How will the AIM-132 “ASRAAM” be incorporated into the System Development Phase (SDD) of the F-35 program? This is a good question because there are different stories over the years.

The timeline of what the potential customer (U.K.) was told and what they are getting is now different.

European missile systems company MBDA showed off a model of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter with two of its advanced short-range air-to-air missiles (ASRAAM) fitted on underwing pylons, a configuration seemingly at odds with an internal storage of weapons required by a stealthy profile.

But MBDA’s senior military adviser, Graham Thompson, said the radar cross-section of the underslung infrared-guided missiles was insignificant relative to the size and silhouette of the F-35 itself.

Britain has committed to buying the JSF for its Air Force and Navy and is a tier-one partner in the aircraft’s development program. The ASRAAM will be the main air-to-air missile for British JSFs.

ASRAAMs – up to four of them – can also be carried in the F-35’s internal stores bay because the missile can be locked on after launch, Thompson said. That ability to lock on after launch is critical for internal storage.

U.S. JSFs will carry Raytheon’s AIM-9X Sidewinder as their standard air-to-air armament, Thompson said, because U.S. pilots want a passive infrared weapon that does not light up an enemy’s radar-warning detector. Such stealthy targeting “gives a pilot more options, which is what you want when you’re up there,” said Thompson, a former British fighter pilot.

MBDA claims the ASRAAM, which has 70 percent more volume than the AIM-9X, can carry more propellant and has a greater range.

Although billed as a short-range dogfighting weapon, the ASRAAM has hit targets beyond visual range, MBDA claims.

For some time, the U.K. has been expecting to carry 4 AIM-132s internally in the F-35. At least they were until this came in early 2008. They couldn’t do the work by the end of SDD so it was decided that the goal for the U.K. F-35 program would be to have 2 internal AIM-132s and 2 external AIM-132s on a low observable pylons.

The original UK intention was to clear four MBDA Advanced Short-Range Air-to-Air Missiles (ASRAAMs) for internal carriage but this has been revised to include two internal and two external weapons instead.

The configuration change was agreed with the JSF Program Office in the United States late last year and was shown in public for the first time during the Singapore Airshow in February. The external ASRAAM fit will be common across all three JSF variants and could therefore attract interest from other international customers, who will otherwise be tied to Raytheon’s AIM-9X Sidewinder.

The new ASRAAM plan is a ‘work swap’ that does away with the requirement to clear the ASRAAM on the F-35’s two internal air-to-ground weapon stations. The integration team now has the more straightforward task of providing underwing carriage on stations 1 and 11. The ASRAAM is a rail-launched missile and internal weapons must be carried on a trapeze that swings down clear of the F-35’s weapon bay before they can be launched.

It has always been a credo of the JSF programme that external weapons carriage fundamentally compromises the aircraft’s very low observable (VLO) design. Speaking at the Singapore Airshow, George Stanridge, Lockheed Martin’s vice president of F-35 Business Development, noted that, in general, “if you see something hanging on the aircraft it means you are not a VLO airplane”. A new ’stealthy’ pylon has been developed for the external ASRAAM and MBDA notes that the finless missile already has a tiny radar cross-section.

Carrying the ASRAAM outside the weapons bay brings several advantages, primarily in allowing passive long-range – beyond-visual-range (BVR) – engagements cued by the missile’s seeker or the F-35’s infrared search and track sensor.

Now though, even that bit about the stealthy pylons seems to be off the table. In this recent article by Bjørnar Bolsøy on F-16.net, we have words from LM that the stealthy pylons are unfunded.

Development of a stealthy air-to-air pylon has been brought up from time to time. This would allow for reduced signatures when carrying missiles on the wing stations. But the project appears to have been put on ice for the time being. O’Bryan informs that the project is currently not funded. What is being studied, however, is a 6 air-to-air missile capability in the internal weapons bays, which would substantially increase the F-35’s stealthy fire power.

So what air-to-air weapons will the U.K. F-35 program end up with? What air-to-air weapon configuration will be cleared for the U.K. by the end of SDD? Over the years, certainly not the ones that were hyped through a very clever sales effort to imply that the F-35 is the combat aircraft they need. Not unlike the flip-flop of advertising two engine vendors for years to potential customers and then pulling one when the program risks going over cost and giving a different reason as the explanation.

“Studies” are nice, but like other things to do with this program, we will know only when we see some dramatic proof. Given all the other work left to do before the end of SDD and IOC dates getting closer, I doubt we will see much on the aircraft by the end of SDD. Years later when things settle down? Most likely. Over to you U.K.

WASHINGTON – U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke today announced the appointment of David Hinson, a St. Louis native with more than 20 years of business experience, as the new administrator of the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA). This agency is the only federal agency created specifically to foster the establishment and growth of minority-owned businesses in the United States.

“The success of minority-owned businesses is essential to our economic recovery, and I’m counting on David to maximize their opportunities,” Locke said.

MBDA, through its network of 48 minority business centers throughout the country, provides one-on-one workshops and business consulting services for minority businesses to help educate them about federal opportunities, including those related to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

“I’m honored to accept this position and am committed to carrying out Secretary Locke’s priority of working with minority entrepreneurs who wish to grow their businesses and increase their capacity,” Hinson said. “This work better positions these companies to create jobs, improve local economies and expand operations into national and global markets.”

In 2008, MBDA negotiated more than $2 billion in contracts and capital for minority businesses. Over the past 40 years, MBDA has served more than 625,000 minority businesses and assisted in securing more than $25 billion in loans and bonding.

Since MBDA’s creation in 1969, minority businesses have grown from 300,000 to nearly 4 million. Recent Census data indicates minority firms generate more than $661 billion in annual revenues and employ nearly 5 million workers.

More information about Hinson is available below.

David A. Hinson Bio

Since 2002, David was President and CEO of Wealth Management Network, Inc., a multi-million dollar independent, financial advisory boutique. Prior to launching Wealth Management Network, David managed a 10-state sales region as Director of Advisory Services for Envestnet Asset Management, a $70 billion financial advisory firm. In his capacity, David advised high-end advisors in asset allocation, portfolio construction, technology, and product implementation. He also served as Managing Director of Business Development for the company. In addition, David has held a variety of senior-level and mid-management positions at Bank of America, Morgan Stanley & Company, and First Chicago Bank (now JP Morgan Chase) and the Village Foundation.

David received an MBA in Finance from The University of Pennsylvania Wharton School, and a bachelor’s degree in Insurance and Finance with honors from Howard University in Washington, D.C. In addition, he completed a fellowship in International Finance with honors from the Stockholm School of Economics and completed graduate-level studies in French with honors at the University of Abidjan, in the Ivory Coast West Africa.

David is a member of a number of civic organizations including a member of the Board of Directors, Treasurer and Chair of the Audit Committee of the Council of Urban Professionals (CUP) in New York. In addition, David has provided on-air financial commentary for CNN, Fox News Channel, CBS News and The BE Report in addition to writing a financial column for The Network Journal and writing personal wealth analyses for Black Enterprise Magazine and Essence Magazine.

David is a native of St. Louis, Mo. and currently resides in Philadelphia, Pa.

The National Minority Enterprise Development (MED) Week Conference will be held August 26-28 at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, DC.  The Conference will focus on fostering innovation, competitiveness and opportunities for minority businesses to retool and rebuild America’s Infrastructure under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

The Conference theme is “Energizing the American Economy with Minority Business Enterprises.” In addition to the State of Commerce Luncheon  and the Annual MED Week Awards Gala, the conference will feature a Business EXPO where entrepreneurs can network and share information.  Participants will also attend educational workshops and business networking events with representatives of MBDA, the Small Business Administration (SBA) and other public and private partners. 

Nominations are currently being accepted for MBDA’s 2009 Excellence in Minority Business Awards.  The award winners will be recognized at MBDA regional MED Week conferences and national award winners will be recognized at the MED Week Awards Gala on August 28, 2009 at the Omni Shoreham Hotel as part of the MED Week Conference activities.

Last week the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Credit Cardholders’ Bill of Rights - a common sense financial system reform and consumer protection.  This bill provides  tough new protections for consumers facing excessive credit card fees, sky high interest rates and unfair agreements that credit card companies revise at will.

This bill is important to the establishment and growth of minority businesses because a greater proportion of minority-owned firms are started or acquired by using credit cards (10 percent of firms) among other sources of capital, compared to non-minority firms (9 percent of firms), according to MBDA’s “Characteristics of Minority Businesses and Entrepreneurs.” (March 2008)

This finding suggests minority entrepreneurs are more likely to finance long-term liabilities with short-term debt that often carries higher interest rates.

Of all the minority-owned respondent businesses, Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islanders and American Indian and Alaska Natives had the largest proportion (13 percent and 12 percent respectively) that used credit cards for the same purpose compared to non-minority firms.

MBDA’s Access to Capital Initiative is focused on increasing the availability of credit and investments in minority businesses.  The current tightened credit market threatens to halt the growth and expansion of minority-owned firms in neighborhoods and communities throughout the United States – impacting both job and wealth creation.

Parliament Street Party for whole of PE on public holiday weekend

One of the oldest streets in Port Elizabeth is a hive of activity. Signs of the economic crisis are non existent as businesses expand to accommodate more clientele.

Parliament Street, named after the first sitting of Parliament in the Cape, recently received an R 16 million upgrade that has encouraged people back into the inner city, both in the day and well into the nights, and as a result businesses are thriving. The upgrade, undertaken by the Mandela Bay Development Agency (MBDA) on behalf of the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Municipality (NMBM), comprised beautifying the area through paving sections of the street for pedestrians and sidewalks cafes, street lighting and indigenous tree planting.

The MBDA expects the area to serve as an entertainment and tourist hub come the Soccer World Cup in 2010. The upgrade is part of the NMBM’s comprehensive urban renewal upgrade package of plans.

Dorelle Sapere, planning and development manager of the MBDA adds, “The MBDA’s philosophy is simple: Public sector investment is followed by private investment and initiative. Parliament Street is an excellent case study in this regard – not only is the street experiencing an economic transformation, but a social transformation as well. Parliament Street has also introduced a first in PE – the concept of late night street dining, so popular in Spain, France and other Mediterranean countries.”

Chairman of the Parliament Street Business Forum, and owner of Café Zanzibar, Etienne Barkhuysen, says that when people ask him who the target market for the street is, “I say everybody; Parliament Street belongs to all the people of Port Elizabeth (PE) and as such, we are planning the opening of the street with a Street Music Festival that will run throughout the long weekend of the April 30, May 1 (public holiday) to Sunday the 3rd of May – with a procession on Saturday May 2.

Thirty top acts will perform at 11 venues in the one weekend. The initiative will be funded and organised by the business owners through the Parliament St Business Forum. “Parliament Street could just be the most cosmopolitan and trendy streets in the city, it’s the new place to be seen. From the oldest coffee shop in PE – Café Blend – to the latest in music and lighting equipment in the various clubs , we have it all,” he says. “Bands such as uSiba no Ncwadi (Jazz) and Stonehenge (Rock) will play at the opening festival, alongside the Monte Leos Jazz Band, the Incarnations.Top House and hip hop DJ’s such as DJ Delite, DJs Zwai, DJ Deepster, Zama ‘The Hip Hop Guy’, and other top national acts will be announced soon

“All the businesses in the area – from family restaurants, to sport and nightclubs, from specialty food stores and cafes to hairdressers, will be open over that weekend and we encourage everyone to come to Parliament St for the party – we will have activities for all ages, running throughout the day and well into the night.

“We will also offer ample secure parking, with security guards, for party goers,” he says.

Barkhuysen says all the businesses in the area work together and support each other, realising that what benefits the street and the other businesses, benefits everybody in the long run. “We feel this Street is similar to the Cape Town Waterfront, where you can park your car and spend the whole day moving between the variety of businesses in the area. We have Ken Denton opening a boutique hotel in the Street shortly and we know that will bring further upmarket clientele to the area.

“The word “Parliament” comes from the French “to talk” and this is certainly reflected well in Parliament Street, because as you look down the street you see people socialising and talking with friends, family or new acquaintances over coffee or cocktails. As such, we have a lot of celebrate in Parliament Street. Barkhuysen adds , “People often ask if Parliament Street is going to work now that the MBDA upgrade is complete and I always reply – it is already working.”

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) makes a long-overdue and historic investment in our national infrastructure – including roads, bridges, public transit, housing and broadband – to save or create nearly 400,000  jobs for American workers today and power enhanced economic growth for decades to come.

The Act includes $150 billion in new federal infrastructure funding that reflects President Obama’s belief that we can only strengthen our economy by investing in local economies.  For more information related to the Act, please visit www.recovery.gov.

Some of these projects include:

• Investing more than $17 billion in public transit and high speed rail to reduce our dependence on foreign oil.
• Safeguarding the roads, bridges, dams, ports, rail and water systems our families use everyday with an historic $40 billion, two-year investment.
• Expanding broadband throughout America.
• Making an historic$25 billion investment in school construction, sufficient to renovate and modernize 10,000 schools.

What should minority businesses do to ready themselves for opportunities?

Contracting opportunities made possible through the ARRA will be done no differently than any other government contracting opportunities.  MBDA recommends that minority businesses:

• Register in the Central Contracting Registry (CCR) www.ccr.gov.  Or, if you are already registered, please make sure your profile is up to date with correct contact information, capabilities, bonding and most importantly, past performance.
• Register with MBDA’s Phoenix Opportunity Matching System and visit your local MBDA Minority Business Center.  For a listing of the nearest MBDA center, please go to www.mbda.gov.
• Be on the lookout for “Sources Sought” and “Request for Information (RFIs).  If you are contacted regarding an opportunity, please respond as soon as possible.
• Make contacts and build relationships.  Some contracts may be large and/or bundled, but by building strategic partnerships with other companies, your minority business can still be part part of the work.  Firms which are 8(a)s, in the GSA Schedule, women-owned businesses, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs), Service Disabled Veteren Owned businesses, Native tribes, businesses in HUB zones: are state certified and have a strong past performance haev a competitive advantage for shovel ready projects.
• Keep informed by visiting www.recovery.gov, www.fedbizopps.gov, and www.grants.gov to make sure you are aware of every opportunity your minority business could qualify for.

At MBDA,we are working to ensure that qualified minority businesses are considered for contracts and opportunities the ARRA provides.  We have been working with the Department of Transoprtation, the Army Corps of Engineers, the Small Business Administration, and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration.  In addition, the MBDA Regional Offices and minority business centers across the country are meeting with state and local officials to discuss potential projects and matches with qualified and skilled minority businesses on the local level.

Together, we can rebuild America’s infrastructure to ensure jobs and economic growth for future generations of Americans.

On March 5, 1969, President Richard Nixon established what is today called the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) at the U.S. Department of Commerce.  Over the last four decades, MBDA has promoted the establishment and growth of minority businesses in the United States.  MBDA is the only federal agency tasked with advancing the competitiveness of minority businesses and throughout the year will be highlighting those minority businesses that have benefited from MBDA programs and the people and communities it has impacted.

MBDA prides itself on remarkable success.  In 2008, the Agency ranked as one of the top three bureaus within the U.S. Department of Commerce and touched more than 25,000 minority businesses, in turn, they created more than 5,000 new jobs.  In addition, MBDA programs generated $1.85 billion in terms of dollar value of contract and financial awards to minority businesses.

There were just 322,000 minority businesses in 1969 generating approximately $11 billion in annual gross receipts.  Today, the number of minority firms is more than 4 million.  These firms generate approximately $660 billion in gross receipts and employ apprximately 4.7 million workers.

While the growth rate of minority businesses has been remarkable, it has not kept pace with the growth of the minority population.  In fact, if minority businesses had grown in pace with the minority population explosion, it would mean an additional 2.4 million firms and gross receipts of $2.5 trillion – that’s nearly four times the current amount of gross receipts.

In addition, 16.1 million more workers would have jobs.

As you can see, the success and growth of minority firms is directly linked to the success and growth of the American economy.

Why?

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, by 2042 there will be a remarkable shift in the demographics of America.  We will once again be a country of immigrants – primarily people of color.  Based on this shift, minority entrepreneurs  are in a unique position to generate long-term employment and economic sustainability in their communities – and for the United States.

For the next generation of minority entrepreneurs, MBDA will focus on preparing minority business owners to grow in size, scale and capacity – further enabling competition in the global economy.

Welcome to the Minority Business Development Agency’s (MBDA) Minority Business Blog.

We look forward to your feedback and interaction with our Agency.

For more information about MBDA, please visit www.mbda.gov or you can follow us on twitter @USMBDA and feel free to ask questions there.

the boycott movement is gaining steam globally. it is amazing to watch. it gives me hope that people will not forget gaza. that they will be steadfast and help palestinians in gaza to remain steadfast. there is even a new rap song by invincible, an anti-zionist jew, about the boycott which you can download for free if you click this link. here is the final verse (btw: i don’t think she’s israeli; as far as i know she is american):

Look, i’m Israeli, my government’s so arrogant
War criminals who call Palestinians terrorists
For resisting extinction and occupation
Comparing this to genocide and reservations of Native Americans
Its a massacre! Kick out they ambassadors!
Divest from their apartheid like South Africa
Boycott em like King to Montgomery buses,
Show them we want peace but only with real justice
They murdering the media and witnesses left
We gonna stop shopping at all the businesses that invest
In building they settlements and gentrifying our corners
Illegal walls over there and the US-Mexico border
Build a worldwide movement til the truth is heard
And supporting the Israelis who refuse to serve
All the C.O.s who AWOL when deployed to Iraqi stations
All the people rallying while the cops are chasing
If we enlisted in the system we got an obligation
We ain’t got the patience, time to stop the occupation

Boycott, Divest, and Sanction
Til there’s right of return for displaced and reparations

and lovely, lovely mark gonzales along with the other fabulous rappers from human writes project–nizar wattad and omar chakaki–did a benefit show for gaza the other day in my hometown los angeles. they called it “get down for gaza” and all of them emanated sheer brilliance.

it is important for these voices to be heard. to be shared. to empower us to continue with our resistance work. i’ve been thinking a lot about various levels of boycott and one thing i wish i could convey to the leadership of hamas is this: to take a strong moral stand and to refuse any reconstruction or humanitarian aid from the united states or the israeli terrorist state. this is what hezbollah did in 2006. this is why boycott is an essential element of resistance. if hamas does not take this stand they will be giving israelis jobs and they will likely be overcharged for those goods. they need to force humanitarian organizations to take the same moral stand. even the palestinian authority, that bastion of normalization, is shackled with respect to funds, some of which are for gaza:

Israel is preventing the Western-backed Palestinian Authority from transferring cash to the Gaza Strip to pay its workers and others hard-hit by war, Western and Palestinian officials said on Wednesday.

Setting up interim international committee that would fund, organize aid directed towards reconstruction of
The restrictions threatened to undercut the ability of President Mahmoud Abbas’ West Bank-based government to reassert a presence in the Hamas-ruled territory after Israel’s 22-day offensive, said the officials, who asked not to be identified.

The cash restrictions also underscored the wider hurdles facing reconstruction, estimated to cost more than $2 billion, in the Gaza Strip, where 1.5 million Palestinians live.

but there is good news because those who don’t normalize are rewarded. and those who do will be punished as is the case with veolia:

Today the Stockholm community council in Sweden announced that the French company Veolia who has been the current operator at the Subway’s in Stockholm County for 10 years lost the contract to the MTR-cooperation. The contracts for the coming 8 years is worth 3,5 Billion EURO and has been the biggest ongoing public contract procurement process in Europe.

Although the board for county’s public transportation ensured the decision was based on commercial factors the debate about Veolias involvement in a controversial tramway project in Jerusalem (Jerusalem light railway) has been intense in Swedish media.

The tramway connecting the Israeli west Jerusalem with illegal Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian territory has triggered discussions about Veolia’s ethical policy. Public protests against Veolia has brought the attention to the dilemma of operating public services when you at he same time are involved in politically controversial activities.

As late as the day before the decision the community council received lists with thousands of signatories from people demanding the county council to choose an operator who should not be associated with violations of international humanitarian law.

- This is clearly another sign of the importance for commercial actors not to have their brand associated to unethical behaviour, in the case of illegal settlements on occupied Palestinian territory we can already see a trend of international companies who are moving out their operations from settlements, says Joakim Wohlfeil, at the Swedish development organization Diakonia.

likewise the movement to prosecute israeli terrorist leaders for war crimes is building, even among the some 17 israelis who are not with its state terrorism:

Anonymous self-described Israeli human rights activists have set up an Internet site detailing alleged war crimes committed by senior government officials and Israel Defense Forces officers. No known human rights organization is behind the site, whose founders refuse to give their names.

The site, www.wanted.org.il, includes “arrest orders,” complete with pictures and personal details, for Defense Minister Ehud Barak, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai, Public Security Minister Avi Dichter, National Infrastructure Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer, IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi and his two predecessors, Dan Halutz and Moshe Ya’alon, former air force commander Eliezer Shkedy and others. It also explains how to inform the International Criminal Court in The Hague of when the “suspects” are outside Israel, and hence vulnerable to arrest.

in england, unlike the u.s., students are becoming incredibly active stating sit-ins at their universities in solidarity with gaza and to force their universities to not grant honorary degrees to israeli terrorist war criminals:

Students at King’s College London are staging a sit-in protest on campus over the treatment of Palestinians in Gaza and the honorary doctorate bestowed on the Israeli president, Shimon Peres.

In the latest of a flurry of occupations at English universities in response to Israel’s actions in Gaza, more than 100 students took over a lecture theatre in the university yesterday.

Kings students are demanding that the university issue a formal statement condemning Israel’s bombing of Gaza and revoke the honorary doctorate Peres was awarded in November last year.

the students at king’s college also have a blog where you can track their activities. and thankfully this energy is contagious as now the students at warwick university they have also staged a sit in and here are their demands from their blog:

1. Warwick University should suspend all relations with companies which supply the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. This includes BAE Systems, MBDA, QinetiQ and Rolls Royce.

2. That the University donate old computer equipment and textbooks to universities in Palestine, specifically those that were partially destroyed in Gaza during the current Israeli military operation.

3. That the University fund and provide logistical support for a series of talks on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

4. That there be no legal, financial, or academic measures taken against anyone involved in or supporting the sit-in. This extends to the Student’s Union. Students involved should be guaranteed free movement in and out of the space.

and today at oxford university students took over a building in solidarity with gaza:

More than 80 students on Thursday took over one of Oxford University’s buildings to demand the university releases a statement condemning Israel’s recent offensive against Hamas in Gaza.

“Palestinians have the same rights as we do, including the right to education as enshrined in the United Nations Universal Declaration on Human Rights,” a spokesperson said.

and mounting pressures for a war crimes trial for israeli terrorists like livni is already having an effect:

Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Livni nearly cancelled a planned trip to Belgium over concerns that the Israeli leader could face legal actions for war crimes.

this is exactly what we want. we want them to live in fear of facing up to the responsibilities for the crimes they commit. and we must keep this up. it is essential that we keep up the pressure on this and let this energy spread globally. where are the american students? why aren’t they occupying university buildings to get their university and government’s attention on gaza? i especially wonder about the new york university students and faculty in light of this recent news that sami sent me:

After months of planning and promoting, NYU has announced that it will delay the opening of its Tel Aviv study abroad site due to enrollment difficulties following military strife in the area. The program, which was slated to launch this month, will not host students until September 2009.

“Because of the conflict in Gaza and Israel and a consequent decline in enrollment that would compromise the quality of our program and its cocurricular offerings, the university chose to delay the opening of its NYU in Tel Aviv study abroad program,” university spokesman John Beckman said.

someone needs to do something at that university. something big to shut this program down. i know that most of them drank the obama koolaid, but really, the pressure must be kept up. (yes, i know he ordered guantanamo to be closed today, but that is merely symbolic: he didn’t order any of the cia secret torture prisons to be shut, for instance.) obama just delivered a speech in which he said “hamas must recognize israel” and that “israel has a right to defend itself.” no palestinians with a spec of self respect should recognize israel’s right to exist. no one should recognize israel’s right to exist for that matter. they do not. jews have a right to exist as citizens wherever the live, of course. but israel is a colonial terrorist regime and does not have a right to exist. joseph massad lays out why they don’t have these rights in his beautiful essay on electronic intifada, but here is an important point he makes, which, of course, obama doesn’t get:

The major argument here is two-fold, namely that while Israel has the right to defend itself, its victims have no similar right to defend themselves. In fact, the logic is even more sinister than this and can be elucidated as follows: Israel has the right to oppress the Palestinians and does so to defend itself, but were the Palestinians to defend themselves against Israel’s oppression, which they do not have a right to do, Israel will then have the right to defend itself against their illegitimate defense of themselves against its legitimate oppression of them, which it carries out anyway in order to defend itself legitimately.

robert fisk, commenting on obama’s vapid inaugural address noted what people here are thinking (though if read the full article i should warn you that no one here is thinking about anything close to two states or israeli terrorists’ security; they are thinking about the right of return–except, of course, for normalizers and collaborators):

It would have helped if Obama had the courage to talk about what everyone in the Middle East was talking about. No, it wasn’t the US withdrawal from Iraq. They knew about that. They expected the beginning of the end of Guantanamo and the probable appointment of George Mitchell as a Middle East envoy was the least that was expected. Of course, Obama did refer to “slaughtered innocents”, but these were not quite the “slaughtered innocents” the Arabs had in mind.

There was the phone call yesterday to Mahmoud Abbas. Maybe Obama thinks he’s the leader of the Palestinians, but as every Arab knows, except perhaps Mr Abbas, he is the leader of a ghost government, a near-corpse only kept alive with the blood transfusion of international support and the “full partnership” Obama has apparently offered him, whatever “full” means. And it was no surprise to anyone that Obama also made the obligatory call to the Israelis.

or perhaps obama should take a lesson from mark steel who correctly points out the reality and cuts through the propaganda of what really goes on here in palestine:

The worrying part about whether the ceasefire in Gaza can hold together will be whether the international community can stop the flow of arms to the terrorists. Because Israel’s getting their planes and tanks and missiles from somewhere and until this supply is cut off there’s every chance it could start up again.

The disregard for life from these terrorists and their supporters is shocking. For example Thomas Friedman, the New York Times columnist, wrote that the purpose of the Israeli attack must be to “inflict a heavy death toll and heavy pain on the Gaza population”.

Replace “Gaza” with “western”, and that could have been written by al-Qa’ida. Maybe this is the problem: the Israelis are writing their policies by downloading statements from an Islamic Jihad website and just changing the place names. Also, if the Israelis think the Hamas rockets are as lethal as they say, why don’t they swap their F-16 fighters and Apache helicopters for a few of them?

there are so many reasons why one must keep up this pressure. the “war” on gaza may be over, but the root of the problem is not. obama’s new appointment to the region, george mitchell, will bring more of the same. in a speech he just delivered he wants the same old 2-state solution that will continue the basically 4 state reality of palestinians in gaza, the west bank, 1948 palestine, and refugees in the region and around the world. this is unacceptable.

i hate to break it to you, but foreign policy with respect to palestine is not going to change. it will be more of this same, which kevin alexander gray characterizes as follows:

When you think about it, US foreign policy toward Palestine has been a segregationist or apartheid policy. In his 2006 book Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid, former President Jimmy Carter likened Israel’s occupation of Palestinian land and its repression of Palestinian people, both within Israel and in the occupied territories, to the state of apartheid, which existed in South Africa prior to the early 1990s. Apartheid means ‘separateness.’ And there is little debate that Zionism, the official ideology of Israel, is predicated on religious and ethnic separation or segregation. A self-described Jewish state — that is, a state that operates of, by and on behalf of a single group of people — cannot also be a secular, democratic state where persons of all religious and ethnic backgrounds are treated equally. A Jewish state that has never declared its borders, that has annexed and occupied territories, flouting international law and subjecting the indigenous population to poverty, indignity, theft, torture and death, is not only a colonialist outlaw state; it is also racist. As one Palestinian gentleman remarked to me, “While blacks in America were once considered subhuman, Palestinians are not considered humans at all.”

And Israel could not have pursued any of these policies without the steadfast financial and political support of the United States. It is no secret that Israel is the largest recipient of U.S. aid in the world. It receives more than $15 million every day from the United States, or $30 billion a year by most estimates. The F-16 fighter jets and Apache helicopters that have dropped hundreds of tons of bombs and missiles on Gaza are made in the United States and provided to the Israeli government. Every American taxpayer underwrites Israeli-style apartheid.

in south africa zwelinzima vavi the general secretary of the congress of south african trade unions (COSATU) also calls for boycott, divestment and sanctions in solidarity with palestinians:

1. All trade unions, social movements, NGOs, religious organisations and academics to support and actively participate in the boycott, disinvestment and sanctions campaign against Israel, refusing to handle anything that comes from and that goes to Israel in order to isolate it until it submits to international law and withdraws from all the occupied territories

2. We urge all companies and all shipping companies to refuse to carry any shipment of arms to Israel. Any shipping company who carries these weapons has the blood of the people of Gaza on its hands!

3. We call upon all governments to enforce international law, by refusing to recognise a country that makes a mockery of international law and the pursuit of human dignity. In this regard, they must expel Israeli ambassadors and representatives in order to ensure that we isolate it throughout the world until it subscribes to the ideals of human dignity! In this case, we salute the bold example of Venezuela and call upon all countries to emulate it.

4. We call upon international media to expose the real truth behind the war and not to hide the real issues in the name of objectivity, by projecting an image of Israel as a state under siege by terrorist, thus discrediting the legitimate resistance of the Palestinian people. Balanced reporting does not mean, massaging issues and diluting the truth even in the face of insurmountable evidence against the wrong side.

5. We call upon the international trade union movement to emulate the heroic example of the Norwegian Locomotive Drivers Union, which on January 8 ensured that all trains in the whole of Norway, and all trams and subways in Oslo, stood still for two minutes in protest against Israeli invasion. In the process, they issued the following information for passengers: “Because of the situation in the Gaza Strip, the Locomotive Drivers Union in Norway has decided to demonstrate our solidarity with the Palestinian people. This will be organised by adding two more minutes of stoppage at the station. The same action applies to all passenger trains in Norway simultaneously. We demand the immediate withdrawal of all Israeli troops from the Palestinian territory. Thank you for your understanding”. This is very inspiring coming from Europe where the tendency, even amongst progressives, is to be apologetic about Israel and condemn the Palestinian struggle as acts of terrorism

6. We call for particular focus on targeting the conservative US and British foreign policies, which requires that we work with our counterpart unions and progressive organisations in these countries to effect radical foreign policy changes in relation to the Middle East. This should include exposing the complicit role of these two states in perpetuating the violence and arming Israel, while rhetorically positioning themselves as anti-terrorists.

7. We acknowledge the progressive role of our government in relation to the situation in the Middle East, including its humanitarian support for the suffering people of Gaza, but believe that there is a lot more we can do working together. In this instance, we call for the cessation of all trade relations with Israel.

8. The Arab League must be brought under pressure to act in solidarity with the Palestinian people and limit the chances of some states openly collaborating with Israel, but to lead the global offensive for the isolation of Israel, owing to their strategic proximity in that area.

all of this is necessary and all of this must be cultivated, we must grow it. and quickly. we cannot give up on this momentum. and we must fall into the false notion that the war on gaza is over. it’s not. today, for instance, the israeli terrorist navy fired on palestinians from the sea:

Israel’s navy shelled the Gaza Strip on Thursday morning, injuring seven Palestinians, including five fishermen.

Mu’awiyah Hassanain, the director of Ambulance and Emergency Services in the Palestinian Health Ministry told Ma’an that Israeli gunboats shelled the As-Sudaniya area northwest of Gaza City.

He said the wounded people were taken to Ash-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.

Hassanain added that rescue teams are still working to recover the corpses, many of them now decomposing, of those killed in Israel’s three-week war on Gaza.

Separately, two Palestinians died in Egyptian hospitals where they were treated for wounds from Israel’s three-week offensive.

Medical officials identified them as: Tamer Omar Al-Louh, 22, from Gaza city and Azzam Mu’awad Ash-Shafe’y, 24, from Rafah.

The death toll from the war is now 1,330, with more than 5,000 injured.

and the suffering for those families who survived has not ended. in some ways it is only beginning as al jazeera’s sherine tadros continues to follow up with the samouni family–the family who saw 30 of its members massacred by israeli terrorists. this report shows nawal samouni who gave birth to her daughter while under attack by israeli terrorists:

in light of this and many other massacres haidar eid, a professor in gaza, also continues his call for boycott, divestment and sanctions arguing beautifully about the lack of moral courage from the region and the world and connecting these massacres to the south african shapeville massacre, which was a turning point in the anti-apartheid struggle:

For 22 long days and dark nights, Palestinians in Gaza were left alone to face one of the strongest armies in the world — an army that has hundreds of nuclear warheads, thousands of trigger-happy soldiers armed with Merkava tanks, F-16s, Apache helicopters, naval gunships and phosphorous bombs. Twenty-two sleepless nights, 528 hours of constant shelling and shooting, every single minute expecting to be the next victim.

During these 22 days, while morgues overflowed and hospitals struggled to treat the injured, Arab regimes issued tons of statements, condemned and denounced and held one meaningless press conference after another. They even held two summits, the first one convened 19 full days after the assault on Gaza began and the second one the day after Israel had declared a unilateral ceasefire!

The official Arab position vis-a-vis the Palestinians since 1948, with the exception of the progressive nationalist era (1954-1970) has been a lethal cocktail of cowardice and hypocrisy. Their latest collective failure to break the two-year old Israeli siege of the Gaza Strip and their lack of action to support Palestinians under brutal military assault must be questioned.

Arabs must demand answers from the spineless Arab League because there was no brotherly solidarity shown to Gazans during the Israeli assault. There was no pan-Arabism evident in their platitudes. Some, shockingly, even found it an appropriate time to blame Palestinians for the situation they found themselves in, instead of demanding that Israel stop its merciless assault.

In Gaza today, we wonder how the expressions of support for us in the streets of Arab capitals can be translated into action in the absence of democracy. We wonder whether Arab citizens of despotic regimes can nonviolently change the system. We torment ourselves with trying to discern the means that are currently available for democratic political change. With the ongoing massacre in Gaza, and the construction of an apartheid system in Palestine (in all of historic Palestine, including the areas occupied by Israel in 1967), we know that to survive, we must have the support and solidarity of our Arab brothers and sisters. We saw the Arab people rise to that challenge and stand by us for 22 days but we did not see their leaders behind them.

Archbishop Desmund Tutu of South Africa said, “If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.” The UN, EU, Arab League and the international community by and large have remained silent in the face of atrocities committed by Apartheid Israel. They are therefore on the side of Israel. Hundreds of dead corpses of children and women have failed to convince them to act. This is what every Palestinian knows today — whether on the streets of the Gaza Strip, the West Bank or refugee camps in the Diaspora.

We are, therefore, left with one option; an option that does not wait for the United Nations Security Council, Arab Summits, or Organization of Islamic Conference to convene: the option of people’s power. This remains the only power capable of counteracting the massive power imbalance in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The horror of the racist apartheid regime in South Africa was challenged with a sustained campaign of boycott, divestment and sanctions initiated in 1958 and given new urgency in 1960 after the Sharpeville Massacre. This campaign led ultimately to the collapse of white rule in 1994 and the establishment of a multi-racial, democratic state.

Similarly, the Palestinian call for boycott, divestment and sanctions has been gathering momentum since 2005. Gaza 2009, like Sharpeville 1960, cannot be ignored: it demands a response from all who believe in a common humanity. Now is the time to boycott the apartheid Israeli state, to divest and to impose sanctions against it. This is the only way to ensure the creation of a secular, democratic state for all in historic Palestine.

eid’s words are the only way out: the people’s option. and the people’s option, unlike the “white man’s” option (aka the west) is liberation of palestine through various modes of resistance, including boycott divestment and sanctions. fortunately there is now a campaign for american academics to lend their support to this method of resistance. our call is now published on electronic intifada and you may visit our website as well. there is an email address for you to endorse the call.

New Mexico Governor and all around professional blowhard, Bill Richardson is ‘bowing out’ of his (no longer expected) nomination to succeed Carlos Gutierrez at Commerce. Good riddance. Apparently he’s under investigation for ties to a company that won bond business in New Mexico. He’s not, however, resigning as governor and really whatever.  I quoted the bowing out part because this whole selfless withdrawal reeks of the invisible hand Obama handlers who practice a particularly craven version of political eugenics. Either way the result (Not Richardson as Commerce Secretary) I think is a good one. [CNN]

The Richardson appointment always seemed like the sole spot of political favouritism among an otherwise impressive and accomplished group of Executive appointees. Given that it was for Commerce. Which is, for a former Secretary of Energy,  probably a step down. Commerce largely deals with statistics and probably has the largest collection of autopilot agencies of any Cabinet department. Outside of that, it deals with advancing American business interests domestically and internationally (but mostly the latter), intellectual property issues, and industrial security. It is on the latter two often forgotten responsibilities that important work must be done. Richardson, particularly after his woeful handling of the Wen Ho Lee case during his tenure at Energy, leaves little confidence that he would be particularly effective at addressing the intellectual property and industrial security interests of American businesses and the American people.

In finding a new appointment, I hope President-elect Obama will not seek to find another “economic diplomat for America.” We don’t need that. What we need is someone who can accomplish four things.

1.) Recession Administrator – I don’t mean someone who administers a recession but someone who can look at the Census, NOAA, and the data collection agencies of Commerce and move the agency towards cost-cutting, efficient and economic data collection and spearhead the recruitment of young talent into this less than glamorous department.

2.) Chief of Technology Security – We need a team player who will work with the country’s national security apparatus to better identify and protect sensitive industrial and military trade secrets in a coherent and forward looking framework. That’s not going to happen without inter-agency cooperation.

3.) Intellectual Property “Fixer” – More than stemming the tide of illegal movie and music downloads, a robust culture of intellectual property protection is important to the economic health of our country and the success of our businesses at home and abroad. We need someone with vision to look at the international and domestic issues breaking that culture down and position the administration to work to restore it.

4.) MBDA Supporter – The Minority Business Development Agency needs help, publicity, funding, and well basically an overhaul. Doubt that or haven’t heard of it? Spend a few minutes poking around its website and if the words national embarassment don’t come to mind then please share your optimism with me. It has a good purpose and in theory should be a great agency that does good. In practice its confusing, underfunded, practically invisible, and generally unhelpful. Now, in the age of the TARP, the MBDA is more relevant than ever for building small business growth and couldn’t be more sidelined if anyone tried.

Isabelle CHANEL, DIrecteur d’Europe Orient

MBDA France and Sagem Défense Sécurité signed a cooperation agreement on May 14 concerning the modular air-to-ground weapon (AASM) and infrared guidance for tactical missiles. The agreement was signed by Antoine Bouvier, Chief Executive Officer of MBDA, and Jean-Louis Fournereaux, Chairman and CEO of Sagem Défense Sécurité. Also present at the signing ceremony was Jean-Paul Herteman, Chief Executive Officer of the SAFRAN Group. Under the terms of the agreement, MBDA France will be responsible for all sales and marketing of the AASM family developed by Sagem Défense Sécurité. The two companies will also combine their respective areas of expertise to form a close partnership for the joint development of future versions of the AASM family. The AASM is an all-weather precision weapon, comprising a guidance kit and a range extension kit that can be added to standard warheads. It is made in two versions. The version with inertial guidance and GPS, offering “10-meter” accuracy, is already deployed by the French air force in foreign operations. A “1-meter” version, including an infrared seeker, is now being qualified. French armed forces have already ordered 700 AASM systems, including both versions. The AASM family will join MBDA France’s range of tactical weapons for aircraft, allowing the AASM family to be included in any comprehensive offers aimed at meeting the requirements of air forces worldwide. MBDA France and Sagem Défense Sécurité also agreed to leverage the commercial and technical synergies associated with their respective positions to propose highly competitive solutions to air forces around the world. For infrared guided missiles, this agreement extends a collaboration between MATRA and SAT that started more than 50 years ago, and was consolidated in 1987 with the creation of the ADISM consortium. This consortium developed the infrared seekers for the MAGIC, MISTRAL and MICA IR missiles. Through this latest cooperation agreement, MBDA France and Sagem Défense Sécurité continue to offer world-class solutions for tomorrow’s French and European missiles.

MBDA
With annual sales of more than €3 billion, an order book exceeding €13 billion and over 70 customers around the world, MBDA is one of the leading missile system companies in the world. MBDA currently has 45 operational programs for missile systems and countermeasures and has proven its leadership in the management of large multinational defense projects.  MBDA is jointly held by BAE SYSTEMS (37.5%), EADS (37.5%) and FINMECCANICA (25%).

SAFRAN
SAFRAN is an international high-technology group with four core businesses: Aerospace Propulsion, Aircraft Equipment, Defense Security, and Communications. It has 60,000 employees in over 30 countries, and annual revenues of 12 billion euros. The SAFRAN Group comprises a number of companies with prestigious brand names, and holds, alone or in partnership, global or European leadership positions in all of its markets.

Venerdì 26 Ottobre si è svolta, presso lo stabilimento di Alenia Aeronautica a Grottaglie,  la cerimonia per la consegna del Premio Innovazione Finmeccanica. Il premio, giunto alla quarta edizione, è un modo per valorizzare le attività di ricerca e innovazione dei dipendenti delle società del gruppo Finmeccanica.

Le proposte innovative premiate quest’anno riguardano: un sistema operativo basato suLinux, per multiprocessori “multi-core” (MBDA, in collaborazione con altre società del gruppo), un sistema di protezione per i veicoli impiegati in zone pericolose (Oto Melara) e un sistema software/hardware che consente di ottimizzare le fasi di progettazione e piegatura delle tubazioni di sistemi idraulici (Alenia Aermacchi).

E’ stato assegnato anche un premio per il Brevetto dell’Anno ad Antonio Cetronio di SELEX Sistemi Integrati che ha presentato un brevetto per un transistor di potenza PHEMT(Pseudomorphic High Electron Mobility) e per il suo processo di produzione.

Menzione speciale per altre due idee innovative, riguardanti un sistema di motorizzazione per le carrozzelle delle persone diversamente abili (Luciano Armato di Oto Melara) e per degli strumenti di analisi sull’impatto ambientale delle varie fasi legate al ciclo di vita di un “prodotto tipo” (Davide Bonaffini di Ansaldo Breda)

Comunicato Stampa