Russia/China Rising, DB Psyop? Probe, + DARPA

Russia Builds Highly Effective Pechora Surface-To-Air Missiles

http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Russia_Builds_Highly_Effective_Pechora_Surface_To_Air_Missiles_999.html

The final stage of the Combat Fraternity 2007 military exercise will be held at the Ashuluk firing range in the Astrakhan Region (southern Russia) on August 22. Defense ministers from ten CIS states will fly to the range after the opening ceremony of the MAKS 2007 aerospace show, which opens in Zhukovsky near Moscow on August 21 (cont..)

Russian Bombers Rehearse Nuclear Attacks Against the United States
http://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/article.aspx?id=1048

Calling on Russian pilots to resume "combat duty," Russian President Vladimir Putin
announced Aug. 17 http://www.kremlin.ru/eng/speeches/2007/08/17/2156_type82912_141822.shtml that his country's strategic nuclear bombers would resume their Cold War-era practice of conducting long-range patrols "on a permanent basis." He told reporters that "our pilots have spent too long on the ground. I know that they are happy to now have this chance to begin a new life and we wish them luck." Although the main function of these aircraft is to conduct nuclear missile strikes against the continental United States, Putin said he hoped that other countries would show "understanding" for the Russian decision.Perhaps to Moscow's surprise, representatives of the Bush administration did precisely that. In Crawford, Texas, where the president was vacationing, White House spokesperson Gordon D. Johndroe told reporters that, "Militaries around the world engage in a variety of different activities." In Washington, State Department spokesperson Sean McCormack said that Moscow's action was not threatening since the two countries "certainly are not in the kind of posture we were with what used to be the Soviet Union." Alluding to the age and technological backwardness of the planes, McCormack added that, "If Russia feels as though they want to take some of these old aircraft out of mothballs and get them flying again, that's their decision."
Some analysts might not be so sanguine. Russia's aging equipment and Russian air crews with less comprehensive training than their American or Soviet-era counterparts make the bombers more vulnerable to mechanical problems. During the Cold War, Soviet and U.S. bombers transporting nuclear weapons sometimes crashed, leading to costly environmental restoration programs and other hazards. At present, it is unclear whether they are carrying nuclear warheads on their patrols, though Putin's use of the term "combat duty" suggests such a possibility.Russia's existing strategic bomber fleet consists almost exclusively of Soviet-manufactured platforms capable of launching long-range air-launched cruise missiles (ALCMs) armed with nuclear warheads. The Russian Air Force currently deployshttp://en.rian.ru/russia/20070814/71405929.html 40 Tu-95MS Bear-H long-range heavy bombers, 14 Tu-160 Blackjack modern strategic bombers, and 141 Tu-22M3 Backfire-C theater bombers. The planes can also launch nuclear-armed short

RAF jets scrambled to intercept Russian bomber
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article2302783.ece

Criminal Probe Of Fatal Ground Zero Fire
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/08/21/national/main3189019.shtml

Paul Isaac of Brooklyn, an auxiliary fire fighter who worked on 9/11, holds a flag in support of the firefighters at the scene of a seven-alarm fire at the abandoned Deutsche Bank building. The blaze claimed the lives of two New York City firefighters. (Getty Images/Chris Hondros)

City officials have said that the fire started on the 17th floor of a building that was being dismantled floor by floor. (cont...)

"Cooperation 2007"

China, Russia: Joint Police Drill Proposed For September
http://www.stratfor.com/products/premium/read_article.php?selected=Situation%20Reports&sitrep=1&id=294345

The first joint counterterrorism exercise for China's armed police and Russia's interior forces, called "Cooperation 2007," is expected to take place in Moscow in September, though an exact date has not yet been determined. According to a source inside China's armed police, the proposed three-day event was developed in accordance with the principles of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and other agreements signed by the two countries.

Australia keen on ties, but not at China's cost
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Australia_keen_on_ties_but_not_at_Chinas_cost/articleshow/2296601.cms

NEW DELHI: Australia might not be in favour of a quadrilateral security dialogue with India, US and Japan in the Asia-Pacific region to avoid antagonising prickly China, but it certainly wants to boost bilateral military cooperation with India. Close on the heels of Australian defence minister Brendan Nelson's visit to India last month for talks on sharing counter-terrorism, maritime security and other "classified" information, his Navy chief is now in town to take the bilateral defence agenda forward. With both India and Australia agreeing that there is "a confluence of interests" between them, especially in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR), vice-admiral Russell Edward Shalders held talks with Navy chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta, Army chief General J J Singh, IAF chief Air Chief Marshal F H Major and defence secretary Vijay Singh on Monday.

U.S. naval chief tours defense facilities in China
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/08/21/asia/china.php

BEIJING: Amid repeated calls from the Bush administration for China to be more transparent about its military buildup, a visiting senior U.S. naval commander praised his Chinese counterpart here Tuesday for allowing a revealing tour of defense facilities and exercises.
The U.S. chief of naval operations, Admiral Mike Mullen, said he had organized a comprehensive visit to the United States in April for the Chinese naval chief, Admiral Wu Shengli.
"What I asked in return was for him to do the same thing," Mullen said. "He has done that. What I have seen is actions, not just words, which have met that standard, and I consider that to be very positive."
Mullen, who will become the top U.S. uniformed military commander when he becomes chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on Oct. 1, said that communication and exchanges between the two militaries needed to improve further but that he had reached a better understanding of China's goals during his six-day visit, which ends Wednesday (cont..)

Norway heightens vigilance as Russia sends more bombers to join exercises
http://www.indianmuslims.info/news/2007/aug/20/norway_heightens_vigilance_russia_sends_more_bombers_join_exercises.html

DARPA

Invention: The strategy predictor
http://technology.newscientist.com/article/dn12509-invention-the-strategy-predictor.html

Could a computer predict your next move in a game of strategy based only on observations of your past behaviour? The US
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency(DARPA) certainly hopes so. It has funded a project led by computer scientist H. Van Dyke Parunak to explore the idea.
Artificial intelligence experts normally approach this problem by assuming that the inner state of a person (or an "agent" in AI parlance) can be described in terms of beliefs, desires and goals. Since these goals determine an agent's actions, it should then to be possible to use this knowledge to make predictions about the agent's future actions.
Parunak claims to have used these ideas with some success in making predictions about future behaviour. He says his simulation works in relatively complex environments, making predictions in real-time.
In war-game scenarios, for example, Parunak says his model can successfully detect players' emotions , and then predict future actions accordingly. He believes the technique could one day be applied to predict the behaviour of adversaries in military combat situations, competitive business tactics, and even multiplayer computer games. (cont..)

US intelligence launches 'MySpace for analysts'
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20379182/

A rocket-powered bionic arm
http://machinist.salon.com/blog/2007/08/21/robotic_arm/

Homeland Security seeks input on Plum Island disease lab
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/suffolk/ny-liplum0822,0,2829637.story

*Leave it to fake opposition "NATION" Mag...DHS is ALL PORK and Corp. welfare.

Report Finds 'Pork' in Homeland Security Grants
http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewNation.asp?Page=/Nation/archive/200708/NAT20070821a.html

Please see Nico Haupt's updates on FCS, DEW etc:
http://forum.911movement.org/index.php?showtopic=331&st=15