Ebb & Flow of Power: Todays Read

Howard Davidowitz "This country is going into a 10-year decline. "

Howard Davidowitz, chairman of Davidowitz & Associates.
"We're in a complete mess and the consumer is smart enough to know it," says Davidowitz, whose firm does consulting for the retail industry. "If the consumer isn't petrified, he or she is a damn fool."
Davidowitz, who is nothing if not opinionated (and colorful), paints a very grim picture: "The worst is yet to come with consumers and banks," he says. "This country is going into a 10-year decline. Living standards will never be the same."

"We're now in Barack Obama's world where money goes into the most inefficient parts of the economy and we're bailing everyone out," says Daviowitz, who opposes bailouts for financials and automakers alike. "The bailout money is in the sewer and gone."

US journo claims Bhutto was killed on Cheney’s orders

New York, May 18 (ANI): A special death squad assassinated Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto on the orders of former US Vice-President Dick Cheney, an Arab TV channel has reported.
“Cheney was the chief of the Joint Special Operation Command and he cleared the way for the US by exterminating opponents through the unit and the CIA. General Stanley was the in-charge of the unit,” The Nation quoted US columnist Seymour Hersh, as saying.
The US death unit killed Bhutto because she had told Al-Jazeera TV about the assassination of Osama Bin Laden, Hersh said.
The US leadership did not want Osama to be declared dead. It would have raised questions about the US Army’s presence in Afghanistan, he claimed.
According to Hersh, the former Lebanese PM Rafique Al Hariri and the army chief were murdered for not safeguarding US interests and for refusing to set up US military bases in Lebanon.
Ariel Sharon, the then prime minister of Israel, was also a key man in the plot, he said. (ANI)

Multi-modal Biometrics Project
Project Manager: Arun Vemury
Project Overview: The Science and Technology (S&T) Directorate Human Factors/Behavior Sciences Division (HFD) Multi-modal Biometrics Project develops biometric technologies that accurately and rapidly identify individuals. The operational goal is to provide the capability to non-intrusively collect two or more biometrics (fingerprint, face image, and iris recognition) in less than ten seconds at a ninety-five percent acquisition rate without impeding the movement of individuals. The multi-modal technology will allow the Department to compare and match biometric samples from different sources, collected with different sensor technologies, under varying environmental conditions -- a capability that eludes existing technology. This project is part of the Personal Identification Systems Thrust Area and Biometrics Program within HFD

CRS Report on Fusion Centers:

Issues and Options for CongressSummaryAlthough elements of the information and intelligence fusion function wereconducted prior to 9/11, often at state police criminal intelligence bureaus, the eventsof 9/11 provided the primary catalyst for the formal establishment of more than 40state, local, and regional fusion centers across the country.The value proposition for fusion centers is that by integrating various streamsof information and intelligence, including that flowing from the federal government,state, local, and tribal governments, as well as the private sector, a more accuratepicture of risks to people, economic infrastructure, and communities can bedeveloped and translated into protective action. The ultimate goal of fusion is toprevent manmade (terrorist) attacks and to respond to natural disasters and manmadethreats quickly and efficiently should they occur. As recipients of federalgovernment-provided national intelligence, another goal of fusion centers is to modelhow events inimical to U.S. interests overseas may be manifested in theircommunities, and align protective resources accordingly. There are several risks tothe fusion center concept — including potential privacy and civil liberties violations,and the possible inability of fusion centers to demonstrate utility in the absence offuture terrorist attacks, particularly during periods of relative state fiscal austerity.Fusion centers are state-created entities largely financed and staffed by thestates, and there is no one “model” for how a center should be structured. State andlocal law enforcement and criminal intelligence seem to be at the core of many of thecenters. Although many of the centers initially had purely counterterrorism goals, fornumerous reasons, they have increasingly gravitated toward an all-crimes and evenbroader all-hazards approach. While many of the centers have prevention of attacksas a high priority, little “true fusion,” or analysis of disparate data sources,identification of intelligence gaps, and pro-active collection of intelligence againstthose gaps which could contribute to prevention is occurring. Some centers arecollocated with local offices of federal entities, yet in the absence of a functioningintelligence cycle process, collocation alone does not constitute fusion.The federal role in supporting fusion centers consists largely of providingfinancial assistance, the majority of which has flowed through the Homeland SecurityGrant Program; sponsoring security clearances; providing human resources;producing some fusion center guidance and training; and providing congressionalauthorization and appropriation of national foreign intelligence program resources,as well as oversight hearings. This report includes over 30 options for congressionalconsideration to clarify and potentially enhance the federal government’s relationshipwith fusion centers. One of the central options is the potential drafting of a formalnational fusion center strategy that would outline, among other elements, the federalgovernment’s clear expectations of fusion centers, its position on sustainmentfunding, metrics for assessing fusion center performance, and definition of whatconstitutes a “mature” fusion center. This report will be updated.