U.S. WORKS WITH JAPAN TO EASE SECURITY CONCERNS

U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, left, listens as Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera makes a comment as they brief the press at the Pentagon, April 29, 2013. DOD photo by U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Aaron Hostutler

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Hagel, Onodera Discuss U.S.-Japanese Security Concerns
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, April 29, 2013 - North Korea, the East China Sea and creating a new working group for joint intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities were on the table as Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera met here today.

The U.S.-Japan alliance remains the cornerstone of security and prosperity in Northeast Asia, Hagel reaffirmed following Pentagon meetings.

The most obvious threat to stability in Northeast Asia is North Korea. The two men agreed to close cooperation and coordination to monitor and respond if needed to North Korean provocations. This will most definitely include increased cooperation on missile defense.

"Today we made progress on plans to deploy a second TPY-2 radar to Japan, which will help protect both of our nations from the threat of North Korean ballistic missiles," Hagel said during a news conference following the meeting. "The United States remains steadfast in our defense commitments to Japan, including extended deterrence and a further nuclear umbrella."

Onodera and Hagel discussed continuing friction in the East China Sea. Hagel stressed the American position that the regional security challenge must be resolved peacefully and cooperatively between the parties involved.

"In our discussion today, I reiterated the principles that govern longstanding U.S. policy on the Senkaku Islands," the secretary said. "The United States does not take a position on the ultimate sovereignty of the islands, but we do recognize they are under the administration of Japan and fall under our security treaty obligations."

China and Japan both claim the islands, and confrontations have resulted from the conflicting claims.

"Any actions that could raise tensions or lead to miscalculations affect the stability of the entire region," Hagel said. "Therefore, the United States opposes any unilateral or coercive action that seeks to undermine Japan's administrative control."

Hagel and Onodera agreed that Article 5 of the U.S.-Japan security treaty applies to the Senkaku Islands and "that we are opposed to any unilateral action that aims to change the status quo by force," the Japanese defense minister said through a translator.

Hagel said Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, delivered that message to Chinese officials during his visit to Beijing last week.

U.S. and Japanese defense planners also looked beyond the short-range threats in the region. The United States is working to rebalance forces to the Asia-Pacific area, and within the theater is rebalancing forces in Japan.

"Our staffs have been working for some time on a review of roles, missions and capabilities to inform any revisions to the defense guidelines that underpin our alliance cooperation," Hagel said.

The staffs identified intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities as a critical priority.

"Today we announce the formation of a defense ISR working group to deepen cooperation in this area," the secretary said.

The two leaders discussed moving U.S. forces in Japan, and specifically on Okinawa. Onodera said he and Hagel confirmed U.S. plans to send 12 MV-22 Ospreys through Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni this summer and then move them to Marine Corps Air Station Futenma.

Onodera also invited Hagel to Japan for "Two-Plus-Two" meetings that bring together U.S. and Japanese ministers of defense and foreign affairs.

Lyfechannel wins the healthfinder.gov Mobile App Challenge

Lyfechannel wins the healthfinder.gov Mobile App Challenge

CITY OF VICTORVILLE AND OTHERS CHARGED WITH DEFRAUDING MUNICIPAL BOND INVESTORS

FROM: U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

SEC Charges City of Victorvile, Underwriter, and Others with Defrauding Municipal Bond Investors

Washington, D.C., April 29, 2013 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged that the City of Victorville, Calif., a city official, the Southern California Logistics Airport Authority, and Kinsell, Newcomb & DeDios (KND), the underwriter of the Airport Authority’s bonds, defrauded investors by inflating valuations of property securing an April 2008 municipal bond offering.

Victorville Assistant City Manager and former Director of Economic Development Keith C. Metzler, KND owner J. Jeffrey Kinsell, and KND Vice President Janees L. Williams were responsible for false and misleading statements made in the Airport Authority’s 2008 bond offering, the SEC alleged. It also charged that KND, working through a related party, misused more than $2.7 million of bond proceeds to keep itself afloat.

"Financing redevelopment projects by selling municipal bonds based on inflated valuations violates the public trust as well as the antifraud provisions of the federal securities laws," said George S. Canellos, Co-Director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement. "Public officials have the same obligation as corporate officials to tell the truth to their investors."

Elaine C. Greenberg, Chief of the SEC’s Municipal Securities and Public Pensions Unit, said, "Investors are entitled to full disclosure of material financial arrangements entered into by related parties. Underwriters who secretly line their own pockets by taking unauthorized fees will be held accountable."

The SEC alleges the Airport Authority, which is controlled by the City of Victorville, undertook a variety of redevelopment projects, including the construction of four airplane hangars on a former Air Force base. It financed the projects by issuing tax increment bonds, which are solely secured by and repaid from property-tax increases attributable to increases in the assessed value of property in the redevelopment project area.

According to the SEC’s complaint filed in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, by April 2008, the Airport Authority was forced to refinance part of the debt incurred to construct the hangars, and other projects, by issuing additional bonds. The principal amount of the new bond issue was partly based on Metzler, Williams, and Kinsell using a $65 million valuation for the airplane hangars even though they knew the county assessor valued the hangars at less than half that amount. The inflated figure allowed the Airport Authority to issue substantially more bonds and raise more money than it otherwise would have. It also meant that investors were given false information about the value of the security available to repay them.

In addition, the SEC’s investigation found that Kinsell, KND, and another of his companies misappropriated more than $2.7 million in bond proceeds that were supposed to be used to build airplane hangars for the Airport Authority. According to the SEC’s complaint, the scheme began when Kinsell learned of allegations that the contractor building the hangars had likely diverted bond proceeds for his own personal use. When the contractor was removed, Kinsell stepped in to oversee the hangar project through another company he owned, KND Affiliates, LLC, even though Kinsell had no construction experience.

The SEC alleges that the Airport Authority loaned KND Affiliates more than $60 million in bond proceeds for the hangar project and agreed that as compensation for the project, KND Affiliates would receive a construction management fee of two percent of the remaining cost of construction. However, Kinsell and KND Affiliates took an additional $450,000 in unauthorized fees to oversee the construction and took $2.3 million in fees that the Airport Authority was unaware of and never agreed to, purportedly as compensation to "manage" the hangars. The SEC alleges that Kinsell and KND Affiliates hid these fees from the Airport Authority representatives and from the auditors who reviewed KND Affiliates’ books and records.

The SEC’s complaint alleges that the Airport Authority, Kinsell, KND, and KND Affiliates violated the antifraud provisions of U.S. securities laws and that KND violated 15B(c)(1) of the Exchange Act and Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board Rules G-17, G-27 and G-32(a)(iii)(A)(2). The complaint also alleges that Victorville, Metzler, KND, Kinsell, and Williams aided and abetted various violations. The SEC is seeking the return of ill-gotten gains with prejudgment interest, financial penalties, and permanent injunctions against all of the defendants, as well as the return of ill-gotten gains from relief defendant KND Holdings, the parent company of KND.

The SEC’s investigation was conducted by Robert H. Conrrad and Theresa M. Melson in the Municipal Securities and Public Pensions Unit, and Lorraine B. Echavarria, Todd S. Brilliant, and Dora M. Zaldivar of the Los Angeles Regional Office. Sam S. Puathasnanon will lead the SEC’s litigation.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY BLAKE GIVES INTERVIEW TO AL JAZEERA

FROM: U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
Interview With Al Jazeera
Interview
Robert O. Blake, Jr.
Assistant Secretary, Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs
Almaty, Kazakhstan
April 26, 2013

Al Jazeera: Ambassador Blake, thank you for talking to Al Jazeera.

When we last met, it was 12 months ago in Dushanbe, in Tajikistan. You were talking to me then about the New Silk Road and those kinds of initiatives that would help Afghanistan reintegrate into the region.

What positives have actually come about since those 12 months and what are you hoping to get out specifically from these talks?

Assistant Secretary Blake: Thank you first of all for the opportunity to join you today.

As you say, I think what was important last year in Dushanbe was the fact that there was a regional consensus in favor of integration. But now we really need to see actual concrete progress. So I think what you’ve seen today in this Heart of Asia Conference is agreement by all the countries of the region, not just the direct region, but Turkey, Russia, China, India, on six very practical confidence-building measures on things like infrastructure, on trade, on things like counter-narcotics, counter-terrorism, all of which will have action plans devoted to them so there can really be concrete action going forward.

Al Jazeera: But the main thing, of course, is security. You talk about this opportunity for long term security, through stabilization programs, through that reintegration process. But it’s a bit of a catch-22 situation. You can’t have investment come in until they’ve got security. Let’s give an example. The TAPI Pipeline. There are issues about demand and whether it’s really necessary, but at the same time the countries that have signed up to it -- Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India -- in principle they signed up but the project has been going on for 20 years. Nothing yet has actually started happening on the ground.

Assistant Secretary Blake: I guess I’d flip your question and say that yes, it has been going on for 20 years, but it’s really notable that the progress that’s been achieved has been in the last year. That’s because, first of all, there’s a very important market now in India; and secondly, there’s a real will on the part of all these countries to make this happen. So you’re seeing very practical agreements on things like gas sales purchase agreements. Now there are efforts underway to actually identify who is going to lead this consortium and build the pipeline.

That’s one example.

Another one is something called the CASA 1000 Project. The Central Asia South Asia electricity transmission project. Again, there’s a lot of forward progress on that and multilateral development banks are lining up all the financing for that. It’s a $900 million project.

So I think there really is concrete progress being made.

Another example are the rail lines. Kazakhstan today announced that they are, with Turkmenistan, going to build a rail line south to Afghanistan. Likewise, there’s a rail line going from Turkmenistan through Afghanistan to Tajikistan.

There are many many concrete facts on the ground that are now being created that show there really is regional ownership of this.

Al Jazeera: Thank you very much, Ambassador Blake.

Just a final thought really, key to all of this is that security issue and respecting Afghanistan’s sovereignty. There are still problems, of course, or consideration that a lot of the countries have their own interests when it comes to Afghanistan. That’s something as well that the organizers here want to emphasize needs to be resolved so that there’s a unified approach to Afghanistan. There will be a declaration after these talks end and then expected more talks as the clock ticks down towards that 2014 drawdown date.

FIRE AND FOREST AND WATER

 

New Mexico's 2011 Las Conchas Fire as it races down the flanks of the Jemez Mountains. Credit: Wikimedia Commons

FROM:  NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION

Trail of Fire Leads to Less Snow, Threatened Water Resources
If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?

The answer is yes, if it happened in New Mexico's Jemez River Basin on June 26, 2011, at 1 p.m. local time.

The tipping of one tree as it creaked and fell hinted at a crackle soon to come, a fast-burning wildfire. Ultimately, the fire blazed through a large part of a 1.5 million-acre national forest.

On the day the fire started, strong, unpredictable winds blew through the trees, rustling leaves and creaking dead wood. Perhaps in a gust, a lone tree fell. On the way down, it took out a power line and sparked a fire that--by high noon the next day--had burned 43,000 acres, an acre every two seconds.

At sundown that next day, the Las Conchas Fire, as it came to be called, still ran wild. The toll had climbed to more than 61,000 acres of forest. Egged on by north winds, it jumped the trails of Pajarito Mountain Ski Area. Then it turned and raged south, threatening the town of Cochiti, N.M.

Within four days, it had singed more than 103,000 acres, making it the largest fire in New Mexico history at the time.

The forest and the watershed--the critical zone--left behind

What happened to the forests, rivers and streams the Las Conchas Fire left behind?

To find out, scientists at the National Science Foundation (NSF) Jemez River Basin and Santa Catalina Mountains Critical Zone Observatory (CZO), one of six such NSF CZOs in watersheds across the country, lit out for the hills.

The Jemez River Basin and Santa Catalina Mountains CZO is formed by twin sites: one in the Jemez River Basin in the Valles Caldera National Preserve north of Albuquerque, N.M., in the greater Rio Grande Basin; the other in the Santa Catalina Mountains northeast of Tucson, Ariz., in the Colorado River Basin.

In addition to the Jemez River Basin and Santa Catalina Mountains site in New Mexico and Arizona, NSF CZOs are located in the Southern Sierra Nevada, Christina River Basin on the border of Delaware and Pennsylvania, Susquehanna Shale Hills in Pennsylvania, Boulder Creek in the Colorado Rockies, and Luquillo National Forest in Puerto Rico.

CZO scientists provide a new understanding of the critical zone--the thin veneer of Earth that extends from the top of the forest canopy to the base of weathered bedrock.

At the Jemez River and Santa Catalina Mountains CZO, researchers are asking questions such as: How does climate variation affect arid and semi-arid ecosystems? And, how do feedbacks between critical zone structure and the cycling of water and carbon alter short-term hydrology and long-term landscape evolution?

The water cycle, the breakdown of rocks and the eventual formation of soil, the evolution of rivers and valleys, the patterns of plant growth and landforms, all result from processes that take place in the critical zone.

"The critical zone is our living environment," says Enriqueta Barrera, program director in NSF's Division of Earth Sciences, which funds the CZO network. "The CZOs offer us new knowledge about this important zone and its response to climate and land-use change."

The CZOs are the first systems-based observatories dedicated to understanding how Earth's surface processes are coupled, she says. "They will help us predict how the critical zone affects the ecosystem services on which society depends."

Fire burns long after it's out

Water is at the top of that list of ecosystem services.

The freshwater supplies of the American West rely, for the most part, on snow.

As snow melts into water, it begins a journey that starts in the mountains and ends in faucets. When people turn on the shower or the sprinkler, they're watering themselves, lawns and food crops with melted snow.

The Colorado River, the Rio Grande and other rivers in the intermountain west are the main sources of water for some of the driest parts of the country, say Jemez River Basin and Santa Catalina Mountains CZO scientists Jon Chorover and Paul Brooks of the University of Arizona and Adrian Harpold of the University of Colorado.

"Their flows are predominantly fed by snowmelt from high-elevation forests and meadows," says Brooks.

Snow-covered forests are "a critical source of water in the western U.S.," agrees Chorover. "Forests' ability to 'hold snow' can be affected by fires, tree diseases, insect-caused die-offs and other factors."

The Las Conchas Fire provided a unique opportunity to "evaluate how forest fires interact with a changing climate," says Harpold, first author of a recent paper on the fire's effects on winter snow and spring snowmelt published in the journal Ecohydrology. Brooks and other scientists are co-authors.

"Forest fires have been increasing in size and severity for the last several decades," Harpold says. "Drier and warmer than average conditions in New Mexico in 2011 contributed to fires like Las Conchas.

"When the fire removed the forest canopy, more water vapor was lost from the snow surface to the dry atmosphere, reducing the amount of water stored in the snowpack and released the following spring."

In essence, the scientists found, areas not burned in the fire retained more snow--and snowmelt water.

Into the Valles Caldera

The Valles Caldera National Preserve, it's called, a parkland that surrounds the Valles Caldera, a 13.7 mile wide volcanic caldera in the Jemez Mountains of northern New Mexico. The preserve overlaps the Jemez River Basin CZO.

Valles Caldera National Preserve was the site of the scientists' study; their research was conducted on Rabbit Mountain near the park's southern boundary.

In November 2011, the researchers placed instruments in several catchments, or river basins, on Rabbit Mountain. The resulting information is being used to better understand the effects of fire on the water, carbon and energy cycles of the entire Jemez River Basin.

"The Jemez River Basin CZO is perfectly situated to learning how fire affects water resources," says Brooks.

In the winter and spring of 2012, Brooks and Harpold, along with other researchers and students, collected and analyzed thousands of data points on snow depth and density in burned and unburned forests on Rabbit Mountain.

"We obtained one of the most complete data sets to date on snow hydrology and fire," says Brooks.

Spruce-fir forests dominate Rabbit Mountain's heights; ponderosa pines and oak scrublands cover the lower mountain.

Whether in spruce-fir or pine-oak, the Las Conchas Fire left much of Rabbit Mountain with severe burns. Dead, limbless trees, ghosts of the forest, line the horizon.

In unburned forests, about one-third of the fresh snow that fell in the winter of 2012 was caught in trees before it reached the ground. There shade and wind protection allowed it to accumulate over the winter.

Where trees were lost to the fire, more fresh snowfall made it to the ground. In the end, however, that was a double-edged sword: lack of shelter from the forest canopy resulted in more of the snowpack disappearing over the winter.

"Such changes in snowpack depth have important ramifications," says Chorover, "for ecological health and for downstream water resources."

After the Las Conchas Fire, if a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?

If you're listening for burbling spring brooks or streaming kitchen faucets, you may hear nothing but drip, drip, drip. Or silence.

Cheryl Dybas, NSF

ATTORNEY GENERAL HOLDER SPEAKS ON "INCREASING ACCESS TO JUSTICE"

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Attorney General Eric Holder Speaks at the White House Forum on Increasing Access to Justice

Washington, D.C. ~ Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Thank you, Dean [Martha] Minow, for those kind words; for your leadership as Vice Chair of the Legal Services Corporation’s Board of Directors; and for all that you and your colleagues do every day to promote equal access to justice for those who cannot afford it. It’s a privilege to stand with my good friends Jim Sandman and John Levi – and to take part in today’s important Forum. And it’s a pleasure to help welcome so many national leaders, passionate advocates, and dedicated jurists to the White House.

Even as we gather in a spirit of partnership this afternoon, I know we are all bound by shock and sorrow at yesterday’s tragic events in Boston. On behalf of my Justice Department colleagues, I’d like to express my deepest sympathies to the families of those who lost their lives in this brutal attack. They – and all of the innocent people who were injured yesterday – will be in my thoughts and prayers.

As we strive to make sense of this heinous and cowardly terrorist act, I also want to thank the brave law enforcement officials, firefighters, National Guardsmen, and other first responders who – upon hearing the explosions – put the safety of others above their own and raced toward the dangers from which others were fleeing. Their heroic actions undoubtedly saved lives.

Finally, I want to assure you that the full resources of the Justice Department and all of its components will be mobilized to investigate and respond to this incident. My colleagues and I are working around the clock to identify the individual or group responsible for this unspeakable act, to hold them accountable, and to ensure that they are punished to the fullest extent of the law and by any means available to us. We will not rest until justice has been done.

In the meantime – as these efforts continue to unfold – it’s an honor to join all of you in discussing the challenges we face in expanding civil legal assistance; building on the progress that’s underway in communities across the country; and seeking new ways to improve America’s legal system and move this nation closer to its founding principles: of equality, opportunity, and justice under the law.

Half a century ago, these principles drove Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black to write – in the Court’s unanimous opinion in Gideon v. Wainwright – that "any person haled into court, who is too poor to hire a lawyer, cannot be assured of a fair trial unless counsel is provided to him." In the years since this landmark case, Justice Black’s words have helped to shift the foundations of our criminal justice system. But they have also become a rallying cry – and a call to action – for advocates and legal aid providers in the civil arena.

This call was echoed just weeks after Gideon – when, in Birmingham, Alabama, a prominent civil rights leader was arrested for taking part in a non-violent protest to end segregation. As he sat in the Birmingham City Jail – exactly 50 years ago today – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. reflected on the same principles – and some of the same disparities – that guided Justice Black’s opinion. On scraps of newsprint, he drafted what some consider the most important document of the Civil Rights era.

In that "Letter from Birmingham Jail," Dr. King wrote that "all communities and states" are interrelated. He famously declared that "[i]njustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." And he implored his fellow citizens to move with "a sense of great urgency" to help build the brighter future that everyone in this country deserves.

Five decades have passed since Dr. King laid down those immortal words. Yet, as we come together today, his work remains our common pursuit. And the struggle that animated his contemporaries – to fight against injustice, to secure the constitutional rights of all citizens, and to realize the promise articulated in Gideon – is as urgent as ever before.

As we speak, tens of millions of Americans cannot afford the assistance they need to avail themselves of their rights before our court system. Studies have shown that, for every eligible person seeking help from a legal aid program, another eligible person is turned away. And, for all the progress we’ve witnessed since Dr. King’s time – and the significant steps forward that organizations like the Legal Services Corporation have brought about – there’s no denying that a persistent "justice gap" remains.

Estimates suggest that more than 80 percent of civil legal needs faced by low-income individuals currently go unmet. More than 61 million Americans are eligible for civil legal aid – yet only a fraction of them can access it. And the human impact – and moral cost – of these systemic failures is compounded by every individual need that cannot be addressed – from matters involving the care and custody of minor children and dependent adults, to questions of personal finance, housing, employment, and even public safety.

Let me be clear: this is both unacceptable and unsustainable. It is unworthy of a legal system that stands as a model for all the world. And it is incumbent on everyone here to help address these problems – and improve our ability to see that justice is done.

As jurists, government leaders, educators, and members of the private bar – each of the people in this room has an essential role to play in advancing this work. And all of us have a responsibility to serve as sound stewards of our justice system – and servants of those it protects and empowers. For nearly four decades, the Legal Services Corporation has led the way in meeting this responsibility – and assisting those who cannot afford or access quality representation. As this country’s single largest funder of civil legal aid for low-income individuals, LSC has made an important difference for millions who are in need. Every day, in more than 800 offices nationwide, LSC-supported providers offer assistance in matters ranging from foreclosure proceedings, to child custody battles, domestic violence disputes, and immigration and refugee cases. You’re calling for – and deploying – cutting-edge technologies that can help deliver new services. You’re fighting to reinvigorate pro bono cooperation. And you’re showing us all how to think more creatively – and act more collaboratively – than ever before.

Even more importantly, you’re proving that civil legal aid doesn’t just open doors to our justice system. It also improves judicial efficiency. And it provides critical reinvestments in underserved communities by saving precious taxpayer dollars, protecting patients’ health, expanding access to public benefits, keeping families together, and offering indigent citizens a pathway out of poverty.

Of course, especially in this time of budgetary uncertainty – when sequestration has imposed untenable cuts across the federal government, and funding for legal aid programs is increasingly hard to come by – I recognize that building support for these initiatives has, in many ways, never been more difficult. But I also know it’s never been more important.

That’s why – as Attorney General – I’ve made expanding access to legal services a major focus for today’s Department of Justice. I’ve been honored to work with Valerie Jarrett, Vice President [Joe] Biden, and others to ensure that this constitutes a priority for leaders across the Administration. And I am proud to report that – together, thanks to government and judicial leaders, members of the private bar, and organizations like LSC – we’re responding to this crisis not with despair, but with action.

Nowhere is this clearer than in the work of the Justice Department’s Access to Justice Initiative – an office I launched three years ago to help spearhead national efforts to ensure that basic legal services are available, affordable, and accessible to everyone in this country – regardless of status or income. Since then, the Access to Justice team has been working closely with state, local, tribal, and federal officials – as well as a variety of nonprofit and private sector partners – to expand access to quality representation and extend our outreach efforts.

While I’m extremely proud of what we’ve accomplished through this groundbreaking initiative, I’m pleased to report that this work is not relegated to a single office. And many others have stepped forward to answer this important call.

In 2010, our first Senior Counselor for Access to Justice – the incomparable Professor Larry Tribe – urged State Supreme Court officials to establish Access to Justice Commissions in every state. The Conference of Chief Justices responded to this challenge, and – since then – new Commissions have begun to spring up across the country. In addition, just last year – in cooperation with the White House Domestic Policy Council – the Justice Department helped launch an Interagency Roundtable, bringing together 17 agencies to raise awareness about the profound impact civil legal aid services can have in promoting access to health and housing, education and employment, family stability and community well-being. I’d like to thank the Roundtable’s co-chair, Tonya Robinson, for her leadership – along with the many Roundtable representatives from participating agencies who are here today.

Beyond this work, the Department’s Office of Justice Programs is providing critical support for partnerships that educate, train, and equip lawyers to provide civil legal assistance. Many of our United States Attorneys’ Offices are collaborating with the private bar to address the needs of the most vulnerable members of society. And, through the federal government’s own Pro Bono Program, we’re encouraging our agency partners to adopt policies – and help navigate internal restrictions – to make it easier for government lawyers to give back to their communities.

As we heard from our first panel, the importance of pro bono service in helping to close the "justice gap" can hardly be overstated. Every legal professional must use his or her skills and training not simply to make a living – but to make a difference. And it is essential for each of the leaders in this room to keep standing up – and speaking out – about the cause that unites us, and the principles of inclusion and equal justice that Dr. King wrote about 50 years ago today.

Although there can be no question that serious challenges remain before us – as I look around this crowd of committed partners, I can’t help but feel confident in our ability to keep moving forward, to rally additional allies to this cause, and to overcome longstanding deficiencies and disparities. As we recommit ourselves to these efforts this afternoon, know that I am proud to count you as colleagues. I am grateful for your continued leadership. And I look forward to all that we must – and surely will – achieve together in the years to come.

Thank you.

THE FUTURE OF COMMERCIAL TILT ROTOR AIRCRAFT

 
FROM: NASA

Now Minute: Engineering Design: Tilt Rotors, Aircraft of the Future

Meet Carl Russell, a research aerospace engineer who is working on developing new innovations for air travel. Russell discusses how tilt rotors work, including a demonstration on how rotors use Bernoulli’s Principle to generate lift.

President Obama at White House Correspondents Dinner | The White House

President Obama at White House Correspondents Dinner | The White House

Press Briefing | The White House

Press Briefing | The White House

U.S. Department of State Daily Press Briefing - April 29, 2013

Daily Press Briefing - April 29, 2013

ISAF NEWS FROM AFGHANISTAN FOR APRIL 29, 2013

 

Afghan civil police provide overwatch during Operation California in the Kajaki district in Afghanistan's Helmand province, April 28, 2013. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Trent A. Randolph  

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Afghan, Coalition Forces Arrest Haqqani Network Leader
Compiled from International Security Assistance Force Joint Command News Releases

WASHINGTON, April 29, 2013 - A combined Afghan and coalition security force arrested a Haqqani network leader in the Nadir Shah Kot district of Afghanistan's Khost province today, military officials reported.

The leader has operational control over a group of insurgents responsible for attacks against Afghan and coalition forces, and he has engaged in assassinations against Afghans who work with the local government. He also is in charge of acquiring and planting improvised explosive devices throughout the region.

The security force seized an assault rifle and a pistol in the operation.

In Afghanistan operations yesterday:

-- Afghan special forces soldiers and local police detained three insurgents and destroyed an IED in Kunduz province's Imam Sahib district. After safely disposing of the IED, the Afghan force noticed four suspicious men nearby. One of them fled, but police detained the rest. All three tested positive for homemade explosive residue.

-- Afghan Provincial Response Company Zabul, enabled by coalition forces, killed four insurgents during a search for a Taliban facilitator in Zabul province's Daychopan district. The security forces seized and destroyed an assault rifle, a pistol and several IED components.

-- A combined force in Nangarhar province's Bati Kot district arrested several insurgents during a search for a Taliban leader who controls a group of insurgents responsible for attacks against Afghan and coalition forces and for acquiring and distributing insurgent weapons. The security force also seized IED-making materials.

-- In Wardak province's Sayyidabad district, a combined force arrested an insurgent during a search for a Taliban leader who controls a group of insurgents responsible for attacks against Afghan and coalition forces. He also has served as a Taliban intelligence operative, monitoring coalition force movements and reporting on their activities to Taliban leaders, and has facilitated the movement of insurgent weapons.

-- A combined force in Paktia province's Gardez district arrested two insurgents during a search for a high-profile attack facilitator for the Taj Mir Jawad insurgent network. The facilitator is responsible for providing weapons and funding for insurgents. The security force also seized a rifle and ammunition.

-- Afghan Provincial Response Company Farah, enabled by coalition forces, arrested four men and seized almost 90 pounds of opium at a vehicle checkpoint in Farah province's Anar Darah district. The security force also seized an assault rifle, four magazines with 100 rounds of ammunition and a combat vest.

-- A combined force in Kandahar province's Kandahar City, arrested a Taliban leader believed to be responsible for coordinating assassinations, sniper ambushes and other attacks against Afghan and coalition forces. He is known to direct the killing of Afghan soldiers, and he recruits fighters for the insurgency and uses his residence as a safe house for fighters operating in the region. The security force also arrested a Taliban facilitator who is alleged to be responsible for housing and directing suicide bombers throughout the province. He also has a history of acquiring and distributing weapons to insurgent fighters and planning attacks against Afghan and coalition forces.

-- In Baghlan province's Burkah district, a combined force arrested an Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan facilitator who is believed to be instrumental in procuring and distributing weapons and military equipment to IMU fighters in northern Afghanistan. He also is involved in assassination operations and attack planning, and has served as a bodyguard for senior IMU leadership.

-- A combined force in Helmand province's Nahr-e Saraj district arrested a Taliban leader who is believed to be in charge of a cell of fighters responsible for planning and executing attacks against government officials. He also has facilitated the production and distribution of homemade explosives and has worked with IEDs. The security force also seized 10 pounds of opium and arrested two other insurgents.

In April 27 operations:
-- In Kunduz province's Archi district, a combined force killed an insurgent after being ambushed while patrolling near a local police checkpoint that recently had been attacked. The security force recovered a rocket-propelled grenade launcher and an assault rifle with a mounted 40 mm grenade launcher.

-- A combined force in Helmand province's Nad-e Ali district arrested a Taliban leader who is believed to have operational control over insurgents responsible for attacks against Afghan and coalition forces. He also has facilitated the acquisition and distribution of weapons and money for insurgent operations. The security force also arrested another insurgent.

In an April 26 operation in Kandahar province's Maiwand district, a combined force arrested a Taliban leader who is alleged to have operational control over a group of fighters responsible for attacks against Afghan and coalition forces. He also has served as a tactical advisor to senior Taliban leadership in the area and has coordinated insurgent logistics operations among different cells of fighters.

DOD Press Conference with Secretary Hagel and Defense Minister Onodera from the Pentagon

Press Conference with Secretary Hagel and Defense Minister Onodera from the Pentagon

DOD Press Conference with Secretary Hagel and Defense Minister Onodera from the Pentagon

Press Conference with Secretary Hagel and Defense Minister Onodera from the Pentagon

SECRETARY OF STATE KERRY CONGRATULATES ENRICO LETTA ON BECOMING PRIME MINISTER OF ITALY

FROM: U.S. STATE DEPARTMEN
Statement on Enrico Letta Becoming Prime Minister of Italy
April 28, 2013
Press Statement
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Washington, DC
　

I congratulate Enrico Letta on being sworn in as Prime Minister of Italy. Prime Minister Letta is a good and trusted friend of the United States who has demonstrated a firm commitment to our trans-Atlantic partnership throughout his career. We wish him the best as he promotes reform at home and ensures continued Italian leadership abroad, and we look forward to continuing our close cooperation with Italy on many pressing issues all over the world. I also note our appreciation of the role President Napolitano has played in helping to guide the political process towards a stable Italian government – an important goal not only for Italy but for all of us who are friends of the Italian people.

DARPA AND THE TECHNOLOGICAL FRONTIER

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

DARPA Reaches Beyond Technological Frontiers for Warfighters
By Claudette Roulo
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, April 25, 2013 – In 1957, the entire world was surprised by the Soviet Union’s launch of Sputnik 1, the first artificial Earth satellite.

In response, President Dwight D. Eisenhower founded the Advanced Research Projects Agency -- now called the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency -- the following year, and he directed it to prevent further technological surprises by reaching beyond the frontiers of technology and science and immediate military requirements.

In the 55 years since DARPA was founded, it has succeeded in preventing technological surprise -- and has created surprise of its own, DARPA Director Arati Prabhakar told reporters at the Pentagon yesterday.

"Today, if you look at how we fight, you will find in our military capabilities really critical systems and capabilities like precision guidance and navigation, like stealth technologies, like [unmanned aerial vehicles], communications and networking, night-vision systems," she said, all developed, in part, due to pivotal early investments by DARPA.

"And our warfighters have taken this suite of capabilities and turned it into a way to change the face of war," Prabhakar said.

In making those investments, DARPA paved the way for leaps forward in capability, she said. "That's really our role," she added. "That's what our function is. That's what we've done for many generations and that's what we're going to be doing again for the next generation."

DARPA is a small agency, Prabhakar said. About half of its roughly 200 employees are experts from throughout the technical and military communities who serve as program managers for short terms of about three to five years. The rotational nature of the program manager positions allows the agency to tap into a broad technical community, she said, a tactic that gives DARPA influence that far outweighs its size.

"The job for the rest of us [at DARPA] is to recruit these stellar individuals, to construct a balanced portfolio of programs from the ideas that they generate, and ultimately … enable these program managers to take the kind of risk that is inherent in reaching for high payoff," she said. "And all of that is really what keeps the DARPA engine humming," Prabhakar added.

Incoming program managers listen to what is happening in the technical community to learn where the breakthrough opportunities are, Prabhakar said, and learn from the military community what they see as their future needs.

"From all of those inputs, our program managers create DARPA programs that they think really have the potential to change the world," she said. "When they start building these programs, of course, they build these new technology capabilities [and] … technical communities that really can move our abilities forward in a really powerful way."

While DARPA’s mission hasn’t changed in 55 years, the same can’t be said of the world in which it operates, Prabhakar said. Now is a good time for DARPA to step back and assess its view of future missions, she added, particularly in the context of today’s realities.

The agency identified three major trends that it views as critical in shaping DARPA’s effort to build "radical new solutions," Prabhakar said.

"The first major factor that we see is we believe we're going to be in an extended period during which our national security will face a wide range of different types of threats from a wide range of different actors," she told reporters. Not just nation-states, but also terrorist and criminal organizations and even individuals, she said.

These actors now have access to a wide range of tools that can create effects once limited only to nations, she said -- weapons of mass destruction or mass terror and cyberattacks, for example. "So the No. 1 major factor that we really pay attention to is this complex, fluid, shifting national security environment that we think we will be facing for an extended period of time."

The second factor, she said, is the rapid advances in military technology made by other nations. This, combined with other factors, has led to a prevalence of obsolete and publicly available technology in U.S. military systems. "That's a trend that we expect will continue," Prabhakar said. "I think that's going to be a fact of life in the world that we're living in."

Fiscal constraints are the third trend shaping DARPA’s future, she said. "We believe we may be at the beginning of a fundamental shift in how our society allocates resources to the business of national security," she added.

Prabhakar said she’s not referring only to the immediate issues around sequestration spending cuts. "What I'm really talking about here are the fiscal pressures that could shape a different future over the coming years and decades," she explained, "and, if it turns out to be the case that we don't allocate this continuing level of support for national security as a society, it actually won't change the fact that our job will still be to keep the country as safe and secure as is humanly possible.

"So these three factors create a very challenging environment that we're going to be facing for an extended period of time," she continued. "I think these are factors that create an environment that calls for a DARPA and for the DARPA approaches to thinking outside the box more than ever before."

DARPA will continue to invest in "game-changers," Prabhakar said. "[Investing] in radical new systems concepts, in radical new technologies that can enable new capabilities, that's something that DARPA has done for 55 years, and we're going to do it today, and we'll hope we'll do it for the next 55 years at least."

The agency is also taking new approaches, she said. "We're thinking about how we can make the systems of the future more readily adaptable," she added, "so that they can be configured for whatever actual threat emerges in time, or can be reconfigured in real time in an engagement so that we can adapt more quickly than adversaries might in a battle environment."

The organization also seeks ideas that can "invert the cost equation," Prabhakar said. These types of approaches not only would reduce program costs, but also would force adversaries to spend more money to counter the technology than the technology cost to develop and implement, she explained.

"And then, finally, we're also thinking about the fact that DARPA's in the ‘silver bullet’ business, but in fact, even our most powerful capability will not single-handedly change the face of war for the next generation," she said.

One way to realize such a far-reaching change is by combining technologies, she said. "That's how I think we've created the last big shift in military capability," she added, "and we see how that could be possible looking forward."

DARPA's objective is a new generation of technology for national security, Prabhakar said.

"If we're successful, as I think we really must be in this DARPA endeavor, what that will mean for the future is that our future leaders and commanders will have real options, powerful options for all the range of threats that we face in the years and decades ahead," she said. "That's really how we will enable our nation to achieve its strategic objectives in a decisive fashion."

REMARKS ON SOUTH AND CENTRAL EUROPE

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Remarks at the "Heart Of Asia" Ministerial
Remarks
William J. Burns
Deputy Secretary
Almaty, Kazakhstan
April 26, 2013

Thank you, President Nazarbayev and Foreign Minister Idrissov, for welcoming us to Almaty. On behalf of Secretary Kerry, I want to express my deep gratitude to you and the government of Kazakhstan for hosting this ministerial and for your exemplary contributions to the Istanbul Process.

I also want to take this opportunity to pay tribute to Foreign Minister Rassoul and Deputy Foreign Minister Ludin, for their extraordinary leadership and devotion to their country and its future.

Eighteen months since the inauguration of the Istanbul Process, we can point to some important milestones in Afghanistan. Afghans are taking the lead for security across their country. They are working to advance a national dialogue on peace and reconciliation and to prepare for next year’s important elections. They are moving toward greater economic dynamism and private sector led growth. And today, Afghanistan is participating as a sovereign partner in discussions about the future of its region, and the region is uniting in support of Afghanistan.

Regional engagement, coordination, and integration are essential prerequisites for sustainable stability across South and Central Asia. I would like to speak very briefly about what each of us can - and must - continue to do to support the security, political, and economic transitions underway in Afghanistan and restore the region to its historical role as a hub of global commerce, ideas, and culture.

First, on the security transition, the international coalition has laid out a clear plan of support. The Afghan National Security Forces now lead nearly 90 percent of all combat operations in Afghanistan. Later this spring, they will be in the lead 100 percent of the time. And as members of the coalition reaffirmed in the Chicago Summit Declaration on Afghanistan just over a year ago, we stand ready to continue to train, advise, and assist Afghan forces beyond the end of the ISAF mission in 2014.

Afghanistan’s neighbors and partners have an important role to play in supporting a successful security transition.

You can do this by helping to train, finance, and equip the Afghan army and police. And you can do this by expanding your coordination with Afghanistan to stem the movement of dangerous material, people, and finances across borders. The counternarcotics and counterterrorism roadmaps presented today are a welcome and important first step.

Second, sustainable security will require a successful political transition. In less than a year, Afghans will choose what kind of country they want to live in, what kind of leaders they want to empower, and, ultimately, how they will bring to an end the conflict that has divided their country for over three decades. It is our hope that the elections next April will be a unifying moment for Afghanistan, one that advances a reconciliation process that ends the violence and brings peace to the region.

President Karzai and the Afghan High Peace Council have set a clear roadmap for reconciliation. All of us have a role in helping to get this process underway. We must all make clear to the Taliban that if they seize this chance, they could one day enjoy the benefits of peace, legitimacy, and political participation. But if they reject peace and choose to maintain their alliance with al-Qaida, they will prolong a conflict that has already brought far too much misery to their country.

Last but certainly not least is Afghanistan’s economic transition away from donor dependency and toward increased self-sufficiency and private sector-led development. The framework of mutual commitments and mutual accountability agreed to in Tokyo last year is essential for this transition to deliver. And so is the growing regional consensus and ownership of what we call the New Silk Road Vision.

We all remain committed to advancing that vision, and to our belief that regional interconnectedness is vitally important, both as a driver of economic development and as an anchor of security. From increasing infrastructure links to progress on potentially transformative energy projects such as the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India pipeline, and increasing regional embrace of the importance of transparent and inclusive trade regimes like the WTO, the countries of the region are realizing that the promise of regional connectivity and integration are tremendous.

Afghanistan and its neighbors share many common threats that will require solutions developed and carried out by Afghanistan and its neighbors, and supported by the international community. We applaud the important progress made on implementing the confidence building measures agreed to in February 2012 and we will continue to do our part to support this process.

There is no escaping the simple fact that Afghanistan’s fortunes are tied to its neighborhood, just as the neighborhood’s fortunes are tied to Afghanistan. We look forward to continuing to work with all of you to ensure that Afghanistan and the Heart of Asia realize their shared aspiration for a stable, secure, and prosperous future.

Thank you.

U.S. OFFICIAL'S REMARKS AT U.S.-RUSSIA INNOVATION WORKING GROUP EXECUTIVE SESSION

Map of Russia From CIA World Factbook

FROM: U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT

Remarks for the U.S. - Russia Innovation Working Group Executive Session
Remarks
Robert D. Hormats
Under Secretary for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment
Washington, DC
April 24, 2013
As Prepared

Thank you, Lorraine, for the kind introduction, and thank you and Oleg for coordinating the working group. I would also like to thank Microsoft – specifically Daniel Lewin and Dorothy Dwoskin – for hosting today’s meeting. I am very grateful to our Russian colleagues for their hard work and participation. And, of course, I would like to thank all of the working group members who attended and presented today.

Both the United States and Russia have a long and proud history of invention. We train some of the world’s best scientists and engineers. And we are home to some of the most innovative businesses. Bloomberg Business Week recently released a list of the 50 Most Innovative Countries. I was impressed—though not surprised—at how quickly Russia has advanced in the rankings. Russia has positioned itself to seize upon fast-growing global innovative sectors, such as aerospace and information and communications technology. We strongly supports Russia’s efforts to create a innovation economy because bringing new technologies to market is good not just for Russia, it is also beneficial to the U.S. economy and society as a whole.

This understanding is embedded in U.S.-Russia Innovation Working Group’s mission. Members of the U.S.-Russia Innovation Working Group have been working on an exciting array of initiatives to support commercialization. I will highlight three key areas of cooperation.

First, the working group has helped advance a series of regional partnerships. I am delighted that Deputy Governor Ivanov has joined today’s meeting to present on the cooperation plan between Nizhny Novgorod Oblast and the State of Maryland. Our goal is to spur future regional partnerships and, in particular, to broaden cooperation to include other regional clusters and other industries. The United States is home to a number of lesser-known, but equally impressive innovation clusters. There is a tremendous aerospace sector in Oklahoma, Florida, and Mississippi; Minnesota and Utah are home to a booming information technology sector; and Arizona is making strides in nanotechnology.

The Working Group should consider these clusters for future collaboration.

The second major area of discussion today was on the commercialization of innovative technologies. Working group members provided an update on their ongoing programs, including the American Councils’ Enhancing University Research and Entrepreneurial Capacity – or EURECA – program. This partnership between U.S. and Russian research universities is aimed at building the innovation ecosystem and expanding entrepreneurial and technology transfer capacities. In addition to the EURECA program update, CRDF Global and the National Business Incubators Association spoke about their efforts and ideas on promoting innovation in the United States and Russia.

Last, the working group has helped better delineate the government’s role in innovation. My good friend Alan Wolff—who is one of our foremost experts on comparative innovation policy—shared his thoughts on the U.S. experience and the role of our government. As I mentioned earlier, the United States is an innovation nation but, of course, we have learned hard lessons along the way.

So, there is a tremendous opportunity for others to benefit from our path. Tomorrow, many of you will visit the National Institutes of Health, where you will see firsthand an example of the government’s role in biotech innovation. You will also meet with officials from the Small Business Administration and learn about their "Small Business Innovation Research" program. This program helps small businesses by providing funds for the critical startup and development stages of technology commercialization. One of the most important things a government can do to promote innovation is to establish a legal and regulatory framework that is conducive to entrepreneurial thinking and bringing new ideas to market. You heard today recommendations by an expert group of U.S. and Russian lawyers for both of our governments. I have seen the policy recommendations and look forward to a read-out of the discussion during this session. I would like to thank all those who contributed to this report.

Now it is our turn.

The United States is—and will remain—and innovation economy. That’s why our government takes these recommendations seriously. The Russian government has also heeded the call to action. Russia has placed a very high priority on implementing policies that foster and facilitate innovation. The Bloomberg statistic I quoted earlier is testament to this fact. My colleague and co-chair of the U.S.-Russia Innovation Working Group, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation and Government Chief of Staff Vladislav Surkov will speak to the Russian perspective. Mr. Surkov has been a prominent voice for the promotion of innovation in Russia and a strong supporter of our bilateral innovation cooperation agenda. Vladislav Yuryevich it is a pleasure to have you here, and I now turn the microphone over to you.

Thank you.

THE SWIFT TEST TO DETOUR ORGANIZED CRIME AND USS JOHN C. STENNIS PASSES MEMORIAL

 

FROM: U.S. NAVY, MILITARY SEALIFT COMMAND

A tethered TIF-25K aerostat is positioned on the Military Sealift Command high-speed vessel Swift (HSV 2) to be tested and evaluated at sea for use in future Operation Martillo counter transnational organized crime operations while assigned to U.S. 4th Fleet. U.S. Navy photo by Lt. Cmdr. Corey Barker (Released) 130423-N-IC228-001

The aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) passes by the Missing Man Memorial as it departs Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam after a scheduled port visit in Hawaii. The John C. Stennis Carrier Strike Group is returning from an eight-month deployment conducting operations in the U.S. 5th and 7th Fleet areas of responsibility. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Diana Quinlan (Released) 130424-N-WF272-069

　

$4 MILLION AWARDED TO SUPPORT CLEANUP AND REUSE OF BROWNFIELD SITES

FROM: U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
April 25, 2013

EPA Awards $4 Million to Help Support Cleanup and Reuse of Brownfields Sites Across the Country

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will award approximately $4 million in grants to 20 communities across the country to assist with planning for cleanup and reuse of Brownfields properties. This funding is part of the Brownfields Area-Wide (BF AWP) Planning program, which aims to promote community revitalization by using cleanups to stimulate local economies and protect people’s health and the environment. EPA’s Brownfields program encourages the redevelopment of abandoned and potentially contaminated waste sites across the country.

"EPA continues to respond to Brownfields challenges in communities of every size by encouraging strong public-private partnerships and promoting innovative and creative ways to assess, clean up and redevelop Brownfields sites," said Mathy Stanislaus, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response. "The area-wide planning approach recognizes that revitalization of the area surrounding the Brownfields sites is critical to the successful reuse of the property as cleanup and redevelopment of an individual site. The locally-driven planning process will help communities create a shared vision for and commitment to revitalization."

EPA will award up to $200,000 per recipient so they can engage the community and conduct Brownfields planning activities for an area, such as a neighborhood, downtown district, city block, former industrial area or local commercial corridor.

In 2010, EPA launched the BF AWP program as a pilot program with the goal of adopting a more broad approach into the existing Brownfields grant programs. Since its inception, all EPA’s Brownfields investments have leveraged more than $19 billion in cleanup and redevelopment. Over the years, the relatively small investment of federal funding has been able to leverage more than 87,000 jobs from both public and private sources.

This is the second round of grants awarded under the BF AWP program. EPA’s BF AWP program is part of the Partnership for Sustainable Communities collaboration among EPA and the Departments of Transportation (DOT) and Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The Partnership for Sustainable Communities ensures that the agencies consider affordable housing, transportation, and environmental protection in concert to create healthier communities. The partnership is helping communities across the country to create attractive housing choices, make transportation more efficient and reliable, reinforce existing infrastructure investments, and support vibrant and healthy neighborhoods that attract businesses.

President Obama at White House Correspondents Dinner | The White House

President Obama at White House Correspondents Dinner | The White House

OVER 80 ANTITRUST AGENCIES MEET TO DISCUSS INTERNATIONAL ENFORCEMENT COOPERATION

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Friday, April 26, 2013

International Competition Network Advances Convergence Through Initiatives on Enforcement Cooperation and Investigative Process

The International Competition Network (ICN) advanced convergence through important initiatives on international enforcement cooperation and investigative processes in competition cases, the Department of Justice announced today. The ICN adopted new work product on economic analysis in merger review, legal theories in exclusive dealing investigations, international cooperation and information sharing in cartel enforcement, and the benefits of competition.

The 12th annual ICN conference, hosted by Poland’s Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (OCCP), was held on April 24-26, 2013, in Warsaw, Poland. More than 500 delegates participated, representing more than 80 antitrust agencies from around the world, including competition experts from international organizations and the legal, business, consumer and academic communities. Assistant Attorney General Bill Baer of the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chairwoman Edith Ramirez led the U.S. delegation. The conference showcased the achievements of ICN working groups on cartels, competition advocacy, competition agency effectiveness, mergers and unilateral conduct.

"One of the defining characteristics of the ICN is the deep engagement of its members on critical antitrust issues, including mergers, anti-cartel enforcement, unilateral conduct and competition advocacy," said Assistant Attorney General Baer. "The discussions and work product emerging from this meeting strengthen the ties between U.S. enforcers and our counterparts around the globe and enhance effective antitrust enforcement for the benefit of all consumers."

Bronislaw Komorowski, the President of Poland, provided opening remarks at the conference. John Fingleton, former Chief Executive of the UK Office of Fair Trading and former ICN Steering Group Chair, moderated a panel on competition and its relevance to global economic policy discussion among representatives from the World Trade Organization, World Bank and International Chamber of Commerce. Joaquin Almunia, European Commission Vice President and Commissioner for Competition, also addressed the conference. Eduardo P é rez Motta, ICN Steering Group Chair and President of the Mexican Federal Competition Commission, spoke about his initiatives to support ICN member competition advocacy and enhance cooperation with international organizations .

Assistant Attorney General Baer moderated a panel of antitrust officials on international enforcement cooperation to discuss the strengths and limitations of current cooperation frameworks. The panel also discussed future ICN work that could best help antitrust agencies address the challenges of engaging effectively in international enforcement cooperation. Over the past year, the ICN partnered with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)’s Competition Committee on a comprehensive study of the state of international enforcement cooperation. Lynda K. Marshall, Assistant Chief of the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division’s Foreign Commerce Section, led a discussion on future work on international cooperation in cartel enforcement.

The Polish OCCP led a special project devoted to the interaction between competition agencies and courts, culminating in a session led by OCCP President Malgorzata Krasnodebska-Tomkiel. FTC Chairwoman Ramirez addressed the vital role of economic evidence in competition cases and offered guidance for how to effectively present this evidence to generalist courts. She also highlighted the various tools available to competition agencies to encourage courts to recognize competition law principles.

"This 12th annual ICN conference demonstrated how competition agencies from around the world can come together both to advance convergence toward best practices in antitrust enforcement and to strengthen the voice of competition policy as our governments confront common economic challenges," said Chairwoman Ramirez.

The conference also highlighted the work of the Cartel Working Group, co-chaired by the Department of Justice, the Japan Fair Trade Commission and Germany’s Bundeskartellamt. The working group brings together antitrust enforcers to address the challenges of anti-cartel enforcement, through the examination of important policy issues and the exchange of effective investigative techniques. The group presented a new chapter on international cooperation and information sharing for its Anti-Cartel Enforcement Manual, a reference tool for antitrust agencies on effective investigative techniques.

The Agency Effectiveness Working Group, co-chaired by the FTC, the Mexican Federal Competition Commission and the Norwegian Competition Authority, examines the institutions and procedures that support the enforcement missions of competition agencies. Randolph W. Tritell, Director of the FTC’s Office of International Affairs , led a panel discussion and presentation of the group’s work related to investigative tools and agency transparency practices, part of a project on investigative processes in competition cases. The working group also presented two new chapters on effective knowledge management and human resources management for its competition agency practice manual.

The conference showcased the ICN Curriculum Project, a project led by the FTC to create a "virtual university" of training materials on competition law and practice. FTC Counsel Paul O’Brien presented the Curriculum Project and its new modules on planning and conducting investigations, competition advocacy and challenges for agencies in developing countries.

The Merger Working Group, co-chaired by the European Commission’s Competition Directorate, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) and the Italian Competition Authority aims to promote best practices in the design and operation of merger review regimes. The FTC’s Director of the Bureau of Economics, Howard Shelanski, participated in a panel discussion of the role of economic analysis in merger review. The panel highlighted the group’s new work addressing the role of economic evidence in merger analysis, a comprehensive overview of the qualitative and quantitative analyses available to antitrust agencies for the review of horizontal mergers.

The Unilateral Conduct Working Group, co-chaired by the Swedish Competition Authority, the Turkish Competition Authority, and the UK Office of Fair Trading, promotes convergence and sound enforcement of laws governing conduct by firms with substantial market power. T he working group presented a new workbook chapter on exclusive dealing arrangements as part of a project that is producing a practical guide to the investigation of the various types of unilateral conduct.

The Advocacy Working Group, co-chaired by the French Autorité de la Concurrence, the Portuguese Competition Authority and the Competition Commission of Mauritius, develops practical tools and guidance to improve the effectiveness of ICN members’ competition advocacy. This year, the working group developed draft guidance on procedures and analysis for assessing existing or proposed laws and regulations to determine whether they may have a significant impact on competition. The group also presented its work on practical techniques to help promote a competition culture and strategies for explaining the benefits of competition to other government entities.

The ICN was created in October 2001, when the Department of Justice and the FTC joined antitrust agencies from 13 other jurisdictions to increase understanding of competition policy and promote convergence toward best practices around the world. The ICN now includes 126 member agencies from 111 jurisdictions.

NEW YORK 6 MONTHS AFTER HURRICANE SANDY

Photo Credit: FEMA
FROM: U.S. FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY
After 6 months, N.Y. communities make progress in recovery from Sandy
April 25, 2013

NEW YORK – In the six months since Hurricane Sandy made landfall on Oct. 29, 2012, significant progress has been made in New York’s recovery.

Nearly all of the debris is gone. Many survivors have returned to their homes and repaired or replaced damaged or destroyed personal property. Businesses are reopening.

Many public schools, libraries, community centers and other institutions have reopened, including New York University Langone Medical Center, Bellevue Hospital and Coney Island Hospital.

In February, the Federal Emergency Management Agency released advisory flood-risk data to help homeowners, business owners and public facilities plan for future flood events. Bellevue Hospital is among the facilities that are already using the Advisory Base Flood Elevation data to protect themselves from future flooding.

"New York has made tremendous progress in the six months since Sandy," said Michael F. Byrne, FEMA’s federal coordinating officer for Hurricane Sandy operations. "But the work is not done. We are working with our state and local partners to apply mitigation measures to ensure that New York is better able to withstand future storms."

The whole community is involved in the recovery effort, including local, state, federal and tribal, the private sector and voluntary and faith-based organizations.

So far, more than $6.6 billion has been provided in disaster assistance to individuals and families, low-interest disaster loans, flood-insurance claims payments and funding for debris removal, repair or replacement of public facilities and reimbursement for emergency expenses.

FEMA has approved more than $959 million for individuals and households in New York to help eligible survivors with home repairs, temporary rental costs and other uninsured hurricane-related losses.

The U.S. Small Business Administration has approved low-interest disaster loans totaling more than $1.4 billion for nearly 22,000 homeowners, renters and businesses.

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid nearly $3.4 billion in claims to 56,766 policyholders.

Debris removal, essential to rebuilding neighborhoods, is nearly 95 percent complete. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and local and state agencies have cleaned up nearly 5.7 million of the estimated 6 million cubic yards of debris.

FEMA has approved more than $848 million in Public Assistance grants to reimburse state, tribal and local governments and eligible private nonprofits for costs related to emergency response, debris removal and repairing or rebuilding damaged public facilities, among other expenses.

These grants include more than $114 million to New York University Langone Medical Center for temporary repairs, patient evacuation and other emergency-related expenses; $5.1 million to the New York City Department of Environmental Protection to repair or reconstruct 16 pump stations; and $3.8 million to Long Beach Public Schools for repairs to the district’s elementary, middle and high schools.

More than 21,000 families were able to remain in their storm-damaged homes while repairs were made because of the Sheltering and Temporary Essential Power program, operated by local governments and funded by FEMA.

Because of a shortage of rental housing, 5,933 individuals and families have been housed temporarily in hotel rooms under the Transitional Sheltering Assistance program

Six months after the storm, nearly 1,500 FEMA personnel are on the job in New York, including nearly 400 local residents hired to help with recovery operations.

Storm survivors continue to receive face-to-face help in the recovery process at disaster recovery centers. To date, there have been more than 181,000 visits to the centers.

Early in the disaster, Federal Disaster Recovery Coordination commenced when more than a dozen federal agencies deployed to New York under the National Disaster Recovery Framework. Their mission was to coordinate with one another and to collaborate with state and local officials and hundreds of stakeholders on a comprehensive, whole community recovery strategy for the state of New York.

Scheduled for release this summer, the Recovery Support Strategy focuses on how the federal government can help build back New York better, stronger and smarter. In addition to extensive input from local and national energy, housing, transportation, infrastructure, health, human services, economic, and environmental experts, the strategy reflects successful practices from other major disasters.

The document also incorporates guidance on effective uses for billions of dollars in Sandy supplemental funds approved by Congress and President Obama early this year. Federal Disaster Recovery Coordination in New York will be ongoing.

U.S. ED DEPT. WILL RELEASE BLUEPRINT TO CHANGE TEACHING PROFESSION

FROM:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

U.S. Department of Education Releases Blueprint to Elevate and Transform the Teaching Profession, Calls Educators to Action

April 25, 2013

Today the U.S. Department of Education (ED) will release the Obama Administration's blueprint for elevating and transforming the teaching profession, also known as the Blueprint for RESPECT (Recognizing Educational Success, Professional Excellence, and Collaborative Teaching).

RESPECT was first launched in February of 2012 as a national conversation on the teaching profession, shortly after the President committed to support the development of a new, comprehensive teacher policy in his state of the union address.

Since then, the Department has engaged more than 5,700 educators nationwide to develop and refine a vision of teaching and leading that will help both teachers and students to meet the new, 21st century demands being placed on them.

"Our nation's educators are entrusted with a responsibility that's impossible to overstate—which is nothing less than to prepare their students, and our children, for the future," said U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. "We heard from thousands of teachers from across the country who contributed their time and creative ideas to help the RESPECT blueprint reflect their own vision for the teaching profession. With this blueprint, together we can work to elevate the profession through competitive salaries, transforming professional development and career opportunities, and relying on the expertise of teachers to advance educational practice and improve outcomes for students."

The RESPECT Blueprint embraces seven critical components of a transformed teaching profession jointly identified by ED and seven other national organizations, including American Federation of Teachers (AFT), Association of School Administrators (AASA), Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO), Council of the Great City Schools (CGCS), Federal Mediation and Conciliation Services (FMCS), National Education Association (NEA), and National School Board Association (NSBA) last spring. It further identifies ways that this work will continue to be integrated into the Department's existing policies and calls the field to take action to work toward the RESPECT vision.

President Obama is continuing to ask for a $5 billion investment from Congress to support a RESPECT grant program outlined in the RESPECT blueprint, including salaries for the teaching profession competitive with professions like architecture, medicine and law, more support for novice teachers, and more career opportunities for accomplished teachers.

In tandem with the release of the blueprint, the Department has re-launched ED's educator homepage to include new information about the RESPECT initiative, including the blueprint document (both PDF and e-book formats), a description of how educators provided input, and video of teachers describing their connection with the RESPECT vision. The site also includes resources to help stakeholders take action, including a self-inventory to assess one's own school or district on the seven critical components of RESPECT.

 

DEFENSE OFFICIAL TELLS CONGRESS BASE CLOSURES WILL SAVE MONEY

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Official Makes Case for More Base Closures, Realignments

By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, April 25, 2013 - Recognizing congressional resistance to another round of base realignments and closures, a senior defense official told a Senate panel yesterday it would be irresponsible to cut the military's "tooth" without doing everything possible to eliminate excess within its "tail."

John C. Conger, acting deputy undersecretary of defense for installations and environment, made the case for a 2015 BRAC round during testimony before the Senate Armed Service Committee's readiness and management support subcommittee.

DOD is facing a serious problem in light of its declining budgets and force structure, but has limited flexibility to adjust its infrastructure accordingly, he told the panel.

"We need to find a way to strike the right balance so infrastructure does not drain too many resources from the warfighter," he said. "We need to be cognizant that maintaining more infrastructure than we need taxes other resources that the warfighter needs -- from depot maintenance to training to bullets and bombs."

Conger cited $8 billion in annual, recurring savings from the first four rounds of BRAC in 1988, 1991, 1993 and 1995. BRAC 2005 is producing another $4 billion in annual savings through avoided costs for base operating support, personnel and leasing costs, he reported.

Meanwhile, BRAC 2005 eliminated 13,000 civilian positions -- an example of the kind of workforce efficiencies the fiscal 2013 National Defense Authorization Act requires, he said. Previous BRAC rounds averaged 36,000 eliminations per round.

"Congress has already demanded these civilian personnel cuts, and if they are not made through BRAC, they will need to be made elsewhere," Conger argued.

As the department seeks cost-saving measures, it also is undergoing a comprehensive review that kicked off in January to identify potential cases for closure or consolidation there, he noted.

"There are other examples where we're driving towards efficiencies throughout the department, and we have to do that. Installations are just one piece of the puzzle," Conger said. "But as we cut down in force structure, it would be irresponsible of us not to ... propose ways to cut the tail as we cut the tooth."

Conger acknowledged skepticism in Congress about the need for another round of BRAC, most likely, he said, because implementing the last round cost so much more than anticipated.

"To be clear, BRAC 2015 will not look like BRAC 2005," he told the panel. The previous BRAC, he said, was conducted while the force structure and budgets were growing, and under leadership-directed transformations across the department.

"Today, force structure is shrinking, the budget is shrinking, and we are firmly focused on reducing our future costs," he said, noting similar circumstances during the first four rounds of BRAC.

"I can assert with confidence that a 2015 round will have far more in common with them than it would with the 2005 round," Conger said.

The BRAC discussion came within the context of the Defense Department's fiscal 2014 budget proposal. It includes $11 billion for military construction, $10.9 billion for investments to sustain and restore DOD facilities and $3.8 billion for environmental measures.

The request, Conger noted, is slightly higher than the fiscal 2013 appropriation. This is in part because all but the most critical projects and measures were curtailed this year due to sequestration.

"While budgets are constrained and force structure shrinks, our infrastructure is being held constant," he told the senators, emphasizing that DOD must maintain its 550,000 buildings and structures that support military operations and readiness.

ROBONAUT 2 AND THE SPACE STATION

FROM:  NASA
Astronaut vs. Robonaut
Following a session of Robonaut 2 operations controlled by ground personnel, Expedition 35 Flight Engineer Chris Cassidy has a few light moments with the robot in the Destiny Laboratory onboard the Earth-orbiting International Space Station.

Robonaut 2 is the first humanoid robot to travel to space and the first U.S.-built robot to visit the space station.

Image Credit-NASA