One of the nastiest, bloodiest episodes in Africa's long, brutal post-colonial history may be coming to a climax, as Sudanese in country and abroad vote on whether the south should become a separate country.
An NPR story this morning reported that in cities as far away as my own Philadelphia, exiles --- including so-call "lost boys" who had been drafted into the war as child soldiers --- will be casting their ballots. Division into two separate nations would be a victory for those who fought the vicious civil war for just that goal.
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
New Food Safety Law Long Overdue
President Obama will sign into law the Food Safety Modernization Act today. It will subject imported foods to the same FDA oversight and safety standards as domestic food stuffs. Thus, Chilean sea bass will be subject to the same rules and regs as Maine lobster. Given that 3000 Americans reportedly die of food poisoning annually, this is good. Even better is that this may help better protect us from terrorist attack on our vital imported food supplies, something that some of us have been warning about since 9/11. For instance, here's my "Attorney at Large" column from a few years back:
An Eastern Pennsylvania College Helps Guard Our Dinner Tables
By
Jim Castagnera
Poison toothpaste and dog food from China… salmonella in eggs, botulism in beef, PCBs and mercury in fish… mad cow disease, anthrax… the list of threats to our food is as long as the Klumps’ grocery order. Was a time when farmers drove their trucks through my hometown of Jim Thorpe, hawking their fresh-picked produce. Lancaster’s Amish and South Jersey’s fruit and tomato growers still bring some fine foods to our farmers’ markets. But the hard fact is that we are eating seafood from Southeast Asia, fruit from Mexico and Chile, beef from Australia. Seventy-seven percent of Americans polled believe a terrorist attack on our global food chain is likely.
Tom Kennedy, director of the Food and Agribusiness MBA at Delaware Valley College, fears these folks may be dead right. “The system is very porous,” he says. Consequently, “Food security has now become food defense.”
Kennedy, a lanky, gray-haired Irishman, first became involved in “food defense” at St. Joseph’s University in Philly, where he was a principal investigator on a $ 1.8 million Food and Drug Administration grant awarded under the 2002 Bioterrorism Act. The goal of the grant was to educate executives up and down the food chain, as well as first-responders, who might have to deal with an attack on our food supply.
How vulnerable are we (mostly overweight) Americans? Explains Kennedy, “With profit margins razor thin, the food industry operates on a just-in-time delivery model. This means there’s only a three-day food inventory in most parts of the country. Here on the east coast we have the greatest population densities and largest port facilities.
“Just imagine an anthrax attack on the food center in the port of Philadelphia. Do you remember when a little bit of anthrax shut down the Hamilton, New Jersey, post office for years?” he asks.
So… when Tom Kennedy moved from St. Joe’s to Del Val College in Bucks County three years ago, he brought along his commitment to protecting the American public from agro-terrorism. “After Nine-Eleven, I wondered what an ordinary guy like me could do. I’ve since found out there is a lot.”
Del Val College is unique among the hundreds of colleges and universities here in eastern Pennsylvania. Some 1600 undergraduates, plus a couple of hundred grad students, study everything from horticulture (which makes for a gorgeous campus) to dairy farming. The 600-acre campus just south of Doylestown includes the corn fields where Director M. Night Shyamalan filmed “Signs.”
Kennedy continues to work with colleagues at St. Joe’s, developing what he calls “table-top exercises.” Food industry personnel and first-responders are brought together and presented with a food product, a contaminant, and a scenario, then work to solve the situation. Last time, the threat was to the dairy industry. Tom trekked the 65 participants through Del Val’s dairy barns to give them the feel of the business. “Some of the Philadelphia police had never been on a farm,” he chuckled.
Recently, he went international, taking on a study of Philly’s port facilities, partially funded by sources in Australia. He won’t say how much the Aussies have kicked in… “That’s proprietary.”
Tom wishes ruefully that information on U.S. food inspection and security practices were equally proprietary. “We’re a democracy,” he explains. “Under the Freedom of Information Act, anybody can get a lot of helpful information, if food is the target.” He adds that, “We can’t build walls around our farms.” I look out the window of his car, as we tour the Del Val campus, and note the cattle munching grass right along the highway… point taken.
Del Val’s own farmers’ market on Lower State Road does a land-office business. “People more and more want to get food grown close to home when they can,” observes Kennedy.
After Tom dropped me back at the market, I thought about all I’d just seen and heard. I went inside, grabbed a cart and loaded up on fresh peppers, lettuce, and corn. No, it wasn’t even a three-day inventory, so here’s hoping folks like Tom Kennedy keep the cornucopia safely overflowing.
Safe Food: Bacteria, Biotechnology, and Bioterrorism
Advances in Food Protection: Focus on Food Safety and Defense (NATO Science for Peace and Security Series A: Chemistry and Biology)
An Eastern Pennsylvania College Helps Guard Our Dinner Tables
By
Jim Castagnera
Poison toothpaste and dog food from China… salmonella in eggs, botulism in beef, PCBs and mercury in fish… mad cow disease, anthrax… the list of threats to our food is as long as the Klumps’ grocery order. Was a time when farmers drove their trucks through my hometown of Jim Thorpe, hawking their fresh-picked produce. Lancaster’s Amish and South Jersey’s fruit and tomato growers still bring some fine foods to our farmers’ markets. But the hard fact is that we are eating seafood from Southeast Asia, fruit from Mexico and Chile, beef from Australia. Seventy-seven percent of Americans polled believe a terrorist attack on our global food chain is likely.
Tom Kennedy, director of the Food and Agribusiness MBA at Delaware Valley College, fears these folks may be dead right. “The system is very porous,” he says. Consequently, “Food security has now become food defense.”
Kennedy, a lanky, gray-haired Irishman, first became involved in “food defense” at St. Joseph’s University in Philly, where he was a principal investigator on a $ 1.8 million Food and Drug Administration grant awarded under the 2002 Bioterrorism Act. The goal of the grant was to educate executives up and down the food chain, as well as first-responders, who might have to deal with an attack on our food supply.
How vulnerable are we (mostly overweight) Americans? Explains Kennedy, “With profit margins razor thin, the food industry operates on a just-in-time delivery model. This means there’s only a three-day food inventory in most parts of the country. Here on the east coast we have the greatest population densities and largest port facilities.
“Just imagine an anthrax attack on the food center in the port of Philadelphia. Do you remember when a little bit of anthrax shut down the Hamilton, New Jersey, post office for years?” he asks.
So… when Tom Kennedy moved from St. Joe’s to Del Val College in Bucks County three years ago, he brought along his commitment to protecting the American public from agro-terrorism. “After Nine-Eleven, I wondered what an ordinary guy like me could do. I’ve since found out there is a lot.”
Del Val College is unique among the hundreds of colleges and universities here in eastern Pennsylvania. Some 1600 undergraduates, plus a couple of hundred grad students, study everything from horticulture (which makes for a gorgeous campus) to dairy farming. The 600-acre campus just south of Doylestown includes the corn fields where Director M. Night Shyamalan filmed “Signs.”
Kennedy continues to work with colleagues at St. Joe’s, developing what he calls “table-top exercises.” Food industry personnel and first-responders are brought together and presented with a food product, a contaminant, and a scenario, then work to solve the situation. Last time, the threat was to the dairy industry. Tom trekked the 65 participants through Del Val’s dairy barns to give them the feel of the business. “Some of the Philadelphia police had never been on a farm,” he chuckled.
Recently, he went international, taking on a study of Philly’s port facilities, partially funded by sources in Australia. He won’t say how much the Aussies have kicked in… “That’s proprietary.”
Tom wishes ruefully that information on U.S. food inspection and security practices were equally proprietary. “We’re a democracy,” he explains. “Under the Freedom of Information Act, anybody can get a lot of helpful information, if food is the target.” He adds that, “We can’t build walls around our farms.” I look out the window of his car, as we tour the Del Val campus, and note the cattle munching grass right along the highway… point taken.
Del Val’s own farmers’ market on Lower State Road does a land-office business. “People more and more want to get food grown close to home when they can,” observes Kennedy.
After Tom dropped me back at the market, I thought about all I’d just seen and heard. I went inside, grabbed a cart and loaded up on fresh peppers, lettuce, and corn. No, it wasn’t even a three-day inventory, so here’s hoping folks like Tom Kennedy keep the cornucopia safely overflowing.
Safe Food: Bacteria, Biotechnology, and Bioterrorism
Advances in Food Protection: Focus on Food Safety and Defense (NATO Science for Peace and Security Series A: Chemistry and Biology)
Monday, January 3, 2011
Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences Annual Meeting
ACJS 2011 Annual Meeting Registration and Hotel Reservation Deadlines
Just a reminder that the deadline to pre-register for the ACJS 2011 Annual Meeting in Toronto is January 15, 2011. After that date, you will only be able to register onsite and pay the higher onsite registration fees. To pre-register, just click on this link to register online or print the pre-registration form which can be faxed or mailed to the National Office: http://www.acjs.org/pubs/167_668_2915.cfm. Mailed registrations must be received by the January 15, 2011 deadline.
The deadline for making your reservations at the Sheraton Centre is January 31, 2011. Rooms are going fast, so be sure to make your reservations as soon as possible! The following link will provide you with all the hotel reservation information: http://www.acjs.org/pubs/167_668_14464.cfm
Finally, don't forget to register for the tours, ride alongs, and workshops being offered at the 2011 Annual Meetting. Descriptions of these events, registration deadlines, and registration fees can be found on the ACJS website at: http://www.acjs.org/pubs/167_668_14494.cfm
In the coming weeks, you will be receiving emails alerting you to the posting of the final program online, and various other aspects of the meeting. Be sure to watch your inbox for these important announcements.
As always, I'm looking forward to seeing all of you in Toronto!
Cathy Barth, Association Manager
Just a reminder that the deadline to pre-register for the ACJS 2011 Annual Meeting in Toronto is January 15, 2011. After that date, you will only be able to register onsite and pay the higher onsite registration fees. To pre-register, just click on this link to register online or print the pre-registration form which can be faxed or mailed to the National Office: http://www.acjs.org/pubs/167_668_2915.cfm. Mailed registrations must be received by the January 15, 2011 deadline.
The deadline for making your reservations at the Sheraton Centre is January 31, 2011. Rooms are going fast, so be sure to make your reservations as soon as possible! The following link will provide you with all the hotel reservation information: http://www.acjs.org/pubs/167_668_14464.cfm
Finally, don't forget to register for the tours, ride alongs, and workshops being offered at the 2011 Annual Meetting. Descriptions of these events, registration deadlines, and registration fees can be found on the ACJS website at: http://www.acjs.org/pubs/167_668_14494.cfm
In the coming weeks, you will be receiving emails alerting you to the posting of the final program online, and various other aspects of the meeting. Be sure to watch your inbox for these important announcements.
As always, I'm looking forward to seeing all of you in Toronto!
Cathy Barth, Association Manager
"Clean Technology" Conference coming up
Dear James O.,
You are invited to the 2011 Clean Technology Outlook Conference, scheduled two weeks from now on January 18, 2011 in Washington. Register online: Click here to respond Government, military, and diplomatic registrations are free.
Billions of dollars will be spent in 2011 on new clean technology programs and contracts:
• The U.S. Air Force is investing heavily in alternative fuels. U.S. military installations around the country are installing solar energy solutions and improving energy efficiency.
• Millions of dollars worth of new solar and wind energy grants will be awarded by the U.S. Department of Energy.
• A consortium of oil companies is funding $1 billion to develop new oil spill response technologies.
• China is spending more than $65 billion for new environmental clean-up technologies, and India is not far behind.
• U.S. state and local governments are purchasing clean fuel vehicles and investing heavily in renewable energy solutions.
Will your company or organization expand your share of clean energy contracts in 2011? The key to answering Yes is to have early information on new programs and contracts and establish key relationships with top decision-makers. The 2011 Clean Technology Outlook Conference provides you with the best and latest information from the nation's clean technology leaders. Conference sessions include:
• The 2011 business outlook for the solar, wind, hydro, hydrogen, natural gas, and algae industries.
• Congressional funding and priorities for clean technology programs in 2011.
• Federal government clean energy contracting opportunities, including the Department of Defense.
• Clean energy and environmental program priorities of state and local governments.
• International clean energy and environmental program priorities.
This high-level forum concludes with a Congressional VIP Reception.
The Conference organizers have produced more than 100 national and international forums involving more than 35,000 government, business, and military leaders. Speakers at our forums have included more than 1,000 prominent leaders over the years, including senior Members of Congress and Congressional Staff and top officials from the U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Department of Defense, and the Environmental Protection Agency. For more information, visit http://www.leadershipforum.us/clean-technology-leadership
We look forward to hearing from you immediately - space is limited! If you have questions, or are interested in conference sponsorship or exhibiting, please contact us at: info@leadershipforum.us.
Click here to respond
Best Regards,
Clean Technology Leadership Forum
www.leadershipforum.us
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Having trouble with the link? Simply copy and
paste the entire address listed below into your
web browser:
http://guest.cvent.com/d/2RsS_CJP_Uy5Qyc3MD1ZQQ/r7hg/P1/1Q?
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
You are invited to the 2011 Clean Technology Outlook Conference, scheduled two weeks from now on January 18, 2011 in Washington. Register online: Click here to respond Government, military, and diplomatic registrations are free.
Billions of dollars will be spent in 2011 on new clean technology programs and contracts:
• The U.S. Air Force is investing heavily in alternative fuels. U.S. military installations around the country are installing solar energy solutions and improving energy efficiency.
• Millions of dollars worth of new solar and wind energy grants will be awarded by the U.S. Department of Energy.
• A consortium of oil companies is funding $1 billion to develop new oil spill response technologies.
• China is spending more than $65 billion for new environmental clean-up technologies, and India is not far behind.
• U.S. state and local governments are purchasing clean fuel vehicles and investing heavily in renewable energy solutions.
Will your company or organization expand your share of clean energy contracts in 2011? The key to answering Yes is to have early information on new programs and contracts and establish key relationships with top decision-makers. The 2011 Clean Technology Outlook Conference provides you with the best and latest information from the nation's clean technology leaders. Conference sessions include:
• The 2011 business outlook for the solar, wind, hydro, hydrogen, natural gas, and algae industries.
• Congressional funding and priorities for clean technology programs in 2011.
• Federal government clean energy contracting opportunities, including the Department of Defense.
• Clean energy and environmental program priorities of state and local governments.
• International clean energy and environmental program priorities.
This high-level forum concludes with a Congressional VIP Reception.
The Conference organizers have produced more than 100 national and international forums involving more than 35,000 government, business, and military leaders. Speakers at our forums have included more than 1,000 prominent leaders over the years, including senior Members of Congress and Congressional Staff and top officials from the U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Department of Defense, and the Environmental Protection Agency. For more information, visit http://www.leadershipforum.us/clean-technology-leadership
We look forward to hearing from you immediately - space is limited! If you have questions, or are interested in conference sponsorship or exhibiting, please contact us at: info@leadershipforum.us.
Click here to respond
Best Regards,
Clean Technology Leadership Forum
www.leadershipforum.us
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Having trouble with the link? Simply copy and
paste the entire address listed below into your
web browser:
http://guest.cvent.com/d/2RsS_CJP_Uy5Qyc3MD1ZQQ/r7hg/P1/1Q?
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Saturday, January 1, 2011
A new kind of hijacking in cyberspace?
This from the FBI Newark Division's "National Security THreat Awareness Monthly Bulletin" for November 2010:
(U) Cyber Experts Have Proof That China Has Hijacked US-Based Internet Traffic (National
Defense Magazine, 12 NOV 2010)
(U) For 18 minutes in April, China’s state-controlled telecommunications company hijacked 15 percent of the world’s Internet traffic, including data from US military, civilian organizations and those of other US
allies. This massive redirection of data has received scant attention in the mainstream media because the mechanics of how the hijacking was carried out and the implications of the incident are difficult for those outside the cybersecurity community to grasp, said a top security expert at McAfee, the world’s largest dedicated Internet security company. In short, the Chinese could have carried out eavesdropping on unprotected communications, including emails and instant messaging, manipulated data passing through their country or decrypted messages, the vice president of threat research at McAfee said.
(U) Nobody outside of China can say, at least publicly, what happened to the terabytes of data after the traffic entered China. The incident may receive more attention when the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission, a congressional committee, releases its annual report on the bilateral relationship in November. A commission press release said the 2010 report will address “the increasingly sophisticated nature of malicious computer activity associated with China.” Said the McAfee vice president: “This is one of the biggest, if not the biggest hijacks, we have ever seen.” And it could happen again, anywhere and anytime. It’s just the way the Internet works, he explained. “What happened to the traffic while it was in China? No one knows.”
(U) The telephone giants of the world work on a system based on trust, he explained. Machine-to- machine interfaces send out messages to the Internet informing other service providers that they are the fastest and most efficient way for data packets to travel. For 18 minutes on April 8, China Telecom Corp. told many ISPs of the world that its routes were the best paths to send traffic. For example, a person sending information from Arlington, Va., to the White House in Washington, D.C., only a few miles away, could have had the data routed through China. Since traffic moves around the world in milliseconds, the computer user would not have noticed the delay.
(U) Cyber Experts Have Proof That China Has Hijacked US-Based Internet Traffic (National
Defense Magazine, 12 NOV 2010)
(U) For 18 minutes in April, China’s state-controlled telecommunications company hijacked 15 percent of the world’s Internet traffic, including data from US military, civilian organizations and those of other US
allies. This massive redirection of data has received scant attention in the mainstream media because the mechanics of how the hijacking was carried out and the implications of the incident are difficult for those outside the cybersecurity community to grasp, said a top security expert at McAfee, the world’s largest dedicated Internet security company. In short, the Chinese could have carried out eavesdropping on unprotected communications, including emails and instant messaging, manipulated data passing through their country or decrypted messages, the vice president of threat research at McAfee said.
(U) Nobody outside of China can say, at least publicly, what happened to the terabytes of data after the traffic entered China. The incident may receive more attention when the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission, a congressional committee, releases its annual report on the bilateral relationship in November. A commission press release said the 2010 report will address “the increasingly sophisticated nature of malicious computer activity associated with China.” Said the McAfee vice president: “This is one of the biggest, if not the biggest hijacks, we have ever seen.” And it could happen again, anywhere and anytime. It’s just the way the Internet works, he explained. “What happened to the traffic while it was in China? No one knows.”
(U) The telephone giants of the world work on a system based on trust, he explained. Machine-to- machine interfaces send out messages to the Internet informing other service providers that they are the fastest and most efficient way for data packets to travel. For 18 minutes on April 8, China Telecom Corp. told many ISPs of the world that its routes were the best paths to send traffic. For example, a person sending information from Arlington, Va., to the White House in Washington, D.C., only a few miles away, could have had the data routed through China. Since traffic moves around the world in milliseconds, the computer user would not have noticed the delay.
Is "Global War on Terror" an obsolete term in 2011?
Here's what one editor thinks this morning:
When U.S. and allied forces invaded Afghanistan nine years ago to hunt down Osama bin Laden and the other members of the Islamic extremist group al-Qaida, the military operations were labeled a War on Terror.
When U.S. and allied forces invaded Iraq, military operations in that country also fell under the War on Terror label.
But the label didn't fit when terrorists struck in Europe and other parts of the world, nor did it fit when someone in the U.S. was arrested on charges of terrorist acts.
And with U.S. involvement in combat operations in Iraq winding down and military operations in Afghanistan focused more in combating the Taliban forces over control of that country, the War on Terror label seems inappropriate there, as well.
So we are going to drop the War on Terror page label, instead focusing on more specific labels, such as War in Afghanistan, Global Terrorism and Rebuilding Iraq.
When U.S. and allied forces invaded Afghanistan nine years ago to hunt down Osama bin Laden and the other members of the Islamic extremist group al-Qaida, the military operations were labeled a War on Terror.
When U.S. and allied forces invaded Iraq, military operations in that country also fell under the War on Terror label.
But the label didn't fit when terrorists struck in Europe and other parts of the world, nor did it fit when someone in the U.S. was arrested on charges of terrorist acts.
And with U.S. involvement in combat operations in Iraq winding down and military operations in Afghanistan focused more in combating the Taliban forces over control of that country, the War on Terror label seems inappropriate there, as well.
So we are going to drop the War on Terror page label, instead focusing on more specific labels, such as War in Afghanistan, Global Terrorism and Rebuilding Iraq.
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