Det danske Fredsakademi
Kronologi over fredssagen og international politik 23. februar 2010 / Time Line February 23, 2010
Version 3.522. Februar 2010, 24. Februar 2010
02/23/2010
Military Industrial Complex: Texas Supplied Newborn Blood
Samples to U.S. Armed Forces laboratory
By Jennifer Couzin-Frankel
http://www.progressivenewsdaily.com/?p=1087
Dogged investigation by a non-profit online media organization in
Texas has revealed that between 2003 and 2007, the state quietly
gave hundreds of newborn blood samples to a U.S. Armed Forces
laboratory for use in a forensics database. The revelation will
likely raise questions about how newborn screening programs are run
and how the samples are disseminated, almost always without
families knowing where they go.
In this case, 800 blood samples were to be part of a new, national
mitochondrial DNA database intended as a reference databank for the
forensic community and for research into mitochondrial DNA
variation—DNA we inherit from our mother. California,
Minnesota, and Florida have also reportedly supplied infant blood
samples to the effort, according to The Texas Tribune
investigation.
02/23/2010
Governments Worldwide Invest a Record $68
billion in Space Programs : Risks of significant budget erosion
for the upcoming decade 
Paris & Montreal, February 23, 2010 – Euroconsult, the
leading international research and analyst firm specialized in the
space sector, announced today that worldwide government
expenditures for space programs grew by 10% in 2009 over 2008,
reaching an historical peak of $68 billion. According to
Euroconsult’s new report “Profiles of Government Space
Programs: Analysis of 60 Countries & Agencies,” over 50
countries are now investing in domestic space programs and annual
budgets in six countries (the United States, Russia, Japan, China,
France and Germany) were over $1 billion in 2009. The number of
space agencies has significantly increased with previously inactive
countries investing in space applications/technologies and creating
dedicated organizations to manage and implement the programs, as
shown recently in Mexico, Vietnam, Venezuela, and Turkey, among
others.
Both civil and defense spending has grown. Government expenditures
for civil space programs totaled $36 billion in 2009, a 9% increase
over the previous year. Spending for defense space programs
(classified and non-classified) is estimated to have climbed to $32
billion in 2009, a 12% increase compared to 2008
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