terror drills & wargames: from israel to arizona

heavily armed law enforcement teams scattered across bay area this weekend for 'urban shield 2009'
from contra costa times: Armed officers in full battle gear will be scattered throughout the Bay Area this weekend, rescuing hostages, fighting bank robbers and quelling terrorism at the Oakland Airport, Lawrence Livermore Laboratory, the NASA Ames Research Center and 22 other high profile sites. There will be the sound of gunfire and blasts — all part of Urban Shield, one of the biggest domestic terrorism drills in the country. The $1 million, two-day event begins Saturday and will test the training of 27 crack teams from throughout the state, elsewhere in the country and the world...

27 teams? or is it: '25 teams practice emergency response' ... abc probably just confused the number of teams with the number of scenarios ... nothing to see here, move along:

drill may delay travel into fort huachuca wednesday
from azstarnet: Southern Arizona’s largest military installation is testing its anti-terrorism measures on Wednesday, a drill that could make travel there more time-consuming. Fort Huachuca’s force protection exercise may cause hold-ups for traffic entering the installation, an Army news release said. “Visitors to the fort may experience some delays that day,” said the release from spokeswoman Tanja Linton. Those entering the fort should be prepared to present identification and proof of insurance and vehicle registration, she said. Fort Huachuca, about 75 miles southeast of Tucson, is home to the Army’s military intelligence training center.

and, of course, the folks at fort huachuca are big fans of mediamonarchy.com, visiting several times a week ...
now let's catch a bus in orlando:

tsa spot-checks greyhound bus terminal
from orlando sentinel: Bryce Williams wasn't expecting to walk through a metal detector or have his bags screened for explosives at the Greyhound bus terminal near downtown Orlando. But Williams and 689 other passengers went through tougher-than-normal security procedures Thursday as part of a random check coordinated by the U.S. Transportation Security Administration. The idea is to keep off guard terrorists and others who mean harm, thereby improving safety for passengers and workers. There was no specific threat to the bus station on John Young Parkway south of Colonial Drive. Although the TSA is best known for its agents at airports, the agency's Visible Intermodal Prevention and Response, or VIPR, teams stage periodic operations at bus and train stations, ports and other transportation centers. They began work in December 2006. Thursday's daylong event was the first at a Greyhound station in Florida, said John Daly, TSA security director for the Orlando region.

and then finally, we jet off to the 'holy' land for some hi-tech & hush-hush wargames w/ everyone's favorite bff's:

USrael rehearse state of the art air defence umbrella
from afp: A massive air defence drill under way in Israel will join Israeli and US systems to create the world's most advanced anti-missile umbrella to protect the Jewish state, officials said on Thursday. The Juniper Cobra 10 exercises, the fifth in a series of joint air defence drills between the allies, began this week and comes amid heightened tension between Israel and arch-foe Iran. Some 1,000 US soldiers will take part in the two-week exercise combining Israeli and US systems to "create the world's most advanced air defence system to protect our citizens and homes from attack," the commander of Israel's Air Defence Corps, Brigadier General Doron Gavish, told reporters. Israeli and US commanders refused to describe the scenarios they are simulating, but said they would practise merging different anti-missile systems that defend simultaneously against long-, medium- and short-range missiles.

i feel safer already...

nasa/pentagon scientist arrested for attempted israeli spying

... add this to the long list of israeli spies like larry franklin, jonathan pollard, steven rosen & keith weissman ...
from wikinews: Stewart D. Nozette, 52, from Chevy Chase, Maryland in the United States, was arrested Monday on charges of espionage and is being held until a court hearing on Tuesday. He is accused of spying for Israel.

Nozette received a PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, had several high profile jobs in the U.S. government and access to classified materials. He worked for the Energy Department's Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory from 1990 to 1999 and was the President of the Alliance for Competitive Technology, which was formed in 1990 by Nozette. Both of these organizations had contracts with the U.S. government, providing advanced technology. Nozette also worked for NASA and the Department of Defense. During the course of these jobs, authorities say Nozette had access to classified information. The last time he is alleged to have had regular access to any such information was as late as 2006.

An undercover FBI agent, pretending to be an Israeli intelligence officer, confronted Nozette on September 3, 2009 and asked for government information. Later that day Nozette confirmed his willingness to give the officer classified material in exchange for money and an Israeli passport. During another meeting with the officer, Nozette pointed out that he no longer had access to classified documents but might recall information from them.

After a month, Nozette received two envelopes containing US$11,000 and lists of questions they wanted Nozette to answer. Over a time period of a decade, from 1998 to 2008, Nozette received and returned the envelopes allegedly containing information labeled as "top secret" and "secret", about U.S. military satellites, the nation's early warning systems against missile attacks, and the ability of the U.S. to withstand and defend itself a large-scale attack. In total, authorities say Nozette would have made a profit of US$225,000.

Nozette, if convicted, faces maximum sentence of life in prison. "The conduct alleged in this complaint is serious and should serve as a warning to anyone who would consider compromising our nation's secrets for profit," said U.S. Assistant Attorney General David Kris.


related: art students in wtc connected to israeli intelligence service

top-secret livermore anti-germ lab opens

from sfgate: A high-security laboratory where deadly microbes are being grown by scientists seeking defenses against terrorist attacks began operating in Livermore last week without public announcement, and opponents said Friday that they will go to federal court in an effort to close the facility down.

Built inside the closed campus of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, the facility has been controversial ever since it was first proposed by homeland security officials more than five years ago. Tri-Valley CARES, the East Bay watchdog group that has long fought nuclear weapons research there, has led the fight against it with protests and legal actions.

The facility is known as a Biosafety-level 3 laboratory where highly trained workers, high-tech airlocks and extremely rigorous safety measures are required by federal rules in order to contain any of more than 40 potentially lethal disease-causing bacteria, viruses and fungi stored inside.