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. . . 4. Boeing’s Growing Dependency on Japan Japan’s technological leadership in composites is one reason that Boeing is going to contract 35 percent of the 787-airframe structures to Japan. In an interview with Paul Lagace, MIT Professor of Aeronautics & Astronautics and Engineering Systems, “the United States lags behind Japan, Spain and Russia in aircraft composite technology” (Lagace, 2004). Boeing’s airframes have changed very little since the introduction of the 747. With Airbus introducing major technological advances over a relatively short corporate lifetime, Boeing has been forced to move into this all composite aircraft. In the past, when...

Lucent Technologies Inc. Agrees to Pay $1 Million Fine to Resolve FCPA Allegations WASHINGTON, Dec. 21 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Lucent Technologies Inc. has entered an agreement with the Department of Justice and has agreed to pay a $1 million fine to resolve allegations that it violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), Assistant Attorney General Alice S. Fisher of the Criminal Division announced today. The agreement concludes a multi-year investigation into whether Lucent -- a global communications solutions provider -- violated the FCPA when the company, prior to its November 2006 merger with Alcatel SA, provided travel and other things of...

From http://www.history.org/Almanack/life/politics/giveme.cfm . An extract from early in the speech is below. (Patrick Henry was actually an antifederalist who defended the Articles of Confederation and was suspicious even of our present Constitution as placing too much power in the hands of the central government. The man was nothing if not conscientious about our freedoms. But this may be why he is known best for this 1775 speech, even though he lived and worked until 1799.) As well as it reads, it has even more force when spoken. There are some good reenactment mp3's of it out there. Patrick Henry did...

An election is coming up. Lots of localities have "bond measures" or "bond initiatives" on the ballot. Often there is little public discussion of these things pro or con - well, usually lots of pro advocacy, because someone wants the money for some project, which of course they will say is very deserving. So voters who are well-informed on candidates may still get blindsided by these things when they show up to vote, and it seems like a lot of people just vote yes on them by reflex. I was looking for a website or reference which might provide a...

Bush checks Check Point The Sourcefire acquisition will ultimately be referred to the US president, spoiling the numbers. Gitit Pincas    14 Feb 06   20:07 Most of the time, dealing with government authorities - American or Israeli - is not exactly a pleasant stroll in the park. Acquisitions of US companies by Israel ones form an outstanding example. Israeli companies often find themselves producing yet another permit, and yet another professional opinion, and still, months pass, and the final approval is not forthcoming. Ask Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (Nasdaq: TEVA ; TASE: TEVA). The final straight of the $8.6 billion acquisition...

George Washington First Inaugural Address In the City of New York Thursday, April 30, 1789 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------   The Nation's first chief executive took his oath of office in April in New York City on the balcony of the Senate Chamber at Federal Hall on Wall Street. General Washington had been unanimously elected President by the first electoral college, and John Adams was elected Vice President because he received the second greatest number of votes. Under the rules, each elector cast two votes. The Chancellor of New York and fellow Freemason, Robert R. Livingston administered the oath of office. The Bible...

IBM's Lenovo Deal Faces U.S. Security Probe Tue Jan 25, 2:59 PM ET Business - NewsFactor Elizabeth Millard, http://business.newsfactor.comIBM's (NYSE: IBM - news) deal to sell off its PC unit to China-based Lenovo may hit a snag, as U.S. federal agencies decide whether the arrangement endangers national security.     • What Went Wrong with IBM PCs? • Lenovo To Buy IBM's PC Biz in $1.75 Billion Deal • Report: IBM To Spin Off PC Unit • IBM Builds World Community Grid • IBM Rolls Out Low-Cost Blade Servers Newsletter Subscription As part of the US$1.75 billion deal, Lenovo announced...

Y E N R A Science China is no longer content with just being the world's pre-eminent manufacturer: it is increasingly active in the development of global technology standards, Deloitte finds in a study released today. The report, "Changing China," details how China's standards initiatives will shape global competition in the technology, media, and telecommunications for years to come. China's current position as the leading consumer and producer of many technology products -- along with its healthy long-term growth prospects -- puts it in a strong position to influence standards in both its own and global markets. As China's standards...

THE CASE OF THE CRIMINAL LAUNDRY Money Launderers Who Support Terrorists Taken to the Cleaners Quick quiz. Guess which city is the hub of a recent major international money-laundering and terrorism investigation? A) New York, N.Y. B) Beirut, Lebanon C) Montreal, Canada D) London, England E) Little Rock, Arkansas If you went with the unlikely choice – Little Rock– you were right...though the investigation ultimately touched on all of the above cities -- and more. "Operation Pop Concert" was a hugely complicated case that began, innocently enough, with a tip: in August 2001, an Arkansas resident told our Arkansas agents...

For still more Sousa material, check Dallas Wind Symphony's excellent website. Also, for Sousa fans, an observable astronomical event, the Transit of Venus", is coming up (don't look directly at the sun if you try to observe it). It was a big deal when it last happened in the late 19th century. Sousa wrote a march to commemorate it.

Background Briefing Friday, November 14, 1997 Subject: Iraq's Chemical & Biological Weapons Capability Senior Defense Officials ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Mr. Bacon: Many of you have asked questions about the chemical and biological weapons capability of Iraq, so we' gotten a senior military official and several of his civilian assistants to come down and answer your questions. The senior military official will begin with a brief opening statement, and then he and the senior civilian officials will respond to your questions for the next 20 minutes or so. Briefer: You did a great job of delivering my opening statement! I am, of course,...

<p>One of America's fastest growing minorities will vote against President Bush this year, according to a poll of Chinese- and Taiwanese-Americans. The poll also suggests that Taiwanese respondents are generally dissatisfied with President Chen Shui-bian, who faces a re-election vote on the island today.</p>

   MASSACRE IN MADRID: IRAQI TERROR LINK Mar 15 2004 Saddam secret police `planned horror in Madrid' By Keith Mcleod SADDAM Hussein's henchmen joined forces with Osama bin Laden to commit mass murder in Madrid,it was claimed yesterday. Reports suggested the bombings were planned in Baghdad by a former colonel in Saddam's secret police. The Iraqi mastermind is said to have joined forces with fanatics in Morocco, where the terrorists were recruited. Three Moroccans are among seven people under arrest over the train bombings. Spain is one of America's strongest supporters in Iraq, and a prime target for vengeance by...

Yahoo! News   Sun, Mar 14, 2004 Rumsfeld: Iraq Weapons May Still Be Found 1 hour, 20 minutes ago By KEN GUGGENHEIM, Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON - Bush administration officials said Sunday they do not regret that America went to war against Iraq (news - web sites) even though banned weapons have not been found one year after the U.S.-led invasion. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said he believes weapons of mass destruction could still turn up. Secretary of State Colin Powell (news - web sites) said even if they don't, that doesn't mean prewar intelligence was distorted to make...

Iraqi Mobile Biological Warfare Agent Production Plants Overview Coalition forces have uncovered the strongest evidence to date that Iraq was hiding a biological warfare program. * Kurdish forces in late April 2003 took into custody a specialized tractor-trailer near Mosul and subsequently turned it over to US military control.  * The US military discovered a second mobile facility equipped to produce BW agent in early May at the al-Kindi Research, Testing, Development, and Engineering facility in Mosul.  Although this second trailer appears to have been looted, the remaining equipment, including the fermentor, is in a configuration similar to the first...

Yahoo! News   Sat, Feb 07, 2004 Search for Senate Ricin Source Widens Fri Feb 6, 3:29 PM ET By CURT ANDERSON, Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON - Searches of Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist's offices in Tennessee have uncovered no ricin or other evidence that might explain how the poison wound up in his Capitol Hill mailroom, officials said Friday. The senator's six offices in Tennessee reopened Thursday after being closed for two days while the FBI (news - web sites) and other investigators checked the mail and searched for other evidence. Nothing was found, said a federal law enforcement...

Also see related article at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A48424-2004Jan1.htmlAllies Feel Left Out in JSF Fighter-Jet Program Lockheed, Pentagon Urged to Share Data By Renae Merle Washington Post Staff Writer Friday, January 2, 2004; Page D10 As Lockheed Martin Corp. begins building the first test models of the Joint Strike Fighter, some foreign partners object to security restrictions that the U.S. government has imposed on the project, initially hailed as a prototype for international cooperation. Some foreign participants in the project who assumed they would get access to certain sensitive technology have found the Pentagon unwilling to share it. Also, some companies complain that...

Tuesday, December 23, 2003, 12:00 A.M. Pacific Risk of holiday terror far-flung, officials say By Seattle Times news services Al-Qaida operatives may be plotting several unrelated attacks in the United States, targeting not only major cities but also remote bulwarks of the "critical infrastructure" in an effort to cause mass casualties and major economic damage, U.S. officials said yesterday. Senior U.S. counter-terrorism officials said they have been unable to nail down specifics about a time or place for any potential attacks, despite a mad scramble to do so since receiving an alarming cache of corroborated intelligence beginning last Thursday. But...

The Link Between Iraq and Al-Qaeda Posted Sept. 29, 2003 By Scott L. Wheeler Nada formed the al-Taqwa group, a shadowy organization suspected of providing cover for Saddam Hussein’s personal fortune and Iraq’s funding of al-Qaeda operations. Senior investigators and analysts in the U.S. government have concluded that Iraq acted as a state sponsor of terrorism against Americans and logistically supported the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States - confirming news reports that until now have emerged only in bits and pieces. A senior government official responsible for investigating terrorism tells Insight that while Saddam Hussein may not...

DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY -- NAVAL HISTORICAL CENTER 805 KIDDER BREESE SE -- WASHINGTON NAVY YARD WASHINGTON DC 20374-5060 Commander Battle Force, Report for Pearl Harbor Attack ------------------------------------------------------------------------   COMMANDER BATTLE FORCE   UNITED STATES PACIFIC FLEET A16-3(PH)/(05)/   (   09   ) c/o Fleet Post Office, Pearl Harbor, T.H. January 9, 1942   From: Commander Battle Force. To: Commander-in-Chief, United States Pacific Fleet. Subject: Japanese Air Attack on Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941.   Enclosure: (A) Narrative by Captain H.C. Train, U.S.N., Chief of Staff to Commander Battle Force. (B) Summary of Damage Sustained by Ships of the Battle Force. 1. Enclosures...