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

U.S. to Bring Education Officials & Leaders to America

A delegation of Egyptian officials and educational leaders are coming to America to observe the operation of science, technology, and mathematics magnet schools—and U.S. taxpayers will foot the entire bill.

“President Obama discussed the importance of education and science and technology in his famous June 2009 Cairo University speech,” the project solicitation emphasizes. “In Egypt, there is an urgent need to improve the quality of science and mathematics education in the pre-university education system.”

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), which is responsible for this Observational Study Tour (OST), is recruiting potential contractors to coordinate the one-week trip, which is tentatively slated for August or September.

According to a solicitation that USAID uploaded to the Federal Business Opportunities database this past Sunday, international studies conducted in Egypt in 2003 and 2007 indicate “serious weaknesses” in math and science education “both in absolute terms and relative to other Middle Eastern and Arab nations in the region.”

Consequently, U.S. citizens will fund activities such as the OST “that will eventually better prepare [Egyptian] students for careers in the 21st century.”

The selected contractor will be responsible for purchasing international tickets from and back to Egypt, domestic tickets within the U.S, providing other forms of domestic transportation, lodging and meals, securing U.S. visas and arranging visitor fingerprinting at the U.S. Embassy, the provision of interpreter and technical escort services, plus “any other unforeseeable expenses.” The contractor likewise will provide relevant tour materials and hold a series of workshops.

Source document: Solicitation #263-11-000092.

FOR ADDITIONAL COVERAGE OF THE U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, PLEASE VISIT THE MONITOR'S USAID PAGE.

ALSO SEE THE MONITOR'S EDUCATION PAGE.

Navy to Fund 'Tactical Surveillance' Research Project

A new research project of the U.S. Navy hopes to develop an advanced, autonomous means of gathering and processing data for tactical and battlefield situations. The Autonomous Persistent Tactical Surveillance program of the Office of Naval Research (ONR) will provide about  $41.5 million over five years to researchers who submit “white papers” or proposals for innovative projects leading to the potential development of “major advancements” in this area.

“United States (US) Forces are being placed in environments where they are required to function with increased autonomy,” the Navy says in Broad Agency Announcement # 11-023. “The need is stronger than ever to be able to autonomously maintain persistent surveillance of activities and entities over a region of interest on a continuing (24 hrs / 7 days a week) basis, as well as automated tasking of these assets…”

Among the various shortfalls of existing Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance capabilities that the BAA identifies include:

There is a lack of sharing knowledge of unfolding events across mission threads.  

There is a lack of timely exploitation of useful theater and national sensor data. There are gaps in alerting Forces to danger.  

There is a lack of mobile tools for field users to gather information. There is a lack of means for reporting soft biometric data on at-risk individuals or groups engaged in suspicious activity.  

Many sensors fail to deliver relevant information to users outside their stovepipes… Sensor data overwhelms the distribution, analysis, storage, and assimilation capabilities.

Proposals are due Sept. 12. ONR anticipates making a decision about awards on or around Oct. 11.

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.

NASA Creates Unit to Hasten Dawning of Nukes on Moon

The eventual deployment of nuclear reactors on the Moon blasted a baby step closer to reality today, with NASA embarking upon the creation of a new unit tasked with bringing such a nuclear capability to fruition. The Technology Demonstration Unit (TDU) for Fission Surface Power (FSP) on Nov. 14 began searching for potential contractors capable of helping the new entity to initially develop and test a "simulated nucelar heat source," according to a presolicitation notice that The Peacock Report (TPR) located via a routine search of the FedBizOpps database. The TDU is "planned as a 5 or 6-year activity with concept definition and risk reduction that could lead to the start of a potential flight development program in the future," the document says:

FSP systems provide a potential option to support future human exploration missions on the Moon and Mars. FSP is a current technology project under the Exploration Technology Development Program (ETDP) sponsored by the NASA Exploration Systems Mission Directorate.

TPR broke the story early last year that the Bush Administration envisions building nuclear facilities and robotic spacecraft-manufacturing plants on the Moon as a critical step in eventually sending humans to Mars (see TPR, 03/23/2006; New Details of U.S. Moon-Base Project Reveal Nuclear Intentions).

DARPA Explores Use of ICBMs for Surveillance Tech Deployment

The swift, global deployment of intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) equipment using non-lethal intercontinental ballistic missiles is one of the latest initiatives to come out of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). According to a Special Notice that The Peacock Report located via a routine search of the FedBizOpps database, the goal of the Rapid Eye program is to develop and "deliver a persistent ISR capability anywhere on the globe within one hour..."

While currently in the conceptual stage, DARPA envisions the creation of an intercontinental ballistic missile system to deliver what is known as a High Altitude Long Endurance (HALE) unmanned aerial vehicle to geographic targets of interest. The agency on July 25 will meet with industry and scientific-community representatives to discuss the project. Booz Allen Hamilton, a consulting firm and military contractor, is hosting this "industry day" event at its Arlington, Va. offices.

' Traitor Psychology ' Getting Expanded Role in DoD ' Deception-Detection ' Training

Assessing the "psychology of traitors" is among the numerous areas of expertise that the Pentagon's Counterintelligence Field Activity (CIFA) unit hopes to instill in its investigators and polygraph examiners. CIFA is soliciting private-sector help in jointly developing advanced training in this and other areas in the so-called "science of the psycho physiological detection of deception (PDD)," according to a planning document that The Peacock Report (TPR) recently located.

CIFA's Defense Academy of Credibility Assessment (DACA) claims that it seeks to raise the bar on its graduate-level, "human screening" training because:

The post 9/11 situation and environments have brought change to our mission. Issues associated with the Global War on Terrorism now mandate that federal polygraph examiners possess a broad knowledge that enables them to conduct all facets of investigations using credibility assessment tools. The topics encompassed by this course will prepare the federal examiner for these missions.

The Psychology of Traitors segment of the training specifically will examine "the motivation and psychological makeup of traitors." In relation to this proposed area of study, the document poses the question, "Can these personality types by predicted and isolated?"

The document, it should be noted, does not define the word "traitor."

In another recent deception-detection front, TPR on April 21 had reported that CIFA/DACA also planned to outsource an overall assessment of existing "rapid human-screening" methods. This contracting action was slated to be a two-phase project involving "a review of existing literature on techniques and technologies, as well as testing of such methods on 'human participants.'"

Energy Dept. Gets Ready for More Nuclear Power in Space

The U.S. government appears to be gearing up for additional nuclear-powered, space-based operations, as it is now amassing a list of potential contractors capable of providing support for such endeavors. According to a "sources sought" notice that The Peacock Report located through a routine search of the FedBizOpps database, the U.S. Dept. of Energy (DOE) is conducting a market survey of firms "capable of providing specialized technical, analytical, advisory and assistance and administrative support services" to DoE's Office of Nuclear Energy. This DoE unit, also known as NE-34, is particularly interested in partnering with companies experienced in the area of "space radioisotope power systems" -- the same kind of nuclear-enabled power source that makes possible the controversial Cassini space probe's continued flight across the solar system.

The Oct. 1997 launch of the Cassini spacecraft had met fierce resistance from opponents who unsuccessfully sought to halt the launch based on their position that the ship's power system -- packed with 72.3 pounds of plutonium -- was a threat to humanity.

The Lockheed Martin Titan IV rocket carrying the craft had a track record of mishaps, including an explosion three years earlier which sent a billion-dollar U.S. spy satellite plummeting into the Pacific Ocean. Although the same class of rocket ultimately catapulted the Cassini probe into outer space without complication, critics claim that NASA had done so after recklessly gambling on the health of the world's inhabitants, all of whom potentially would have been subjected to traces of cancer-causing plutonium.

This most recent nuclear initiative seeks to cull together nationwide experts to assist in the development of new radioisotope systems as well as to provide guidance on terrestrial radioisotope power systems and space reactor power systems. DoE similarly is looking for information from firms capable of providing launch operations and project management assistance as well as nuclear safety analysis services.

DoE expects to award contracts prior to April 1, when work could feasibly commence at multiple vendor sites, according to the document:

"This effort will require travel to various DOE facilities and locations. On-site performance at selected DOE facility will be required. Day to day interaction with NE-34 is a requirement for this contract; the Contractor shall maintain its facility within 40 miles of the NE-34 Germantown [Maryland] Office."

It remains unclear whether this endeavor is related to the Bush Administration's proposal to build a colony on the Moon. That project includes tentative plans to construct a nuclear power plant there, a March 23, 2006 breaking story that TPR was the first to report via the piece New Details of U.S. Moon-Base Project Reveal Nuclear Intentions.

Updated Link To Katrina-Related Contracting Document

A TPR news brief on Hurricane Katrina-related federal genetic-research has been updated with a new link to the source planning document. Readers whom recently accessed the March 17, 2006 piece, NIH Seeks Post-Katrina Human Test Subjects for Genetic Study encountered a dead link to the government contracting database known as FedBizOpps, which under standard operating procedure routinely archives those documents and changes their links.

Readers are encouraged to write to stevepeacock@yahoo.com if they encounter such links and need assistance in finding the relocated documents. With your help, TPR can keep those links updated to the best of its ability and can better serve the public interest.

Energy Dept. Plans Further Cleanup of Nuclear Waste in Washington State

Nuclear "burial grounds" at a U.S. Dept. of Energy-owned wasteland in southeastern Washington state are slated to undergo additional environmental remediation this summer, part of a larger cleanup aimed at ultimately removing millions of tons of contaminated soil and materials.

The 586 square-mile area known as the Hanford Site operated for 50 years as a military plutonium-production facility, beginning with the Manhattan Project’s World War II development of one of the atomic bombs dropped on Nagasaki, Japan.

Washington Closure Hanford LLC (WHC), which DoE selected in 2005 as the prime contractor for the initiative, is vetting potential subcontractors to focus on the cleanup of specific radiological trenches and other nuclear hotspots at the sprawling Benton County complex. According to a contracting document that TPR located during a routine search of the FedBizOpps procurement database, this phase of the remediation effort will take between two and four years to complete at an additional cost of $10-$20 million.

The contracting document, dated Dec. 14, says that work for the latest procurement action involves "excavation and removal of radiologically and/or chemically contaminated soils and debris. Work may be performed in radiation areas (including High Radiation Areas and Airborne Radiation Areas)..."

This segment of the cleanup is just one part of a larger effort centering on a 210-mile stretch of land along the Colombia River corridor, portions of which in 2000 were designated as the Hanford Reach National Monument/Saddle Mountain National Wildlife Refuge. According to WHC’s website, the cleanup "is scheduled to be completed in 2012 and cost $1.9 billion." During that time, WHC will "decontaminate and remove 510 facilities, close or remediate 486 waste sites, cocoon three reactors, and dispose of about four million tons of contaminated material."

To put the breadth of this endeavor in additional context, progress made -- and progress that needs to be made -- was spelled out in a 1,256-page declassified report released a year ago.

Public meetings and updates on the Hanford Site are regularly held in Richland, WA. For further information, a DoE "public involvement" site is available.

Rats on Acid, Mice on Meth

This piece originally appeared via Exhortations to the Oblivious, the former political humor sister-site of The Peacock Report (the predecessor site of U.S. Trade & Aid Monitor).

Hordes of vicious rats, tripping on acid, experiencing hallucinations of swirling, goody filled garbage heaps.

Legions of mice on meth, speeding through the crevices of your home in a peripatetic search for cheese, crumbs, or perhaps your toenails when you're not paying attention and your feet are sticking out from the blanket while you sleep.

They could be coming. And the federal government would be responsible. The unleashing of these reprehensible rodents, and the havoc they could wreak upon our society will rest on the hands of the President and his underlings at the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), who would be guilty of perpetrating this crime against humanity and against nature.

Okay, if such a thing were ever to happen -- which almost certainly never will occur -- then we would hold the Bush Administration accountable. But it will not happen (I think), so chill.

In reality (well, certainly not from a rat's point of view), NIDA is indeed looking for small businesses capable of administering hallucinogens and speed (and/or related chemical "compounds") into the bodies of live rats and mice, respectively. Under the auspices of the Treatment Discovery Programs at NIDA, the desired outcome of the endeavor is the testing and assessment of "potential pharmacotherapies for drugs of abuse including stimulants and hallucinogens," according to a Nov. 29 "sources sought" notice located by Exhortations.

On a more serious note, if NIDA feels that it has to get rodents all whacked out and high as a means of helping humans to battle substance abuse, so be it. Trip away, little rodents.

If by some chance any of these wide-eyed rodents happened to escape the selected contractor's facilities, and find their way into the privacy of your home, Exhortations has this suggestion: slip a copy of Atom Heart Mother by Pink Floyd into your CD player (or 8-track tape player, if appropriate), call animal control, then sit back and relax.

Even rats on acid and mice on meth cannot resist the mesmerizing power of pieces such as Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast and If. Just close your eyes and wait for authorities to arrive. In the end, all will be well.