U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR AWARDS $10 MILLION TO WORLD VISON TO COMBAT CHILD LABOR IN CAMBODIA

Face at the Bayon temple at Angko.  From CIA World Factbook.

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR 

US Department of Labor awards $10 million agreement to World Vision to combat child labor in Cambodia

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of International Labor Affairs today announced a $10 million cooperative agreement to World Vision for a project to combat child labor in Cambodia's agriculture, fishing, fisheries, aquaculture and domestic service sectors.

World Vision will partner with local nongovernmental organizations Wathnakpheap, Farmer Livelihood Development, Vulnerable Children Association Organization, and Cambodia Development Resource Institute. The project will provide education, sustainable livelihood and youth employment services to children engaged in or at risk of child labor, and other members of their households. It also will help households and vulnerable children to access social protection programs that are supported by the Royal Government of Cambodia.

Since 1995, the Labor Department has funded 260 projects implemented by more than 65 organizations in 91 countries, which have resulted in the rescue of approximately 1.5 million children from exploitative child labor.

SEC CHAIRMAN SCHAPIRO WILL STEP DOWN DECEMBER 12, 2012

FROM: U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C., Nov. 26, 2012 — After nearly four years in office, SEC Chairman Mary L. Schapiro today announced that she will step down on Dec. 14, 2012

Chairman Schapiro, who became chairman in the wake of the financial crisis in January 2009, strengthened, reformed, and revitalized the agency. She oversaw a more rigorous enforcement and examination program, and shaped new rules by which Wall Street must play.

"It has been an incredibly rewarding experience to work with so many dedicated SEC staff who strive every day to protect investors and ensure our markets operate with integrity," said Chairman Schapiro. "Over the past four years we have brought a record number of enforcement actions, engaged in one of the busiest rulemaking periods, and gained greater authority from Congress to better fulfill our mission."

Chairman Schapiro is one of the longest-serving SEC chairmen, having served longer than 24 of the previous 28. She was appointed by President Barack Obama on Jan. 20, 2009, and unanimously confirmed by the Senate.

During her tenure, Chairman Schapiro worked to bolster the SEC’s enforcement and examination programs, among others. As a result of a series of reforms, the agency is more adept at pursing tips and complaints provided by outsiders, better able to identify wrongdoers through vastly upgraded market intelligence capabilities, and more strategic, innovative and risk-focused in the way it inspects financial firms.

In each of the past two years, the agency has brought more enforcement actions than ever before, including 735 enforcement actions in fiscal year 2011 and 734 actions in FY 2012.

In addition, the SEC engaged in one of the busiest rulemaking periods in decades. Due to new rules now in place, investors can get clear information about the advisers they invest with, vote on the executive compensation packages at companies they invest in, benefit from additional safeguards that protect their assets held by investment advisers, and get access to more meaningful information about company boards and municipal securities.

"I’ve been so amazed by how hard the men and women of the agency work each and every day and by the sacrifices they make to get the job done," added Chairman Schapiro. "So often they stay late or come in on weekends to polish a legal brief, review a corporate filing, write new rules, or reconstruct trading events. And despite the complexity and the intense scrutiny, they always excel at what they do."

As a result of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, the agency has implemented a new whistleblower program, strengthened regulation of asset-backed securities, laid the foundation for an entirely new regulatory regime for the previously-unregulated derivatives market, and required advisers to hedge funds and other private funds to register and be subject to SEC rules.

During Chairman Schapiro’s tenure, the agency worked to improve the structure of the market by approving a series of measures that have helped to strengthen equity market structure and reduce the chance of another Flash Crash. Among other things, the Commission for the first time has required the exchanges to create a consolidated audit trail that will enable the agency to reconstruct trading across various trading venues.

Chairman Schapiro previously served as a commissioner at the SEC from 1988 to 1994. She was appointed by President Ronald Reagan, reappointed by President George H.W. Bush in 1989, and named Acting Chairman by President Bill Clinton in 1993. She left the SEC when President Clinton appointed her as chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, where she served until 1996. She is the only person to have ever served as chairman of both the SEC and CFTC.

As SEC chairman, Schapiro also serves on the Financial Stability Oversight Council, the FHFA Oversight Board, the Financial Stability Oversight Board, and the IFRS Foundation Monitoring Board.

THE CRAB APPLE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE: HOW BACTERIA CAME TO LIVE IN INSECTS

Credit: Wikimedia Commons

FROM: NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION

Microbial "Missing Link" Discovered After Man Impales Hand on Tree Branch
November 15, 2012

It all started with a crab apple tree.

Two years ago, a 71-year-old Indiana man impaled his hand on a branch after cutting down a dead tree. The wound caused an infection that led scientists to discover a new bacterium and solve a mystery about how bacteria came to live inside insects.

On Oct. 15, 2010, Thomas Fritz, a retired inventor, engineer and volunteer firefighter, cut down a dead, 10-foot-tall crab apple tree outside his home near Evansville, Ind.

As he dragged away the debris, he got tangled in it and fell. A small branch impaled his right hand in the fleshy web between the thumb and index finger.

A former emergency medical technician, Fritz dressed the wound, which became swollen. Then he waited for a scheduled visit with his doctor a few days later. By then, a cyst formed at the wound site. The doctor put Fritz on an antibiotic after sending a sample of the cyst to a lab.

The pain and swelling persisted and the wound became abscessed.

About five weeks after the accident, an orthopedic surgeon removed several pieces of bark from the wound, which finally healed without further incident.

Only later did Fritz find out that his infected wound contained a previously unknown bacterium that scientists say could be used to block disease transmission by insects and prevent crop damage.

Scientists call the new strain human Sodalis or HS; it's related to Sodalis, a genus of bacteria that lives symbiotically inside insects' guts.

The journal PLOS Genetics published a paper detailing the discovery today.

"Symbiotic interactions between microorganisms and insects are common, and biologists suspect that they're an important driver of biological diversification," says Matt Kane, program director in the National Science Foundation's Division of Environmental Biology, which funded the research.

"But how such symbioses came to be is often a mystery," Kane says. "This particular story has a happy ending, but also an interesting one, because researchers used it to gain insight into how insects and microbes can form symbiotic partnerships in the first place."

As in the case of the crab apple tree, "there are bacteria in the environment that form symbiotic relationships with insects," says University of Utah biologist Kelly Oakeson, the study's lead co-author. "This is the first time such a bacterium has been found and studied."

Identifying a New Strain of Bacteria

The lab that first received the sample from Fritz's infected wound couldn't identify the bacterium once it was isolated. So the organism was shipped to ARUP Laboratories, a national pathology reference library operated by the University of Utah.

An automated analysis at ARUP found that the bacterium from Fritz was E. coli, but scientists doubted the results.

"We had close matches for it, but none were validly described species," says Mark Fisher of the ARUP Institute for Clinical and Experimental Pathology and a co-author of the paper. "It caught my eye because I knew Colin Dale worked on Sodalis."

Dale is the researcher who discovered and named Sodalis in 1999. He is a biologist at the University of Utah and is the study's senior author.

He says that genetic sequencing showed that the HS bacterium is related to bacteria that live symbiotically in 17 insect species, including tsetse flies, weevils, bird lice and stinkbugs, and is most closely related to bacteria in the chestnut weevil and a stinkbug species.

The study compared HS with genomes of the strain Sodalis glossinidius that lives in tsetse flies and another Sodalis-like bacterium that lives in grain weevils.

Compared with HS, the other two bacterial species have lost or deactivated about half their genes.

A Missing Link

According to Dale, the findings provide "a missing link in our understanding of how beneficial insect-bacteria relationships originate.

"They show that these relationships arise independently in each insect. The insect picks up a pathogen that is widespread in the environment and then domesticates it. This happens independently in each insect."

A competing theory is that parasitic wasps and mites spread symbiotic bacteria from one insect to another.

Dale says that theory cannot explain why such similar types of Sodalis bacteria are found in insects that differ widely in location and diet, including insects that feed either on plants or animals.

The new results support the theory that insects are infected by pathogenic bacteria from plants or animals in their environment, and that the bacteria evolve to become less virulent and to provide benefits to the insect.

Then, instead of spreading from one insect to another, the bacteria spread from mother insects to their offspring.

Taming Invading Bacteria

Various bacteria live symbiotically in blood or fat cells or in special structures attached to the guts of as many as 10 percent of all insects.

The bacteria gain shelter and nutrition from their insect hosts, and they produce nutrients--B vitamins and amino acids--to help feed the insects.

Sometimes they also produce toxins to kill invaders, such as fungi or the eggs laid in an insect by a parasitic wasp.

Sodalis is only one of several types of bacteria that live in insects.

Symbiotic bacteria are known for having the smallest genetic blueprints, or genomes, of any cellular organism because as they evolve inside an insect, they lose genes that would be needed for survival outside the insect.

But when biologists sequenced the new bacterium's genome, they found that HS has a relatively large genetic blueprint and is closely related to Sodalis-like bacteria that have smaller genomes and live in many species of insects, implying that Sodalis-like bacteria all descended from a bacterium like HS.

A Way to Block Some Insect-Spread Diseases?

The researchers believe the discovery could have important implications. They say it may be possible to genetically alter the new bacterium to block disease transmission by insects like tsetse flies and prevent crop damage by insect-borne viruses.

"If we can genetically modify a bacterium that could be put back into insects, it could be used as a way to combat diseases transmitted by those insects," says Adam Clayton, a University of Utah biologist and lead author of the paper unveiling the new bacterium and its genome.

Tsetse flies and aphids both carry symbiotic Sodalis bacteria related to strain HS. Sodalis doesn't grow well outside insects, but HS grows well in the lab.

So it may be possible to insert genes in HS, and then place the bacteria in tsetse flies to kill the protozoan parasites that live in the flies and cause sleeping sickness in people and domestic animals in Africa.

Aphids transmit many plant viruses that attack soybeans, alfalfa, beets, beans and peanuts.

Replacing their normal symbiotic bacteria with a genetically engineered strain of HS could interfere with disease transmission.

The researchers speculate that in addition to the HS bacterium, there are likely many other undiscovered bacteria in the environment that could form symbiotic relationships with insects.

"We have identified very few of the bacteria that exist in nature," says Dale, "and new species and strains like HS are often only discovered when they infect humans."

Additional co-authors of the paper are Maria Gutin, Arthur Pontes, Diane Dunn, Andrew von Niederhausern and Robert Weiss, all of the University of Utah.

The National Institutes of Health also funded the research.

WOUNDED WARRIOR DINNER

FROM: U.S. AIR FROCE
Individual mobilization augmentees Tech. Sgt. Lacey Smith (right) and Master Sgt. Mel Reich (left) smile for a photo with Vice President of the United States Joseph Biden during the Wounded Warrior Dinner Nov. 19 in Washington, D.C. Smith received the dinner invitation from Reich due to Lacey's dogged assistance over the last year tackling the member's medical issues. The vice president and his wife, Jill, host this annual event which honors wounded warriors being treated at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and their families who are unable to leave the DC area for Thanksgiving. (Courtesy photo)

RECENT NEWS FROM AFGHANISTAN

Photo:  Weapons Destruction In Afghaistan.  Credit:  U.S. Army.

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Combined Force Arrests Taliban Bomb Expert
Compiled from International Security Assistance Force Joint Command News Releases
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WASHINGTON, Nov. 26, 2012 - A combined Afghan and coalition security force arrested a Taliban bomb expert in Afghanistan's Logar province today, military officials reported.

He allegedly has built and supplied improvised explosive devices to insurgents and is believed to have selected targets for IED attacks.

Also today, an Afghan-led security force, supported by coalition troops, detained two suspected insurgents during a search for a Taliban facilitator in Kandahar province. The Taliban facilitator directed IED operations, including the construction and emplacement of IEDs for attacks against Afghan and coalition forces.

In operations yesterday:
—-- A combined force seized 2,778 pounds of hashish and recovered a cache of weapons, ammunition and communication equipment in Kandahar province. Three insurgents were killed and a suspected insurgent was detained during the operation.

-- Afghan and coalition forces in Wardak province arrested a Taliban leader who planned the transfer and delivery of ammunition and rockets to insurgents and directed the emplacement of IEDs. He also is suspected of being directly responsible for rocket, IED and small-arms attacks against Afghan and coalition forces.

-- In Nangarhar province, security combined force arrested a Taliban leader suspected of facilitating attacks against coalition forces. The security force also detained four other suspected insurgents.

-- A combined force in Logar province arrested a Haqqani network weapons facilitator who managed and maintained control over weapons caches and was responsible for the movement and delivery of supplies and weapons to Haqqani fighters. The security force also seized firearms during the operation.

-- In Wardak province, a combined force arrested an insurgent IED attack leader.

-- A combined force in Ghazni province arrested three insurgents during a search for a Taliban operations advisor. The security force killed an insurgent who fired at them and seized a rifle with ammunition.

-- Also in Ghazni province, a combined force arrested an insurgent while searching for a Taliban IED attack leader.

-- In Khost province, security combined force arrested a Haqqani network IED and direct-fire attack leader who also is believed to facilitate the transfer and delivery of IEDs and assorted weapons into Afghanistan. The security force seized firearms and associated gear.

-- A combined force in Takhar province detained an Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan weapons facilitator who is believed to have purchased rifles, machine guns, mortar systems, and fertilizer for building IEDs to conduct attacks on Afghan and coalition forces.

-- In Kunduz province, a combined force detained four insurgents during a search for a Taliban operations leader.

-- A combined force in Helmand province arrested two Taliban facilitators believed to be orchestrating an impending high-profile attack. The security force also detained two other suspected insurgents.

In other recent operations:
-- A combined force in Helmand province arrested a Taliban leader Nov. 24. He is believed to have facilitated movement of weapons and ammunition and to have coordinated attacks targeting Afghan and coalition forces. Several other suspected insurgents were detained in the operation.

-- Also in Helmand province, a combined force arrested a Taliban attack coordinator Nov. 23. He is suspected of being directly responsible for coordinating vehicle-bomb and suicide-bomber attacks targeting Afghan and coalition forces.

POST-2014 TROOP LEVELS IN AFGHANISTAN? WAITING FOR OBAMA

 

Photo:  Waiting In Afghanistn.  Credit:  U.S. Army.

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Post-2014 Afghanistan Troop Levels Remain Undecided

By Army Sgt. 1st Class Tyrone C. Marshall Jr.
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Nov. 26, 2012 - Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta has yet to forward a recommendation to the White House on how many U.S. troops should remain in Afghanistan after 2014, Pentagon Press Secretary George Little said today.

"It's entirely premature to speculate on troop numbers in Afghanistan between now and the end of 2014 or beyond," he said. "In September, we completed the full withdrawal of the 33,000 surge troops, and we will soon begin considering how we move forward on further troop level adjustments which will include planning for our post-2014 military and civilian presence in Afghanistan."

Little told reporters the defense secretary will speak tomorrow with Marine Corps Gen. John R. Allen, commander of NATO's International Security Assistance Force, to discuss a "range of matters on Afghanistan."

Pentagon officials have asked for options to be considered, relatively soon, for what the post-2014 presence might look like, Little said.

"As we've made clear on several occasions, any U.S. presence would only be at the invitation of the Afghan government, and aimed at training Afghan forces and targeting the remnants of al-Qaida," he said.

"Ultimately, it will be the president's call," he said. "[President Barack Obama] will make decisions on these issues in the near future based on what's in our national interests, as he has done in the past.

"He receives options from our military leaders on the situation on the ground," Little continued, "and considers the recommendations with his national security team, including [Panetta], in a consultation with the Afghan government and our international partners."

Separately, Little said, U.S. military leaders soon will present options to the Defense Department on further troop drawdowns for the coming year.

"There are no discussions, at this point, on particular options for 2013 at this stage," he said. "As the president made clear in June 2011, our forces will continue to come home at a steady pace as we transition to an Afghan lead for security."

After “The Biggest Loser”

After “The Biggest Loser”

RECENT U.S. NAVY PHOTOS

FROM: U.S. NAVY, USS DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER
Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jonathan Greenert, right, carves a Thanksgiving turkey with his wife, Darleen, during a visit to the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69). Dwight D. Eisenhower is deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility conducting maritime security operations, theater security cooperation efforts and support missions as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Ryan D. McLearnon (Released) 121122-N-GC639-122

Flashes of lighting are seen over the horizon as the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) operates in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility. Dwight D. Eisenhower is deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility conducting maritime security operations, theater security cooperation efforts and support missions for Operation Enduring Freedom. U.S. Navy photo by Lt. Greg Linderman (Released) 121119-N-DO751-004

U.S. NAVAL SURFACE WARFARE CENTER CARDEROCK RECIVES PATENT FOR NEW SMART MATERIAL

121105-N-CD227-055 BETHESDA, Md. (Nov. 5, 2012) Samples of machined Galfenol are displayed at Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) Carderock. NSWC received a patent Nov. 13 for their discovery and development of the new smart material. Galfenol can be machined and welded for use in sensors, actuators and structural supports. (U.S. Navy photo by Brian Hibben/Released)
 

FROM: U.S. NAVY
NSWC Carderock Receives Patent for Galfenol Discovery, Development
By Brian Hibben, Naval Surface Warfare Center Carderock Public Affairs
WEST BETHESDA, Md. (NNS) -- Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) Carderock received a patent Nov. 13 for their discovery and development of a new smart material called Galfenol.

Galfenol is a magnetostrictive smart material that can be used in sensors, actuators and structural supports. The material was co-discovered in 1999 by NSWC Carderock and the Department of Energy's Ames Laboratory and has been in development for the past 13 years in partnership with Etrema Products Inc.

"By itself, iron has the characteristics to be considered a magnetostrictive material, which is material that changes shape when a magnetic field or pressure is applied to it," explained NSWC Carderock senior research scientist, Marilyn Wun-Fogle. "In 1999, we discovered that combining iron with gallium amplifies iron's magnetostrictive capability tenfold. Iron-gallium, or Galfenol, is ductile [capable of being drawn out into wire or thread], stable over a wide temperature range and has energy-harvesting capabilities."

Magnetostrictive materials, such as Galfenol, are of interest to the Navy because they can be used to make actuators and sonar transducers that are used in ships and submarines. Currently, actuators and sonar transducers are made of a material that is more brittle than Galfenol. Galfenol can be used in structural supports for vibrating pieces of machinery such as a generator. As the piece of machinery is running, Galfenol can capture the vibrational energy which can be re-harvested. As a result, less energy is transmitted to the hull of the ship or submarine, which could reduce its acoustic footprint.

"Galfenol can be machined and welded with common metalworking tools which makes it very versatile," continued Wun-Fogle. "Plus, it is magnetostrictively active under tensile stress conditions up to approximately 150 degrees Celsius and to much higher temperatures under compressive stress conditions."

Initially funded by the Office of Naval Research (ONR), the Department of Energy and NSWC Carderock's In-House Laboratory Independent Research Program, continued development of Galfenol is being funded by ONR and the Small Business Innovation Research Program.

"For more than a decade, we have teamed with our partners to design Galfenol as well as develop processes to produce the material in large solid form, rolled sheets, and more recently, wires," said NSWC Carderock's senior research scientist James Restorff. "The wide variety of forms allows Galfenol-based parts to be used in a variety of new applications, both commercial and military."

Research into metal alloys such as Galfenol is tied to NSWC Carderock's technical capability in supporting surface, undersea and weapon vehicle materials. Under this technical capability, NSWC Carderock certifies and validates technical fleet material requirements; identifies materials and fabrication processes; develops and validates chemical formulations; and develops materials and processes for survivability and signature reduction.

NSWC Carderock's responsibilities span a broad range including science and technology, research and development, test and evaluation, product delivery and fleet support. NSWC Carderock leads the Navy in hull, mechanical and electrical engineering expertise and delivers technical solutions in order to build and sustain a dominant, ready and affordable fleet. Headquartered in West Bethesda, Md., approximately 3,600 scientists, engineers, technicians and support personnel are located across the United States, which includes the Ship Systems Engineering Station in Philadelphia

EPA ANNOUNCES IMPORTANT STEP TOWARD CLEANING UP QUANTA RESOURCES SUPERFUND SITE

Credit:  Wikimedia.

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

Monday, November 19, 2012
Agreement Furthers Cleanup of the Quanta Resources Superfund Site in Edgewater, New Jersey

Another important step toward cleaning up the Quanta Resources Superfund site in Edgewater, N.J., was announced today by the Department of Justice and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The agreement with Honeywell International Inc. and 23 other parties, embodied in a consent decree lodged today in federal court, requires the performance of pre-construction project design work and requires Honeywell to carry out the actual cleanup work under the EPA’s oversight. The cleanup of the Quanta Site is expected to result in its redevelopment.

After the design is completed and approved by EPA, the cleanup will proceed at the Quanta Site, which is located adjacent to the Hudson River. The work is expected to take approximately two to three years and cost $78 million.

Currently, soil and ground water at the site are contaminated with arsenic, lead, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and volatile organic compounds resulting from over 100 years of industrial activities in the area. Exposure to these pollutants can have serious health effects, and in some cases, increase the risk of cancer.

"This agreement marks a major milestone toward finally cleaning up the industrial pollution legacy at the Quanta Site," said Ignacia S. Moreno, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. "The settlement holds those responsible for the pollution accountable for the cleanup, and brings us closer to the future redevelopment of this site for the benefit of the people of New Jersey."

"The Superfund program operates on the principle that polluters should pay for the cleanups, rather than passing the costs to taxpayers," said EPA Regional Administrator Judith A. Enck. "The EPA searches for parties responsible for the contamination and holds them accountable. This agreement is an important part of that process and a step in the right direction."

The Quanta site, located on River Road at the intersection of Gorge Road in Edgewater, was built as a coal tar facility beginning in the 1880s. In the 1970s, the site’s "tank farm" was used to store waste oil prior to reprocessing. The state of New Jersey closed the facility in 1981 when some storage tanks were found to contain waste oil contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls. The EPA supervised a series of emergency actions at the site that included safely removing and disposing of millions of gallons of waste oil, sludge and contaminated water from the tanks, and cleaning and dismantling the emptied tanks and piping.

Because of the nature and complexity of the contamination, the EPA divided the investigation and cleanup into two phases – one addressing the contaminated soil and ground water, and the other focused on contamination in the river and sediment. The plan to address the contaminated soil and ground water was finalized in July 2010. The EPA took public comment for 60 days and considered public input before selecting a cleanup plan. This phase of the cleanup is addressed in the consent decree lodged today. A separate study of the Hudson River and sediment contamination will lead to a subsequent cleanup plan for the next phase.

The site contains an estimated 150,000 cubic yards of contaminated soil requiring treatment to protect people that may come into contact with it. Among other steps, the EPA will solidify and stabilize areas of soil contaminated with oily liquid and arsenic by turning them into leak-proof blocks underground. Throughout the cleanup, monitoring, testing and further studies will be conducted to ensure the effectiveness of the remedy.

Aside from Honeywell International Inc., the other parties that have agreed to the consent decree are, for the most part, waste oil generators whose wastes were disposed of at the Quanta site. They include: BASF Corporation; Beazer East Inc.; BFI Waste Systems of New Jersey Inc.; BorgWarner Inc.; Buckeye Pipe Line Co. LP; Chemical Leaman Tank Lines Inc. (now Quality Carriers); Colonial Pipeline Co.; Consolidated Rail Corp.; Exxon Mobil Corp; Ford Motor Company; General Dynamics Land Systems Inc.; Hess Corp.; Miller Brewing Co.; NEAPCO Inc.; Northrup Grumman Systems Corp.; Petroleum Tank Cleaners Inc.; Rome Strip Steel Co. Inc.; Quanta Resources Corp.; Stanley Black & Decker Inc.; Textron Inc.; and United Technologies Corp.

U.S. ARMY PHOTOS

FROM: U.S. ARMY
Units in garrison can now continually connect their battle command suites to the network. U.S. Army photo.

More than 40 vendors and representatives from five universities demonstrated various technologies during the 2012 Robotics Rodeo at Fort Benning, Ga., The Rodeo's third installment, a 10-day event that ended June 29, 2012, featured nearly 75 different technologies in all. U.S. Army photo by Ashley Cross.

SPOKANE POLICE OFFICER SENTENCED IN CONNECTION WITH IN-CUSTODY DEATH

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

Friday, November 16, 2012
Spokane Police Officer Sentenced for Civil Rights and Obstruction Violations in Connection with In-custody Death of Otto Zehm

A federal judge sentenced Spokane, Wash., Police Officer Karl F. Thompson Jr. to 51 months in prison followed by three years supervised release for civil rights and obstruction violations stemming from his March 18, 2006, beating of an unarmed citizen and an extensive cover-up that followed, the Justice Department announced today. Following a Taser deployment and a rapid series of baton blows to the head, neck and body, the victim, the late Otto Zehm, 36, was hogtied, stopped breathing and was transported to the hospital, where he died two days later. The defendant claimed the beating was justified because he felt threatened by a plastic bottle of soda Zehm was holding.

The evidence at trial established that on the evening of March 18, 2006, Zehm went to a convenience store to buy soda and snacks. Security video showed that the defendant ran into the store, drew his baton and rushed toward Zehm from behind, subsequently delivering two baton blows toward Zehm’s head, knocking him backwards onto the floor. The defendant then stood over Zehm and fired Taser probes into him, also continuing to deliver overhand baton blows, including a final flurry of seven baton strikes in eight seconds, which was captured by the convenience store’s security cameras. The defendant never asked Zehm any questions or even mentioned the ATM. Witnesses testified that Zehm’s last words were: "all I wanted was a Snickers."

The defendant went to the convenience store after two teenagers reported that a man fitting Zehm’s description had approached a drive-up ATM on foot as they were conducting a transaction, and they felt uncomfortable. After the teenagers pulled away from the ATM, they were unsure whether they had cancelled their transaction. Prior to the defendant’s first strike, dispatchers made clear that the complainants were not sure whether the man at the ATM had taken any of their money. One of the women at the ATM who called 911 that night testified at trial that she was horrified by the defendant’s rapid series of overhand baton blows to Zehm.

The defendant gave his report of the incident on March 22, 2006, after he knew Zehm had died. In his report, the defendant denied hitting Zehm in the head with his baton because that would have constituted deadly force, which he admitted was not justified in this case. However, trial testimony established that the defendant admitted to Spokane Police Officer Timothy Moses on-scene that night that he had struck Zehm in the head and neck with his baton. Witnesses and medical testimony also confirmed that the defendant had delivered baton blows to Zehm’s head and neck.

"The defendant was given considerable power to enforce the law, but instead he abused his authority when he brutally beat an innocent man," said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. "This prosecution reflects the department’s commitment to prosecuting official misconduct cases, and today’s sentence sends a message that such violent abuse of power will not be tolerated."

"A large majority of law enforcement officers work courageously every day to make our communities safe," said Michael Ormsby, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington. "Since those in uniform deserve our respect and support, it is vitally important to prosecute those officers who violate their oaths of office and the public trust placed in them. Our community has learned many lessons from this incident, it is now incumbent upon all of us to apply those lessons to reforms within the Police Department."

"This investigation is emblematic of the FBI's vigorous commitment to the protection of the civil rights that define what it means to be an American," said Assistant Special Agent in Charge Carlos Mojica of the FBI Seattle Division. "While the vast majority of law enforcement officers uphold and obey the law, in those rare instances where serious transgressions occur, the FBI will conduct a comprehensive investigation to preserve and restore the public trust that forms the fabric of our society."

This case was investigated by the FBI’s Spokane Field Office, and was prosecuted by Trial Attorney Victor Boutros of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, and by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Timothy Durkin and Aine Ahmed of the Eastern District of Washington.

European Space Agency United Kingdom (EN) Update

European Space Agency United Kingdom (EN) Update

ANNIVERSARY OF BAHRAIN INDEPENDENT COMMISSION OF INQUIRY REPORT

Photo Credit:  CIA World Factbook/NASA/ISS   

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Anniversary of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry Report

Press Statement
Victoria Nuland
Department Spokesperson, Office of the Spokesperson
Washington, DC
November 23, 2012
Today marks the one year anniversary of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI) report. In the year since commissioning the landmark report, the Government of Bahrain has taken some important steps to implement the BICI recommendations, including allowing the International Red Cross to visit prison facilities, issuing new protocols on arrest authorities and a new Police Code of Conduct, reinstating some workers and students, beginning to rebuild religious sites, and other reforms that allow the Government to pursue additional BICI recommendations. However, there continue to be delays in fully implementing the report’s recommendations, particularly regarding accountability for official abuse, limits on freedom of expression and assembly, meaningful security sector reform, and a political environment that has become increasingly inhospitable to reconciliation.

Map:  Bahrain.  Credit:  CIA World Factbook

We are also concerned about rising violence in Bahrain. In the last month, police, protesters, and bystanders have been killed. We continue to urge all Bahrainis to pursue their political objectives peacefully and the Government of Bahrain to exercise restraint in responding to peaceful protests.

Since the unrest began last year, the United States has urged the Government of Bahrain to implement reforms and to address ongoing human rights concerns, including by fully implementing the BICI report recommendations. We will continue to encourage the Bahraini Government and all segments of Bahraini society to create an environment conducive to political dialogue and reconciliation. The Bahraini Government can only achieve the more prosperous, stable, and secure Bahrain it seeks through the continuation of the reform efforts it has initiated and must now fully implement. We look to leaders in Bahrain — government officials, political leaders, and civil society — to build on these initial steps and help realize the aspirations of all Bahrainis. Bahrain is a valued strategic partner and longtime friend of the United States, and we will continue to support these important efforts.

Locator Map:  Bahrain.  Credit:  CIA World Factbook

 
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION FROM CIA WORLD FACTBOOK

In 1783, the Sunni Al-Khalifa family captured Bahrain from the Persians. In order to secure these holdings, it entered into a series of treaties with the UK during the 19th century that made Bahrain a British protectorate. The archipelago attained its independence in 1971. Facing declining oil reserves, Bahrain has turned to petroleum processing and refining and has transformed itself into an international banking center. Bahrain's small size and central location among Persian Gulf countries require it to play a delicate balancing act in foreign affairs among its larger neighbors. In addition, the Sunni-led government has struggled to manage relations with its large Shia-majority population. During the mid-to-late 1990s, Shia activists mounted a low-intensity uprising to demand that the Sunni-led government stop systemic economic, social, and political discrimination against Shia Bahrainis. King HAMAD bin Isa Al-Khalifa, after succeeding his late father in 1999, pushed economic and political reforms in part to improve relations with the Shia community. After boycotting the country's first round of democratic elections under the newly-promulgated constitution in 2002, Shia political societies participated in 2006 and 2010 in legislative and municipal elections and Wifaq, the largest Shia political society, won the largest bloc of seats in the elected lower-house of the legislature both times. In early 2011, Bahrain's fractious opposition sought to ride a rising tide of popular Arab protests to petition for the redress of popular grievances. In mid-March 2011, with the backing of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) capitals, King HAMAD put an end to the mass public gatherings and increasingly disruptive civil disobedience by declaring a state of emergency. Manama also welcomed a contingent of mostly Saudi and Emirati forces as part of a GCC deployment intended to help Bahraini security forces maintain order. Since that time, intermittent efforts at political dialogue between the government and opposition have remained at a stalemate. The Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI), formed in June 2011 to investigate abuses during the unrest and state of emergency, released its final report in November 2011. The King fully endorsed the report, and since then Manama has begun to implement many of the BICI's recommendations, including improving policing procedures, reinstating fired workers, rebuilding some mosques, and establishing a compensation fund for those affected by the unrest and crackdown. Despite this progress, street protests have grown increasingly violent since the beginning of 2012.

A PLANETARY GEODYNAMICS SCIENTIST

FROM: NASA

Planetary Scientist Profile: Lynn Carter
The dry, ancient surfaces of the moon, Venus, and Mars look nothing like the dynamic planet we live on, but the same forces that shape our world have also driven the evolution of our closest neighbors. As part of NASA’s Planetary Geodynamics Laboratory, scientist Lynn Carter discusses her passion for volcanoes, impact cratering, and tectonic activity throughout the solar system.

Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

OPENING OF THE ARTIC SEA TO SEA-FARING TRAFFIC

Bright white ice reflects sunlight from the Earth’s surface. In contrast, open water is very dark, and absorbs sunlight. As sea ice melts more water is exposed, which tends to increase warming. Photograph courtesy NOAA Photo Library

FROM:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

by jtozer
Melting Artic Ice Will Present New Challenges
With ice melting in the Arctic Ocean, which is bordered by countries including Canada, Russia and the United States, more sea-faring traffic will appear there and more nations with economic interest in the region will arrive to exploit the resources there, said a panel of security experts during a forum.

"[Our] area of responsibility is evolving and changing," said Maj. Gen. Francis G. Mahon, J5, U.S. Northern Command. "The Arctic is receding … the northern coast is about to become a real coast; maybe not today, maybe not this year, but in a short time. We need to start thinking about that."

Mahon was featured during a panel discussion regarding North American security, during the 2012 Association of the United States Army Annual Meeting and Exposition in Washington, D.C.
Mahon said development in the Arctic "is going to happen."
Shell Oil, for instance, has been there conducting test drilling operations, and Conoco, he said, will be there next summer.

Increased economic interest in the region, which is bordered by Alaska, means more security concerns, potential conflict over rights to resources there, such as fishing and mineral rights, and more opportunity for the kinds of disasters that the United States might be called on to assist with.

John Stanton, director, Joint Operations Directorate, Customs and Border Protection, also sat on the panel. He said that the northern ice cap has been receding more on the Russian side than on the Canadian side.

Increased opportunity in the Arctic will mean "different sovereign nations’ territorial water come into play," Stanton said. Right now, concern in the area is largely limited to nations that have coastlines on the Arctic, and that includes the eight countries that make up the Arctic Council: Canada, Denmark/Greenland/Faroe Islands, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden and the United States.

But more nations will eventually show interest, Mahon said.

"There are many, many others who have economic interests who would like to harvest the goods and sell them on the economic market," Mahon said.

Mahon said, as an example, that for Chinese exports to Europe, it is 40 percent shorter to move goods through the Bering Strait than to move those goods through Panama or around the southern tip of South America.

"From an economic standpoint, you know that will be exploited as quickly as possible," Mahon said. "Ultimately, we will be operating up there more."

SOUTHERN BORDER

Illicit movement of goods between Mexico and the United States involves more than just drugs coming north from Central America, said Stanton. Illicit traffic across the 1,900-mile border goes both ways, and includes not just drugs, but money, human trafficking and weapons.

In the 1990s, Stanton said, a lot of that illicit activity came through California. Now, he said, much of that has shifted eastward to Arizona.

Maj. Gen. Davis S. Baldwin, the adjacent general for the state of California, said drug problems persist in California, however, as a result of transnational criminal organizations operating in the state.

"Our problem set really goes throughout the northern part of the state, where TCOs are operating quite actively in our forest and public lands by growing marijuana," he said. "The threat there can many times be greater than what we see on the border. When we deploy Soldiers and Airmen down on the border, we generally arm them with side arms. When we send them up into the forest, in the northern part of California, they take long rifles and carbines — because the threat is that great."

Baldwin said that smugglers, while now crossing the border less into California, are trying new tactics to get into the state.
"We’re seeing now smugglers are turning to sea routes of entry and the littorals, and we’ve had to shift our efforts to more coast-watching," he said. "[It's] an agile threat."
Transnational criminal organizations, he said, are going out to sea and coming to shore "much farther north," and that threat requires work with local and federal agencies, along with a requirement to increase aerial surveillance. Included in that, he said, are the California Air National Guard C-130J aircraft and the rescue-equipped MC-130. Army and Air National Guard unmanned aerial systems are also helping, he said, by keeping "an unblinking eye over the coast to start picking up these boats."

Baldwin also said the California National Guard is developing expanded capabilities to include development of a program with the U.S. Navy Special Operations Command, called the Global Information Network Architecture — which is a database of target sets, such as TCOs, that is presented as "a 3D picture in time and space," and which allows them to do predictive analysis.

With the GINA, he said, it is possible to see, for instance, who a TCO has been communicating with and how, "on both sides of the border — and it can enable law enforcement on both sides of the border to use that information to start taking out these very complex criminal networks and organizations."

While relations with Canadian law enforcement have always been good, relations with Mexican law enforcement is getting better.

Mahon said that military-to-military relations with Mexico have "taken off." That includes combined exercises between the two nations as well as subject-matter expert and senior-leader exchanges.

"Professional exchanges … have soared," Mahon said. "It’s a good dialogue and a good exchange, it is truly professional, they are giving as much as we are giving."

Stanton said that tactical exchanges with the Mexicans at border crossings are also "quite mature."

Right now, Stanton said, that relationship includes a protocol to pass first responders back and forth in the event of disaster. Were there to be a disaster in San Diego, for instance, Mexican firefighters could come across to provide assistance.

By C. Todd Lopez

DEFENSE AND INDUSTRY WORK TO BETTER COMMUNICATIONS

Night-vision device. U.S. Air Force photo .

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Defense and Industry Narrow Communication Gap

By Terri Moon Cronk
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Nov. 19, 2012 - As a cost- and time-saving measure, Defense Department officials have developed an experimental website to help government and industry stay up-to-date on developing projects that support the warfighter.

The new site, Defense Innovation Marketplace, is part of the Defense Department's Better Buying Power initiative to save DOD money, said Jack Blackhurst, a "customer" of DOD, and director of the Human Effectiveness Directorate at the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio.

Customers from all branches of the military and small-business owners can access the site to see what the government is looking for in "human systems."

"A human system is anything to do with performance of humans in a particular job -- airplane operator, submarine operator, soldier on [the] ground -- all humans who operate weapons systems," Blackhurst said.

Human systems ensure warfighters have the best equipment to do their jobs and improve performance, he said.

"It's about a human being interacting with the weapons system," Blackhurst said. "Unlike a conventional weapon that an airplane drops, the focus is on the pilot in the cockpit."

The website is the only forum that increases communication among government, industry and academia, he said. The site, which is expected to save time and money, allows interested parties to learn about projects in development and what capabilities the government wants, he added.

"On the government's part, it gives us a vehicle to put our information out, and at the same time, it allows industry to put their information out in terms of where they're investing their dollars in a particular technology area," Blackhurst said. "It gives us an excellent tool to search these capabilities."

Industry and academic institutions now have the ability to "know what's going on out there and then strategize for the government," he noted.

By first becoming familiar with information on the site, the marketplace can eliminate some conferences. Once they know about particular projects, people from DOD, industry and academia can meet later in a conference to talk specifics, saving time and money, according to Blackhurst.

"There's a wealth of information that doesn't exist anywhere else," he said.

The site stems from communication issues between industry and DOD, said Ron Kurjanowicz, senior adviser to the secretary of defense for research and engineering.

"We made the Defense Innovation Marketplace no more complicated than a one-stop shop where industry could find information about the investment priorities for DOD," Kurjanowicz said.

Feedback has been positive from industry officials," he said, adding that the site is updated nearly every day.

"It's important in this climate of change that we talk about Better Buying Power to reduce costs in our acquisition program and activities, and this site presents that opportunity. We're out of Iraq and getting out of Afghanistan, so new capabilities will be needed in the future," Kurjanowicz said.

"Industry needs to know where DOD is making its changes, so they can align their investments with the capabilities of the future. The marketplace is one of those places to keep them connected," he said.

Kurjanowicz said the site makes doing business more effective and efficient, and that the government will see "enormous payoffs in how it strategically places its investment, [in addition to] leveraging industries' projects."

As a result, taxpayers also benefit, he said.

Industry's payoff, Kurjanowicz said, lies in knowing where DOD is going on its projects, he said.

"We want to do things smarter, and we think this is an opportunity to do that," he added.

EINSTEIN'S RIPPLES IN SPACE-TIME

FROM: NASA

Measuring Ripples in Space-Time

Einstein predicted gravity waves in his general theory of relativity, but to date these ripples in the fabric of space-time have never been observed. Now a scientific research technique called Atomic Interferometry is trying to re-write the canon. In conjunction with researchers at Stanford University, scientists at NASA Goddard are developing a system to measure the faint gravitational vibrations generated by movement of massive objects in the universe. The scientific payoff could be important, helping better clarify key issues in our understanding of cosmology. But application payoff could be substantial, too, with the potential to develop profound advances in fields like geolocation and timekeeping.

Remarks to the Council on Competitiveness

Remarks to the Council on Competitiveness

RECENT U.S. NAVY PHOTOS

FROM: U.S. NAVY
121121-N-KT462-198 PEARL HARBOR (Nov 21, 2012) Sailors aboard the guided-missile destroyer USS Michael Murphy (DDG 112) man the rails, as the ship arrives at its homeport, Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam for the first time. The new destroyer honors the late Lt. (SEAL) Michael P. Murphy, a New York native who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions in combat as leader of a four-man reconnaissance team in Afghanistan. Murphy was the first person to be awarded the medal for actions in Afghanistan, and the first member of the U.S. Navy to receive the award since the Vietnam War. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Jon Dasbach/Released)

121120-N-DB801-060 JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM, Hawaii (Nov. 20, 2012) The Virginia-class fast attack submarine USS Hawaii (SSN 776) returns to Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam after completing a six-month deployment to the western Pacific region. The submarine was named to recognize the tremendous support the Navy has enjoyed from the people and state of Hawaii, and in honor of the rich heritage of submarines in the Pacific. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Steven Khor/Released)