Matthew Espenshade, the agent in charge of the FBI office in Midland spoke on Energy Security Initiatives.  His office covers 14 counties from Andrews, Stanton ,Van Horn to Presidio; and he has nine agents working with him.  They investigate 300 different areas of criminal activities.  They have the difficult job of balancing proactive intelligence with civil rights of the people in their area.
 

   The Oil & Gas Industry is their largest client.  The Permian Basin is very fortunate that we have the FBI’s Oilfield Theft Task Force in our area (it is the only one in the US).  They had to educate Washington on the way that the oil and gas industry operates to be able to get the funding.  Last year there was $78 million dollars of loss due to theft in the Permian Basin.  The Rocky Mountain area had a similar amount; our agents were the first to recognize the enormity of this problem and requested the money to form the task force.  They concentrate their efforts on organized/interstate major theft organizations.  In three months one half million dollars of equipment was recovered. 

   Some of the areas they investigate are: Infrastructure Protection, Economic Espionage, Terrorism, Foreign Counterintelligence, High Technology Crimes. and Transnational Crimes.

   He emphasized that other companies or other nations are not particularly interested in patented processes, they are interested in your company’s unique methods of operation.

   Spies are volunteers who are recruited by friends or family members; and can pose as employees of a front company or as visiting scientists.  One particular group posed as  a film crew.  One of the  heads of a local oil company was entertaining them at his ranch, when the FBI found out about them.  Special Agent .Espenshade, called the ranch foreman and asked them to make sure they didn’t leave the ranch.

   Foreign countries are interested in our processes for secondary or terciary methods of oil recovery.  Our country’s greatest advantage is that we come up with the new ideas.  Other countries can do them quicker on cheaper after we come up with them.

   He stated that when people travel to foreign countries they should be particularly careful of private information.  Special Agent Espenshade told of the time after we had gotten Saddam Husain out of power, and our troops entered Bagdad, they found a vault full of video tapes.  Every room in the hotel that foreigners stayed had been bugged, and the tapes were the evidence of that.  He said to be careful of the information relayed back to the company in case the phone line had been tapped.

   They have investigated more than 90 countries, friend and foe, rich and poor, for trying to get our unique processes.  He mentioned more than once that the information they want isn’t the patented information or equipment, it is the unique process that your company uses.

   Right now we have more of a problem with domestic terrorism than foreign.  It is the disgruntled employee or one out for revenge that causes the most damage. 

What to do With Old Electronic Equipment

   Digital electronic equipment eventually break or are replaced; then the question comes “what do I do about it?”  Some are crammed in to junk drawers or storage rooms, some are given away or recycled with the owners worried about private information.  Some people want monetary compensation for the equipment.

   A useful resource for general electronics recycling is the Consumer Electronics Association Web site, www. MyGreenElectronics.org. which locates nearby electronics recycling centers by zip code.  Almost every computer manufacturer will recycle computers; some will even recycle another brand’s computer.

   If you are interested in selling, MyBoneYard.com accepts only laptops, desktop PCs, cell phones, and flat-panel monitors, and gives Visa gift cards instead of cash.  Gazelle and VenJuvo will pay cash for your items and/or recycle them.  Gazelle.com will send you a box to pack your items in and you can send it back with the company paying the shipping costs.  These companies will accept some types of digital cameras, laptops, MP3 players, GPS devices, camcorders, and gaming consoles.  Gazelle will take cell phones, but won’t take LCD TVs.

   VenJuvo doesn’t accept satellite radios, portable hard drives or any smart phones other than iPhone.  Neither Gazelle or Ven Juvo will accepts desktop PCs.  On these sites you will need to fill out a form answering questions such as does the item work, whether the item has the original accessories and its condition.

   If  you sell your item, do some comparison shopping to get the best deal.

Carbon Monoxide

   With the winter months approaching, people need to have their furnaces and other gas heating devices checked to make sure they are burning cleanly.  Carbon Monoxide is a deadly winter hazard.       Carbon monoxide is an odorless, colorless and toxic gas. Because it is impossible to see, taste or smell the toxic fumes, CO can kill you before you are aware it is in your home.
 

   At lower levels of exposure, CO causes mild effects that are often mistaken for the flu. These symptoms include headaches, dizziness, disorientation, nausea, fatigue, and chest pain in people with heart disease.  Remind people that if their “flu” symptoms improve while they are away from the house to consider carbon monoxide poisoning.  The effects of CO exposure can vary greatly from person to person depending on age, overall health and the concentration and length of exposure 
 

   At higher concentrations, impaired vision and coordination; headaches; dizziness; confusion; nausea are the symptoms.
 

   Carbon monoxide results from incomplete oxidation of carbon in combustion and burns with a violet flame.   Unvented space heaters; leaking chimneys and furnaces; back-drafting from furnaces, gas water heaters, wood stoves, and fireplaces; gas stoves; generators and other gasoline powered equipment are all common causes of carbon monoxide, as well as automobile exhaust from attached garages.
 

   In times of crises when there is not any heat or electricity to homes, remind homeowners to keep their portable generators out of the garage, and away from the house.  Also, smoke detectors now come with CO monitors. 

Halloween

   Halloween's origins date back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced sow-in).
   The Celts, who lived 2,000 years ago in Ireland, the United Kingdom, and northern France, celebrated their new year on November 1. This day marked the end of summer and the harvest and the beginning of the dark, cold winter, a time of year often associated with human death. Celts believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. On the night of October 31, they celebrated Samhain, when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth. In addition to causing trouble and damaging crops, they thought the presence of the spirits made it easier for the Celtic priests, to make predictions about the future. These prophecies were an important source of comfort and direction during the long, dark winter.
   To commemorate the event, the priests built huge sacred bonfires, where the people gathered to burn crops and animals as sacrifices to the Celtic deities.  During the celebration, the Celts wore costumes consisting of animal heads and skins, and attempted to tell each other's fortunes.
   By A.D. 43, Romans had conquered the majority of Celtic territory. In the four hundred years that they ruled the Celtic lands, two festivals of Roman origin were combined with the traditional Celtic celebration of Samhain.

   The first was Feralia, a day in late October when they commemorated the passing of the dead. The second was a day to honor Pomona, the Roman goddess of fruit and trees. The symbol of Pomona is the apple and its incorporation into Samhain explains the tradition of "bobbing" for apples
   In the seventh century, Pope Boniface IV designated November 1 All Saints' Day, a time to honor saints and martyrs. It is widely believed today that the pope was attempting to replace the Celtic festival of the dead with a related, but church-sanctioned holiday.  the night before it, the night of Samhain, began to be called All-hallows Eve and, eventually, Halloween. 

   As European immigrants came to America, they brought their varied Halloween customs with them. Because of the rigid Protestant belief systems that characterized early New England, celebration of Halloween in colonial times was extremely limited there.

   It was much more common in Maryland and the southern colonies. As the beliefs and customs of different European ethnic groups, as well as the American Indians, meshed, a distinctly American version of Halloween began to emerge. The first celebrations included "play parties," public events held to celebrate the harvest, where neighbors would share stories of the dead, tell each other's fortunes, dance, and sing. Colonial Halloween festivities also featured the telling of ghost stories and mischief-making of all kinds. By the middle of the nineteenth century, annual autumn festivities were common, but Halloween was not yet celebrated everywhere in the country.

   In the second half of the nineteenth century, America was flooded with millions of Irish immigrants, who helped to popularize the celebration of Halloween nationally. Taking from Irish and English traditions, Americans began to dress up in costumes and go house to house asking for food or money, a practice that eventually became today's "trick-or-treat" tradition. In the late 1800s, there was a move in America to mold Halloween into a holiday more about community and neighborly get-togethers, than about ghosts, pranks, and witchcraft.

   At the turn of the century, Halloween parties for both children and adults became the most common way to celebrate the day. Parties focused on games, foods of the season, and festive costumes. Parents were encouraged by newspapers and community leaders to take anything "frightening" or "grotesque" out of Halloween celebrations. Because of their efforts, Halloween lost most of its superstitious and religious overtones by the beginning of the twentieth century.

   Trick-or-treating was a relatively inexpensive way for an entire community to share the Halloween celebration. In theory, families could also prevent tricks being played on them by providing the neighborhood children with small treats. A new American tradition was born, and it has continued to grow. Today, Americans spend an estimated $6.9 billion annually on Halloween, making it the country's second largest commercial holiday.