Streamline Solutions

Osgood Family Christmas 2008 Cruise!

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron D Osgood) — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 14:37:00 +0000

Gotta enjoy life occasionally! (-;

The State of Jihad: 2008 - The Long War Journal

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron D Osgood) — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 01:31:00 +0000

http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2009/01/the_state_of_jihad_2_1.php

The State of Jihad: 2008
By Bill RoggioJanuary 2, 2009 12:15 AM
The past year has seen significant developments in the Long War. Pakistan teeters on a civil war and a potential war with India, after Taliban gains and an attack launched on Mumbai from within Pakistan. India has emerged as a central battlefield in the war. Iraq has dealt major defeats to al Qaeda and the Mahdi Army, and is moving towards reconciliation. Afghanistan experienced the worst year since the US invasion to oust the Taliban in 2001. A “surge” in Afghanistan will take place this year. Iran is close to developing a nuclear weapon, and the West has no plan to avert the crisis. Al Qaeda is poised to retake control of Somalia. Yemen remains an al Qaeda sanctuary.

The battles continue in lesser known theaters. The US struck a senior al Qaeda leader in Syria, and Imad Mugniyah was assassinated in Damascus. The Philippines made progress against its Islamic insurgency and dealt blows to Abu Sayyaf and the radical Rajah Solaiman Movement. Indonesia has driven Jemaah Islamiyah underground. Algeria fought a low-intensity terror insurgency with al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.

The following is an overview of the major developments in the most active theaters across the globe in the Long War.

Baitullah Mehsud from a recent Taliban video.

Pakistan

Pakistan remains the central front in the war against al Qaeda, the Taliban, and allied movements such as and Lashkar-e-Taiba. The Pakistani Taliban, led by South Waziristan chieftan Baitullah Mehsud, is in full control of the tribal areas and has gained more ground in Pakistan's Northwest Frontier Province. The districts of Swat, Shangla, Bannu, Tank, Dir, and Malakand are under Taliban control, while the Taliban has a strong presence in every other district.

As of last summer, US intelligence estimated the Taliban and al Qaeda run more than 150 training camps and maintain more than 400 support locations throughout the northwest. The Taliban has attacked NATO convoys in Khyber and the provincial capital of Peshawar, and forced the closure of the Khyber Pass twice. Despite the rise of the Taliban, the government and military have conducted numerous negotiations with the Taliban throughout the year.

The US has attempted to counter al Qaeda's growth in Pakistan’s tribal areas by ramping up airstrikes against camps and safe houses that are believed to facilitate al Qaeda external operations against the West and in Afghanistan. There were 36 recorded airstrikes and cross-border raids in 2008, compared to 10 in 2006 and 2007 combined. Five senior al Qaeda leaders, including Abu Laith al Libi and Abu Khabab al Masri, were killed during the 2008 strikes.

Map of the tribal areas and the Northwest Frontier Province. The government signed peace agreements in the red agencies/ districts (the military said Shangla was under Taliban control in October); purple districts are under de facto Taliban control; yellow regions are under Taliban influence.

The problem of Pakistani complicity in the global war became difficult to ignore after Lashkar-e-Taiba, with the help of elements within Pakistan's military and intelligence service, struck in Mumbai. More than 170 people were killed and the city was shut down for nearly three days in the military-style assault. Fearing an Indian invasion, Pakistan has redeployed Army units from the northwest back to the eastern front with India.

On the political front, Pervez Musharraf resigned from the office of president and allowed for the successful democratic transition of power after nine years of a military dictatorship. The Pakistan People's Party, whose former leader was the slain Benazir Bhutto, won the election and formed a coalition government. The government has been unsuccessful at reining in the Inter-Service Intelligence agency and fighting the Taliban.

More on Pakistan at The Long War Journal: Main Entries, Today In, News

India

Ajmal Amir Kasab, outside the train station in Mumbai during the November terror attack.

During 2008, India has emerged as a major theater in the war. India suffered the most attacks and casualties of those countries not currently engaged in active fighting with the Taliban, al Qaeda, and other terror groups. The Mumbai terror attack in November 2008 capped a year of mass casualty strikes on Indian soil. Over the course of 2008, terrorist attacks in Mumbai, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Assam, and New Delhi resulted in the deaths of 332 Indians and foreigners and more than 1280 wounded. The Mumbai attack differed in scope and severity from previous attacks, in that small teams of terrorists conducted a military-styled assault from the sea and closed down a major city for almost three days.

Al Qaeda-linked Harkat-ul-Jihad-i-Islami, Jaish-e-Mohammad, and Lashkar-e-Taiba have been implicated in the attacks, along with the Students' Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) and the Indian Mujahideen. Indian and Western intelligence agencies have established that SIMI and the Indian Mujahideen are fronts for the Pakistani terror groups, created to mask their involvement in the attacks.

The Indian government had largely ignored the earlier bombings, but the military assault on Mumbai appears to have brought an end to this stance. Since the end of November, India has pressed hard against Pakistan to close down the multitude of terror groups based on its soil. India is also contemplating airstrikes against terror camps in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and in eastern Pakistan.

More on India at The Long War Journal: Main Entries, Today In, News

Abu Qaswarah, al Qaeda in Iraq's second in command, was killed in Mosul in October 2008. Image courtesy of Multinational Forces Iraq.

Iraq

In two short years, the Iraqi and the US and Coalition forces have turned around what seemed to be a hopeless situation. By the end of 2006, many had given up Iraq as lost to al Qaeda, Sunni insurgents, the Mahdi Army, Iran, and death squads. But with a change in the counterinsurgency plan, an increase in US and Iraqi forces, the infusion of new US military leadership, and an expansion of the Anbar Awakening program in 2007, violence was dramatically reduced and the Iraqi government was given the time and space needed to further reconciliation.

Iraqi and US forces followed up a highly successful 2007 by continuing to attack the enemies of the state. The Iraqi government launched a major offensive against the Mahdi Army in Basrah in March. The fighting soon expanded to Baghdad and central and southern Iraq. The Iraqi military quickly caught its balance after stumbling out of the gate in Basrah. More troops were rushed to Basrah and the Mahdi Army was crushed. The US and Iraqi militaries defeated the Mahdi Army in their stronghold of Sadr City in Baghdad, and the offensive was carried out through the summer and fall. The Mahdi Army and the Sadrist movement took such a beating that Muqtada al Sadr disbanded the militia and pulled his party from upcoming provincial elections. In addition, Iran's Ramazan Corps' network was essentially dismantled in central and southern Iraq.

The fight was also taken to the remaining al Qaeda strongholds in Diyala, Kirkuk, Salahadin, and Ninewa provinces. Iraqi forces, backed by the US, were massed for operation in northern Diyala and Mosul. While the fight is still on in Mosul, al Qaeda has few remaining strongholds and has shifted from an insurgency that holds ground to a terrorist movement lashing out against targets. Al Qaeda’s internal communications show how badly the terror group has been beaten in Iraq. Al Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Ayyub al Masri fled the country and Abu Qaswarah, the group's second in command was killed in Mosul.

The violence in Iraq has been reduced by 80 percent compared to 2007, and the incidence of violence is at its lowest since 2003, when the US ousted Saddam Hussein from power. Al Qaeda, the Mahdi Army, and Iran have suffered strategic defeats in Iraq in 2008, but as US military commanders note, the peace is still fragile. US forces are beginning to draw down, and the status of forces agreement between the US and Iraq stipulates that US combat forces must withdraw from Iraqi cities by the summer of 2009 and out of Iraq entirely by the end of 2011. The Iraqi security forces have improved dramatically and will fill the gaps. The US must remain to provide guidance and support to ensure that the peace remains.

More on Iraq at The Long War Journal: Main Entries, Today In, News

Click to view slide show of the Haqqani Network. Pictured is a composite image of Siraj Haqqani.

Afghanistan

Aided by bases, training camps, and a nearly endless supply of recruits across the border in Pakistan, the Taliban has made significant gains in its attempt to retake control of Afghanistan. The government's failure to provide effective governance and legitimate security forces has eroded the public's confidence and provided space for the Taliban to expand its influence. The resurgent Taliban, along with the allied Hizb-i-Islami and the Haqqani Network, has ramped up operations in southern and eastern Afghanistan, and has expanded its control of provinces around Kabul and in the northwest.

The Taliban essentially controls the provinces of Wardak and Logar just outside Kabul, and has increased its presence in Baglan province in the northwest. Attacks are up in Nimroz, Farah, and Herat provinces in the west. Many of the districts in Kandahar province are under effective Taliban control, while fighting is still heavy in neighboring Helmand province. The Taliban has established shadow governments in many of Afghanistan’s districts and provinces, with courts, checkpoints, security forces, and taxation.

During 2008, the Taliban was able to pull off several high-profile attacks in Afghanistan, including an assault on the Serena hotel in Kabul, an assassination attempt on President Karzai at a ceremony outside of Kabul, a suicide attack on the Indian embassy in Kabul, and a series of complex attacks on forward operating bases in eastern Afghanistan. The Taliban has also launched multiple strikes from Pakistan's tribal areas against Coalition and Afghan bases. Overall, IED attacks against Coalition and Afghan forces in Afghanistan doubled in 2008.

This year, the United States will surge approximately 30,000 additional troops, including four combat brigades and one combat aviation brigade, effectively doubling the amount of US troops in country. The full contingent will not arrive in country until the summer of 2009. The US will attempt to duplicate the success of Iraq’s tribal Awakening by courting local tribes in some regions in eastern Afghanistan. NATO has failed to answer the call for more troops, sparking serious concerns about the alliance's effectiveness. Canada will withdraw all of its forces by the end of 2011.

More on Afghanistan at The Long War Journal: Main entries, Today In, News

Sheikh Abu Mukhtar Robow (left) and Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan (faced covered) in a propaganda video acquired by The Long War Journal.

Somalia

Al Qaeda-backed As Shabaab, or the Somali Youth Movement, and allied Islamist insurgent groups are prepared to retake control of Somalia after a year of gains in central and southern Somalia. The Islamist groups have taken control over the entire southern and central regions of Somalia, while the rump Transitional Federal Government controls pockets in Mogadishu and Baidoa. Shabaab has also successfully conducted suicide attacks in the semi-autonomous regions of Puntland and Somaliland.

Al Qaeda has effectively reestablished its training camps in southern Somalia. Shabaab has officially requested to join al Qaeda, and the request has been welcomed by senior al Qaeda leaders.

The US conducted several 'over the horizon' airstrikes in an effort to take out senior Shabaab and al Qaeda leaders operating in southern Somalia. Aden Hashi Ayro was killed in one such strike in May of 2008.

The African Union failed to provide the required number of peacekeepers; only one-quarter of the pledged troops arrived. Ethiopia, which invaded Somalia at the end of 2006 to oust the Islamic Courts Union, is prepared to withdraw its thousands of troops in early 2009.

More on Somalia at The Long War Journal: Main Entries, Today In, News

Flash Presentation on the Ramazan Corps and the Iranian Ratlines into Iraq. Click the map to view. A Flash Player is required to view, click to download.

Iran

Iran continues to be one of the largest state sponsors of terror, and at the same time the nation continues its pursuit of a nuclear weapons program. During 2008, the West failed to come up with a comprehensive plan to deal with Iran's nuclear program. The United States has resorted to sanctioning groups and individuals behind Iran's nuclear program. Banks, shipping and weapons companies, and members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps have been placed on the US Treasury's list of sanctioned organizations.

Iran suffered a strategic defeat in Iraq with the US and Iraq efforts to dismantle the Iranian-backed Mahdi Army and Iran's Ramazan Corps network that moved weapons, money, and fighters into the theater. More than 10 Iranian agents were killed or captured inside Iraq last year. Although Iran still has influence and maintains the ability to conduct operations in Iraq, its power in Iraq has been greatly diminished.

In Lebanon, Iran's proxy Hezbollah was able to force the government to include them in the government and give the terror group veto power over government decisions. Hezbollah's ascent to power occurred after days of street fighting in Beirut and in the North between its armed wing and the various armed factions in Lebanon. The Lebanese Army sat out of the fighting.

More on Iran at The Long War Journal: Main Entries, Today In, News

Hamza Ali Saleh al Dhayani, al Qaeda's leader in Yemen.

Yemen

After Pakistan, Yemen is considered to be one of the largest havens for al Qaeda. Many powerful elements within Yemen's government support al Qaeda's presence. Thousands of Yemeni fighters returned from Iraq since mid-2007. Many have served in militias sponsored by the government to fight opposition groups. Yemen routinely frees jailed al Qaeda members.

Al Qaeda in Yemen conducted multiple suicide and conventional attacks against foreigners and Yemen's oil industry. The most high-profile attack took place in the capital after a suicide bomber breached the outer gate of the US Embassy. An assault team managed to enter the outer security barrier before the attack was thwarted.

The Yemeni prisons remain a revolving door for al Qaeda operatives captured in the country. A Yemeni appeals court reduced Jaber Elbanah's 10-year jail term to five years. Elbanah is wanted by the US for providing material support to Al Qaeda and is believed to have helped recruit the Lackawanna Six. A Yemeni court released Elbanah on bail in February 2008.

In August 2008, Yemen's new vice and virtue committee elected Sheikh Abdulmajid al Zindani as its president. Zindani was named by the US Treasury as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist and a bin Laden loyalist.

More on Yemen at The Long War Journal: Main Entries, Today In, News

Imad Mugniyah, Iranian operative and leader of Hezbollah's military wing, was killed in Damascus, Syria. Click image to view.

Syria

Syria has long supported or looked the other way as al Qaeda and Sunni insurgents used the country as a transit point and safe haven for fighters entering western Iraq. More than 90 percent of the suicide bombers have been estimated to have entered Iraq via Syria.

The US sent a strong message to Syria in October 2008 when it launched the first recorded cross-border strike inside the country since the invasion of Iraq in 2003. Nine terrorists were reported killed after US commandos dropped from helicopters conducted a raid in eastern Syria. The target was Abu Ghadiya, a senior al Qaeda leader who had been in charge of the Syrian facilitation network since 2005. Ghadiya and his staff were killed in the attack.

Earlier in the year, Imad Mugniyah, the leader of Hezbollah’s military wing and a senior officer in Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps, was killed in car bombing in the capital of Damascus. It is thought that Israeli intelligence was behind the attack. Mugniyah, a pioneer in modern terrorism, was behind numerous terror attacks throughout the world, including the 1983 Beirut suicide attacks that killed 241 US Marines and 58 French paratroopers.

More on Syria at The Long War Journal: Main Entries,Today In, and News

Philippines

Talks between the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the government broke down after MILF conducted several terrorist and military attacks against villages in areas adjacent to MILF control. The government launched offensives and overran several MILF camps. The Philippine armed forces killed several mid-level Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiyah leaders during clashes in 2008. Senior Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiyah leaders, including Dulmatin, are still believed to shelter in MILF camps. The allied Rajah Solaiman Movement is thought to have been dismantled.

More on the Philippines at The Long War Journal: Main Entries, Today In, News

Indonesia

Jemaah Islamiyah, al Qaeda's Southeast Asia affiliate, has largely gone underground in Indonesia after senior leaders in the group have been killed or captured. Indonesia finally executed Bali bombers Amrozi, Mukhlas, and Imam Samudra. In April, an Indonesian court sentenced Jemaah Islamiyah leaders Abu Dujana and Zarkasih to 15 years in prison each after they were found guilty of terrorism charges. But in a disturbing development, a song recorded on a cell phone by Imam Samudra became a top hit in the country.

More on Indonesia at The Long War Journal: Today In, News

Algeria

After conducting multiple high profile attacks against government institutions and international agencies in 2007, al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb’s operations took the form of a terrorist insurgency. Al Qaeda targeted security patrols and installations with small scale military attacks and suicide strikes. The vast majority of these attacks took place over the summer. The government said 185 al Qaeda members, including emirs and foreign fighters, have been killed in 2008. There have been no suicide attacks since August.

More on Algeria at The Long War Journal: Main Entries, Today In, News

Israel & the Palestinian Territories

Major fighting broke out between Israel and the Hamas-led government in the Gaza strip after the six-month truce between the two expired at the end of December. Hamas and allied terror groups launched scores of rockets into southern Israel three days prior to the expiration of the truce. Israel responded by launching a major air campaign that targeted Hamas security installations, rocket launch sites, weapons and ammunition storage depots, and the homes of senior Hamas leaders and military commanders. After five days of fighting, more than 340 terrorists and 60 civilians were killed. Israel has called up reserves and hinted it may conduct group operations. Iran and Hezbollah, two Shia entities, have backed the Sunni Hamas, while the Arab nations have refused to back Hamas but have called for an end to the fighting.

More on Israel at The Long War Journal: Main Entries, Today In, News

LG's New iPhone Killer Is Wearable

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron D Osgood) — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 01:12:00 +0000

LG's New iPhone Killer Is Wearable

LG's New iPhone Killer Is Wearable
Dan Frommer | December 29, 2008 4:45 PM
Korean electronics giant LG is going to try to sell a 3G cellphone watch next year.

In the center of the watch face is a 1.4-inch touchscreen display that is used for most interaction. It is used as the keypad when making a call, for example. There are also buttons down the side of the phone's body.

The WCDMA (wideband code division multiple access) phone supports the latest 7.2Mbps HSDPA (high-speed downlink packet access) data system, so downloads should be fast. It can also make video calls via a small camera above the top right corner of the screen.

Other features include Bluetooth, an MP3 player, a speakerphone and a text-to-speech function. The handset is also waterproof.

InternetRetailer.com - 160 Characters or Less

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron D Osgood) — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 20:54:00 +0000

InternetRetailer.com - 160 Characters or Less

160 Characters or Less
When it comes to getting as close as possible to customers, tiny text messages hit the bull’s-eye
By Bill Siwicki
E-commerce without the Internet: That may have sounded like an absurdity to many retailers in 2007, but in 2008 it became a reality—one giant leap for m-commerce.

Amazon.com Inc. was the Neil Armstrong of text message retailing when last spring it introduced TextBuyIt. QVC Inc. followed in the fall with QVC Text Ordering. The key: Purchasing merchandise through text messaging does not require a mobile web site or even mobile Internet access because text messages flow through wireless voice connections.

So, for example, a consumer is relaxing on her couch watching a QVC program. The hosts are showcasing a product she decides is for her. She already has an account with default payment and shipping information and has registered her mobile number with the retailer. She texts ONAIR to QVC’s short code—an abbreviated phone number used in text messaging. Within seconds she receives a reply text message asking her to confirm her order, which she does with a second text message. QVC sends a final text message confirming her order and informing her of an estimated delivery date. That’s it.

The use of text messages by retailers is growing. Some retailers, such as Moosejaw Mountaineering, were sending marketing text messages as far back as 2004. Last year, though, there was a bumper crop of texting efforts.

Amazon.com and QVC offer text message purchasing. Some other retailers have experimented with advertising short codes on TV and in magazines to enable consumers to receive free samples of merchandise. Most retailers using texts today, though, do so to market products or offer promotions, as well as establish perhaps the closest connection possible with customers, since most consumers are almost never without their mobile phones.

And most consumers are now texting—it’s no longer the province of frenetic teens. 77% of the 259 million U.S. mobile phone users subscribe to or purchase text message capability, research firm Nielsen Mobile reports.

In fact, text messaging has become so pervasive that U.S. mobile subscribers now send and receive more text messages in a month than they do phone calls–an average of 357 per month in Q2 compared with 204 phone calls, Nielsen Mobile reports.

What’s more, many text messagers like to shop on the web. 20%, or 51.8 million, spend more than $1,000 online annually versus 17% of all mobile phone users, Scarborough Research reports.

Buying sans the web

The big news in texting last year came when Amazon.com introduced TextBuyIt.

Amazon.com customers who have accounts with default shipping and payment information via the e-commerce site can find a product they’re looking for and complete a purchase using TextBuyIt.

A customer sends a text message to the short code AMAZON (262966) with the name of a product, search term or UPC bar code number, or ISBN code for books, and within seconds Amazon.com replies with a list of products that match the search, along with prices.

To buy an item, a customer replies to the text message by entering only the single-digit number next to an item. The customer then receives a brief phone call from Amazon.com with the final details of the order, then confirms or cancels the purchase.

When a customer purchases something for the first time using TextBuyIt, Amazon will ask for an e-mail address and the shipping ZIP code on the Amazon.com account. With this information, Amazon.com uses the customer’s default settings for payment method, shipping address and shipping speed to complete the first purchase and future purchases from the same phone.

“You do not have to transact personal or financial information using the phone–that breaks down a common online barrier,” says Vidya Drego, senior analyst at Forrester Research Inc.

QVC decided to make purchasing items shown on its television shows simpler and faster by launching QVC Text Ordering, which relies on sending brief phrases to the retailer’s short code. The program enables shoppers to bypass getting off the couch and going to a computer or making a phone call and talking with an agent.

“Once registered with the service, our customers can purchase an item in just two text messages,” says Bob Myers, senior vice president of platforms and broadcast technology at QVC, which is using m-commerce technology from QWASI Inc.

To register for QVC Text Ordering, a customer texts JOIN and her QVC customer number or e-mail address on file to QVC’s short code, QVCGO (78246). The customer then receives a text message back from QVC asking her to verify the account, which includes her default shipping and payment information. After verification, QVC sends the customer a final text message, informing her she now is set to place orders.

To make a purchase, the customer texts a product number to QVCGO. QVC sends a text message back with the item number and price and a request to verify the purchase. After the customer verifies the purchase, the retailer sends her a final text message confirming the order and providing an estimated delivery date.

The customer also can text TSV to the short code to purchase “Today’s Special Value,” and ONAIR to buy what currently is on TV. Additionally, QVC is taking text message m-commerce beyond purchasing. A customer can add items to her e-commerce site-based wish list by texting WISH and an item number or WISH and TSV or ONAIR to the short code.

Amazon.com and QVC are far ahead of the pack in using text messages in m-commerce. Most of the action centers on using texts in marketing campaigns.

In October, apparel and accessories retailer Karmaloop.com launched its first mobile marketing campaign, an exclusive for customers who opted in as the retailer in April began collecting mobile phone numbers during checkout. Customers proved eager to receive mobile messages: more than 100,000 volunteered mobile phone numbers between April and November.

All text messages are limited to 160 characters, including spaces. The October Karmaloop.com message was simple: “Karmaloop.com. Get 20% OFF! Enter code: MLUCKY. 3-day exclusive! Off regular + sale items only!”

The retailer racked up $89,000 in sales. It paid its m-commerce technology provider CardinalCommerce Corp. $3,800 to manage the campaign. The campaign achieved a 4% conversion rate and a $220 average order value. What’s more, only 2% of customers opted out of receiving future text messages, a considerable success versus what mobile experts say typically is between 5% and 10%.

“I was a little nervous at first, thinking customers probably didn’t really know what they signed up for, but text messaging has definitely proven to add big numbers to both the top line and bottom line,” says chief operating officer Anand Shah. “The No. 1 factor that tipped the scale in favor of text messaging was our niche demographic: They are early adopters and influencers, not just in apparel but in other walks of life. They live and breathe mobile.”

Important reminders

While Karmaloop.com offers special promotions for its mobile customers, 1-800-Flowers.com Inc. uses text messages to market in a different fashion, though with the same goal: staying close to customers while increasing sales.

1-800-Flowers.com launched a reminder service that warns customers of impending gift-giving days. Customers can join the service by sending a text message to the retailer’s short code. “We’ll remind you in advance of such things as Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, and then direct you to our m-commerce site using the text message,” explains Vibhav Prasad, senior director of web merchandising.

Vans Inc. uses text messages in a similar way. Its marketing focus is not on offering promotions but on providing a service.

The shoemaker has a devoted following of fans who connect the crazily designed footwear with a variety of affinities, including skateboarding, surfing, snow sports, music and art, all of which it covers in-depth on its web site. It unveiled last year a service where fans can sign up online to receive via text message regular updates on topics and events in these and other areas—along with Vans shoe news.

“We’re notifying customers it’s time for a visit to Vans.com,” says Chris Overholser, a senior communications manager who works in lifestyle marketing at Vans.

Promos in the sky

Showing there are few limits to how text messages can be used in marketing, Meijer Inc. used a wildly different approach for a special promotion.

Near Halloween, Meijer beamed images of the Headless Horseman onto the sides of buildings and in the night sky in three major U.S. cities, telling people below to send a text message saying “He rides” to Meijer’s short code to receive a reply text message containing a special code for $10 off a $74 online purchase and enter to win a $1,000 gift certificate to the mass merchant.

Meijer says the campaign greatly increased brand awareness, and not just through the event itself but also through significant local and national media coverage it attracted.

Meijer worked with mobile marketing vendor SmartReply Inc. on the effort, as well as creative and other firms including BlueWater Technologies, DeVito/Verdi, Harvest Music+Sound Design, Integra, SpringThrough and Storytelling Pictures.

“When it comes to creating a campaign without a media spend you are taking a gamble that your content is compelling enough to spread and become consumed,” a Meijer spokesman says. “We succeeded by creating more traction than initially planned.”

In addition to receiving text messages with special codes that can be entered during checkout on an e-commerce site, coupons to be used in bricks-and-mortar stores as well as online are a popular text message marketing approach.

Last year mobile technology vendor Mobile Dialog Inc. added more retail clients to its roster. Its Text2Store.com site offers coupons via text messages from merchants, including the Internet Retailer Top 500’s CVS Corp., FragranceNet.com, Gaiam Inc., Ice.com Inc. and Walgreen Co. Consumers create an account at Text2Store.com. They redeem text message coupons using promotional codes. In addition to the promotional code, mobile coupons include the address and phone number of the nearest store, as well as a hyperlink to the retailer’s web site.

Texting family and friends

American Eagle Outfitters Inc. also is getting into the text message marketing scene. In November it began building on an already successful texting initiative by gathering mobile phone numbers through e-mail campaigns and in stores, informing customers they could receive special promotions through text messages.

In 30 days it gathered tens of thousands of numbers, which shows the great interest consumers have in texting, says Fred Grover, executive vice president of AEO Direct. The merchant planned to send its first text message marketing offer in mid-December.

But it’s a text effort American Eagle Outfitters launched in October 2007 that sets it apart in the field of mobile retailing. Send To Phone is a feature integrated into the retailer’s e-commerce site that enables shoppers to send via text message product information and a short note to others—for instance, asking a friend for her opinion or giving Grandma a birthday present hint.

The feature is essentially the same as E-mail A Friend. However, American Eagle Outfitters designed Send To Phone to do something e-mail can’t—help shoppers in stores remember exactly what to buy.

A text message comes with product name, description and number, so Grandma can just show the saved text message on her phone to a store associate and say, “Bring me this, please,” and be assured it’s precisely what her grandchild wanted. The same goes for shoppers who see something online and want to send themselves a text as a mobile reminder for their next visit to the mall.

For mobile phone users with web access, the text message also includes a hyperlink to a mobile web page, hosted on AE.com, with a product image and more information. American Eagle Outfitters uses mobile technology vendor Pelago Inc. to facilitate the text messaging.

A twist on text

Rather than taking a text message promotion or coupon approach first, the retailer wanted to put a different twist on text messaging, a spokeswoman says. “We’re a lifestyle brand and we want to be a part of customers’ lives all the time,” she explains. “Giving them a mobile platform where they can interact with the brand results in sales.”

American Eagle Outfitters pays Pelago a monthly fee, and pays “far less,” the company says, per text message than the 10-20 cents wireless carriers typically charge mobile phone users without text message packages. Mobile experts say an individual text message in a mass text program typically costs between 2.5 cents and 5 cents. The retailer says shoppers use Send To Phone on a daily basis. It adds that return on investment for this program is difficult to track because the goal of the program is to drive mobile consumers into stores.

“The majority of people online are gathering information, and we wanted to make it easy for them to do something with it, to create an environment of sharing where people can have fun with mobile technology,” Grover says.

Whether it’s consumers making purchases or sending product information or retailers sending promotions, coupons or other marketing material, text messages have an edge over online buying and e-mail marketing because they enable convenience and speed for customers, who virtually always have their mobile phones with them, says David W. Geipel, co-founder and chief operating officer at QWASI.

“We’re seeing 10% to 20% response rates on mobile marketing campaigns, which dwarfs the response rates of e-mail marketing. There’s no spam filters on text messages, and there’s no overwhelming in-boxes, where people may not open an e-mail for days, or perhaps just delete it,” Geipel says. “Overall, text messaging gives you the most direct and personal relationship you can have with a customer. Text messages cut through the clutter and immediately deliver specific messages to customers anytime, anywhere.”

bill@verticalwebmedia.com

Study: DoD May Act On US Civil Unrest

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron D Osgood) — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 19:00:00 +0000

Study: DoD May Act On US Civil Unrest

December 29, 2008
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services

A U.S. Army War College report warns an economic crisis in the United States could lead to massive civil unrest and the need to call on the military to restore order.

Retired Army Lt. Col. Nathan Freir wrote the report "Known Unknowns: Unconventional Strategic Shocks in Defense Strategy Development," which the Army think tank in Carlisle, Pa., recently released.

"Widespread civil violence inside the United States would force the defense establishment to reorient priorities ... to defend basic domestic order and human security," the report said, in case of "unforeseen economic collapse," "pervasive public health emergencies," and "catastrophic natural and human disasters," among other possible crises.

The report also suggests the new (Barack Obama) administration could face a "strategic shock" within the first eight months in office.

Fort Bliss spokeswoman Jean Offutt said the Army post is not involved in any recent talks about a potential military response to civil unrest.

The report become a hot Internet item after Phoenix police told the Phoenix Business Journal they're prepared to deal with such an event, and the International Monetary Fund's managing director, Dominique Strauss-Khan, said social unrest could spread to advanced countries if the global economic crisis worsens.

Javier Sambrano, spokes-man for the El Paso Police Department, said city police have trained for years so they can address any contingency, but not with the military.

"The police (department) trains on an ongoing basis as part of its Mobile Field Force Training," Sambrano said. "As a result, the police will be able to respond to emergency situations, such as looting or a big civil unrest. The police (department) does not train with Soldiers."

Earlier this year, Pentagon officials said as many as 20,000 Soldiers under the U.S. Northern Command (NORTHCOM) will be trained within the next three years to work with civilian law enforcement in homeland security.

Joint Task Force-North, a joint command at Biggs Army Airfield, which conducts surveillance and intelligence along the border, comes under NORTHCOM. No one was available at JTF-North to comment on the Army War College's report. NORTHCOM was created after the 9-11 attacks to coordinate homeland security efforts.

Soldiers under the former Joint Task Force-6 (now JTF-North) supported the Border Patrol in El Paso with its drug-interdiction operations.

In case civilian authorities request help or become overwhelmed, El Paso has several National Guard and military reserve units that can be called on. In 1992, National Guard and active Marine and Army units were deployed to help police control riots and looting in Los Angeles.

Charles Boehmer, political science professor at the University of Texas at El Paso, was skeptical about the Army War College report.

"The military was not called out during the Great Depression, and I don't think our economic problems are as bad as they were then," he said. "The military always has contingency plans. It's a think tank's job to come up with scenarios, but that doesn't mean it represents an active interest on the part of the (Pentagon)."

The NYT Makes Late Realization: Text Messages Are A Rip-Off | Technomix | Fast Company

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron D Osgood) — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 17:54:00 +0000

The NYT Makes Late Realization: Text Messages Are A Rip-Off | Technomix | Fast Company

Text Messages Guide Life-Saving Amputation In Africa -- Text Messaging -- InformationWeek

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron D Osgood) — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 14:45:00 +0000

Text Messages Guide Life-Saving Amputation In Africa -- Text Messaging -- InformationWeek

The Associated Press: Panel: Bio attack likely in next 5 years

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron D Osgood) — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 14:13:00 +0000

The Associated Press: Panel: Bio attack likely in next 5 years: "Panel: Bio attack likely in next 5 years
1 hour ago
WASHINGTON (AP) — A bipartisan commission is asserting the country should expect a terrorist attack using nuclear or biological weapons sometime in the next five years.
The report, which is scheduled to be publicly released on Wednesday, suggests that the incoming administration of President-elect Barack Obama should improve the capability of the United States to counter such an attack and to prepare if necessary for germ warfare.
The report was written by the Commission on the Prevention of WMD Proliferation and Terrorism. Among other things, it concluded: 'Our margin of safety is shrinking, not growing.'
The commission also is encouraging the new White House to appoint a National Security Council official to exclusively coordinate U.S. intelligence and foreign policy on combating the spread of nuclear and biological weapons."

Create A Blackberry Revolution : Ted Rogers Dies at 75, CEO of Rogers Communications In Canada

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron D Osgood) — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 14:07:00 +0000

Create A Blackberry Revolution : Ted Rogers Dies at 75, CEO of Rogers Communications In Canada

May he rest in Peace )-;

Canadian media magnate Ted Rogers, founder and CEO of Rogers Communications, has died.

Rogers, 75, died at his Toronto home, surrounded by loved ones, said a statement from the company’s board of directors. He had recently been admitted to hospital for an existing cardiac condition.

“We wish to express our deepest sympathy to Loretta and all of the Rogers family for this loss,” said Alan Horn, Chairman of Rogers Communications and acting CEO.

“Ted Rogers was one of a kind who built this company from one FM radio station into Canada’s largest wireless, cable and media company — a leader also in giving to the community through his and Loretta’s many philanthropic initiatives. He will be sadly missed.”

Rogers continued to play an active role in the company, which owns the Toronto Blue Jays, five Citytv television stations across the country as well as the Rogers cable TV, wireless and radio and magazine businesses.

Funeral arrangements will be announced by the family.

Invested in high-speed, wireless
Rogers, who founded his company in 1960, was known as an outspoken, sometimes unpredictable leader, known for going against the grain and taking risks that paid off in the end.

Rogers Communications has built itself almost as much on image as on its services, placing its name on the Toronto stadium once known as the SkyDome, buying the Toronto Blue Jays and investing in cutting-edge services for its customers.

Rogers’s investment in high-speed Internet around the turn of the millennium was one of the pivotal decisions that solidified the company’s presence on the market.

He believed that while only a limited number of people would subscribe to high-speed services initially, the investment would pay off in the long term.

About 15 years earlier, Rogers was also the driver behind a decision to invest in wireless technologies, which were only in their infancy at the time.

The board of directors for Rogers Communications will form a search committee to find his replacement, the company news release said.

Pentagon to Detail Troops to Bolster Domestic Security - washingtonpost.com

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron D Osgood) — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 15:04:00 +0000

Pentagon to Detail Troops to Bolster Domestic Security - washingtonpost.com

Clear and Present Danger - The Long War Journal

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron D Osgood) — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 21:39:00 +0000

Clear and Present Danger - The Long War Journal

Gang Threat Could Top Al Qaeda, Mr. President-Elect

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron D Osgood) — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 13:28:00 +0000

Gang Threat Could Top Al Qaeda, Mr. President-Elect
November 17, 2008 b - 11:43:00

By Noah Shachtman, Wired.com

This is the second of our Danger Room Debriefs, where we ask some of the smartest folks in the military, intelligence, and homeland defense fields to outline under-the-radar security issues, and point the way towards potential, often-unorthodox solutions.

Today we hear from John P. Sullivan, the co-founder of the Los Angeles Terrorism Early Warning group. He's a lieutenant with the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department, focusing on emerging threats. Sullivan co-edited Countering Terrorism and WMD: Creating a Global Counter-Terrorism Network.

While the public and media are occupied with wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the potential conflict with Iran, the downward spiral in Pakistan, and a global economic meltdown, a new, rapidly-evolving danger - narco-cartels and gangs - has been developing in Mexico and Latin America. And it has the potential to trump global terrorism as a threat to the United States.

Mexico is gripped by a set of inter-locking, networked criminal insurgencies. Daily violence, kidnappings, assassinations of police and government officials, beheadings and shoot-outs are the result of violent combat between drug cartels, gangs, and the police. The cartels vying for domination of the lucrative drug trade are seeking both market dominance and freedom from government interference. Tijuana, Ciudad Juarez, and other border towns are racked with violence. Mexico City itself is not immune. An infusion of police and military remains stymied as corrupt officials chose to side with the cartels.

The drug mafias have abandoned subtle co-option of the government and are instead embracing active violence to secure safe havens to ply their trade.

This de facto 'criminal insurgency' threatens the stability of the Mexican state. As the L.A. Times noted yesterday, it is already starting to reverberate north of the Rio Grande in America. Money fuels global expansion, and transnational organized crime has learned it can thrive in the face of governmental crisis...

-- Source/continues at:
http://blog.wired.com/defense/2008/11/john-p-sullivan.html

Let Detroit go Bankrupt?

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron D Osgood) — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 13:23:00 +0000

From the New York TImes:

Op-Ed Contributor
Let Detroit Go Bankrupt
By MITT ROMNEY
Boston
IF General Motors, Ford and Chrysler get the bailout that their chief executives asked for yesterday, you can kiss the American automotive industry goodbye. It won’t go overnight, but its demise will be virtually guaranteed.
Without that bailout, Detroit will need to drastically restructure itself. With it, the automakers will stay the course — the suicidal course of declining market shares, insurmountable labor and retiree burdens, technology atrophy, product inferiority and never-ending job losses. Detroit needs a turnaround, not a check.
I love cars, American cars. I was born in Detroit, the son of an auto chief executive. In 1954, my dad, George Romney, was tapped to run American Motors when its president suddenly died. The company itself was on life support — banks were threatening to deal it a death blow. The stock collapsed. I watched Dad work to turn the company around — and years later at business school, they were still talking about it. From the lessons of that turnaround, and from my own experiences, I have several prescriptions for Detroit’s automakers.
First, their huge disadvantage in costs relative to foreign brands must be eliminated. That means new labor agreements to align pay and benefits to match those of workers at competitors like BMW, Honda, Nissan and Toyota. Furthermore, retiree benefits must be reduced so that the total burden per auto for domestic makers is not higher than that of foreign producers.
That extra burden is estimated to be more than $2,000 per car. Think what that means: Ford, for example, needs to cut $2,000 worth of features and quality out of its Taurus to compete with Toyota’s Avalon. Of course the Avalon feels like a better product — it has $2,000 more put into it. Considering this disadvantage, Detroit has done a remarkable job of designing and engineering its cars. But if this cost penalty persists, any bailout will only delay the inevitable.
Second, management as is must go. New faces should be recruited from unrelated industries — from companies widely respected for excellence in marketing, innovation, creativity and labor relations.
The new management must work with labor leaders to see that the enmity between labor and management comes to an end. This division is a holdover from the early years of the last century, when unions brought workers job security and better wages and benefits. But as Walter Reuther, the former head of the United Automobile Workers, said to my father, “Getting more and more pay for less and less work is a dead-end street.”
You don’t have to look far for industries with unions that went down that road. Companies in the 21st century cannot perpetuate the destructive labor relations of the 20th. This will mean a new direction for the U.A.W., profit sharing or stock grants to all employees and a change in Big Three management culture.
The need for collaboration will mean accepting sanity in salaries and perks. At American Motors, my dad cut his pay and that of his executive team, he bought stock in the company, and he went out to factories to talk to workers directly. Get rid of the planes, the executive dining rooms — all the symbols that breed resentment among the hundreds of thousands who will also be sacrificing to keep the companies afloat.
Investments must be made for the future. No more focus on quarterly earnings or the kind of short-term stock appreciation that means quick riches for executives with options. Manage with an eye on cash flow, balance sheets and long-term appreciation. Invest in truly competitive products and innovative technologies — especially fuel-saving designs — that may not arrive for years. Starving research and development is like eating the seed corn.
Just as important to the future of American carmakers is the sales force. When sales are down, you don’t want to lose the only people who can get them to grow. So don’t fire the best dealers, and don’t crush them with new financial or performance demands they can’t meet.
It is not wrong to ask for government help, but the automakers should come up with a win-win proposition. I believe the federal government should invest substantially more in basic research — on new energy sources, fuel-economy technology, materials science and the like — that will ultimately benefit the automotive industry, along with many others. I believe Washington should raise energy research spending to $20 billion a year, from the $4 billion that is spent today. The research could be done at universities, at research labs and even through public-private collaboration. The federal government should also rectify the imbedded tax penalties that favor foreign carmakers.
But don’t ask Washington to give shareholders and bondholders a free pass — they bet on management and they lost.
The American auto industry is vital to our national interest as an employer and as a hub for manufacturing. A managed bankruptcy may be the only path to the fundamental restructuring the industry needs. It would permit the companies to shed excess labor, pension and real estate costs. The federal government should provide guarantees for post-bankruptcy financing and assure car buyers that their warranties are not at risk.
In a managed bankruptcy, the federal government would propel newly competitive and viable automakers, rather than seal their fate with a bailout check.
Mitt Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts, was a candidate for this year’s Republican presidential nomination.

Oil, U.S. Auto Industry, Jihad, and Islamic Supremacism

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron D Osgood) — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 01:24:00 +0000

Thought Provoking article from Jeffrey Imm

Oil, U.S. Auto Industry, Jihad, and Islamic Supremacism

November 19, 2008
by Jeffrey Imm
Anti-Jihad League of America

http://www.unitedstatesaction.com/blog/imm-articles/117.html

http://anti-jihad.org/blog/2008/11/auto/

As the U.S. automobile industry seeks funds from the U.S. government, Americans need to ask if this industry understands that Islamic supremacists are at war with America, and how the automobile industry is going to change its product lines to recognize the need to reduce petrodollars to our Islamic supremacist enemies.

After the 9/11 attacks, I looked in the mirror and asked myself that, if I was going to do to challenge others on Jihad and Islamic supremacism, what was I going to immediately change in my own life. I had to be able to walk the walk - personally. Among other answers, the easiest one for me was to commit to driving out Jihadists by using a fuel-efficient vehicle or other non-oil based transportation as much as possible. I am not suggesting that this is all it takes for America's energy independence crisis, nor is this a solution that will work for everyone. But we have to be able to show willingness to change and sacrifice as individuals in the larger and longer human rights war against Islamic supremacism.

Of the 19 suspected 9/11 hijackers, 13 came from Saudi Arabia. What does Saudi Arabia export other than oil and Islamic supremacism? Sand? After 9/11, it did not require a political science degree to figure out that a key focus in our economic war against Islamic supremacism had to include a focus on America's energy and oil independence from Saudi Arabia, other Islamic supremacist nations, and other foreign nations.

So what happened after 9/11 to Saudi Arabia? Did American leadership cut off its flow of petrodollars from the U.S.? Did American leadership view Saudi Arabia's Islamic supremacist ideology to be an enemy of America? In fact, Saudi Arabia became wealthier, got more American petrodollars after 9/11, and incredibly, was named as an "ally" of America in a "war on terror" that refused to define the enemy or its ideology.

How did American industry react to the 9/11 Islamic supremacist act of war against America? Did U.S. oil industries shun Saudi Arabia and other Islamic supremacist providers, and promote alternative energy sources? Did U.S. automakers aggressively promote fuel-efficient vehicles to minimize the petrodollars continuing to flow to Islamic supremacist nations? None of these happened. Neither the U.S. oil nor the automobile industries have recognized that America is at war with Islamic supremacism.

As American taxpayer dollars are being asked to bailout the U.S. automobile industry without strings, a history lesson of the U.S. automobile industry's response to the 9/11 attacks would be valuable.

In 2002, an example of General Motors' (GM) offer of "innovation" in response to acts of war by Islamic supremacists on America was to have "AM General... assembling the HUMMER H2, a new 'next generation' sport utility vehicle designed by GM, at a new factory in Mishawaka" - for American consumer use at approximately 10 mpg. In 2001, GM also had an electric automobile known as the EV1, which you might have never heard about. I know about this because, after the 9/11 attacks, I repeatedly contacted GM about trying to purchase or lease an EV1 or even get on the waiting list for a future version ("GenII") of the EV1. In fact, what GM told me was that the EV1s were not available to anyone outside of California, and I am on the East Coast. No matter who I contacted in GM Sales, the answer was the same - they did not want to sell me a GM EV1 electric automobile at any price, under any condition. (You can see from this September 11, 2002 EV1 white paper that I was not only one who could not obtain an EV1 from GM.) GM was more concerned with California's Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) mandate than it was with acts of war against America. Just over two months after the 9/11 attacks in 2001, GM was already collecting EV1 electric automobiles to take them off the market and crush them. By 2003, GM had officially ended the EV1 electric automobile program; GM donated one to the Smithsonian museum. Where is GM's progress for fuel-efficient vehicles at today? Among GM's 2009 vehicles, GM offers a hybrid SUV (offering "an astounding EPA estimated MPG 21 city"), hybrid truck ("limited availability early 2009"), and states that it will offer "very limited availability" for its 2009 Malibu Hybrid. In 2010, nine years after the 9/11 attacks, GM claims that it will also offer another electric vehicle, the Volt. In the meantime, GM continues to predominantly manufacture and market vehicles that will ensure the maximum petrodollars go to Islamic supremacist nations.

In early 2002, a division of Ford Motor Company's TH!NK announced that it was going to produce a series of small electric automobiles for use in California and New York City. However, later that year, Ford announced that it was going to halt production of such electric automobiles, and in 2003, Ford abandoned its nascent efforts to counter America's oil dependence on Islamic supremacist nations, and sold the company to a European company for production overseas. A year later in 2004, Ford announced plans to crush its remaining TH!NK electric automobiles, later deciding to send 300 of them to Norway. Concerns about ending America's oil dependence on Islamic supremacist nations was the furthest thing from Ford's mind. Later in 2004, Ford developed a "hybrid SUV" (now that's a "hybrid" for certain) called the Ford Escape hybrid SUV. U.S. Senator John Kerry was famous for promising that he was going to buy and promote one; needless to say after the 2004 election, we have never heard about that subject again from Senator Kerry. The 2009 Ford Hybrid Escape states that it gets an estimated 34 mpg city, significantly less fuel-efficiency than hybrid vehicles offered by Honda or Toyota. Ford continues to predominantly manufacture and market vehicles that will ensure the maximum petrodollars go to Islamic supremacist nations.

When it comes to fuel-efficient vehicles to cut off petrodollars to Islamic supremacist nations, we have had nothing but counterproductive products, half-measures, and endless promises from GM and Ford. In the meantime, Islamic supremacism has continued to grow in America and around the world.

What did I do about it? Since both GM and Ford refused to take my money and sell me a fuel-efficient vehicle that would limit petrodollars to our Islamic supremacist enemies, I had to go elsewhere. In early 2002, with the remains of the World Trade Center still nothing but a pit and a wing of the Pentagon still in shambles, there was no American leadership or business focus on stopping the flow of petrodollars to our enemies, nor was it a priority. In our nation's capital, there was virtually no interest in hybrid automobiles. But in early 2002, I started driving a hybrid automobile as a strike against Jihad and Islamic supremacism. We started by selling our old automobile and getting a Honda Insight hybrid automobile. When we went to the automobile dealer 10 miles from the White House, it was a real battle to get such a hybrid automobile. The DC area Honda sales person tried to persuade me not to buy a Honda Insight hybrid automobile. They were hidden in a back lot and literally covered with dust; they had to wash one off to show it to me. That's how unimportant fuel-efficient vehicles were in the Washington DC area after the 9/11 attacks. I was personally uncomfortable with buying a foreign-made automobile, and it was the first I had owned. But I felt that I had no other option, if I was to focus the war of ideas against Islamic supremacism, I had to do what I could personally to stop their funding through petrodollars. We still drive our 2002 Honda Insight hybrid today, as well as a 2005 Toyota Prius hybrid. As a result of GM's and Ford's unwillingness to recognize the need to modify its products to deal with the Islamic supremacist war on America, we have been unable to purchase a GM or Ford automobile since the 9/11 attacks on America.

Afterwards, I continued to try to promote fuel-efficient vehicles as part of a campaign against Islamic supremacism and Jihad. I soon learned that there was very little interest in this tactic. I went to political events, campaign events, public affairs events, and tried to get the public to cut off the petrodollars to Islamic supremacists. My efforts on this have been met, on every level, with a resounding silence and disinterest. I am well aware that this is not a popular issue to discuss. I am also not suggesting that fuel-efficient automobiles alone will solve our energy independence from Islamic supremacist nations. But when will America decide that this is a necessary issue to address? The fact remains that not only has GM and Ford been unwilling to do anything about this issue, our government and much of the American public has been unwilling to do anything as well.

In the meantime, what has grown is this tacit acceptance among the American governmental leadership, the American automobile industry, and the American public that we won't talk about the need for fuel-efficient vehicles to help in cutting back petrodollars to Islamic supremacist nations. Glittering generalities are fine; everyone is for someone else to do something about it. But calling for accountability and actually doing anything about it, well, that isn't polite discussion.

But as American taxpayers get ready to hand over (either by a bailout or a bankruptcy - we pay) tax dollars to GM and Ford, when exactly will it be the right time to talk about the need for fuel-efficient vehicles in reducing petrodollars to Islamic supremacist nations? Why not now when we have GM's and Ford's attention? Isn't it about time that these companies with a very checkered history when America has been at war to step up and prove that if they want American taxpayer dollars that they recognize and will support America's national security priorities?

Did Americans all have to read Robert Baer's book in 2003 "Sleeping with the Devil" to understand how petrodollars had further empowered Saudi Arabia to spread Islamic supremacism around the world? Did America really need to wait until the 2005 Freedom House report on how Saudi Arabia was spreading Islamic supremacism in the United States to act on energy independence? Even so, wasn't that 3 to 5 years ago? We need American leadership that can define the war against Islamic supremacism clearly enough to the American people that they don't have to wait until gasoline is $4.00/gallon to seek to drive fuel-efficient vehicles. Moreover, they need the U.S. automobile industries to deliver products in line with America's national security interests during war.

Four years ago, President Bush stated during his campaign for re-election that America's energy independence was going to be a key national security issue and priority. Such false promises have resulted in petrodollars continuing to flow from the U.S. to Islamic supremacist nations as much, if not greater, than before. Islamic supremacist Sharia finance has expanded and grown over the past four years. On November 6, 2008, the U.S. Treasury held a training session on Islamic supremacist Sharia finance and a week later, on November 10, the U.S. Federal Reserve Board announced that it was purchasing $40 billion of AIG preferred shares of stock, while AIG has continued to own divisions that promote and sell Islamic supremacist Sharia finance investment and insurance products. As a result, American taxpayers now own part of a Sharia finance business. Are American taxpayers next going to support automobile manufacturers selling products to ensure our Islamic supremacist enemies get the maximum amount of petrodollars?

The failure to have accountability in national business and economic decisions that support and embolden the Islamic supremacist enemy remains a national disgrace. The root of this problem can be found in the failure to define the enemy and the enemy's ideology in Islamic supremacism and to declare unequivocal total war on Islamic supremacism, using every tactic, including economic measures.

On November 13, 2008, at a Saudi-sponsored "interfaith conference," Saudi King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz told world leaders that Islamic supremacism practiced in Saudi Arabia supports peace, justice and tolerance, while President Bush replied that freedom includes "the right to choose or change religions and the right to worship in private or public." Those are noble sentiments by President Bush, but what has he done in terms of Saudi Arabia or any other Islamic supremacist nation to defend those rights? Has he sought to constrain Islamic supremacist Sharia finance? Has he sought to stop petrodollars to Saudi Arabia and other nations? Has he accomplished any significant initiatives to gain our energy independence from Islamic supremacist nations? Has he made all Islamic supremacist nations a pariah? Has he identified Islamic supremacism as an enemy ideology? The answer to all of these questions, of course, is no.

Believing in the need to defend equality and liberty should be a fundamental part of each American's identity. But the real test of this American virtue is deciding to actually do more than just talk about it.

In fighting the culture wars for America, we need to stay focused on fighting for what America's culture is truly all about, and not view our culture as only based on consumer goods and recreational activities. America is not merely about baseball, apple pie, and Chevrolets. We are at war, and the Islamic supremacist enemy continues to gain power every day. Remembering what we are fighting for is essential for us to win this war.

America's culture war is about living and defending the inalienable human rights of equality and liberty. America is about the idea that all men and women are created equal. Equality and liberty are the basis of our culture war for America against Islamic supremacism, not gas-guzzling vehicles that give endless petrodollars to our Islamic supremacist enemies, and not businesses that refuse to put America's interests first during war-time.

If GM and Ford want a hand out from American taxpayers (either via bailout or bankruptcy protection), they need to commit to business practices that recognize American values and recognize that Islamic supremacists continue to be at war with America. Energy independence will not be gained from fuel-efficient automobiles alone. It is a much greater and complex issue than that. But if American leadership, American business, and the American public can't even start to address such a basic step in energy independence through improved fuel-efficient automobiles, we can't hope to stop handing money to our Islamic supremacist enemies that seek to destroy us, and who seek to destroy every hope there is for defending equality and liberty.

We can't let that happen. Too many hopeless, helpless people are counting on us to act.

Fear No Evil.

[Postscript - see also Sources documents for additional reading and background information.]

Proposal to Merge Homeland, National Security Councils

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron D Osgood) — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 21:31:00 +0000

From CQ - Homeland Security (an information source I strongly recommend)

Proposal to Merge Homeland, National Security Councils

CQ HOMELAND SECURITY
Nov. 17, 2008 – 8:24 p.m.
Obama ‘Listening Carefully’ to Proposal to Merge Homeland, National Security Councils

By Rob Margetta, CQ Staff
Merging the White House Homeland Security Council into the National Security
Council, an idea that has been talked about in homeland security circles for
months, made it into a list of presidential transition recommendations from a pair of liberal-leaning think tanks.

The guidelines came from the Homeland Security Presidential Transition
Initiative (HSPTI) Advisory Council, a group of security experts and former
officials sponsored by the Center for American Progress and Third Way. In a section on the executive office of the president, the HSPTI report said “the HSC is broadly
seen as a weak sibling to the NSC” and that “conceptually, homeland security
should not be viewed as distinct from national security.”

The HSC was founded less than a month after the Sept. 11 attacks. According
to the HSPTI, the goal for the council was to provide a staff structure inside
the White House to deal with security issues and, in part, to avoid the need for
creating a department of homeland security, which it predated by almost two
years. The report noted that HSC and NSC duties often overlap, and the line
between their missions is blurry.But the benefits of integrating the HSC into the NSC go beyond eliminating redundancies, said advisory council member Stewart Vergery, a former DHS assistant secretary for policy and Monument Policy Group founder. The move would give homeland policymakers the ability to work with the NSC’s international partners, and to speak to other nations with a single voice, he said. "The big thing is that for the part of the homeland security mission that’s
internationally focused, it allows the executive branch to negotiate across
issues and not just on the homeland security issues,” he said.

If the NSC were talking to foreign powers about homeland issues — returning
criminal illegal immigrants to their home countries, document security,
information sharing — negotiators would have more to offer than the HSC would,
he said. “The NSC is where those decisions on the relative priorities get made,”
he said. “It gives you more tools in the toolbox for negotiating with foreign
governments.”

Verdery said when he was at DHS, he heard reports of foreign governments
unhappy that they had to deal with the department, HSC and NSC separately,
although often the issues discussed were similar. “They want one place to go ... on tough issues,” he said. Given the HSC’s origins as a possible alternative to establishing a new department, it may also have become obsolete as DHS has matured over the past five years, Verdery said. “When it was set up originally, the parts of the government that dealt with homeland security were so disparate ... and that was the only way to coordinate them,” he said, adding that homeland issues were spread through departments including Energy, Transportation, Agriculture, State and Justice.
Those same coordination issues still exist, Verdery said, although he
estimated that they have been halved since DHS’s inception.

Not all HSPTI members agreed that the two White House councils should be
merged, the groups’ report said. The document noted that some members were
concerned that such a move could signal a less vigilant stance on homeland
security. But the report contended that incorporating the HSC could give homeland
security the largest directorate within the NSC — one that could focus on
counterterrorism and information sharing, critical infrastructure protection,
national preparedness, immigration and cybersecurity. It also recommended that
if the HSC is eliminated, the president should create a new deputy national
security adviser with the title of assistant to the president for homeland
security and counterterrorism and the task of managing interagency policy
deliberations with the national security adviser.

Another concern was that the HSC serves different functions from the NSC —
such as coordinating with state and local emergency officials — and those duties
could overload the NSC’s portfolio. The report’s response to that was a
recommendation to distribute the domestic elements of homeland security to the
Domestic Policy Council or Office of Intergovernmental Affairs.
Michael Signer, senior policy adviser and director of the HSPTI, said his
group has been in contact with President-elect Barack Obama’s transition team, and some Obama advisers contributed to the report. He could not say if the next administration will make the recommended merger, though.
“We can’t speak for the transition,” he said. “We do know that they are
listening carefully to the recommendations in this document.”

Rob Margetta can be reached at rmargetta@cq.com

Obama's Homeland Security plan

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron D Osgood) — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 14:37:00 +0000

Homeland Security | Change.gov: The Obama-Biden Transition Team

Douglas Farah: The Re-Emergence of the Shining Path: The Criminal-Terrorist Nexus

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron D Osgood) — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 13:49:00 +0000

Douglas Farah: The Re-Emergence of the Shining Path: The Criminal-Terrorist Nexus

MI5 Discover Al-Qaeda Buying Ambulances on Ebay

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron D Osgood) — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 22:16:00 +0000

MI5 Discover Al-Qaeda Buying Ambulances on Ebay

By Gordon Thomas, G2 Magazine/via The Epoch Times

Nov 15, 2008

LONDON, ENGLAND: MI5 have warned Britain’s cash-strapped National Health Services that dozens of ambulances–along with old police cars and fire engines past their sell-by date–are being snapped up by al-Qaeda operatives in the United Kingdom to mount suicide bomb attacks.

So serious is the problem that counter-terrorism officials at the Home Office have written to eBay, the Internet auctioneer, asking them to stop selling emergency service vehicles, equipment and uniforms.

But eBay has insisted it can only halt the sales if a new law is passed by Parliament. That could take many months to enact.

The use of ambulances is of particular concern to Britain’s terrorist chiefs. They say the tactic has already been used in Iraq with devastating effects.

A report by Lord Carlisle–the government terrorist czar who last month warned about the possibility of private planes being used for an attack on London–has been issued to all of Britain’s 48 police forces warning of the danger of selling-off emergency service vehicles.
Lord Carlisle, who works closely with the Terrorism Analysis Centre in London set up since the 9/11 attacks, said ambulances were the ideal weapon of choice for terrorists.

"It is almost rare that police will stop such vehicles on suspicious grounds. An ambulance rigged with high explosives could drive into any ultra-sensitive target like a nuclear power station or even Whitehall", said a senior MI5 source.

The Association of Chief Police Officers has warned that the risk could be "highly significant" if the law is not tightened.

Every year dozens of police cars, ambulances and even fire engines are sold on eBay for as little as £1,500 ($2,230). Many are still in working order.
Those that need repair can be easily fixed to pass as genuine emergency service vehicles.

"An ambulance could carry half a ton of explosives. A rigged police car could carry half that amount. So could a fire engine", states the MI5 report.

MI5 counter-terrorism officers say such attacks have been successfully carried out in Iraq and Israel.

The report reveals that an al-Qaeda attack in Baghdad last February involved a stolen ambulance, which was driven by a suicide bomber into an Iraqi police station.

The report states: "Terrorists have been using ambulances to transport bombs in Israel since at least 2002. The Israelis have told us that Hamas are using ambulances to ferry men and rocket launchers around Gaza".

A national security committee has been set up in London with MI5 and police chiefs drawing up plans to deal with the threat. Chairman of the committee, Steve Watts, said: "There is a need of urgent legislation becoming available to the police which adequately addresses the threat of pseudo-emergency service vehicles being used by terrorists".

Lord Carlisle has suggested all service vehicles to be sold must be clearly decommissioned so they cannot be used to imitate emergency services.

Manufacturers of all such vehicles are being asked to urgently inspect vehicles taken out of service to see how this can be done.

- Gordon Thomas is the author of a new edition of Gideon’s Spies: The Inside Story of Israel’s Legendary Secret Service, The Mossad, by JR Books of London and available on Amazon Books. (C) G-2 Bulletin, Washington D.C., USA, and Gordon Thomas. Last Updated

-- Source: http://tinyurl.com/erri877

We Need A National CIO, Not A CTO - Opinion

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron D Osgood) — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 14:19:00 +0000

We Need A National CIO, Not A CTO - Opinion

Top 50 Homeland Security Blogs by e-Justice Blog

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron D Osgood) — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 16:48:00 +0000

Top 50 Homeland Security Blogs by e-Justice Blog

Google Uses Searches to Track Flu’s Spread

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron D Osgood) — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 15:41:00 +0000

Google Uses Searches to Track Flu’s Spread
Permalink

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/12/technology/internet/12flu.html?ref=business

By MIGUEL HELFT
Published: November 11, 2008

SAN FRANCISCO — There is a new common symptom of the flu, in addition to the usual aches, coughs, fevers and sore throats. Turns out a lot of ailing Americans enter phrases like “flu symptoms” into Google and other search engines before they call their doctors.

That simple act, multiplied across millions of keyboards in homes around the country, has given rise to a new early warning system for fast-spreading flu outbreaks, called Google Flu Trends.

Tests of the new Web tool from Google.org, the company’s philanthropic unit, suggest that it may be able to detect regional outbreaks of the flu a week to 10 days before they are reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In early February, for example, the C.D.C. reported that the flu cases had recently spiked in the mid-Atlantic states. But Google says its search data show a spike in queries about flu symptoms two weeks before that report was released. Its new service at google.org/flutrends analyzes those searches as they come in, creating graphs and maps of the country that, ideally, will show where the flu is spreading.

The C.D.C. reports are slower because they rely on data collected and compiled from thousands of health care providers, labs and other sources. Some public health experts say the Google data could help accelerate the response of doctors, hospitals and public health officials to a nasty flu season, reducing the spread of the disease and, potentially, saving lives.

“The earlier the warning, the earlier prevention and control measures can be put in place, and this could prevent cases of influenza,” said Dr. Lyn Finelli, lead for surveillance at the influenza division of the C.D.C. From 5 to 20 percent of the nation’s population contracts the flu each year, she said, leading to roughly 36,000 deaths on average.

The service covers only the United States, but Google is hoping to eventually use the same technique to help track influenza and other diseases worldwide.

“From a technological perspective, it is the beginning,” said Eric E. Schmidt, Google’s chief executive.

The premise behind Google Flu Trends — what appears to be a fruitful marriage of mob behavior and medicine — has been validated by an unrelated study indicating that the data collected by Yahoo, Google’s main rival in Internet search, can also help with early detection of the flu.

“In theory, we could use this stream of information to learn about other disease trends as well,” said Dr. Philip M. Polgreen, assistant professor of medicine and epidemiology at the University of Iowa and an author of the study based on Yahoo’s data.

Still, some public health officials note that many health departments already use other approaches, like gathering data from visits to emergency rooms, to keeping daily tabs on disease trends in their communities.

“We don’t have any evidence that this is more timely than our emergency room data,” said Dr. Farzad Mostashari, assistant commissioner of the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene in New York City.

If Google provided health officials with details of the system’s workings so that it could be validated scientifically, the data could serve as an additional, free way to detect influenza, said Dr. Mostashari, who is also chairman of the International Society for Disease Surveillance.

A paper on the methodology of Google Flu Trends is expected to be published in the journal Nature.

Researchers have long said that the material published on the Web amounts to a form of “collective intelligence” that can be used to spot trends and make predictions.

But the data collected by search engines is particularly powerful, because the keywords and phrases that people type into them represent their most immediate intentions. People may search for “Kauai hotel” when they are planning a vacation and for “foreclosure” when they have trouble with their mortgage. Those queries express the world’s collective desires and needs, its wants and likes.

Internal research at Yahoo suggests that increases in searches for certain terms can help forecast what technology products will be hits, for instance. Yahoo has begun using search traffic to help it decide what material to feature on its site.

Two years ago, Google began opening its search data trove through Google Trends, a tool that allows anyone to track the relative popularity of search terms. Google also offers more sophisticated search traffic tools that marketers can use to fine-tune ad campaigns. And internally, the company has tested the use of search data to reach conclusions about economic, marketing and entertainment trends.

“Most forecasting is basically trend extrapolation,” said Hal Varian, Google’s chief economist. “This works remarkably well, but tends to miss turning points, times when the data changes direction. Our hope is that Google data might help with this problem.”

Prabhakar Raghavan, who is in charge of Yahoo Labs and the company’s search strategy, also said search data could be valuable for forecasters and scientists, but privacy concerns had generally stopped it from sharing it with outside academics.

Google Flu Trends avoids privacy pitfalls by relying only on aggregated data that cannot be traced to individual searchers. To develop the service, Google’s engineers devised a basket of keywords and phrases related to the flu, including thermometer, flu symptoms, muscle aches, chest congestion and many others.

Google then dug into its database, extracted five years of data on those queries and mapped it onto the C.D.C.’s reports of influenzalike illness. Google found a strong correlation between its data and the reports from the agency, which advised it on the development of the new service.

“We know it matches very, very well in the way flu developed in the last year,” said Dr. Larry Brilliant, executive director of Google.org. Dr. Finelli of the C.D.C. and Dr. Brilliant both cautioned that the data needed to be monitored to ensure that the correlation with flu activity remained valid.

Google also says it believes the tool may help people take precautions if a disease is in their area.

Others have tried to use information collected from Internet users for public health purposes. A Web site called whoissick.org, for instance, invites people to report what ails them and superimposes the results on a map. But the site has received relatively little traffic.

HealthMap, a project affiliated with the Children’s Hospital Boston, scours the Web for articles, blog posts and newsletters to create a map that tracks emerging infectious diseases around the world. It is backed by Google.org, which counts the detection and prevention of diseases as one of its main philanthropic objectives.

But Google Flu Trends appears to be the first public project that uses the powerful database of a search engine to track a disease.

“This seems like a really clever way of using data that is created unintentionally by the users of Google to see patterns in the world that would otherwise be invisible,” said Thomas W. Malone, a professor at the Sloan School of Management at M.I.T. “I think we are just scratching the surface of what’s possible with collective intelligence.”

History of Veteran's Day

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron D Osgood) — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 14:28:00 +0000

I just received this from my friend, Ed Kostuik, an emergency manager for the state of Oklahoma.

I'd like to offer my heartfelt THANK YOU to all Veterans

HISTORY OF VETERAN'S DAY

World War I – known at the time as "The Great War" officially ended
when the Treaty of Versailles was signed on June 28, 1919, in the
Palace of Versailles outside the town of Versailles, France. However,
fighting ceased seven months earlier when an armistice, or temporary
cessation of hostilities, between the Allied nations and Germany went
into effect on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh
month. For that reason, November 11, 1918, is generally regarded as
the end of "the war to end all wars."

In November 1919, President Wilson proclaimed November 11 as the
first commemoration of Armistice Day with the following words: "To us
in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with
solemn pride in the heroism of those

The original concept for the celebration was for a day observed with
parades and public meetings and a brief suspension of business
beginning at 11 a.m.

The United States Congress officially recognized the end of World War
I when it passed a concurrent resolution on June 4, 1926, with these
words:

Whereas the 11th of November 1918, marked the cessation of the most
destructive, sanguinary, and far reaching war in human annals and the
resumption by the people of the United States of peaceful relations
with other nations, which we hope may never again be severed, and

Whereas it is fitting that the recurring anniversary of this date
should be commemorated with thanksgiving and prayer and exercises
designed to perpetuate peace through good will and mutual
understanding between nations; and

Whereas the legislatures of twenty-seven of our States have already
declared November 11 to be a legal holiday: Therefore be it Resolved
by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring), that the
President of the United States is requested to issue a proclamation
calling upon the officials to display the flag of the United States
on all Government buildings on November 11 and inviting the people of
the United States to observe the day in schools and churches, or
other suitable places, with appropriate ceremonies of friendly
relations with all other peoples.

An Act (52 Stat. 351; 5 U. S. Code, Sec. 87a) approved May 13, 1938,
made the 11th of November in each year a legal holiday - - a day to
be dedicated to the cause of world peace and to be thereafter
celebrated and known as "Armistice Day." Armistice Day was primarily
a day set aside to honor veterans of World War I, but in 1954, after
World War II had required the greatest mobilization of soldiers,
sailors, Marines and airmen in the Nation's history; after American
forces had fought aggression in Korea, the 83rd Congress, at the
urging of the veterans service organizations, amended the Act of 1938
by striking out the word "Armistice" and inserting in its place the
word "Veterans." With the approval of this legislation (Public Law
380) on June 1, 1954, November 11th became a day to honor American
veterans of all wars.

Later that same year, on October 8th, President Dwight D. Eisenhower
issued the first "Veterans Day Proclamation" which stated: "In order
to insure proper and widespread observance of this anniversary, all
veterans, all veterans' organizations, and the entire citizenry will
wish to join hands in the common purpose. Toward this end, I am
designating the Administrator of Veterans' Affairs as Chairman of a
Veterans Day National Committee, which shall include such other
persons as the Chairman may select, and which will coordinate at the
national level necessary planning for the observance. I am also
requesting the heads of all departments and agencies of the Executive
branch of the Government to assist the National Committee in every
way possible."

On that same day, the President sent a letter to the Honorable Harvey
V. Higley, Administrator of Veterans' Affairs (VA), designating him
as Chairman of the Veterans Day National Committee.

In 1958, the White House advised VA's General Counsel that the 1954
designation of the VA Administrator as Chairman of the Veterans Day
National Committee applied to all subsequent VA Administrators. Since
March 1989 when VA was elevated to a cabinet level department, the
Secretary of Veterans Affairs has served as the committee's chairman.

The Uniforms Holiday Bill (Public Law 90-363 (82 Stat. 250)) was
signed on June 28, 1968, and was intended to insure three-day
weekends for Federal employees by celebrating four national holidays
on Mondays: Washington's Birthday, Memorial Day, Veterans Day, and
Columbus Day. It was thought that these extended weekends would
encourage travel, recreational and cultural activities and stimulate
greater industrial and commercial production. Many states did not
agree with this decision and continued to celebrate the holidays on
their original dates.

The first Veterans Day under the new law was observed with much
confusion on October 25, 1971. It was quite apparent that the
commemoration of this day was a matter of historic and patriotic
significance to a great number of our citizens, and so on September
20th, 1975, President Gerald R. Ford signed Public Law 94-97 (89
Stat. 479), which returned the annual observance of Veterans Day to
its original date of November 11, beginning in 1978. This action
supported the desires of the overwhelming majority of state
legislatures, all major veterans service organizations and the
American people.

Veterans Day continues to be observed on November 11, regardless of
what day of the week on which it falls. The restoration of the
observance of Veterans Day to November 11 not only preserves the
historical significance of the date, but helps focus attention on the
important purpose of Veterans Day: A celebration to honor America's
veterans for their patriotism, love of country, and willingness to
serve and sacrifice for the common good.

Stimulus plan AND Detroit assistance

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron D Osgood) — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 19:15:00 +0000

I have an idea for the economic stimulus currently being debated coupled with the automakers request for assistance:

Why not combine both needs into one program? Here is how I would envision it would work:

Create a program where the government would pay 50% of the sales price for a new american made vehicle. Set the selling price at 10 - 15% off the average sticker price over the last 6 months. Example: A new pickup (Ford, GM, Dodge, etc) has an average MSRP of $30k. 10% off that price brings it down to $27k. American citizen pays $13,500 and the government pays $13,500. Not only will the citizen benefit through money saved, the dealership will benefit through increased sales, the manufacturer will benefit through increased sales, and the states and munucipalities will benefit through increased sales and excise taxes.

Thoughts? Suggestions?

DomesticPreparedness.com: Article Detail

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron D Osgood) — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 19:32:00 +0000

DomesticPreparedness.com: Article Detail

An Open Letter to the President-Elect

Wednesday, November 05, 2008

Dear Senator Obama:

Congratulations on your historic victory. Our nation has spoken and it is now time for all Americans to support you as you make the difficult transition to assume your new duties as president and, of even greater importance, as commander in chief of the nation’s armed forces. As you do so, I would like to offer some unsolicited advice about the priorities you are considering for your administration.

Much was spoken, by both major candidates in this year’s presidential campaign, about the need for change. The citizens of America agreed, and elected you to develop and implement new and far-reaching 21st-century ideas and approaches to the problems our nation will encounter in the “new world order” of tomorrow.

From my vantage point, one major change I would suggest would be a realignment of the duties and responsibilities currently assigned to the Department of Defense, the Department of State, and the Department of Homeland Security. Each of those departments plays a significant national-security role, and all are individually as well as collectively responsible for the protection and preparedness of our country and the American people themselves. It is already clear, though, that the new global challenges already apparent or now developing just over the horizon will require that you redefine the roles of each of those departments – and also provide the funding necessary to ensure that all three are able to carry out the full spectrum of their duties and responsibilities.

As you yourself pointed out many times during the past 18 months, for America to sustain its role as the leading global power requires that we continue to have capable, well-trained and well-equipped soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines as well as strong National Guard and Reserve components and a multi-mission Coast Guard.

On balance, though, as you also said many times during this year’s campaign, greater emphasis must now be placed on America’s ability to lead the world through negotiation, carried out by an energized diplomatic corps. Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates perhaps said it best, in his remarks at Kansas State, when he recommended strengthening our capacity to use “soft” power by integrating it better and more completely with “hard” power to create and implement not only a more engaged but also a more effective diplomatic and intelligence approach to our dealings with other nations throughout the world.

I also urge you, Mr. President-Elect, not to forget that if the combination of economic and military strength, patient but firm diplomacy, and intelligent political leadership fails, our nation will need capable, well-equipped and well-trained local, state, and federal preparedness professionals from the fire-service, law-enforcement, EMS, and emergency-management communities to respond to unforeseen and often unforeseeable disasters and catastrophes, whether acts of nature or terrorist attacks. The nation’s public health, emergency medicine, and hospital/healthcare communities also will need increased support if they are to be both ready and able to manage disasters, both manmade and natural.

I know that you are fully aware that climate changes, a pandemic flu and/or other diseases, and asymmetric attacks – either home-grown or “imported” from overseas – all require that America lead the world in its prevention, protection, preparedness, and response policies and capabilities. For that reason alone, your Department of Homeland Security must be a full and equal partner with the departments responsible for our nation’s defense and diplomacy.

Finally, as you prepare to take on the daunting new challenges facing you and your administration, I offer you, Mr. President-Elect, the full support of DomesticPreparedness.com – which, I am pleased and privileged to note, will next week celebrate our tenth anniversary of serving the nation’s homeland-preparedness community.

Sincerely yours,
Martin (Marty) Masiuk
Publisher

Note: For the full text of Secretary Gates’s remarks at Kansas State, click on
http://www.defenselink.mil/speeches/speech.aspx?speechid=1199

The Inventor of SMS, Mr Makkonen Received an International Innovation Award - MarketWatch

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron D Osgood) — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 14:48:00 +0000

Bookit Oy: The Inventor of SMS, Mr Makkonen Received an International Innovation Award - MarketWatch

Last update: 5:16 a.m. EST Nov. 4, 2008
HELSINKI, Finland, Nov 04, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Mr Matti Makkonen had discussed the idea of a Message Handling Service for GSM digital mobile phone in1984 in a pizzeria in Copenhagen with two other Finns Mr Tiainen and Mr Tapiola during a conference of mobile phone communication's future. When the development of GSM digital mobile phone standard was extended from the Nordic countries initiative to global ETSI workgroup, the idea of SMS was proposed to be included as a global standard. Makkonen reminds that global collaboration is essential in order to bring the new technology to global scale. "Without this international collaboration the SMS would not have become a global success story", says Makkonen. Today the SMS is available on global scale on a wide range of networks, including 3G networks.
Makkonen has already retired from his executive position at Finnet but is now a shareholder and a board member in a young high tech company called Bookit. This small Finnish company has created an innovative platform for managing easy to use dialogues on SMS. Bookit calls their product the iSMS, because it is interactive and easy to use. The iSMS has become very popular in Bookit's home country Finland, where people are using the iSMS for easy to use bookings. For example, more than half of the Finnair's passengers do their check-in with iSMS. The service is very easy to use since the user automatically receives a check-in request from Bookit's iSMS service and can check-in simply by replying with letter A. Passengers are extremely satisfied since they avoid queuing and can proceed directly to the gate because Bookit completes the dialogue by sending an iSMS boarding pass directly to their mobile phone.
Makkonen says Bookit's innovation is very clever because it uses the benefits of an already existing SMS standard but manages SMS transactions intelligently by adding "fingerprints" to each message. The network doesn't notice these secret fingerprints and therefore the iSMS service can be used by any of the existing 3.2 billion SMS users globally on any phone. The intelligence of Bookit's iSMS service is called Bookit DDM (dynamic dialogue matrix) and it has many international patents. While the messages are delivered as a standard SMS message, the iSMS server monitors the SMS message flows and uses the "DDM - fingerprints" to authenticate each individual message. Using these fingerprints, the right answers are matched correctly to the right question. In order to do business transactions on SMS, it's imperative to know exactly the authenticity of the messages and to interpret the dialogues correctly.
Mr Jukka Salonen, the president of Bookit, explains the popularity of iSMS: People don't like to memorize complex keywords or do not bother installing software into their phone but they all know how to reply to an SMS message. One-letter-reply to SMS message is so easy that most people answer the message instantly, what explains the popularity of the service. The standard SMS network, the mobile phone or the user do not notice Bookit DDM fingerprints so they work automatically in all existing phones and can be used globally on any operator's network.
Mr Salonen thinks that Makkonen is just the right person to receive the Economist's innovation award because he's a man with a clear vision of the future but is also able to put decades of hard work to achieve his visions. When Matti was working on a NMT standard, many people laughed at the idea. Who would need a mobile phone?When he suggested an idea of a short message service SMS for the next version of mobile phone GSM, people already took him seriously, because NMT had become an amazing success story", says Salonen.
"Matti has a talent to listen patiently to people much below him in the organization - then suggest out of a box idea. I was just a young guy, when I joined Telecom Finland in 1996. Matti was top executive but yet he took time and patience to listen to my ideas of making PC applications available to a mobile phone. Matti listened carefully and replied: "Why should we limit mobile applications to things we normally do on PC! Mobile phone has advantages that PC does NOT have: It fits nicely in your pocket, so it's always with you. You can use it with one hand and press buttons with your thumb, even when you are moving. Think if we could make reservations, payments and quick and easy transactions by just pressing one button". Makkonen explained that the mobile phone will become the remote controller of our lives and people will do most of their bookings and payments with a mobile phone.
Because of Makkonen's vision and decades of committed work, 3.2 billion people enjoy using the SMS on their mobile phone. The iSMS is delivering Mr Makkonen's vision of mobile phone based booking transactions and therefore this interactive version of SMS is quickly gaining popularity because it works on any mobile phone and on any mobile network without installing any software into the phone.
More info on iSMS and interview of Matti Makkonen can be viewed at www.bookit.net/television
SOURCE: Bookit Oy
BookIT Ltd
Jukka Salonen, Managing Director
Tel.: +358400 312 311
jukka.salonen@bookit.net

Copyright Business Wire 2008