THE PEACOCK REPORT (TPR)

No Book Left Behind

It's no secret that many, though certainly not all, schools and public libraries across the U.S. have substandard book collections and infrastructure. Some municipalities, sadly, have even closed their local libraries for budgetary reasons. Recognizing this tragedy, the federal government is extending a contract with a private firm responsible for selecting book titles, applying "quality assurance to printed books," and overseeing their "timely delivery to schools" as part of this ongoing educational endeavor of the Bush Administration, Exhortations has learned.

Unfortunately for American kids, all the books from this particular project are going to schools in Egypt.

According to a contracting document located via a routine search of the FedBizOpps database, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) on July 26 extended for another year an existing "task order" with the Washington, D.C.-based Academy for Educational Development (AED). AED will continue to select and deliver "high quality books" to "libraries in public preparatory and secondary schools" in Egypt, the document said.

The value of this, and the previous, contract is unknown. The original task order to which the July 26 document refers could not be found, despite an extensive search of FedBizOpps by Exhortations.

'Environmental Surveillance' on Tap at DHS

"Environmental surveillance" is the next area of research & development that the Dept. of Homeland Security (DHS) is targeting as it broadens its portfolio of preventative capabilities. According to a planning document dated July 23, DHS intends to award a sole-source contract for this endeavor to The National Academies, which will undertake a year-long effort to develop a report outlining a potential:

R&D strategy for development of a surveillance and detection system for novel, emerging, and engineered biological threat agents. The report will inform the Chemical and Biological Research and Development's (CBR&D) program plan for the development of such surveillance and detection systems to allow first responders and state, local, and federal officials to accurately identify and effectively manage bioterrorism attacks against citizens of the United States.

"Freedom Brings Us Together" -- Ron Paul

"Freedom Brings Us Together" is the latest video message from presidential candidate Ron Paul, one of the most vigorous congressional defenders of liberty. Check it out.

Legislative Branch to Bolster Oversight of Executive Power

The legislative branch is embarking upon a bold plan that would heighten its oversight of the executive branch, thereby enabling lawmakers to reign in abuses of presidential power, according to federal contracting documents released this week. However, this U.S.-funded endeavor will not target such power grabbing between branches of the U.S. government; on the contrary, the African nation of Tanzania will directly benefit from such efforts, courtesy of the American taxpayer via the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

The documents, dated July 15 and located via a routine search of the FedBizOpps database, reveal that the purpose of this project is to:

[D]efine the range of programmatic activities that will comprise an approximately two-year, $310,000/year, program to provide technical support to the National Assembly of Tanzania (Parliament). This support will enable the legislative branch of Tanzania government to provide focused oversight on the actions of the executive branch, and will promote a transparent and accountable system of key public institutions.

This solicitation, which seeks the help of a private contractor to provide related advisory services, is a follow-on to existing USAID anticorruption programs in Tanzania, as previously reported via TPR sister-site Exhortations to the Oblivious.

U.S. to Provide More Funds for Israeli Missile Defense Project

The U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) plans to award a $25 million sole-source contract to an Israeli defense contractor to carry out "enhancements, operation & maintenance, and experiments" on the Israeli Test Bed (ITB), a Theater Missile Defense simulator-system based in Holon, Israel. "The contract cost will be shared on a 64/36 percent basis between the US Government and the Government of Israel," according to a Special Notice dated July 12 that The Peacock Report located via the FedBizOpps database. The contract, which will begin Jan. 1, 2008, is a follow-on effort to existing work that Tadiran Electronic Systems, Ltd., curently is providing on behalf of the two governments.

Gold-Digging Multinationals Get USAID Financial Support in Africa

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is helping to finance a "responsible mining" initiative in Africa, where it purportedly seeks to improve relations between multinational mining companies and local communities in Ghana where the companies conduct gold-extraction operations. USAID intends to award a sole-source contract to Research Triangle Institute (RTI), a North Carolina-based firm, to consult the Ghana Responsible Mining Alliance while providing "technical guidance" to villages in Ghana's Asutifi and Wassa West districts.

According to a Special Notice that The Peacock Report located via a routine search of the FedBizOpps database, USAID/Ghana last year created this "global development alliance" with international mining behemoths GoldFields and Newmont. GoldFields, a South African company, describes itself as "one of the world's largest unhedged pure gold producers." It claims to have an "annual gold production of approximately 4.1 million ounces" and has "ore reserves of 65 million ounces and mineral resources of 179 million ounces." Colorado-based Newmont reported gold reserves of 93.9 million ounces as of year-end 2006.

USAID selected RTI for this noncompetitive contract because of its previous experience in Ghana with the agency, with industry, and with the people of Ghana. RTI from 1994-1996, for instance, participated in USAID's Government Accountability Improves Trust (GAIT II) initiative, in which it consulted local governments in the two districts on economic growth issues.

RTI under the new contract will manage day-to-day Alliance operations. According to the Special Notice, which is dated July 10, the firm also will:

Lead efforts to engage local government, civil society and other critical stakeholders to ensure broad buy-in to Alliance activities [emphasis added]. This would include helping to engage and seek avenues for resolution of issues that would come up as the Alliance moves forward.

RTI will help accomplish these tasks via:

Development and technical assistance to support implementation of an Alliance communication strategy for internal and external communication, considering at minimum news media relations, print publications, use of the web.

Additionally, USAID expects the contractor to identify additional "opportunities for technical collaboration" as well as pursue potential joint efforts with entities such as the World Bank. RTI's initial contract for this  endeavor is valued at $450,000.

DARPA Explores Use of ICBMs for Surveillance Tech Deployment

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

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

Media Miss NSA Angle on Navy 'Telecom' Project in Hawaii

Recent media coverage of a $320 million contract to modernize a Navy technology facility in Hawaii have missed -- or ignored -- one critical element of the construction project: this so-called "telecommunications" site also serves as a National Security Agency (NSA) global surveillance center.

The Peacock Report more than a year ago was the first news outlet in the world to report that the Hawaii Cryptologic Center and other NSA facilities would receive hundreds of millions of dollars in infrastructure and technological upgrades. The piece NSA To Pour Hundreds of Millions Into Surveillance Infrastructure back on April 20, 2006 was a major breaking-news story for TPR; unlike mainstream- and business-media reports a full year later -- reports based simply on a regurgitation of corporate and federal press releases announcing the Shaw-Dick Pacific, LLC, contract -- TPR routinely conducts government-database searches and scours congressional reports to obtain unannounced information often far in advance of "official" release dates.

Please support the efforts of TPR by purchasing a copy of Hotel Dick, a memoir by TPR editor Steve Peacock, or by making a donation via TPR's "tip jar" located on this web site. We thank you in advance,

N.Y. Times: Get Out of Iraq -- And Get Out Now

The New York Times, despite the post-9/11, let's-invade-Iraq-cheerleading that its now-disgraced, ex-writer Judith Miller offered the world, has come full circle on the matter. It now has this to say about the occupation: Get out. Get out now.

The following excerpt from today's editorial page of NYT (provided courtesy CommonDreams.org), sums up the paper's detailed and logical recommendation for the immediate withdrawal of U.S. forces:

Continuing to sacrifice the lives and limbs of American soldiers is wrong. The war is sapping the strength of the nation’s alliances and its military forces. It is a dangerous diversion from the life-and-death struggle against terrorists. It is an increasing burden on American taxpayers, and it is a betrayal of a world that needs the wise application of American power and principles.

A majority of Americans reached these conclusions months ago. Even in politically polarized Washington, positions on the war no longer divide entirely on party lines. When Congress returns this week, extricating American troops from the war should be at the top of its agenda.

It's time to act.

U.S., a Beacon of Light, Part IV

The Bush Administration now is taking its War Against Governmental Corruption to... Nigeria! For more details, check out political-humor sister-site Exhortations to the Oblivious.