that Russian bombers are in poor conditions (especially the worn out engine) and cannot sustain operational tempo dictated from the Kremlin, the commander of the Air Force's strategic aviation said there are no technical obstacles to the continuation of long-distance patrols by Russian strategic bombers.

US Army looks to accelerate fielding of FCS robotic systems
http://www.janes.com/news/defence/systems/jdw/jdw080104_1_n.shtml
The US Army wants to speed the delivery of two robotic systems as part of the service's Future Combat Systems (FCS) modernisation programme, Jane's has learned.
Boeing FCS programme manager Dennis Muilenburg confirmed that the army leadership has directed the FCS programme office to accelerate the Class I unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and the Small Unmanned Ground Vehicle (SUGV), both of which are being developed as part of the FCS family of unmanned systems.
"There's clearly high interest in fielding some of the robotic capabilities as soon as possible," he said.
Early versions of the SUGV are in theatre today in the form of the Packbot: a lightweight, portable ground robot made by iRobot. US Navy explosive ordnance disposal teams have also tested the early prototypes of the Class I UAV: the Honeywell Aerospace Micro Air Vehicle (MAV). This is a 'hovering' UAV that can carry day and thermal cameras, radio relays and datalinks.
Muilenburg said soldier feedback "has been very positive" on both systems. "They take on some of the dirty, dangerous missions - and also improve situational awareness for soldiers," he said.'

Will the West Survive the Threat of China in 2008?
http://www.newsmax.com/navrozov/china_threat/2008/01/03/61482.html
Year 2007 ended in the West just as did the previous years: without public awareness of the “mortal China threat,” except for presidential candidate Duncan Hunter’s warning.
As I have written repeatedly before, the dictators of China face a dilemma. Either lose their slave-state power (which can yield its owners more than any wealth can), as they nearly lost it to the Tiananmen peaceful uprising and as the Soviet dictatorship did lose its power in 1991, or establish world domination via post-nuclear (such as nano) super weapons.
Few Westerners know that today, about 100,000 Tiananmens of all forms and sizes occur annually in China. The Chinese people are not dainty figurines as one might find on old Chinese vases, and to keep them enslaved is not as easy as it may seem to the Western owners of such vases.
Nazi Germany’s global aggression (with pre-nuclear weapons) occurred not because the Germans are savages, born criminals, or compulsive conquerors, but because Nazi Germany had been turned in the 1930s into a cage, a prison, a war machine. Hitler was not as he was represented in the West after 1939 (by Charlie Chaplin, for example) or in Stalin’s Russia after June 1941 — a raving lunatic who had escaped from a psychiatric clinic, but someone who understood that he had to establish his world domination or perish as an upstart.
That same Charlie Chaplin, in 1942, called for a second front in the war against Hitler, who was barely surviving in Russia. Hitler’s behavior during his suicide, to avoid becoming a Soviet prisoner, makes nonsense of his raving lunatic stereotype.
The dictatorship of China has unlimited possibilities for channeling all their resources into the development of post-nuclear super weapons, which do not entail Mutual Assured Destruction, as did nuclear weapons developed in the United States, Stalin’s Russia, Mao’s China, and some other countries.
China is a camouflaged military machine — an army in civilian clothes. The West is a festival, engaged in making money for personal benefit. As the debates of presidential candidates in the U.S. demonstrate, only a tiny minority of Americans is interested in, let alone understands, the geopolitical situation in the world today and is inclined to vote for a presidential candidate aware of this geopolitical situation.
Here is an example from my personal observations. When in 1986 Eric Drexler published his book about nanotechnology, I was fascinated by its Chapter 11 about molecular nano weapons. Let me explain why. “Atomic bombs” required over four years of development — and were developed ahead of Nazi Germany partly because European scientists, including Einstein, fled from Europe into the United States to escape anti-Semitism. Now the U.S. was saved — not by those European scientists, but by Drexler!
Drexler’s weapons (never developed in the United States, but still existing only on paper) are based on molecules. A molecule can be converted into a tiny computer (“nano” means one-billionth of a meter), an artificial virus, etc.
Imagine billions of such molecules flying as a vast and growing cloud (since molecules multiply) capable of, for example, finding atomic weapons and destroying them.
Drexler’s word “nanotechnology” has become global (his photographs were posted at the scientific centers of China, and all of his books and articles became available on the Chinese Internet in English, with explanations in Chinese).
What about the United States? The Congress had an annual sum of allocation for nanotechnology, and the commercial producers of nano goods and services managed to assure the Congress that Drexler’s books and articles are nonsense. The Foresight Institute he founded in 1986 got rid of him, and now he works in someone’s tiny laboratory. (cont…)

Hi-tek Military Devices Inspired by Animal Biology
http://frontierindia.net/hi-tek-military-devices-inspired-by-animal-biology/
January/February 2008 Pathfinder Now Online
http://www.gisuser.com/content/view/13599/
http://www.nga.mil/NGASiteContent/StaticFiles/OCR/pf_janfeb08.pdf

El Pasoans Could Wait Weeks For Medicine In Bioterrorism Attack
http://www.kfoxtv.com/news/14981114/detail.html
EL PASO, Texas -- If something like an anthrax attack or the Pandemic flu hits El Paso, El Paso’s Bioterrorism Pan Demic Flu Preparedness Program said it will be mass chaos.
The city's department of health will have enough medicine to treat people, but the department said it needs more than 2,000 extra volunteers to give out medicine. As of now the department has about 450 volunteers. At that rate people will be waiting for a long time to get medicine they need.
“It would take about three weeks to mass medicate all of El Paso if something were to happen tomorrow or today,” said Strategic National Stockpile planner Rosalinda Hortsman.
“They're going to be a nervous wreck. It's going to be chaos," Hortsman said.
The news puts some people in El Paso on edge.

Bird Flu Still a Threat to U. S.

http://www.14wfie.com/Global/story.asp?S=7578399&nav=3w6r
Avian flu is rarely in the headlines, but it remains a serious danger for its potential to trigger a pandemic, according to health officials.
"It's even more of a threat because it's been mutating. Every time it mutates, there's a greater probability that it will become more easily transmitted to humans," says Tommy Thompson, chairman of the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions and a former secretary of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.

DHS offers advice for ensuring telecom during pandemic
http://www.govhealthit.com/online/news/350155-1.html
The so-called “last mile” of the nation’s telecommunications system would be vulnerable in the event of a pandemic influenza, according to a working group tasked with studying the potential communications consequences of an outbreak. Greg Garcia, the Department of Homeland Security’s assistant secretary of cybersecurity and communications, recently weighed in on the security of a pandemic health crisis, noting that as much as 40 percent of the workforce would be unable to go to work during peak periods of an outbreak.

RRIS Used During Emergency Preparedness Scenario http://www.directionsmag.com/press.releases/index.php?duty=Show&id=20472&trv=1
GeoDecisions’ IRRIS technology was recently used during the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA’s) participation in the Top Officials 4 (TOPOFF 4) terrorism preparedness exercise. Involving top officials at every level of government, as well as representatives from the international community and private sector, TOPOFF 4 featured thousands of federal, state, territorial, and local officials that engaged in various activities as part of a robust, full-scale simulated response to a multi-faceted threat. The exercise required participants to make quick decisions and carry out essential functions by using a common operating picture (COP) during an incident. For this simulated response, IRRIS was used at the National Response Coordination Center (NRCC) to view simulated disaster outcomes as well as track FEMA’s mobile disaster recovery vehicles. Data for the exercise was coordinated through FEMA’s GIS Solutions Branch within the Office of the Chief Information Officer, responsible for the overall mapping support for the NRCC. The use of IRRIS helped FEMA decision makers visualize and comprehend activities taking place in response to the disaster scenario. IRRIS was developed in partnership by the U.S. Military Surface Deployment and Distribution Command Transportation Engineering Company (SDDCTEA) and GeoDecisions, an information technology company specializing in geospatial solutions. Today, the Web-based portal is used by SDDCTEA and other military and homeland security agencies to rapidly deploy resources and equipment worldwide and respond to emergency and crisis situations. The patented IRRIS technology incorporates the latest advances in information technology (IT), GIS, and location-based services (LBS) to aid decision makers in coordinating response, managing assets, and tracking equipment or personnel through a COP. It incorporates and displays worldwide infrastructure data, live-vehicle tracking, near-real-time weather, and active route conditions in a map format. GeoDecisions’ experienced staff of professional consultants, analysts, and developers supports clients across the United States. Fundamental to the company’s award-winning approach is the integration of spatial information to empower existing systems and processes. GeoDecisions’ philosophy is based on an enterprisewide approach to the integration of diverse information technologies, data formats, and systems.

Military UAVs, India/China, + News

* Best Wishes For 2008! May our nightmare soon be over? Activism against stupidity and false leadership is the call for the year. Democracy has died, is our humanity next (and humans)?

Military Use of Unmanned Aircraft Soars

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20080101/D8TTB3O00.html
In this photo released by the Department of Defense, U.S. Army Pvt. Jeremy W. Reid, with 4th Battalion, 42nd Field Artillery Regiment, assembles an RQ-11 Raven unmanned aerial vehicle in the early morning hours in Taji, Iraq, in this May 23, 2006 file photo. The use of unmanned aircraft in Iraq has surged by nearly a third since the recent build-up of U.S. forces began early this year, racking up more than 14,000 hours per month in the battlefield skies. The increased use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) has put greater pressure on the military to better coordinate the purchase and use of the high-tech aircraft, particularly between the Army and Air Force. (AP Photo/Department of Defense, Photographer's Mate 1st Class Michael Larson, U.S. Navy, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) - The military's reliance on unmanned aircraft that can watch, hunt and sometimes kill insurgents has soared to more than 500,000 hours in the air, largely in Iraq, The Associated Press has learned.
And new Defense Department figures obtained by The AP show that the Air Force more than doubled its monthly use of drones between January and October, forcing it to take pilots out of the air and shift them to remote flying duty to meet part of the demand.
The dramatic increase in the development and use of drones across the armed services reflects what will be an even more aggressive effort over the next 25 years, according to the new report.
The jump in Iraq coincided with the build up of U.S. forces this summer as the military swelled its ranks to quell the violence in Baghdad. But Pentagon officials said that even as troops begin to slowly come home this year, the use of Predators, Global Hawks, Shadows and Ravens will not likely slow.
"I think right now the demand for the capability that the unmanned system provides is only increasing," said Army Col. Bob Quackenbush, deputy director for Army Aviation. "Even as the surge ends, I suspect the deployment of the unmanned systems will not go down, particularly for larger systems."
For some Air Force pilots, that means climbing out of the cockpit and heading to places such as Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada, where they can remotely fly the Predators, one of the larger and more sophisticated unmanned aircraft.
About 120 Air Force pilots were recently transferred to staff the drones to keep pace with demands, the Air Force said. (cont...)

India, China bonhomie

http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/showcolumns.aspx?id=COLEN20080037445

In the final week of 2007, when rest of the world was busy celebrating Christmas and New Year's eve, infantry troops from India and China were engaged in a small but hugely significant training exercise in the Yunnan province of southwestern China. For two the two Asian neighbours, this was a rare opportunity to understand each other. So when the Indian Air Force's mighty IL-76 airplane touched down at Kunming military airport, it signified more than the beginning of a joint training exercise.For 45 years, the world's two most populous nations have harboured suspicion about one another ever since they fought a short but brutal winter war across the Himalayas in 1962. (cont...)

Ionatron's CEO cites firm's significance to Tucson

http://www.azstarnet.com/business/218321

Tucson-based Ionatron Inc., a defense contractor that develops directed-energy weapons, is one of the Old Pueblo's few publicly traded companies (cont..)

Army contractors compete for simulator-training deal

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/orl-cover3107dec31,0,2680031.story

Fresh from the largest award in its history, Central Florida's simulation industry is mobilizing to compete for another mammoth deal in 2008.Potentially worth $11 billion, the project will update the Army's fleet of training simulators. Scores of companies -- including many local ones -- are expected to land a share of the lucrative program, which could involve hundreds of jobs in Central Florida and across the country during the next 10 years, industry and military officials say. (cont...)

America's Bio-Terrorism Nightmare

http://www.analyst-network.com/article.php?art_id=1492

While the CIA and FBI may have prevented terrorist attacks on the Sears Tower, the Brooklyn Bridge, the Empire State Building, the New York Stock Exchange, the Citigroup Building, the World Bank and IMF offices, the Prudential Building (Newark), Los Angeles’ Library Tower, the PATH train tunnels under the Hudson River, and the Panama Canal over the past seven years (according to Ron Kessler’s new book The Terrorist Watch – Inside the Desperate Race to Stop the Next Attack), the revelation from an American bio-defense analyst living in Europe that Syria is ready to respond with biological weapons of mass destruction if the U.S., Israel or Europe attack Iranian nuclear installations has again brought forth the reality that such weapons in the hands of our enemies represent an intolerable threat to our national security.

(cont...)

Spying Incorporated (NAO)

http://pacificfreepress.com/content/view/2080/1/

A new intelligence institution to be inaugurated soon by the Bush administration will allow government spying agencies to conduct broad surveillance and reconnaissance inside the United States for the first time.

FEMA Head Retires

http://www.wdsu.com/news/14952225/detail.html

Legal security expert joins Raytheon

http://www.upi.com/International_Security/Industry/Briefing/2007/12/31/legal_security_expert_joins_raytheon/9170/

Future Combat Systems, DARPA (RAID) +

Army's high-tech future is near

http://www.sptimes.com/2007/12/28/Worldandnation/Army_s_high_tech_futu.shtml

Some see Buck Rogers in the technology, others the bucks in the price tag - $200-billion.

By Washington PostPublished December 28, 2007
EL PASO, Texas - A $200-billion plan to remake the largest war machine in history unfolds in one small way on a quiet country road in the Chihuahuan Desert.
Jack Hensley, one of a legion of contractors on the project, is hunkered in a slowly moving sport-utility vehicle, serving as target practice for a baby-faced soldier in a Humvee aiming a laser about 700 yards away. A moment later, another soldier in the Humvee punches commands into a computer transmitting data across an expanse of sand and mesquite to a site 21/2 miles away. On an actual battlefield, this is when a precision attack missile would be launched, killing Hensley almost instantly.
For soldiers in an experimental Army brigade at the sprawling Fort Bliss base, it's the first day of field training on a new weapon called the Non-Line of Sight Launch System, or NLOS-LS, a box of rockets that can automatically change direction in midair and hit a moving target about 24 miles away. The Army says it has never had a weapon like it. "It's not the Spartans with the swords anymore," says Emmett Schaill, the brigade commander, peering into the desertscape.
In the Army's vision, the war of the future is increasingly combat by mouse clicks. It's as networked as the Internet, as mobile as a cell phone, as intuitive as a video game. The Army has a name for this vision: Future Combat Systems, or FCS. The project involves creating a family of 14 weapons, drones, robots, sensors and hybrid-electric combat vehicles connected by a wireless network. It has turned into the most ambitious modernization of the Army since World War II and the most expensive Army weapons program ever, military officials say.
It's also one of the most controversial. Even as some early versions of these weapons make their way onto the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan, members of Congress, government investigators and military observers question whether the Defense Department has set the stage for one of its biggest and costliest failures. At risk, they say, are billions of taxpayer dollars spent on exotic technology that may never come to fruition, leaving the Army little time and few resources to prepare for new threats.
Future Combat Systems "has some serious problems," said Rep. Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawaii, chairman of the House air and land forces subcommittee. "Since its inception, costs have gone up dramatically while promised capability has steadily diminished. I don't see how the Army can afford to rebuild itself and pay for the FCS program as it stands today."
To hear the military tell it, there's a hint of Buck Rogers in the program, including an unmanned craft that hovers like a flying saucer between buildings and detects danger. The idea of Future Combat Systems is to create a lighter, faster force that can react better to tomorrow's unpredictable foes.
The last time the Army tried anything so far-reaching was more than half a century ago when it introduced mechanized forces, moving soldiers en masse by machine rather than by foot.
Others say the Army has pushed too far. The Government Accountability Office and the Congressional Budget Office have questioned the cost and management of Future Combat Systems.
The project originated in part in 1995 when Maj. Gen. Robert H. Scales Jr., now retired, launched a series of war games. As director of the Army After Next project, his job was to divine the nature of war a quarter-century hence. So Scales assembled a team of about 700, including members of the Army, Air Force, Marines, the CIA and civilian scientists, who warred over the next two years in a huge simulation center at the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle, Pa. "The Army had never done it - they thought I was off my rocker," he said.
The blue team represented the Americans. The red were the Iranians, who in one scenario captured Riyadh and began executing the royal Saudi family on live television. That drew the blue team into the streets of Riyadh, which, choked with heavy armor, became a bloody mess. Scales, building on earlier military research, realized that the United States needed a lighter, mobile force.
He called it the "Aha moment."
Then a fiasco hastened the Army's commitment to modernize. In 1999, the Army was bogged down in muddy logistics as it sought to move Apache helicopters into Albania so they could be used in the Kosovo war. They didn't make it before the fight ended, an embarrassment that prompted Army Chief of Staff Eric K. Shinseki to declare that the service needed to get lighter and faster - quickly.

Joint Capability Developer: Advancing Warfighter Effectiveness and Combat

Capability

http://www.military-information-technology.com/article.cfm?DocID=2286

DARPA is working on a program called Adversarial Intelligence and Decision-making (RAID), a tool for semi-automated generation of enemy estimates.

http://www.military-information-technology.com/article.cfm?DocID=2287

Reading the mind of your enemy may soon become easier. Computers may be able to do so even better than humans, experiments conducted by the Defense Advanced Projects Research Agency (DARPA) Real-time Adversarial Intelligence and Decision-making (RAID) program suggest.
RAID is a tool for semi-automated generation of enemy estimates. Its job is to anticipate the upcoming actions of the enemy, and do so not just before, but also during the unfolding battle, in near real-time. In a way, one may say the purpose of RAID is to read the mind of the enemy. (cont...)

* Please see Nico Haupts latest article:

Goldman Sachs + Co.: Next 9/11 False Flag vs. China?

http://www.bloglines.com/blog/ewing2001?id=4287