GENERAL DEMPSEY VISITS AFGHANISTAN

FROM:  AMERICAN FORCES PRESS SERVICE

Chairman's Afghanistan Visit Focuses on Afghan Forces' Progress

By John D. Banusiewicz
American Forces Press Service

KABUL, Afghanistan, April 22, 2012 - The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff  will focus on progress in Afghanistan's national security forces during a visit here.

Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey arrived this evening, and after a private dinner with a small group of field grade officers, met for about an hour with Marine Corps Gen. John R. Allen, commander of the International Security Assistance Force.

Discussions here also will center on Allen's plan to draw down the U.S. presence in Afghanistan to 68,000 troops by the end of September, the chairman told American Forces Press Service during the flight here from Amman, Jordan.

Dempsey's visit to Afghanistan comes between last week's meetings in Belgium among NATO foreign and defense ministers and the alliance's summit in Chicago next month.

"The ministers get together and provide [the defense chiefs] with political guidance, and we discuss how we turn that into military advice and planning," the chairman explained. But the summit will focus on the way ahead after 2014, when Afghan forces will have security responsibility for all of Afghanistan, he added.

In the meantime, Dempsey said, the key for military leaders is to work along with their Afghan partners to ensure Afghanistan's national security forces continue their progress toward full security responsibility and to work together in addressing the challenges that lie ahead in that effort.

Earlier today, Dempsey met in Amman with Lt. Gen. Mashal al-Zaben, Jordan's defense chief. They discussed the long-standing U.S. Jordanian partnership and regional security issues, including Jordan's perspective on the situation in neighboring Syria.

U.S. CONCLUDES REVIEWING BILATERAL INVESTMENT TREATY

FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
United States Concludes Review of Model Bilateral Investment Treaty
Media Note Office of the Spokesperson Washington, DC
April 20, 2012
The following is the text of a joint statement issued by the U.S. Department of State and the Office of the United States Trade Representative.
Begin Text:

Today, the U.S. Department of State and the Office of the United States Trade Representative announced the conclusion of the Administration’s review of the United States’ model bilateral investment treaty (BIT) and the release of the revised 2012 model BIT.

International investment is a significant driver of America’s economic growth, job creation, and exports. The 2012 U.S. model BIT text will help achieve several important goals of the Obama Administration ensuring that U.S. companies benefit from a level playing field in foreign markets, providing effective mechanisms for enforcing the international obligations of our economic partners, and creating stronger labor and environmental protections.

The 2012 model BIT also supports our strategic international commitment to a robust economic agenda. It will play a critical role in ensuring that American firms can rely on strong legal protections when competing for the 95 percent of the world’s consumers who live outside the United States, as well as in promoting good governance, the rule of law, and transparency around the world.

Like the predecessor 2004 model BIT, the 2012 model BIT continues to provide strong investor protections and preserve the government’s ability to regulate in the public interest. The Administration made several important changes to the BIT text so as to enhance transparency and public participation; sharpen the disciplines that address preferential treatment to state-owned enterprises, including the distortions created by certain indigenous innovation policies; and strengthen protections relating to labor and the environment.

BACKGROUND
Since February 2009, when the Administration initiated a review of the United States’ (2004) model BIT to ensure that it was consistent with the public interest and the Administration’s overall economic agenda, the Administration has sought and received extensive input from Congress, companies, business associations, labor groups, environmental and other non-governmental organizations, and academics. While revisions to the model BIT do not require Congressional action, negotiated BITs require advice and consent of two thirds of the Senate.

A BIT is an international agreement that provides binding legal rules regarding one country’s treatment of investors from another country. The United States negotiates BITs on the basis of a high-standard “model” text that provides investors with improved market access; protection from discriminatory, expropriatory, or otherwise harmful government treatment; and a mechanism to pursue binding international arbitration for breaches of the treaty. High-standard BITs, such as those based on the U.S. model, improve investment climates, promote market-based economic reform, and strengthen the rule of law. The United States has more than 40 BITs in force with countries around the world, and the investment chapters of U.S. free trade agreements (FTAs) contain substantially similar rules and protections. USTR and the Department of State co-lead the U.S. BIT program.

THE CIVIL WAR AND HONORING THE WAR DEAD

FROM:  VETERANS AFFAIRS
PHOTO: AFTERMATH AT GETTYSBURG
The Civil War’s Legacy of Honoring War Dead
April 18, 2012 by Alex Horton
We’ve all been taught the consequences of the U.S. Civil War since childhood. How it led to the emancipation of slaves, solidified state and federal rights, and further made the case for women’s suffrage. But the unprecedented carnage of the war also transformed the attitude of how the nation honors its military dead; a tradition now indelible to the American spirit.

That was the premise behind a talk given by Harvard University President Dr. Drew Faust at VA central office in Washington today. Through her research, Dr. Faust found that the Civil War fundamentally changed the way our country handled death on the battlefield. Both the Union and Confederacy were ill equipped to bury fallen troops in a dignified manner, and death notifications sent to families were informal and happenstance, if they happened at all. Unmarked and hasty graves littered fields and farms near battlefields where hundreds of thousands of men struggled and died.

Humanitarian ideas and the dignity of the human spirit were transformed in the crucible of war, and an emerging sense of responsibility for our war dead led to drastic shift in government obligations.

Edmund Whitman, an Army officer and a quartermaster during the war, led the effort. Whitman inspected cemeteries and battlefields across the south from 1865-1869, examined informal records, and conducted interviews to find out locations of fallen troops. He oversaw the reinterment of over 100,000 Union soldiers. About 300,000 were reburied in 74 national cemeteries, which now fall under the purview of the National Park Service.
As Dr. Faust noted, it was Whitman’s mission to put human faces and human cost to the war, and to recognize the sacrifices of so many of our own. His work helped to establish the notion that those who fell in battle are to be honored, and it’s our duty as citizens to remember and cherish that.

It’s difficult to fathom the damage of the war. An estimated 600,000 soldiers from both sides were killed; if the war were fought today with the same casualty rate, six million would lay dead. But it’s also hard to imagine a time when the care of our slain troops was an afterthought—an annoyance to both troops in the field and folks in the halls of government. It’s now one of VA’s most sacred obligations, but it took a war of staggering magnitude for our nation to realize it had a duty to honor the dead as much as they honored us.

AIR FORCE WEEK IN PHOTOS

Air Force Week in Photos

EXERCISE FOAL EAGLE IN S. KOREA SHOWS U.S. AND KOREAN FORCES READINESS

FROM:  AMERICAN FORCES PRESS SERVICE
Korea Exercise Lets Battalion Stretch Its Wings
By Jim Garamone
WASHINGTON, April 19, 2012 - Exercise Foal Eagle – an annual training exercise in South Korea – has given a Hawaii-based battalion an opportunity to spread its wings.
The exercise, which ends April 30, allows U.S. and South Korean service members to work together in defense of the Korean peninsula.

The exercise has added impetus this year, as North Korea launched a missile in defiance of United Nations agreements, said Army Lt. Col. Tim Hayden, commander of the 1st Battalion, 25th Infantry. His unit traveled to South Korea from its base in Hawaii to be part of the exercise.

"[The launch] did serve a strong point to remind us of our responsibility to maintain our readiness and our partnership with our Korean allies," he added.
The battalion focused on both the training mission and the combined mission with South Korean partners. The unit worked closely with South Korean army units as the exercise unfolded. It is a type of mission the unit, which has deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, has not practiced for years, Hayden said.

The battalion started preparing for movement last year and deployed in March. The unit has been able to train on everything from individual skills up through platoon and company level, the colonel said, and conducted combined training with the South Koreans.

"One of the events I'd like to highlight was a combined defensive live-fire shot here on Rodriguez Range," Hayden said from South Korea. "It was a great event, because we partnered with a Korean tank platoon."

The South Korean tankers partnered with the battalion's mobile gun systems – a 105 mm main gun on a Stryker vehicle variant. This allowed the troops of both nations to fight a defensive live-fire battle together.

"What we found was through our troops leading procedures and our rehearsals was both the Korean army and our Army have a lot in common – we have high-caliber leaders, we have well-trained soldiers, we have very good equipment," he said. "We can communicate and fight on the battlefield today as allies and partners."

Many of the American soldiers are veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan, Hayden noted.
"What this has been able to do for us is focus on a higher-intensity fight, more of a decisive action, and fight in the terrain that we would have to fight here on the peninsula should a contingency arise," he said. "The change of terrain has forced my leaders to think beyond the standard mission set they are used to in Iraq or Afghanistan."

The colonel said his unit is ready for the type of combat that could happen in Korea. "We are ready," he said. "We've mastered the basics, and we're focused on our core competencies and our fundamental warfighting skills, and we remain disciplined in what we do."

DAVE CAMP, CHAIRMAN OF THE HOUSE WAYS AND MEANS COMMITTEE CALLS FOR LESS SPENDING, GREATER ACCOUNTABILITY

FROM:  CONGRESSMAN DAVE CAMP’S NEWSLETTER
April 17, 2012
Highlights from the House: Highlights from the House: Camp Calls for Less Spending, Greater Accountability & Comprehensive Tax Reform
Congressman Dave Camp met with constituents across Michigan’s Fourth District last week to listen first hand to their concerns. Camp answered questions about how economic uncertainty continues to dampen the nation’s economic recovery. Residents agreed with  Congressman Camp’s plan to advance comprehensive tax reform to restore economic growth and job opportunities for hardworking Americans. Coupled with tax reform, Washington must be held accountable for the use of taxpayer dollars  rein in out-of-control federal spending, which remains a significant threat to America’s economic future. AsCBS recently reported, the national debt has now increased more during President Obama's three years and two months in office than it did during George W. Bush’s presidency.

With spending and debt at record levels, it is no wonder that more than three-quarters of Americans believe the country is still in a recession. Historically, Small businesses have led the country out of recessions.  Congressman Camp knows their recovery plays a key role to unlocking job growth and getting Americans back to work.

A recent survey shows that with taxes due tonight, cash-strapped small businesses are putting their scarce resources towards tax compliance, rather than growth and hiring. The good news is: the Senate rejected a tax hike yesterday. The better news is: Camp is leading House Republicans in tax reform efforts to boost small business job creation. On Thursday, the House will vote on Camp’s Small Business Tax Cut Act (H.R. 9) to give small businesses a 20% tax deduction. A Fiscal Associates study shows the Small Business Tax Cut with help create more than 100,000 new jobs a year once fully in place, directly benefitting 22 million small businesses. The president has called small businesses the "anchors of our Main Streets" hopefully he and will join the House to provide lower taxes and higher growth to America’s job creators.

SENATOR CARL LEVIN'S SPEECH ON INVEST IN AMERICA ACT

FROM:  SENATOR CARL LEVIN’S NEWSLETTER
Senate Floor Speech on INVEST in America Act
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Mr. President, there is no state that has suffered more from the job losses of the Great Recession than the state of Michigan. You do not have to ask a Michiganian twice if he or she believes Congress should take action to increase the speed of the jobs recovery. I am ready to consider any legislation that promises more opportunity for the workers of Michigan and the nation.

Unfortunately, the legislation the House has sent to us, promoted as a job creation bill, is no such thing. In the name of job creation, the House bill would severely weaken investor and taxpayer protections in the nation’s securities laws. In the name of putting Americans to work, the House bill would hand a series of special favors to influential special interest groups.

The House bill reflects a disturbing failure to learn the lessons of the recent and all-too-painful past. It defies belief that after the worst financial crisis in generations, a crisis brought on by the failure to effectively police our financial markets, Congress would consider removing vital obstacles to fraud and abuse.

The House bill would take a series of steps that would undermine the integrity of the financial markets. We should not go down that road, and we need not. Working with Senator Reed, Senator Landrieu, Senator Brown and others, I have participated in an effort to make common-sense changes that would give small, innovative companies more tools to access the capital they need. But we do that without putting the stability of our economy and the interests of American investors and taxpayers at risk. Let me lay out some of the problems with the House bill and how the Reed-Landrieu-Levin amendment would address them.

The House bill would lower barriers to fraud that are now present in so-called “Regulation A” stock offerings. These are offerings that are exempt from SEC registration requirements. The House bill would expose retail investors, those with no expertise or resources to assess the risks of participating in the unregulated market, to massive potential fraud and abuse. It does not even require that companies making offerings under Regulation A provide audited financial statements. The Regulation A process may be appropriate for very small companies, but the House bill provides few meaningful limits to its use. Instead, the House bill would allow even large companies to avoid meaningful ovI’ve worked with my colleagues to fix this problem by ensuring that these offerings are limited to only once every three years, and that investors in these offerings get an accurate picture of the company’s finances through audited financial statements.

In the name of giving smaller companies greater access to the initial public offering market, the House bill would create a new class of company, called an “emerging growth company,” and would strip from investors in such companies more than a dozen important investor protections.

Some of these protections involve transparency.  The House bill would weaken corporate governance provisions that we enacted less than two years ago in the Dodd-Frank Act, including disclosures on executive pay. The House bill would exempt these companies from having to comply with changes to accounting standards. It would repeal the protections put in place after the dotcom bubble burst. These protections require financial firms to separate research analysts who advise clients on whether to invest in initial public offerings from sales teams. The House bill provides that companies with up to $1 billion in annual revenues would not have to get an outside auditor to check their internal controls.  So, what happens if one of these companies is cooking the books?  Who’s going to catch it?

We learned with Enron and Worldcom why we need meaningful checks on how companies prepare their financial statements. The vast majority of financial restatements –corrections to bad information given to the investing public – are made by medium and small companies. Investors in these companies should have the confidence that the financial statements on which they base their decisions are accurate.
 
These provisions of the House bill are bad enough, given the chronic problem in financial markets with poor and misleading financial disclosure. But to make matters worse, the bill would open this collection of loopholes to companies with up to $1 billion in annual revenues – a level that would include well over 80% of all IPOs. Financial regulators, associations of individual investors, many of the largest pension plans in the country, securities experts, and the Chamber of Commerce all have raised alarm bells about that $1 billion threshold as well as the many problems that would follow from the House bill.
ersight year after year.

Just this week the SEC took a series of enforcement actions against fraudsters seeking to victimize investors in pre-IPO offerings. As one SEC official noted: “The newly emerging secondary marketplace for pre-IPO stock presents risk for even savvy investors.” The House bill threatens to bring the same level of risk and instability that plagues pre-IPO trading to the IPO market itself, changes that, rather than building support for IPOs, might make the IPO market so risky that it dampens investor interest.

The amendment some of us have been working on would accept the premise that some small, newly public companies could benefit from somewhat relaxed requirements as they adjust to the public marketplace. But our amendment would limit these benefits to smaller companies, those with under $350 million in annual revenues. And our amendment would not exempt these companies from nearly so many critical investor protections. For example, we would not remove protections designed to protect the integrity of the research that’s available to investors. Nor would it exempt them from any new accounting rules. Nor would it exempt them from requirements regarding important executive pay disclosures and shareholder input on executive pay packages. Our amendment would provide flexibility for smaller, newly public companies to adjust to the public markets, but leave in place the investor protections that ensure our public markets remain the best in the world.

The House bill would also allow companies – or fraudsters posing as legitimate companies – to solicit investors directly through the Internet. As written, the House bill would offer investors almost no protection from fraudulent schemes and fake investment opportunities. Although these websites (often called “intermediaries” or “funding portals”) are the only entities capable of making sure that a company seeking to sell stock on its site is real, the House exempts them from any real regulation or liability. And the same is true with the issuing company. Labor groups, seniors organizations, regulators, and securities experts all warn us that this measure is an open invitation to fraud. One group calls it the “boiler room legalization act.”

So we have many problems with these provisions of the House bill. But we also believe that so-called “crowdfunding” – in which small start-ups can access pools of capital from small investors, usually over the Internet – has the potential to provide opportunity for truly small businesses to get additional capital they need to grow.  That’s why we build upon the work of Senators Merkley and Bennet to create a platform for raising money through the Internet, but we make sure that it has the necessary investor and consumer protections.

In fact, legitimate crowdfunding sites have made it clear to us that they, like us, are concerned about the House bill, and they too want the additional protections we provide. Our amendment makes sure that funding portals are subject to meaningful regulation, and that the companies that use them to raise capital are too. Our amendment would — unlike the House bill — require comprehensive disclosures to investors about the company and the risks of such investments. If this new way of investing in small companies is to succeed, then investor protections like the ones embodied in the Merkley-Bennet provisions, which we included in our amendment, are vital to giving investors the confidence to participate.

The House bill also attempts to remove regulations on so-called private offerings. By allowing issuers of private offerings to market their stock to the general public – on billboards and the Internet, in visits to retirement homes or late-night television ads – this provision would dangerously lower our defenses against fraud. We’ve seen this movie before – in the 1990s, regulators lowered the barriers to general solicitation for private offerings, and within years reversed their error because of widespread fraud and abuse.
Some have complained that the existing restrictions on solicitation for private offerings are too narrow and impede business’s access to capital. That seems unlikely given the nearly $1 trillion a year in private offering activity. If there are yet more worthy investments going unfunded because of unneeded investor protections, the SEC’s regulations should be updated for the internet age.

The Reed-Landrieu-Levin amendment would direct the SEC to revise its rules to allow companies to offer and sell shares to accredited investors.  It then directs the SEC to make sure that those who offer or sell these securities take reasonable steps to verify that the purchasers actually are accredited investors.  It requires the SEC to revise its rules to make sure that these sales tactics are appropriate. There will be no billboards or cold calls to senior living centers under our amendment. I wish I could say the same about the House bill.

There is little evidence that the reduced investor protections and invitations to fraud in the House bill will make any meaningful contribution to job growth. We do not have one study on any of the provisions of the House bill establishing that even one job would be created. If such a study existed, I’m sure we would have seen it. The simple reality is that repealing federal securities laws—and that is clearly the intent of the House bill—does not create jobs.

In fact, a former chief accountant of the SEC was quoted recently as saying this jobs bill was no jobs bill at all. He said: “This would be better known as the bucket-shop and penny-stock fraud reauthorization act of 2012.”

Taken together, these and other provisions in the House bill send a false message: that in order to grow the economy, we must subject our senior citizens to more fraud, we must put pension funds and church endowments at greater risk of fleecing, we must create more threats to the financial stability of American families.. The America I know and believe in is capable of growing its economy without these unnecessary risks.

Indeed, it is fraud and financial abuse that have repeatedly brought our economy to its knees. We opened the door to fraud and abuse in the savings and loan industry, and precipitated a crisis that destroyed 750 financial institutions, cut the number of new homes built in this country by nearly half, and devastated entire communities. We dropped the barriers to fraud through financial statements and in swaps markets, opening the door to the predations of the so-called “smartest guys in the room” – the criminal executives of Enron. We lowered the barriers to heedless risk and conflicts of interest in the financial system, and paved the road to the greatest financial crisis since the 1930s.

Over the last ten years, on a bipartisan basis, the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, which I chair, has held hearing after hearing and issued report after report on the Enron crisis, accounting and securities fraud, and the more recent subprime mortgage crisis. Our investigations exposed how some American corporations, their accountants, and banks were willing to dupe investors and, even after their wrongdoing came to light, walk away with huge paychecks, while workers, investors, and the American economy at large paid the price.  Enron was the seventh largest U.S.

corporation before its crash bankrupted employees, pensions, and investors. It lied about its earnings and did so with the help of its accountants and banks.  Goldman Sachs sold securities through public and private offerings that didn’t fully inform investors about what they were buying.  The wrongdoing our subcommittee has uncovered over the years is as powerful reminder that investors deserve protection against abuses when they invest their hard-earned dollars in U.S. capital markets.

There is a rising wave of concern among market experts that the House legislation’s effect might be precisely the opposite of its supporters’ stated intent; that instead of boosting the ability of companies to find capital so they can grow, these changes would hurt the market for investing in new companies by making that market too risky. If we remove meaningful transparency and fraud safeguards, SEC Chairman Schapiro wrote just a few days ago, “investors will lose confidence in our markets, and capital formation will ultimately be made more difficult and expensive.”

The question for the champions of ever-lower regulatory barriers is this: Did those rollbacks of regulatory protections help our economy grow? Did they create jobs? Ask a family that was wiped out in the financial crisis. Ask an investor who lost everything to Enron. Ask one of the 8.6 million American workers who lost their jobs in a financial crisis created on Wall Street, one we have yet to fully overcome.

Mr. President, in November of 1999, this body debated another piece of financial legislation, one whose supporters claimed would lead to boundless new economic opportunities for our country. That bill repealed the Glass-Steagall Act, lowered barriers to concentration in the financial industry, and removed the wall that had separated investment banking from commercial banking since the aftermath of the Great Depression.

Senator Byron Dorgan came to this floor and issued a warning. “It may be that I am hopelessly old-fashioned,” he said. “But I just do not think we should ignore the lessons learned in the 1930s. … I also think we will, in 10 years time, look back and say: We should not have done that because we forgot the lessons of the past.”

Ten years after Senator Dorgan’s remarks, almost to the day that he predicted, America’s economy hit rock-bottom, with the lowest mark of employment during the Great Recession.

Old fashioned sounds pretty good these days. I hope to be as old fashioned as Senator Dorgan, who warned us that lowering the barriers that protect us from financial catastrophe can only destroy jobs. I hope the Senate will turn away from the House bill that threatens fraud, abuse and renewed crisis, and embrace reforms that give our innovative companies the chance to compete without endangering investor confidence or the stability of our economy.

ALABAMA REAL ESTATE INVESTOR AGREES TO PLEAD GUILTY TO CONSPIRACIES TO RIG BIDS AND COMMIT MAIL FRAUD FOR THE PURCHASE OF REAL ESTATE AT PUBLIC FORECLOSURE AUCTIONS

FROM:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE ANTITURST DIVISION
WASHINGTON — An Alabama real estate investor has agreed to plead guilty and to serve prison time for his role in conspiracies to rig bids and commit mail fraud at public real estate foreclosure auctions in southern Alabama, the Department of Justice announced today. To date, as a result of the ongoing investigation, three individuals and one company have pleaded guilty.

Charges were filed today in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama in Mobile, Ala., against Lawrence B. Stacy of Mobile. Stacy was charged with one count of bid rigging and one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud. According to the plea agreement, which is subject to court approval, Stacy has agreed to serve six months in prison. Additionally, Stacy has agreed to pay a $10,000 criminal fine and to cooperate with the department's ongoing investigation.

According to court documents, Stacy conspired with others not to bid against one another at public real estate foreclosure auctions in southern Alabama. After a designated bidder bought a property at the public auctions, which typically take place at the county courthouse, the conspirators would generally hold a secret, second auction, at which each participant would bid the amount above the public auction price he or she was willing to pay. The highest bidder at the secret, second auction won the property.

Stacy was also charged with conspiring to use the U.S. mail to carry out a scheme to acquire title to rigged foreclosure properties sold at public auctions at artificially suppressed prices, to make and receive payoffs to co-conspirators and to cause financial institutions, homeowners and others with a legal interest in rigged foreclosure properties to receive less than the competitive price for the properties. Stacy participated in the bid-rigging and mail fraud conspiracies from at least as early as May 2002 until at least January 2007.

“The Antitrust Division will continue to pursue vigorously the perpetrators involved in these real estate foreclosure auction schemes,” said Sharis A. Pozen, Acting Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division. “Those who eliminate competition from the marketplace and prey on the misfortune of others will be held accountable for their actions.”

FBI Special Agent in Charge of the Mobile FBI office, Lewis M. Chapman recognized the perseverance of agents and prosecutors in this complex investigation. Chapman stated, “This investigation sends the message that real estate fraud including antitrust violations will continue to be pursued in these tough economic times, no matter how intricate the scheme.”

Each violation of the Sherman Act carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $1 million fine for individuals. The maximum fine for a Sherman Act charge may be increased to twice the gain derived from the crime or twice the loss suffered by the victim if either amount is greater than the statutory maximum fine. Each count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a fine in an amount equal to the greatest of $250,000, twice the gross gain the conspirators derived from the crime or twice the gross loss caused to the victims of the crime by the conspirators.

COMPANY PAYS PENALTIES FOR VIOLATIONS OF CHILD LABOR RULES

FROM:  DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Candyopolis assessed $12,000 in penalties for child labor violations, pays more than $6,700 in back wages following US Labor Department investigations

Various FLSA violations found at 13 candy stores in Kansas, Nebraska and Oklahoma
KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- The U.S. Department of Labor has assessed a total of $12,000 in civil money penalties against Candyopolis, a retail confectionary chain in the Midwest, after investigations by the department’s Wage and Hour Division found teens at seven stores were allowed to perform hazardous jobs prohibited by the Fair Labor Standards Act’s child labor provisions. The investigations – conducted at 13 stores in Kansas, Nebraska and Oklahoma – also disclosed violations of the FLSA’s minimum wage, overtime pay and record-keeping requirements, resulting in back wages totaling $6,737.40 recovered for 275 employees.

Investigators found that three stores in Kansas (two in Wichita and one in Manhattan) and four in Oklahoma (two in Oklahoma City, one in Enid and one in Norman) allowed minor employees to load and operate trash and box compactors in violation of the FLSA’s Hazardous Occupations Order No. 12, which generally prohibits workers under 18 from operating, loading or unloading paper balers or trash compactors.
Minimum wage violations were found at all 13 stores, resulting in $2,048 owed to 256 employees. The violations stem from the company requiring each employee to pay $8 for uniform shirts from his or her first paycheck, which caused pay to fall below the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour.

Overtime violations were found at 11 stores in all three states, resulting in a total of $4,689.40 owed to 19 employees. These violations were due to Candyopolis incorrectly classifying managers as exempt from the requirements of the FLSA. Consequently, managers were paid a salary without being paid the half-time due on the overtime hours worked.

Finally, the company failed to keep accurate records of time worked by employees at 12 stores in the three states, as required by the FLSA.
The Kansas stores investigated are located in Manhattan, Salina, Topeka and Wichita (two). The Oklahoma stores are located in Enid (two), Lawton, Norman and Oklahoma City (two). Both of the Nebraska stores are in Omaha. All back wages owed have been paid in full.

“Businesses that employ minors are legally and ethically obligated to abide by child labor standards, and to ensure minors are protected on the job,” said Susana Rincon, director of the Wage and Hour Division’s San Francisco District Office. “The penalties imposed as a result of these violations are indicative of the Wage and Hour Division’s efforts to combat systemic violations found in the retail industry. We are committed to educating employers about wage laws and to enforcing them. The division will ensure that workers receive their fair and rightful wages, and that minors are protected in the workplace.”

Candyopolis is operated by Meetha Ventures of Fremont, Calif. The Wage and Hour Division’s district office in Kansas City, Kan., initiated the investigations and the division’s San Francisco District Office became involved when systemic violations were found because it has jurisdiction over the company’s corporate office.

The FLSA establishes a minimum age of 18 for workers in those nonagricultural occupations that the secretary of labor declares to be particularly hazardous for 16- and 17-year-old workers or detrimental to their health or well-being. The FLSA also requires that covered, nonexempt employees be paid at least the federal minimum wage for all hours worked, as well as one and one-half times their regular rates for hours worked over 40 per week. Additionally, accurate records of employees’ wages, hours and other conditions of employment must be maintained.

U.S. RELATIONS WITH JORDAN, GEN. DEMPSEY PAYS A CALL

FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin E. Dempsey introduces himself to Jordanian National Security leaders in Amman, Jordan, Apr. 21, 2012. DOD photo by D. Myles Cullen

Dempsey Visits Jordan to Reaffirm Partnership
By John D. Banusiewicz
American Forces Press Service
AMMAN, Jordan, April 21, 2012 - The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff arrived here today to visit his Jordanian counterpart and to meet with officials at the U.S. Embassy.
Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey kicked off his first visit to Jordan as chairman with private meetings with U.S. Ambassador to Jordan Stuart E. Jones and members of the embassy's staff, followed by a Jordanian-hosted dinner. Tomorrow, he'll meet with Jordan's chief of defense, Lt. Gen. Mashal al-Zaben.

The chairman took time after his embassy meetings to mix and mingle informally with service members stationed here.

"This is a counterpart visit and a chance to thank the Jordanians for their critical support in Operation Enduring Freedom, as well as to discuss regional security issues," said Marine Corps Col. David Lapan, Dempsey's spokesman. "We remain firmly committed to our partnership with Jordan's armed forces and greatly appreciate their contributions in support of coalition operations."

Jordan is one of the most vital U.S. allies in the region, Lapan said. "We are fully committed to our partnership during this time of dynamic change," he added.
The world is closely watching developments in Syria, Lapan said, and the United States shares Jordanian concerns regarding the deteriorating situation there.

"The Jordanian military continues to display exceptional leadership throughout the region," Lapan said. For example, he said, the United States and Jordan will conduct Exercise Eager Lion 12 from May 7 to May 28.

The exercise will bring together more than 8,000 participants from more than 15 countries over five continents. Its focus is to strengthen military-to-military relationships of participating partner nations through a joint, whole-of-government, multinational approach, the chairman's spokesman said.

DOD, NAVY, TEXAS WIND GROUP, SIGN AGREEMENT OF A MUTUAL APPROACH FOR RENEWABLE ENERGY

FROM:  U.S. NAVY

By Kenneth Hess, Chief of Naval Operations Energy and Environmental Readiness Division Public Affairs

NAVAL AIR STATION (NAS) KINGSVILLE, Texas (NNS) -- The Navy released today a memorandum of agreement (MOA) signed by officials from the Department of Defense (DoD), the Department of the Navy and Texas Wind Group (TWG) that outlines a mutual approach to enable a renewable energy developer to build and operate wind turbines at planned locations in Kleberg County, Texas, while reducing the potential for those turbines to affect flight operations at NAS Kingsville.

"Sustaining military readiness is the number one priority of everyone in the Navy chain of command," said Capt. Mark McLaughlin, commanding officer of NAS Kingsville. "This agreement helps preserve NAS Kingsville's capability to train naval aviators, while enabling the compatible development of new energy sources."

Signing for DoD was David Belote, director of the DoD Energy Siting Clearinghouse. Signing for the Navy were Roger Natsuhara, principal deputy assistant secretary of the Navy for Energy, Installations and Environment; John Quinn, acting director of the Chief of Naval Operations Energy and Environmental Readiness Division; Vice Adm. William French, commander, Navy Installations Command; Rear Adm. John Scorby, commander, Navy Region Southeast; Capt. Douglas Edgecomb, commanding officer, Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, and McLaughlin. Dru Steubing signed on behalf of Texas Wind Group Managing.

"The Navy recognizes the strategic and fiscal importance of developing domestic sources of energy for use both ashore and at sea," said Quinn. "As we develop new sources of energy, it is critical that we not create a new problem as we solve another. This agreement with the Texas Wind Group is proof that when energy developers and the military work together, it is possible to achieve a win-win for both national security and energy security. This agreement allows the military mission and alternative energy production to co-exist in South Texas, and may pave the way for similar agreements elsewhere."

TWG's Riviera I wind farm project will be comprised of 83 turbines between nine and 11.5 nautical miles south of NAS Kingsville's radars and navigation aids. Electromagnetic interference (EMI) from the turbines has the potential to impact those systems. However, the MOA describes technical solutions for this, such as connecting NAS Kingsville's air surveillance radar system with the radar at Corpus Christi International Airport and optimizing radars to "ignore" signals received from wind turbines. TWG will contribute $500,000 to help pay for these technical upgrades to Navy radar systems. Under the MOA, TWG also agreed to reposition certain turbines that would have caused interference with the Kingsville precision approach radar. TWG also agreed to temporarily curtail the operation of certain turbines if the precision approach radar is negatively affected.

"The Texas Wind Group is delighted to be the first wind energy company to finalize an agreement of this type with the Navy," said Steubing. "We are fully committed to protecting the capability of our nation's military, and we appreciate the opportunity to work with the Navy to make our development compatible with the Navy mission in South Texas."

The Navy and the Department of Defense will continue working closely with renewable energy developers and local communities in South Texas to ensure local wind turbine projects can coexist with the Navy mission.

INCAE AND WOODROW WILSON PRIVATE SECTOR INITIATIVE

FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
INCAE and Woodrow Wilson Private Sector Initiative to Address Crime and Insecurity in Central America
Remarks Maria Otero
Under Secretary for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights World Bank
Washington, DC
April 19, 2012
(As Delivered)
Thank you, Cynthia. It is an honor to attend the third meeting of the INCAE and Woodrow Wilson Center project here in Washington, DC. I also want to thank the World Bank and the Central American Private Sector Initiative for co-hosting today’s event. I especially want to thank INCAE and the Woodrow Wilson Center for bringing together the private sector to help create practical solutions to the security challenges in Central America – because we know that governments cannot do this work alone. Your contribution is critical to help build safe, prosperous, and democratic societies in Central America.

Today, I want to talk about three key areas of the U.S. strategy to combat crime and insecurity in Central America: First, what the U.S. is doing to reduce the demand for illicit drugs in our own country, which we know is a major factor in this transnational issue. Second, how the U.S. is utilizing new international partnerships to address transnational organized crime and citizen security. And lastly, the need for a comprehensive, community-based approach to address citizen security in each country in Central America.
At the Summit of the Americas, President Obama and Secretary Clinton engaged with the leaders of the region in a robust and healthy dialogue on a range of issues, including the U.S. strategy on drugs. The U.S. has acknowledged that the high demand for drugs in our own country is a major contributing factor to drug trafficking and its effects in the region. In response to this concern, President Obama charted a new direction for our efforts to reduce illicit drug use and its consequences by launching a National Drug Control Strategy in 2010. This week, he announced a revised strategy that provides a review of our progress, and looks ahead to continued reform.

This new strategy rejects the false choice between an enforcement-centric “war on drugs” on the one hand and the notion of drug legalization on the other, an issue that was also addressed in Cartagena.

While the United States remains open to engaging in discussion on this issue, we do not believe that legalization is the path towards a holistic solution to combat drug trafficking and organized crime and improve citizen security across the region.

The United States believes there must be a balanced approach to reducing illicit drug use, and our efforts are yielding results. The rate of overall drug use in America has dropped by roughly one-third over the past three decades. Since 2006, meth use in America has been cut by half and cocaine use has dropped by nearly 40 percent. In 2011, the United States spent over 10 billion dollars on drug prevention and treatment; 9.4 billion dollars on domestic law enforcement; 3.6 billion on interdiction, and 2.1 billion on international drug control programs. The President’s revised National Drug Control Strategy seeks to redouble our efforts, and employs a balance of evidenced-based public health and safety reforms.
Another pillar of this strategy is strengthening international partnerships – and at the leadership of Secretary Clinton, we have created new partnerships to address the security challenges in Central America.

The United States has developed new modes of cooperation starting by addressing security issues that are identified by Central Americans themselves. Secretary Clinton firmly believes that the solutions to the problems in Central America must come from Central Americans – that is why the U.S. supports the Central American Integration System, commonly known as SICA. I cannot stress the importance – however difficult and slow it may be – to have the government leaders of Central America agree upon the primary security challenges and then identify as a group the specific areas of cooperation needed to create the solution. Today’s event further contributes to the Central American-led effort to identify practical solutions to the security challenges facing the region.

The U.S. programmatic efforts are funneled through our Central America Regional Security Initiative – known as CARSI – which is an integrated, collaborative program designed to disrupt and dismantle the gangs and transnational criminal organizations. From 2008 to 2011, the United States has allocated over 361 million dollars to CARSI efforts.

At the Summit of the Americas, President Obama announced that the U.S. will allocate 130 million dollars for CARSI in fiscal year 2012.

Our support is focused not just on helping security forces track down criminals. We are working to address the root causes of violence, from impunity to lack of opportunity. We are working to build accountable institutions free from corruption that respect human rights and enhance the rule of law. We are building partnerships to improve courts and prisons, train police and prosecutors, and enhance education systems and job-training centers. We are working towards building partnerships with political leaders, but also with civil society, businesses and with the elite, who have a special obligation to help confront these challenges.

The U.S. welcomes the progress on tax reform in some countries, such as President Perez Molina’s tax reform in Guatemala and the recently passed security taxes in Costa Rica and Honduras. The fact that so many of the wealthy in Latin America have not paid their fair share of taxes is one of the many reasons why the services that are necessary to protect citizen security and enhance educational opportunities have not been available. Fora such as the one today are critical to ensure the voices of the private sector are part of the solution.

In addition to new partnerships with Central Americans, we are building partnerships across the Americas. One example is our cooperation with Colombia in Central America. Presidents Obama and Santos announced a new Action Plan on Regional Security Cooperation earlier this week in Cartagena. These coordination efforts will initially focus on Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, and Panama with the goal of expanding to the rest of the Americas and West Africa. Both countries will develop complementary security assistance programs and operational efforts to support partner nations afflicted by effects of transnational organized crime.

Lastly, I want to talk about the progress we are seeing on the ground. I have seen the most progress during my visits to Central American countries when there is a multi-faceted, community-based approach that empowers all actors in society – including municipal and state government officials, members of the private sector and civil society, and individual citizens, with a focus on young people who are not only the most at-risk, but who have the most potential to change their communities for the better.

We are seeing progress clearly demonstrated in the Model Precinct Program which has significantly aided in reducing homicides, robberies, and burglaries throughout the region. The program uses community-based policing techniques and youth drug prevention programs like the Gang Resistance Education and Training – or GREAT - and the Police Athletic League to build local support. Police officers assigned to the unit receive several years of classroom and on-the-job training, greatly increasing their investigative and patrolling capabilities.

I recently visited the Model Precinct in Lourdes, El Salvador, where new police leadership was installed in the spring of 2010. The new commander of the Lourdes precinct fully embraced and implemented best practices for policing. By adopting an intelligence-led policing philosophy for crime prevention and targeted enforcement, the Lourdes precinct reduced the number of homicides from 287 in 2010 to 170 in 2011 -- a 40 percent reduction. All other major crimes were also reduced by more than 40 percent. By comparison, the national homicide rate in El Salvador rose by 9 percent in 2011.

Now these programs occur on a municipal-level; the challenge is how to scale up these efforts and replicate them across each nation and the region. In Guatemala, the new tax reform funds will go to support community-based policing programs building upon the Model Precinct in other parts of the country. For example, I visited the Mixco Model Precinct earlier this year. The local mayor, police chief, priest and community leaders worked together to create a new level of trust and collaboration that resulted in a significant decrease in the levels of crime and violence.

And it was clear that these efforts were not only difficult, but dangerous. In this particular case, the police chief had to release a high percentage of the police force due to corruption and train an entire new cadre of young police officers. So we see that even these models are not simple, and take a great deal of time, effort and personal investment by many actors. I am pleased that we will now expand this program in Honduras, which has launched the first Model Precinct Program. President Lobo has indicated that funds from the new security tax will go towards the expansion of these efforts.

Solving the crime and insecurity that plagues Central America requires a set of multi-faceted responses that include involvement by every sector of society. My message to those of you here today is that your governments need you – they need your investment in the country. And more importantly, they need your support to help increase the political will needed to face these tough issues head-on. They need your help to rebuild weak institutions, to strengthen the judicial system, to build capacity through the government, all essential for a meaningful and long lasting response.

U.S. GOVERNMENT FEARS GROWING BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT

FROM U.S. AIR FORCE

Commander of Air Combat Command, Gen. Mike Hostage, and his wife, Kathy, look on as 2nd Lt. Suzanne Sparks, 7th Space Warning Squadron crew commander, demonstrates a mock missile detection sequence in the Missile Warning Operations Center at Beale Air Force Base, Calif., Nov. 6, 2011. 7th SWS operates 24/7 and Airmen are responsible for up channeling an event analysis to the Missile Warning Center at Cheyenne Mountain in Colorado Springs, Colo., within 60 seconds of the initial detection. (U.S. Air Force photo by Mr. John Schwab)

FROM:  AMERICAN FORCES PRESS SERVICE

U.S. Missile Defense Counters Growing Threat

By Cheryl Pellerin

WASHINGTON, April 19, 2012 - Six days after North Korea's failed long-range rocket launch, the head of the Defense Department's Missile Defense Agency testified on Capitol Hill about bolstering U.S. defenses against a growing ballistic missile threat.

Agency Director Army Lt. Gen. Patrick J. O'Reilly appeared yesterday before the Senate Appropriations Committee's defense subcommittee to discuss the administration's fiscal 2013 budget request of $7.75 billion for his agency.

The request is a reduction of more than $650 million from the fiscal 2012 appropriation. Since 1999, the United States has invested more than $90 billion in missile defense.

The latest request, O'Reilly said, "balances our policies as documented in the 2010 Ballistic Missile Defense Review [with] U.S. Strategic Command's integrated air and missile defense priorities, [Missile Defense Agency] technical feasibility assessments, affordability constraints and current intelligence community estimates of the ballistic missile threat."

But the director expressed concern to the panel about two critically needed programs that are in jeopardy because of past congressional funding reductions.

The first, he said, is a missile defense sensor capability provided by the precision tracking space system, which allows space-based tracking of ballistic missiles. The second is the need to develop a second independent layer of homeland defense with the SM-3 IIB interceptor, a highly deployable missile that would destroy threat missiles earlier in their flight paths than the current architecture.

"I request your support for these programs," O'Reilly said, "so that our homeland benefits from the same layered missile defense approach that we successfully employ in our regional defenses."

The director described improvements made last year to the complex ballistic missile defense system designed to protect the United States and its allies. These include activating a new missile field and a fire-control node at Fort Greely, Alaska; activating an upgraded early warning radar in Thule, Greenland; and upgrading the reliability of three ground-based interceptors, or GBIs, he said.

"This year," O'Reilly told the panel, "we continue to aggressively pursue the agency's highest priority -- to conduct a missile intercept with the newest version of the GBI's exo-atmospheric kill vehicle after two previous flight-test failures."

A failure review board of government and industry experts redesigned critical GBI kill vehicle components and established more stringent manufacturing and component requirements, he added.

"These requirements have previously not been encountered anywhere in the aerospace industry," O'Reilly noted, adding that these have caused delays in preparing for the next flight tests.

"We will fly a nonintercept test by the end of this year to verify we have resolved all issues, and then we will conduct our next intercept flight test early next year to reactivate the {ground-based midcourse defense] production line," the director said. "We will not approve the execution of a flight test until our engineers and independent experts are convinced that we have resolved all issues discovered in previous testing."

Also this year, the agency will activate a hardened power plant at Fort Greely, increase the firepower of fielded GBIs by testing and upgrading GBI components, and boost the capability of sea-based X-band radar, the tracking and discrimination radar used for the GMD element of the Ballistic Missile Defense System.

"Regional defense highlights over the past year include the on-time deployment of the first phase of the European Phased Adaptive Approach," O'Reilly said, "consisting of the command-and-control node in Germany, forward-based radar in Turkey and an Aegis missile defense ship on station in the Mediterranean Sea."

The agency also demonstrated the first Aegis intercept of a 3,700-kilometer target using remote forward-based radar, he said, and the simultaneous intercept of two missiles by the terminal high-altitude area defense system, called THAAD.

The THAAD element gives the missile defense system a globally transportable, rapidly deployable ability to intercept and destroy ballistic missiles in or out of the atmosphere during the final, or terminal, flight phase.

"This year the first two THAAD batteries will be available for deployment, increasing the number of Aegis-capable ships to 29," the director said, and three SM-3 Block IB flight tests will show that last year's flight-test failure is resolved.

Coming up, he said, the largest missile defense tests in history will involve the first simultaneous intercepts of multiple short and medium-range ballistic missiles and cruise missiles by Patriot forward-based radar.

The United States has missile defense cooperative programs with the United Kingdom, Japan, Australia, Israel, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Poland, Italy and many other nations. O'Reilly said the agency works with more than 20 countries, "including our cooperative development programs with Israel and Japan and our first foreign military sale of THAAD to the United Arab Emirates," and supports technical discussions with the Russians on missile defense.

Phases 2 and 3 of the European phased, adaptive approach to missile defense are on track to meet the 2015 and 2018 deployment dates, the director said.

STUDY TO DETERMINE IF HYPERTENSION AND RESPIRATORY DISEASES RELATED TO VIETNAM WAR HERBICIDE AGENT ORANGE

FROM: U .S. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS
The Army Chemical Corps Vietnam-Era Veterans Health Study is designed to learn if high blood pressure (hypertension) and some chronic respiratory diseases are related to herbicide exposure during the Vietnam War.

Background
This study follows a request by Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki for VA to conduct research on the association between herbicide exposure and high blood pressure (hypertension), as a basis for understanding if hypertension is related to military service in Vietnam.  VA is also interested in learning more about the relationship between herbicide exposure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
This study is a follow-up of a similar study conducted between 1999-2000. We have examined the health status of individuals who served in the Army Chemical Corps since the 1990s.

Goals
Researchers have two questions:
Is the risk of high blood pressure (hypertension) related to Agent Orange exposure during service in Vietnam?
Is the risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), including chronic bronchitis and emphysema, related to Agent Orange exposure during service in Vietnam?

Participants
Researchers are asking approximately 4,000 Veterans who served in the U.S. Army Chemical Corps sometime during the Vietnam era (1965-1973) to participate in this study.  Army Chemical Corps personnel were responsible for the maintenance and distribution or application of chemicals for military operations. Army Chemical Corps personnel who served in Vietnam during the Vietnam War constitute the largest group of Army Vietnam Veterans who were thought to have had the greatest potential exposure to herbicides.

We have already selected participants from earlier Army Chemical Corps study rosters, and researchers cannot accept volunteers for this study. Each Veteran selected for this study represents other Veterans with similar characteristics.

Methods
We are conducting telephone interviews, reviewing medical records, and measuring the blood pressure and lung function of these Veterans.

Investigators
Han Kang, Dr.P.H.
Aaron Schneiderman, Ph.D., M.P.H., R.N.
Yasmin Cypel, Ph.D.
Amii Kress, M.P.H.
Stephanie Eber, M.P.H.

STATE DEPARTMENT STEPS UP VISAS TO U.S FROM CHINA, BRAZIL

FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
State Department Processing Visas at Record Pace: More Visitors from China and Brazil Mean More American Jobs
Media Note Office of the Spokesperson Washington, DC
April 18, 2012
Earlier this year, President Obama called for a national strategy to make the United States the world’s top travel and tourism destination, generating jobs and revitalizing our economy. The Department of State is well on the way to meeting the President’s goals of increasing visitor visa processing capacity in China and Brazil by 40 percent in 2012.

Visa Surge: In Brazil, consular officers issued more than 555,000 visas in the first half of fiscal year 2012, compared to 350,000 visas during the same timeframe in 2011, an increase of 59 percent. In China, consular officers issued more than 453,000 visas in the first half of the year, compared to approximately 310,000 visas in the same timeframe in 2011, an increase of 46 percent.

Short Wait Times: At the same time, the Department of State has reduced wait times for visa interview appointments. On average, applicants wait just five days for an appointment at U.S. consulates in China. Wait times have dropped dramatically in Brazil and now average two weeks or less in Brasilia, Recife, and Rio de Janeiro, and 35 days or less in Sao Paulo.

New Consulates: To further increase visa processing capacity in Brazil, President Obama announced on April 9 that the United States will open new consulates in Belo Horizonte and Porto Alegre. These consulates will facilitate travel and trade to support economic growth in both the United States and Brazil, and will further expand the breadth and depth of the U.S.-Brazil relationship. Additionally, the Department of State is exploring whether to add visa-issuance services in Wuhan, China.

Innovative Hiring Program: In another initiative to streamline visa processing without compromising security, the first group of newly hired consular adjudicators recently arrived at U.S. consulates in Brazil and China. These adjudicators were hired under a landmark program which targeted recruits who already speak Portuguese or Mandarin. These talented employees were selected by the State Department through a rigorous screening and security process, and given the same consular training as career Foreign Service Officers. The program offers the flexibility to quickly augment our consular staff with qualified professionals.

The State Department is committed to facilitating travel to the United States as part of broader “Jobs Diplomacy” goals. Visas for legitimate travelers are an important tool to help accelerate America’s economic revival.

EARTH WEEK AND THE DIVERSITY OF LIFE ON THIS PLANET

FROM:  NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
Earth Week: A Stream Is a Stream Is a Stream: Or Is It?
Scientists supported by NSF SEES use everything from microscopes to deep-sea submersibles in their research.
But how many SEES scientists need a machete?
During Earth Week--or any time of year--that's exactly what LeRoy Poff requires. Poff is an aquatic ecologist and evolutionary biologist at Colorado State University and an NSF Science, Engineering and Education for Sustainability- (SEES) Dimensions of Biodiversity principal investigator.

To characterize the lesser-known aspects of the diversity of life on Earth, NSF's decade-long Dimensions of Biodiversity campaign aims to transform, by 2020, how scientists describe and understand the scope and role of life on Earth.

The effort is funded by NSF's Directorate for Biological Sciences, Directorate for Geosciences and Office of Polar Programs.

"By establishing networks of interdisciplinary, globally-engaged scientists, Dimensions of Biodiversity will have a lasting effect on biodiversity science," says John Wingfield, NSF assistant director for Biological Sciences. "It has the potential to transform the way we conduct biological research in this arena."

The Dimensions of Biodiversity campaign is important, says Wingfield, because assessing the living diversity of Earth is not as straightforward as simply listing species.
Earth is rapidly losing species. It's happening faster than scientists can understand the roles these species play and how they function.

With their disappearance comes lost opportunities to comprehend the history of life, to better predict the future of the living world and to make beneficial discoveries in the areas of food, fiber, fuel, pharmaceuticals and bio-inspired innovation.
Poff and colleagues from Colorado State, Cornell University and the University of Nebraska are trying to change that.

They're studying how temperature variation and extreme weather such as floods and droughts affect life in temperate Colorado and tropical Ecuadorian streams.

The scientists are comparing how aquatic insects and fish in small streams along the Colorado Front Range--which has a seasonally variable climate--and insects, fish and amphibians in streams in Ecuador, with its more stable climate, are faring at a time when Earth is heating up."To get to our Colorado research sites," says Poff, "there's relatively easy access along mostly paved roads." But to reach streams in the cloud forest headwaters of the Amazon, he says, it takes a machete to bushwhack through tangled vines choking narrow waterways.

Poff and colleagues will identify new species in both locales by barcoding these species' DNA, as well as track species movements based on their tolerance of warming water and declining oxygen levels.

"We're trying to understand how animals will respond to climate change based on their evolutionary history in a particular climate zone," says Poff.

"To do that, we need to know their physiological responses to thermal and oxygen stress. This is one of the first studies to look at the sensitivity of species to both temperature and environmental variation such as floods and droughts."

The research team's hypothesis is that temperate species are likely to be less sensitive to climate change than those in the tropics.
Temperate streams are subject to large seasonal differences in temperature; the organisms that live in them occupy a wide range of elevations.

In the Colorado Rockies, for example, there's a big change between summer and winter temperatures in streams. That suggests, Poff believes, that species there could be somewhat tolerant of future climate warming.

In contrast, studying species diversity in the tropics, he says, is like taking apart the layers of a cake.

"Temperature doesn't vary seasonally at any given altitude," says Poff. "But as you move up in elevation you pass through layers of increasingly colder temperatures."
He's trying to discover whether aquatic insects, fish and frogs are restricted to a narrow range of elevation and temperature--one layer of the cake.

"If they are--and that's coupled with a poor ability to disperse over land to find another small stream as temperatures warm--they could be more vulnerable to changes in climate," Poff says.

He plans to use a new understanding of species' sensitivity to climate change, and the ability of species to move with changing conditions, as a basis for developing maps for policy-makers and others.

The maps will show where animals are most vulnerable to climate change in tropical and temperate streams.

"The knowledge being developed," says Tim Killeen, NSF assistant director for Geosciences, "will lead to improved, science-based decision-making about our common future."

To reach that goal, Poff is fording chutes from North to South America. His research takes not only microscopes and high-tech genetics labs.
It takes a machete.
PHOTO:  FROM WIKIMEDIA

U.S-DOMINICAN REPUBLIC SIGN AGREEMENT ON SHARING IN CRIMINAL FORFEITURES

FROM:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Thursday, April 19, 2012
U.S. Attorney General Holder and Dominican Prosecutor General Jiménez Pena Sign Permanent Agreement to Share Forfeited Assets
Attorney General Eric Holder and Dominican Prosecutor General Radhamés Jiménez Peña met today in Washington, D.C., to sign a permanent agreement to share forfeited assets between the governments of the United States and the Dominican Republic. The permanent sharing agreement acknowledges the consistent forfeiture-related cooperation that United States authorities have received from the Dominican Republic and creates a more efficient process for sharing assets with the Dominican Republic.

“The steady stream of forfeiture cooperation we receive from our Dominican law enforcement counterparts has been indispensible to our efforts to recover millions of dollars in criminal assets located abroad,” Attorney General Holder said.    “In a world where criminals increasingly operate across borders, strengthening international partnerships is critical. Today’s agreement will serve as a highly beneficial and useful tool for asset sharing in the future.”

The permanent agreement requires the United States and the Dominican Republic to return all fraud and theft proceeds for purposes of making victims whole.   It also streamlines the asset sharing process by eliminating the need for individual agreements each time assets are shared in recognition of forfeiture assistance provided by the Dominican authorities.   In addition, the agreement is reciprocal, allowing for Dominican sharing with the United States.

Assets shared under the agreement must be used by the recipient country in accordance with domestic laws governing the use of forfeited assets.   Dominican law provides that forfeited assets be disbursed to the Office of the Prosecutor General; the National Drug Council; the National Counter Drug Directorate; the National Police; and non-government organizations engaged in efforts to prevent drug abuse.

To date, the Department of Justice has shared a total of $8.67 million in forfeited assets with Dominican authorities on four prior occasions since 2002.   This includes a case-specific sharing agreement that was signed on Nov. 14, 2011, to share approximately $7.5 million in forfeited assets with the Dominican Office of the Prosecutor General.   The November 2011 agreement represents approximately 20 percent of the estimated $37.5 million in forfeited assets located in the Dominican Republic that stem from a conspiracy led by brothers Carlos, Luis and Jose Benitez, who allegedly defrauded the U.S. Medicare program of approximately $80 million.

The permanent agreement was negotiated on behalf of the United States by the Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Section’s International Unit in the Justice
Department’s Criminal Division and the Office of International Affairs in the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, in cooperation with the FBI’s Attaché in the Dominican Republic and the Department of State.

UPDATED STANDARDS ISSUED FOR OIL AND NATURAL GAS AIR POLLUTION

FROM:  ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

EPA Issues Updated, Achievable Air Pollution Standards for Oil and Natural Gas

Half of fractured wells already deploy technologies in line with final standards, which slash harmful emissions while reducing cost of compliance
WASHINGTON – In response to a court deadline, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has finalized standards to reduce harmful air pollution associated with oil and natural gas production. The updated standards, required by the Clean Air Act, were informed by the important feedback from a range of stakeholders including the public, public health groups, states and industry. As a result, the final standards reduce implementation costs while also ensuring they are achievable and can be met by relying on proven, cost-effective technologies as well as processes already in use at approximately half of the fractured natural gas wells in the United States. These technologies will not only reduce 95 percent of the harmful emissions from these wells that contribute to smog and lead to health impacts, they will also enable companies to collect additional natural gas that can be sold. Natural gas is a key component of the nation’s clean energy future and the standards released today make sure that we can continue to expand production of this important domestic resource while reducing impacts to public health, and most importantly builds on steps already being taken by industry leaders.

"The president has been clear that he wants to continue to expand production of important domestic resources like natural gas, and today’s standard supports that goal while making sure these fuels are produced without threatening the health of the American people," said EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson. "By ensuring the capture of gases that were previously released to pollute our air and threaten our climate, these updated standards will not only protect our health, but also lead to more product for fuel suppliers to bring to market. They're an important step toward tapping future energy supplies without exposing American families and children to dangerous health threats in the air they breathe.”

When natural gas is produced, some of the gas escapes the well and may not be captured by the producing company. These gases can pollute the air and as a result threaten public health. Consistent with states that have already put in place similar requirements, the updated EPA standards released today include the first federal air rules for natural gas wells that are hydraulically fractured, specifically requiring operators of new fractured natural gas wells to use cost-effective technologies and practices to capture natural gas that might otherwise escape the well, which can subsequently be sold. EPA’s analysis of the final rules shows that they are highly cost-effective, relying on widely available technologies and practices already deployed at approximately half of all fractured wells, and consistent with steps industry is already taking in many cases to capture additional natural gas for sale, offsetting the cost of compliance. Together these rules will result in $11 to $19 million in savings for industry each year. In addition to cutting pollution at the wellhead, EPA’s final standards also address emissions from storage tanks and other equipment.

Also in line with the executive order released by the president last week on natural gas development, the rule released today received important interagency feedback and provides industry flexibilities. Based on new data provided during the public comment period, the final rule establishes a phase-in period that will ensure emissions reduction technology is broadly available. During the first phase, until January 2015, owners and operators must either flare their emissions or use emissions reduction technology called “green completions,” technologies that are already widely deployed at wells. In 2015, all new fractured wells will be required to use green completions.  The final rule does not require new federal permits. Instead, it sets clear standards and uses enhanced reporting to strengthen transparency and accountability, and ensure compliance, while establishing a consistent set of national standards to safeguard public health and the environment.  

An estimated 13,000 new and existing natural gas wells are fractured or re-fractured each year. As those wells are being prepared for production, they emit volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which contribute to smog formation, and air toxics, including benzene and hexane, which can cause cancer and other serious health effects. In addition, the rule is expected to yield a significant environmental co-benefit by reducing methane, the primary constituent of natural gas. Methane, when released directly to the atmosphere, is a potent greenhouse gas—more than 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide.

During the nearly 100-day public comment period, the agency received more than 150,000 comments on the proposed rules from the public, industry, environmental groups and states. The agency also held three public hearings. The updated standards were informed by the important feedback received through the public comment period, reducing implementation cost and ensuring the achievable standard can be met by relying on proven, cost-effective technologies and processes already in use.  

FORMER U.S. SOCCER TEAM TO TRAVEL TO MOROCCO FOR EMPOWERING WOMEN AND GIRLS THROUGH SPORTS INITIATIVE

FROM:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE 
Former U.S. Soccer National Team Coaches and Players to Travel to Morocco for Empowering Women and Girls through Sports Initiative
Media Note Office of the Spokesperson Washington, DC
April 19, 2012
Building on efforts to empower women and girls through sports, the U.S. Department of State and U.S. Soccer announced today former U.S. Women’s National Team players and coaches will travel to Morocco as Sports Envoys April 22-28, 2012. These Sports Envoys are a key component of the Empowering Women and Girls Through Sports Initiative, which aims to increase the number of women and girls worldwide who are involved in sports.

While in Morocco, former U.S. Women’s National Team assistant coach Lesle Gallimore and players Angela Hucles and Marian Dalmy will lead clinics focused on soccer skills and sports psychology for 40 female coaches from the region. They will also partner with the coaches from Libya, Morocco, and Tunisia to conduct soccer clinics with local female soccer players. In addition, the Sports Envoys will lead discussions about the importance of women’s sports and Title IX, the landmark U.S. law that defined equal opportunity.

The Empowering Women and Girls Through Sports Initiative builds on Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s vision of “smart power,” which embraces the use of a full range of diplomatic tools – in this case, the game of soccer – to bring people together and foster understanding.

In March, Amanda Cromwell and former U.S. Women’s National Team coach Lauren Gregg traveled to Argentina while Siri Mullinix and Lorrie Fair traveled to Venezuela as Sports Envoys. In addition, the U.S. Women’s National Team participated in a clinic with young female athletes in Japan on March 27 prior to their friendly match against the Japanese Women’s National Soccer Team. In February, former U.S. National Team players Danielle Slaton and Tony Sanneh traveled to Malaysia with Cheryl Bailey, the former general manager of the U.S. Women's National Team.

SportsUnited is the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ division devoted to sports diplomacy programs at the U.S. Department of State. Since 2003, SportsUnited has brought more than 900 athletes from 58 countries to the United States to participate in Sports Visitor programs. Since 2005, SportsUnited has sent more than 200 U.S. athletes to over 50 countries to participate in Sports Envoy programs.

PRESIDENT OBAMA TALKS TO UNEMPLOYED

FROM:  WHITE HOUSE
President Barack Obama participates in a roundtable with unemployed workers who are students in Lorain County Community College job training programs, at Lorain Community College in Elyria, Ohio, April 18, 2012. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

President Obama was in Elyria, Ohio today where he met with students at Lorain County Community College. The President was there to talk about the Administration’s job training initiatives to help more Americans get back to work and connect unemployed Americans with the skills training they need to find jobs in high-demand, high-growth industries, including the Community College to Career Fund. He told the students that taking classes at community colleges and getting new skills doesn't just benefit students and their future employers but adds economic value to the entire region:

Investing in a community college, just like investing in a new road or a new highway or broadband lines that go into rural communities, these investments are not part of some grand scheme to redistribute wealth. They’ve been made by Democrats and Republicans for generations because they benefit all of us. That's what leads to strong, durable economic growth. That's how America became an economic superpower. That's how we built the Transcontinental Railroad. That's why we’ve got the best universities and colleges in the world. That's why we have cutting-edge research that takes place here, and that then gets translated into new jobs and new businesses, because somebody did the groundwork.  We created a foundation for those of us to prosper.

When you take classes at a community college like this one and you learn the skills that you need to get a job right away, that does not just benefit you; it benefits the company that ends up hiring and profiting from your skills.  It makes the entire region stronger economically.  It makes this country stronger economically.
In this country, prosperity does not trickle down; prosperity grows from the bottom up.  And it grows from a strong middle class out.  That’s how we grow this economy.