Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Just To Know: When Does Obssesion Become A Reality?


Obsession: "inappropriate, unwanted, intrusive, recurrent thought."

Obsessions comes in many forms, faces, actions, composed of different situations, and events that may have happened in that person(s) personal affairs or life if you will. But what happens when a obsession becomes a reality to that person(s) life? What happens when this obsessions becomes a influence on other peoples life's, affecting them in a range of many forms, faces, and actions? This is widely in the range of trying to showcase your emotions.
.Could You Say You Have An Obsession?
Just a teeny tiny one?
Could you go so far to obsess over something, an object, a place, a person, or even a creature?
It has its baby steps, at first you reject it and hope no one notices your.....taboo
And then when it goes so far, you let it all out.
Some people confuse about whether its a passion or obsession.
For starters, an obsession is usually an act that you are always (and sometimes uncontrollably) preoccupied with. A passion, on the other hand, is a strong love that can be the pathway to a healthy relationship or to a harmful obsession.
I Asked this Question:
Could You Say You Have An Obsession?
Just a Teeny Tiny One?
For example, do you fall in this category?
Your a workaholic, but you say its for your family or your financial support. You call it passion.
But you don't see the negative aspects of what you re really doing. You are constantly preoccupied and easily agitated.
Obsessing over your work, affecting both your job and social life. While it may have started as a healthy, passionate drive, leading you towards an obsession that leads to failure for your personal life, and slowly reaching a demise in a hoped success.

As I Said There are many forms of obsessions, the greatest one is called:
Celebrity Worship Syndrome, an obsessive-addictive disorder, in which a person becomes overly involved with a celebrity's personal life.
This is a unusual or abnormal to react or act of having a undesirable condition or quality.

There are 3 dimensions to celebrity worship:
entertainment-social, intense-personal, and borderline-pathological.

Entertainment-social: Is seen through many of our youths, and you could say most age ranges. Like fitting in to see whats the new thing, and be with a group to share and talk about their favorite celebs.

Intense-personal: is when you seem to feel how they feel, or want to feel how they feel.

A great example is in the movie:
Antiviral

For many, getting sick is not an ideal unless your not looking forward to work the next day, then the excuse of being sick is worthy of not going in.

Getting sick is very uncomfortable and unpleasant, and surely unless you are someone who intentionally gets sick for the sake of whatever reason, then it must be a bliss.

We should look at the word antiviral, this is a class of medication used for treating viral infections. They do not destroy their target; the pathogen, yet they inhibit their development.

A pathogen (Greek: pathos "suffering, passion" and genes "producer of")
it is a infectous agent (your germ)
Not all pathogens are, in  a word "bad".

There are the
"Three P's" (predators, pathogens, and parasitoids) they serve as natural or introduced biological controls to suppress arthropod pest population.

The Arthropod is your invertebrate animal with a external skeleton. In Greek together means "jointed leg", these are your insects, arachnids (spiders, scorpions, ticks, mites, etc., and crustaceans.  
Now, Biological Controls are a method of controlling pests (insects, mites,weeds, and plant diseases) by using other living organisms.

Biological Control relies on predation, parasitism, and herbivory or other natural mechanisms, and strongly involves an active human management role.
 There are three basic types of biological pest control strategies: importation (sometimes called classical biological control), augmentation and conservation.

Natural enemies of insect pests, also known as biological control agents, which are your include predators, parasitoids, and pathogens.


They are Viral, Bacterial, Fungal, and even Parasites.
Antiviral drugs are one class of antimicrobial, which is a larger group including your antibiotic or antibacterial, anti fungal and anti parasitic drugs.

It is "relatively" harmless to the host, and used to treat infections, and are distinguished from viricides.
 Viricides are not medication but they do deactivate or destroy virus particles, in or out the body.


In the movie "Antiviral", Lucas Clinic offered obsessive fans to get physically connected to their celeb of their choice.
This is by having that disease the celeb has by injecting it into their own body.

Yup.
Also for those who want to be more intact with their "idol",
Meat grown from cloned celebrity tissue is sold in restaurants, want some AI sauce with that?

In this movie the main character works at Lucas Clinic, He's also been smuggling select viruses and selling them on the black market. He infects himself with the diseases to get past the security scans, and like any illness he has drug-like side effects, but this time he gets the opportunity to inject himself with a new disease from his favorite celebrity, and with this he injected himself with a virus that killed the celebrity.
This is a over the top range of people who would do something on this level, also in the movie you see another character who has patches of his favorite celebrity skin, on his fore arm.

We could say this is a Intense personal obsession, but it is also a borderline-pathological, uncontrollable behavior and fantasies with scenarios.

We have seen many cases where you can say it goes into magical thinking.

This is where one's thoughts by themselves can bring about the effects in the world or that thinking corresponds with doing it.


Stubbornness comes into the picture, when someone is addicted to drinking, and doesn't admit it. But when pushed in a corner for example drinking and driving and killing someone. Then it comes to light, some people reach the climax of their obsession or addiction and turn back. 


But even that climax, that was there to show a deciding point and help make your decision of stopping or continuing, it fails and you continue.

Until something truly bad happens you have a guilt, you knew that using a used syringe would probably give you a nasty infection that may be permanent, but you just want that heroin, and you do it. You contracted AIDS.


Now your life falls into a deeper hole and it's harder to get out, the helpful advise does no justice and you are stuck within the walls of your emotions.

And yes its unpadded walls now.
Your only comfort in your mind is that person, place, thing or even creature yo have grown attached to.


"I don't care anymore, I'm lost anyway"

OR

"I do it, I want it, and there is no stopping me"

It turns into the mode of a stoic, but yet in fact somewhere someone who is the real you inside is calling out for help and it is being ignored, your emotions cloud the true way of helping heal you physically, mentally, and emotionally.

Obsession starts off so small, but can become a real big mess.
You want everyone around you to understand how your mind works and your excuses or "logic" on what or why you feel this way about this person, place, thing, or creature.

Addiction and Obsession....

Many people have their opinion about addiction and obsession, and some are not just cons, they are pros as well.
Productive & Unproductive Obsessions

An unproductive obsession, serves no good purpose  and is linked to anxiety. This is most common type of obsessing people do. You obsess that you haven’t locked your front door, or set the alarm, or washed your hands.
Anxiety kicks in.








 Productive obsessions is our meaning-making efforts.

Productive obsessions are insistent, recurrent thoughts or sets of thoughts, extremely difficult to ignore, that compel one to act, and that connect to one’s goals and values as an active meaning-maker and authentic human being.
The difference between productive obsessions and unproductive obsessions is not noted because psychotherapists see all obsessions as negative. 
 In 1877 a German psychiatrist named Karl Westphal defined obsession:
"Obsessions are thoughts which come to the foreground of consciousness in spite of and contrary to the will of the patient and which he is unable to suppress, although he recognizes them as abnormal and not characteristic of himself."

Positive & Negative Addiction
A positive addiction is one that helps us us and makes our lives much better, and increases our mental strength.
A negative addiction, weakens us, absorbing the strength from  our life, excluding the addiction, which may in fact one day kill us.

William Glasser a psychiatrist once said:
"An addiction can be anything at all that a person chooses to do as long as it fulfills the following six criteria: 
  1. It is something noncompetitive that you choose to do and you can devote an hour (approximately) a day to it.
  2. It is possible for you to do it easily and it doesn't take a great deal of mental effort to do it well. 
  3. You can do it alone or rarely with others but it does not depend upon others to do it. 
  4. You believe that it has some value (physical, mental, or spiritual) for you.
  5.   You believe that if you persist at it you will improve, but this is completely subjective - you need to be the only one who measures that improvement.
  6.     The activity must have the quality that you can do it without criticizing yourself. If you can't accept yourself during this time the activity will not be addicting." 


Yes, Yes, I Did Say When Does It Become A Reality?
Reality?


Being a Living Barbie Doll

In the southern Ukrainian port city of Odessa, a strange new trend has emerged that locals are calling Barbie flu.




Valeria Lukianova, spent hours every day styling herself as a human Barbie. 


As well as the human anime girl; Anastasiya Shpagina
The discovery of Shpagina comes after the "real-life Barbie doll"
The big eyes, tiny nose, tiny lips, pale skin and long bright hair.
There are reports that she is considering plastic surgery so that her eyes can be even bigger and more anime-like.
 
And Yes Ken Doll included...

This is called the "Barbie Syndrome" is the desire to have a physical appearance and lifestyle representative of the Barbie doll.
 You will see mostly pre-teen and young adult females but is seen to any age group. A person with Barbie syndrome tries to emulate the doll's physical appearance, with the unattainable body proportions



And Last But Not Least...


Bagel Heads

 Bagel head is a type of body modification started in Canada and practiced in the Japanese underground scene. It is a temporary (6-to 24-hour) swelling distortion of the forehead created by a saline drip and often shaped to resemble a bagel or doughnut.
 In 2012, after appearing on a National Geographic TV special, this practice became the subject of sensationalism as news outlets worldwide misleadingly declared it a "Japan trend".
The bagel head procedure was brought to Japan in 2007 by Keroppy Maeda, after he first saw it done in Canada by Jerome Abramovitch. Ever since then he performs it approximately 10 times a year at special occasions: underground fetish parties. The procedure involves the subject taking a 300-400 cc medical-grade saline injection to the forehead over a period of two hours, which is then often given a depression in the center, leading to the "bagel head" name. According to Maeda, "The body absorbs it over time so by the next morning it just goes back to normal".
 
Omar Ibrahimi, a dermatologist with experience performing saline injections during cosmetic procedures, states that using a saline solution that is too concentrated (hypertonic) could lead to extreme dehydration. Additionally, non-sterile saline solution could potentially lead to a bacterial or fungal infection. Maeda uses medical-grade saline in his practice. Ibrahimi was additionally concerned that repeated injections could lead to the forehead skin sagging - which Maeda says does not happen no matter how many times it is performed.



When speaking of body modifications, obession, and addictions
Look into the film:

American Mary
Beatrice

 In American Mary our main character Mary Mason, an eastern-European medical student, struggles with her finances. Mary finds herself drawn into an underground world of illicit body-modification surgery. You see Beatrice Johnson, who has has been surgically altered to look like Betty Boop. Beatrice introduces Mary to her first real body-modification operation to: Ruby Realgirl, who requests that her sexual organs be sealed shut so that she might fully resemble a doll.
She tells Mary:
 "I’ve never had any of these surgeries to become a sexual object...no one looks at dolls in a sexual manner.... a doll can be naked and never feel shy or sexualised or degraded, that’s what I want."


So when it all goes down, there are so many obsessions, and addictions; that some become a reality.

So when does it become a reality...
Or do you mean your synthetic alternate reality?

When it come into existence for all to see, and know about it.
Then it becomes something not just only you perceive but others...
will it then not only become just your reality, it becomes others, who may share the same situation, while other may not share this reality and it becomes something synthetic.

To each his own....







Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Just To Know: Bendable Microprocessors & What Does This Mean For You?

 
A Microprocessor That Can BeNd



At the "International Solid-State Circuits Conference", in San Francisco, European researchers the worlds first microprocessor made with a organic semiconductor. Now a semiconductor is a solid material that has electrical conductivity (transmission ability either heat, electricity, or sound) between that of a conductor and an insulator (which prevents or reduces the passage of heat, electricity, or sound.)

This is a 4000-transistor (a small low-powered solid-state electronic device consisting of a semiconductor and at least three electrodes (conductor through which electricity flows), used as an amplifier and rectifier (an electronic device that converts alternating current to direct current) and frequently incorporated into integrated circuit chips).
 

It is a 8-bit logic circuit , and has the processing power of only a 1970-era silicon model, and can bend.

This is 25-micrometer-thick chip starts with a substrate made from polyethylene naphthalate a plastic. Comparable to material that you use to wrap your sandwiches, and it is  very flexible. It also has  a 25-nanometer-thick layer of gold, patterned to make the circuit. 


Above that sits an organic dielectric, followed by a second patterned gold layer, and finally the organic semiconductor, made of Pentacene; this is a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon 
consisting of five straight-fused benzene rings. This highly conjugated compound is an organic semiconductor. The compound generates excitons upon absorption of ultra-violet (UV) or visible light; this makes it very sensitive to oxidation which is like when your aple turns brown or a penny turns green. 



Poly-AROWMWHAT?



Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon (PAH) is a potent atmospheric pollutant, it consists of fused aromatic rings and do not contain heteroatoms (a heteroatom (Greek heteros, different, + atomos) is any atom that is not carbon or hydrogen.) or carry substituents ( atom, radical, or group substituted for another in a chemical compound).
As a pollutant, they are of concern because some compounds have been identified as: 

  • Carcinogenic: Any substance, radionuclide, or radiation  directly involved in causing cancer. Several radioactive substances are considered carcinogens, but their carcinogenic activity is attributed to the radiation, for example gamma rays and alpha particles, which they emit. Common examples of non-radioactive carcinogens are inhaled asbestos, certain dioxins, and tobacco smoke.

  •   Teratogenic: Greek τέρας teras, meaning monster or marvel. Teratology is the study of abnormalities of physiological development. Like human birth defects, also non-birth developmental stages, even puberty; other non-human life forms, like plants. 

*NOTE*

These are just suspected or are known to be teratogenic in humans and in animals. 

A selected few include:



Drugs/Medications: Tobacco, caffeine, drinking alcohol (ethanol)


Infections: Cytomegalovirus, herpes virus, parvovirus B19, rubella virus (German measles), syphilis, toxoplasmosis, Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus.
 (An easy way to remember maternal infections is TORCH: Toxoplasmosis, Other agents, Rubella, CMV and HSV.)

PAHs are also found in cooked foods. Studies have shown that high levels of PAHs are found, for example, in meat cooked at high temperatures such as grilling or barbecuing, and in smoked fish. They are also found in the interstellar medium, in comets, and in meteorites and are a candidate molecule to act as a basis for the earliest forms of life.



However, the organic microprocessor built is still not busting through the upper limits of Moore’s Law; this tiny, flexible, 25-micrometer-thick microprocessors could lead to better and cheaper flexible displays and sensors that can be embedded into just about anything, from clothing to construction materials to foods or pharmaceuticals.

What Is Moore's Law?


Moore's law, dictates the amount of computing power you can put into the same space, and will double every 18  months.

Moore’s Law is finally breaking down, the law that says the number of transistors that can be fit on a computer chip will double every two years, resulting in periodic increases in computing power.

When Thinking About Moore's Law Think About This

Buy a new computer, take it home and see an advertisement for a new computer, better than yours, that sucks huh?
If you're the kind of person who needs to have the fastest, most powerful machine, you are compelled to get that new one. 

This is greed, and leading to Moore's law being pushed 

making it, obsolete.


Just To Know Simple Fact
 
Quantum computers can efficiently render every physically possible quantum environment, even when vast numbers of universes are interacting. Quantum computation is a qualitatively new way of harnessing nature, Quantum computers, have the potential to solve problems that would take a classical computer longer than the age of the universe.

A computer made up of all the energy in the entire known universe (that is, within the visible “horizon” of forty-two billion light-years) can store about 1092 bits of information and can perform 10105 computations/second.



Some say the universe itself is considered a quantum computer





What Is A Microprocessor?



Miniature electronic device that contains the arithmetic, logic, and control circuitry needed to function as a digital computer's CPU. Microprocessors are integrated circuits that can interpret and execute program instructions as well as handle arithmetic operations. Their development in the late 1970s enabled computer engineers to develop microcomputers.
Microprocessors led to “intelligent” terminals, such as bank ATMs and point-of-sale devices, and to automatic control of much industrial instrumentation and hospital equipment, programmable microwave ovens, and electronic games. Many automobiles use microprocessor-controlled ignition and fuel systems.
*Learn More On Computers*


Reflecting on this article, I have to ask you the readers this question, not only is it nice to have a bendable phone, and it doesn't break, but now you see the development of technology and how it is always expanding, causing us the consumers to constantly buy more and more, seeking more space, faster speed, better performance, etc.


In fact your allowing the non-organic machine to grow faster than your organic machine which is your brain.



Think About It, It's Just To Know, Its Only Your Knowledge 

Sunday, February 10, 2013

True Light News: Fusion Centers Revealed

The Angels Wake-Up Call
By:Ywonseve Beaver
Fusion Centers Revealed

     Are fusion centers considered a bad investment that may be on the chopping block of new Federal budget cuts? Established in 2003, as a result of 9/11, fusion centers were supposed to be an important aspect of U.S. successful counterterrorism efforts. The fusion centers would provide Federal, state, local, and tribal officials a location where they could gather and share information pertaining to terrorists. This would in addition allow them to seek out and interrupt terrorist activity. Based on recent reports these fusion centers have a long way to go to reach their intended goal. One such report was produced by the United States Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs dated October 3, 2012. This report took a look into Federal support for and involvement in state and local fusion centers. This is majority and minority staff report that revealed some disappointing results that would easy label fusion centers as a bad investment in need of some major repairs. In contrast to fusion centers nearly violating laws, producing junk information, and the mismanaging of personnel and Federal government funds, fusion centers have had some positive results since they began operating. Although positive, the results have nothing to do with fusion centers’ initial mission once the Feds got involved.
     The intended purpose of fusion centers is to strengthen U.S. abilities to detect, disrupt, and respond to domestic terrorism activity.  The Homeland Security Act 2002 was signed into law by George W Bush on 11/25/02. This law helped establish the DHS (Department of Homeland Security). The law doesn’t mention fusion centers per se, however the laws does give the DHS authority to gather together and share terrorist related information with Federal, state, and local officials. Two months after that in 03/2003, President Bush created the Terrorist Threat Integration Center.  He created this to be able to analyze terrorist information at a central site. This was similar to a headquarters. Two months after the TTIC was created, Bush created another organization led by the FBI called the Terrorist Screening Center. This particular organization was created in order to consolidate the terrorist watch list.  The establishment of these two centers pretty much wiped out the DHS’ authority in the U.S. counterterrorism efforts.
     It was after the release of the 9/11 Commission report in 2004 when the fusion centers gained more direct federal involvement consideration.  The 2004, 9/11 Commission report indicated that the U.S.’s inability to “connect dots”, and share terrorist activity in time contributed to U.S. not being able to foresee and prevent the 9/11 attacks. The DHS figured that more federal support to fusion centers would enhance U.S. counterterrorism efforts. Congress and the White House then started passing bills and issuing executive orders that designated the Federal government’s involvement in counterterrorism efforts.  There were a number of organizations and centers that were created as a result of the Federal government and its involvement with fusion centers since 9/11.  In 2003, first the DHS was created. Then the TTIC and the TSC was created. In 2004 the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) took over responsibility from the DHS.  The 2004 intelligence reform law and executive order 13356 created Program Manager for the Information Sharing Environment (PM-ISE) to assist Federal, state, and local officials in sharing terrorist related information.  In 2006 a fusion center plan was submitted and in 06/06 the fusion center plan was approved.
     In 2006 DHS expressed how fusion centers would serve highly beneficial to taxpayers and U.S. counterterrorism efforts.  It was said that fusion centers would allow routine access to local intelligence that supported the fusion center’s mission.  The subcommittee’s investigation of fusion centers showed how fusion centers just didn’t stand up to their expectation.  According to the 9/11 Commission Act 2007 enacted by the Bush administration, the Federal government was to get involved with fusion centers to administer operational and intelligence advice in efforts of counterterrorism. They also were to make sure the fusion centers were properly and sufficiently staffed and had the proper equipment and technology to do the job.
      The mission of the fusion centers as explained by the DHS is set to improve situational awareness at Federal level. It was to improve access to local officials. It was supposed to provide consultation on state and local issues.  Fusion centers would have access to nontraditional information sources and would clearly define information gathering requirements. Fusion centers were also supposed to improve intelligence and information sharing, and dissemination capabilities. Lastly, fusion centers were supposed to help to improve prevention, protection, response, and recovery capabilities.  
    In 2008 the Department of Justice along with Homeland Security published “Baseline Capabilities for State and Major Urban Area Fusion Centers” set forth by the Bush Administration.  It was an outline of how the fusion centers would operate and what was needed to operate them.  It was reported that in 2008 few fusion centers possessed the minimum capabilities to effectively participate in counterterrorism information sharing with the Feds. This report also indicated that it would take an estimated 1 to 5 years to reach all baseline capabilities.  Maybe it’s because many of the fusion centers weren’t properly equipped, they produced poor results.
     The subcommittee conducted a 13 month investigation (04/11/2009-04/30/2010) on fusion centers. After investigating 2 years of Federal involvement with fusion centers and examining 80 thousand pages of documents, they concluded that the DHS’s involvement with fusion centers produced no results that were expected by statute, White House strategies, and the DHS’s own report. The subcommittee also found that DHS did not monitor the money granted to fusion centers properly. Also, the subcommittee learned that many of the fusion centers had personal agendas other than counterterrorism.
     Most of the information reported was late, unreliable, and sometimes violated civil rights and Privacy Act protection of Americans. In addition to that, much of the information reported was unrelated to terrorism, and obtained from previously published records. It was also learned that DHS officials’ public claims about the fusion centers weren’t always accurate. DHS didn’t report all problems to Congress, nor did they mention if the problems that were reported were fixed in a timely manner.
     In 2010 the DHS requested an assessment of state and local fusion centers and found numerous deficiencies in the centers, but neglected to report the deficiencies to Congress. When the subcommittee asked for a copy of the assessment, DHS lied at first and said the assessment didn’t exist. They then later furnished a copy for the subcommittee. The DHS did an assessment of their own in 2011. It wasn’t as in-depth as the one conducted by the subcommittee. The results were more positive.  DHS’s assessment did however; find ongoing weaknesses at the fusion centers.  The 2010 and 2011 assessments didn’t support the statements the DHS made publically about fusion centers. The DHS said that the fusion centers are one of the centerpieces of the American counterterrorism strategy and “a major force multiplier in the counterterrorism enterprise”.  The assessments indicated that that statement was just not true.  Fusion centers in fact produced irrelevant, useless, or inappropriate information; if any information at all. 

   After examining the reports, the subcommittee found that there was no information found that would reveal or interrupt a planned terrorist attack. The information that was found was that almost 1/3 of reports weren’t published for the DHS or the intelligence committee’s use because they were of no use or they were on the borderline of violating guidelines set to protect civil liberties and/or Privacy Act protections.  During the 2009 DHS review, reporting was slowed for months because DHS would try to cover for individuals who may be in violation of the Privacy Act.  This in turned created a huge backlog, to which by the time the intelligence committee received the information, the information was considered no good. Most of the reports were about criminal activity, not terrorists or potential terrorist activity. Some of the terrorist activity that was reported came from the media, and some of the information reported about terrorists seemed to be a copy of the information shared with the NCTC.  The subcommittee also examined the management of the reporting process. They learned that the DHS requires only 1 week of training for personnel to be qualified to report sensitive information. They also discovered that there were no consequences for individuals who authorized useless, and possible illegal reports.  
    
The fusions centers are funded by the DHS through the Homeland Security Grant Program, and funds are administered by FEMA. From 2003 to 2011, FEMA has given an estimated range of 289 million to 1.4 billion of taxpayer dollars to fusion centers. Nobody monitored the funds and how they were spent.  An investigation was done on 5 fusion centers and none of them had the basic essentials to operate effectively. They did however; find that they all had flat screen televisions, SUVs’, undetectable button cameras, tracking devices, and other surveillance items that had nothing to do with fusion centers’ ability to function.  The DHS told the subcommittee that FEMA allowed the purchases because they were consistent with the rules and guidelines for purchase. The DHS gave no explanation for why no basic essential equipment was purchased. This part of the investigation was done to see if fusion centers were worthy of Federal support. Even though the Bush Administration provided grants to fusion centers before the 2008 report, he did say that the Federal government won’t fund fusion centers on a permanent basis.  These grants were to be used to get them up and started. 

Criminal Intelligence Systems Operating Policies (28 CFR Part 23)
Training and Technical Assistance Program

28 Code of Federal Regulations Part 23 (28 CFR Part 23): Is a federal guideline for law enforcement agencies that operate federally funded, multijurisdictional criminal intelligence systems.  28 CFR Part 23 provides guidance for law enforcement agencies on how to operate criminal intelligence information systems effectively while protecting individuals’ privacy and constitutional rights during the collection, storage, and dissemination of criminal intelligence information.
    The fusion centers are state and local entities that receive federal funding, but the Federal government does not have the authority to influence the mission of individual fusion centers. So, fusion centers are given money for a specified job; but don’t necessarily have to perform that job as detailed. The DHS currently provides millions of Federal grant money to support fusion centers. The DHS gives general guidelines, training, and technology, but doesn’t detail how to use it to operate fusion centers effectively for the purpose of antiterrorism.  Because of the inefficiency to gather and share early intelligence of terrorists, U.S. wasn’t able to neither anticipate nor prepare for the 9/11 attacks. In other words; U.S. got caught slipping and the efforts at that time to detect and prevent terrorism failed. Thus Congress initiated reform, where fusion centers were championed to be the key in being able to gather and share terrorists and possible terrorist activity.  The DHS was made the Federal partner for fusion centers. With that being said, some fusion centers have other missions besides a counterterrorism mission. The Obama Administration supports fusion centers for the purpose of counterterrorism.  It seems that some members of the administration has deterred from the mission of fusion centers.  They have shifted their mission to other issues such as local and state criminal activity, disaster recovery, and to no counterterrorism whatsoever. In September of 2009, DHS secretary Napolitano told the Senate that fusion centers, “work beyond counterterrorism”; and are used in a variety of ways.
     The fusion centers have had success stories as well. Here are some positive aspects fusion centers have on the U.S. since they have been established.  In 08/07 the DHS assisted a Florida fusion center in the indictment of two Egyptian nationals in Florida. They were found with explosives during a traffic stop. They were charged with transporting explosive without a permit. One of them was also charged with building and using an explosive device.  In 01/08, multiple fusion centers prevented an attack similar to the Virginia Tech attack. A man pled guilty to 5 counts of transmitting in interstate commerce and communications threatening to injure the person of another. In 09/09 a fusion center in Colorado gave analytical support to the Denver FBI in the Najibullah Zazi case. In 03/10, the same fusion center in Colorado was able to assist in the detainment of a woman connected to known terrorists.  In 06/2011 again, the fusion center in Colorado aided in the arrest of an attempted bombing suspect.  The local police department along with the FBI and other state officials were able to identify a person, arrested on non-terrorist charges, as also being a suspect in a couple of public locations where devices were found. In 03/12 multiple fusion centers worked together to provide information that led to an opening of a homicide case. The DHS along with fusion centers in Nevada and Texas shared information obtained from a prison inmate to open a new case on an unsolved murder. The information obtained from the prisoner was also used in counternarcotics efforts.  It is clear that fusion centers do produce some positive results; but are the results conducive to the counterterrorism efforts they were design to do?
   
The report revealed how the officials of the DHS always spoke positively about fusion centers when in public in spite of all the mismanagement inside of fusion centers and their lack of counterterrorism efforts.  The DHS never made it known that the information being reported was mostly useless, and only state and local criminal activity; basically unrelated to terrorism of any kind.  Nevertheless, the DHS isn’t to share the blame for fusion center failure alone.  Congress plays an intricate role as well. Since the time fusion centers were created by Congress in 2003, certain bipartisan committees and subcommittees have assumed jurisdiction over aspects of fusion centers. Therefore, when they overlook obvious problems within fusion centers, makes them just as responsible for the failure of fusion centers. When the members of Congress visit, participate in hearings, and interact with members of fusion centers and their staff, they oftentimes learn of the problems; but nothing is done to fix them.
    The report done by the subcommittee clearly indicates that the DHS need to step their game up when it comes to fusion centers.  Taxpayers won’t be pleased to know that millions to billions of their tax dollars are being invested into something that isn’t producing any worthwhile results.  It looks like the cat isn’t away anymore, so the mice can’t play anymore. The subcommittee suggested some recommendations for improvement.  They advised the DHS to basically reevaluate the reason why fusion centers were created. They advised them to familiarize themselves and the staff better with the rules and regulations. They were also told to close in and stop the misuse of taxpayer dollars, and improve ways to not violate people’s civil liberties.  In addition, the DHS was instructed to perform and report regular assessments on fusion centers. 
   Based on the subcommittee’s report, the fusion centers were pretty much a very bad investment.  It’s not at all unreasonable to attempt to correct the operations of the fusion centers since so much time and money was invested on the project. However, with all the debt the U.S. is in, 800million dollars a year is too much money to be wasting on projects that may or, may not work.