Steve Peacock's U.S. Trade & Aid Monitor

Feds Want to Track Your DNA Like a License Plate (WND)

Though this article deviates from U.S. Trade & Aid Monitor's typical topic focus, the potential implications on a global scale make it worthy of a link -- S.P.

Feds Want to Track Your DNA Like a License Plate

Just as details are emerging about a controversial, nationwide vehicle-surveillance database, WND has learned the federal government is planning an even more invasive spy program using “physiological signatures” to track down individuals.

The goal of this research is to detect – as well as analyze and categorize – unique traits the government can exploit to “identify, locate and track specific individuals or groups of people.”

According to the program’s statement of objectives, “The scope of human-centered [intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, or ISR] research spans the complete range of human performance starting at the individual molecular, cellular, genomic level.”

Read more at WND.com...

 

The Monitor Celebrate Two Months of Journalistic Excellence (and not just because it scooped WIRED.com on a major article)

There is much cause for celebration today at U.S. Trade & Aid Monitor. Despite being launched just two months ago, statistics provided via TypePad and Google Analytics clearly indicate that the Monitor is making a name for itself in the world of serious online journalism. (But before proceeding, please keep in mind that the Monitor neither collects nor sells personally identifiable information).

A steadily growing following—along with a small yet far-reaching international audience—is evidenced via the following numbers for this brief period of time. The numbers likely are somewhat higher, as Google Analytics began measuring this site several weeks after its commencement:

Page views: 7,004

Unique visitors: 3,978

Geographic source of visitors: 84 countries/territories

While these numbers, in the grand scheme of things in the blogosphere, do not compare to the magnitude of which the most popular blogs can exert bragging rights, the Monitor (composed of its sole proprietor Steve Peacock) is nonetheless delighted.  Not bad for one guy sitting at his computer and phone just a bike ride from the beach somewhere in New Jersey!)

Many readers have written both to express outrage over various government programs and to express gratitude to the Monitor for bringing such endeavors into the public light.

The top articles that have garnered their attention are:

1) Multimillion-Dollar Crystal Glassware Project Renewed at U.S. State Dept.

By far, this piece—which exposes a U.S. State Dept. plan to basically spend a chunk of change on new champagne glasses from high-end retailers such as Bloomingdales and Bergdorf Goodman—infuriated many of the 903 visitors who read the article. Much thanks to Cryptome.org, which by linking to the piece was responsible for sending 655 of those visitors.

2) Next Phase of Advanced Global Data-Mining & Intelligence System Unfolds

Despite its second-place standing, it should be noted that this article generated 738 views in just the past couple of weeks. Once again, the Monitor credits Cryptome.org, which directly delivered 616 of those visitors.

IMPORTANT DEADLINE NOTE: Just as the Monitor was about to post this celebratory editorial, it was discovered that the highly regarded online version of WIRED magazine today published an article ("One Brain, Hundreds of Eyes: Darpa Plots Manhunt Master Controller") about the above-mentioned DARPA data-mining endeavor -- ELEVEN DAYS AFTER THE MONITOR ALREADY HAD DONE SO!

So why should you come back time and time again to the Monitor? See the above paragraph.

3) Fat Contracts Drift Toward Former Obama Official's Company—Vendor Gets Yet Another Multi-Million-Dollar Award

FreeRepublic.com and WhatReallyHappened.com sent 162 and 140 readers, respectively. Much appreciation for that.

4) Four More Contractors to Get Piece of $10 Billion Global 'Civilian Police' Pie

Thanks again to FreeRepublic.org for sending 85 readers this way. Likewise, much appreciation for the 52 readers sent via civiliancontractors.wordpress.com

5) USAID Reaches Out to Contractors for Agent Orange Cleanup in Vietnam

Despite a total 187 views of this article (129 which came directly from Cryptome.org, with additional traffic coming from a dozen other sources), the Monitor has learned that numerous veteran’s have organizations widely distributed this article in its entirety. Indeed, in several e-mails from representatives of such groups, I’ve been told that the article, as well as an earlier, related piece, has been widely distributed.

May this be just the beginning of great things to come!

SAIC Secures DARPA Contract for 'Insight' Data-Mining Project

A contract specific to the creation of a next-generation global data-mining and intelligence-analysis system was awarded Friday (May 20) to Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC). Other than revealing that SAIC received a $14 million award related to Insight, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) did not disclose any contract details other than the solicitation number (#DARPA-BAA-10-94), the contract award number (#HR0011-11-C-0047), SAIC's corporate name and McLean, Va. address, and a DARPA point of contact (Dr. Benjamin Cutler, [email protected]).

SAIC similarly is keeping quiet about the contract, insofar as it did not announce this contract award via the corporate website.

As U.S. Trade & Aid Monitor reported on Friday (May 20), DARPA last week issued a call to industry for innovative ideas leading to the creation of an advanced  “‘plug and play’ modular architecture” of intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, or ISR, technologies. The newly unveiled Insight Focused Incubator initiative is the latest phase of DARPA's Insight project launched last year, but is listed under a separate solicitation number (#DARPA-SN-11-36).

Next Phase of Advanced Global Data-Mining & Intelligence System Unfolds

Details of an emerging data-mining and intelligence-analysis program reminiscent of the Pentagon’s controversial Total Information Awareness (TIA) project emerged yesterday, U.S. Trade & Aid Monitor has discovered.

Similar to TIA, which Congress in 2003 de-funded insofar as domestic applications, the Insight Focused Incubator initiative seeks to create a multimedia system that obtains, synthesizes, and analyzes mass volumes of data via the development of an advanced  “‘plug and play’ modular architecture” of intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) technologies.

According to a Special Notice that the Monitor obtained via routine database research, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) issued a call to industry for innovative ideas leading to the creation of such a system.

The Insight program at DARPA’s Information Innovation Office (I2O) became known to the public last September, when it initially met with industry representatives to discuss its vision for the program (solicitation # DARPA-SN-10-70). However, yesterday’s reference to the Insight Focused Incubator moniker appears to take the program to the next level of execution.

“As part of the Insight platform, the Insight program is developing a virtual environment (VE) capability to enable system evaluation using simulated sensor data, augmented with real-world collected data, within a simulated world of various threats, terrains, and terrain features,” the special notice/request for information says.

The key to Insight’s development extends beyond the mere collection of data and the development of virtual threat scenarios; rather, DARPA is looking for innovative ideas for an evolutionary, interoperable system of various ISR components.

From a technical standpoint, the new system that DARPA envisions would possess the ability “to easily add, remove, substitute, and modify software and hardware components” as they become available to the government.

From an operational perspective, the Insight Focused Incubator would lead to the design of a system that integrates, correlates, fuses, and exploits “multi-intelligence data.” This would include, for example, a combination of worldwide sensors and platforms that combine the use of signals intelligence, video and ground moving target indicators (VMTI and GMTI) and even “Behavioral (pattern-of-life) modeling including cultural, social, and insurgency dynamics.”

Other objectives for the system include “data mining across all sources, both real-time and forensic” as well as the creation of “an active sensing process with multiple functions occurring simultaneously.”

DARPA anticipates launching a three-phase structure for Insight Focused Incubator, during which time it would award contracts ranging from $400,000-$800,000 per phase for each contractor selected for the project. The agency did not disclose the total potential funding for the program. Proposals are due June 30.