'cyber shockwave': former US officials in cyberattack simulation

cyberspacewar.com:
miltech insiders to stage 'cyber shockwave' drill on feb16
from afp: Former top US intelligence officials will become cyberwarriors on Tuesday in a simulation of how the US government would respond to a massive cyberattack on the United States. "The scenario itself is secret," said Eileen McMenamin, vice president of communications for the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC), which is hosting the event dubbed "Cyber ShockWave." "The participants don't even know what it is," McMenamin told AFP. "None of them know what's going to transpire." For Cyber ShockWave, a room at the Mandarin Hotel here is being transformed into the White House Situation Room, where the president and his top advisers typically meet to address national emergencies. "We'll have all of these different screens with different information coming in," McMenamin said. "The members of the cabinet are going to have to react in real time as they would in real life."

9/11 updates: schools, software, questions & controversy

9/11 t-shirt stirs school controversy - but not how you think*
bin laden family members evacuated from US in wake of 9/11*
audio: lionel has questions about 9/11, what's wrong with that?*
9/11 commission 'played with fire'*
video: challenging journalists to investigate jenningsmystery.com*
'al-qaeda' releases 'new' 9/11 video showing 'zawahiri'*
if you want another 9/11, leave afghanistan, rice says*
nyccan: the march for answers*
alleged 9/11 perpetrator studying vietnam war atrocity film*
leading gps software suggests superior augmented gps service at wtc during 9/11 attacks*
video: chertoff pounded with 9/11 questions by c-span callers*

police state int'l: fema camps, biofuels, cyborg kill-bots & dhs

new legislation authorizes fema camps in US
from paul joseph watson: A new bill introduced in Congress authorizes the Department of Homeland Security to set up a network of FEMA camp facilities to be used to house U.S. citizens in the event of a national emergency. The National Emergency Centers Act or HR 645 mandates the establishment of “national emergency centers” to be located on military installations for the purpose of to providing “temporary housing, medical, and humanitarian assistance to individuals and families dislocated due to an emergency or major disaster,” according to the bill. The legislation also states that the camps will be used to “provide centralized locations to improve the coordination of preparedness, response, and recovery efforts of government, private, and not-for-profit entities and faith-based organizations”. Ominously, the bill also states that the camps can be used to “meet other appropriate needs, as determined by the Secretary of Homeland Security,” an open ended mandate which many fear could mean the forced detention of American citizens in the event of widespread rioting after a national emergency or total economic collapse. Many credible forecasters have predicted riots and rebellions in America that will dwarf those already witnessed in countries like Iceland and Greece. With active duty military personnel already being stationed inside the U.S. under Northcom, partly for purposes of “crowd control,” fears that Americans could be incarcerated in detainment camps are all too real.

saic awarded $25m biofuels contract by darpa
from prnewswire: Science Applications International Corporation (NYSE: SAI) today announced it has been awarded a prime contract by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to help develop an affordable alternative to petroleum-derived jet fuel (JP-8) from agricultural and aquacultural feedstock materials. The contract has a total value of up to $25 million if all phases of the development program are completed. Work will be performed primarily in Georgia, Florida, Hawaii and Texas. DARPA's BioFuels program explores energy alternatives and fuel efficiency efforts in a bid to reduce the military's reliance on traditional fuel. For an alternative to be viable, the fuel must be produced at a cost that is economically competitive with current supply costs. Under this contract, SAIC will lead a team of industrial and academic organizations to develop an integrated process for producing JP-8 from algae at a cost target of $3/gal. SAIC and its team will develop technologies and processes to help achieve DARPA's goal including integrating algae strain selection, water and nutrient sourcing, farming, harvesting, separation, triglyceride purification, algal oil processing, and economic modeling and analysis.

update: saic awarded $85m contract by the library of congress

will 2009 become the year of the kill-bot?
from techradar: Robot maker iRobot announced its 2008 financial figures today, but more interestingly predicted that sales of military robots would soar in 2009. The cybernetic manufacturer revealed that its government and industrial business grew more than 50 per cent in the last quarter compared with the same period a year ago, taking its revenues for the year to over $305 million (£210 million). Domestic robots like the robo-cleaner Roomba 500 and the gutter-scouring Looj helped international sales double year-on-year, but it's in the military sector that iRobot predicts the greatest growth. iRobot has already been awarded $2 million (£1.4 million) by the US Congress to develop the Warrior 700: a powerful and rugged robot for use in danger zones and inaccessible areas. The Warrior 700 will perform a variety of critical missions, including providing real-time video, audio and sensor readings to combat troops and local law-enforcement SWAT teams. The robot features an advanced digital architecture and a multi-mission chassis that supports payloads of up to 68kg (roughly equivalent to a skinny adult or fat kid). The company expects more military sales in 2009, which should supplement the fall in US consumer sales as they slacken off due to the recession.

pentagon's cyborg beetle spies take off
from danger room: Perhaps you are not particularly worried about the idea of remote-controlled insects spying on you, on behalf of the Pentagon. Darpa-funded researchers at the University of California, Berkeley would like to disabuse you of that notion. They've succeeded in "controlling a live rhinoceros beetle by radio," Tech-On reports. Researchers hooked a series of six electrodes up to the brain and muscles of the insect. Then, during a demonstration at the MEMS 2009 academic conference in Sorrento, Italy, "they equipped the beetle with a module incorporating a circuit to send signals to the electrodes, wireless circuit, microcontroller and battery. The university has so far succeeded in several experiments of electrically controlling insects, but it used a radio control system this time." ... It's one of a number of Darpa-backed experiments, to develop insect spies. The University of Michigan has its own cyborg beetles. University of Georgia researchers are implanting mini-machines into larval moths, so they can live to a ripe, old, remote-controlled age. Then there's the idea to use sex-starved insects to follow bank robbers. Seriously.

flashback: darpa to create brain-chipped cyborg moths

dhs publishes 315-page book honoring chertoff’s ‘select speeches'
from thinkprogress: The Department of Homeland Security recently sent out an entire book honoring former Secretary Michael Chertoff’s “Select Speeches” from 2005-2008. The 315-page book contains 36 of Chertoff’s speeches and press conferences (many of which — if not all — are most likely available online). ThinkProgress recently obtained a copy of the book and contacted DHS to find out how much taxpayer money was spent on the book’s production. However, we received no response. But Michele Nix, a former top official for former DHS Secretary Tom Ridge, told ThinkProgress that this homage seemed to be exclusive to Chertoff, as the department did “nothing” similar for her former boss. Let us know in the comments section if you remember any of Chertoff’s speeches being particularly memorable.

obamessiah coronation: the police state celebrates 'change'

inauguration is climax to 2yrs of increasing security around obama
from washington post: As jubilant Democrats nominated Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) for president in a Denver convention hall in late August, the U.S. Secret Service in Washington placed its largest ever order for bulletproof glass. The service requested about 5 tons of "transparent armor," laminated with four layers of virtually unbreakable plastic to resist chemicals, flames and multiple gunshots. When Obama is sworn in as the nation's 44th president Tuesday, the ballistic shield will provide a final layer of safety in a massive exercise in presidential security, the culmination of two years of a steady ratcheting up of the protection around Obama to a level unseen for any of his predecessors.

unprecedented security as obama set for white house
from afp: An unprecedented security blanket has been draped over the US capital for Barack Obama's inauguration next week, and the threat level to the country's first black president is expected to remain high well beyond his swearing-in. More than 12,500 active troops and military reservists, thousands of metropolitan police as well as personnel from 57 departments around the nation are descending on Washington to protect against any potential terrorist attack during Tuesday's historic ceremony, according to officials.

downtown dc becomes the green zone
from danger room: In addition to a record number of houseguests and an explosion of kitsch, Washington, D.C., is witnessing an unprecedented surge in security for tomorrow's presidential inauguration. A force of 20,000 police officers, National Guard troops, and plainclothes agents will be on the streets tomorrow to watch over the inaugural festivities. F-16 fighters and Patriot missile batteries will be on alert to defend the capital's airspace.

chertoff: officials searching for ‘bigoted’ threats
from raw replay: NBC’s Pete Williams reports that the Inauguration will the most secured event in U.S. history. This video is from NBC’s Today Show, broadcast Jan. 19, 2009.

washington mobilizes 42,500-strong security force for inaugural
from bloomberg: When senior FBI official Joseph Persichini takes his 5 a.m. jog down Washington’s National Mall, he imagines everything that could go wrong at Barack Obama’s inaugural next week. He said he thinks about the possibility of a sleet storm, bombing, chemical attack or - perhaps hardest to guard against - the lone gunman bent on turning a celebration into a national tragedy.

inauguration counter-snipers intend to be seen
from raw replay: CNN’s Jeanne Meserve reports on the “men in black” that will be protecting the Inauguration. This video is from CNN’s American Morning, broadcast Jan. 19, 2009.

washington assembles largest inauguration security force ever
from foxnews: Two million people? Four million? Bring 'em on. If, as expected, a record crowd turns out for Barack Obama's inauguration, Washington will be ready with the largest number of security people ever assembled in the nation's capital. The U.S. Secret Service is overseeing a security force of more than 40,000 people, including 7,500 active duty soldiers, 10,000 National Guard troops and 25,000 law-enforcement officers. That surpasses the 31,000 troops serving in Afghanistan.

capital to be virtually locked down for inauguration
from washington times: The estimated crowd of more than 1 million for the inauguration in the District will also bring thousands of law-enforcement officers and military personnel from across the country in an unprecedented security effort. "It's clear that this is a historic event, and we understand the kinds of crowds that have come out to see President-elect Obama on the campaign trail," said agent Malcolm Wiley, a U.S. Secret Service spokesman. "We believe this crowd may be larger than we've seen during past inaugurations."

'dozens' of potential terrorists in US under watch, chertoff says

from ap: Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff says the federal government is monitoring "dozens" of potential terrorists in the U.S. Chertoff tells The Record of Bergen County the government has quietly blocked "dozens" of potential terrorists from entering the country in recent years. Chertoff says he can't say for sure whether the people kept out would have carried out a plot. The New Jersey native says America is still a terrorist target. Chertoff says there is a risk that some would see opportunity during the transition between administrations. Chertoff says he doesn't want to stay with Homeland Security after a new president is in office and the lawyer says he doesn't have a job waiting.

homeland stupidity to take over airline watchlist in '09

govt to take over airline passenger vetting
from washington post: The Department of Homeland Security will take over responsibility for checking airline passenger names against government watch lists beginning in January, and will require travelers for the first time to provide their full name, birth date and gender as a condition for boarding commercial flights, U.S. officials said Wednesday. Security officials say the additional personal information - which will be given to airlines to forward to the federal agency in charge - will dramatically cut down on cases of mistaken identity, in which people with names similar to those on watch lists are wrongly barred or delayed from flights. The changes, to be phased in next year, will apply to 2 million daily passengers aboard all domestic flights and international flights to, from or over the United States. By transferring the screening duty from the airlines to the federal government, the Secure Flight program marks the Bush administration's long-delayed fulfillment of a top aviation security priority after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and Transportation Security Administration (TSA) chief Kip Hawley said yesterday that, except in rare situations, passengers who do not provide the additional information will not be given boarding passes. "If you don't provide the data, then you are going to put yourself in a position where you are probably going to be a selectee," subject at a minimum to greater future security scrutiny, Chertoff said in remarks announcing the program at Reagan National Airport.

fliers will have to give more info to airlines

read the 'secure flight - final rule' (10.27mb PDF)

feds to take over airline watchlists in '09
from threat level: Under the so-called "Secure Flight" proposal - which has been six years and numerous privacy scandals in the making - airlines will submit travelers' personal information to DHS, which will compare the information against terrorist watch lists and then send the results to the airlines. Previously, airlines have performed the screening autonomously. The government hopes that a centralized checking system will reduce the number of false matches on the list, which have notoriously included senators, nuns and anyone named David Nelson. "Secure Flight is a critical tool that will further improve aviation security and fix the major customer service issue of watch list misidentifications, a frustratingly common occurrence for travelers under the existing airline-based system," said homeland security secretary Michael Chertoff in a press release. Privacy groups gave the program a lukewarm welcome, acknowledging they largely won a five-year battle to scale back the program's ambitions. "What remains to be seen is whether the revisions to Secure Flight will really work," said ACLU legislative counsel Tim Sparapani.

chertoff unveils 'checkpoint evolution'

from wjz: U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff is scheduled to visit BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport Monday to announce changes at airport security checkpoints. Chertoff will demonstrate what is called "Checkpoint Evolution." ...

According to the Web site, the checkpoints will feature soothing music to calm passengers, easy-to-read signs and Plexiglas conveyor belts allowing passengers to see their luggage move through the inspection process. The system also uses a new full body scanner. The TSA says it doesn't show a person's face and says images are deleted immediately after they are reviewed.

$20m 'fence' scrapped for not catching enough illegals

from ap: The government is scrapping a $20 million prototype of its highly touted "virtual fence" on the Arizona-Mexico border because the system is failing to adequately alert border patrol agents to illegal crossings, officials said.

The move comes just two months after Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff announced his approval of the fence built by the Boeing Co. The fence consists of nine electronic surveillance towers along a 28-mile section of border southwest of Tucson.

Boeing is to replace the so-called Project 28 prototype with a series of towers equipped with communications systems, cameras and radar capability, officials said.

zombie computers, pocket lie detectors & stolen laptops

zombie computers decried as imminent nat'l threat
from threat level: Gangs of thousands of zombie home computers grinding out spam, committing fraud and overpowering websites are the most vexing net threat today, according to law enforcement and security professionals... at the RSA 2008 security conference entitled "Protecting the Homeland: Winning the Botnet Battle," which was marked by a mix of resignation, indignation and post-9/11 rhetoric... Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff leaned on Estonia as evidence of the need for a federal government "Manhattan Project" for computer security.


pentagon issues pocket lie detector to troops
from raw story: The Pentagon is planning to give US troops fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan "hand-held lie detectors" aimed at rooting out potential insurgents and terrorists. But polygraph experts doubt the system's accuracy and Defense Department memos show results of the few tests that were run were manipulated to demonstrate more success with them than was achieved, according to an MSNBC investigative reporter...

The Pentagon, in a PowerPoint presentation released to msnbc.com (581kb PDF) through a Freedom of Information Act request, says the PCASS is 82 to 90 percent accurate. Those are the only accuracy numbers that were sent up the chain of command at the Pentagon before the device was approved. But Pentagon studies obtained by msnbc.com (134kb PDF) show a more complicated picture: In calculating its accuracy, the scientists conducting the tests discarded the yellow screens, or inconclusive readings.

stolen nih laptop held social security numbers
from washington post: Social Security numbers for more than 1,200 participants in a National Institutes of Health study were stored on a stolen laptop containing their medical records, putting those patients at risk of identity theft, agency officials said yesterday... That file included Social Security numbers for at least 1,281 of the 3,078 patients enrolled in the multi-year study, which is sponsored by the NIH's National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.

shooter, spy sat cover, dhs death, buffet, blackwater, beijing

shooter did time in mental health facility
from washington times: A former employee at a Chicago psychiatric treatment center said Kazmierczak had been placed there after high school by his parents. He used to cut himself and had resisted taking his medications, she said. Kazmierczak spent more than a year at the Thresholds-Mary Hill House in the late 1990s, former house manager Louise Gbadamashi told the Associated Press.

russia: US spy sat shot is 'a cover'
from bbc: Russia has accused the US of using a plan to shoot down a broken spy satellite as a cover for testing an anti-satellite weapon... "Speculations about the danger of the satellite hide preparations for the classical testing of an anti-satellite weapon," a statement reported by Itar-Tass news agency said. "Such testing essentially means the creation of a new type of strategic weapons," it added.

newborn dies while in custody of homeland stupidity
from ap: American Samoa's delegate to the U.S. Congress is calling for an investigation into the death of a baby at Honolulu International Airport. Delegate Eni Faleomavaega has asked the Department of Homeland Security to begin an investigation into death of 14-day-old Michael Tony Futi last Friday. The baby had been flown to Honolulu for emergency heart surgery. He died while detained inside a customs' room at the Honolulu airport with his mother and a nurse. A lawyer for the family announced plans to sue the federal government over the baby's death. Faleomavaega called for the probe in a letter issued to Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff.

anti al-qaeda iraqis quit US army
from press tv: An anti al-Qaeda group in central Iraq has resigned en-masse from its US military employers, accusing them of killing 19 of the group... "The group, which comprises 110 members, resigned in protest at organized assassinations by the coalition forces," Sabah al-Janabi, leader of the anti al-Qaeda Awakening group in the area told AFP.

buffet sees healthy future in drugs firms
from guardian: Warren Buffett, the billionaire investor, has given a stamp of approval to the healthcare sector by taking small stakes in big pharmaceutical companies, including GlaxoSmithKline. The billionaire's holding company, Berkshire Hathaway, declared in a filing in the US yesterday that it had bought 1.5m shares in GlaxoSmithKline in the form of American depositary receipts (ADRs) for $76m (£39m)...

blackwater schooling taiwan's secret police
from danger room: I know, I know. You've been worried. Sure, Blackwater is up to its mercenary neck in Iraq. They're protecting missile interceptors in Japan, and rescuing blondes in Kenya. And let's not forget about their fine work in New Orleans. But how, you're asking, is Blackwater going to get involved what many think is the great struggle of the 21st Century - the upcoming war against China? Well, never fear. Blackwater has got that struggle covered, too. Defense News reports that "Blackwater is training members of the Taiwanese National Security Bureau’s (NSB’s) special protection service, which guards the president.

protests over beijing games 'will grow'
from guardian: For six years, the organisers of the Beijing Olympics have been planning an event that will restore China to the centre of the world stage... But with less than six months to go, this celebration of Chinese resurgence is threatening to degenerate into an opportunity for critics to land some blows on the communist leadership.

video: US navy sonar vs the whales
from raw replay: US navy is trying to protect whales from the navy’s super sonar. The following video is from CNN’s The Situation Room, broadcast on February 15, 2008.

flashback: navy must cut sonar use off california

chertoff worries about 'earth-shattering' events

from wtop: Homeland Security Chief Michael Chertoff's eyes narrow and his voice develops a stern, urgent tone as he reveals America's biggest vulnerability to terrorism.

"The great weapon they have is persistence and patience, and the one weakness that we have is the tendency to lose patience and become complacent," Chertoff tells WTOP.

chertoff talks about threats to US (7.42mb MP3)

'cyber storm' targeted bloggers & journalists

from ap: It's the government's idea of a really bad day: Washington's Metro trains shut down. Seaport computers in New York go dark. Bloggers reveal locations of railcars with hazardous materials. Airport control towers are disrupted in Philadelphia and Chicago. Overseas, a mysterious liquid is found on London's subway. And that's just for starters.

Those incidents were among dozens of detailed, mock disasters confronting officials rapid-fire in the U.S. government's biggest-ever "Cyber Storm" war game, according to hundreds of pages of heavily censored files obtained by The Associated Press. The Homeland Security Department ran the exercise to test the nation's hacker defenses, with help from the State Department, Pentagon, Justice Department, CIA, National Security Agency and others...

Imagined villains include hackers, bloggers and even reporters. After mock electronic attacks overwhelmed computers at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, an unspecified "major news network" airing reports about the attackers refused to reveal its sources to the government. Other simulated reporters were duped into spreading "believable but misleading" information that worsened fallout by confusing the public and financial markets, according to the government's files.

The $3 million, invitation-only war game simulated what the U.S. described as plausible attacks over five days in February 2006 against the technology industry, transportation lines and energy utilities by anti-globalization hackers. The government is organizing another multimillion-dollar war game, Cyber Storm 2, to take place in early March...

The AP obtained the Cyber Storm internal records nearly two years after it requested them under the Freedom of Information Act. The government censored most of the 328 pages it turned over, marked "For Official Use Only," (2.32mb PDF) citing rules preventing the disclosure of sensitive information.

"Definitely a challenging scenario," said Scott C. Algeier, who runs a cyber-defense group for leading technology companies, the Information Technology Information Sharing and Analysis Center...

However, the government's files hint at a tantalizing mystery: In the middle of the war game, someone quietly attacked the very computers used to conduct the exercise. Perplexed organizers traced the incident to overzealous players and sent everyone an urgent e-mail marked "IMPORTANT!" reminding them not to probe or attack the game computers.

"Any time you get a group of [information technology] experts together, there's always a desire, 'Let's show them what we can do,'" said George Foresman, a former senior Homeland Security official who oversaw Cyber Storm. "Whether its intent was embarrassment or a prank, we had to temper the enthusiasm of the players."

click here for a video from associated press

dhs finalizing plans for domestic spy satellite program

congress has not been updated since civil liberties concerns delayed satellite spying

from raw story: A plan to dramatically widen US law enforcement agencies' access to data from powerful spy satellites is moving toward implementation, as Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff expects to finalize a charter for the program this week, according to a new report.

Chertoff insists the scheme to turn spy satellites -- that were originally designed for foreign surveillance -- on Americans is legal, although a House committee that would approve the program has not been updated on the program for three months.

"We still haven't seen the legal framework we requested or the standard operation procedures on how the NAO will actually be run," House Homeland Security Chairman Bennie G. Thompson tells the Wall Street Journal. Thompson was referring to the National Applications Office -- a new DHS subset that would coordinate access to spy-satellite data for non-military domestic agencies, including law enforcement.

related: chertoff attacks bill of rights, corporate media ignores story

homeland security visited omaha mall before massacre

from truthnews: It was a coincidence, no doubt. Not only did Bush visit Omaha prior to the massacre, but so did the Ministry of Homeland Security.

“We learned today that shortly before the shooting a Homeland Security employee visited the West Roads Mall to talk with officials about the mall’s security,” reports Charles Gibson for ABC News (see video). “Airports and sports arenas have tightened security considerably since 9/11, but malls have been reluctant to do so.” ...

For some odd reason, a Google News search does not return a repeat of the ABC News admission that a Ministry employee was at the mall the same day as the massacre.

However, comrade Chertoff, in remarks after the event, admitted that the Ministry had an employee at the West Roads Mall prior to the incident, although the corporate media did not find this worthy of mention.

“We also have our protective security advisors who go and visit various facilities. We actually had one, by coincidence, at the mall in question at the time of the incident, discussing reaction to IEDs and what you can do to prevent or reduce your vulnerability to IEDs. We had, again, given over $45,000 to this particular mall as part of a Buffer Zone Protection Plan, which resulted in allowing them to build entrance bollards, portable barriers, and communication systems.”

In other words, the Ministry sent a message in spades: malls, not unlike airports, are to become Gestapo zones. Prior to the shooting, the FBI prepared the ground by issuing a spurious warning about al-Qaeda, the documented CIA intelligence asset, striking malls in Los Angeles and Chicago.

bush, homeland security & the omaha mall massacre

from grand theft country: This is a segment from ABC World News, where Charles Gibson reveals that President Bush "coincidentally had been in Omaha just hours before the shooting began." We are also made aware that an agent with the Department of Homeland Security visited the exact same mall "shortly before" the massacre took place. He was reportedly there to speak with officials about the mall's security.

outside the box #124

here is the latest episode of "outside the box," hosted by alex ansary.
it was originally broadcast by portland community media on october 18, 2007.

from alex ansary: Tonight Alex shares some footage that he captured during Topoff 4, which took place in Portland, Phoenix, and Guam. This particular event in Portland features some interesting questions that Alex asked at the press conferences concerning Vigilant Shield 08 and the possibility of military law enforcement in the case of a disaster. You will also see the mock victims of the dirty bomb attack playing their roles with enthusiasm. The event was a memory of a lifetime.

michael chertoff visits topoff 4 exercise

here is an exclusive video from alex ansary: Topoff 4 took place at multiple locations in the Portland Metro area, as well as Phoenix, AR and Guam. In this clip, Mr. Chertoff visits David Douglas High School where 1100 teenagers volunteered to take part in this anti-terrorism exercise. The basketball court has been turned into a Rapid Screening Point (RSP) which is a temporary facility for high production screening of individuals with non-acute symptoms who are potentially ill or exposed to a harmful substance. Later, a press conference with Michael Chertoff, Mayor Tom Potter and the Governor takes place.

Alex Ansary was fortunate enough to get his question in first (at 23:23) which pertained to the strange nature of nearly a dozen major war games happening around the world and asked Chertoff when the American people would be told about the situation with China and Russia. (note: Mic was only on Chertoff, sorry). This question is quickly dismissed, but is later followed by an excellent question from Ginny Ross from the Oregon Truth Alliance about the drills that took place on 9/11. Steve Keller, another concerned reporter, asked the panel about the possible use of private military contractors in the exercise or in future law enforcement locally. In general ,Chertoff pushed the message of a never ending terror threat in nearly all of his responses to the press.

bomb scare disrupts topoff drill

from oregonian: The Topoff dirty-bomb drill turned into a real-life bomb scare this afternoon after a trio of bomb-sniffing dogs alerted authorities to possible explosives on the first floor of the parking garage of the Doubletree Hotel Portland at 1000 NE Multnomah Street. Michael Chertoff, secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, was scheduled to be at the hotel for part of the Topoff counterterrorism exercise later in the day.

terror drill turns into the real deal near lloyd center
from katu: Bomb-sniffing dogs being used for a TOPOFF exercise in northeast Portland on Thursday detected the real thing, prompting police to cordon off a hotel, close nearby streets and shut down the MAX.

According to Brian Schmautz with the Portland Police Bureau, as officials were doing a sweep of the Doubletree Hotel located near the Lloyd Center (in preparation for the TOPOFF exercise), bomb-sniffing dogs got a hit on several vehicles in the vicinity.

Police immediately cordoned off the area so they could investigate. They later discovered that the dogs had detected traces of explosives in police and military vehicles that were involved in the exercise that was being staged. The bomb residue is something common in those type of vehicles.

MAX service resumed just before 4:30 p.m. and police began clearing the area shortly after.

terror exercise is all set to blast portland

from oregonian: The bomb's in place. The terrorists are ready. The city waits.

As of 9 a.m. Tuesday, a lethal cloak of radiation will cover much of downtown Portland.

It's all make-believe, of course. But this week the city will be ground zero for the largest counterterrorism exercise in U.S. history.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff will be in town to personally oversee the exercise, with the help of Gov. Ted Kulongoski and Mayor Tom Potter. In all, more than 15,000 people from 275 organizations will be involved. Every emergency agency in the Portland area, along with 14 hospitals and David Douglas High School, will play parts in an event dubbed "Topoff 4."

Six years after 9/11, with the nation fighting wars on two foreign fronts, skeptics say such exercises only inflame the public. But federal, state and local officials say they need the complex drills to test their ability to work together during large-scale catastrophes. The history of Topoff shows those tests don't usually go well.

"We know that the world will be watching," said Chip Terhune, Kulongoski's chief of staff...

Not everyone thinks it's just a drill. Conspiracy theorists have for months filled Internet forums and the ears of officials with their belief that President Bush will use the exercise as a front to declare martial law, then declare an eventual attack on Iran. Police expect real protesters to target the week's events.

Some, like 70-year-old Arlene Miller of Portland, worry the Bush administration has ordered the exercise to "go live," detonating a real dirty bomb and blaming it on terrorists. "I'm scared to death," said Miller, a retired Bonneville Power Administration employee.

When alarmists call the Oregon National Guard headquarters in Salem, officials are quick to tell them fewer than 40 soldiers will participate in the drill. In fact, the public won't notice most elements of the exercise at all, planners say.

Portland officials say they have received about 20 calls in the past month. "We try to make it clear that it's not a real radiological bomb," Merlo said. From there, callers are sent to 2-1-1, the city's Topoff information line.

When the "live action" portion concludes Wednesday night, the exercise will move to boardrooms and paper through Friday, concentrating on questions bound to emerge in the aftermath of a real dirty bomb.

How do you convince Portlanders it's OK to go back outside? What if cargo ships refuse to dock in an irradiated city? Would tourists choose to go somewhere else? Would property values collapse, prompting an exodus?

"In reality," Merlo said, "I think that's the part that's going to be the most interesting piece: How do we put the state back together?"

US spy satellites to be used on americans

from wall street journal: The U.S.'s top intelligence official has greatly expanded the range of federal and local authorities who can get access to information from the nation's vast network of spy satellites in the U.S.

The decision, made three months ago by Director of National Intelligence Michael McConnell, places for the first time some of the U.S.'s most powerful intelligence-gathering tools at the disposal of domestic security officials. The move was authorized in a May 25 memo sent to Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff asking his department to facilitate access to the spy network on behalf of civilian agencies and law enforcement.

chertoff has 'a gut feeling' about more terror

from abc: Senior U.S. intelligence officials tell ABC News new intelligence suggests a small al Qaeda cell is on its way to the United States, or may already be here.

The White House has convened an urgent multi-agency meeting for Thursday afternoon to deal with the new threat.

Top intelligence and law enforcement officials have been told to assemble in the Situation Room to report on: what steps can be taken to minimize or counter the threat, and what steps are being taken to harden security for government buildings and personnel.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff told the Chicago Tribune editorial board on Tuesday he had "a gut feeling" that an attack was coming.

"We do worry about whether they are rebuilding their capabilities," Chertoff said. "We strike at them; we degrade them; but they rebuild."

(watch the videos of chertoff fearmongering in chicago)

what color code is a 'gut feeling'?
from raw story: Following yesterday's statement by Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff's that his remarks on the increased risk of terrorism this summer were based "on a gut feeling," the Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie G. Thompson has sent a letter to Chertoff demanding an explanation, "what color code in the Homeland Security Advisory System is associated with a 'gut feeling?' What sectors should be on alert as a result of your “gut feeling?”

white house: no specific terror threat against US
from reuters: The Bush administration said on Wednesday there was no specific, credible terrorism threat against the United States and denied that an emergency meeting had been called.

ABC News reported on Tuesday that the White House had called an urgent multi-agency session for Thursday to discuss a potential new al Qaeda threat on U.S. soil.

White House officials said it was a regularly scheduled meeting and not attended by the most senior national security officials.

"There continues to be no credible, specific intelligence to suggest that there is an imminent threat to the homeland," White House spokesman Tony Fratto said.

"There is no emergency meeting," he said.

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