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Homeland Security to narrow its focus Nuclear, biological threats move to fore
By Frank James Washington Bureau Published July 14, 2005
WASHINGTON -- Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said Wednesday that he is reorganizing his agency to better focus on those terrorist threats that would be the most catastrophic, such as nuclear or biological attacks.
"Some of the tools needed to prevent, respond and recover from such awful scenarios are already in place," he said. "Others need significant improvement."
Chertoff said his department would focus more resources "on addressing threats that pose catastrophic consequences," such as a nuclear device being detonated in a major American city. As a result, the agency apparently will spend less time and money worrying about smaller threats.
Seaport detection lacking
One possibility dreaded by terrorism experts is that Al Qaeda or another group could acquire a nuclear device on the black market and smuggle it into the country through one of the nation's seaports. The nation's ports don't have enough detection devices to scan all 8 million incoming cargo containers for hidden nuclear material.
Chertoff said U.S. officials "must complete our deployment of radiation portal detectors at ports while advancing research on more sophisticated, non-intrusive detection protocols and equipment."
Likewise, the possibility of a biological attack with a deadly microbe such as smallpox or anthrax has worried terrorism experts.
To that end, Chertoff said he would name "an outstanding physician" to be his principal adviser on medical preparedness and coordinate the department's efforts with other federal agencies in hopes of preventing or responding to such an attack.
Chertoff's plans are an early result of his ongoing review of the relatively new and somewhat unwieldy department he took over in March.
Homeland Security is a collection of 180,000 workers from 22 agencies hastily thrown together in response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The resulting department created in 2003 has been frequently criticized by independent terrorism experts and Congress as being poorly organized and managed.
The department's first secretary, former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge, was a well-liked politician who oversaw the creation of the department.
But perhaps because he was a politician, he seemed to some observers loathe to offend people within the newly merged agencies, leaving them essentially to operate as they had before they became part of the umbrella agency.
By contrast, Chertoff, a former federal judge and Justice Department official, has a reputation for bluntness.
Improving information flow
Many of the changes he announced Wednesday were aimed at improving the flow of information within the department and its overall management.
Chertoff said he would remove a layer of management so that such agencies as the Transportation Security Administration and Immigration and Customs Enforcement report directly to his office instead of to an undersecretary.
Clark Kent Ervin, the department's former inspector general who is now with the Aspen Institute think tank in Washington, said the policy change "makes sense in order to make it more likely that decisions are made in a timely fashion, and issues and problems are brought to top decision-makers as quickly as possible."
Meanwhile, Chertoff said he was designating a chief intelligence officer who would report directly to him and unify the disparate intelligence coming from at least 10 separate units within the department.
Julliette Kayyem, a terrorism expert at Harvard University, said in a statement that "Chertoff's announcement shows us something from the department we have not yet seen: focus. The secretary demonstrated today that while Tom Ridge was in charge of bringing 22 agencies together, Mike Chertoff is in charge of telling them what to do. This reorganization should be praised."
Flight, finger-scan changes Chertoff announced the end of a ban on airline passengers leaving their seats on flights within 30 minutes of takeoffs or landings at Reagan National Airport, which serves Washington and is located within eyesight of the Capitol.
Chertoff said that deployment of air marshals on flights and other security measures made the requirement unnecessary.
Chertoff also said foreigners visiting the U.S. who must have their fingerprints electronically scanned as part of the U.S.-VISIT program will be required to submit all 10 fingers for scanning on their first visit to the U.S., compared with only two fingers until now.
Research has found that scanning only two fingers increases the likelihood that terrorists on watch lists could be allowed into the country.
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fjames@tribune.com
-------------------- Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it or it is spoken and rumored by many. But after observation and analysis,when you find that anything agrees with reason And is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it
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Galaxy... Thanks for the great news. Below I posted a couple of quotes from your posts that really stand to benefit HISC...
"$5.05 billion for securing transportation, including: $2.3 billion for passenger and baggage screeners; $172 million for checkpoint support; $180 million for the procurement of explosive detection and trace systems; $50 million for the procurement and deployment of next generation in-line explosive detection systems; $1 billion for airport security direction and enforcement; $50 million for air cargo security"
"The bill includes $200 million for the Port Security Grant program, a $50 million increase over last year. These funds are granted to localities to finance security enhancements at critical national seaports."
And as I have previously posted, HISC has a PR due out this week as well. And OTCBB before fourth quarter. Also CyberNoze explosive detection equipment is scheduled to hit the market this coming week as well. Future is looking very bright indeed IMO...
-------------------- It is impossible to make anything foolproof because fools are so ingenious.
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right now HISC is closed to 99.9% of the big investment money. my bro-in-law has a serious contract with a public company. they just got off the OTCBB to the new exchange Archapeligo for that very same reason. if HISC can get its pps up by proving its value while on the OTCBB as in over $1 then moving to a main board could skyrocket this stock. as of today they have a lot to still prove but out of all the OTCBB stocks it has to be 1 of the better companies with a chance.
-------------------- "keep your stick on the ice & your cup firmly in place"
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Dirty container detection capabilities presented at LANL
CAROL A. CLARK, lanews@lamonitor.com, Monitor Staff Writer
Detecting dirty cargo containers amid some 16 million arriving in the United States by ship, truck and rail each year is a daunting task.
Some 200 million cargo containers move between major seaports worldwide each year, according to a U.S. Customs Service fact sheet.
And the problem continues to grow.
The volume of trade moving through America's 102 seaports has nearly doubled since 1995, with more than a million cargo containers currently passing through customs annually.
In 2001, U.S. Customs processed more than 214,000 vessels.
About 90 percent of the world's cargo now moves by container.
The problems are worsened by the surge in traffic in containerized freight, according to U.S. Customs. Ever larger ships, some with more than 7,000 cargo containers each, are docking at American ports.
The top 10 U.S. Ports of Import include New York, Los Angeles, Long Beach, Charleston, Seattle, Norfolk, Houston, Oakland, Savannah and Miami.
Problems are particularly acute at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, the nation's busiest, handling roughly a third of all containers that arrive in the United States each year.
Nuclear physicist Cal Moss gave the first half of the third lecture in the summer seminar series sponsored by the Center for Homeland Security at the Los Alamos National Laboratory on Wednesday.
Moss spoke to a group of LANL students; many who are Department of Homeland Security undergraduate scholars and graduate school fellows from around the country.
The students are interested in pursuing basic science and technology innovations that can be applied to the DHS mission.
Tom Wehner, Ph.D., and technical staff member in LANL's Center for Homeland Security attended Wednesday's presentation and stated that through the lectures, the students are privy to the best in homeland security research.
"This seminar series is so exciting because we are sharing with students the hottest topics in homeland security," said Wehner. "This series is presenting the kind of research that is making such a difference in our nation's security."
Moss addressed the latest developments in active interrogation techniques to detect Highly Enriched Uranium (HEU) in cargo containers with the students.
"Some 70 percent of international goods arrive in containers so you'd expect smugglers to try to use them," Moss said. "Radiography is often used to inspect cargo but cannot detect HEU. We need to come up with a better way to detect HEU."
One of the students questioned the presence of human health concerns with scanner radiation.
Moss explained that cargo is initially scanned at a low beam similar to the level of a chest x-ray until the lack of human beings inside containers is ascertained. Inspectors then crank up the beam during a 60-second scan to detect nefarious chemicals lurking inside.
Moss is an expert in the field. He wrote his doctoral thesis on gamma-ray spectroscopy using a van de Graaff accelerator.
His LANL work includes the design of nuclear instruments for space satellites and participation in monitoring the down blending of HEU from Russian weapons for use in U.S. reactors.
The Advanced Nuclear Technology Group, NIS-6 published an abstract in which photofissions were induced in samples of HEU with masses up to 22 kg using bremsstrahlung photons from a pulsed 10-MeV electron linear accelerator.
Neutrons were detected between pulses by large 3He detectors and the data analyzed with the Feynman variance-to-mean method.
The effects of shielding materials, such as lead and polyethylene, and the variation of the counting rate with distance for several configurations were measured.
For comparison, a beryllium block was inserted in the beam to produce neutrons that were also used for interrogation.
Because both high-energy photons and neutrons are very penetrating, both approaches can be used to detect shielded HEU; the choice of approach depends on the details of the configuration and the shielding, according to the abstract.
Nuclear chemist Robert Estep presented the second half of Wednesday's presentation. He addressed the latest developments in algorithms for radiological and nuclear detectors and other timely topics.
"The goal is to improve isotope identification in the field," Estep said. "The current analysis methods are unreliable when shielding is present. The latest Material Basis Set (MBS) allows advanced analysis at the sensor head and corrects for shielding effects while identifying isotopes. The MBS method solves this problem."
Estep described the ongoing MBS Development Work at Los Alamos including:
Multiple Isotope MBS (MIMBS)
Development of a full-up multiple isotope MBS solver.
Identify all isotopes present with shielding corrections.
PC only-would be too slow for current handhelds
Lite version of multiple isotope solver
Compact enough to run on current handhelds.
Method was outlined in a 2004 INMM article.
Collaboration on new handheld project
A "third generation" handheld has been proposed at LANL.
Would have the processing power needed for full MIMBS.
Ideal platform for full MIMBS plus other MBS algorithms.
Estep also is an expert in his field. He developed active and passive neutron detection systems for nuclear safeguards. He is the original developer of the tomographic gamma scanner method, now in worldwide use for the characterization of radioactive waste.
Next week's seminar will include a lecture on Plume and Urban Modeling by scientist Michael Brown at 10 a.m. Wednesday at LANL.
For information, call 665-8031.
-------------------- Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it or it is spoken and rumored by many. But after observation and analysis,when you find that anything agrees with reason And is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it
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Traders Nation: Traders Nation(tm) Television - debuts today! 7/18/05
Phoenix, Arizona, Jul 18, 2005 (M2 PRESSWIRE via COMTEX) -- Stocks covered on the show Traders Nation (07.15.05) include: Q Television Network (otc: QBID), Global Environmental Energy Corp (otcbb: GEECF), Cord Blood America Inc (otcbb: CBAI), Homeland Integrated Security Systems Inc (otc: HISC), and Cyberlux Corporation (otcbb: CYBL).
Traders Nation Network and Traders Nation(tm), the largest syndicated "live" radio and television talk show for smallcap stocks under the parent company of Desert Son Media Corp., is pleased to announce its television debut, in partnership with Streetcast Television, a simulcast televised version of its popular radio show. The show will debut July 18th, 2005, 11:00am EST at http://www.tradersnation.com/video.shtml and http://www.streetcast.tv.
Kurt Schemers, creator of Traders Nation(tm) and President of Desert Son Media Corp., says, "Fans of Traders Nation(tm) now can watch the show via the internet and through cable stations across the country." Schemers further states, "Going to television is a natural progression for us, the demand for quality smallcap financial content is strong and Traders Nation(tm), the leader in this space, will meet that demand. In coordination, we look forward to growing our television presence with our new partner Streetcast Television - they share the same professional broadcasting ideals we have."
The Traders Nation(tm) Network: TradersNation.com hosts a network of nationally syndicated financial radio talk shows through various forms of broadcasting methods. Daily, web site visitors, listeners, affiliates and financial content distribution companies are able to access the most up to date market news, alerts and overall market commentary.
The Show named "Traders Nation(tm)": Multiple segments make up the 'LIVE' hour-long program where listeners gather daily to hear the latest smallcap news of the day and scheduled guests, from industry experts and CEO's. Traders also share investing, trading strategies and potential hot stock plays swirl throughout the call-in portion of the show.
- Traders Nation Television through our partner Streetcast Television is currently seen 4 days each week on America One Cable, a 24-hour broadcast network that provides programming to over 30 million households via 127 broadcast affiliate stations located in 40 states.
- Traders Nation(tm) broadcasts are fed on the New York ABC's Starguide Satellite System which can be received by over 4,000 radio stations across the United States. Our station affiliates capture Traders Nation(tm) for either a simulcast or rebroadcast of the show. http://www.tradersnation.com/program_clock.shtml - Traders Nation(tm) is currently syndicated online with 119 sites carrying the show and is broadcasted on WTAN 1400AM & WZHR 1340AM in Tampa, Florida and KWAI 1080AM in Hawaii.
- Traders Nation(tm) is heard by tens of thousands of end users via QuoteStream online financial software.
- Traders Nation(tm) is Apple's iTunes only pre-select financial talk show listed.
M2 Communications Ltd disclaims all liability for information provided within M2 PressWIRE. Data supplied by named party/parties. Further information on M2 PressWIRE can be obtained at http://www.presswire.net on the world wide web. Inquiries to info@m2.com.
posted
I had an order in @ .098 and it wasnt getting filled, then when I jsut saw teh ask drop to .095 I cancelled my order, I think its going to fill the gap some before it goes back up
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quote:Originally posted by Bowes: I had an order in @ .098 and it wasnt getting filled, then when I jsut saw teh ask drop to .095 I cancelled my order, I think its going to fill the gap some before it goes back up
Good luck, Bowes. It had a high of .01. NICE!!! Bigger block trades going for lower pps.
PS: I'm guessing we are seeing the dip right now.
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quote:Originally posted by Bowes: I had an order in @ .098 and it wasnt getting filled, then when I jsut saw teh ask drop to .095 I cancelled my order, I think its going to fill the gap some before it goes back up
Good luck, Bowes. It had a high of .01. NICE!!! Bigger block trades going for lower pps.
Actually .10
-------------------- It is impossible to make anything foolproof because fools are so ingenious.
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im so happy it didnt fill @ .098 right now, it had so much momentum in the pre-open I thought it was going to go to .12. Luckily I got the cancel in and I am now going to wait for it to fill the gap, its getting close to that right now
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ok, i think its filled the gap enough, bid and ask are real tight with MMs bumping up their ask to .09+, just need nite to do the same
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MMs are testing it, seeing if it wants to go right now, but people keep selling @ .086, if the asks would keep coming in when bid is .086 the stock would start moving good again, get some momentum then break the .1 barrier today
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DAM I SHOULD HAVE INVESTED MONEY IN THIS COMPANY ITS JUST STEADILY GOING UP AND UP. IS IT TOO LATE, IM AFFRAID TO BECAUSE I DONT WANT IT TO DIP
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Rochester, NY, Jul 18, 2005 (M2 PRESSWIRE via COMTEX) -- OTCStockExchange.com's "Stock Watch Alert" this morning are Homeland Integrated Security Systems, Inc. (Pink Sheets: HISC), Emerson Oil and Gas, Inc. (Pink Sheets: EOGI), iVoice, Inc. (OTCBB: IVOC), CALI Holdings, Inc. (OTCBB: CALI). Sign-up for our FREE Stock Alerts at http://www.otcstockexchange.com!
Homeland Integrated Security Systems, Inc. (Pink Sheets: HISC - http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=HISC.PK ) Homeland Integrated Security Systems, Inc. is pleased to announce that it has received a commitment from Capital Resource Funding, Inc. to provide commercial financing services. Capital Resource Funding will provide purchase order and receivables financing to fund Homeland Integrated Security Systems' current growth projections.
"The funding programs that CRF facilitates will empower HISC to acquire orders and offer payment terms, where the only restrictions are their client's trade limits. With government orders, HISC will truly have unlimited funding capabilities on all approved purchase orders," said David Koran, President, Capital Resource Funding.
This type of financing will enable HISC to accept new orders, regardless of size, and have the funding available to cover any up front costs necessary to fill each order.
Furthermore, this will allow HISC to offer attractive payment terms to their current and future clients, without having any potential credit limit issues. Purchase order financing rates range from 3% to 6% of the purchase order amount, and receivables financing ranges from 1% to 2.5% per 30 days.
Capital Resource Funding, Inc., located in Charlotte, NC, has multiple years experience in the commercial finance industry. David Koran has a banking background with First Union (now Wachovia Corp.) and BB&T.
Homeland Integrated Security Systems recently announced that it received a blanket purchase order from Pro Sec, a Middle Eastern security company, for 5000 Cyber Trackers at a base price of $499.99 per unit. The order translates to $2.5 million for the hardware, which does not include subsequent fees for the software and service. Homeland Integrated Security Systems will begin shipments to Pro Sec in the fourth quarter of 2005.
"The Purchase Order financing from Capital Resource will assist us with our most recent Purchase Order, as well as help us to continue to finance our growth and profitability," stated Frank Moody, CEO of Homeland Integrated Security Systems.
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