FROM: NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
Scientists confirm that Midwest floods are more frequent
Floods happening more often over past half-century
February 9, 2015
The U.S. Midwest region and surrounding states have endured increasingly more frequent floods during the last half-century, according to results of a new study.
The researchers, affiliated with the University of Iowa (UI) and funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), based their findings on daily records collected by the U.S. Geological Survey at 774 stream gauges in 14 states from 1962-2011, a data collection period in common for all the stations.
They found that 264, or 34 percent, of the stations had an increase in frequency in the number of flood events, while only 66 stations, 9 percent, showed a decrease.
"We have been experiencing a larger number of big floods," says Gabriele Villarini, UI civil and environmental engineer and corresponding author of a paper reporting the results published today in the journal Nature Climate Change.
The findings likely come as no surprise to millions of people in the Midwest and bordering states.
During the past several decades, large floods have plagued the region in 1993, 2008, 2011, 2013 and again in 2014.
"Floods have the potential to take an immense toll on society in economic damages and other long-term effects," says Anjuli Bamzai, program director in NSF's Division of Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences, which funded the research.
"This study looks at how such events may have changed over recent decades across the central U.S."
The floods caused agricultural and other economic losses in the billions of dollars, displaced people and led to loss of life.
"There is a pattern with increasing frequency of flood events from North Dakota south to Iowa and Missouri and east into Illinois, Indiana and Ohio," says Iman Mallakpour, UI civil and environmental engineer and lead author of the paper.
"We related this increasing number of big floods to changes in rainfall and temperature," adds Villarini.
"There was an overall good match between the areas with increasing frequency of floods and areas experiencing increasing frequency of heavy rainfall."
Seasonal analysis revealed that most of the flood peaks in the upper Midwest occur in the spring and stem primarily from snowmelt, rain falling on frozen ground, and rain-on-snow events.
Spring--a season with heavy rains--also has the strongest increase in temperature over most of the northern part of the region studied.
The findings fit well with current thinking among scientists about how the hydrologic cycle is being affected by climate change.
In general, as the atmosphere becomes warmer, it can hold more moisture. One consequence of higher water vapor concentrations is more frequent, intense precipitation.
Villarini says the current study did not attempt to link the increase in the number of episodes with climate change.
"What causes the observed changes in precipitation and temperature is not something we have addressed because of the difficulties in doing so based on observational records," he says.
The study region included Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Ohio, Michigan, Minnesota, Kansas, Nebraska, Missouri, West Virginia, Kentucky, North Dakota and South Dakota.
The method used involved establishing a threshold level of two flood events per year, on average, for each of the 774 stream gauges in the study.
To avoid counting the same event twice, the researchers allowed for the recording of only one event within a 15-day period.
The research was also funded by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Institute for Water Resources, the Iowa Flood Center and IIHR-Hydroscience & Engineering.
-NSF-
Media Contacts
Cheryl Dybas, NSF
Wednesday, February 11, 2015
Tuesday, February 10, 2015
SECRETARY KERRY'S STATEMENT ON DEATH OF KAYLA MUELLER
FROM: THE STATE DEPARTMENT
The Death of Kayla Jean Mueller
Press Statement
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Washington, DC
February 10, 2015
All Americans mourn the loss of Kayla Mueller, a compassionate young American who represented everything good about the human spirit. There are no words to express to Kayla's parents, Marsha and Carl, how sorry we are for their crushing loss, just how much so many wished for and worked to try and secure a better outcome, or how awe-inspiring is the example of their strength, determination, and devotion to faith and family. To them, and to Kayla's brother Eric and his family, I hope they can know that our entire country grieves together with all those whose lives she touched.
I have learned a great deal about Kayla through the stories shared about her during this awful period. She was someone any of us would be lucky to know as a daughter, sister, friend, or colleague. She so purposefully had one mission in life from the very start, and that was to help people: people in India, Israel, and the Palestinian Territories, people at an HIV/AIDS clinic and a women’s shelter at home in Arizona, and, most recently, Syrian refugees in Turkey. While ISIL exploited the crisis in Syria to rule by violence and massacre the innocent, human tragedy moved Kayla to do the opposite. She embraced children who had lost their parents. She comforted the sick and the wounded. She gave people hope even as their world fell apart around them. Kayla's sense of values, her humanity and generosity, her idealism – this is what will endure, and it will endure long, long after the barbarity of ISIL is defeated.
ISIL, and ISIL alone, is the reason Kayla is gone. Like our friends in Jordan, our resolve is unshaken to defeat this vile and unspeakably ugly insult to the civilized world and to defeat terrorists whose actions – killing women, killing children, burning people alive – are an insult to the religion they falsely claim to represent.
The Death of Kayla Jean Mueller
Press Statement
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Washington, DC
February 10, 2015
All Americans mourn the loss of Kayla Mueller, a compassionate young American who represented everything good about the human spirit. There are no words to express to Kayla's parents, Marsha and Carl, how sorry we are for their crushing loss, just how much so many wished for and worked to try and secure a better outcome, or how awe-inspiring is the example of their strength, determination, and devotion to faith and family. To them, and to Kayla's brother Eric and his family, I hope they can know that our entire country grieves together with all those whose lives she touched.
I have learned a great deal about Kayla through the stories shared about her during this awful period. She was someone any of us would be lucky to know as a daughter, sister, friend, or colleague. She so purposefully had one mission in life from the very start, and that was to help people: people in India, Israel, and the Palestinian Territories, people at an HIV/AIDS clinic and a women’s shelter at home in Arizona, and, most recently, Syrian refugees in Turkey. While ISIL exploited the crisis in Syria to rule by violence and massacre the innocent, human tragedy moved Kayla to do the opposite. She embraced children who had lost their parents. She comforted the sick and the wounded. She gave people hope even as their world fell apart around them. Kayla's sense of values, her humanity and generosity, her idealism – this is what will endure, and it will endure long, long after the barbarity of ISIL is defeated.
ISIL, and ISIL alone, is the reason Kayla is gone. Like our friends in Jordan, our resolve is unshaken to defeat this vile and unspeakably ugly insult to the civilized world and to defeat terrorists whose actions – killing women, killing children, burning people alive – are an insult to the religion they falsely claim to represent.
HUNDREDS OF SERVICE MEMBERS AND FAMILIES ARE ELIGIBLE TO RECEIVE MONEY FOR NON-JUDICIAL FORECLOSURES
FROM: U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT
Troops to Receive Millions Under Service Members Civil Relief Act
DoD News, Defense Media Activity
WASHINGTON, Feb. 9, 2015 – The Justice Department announced today that under its settlements with five of the nation’s largest mortgage servicers, 952 service members and their co-borrowers are eligible to receive over $123 million for non-judicial foreclosures that violated the Service Members Civil Relief Act.
The five mortgage servicers are JP Morgan Chase Bank N.A.; Wells Fargo Bank N.A. and Wells Fargo & Co.; Citi Residential Lending Inc., Citibank, NA and CitiMortgage Inc.; GMAC Mortgage, LLC, Ally Financial Inc. and Residential Capital LLC; and BAC Home Loans Servicing LP formerly known as Countrywide Home Loans Servicing LP (Bank of America).
In the first round of payments under the SCRA portion of the 2012 settlement known as the National Mortgage Settlement, 666 service members and their co-borrowers will receive over $88 million from JP Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Citi and GMAC Mortgage. The other 286 service members and their co-borrowers already have received over $35 million from Bank of America through an earlier settlement. The non-judicial foreclosures at issue took place between Jan. 1, 2006, and Apr. 4, 2012.
Unlawful Foreclosures
“These unlawful judicial foreclosures forced hundreds of service members and their families out of their homes,” said Acting Associate Attorney General Stuart F. Delery. “While this compensation will provide a measure of relief, the fact is that service members should never have to worry about losing their home to an illegal foreclosure while they are serving our country. The department will continue to actively protect our service members and their families from such unjust actions.”
“We are very pleased that the men and women of the armed forces who were subjected to unlawful non-judicial foreclosures while they were serving our country are now receiving compensation,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta of the Civil Rights Division. “We look forward, in the coming months, to facilitating the compensation of additional service members who were subjected to unlawful judicial foreclosures or excess interest charges. We appreciate that JP Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Citi, GMAC Mortgage and Bank of America have been working cooperatively with the Justice Department to compensate the service members whose rights were violated.”
Section 533 of the SCRA prohibits non-judicial foreclosures against service members who are in military service or within the applicable post-service period, as long as they originated their mortgages before their period of military service began. Even in states that normally allow mortgage foreclosures to proceed non-judicially, the SCRA prohibits servicers from doing so against protected service members during their military service and applicable post-military service coverage period.
Under the National Mortgage Settlement, for mortgages serviced by Wells Fargo, Citi and GMAC Mortgage, the identified service members will each receive $125,000, plus any lost equity in the property and interest on that equity. Eligible co-borrowers will also be compensated for their share of any lost equity in the property.
To ensure consistency with an earlier private settlement, JP Morgan Chase will provide any identified service member either the property free and clear of any debt or the cash equivalent of the full value of the home at the time of sale, and the opportunity to submit a claim for compensation for any additional harm suffered, which will be determined by a special consultant, retired U.S. District Court Judge Edward N. Cahn.
Payment amounts have been reduced for those service members or co-borrowers who have previously received compensation directly from the servicer or through a prior settlement, such as the independent foreclosure review conducted by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Reserve Board. The Bank of America payments to identified service members with nonjudicial foreclosures were made under a 2011 settlement with the Department of Justice.
The NMS also provides compensation for two categories of service members:
-- Those who were foreclosed upon pursuant to a court order where the mortgage servicer failed to file a proper affidavit with the court stating whether or not the service member was in military service; and
-- Those service members who gave proper notice to the servicer, but were denied the full benefit of the SCRA’s 6% interest rate cap on pre-service mortgages. The service members entitled to compensation for these alleged violations will be identified later in 2015.
Points of Contact
Borrowers should use the following contact information for questions about SCRA payments under the National Mortgage Settlement:
-- Bank of America borrowers should call Rust Consulting, Inc., the settlement administrator, toll-free at 1-855-793-1370 or write to BAC Home Loans Servicing Settlement Administrator, c/o Rust Consulting, Inc., P.O. Box 1948, Faribault, MN 55021-6091.
-- Citi borrowers should call Citi toll-free at 1-888-326-1166.
-- GMAC Mortgage borrowers should call Rust Consulting Inc., the settlement administrator, toll-free at 1-866-708-0915 or write to P.O. Box 3061, Faribault, Minnesota 55021-2661.
-- JPMorgan Chase borrowers should call Chase toll-free at 1-877-469-0110 or write to P.O. Box 183224, OH-7160/DOJ, Columbus, Ohio 43219-6009.
-- Wells Fargo borrowers should call the Wells Fargo Home Mortgage Military Customer Service Center toll free at 1-877-839-2359.
Service members and their dependents who believe that their SCRA rights have been violated should contact an Armed Forces Legal Assistance office. To find the closest office, consult the military legal assistance office locator at http://legalassistance.law.af.mil and click on the Legal Services Locator. Additional information about the Justice Department’s enforcement of the SCRA and the other laws protecting service members is available at
www.servicemembers.gov
Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force
Today’s settlement was announced in connection with the President’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force. The task force was established to wage an aggressive, coordinated and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes.
With more than 20 federal agencies, 94 U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and state and local partners, it is the broadest coalition of law enforcement, investigatory and regulatory agencies ever assembled to combat fraud.
Since its formation, the task force has made great strides in facilitating increased investigation and prosecution of financial crimes, enhancing coordination and cooperation among federal, state and local authorities, addressing discrimination in the lending and financial markets and conducting outreach to the public, victims, financial institutions and other organizations.
Troops to Receive Millions Under Service Members Civil Relief Act
DoD News, Defense Media Activity
WASHINGTON, Feb. 9, 2015 – The Justice Department announced today that under its settlements with five of the nation’s largest mortgage servicers, 952 service members and their co-borrowers are eligible to receive over $123 million for non-judicial foreclosures that violated the Service Members Civil Relief Act.
The five mortgage servicers are JP Morgan Chase Bank N.A.; Wells Fargo Bank N.A. and Wells Fargo & Co.; Citi Residential Lending Inc., Citibank, NA and CitiMortgage Inc.; GMAC Mortgage, LLC, Ally Financial Inc. and Residential Capital LLC; and BAC Home Loans Servicing LP formerly known as Countrywide Home Loans Servicing LP (Bank of America).
In the first round of payments under the SCRA portion of the 2012 settlement known as the National Mortgage Settlement, 666 service members and their co-borrowers will receive over $88 million from JP Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Citi and GMAC Mortgage. The other 286 service members and their co-borrowers already have received over $35 million from Bank of America through an earlier settlement. The non-judicial foreclosures at issue took place between Jan. 1, 2006, and Apr. 4, 2012.
Unlawful Foreclosures
“These unlawful judicial foreclosures forced hundreds of service members and their families out of their homes,” said Acting Associate Attorney General Stuart F. Delery. “While this compensation will provide a measure of relief, the fact is that service members should never have to worry about losing their home to an illegal foreclosure while they are serving our country. The department will continue to actively protect our service members and their families from such unjust actions.”
“We are very pleased that the men and women of the armed forces who were subjected to unlawful non-judicial foreclosures while they were serving our country are now receiving compensation,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta of the Civil Rights Division. “We look forward, in the coming months, to facilitating the compensation of additional service members who were subjected to unlawful judicial foreclosures or excess interest charges. We appreciate that JP Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Citi, GMAC Mortgage and Bank of America have been working cooperatively with the Justice Department to compensate the service members whose rights were violated.”
Section 533 of the SCRA prohibits non-judicial foreclosures against service members who are in military service or within the applicable post-service period, as long as they originated their mortgages before their period of military service began. Even in states that normally allow mortgage foreclosures to proceed non-judicially, the SCRA prohibits servicers from doing so against protected service members during their military service and applicable post-military service coverage period.
Under the National Mortgage Settlement, for mortgages serviced by Wells Fargo, Citi and GMAC Mortgage, the identified service members will each receive $125,000, plus any lost equity in the property and interest on that equity. Eligible co-borrowers will also be compensated for their share of any lost equity in the property.
To ensure consistency with an earlier private settlement, JP Morgan Chase will provide any identified service member either the property free and clear of any debt or the cash equivalent of the full value of the home at the time of sale, and the opportunity to submit a claim for compensation for any additional harm suffered, which will be determined by a special consultant, retired U.S. District Court Judge Edward N. Cahn.
Payment amounts have been reduced for those service members or co-borrowers who have previously received compensation directly from the servicer or through a prior settlement, such as the independent foreclosure review conducted by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Reserve Board. The Bank of America payments to identified service members with nonjudicial foreclosures were made under a 2011 settlement with the Department of Justice.
The NMS also provides compensation for two categories of service members:
-- Those who were foreclosed upon pursuant to a court order where the mortgage servicer failed to file a proper affidavit with the court stating whether or not the service member was in military service; and
-- Those service members who gave proper notice to the servicer, but were denied the full benefit of the SCRA’s 6% interest rate cap on pre-service mortgages. The service members entitled to compensation for these alleged violations will be identified later in 2015.
Points of Contact
Borrowers should use the following contact information for questions about SCRA payments under the National Mortgage Settlement:
-- Bank of America borrowers should call Rust Consulting, Inc., the settlement administrator, toll-free at 1-855-793-1370 or write to BAC Home Loans Servicing Settlement Administrator, c/o Rust Consulting, Inc., P.O. Box 1948, Faribault, MN 55021-6091.
-- Citi borrowers should call Citi toll-free at 1-888-326-1166.
-- GMAC Mortgage borrowers should call Rust Consulting Inc., the settlement administrator, toll-free at 1-866-708-0915 or write to P.O. Box 3061, Faribault, Minnesota 55021-2661.
-- JPMorgan Chase borrowers should call Chase toll-free at 1-877-469-0110 or write to P.O. Box 183224, OH-7160/DOJ, Columbus, Ohio 43219-6009.
-- Wells Fargo borrowers should call the Wells Fargo Home Mortgage Military Customer Service Center toll free at 1-877-839-2359.
Service members and their dependents who believe that their SCRA rights have been violated should contact an Armed Forces Legal Assistance office. To find the closest office, consult the military legal assistance office locator at http://legalassistance.law.af.mil and click on the Legal Services Locator. Additional information about the Justice Department’s enforcement of the SCRA and the other laws protecting service members is available at
www.servicemembers.gov
Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force
Today’s settlement was announced in connection with the President’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force. The task force was established to wage an aggressive, coordinated and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes.
With more than 20 federal agencies, 94 U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and state and local partners, it is the broadest coalition of law enforcement, investigatory and regulatory agencies ever assembled to combat fraud.
Since its formation, the task force has made great strides in facilitating increased investigation and prosecution of financial crimes, enhancing coordination and cooperation among federal, state and local authorities, addressing discrimination in the lending and financial markets and conducting outreach to the public, victims, financial institutions and other organizations.
C.S. ELIOT KANG'S REMARK'S AT DIPLOMATIC CONFERENCE ON THE CONVENTION ON NUCLEAR SAFETY
FROM: U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
Diplomatic Conference on the Convention on Nuclear Safety
Remarks
C.S. Eliot Kang
Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation
International Atomic Energy Agency
Vienna, Austria
February 9, 2015
Mr. Chairman, Distinguished Colleagues,
Allow me to start by congratulating Ambassador Grossi on his election as President of the Diplomatic Conference, and assuring him of the full support of the United States for his efforts to make this a successful conference. Thank you, Ambassador Grossi, for agreeing to lead the informal working group meetings. Your leadership, guidance, and support were invaluable as we worked together to make the Convention on Nuclear Safety more effective in ensuring a high level of safety at nuclear installations around the world. This is a top priority for the United States.
We recognize and appreciate Switzerland’s efforts to raise the profile of the important issue of nuclear safety. We would also like to thank the parties to the Convention for the active dialogue over the past several months. This Convention was founded on the principle that a multilateral, incentive-based approach provides the best way to ensure a high level of nuclear safety worldwide. It allows safety standards and guidance to be strengthened by taking into account emerging technologies and lessons learned. The process leading up to this conference has once again proven the wisdom of that approach.
The United States strongly supports the Convention and views it as an important instrument for international cooperation. Although safety remains a national responsibility, international cooperation through a process of robust peer review is indispensable for strengthening nuclear safety. Nuclear safety is an ongoing concern, and its continuous, timely improvement should be our shared objective.
The Fukushima accident was a wake-up call for all of us. In the United States, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission conducted an exhaustive review of our nuclear power plants and required significant safety enhancements in light of the lessons learned from Fukushima. Those enhancements are now well under way at U.S. plants, with a most of the major work expected to be completed by the end of 2016.
At the same time, the international community has come together to strengthen safety standards through a variety of efforts. The parties to this Convention led some of the most important of those efforts. In particular, the changes to the Convention’s guidance that we undertook at the 6th Review Meeting in April 2014, demonstrate our collective determination to reinforce nuclear safety. To make this incentive convention function as it should, parties report on their implementation of obligations under the Convention with reference to contemporaneous guidance reflecting internationally formulated safety guidelines. Thanks to the work we have undertaken, the guidance that was updated and put into effect in April 2014 incorporates key lessons learned from the Fukushima accident. This ability to immediately update guidance and safety standards -- without amending the Convention – makes the Convention a modern, relevant, and effective instrument to improve nuclear safety well into the future.
We are now here at this diplomatic conference to consider how to build on that work and continue moving the Convention forward. As many parties have expressed during the preparatory process, the best way to do that is to commit and dedicate ourselves to vigorous implementation of the Convention. The United States appreciates the work of the Chair in helping to put on paper the views of the parties as they have been expressed over the past several months. We believe the proposed Vienna Declaration is an excellent reflection of the consensus among the parties to the Convention and we are ready to support it. Achieving consensus at the Diplomatic Conference sends a crucial message to the international community and the public that we stand united on the importance of nuclear safety and are taking timely and responsive action to improve it.
Mr. Chairman, we all live in an increasingly interdependent world. This certainly holds true for nuclear safety. The declaration before us represents a political commitment to reinvigorate the principles of the Convention itself, and by coming together as a community to endorse it, we will be sending a powerful message to the world. We are telling the world that we understand our responsibilities and are meeting them in a way that can inspire confidence in the future peaceful uses of nuclear energy and technology.
We hope that all parties to the Convention will join us in supporting the proposed consensus outcome and commit to follow the principles outlined in the Declaration.
Diplomatic Conference on the Convention on Nuclear Safety
Remarks
C.S. Eliot Kang
Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation
International Atomic Energy Agency
Vienna, Austria
February 9, 2015
Mr. Chairman, Distinguished Colleagues,
Allow me to start by congratulating Ambassador Grossi on his election as President of the Diplomatic Conference, and assuring him of the full support of the United States for his efforts to make this a successful conference. Thank you, Ambassador Grossi, for agreeing to lead the informal working group meetings. Your leadership, guidance, and support were invaluable as we worked together to make the Convention on Nuclear Safety more effective in ensuring a high level of safety at nuclear installations around the world. This is a top priority for the United States.
We recognize and appreciate Switzerland’s efforts to raise the profile of the important issue of nuclear safety. We would also like to thank the parties to the Convention for the active dialogue over the past several months. This Convention was founded on the principle that a multilateral, incentive-based approach provides the best way to ensure a high level of nuclear safety worldwide. It allows safety standards and guidance to be strengthened by taking into account emerging technologies and lessons learned. The process leading up to this conference has once again proven the wisdom of that approach.
The United States strongly supports the Convention and views it as an important instrument for international cooperation. Although safety remains a national responsibility, international cooperation through a process of robust peer review is indispensable for strengthening nuclear safety. Nuclear safety is an ongoing concern, and its continuous, timely improvement should be our shared objective.
The Fukushima accident was a wake-up call for all of us. In the United States, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission conducted an exhaustive review of our nuclear power plants and required significant safety enhancements in light of the lessons learned from Fukushima. Those enhancements are now well under way at U.S. plants, with a most of the major work expected to be completed by the end of 2016.
At the same time, the international community has come together to strengthen safety standards through a variety of efforts. The parties to this Convention led some of the most important of those efforts. In particular, the changes to the Convention’s guidance that we undertook at the 6th Review Meeting in April 2014, demonstrate our collective determination to reinforce nuclear safety. To make this incentive convention function as it should, parties report on their implementation of obligations under the Convention with reference to contemporaneous guidance reflecting internationally formulated safety guidelines. Thanks to the work we have undertaken, the guidance that was updated and put into effect in April 2014 incorporates key lessons learned from the Fukushima accident. This ability to immediately update guidance and safety standards -- without amending the Convention – makes the Convention a modern, relevant, and effective instrument to improve nuclear safety well into the future.
We are now here at this diplomatic conference to consider how to build on that work and continue moving the Convention forward. As many parties have expressed during the preparatory process, the best way to do that is to commit and dedicate ourselves to vigorous implementation of the Convention. The United States appreciates the work of the Chair in helping to put on paper the views of the parties as they have been expressed over the past several months. We believe the proposed Vienna Declaration is an excellent reflection of the consensus among the parties to the Convention and we are ready to support it. Achieving consensus at the Diplomatic Conference sends a crucial message to the international community and the public that we stand united on the importance of nuclear safety and are taking timely and responsive action to improve it.
Mr. Chairman, we all live in an increasingly interdependent world. This certainly holds true for nuclear safety. The declaration before us represents a political commitment to reinvigorate the principles of the Convention itself, and by coming together as a community to endorse it, we will be sending a powerful message to the world. We are telling the world that we understand our responsibilities and are meeting them in a way that can inspire confidence in the future peaceful uses of nuclear energy and technology.
We hope that all parties to the Convention will join us in supporting the proposed consensus outcome and commit to follow the principles outlined in the Declaration.
FTC TOUTS ACTIONS TAKEN AGAINST ABUSIVE AND FRAUDULENT DEBT COLLECTORS
FROM: U.S. FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION
FTC Continues to Protect Consumers from Abusive, Fraudulent Debt Collectors
Agency’s Activities over the Past Year Detailed in Annual Summary Provided to CFPB
Over the past year, the Federal Trade Commission has continued its vigorous work on behalf of U.S. consumers suffering from unlawful debt collection practices, including bringing law enforcement actions against abusive and fraudulent operations, conducting education and public outreach initiatives, and implementing research and policy programs.
Under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is required to submit annual reports to Congress on the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). Since the CFPB and FTC jointly enforce the Act, the FTC’s summary of its own recent work on debt collection issues assists the CFPB in preparing the report to Congress. In 2014, the Commission:
filed 10 new debt collection cases against 56 new defendants, more cases than the FTC has ever filed before in a given year;
resolved nine cases and obtained nearly $140 million in judgments against abusive and deceptive debt collectors, including one case in which the agency obtained a record $90.5 million in judgments, shutting down more than 20 debt collection companies employing nearly 500 collectors, and has collected $16.5 million from the judgments to date;
banned 47 companies and individuals that engaged in serious and repeated law violations from ever working in debt collection again;
filed two joint amicus briefs with the CFPB on key debt collection issues; and
co-hosted, along with the CFPB, a day-long roundtable exploring issues related to the collection of debts from Latino consumers.
According to the summary, the FTC’s work over the past year has focused on: 1) egregious debt collection practices, including “phantom debt collection”; 2) security of consumer data in the buying and selling of debts; and 3) protection of limited-English-proficiency consumers from illegal debt collection practices.
The FTC also has worked to educate consumers and businesses about their rights and responsibilities under the FDCPA and the FTC Act. In 2014, the agency distributed 14.8 million printed publications about debt collection to consumers nationwide and worked to educate industry by delivering speeches, blogging, participating in industry conferences, and providing education materials, among other things.
The Commission vote approving the letter was 5-0.
FTC Continues to Protect Consumers from Abusive, Fraudulent Debt Collectors
Agency’s Activities over the Past Year Detailed in Annual Summary Provided to CFPB
Over the past year, the Federal Trade Commission has continued its vigorous work on behalf of U.S. consumers suffering from unlawful debt collection practices, including bringing law enforcement actions against abusive and fraudulent operations, conducting education and public outreach initiatives, and implementing research and policy programs.
Under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is required to submit annual reports to Congress on the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). Since the CFPB and FTC jointly enforce the Act, the FTC’s summary of its own recent work on debt collection issues assists the CFPB in preparing the report to Congress. In 2014, the Commission:
filed 10 new debt collection cases against 56 new defendants, more cases than the FTC has ever filed before in a given year;
resolved nine cases and obtained nearly $140 million in judgments against abusive and deceptive debt collectors, including one case in which the agency obtained a record $90.5 million in judgments, shutting down more than 20 debt collection companies employing nearly 500 collectors, and has collected $16.5 million from the judgments to date;
banned 47 companies and individuals that engaged in serious and repeated law violations from ever working in debt collection again;
filed two joint amicus briefs with the CFPB on key debt collection issues; and
co-hosted, along with the CFPB, a day-long roundtable exploring issues related to the collection of debts from Latino consumers.
According to the summary, the FTC’s work over the past year has focused on: 1) egregious debt collection practices, including “phantom debt collection”; 2) security of consumer data in the buying and selling of debts; and 3) protection of limited-English-proficiency consumers from illegal debt collection practices.
The FTC also has worked to educate consumers and businesses about their rights and responsibilities under the FDCPA and the FTC Act. In 2014, the agency distributed 14.8 million printed publications about debt collection to consumers nationwide and worked to educate industry by delivering speeches, blogging, participating in industry conferences, and providing education materials, among other things.
The Commission vote approving the letter was 5-0.
MAN RECEIVES 15 YEAR PRISON TERM FOR CONSPIRING TO PROVIDE SUPPORT TO AL-SHABAAB
FROM U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT
Thursday, February 5, 2015
Somali Citizen Sentenced to 15 Years in Federal Prison for Conspiring to Provide Material Support to Al-Shabaab
Assistant Attorney General for National Security John P. Carlin, Acting U.S. Attorney Richard L. Durbin Jr. of the Western District of Texas, FBI Special Agent in Charge Christopher Combs and Chief Patrol Agent Rudolfo Karisch of the U.S. Border Patrol’s Del Rio Sector announced today that Abdinassir Mohamud Ibrahim was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for conspiring to provide material support to Al-Shabaab, a designated foreign terrorist organization, and for making a false statement in an immigration matter.
Ibrahim, 43, a citizen of Somalia, was charged in a two-count superseding information, returned on July 31, 2014 and unsealed today in San Antonio, and pleaded guilty to both counts of the information on July 31, 2014. Ibrahim admitted that from about May 18, 2010, to about Jan. 31, 2014, he knowingly conspired to provide material support and resources, specifically sending emails enlisting support for al-Shabaab and making a cash payment to a known member of al-Shabaab for the benefit of the organization. Ibrahim knew at the time that al-Shabaab was designated by the United States as a foreign terrorist organization.
Ibrahim also pleaded guilty to making a false statement in an immigration matter. According to the information, Ibrahim knowingly lied in his application for naturalization as he had previously lied on his request for refugee status, falsely claiming that he was of a member of the minority Awer clan in Somalia and subject to persecution by the majority Hawiye clan. However, Ibrahim was actually a member of the Hawiye clan and not subject to persecution. Ibrahim also admitted he had lied on his naturalization application by having previously lied on his refugee application by falsely claiming that he had not provided material support to a terrorist group, when he had in fact provided material support in the form of cash to an al-Shabaab member.
The case was investigated by the FBI and the Border Patrol together as part of the San Antonio Joint Terrorism Task Force. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Mark Roomberg and Christina Playton for the Western District of Texas.
Thursday, February 5, 2015
Somali Citizen Sentenced to 15 Years in Federal Prison for Conspiring to Provide Material Support to Al-Shabaab
Assistant Attorney General for National Security John P. Carlin, Acting U.S. Attorney Richard L. Durbin Jr. of the Western District of Texas, FBI Special Agent in Charge Christopher Combs and Chief Patrol Agent Rudolfo Karisch of the U.S. Border Patrol’s Del Rio Sector announced today that Abdinassir Mohamud Ibrahim was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for conspiring to provide material support to Al-Shabaab, a designated foreign terrorist organization, and for making a false statement in an immigration matter.
Ibrahim, 43, a citizen of Somalia, was charged in a two-count superseding information, returned on July 31, 2014 and unsealed today in San Antonio, and pleaded guilty to both counts of the information on July 31, 2014. Ibrahim admitted that from about May 18, 2010, to about Jan. 31, 2014, he knowingly conspired to provide material support and resources, specifically sending emails enlisting support for al-Shabaab and making a cash payment to a known member of al-Shabaab for the benefit of the organization. Ibrahim knew at the time that al-Shabaab was designated by the United States as a foreign terrorist organization.
Ibrahim also pleaded guilty to making a false statement in an immigration matter. According to the information, Ibrahim knowingly lied in his application for naturalization as he had previously lied on his request for refugee status, falsely claiming that he was of a member of the minority Awer clan in Somalia and subject to persecution by the majority Hawiye clan. However, Ibrahim was actually a member of the Hawiye clan and not subject to persecution. Ibrahim also admitted he had lied on his naturalization application by having previously lied on his refugee application by falsely claiming that he had not provided material support to a terrorist group, when he had in fact provided material support in the form of cash to an al-Shabaab member.
The case was investigated by the FBI and the Border Patrol together as part of the San Antonio Joint Terrorism Task Force. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Mark Roomberg and Christina Playton for the Western District of Texas.
Monday, February 9, 2015
FTC RESOLVES CASE OF COLLECTING PERSONAL MEDICAL INFORMATION WITHOUT CONSUMER'S CONSENT
FROM: FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION
FTC Approves Final Orders In PaymentsMD Privacy Case
After a public comment period, the Federal Trade Commission has approved final orders resolving complaints that PaymentsMD, LLC and its former CEO, Michael C. Hughes, violated consumers’ privacy by collecting personal medical information without their consent.
The settlements were first announced in December, 2014. In its complaints, the FTC alleged that Payments MD and Hughes altered the signup process for a consumer health billing site to include permission to collect consumers’ sensitive health information for an electronic health record portal site. According to the complaint, the company contacted health insurance companies, pharmacies, medical offices and labs seeking consumers’ health information, without adequately informing consumers that the company would be seeking such information.
Under the terms of the settlements, PaymentsMD and Hughes must destroy any information collected related to the Patient Health Report service. In addition, the respondents are banned from deceiving consumers about the way they collect and use information, including how information they collect might be shared with or collected from a third party, and they must obtain consumers’ affirmative express consent before collecting health information about a consumer from a third party.
The Commission votes to approve the final orders were 5-0.
FTC Approves Final Orders In PaymentsMD Privacy Case
After a public comment period, the Federal Trade Commission has approved final orders resolving complaints that PaymentsMD, LLC and its former CEO, Michael C. Hughes, violated consumers’ privacy by collecting personal medical information without their consent.
The settlements were first announced in December, 2014. In its complaints, the FTC alleged that Payments MD and Hughes altered the signup process for a consumer health billing site to include permission to collect consumers’ sensitive health information for an electronic health record portal site. According to the complaint, the company contacted health insurance companies, pharmacies, medical offices and labs seeking consumers’ health information, without adequately informing consumers that the company would be seeking such information.
Under the terms of the settlements, PaymentsMD and Hughes must destroy any information collected related to the Patient Health Report service. In addition, the respondents are banned from deceiving consumers about the way they collect and use information, including how information they collect might be shared with or collected from a third party, and they must obtain consumers’ affirmative express consent before collecting health information about a consumer from a third party.
The Commission votes to approve the final orders were 5-0.
IRS SAYS ELECTRONIC FILING PREFERRED WAY TO FILE TAXES THIS YEAR
FROM: U.S. INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE
February 8, 2015
2015 Tax Filing Season Volume Outpacing Prior Year
WASHINGTON — The 2015 tax filing season is off to a strong start with most taxpayers filing their returns electronically and choosing direct deposit for their refunds, according to the Internal Revenue Service.
As of Jan. 31, the IRS received more than 14 million tax returns this year. More than 13 million of those returns have been filed electronically, an indication that more taxpayers are realizing the benefits that e-filing offers.
“We encourage taxpayers to e-file their returns since it is the quickest, safest and most accurate way to file and the fastest way to get a refund,” said IRS Commissioner John Koskinen. “We also urge taxpayers to take advantage of the many online resources available through our web site.”
IRS.gov has been accessed more than 65 million times this year, up 49 percent from the same time last year.
Filing a complete and accurate return is more crucial than ever to prevent refund delays or discrepancies.
The IRS has issued 7.6 million refunds worth $26.8 billion; the average refund is worth $3,539. More than 96 percent of all refunds have been paid through direct deposit. All total, 7.3 million refunds worth $26.2 billion have been directly deposited to taxpayer accounts.
February 8, 2015
2015 Tax Filing Season Volume Outpacing Prior Year
WASHINGTON — The 2015 tax filing season is off to a strong start with most taxpayers filing their returns electronically and choosing direct deposit for their refunds, according to the Internal Revenue Service.
As of Jan. 31, the IRS received more than 14 million tax returns this year. More than 13 million of those returns have been filed electronically, an indication that more taxpayers are realizing the benefits that e-filing offers.
“We encourage taxpayers to e-file their returns since it is the quickest, safest and most accurate way to file and the fastest way to get a refund,” said IRS Commissioner John Koskinen. “We also urge taxpayers to take advantage of the many online resources available through our web site.”
IRS.gov has been accessed more than 65 million times this year, up 49 percent from the same time last year.
Filing a complete and accurate return is more crucial than ever to prevent refund delays or discrepancies.
The IRS has issued 7.6 million refunds worth $26.8 billion; the average refund is worth $3,539. More than 96 percent of all refunds have been paid through direct deposit. All total, 7.3 million refunds worth $26.2 billion have been directly deposited to taxpayer accounts.
MEDICAL DEVICE MANUFACTURER AGREES TO PAY $1.25 MILLION TO SETTLE FALSE CLAIMS ACT ALLEGATIONS
FROM: U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT
Office of Public Affairs
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, February 5, 2015
Minnesota-Based ev3 to Pay United States $1.25 Million to Settle False Claims Act Allegations
Medical device manufacturer ev3 Inc., formerly known as Fox Hollow Technologies Inc., has agreed to pay the United States $1.25 million to resolve allegations under the False Claims Act that Fox Hollow caused certain hospitals to submit false claims to Medicare for unnecessary inpatient admissions related to minimally-invasive atherectomy procedures, the Justice Department announced today.
“Today’s settlement demonstrates our commitment to ensure that the Medicare Trust Fund is used to pay for only necessary medical care,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Joyce R. Branda of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “Charging the government for higher-cost inpatient services that patients do not need wastes the country’s precious health care resources.”
“It should come as no surprise to anyone that proper health care of a patient includes more than just competence of a provider, it requires accuracy and honesty in billing Medicare for the patient’s treatment,” said U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul Jr. of the Western District of New York. “In this case, a medical device manufacturer allegedly induced hospitals to admit patients as inpatients for minimally-invasive procedures involving its device, even though many of those patients should have been treated as outpatients at significantly less cost. This was done in order to collect higher Medicare reimbursements which ultimately drive up costs for all taxpayers and beneficiaries of government health programs.”
The United States alleged that Fox Hollow, which was acquired by ev3 Inc. in late 2007, knowingly caused 12 hospitals located throughout nine states to submit claims to Medicare for medically unnecessary inpatient stays for certain Medicare beneficiaries undergoing elective atherectomy procedures. Atherectomy is a minimally-invasive surgical procedure that uses a small cutting device to remove atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries, from large blood vessels within the body, and it is intended to open up narrowed coronary arteries to increase blood flow and circulation. One such device used in atherectomy procedures is the Silver Hawk Plaque Excision System sold by Fox Hollow. The United States alleged that throughout 2006 and 2007, to increase hospital purchases of the Silver Hawk device, Fox Hollow advised hospitals that they should bill Silver Hawk atherectomy procedures as more expensive inpatient claims, as opposed to less costly outpatient claims. As a result, certain hospitals allegedly claimed greater reimbursement than they were entitled to for treating Medicare beneficiaries who underwent Silver Hawk atherectomy procedures.
“Medical device makers that try to boost their profits by causing patients to be admitted for unnecessary and expensive inpatient hospital stays will be held accountable,” said Special Agent in Charge Thomas O’Donnell of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG). “Both patients and taxpayers deserve to have medical decisions made based on what is medically appropriate.”
The civil settlement resolves a lawsuit filed under the whistleblower provision of the False Claims Act, which permits private parties to file suit on behalf of the United States for false claims and obtain a portion of the government’s recovery. The lawsuit was filed by Amanda Cashi, who formerly worked as a Fox Hollow sales representative. Cashi will receive $250,000.
This settlement illustrates the government’s emphasis on combating health care fraud and marks another achievement for the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (HEAT) initiative, which was announced in May 2009 by the Attorney General and the Secretary of Health and Human Services. The partnership between the two departments has focused efforts to reduce and prevent Medicare and Medicaid financial fraud through enhanced cooperation. One of the most powerful tools in this effort is the False Claims Act. Since January 2009, the Justice Department has recovered a total of more than $23.5 billion through False Claims Act cases, with more than $15 billion of that amount recovered in cases involving fraud against federal health care programs.
The settlement with ev3 was the result of a coordinated effort among the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of New York, the Civil Division’s Commercial Litigation Branch, and HHS-OIG.
The claims resolved by this settlement are allegations only and there has been no determination of liability.
Office of Public Affairs
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, February 5, 2015
Minnesota-Based ev3 to Pay United States $1.25 Million to Settle False Claims Act Allegations
Medical device manufacturer ev3 Inc., formerly known as Fox Hollow Technologies Inc., has agreed to pay the United States $1.25 million to resolve allegations under the False Claims Act that Fox Hollow caused certain hospitals to submit false claims to Medicare for unnecessary inpatient admissions related to minimally-invasive atherectomy procedures, the Justice Department announced today.
“Today’s settlement demonstrates our commitment to ensure that the Medicare Trust Fund is used to pay for only necessary medical care,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Joyce R. Branda of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “Charging the government for higher-cost inpatient services that patients do not need wastes the country’s precious health care resources.”
“It should come as no surprise to anyone that proper health care of a patient includes more than just competence of a provider, it requires accuracy and honesty in billing Medicare for the patient’s treatment,” said U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul Jr. of the Western District of New York. “In this case, a medical device manufacturer allegedly induced hospitals to admit patients as inpatients for minimally-invasive procedures involving its device, even though many of those patients should have been treated as outpatients at significantly less cost. This was done in order to collect higher Medicare reimbursements which ultimately drive up costs for all taxpayers and beneficiaries of government health programs.”
The United States alleged that Fox Hollow, which was acquired by ev3 Inc. in late 2007, knowingly caused 12 hospitals located throughout nine states to submit claims to Medicare for medically unnecessary inpatient stays for certain Medicare beneficiaries undergoing elective atherectomy procedures. Atherectomy is a minimally-invasive surgical procedure that uses a small cutting device to remove atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries, from large blood vessels within the body, and it is intended to open up narrowed coronary arteries to increase blood flow and circulation. One such device used in atherectomy procedures is the Silver Hawk Plaque Excision System sold by Fox Hollow. The United States alleged that throughout 2006 and 2007, to increase hospital purchases of the Silver Hawk device, Fox Hollow advised hospitals that they should bill Silver Hawk atherectomy procedures as more expensive inpatient claims, as opposed to less costly outpatient claims. As a result, certain hospitals allegedly claimed greater reimbursement than they were entitled to for treating Medicare beneficiaries who underwent Silver Hawk atherectomy procedures.
“Medical device makers that try to boost their profits by causing patients to be admitted for unnecessary and expensive inpatient hospital stays will be held accountable,” said Special Agent in Charge Thomas O’Donnell of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG). “Both patients and taxpayers deserve to have medical decisions made based on what is medically appropriate.”
The civil settlement resolves a lawsuit filed under the whistleblower provision of the False Claims Act, which permits private parties to file suit on behalf of the United States for false claims and obtain a portion of the government’s recovery. The lawsuit was filed by Amanda Cashi, who formerly worked as a Fox Hollow sales representative. Cashi will receive $250,000.
This settlement illustrates the government’s emphasis on combating health care fraud and marks another achievement for the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (HEAT) initiative, which was announced in May 2009 by the Attorney General and the Secretary of Health and Human Services. The partnership between the two departments has focused efforts to reduce and prevent Medicare and Medicaid financial fraud through enhanced cooperation. One of the most powerful tools in this effort is the False Claims Act. Since January 2009, the Justice Department has recovered a total of more than $23.5 billion through False Claims Act cases, with more than $15 billion of that amount recovered in cases involving fraud against federal health care programs.
The settlement with ev3 was the result of a coordinated effort among the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of New York, the Civil Division’s Commercial Litigation Branch, and HHS-OIG.
The claims resolved by this settlement are allegations only and there has been no determination of liability.
AI AND SAFE SELF-DRIVING CARS
FROM: NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
Programming safety into self-driving cars
UMass researchers improve artificial intelligence algorithms for semi-autonomous vehicles
February 2, 2015
For decades, researchers in artificial intelligence, or AI, worked on specialized problems, developing theoretical concepts and workable algorithms for various aspects of the field. Computer vision, planning and reasoning experts all struggled independently in areas that many thought would be easy to solve, but which proved incredibly difficult.
However, in recent years, as the individual aspects of artificial intelligence matured, researchers began bringing the pieces together, leading to amazing displays of high-level intelligence: from IBM's Watson to the recent poker playing champion to the ability of AI to recognize cats on the internet.
These advances were on display this week at the 29th conference of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI) in Austin, Texas, where interdisciplinary and applied research were prevalent, according to Shlomo Zilberstein, the conference committee chair and co-author on three papers at the conference.
Zilberstein studies the way artificial agents plan their future actions, particularly when working semi-autonomously--that is to say in conjunction with people or other devices.
Examples of semi-autonomous systems include co-robots working with humans in manufacturing, search-and-rescue robots that can be managed by humans working remotely and "driverless" cars. It is the latter topic that has particularly piqued Zilberstein's interest in recent years.
The marketing campaigns of leading auto manufacturers have presented a vision of the future where the passenger (formerly known as the driver) can check his or her email, chat with friends or even sleep while shuttling between home and the office. Some prototype vehicles included seats that swivel back to create an interior living room, or as in the case of Google's driverless car, a design with no steering wheel or brakes.
Except in rare cases, it's not clear to Zilberstein that this vision for the vehicles of the near future is a realistic one.
"In many areas, there are lots of barriers to full autonomy," Zilberstein said. "These barriers are not only technological, but also relate to legal and ethical issues and economic concerns."
In his talk at the "Blue Sky" session at AAAI, Zilberstein argued that in many areas, including driving, we will go through a long period where humans act as co-pilots or supervisors, passing off responsibility to the vehicle when possible and taking the wheel when the driving gets tricky, before the technology reaches full autonomy (if it ever does).
In such a scenario, the car would need to communicate with drivers to alert them when they need to take over control. In cases where the driver is non-responsive, the car must be able to autonomously make the decision to safely move to the side of the road and stop.
"People are unpredictable. What happens if the person is not doing what they're asked or expected to do, and the car is moving at sixty miles per hour?" Zilberstein asked. "This requires 'fault-tolerant planning.' It's the kind of planning that can handle a certain number of deviations or errors by the person who is asked to execute the plan."
With support from the National Science Foundation (NSF), Zilberstein has been exploring these and other practical questions related to the possibility of artificial agents that act among us.
Zilberstein, a professor of computer science at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, works with human studies experts from academia and industry to help uncover the subtle elements of human behavior that one would need to take into account when preparing a robot to work semi-autonomously. He then translates those ideas into computer programs that let a robot or autonomous vehicle plan its actions--and create a plan B in case of an emergency.
There are a lot of subtle cues that go into safe driving. Take for example a four-way stop. Officially, the first car to the crosswalk goes first, but in actuality, people watch each other to see if and when to make their move.
"There is a slight negotiation going on without talking," Zilberstein explained. "It's communicating by your action such as eye contact, the wave of a hand, or the slight revving of an engine."
In trials, autonomous vehicles often sit paralyzed at such stops, unable to safely read the cues of the other drivers on the road. This "undecidedness" is a big problem for robots. A recent paper by Alan Winfield of Bristol Robotics Laboratory in the UK showed how robots, when faced with a difficult decision, will often process for such a long period of time as to miss the opportunity to act. Zilberstein's systems are designed to remedy this problem.
"With some careful separation of objectives, planning algorithms could address one of the key problems of maintaining 'live state', even when goal reachability relies on timely human interventions," he concluded.
The ability to tailor one's trip based on human-centered factors--like how attentive the driver can be or the driver's desire to avoid highways--is another aspect of semi-autonomous driving that Zilberstein is exploring.
In a paper with Kyle Wray from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and Abdel-Illah Mouaddib from the University of Caen in France, Zilberstein introduced a new model and planning algorithm that allows semi-autonomous systems to make sequential decisions in situations that involve multiple objectives--for example, balancing safety and speed.
Their experiment focused on a semi-autonomous driving scenario where the decision to transfer control depended on the driver's level of fatigue. They showed that using their new algorithm a vehicle was able to favor roads where the vehicle can drive autonomously when the driver is fatigued, thus maximizing driver safety.
"In real life, people often try to optimize several competing objectives," Zilberstein said. "This planning algorithm can do that very quickly when the objectives are prioritized. For example, the highest priority may be to minimize driving time and a lower priority objective may be to minimize driving effort. Ultimately, we want to learn how to balance such competing objectives for each driver based on observed driving patterns."
It's an exciting time for artificial intelligence. The fruits of many decades of labor are finally being deployed in real systems and machine learning is being adopted widely and for different purposes than anyone had ever realized.
"We are beginning to see these kinds of remarkable successes that integrate decades-long research efforts in a variety of AI topics," said Héctor Muñoz-Avila, program director in NSF's Robust Intelligence cluster.
Indeed, over many decades, NSF's Robust Intelligence program has supported foundational research in artificial intelligence that, according to Zilberstein, has given rise to the amazing smart systems that are beginning to transform our world. But the agency has also supported researchers like Zilberstein who ask tough questions about emerging technologies.
"When we talk about autonomy, there are legal issues, technological issues and a lot of open questions," he said. "Personally, I think that NSF has been able to identify these as important questions and has been willing to put money into them. And this gives the U.S. a big advantage."
-- Aaron Dubrow, NSF
Programming safety into self-driving cars
UMass researchers improve artificial intelligence algorithms for semi-autonomous vehicles
February 2, 2015
For decades, researchers in artificial intelligence, or AI, worked on specialized problems, developing theoretical concepts and workable algorithms for various aspects of the field. Computer vision, planning and reasoning experts all struggled independently in areas that many thought would be easy to solve, but which proved incredibly difficult.
However, in recent years, as the individual aspects of artificial intelligence matured, researchers began bringing the pieces together, leading to amazing displays of high-level intelligence: from IBM's Watson to the recent poker playing champion to the ability of AI to recognize cats on the internet.
These advances were on display this week at the 29th conference of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI) in Austin, Texas, where interdisciplinary and applied research were prevalent, according to Shlomo Zilberstein, the conference committee chair and co-author on three papers at the conference.
Zilberstein studies the way artificial agents plan their future actions, particularly when working semi-autonomously--that is to say in conjunction with people or other devices.
Examples of semi-autonomous systems include co-robots working with humans in manufacturing, search-and-rescue robots that can be managed by humans working remotely and "driverless" cars. It is the latter topic that has particularly piqued Zilberstein's interest in recent years.
The marketing campaigns of leading auto manufacturers have presented a vision of the future where the passenger (formerly known as the driver) can check his or her email, chat with friends or even sleep while shuttling between home and the office. Some prototype vehicles included seats that swivel back to create an interior living room, or as in the case of Google's driverless car, a design with no steering wheel or brakes.
Except in rare cases, it's not clear to Zilberstein that this vision for the vehicles of the near future is a realistic one.
"In many areas, there are lots of barriers to full autonomy," Zilberstein said. "These barriers are not only technological, but also relate to legal and ethical issues and economic concerns."
In his talk at the "Blue Sky" session at AAAI, Zilberstein argued that in many areas, including driving, we will go through a long period where humans act as co-pilots or supervisors, passing off responsibility to the vehicle when possible and taking the wheel when the driving gets tricky, before the technology reaches full autonomy (if it ever does).
In such a scenario, the car would need to communicate with drivers to alert them when they need to take over control. In cases where the driver is non-responsive, the car must be able to autonomously make the decision to safely move to the side of the road and stop.
"People are unpredictable. What happens if the person is not doing what they're asked or expected to do, and the car is moving at sixty miles per hour?" Zilberstein asked. "This requires 'fault-tolerant planning.' It's the kind of planning that can handle a certain number of deviations or errors by the person who is asked to execute the plan."
With support from the National Science Foundation (NSF), Zilberstein has been exploring these and other practical questions related to the possibility of artificial agents that act among us.
Zilberstein, a professor of computer science at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, works with human studies experts from academia and industry to help uncover the subtle elements of human behavior that one would need to take into account when preparing a robot to work semi-autonomously. He then translates those ideas into computer programs that let a robot or autonomous vehicle plan its actions--and create a plan B in case of an emergency.
There are a lot of subtle cues that go into safe driving. Take for example a four-way stop. Officially, the first car to the crosswalk goes first, but in actuality, people watch each other to see if and when to make their move.
"There is a slight negotiation going on without talking," Zilberstein explained. "It's communicating by your action such as eye contact, the wave of a hand, or the slight revving of an engine."
In trials, autonomous vehicles often sit paralyzed at such stops, unable to safely read the cues of the other drivers on the road. This "undecidedness" is a big problem for robots. A recent paper by Alan Winfield of Bristol Robotics Laboratory in the UK showed how robots, when faced with a difficult decision, will often process for such a long period of time as to miss the opportunity to act. Zilberstein's systems are designed to remedy this problem.
"With some careful separation of objectives, planning algorithms could address one of the key problems of maintaining 'live state', even when goal reachability relies on timely human interventions," he concluded.
The ability to tailor one's trip based on human-centered factors--like how attentive the driver can be or the driver's desire to avoid highways--is another aspect of semi-autonomous driving that Zilberstein is exploring.
In a paper with Kyle Wray from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and Abdel-Illah Mouaddib from the University of Caen in France, Zilberstein introduced a new model and planning algorithm that allows semi-autonomous systems to make sequential decisions in situations that involve multiple objectives--for example, balancing safety and speed.
Their experiment focused on a semi-autonomous driving scenario where the decision to transfer control depended on the driver's level of fatigue. They showed that using their new algorithm a vehicle was able to favor roads where the vehicle can drive autonomously when the driver is fatigued, thus maximizing driver safety.
"In real life, people often try to optimize several competing objectives," Zilberstein said. "This planning algorithm can do that very quickly when the objectives are prioritized. For example, the highest priority may be to minimize driving time and a lower priority objective may be to minimize driving effort. Ultimately, we want to learn how to balance such competing objectives for each driver based on observed driving patterns."
It's an exciting time for artificial intelligence. The fruits of many decades of labor are finally being deployed in real systems and machine learning is being adopted widely and for different purposes than anyone had ever realized.
"We are beginning to see these kinds of remarkable successes that integrate decades-long research efforts in a variety of AI topics," said Héctor Muñoz-Avila, program director in NSF's Robust Intelligence cluster.
Indeed, over many decades, NSF's Robust Intelligence program has supported foundational research in artificial intelligence that, according to Zilberstein, has given rise to the amazing smart systems that are beginning to transform our world. But the agency has also supported researchers like Zilberstein who ask tough questions about emerging technologies.
"When we talk about autonomy, there are legal issues, technological issues and a lot of open questions," he said. "Personally, I think that NSF has been able to identify these as important questions and has been willing to put money into them. And this gives the U.S. a big advantage."
-- Aaron Dubrow, NSF
Sunday, February 8, 2015
AMBASSADOR PRESSMAN'S COMMENTS ON KOSOVO
FROM: U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
02/06/2015 01:44 PM EST
Ambassador David Pressman
Alternate Representative to the UN for Special Political Affairs
New York, NY
February 6, 2015
AS DELIVERED
Thank you, Mr. President, and thank you Special Representative Zarif for your briefing. We welcome Foreign Ministers ThaÒ«i and DaÄiÄ back to the Council. I commend both countries for their continued dedication to the normalization of relations. We particularly welcome Kosovo’s continuing integration into the community of states as demonstrated by its participation in regional meetings and fora in recent months and, specifically, we congratulate Kosovo on its recognition by the International Olympic Committee and look forward to seeing Kosovo’s athletes competing under the Kosovo flag in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.
The United States welcomes the successful formation of a government in Kosovo in December 2014. Although this process took time, it represents the first democratic transition of political authority resulting from free and fair elections across the entirety of Kosovo’s territory. This coalition government, and the process that led to its formation, demonstrated the resilience and vitality of Kosovo’s democratic and political institutions. The United States appreciates the leadership of President Jahjaga in helping to facilitate the political dialogue that led to government formation in accordance with Kosovo’s constitution.
The new government, which includes representatives of minority communities, has been tested over the last month by violent protests and by the separation from government service yesterday of the Minister for Communities and Returns. The importance of a fully representative, fully participatory and multi-ethnic government and parliament cannot be understated. With respect to the protests, let’s be clear: All citizens have the democratic right to protest, but violence is illegal and it’s unacceptable. We condemn all acts of vandalism to public and private property and the intimidation of journalists and TV crews. All citizens of Kosovo should exercise their democratic rights and they should do so legally and responsibly.
We encourage the new government to move quickly to address the socio-economic challenges in the country. Economic growth and new employment opportunities will demonstrate to the citizens of Kosovo, regardless of ethnicity, that they have a prosperous and free future at home, stemming the tide of migration out of the country. We additionally encourage efforts by Kosovo to undertake those measures necessary to encourage the return of those displaced both internally and outside of Kosovo as a result of the conflict, including by adjudicating property claims and enforcing court decisions. We will continue to urge Serbia, Kosovo, and all states in the region to increase cooperation at their shared borders. Such cooperation will advance the rule of law, increase security, counter criminal activity, including smuggling and trafficking in persons.
We again condemn the actions of those who seek to oppose the work of building inclusive democracy in Kosovo by committing acts of violence or by sowing tensions, mistrust, and fear between communities. The use of violence against religious pilgrims, as we unfortunately saw in Gjakove/Djakovica on Orthodox Christmas, is clearly unacceptable. All sides must guarantee freedom of movement for local populations. To this end, KFOR and EULEX continue to exercise indispensable roles in facilitating a safe and secure environment.
The United States notes the visit of Prime Minister VuÄiÄ to Kosovo in January and the cooperation of Kosovo authorities to provide protection. This act was another step toward the normalization of relations. The EU-facilitated Kosovo-Serbia Dialogue and implementation of the April 2013 agreement continue to be critical elements of building a strong, inclusive and multi-ethnic democracy in Kosovo. We welcome the forthcoming high-level meetings in Brussels next week and hope that the session on Monday will lead to concrete progress that will directly benefit the citizens of both countries.
The United States commends Serbia and Kosovo for your work, as well, on combatting foreign terrorist fighters, as demonstrated by your attendance at the first ministerial-level plenary session of the counter-ISIL coalition in December in Brussels. Kosovo’s dedication to this effort is also apparent in the recent work to arrest and prosecute foreign terrorist fighters in Kosovo and by the introduction of a law to criminalize participation in such activity.
Mr. President, in closing, I would like to stress that while the United States believes the situation in Kosovo remains an important issue, and there is much work to be done to advance the Dialogue. There is important work to be done to discuss issues critical for long-term stability, reconciliation, and development in the region. There is little, however, that such regular briefings contribute to those issues. We reiterate our preference that the Council extend the reporting period for the Secretary-General to every six months.
Thank you, Mr. President.
02/06/2015 01:44 PM EST
Ambassador David Pressman
Alternate Representative to the UN for Special Political Affairs
New York, NY
February 6, 2015
AS DELIVERED
Thank you, Mr. President, and thank you Special Representative Zarif for your briefing. We welcome Foreign Ministers ThaÒ«i and DaÄiÄ back to the Council. I commend both countries for their continued dedication to the normalization of relations. We particularly welcome Kosovo’s continuing integration into the community of states as demonstrated by its participation in regional meetings and fora in recent months and, specifically, we congratulate Kosovo on its recognition by the International Olympic Committee and look forward to seeing Kosovo’s athletes competing under the Kosovo flag in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.
The United States welcomes the successful formation of a government in Kosovo in December 2014. Although this process took time, it represents the first democratic transition of political authority resulting from free and fair elections across the entirety of Kosovo’s territory. This coalition government, and the process that led to its formation, demonstrated the resilience and vitality of Kosovo’s democratic and political institutions. The United States appreciates the leadership of President Jahjaga in helping to facilitate the political dialogue that led to government formation in accordance with Kosovo’s constitution.
The new government, which includes representatives of minority communities, has been tested over the last month by violent protests and by the separation from government service yesterday of the Minister for Communities and Returns. The importance of a fully representative, fully participatory and multi-ethnic government and parliament cannot be understated. With respect to the protests, let’s be clear: All citizens have the democratic right to protest, but violence is illegal and it’s unacceptable. We condemn all acts of vandalism to public and private property and the intimidation of journalists and TV crews. All citizens of Kosovo should exercise their democratic rights and they should do so legally and responsibly.
We encourage the new government to move quickly to address the socio-economic challenges in the country. Economic growth and new employment opportunities will demonstrate to the citizens of Kosovo, regardless of ethnicity, that they have a prosperous and free future at home, stemming the tide of migration out of the country. We additionally encourage efforts by Kosovo to undertake those measures necessary to encourage the return of those displaced both internally and outside of Kosovo as a result of the conflict, including by adjudicating property claims and enforcing court decisions. We will continue to urge Serbia, Kosovo, and all states in the region to increase cooperation at their shared borders. Such cooperation will advance the rule of law, increase security, counter criminal activity, including smuggling and trafficking in persons.
We again condemn the actions of those who seek to oppose the work of building inclusive democracy in Kosovo by committing acts of violence or by sowing tensions, mistrust, and fear between communities. The use of violence against religious pilgrims, as we unfortunately saw in Gjakove/Djakovica on Orthodox Christmas, is clearly unacceptable. All sides must guarantee freedom of movement for local populations. To this end, KFOR and EULEX continue to exercise indispensable roles in facilitating a safe and secure environment.
The United States notes the visit of Prime Minister VuÄiÄ to Kosovo in January and the cooperation of Kosovo authorities to provide protection. This act was another step toward the normalization of relations. The EU-facilitated Kosovo-Serbia Dialogue and implementation of the April 2013 agreement continue to be critical elements of building a strong, inclusive and multi-ethnic democracy in Kosovo. We welcome the forthcoming high-level meetings in Brussels next week and hope that the session on Monday will lead to concrete progress that will directly benefit the citizens of both countries.
The United States commends Serbia and Kosovo for your work, as well, on combatting foreign terrorist fighters, as demonstrated by your attendance at the first ministerial-level plenary session of the counter-ISIL coalition in December in Brussels. Kosovo’s dedication to this effort is also apparent in the recent work to arrest and prosecute foreign terrorist fighters in Kosovo and by the introduction of a law to criminalize participation in such activity.
Mr. President, in closing, I would like to stress that while the United States believes the situation in Kosovo remains an important issue, and there is much work to be done to advance the Dialogue. There is important work to be done to discuss issues critical for long-term stability, reconciliation, and development in the region. There is little, however, that such regular briefings contribute to those issues. We reiterate our preference that the Council extend the reporting period for the Secretary-General to every six months.
Thank you, Mr. President.
LOAN MODIFIERS SETTLE FTC CHARGES RELATED TO PREYING ON DISTRESSED CONSUMERS
FROM: U.S. FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION
Mortgage Relief Pitchmen Settle FTC Charges That They Deceived Consumers
‘Danielson Law Group,’ Others Preyed on Consumers in Financial Distress
A group of Utah-based defendants claiming to be legal experts in loan modifications have settled Federal Trade Commission charges that they broke the law by conning consumers into paying hefty fees for worthless mortgage relief services. The five proposed orders settling the FTC’s charges ban the defendants, led by Philip J. Danielson and his company, Danielson Law Group, from offering mortgage assistance relief services and from participating in the debt relief industry.
“It’s troubling when anyone takes advantage of homeowners in financial distress,” said Jessica Rich, Director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection. “This scam is particularly offensive because it used an attorney’s legal credentials to create a facade of authenticity.”
The FTC filed its complaint in July 2014, as part of a multi-agency federal and state law enforcement sweep targeting operations that fraudulently pitched loan modifications to consumers. At the FTC’s request, a U.S. district court temporarily halted the operation, which promised legal help to consumers to avoid foreclosure or get relief from unaffordable mortgages but then did little or nothing to help. The court order froze the defendants’ corporate and personal assets pending litigation of the case.
According to the Commission, the defendants lured consumers into paying $500 to $3,900 by falsely promising that attorneys would negotiate loan modifications that would substantially reduce the consumers’ mortgage payments. The defendants touted a success rate that exceeded 90 percent purportedly based on their legal expertise and a pre-qualification process that identified clients that they knew they could help. The complaint also alleged that the defendants used the name Danielson Law Group and other attorney or law firm names to look like they had lawyers all over the country, even though many consumers never met or spoke to an attorney.
The FTC charged the defendants with violating the FTC Act and the Mortgage Assistance Relief Services (MARS) Rule, now known as Regulation O. The Rule bans mortgage foreclosure rescue and loan modification service providers from collecting fees until homeowners have a written offer from their lender or servicer that they deem acceptable.
Under the proposed settlements announced today, the defendants are banned from participating in the mortgage relief and debt relief industries, and are prohibited from misrepresenting various features of any product or service or making advertising claims that are unsupported by competent and reliable evidence.
The proposed settlements also impose a $28.6 million judgment against all the defendants, reflecting the total amount of fees taken in by the scheme. The proposed judgment will be suspended as to the individual defendants provided they surrender certain of their assets, including a $200,000 house in Utah as required by the settlement orders. If it is later determined that any defendant provided false financial information to the FTC, the full amount of the judgment against them will become due. The proposed settlement also requires relief defendant April Norton to turn over unearned ill-gotten gains that she received from the scheme. The full judgment remains in effect against the corporate defendants.
Today’s settlements also resolves a contempt action the FTC concurrently filed against two individuals named in this case – Philip J. Danielson and Tony D. Norton -- and four companies they controlled, Philip Danielson, LLC; Foundation Business Solutions, LLC; Direct Results Solutions, LLC; and Strata G Solutions, LLC, for violating a 2010 court order in a phony work-at-home scheme that falsely claimed ties to Google Inc.
After a court shut down that scam and prohibited the defendants from making deceptive claims, Danielson and Norton turned their sights to preying on vulnerable homeowners in violation of that order, alleged the FTC. The settlement subjects the contempt defendants to a complete ban from telemarketing activities.
For consumer information about avoiding mortgage and foreclosure rescue scams, see Home Loans.
The Commission vote approving each of the five proposed stipulated final orders was 5-0. They were filed in the U.S. Court for the District of Nevada.
NOTE: Stipulated orders have the force of law when approved and signed by the District Court judge.
Mortgage Relief Pitchmen Settle FTC Charges That They Deceived Consumers
‘Danielson Law Group,’ Others Preyed on Consumers in Financial Distress
A group of Utah-based defendants claiming to be legal experts in loan modifications have settled Federal Trade Commission charges that they broke the law by conning consumers into paying hefty fees for worthless mortgage relief services. The five proposed orders settling the FTC’s charges ban the defendants, led by Philip J. Danielson and his company, Danielson Law Group, from offering mortgage assistance relief services and from participating in the debt relief industry.
“It’s troubling when anyone takes advantage of homeowners in financial distress,” said Jessica Rich, Director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection. “This scam is particularly offensive because it used an attorney’s legal credentials to create a facade of authenticity.”
The FTC filed its complaint in July 2014, as part of a multi-agency federal and state law enforcement sweep targeting operations that fraudulently pitched loan modifications to consumers. At the FTC’s request, a U.S. district court temporarily halted the operation, which promised legal help to consumers to avoid foreclosure or get relief from unaffordable mortgages but then did little or nothing to help. The court order froze the defendants’ corporate and personal assets pending litigation of the case.
According to the Commission, the defendants lured consumers into paying $500 to $3,900 by falsely promising that attorneys would negotiate loan modifications that would substantially reduce the consumers’ mortgage payments. The defendants touted a success rate that exceeded 90 percent purportedly based on their legal expertise and a pre-qualification process that identified clients that they knew they could help. The complaint also alleged that the defendants used the name Danielson Law Group and other attorney or law firm names to look like they had lawyers all over the country, even though many consumers never met or spoke to an attorney.
The FTC charged the defendants with violating the FTC Act and the Mortgage Assistance Relief Services (MARS) Rule, now known as Regulation O. The Rule bans mortgage foreclosure rescue and loan modification service providers from collecting fees until homeowners have a written offer from their lender or servicer that they deem acceptable.
Under the proposed settlements announced today, the defendants are banned from participating in the mortgage relief and debt relief industries, and are prohibited from misrepresenting various features of any product or service or making advertising claims that are unsupported by competent and reliable evidence.
The proposed settlements also impose a $28.6 million judgment against all the defendants, reflecting the total amount of fees taken in by the scheme. The proposed judgment will be suspended as to the individual defendants provided they surrender certain of their assets, including a $200,000 house in Utah as required by the settlement orders. If it is later determined that any defendant provided false financial information to the FTC, the full amount of the judgment against them will become due. The proposed settlement also requires relief defendant April Norton to turn over unearned ill-gotten gains that she received from the scheme. The full judgment remains in effect against the corporate defendants.
Today’s settlements also resolves a contempt action the FTC concurrently filed against two individuals named in this case – Philip J. Danielson and Tony D. Norton -- and four companies they controlled, Philip Danielson, LLC; Foundation Business Solutions, LLC; Direct Results Solutions, LLC; and Strata G Solutions, LLC, for violating a 2010 court order in a phony work-at-home scheme that falsely claimed ties to Google Inc.
After a court shut down that scam and prohibited the defendants from making deceptive claims, Danielson and Norton turned their sights to preying on vulnerable homeowners in violation of that order, alleged the FTC. The settlement subjects the contempt defendants to a complete ban from telemarketing activities.
For consumer information about avoiding mortgage and foreclosure rescue scams, see Home Loans.
The Commission vote approving each of the five proposed stipulated final orders was 5-0. They were filed in the U.S. Court for the District of Nevada.
NOTE: Stipulated orders have the force of law when approved and signed by the District Court judge.
2 AUTO PARTS MANUFACTURER EXECS. INDICTED FOR ROLES IN PRICE FIXING CONSPIRACY AND OBSTRUCTIN OF JUSTICE
FROM: U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT
Thursday, February 5, 2015
Two Japanese Automobile Parts Manufacturer Executives Indicted for Roles in Conspiracy to Fix Prices and for Obstruction of Justice
A Detroit federal grand jury returned a two-count indictment against two executives of a Japanese automotive parts manufacturer for their participation in a conspiracy to fix prices and rig bids of automotive parts and for obstruction of justice for ordering the destruction of evidence related to the conspiracy, the Department of Justice announced today.
The indictment, filed today in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, charges Hiroyuki Komiya and Hirofumi Nakayama, executives of Mitsuba Corporation, with conspiring to fix the prices of various automotive parts, including windshield wiper systems and components, sold to Honda Motor Company Ltd., Nissan Motor Co. Ltd., Toyota Motor Corp., Chrysler Group, LLC, Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. – more commonly known by its brand name, Subaru – and certain of their subsidiaries in the United States and elsewhere.
Komiya and Nakayama are also charged with knowingly and corruptly persuading, and attempting to persuade, employees of Mitsuba to destroy documents and delete electronic data that may contain evidence of antitrust crimes in the United States and elsewhere.
“These charges demonstrate the Antitrust Division’s continued commitment to prosecuting individuals who commit criminal antitrust violations,” said Brent Snyder, Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Antitrust Division’s Criminal Enforcement Program. “Because these same individuals committed the additional crime of obstructing the investigation, they also serve as cautionary tale for those who are tempted to try to thwart the Antitrust Division’s investigative activities by destroying evidence.”
Komiya participated in the conspiracy as Mitsuba Director of Automotive Sales. In 2007, he was promoted to Executive Managing Officer and Vice President of Sales. Nakayama was the Office Manager of Mitsuba’s Nagoya sales office. In 2005, he was promoted to Sales Operating Officer.
The indictment alleges, among other things, that beginning at least as early as April 2000 and continuing until at least February 2010, Komiya, Nakayama and co-conspirators participated in and directed, authorized or consented to the participation of subordinate employees in, meetings with co-conspirators and reached collusive agreements to rig bids, allocate the supply and fix the price to be submitted to automobile manufacturers. Upon learning of the existence of this investigation, Komiya and Nakayama also urged their subordinates to delete and destroy documents related to this collusion.
Mitsuba is a corporation organized and existing under the laws of Japan with its principal place of business in Gunma, Japan. On Nov. 6, 2013, Mitsuba pleaded guilty and agreed to pay a $135 million criminal fine for its role in the conspiracy as well as obstruction of justice.
Including Komiya and Nakayama, 52 individuals have been charged in the government’s ongoing investigation into market allocation, price fixing, and bid rigging in the auto parts industry. Additionally, 33 companies have pleaded guilty or agreed to plead guilty and have agreed to pay a total of more than $2.4 billion in fines.
Komiya and Nakayama are charged with price fixing and bid rigging in violation of the Sherman Act, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $1 million criminal fine for individuals. The maximum fine for an individual may be increased to twice the gain derived from the crime or twice the loss suffered by the victims of the crime, if either of those amounts is greater than the statutory maximum fine. The maximum penalty for obstruction of justice is 20 years in prison and a $250,000 criminal fine for individuals.
Today’s indictment is the result of an ongoing federal antitrust investigation into price fixing, bid rigging and other anticompetitive conduct in the automotive parts industry, which is being conducted by the Antitrust Division’s criminal enforcement sections and the FBI. Today’s charge was brought by the Antitrust Division’s Washington Criminal I Section and the FBI’s Detroit Field Office, with the assistance of the FBI headquarters’ International Corruption Unit. Anyone with information on price fixing, bid rigging and other anticompetitive conduct related to other products in the automotive parts industry should contact the Antitrust Division’s Citizen Complaint Center at 888-647-3258, visit www.justice.gov/atr/contact/newcase.html or call the FBI’s Detroit Field Office at 313-965-2323.
Komiya et al Indictment
Thursday, February 5, 2015
Two Japanese Automobile Parts Manufacturer Executives Indicted for Roles in Conspiracy to Fix Prices and for Obstruction of Justice
A Detroit federal grand jury returned a two-count indictment against two executives of a Japanese automotive parts manufacturer for their participation in a conspiracy to fix prices and rig bids of automotive parts and for obstruction of justice for ordering the destruction of evidence related to the conspiracy, the Department of Justice announced today.
The indictment, filed today in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, charges Hiroyuki Komiya and Hirofumi Nakayama, executives of Mitsuba Corporation, with conspiring to fix the prices of various automotive parts, including windshield wiper systems and components, sold to Honda Motor Company Ltd., Nissan Motor Co. Ltd., Toyota Motor Corp., Chrysler Group, LLC, Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. – more commonly known by its brand name, Subaru – and certain of their subsidiaries in the United States and elsewhere.
Komiya and Nakayama are also charged with knowingly and corruptly persuading, and attempting to persuade, employees of Mitsuba to destroy documents and delete electronic data that may contain evidence of antitrust crimes in the United States and elsewhere.
“These charges demonstrate the Antitrust Division’s continued commitment to prosecuting individuals who commit criminal antitrust violations,” said Brent Snyder, Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Antitrust Division’s Criminal Enforcement Program. “Because these same individuals committed the additional crime of obstructing the investigation, they also serve as cautionary tale for those who are tempted to try to thwart the Antitrust Division’s investigative activities by destroying evidence.”
Komiya participated in the conspiracy as Mitsuba Director of Automotive Sales. In 2007, he was promoted to Executive Managing Officer and Vice President of Sales. Nakayama was the Office Manager of Mitsuba’s Nagoya sales office. In 2005, he was promoted to Sales Operating Officer.
The indictment alleges, among other things, that beginning at least as early as April 2000 and continuing until at least February 2010, Komiya, Nakayama and co-conspirators participated in and directed, authorized or consented to the participation of subordinate employees in, meetings with co-conspirators and reached collusive agreements to rig bids, allocate the supply and fix the price to be submitted to automobile manufacturers. Upon learning of the existence of this investigation, Komiya and Nakayama also urged their subordinates to delete and destroy documents related to this collusion.
Mitsuba is a corporation organized and existing under the laws of Japan with its principal place of business in Gunma, Japan. On Nov. 6, 2013, Mitsuba pleaded guilty and agreed to pay a $135 million criminal fine for its role in the conspiracy as well as obstruction of justice.
Including Komiya and Nakayama, 52 individuals have been charged in the government’s ongoing investigation into market allocation, price fixing, and bid rigging in the auto parts industry. Additionally, 33 companies have pleaded guilty or agreed to plead guilty and have agreed to pay a total of more than $2.4 billion in fines.
Komiya and Nakayama are charged with price fixing and bid rigging in violation of the Sherman Act, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $1 million criminal fine for individuals. The maximum fine for an individual may be increased to twice the gain derived from the crime or twice the loss suffered by the victims of the crime, if either of those amounts is greater than the statutory maximum fine. The maximum penalty for obstruction of justice is 20 years in prison and a $250,000 criminal fine for individuals.
Today’s indictment is the result of an ongoing federal antitrust investigation into price fixing, bid rigging and other anticompetitive conduct in the automotive parts industry, which is being conducted by the Antitrust Division’s criminal enforcement sections and the FBI. Today’s charge was brought by the Antitrust Division’s Washington Criminal I Section and the FBI’s Detroit Field Office, with the assistance of the FBI headquarters’ International Corruption Unit. Anyone with information on price fixing, bid rigging and other anticompetitive conduct related to other products in the automotive parts industry should contact the Antitrust Division’s Citizen Complaint Center at 888-647-3258, visit www.justice.gov/atr/contact/newcase.html or call the FBI’s Detroit Field Office at 313-965-2323.
Komiya et al Indictment
PRESIDENT ANNOUNCES OPPOSITION TO CUTTING RETIREMENT SECURITY FOR CURRENT/FUTURE BENEFICIARIES
FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN RESOURCES
President Announces New and Enhanced Initiatives to Support Older Americans
Feb 05, 2015
By: Nora Super, Executive Director, White House Conference on Aging
The President’s 2016 Budget will help ensure that older Americans enjoy not only longer but healthier lives. The Budget makes a number of commitments to enhance, advance, and create opportunity for older Americans, especially in the four focus areas of the 2015 White House Conference on Aging: retirement security, healthy aging, long-term care services and supports, and elder justice.
Let me say a little about a few of the Budget items in each area of focus:
To enhance retirement security, the President is committed to ensuring that Social Security is solvent and viable for the American people, now and in the future. The Administration will oppose any measures that privatize or weaken the Social Security system and will not accept an approach that slashes benefits for future generations or reduces basic benefits for current beneficiaries.
Additionally, as many as 78 million working Americans - about half the workforce - don't have a retirement savings plan at work. Fewer than 10 percent of those without plans at work contribute to a plan of their own. The President’s Budget expands retirement opportunities for all Americans to help families save and give them better choices to reach a secure retirement.
To support healthy aging, the Budget proposes a set of initiatives to strengthen Medicare by more closely aligning payments with the costs of providing care, encouraging health care providers to deliver better care and better outcomes for their patients, and improving access to care for beneficiaries. In addition, the Budget includes proposals that would build a stronger foundation for Medicare's future.
To provide relief from increased prescription drug costs, the Budget proposes to close the Medicare Part D donut hole for brand drugs by 2017, rather than 2020, by increasing discounts from the pharmaceutical industry. The Budget also proposes to provide the Secretary of Health and Human Services with new authority to negotiate with manufacturers on prices for high cost drugs and biologics covered under the Part D program. These proposals represent a few amongst a range of potential options, and the Administration looks forward to working with Congress to address growing drug costs.
Recognizing the importance of nutrition to healthy aging, the Budget provides over $874 million for Nutrition Services programs, a $60 million increase over the 2015 enacted level, allowing States to provide 208 million meals to over 2 million older Americans nation-wide, helping to halt the decline in service levels for the first time since 2010. In addition, the Budget helps provide supportive housing for very low-income elderly households, including frail elderly, to allow seniors to age in a stable environment and help them access human services.
To ensure older individuals and people with disabilities receive services in the most appropriate setting, the Budget proposes expanded access to Medicaid home and community-based long-term care services and supports. First, the Budget expands and simplifies eligibility to encourage more States to provide home and community-based care in their Medicaid programs. The Budget proposes expanding and improving the “Money Follows the Person”
Rebalancing demonstration, which helps States provide opportunities for older Americans and people with disabilities to transition back to the community from institutions. The Budget also includes a comprehensive long-term care pilot for up to five States to test, at an enhanced Federal match rate, a more streamlined approach to delivering long-term care services and supports to support greater access and improve quality of care.
The Budget also includes increased discretionary resources for the Aging and Disability Resource Centers (ADRCs) program, which make it easier for Americans nation-wide to learn about and access their health and long-term care services and support options. ADRCs support State efforts to create consumer-friendly entry points into long-term care services at the community level.
The Family Support Initiative will assist family members supporting older adults or people with disabilities across the lifespan. It will complement nearly $50 million in new resources for existing aging programs that are already providing critical help and supports to seniors and their caregivers, such as respite and transportation assistance.
To support evidence-based interventions to reduce elder abuse, neglect and financial exploitation, the Budget includes $25 million in discretionary resources for Elder Justice Act programs authorized under the Affordable Care Act. These resources will support standards and infrastructure to improve detection and reporting of elder abuse; grants to States to pilot a new reporting system; and funding to support a coordinated Federal research portfolio to better understand and prevent the abuse and exploitation of vulnerable adults.
Taken together, these and other initiatives in the Budget will help to change the aging landscape in America to reflect new realities and new opportunities for older Americans, and they will support the dignity, independence, and quality of life of older Americans at a time when we’re seeing a huge surge in the number of older adults.
As many of you are aware, 2015 marks the 50th Anniversary of Medicare, Medicaid, and the Older Americans Act, as well as the 80th Anniversary of Social Security. The commitments made to support older adults in the President’s Budget are a fitting way to mark these anniversaries, and to help fulfill the promise of a better future for older Americans—and for all of us—that is inherent in these landmark pieces of legislation.
President Announces New and Enhanced Initiatives to Support Older Americans
Feb 05, 2015
By: Nora Super, Executive Director, White House Conference on Aging
The President’s 2016 Budget will help ensure that older Americans enjoy not only longer but healthier lives. The Budget makes a number of commitments to enhance, advance, and create opportunity for older Americans, especially in the four focus areas of the 2015 White House Conference on Aging: retirement security, healthy aging, long-term care services and supports, and elder justice.
Let me say a little about a few of the Budget items in each area of focus:
To enhance retirement security, the President is committed to ensuring that Social Security is solvent and viable for the American people, now and in the future. The Administration will oppose any measures that privatize or weaken the Social Security system and will not accept an approach that slashes benefits for future generations or reduces basic benefits for current beneficiaries.
Additionally, as many as 78 million working Americans - about half the workforce - don't have a retirement savings plan at work. Fewer than 10 percent of those without plans at work contribute to a plan of their own. The President’s Budget expands retirement opportunities for all Americans to help families save and give them better choices to reach a secure retirement.
To support healthy aging, the Budget proposes a set of initiatives to strengthen Medicare by more closely aligning payments with the costs of providing care, encouraging health care providers to deliver better care and better outcomes for their patients, and improving access to care for beneficiaries. In addition, the Budget includes proposals that would build a stronger foundation for Medicare's future.
To provide relief from increased prescription drug costs, the Budget proposes to close the Medicare Part D donut hole for brand drugs by 2017, rather than 2020, by increasing discounts from the pharmaceutical industry. The Budget also proposes to provide the Secretary of Health and Human Services with new authority to negotiate with manufacturers on prices for high cost drugs and biologics covered under the Part D program. These proposals represent a few amongst a range of potential options, and the Administration looks forward to working with Congress to address growing drug costs.
Recognizing the importance of nutrition to healthy aging, the Budget provides over $874 million for Nutrition Services programs, a $60 million increase over the 2015 enacted level, allowing States to provide 208 million meals to over 2 million older Americans nation-wide, helping to halt the decline in service levels for the first time since 2010. In addition, the Budget helps provide supportive housing for very low-income elderly households, including frail elderly, to allow seniors to age in a stable environment and help them access human services.
To ensure older individuals and people with disabilities receive services in the most appropriate setting, the Budget proposes expanded access to Medicaid home and community-based long-term care services and supports. First, the Budget expands and simplifies eligibility to encourage more States to provide home and community-based care in their Medicaid programs. The Budget proposes expanding and improving the “Money Follows the Person”
Rebalancing demonstration, which helps States provide opportunities for older Americans and people with disabilities to transition back to the community from institutions. The Budget also includes a comprehensive long-term care pilot for up to five States to test, at an enhanced Federal match rate, a more streamlined approach to delivering long-term care services and supports to support greater access and improve quality of care.
The Budget also includes increased discretionary resources for the Aging and Disability Resource Centers (ADRCs) program, which make it easier for Americans nation-wide to learn about and access their health and long-term care services and support options. ADRCs support State efforts to create consumer-friendly entry points into long-term care services at the community level.
The Family Support Initiative will assist family members supporting older adults or people with disabilities across the lifespan. It will complement nearly $50 million in new resources for existing aging programs that are already providing critical help and supports to seniors and their caregivers, such as respite and transportation assistance.
To support evidence-based interventions to reduce elder abuse, neglect and financial exploitation, the Budget includes $25 million in discretionary resources for Elder Justice Act programs authorized under the Affordable Care Act. These resources will support standards and infrastructure to improve detection and reporting of elder abuse; grants to States to pilot a new reporting system; and funding to support a coordinated Federal research portfolio to better understand and prevent the abuse and exploitation of vulnerable adults.
Taken together, these and other initiatives in the Budget will help to change the aging landscape in America to reflect new realities and new opportunities for older Americans, and they will support the dignity, independence, and quality of life of older Americans at a time when we’re seeing a huge surge in the number of older adults.
As many of you are aware, 2015 marks the 50th Anniversary of Medicare, Medicaid, and the Older Americans Act, as well as the 80th Anniversary of Social Security. The commitments made to support older adults in the President’s Budget are a fitting way to mark these anniversaries, and to help fulfill the promise of a better future for older Americans—and for all of us—that is inherent in these landmark pieces of legislation.
THE GENETICS OF ALZHEIMER'S
FROM: THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
Uncovering Alzheimer's complex genetic networks
Researchers from the Mayo Clinic use NSF-supported Blue Waters supercomputer to understand gene expression in the brain
February 3, 2015
The release of the film, "Still Alice," in September 2014 shone a much-needed light on Alzheimer's disease, a debilitating neurological disease that affects a growing number of Americans each year.
More than 5.2 million people in the U.S. are currently living with Alzheimer's. One out of nine Americans over 65 has Alzheimer's, and one out of three over 85 has the disease. For those over 65, it is the fifth leading cause of death.
There are several drugs on the market that can provide relief from Alzheimer's symptoms, but none stop the development of disease, in part because the root causes of Alzheimer's are still unclear.
"We re interested in studying the genetics of Alzheimer's disease," said Mariet Allen, a post-doctoral fellow at the Mayo Clinic in Florida. "Can we identify genetic risk factors and improve our understanding of the biological pathways and cellular mechanisms that can play a role in the disease process?"
Allen is part of a team of researchers from the Mayo Clinic who are using Blue Waters, one of the most powerful supercomputers in the world, to decode the complicated language of genetic pathways in the brain. In doing so, they hope to provide insights into what genes and proteins are malfunctioning in the brain, causing amyloid beta plaques, tau protein tangles and brain atrophy due to neuronal cell loss--the telltale signs of the disease--and how these genes can be detected and addressed.
In the case of late onset Alzheimer's disease (LOAD), it is estimated that as much as 80 percent of risk is due to genetic factors. In recent years, researchers discovered 20 common genetic loci, in addition to the well-known APOE gene, that are found to increase or decrease risk for the disease. (Loci are specific locations of a gene, DNA sequence, or position on a chromosome.) These loci do not necessarily have a causal connection to the disease, but they provide useful information about high-risk patients.
Despite all that doctors have learned in recent years about the genetic basis of Alzheimer's, according to Allen, a substantial knowledge gap still exists. It has been estimated that likely less than 40 percent of genetic risk for LOAD can be explained by known loci. Furthermore, it is not always clear which are the affected genes at these known loci.
In other words, scientists have a long way to go to get a full picture of which genes are involved in processes related to the disease and how they interact.
The Mayo team and their colleagues had been very successful in the past in finding genetic risk factors using a method that matched individual differences in the DNA code--single-nucleotide polymorphisms or SNPs, to phenotypes--the outward appearances of the disease. In particular, the Mayo team focused on identifying SNPs that influence expression of genes in the brain. However, they now hypothesize that the single SNP method may be too simplistic to find all genetic factors, and is likely not an accurate reflection of the complex biological interactions that take place in an organism.
For that reason, the Mayo researchers have recently turned their attention to investigating the brain using genetic interaction (epistasis) studies. Such studies allow researchers to understand the effects of pairs of gene changes on a given phenotype and can uncover additional genetic variants that influence gene expression and disease.
The process involves the analysis of billions of DNA base pairs (the familiar C, G, A and T) to find statistically significant correlations. Importantly, the search is not to discover simple one-to-one connections, since these have largely been found, but to study the interaction effects of pairs of DNA sequence variations.
Solving a problem of this size and complexity requires a huge amount of computational processing time, so the researchers turned to the Blue Waters supercomputer at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA).
Supported by the National Science Foundation and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Blue Waters allows scientists and engineers across the country to tackle a wide range of challenging problems using massive computing and data processing power. From predicting the behavior of complex biological systems to simulating the evolution of the cosmos, Blue Waters assists researchers whose computing problems are at a scale or complexity that cannot be reasonably approached using any other method.
Allen and her colleagues used Blue Waters to rapidly advance their Alzheimer's epistasis study through NCSA's Private Sector Program, which lets teams outside of academia access the system.
Instead of requiring as much as a year or more of processing on a single workstation or university cluster, the research team was able to do each analysis on Blue Waters in less than two days.
The researchers conducted three sets of analysis to investigate brain gene expression levels in a group of individuals without Alzheimer's, a group of individuals with Alzheimer's and then a combined analysis of both groups together. To date, these analyses have been completed for the almost 14,000 genes expressed in the majority of the brain samples studied.
Through their work with collaborators at NCSA and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (including Victor Jongeneel and Liudmila Mainzer), the Mayo team overcame many of the challenges that a project of this scope presented.
"The analysis of epistatic effects in large studies, such as ours, requires powerful computational resources and would not be possible without the unique computing capabilities of Blue Waters," wrote project lead Nilufer Ertekin-Taner from the Mayo Clinic.
"The Mayo Clinic project is emblematic of the type of problem that is beginning to emerge in computational medicine," said Irene Qualters, division director of Advanced Computing Infrastructure at NSF. "Through engagement with the Blue Waters project, researchers at Mayo have demonstrated the potential of new analytic approaches in addressing the challenges of a daunting medical frontier."
The team reported on their progress at the Blue Waters Symposium in May 2014. Allen and her colleagues are currently processing and filtering the results so they can be analyzed.
"Recent studies by our collaborators and others have shown that both the risk for late onset Alzheimer's disease and gene expression are likely influenced by epistasis. However little is known about the effect of genetic interactions on brain gene expression specifically and how this might influence risk for neurological diseases such as LOAD," said Allen. "The goal of our study is to address this knowledge gap; something we have been uniquely positioned to do using our existing data and the resources available on Blue Waters."
-- Aaron Dubrow, NSF
Uncovering Alzheimer's complex genetic networks
Researchers from the Mayo Clinic use NSF-supported Blue Waters supercomputer to understand gene expression in the brain
February 3, 2015
The release of the film, "Still Alice," in September 2014 shone a much-needed light on Alzheimer's disease, a debilitating neurological disease that affects a growing number of Americans each year.
More than 5.2 million people in the U.S. are currently living with Alzheimer's. One out of nine Americans over 65 has Alzheimer's, and one out of three over 85 has the disease. For those over 65, it is the fifth leading cause of death.
There are several drugs on the market that can provide relief from Alzheimer's symptoms, but none stop the development of disease, in part because the root causes of Alzheimer's are still unclear.
"We re interested in studying the genetics of Alzheimer's disease," said Mariet Allen, a post-doctoral fellow at the Mayo Clinic in Florida. "Can we identify genetic risk factors and improve our understanding of the biological pathways and cellular mechanisms that can play a role in the disease process?"
Allen is part of a team of researchers from the Mayo Clinic who are using Blue Waters, one of the most powerful supercomputers in the world, to decode the complicated language of genetic pathways in the brain. In doing so, they hope to provide insights into what genes and proteins are malfunctioning in the brain, causing amyloid beta plaques, tau protein tangles and brain atrophy due to neuronal cell loss--the telltale signs of the disease--and how these genes can be detected and addressed.
In the case of late onset Alzheimer's disease (LOAD), it is estimated that as much as 80 percent of risk is due to genetic factors. In recent years, researchers discovered 20 common genetic loci, in addition to the well-known APOE gene, that are found to increase or decrease risk for the disease. (Loci are specific locations of a gene, DNA sequence, or position on a chromosome.) These loci do not necessarily have a causal connection to the disease, but they provide useful information about high-risk patients.
Despite all that doctors have learned in recent years about the genetic basis of Alzheimer's, according to Allen, a substantial knowledge gap still exists. It has been estimated that likely less than 40 percent of genetic risk for LOAD can be explained by known loci. Furthermore, it is not always clear which are the affected genes at these known loci.
In other words, scientists have a long way to go to get a full picture of which genes are involved in processes related to the disease and how they interact.
The Mayo team and their colleagues had been very successful in the past in finding genetic risk factors using a method that matched individual differences in the DNA code--single-nucleotide polymorphisms or SNPs, to phenotypes--the outward appearances of the disease. In particular, the Mayo team focused on identifying SNPs that influence expression of genes in the brain. However, they now hypothesize that the single SNP method may be too simplistic to find all genetic factors, and is likely not an accurate reflection of the complex biological interactions that take place in an organism.
For that reason, the Mayo researchers have recently turned their attention to investigating the brain using genetic interaction (epistasis) studies. Such studies allow researchers to understand the effects of pairs of gene changes on a given phenotype and can uncover additional genetic variants that influence gene expression and disease.
The process involves the analysis of billions of DNA base pairs (the familiar C, G, A and T) to find statistically significant correlations. Importantly, the search is not to discover simple one-to-one connections, since these have largely been found, but to study the interaction effects of pairs of DNA sequence variations.
Solving a problem of this size and complexity requires a huge amount of computational processing time, so the researchers turned to the Blue Waters supercomputer at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA).
Supported by the National Science Foundation and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Blue Waters allows scientists and engineers across the country to tackle a wide range of challenging problems using massive computing and data processing power. From predicting the behavior of complex biological systems to simulating the evolution of the cosmos, Blue Waters assists researchers whose computing problems are at a scale or complexity that cannot be reasonably approached using any other method.
Allen and her colleagues used Blue Waters to rapidly advance their Alzheimer's epistasis study through NCSA's Private Sector Program, which lets teams outside of academia access the system.
Instead of requiring as much as a year or more of processing on a single workstation or university cluster, the research team was able to do each analysis on Blue Waters in less than two days.
The researchers conducted three sets of analysis to investigate brain gene expression levels in a group of individuals without Alzheimer's, a group of individuals with Alzheimer's and then a combined analysis of both groups together. To date, these analyses have been completed for the almost 14,000 genes expressed in the majority of the brain samples studied.
Through their work with collaborators at NCSA and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (including Victor Jongeneel and Liudmila Mainzer), the Mayo team overcame many of the challenges that a project of this scope presented.
"The analysis of epistatic effects in large studies, such as ours, requires powerful computational resources and would not be possible without the unique computing capabilities of Blue Waters," wrote project lead Nilufer Ertekin-Taner from the Mayo Clinic.
"The Mayo Clinic project is emblematic of the type of problem that is beginning to emerge in computational medicine," said Irene Qualters, division director of Advanced Computing Infrastructure at NSF. "Through engagement with the Blue Waters project, researchers at Mayo have demonstrated the potential of new analytic approaches in addressing the challenges of a daunting medical frontier."
The team reported on their progress at the Blue Waters Symposium in May 2014. Allen and her colleagues are currently processing and filtering the results so they can be analyzed.
"Recent studies by our collaborators and others have shown that both the risk for late onset Alzheimer's disease and gene expression are likely influenced by epistasis. However little is known about the effect of genetic interactions on brain gene expression specifically and how this might influence risk for neurological diseases such as LOAD," said Allen. "The goal of our study is to address this knowledge gap; something we have been uniquely positioned to do using our existing data and the resources available on Blue Waters."
-- Aaron Dubrow, NSF
Saturday, February 7, 2015
LEADERS STRESS END TO SEQUESTRATION NEEDED FOR MILITARY TO IMPLEMENT NATIONAL SECURITY STRATEGY
FROM: U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT
Leaders: Resources Key for National Security Strategy
DoD News, Defense Media Activity
WASHINGTON, Feb. 6, 2015 – Praising President Barack Obama’s 2015 National Security Strategy for recognizing the challenges the nation faces, the Defense Department’s top civilian and military leaders today stressed the need for an end to scheduled sequestration spending cuts to allow the military to do its part in implementing the strategy.
White House officials released the strategy, known as the NSS, today.
Strategy Draws on All Sources of National Power
“President Obama's 2015 National Security Strategy provides a comprehensive blueprint for defending and advancing America's interests at home and around the world,” Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said in a statement. “It is clear-eyed about our nation's challenges as well as our strategic opportunities.
“The strategy wisely calls for drawing on all the sources of our national power -- including the unrivaled strength and resilience of America's economy, diplomacy, and military, as well as our values -- to strengthen and sustain America's global leadership,” he said.
Bedrock of National Security
The strategy makes clear that a strong military is the bedrock of U.S. national security, Hagel said, adding that the Defense Department stands ready to help in its execution. DoD leaders actively participated in its development, he added, noting that the NSS complements the defense strategy articulated by the 2014 Quadrennial Defense Review.
“Every day, across the globe, the men and women of DoD defend our nation, our fellow citizens and our allies and partners,” the secretary said. “They assure our prosperity, represent our values, and help uphold a rules-based international order.”
The Defense Department needs the resources to continue doing so, Hagel said.
“That is why President Obama and I are urging Congress to end sequestration and approve the defense budget we have submitted for fiscal year 2016 -- so that we preserve our ability to execute our national security and defense strategies, and maintain the military superiority necessary to underwrite America's global leadership for decades to come,” the secretary said.
Complex Threats in a Turbulent World
Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, also issued a statement.
"The United States retains the world's pre-eminent military, but we cannot take it for granted, given the complex threats we face in today's turbulent world,” he said.
The NSS recognizes this reality with its charge to maintain the U.S. military edge and readiness, Dempsey added, by continuing to insist on reforms and necessary investment in military forces and their families.
“In particular, I welcome the NSS's call to working with Congress to end sequestration so that we can maintain the military the American people deserve and expect," the chairman said.
Leaders: Resources Key for National Security Strategy
DoD News, Defense Media Activity
WASHINGTON, Feb. 6, 2015 – Praising President Barack Obama’s 2015 National Security Strategy for recognizing the challenges the nation faces, the Defense Department’s top civilian and military leaders today stressed the need for an end to scheduled sequestration spending cuts to allow the military to do its part in implementing the strategy.
White House officials released the strategy, known as the NSS, today.
Strategy Draws on All Sources of National Power
“President Obama's 2015 National Security Strategy provides a comprehensive blueprint for defending and advancing America's interests at home and around the world,” Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said in a statement. “It is clear-eyed about our nation's challenges as well as our strategic opportunities.
“The strategy wisely calls for drawing on all the sources of our national power -- including the unrivaled strength and resilience of America's economy, diplomacy, and military, as well as our values -- to strengthen and sustain America's global leadership,” he said.
Bedrock of National Security
The strategy makes clear that a strong military is the bedrock of U.S. national security, Hagel said, adding that the Defense Department stands ready to help in its execution. DoD leaders actively participated in its development, he added, noting that the NSS complements the defense strategy articulated by the 2014 Quadrennial Defense Review.
“Every day, across the globe, the men and women of DoD defend our nation, our fellow citizens and our allies and partners,” the secretary said. “They assure our prosperity, represent our values, and help uphold a rules-based international order.”
The Defense Department needs the resources to continue doing so, Hagel said.
“That is why President Obama and I are urging Congress to end sequestration and approve the defense budget we have submitted for fiscal year 2016 -- so that we preserve our ability to execute our national security and defense strategies, and maintain the military superiority necessary to underwrite America's global leadership for decades to come,” the secretary said.
Complex Threats in a Turbulent World
Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, also issued a statement.
"The United States retains the world's pre-eminent military, but we cannot take it for granted, given the complex threats we face in today's turbulent world,” he said.
The NSS recognizes this reality with its charge to maintain the U.S. military edge and readiness, Dempsey added, by continuing to insist on reforms and necessary investment in military forces and their families.
“In particular, I welcome the NSS's call to working with Congress to end sequestration so that we can maintain the military the American people deserve and expect," the chairman said.
WHITE HOUSE FACT SHEET ON NATIONAL SECURITY IN 2015
FROM: THE WHITE HOUSE
February 06, 2015
Fact Sheet: The 2015 National Security Strategy
Fact Sheet: The 2015 National Security Strategy
Today, the United States is stronger and better positioned to seize the opportunities of a still new century and safeguard our interests against the risks of an insecure world. The President’s new National Security Strategy provides a vision and strategy for advancing the nation’s interests, universal values, and a rules-based international order through strong and sustainable American leadership. The strategy sets out the principles and priorities that describe how America will lead the world toward greater peace and a new prosperity.
We will lead with purpose, guided by our enduring national interests and values and committed to advancing a balanced portfolio of priorities worthy of a great power.
We will lead with strength, harnessing a resurgent economy, increased energy security, an unrivaled military, and the talent and diversity of the American people.
We will lead by example, upholding our values at home and our obligations abroad.
We will lead with capable partners, mobilizing collective action and building partner capacity to address global challenges.
We will lead with all instruments of U.S. power, leveraging our strategic advantages in diplomacy, development, defense, intelligence, science and technology, and more.
We will lead with a long-term perspective, influencing the trajectory of major shifts in the security landscape today in order to secure our national interests in the future.
We will advance the security of the United States, its citizens, and U.S. allies and partners by:
Maintaining a national defense that is the best trained, equipped, and led force in the world while honoring our promises to service members, veterans, and their families.
Working with Congress to end the draconian cuts imposed by sequestration that threaten the effectiveness of our military and other instruments of power.
Reinforcing our homeland security to keep the American people safe from terrorist attacks and natural hazards while strengthening our national resilience.
Transitioning to a sustainable global security posture that combines our decisive capabilities with local partners and keeps pressure on al-Qa’ida, ISIL, and their affiliates.
Striving for a world without nuclear weapons and ensuring nuclear materials do not fall into the hands of irresponsible states and violent non-state actors.
Developing a global capacity to prevent, detect, and rapidly respond to biological threats like Ebola through the Global Health Security Agenda.
Confronting the urgent crisis of climate change, including through national emissions reductions, international diplomacy, and our commitment to the Green Climate Fund.
We will advance a strong, innovative, and growing U.S. economy in an open international economic system that promotes opportunity and prosperity by:
Strengthening American energy security and increasing global access to reliable and affordable energy to bolster economic growth and development worldwide.
Opening markets for U.S. goods, services, and investment and leveling the playing field for American workers and businesses to boost our economic competitiveness.
Advancing a trade agenda – including the Trans-Pacific Partnership and Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership – that creates good American jobs and shared prosperity.
Leading efforts to reduce extreme poverty, food insecurity, and preventable deaths with initiatives such as Feed the Future and the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief.
Proving new sustainable development models like the President’s Power Africa Initiative.
We will advance respect for universal values at home and around the world by:
Holding ourselves to the highest possible standard by living our values at home even as we do what is necessary to keep our people safe and our allies secure.
Promoting and defending democracy, human rights, and equality while supporting countries such as Tunisia and Burma that are transitioning from authoritarianism.
Empowering future leaders of government, business, and civil society around the world, including through the President’s young leaders initiatives.
Leading the way in confronting the corruption by promoting adherence to standards of accountable and transparent governance.
Leading the international community to prevent and respond to human rights abuses and mass atrocities as well as gender-based violence and discrimination against LGBT persons.
We will advance an international order that promotes peace, security, and opportunity through stronger cooperation to meet global challenges by:
Working with partners to reinforce and update the rules of the road, norms, and institutions that are foundational to peace, prosperity, and human dignity in the 21st century.
Strengthening and growing our global alliances and partnerships, forging diverse coalitions, and leading at the United Nations and other multilateral organizations.
Rebalancing to Asia and the Pacific through increased diplomacy, stronger alliances and partnerships, expanded trade and investment, and a diverse security posture.
Strengthening our enduring commitment to a free and peaceful Europe by countering aggression and modernizing the NATO alliance to meet emerging threats.
Pursuing a stable Middle East and North Africa by countering terrorism, preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, and reducing the underlying sources of conflict.
Building upon the success of the U.S.-Africa Leaders’ Summit by investing in Africa’s economic, agricultural, health, governance, and security capacity.
Promoting a prosperous, secure, and democratic Western Hemisphere by expanding integration and leveraging a new opening to Cuba to expand our engagement.
February 06, 2015
Fact Sheet: The 2015 National Security Strategy
Fact Sheet: The 2015 National Security Strategy
Today, the United States is stronger and better positioned to seize the opportunities of a still new century and safeguard our interests against the risks of an insecure world. The President’s new National Security Strategy provides a vision and strategy for advancing the nation’s interests, universal values, and a rules-based international order through strong and sustainable American leadership. The strategy sets out the principles and priorities that describe how America will lead the world toward greater peace and a new prosperity.
We will lead with purpose, guided by our enduring national interests and values and committed to advancing a balanced portfolio of priorities worthy of a great power.
We will lead with strength, harnessing a resurgent economy, increased energy security, an unrivaled military, and the talent and diversity of the American people.
We will lead by example, upholding our values at home and our obligations abroad.
We will lead with capable partners, mobilizing collective action and building partner capacity to address global challenges.
We will lead with all instruments of U.S. power, leveraging our strategic advantages in diplomacy, development, defense, intelligence, science and technology, and more.
We will lead with a long-term perspective, influencing the trajectory of major shifts in the security landscape today in order to secure our national interests in the future.
We will advance the security of the United States, its citizens, and U.S. allies and partners by:
Maintaining a national defense that is the best trained, equipped, and led force in the world while honoring our promises to service members, veterans, and their families.
Working with Congress to end the draconian cuts imposed by sequestration that threaten the effectiveness of our military and other instruments of power.
Reinforcing our homeland security to keep the American people safe from terrorist attacks and natural hazards while strengthening our national resilience.
Transitioning to a sustainable global security posture that combines our decisive capabilities with local partners and keeps pressure on al-Qa’ida, ISIL, and their affiliates.
Striving for a world without nuclear weapons and ensuring nuclear materials do not fall into the hands of irresponsible states and violent non-state actors.
Developing a global capacity to prevent, detect, and rapidly respond to biological threats like Ebola through the Global Health Security Agenda.
Confronting the urgent crisis of climate change, including through national emissions reductions, international diplomacy, and our commitment to the Green Climate Fund.
We will advance a strong, innovative, and growing U.S. economy in an open international economic system that promotes opportunity and prosperity by:
Strengthening American energy security and increasing global access to reliable and affordable energy to bolster economic growth and development worldwide.
Opening markets for U.S. goods, services, and investment and leveling the playing field for American workers and businesses to boost our economic competitiveness.
Advancing a trade agenda – including the Trans-Pacific Partnership and Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership – that creates good American jobs and shared prosperity.
Leading efforts to reduce extreme poverty, food insecurity, and preventable deaths with initiatives such as Feed the Future and the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief.
Proving new sustainable development models like the President’s Power Africa Initiative.
We will advance respect for universal values at home and around the world by:
Holding ourselves to the highest possible standard by living our values at home even as we do what is necessary to keep our people safe and our allies secure.
Promoting and defending democracy, human rights, and equality while supporting countries such as Tunisia and Burma that are transitioning from authoritarianism.
Empowering future leaders of government, business, and civil society around the world, including through the President’s young leaders initiatives.
Leading the way in confronting the corruption by promoting adherence to standards of accountable and transparent governance.
Leading the international community to prevent and respond to human rights abuses and mass atrocities as well as gender-based violence and discrimination against LGBT persons.
We will advance an international order that promotes peace, security, and opportunity through stronger cooperation to meet global challenges by:
Working with partners to reinforce and update the rules of the road, norms, and institutions that are foundational to peace, prosperity, and human dignity in the 21st century.
Strengthening and growing our global alliances and partnerships, forging diverse coalitions, and leading at the United Nations and other multilateral organizations.
Rebalancing to Asia and the Pacific through increased diplomacy, stronger alliances and partnerships, expanded trade and investment, and a diverse security posture.
Strengthening our enduring commitment to a free and peaceful Europe by countering aggression and modernizing the NATO alliance to meet emerging threats.
Pursuing a stable Middle East and North Africa by countering terrorism, preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, and reducing the underlying sources of conflict.
Building upon the success of the U.S.-Africa Leaders’ Summit by investing in Africa’s economic, agricultural, health, governance, and security capacity.
Promoting a prosperous, secure, and democratic Western Hemisphere by expanding integration and leveraging a new opening to Cuba to expand our engagement.
AG HOLDER'S REMARKS AT OAKLAND LAW ENFORCEMENT COMMUNITY MEETING
FROM: U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT
Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. Delivers Remarks at Oakland Law Enforcement Community Meeting
Oakland, CAUnited States ~ Thursday, February 5, 2015
Remarks as prepared for delivery
Thank you all for being here. I particularly want to thank Congresswoman [Barbara] Lee, Mayor [Libby] Schaaf, and Chief of Police [Sean] Whent for welcoming me to Oakland today, as well as our outstanding U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California, Melinda Haag, for her help in pulling together this important meeting.
I also want to thank all of the assembled law enforcement, faith, student, and community leaders for joining me to talk about the work that’s underway here in Oakland – and the important steps that we must take together to reduce crime while building community trust.
It is a privilege to join you in advancing this discussion this afternoon, and to have the opportunity to help shine a light on the remarkable work you perform each and every day.
I’d particularly like to recognize the tireless efforts of the men and women of the Oakland Police Department, who stand on the front lines of our work to improve public safety.
I know I speak for my Justice Department colleagues, and for everyone here, when I say that the bravery this work requires – and the dangers that are inherent in it – are never far from our minds.
As the brother of a retired police officer, I know in a deeply personal way how courageous these public servants are. I have seen the tremendous and often-unheralded sacrifices that they and their loved ones are routinely called upon to make.
I have also seen the destructive consequences that too often accompany any loss of trust between our brave law enforcement officers and the communities they are entrusted to serve and protect.
Recent events have cast a stark light on rifts that have emerged throughout the country. And that’s why I’ve been traveling the nation in recent months to hold roundtable discussions – like this one – aimed at bringing people of all backgrounds and perspectives together to restore trust where it has been eroded, and to build trust where it never existed.
I am especially mindful, as we gather today, of the devastating and barbaric attack that we suffered in New York City in December. The terrible losses of Officers [Wenjian] Liu and [Rafael] Ramos – members of New York’s finest – shocked the nation. They serve as tragic reminders of the dangers that all of our officers regularly face. And this incident has lent new urgency to our ongoing, national conversation.
Over the past six years, through the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services and other components, the Department of Justice has taken significant steps to provide our law enforcement officers with access to the tools and support they need to do their jobs as safely and effectively as possible. Going forward, we will continue to make good on our deep commitment to building understanding and cooperation between our officers and the communities they serve.
Before we open today’s discussion, I’d like to provide you all with a brief update on some of the constructive steps we’re taking to do just that, to help address these urgent issues in cities and towns across America, and to advance this broad, inclusive dialogue at the national level.
We cannot squander this opportunity to have the kind of dialogue - I think - is needed to begin the kind of change we need in this nation.
In December, the Administration took a series of actions to take this commitment to a new level – by improving the way local authorities acquire equipment from the federal government; by proposing investments in body-worn cameras, expanded training, and additional resources for facilitating community engagement; by strengthening guidance on profiling by federal law enforcement agents conducting law enforcement activities; and by convening a new Task Force on 21st Century Policing – led by Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey and former Assistant Attorney General Laurie Robinson – to examine ways to promote effective crime strategies while building public trust.
Ultimately, all of these efforts will advance the cause that brings us together today – promoting safer, more effective law enforcement for the people of Oakland, and for millions of others throughout the country.
The people of this great city deserve an outstanding, world-class police force that works alongside local residents to protect public safety. Oakland’s brave officers deserve the cutting-edge tools, the very latest training, and the steadfast support they need to do their jobs with maximum safety, efficacy, and fairness.
As this work unfolds, I want you to know that the Justice Department will continue to rely on your leadership, your expertise, and your unique perspectives to help ensure that we can bridge longstanding divisions between law enforcement and the communities they serve.
This is a great community that has, I think, shown itself to be a leader of so many things on the national level.
In partnership with you, and through the leadership of U.S. Attorney Haag – who will be our lasting presence on the ground here in Oakland, helping to drive these efforts forward – I believe we can all be confident in where this work will take us.
I am eager to hear from all of you on how we can best achieve these goals. I appreciate your guidance and engagement. And I look forward to everything we’ll accomplish together in the critical days ahead.
Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. Delivers Remarks at Oakland Law Enforcement Community Meeting
Oakland, CAUnited States ~ Thursday, February 5, 2015
Remarks as prepared for delivery
Thank you all for being here. I particularly want to thank Congresswoman [Barbara] Lee, Mayor [Libby] Schaaf, and Chief of Police [Sean] Whent for welcoming me to Oakland today, as well as our outstanding U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California, Melinda Haag, for her help in pulling together this important meeting.
I also want to thank all of the assembled law enforcement, faith, student, and community leaders for joining me to talk about the work that’s underway here in Oakland – and the important steps that we must take together to reduce crime while building community trust.
It is a privilege to join you in advancing this discussion this afternoon, and to have the opportunity to help shine a light on the remarkable work you perform each and every day.
I’d particularly like to recognize the tireless efforts of the men and women of the Oakland Police Department, who stand on the front lines of our work to improve public safety.
I know I speak for my Justice Department colleagues, and for everyone here, when I say that the bravery this work requires – and the dangers that are inherent in it – are never far from our minds.
As the brother of a retired police officer, I know in a deeply personal way how courageous these public servants are. I have seen the tremendous and often-unheralded sacrifices that they and their loved ones are routinely called upon to make.
I have also seen the destructive consequences that too often accompany any loss of trust between our brave law enforcement officers and the communities they are entrusted to serve and protect.
Recent events have cast a stark light on rifts that have emerged throughout the country. And that’s why I’ve been traveling the nation in recent months to hold roundtable discussions – like this one – aimed at bringing people of all backgrounds and perspectives together to restore trust where it has been eroded, and to build trust where it never existed.
I am especially mindful, as we gather today, of the devastating and barbaric attack that we suffered in New York City in December. The terrible losses of Officers [Wenjian] Liu and [Rafael] Ramos – members of New York’s finest – shocked the nation. They serve as tragic reminders of the dangers that all of our officers regularly face. And this incident has lent new urgency to our ongoing, national conversation.
Over the past six years, through the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services and other components, the Department of Justice has taken significant steps to provide our law enforcement officers with access to the tools and support they need to do their jobs as safely and effectively as possible. Going forward, we will continue to make good on our deep commitment to building understanding and cooperation between our officers and the communities they serve.
Before we open today’s discussion, I’d like to provide you all with a brief update on some of the constructive steps we’re taking to do just that, to help address these urgent issues in cities and towns across America, and to advance this broad, inclusive dialogue at the national level.
We cannot squander this opportunity to have the kind of dialogue - I think - is needed to begin the kind of change we need in this nation.
In December, the Administration took a series of actions to take this commitment to a new level – by improving the way local authorities acquire equipment from the federal government; by proposing investments in body-worn cameras, expanded training, and additional resources for facilitating community engagement; by strengthening guidance on profiling by federal law enforcement agents conducting law enforcement activities; and by convening a new Task Force on 21st Century Policing – led by Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey and former Assistant Attorney General Laurie Robinson – to examine ways to promote effective crime strategies while building public trust.
Ultimately, all of these efforts will advance the cause that brings us together today – promoting safer, more effective law enforcement for the people of Oakland, and for millions of others throughout the country.
The people of this great city deserve an outstanding, world-class police force that works alongside local residents to protect public safety. Oakland’s brave officers deserve the cutting-edge tools, the very latest training, and the steadfast support they need to do their jobs with maximum safety, efficacy, and fairness.
As this work unfolds, I want you to know that the Justice Department will continue to rely on your leadership, your expertise, and your unique perspectives to help ensure that we can bridge longstanding divisions between law enforcement and the communities they serve.
This is a great community that has, I think, shown itself to be a leader of so many things on the national level.
In partnership with you, and through the leadership of U.S. Attorney Haag – who will be our lasting presence on the ground here in Oakland, helping to drive these efforts forward – I believe we can all be confident in where this work will take us.
I am eager to hear from all of you on how we can best achieve these goals. I appreciate your guidance and engagement. And I look forward to everything we’ll accomplish together in the critical days ahead.
EX-IM BANK CHAIRMAN MAKES STATEMENT ON EXPORT DATA
FROM: U.S. EXPORT-IMPORT BANK
Export-Import Bank Chairman Fred P. Hochberg Statement on the Release of Export Data from the Commerce Department
U.S. Sets Record for Fifth Consecutive Year
Washington, D.C. – Ex-Im Bank Chairman and President Fred P. Hochberg issued the following statement with respect to the FY 2014 export data released today by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) of the U.S. Commerce Department. According to BEA, the United States exported a record $2.345 trillion of goods and services in FY 2014, which represents a 2.9 percent increase and a record high for the fifth consecutive year.
In December, the United States exported $194.9 billion of goods and services. This figure represents a decrease from November’s $196.4 billion exports total, which was revised slightly upward.
“These export numbers are a testament to the quality and innovation of American goods and services, but they don’t mean we can rest on our laurels,” said Ex-Im Bank Chairman and President Fred P. Hochberg. “The thousands of U.S. businesses, small and large, that count on Ex-Im Bank being there to support them to win export sales and add good-paying jobs here in America can’t afford an unforced error that would threaten the positive momentum demonstrated by today’s news.”
Export-Import Bank Chairman Fred P. Hochberg Statement on the Release of Export Data from the Commerce Department
U.S. Sets Record for Fifth Consecutive Year
Washington, D.C. – Ex-Im Bank Chairman and President Fred P. Hochberg issued the following statement with respect to the FY 2014 export data released today by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) of the U.S. Commerce Department. According to BEA, the United States exported a record $2.345 trillion of goods and services in FY 2014, which represents a 2.9 percent increase and a record high for the fifth consecutive year.
In December, the United States exported $194.9 billion of goods and services. This figure represents a decrease from November’s $196.4 billion exports total, which was revised slightly upward.
“These export numbers are a testament to the quality and innovation of American goods and services, but they don’t mean we can rest on our laurels,” said Ex-Im Bank Chairman and President Fred P. Hochberg. “The thousands of U.S. businesses, small and large, that count on Ex-Im Bank being there to support them to win export sales and add good-paying jobs here in America can’t afford an unforced error that would threaten the positive momentum demonstrated by today’s news.”
NSF ARTICLE ON UP IN THE AIR WIND TURBINES
FROM: NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
Floating wind turbines bring electricity where it's needed
Altaeros Energies' research into advanced materials enables new heights for wind energy
Aiming high
Most wind turbine manufacturers are competing to build taller turbines to harness more powerful winds above 500 feet, or 150 meters. Altaeros is going much higher with their novel Buoyant Airborne Turbine--the BAT. The Altaeros BAT can reach 2,000 feet, or 600 meters.
At this altitude, wind speeds are faster and have five to eight times greater power density. As a result, the BAT can generate more than twice the energy of a similarly rated tower-mounted turbine.
The BAT's key enabling technologies include a novel aerodynamic design, custom-made composite materials, and an innovative control system. The helium-inflatable shell channels wind through a lightweight wind turbine. The shell self-stabilizes and produces aerodynamic lift, in addition to buoyancy. Multiple high-strength tethers hold the BAT in place and a single conductive tether transmits power to a mobile ground station.
The BAT's automated control system ensures safe and efficient operation, the highlight of which is the capability to adjust altitude autonomously for optimal power output. The first BAT model is approximately 15 by 15 meters, is containerized, and does not require a crane or foundation for installation.
Reaching customers
Diesel generators are the standard in power generation for rural and off-grid areas. However, diesel fuel is expensive to deliver to these locations, and diesel generators, though inexpensive to install, are expensive to operate and maintain.
As a result, remote customers typically pay more than 30 cents per kilowatt-hour for electricity. The BAT has the potential to bring affordable wind energy to these communities and industries. The first model will provide enough electricity for a small community, or about a dozen American homes.
Combined with significant increases in energy output and the ability to install the unit in 24 hours, the BAT substantially reduces the cost of energy and time to reach customers' energy needs. In the future, Altaeros expects to deploy the BAT alongside first responders in emergency response situations when access to the electric grid is unavailable.
Much like other tethered balloons, the Altaeros BAT can lift communication, Internet and sensory equipment alongside the turbine to provide additional services for customers. The addition of payload equipment does not affect the BAT's performance.
Scaling up
Altaeros was founded in 2010 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The company has received NSF Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grants (Phase I and Phase II) to test a novel low-cost, high-performance fabric suitable for the BAT's shell, and to develop its modular wind turbine for power performance and ease of installation.
Altaeros recently received Series A funding of $7 million dollars for the continued development and commercialization of its technology.
"The new products being developed by the team at Altaeros are exciting because they have the potential to offer a new method for energy generation which is portable, reliable, quick to deploy, and environmentally-friendly," said Ben Schrag, NSF SBIR program director. "This technology has the potential to avoid many of the key challenges facing traditional wind turbines."
-- Cecile Gonzalez, NSF cjgonzal@nsf.gov
-- Sarah Bates, (703) 292-7738 sabates@nsf.gov
Investigators
Ben Glass
Related Institutions/Organizations
Altaeros Energies, Inc.
Floating wind turbines bring electricity where it's needed
Altaeros Energies' research into advanced materials enables new heights for wind energy
Aiming high
Most wind turbine manufacturers are competing to build taller turbines to harness more powerful winds above 500 feet, or 150 meters. Altaeros is going much higher with their novel Buoyant Airborne Turbine--the BAT. The Altaeros BAT can reach 2,000 feet, or 600 meters.
At this altitude, wind speeds are faster and have five to eight times greater power density. As a result, the BAT can generate more than twice the energy of a similarly rated tower-mounted turbine.
The BAT's key enabling technologies include a novel aerodynamic design, custom-made composite materials, and an innovative control system. The helium-inflatable shell channels wind through a lightweight wind turbine. The shell self-stabilizes and produces aerodynamic lift, in addition to buoyancy. Multiple high-strength tethers hold the BAT in place and a single conductive tether transmits power to a mobile ground station.
The BAT's automated control system ensures safe and efficient operation, the highlight of which is the capability to adjust altitude autonomously for optimal power output. The first BAT model is approximately 15 by 15 meters, is containerized, and does not require a crane or foundation for installation.
Reaching customers
Diesel generators are the standard in power generation for rural and off-grid areas. However, diesel fuel is expensive to deliver to these locations, and diesel generators, though inexpensive to install, are expensive to operate and maintain.
As a result, remote customers typically pay more than 30 cents per kilowatt-hour for electricity. The BAT has the potential to bring affordable wind energy to these communities and industries. The first model will provide enough electricity for a small community, or about a dozen American homes.
Combined with significant increases in energy output and the ability to install the unit in 24 hours, the BAT substantially reduces the cost of energy and time to reach customers' energy needs. In the future, Altaeros expects to deploy the BAT alongside first responders in emergency response situations when access to the electric grid is unavailable.
Much like other tethered balloons, the Altaeros BAT can lift communication, Internet and sensory equipment alongside the turbine to provide additional services for customers. The addition of payload equipment does not affect the BAT's performance.
Scaling up
Altaeros was founded in 2010 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The company has received NSF Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grants (Phase I and Phase II) to test a novel low-cost, high-performance fabric suitable for the BAT's shell, and to develop its modular wind turbine for power performance and ease of installation.
Altaeros recently received Series A funding of $7 million dollars for the continued development and commercialization of its technology.
"The new products being developed by the team at Altaeros are exciting because they have the potential to offer a new method for energy generation which is portable, reliable, quick to deploy, and environmentally-friendly," said Ben Schrag, NSF SBIR program director. "This technology has the potential to avoid many of the key challenges facing traditional wind turbines."
-- Cecile Gonzalez, NSF cjgonzal@nsf.gov
-- Sarah Bates, (703) 292-7738 sabates@nsf.gov
Investigators
Ben Glass
Related Institutions/Organizations
Altaeros Energies, Inc.
Friday, February 6, 2015
DOJ ANNOUNCES SIX CHARGED WITH PROVIDING MATERIAL SUPPORT TO TERRORISTS
FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Friday, February 6, 2015
Six Defendants Charged with Conspiracy and Providing Material Support to Terrorists
Assistant Attorney General for National Security John P. Carlin, U.S. Attorney Richard Callahan of the Eastern District of Missouri and Special Agent in Charge William P. Woods of the FBI’s St. Louis Division announced that a federal indictment was unsealed earlier today charging six individuals with terrorist related crimes. Charged in the indictment are: Ramiz Zijad Hodzic, 40, his wife Sedina Unkic Hodzic, 35, and Armin Harcevic, 37, all of St. Louis County, Missouri; Nihad Rosic, 26, of Utica, New York; Mediha Medy Salkicevic, 34 of Schiller Park, Illinois; and Jasminka Ramic, 42, of Rockford, Illinois. All defendants are charged with conspiring to provide material support and resources to terrorists, and with providing material support to terrorists. Ramiz Zijad Hodzic and Nihad Rosic are also charged with conspiring to kill and maim persons in a foreign country.
All six individuals are natives of Bosnia who immigrated to the United States. Three have become naturalized citizens of the United States and the remaining three have either refugee or legal resident status. Five of the defendants are in the United States and have been arrested. A sixth defendant is overseas.
If convicted, the crimes of conspiring to provide material support and providing material support carry penalties ranging up to 15 years imprisonment for each count and/or fines up to $250,000. The crime of conspiring to kill and maim persons in a foreign country carries a penalty of up to life in prison. In determining the actual sentences, a judge is required to consider the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, which provide recommended sentencing ranges.
“Today’s charges and arrests underscore our resolve to identify, thwart, and hold accountable individuals within the United States who seek to provide material support to terrorists and terrorist organizations operating in Syria and Iraq,” said Assistant Attorney General Carlin. “Preventing the provision of supplies, money, and personnel to foreign terrorist organizations like ISIL remains a top priority of the National Security Division and our partners in the law enforcement and intelligence communities. I want to thank the many agents, analysts and prosecutors responsible for this case.”
“The indictment unsealed today epitomizes the FBI's commitment to disrupting and holding accountable those who seek to provide material support to terrorists and terrorist organizations,” said Special Agent in Charge Woods. “This case underscores the clear need for continued vigilance in rooting out those who seek to join or aid terrorist groups that threaten our national security.”
This case was investigated by the St. Louis FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), U.S. Postal Inspection Service, St. Louis Metropolitan and St. Louis County Police Departments, with assistance from multiple law enforcement agencies. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matthew Drake, Howard Marcus and Kenneth Tihen of the Eastern District of Missouri and Mara Kohn, a Trial Attorney in the Counterterrorism Section of the Department of Justice.
As is always the case, charges set forth in an indictment are merely accusations and do not constitute proof of guilt. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Friday, February 6, 2015
Six Defendants Charged with Conspiracy and Providing Material Support to Terrorists
Assistant Attorney General for National Security John P. Carlin, U.S. Attorney Richard Callahan of the Eastern District of Missouri and Special Agent in Charge William P. Woods of the FBI’s St. Louis Division announced that a federal indictment was unsealed earlier today charging six individuals with terrorist related crimes. Charged in the indictment are: Ramiz Zijad Hodzic, 40, his wife Sedina Unkic Hodzic, 35, and Armin Harcevic, 37, all of St. Louis County, Missouri; Nihad Rosic, 26, of Utica, New York; Mediha Medy Salkicevic, 34 of Schiller Park, Illinois; and Jasminka Ramic, 42, of Rockford, Illinois. All defendants are charged with conspiring to provide material support and resources to terrorists, and with providing material support to terrorists. Ramiz Zijad Hodzic and Nihad Rosic are also charged with conspiring to kill and maim persons in a foreign country.
All six individuals are natives of Bosnia who immigrated to the United States. Three have become naturalized citizens of the United States and the remaining three have either refugee or legal resident status. Five of the defendants are in the United States and have been arrested. A sixth defendant is overseas.
If convicted, the crimes of conspiring to provide material support and providing material support carry penalties ranging up to 15 years imprisonment for each count and/or fines up to $250,000. The crime of conspiring to kill and maim persons in a foreign country carries a penalty of up to life in prison. In determining the actual sentences, a judge is required to consider the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, which provide recommended sentencing ranges.
“Today’s charges and arrests underscore our resolve to identify, thwart, and hold accountable individuals within the United States who seek to provide material support to terrorists and terrorist organizations operating in Syria and Iraq,” said Assistant Attorney General Carlin. “Preventing the provision of supplies, money, and personnel to foreign terrorist organizations like ISIL remains a top priority of the National Security Division and our partners in the law enforcement and intelligence communities. I want to thank the many agents, analysts and prosecutors responsible for this case.”
“The indictment unsealed today epitomizes the FBI's commitment to disrupting and holding accountable those who seek to provide material support to terrorists and terrorist organizations,” said Special Agent in Charge Woods. “This case underscores the clear need for continued vigilance in rooting out those who seek to join or aid terrorist groups that threaten our national security.”
This case was investigated by the St. Louis FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), U.S. Postal Inspection Service, St. Louis Metropolitan and St. Louis County Police Departments, with assistance from multiple law enforcement agencies. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matthew Drake, Howard Marcus and Kenneth Tihen of the Eastern District of Missouri and Mara Kohn, a Trial Attorney in the Counterterrorism Section of the Department of Justice.
As is always the case, charges set forth in an indictment are merely accusations and do not constitute proof of guilt. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty.
SECRETARY KERRY'S STATEMENT ON NATIONAL SECURITY BLUEPRINT
FROM: U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
The National Security Strategy
Press Statement
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Washington, DC
February 6, 2015
This National Security Strategy is a blueprint to leverage America's leadership in a more complicated world than many people would have ever imagined.
It's ambitious and achievable. It's a pragmatic, clear-eyed assessment of both the challenges we face and the full arsenal of our power to confront them through moral, diplomatic, economic, development, and military tools. It's a strategy to promote our values in a world where no ocean, no fence, and no firewall can shield us from the reality of threats across the globe.
In the 21st Century, next door is everywhere.
Whether the opportunities and threats are old or new, from proliferation to violent extremism to global climate change, this strategy reflects the fact that America needs to lead, we will lead, and we are leading.
It's a vision of an America that energizes and galvanizes alliances and partnerships and puts our credibility and our capacity on the line to get things done.
For the State Department, it's also a clarion call for the resources that back up our mission. The investments are relatively small but couldn't pay bigger dividends for our country and our people.
Strong and sustainable leadership of a rules-based international order isn’t a favor we do for other countries – it’s a strategic imperative for America. And with this strategy, we are putting ourselves in the strongest possible position to lead and to get things done that simply couldn’t happen without our leadership and our engagement.
The National Security Strategy
Press Statement
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Washington, DC
February 6, 2015
This National Security Strategy is a blueprint to leverage America's leadership in a more complicated world than many people would have ever imagined.
It's ambitious and achievable. It's a pragmatic, clear-eyed assessment of both the challenges we face and the full arsenal of our power to confront them through moral, diplomatic, economic, development, and military tools. It's a strategy to promote our values in a world where no ocean, no fence, and no firewall can shield us from the reality of threats across the globe.
In the 21st Century, next door is everywhere.
Whether the opportunities and threats are old or new, from proliferation to violent extremism to global climate change, this strategy reflects the fact that America needs to lead, we will lead, and we are leading.
It's a vision of an America that energizes and galvanizes alliances and partnerships and puts our credibility and our capacity on the line to get things done.
For the State Department, it's also a clarion call for the resources that back up our mission. The investments are relatively small but couldn't pay bigger dividends for our country and our people.
Strong and sustainable leadership of a rules-based international order isn’t a favor we do for other countries – it’s a strategic imperative for America. And with this strategy, we are putting ourselves in the strongest possible position to lead and to get things done that simply couldn’t happen without our leadership and our engagement.
FEB. 5 WAS ANNIVERSARY OF APOLLO 14 LANDING
On Feb. 5. 1971, the Apollo 14 crew module landed on the moon. The crew members were Captain Alan Bartlett Shepard, Jr. (USN), commander; Major Stuart Allen Roosa (USAF), command module pilot; and Commander Edgar Dean Mitchell (USN), lunar module pilot. In this photo, Shepard stands by the Modular Equipment Transporter (MET). The MET was a cart for carrying around tools, cameras and sample cases on the lunar surface. Shepard can be identified by the vertical stripe on his helmet. After Apollo 13, the commander's spacesuit had red stripes on the helmet, arms, and one leg, to help identify them in photographs. Image Credit: NASA.
IRS SAYS EXCESSIVE FUEL TAX CREDIT CLAIMS ON LIST OF "DIRTY DOZEN" TAX SCAMS
FROM: U.S. INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE
Excessive Claims for Fuel Tax Credits Make the IRS “Dirty Dozen” List of Tax Scams for the 2015 Filing Season
WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service today warned that taxpayers should watch for improper claims for fuel tax credits, one of the “Dirty Dozen” tax scams for the 2015 filing season.
“We will do everything we can to stop erroneous claims for the fuel tax credit and catch scammers promoting them,” said IRS Commissioner John Koskinen. “The IRS is also concerned about identity thieves trying to use this credit to inflation their bogus claims for refunds.”
Compiled annually, the “Dirty Dozen” lists a variety of common scams that taxpayers may encounter any time but many of these schemes peak during filing season as people prepare their returns or people to help with their taxes.
Fraud involving the fuel tax credit is considered a frivolous tax claim and can result in a penalty of $5,000. Furthermore, illegal scams can lead to significant penalties and interest and possible criminal prosecution. IRS Criminal Investigation works closely with the Department of Justice (DOJ) to shutdown scams and prosecute the criminals behind them.
The fuel tax credit is generally limited to off-highway business use or use in farming. Consequently, the credit is not available to most taxpayers. But yet, the IRS routinely finds unscrupulous preparers who have enticed sizable groups of taxpayers to erroneously claim the credit to inflate their refunds.
Fuel Tax Credit Scams
The federal government taxes gasoline, diesel fuel, kerosene, alternative fuels and certain other types of fuel. Certain commercial uses of these fuels are nontaxable. Individuals and businesses that purchase fuel for one of those purposes can claim a tax credit by filing Form 4136, Credit for Federal Tax Paid on Fuels.
The tax is on fuels used to power vehicles and equipment on roads and highways. Taxes paid for fuel to power vehicles and equipment used off-road may qualify for the tax credit and may include farm equipment, certain boats, trains and airplanes.
Improper claims for the fuel tax credit generally come in two forms. An individual or business may make an erroneous claim on their otherwise legitimate tax return. Or an identity thief may claim the credit in a broader fraudulent scheme.
The IRS has taken a number of steps to improve compliance processes involving fuel tax credits.
IRS compliance filters are preventing a significant number of questionable fuel tax credit claims from being processed. For example, new identity theft screening filters have also improved the IRS’s ability to identify questionable fuel tax credit claims during return processing, including preventing the issuance of $33 million in questionable credit claims in 2013.
For the upcoming filing season, the IRS has taken additional steps to identify returns for review that claim fuel tax credits, including broadening the identification criteria to ensure a more comprehensive compliance approach in selecting questionable tax returns.
Excessive Claims for Fuel Tax Credits Make the IRS “Dirty Dozen” List of Tax Scams for the 2015 Filing Season
WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service today warned that taxpayers should watch for improper claims for fuel tax credits, one of the “Dirty Dozen” tax scams for the 2015 filing season.
“We will do everything we can to stop erroneous claims for the fuel tax credit and catch scammers promoting them,” said IRS Commissioner John Koskinen. “The IRS is also concerned about identity thieves trying to use this credit to inflation their bogus claims for refunds.”
Compiled annually, the “Dirty Dozen” lists a variety of common scams that taxpayers may encounter any time but many of these schemes peak during filing season as people prepare their returns or people to help with their taxes.
Fraud involving the fuel tax credit is considered a frivolous tax claim and can result in a penalty of $5,000. Furthermore, illegal scams can lead to significant penalties and interest and possible criminal prosecution. IRS Criminal Investigation works closely with the Department of Justice (DOJ) to shutdown scams and prosecute the criminals behind them.
The fuel tax credit is generally limited to off-highway business use or use in farming. Consequently, the credit is not available to most taxpayers. But yet, the IRS routinely finds unscrupulous preparers who have enticed sizable groups of taxpayers to erroneously claim the credit to inflate their refunds.
Fuel Tax Credit Scams
The federal government taxes gasoline, diesel fuel, kerosene, alternative fuels and certain other types of fuel. Certain commercial uses of these fuels are nontaxable. Individuals and businesses that purchase fuel for one of those purposes can claim a tax credit by filing Form 4136, Credit for Federal Tax Paid on Fuels.
The tax is on fuels used to power vehicles and equipment on roads and highways. Taxes paid for fuel to power vehicles and equipment used off-road may qualify for the tax credit and may include farm equipment, certain boats, trains and airplanes.
Improper claims for the fuel tax credit generally come in two forms. An individual or business may make an erroneous claim on their otherwise legitimate tax return. Or an identity thief may claim the credit in a broader fraudulent scheme.
The IRS has taken a number of steps to improve compliance processes involving fuel tax credits.
IRS compliance filters are preventing a significant number of questionable fuel tax credit claims from being processed. For example, new identity theft screening filters have also improved the IRS’s ability to identify questionable fuel tax credit claims during return processing, including preventing the issuance of $33 million in questionable credit claims in 2013.
For the upcoming filing season, the IRS has taken additional steps to identify returns for review that claim fuel tax credits, including broadening the identification criteria to ensure a more comprehensive compliance approach in selecting questionable tax returns.
READOUTS: SECRETARY HAGEL'S MEETINGS WITH GEORGIAN MINISTER OF DEFENSE AND ITALIAN DEFENSE MINISTER
FROM: THE DEFENSE DEPARTMENT S
Release No: NR-037-15
February 05, 2015
Readout of Secretary Hagel's meetings with the Georgian Minister of Defense Mindia Janelidze
Pentagon Press Secretary Rear Adm. John Kirby provided the following readout:
Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel met in Brussels today with Georgian Minister of Defense Mindia Janelidze. The meeting took place on the sidelines of the NATO Defense Ministerial conference being held here.
Secretary Hagel thanked the president for his leadership and for the contributions Georgia continues to make in Afghanistan and other peacekeeping missions, as well as to coalition efforts against ISIL in Iraq.
The secretary stressed the United States' commitment to helping improve Georgia's interoperability and readiness, a process that will be greatly enhanced by continued institutional reform in the Georgian government.
The two leaders also discussed the ongoing crisis in Ukraine. They reviewed efforts by allies and partners in the region to reinforce our international commitments and to continue to apply diplomatic and economic pressure on Moscow.
Secretary Hagel reaffirmed the importance of the U.S. partnership with Georgia, and pledged to continue our strong defense cooperation.
Release No: NR-038-15
February 05, 2015
Readout of Secretary Hagel's meeting with Italian Minister of Defense Roberta Pinotti.
Pentagon Press Secretary Rear Adm. John Kirby provided the following readout:
Secretary Hagel met in Brussels today with Italian Minister of Defense Roberta Pinotti. The meeting took place on the sidelines of the NATO Defense Ministerial conference being held here.
Secretary Hagel thanked Minister Pinotti for her leadership and for the contributions Italy continues to make to the alliance and in Afghanistan, as well as to coalition operations in Iraq.
He praised the minister's efforts to help our two militaries maintain a strong defense relationship, as well as Italy's efforts to work closely with other NATO allies across many missions and operations.
The two leaders also discussed a host of regional security issues, including Russia's continued aggression inside Ukraine, the threat posed by ISIL in the Middle East and recent instability in North Africa and the Levant.
Minister Pinotti thanked Secretary Hagel for his leadership as he prepares to leave office, and both leaders reaffirmed the importance of renewed focus by the NATO alliance to address both continental and global security challenges.
Release No: NR-037-15
February 05, 2015
Readout of Secretary Hagel's meetings with the Georgian Minister of Defense Mindia Janelidze
Pentagon Press Secretary Rear Adm. John Kirby provided the following readout:
Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel met in Brussels today with Georgian Minister of Defense Mindia Janelidze. The meeting took place on the sidelines of the NATO Defense Ministerial conference being held here.
Secretary Hagel thanked the president for his leadership and for the contributions Georgia continues to make in Afghanistan and other peacekeeping missions, as well as to coalition efforts against ISIL in Iraq.
The secretary stressed the United States' commitment to helping improve Georgia's interoperability and readiness, a process that will be greatly enhanced by continued institutional reform in the Georgian government.
The two leaders also discussed the ongoing crisis in Ukraine. They reviewed efforts by allies and partners in the region to reinforce our international commitments and to continue to apply diplomatic and economic pressure on Moscow.
Secretary Hagel reaffirmed the importance of the U.S. partnership with Georgia, and pledged to continue our strong defense cooperation.
Release No: NR-038-15
February 05, 2015
Readout of Secretary Hagel's meeting with Italian Minister of Defense Roberta Pinotti.
Pentagon Press Secretary Rear Adm. John Kirby provided the following readout:
Secretary Hagel met in Brussels today with Italian Minister of Defense Roberta Pinotti. The meeting took place on the sidelines of the NATO Defense Ministerial conference being held here.
Secretary Hagel thanked Minister Pinotti for her leadership and for the contributions Italy continues to make to the alliance and in Afghanistan, as well as to coalition operations in Iraq.
He praised the minister's efforts to help our two militaries maintain a strong defense relationship, as well as Italy's efforts to work closely with other NATO allies across many missions and operations.
The two leaders also discussed a host of regional security issues, including Russia's continued aggression inside Ukraine, the threat posed by ISIL in the Middle East and recent instability in North Africa and the Levant.
Minister Pinotti thanked Secretary Hagel for his leadership as he prepares to leave office, and both leaders reaffirmed the importance of renewed focus by the NATO alliance to address both continental and global security challenges.
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