FROM: THE WHITE HOUSE
March 01, 2015
Statement by the President on the Passing of Minnie Minoso
For South Siders and Sox fans all across the country, including me, Minnie Minoso is and will always be “Mr. White Sox.”
The first black Major Leaguer in Chicago, Minnie came to the United States from Cuba even though he could have made more money elsewhere. He came up through the Negro Leagues, and didn’t speak much English at first. And as he helped to integrate baseball in the 1950s, he was a target of racial slurs from fans and opponents, sometimes forced to stay in different motels from his teammates. But his speed, his power – and his resilient optimism – earned him multiple All-Star appearances and Gold Gloves in left field, and he became one of the most dominant and dynamic players of the 1950s.
Minnie may have been passed over by the Baseball Hall of Fame during his lifetime, but for me and for generations of black and Latino young people, Minnie’s quintessentially American story embodies far more than a plaque ever could.
Michelle and I send our thoughts and prayers to his family and fans in Chicago, Cleveland, and around the world.
Sunday, March 1, 2015
STATE DEPARTMENT ANNOUNCES CHARLES RIVKIN IS TRAVELING TO ALGERIA AND TUNISIA
FROM: U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
Assistant Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs Charles Rivkin Travels to Algeria and Tunisia
Media Note
Office of the Spokesperson
Washington, DC
March 1, 2015
Assistant Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs Charles H. Rivkin is travelling March 1-6 to Algiers and Tunis, where he will co-lead a business delegation with the National U.S.-Arab Chamber of Commerce and the U.S.-Algeria Business Council. He will also attend the Partners for a New Beginning - North Africa Partnership for Economic Opportunity (PNB-NAPEO) Investment and Entrepreneurship Conference in Tunis.
In Algiers on March 1-3, Assistant Secretary Rivkin and Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Anne Patterson will meet with government officials to discuss opportunities to strengthen our bilateral commercial relationship.
In Tunis on March 4-6, he and other U.S. Government officials will meet with members of the new Tunisian government, with a focus on promoting economic growth, job creation, and increased U.S. investment.
Assistant Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs Charles Rivkin Travels to Algeria and Tunisia
Media Note
Office of the Spokesperson
Washington, DC
March 1, 2015
Assistant Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs Charles H. Rivkin is travelling March 1-6 to Algiers and Tunis, where he will co-lead a business delegation with the National U.S.-Arab Chamber of Commerce and the U.S.-Algeria Business Council. He will also attend the Partners for a New Beginning - North Africa Partnership for Economic Opportunity (PNB-NAPEO) Investment and Entrepreneurship Conference in Tunis.
In Algiers on March 1-3, Assistant Secretary Rivkin and Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Anne Patterson will meet with government officials to discuss opportunities to strengthen our bilateral commercial relationship.
In Tunis on March 4-6, he and other U.S. Government officials will meet with members of the new Tunisian government, with a focus on promoting economic growth, job creation, and increased U.S. investment.
FTC SETTLES WITH AUTO SHIPMENT BROKER ACCUSED OF MISREPRESENTING ONLINE REVIEWS
FROM: U.S. FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION
FTC Stops Automobile Shipment Broker from Misrepresenting Online Reviews
Company Failed to Disclose It Gave Discounts and Awards to Customer Reviewers
AmeriFreight, an automobile shipment broker based in Peachtree City, Georgia, has agreed to a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission that will halt the company’s allegedly deceptive practice of touting online customer reviews, while failing to disclose that the reviewers were compensated with discounts and incentives.
The FTC’s complaint marks the first time the agency has charged a company with misrepresenting online reviews by failing to disclose that it gave cash discounts to customers to post the reviews.
“Companies must make it clear when they have paid their customers to write online reviews,” said Jessica Rich, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “If they fail to do that – as AmeriFreight did – then they’re deceiving consumers, plain and simple.”
AmeriFreight is an automobile shipment broker that arranges the shipment of consumers’ cars through third-party freight carriers. Its website touted that the company had “more highly ranked ratings and reviews than any other company in the automotive transportation business.” As part of its advertising, it encouraged consumers to “Google us ‘bbb top rated car shipping.’ You don’t have to believe us, our consumers say it all.”
According to the FTC’s complaint, AmeriFreight and its owner, Marius Lehmann, violated Section 5 of the FTC Act by failing to disclose that they compensated consumers for their online reviews. Specifically, according to the complaint, the respondents:
Provided consumers with a discount of $50 off the cost of AmeriFreight’s services if consumers agreed to review the company’s services online, and increased the cost by $50 if consumers did not agree to write a review;
Provided consumers with “Conditions for receiving a discount on reviews,” which said that if they leave an online review, they will be automatically entered into a $100 per month “Best Monthly Review Award” for the most creative subject title and “informative content”;
Contacted consumers after their cars had been shipped to remind them of their obligation to complete a review to receive the “online review discount,” and qualify for the $100 award;
Failed to disclose the material connection between the company and their consumer endorsers -- namely, that AmeriFreight compensated consumers to post online reviews;
Deceptively represented that its favorable reviews were based on the unbiased reviews of customers.
The proposed order settling the FTC’s charges prohibits the respondents from misrepresenting that their products or services are highly rated or top-ranked based on unbiased consumer reviews, or that customer reviews are unbiased. It also requires the respondents to clearly and prominently disclose any material connection, if one exists, between them and their endorsers.
The respondents also must maintain records of their advertisements and other relevant documents, and must deliver copies of the order to company principals, officers, directors, managers, employees and others. Finally, they must notify the FTC about any changes in corporate structure or affiliation with new businesses that could affect their compliance with the order, which will expire in 20 years.
Information for Consumers
The FTC has information for consumers about how to detect and avoid advertisements that may be deceptive or misleading, including specific information on endorsements and testimonials.
The Commission vote to accept the proposed consent order for public comment was 5-0. The FTC will publish a description of the consent agreement package in the Federal Register shortly. Interested parties can submit comments electronically by following the instructions in the “Invitation to Comment” part of the “Supplementary Information” section. The agreement will be subject to public comment for 30 days, beginning today and continuing through March 31, 2015, after which the Commission will decide whether to make the proposed consent order final.
NOTE: The Commission issues an administrative complaint when it has “reason to believe” that the law has been or is being violated, and it appears to the Commission that a proceeding is in the public interest. When the Commission issues a consent order on a final basis, it carries the force of law with respect to future actions. Each violation of such an order may result in a civil penalty of up to $16,000.
FTC Stops Automobile Shipment Broker from Misrepresenting Online Reviews
Company Failed to Disclose It Gave Discounts and Awards to Customer Reviewers
AmeriFreight, an automobile shipment broker based in Peachtree City, Georgia, has agreed to a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission that will halt the company’s allegedly deceptive practice of touting online customer reviews, while failing to disclose that the reviewers were compensated with discounts and incentives.
The FTC’s complaint marks the first time the agency has charged a company with misrepresenting online reviews by failing to disclose that it gave cash discounts to customers to post the reviews.
“Companies must make it clear when they have paid their customers to write online reviews,” said Jessica Rich, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “If they fail to do that – as AmeriFreight did – then they’re deceiving consumers, plain and simple.”
AmeriFreight is an automobile shipment broker that arranges the shipment of consumers’ cars through third-party freight carriers. Its website touted that the company had “more highly ranked ratings and reviews than any other company in the automotive transportation business.” As part of its advertising, it encouraged consumers to “Google us ‘bbb top rated car shipping.’ You don’t have to believe us, our consumers say it all.”
According to the FTC’s complaint, AmeriFreight and its owner, Marius Lehmann, violated Section 5 of the FTC Act by failing to disclose that they compensated consumers for their online reviews. Specifically, according to the complaint, the respondents:
Provided consumers with a discount of $50 off the cost of AmeriFreight’s services if consumers agreed to review the company’s services online, and increased the cost by $50 if consumers did not agree to write a review;
Provided consumers with “Conditions for receiving a discount on reviews,” which said that if they leave an online review, they will be automatically entered into a $100 per month “Best Monthly Review Award” for the most creative subject title and “informative content”;
Contacted consumers after their cars had been shipped to remind them of their obligation to complete a review to receive the “online review discount,” and qualify for the $100 award;
Failed to disclose the material connection between the company and their consumer endorsers -- namely, that AmeriFreight compensated consumers to post online reviews;
Deceptively represented that its favorable reviews were based on the unbiased reviews of customers.
The proposed order settling the FTC’s charges prohibits the respondents from misrepresenting that their products or services are highly rated or top-ranked based on unbiased consumer reviews, or that customer reviews are unbiased. It also requires the respondents to clearly and prominently disclose any material connection, if one exists, between them and their endorsers.
The respondents also must maintain records of their advertisements and other relevant documents, and must deliver copies of the order to company principals, officers, directors, managers, employees and others. Finally, they must notify the FTC about any changes in corporate structure or affiliation with new businesses that could affect their compliance with the order, which will expire in 20 years.
Information for Consumers
The FTC has information for consumers about how to detect and avoid advertisements that may be deceptive or misleading, including specific information on endorsements and testimonials.
The Commission vote to accept the proposed consent order for public comment was 5-0. The FTC will publish a description of the consent agreement package in the Federal Register shortly. Interested parties can submit comments electronically by following the instructions in the “Invitation to Comment” part of the “Supplementary Information” section. The agreement will be subject to public comment for 30 days, beginning today and continuing through March 31, 2015, after which the Commission will decide whether to make the proposed consent order final.
NOTE: The Commission issues an administrative complaint when it has “reason to believe” that the law has been or is being violated, and it appears to the Commission that a proceeding is in the public interest. When the Commission issues a consent order on a final basis, it carries the force of law with respect to future actions. Each violation of such an order may result in a civil penalty of up to $16,000.
FTC RELEASES NATIONAL RANKING OF CONSUMER COMPLAINTS FOR 2014
FROM: U.S. FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION
Identity Theft Tops FTC’s Consumer Complaint Categories Again in 2014
Agency Also Notes a Large Increase in Complaints About “Imposter” Scams
Identity theft topped the Federal Trade Commission’s national ranking of consumer complaints for the 15th consecutive year, while the agency also recorded a large increase in the number of complaints about so-called “imposter” scams, according to the FTC's 2014 Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book, which was released today.
Imposter scams – in which con artists impersonate government officials or others – moved into third place on the list of consumer complaints, entering the top three complaint categories for the first time. The increase in imposter scams was led by a sharp jump in complaints about IRS and other government imposter scams. Debt collection held steady as the second-most-reported complaint.
“While identity theft remains a huge issue, consumers should also keep a close eye out for imposter scams,” said Jessica Rich, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “Whether it’s pretending to be the IRS during tax season, or making false promises of a lottery win, scammers are increasingly sophisticated in their efforts to deceive consumers, but the FTC will continue working to shut these scammers down.”
The Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book is produced annually using complaints received by the FTC’s Consumer Sentinel Network. That includes not only complaints made directly by consumers to the FTC, but also complaints received by state and federal law enforcement agencies, national consumer protection organizations and non-governmental organizations.
The report includes not only national data but also a state-by-state accounting of top complaint categories and a listing of the metropolitan areas that generated the most complaints. In 2014, 2,582,851 complaints were entered into the Consumer Sentinel Network. Florida was the top source of complaints per capita both for identity theft, and fraud and other complaints. For fraud and other complaints, Georgia and Nevada had the second and third highest per capita complaint rates, while Washington and Oregon were in the second and third position for identity theft complaints.
The complaint categories making up the top 10 are:
Number Percent
Identity Theft 332,646 13 percent
Debt Collection 280,998 11 percent
Imposter Scams 276,662 11 percent
Telephone and Mobile Services 171,809 7 percent
Banks and Lenders 128,107 5 percent
Prizes, Sweepstakes and Lotteries 103,579 4 percent
Auto-Related Complaints 88,334 3 percent
Shop-At-Home and Catalog Sales 71,377 3 percent
Television and Electronic Media 48,640 2 percent
Internet Services 46,039 2 percent
A complete list of all complaint categories is available on page six of the report.
The Consumer Sentinel Network’s secure online database is available to more than 2,000 civil and criminal law enforcement agencies across the country and abroad. Agencies use the data to research cases, identify victims and track possible targets.
The Federal Trade Commission works for consumers to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices and to provide information to help spot, stop, and avoid them. To file a complaint in English or Spanish, visit the FTC’s online Complaint Assistant or call 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357). The FTC’s website provides free information on a variety of consumer topics. Like the FTC on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, and subscribe to press releases for the latest FTC news and resources.
Identity Theft Tops FTC’s Consumer Complaint Categories Again in 2014
Agency Also Notes a Large Increase in Complaints About “Imposter” Scams
Identity theft topped the Federal Trade Commission’s national ranking of consumer complaints for the 15th consecutive year, while the agency also recorded a large increase in the number of complaints about so-called “imposter” scams, according to the FTC's 2014 Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book, which was released today.
Imposter scams – in which con artists impersonate government officials or others – moved into third place on the list of consumer complaints, entering the top three complaint categories for the first time. The increase in imposter scams was led by a sharp jump in complaints about IRS and other government imposter scams. Debt collection held steady as the second-most-reported complaint.
“While identity theft remains a huge issue, consumers should also keep a close eye out for imposter scams,” said Jessica Rich, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “Whether it’s pretending to be the IRS during tax season, or making false promises of a lottery win, scammers are increasingly sophisticated in their efforts to deceive consumers, but the FTC will continue working to shut these scammers down.”
The Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book is produced annually using complaints received by the FTC’s Consumer Sentinel Network. That includes not only complaints made directly by consumers to the FTC, but also complaints received by state and federal law enforcement agencies, national consumer protection organizations and non-governmental organizations.
The report includes not only national data but also a state-by-state accounting of top complaint categories and a listing of the metropolitan areas that generated the most complaints. In 2014, 2,582,851 complaints were entered into the Consumer Sentinel Network. Florida was the top source of complaints per capita both for identity theft, and fraud and other complaints. For fraud and other complaints, Georgia and Nevada had the second and third highest per capita complaint rates, while Washington and Oregon were in the second and third position for identity theft complaints.
The complaint categories making up the top 10 are:
Number Percent
Identity Theft 332,646 13 percent
Debt Collection 280,998 11 percent
Imposter Scams 276,662 11 percent
Telephone and Mobile Services 171,809 7 percent
Banks and Lenders 128,107 5 percent
Prizes, Sweepstakes and Lotteries 103,579 4 percent
Auto-Related Complaints 88,334 3 percent
Shop-At-Home and Catalog Sales 71,377 3 percent
Television and Electronic Media 48,640 2 percent
Internet Services 46,039 2 percent
A complete list of all complaint categories is available on page six of the report.
The Consumer Sentinel Network’s secure online database is available to more than 2,000 civil and criminal law enforcement agencies across the country and abroad. Agencies use the data to research cases, identify victims and track possible targets.
The Federal Trade Commission works for consumers to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices and to provide information to help spot, stop, and avoid them. To file a complaint in English or Spanish, visit the FTC’s online Complaint Assistant or call 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357). The FTC’s website provides free information on a variety of consumer topics. Like the FTC on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, and subscribe to press releases for the latest FTC news and resources.
NSF ON THE 'ENERGY INTERNET'
FROM: NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
Creating the energy Internet
How leaders in research, industry and engineering education are working to create the energy network of the future
It only takes a power outage of a few minutes in the middle of a busy workday to drive home the hazards of relying on an energy infrastructure rooted in the Industrial Age. Without the electricity delivered over the nation's power grid, commerce would grind to a halt, communication networks would fail, transportation would stop and cities would go dark.
Simply put, nothing would work.
Plus, blackouts aren't easy to contain. Because the power grid is a vast interconnected network, the failure of one part can have a cascading effect, triggering successive outages down the line.
"The power grid is based on technology from the early 20th century," says Iqbal Husain, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at North Carolina State University. "That needs to change."
Husain is director of the FREEDM Systems Center, a collaboration of leaders in research, industry and engineering education working to envision and then create the energy network of the future. With funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF) leveraged by additional industry support, the Engineering Research Center has sparked the growth of dozens of clean energy businesses in Raleigh's Research Triangle, making the region an epicenter of smart grid development.
"We're trying to create a new electric grid infrastructure that we call the energy Internet," says Alex Huang, an NC State researcher and co-inventor of a newly patented soft-switch single-stage AC-DC converter. "We're looking at the whole distribution system. That's a huge engineering system. It's very, very complex."
According to the U.S. Department of Energy, the smart grid will be more efficient and capable of meeting increased consumer demand without adding infrastructure. It also will be more intelligent, sensing system overloads and rerouting power to prevent or to minimize a potential outage. It will accept energy from virtually any fuel source and--building on NSF-funded research--offer improved security and resiliency in case of a natural disaster or threat. It also will allow real-time communication between the consumer and utility, ushering in a new era of consumer choice.
Energy innovation
From its headquarters on NC State's Centennial Campus, FREEDM (short for Future Renewable Electric Energy Delivery and Management) is coming at the challenge on many fronts, from the creation of new devices that will allow energy to flow in more than one direction to the development of the software architecture that will give the smart grid its brainpower.
The facility boasts a 1-megawatt demonstration hub and real-time digital simulation lab, as well as labs specializing in computer science, power electronics, energy storage and motor drive technology. Under the FREEDM umbrella, researchers and students are tackling more than a dozen research projects in partnership with colleagues at Arizona State University, Florida State University, Florida A&M University and Missouri University of Science and Technology.
That's just this year. In seven years, the center has launched dozens of projects in fields ranging from systems theory to intelligent energy management.
The result is one innovation after another. Researchers have developed a technique that allows a common electronic component to handle voltages almost seven times higher than existing components; created an ultra-fast fault detection, isolation and restoration system; and invented a new solid-state transformer to replace the 100-year-old electromagnetic transformer.
These innovations hold promise for making the power grid more resilient, fostering sustainable energy technologies that play an important role in the nation's energy infrastructure, and driving economic growth.
Startups spawn new technologies
For example, the startup company General Capacitor is focused on developing energy storage products based on the "ultracapacitor" discoveries made by Jim Zheng, a professor at Florida A&M University and Florida State University who serves on FREEDM's leadership team.
Zheng's ultracapacitors open the door to a new generation of energy storage technologies that can be used to help stabilize the flow of energy from renewable sources--such as solar power--into the grid. This would have the effect of making renewable sources more viable, while also making the grid itself more resilient.
For the future power grid, incorporating these new technologies will be like plugging in a lamp. The smart grid will be able to collect and process thousands or even millions of bits of data and intelligently manage the flow of power across the network, ideally doing most of its work at the edge of the grid, close to the customer. This kind of system--called distributed generation--is potentially more efficient and environmentally sustainable than the existing system.
A mile from the NC State campus in Raleigh, a startup company called GridBridge is working to commercialize FREEDM technology in the form of a smart grid router that can integrate renewables and energy storage devices, including electric vehicles, into the grid. GridBridge was funded by the NSF Small Business Innovation Research program.
"We don't expect the utility companies to rip out their existing infrastructure," says CEO Chad Eckhardt. "But they need products that can help the infrastructure operate better and more efficiently."
Another FREEDM partner, energy giant ABB, is working to perfect the technology behind microgrids, which could significantly enhance grid security and reliability.
A microgrid essentially simulates the operations of the larger grid but, as the name suggests, provides power on a smaller scale, serving a town, military base or university, for example. Microgrids can operate independently of the main grid or run parallel to it. ABB's microgrid is designed to seamlessly integrate renewables, with their fluctuating energy profiles, and output reliable power. If the main grid goes down, its microgrid system isolates itself from the larger grid and continues to provide power to its customers. When the larger grid comes back online, the connection is re-established.
"Anything that produces power could potentially be a microgrid," says Brad Luyster, vice president and general manager of ABB's Microgrid Regional Execution Center. "If the power goes off from the main grid, the microgrid has its own generation on site."
The global marketplace
GridBridge and ABB aren't the only companies in the region eyeing the opportunities for energy innovation.
A recent study identified 169 firms within the 13-county Triangle region, including 16 Fortune 500 companies, working to develop sustainable solutions to the world's energy needs. The sector, called cleantech by the industry, spans every county in the region.
Lee Anne Nance, executive director of the Research Triangle Regional Partnership, spearheads a collaborative network called the Research Triangle Cleantech Cluster that promotes the region's competitive edge in the global marketplace. Its members include some of the industry's biggest players, including Duke Energy, Siemens Energy, ABB Inc. and Schneider Electric, as well as major high-tech companies such as SAS, Cisco, Power Analytics, Sensus, Power Secure, RTI International and Field2Base.
Combined, they pack a powerful punch, employing thousands of high-skill workers and driving innovation in energy management, water, transportation, data analytics, information technology, renewable energy, electronics and engineering.
"This is a disruptive and transformational time in infrastructure delivery throughout the world, and our region is leading the way," Nance says. "We're right in the middle of the action and that's good for the economy, the people who work here and the people who live here."
-- David Hunt, North Carolina State University
Investigators
Jim Zheng
Alex Huang
Gerald Heydt
Iqbal Husain
Mariesa Crow
Steinar Dale
Chad Eckhardt
Christopher Edrington
Related Institutions/Organizations
GridBridge, Inc
North Carolina State University
Creating the energy Internet
How leaders in research, industry and engineering education are working to create the energy network of the future
It only takes a power outage of a few minutes in the middle of a busy workday to drive home the hazards of relying on an energy infrastructure rooted in the Industrial Age. Without the electricity delivered over the nation's power grid, commerce would grind to a halt, communication networks would fail, transportation would stop and cities would go dark.
Simply put, nothing would work.
Plus, blackouts aren't easy to contain. Because the power grid is a vast interconnected network, the failure of one part can have a cascading effect, triggering successive outages down the line.
"The power grid is based on technology from the early 20th century," says Iqbal Husain, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at North Carolina State University. "That needs to change."
Husain is director of the FREEDM Systems Center, a collaboration of leaders in research, industry and engineering education working to envision and then create the energy network of the future. With funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF) leveraged by additional industry support, the Engineering Research Center has sparked the growth of dozens of clean energy businesses in Raleigh's Research Triangle, making the region an epicenter of smart grid development.
"We're trying to create a new electric grid infrastructure that we call the energy Internet," says Alex Huang, an NC State researcher and co-inventor of a newly patented soft-switch single-stage AC-DC converter. "We're looking at the whole distribution system. That's a huge engineering system. It's very, very complex."
According to the U.S. Department of Energy, the smart grid will be more efficient and capable of meeting increased consumer demand without adding infrastructure. It also will be more intelligent, sensing system overloads and rerouting power to prevent or to minimize a potential outage. It will accept energy from virtually any fuel source and--building on NSF-funded research--offer improved security and resiliency in case of a natural disaster or threat. It also will allow real-time communication between the consumer and utility, ushering in a new era of consumer choice.
Energy innovation
From its headquarters on NC State's Centennial Campus, FREEDM (short for Future Renewable Electric Energy Delivery and Management) is coming at the challenge on many fronts, from the creation of new devices that will allow energy to flow in more than one direction to the development of the software architecture that will give the smart grid its brainpower.
The facility boasts a 1-megawatt demonstration hub and real-time digital simulation lab, as well as labs specializing in computer science, power electronics, energy storage and motor drive technology. Under the FREEDM umbrella, researchers and students are tackling more than a dozen research projects in partnership with colleagues at Arizona State University, Florida State University, Florida A&M University and Missouri University of Science and Technology.
That's just this year. In seven years, the center has launched dozens of projects in fields ranging from systems theory to intelligent energy management.
The result is one innovation after another. Researchers have developed a technique that allows a common electronic component to handle voltages almost seven times higher than existing components; created an ultra-fast fault detection, isolation and restoration system; and invented a new solid-state transformer to replace the 100-year-old electromagnetic transformer.
These innovations hold promise for making the power grid more resilient, fostering sustainable energy technologies that play an important role in the nation's energy infrastructure, and driving economic growth.
Startups spawn new technologies
For example, the startup company General Capacitor is focused on developing energy storage products based on the "ultracapacitor" discoveries made by Jim Zheng, a professor at Florida A&M University and Florida State University who serves on FREEDM's leadership team.
Zheng's ultracapacitors open the door to a new generation of energy storage technologies that can be used to help stabilize the flow of energy from renewable sources--such as solar power--into the grid. This would have the effect of making renewable sources more viable, while also making the grid itself more resilient.
For the future power grid, incorporating these new technologies will be like plugging in a lamp. The smart grid will be able to collect and process thousands or even millions of bits of data and intelligently manage the flow of power across the network, ideally doing most of its work at the edge of the grid, close to the customer. This kind of system--called distributed generation--is potentially more efficient and environmentally sustainable than the existing system.
A mile from the NC State campus in Raleigh, a startup company called GridBridge is working to commercialize FREEDM technology in the form of a smart grid router that can integrate renewables and energy storage devices, including electric vehicles, into the grid. GridBridge was funded by the NSF Small Business Innovation Research program.
"We don't expect the utility companies to rip out their existing infrastructure," says CEO Chad Eckhardt. "But they need products that can help the infrastructure operate better and more efficiently."
Another FREEDM partner, energy giant ABB, is working to perfect the technology behind microgrids, which could significantly enhance grid security and reliability.
A microgrid essentially simulates the operations of the larger grid but, as the name suggests, provides power on a smaller scale, serving a town, military base or university, for example. Microgrids can operate independently of the main grid or run parallel to it. ABB's microgrid is designed to seamlessly integrate renewables, with their fluctuating energy profiles, and output reliable power. If the main grid goes down, its microgrid system isolates itself from the larger grid and continues to provide power to its customers. When the larger grid comes back online, the connection is re-established.
"Anything that produces power could potentially be a microgrid," says Brad Luyster, vice president and general manager of ABB's Microgrid Regional Execution Center. "If the power goes off from the main grid, the microgrid has its own generation on site."
The global marketplace
GridBridge and ABB aren't the only companies in the region eyeing the opportunities for energy innovation.
A recent study identified 169 firms within the 13-county Triangle region, including 16 Fortune 500 companies, working to develop sustainable solutions to the world's energy needs. The sector, called cleantech by the industry, spans every county in the region.
Lee Anne Nance, executive director of the Research Triangle Regional Partnership, spearheads a collaborative network called the Research Triangle Cleantech Cluster that promotes the region's competitive edge in the global marketplace. Its members include some of the industry's biggest players, including Duke Energy, Siemens Energy, ABB Inc. and Schneider Electric, as well as major high-tech companies such as SAS, Cisco, Power Analytics, Sensus, Power Secure, RTI International and Field2Base.
Combined, they pack a powerful punch, employing thousands of high-skill workers and driving innovation in energy management, water, transportation, data analytics, information technology, renewable energy, electronics and engineering.
"This is a disruptive and transformational time in infrastructure delivery throughout the world, and our region is leading the way," Nance says. "We're right in the middle of the action and that's good for the economy, the people who work here and the people who live here."
-- David Hunt, North Carolina State University
Investigators
Jim Zheng
Alex Huang
Gerald Heydt
Iqbal Husain
Mariesa Crow
Steinar Dale
Chad Eckhardt
Christopher Edrington
Related Institutions/Organizations
GridBridge, Inc
North Carolina State University
Saturday, February 28, 2015
PRESIDENT OBAMA'S STATEMENT ON PASSING OF LEONARD NIMOY
FROM: THE WHITE HOUSE
February 27, 2015
Statement by the President on the Passing of Leonard Nimoy
Long before being nerdy was cool, there was Leonard Nimoy. Leonard was a lifelong lover of the arts and humanities, a supporter of the sciences, generous with his talent and his time. And of course, Leonard was Spock. Cool, logical, big-eared and level-headed, the center of Star Trek’s optimistic, inclusive vision of humanity’s future.
I loved Spock.
In 2007, I had the chance to meet Leonard in person. It was only logical to greet him with the Vulcan salute, the universal sign for “Live long and prosper.” And after 83 years on this planet – and on his visits to many others – it’s clear Leonard Nimoy did just that. Michelle and I join his family, friends, and countless fans who miss him so dearly today.
February 27, 2015
Statement by the President on the Passing of Leonard Nimoy
Long before being nerdy was cool, there was Leonard Nimoy. Leonard was a lifelong lover of the arts and humanities, a supporter of the sciences, generous with his talent and his time. And of course, Leonard was Spock. Cool, logical, big-eared and level-headed, the center of Star Trek’s optimistic, inclusive vision of humanity’s future.
I loved Spock.
In 2007, I had the chance to meet Leonard in person. It was only logical to greet him with the Vulcan salute, the universal sign for “Live long and prosper.” And after 83 years on this planet – and on his visits to many others – it’s clear Leonard Nimoy did just that. Michelle and I join his family, friends, and countless fans who miss him so dearly today.
DOD REPORTS ON COALITION AIRSTRIKES AGAINST ISIL
FROM: U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT
Coalition Airstrikes Hit ISIL in Syria, Iraq
From a Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve News Release
SOUTHWEST ASIA, Feb. 27, 2015 – U.S. and coalition military forces have continued to attack Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant terrorists in Syria and Iraq, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today.
Officials reported details of the latest strikes, which took place between 8 a.m. yesterday and 8 a.m. today, local time, noting that assessments of results are based on initial reports.
Airstrikes in Syria
Attack, fighter, bomber and remotely piloted aircraft conducted 20 airstrikes in Syria:
-- Near Hasakah, three airstrikes struck two ISIL tactical units and destroyed an ISIL armored vehicle and an ISIL vehicle-borne improvised explosive device.
-- Near Dayr az Zawr, an airstrike struck a crude oil collection point.
-- Near Kobani, 13 airstrikes struck an ISIL large tactical unit, eight ISIL tactical units, three ISIL fighting positions and destroyed 21 ISIL fighting positions, two ISIL staging areas, two ISIL tanks and three ISIL vehicles.
-- Near Tal Harris, three airstrikes struck three ISIL tactical units and destroyed an ISIL vehicle and an ISIL checkpoint.
Airstrikes in Iraq
Attack, fighter and remotely piloted aircraft conducted 11 airstrikes in Iraq:
-- Near Asad, three airstrikes struck three ISIL tactical units and destroyed an ISIL building.
-- Near Fallujah, an airstrike struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL building.
-- Near Mosul, two airstrikes struck an ISIL checkpoint and an ISIL vehicle.
-- Near Hit in Anbar province, an airstrike stuck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL vehicle.
-- Near Ramadi, three airstrikes struck two ISIL tactical units and destroyed two ISIL buildings and an ISIL armored vehicle.
-- Near Rawah, an airstrike destroyed an ISIL armored vehicle.
Part of Operation Inherent Resolve
The strikes were conducted as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, the operation to eliminate the ISIL terrorist group and the threat they pose to Iraq, Syria, the region, and the wider international community. The destruction of ISIL targets in Syria and Iraq further limits the terrorist group's ability to project terror and conduct operations, officials said.
Coalition nations conducting airstrikes in Iraq include the United States, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Coalition nations conducting airstrikes in Syria include the United States, Bahrain, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Coalition Airstrikes Hit ISIL in Syria, Iraq
From a Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve News Release
SOUTHWEST ASIA, Feb. 27, 2015 – U.S. and coalition military forces have continued to attack Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant terrorists in Syria and Iraq, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today.
Officials reported details of the latest strikes, which took place between 8 a.m. yesterday and 8 a.m. today, local time, noting that assessments of results are based on initial reports.
Airstrikes in Syria
Attack, fighter, bomber and remotely piloted aircraft conducted 20 airstrikes in Syria:
-- Near Hasakah, three airstrikes struck two ISIL tactical units and destroyed an ISIL armored vehicle and an ISIL vehicle-borne improvised explosive device.
-- Near Dayr az Zawr, an airstrike struck a crude oil collection point.
-- Near Kobani, 13 airstrikes struck an ISIL large tactical unit, eight ISIL tactical units, three ISIL fighting positions and destroyed 21 ISIL fighting positions, two ISIL staging areas, two ISIL tanks and three ISIL vehicles.
-- Near Tal Harris, three airstrikes struck three ISIL tactical units and destroyed an ISIL vehicle and an ISIL checkpoint.
Airstrikes in Iraq
Attack, fighter and remotely piloted aircraft conducted 11 airstrikes in Iraq:
-- Near Asad, three airstrikes struck three ISIL tactical units and destroyed an ISIL building.
-- Near Fallujah, an airstrike struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL building.
-- Near Mosul, two airstrikes struck an ISIL checkpoint and an ISIL vehicle.
-- Near Hit in Anbar province, an airstrike stuck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL vehicle.
-- Near Ramadi, three airstrikes struck two ISIL tactical units and destroyed two ISIL buildings and an ISIL armored vehicle.
-- Near Rawah, an airstrike destroyed an ISIL armored vehicle.
Part of Operation Inherent Resolve
The strikes were conducted as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, the operation to eliminate the ISIL terrorist group and the threat they pose to Iraq, Syria, the region, and the wider international community. The destruction of ISIL targets in Syria and Iraq further limits the terrorist group's ability to project terror and conduct operations, officials said.
Coalition nations conducting airstrikes in Iraq include the United States, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Coalition nations conducting airstrikes in Syria include the United States, Bahrain, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
SEC ANNOUNCES CHARGES AGAINST ALLEGED FRAUDSTERS TARGETING LATINO COMMUNITIES
FROM: U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Litigation Release No. 23209 / February 27, 2015
Securities and Exchange Commission v. Tropikgadget FZE, et al., Civil Action No. 1:15 cv 10543-IT (United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts)
SEC Charges Operators of International Pyramid Scheme Targeting Latino Communities
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that it filed charges against three company officers and 12 promoters behind an international pyramid scheme targeting Latino communities in the U.S. The agency also obtained a court order to freeze the assets of the company officers, promoters, and related parties.
In a complaint filed February 25, 2015 in federal court in Boston that was unsealed yesterday, the SEC alleges that the Portuguese companies - operating under the name Wings Network - claimed to run a multi-level marketing company that offered digital and mobile solutions to customers, including apps and cloud storage. However, Wings Network's revenues actually came solely from selling memberships to investors, not from the sale of any products. The company relied upon the recruitment of new members, and commissions were paid to earlier investors with money received from later investors. The scheme raised at least $23.5 million from thousands of investors, including many in Brazilian and Dominican immigrant communities in Massachusetts.
According to the SEC's complaint, the scheme was orchestrated by Wings Network officers Sergio Henrique Tanaka of São Paulo, Brazil and Davie, Fla., Carlos Luis da Silveira Barbosa of Lisbon, Portugal, and Claudio de Oliveira Pereira Campos of Lisbon, Portugal. After establishing a network of lead promoters, recruitment of new members surged through the use of social media such as Facebook and YouTube. The promoters used Facebook to publicize "business meetings" that took place at hotels and other locations in Connecticut, California, Florida, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Texas, Georgia, and Utah. The promoters also set up storefronts or "training centers" to lure investors into attending Wings Network presentations. For example, one promoter used a storefront in downtown Philadelphia to make presentations to prospective investors, and another promoter rented office space in Pompano Beach, Fla., and spread the word in the local Latino community to attract prospective investors to come in and hear presentations.
Several of the scheme's promoters charged in the SEC's complaint live in Marlborough, Mass., while others reside in Clinton, Mass., Sandy, Utah, Duluth, Ga., and Waco, Texas.
The SEC's complaint alleges that the Portuguese entities and principals Tanaka, Barbosa and Campos violated antifraud provisions Section 17(a) of the Securities Act and Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act and Rule 10-b-5 thereunder, and registration provisions Section 5(a) and 5(c) of the Securities Act, and that the promoter defendants violated Section 5(a) and 5(c) of the Securities Act.
The SEC's investigation was conducted by Scott R. Stanley, Dawn Edick, John McCann, Deena Bernstein, and Amy Gwiazda of the SEC's Boston Regional Office. The SEC's litigation will be led by Ms. Bernstein.
The SEC appreciates the assistance of the Massachusetts Securities Division of the Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth's office, which previously filed its own action against Wings Network and other parties, as well as the Comissão do Mercado de Valores Mobiliários of Portugal and the Procuradoria-Geral da República of Portugal.
Litigation Release No. 23209 / February 27, 2015
Securities and Exchange Commission v. Tropikgadget FZE, et al., Civil Action No. 1:15 cv 10543-IT (United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts)
SEC Charges Operators of International Pyramid Scheme Targeting Latino Communities
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that it filed charges against three company officers and 12 promoters behind an international pyramid scheme targeting Latino communities in the U.S. The agency also obtained a court order to freeze the assets of the company officers, promoters, and related parties.
In a complaint filed February 25, 2015 in federal court in Boston that was unsealed yesterday, the SEC alleges that the Portuguese companies - operating under the name Wings Network - claimed to run a multi-level marketing company that offered digital and mobile solutions to customers, including apps and cloud storage. However, Wings Network's revenues actually came solely from selling memberships to investors, not from the sale of any products. The company relied upon the recruitment of new members, and commissions were paid to earlier investors with money received from later investors. The scheme raised at least $23.5 million from thousands of investors, including many in Brazilian and Dominican immigrant communities in Massachusetts.
According to the SEC's complaint, the scheme was orchestrated by Wings Network officers Sergio Henrique Tanaka of São Paulo, Brazil and Davie, Fla., Carlos Luis da Silveira Barbosa of Lisbon, Portugal, and Claudio de Oliveira Pereira Campos of Lisbon, Portugal. After establishing a network of lead promoters, recruitment of new members surged through the use of social media such as Facebook and YouTube. The promoters used Facebook to publicize "business meetings" that took place at hotels and other locations in Connecticut, California, Florida, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Texas, Georgia, and Utah. The promoters also set up storefronts or "training centers" to lure investors into attending Wings Network presentations. For example, one promoter used a storefront in downtown Philadelphia to make presentations to prospective investors, and another promoter rented office space in Pompano Beach, Fla., and spread the word in the local Latino community to attract prospective investors to come in and hear presentations.
Several of the scheme's promoters charged in the SEC's complaint live in Marlborough, Mass., while others reside in Clinton, Mass., Sandy, Utah, Duluth, Ga., and Waco, Texas.
The SEC's complaint alleges that the Portuguese entities and principals Tanaka, Barbosa and Campos violated antifraud provisions Section 17(a) of the Securities Act and Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act and Rule 10-b-5 thereunder, and registration provisions Section 5(a) and 5(c) of the Securities Act, and that the promoter defendants violated Section 5(a) and 5(c) of the Securities Act.
The SEC's investigation was conducted by Scott R. Stanley, Dawn Edick, John McCann, Deena Bernstein, and Amy Gwiazda of the SEC's Boston Regional Office. The SEC's litigation will be led by Ms. Bernstein.
The SEC appreciates the assistance of the Massachusetts Securities Division of the Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth's office, which previously filed its own action against Wings Network and other parties, as well as the Comissão do Mercado de Valores Mobiliários of Portugal and the Procuradoria-Geral da República of Portugal.
SAMANTHA POWER'S REMARKS ON HUMANITARIAN SITUATION IN SYRIA
FROM: U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
Samantha Power
U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations
New York, NY
February 26, 2015
AS DELIVERED
Thank you. Thank you, Assistant Secretary-General Kang, High Commissioner Guterres for your powerful presentations.
One year ago, the Security Council adopted resolution 2139, aimed at addressing the humanitarian and human rights catastrophe in Syria. As today’s briefings made clear, the humanitarian crises have only deepened – there are multiple crises.
It is estimated that 12.2 million people need humanitarian assistance in Syria. At this time last year, 9.3 million people were said to need humanitarian assistance. That’s nearly three million more people who need aid to survive, in just a year. Think about that.
That is why it is absolutely crucial that all donors make generous commitments at the Humanitarian Pledging Conference in Kuwait in March, commitments that are commensurate with the magnitude of Syria’s crisis – this is what the United States plans to do.
While the international community absolutely must meet the immediate and dire needs of the Syrian people, we must also face the fact that humanitarian assistance is a band aid, it must be accompanied by more intense political pressure to stop the violence and widespread abuses that are fueling the crisis. Although more people in Syria need humanitarian aid than ever before, the Assad regime also seems more intent on denying aid and causing civilian harm than ever before.
Security Council resolution 2139 called on the Syrian parties to immediately cease the indiscriminate use of weapons in populated areas, including through aerial bombardment using barrel bombs. Yet in the year since the resolution was adopted, according to the Syrian Network for Human Rights, the Assad regime has dropped at least 1,950 barrel bombs, which have killed at least 6,480 people, 95 percent of whom were civilians. According to Human Rights Watch, the report released earlier this week, satellite imagery identified at least 450 distinct major damage sites in ten opposition-held towns and villages in the Daraa governorate, and more than 1,000 major damage sites in the Aleppo governorate, between February 2014 and January of this year.
The Human Rights Watch report shows that many impact sites have damage signatures consistent with the detonation of large, air-dropped munitions, including improvised barrel and conventional bombs dropped by helicopters. Yet in spite of this clear evidence, Assad cheerfully denied that his forces used barrel bombs and called any such claims, “a childish story”– a particularly grotesque choice of words, given that well over 10,000 children have been killed in the conflict so far.
The recently released UN Commission of Inquiry report on Syria documents many attacks on civilians. One of them occurred on Aleppo’s al-Shaar neighbourhood on November 6th. The first barrel bomb reportedly killed civilians in its area of impact, and buried more in rubble. When others rushed to the area to dig out the people buried and assist the wounded, the government dropped a second barrel bomb. At least 15 people were killed in all, most of them women and children. Some of the wounded later died in field hospitals, according to the report, due to the lack of necessary medical supplies.
The lack of medical supplies is no accident – it is the result of the Assad regime’s routine confiscation of medical and surgical supplies transported by UN convoys. The UN and its implementing partners have tried to be maximally transparent with the Syrian regime by allowing the government to inspect cross-line shipments, going beyond the provisions in Security Council resolutions 2165 and 2191. Yet, even when these “regime approvals” for cross-line operations are granted, the regime seizes medical supplies such as surgical items, midwifery kits and rehydration kits, which could save the lives of mothers, small children, and babies. The Council was clear in its demand that all parties allow delivery of medical assistance and cease depriving civilians of food and medicine indispensable for their survival in resolution 2139.
The Physicians for Human Rights report that Assistant Secretary-General Kang mentioned documented 228 attacks on 179 separate medical facilities. Of these, PHR found, 90 percent were carried out by regime forces. To date, according to Physicians for Human Rights, 145 medical personnel have been executed or tortured to death in Syria. One hundred and thirty-nine of those 145 individuals, those deaths were carried out by Syrian government forces or by ISIL.
In Yarmouk, 18,000 civilians – most of them Palestinians refugees – are virtually cut off from assistance and surrounded by fighting. In 2014, the UN was only able to provide the equivalent of 400 calories a day for each inhabitant of Yarmouk – the equivalent of two cups of rice – due to the extremely limited access provided by the Syrian regime. If you haven’t seen the photos of the kids inside Yarmouk, you should force yourself to stare at their sunken, hollow faces and glossed eyes. This is what Assad’s regime has done to children, and he is under insufficient pressure from his backers to do something as simple as let food through. And Yarmouk is not an outlier. Of the 212,000 Syrians living in besieged areas, 185,000 of them, or 87 percent, live in areas being besieged by Syrian government forces.
Now, terrorist groups like ISIL have committed horrific abuses against Syrians, and we must be absolutely adamant and united in our condemnation of those horrors, which are on the rise. We condemn in the strongest possible terms ISIL’s attacks on February 23 on Assyrian Christian villages in the northeast Syrian province of Hasakeh, where they kidnapped hundreds of civilians, including women, children, and older persons, and we join others in demanding the immediate and unconditional release of these civilians, together with all of ISIL’s hostages.
In December, four mass graves were discovered in Deir ez-Zor, containing the bodies of some of the hundreds of people abducted by ISIL months before. ISIL has also established what they call “cub camps,” where they indoctrinate kids, teaching them how to use weapons and to carry out suicide attacks. At the same time we condemn ISIL and unite to confront them, we must remember that the rise of these violent extremist groups in Syria would not have happened without the atrocities perpetrated by the Assad regime. And the regime’s ongoing atrocities continue to be the extremists’ best recruiting tool. So any plan that would ally the international community with Assad to confront these violent extremist groups would be completely counterproductive, as it would further fuel ISIL’s rise.
There is only one way out of this horrific crisis, and that is through a comprehensive political solution. To that end, the United States again joins others in commending the efforts of UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura to halt – even for a limited time – the use of all aerial bombs and heavy artillery in Aleppo, whose civilians have suffered immensely amidst fierce fighting. While it would be a welcome step if the Assad regime were to fulfill the commitments it made to de Mistura to stop unilaterally its aerial bombardment in Aleppo and allow the unimpeded delivery of humanitarian assistance to civilians for six weeks, the regime has an abysmal track record on honoring its commitments. Indeed, these very commitments are supposed to have been implemented under resolutions adopted by this very Council. So what matters, and what we must look to, are the regime’s actions.
In addition to being a year since the adoption of Resolution 2139, we also mark other terrible benchmarks today. On March 15th, we will enter the fifth year of the Syrian conflict. And it has been three years since plain-clothes security officers raided the office of the Syrian Centre for Media and Freedom of Expression – a Damascus-based group dedicated to promoting freedom of expression – detaining 14 staff members. Many of those detained were tortured, according to staff members who were later released. Among those detained was the group’s director, Mazen Darwish, who was charged with so-called crimes, such as publishing human rights reports and documenting the names of people tortured, disappeared, or killed during the conflict.
Mazen is still behind bars today, despite a UN General Assembly resolution last May that included a demand for his immediate release. Writing from jail last year, Mazen said, “There is not a single prison in Syria today without one of my friends inside it, nor is there a cemetery in Syria today that doesn’t contain the remains of one of them.”
There is a risk, in our regular meetings on Syria, to get used to the fact that the numbers of individuals detained and killed and disappeared and displaced and denied food – and so many other measures of human suffering – those numbers continue to rise. Indeed, there is a perverse dynamic whereby, as those numbers continue to rise, our sensitivity falls. Our nerve endings harden, and a sense of inevitability takes hold.
We must not let that happen. We must remember each of those rising numbers, each one of those millions, stands for just another person. We must return to the commitments this Council has made, such as those in past resolutions to take further measures in the case of non-compliance and to hold accountable those responsible for violations and abuses.
This Council’s impact will increase only if member-states’ positions change. And that will happen only if we recognize that there are children just like our own starving in Yarmouk, and mothers just like our own who die in childbirth in Aleppo, because medical supplies have been stolen off UN trucks; or mothers who feel helpless in the face of their children’s pleas for food. If this doesn’t motivate us, literally nothing will. Thank you.
Samantha Power
U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations
New York, NY
February 26, 2015
AS DELIVERED
Thank you. Thank you, Assistant Secretary-General Kang, High Commissioner Guterres for your powerful presentations.
One year ago, the Security Council adopted resolution 2139, aimed at addressing the humanitarian and human rights catastrophe in Syria. As today’s briefings made clear, the humanitarian crises have only deepened – there are multiple crises.
It is estimated that 12.2 million people need humanitarian assistance in Syria. At this time last year, 9.3 million people were said to need humanitarian assistance. That’s nearly three million more people who need aid to survive, in just a year. Think about that.
That is why it is absolutely crucial that all donors make generous commitments at the Humanitarian Pledging Conference in Kuwait in March, commitments that are commensurate with the magnitude of Syria’s crisis – this is what the United States plans to do.
While the international community absolutely must meet the immediate and dire needs of the Syrian people, we must also face the fact that humanitarian assistance is a band aid, it must be accompanied by more intense political pressure to stop the violence and widespread abuses that are fueling the crisis. Although more people in Syria need humanitarian aid than ever before, the Assad regime also seems more intent on denying aid and causing civilian harm than ever before.
Security Council resolution 2139 called on the Syrian parties to immediately cease the indiscriminate use of weapons in populated areas, including through aerial bombardment using barrel bombs. Yet in the year since the resolution was adopted, according to the Syrian Network for Human Rights, the Assad regime has dropped at least 1,950 barrel bombs, which have killed at least 6,480 people, 95 percent of whom were civilians. According to Human Rights Watch, the report released earlier this week, satellite imagery identified at least 450 distinct major damage sites in ten opposition-held towns and villages in the Daraa governorate, and more than 1,000 major damage sites in the Aleppo governorate, between February 2014 and January of this year.
The Human Rights Watch report shows that many impact sites have damage signatures consistent with the detonation of large, air-dropped munitions, including improvised barrel and conventional bombs dropped by helicopters. Yet in spite of this clear evidence, Assad cheerfully denied that his forces used barrel bombs and called any such claims, “a childish story”– a particularly grotesque choice of words, given that well over 10,000 children have been killed in the conflict so far.
The recently released UN Commission of Inquiry report on Syria documents many attacks on civilians. One of them occurred on Aleppo’s al-Shaar neighbourhood on November 6th. The first barrel bomb reportedly killed civilians in its area of impact, and buried more in rubble. When others rushed to the area to dig out the people buried and assist the wounded, the government dropped a second barrel bomb. At least 15 people were killed in all, most of them women and children. Some of the wounded later died in field hospitals, according to the report, due to the lack of necessary medical supplies.
The lack of medical supplies is no accident – it is the result of the Assad regime’s routine confiscation of medical and surgical supplies transported by UN convoys. The UN and its implementing partners have tried to be maximally transparent with the Syrian regime by allowing the government to inspect cross-line shipments, going beyond the provisions in Security Council resolutions 2165 and 2191. Yet, even when these “regime approvals” for cross-line operations are granted, the regime seizes medical supplies such as surgical items, midwifery kits and rehydration kits, which could save the lives of mothers, small children, and babies. The Council was clear in its demand that all parties allow delivery of medical assistance and cease depriving civilians of food and medicine indispensable for their survival in resolution 2139.
The Physicians for Human Rights report that Assistant Secretary-General Kang mentioned documented 228 attacks on 179 separate medical facilities. Of these, PHR found, 90 percent were carried out by regime forces. To date, according to Physicians for Human Rights, 145 medical personnel have been executed or tortured to death in Syria. One hundred and thirty-nine of those 145 individuals, those deaths were carried out by Syrian government forces or by ISIL.
In Yarmouk, 18,000 civilians – most of them Palestinians refugees – are virtually cut off from assistance and surrounded by fighting. In 2014, the UN was only able to provide the equivalent of 400 calories a day for each inhabitant of Yarmouk – the equivalent of two cups of rice – due to the extremely limited access provided by the Syrian regime. If you haven’t seen the photos of the kids inside Yarmouk, you should force yourself to stare at their sunken, hollow faces and glossed eyes. This is what Assad’s regime has done to children, and he is under insufficient pressure from his backers to do something as simple as let food through. And Yarmouk is not an outlier. Of the 212,000 Syrians living in besieged areas, 185,000 of them, or 87 percent, live in areas being besieged by Syrian government forces.
Now, terrorist groups like ISIL have committed horrific abuses against Syrians, and we must be absolutely adamant and united in our condemnation of those horrors, which are on the rise. We condemn in the strongest possible terms ISIL’s attacks on February 23 on Assyrian Christian villages in the northeast Syrian province of Hasakeh, where they kidnapped hundreds of civilians, including women, children, and older persons, and we join others in demanding the immediate and unconditional release of these civilians, together with all of ISIL’s hostages.
In December, four mass graves were discovered in Deir ez-Zor, containing the bodies of some of the hundreds of people abducted by ISIL months before. ISIL has also established what they call “cub camps,” where they indoctrinate kids, teaching them how to use weapons and to carry out suicide attacks. At the same time we condemn ISIL and unite to confront them, we must remember that the rise of these violent extremist groups in Syria would not have happened without the atrocities perpetrated by the Assad regime. And the regime’s ongoing atrocities continue to be the extremists’ best recruiting tool. So any plan that would ally the international community with Assad to confront these violent extremist groups would be completely counterproductive, as it would further fuel ISIL’s rise.
There is only one way out of this horrific crisis, and that is through a comprehensive political solution. To that end, the United States again joins others in commending the efforts of UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura to halt – even for a limited time – the use of all aerial bombs and heavy artillery in Aleppo, whose civilians have suffered immensely amidst fierce fighting. While it would be a welcome step if the Assad regime were to fulfill the commitments it made to de Mistura to stop unilaterally its aerial bombardment in Aleppo and allow the unimpeded delivery of humanitarian assistance to civilians for six weeks, the regime has an abysmal track record on honoring its commitments. Indeed, these very commitments are supposed to have been implemented under resolutions adopted by this very Council. So what matters, and what we must look to, are the regime’s actions.
In addition to being a year since the adoption of Resolution 2139, we also mark other terrible benchmarks today. On March 15th, we will enter the fifth year of the Syrian conflict. And it has been three years since plain-clothes security officers raided the office of the Syrian Centre for Media and Freedom of Expression – a Damascus-based group dedicated to promoting freedom of expression – detaining 14 staff members. Many of those detained were tortured, according to staff members who were later released. Among those detained was the group’s director, Mazen Darwish, who was charged with so-called crimes, such as publishing human rights reports and documenting the names of people tortured, disappeared, or killed during the conflict.
Mazen is still behind bars today, despite a UN General Assembly resolution last May that included a demand for his immediate release. Writing from jail last year, Mazen said, “There is not a single prison in Syria today without one of my friends inside it, nor is there a cemetery in Syria today that doesn’t contain the remains of one of them.”
There is a risk, in our regular meetings on Syria, to get used to the fact that the numbers of individuals detained and killed and disappeared and displaced and denied food – and so many other measures of human suffering – those numbers continue to rise. Indeed, there is a perverse dynamic whereby, as those numbers continue to rise, our sensitivity falls. Our nerve endings harden, and a sense of inevitability takes hold.
We must not let that happen. We must remember each of those rising numbers, each one of those millions, stands for just another person. We must return to the commitments this Council has made, such as those in past resolutions to take further measures in the case of non-compliance and to hold accountable those responsible for violations and abuses.
This Council’s impact will increase only if member-states’ positions change. And that will happen only if we recognize that there are children just like our own starving in Yarmouk, and mothers just like our own who die in childbirth in Aleppo, because medical supplies have been stolen off UN trucks; or mothers who feel helpless in the face of their children’s pleas for food. If this doesn’t motivate us, literally nothing will. Thank you.
FTC AND PARTNERS PROMOTE EDUCATION DURING NATIONAL CONSUMER PROTECTION WEEK
FROM: U.S. FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION
FTC, Partners to Promote Education During 17th Annual National Consumer Protection Week March 1-7
Participants to Discuss Imposter Scams During Twitter Chat
The Federal Trade Commission and 89 partners including nonprofit groups, businesses, and federal, state and local government agencies across the country will spotlight their efforts to protect consumers by educating people about fraud during the 17th annual National Consumer Protection Week March 1-7, 2015.
To highlight the week, the FTC will host a Twitter chat and answer consumers’ questions regarding common imposter scams. These types of scams vary, but often include someone pretending to be a government official, and are consistently an annual top 10 consumer complaint to the FTC. While scammers use a variety of tactics, they share the same goal -- to trick consumers out of their money. Follow @FTC and tweet #NCPW15 to join the conversation on Tues., March 3, 2015 at 2:00 pm ET.
“Organizations committed to consumer protection are energized for National Consumer Protection Week, and the FTC is proud to work with our partners to fight scams in every community,” said Jessica Rich, Director, FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “We can all help stop scams by checking out the advice at NCPW.gov, sharing it, and reporting fraud.”
The NCPW website has resources for consumers on topics ranging from managing credit and debt, avoiding identity theft, staying safe online, and more. These resources, including a consumer blog, help people learn about their consumer rights and how to spot and avoid scams and identity theft. The site also has information on where to file complaints with federal, state and other partners, including the FTC.
In addition to hosting NCPW annually, the FTC’s ongoing Every Community initiative fights scams in the marketplace for many underserved groups. Just yesterday, the FTC, Department of Justice and Postal Inspection Service participated in a roundtable with consumer advocacy groups to discuss how the agencies can better work with each community to protect consumers and learn more about current scam-related issues.
As part of the broader Every Community effort, the FTC has brought cases against scams that targeted Latinos and older adults. The Commission hosted a workshop last year on fraud in different communities, and it has distributed a variety of education materials and outreach to groups including Latinos, older adults, and veterans, servicemembers, and their families.
To help coordinate and publicize events throughout the week, partners of NCPW created a toolkit full of ideas and resources for all to use and share. The toolkit includes tips on hosting events, drafting consumer education and other outreach materials, buttons, banners, social media posts, and more.
FTC, Partners to Promote Education During 17th Annual National Consumer Protection Week March 1-7
Participants to Discuss Imposter Scams During Twitter Chat
The Federal Trade Commission and 89 partners including nonprofit groups, businesses, and federal, state and local government agencies across the country will spotlight their efforts to protect consumers by educating people about fraud during the 17th annual National Consumer Protection Week March 1-7, 2015.
To highlight the week, the FTC will host a Twitter chat and answer consumers’ questions regarding common imposter scams. These types of scams vary, but often include someone pretending to be a government official, and are consistently an annual top 10 consumer complaint to the FTC. While scammers use a variety of tactics, they share the same goal -- to trick consumers out of their money. Follow @FTC and tweet #NCPW15 to join the conversation on Tues., March 3, 2015 at 2:00 pm ET.
“Organizations committed to consumer protection are energized for National Consumer Protection Week, and the FTC is proud to work with our partners to fight scams in every community,” said Jessica Rich, Director, FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “We can all help stop scams by checking out the advice at NCPW.gov, sharing it, and reporting fraud.”
The NCPW website has resources for consumers on topics ranging from managing credit and debt, avoiding identity theft, staying safe online, and more. These resources, including a consumer blog, help people learn about their consumer rights and how to spot and avoid scams and identity theft. The site also has information on where to file complaints with federal, state and other partners, including the FTC.
In addition to hosting NCPW annually, the FTC’s ongoing Every Community initiative fights scams in the marketplace for many underserved groups. Just yesterday, the FTC, Department of Justice and Postal Inspection Service participated in a roundtable with consumer advocacy groups to discuss how the agencies can better work with each community to protect consumers and learn more about current scam-related issues.
As part of the broader Every Community effort, the FTC has brought cases against scams that targeted Latinos and older adults. The Commission hosted a workshop last year on fraud in different communities, and it has distributed a variety of education materials and outreach to groups including Latinos, older adults, and veterans, servicemembers, and their families.
To help coordinate and publicize events throughout the week, partners of NCPW created a toolkit full of ideas and resources for all to use and share. The toolkit includes tips on hosting events, drafting consumer education and other outreach materials, buttons, banners, social media posts, and more.
GENE EDITITING AND REGULATION TO IMPROVE IMMUNE SYSTEM
FROM: NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
Rewriting genetic information to prevent disease
Breakthrough Prize winner harnesses CRISPR to improve immune system
For the last few years, scientists have been studying an ancient but only recently understood mechanism of bacterial immunity that has the potential to provide immeasurable benefits to plant and animal health.
The phenomenon known as CRISPR (for Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) is a natural immune system found in many bacteria with the ability to identify and destroy the genomes of invading viruses and plasmids.
Researchers are trying to harness this system for gene editing and regulation, a process that could transform "the genome of plants or animals in ways that will improve their health, or introduce genetic changes that will resist disease of climate change," says Jennifer Doudna, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator and professor of biochemistry, biophysics and structural biology at the University of California, Berkeley. "The explosion of research using this technique has been amazing."
Doudna, collaborating with Emmanuelle Charpentier of Sweden's Helmholtz Center for Infection Research and Umeå University, identified how the system works and engineered it in new ways that broadened its scope. The two researchers, who described their work in a 2012 paper in the journal Science, developed a technique that enables the rewriting of genetic information and the correction of mutations that otherwise can cause disease, and also can knock out the cell's ability to make harmful proteins, she says.
"Many labs have shown in principle that this can be used to correct such mutations as those that occur in cystic fibrosis, or sickle cell disease," she says. "They are showing it in cell lines and lab animals. We're still some period of time away from using this in humans, but the pace in the field has been truly remarkable, and really exciting to see."
Many bacteria have this CRISPR-based immune system capable of identifying and destroying hostile invaders. Doudna and Charpentier showed that, in doing so, CRISPR produces the protein Cas9, a DNA-cutting enzyme guided by RNA, which relies on two short RNA guide sequences to find foreign DNA, then cleaves, or cuts, the target sequences, thereby muting the genes of the invaders.
Cas9 has evolved to provide protection against viruses that could infect the bacterium, and uses pieces of RNA derived from CRISPRS to direct its activity. The system is specific and efficient enough to stave off viral infections in bacteria.
Doudna and her colleagues programmed the process so that it can be directed by a single short RNA molecule; researchers who use it to edit genomes can customize the RNA so that it sends Cas9 to cleave, like "scissors," at their chosen location in the genome.
"When we figured out how it worked, we realized we could alter the design of RNA and program Cas9 to recognize any DNA sequence," she says. "One can therefore target Cas9 to any region of a genome simply by providing a short guide RNA that can pair with the region of interest. Once targeted, different versions of Cas9 can be used to activate or inhibit genes, as well as make target cuts within the genome. Depending on the experimental design, research can use these latter cuts to either disrupt genes or replace them with newly engineered versions."
Recently Douda and Charpentier and four other scientists received the Breakthrough Prize in life sciences, which honors transformative advances toward understanding living systems and extending human life. The prizes recognize pioneering work in physics, genetics, cosmology, neurology and mathematics, and carry a $3 million award for each researcher. The Breakthrough committee specifically cited Doudna and Charpentier for their advances in understanding the CRISPR mechanism.
Doudna has been the recipient of several National Science Foundation (NSF) grants to support her research in recent years totaling more than $1.5 million. In 2000, she received NSF's prestigious $500,000 Alan T. Waterman Award, which recognizes an outstanding young researcher in any field of science or engineering supported by NSF.
She also was a founder of the Innovative Genomics Initiative, established in 2014 at the Li Ka Shing Center for Genomic Engineering at UC Berkeley. Its goal is to promote and support genome editing research and technology in both academic and commercial research communities.
"We have a team of scientists working with various collaborative partners," she says. "We want to ensure that the technology gets into as many hands as possible, and explore ways to make it even better. We are trying to bring about fundamental change in biological and biomedical research by enabling scientists to read and write in genomes with equal ease. It's a bold new effort that embraces a new era in genomic engineering."
-- Marlene Cimons, National Science Foundation
Investigators
Jennifer Doudna
Related Institutions/Organizations
University of California-Berkeley
Rewriting genetic information to prevent disease
Breakthrough Prize winner harnesses CRISPR to improve immune system
For the last few years, scientists have been studying an ancient but only recently understood mechanism of bacterial immunity that has the potential to provide immeasurable benefits to plant and animal health.
The phenomenon known as CRISPR (for Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) is a natural immune system found in many bacteria with the ability to identify and destroy the genomes of invading viruses and plasmids.
Researchers are trying to harness this system for gene editing and regulation, a process that could transform "the genome of plants or animals in ways that will improve their health, or introduce genetic changes that will resist disease of climate change," says Jennifer Doudna, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator and professor of biochemistry, biophysics and structural biology at the University of California, Berkeley. "The explosion of research using this technique has been amazing."
Doudna, collaborating with Emmanuelle Charpentier of Sweden's Helmholtz Center for Infection Research and Umeå University, identified how the system works and engineered it in new ways that broadened its scope. The two researchers, who described their work in a 2012 paper in the journal Science, developed a technique that enables the rewriting of genetic information and the correction of mutations that otherwise can cause disease, and also can knock out the cell's ability to make harmful proteins, she says.
"Many labs have shown in principle that this can be used to correct such mutations as those that occur in cystic fibrosis, or sickle cell disease," she says. "They are showing it in cell lines and lab animals. We're still some period of time away from using this in humans, but the pace in the field has been truly remarkable, and really exciting to see."
Many bacteria have this CRISPR-based immune system capable of identifying and destroying hostile invaders. Doudna and Charpentier showed that, in doing so, CRISPR produces the protein Cas9, a DNA-cutting enzyme guided by RNA, which relies on two short RNA guide sequences to find foreign DNA, then cleaves, or cuts, the target sequences, thereby muting the genes of the invaders.
Cas9 has evolved to provide protection against viruses that could infect the bacterium, and uses pieces of RNA derived from CRISPRS to direct its activity. The system is specific and efficient enough to stave off viral infections in bacteria.
Doudna and her colleagues programmed the process so that it can be directed by a single short RNA molecule; researchers who use it to edit genomes can customize the RNA so that it sends Cas9 to cleave, like "scissors," at their chosen location in the genome.
"When we figured out how it worked, we realized we could alter the design of RNA and program Cas9 to recognize any DNA sequence," she says. "One can therefore target Cas9 to any region of a genome simply by providing a short guide RNA that can pair with the region of interest. Once targeted, different versions of Cas9 can be used to activate or inhibit genes, as well as make target cuts within the genome. Depending on the experimental design, research can use these latter cuts to either disrupt genes or replace them with newly engineered versions."
Recently Douda and Charpentier and four other scientists received the Breakthrough Prize in life sciences, which honors transformative advances toward understanding living systems and extending human life. The prizes recognize pioneering work in physics, genetics, cosmology, neurology and mathematics, and carry a $3 million award for each researcher. The Breakthrough committee specifically cited Doudna and Charpentier for their advances in understanding the CRISPR mechanism.
Doudna has been the recipient of several National Science Foundation (NSF) grants to support her research in recent years totaling more than $1.5 million. In 2000, she received NSF's prestigious $500,000 Alan T. Waterman Award, which recognizes an outstanding young researcher in any field of science or engineering supported by NSF.
She also was a founder of the Innovative Genomics Initiative, established in 2014 at the Li Ka Shing Center for Genomic Engineering at UC Berkeley. Its goal is to promote and support genome editing research and technology in both academic and commercial research communities.
"We have a team of scientists working with various collaborative partners," she says. "We want to ensure that the technology gets into as many hands as possible, and explore ways to make it even better. We are trying to bring about fundamental change in biological and biomedical research by enabling scientists to read and write in genomes with equal ease. It's a bold new effort that embraces a new era in genomic engineering."
-- Marlene Cimons, National Science Foundation
Investigators
Jennifer Doudna
Related Institutions/Organizations
University of California-Berkeley
Friday, February 27, 2015
U.S. CONGRATULATES PEOPLE OF DOMINICAN REPUBLIC ON THEIR INDEPENDENCE DAY
FROM: U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
Dominican Republic's Independence Day
Press Statement
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Washington, DC
February 27, 2015
On behalf President Obama and the people of the United States, I congratulate the people of the Dominican Republic as you celebrate your Independence Day.
As the largest economy in the Caribbean, your country plays an essential role in the Dominican Republic-Central America-United States Free Trade Agreement and the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative.
The United States stands with you as a partner and friend in the Inter-American System. We will continue to work together to strengthen and revitalize the Organization of American States. And I look forward to ensuring a successful Summit of the Americas in Panama this April.
We also work together to provide greater opportunities for youth through the Fulbright program, cultural and English language programs at our Binational Center, and employment and life skills training.
On behalf of the people of the United States, I wish all Dominicans across the globe a joyful Independence Day.
Dominican Republic's Independence Day
Press Statement
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Washington, DC
February 27, 2015
On behalf President Obama and the people of the United States, I congratulate the people of the Dominican Republic as you celebrate your Independence Day.
As the largest economy in the Caribbean, your country plays an essential role in the Dominican Republic-Central America-United States Free Trade Agreement and the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative.
The United States stands with you as a partner and friend in the Inter-American System. We will continue to work together to strengthen and revitalize the Organization of American States. And I look forward to ensuring a successful Summit of the Americas in Panama this April.
We also work together to provide greater opportunities for youth through the Fulbright program, cultural and English language programs at our Binational Center, and employment and life skills training.
On behalf of the people of the United States, I wish all Dominicans across the globe a joyful Independence Day.
SECRETARY KERRY'S REMARKS REGARDING MURDER OF BORIS NEMTSOV
FROM: U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
Murder of Boris Nemtsov
Press Statement
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Washington, DC
February 27, 2015
I am shocked and saddened to learn of the brutal murder of former Russian Deputy Prime Minister Boris Nemtsov in central Moscow. Boris Nemtsov committed his life to a more democratic, prosperous, open Russia, and to strong relationships between Russia and its neighbors and partners, including the United States. He served his country in many roles – in the federal government, in the parliament, as Governor of Nizhniy Novgorod, and as a political leader and activist. In every post, he sought to reform and open Russia, and to empower the Russian people to have a greater say in the life of their country. His absence will be deeply felt in Russia and around the world. The United States urges the Russian authorities to act expeditiously to investigate and bring to justice those responsible. Our thoughts are with the Russian people and with Mr. Nemtsov’s family and friends as we mourn his loss.
Murder of Boris Nemtsov
Press Statement
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Washington, DC
February 27, 2015
I am shocked and saddened to learn of the brutal murder of former Russian Deputy Prime Minister Boris Nemtsov in central Moscow. Boris Nemtsov committed his life to a more democratic, prosperous, open Russia, and to strong relationships between Russia and its neighbors and partners, including the United States. He served his country in many roles – in the federal government, in the parliament, as Governor of Nizhniy Novgorod, and as a political leader and activist. In every post, he sought to reform and open Russia, and to empower the Russian people to have a greater say in the life of their country. His absence will be deeply felt in Russia and around the world. The United States urges the Russian authorities to act expeditiously to investigate and bring to justice those responsible. Our thoughts are with the Russian people and with Mr. Nemtsov’s family and friends as we mourn his loss.
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