National Security Agency @ MindSay 
spying
City [of Pasadena, California] to continue receiving grant for emergencies
“The city will continue to receive funding for bioterrorism or similar public health emergency preparedness under an agreement announced Tuesday by the county Board of Supervisors. The board unanimously approved the deal authorizing the Los Angeles Department of Public Health to pass $493,000 to the Pasadena Public Health Department to provide for pandemic influenza preparedness and response. Dr. Takashi Wada, health officer and medical director for the PPHD, said much of the funding is earmarked for preparing for the avian flu. Wada said the rest of the money will be used for planning and preparedness, special disease surveillance, training medical staff, education outreach, coordinating with local health organizations and equipping staff members to respond to possible outbreaks. Pasadena has not been threatened by a terrorist attack, but the city is a partner in a coalition of organizations and agencies working to improve local coordination of emergency planning and response.” (Pasadena Star News, 02Aug06)
http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/portlet/article/html/fragments/print_article.jsp?article=4124149
Massachusetts officials issue tularemia precautions
“For the seventh year in a row, cases of tularemia are being reported on Martha's Vineyard, where six cases of the rare respiratory form of the disease have occurred so far.
The Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH) in a Jul 27 press release said that the patients, ages 33 to 67, became ill between May 13 and Jul 5. All have been successfully treated and are recovering. Four of the six are employed as landscapers.
The MDPH added that cases of tularemia have occurred on Martha's Vineyard every year since 2000, when an outbreak infected 15 people and caused one death. Tularemia in the United States is usually linked to insect bites or handling carcasses of small animals, particularly rabbits. The disease is caused by the bacterium Francisella tularensis, one of the six biological agents deemed most likely to be used by terrorists. The annual tularemia outbreaks have stymied public health officials because they raise questions about the disease's reservoir and vector. Bioterrorism experts have a key interest in monitoring tularemia patterns in wildlife populations because it would better help them distinguish a natural outbreak from a human-caused bioterrorism outbreak.” (CIDRAP, 01Aug06) http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/cidrap/content/bt/tularemia/news/aug0106tularemia.html
No action on bio-terrorism loophole
“The government faces criticism from scientists for not acting on a legal loophole exposed by the Guardian which could be used by terrorists to make a bio-weapon. The decision not to act was prompted by five parliamentary questions tabled by Phil Willis, chairman of the Commons science and technology select committee. Mr Willis condemned the government's ‘cavalier attitude’ to the issue, while an expert in chemical and biological weapons described the decision as ‘naïve’. A Guardian investigation in June showed that it was possible to buy a short sequence of DNA from the virus that causes smallpox over the internet. The virus has been extinct for nearly 30 years, existing only in government labs in the US and Russia, but some scientists believe it could be manufactured from scratch by taking short pieces of DNA and splicing them together. Mr Willis's questions asked what regulations the Department of Trade and Industry would consider in light of the report.” (The Guardian, 01Aug06, James Randerson) http://www.guardian.co.uk/terrorism/story/0,,1834549,00.html
Rocket milestone in sight for depot
“The Umatilla Chemical Depot expects by this weekend to destroy its last sarin-filled rocket, a milestone in the effort to eliminate the nation's deadly chemical arsenal.
Officials at the depot near Hermiston aren't quite ready to celebrate, although Morrow County officials and representatives of the Oregon Citizens Advisory Commission Chemical Demilitarization group are pleased about the news.” (TriCityHerald.com, 01Aug06, Jeannine Koranda) http://www.tri-cityherald.com/tch/local/story/8027325p-7920556c.html
11.5 square miles at former arsenal removed from Superfund
“The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Monday removed 7,360 acres of the Rocky Mountain Arsenal from its Superfund list of heavily polluted areas, clearing the way for a large part of the former chemical weapons plant property to become a national wildlife refuge. Cleanup on the 11.5 square miles of land known as the Internal Parcel included the removal or destruction of 196 structures and closure of 27 groundwater wells that posed a risk of contamination, EPA officials said Monday. Crews also excavated and disposed of contaminated soil and materials, including munitions debris and red ash from mustard gas demilitarization at the arsenal, which is about 10 miles northeast of downtown Denver. The Army manufactured chemical weapons at the once-classified arsenal during World War II and the 1950s, and Shell Oil manufactured pesticides and other chemicals there until 1982.” (Longmont Daily Times-Call, 02Aug06, AP) http://www.longmontfyi.com/Local-Story.asp?id=9097
Senator seeks to take chemical security bill fight to the floor
“Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Chairwoman Susan Collins, R-Maine, urged colleagues Tuesday to proceed with Senate floor action on a chemical security bill, saying differences should be debated on the Senate floor. The bill, which her committee approved unanimously in June, has been bogged down over objections from more than a dozen senators. It would give the Homeland Security Department the authority, for the first time, to regulate and establish security standards for facilities that produce, use or store chemical substances, and penalize facilities that do not comply.” (GovExec.com; 02Aug06; Chris Strohm, CongressDaily)
http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=34693&dcn=todaysnews
Mobile Combat Robots to Debut by 2010
“The [Korean] Army will develop unmanned tactical mobile robots for reconnaissance and search-and-surveillance missions by 2010 as part of programs to meet the security challenges of future warfare, Army officials said Wednesday. The robot will be equipped with extendable arms, a sensor to detect chemical weapons, explosives and smoke bombs. Once completed, the devices will be deployed to infantry and anti-terrorist units.” (The Korea Times, 02Aug06, Jung Sung-ki) http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/200608/kt2006080217363668040.htm
Dirty-bomb pilot adds to layered security
“The International Assn. for Counterterrorism and Security Professionals
(IACSP) is ‘cautiously optimistic’ about the effectiveness of the Dept. of Homeland Security’s (DHS) pilot program to use radiation-detection devices to find dirty bombs before they enter New York City. If the pilot is successful, the DHS aims to deploy the program in major cities across the U.S. DHS has not elaborated on how its Securing the Cities Initiative will look once it’s finalized, but said it is still considering ‘ways in which [DHS] could best capture a detection of radioactive material coming in’
without disrupting traffic flow using both stationary and mobile equipment. The pilot began in ‘the last few months’ and its timetable is ‘being worked on,’ DHS said.” (Fleet Owner, 31Jul06, Terrence Nguyen) http://fleetowner.com/news/topstory/dirty_bomb_dhs_new_york_city_iacsp_alion_073106/
UK joins global initiative to combat nuclear terrorism
“he British government has announced that it is joining the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism (GICNT), launched by US President George W Bush and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin last month. ‘The United Kingdom was pleased to accept a joint invitation from the US and Russia to be a founding member of this important Initiative,’ Foreign Office Minister Kim Howells said in a statement.” (Islamic Republic News Agency, 01Aug06) http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/menu-234/0608011297165947.htm
Xoma lands $16M biodefense contract
“Xoma Ltd. has been awarded a $16 million contract by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to produce antibodies for protection against bioterrorism, the company announced Monday. The new three-year contract calls for Xoma, of Berkeley [California], to develop an injectable product made up of three antibodies to protect against the harmful effects of botulinum neurotoxins that could be used in bioterrorism.” pla(East Bay Business Times, 31Jul06) http://washington.bizjournals.com/eastbay/stories/2006/07/31/daily3.html
Lockheed Plants a Small Seed: Aerospace giant’s latest government grant could sprout a new line of business
“The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) recently awarded Lockheed Martin a modest $1.7 million contract to design a remotely controlled ‘nano air vehicle’ (NAV). The miniature device has nothing to do with nanotechnology (its size is nowhere near nanoscale) but, at 1.5 inches -- or about the size of a maple seed (which the device is said to resemble) -- it is still impressively small. According to reports, DARPA is hoping that the NAV will be able to deliver a sensor payload about a half-mile from its point of release, and then return safely to its home base for its next mission. If Lockheed engineers can successfully produce such a device, it would obviously have a host of military applications, including ferreting out possible terrorist and insurgent hideouts, as well as detecting everything from roadside bombs and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) to the presence of biological and chemical weapons.” (MSNBC; 02Aug06; Jack Uldrich, The Motley Fool) http://msnbc.msn.com/id/14151094/
The NSA program reaches into homes and businesses across the nation by amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans — most of whom aren't suspected of any crime. This program does not involve the NSA listening to or recording conversations. But the spy agency is using the data to analyze calling patterns in an effort to detect terrorist activity, sources said in separate interviews.
"It's the largest database ever assembled in the world," said one person, who, like the others who agreed to talk about the NSA's activities, declined to be identified by name or affiliation. The agency's goal is "to create a database of every call ever made" within the nation's borders, this person added.
For the customers of these companies, it means that the government has detailed records of calls they made — across town or across the country — to family members, co-workers, business contacts and others.
The three telecommunications companies are working under contract with the NSA, which launched the program in 2001 shortly after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the sources said. The program is aimed at identifying and tracking suspected terrorists, they said.
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
NEW YORK - The National Security Agency has eavesdropped, without warrants, on as many 500 people inside the United States at any given time since 2002, The New York Times reported Friday.
That year, following the Sept. 11 attacks, President Bush authorized the NSA to monitor the international phone calls and international e-mails of hundreds — perhaps thousands — of people inside the United States, the Times reported.
Before the program began, the NSA typically limited its domestic surveillance to foreign embassies and missions and obtained court orders for such investigations. Overseas, 5,000 to 7,000 people suspected of terrorist ties are monitored at one time.
The Times said reporters interviewed nearly a dozen current and former administration officials about the program and granted them anonymity because of the classified nature of the program.
Government officials credited the new program with uncovering several terrorist plots, including one by Iyman Faris, an Ohio trucker who pleaded guilty in 2003 to supporting al-Qaida by planning to destroy the Brooklyn Bridge, the report said.
But some NSA officials were so concerned about the legality of the program that they refused to participate, the Times said. Questions about the legality of the program led the administration to temporarily suspend it last year and impose new restrictions.
Rice says Bush acted lawfully
On Friday, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was asked about the program.
“I’m not going to comment on intelligence matters,” she told NBC’s “Today” show. But Rice did say that President Bush “has always said he would do everything he can to protect the American people, but within the law, and with due regard for civil liberties because he takes seriously his responsibility.”
“The president acted lawfully in every step that he has taken,” Rice said, “to defend the American people and to defend the people within his constitutional responsibility.”
Caroline Fredrickson, director of the Washington legislative office of the American Civil Liberties Union, said the group’s initial reaction to the NSA disclosure was “shock that the administration has gone so far in violating American civil liberties to the extent where it seems to be a violation of federal law.”
Asked about the administration’s contention that the eavesdropping has disrupted terrorist attacks, Fredrickson said the ACLU couldn’t comment until it sees some evidence. “They’ve veiled these powers in secrecy so there’s no way for Congress or any independent organizations to exercise any oversight.”
NBC report on Pentagon database
Earlier this week, the Pentagon said it was reviewing its use of a classified database of information about suspicious people and activity inside the United States after a report by NBC News said the database listed activities of anti-war groups that were not a security threat to Pentagon property or personnel.
Pentagon spokesmen declined to discuss the matter on the record but issued a written statement Wednesday evening that implied — but did not explicitly acknowledge — that some information had been handled improperly.
The Bush administration had briefed congressional leaders about the NSA program and notified the judge in charge of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, the secret Washington court that handles national security issues.
Aides to National Intelligence Director John Negroponte and West Virginia Sen. Jay Rockefeller, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, declined to comment Thursday night.
The Times said it delayed publication of the report for a year because the White House said it could jeopardize continuing investigations and alert would-be terrorists that they might be under scrutiny. The Times said it omitted information from the story that administration officials argued could be useful to terrorists.
