LEARNING TO ADAPT WHEN YOU'RE AN ARTIFICIAL BRAIN

FROM:  NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION 

Artificial brains learn to adapt

Neural networks imitate intelligence of biological brains

For every thought or behavior, the brain erupts in a riot of activity, as thousands of cells communicate via electrical and chemical signals. Each nerve cell influences others within an intricate, interconnected neural network. And connections between brain cells change over time in response to our environment.

Despite supercomputer advances, the human brain remains the most flexible, efficient information processing device in the world. Its exceptional performance inspires researchers to study and imitate it as an ideal of computing power.

Artificial neural networks

Computer models built to replicate how the brain processes, memorizes and/or retrieves information are called artificial neural networks. For decades, engineers and computer scientists have used artificial neural networks as an effective tool in many real-world problems involving tasks such as classification, estimation and control.

However, artificial neural networks do not take into consideration some of the basic characteristics of the human brain such as signal transmission delays between neurons, membrane potentials and synaptic currents.

A new generation of neural network models -- called spiking neural networks -- are designed to better model the dynamics of the brain, where neurons initiate signals to other neurons in their networks with a rapid spike in cell voltage. In modeling biological neurons, spiking neural networks may have the potential to mimick brain activities in simulations, enabling researchers to investigate neural networks in a biological context.

With funding from the National Science Foundation, Silvia Ferrari of the Laboratory for Intelligent Systems and Controls at Duke University uses a new variation of spiking neural networks to better replicate the behavioral learning processes of mammalian brains.

Behavioral learning involves the use of sensory feedback, such as vision, touch and sound, to improve motor performance and enable people to respond and quickly adapt to their changing environment.

"Although existing engineering systems are very effective at controlling dynamics, they are not yet capable of handling unpredicted damages and failures handled by biological brains," Ferrari said.

How to teach an artificial brain

Ferrari's team is applying the spiking neural network model of learning on the fly to complex, critical engineering systems, such as aircraft and power plants, with the goal of making them safer, more cost-efficient and easier to operate.

The team has constructed an algorithm that teaches spiking neural networks which information is relevant and how important each factor is to the overall goal. Using computer simulations, they've demonstrated the algorithm on aircraft flight control and robot navigation.

They started, however, with an insect.

"Our method has been tested by training a virtual insect to navigate in an unknown terrain and find foods," said Xu Zhang, a Ph.D. candidate who works on training the spiking neural network. "The nervous system was modeled by a large spiking neural network with unknown and random synaptic connections among those neurons."

Having tested their algorithm in computer simulations, they now are in the process of testing it biologically.

To do so, they will use lab-grown brain cells genetically altered to respond to certain types of light. This technique, called optogenetics, allows researchers to control how nerve cells communicate. When the light pattern changes, the neural activity changes.

The researchers hope to observe that the living neural network adapts over time to the light patterns and therefore have the ability to store and retrieve sensory information, just as human neuronal networks do.

Large-scale applications of small-scale findings

Uncovering the fundamental mechanisms responsible for the brain's learning processes can potentially yield insights into how humans learn--and make an everyday difference in people's lives.

Such insights may advance the development of certain artificial devices that can substitute for certain motor, sensory or cognitive abilities, particularly prosthetics that respond to feedback from the user and the environment. People with Parkinson's disease and epilepsy have already benefited from these types of devices.

"One of the most significant challenges in reverse-engineering the brain is to close the knowledge gap that exists between our understanding of biophysical models of neuron-level activity and the synaptic plasticity mechanisms that drive meaningful learning," said Greg Foderaro, a postdoctoral fellow involved the the research.

"We believe that by considering the networks at several levels--from computation to cell cultures to brains--we can greatly expand our understanding of the system of sensory and motor functions, as well as making a large step towards understanding the brain as a whole."

-- Sarah Bates,
-- Silvia Ferrari, Duke University
-- Greg Foderaro, Duke University
-- Xu Zhang, Duke University
Investigators
Silvia Ferrari
Pankaj Agarwal
John Albertson
Craig Henriquez
Gabriel Katul
Ronald Parr
Antonius VanDongen
Related Institutions/Organizations
Duke University

U.S. CONGRATULATES COLOMBIAN PRESIDENT AND GOVERNMENT IN EFFORTS TO ACHIEVE PEACE

FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT 

The United States Welcomes Progress in Efforts To Achieve Peace in Colombia

Press Statement

John Kerry

Secretary of State

Washington, DC

May 18, 2014

---

The United States welcomes the announcement of further progress in efforts to achieve the peace the Colombian people deserve through negotiations.

Resolving the question of narcotics production and trafficking is central to achieving that peace. We congratulate president Santos and the Colombian government for this advance.
The FARC has long been deeply involved in, and profited from, cocaine production and transshipment. Reducing cocaine trafficking, including through eradication and interdiction, helped establish the conditions for the peace process now underway.

In making this announcement, Colombian government officials underlined the importance of maintaining both manual and aerial eradication capabilities.

As this process moves forward, we will engage with our Colombian partners on this important topic.

SECRETARY KERRY'S REMARKS AT YALE COLLEGE CLASS DAY

FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT 

Remarks at Yale College Class Day

Remarks

John Kerry

Secretary of State

New Haven, CT

May 18, 2014

---

Thank you. (Applause.) Thank you very much. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I think Winston Churchill said the only reason people give a standing ovation is they desperately seek an excuse to shift their underwear. (Laughter.) So certainly before I’ve opened my mouth, that’s true. (Laughter.)

Anyway, President Salovey and faculty members, parents, siblings who came here under the false impression there would be free food (laughter); Handsome Dan, wherever you are, probably at some fire hydrant somewhere (laughter); members of the 2013 NCAA champion men’s ice hockey team (cheers and applause); distinguished guests and graduates, graduates of the Class of 2014, I really am privileged to be able to be here and share the celebration of this day with you, especially 48 years after standing up right here as a very intimidated senior wondering what I was going to say.

You are graduating today as the most diverse class in Yale’s long history. Or as they call it in the NBA, Donald Sterling’s worst nightmare. (Laughter and applause.)

Nia and Josh: Thank you for such a generous introduction. What Josh didn’t mention is that he interned for me at the State Department last summer. (Cheers and applause.) Well, hold on a minute now. (Laughter.) I learned that he’s not afraid to talk truth to power, or semi-truth. (Laughter.) On his last day he walked up to me at the State Department and he was brutally honest. He said, “Mr. Secretary, JE sucks.” (Laughter and cheers.)

No, actually, on the last day at the State Department, he asked if I would come here today and deliver a message his classmates really needed to hear. So here it goes: Jarred Phillips, you still owe Josh money from that road trip last fall. (Laughter and applause.)

I have to tell you, it is really fun for me to be back here on the Old Campus. I’m accompanied by a classmate of mine. We were on the soccer team together. We had a lot of fun. He served as ambassador to Italy recently, David Thorne. And my daughter Vanessa graduated in the Class of 1999, so I know what a proud moment this is for your parents. But my friends, the test will be if they still feel this way next May if you live at home. (Laughter.)

Now, I’m really happy you made it back from Myrtle Beach. (Cheers and applause.) As if you hadn’t already logged enough keg time at “Woads”. (Cheers.) Just remember, just remember: 4.0 is a really good GPA, but it’s a lousy blood-alcohol level. (Laughter.)

I love the hats. We didn’t have the hats when I was here. I love the hats. They are outrageous. They’re spectacular. This may well be the only event that Pharrell could crash and go unnoticed. (Laughter and applause.)

I’ve been looking around. I’ve seen a couple of Red Sox, a few Red Sox hats out there. (Cheers.) I’ve also seen a few of those dreaded interlocking N’s and Y’s. (Cheers.) But that’s okay: I said diversity is important. (Laughter.) It’s also an easy way for me to tell who roots for the Yankees and who’s graduating with distinction. (Laughter and cheers.)

So here’s the deal, here’s the deal: I went online and I learned in the Yale Daily comments that I wasn’t everyone’s first choice to be up here. (Laughter.)

When Yale announced that I’d be speaking, someone actually wrote, “I hope they give out Five-Hour Energy to help everyone stay awake.” (Laughter.) Well don’t worry folks: I promise not to be one minute over four hours. (Laughter.)

Someone else wrote I haven’t “screwed up badly as Secretary of State ... yet.” (Laughter.) Well, all I can say is, stay tuned. (Laughter.)

But my favorite comment was this: “I’m really proud that a Yalie is Secretary of State.” I should have stopped reading right there because he or she went on to write, “but he is butt ugly.” (Laughter.) So there go my dreams of being on “Yale’s 50 most beautiful” list. (Cheers and applause.)

It really is a privilege for me to share this celebration with you, though I’m forewarned that no one remembers who delivers their graduation speech. All I really remember about our speaker in 1966 is that he was eloquent, insightful, really good looking. (Laughter.) Anyway, one thing I promise you, one thing I promise you: I will stay away from the tired cliches of commencement, things like “be yourself,” “do what makes you happy,” “don’t use the laundry room in Saybrook”. (Cheers and applause.) That’s about all I’ll say about that. (Laughter.)

So right after we graduated, Time Magazine came out with its famous “Man of the Year” issue. But for 1966, Timedidn’t pick one man or one woman. They picked our entire generation.
And Time expressed a lot of high hopes for us. It not only predicted that we’d cure the common cold, but that we’d cure cancer, too. It predicted that we’d build smog-free cities and that we’d end poverty and war once and for all. I know what you’re thinking – we really crushed it. (Laughter.)

So fair question: Did my generation get lost? Well, that’s actually a conversation for another time. But let me put one theory to rest: It’s not true that everyone in my generation experimented with drugs. Although between Flomax, Lipitor and Viagra, now we do. (Laughter and applause.)
Now, I did have some pretty creative classmates back then. One of my good friends, very close friends in JE – (cheers) – I’m going to set it right for you guys right now. (Laughter.) One of my good friends in JE had at least two hair-brained ideas. The first was a little start-up built on the notion that if people had a choice, they’d pay a little more to mail a package and have it arrive the very next day. Crazy, right? Today that start-up is called FedEx. And by the way, it was created in JE, which therefore means JE rules. (Cheers and applause.)

Now, his other nutty idea was to restart something called the Yale Flying Club. And admittedly, this was more of a scheme to get us out of class and off the campus. So I basically spent my senior year majoring in flying, practicing take-offs and landings out at Tweed Airport. Responsible? No. But I wouldn’t have missed it.

And one of the best lessons I learned here is that Mark Twain was absolutely right: Never let school get in the way of an education.

Now, I didn’t know it at the time, but Yale also taught me to finish what you start. And that’s one thing that clearly separates us from Harvard. (Laughter.) After all, a lot of those guys don’t even graduate. Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Matt Damon – what the hell have they ever amounted to? (Laughter.)

For all I ever learned at Yale, I have to tell you truthfully the best piece of advice I ever got was actually one word from my 89-year-old mother. I’ll never forget sitting by her bedside and telling her I had decided to run for President. And she squeezed my hand and she said: “Integrity, John. Integrity. Just remember always, integrity.” And maybe that tells you a lot about what she thought about politics.

But you should know: In a complicated world full of complicated decisions and close calls that could go either way, what keeps you awake at night isn’t so much whether or not you got the decision right or wrong. It’s whether you made your decision for the right reasons: Integrity.
And the single best piece of advice I ever received about diplomacy didn’t come from my international relations class, but it came from my father, who served in the Foreign Service. He told me that diplomacy was really about being able to see the world through the eyes of someone else, to understand their aspirations and assumptions.

And perhaps that’s just another word for empathy. But whatever it is, I will tell you sitting here on one of the most gorgeous afternoons in New Haven as you graduate: Listening makes a difference, not just in foreign ministries but on the streets and in the souks and on the social media network the world over.

So Class of 2014, as corny as it may sound, remember that your parents aren’t just here today as spectators. They’re also here as teachers – and even if counter-intuitive, it’s not a bad idea to stay enrolled in their course as long as you can.

Now for my part, I am grateful to Yale because I did learn a lot here in all of the ways that a great university can teach. But there is one phrase from one class above all that for some reason was indelibly stamped into my consciousness. Perhaps it’s because I spent almost 30 years in the United States Senate seeing it applied again and again.

One morning in the Law School Auditorium, my Professor, John Morton Blum, said simply: “All politics is a reaction to felt needs.” What I thought he meant is that things only get done in public life when the people who want something demand nothing less and the people who make it happen decide tht they can do nothing less.

Those “felt needs” have driven every movement and decision that I’ve witnessed in politics since – from South Africa a couple of decades ago to the Arab Spring a few years ago to our own communities, where same-sex couples refuse to be told by their government who they can love.

In 1963, I remember walking out of Dwight Hall one evening after an activist named Allard Lowenstein gave the impassioned and eloquent plea that I had ever heard. He compelled us to feel the need to engage in the struggle for civil rights right here in our own country.
And that’s why, just steps from here, right over there on High Street, we lined up buses that drove students from Yale and elsewhere south to be part of the Mississippi Voter Registration Drive and help break the back of Jim Crow. Ultimately we forced Washington to ensure through the law that our values were not mere words. We saw Congress respond to this “felt need” and pass the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act, and life in America did change.
Not only did landmark civil rights advances grow out of the sit-ins and marches, but we saw the EPA and the Clean Water Act and the Clean Air Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act and all of it come out of Earth Day in 1970. We saw women refusing to take a back-seat, force institutions to respond, producing Title IX and a Yale University that quickly transformed from a male bastion of 1966. Citizens, including veterans of the war, spoke up and brought our troops home from Vietnam.

The fact is that what leaps out at me now is the contrast between those heady days and today. Right or wrong, and like it or not – and certainly some people certainly didn’t like it – back then institutions were hard pressed to avoid addressing the felt needs of our country.
Indeed, none of what I’ve talked about happened overnight. The pace of change was different from today. The same fall that my class walked in as freshmen, Nelson Mandela walked into prison. It wasn’t until 30 years later, when my daughter walked through these gates for the first time, that Mandela was his country’s president.

When I was a senior, the debate over the growing war in Vietnam was becoming all consuming. But it took another seven years before combat ended for our country, and more than 25,000 lives. And it wasn’t until the year 2000 that we finally made peace and normalized relations. Now, amazingly, we have more Vietnamese studying in America – including some in your class – than from almost any other country in the world.

What’s notable is this daring journey of progress played out over years, decades, and even generations. But today, the felt needs are growing at a faster pace than ever before, piling up on top of each other, while the response in legislatures or foreign capitals seems nonexistent or frozen.

It’s not that the needs aren’t felt. It’s that people around the world seem to have grown used to seeing systems or institutions failing to respond. And the result is an obvious deepening frustration if not exasperation with institutional governance.

The problem is today’s institutions are simply not keeping up or even catching up to the felt needs of our time. Right before our eyes, difficult decisions are deferred or avoided altogether. Some people even give up before they try because they just don’t believe that they can make a difference. And the sum total of all of this inaction is stealing the future from all of us.

Just a few examples, from little to big: a train between Washington and New York that can go 150 miles-per-hour – but, lacking modern infrastructure, goes that fast for only 18 miles of the trip; an outdated American energy grid which can’t sell energy from one end of the country to the other; climate change growing more urgent by the day, with 97 percent of scientists telling us for years of the imperative to act. The solution is staring us in the face: Make energy policy choices that will allow America to lead a $6 trillion market. Yet still we remain gridlocked; immigration reform urgently needed to unleash the power – the full power of millions who live here and make our laws in doing so both sensible and fair.

And on the world stage, you will not escape it – even more urgency. We see huge, growing populations of young people in places that offer little education, little economic or political opportunity. In countries from North Africa to East Asia, you are older than half their population. Forty percent of their population is younger than Yale’s next incoming class.

If we can’t galvanize action to recognize their felt needs – if we don’t do more to coordinate an attack on extreme poverty, provide education, opportunity, and jobs, we invite instability. And I promise you, radical extremism is all too ready to fill the vacuum left behind.

What should be clear to everyone – and it’s perhaps what makes our current predicament, frankly, so frustrating – is that none of our problems are without solutions. None of them. But neither will they solve themselves. So for all of us, it’s really a question of willpower, not capacity. It’s a matter of refusing to fall prey to the cynicism and apathy that have always been the mortal enemies of progress. And it requires keeping faith with the ability of institutions – of America – to do big things when the moment demands it. Remember what Nelson Mandela said when confronted by pessimism in the long march to freedom: “It always seems impossible until it is done.”

One thing I know for sure – these and other felt needs will never be addressed if you, we fall victim to the slow suffocation of conventional wisdom.

On Tuesday I sat in the State Department with some young Foreign Service officers at the State Department, and one of them said something to me that I’ve been thinking about, frankly, all week. He wasn’t much older than any of you. He said: “We’ve gone from an era where power lived in hierarchies to an era where power lives in networks – and now we’re wrestling with the fact that those hierarchies are unsettled by the new power.”

Every one of you and your parents have mobile devices here today. They represent a lot more than your ability to put a picture on Facebook or Instagram. They are one of the powerful new instruments of change that makes hierarchies uncomfortable because you can communicate with everybody, anywhere, all the time – and that’s how you beat conventional wisdom.
That’s what makes me certain that felt needs are not just problems. They are opportunities. And I am convinced if you are willing to challenge the conventional wisdom, which you should be after this education, you can avoid the dangerous byproducts of indifference, hopelessness, and my least favorite: cynicism.

It is indifference that says our problems are so great, let’s not even try. We have to reject that. It’s hopelessness that says that our best days are behind us. I couldn’t disagree more.
It’s cynicism that says we’re powerless to effect real change, and that the era of American leadership is over. I don’t believe that for a second, and neither does President Obama. We refuse to limit our vision of the possibilities for our country, and so should you. Together we have to all refuse to accept the downsizing of America’s role in a very complicated world.
I happen to love T.S. Eliot’s "Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” one of my favorite poems. And I respectfully challenge you to never wind up fretfully musing as Prufrock did: “Do I dare disturb the universe? In a minute there is time for decisions and revisions which a minute will reverse.” Class of 2014: Your job is to disturb the universe.

You have to reject the notion that the problems are too big and too complicated so don’t wade in. You don’t have the luxury of just checking out. And it doesn’t matter what profession you wind up in, what community you live in, where you are, what you’re doing, you do not have that luxury.
One of the greatest rewards of being Secretary of State is getting to see with my own eyes how much good news there actually is in the world – how many good people there are out there every single day courageously fighting back. The truth is that everywhere I go I see or hear about an extraordinary number of individual acts of courage and bravery, all of which defy the odds – all by people who simply refuse to give up, and who start with a lot less opportunity than you do.

You can see this in the lonely human rights activist who struggles against tyranny and against a dictator until they are defeated. You see it in the democracy activist who goes to jail trying to ensure an election is free and transparent. You see it in the civil rights lawyer who suffers scorn and isolation for standing against bigotry, racism, and intolerance.

I am literally in awe of the courage that ordinary, anonymous people demonstrate in the most difficult circumstances imaginable – in a dank African jail, a North Korean gulag, a prison in Syria or Central Asia, facing the cruelest persecution and lonely isolation.

Many of these people just quietly disappear. They lose their lives. They never become an international cause or a global hero. Courage is not a strong enough word for what they do every day, and all of us need to think about that.

What all these people have in common – and what I hope they have in common with you – is that they refuse to be complacent and indifferent to what is going on around them or to what should be going on around them.

And that’s the most important lesson I hope you will take with you when you leave Yale. The fact is that for those of you who have loans are not the only burden you graduate with today. You have had the privilege of a Yale education. No matter where you come from, no matter where you’re going next, the four years that you’ve spent here are an introduction to responsibility. And your education requires something more of you than serving yourself. It calls on you to give back, in whatever way you can. It requires you to serve the world around you and, yes, to make a difference. That is what has always set America apart: our generosity, our humanity, our idealism.

Last year I walked through the devastation of the typhoon that hit the Philippines. The U.S. military and USAID and regular volunteers got there before countries that lived a lot closer. We went there without being asked and without asking for anything in return. And today Americans are helping to bring that community back to life.

In Nigeria, when Boko Haram kidnapped hundreds of girls, the government didn’t turn to other powerful countries for help – and by the way, they’re not offering.

As Josh and Nia mentioned, it was my privilege to stand here 48 years ago at Class Day. Before coming here, I did re-read that speech. A lot of it was about Vietnam, but one line jumped out at me. In 1966 I suggested, “an excess of isolation had led to an excess of interventionism.” Today we hear a different tune from some in Congress and even on some campuses and we face the opposite concern. We cannot allow a hangover from the excessive interventionism of the last decade to lead now to an excess of isolationism in this decade.
I can tell you for certain, most of the rest of the world doesn’t lie awake at night worrying about America’s presence – they worry about what would happen in our absence.

Without arrogance, without chauvinism, never forget that what makes America different from other nations is not a common bloodline or a common religion or a common ideology or a common heritage – what makes us different is that we are united by an uncommon idea: that we’re all created equal and all endowed with unalienable rights. America is not just a country like other countries. America is an idea and we – all of us, you – get to fill it out over time.
Tomorrow, when President Salovey grants you those diplomas, listen to what he says. He won’t say what is said at most schools – that your degree admits you to all its “rights and privileges.” At Yale, we say your degree admits you to all its “rights and responsibilities.” It means we need to renew that responsibility over and over again every day. It’s not a one-time decision. Participation is the best antidote to pessimism and ultimately cynicism.

So I ask you today on a celebratory afternoon as you think about the future: Remember what happened when the Founding Fathers had finished their hard work at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia and Ben Franklin, tired, end of day, walked down at night, down the steps of the hall. A woman called to him. She said, “Tell us Dr. Franklin: What do we have, a monarchy or a republic?” And he answered: “A republic, if you can keep it.”
Class of 2014: We know what you have – a world-class education – if you will use it.
Congratulations to you, good luck, and God bless. (Cheers and applause.)

READOUT: PRESIDENT OBAMA'S CALL WITH OUTGOING PRIME MINISTER SINGH OF INDIA

FROM:  THE WHITE HOUSE 

Readout of the President’s Call with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of India

The President called outgoing Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today to express his gratitude for Dr. Singh’s tenure as Prime Minister and his critical role in transforming and deepening the U.S.-India strategic partnership and our cooperation on global challenges.  The President conveyed his appreciation for Dr. Singh’s friendship, noting that he looked forward to further expanding the strong relationship between the United States and India with Prime Minister-Elect Narendra Modi.

DOD PHOTOS OF TOMAHAWK WILDFIRE NEAR MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON

FROM:  U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT 

The Tomahawk wildfire inches closer to buildings on Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif., May 15, 2014. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Joshua Murray.

The Tomahawk wildfire burns through a wooded area near Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif., May 15, 2014. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Joshua Murray.

DEFENSE SECRETARY HAGEL SAYS U.S. COMMITTED TO ISRAEL'S SECURITY

FROM:  U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT 
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, left, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu make a joint statement in Jerusalem, May 16, 2014. DOD photo by Erin A. Kirk-Cuomo  

Hagel Reaffirms U.S. Commitment to Israel’s Security
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, May 16, 2014 – Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel today reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to Israel’s security during a joint statement to reporters with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu before a meeting between the two leaders in Jerusalem.

“As you said in the United States earlier this year,” Hagel said to Netanyahu, “America's support for Israel is at an all-time high, and it is. And that applies especially to our defense relationship. Our defense relationship is strong, as we both know, and I think the people of Israel and the United States know it's strong because it's about a lot more than defense.

“The United States support for Israel is anchored in our nation's commitment to democracy and freedom and rights for our people,” Hagel continued. “America's commitment to Israel's security is resolute.”

The secretary noted to Netanyahu that the Juniper Cobra 14 military exercise he visited yesterday with Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon demonstrates that commitment completely.

“It also demonstrates the cutting-edge work our nations are doing together on rocket and missile defense,” he added, “and I appreciate your comments on that point -- work that had strengthened Israel's security and saved lives.”
In his remarks, Netanyahu said that foremost among the topics he and Hagel would discuss is the danger posed to their countries and to world peace by Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons. Hagel said the United States will do what it must to live up to its commitment to ensure Iran does not obtain a nuclear weapon.

The meeting also would touch on how to advance genuine peace and how to advance solid security in a region that is fraught with instability and insecurity, the prime minister said. “And I think that one of the things that creates an anchor of security is the close relationship between Israel and the United States, a relationship that is based both on value and a common determination to uphold our joint security,” he added.

FLORIDA COMPANY CHARGED WITH MAKING ILLEGAL, OFF-EXCHANGE PRECIOUS METALS TRANSACTIONS

FROM:  COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING COMMISSION

CFTC Charges Florida-Based Palm Beach Capital LLC and Lawrence Scott Spain with Engaging in Illegal, Off-Exchange Precious Metals Transactions

Washington, DC – The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) today announced that it filed a civil injunctive enforcement action in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida against Defendants Palm Beach Capital LLC (PBC) of Palm Beach, Florida, and its owner and manager, Lawrence Scott Spain, of Boca Raton, Florida. The CFTC Complaint charges the Defendants with engaging in illegal, off-exchange transactions in precious metals with retail customers on a leveraged, margined, or financed basis. The Complaint further alleges that Spain, as controlling person for PBC, is liable for PBC’s violations of the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA).

According to the Complaint, since at least July 16, 2011 and continuing through at least August 2012, PBC, by and through its employees including Spain, solicited retail customers by telephone and on PBC’s website, to engage in leveraged, margined, or financed precious metals (including gold, silver, platinum and palladium) transactions. During that period, the Complaint alleges, approximately 39 of PBC’s customers paid at least $1.35 million to PBC in connection with precious metals transactions. The Complaint alleges that these customers lost at least $1.25 million of these funds to trading losses, commissions, fees, and other charges by PBC and other companies. PBC received commissions and fees totaling at least $526,000 in connection with these precious metals transactions, according to the Complaint.

Under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010, leveraged, margined, or financed transactions such as those conducted by PBC, are illegal off-exchange transactions unless they result in actual delivery of metal within 28 days. The Complaint alleges that metals were never actually delivered in connection with the leveraged, margined, or financed precious metals transactions made on behalf of PBC’s customers.

The Complaint further alleges that PBC executed the illegal precious metals transactions through Lloyds Commodities, LLC and associated entities (collectively, Lloyds Commodities) and Hunter Wise, LLC and associated entities (collectively, Hunter Wise). The CFTC filed enforcement actions against, among others, Lloyds Commodities and Hunter Wise in December 2012, charging both Lloyds Commodities and Hunter Wise with engaging in illegal, off-exchange precious metals transactions, and charging Hunter Wise with fraud and other violations (see CFTC Press Release 6447-12). On February 5, 2014, in a consent order resolving the Commission’s claims against Lloyds Commodities, the District Court found that the CFTC had jurisdiction over the transactions at issue pursuant to Section 2(c)(2)(D) of the CEA and ordered Lloyds Commodities to pay over $5 million in restitution and penalties (see CFTC Press Release 6850-14).

On February 19, 2014, the District Court found that Hunter Wise had no actual metal to deliver to customers and held that Hunter Wise engaged in illegal precious metals transactions and was required to register as a futures commission merchant but did not do so and therefore violated Sections 4(a) and 4d of the CEA (see CFTC v. Hunter Wise Commodities, LLC, et al., 12-81311-CIV (Order on the Parties’ Motions for Summary Judgment). A bench trial against Hunter Wise on remaining charges, which allege fraud, was concluded on March 3, 2014, and the parties are awaiting the court’s final judgment. And on April 15, 2014, in CFTC v. Hunter Wise Commodities, LLC, et al., the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit affirmed the District Court’s issuance of a preliminary injunction and held that the Commission’s jurisdiction under Section 2(c)(2)(D) of the CEA extends to the precious metals transactions at issue in the case and that no exception to the Commission’s jurisdiction applied.

In its continuing litigation against PBC and Spain, the CFTC seeks disgorgement of ill-gotten gains, restitution for the benefit of customers, civil monetary penalties, permanent registration and trading bans, and a permanent injunction from future violations of the CEA, as charged.

CFTC Division of Enforcement staff members responsible for this action are R. Stephen Painter, Jr., Michael C. McLaughlin, David W. MacGregor, Lenel Hickson, Jr., and Manal M. Sultan.

AG HOLDER'S REMARK'S ON 60TH ANNIVERSARY OF BROWN V. BOARD OF EDUCATION

FROM:  U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT 

Attorney General Holder Delivers Remarks at the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund for the 60th Anniversary of Brown V. Board of Education

~ Friday, May 16, 2014

Thank you, President [Sherrilyn] Ifill, for those kind words – and thank you all for such a warm welcome.  It’s a pleasure to be here today.  And it’s a privilege to join dedicated public servants like Governor [Deval] Patrick and Governor [Doug] Wilder – along with trailblazers like Charlayne Hunter-Gault – in celebrating the work of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund; in commemorating the victory this organization helped to secure 60 years ago tomorrow; and in recommitting ourselves to the critical work that still lies before us.

 I’d like to thank our hosts at the National Press Club, and every member and supporter of LDF, for making this important observance possible.  It’s a tremendous honor to take part in this celebration – and to stand with lawyers who participated in the Brown case; the families of courageous plaintiffs who made this landmark decision possible; and with Mrs. Cissy Marshall, wife of the late Thurgood Marshall – one of our nation’s greatest civil rights pioneers – who helped found this organization nearly three quarters of a century ago.

Since 1940, LDF has performed critical work to rally Americans from all backgrounds to the unifying cause of justice – standing on the front lines of our fight to guarantee security, advance opportunity, and ensure equal treatment under law.  Your enduring legacy is written not only in the words of seminal legal opinions, but in the remarkable, once-unimaginable progress that so many of us have witnessed even within our own lifetimes.  The fact that I serve in an administration led by another African American bears witness to that progress.  Your actions, alongside those of countless citizens whose names may be unknown to us – but whose contributions and sacrifices endure – have forever altered the course of our great nation's history.

 Decades ago, brave individuals from across the country – sustained by the strength of their convictions, fueled by their desire for change, and represented by lawyers from this eminent organization – including visionary attorneys like Thurgood Marshall, Robert Carter, and Jack Greenberg – embarked on a dangerous, long and grueling march that culminated on May 17, 1954, at the United States Supreme Court.

It was a march that led through difficult and uncertain terrain – from the injustice of Plessy v. Ferguson to the dark days of Jim Crow and slavery by another name; from the discrimination and violence and the strange fruit that ultimately gave rise to a unified Civil Rights Movement and to the founding and growth of LDF.  It was a march that tested the soul of this country – and questioned, as President Abraham Lincoln once asked, whether a nation dedicated to the proposition that all are created equal “could long endure.”  And it was a march that was immeasurably strengthened by the transformative power of a single Court decision, when nine jurists came together – led by Chief Justice Earl Warren, with the eyes of the world upon them – to unanimously declare that separate was inherently unequal.

I was just three years old in 1954, when Brown was decided.  Thanks to some of the pioneers in this room, my generation was the first to grow up in a world in which “separate but equal” was no longer the law of the land.  Even as a child growing up in New York City, I understood, as I learned about the decision, that its impact was truly groundbreaking – bringing the law in line with the fundamental truth of the equality of our humanity.

Yet, although Brown marked a major victory, like anyone old enough to remember the turbulence of the 1960s, I also knew – and saw firsthand – that this country wouldn’t automatically translate the words of Brown into substantive change.  The integration of our schools – a process that was halting, confrontational, and at times even bloody – did not by itself put an end to the beliefs and attitudes that had given rise to the underlying inequity in the first place.  The outlawing of institutional segregation did not by itself soften the enmity – and alleviate the vicious bias – that had been directed against African-American people and communities for generations.  And the rejection, in its clearest form by our highest court, of legal discrimination could not – by itself – wash away the hostility that would, for years, fuel new, perversely innovative attempts to keep “separate but equal” in place.

These markers of progress could not forestall the “Massive Resistance” policies that followed in states across the country, in which public schools were closed and private academies were opened for white children only.  They could not avert the protests that greeted the Little Rock Nine – brave young students who required the protection of the 101st Airborne Division of the United States Army to enroll in an all-white high school.  And they could not prevent Alabama Governor George Wallace from making his infamous “Stand in the Schoolhouse Door”  in 1963 – nine years after Brown – when two courageous African-American students – one of whom, Vivian Malone, would much later become my sister-in-law – attempted to register for classes at the University of Alabama.

But thanks to Brown – and to the developments that followed – on the day when Vivian and her classmate James Hood walked into that university, they were protected not only by the power of their convictions; not only by the strength of the National Guard and the authority of the United States Department of Justice; but by the force of binding law. When those nine students entered Little Rock Central High School, they were supported by all nine members of a resolute Supreme Court.  And when millions of civil rights advocates and supporters began to rally, to march, to stand up – and even to sit in – in order to eradicate the discrimination they continued to face in schools and other public accommodations, they stood not only on the side of equality – and on the side of that which was right – but on the side of settled justice.

This was the sea change that Brown v. Board of Education signaled.  And this was the progress it made possible.  It did not instantaneously – or painlessly – tear down the walls that divided so much of the nation.  But it did unlock the gates.  And it continues to guide LDF’s work, and the Justice Department’s civil rights enforcement efforts, as we work to end the divisions and disparities that persist even today.  After all, as Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor said recently – in an insightful dissent in the Michigan college admissions case – we must not “wish away, rather than confront, the racial inequality that exists in our society. …The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to speak openly and candidly on the subject of race.”  And, I would add, to act, to act, to eradicate the existence of still too persistent inequalities.

I want to assure you – as we mark this historic anniversary – that my colleagues and I remain as committed to this cause as ever before.  While the number of school districts that remain under desegregation court orders has decreased significantly in just the past decade, the Department continues to actively enforce and monitor nearly 200 desegregation cases where school districts have not yet fulfilled their legal obligation to eliminate segregation “root and branch.”  In those cases, we work to ensure that all students have the building blocks of educational success – from access to advanced placement classes, to facilities without crumbling walls and old technology, to safe and positive learning environments.   We’re partnering with the Department of Education to reform school discipline policies that fuel the “school-to-prison pipeline” – and that have resulted in students of color facing suspensions and expulsions at a rate three times higher than that of their white peers.  And we are moving in a variety of ways to dismantle racial barriers and promote inclusion, from America’s classrooms, to our boardrooms, to our voting booths – and far beyond.

So long as I have the privilege of serving as Attorney General of the United States, this Justice Department will never stop working to expand the promise of a nation where everyone has the same opportunity to grow, to contribute, and to succeed.  By calling for new voting protections – and by challenging unjust restrictions that discriminate against vulnerable populations or communities of color – we’ll keep striving to ensure the free exercise of every citizen’s most fundamental rights.  By leading implementation of another landmark Supreme Court ruling – in United States v. Windsor – we’ll ensure that lawfully married same-sex couples can receive the federal benefits and protections they deserve.  And by fighting for comprehensive immigration reform – that includes an earned path to citizenship, so that men and women who are Americans in everything but name can step out of the shadows and take their place in society – we’ll make certain that children who have always called America home can build bright futures in, and enrich, the country they love without fear.

 In these and other efforts, there are undoubtedly difficult times ahead.  Challenges, old and new, remain before us.  There are too many wedded to the past and who irrationally fear the new America that is emerging.  They misconstrue our past: America has been at its best when we have acted to embrace, and make positive, the changes we have been forced to confront.  And so it must be again.

Government will never be able to surmount the obstacles we face on its own.  But, especially on days like today, I am reminded of the extraordinary courage that – since 1940 – has led seemingly-ordinary citizens and LDF leaders to stand together, to transform the power of individual voices into the strength of collective action, and to bring about historic changes like the one we gather to celebrate: changes that pull this nation closer to its founding promise.  Changes that make real the blessings of our Constitution.  And changes that codify self-evident truths into settled law.

As I look around this room, and with great faith in the American people, I cannot help but feel optimistic about our ability to build on the progress we celebrate this week.  And I have no doubt that, with your continued leadership, with your boundless passion, and with your unyielding courage, we can continue the legacy that’s been entrusted to us.  We can extend the promise that Brown, and those who made it possible, worked so hard to secure.  And we can build that more just society that everyone in this nation deserves.

 Thank you.

PRESIDENT OBAMA'S WEEKLY ADDRESS FOR MAY 17, 2014

FROM:  THE WHITE HOUSE 

Weekly Address: Working When Congress Won’t Act

WASHINGTON, DC – In this week’s address, the President discussed actions to expand opportunity for more Americans, with or without the help of Republicans in Congress, including his Administration’s efforts to cut red tape for major transportation infrastructure projects. In the coming days, the President will meet with business leaders to highlight the importance of bringing jobs back to America and will also discuss the economic benefits of making it easier for tourists to visit and spend money at attractions in the U.S., which in turn helps local businesses and grows the economy for everyone. The President has called 2014 a year of action, and he will continue to do whatever he can to continue to strengthen our economy, create jobs and restore opportunity for all.

Remarks of President Barack Obama
Weekly Address
The White House
May 17, 2014

Hi, everybody. 

At a time when our businesses have created 9.2 million new jobs in just over four years, and more companies are considering bringing jobs back from overseas, we have a choice to make.  We can make it easier for businesses to invest in America – or we can make it harder. 

I want to work with Congress to create jobs and opportunity for more Americans.  But where Congress won’t act, I will.  And I want to talk about three things we’re doing right now.

First, we’re helping more businesses bring jobs to America from overseas.  Three years ago, my Administration created SelectUSA – a team of people in embassies abroad and agencies here at home focused on insourcing instead of outsourcing.  Today, they’re helping a Belgian company create jobs in Oklahoma. They’re helping a Canadian company create jobs in Kansas.  In my State of the Union Address, I asked more businesses to do their part.  And this week, business leaders from across the country are coming here to the White House to discuss new investments that will create even more jobs.

Second, on Thursday, I’ll be heading to Cooperstown, New York – home of the Baseball Hall of Fame – to talk about tourism.  Because believe it or not, tourism is an export.  And if we make it easier for more foreign visitors to visit and spend money at America’s attractions and unparalleled national parks, that helps local businesses and grows the economy for everyone. 

Finally, we know that investing in first-class infrastructure attracts first-class jobs.  And I want to spend a minute on this, because it’s very important this year.

We know business owners don’t seek out crumbling roads and bridges and backed-up supply chains.  They set up shop where the newest, fastest transportation and communications networks let them invent and sell goods Made in America to the rest of the world as fast as possible.

Here’s the problem: If Congress doesn’t act by the end of this summer, federal funding for transportation projects will run out.  States might have to put some of their projects on hold.  In fact, some already are, because they’re worried Congress won’t clear up its own gridlock.  And if Congress fails to act, nearly 700,000 jobs would be at risk over the next year.

That’s why I put forward a plan to rebuild our transportation infrastructure in a more responsible way.  It would support millions of jobs across the country.  And we’d pay for it without adding to the deficit by closing wasteful tax loopholes for companies that ship jobs overseas.

Now, the Republicans in Congress seem to have very different priorities.  Not only have they neglected to prevent this funding from running out, their proposal would actually cut by 80% a job-creating grant program that has funded high-priority transportation projects in all 50 states. And they can’t say it’s to save money, because at the very same time, they voted for trillions of dollars in new tax cuts, weighted towards those at the very top. 

Think about that.  Instead of putting people to work on projects that would grow the economy for everyone, they voted to give a huge tax cut to households making more than $1 million a year.

So while Congress decides what it’s going to do, I’ll keep doing what I can on my own.

On Wednesday, I was in New York where workers are building the area’s first large new bridge in 50 years.  And they’re doing it ahead of schedule.  Three years ago, I took action without Congress to fast-track the permitting process for major projects.  Normally, it would have taken three to five years to permit that bridge.  We did it in a year and a half.  And I announced a new plan to cut red tape and speed up the process for even more projects across the country.

All these steps will make it easier for businesses to invest in America and create more good jobs.  All of them can be done without Congress.  But we could do a lot more if Congress was willing to help.  In the meantime, I’ll do whatever I can – not just to make America a better place to do business, but to make sure hard work pays off, and opportunity is open to all.

Thanks, and have a great weekend.

SOKOL SPACE-SUIT HELMET AGAINST SOYUZ WINDOW

FROM:  NASA

A sokol suit helmet can be seen against the window of the Soyuz TMA-11M capsule shortly after the spacecraft landed with Expedition 39 Commander Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Soyuz Commander Mikhail Tyurin of Roscosmos, and Flight Engineer Rick Mastracchio of NASA near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan on Wednesday, May 14, 2014. Wakata, Tyurin and Mastracchio returned to Earth after more than six months onboard the International Space Station where they served as members of the Expedition 38 and 39 crews. Image Credit: NASA-Bill Ingalls

SEC WARNS INVESTORS TO TAKE CARE WHEN INVESTING IN MICRO CAP MARIJUANA INDUSTRY COMPANIES

FROM:  U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION 

The Securities and Exchange Commission today cautioned investors about the potential for fraud in microcap companies that claim their operations relate to the marijuana industry after the agency suspended trading in the fifth such company within the past two months.

The SEC issued an investor alert warning about possible scams involving marijuana-related investments, noting that fraudsters often exploit the latest growth industry to lure investors with the promise of high returns.  “For marijuana-related companies that are not required to report with the SEC, investors may have limited information about the company’s management, products, services, and finances,” the SEC’s alert says.  “When publicly available information is scarce, fraudsters can more easily spread false information about a company, making profits for themselves while creating losses for unsuspecting investors.”

Spearheaded by its Microcap Fraud Task Force, the SEC Enforcement Division scours the microcap market and proactively identifies companies with publicly disseminated information that appears inadequate or potentially inaccurate.  The SEC has the authority to issue trading suspensions against such companies while the questionable activity is further investigated.

As the markets opened today, the SEC suspended trading in Denver-based FusionPharm Inc., which claims to make a professional cultivation system for use by cannabis cultivators among others.  According to the SEC’s order, the trading suspension was issued “because of questions that have been raised about the accuracy of assertions by FusionPharm” concerning the company’s assets, revenues, financial statements, business transactions, and financial condition.

“Recent changes in state laws concerning medical and recreational marijuana have created new opportunities for penny stock fraud,” said Elisha Frank, co-chair of the SEC Enforcement Division’s Microcap Fraud Task Force.  “Wherever we see incomplete or misleading disclosures, we act quickly to protect investors.”

Other marijuana-related companies in which the SEC recently suspended trading are Irvine, Calif.-based Cannabusiness Group Inc., Woodland Hills, Calif.-based GrowLife Inc., Colorado Springs-based Advanced Cannabis Solutions Inc., and Bedford, Texas-based Petrotech Oil and Gas Inc.

Under the federal securities laws, the SEC can suspend trading in a stock for 10 days and generally prohibit a broker-dealer from soliciting investors to buy or sell the stock again until certain reporting requirements are met.  More information about the trading suspension process is available in an SEC investor bulletin on the topic.

“We know from experience that fraudsters follow the headlines,” said Lori J. Schock, director of the SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy, which prepared the investor alert.  “Given the attention that marijuana-related companies have attracted recently, we urge investors to exercise caution when looking at investments in this space.  Always thoroughly research the company – and the person selling the investment – before making a decision.”

DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY ROSE'S REMARKS ON MISSILE DEFENSE AND GULF SECURITY

FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT 

Gulf Cooperation Council and Ballistic Missile Defense

Remarks

Frank A. Rose

Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Arms Control, Verification and Compliance

Peter Huessy Breakfast Series; Capitol Hill Club

Washington, DC

May 14, 2014

---

Thank you, Peter, for that kind introduction and for hosting me again at this series.
I’m very happy to be with you today to address our efforts in working with Gulf Cooperation Council to enhance Ballistic Missile Defense cooperation in the region, as I have just recently returned from the Middle East Missile & Air Defense Symposium in Abu Dhabi.
In my remarks this morning, I’d like to accomplish two things. First, I’d like to share with you a bit about my most recent discussions on missile defense with our partners in the Gulf. Second, I’d like to outline the key takeaways from my latest trip to the region, chief among them is the progress that has been made in developing regional missile defenses with the Gulf Cooperation Council. After that, I’m happy to take your questions.

U.S. Commitment to Gulf Security, Including Missile Defense

As you know, this is a time of profound change in that region. We are experiencing perhaps an unprecedented moment of engagement and dialogue with nations around the world. At the same time, we are also acutely aware of the daily threats and anxieties felt throughout the Gulf.
As you also know, security cooperation has long stood at the core of the U.S.-Gulf partnership. The United States is not only committed to enhancing U.S.-GCC missile defense cooperation – we see it as a strategic imperative.

As stated in the 2010 Ballistic Missile Defense Review, a key objective of U.S. strategy is to expand international efforts and cooperation on ballistic missile defense. BMD cooperation contributes to regional stability by deterring regional actors, principally by eliminating their confidence in the effectiveness of their systems, and assuring allies and partners both of the U.S. commitments and by enhancing their ability to defend against these threats should they become necessary.

The message I delivered in the region was clear: the United States remains firmly committed to developing and deploying advanced missile defense capabilities around the world to protect our homeland, our deployed forces, as well as our friends and allies who depend on us for security.

It’s worth mentioning that U.S.-GCC security cooperation extends well beyond the topic of today’s discussion, or BMD. Maritime security is an important focus, given the massive commercial and energy resources that traverse the Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz. And U.S. and Gulf experts are now meeting as a group to exchange best practices on counterterrorism and border security, within which cyber security is becoming an increasingly prominent topic. Stated plainly, we are committed to working with our GCC partners to strengthen multilateral defense cooperation as an important complement to our strong bilateral partnerships in the region. To help reach that goal, in December 2013 President Obama designated the GCC eligible for Foreign Military Sales. Among other benefits, this designation helps lay the groundwork for the GCC states to address regional ballistic missile defense through multilateral procurement.
That’s the same designation we’ve given NATO, allowing the GCC to invest in shared systems for mutual defense, even as the United States continues a strong bilateral defense partnership with each individual GCC member state. And it demonstrates our commitment to the U.S.-Gulf Partnership, and our ultimate commitment to see the Gulf become a stronger, more capable partner in confronting the many challenges to our shared interests in the region. Earlier today, Secretary Hagel met with his Gulf counterparts in Jeddah for the first ever U.S.-GCC Defense Ministerial, which likewise signals U.S. intent to strengthen and deepen our bilateral and multilateral ties in this critical region.

Progress on Regional Missile Defense

The President’s address at the United Nations General Assembly last fall reaffirmed our continued commitment to Gulf security. Indeed, my principal takeaway from the trip was that our security commitments and partnerships in the Gulf are more extensive today than ever before.
As I discussed several weeks ago in Abu Dhabi, the March 2012 launch of the U.S.-GCC Strategic Cooperation Forum, or SCF, has enhanced our partnership on policies that advance shared political, security, military, and economic objectives in the Gulf, including intensified efforts on ballistic missile defense cooperation.

At his first Forum last September, Secretary of State John Kerry, my boss, made clear that a top U.S.-GCC priority would continue to be enhancing ballistic missile defense cooperation, including the eventual development of Gulf-wide coordinated missile defense architecture. And we can expect BMD to have been a primary focus at today’s inaugural U.S.-GCC Defense Ministerial.

Burden Sharing

It was clear from my discussions with our partners in the region that the GCC shares our goal of building an effective regional defense against the threat of ballistic missiles, and is willing and ready to defend its own security future.
Several of our Gulf state partners expressed an interest in buying missile defense systems, and some have already done so. For example, the United Arab Emirates has contracted to buy two THAAD batteries that, when operational, will enhance the U.A.E.’s security as well as regional stability. The U.A.E. also has taken delivery of its Patriot PAC-3 batteries, which provide a lower-tier, point defense of critical national assets.

Saudi Arabia is in the process of upgrading its existing Patriot PAC-2 batteries to the PAC-3 configuration. Kuwait also is upgrading its existing batteries to PAC-3, and in December 2013 signed an offer for two additional PAC-3 batteries.

These procurements demonstrate our GCC partners’ determination to provide for their own defense, and when combined with our regional BMD capabilities, represent a significant contribution to regional stability at a time when our own defense spending is under fiscal pressure.

Our GCC partners are investing billions of dollars in missile defense purchases. In today’s austere budget environment, these investments can help achieve greater economies of scale.

Military and Diplomatic Coordination

And I’ll close by looking ahead towards next steps on BMD in the region.
Effective ballistic missile defense is not based on military might alone. Advanced, interoperable systems to intercept and destroy attacking missiles must be combined with diplomatic cooperation and coordination.

Ballistic missiles can destabilize and weaken a region due to their short flight times and potentially devastating consequences. WMD armed missiles in particular can have broad consequences not only within a targeted country but within a region, as the effects of a successful attack are not always limited to that country. And even conventionally armed missiles can be a significant military threat.

But ballistic missiles are also a weapon of choice for an adversary that wants to gain political influence over its regional neighbors. We have seen ballistic missile test firings used as a tool to intimidate, blackmail, or coerce a country’s neighbors.

The nature of the ballistic missile threat means that the United States, and the GCC, must be prepared both diplomatically and militarily well before the first missile is launched.

The Secretary of State and the Secretary of Defense work as active partners in the Strategic Cooperation Forum to emphasize the need for planning, both diplomatic and military, when it comes to ballistic missile defense.

In fact, our dialogues within the SCF include representatives from the Defense Department and U.S. Air Forces Central Command for one clear reason: because ballistic missile defense requires a whole-of-government approach.

To facilitate further a dialogue with our Gulf partners on BMD issues, President Obama obtained authority from Congress expanding the authority of the U.S. Air Force to conduct integrated air and missile defense training at the U.S.-U.A.E. Integrated Air and Missile Defense Center, which is located in the United Arab Emirates. These integrated defense trainings are uniquely positioned to play a key role in advancing regional BMD policies, procedures, and cooperation.

At a strategic level, we must continue to encourage better planning and preparation among both our military leaders and our senior diplomats. It should also be our shared task with the Gulf to develop strategic communications plans and ensure close and effective consultations with regional partners to advance our joint security and prosperity.

The U.S.-Gulf partnership can therefore bring together the strength of our combined forces with the skill of our strategic planning. We will be much more successful in advancing our shared interests by working together than by going it alone.

Missile Defense Cooperation with Israel

And finally, I want to note that our cooperation with the GCC states will in no way detract from the separate, robust U.S.-Israel BMD cooperation program. Since 2003, the Department of Defense, with the help of Congress, has provided nearly $2.5 billion to Israel to help develop a number of missile defense systems including Iron Dome, Arrow, and David's Sling. This includes $440 million in FY 13 alone. Throughout the development of these systems, our goal has been to ensure there are no shortages in these important systems and that U.S. investments meet Israel's security needs and production capacity.

The President's budget requests $96.8 million in FY15 for Arrow and David’s Sling, and $176 million for Iron Dome. By the end of FY15, the United States will have provided over $875 million in funding for Iron Dome.

Conclusion

In conclusion, ballistic missile defense issues cross military and, most importantly for us at the State Department, diplomatic equities. Moving forward, we hope to encourage deepened understanding and engagement in the Gulf on the need to combine diplomatic and military knowledge and expertise to address the full range of issues on effective missile defenses and strengthen the larger strategic deterrent architecture.

The United States will continue to work closely with each of our partners in the GCC to help them strengthen their capacity. Enhanced missile defense capabilities among the GCC not only protect our partners from the growing regional threat, but strengthened regional deterrence architecture ultimately keeps our interests, and our homeland, secure.
Thank you very much, and I look forward to your questions.

SCIENTISTS REPORT CALIFORNIA GROUNDWATER DEPLETION MAY INCREASE EARTHQUAKE RISK

FROM:  NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION 

California Central Valley groundwater depletion slowly raises Sierra Nevada mountains

Changes may trigger small earthquakes, scientists find

Winter rains and summer groundwater pumping in California's Central Valley make the Sierra Nevada and Coast Mountain Ranges sink and rise by a few millimeters each year, creating stress on the state's faults that could increase the risk of an earthquake.

Gradual depletion of the Central Valley aquifer, because of groundwater pumping, also raises these mountain ranges by a similar amount each year--about the thickness of a dime--with a cumulative rise over the past 150 years of up to 15 centimeters (6 inches), according to calculations by a team of geophysicists.

The scientists report their results in this week's issue of the journal Nature.

While the seasonal changes in the Central Valley aquifer have not yet been firmly associated with any earthquakes, studies have shown that similar levels of periodic stress, such as that caused by the motions of the moon and sun, increase the number of microquakes on the San Andreas Fault.

If these subtle seasonal load changes are capable of influencing the occurrence of microquakes, it's possible that they can sometimes also trigger a larger event, said Roland Bürgmann, a geoscientist at the University of California, Berkeley and co-author of the Nature paper.

"The stress is very small, much less than you need to build up stress on a fault leading to an earthquake, but in some circumstances such small stress changes can be the straw that breaks the camel's back," Bürgmann said. "It could just give that extra push to get a fault to fail."

The study, based on GPS measurements from California and Nevada between 2007 and 2010, was led by scientists Colin Amos at Western Washington University and Pascal Audet of the University of Ottawa.

The detailed GPS analyses were performed by William Hammond and Geoffrey Blewitt of the University of Nevada, Reno, as part of a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant. Hammond and Blewitt, along with Amos and Audet, are also co-authors of this week's paper.

"Other studies have shown that the San Andreas Fault is sensitive to small-scale changes in stress," said Amos.

"These appear to control the timing of small earthquakes on portions of the fault, leading to more small earthquakes during drier periods of the year. Previously, such changes were thought to be driven by rainfall and other hydrologic causes."

This work ties overuse of groundwater by humans in the San Joaquin Valley to increases in the height of nearby mountain ranges and possible increases in the number of earthquakes on the San Andreas Fault, said Maggie Benoit, program director in NSF's Division of Earth Sciences, which funded the research.

"When humans deplete groundwater," said Benoit, "the amount of mass or material in Earth's crust is reduced. That disrupts Earth's force balances, causing uplift of nearby mountains and reducing a force that helps keep the San Andreas fault from slipping."

Draining of the Central Valley

Water has been pumped from California's Central Valley for more than 150 years, changing what used to be a marsh and extensive lake, Tulare Lake, into fertile agricultural fields.

In that time, about 160 cubic kilometers (40 cubic miles) of water was removed--the capacity of Lake Tahoe--dropping the water table in some areas more than 120 meters (400 feet) and the ground surface 5 meters (16 feet) or more.

The weight of water removed allowed the underlying crust or lithosphere to rise by so-called isostatic rebound, which may have raised the Sierra as much as half a foot since about 1860.

The same rebound happens as a result of the state's seasonal rains.

Torrential winter storms drop water and snow across the state, which eventually flow into Central Valley streams, reservoirs and underground aquifers, pushing down the crust and lowering the Sierra 1-3 millimeters.

In the summer, water flow into the Pacific Ocean, evaporation and ground water pumping for irrigation, which has accelerated because of drought, allows the crust and surrounding mountains to rise again.

Bürgmann said that the flexing of Earth's crust downward in winter would clamp the San Andreas fault tighter, lowering the risk of quakes, while in summer the upward flexure would relieve this clamping and perhaps increase the risk.

"The hazard is ever so slightly higher in the summer than in the wintertime," he said. "This suggests that climate and tectonics interact, and that water changes ultimately affect the deeper Earth."

High-resolution mapping with continuous GPS

Millimeter-precision measurements of elevation have been possible only in the last few years. Improved continuous GPS networks--part of the NSF EarthScope Plate Boundary Observatory, which operates 1,100 stations around the western United States--and satellite-based interferometric synthetic aperture radar have provided the data.

The measurements revealed a steady yearly rise of the Sierra of 1-2 millimeters per year, which was initially ascribed to tectonic activity deep underground, even though the rate was unusually high.

The new study provides an alternative and more reasonable explanation for the rise of the Sierra in historic times.

"The Coast Range is doing the same thing as the Sierra Nevada, which is part of the evidence that this can't be explained by tectonics," Bürgmann said.

"Both ranges have uplifted over the last few years and both exhibit the same seasonal up and down movement in phase. This tells us that something has to be driving the system at a seasonal and long-term sense, and that has to be groundwater recharging and depletion."

In response to the current drought, about 30 cubic kilometers (7.5 cubic miles) of water has been removed from Central Valley aquifers between 2003 and 2010, causing a rise of about 10 millimeters (2/5 inch) in the Sierra over that time.

-NSF-



Media Contacts
Cheryl Dybas, NSF

SECRETARY KERRY MARKS STATEMENT ON COMMEMORATION OF CRIMEAN TATAR DEPORTATION

FROM: U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT 

70th Anniversary of Crimean Tatar Deportation

Press Statement

John Kerry

Secretary of State

Washington, DC

May 16, 2014

---

The 70^th anniversary of Joseph Stalin’s forcible deportation of more than 230,000 Crimean Tatars from their homeland in Crimea weighs especially on our minds today.

The suffering caused by this mass expulsion is almost inexpressible. Those who survived the horrific transit to Central Asia, the Urals and Siberia faced hunger, disease, and repression on arrival. Nearly half of those deported, mostly women and children, perished between 1944 and 1947. Many Crimean Tatars and their descendants remain in exile today.

For many Crimean Tatars, these abuses are still fresh in their minds and Russia’s occupation and illegal attempt to annex Crimea has reopened old wounds.

The list of human rights abuses committed today in Crimea is long and grows longer with each passing week. Murder, beatings, and the kidnapping of Crimean Tatars and others have become standard fare. Local “authorities” announced that Crimean Tatars will have to vacate their property and give up their land. Crimean Tatars have been assaulted for speaking their language, and Tatar community leader Mustafa Dzhemilev has been banned from returning to his home in Crimea for five years. Thousands of Tatars and others have fled their homes in Crimea, fearful for their safety. Those who remain face a future of repression, discrimination, censorship, limits on freedom of peaceful assembly and association, and the criminalization of dissent.

We commemorate the tragedy of 1944 with heavy hearts, even as we stand in solidarity with Crimean Tatars today against a new threat to their community. We reaffirm our support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and our deep commitment to the human rights of all citizens of Ukraine, including those in Crimea. 

VA SECRETARY SHINSEKI ACCEPTS RESIGNATION OF UNDERSECRETARY FOR HEALTH

FROM:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS 

Statement from Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki

May 16, 2014

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WASHINGTON – Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki made the following statement:

“Today, I accepted the resignation of Dr. Robert Petzel, Under Secretary for Health in the Department of Veterans Affairs.

"As we know from the Veteran community, most Veterans are satisfied with the quality of their VA health care, but we must do more to improve timely access to that care.

"I am committed to strengthening Veterans’ trust and confidence in their VA healthcare system.

"I thank Dr. Petzel for his four decades of service to Veterans.”

U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT CONTRACTS FOR MAY 16, 2016

FROM:  U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT 

CONTRACTS

NAVY

Bell Helicopter Textron Inc., Hurst, Texas, is being awarded a $337,772,560 modification to definitize a previously awarded advance acquisition contract (N00019-13-C-0023) for the manufacture and delivery of 12 Lot 11 UH-1Y Build New Aircraft and 12 Lot 11 AH-1Z Build New Aircraft for the U.S. Marine Corps to a fixed-price-incentive for the aircraft and firm-fixed-price for the auxiliary fuel kits. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas (60 percent) and Amarillo, Texas (40 percent), and is expected to be completed in June 2017. Fiscal 2013 and 2014 aircraft procurement, Navy funds in the amount of $337,772,560 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity.

Lockheed Martin Mission Systems & Training, Moorestown, New Jersey, is being awarded a $92,610,784 modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-11-C-5106) for Aegis Weapon System and Aegis Combat System combat systems engineering, in-country support services, and staging support to fulfill Aegis lifetime support requirements for the Japan Maritime Self Defense Force. This contract modification involves foreign military sales to Japan (100 percent). Work will be performed in Moorestown, New Jersey (95.1 percent), Kumi, South Korea (1.5 percent), Chinhae, South Korea (1.4 percent), Kongsburg, Norway (.86 percent), Tokyo, Japan (.5 percent), Sasebo, Japan (.23 percent), Maizuru, Japan (.14 percent), San Fernando, Spain (.12 percent), and Yokohama, Japan (.1 percent), and is expected to be completed by November 2014. FMS funds in the amount of $47,013,917 will be obligated at the time of award, and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity.

Lockheed Martin, Mission Systems and Training, Manassas, Virginia, is being awarded a $20,490,657 modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-13-C-5225) to exercise options for AN/SQQ-89 engineering services, advanced capability build, technical insertion development and integration. The AN/SQQ-89 is an undersea warfare/anti-submarine warfare combat system that provides surface warships with a seamlessly integrated undersea/anti-submarine warfare detection, localization, classification and targeting capability. This contract involves foreign military sales to Japan (63 percent). Work will be performed in Manassas, Virginia, and is expected to be completed by May 2015. Fiscal 2011, 2012, and 2013 shipbuilding and conversion, Navy; fiscal 2014 operations and maintenance, Navy; fiscal 2014 research and development; fiscal 2014 other procurement, Navy and FMS funding in the amount of $20,490,657 will be obligated at the time of the award. Contract funds in the amount of $300,000 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity.

Raytheon Co., Integrated Defense Systems (IDS), Tewksbury, Massachusetts, is being awarded a $10,271,042 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-05-C-5346) for the execution of Phase II CVN 78 Dual Band Radar, test and evaluation engineering support at the Raytheon IDS Software Development Laboratory and Wallops Island Engineering Test Center Land Based Test Site. Work will be performed in Sudbury, Massachusetts (90 percent), and Moorestown, New Jersey (10 percent), and is expected to be completed by December 2014. Fiscal 2011 shipbuilding and conversion, Navy contract funds in the amount of $10,271,042 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of this fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity.

ManTech Systems Engineering Corp., Fairfax, Virginia, is being awarded an $8,852,349 cost-plus-fixed-fee, cost-only contract to provide specific systems operation, sustainment and support services for the Navy Ship Maintenance and Logistics Information Systems (SMLIS) program. This contract provides uninterrupted enterprise support to the SMLIS program, including engineering support in the areas of information technology life cycle planning, operations and sustainment, documentation, program management, application technical refresh, testing, training, and deployment. This contract contains options which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of this contract to $39,603,500. Work will be performed in Norfolk, Virginia (55 percent), Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania (10 percent), Rocket Center, West Virginia (9.1 percent), Kittery, Maine (7.1 percent), Washington, District of Columbia (6 percent), San Diego, California (5 percent), Fairfield, California (2 percent), Mayport, Florida (2 percent), Indian Head, Maryland (1 percent), and other locations less than 1 percent (2.8 percent) and is expected to be completed by May 2015. Fiscal 2014 operations and maintenance, Navy and fiscal 2014 research, development, test and evaluation funding in the amount of $8,852,349 will be obligated at time of award, and funds in the amount of $8,352,349 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured pursuant to 10 U.S.C. 2304(c)(1). The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity (N00024-14-C-4110).

ARMY

Watterson Construction Co., Anchorage, Alaska, was awarded a $44,334,530 firm-fixed-price contract for the design and construction of the mechanical-electrical building, missile field number one in Fort Greely, Alaska. Estimated completion date is March 1, 2016. Fiscal 2013 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $53,658; fiscal 2014 reserarch, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $1,442,369 and fiscal 2014 military construction funds in the amount of $42,838,502 are being obligated at award. Bids were solicited via the Internet with seven received. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Elmendorf, Alaska, is the contracting activity (911KB-14-C-0016).
Conti Federal Services Inc., Edison, New Jersey, was awarded a $26,560,022 firm-fixed-price, contract for a design-build construction contract for buildings, utilities and infrastructure at Shivta Artillery Base, Israel. Fiscal 2014 other appropriations in the amount of $26,560,022 are being obligated at award. Work will be performed in Israel, with an estimated completion date of Sept. 15, 2016. Bids were solicited via the Internet with three received. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers-Europe District, is the contracting activity (W912GB-14-C-0016).
MOCA Systems Inc.*, Newton, Massachusetts, was awarded a $7,000,000 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery contract for architect-engineer services to support the construction management activities for the Mobile District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Funding and performance location will be determined with each order. Estimated completion date is May 15, 2019. Bids were solicited via the Internet with 36 received. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile, Alabama, is the contracting activity (W91278-14-D-0012).

DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY

CORRECTION: The contract announced on Dec. 17, 2013, for Nacco Materials Handling Group Inc., Greenville, North Carolina (SPM8E8-14-D-0002), for $28,725,000 was announced with an incorrect award date. The correct award date is May 16, 2014.

Science Application International Corp., Fairfield, New Jersey, has been awarded a maximum $21,000,000 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, prime vendor bridge contract for maintenance, repair, and operations for Southwest zone two region of the United States. This contract was a sole-source acquisition. Location of performance is New Jersey with a Sep. 18, 2014 performance completion date. Using military services are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and federal civilian agencies. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2014 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPM500-04-D-BP08/P00029).

The Boeing Co., St. Louis, Missouri, has been awarded a maximum $19,459,507 firm-fixed-price, definite-quantity contract to provide airframe structural support components. This contract was a sole-source acquisition. This is a five-year base contract with no option periods. Location of performance is Missouri, with a May 31, 2019 performance completion date. Using service is Air Force. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2014 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Aviation, Richmond, Virginia (SPM4A1-14-G-0007-00YH).

Graybar Electric Company Inc., St. Louis, Missouri, has been awarded a maximum $18,000,000 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, prime vendor bridge contract for maintenance, repair, and operations for Southwest zone one region of the United States. This contract was a sole-source acquisition. Location of performance is Missouri with a Sept. 18, 2014 performance completion date. Using military services are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and federal civilian agencies. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2014 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPM500-04-D-BP07/P00031).
Paramount Packaging*, Haddonfield, New Jersey, has been awarded a maximum $18,000,000 modification (P00104) exercising the first option period on a two-year base contract (SPM8EF-12-D-0001) with three one-year option periods. This is a fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for the supply of tote boxes used for shipping. Locations of performance are New Jersey and Pennsylvania, with a June 14, 2015 performance completion date. Using service is Defense Logistics Agency supply depots. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2014 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Ultra Flightline Systems, Victor, New York, has been awarded a maximum $9,990,280 firm-fixed-price contract for gyroscopes which support helicopter flight controls. This contract was a sole source acquisition. Location of performance is New York, with a March 2016 performance completion date. Using military service is Army. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2014 Army working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Land and Maritime, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland (SPRBL1-14-C-0004).

U.S. TRANSPORTATION COMMAND

AAR Airlift Group, Inc., Palm Bay, Florida, is being awarded an $8,529,906 indefinite- delivery/indefinite- quantity, fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment contract for dedicated rotary wing services in the Central Africa Region (Uganda, Central Africa Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan) with an expected completion date of April 23, 2015. Funds will be obligated on individual task orders and are operations and maintenance, Army funds. This contract was a competitive acquisition, and seven proposals were received. The U.S. Transportation Command, Directorate of Acquisition, Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, is the contracting activity (HTC711-14-D-R059).
*Small Business