Wednesday, June 24, 2015
THE MYSTERIOUS LIGHTS OF PLANET CERES
FROM: NASA
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| A cluster of mysterious bright spots on dwarf planet Ceres can be seen in this image, taken by NASA's Dawn spacecraft from an altitude of 2,700 miles (4,400 kilometers). The image, with a resolution of 1,400 feet (410 meters) per pixel, was taken on June 9, 2015. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA. |
THE WASPS AND THE BRAINS
FROM: NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
Tiny brains, but shared smarts
Unlike humans and other vertebrates, the brains of wasps shrink when they're socialized--but they might 'share' brainpower
A solitary wasp--the kind that lives and forages for food alone--has a fairly small brain. Type out a lowercase letter in 10-point text and you'll get an idea of its size.
But tiny as that brain is, its social cousins, living together in honeycombed nests, have even smaller ones. And that size difference might provide some key information about the difference between insect societies and vertebrate societies.
Biologists have studied the societies of vertebrates--from flocks of birds, to schools of fish, to communities of humans--enough to come up with something called the "social brain hypothesis." Generally, it goes something like this: Social interaction presents challenges that require a lot of brain power, as that interaction requires organisms to navigate complicated territory, including avoiding conflict and building alliances.
Therefore, vertebrates that live in societies have bigger brains. The more complex the organism's society, the bigger its brain regions for processing complex information will be. Scientists believe the complexity of human societies may be one of the reasons we have such large, developed brains.
Sean O'Donnell, a biology professor at Drexel, has spent almost the entirety of his more than 20-year career studying wasps. He says these picnic terrors--actually critical members of the insect world that prey on pest species--represent ideal candidates for seeing whether that hypothesis applies to insects, because they have so much variation.
Some wasps are solitary. Some live in small, primitive groups. Others live in larger, more complex societies. "There are lots of intermediate stages," O'Donnell said.
When O'Donnell, with support from the National Science Foundation's Directorate for Biological Sciences, looked at the brains in 29 related species of wasps spanning the social spectrum, he found that living in a society did indeed affect the size of their brains. It just made them smaller, instead of bigger.
His findings are described in the latest issue of Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
"If our data is verified, it suggests that there's something really different about how insect societies formed," he said.
O'Donnell's work focused on the "mushroom bodies" of the wasps' brains, structures that are superficially similar to the regions of vertebrate brains that deal with higher cognitive functions.
His research uncovered another interesting difference from vertebrates: the complexity of the wasps' societies seemed to have no significant effect on the size of their brains. The big dropoff in size occurred between solitary and social wasps. In contrast, the brains of wasps in simple societies showed no significant size differences between those in complex societies.
"That suggests to me that going from solitary to a small society is the significant transition," O'Donnell said.
'Sharing' brainpower
Part of what makes vertebrate societies so brain-intensive is that they usually involve groups of organisms with different agendas that aren't related to one another--most of the people you know aren't members of your family.
Insect societies, however, are made up of groups of cooperating close relatives with shared objectives. Wasps might not need the type of brainpower required for social interaction because there's much less of it in their nests and colonies. The insects cooperate and rely on each other without the type of negotiation that can be required in vertebrate societies.
But what advantage could a smaller, less complex brain offer a species? As O'Donnell puts it, "Brains are expensive."
Neural tissues require more energy to develop and maintain than almost any other kind, and biologists have found that natural selection will find the optimal balance between the metabolic costs of developing particular areas of the brain and the benefits yielded.
In some ways, the social wasps may "share" brainpower. Individually, their brains might not stack up to their solitary relatives, but the colony as a whole is "smart."
O'Donnell says the next steps for his work will replicate the wasp research with termites and bees, which also offer a variety of social complexity.
"We would expect to see similar patterns," he said.
Learn more in this Drexel University video on Sean O'Donnell's work.
-- Rob Margetta
Investigators
Sean O'Donnell
Related Institutions/Organizations
Drexel University
Tiny brains, but shared smarts
Unlike humans and other vertebrates, the brains of wasps shrink when they're socialized--but they might 'share' brainpower
A solitary wasp--the kind that lives and forages for food alone--has a fairly small brain. Type out a lowercase letter in 10-point text and you'll get an idea of its size.
But tiny as that brain is, its social cousins, living together in honeycombed nests, have even smaller ones. And that size difference might provide some key information about the difference between insect societies and vertebrate societies.
Biologists have studied the societies of vertebrates--from flocks of birds, to schools of fish, to communities of humans--enough to come up with something called the "social brain hypothesis." Generally, it goes something like this: Social interaction presents challenges that require a lot of brain power, as that interaction requires organisms to navigate complicated territory, including avoiding conflict and building alliances.
Therefore, vertebrates that live in societies have bigger brains. The more complex the organism's society, the bigger its brain regions for processing complex information will be. Scientists believe the complexity of human societies may be one of the reasons we have such large, developed brains.
Sean O'Donnell, a biology professor at Drexel, has spent almost the entirety of his more than 20-year career studying wasps. He says these picnic terrors--actually critical members of the insect world that prey on pest species--represent ideal candidates for seeing whether that hypothesis applies to insects, because they have so much variation.
Some wasps are solitary. Some live in small, primitive groups. Others live in larger, more complex societies. "There are lots of intermediate stages," O'Donnell said.
When O'Donnell, with support from the National Science Foundation's Directorate for Biological Sciences, looked at the brains in 29 related species of wasps spanning the social spectrum, he found that living in a society did indeed affect the size of their brains. It just made them smaller, instead of bigger.
His findings are described in the latest issue of Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
"If our data is verified, it suggests that there's something really different about how insect societies formed," he said.
O'Donnell's work focused on the "mushroom bodies" of the wasps' brains, structures that are superficially similar to the regions of vertebrate brains that deal with higher cognitive functions.
His research uncovered another interesting difference from vertebrates: the complexity of the wasps' societies seemed to have no significant effect on the size of their brains. The big dropoff in size occurred between solitary and social wasps. In contrast, the brains of wasps in simple societies showed no significant size differences between those in complex societies.
"That suggests to me that going from solitary to a small society is the significant transition," O'Donnell said.
'Sharing' brainpower
Part of what makes vertebrate societies so brain-intensive is that they usually involve groups of organisms with different agendas that aren't related to one another--most of the people you know aren't members of your family.
Insect societies, however, are made up of groups of cooperating close relatives with shared objectives. Wasps might not need the type of brainpower required for social interaction because there's much less of it in their nests and colonies. The insects cooperate and rely on each other without the type of negotiation that can be required in vertebrate societies.
But what advantage could a smaller, less complex brain offer a species? As O'Donnell puts it, "Brains are expensive."
Neural tissues require more energy to develop and maintain than almost any other kind, and biologists have found that natural selection will find the optimal balance between the metabolic costs of developing particular areas of the brain and the benefits yielded.
In some ways, the social wasps may "share" brainpower. Individually, their brains might not stack up to their solitary relatives, but the colony as a whole is "smart."
O'Donnell says the next steps for his work will replicate the wasp research with termites and bees, which also offer a variety of social complexity.
"We would expect to see similar patterns," he said.
Learn more in this Drexel University video on Sean O'Donnell's work.
-- Rob Margetta
Investigators
Sean O'Donnell
Related Institutions/Organizations
Drexel University
MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO FRAUD FOR ROLE IN PRESCRIPTION DRUG DIVERSION SCHEME
FROM: U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT
Monday, June 22, 2015
California Man Pleads Guilty in Prescription Drug Diversion Scheme
A Corona, California, man pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Cincinnati to one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud for his participation in a large-scale, nationwide prescription drug diversion scheme.
Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Benjamin C. Mizer, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division, U.S. Attorney Carter M. Stewart of the Southern District of Ohio, Special Agent In Charge Antoinette V. Henry of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Office of Criminal Investigations (FDA-OCI) Metro Washington Field Office and Assistant Inspector in Charge Christopher White of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) Cincinnati Field Office announced the guilty plea, entered today by U.S. District Judge Timothy S. Black.
According to court documents, from May 2010 through December 2012, Vin Nguyen, 45, and others conspired to distribute illegally-diverted prescription drugs while concealing the true, illicit sources of the drugs. Nguyen purchased prescription drugs, including HIV medications, anti-psychotic medications and other brand name drugs, from various unlicensed and illegal sources in California and Florida. Working with co-conspirators, Nguyen then sold the drugs to other drug diverters without the statutorily required pedigree documents stating the origin of the drugs. Nguyen and his co-conspirators sold more than $6.5 million worth of diverted drugs.
“Illegal prescription drug diversion threatens the security of America’s drug supply chain,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Mizer. “The Department of Justice will continue to protect American consumers by prosecuting those who engage in prescription drug diversion.”
From December 2011 through December 2012, Nguyen and others sold diverted prescription drugs to David Miller and his company, Minnesota Independent Cooperative (MIC). On May 6, David Miller and MIC were indicted in the Southern District of Ohio and charged with one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, 10 counts of mail fraud and one count of conspiracy to make false statements and to distribute prescription drugs without a wholesale license. Those charges remain pending.
Nguyen and his co-conspirators used the company name “Modern Medical” when selling drugs to Miller and MIC. Modern Medical is a real California company that had no involvement in the drug sales. Nguyen and his co-conspirators simply hijacked the name to conceal their involvement and the true, illicit drug sources.
Miller and MIC, in turn, sold the prescription drugs obtained from Nguyen – and multiple other illegal sources – to wholesale and retail customers throughout the United States, including in the Southern District of Ohio. Miller and MIC are alleged to have created fraudulent pedigree documents falsely stating that they had purchased the drugs from B&Y Wholesale, a company in Puerto Rico. These false pedigrees covered up the illegitimate sources of the drugs – various illicit, unlicensed suppliers, including Nguyen – and falsely stated that B&Y Wholesale was an authorized distributor of the prescription drugs.
Monday, June 22, 2015
California Man Pleads Guilty in Prescription Drug Diversion Scheme
A Corona, California, man pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Cincinnati to one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud for his participation in a large-scale, nationwide prescription drug diversion scheme.
Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Benjamin C. Mizer, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division, U.S. Attorney Carter M. Stewart of the Southern District of Ohio, Special Agent In Charge Antoinette V. Henry of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Office of Criminal Investigations (FDA-OCI) Metro Washington Field Office and Assistant Inspector in Charge Christopher White of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) Cincinnati Field Office announced the guilty plea, entered today by U.S. District Judge Timothy S. Black.
According to court documents, from May 2010 through December 2012, Vin Nguyen, 45, and others conspired to distribute illegally-diverted prescription drugs while concealing the true, illicit sources of the drugs. Nguyen purchased prescription drugs, including HIV medications, anti-psychotic medications and other brand name drugs, from various unlicensed and illegal sources in California and Florida. Working with co-conspirators, Nguyen then sold the drugs to other drug diverters without the statutorily required pedigree documents stating the origin of the drugs. Nguyen and his co-conspirators sold more than $6.5 million worth of diverted drugs.
“Illegal prescription drug diversion threatens the security of America’s drug supply chain,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Mizer. “The Department of Justice will continue to protect American consumers by prosecuting those who engage in prescription drug diversion.”
From December 2011 through December 2012, Nguyen and others sold diverted prescription drugs to David Miller and his company, Minnesota Independent Cooperative (MIC). On May 6, David Miller and MIC were indicted in the Southern District of Ohio and charged with one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, 10 counts of mail fraud and one count of conspiracy to make false statements and to distribute prescription drugs without a wholesale license. Those charges remain pending.
Nguyen and his co-conspirators used the company name “Modern Medical” when selling drugs to Miller and MIC. Modern Medical is a real California company that had no involvement in the drug sales. Nguyen and his co-conspirators simply hijacked the name to conceal their involvement and the true, illicit drug sources.
Miller and MIC, in turn, sold the prescription drugs obtained from Nguyen – and multiple other illegal sources – to wholesale and retail customers throughout the United States, including in the Southern District of Ohio. Miller and MIC are alleged to have created fraudulent pedigree documents falsely stating that they had purchased the drugs from B&Y Wholesale, a company in Puerto Rico. These false pedigrees covered up the illegitimate sources of the drugs – various illicit, unlicensed suppliers, including Nguyen – and falsely stated that B&Y Wholesale was an authorized distributor of the prescription drugs.
OVER 3000 GULF COAST WORKERS OWED ALMOST $3.5 MILLION
FROM: U.S. LABOR DEPARTMENT
Federal enforcement effort finds more than 3,000 Gulf Coast workers
owed nearly $3.5 million in back wages by staffing agencies
US Labor Department determines agencies illegally paid wages as per diem reimbursement
NEW ORLEANS — Six Gulf Coast staffing agencies have agreed to pay thousands of workers nearly $3.5 million in back wages after U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigators found part of their wages were mislabeled as "per diem" payments as reimbursement for expenses they never incurred.
Federal investigators found the agencies owed back wages to more than 3,000 workers – welders, electricians, pipe fitters, and other craftspeople – on maritime vessels and other oil and gas industry projects.
The investigations are part of an ongoing, multi-year initiative aimed at ending an illegal and alarming trend of employers labeling part of employee wages as per diem payments, often to avoid overtime, payroll taxes and other costs.
Investigators are actively monitoring staffing agencies and other employers in the 1,600-mile Gulf Coast region for signs of this practice.
"Workers don't often complain about receiving per diem pay in place of regular wages because they believe they make more money being paid this way," said Wage and Hour Division Administrator David Weil. "The truth is these workers are losing out. They are not getting all of the short- and long-term benefits their employer owes them."
Companies break the law when they label part of a worker's regular wages as per diem expense reimbursement instead of wages to lower labor costs, avoid paying overtime, and avoid making payments toward federal and state taxes, workers' compensation, unemployment insurance and Social Security payments. By attempting to reduce these obligations illegally with this scheme, these employers also gain an unfair advantage over their competitors.
Per diem pay is intended as a way for employers to reimburse workers for lodging, meals and other travel expenses incurred on behalf of their employer. Regular wages mislabeled as per diem cheat workers out of correct overtime wages. The payments may prevent workers from receiving full benefits in the event of a lay-off or workplace injury, and do not make full contributions toward a worker's Social Security benefits.
"Illegal per diem pay also hurts law-abiding employers, defrauds local, state and federal governments and cheats all of us who pay increased taxes as a result," Weil added. "Our division has dedicated the people and resources we need to stop this illegal pay practice on the Gulf Coast and throughout the nation."
The initiative has also found troubling trends in the region's staffing industry in Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. Employers that use temporary staffing agencies may be liable if investigations find workers employed jointly by the staffing agency, and the business that contracted them, received illegal per diem payments.
The FLSA requires that workers receive at least the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour for all hours worked, plus time and one-half their regular rates, including commissions, bonuses and incentive pay, for hours worked beyond 40 per week. Employers must maintain accurate time and payroll records. Under the FLSA, employers who violate the law are liable for employees' back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages. Affected employees receive liquidated damages directly.
Employers must also distinguish employees from bona fide independent contractors. An employee, as distinguished from a person who is engaged in a business of his own, is one who, as a matter of economic reality, follows the usual path of an employee and is dependent on the business that he serves
Federal enforcement effort finds more than 3,000 Gulf Coast workers
owed nearly $3.5 million in back wages by staffing agencies
US Labor Department determines agencies illegally paid wages as per diem reimbursement
NEW ORLEANS — Six Gulf Coast staffing agencies have agreed to pay thousands of workers nearly $3.5 million in back wages after U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigators found part of their wages were mislabeled as "per diem" payments as reimbursement for expenses they never incurred.
Federal investigators found the agencies owed back wages to more than 3,000 workers – welders, electricians, pipe fitters, and other craftspeople – on maritime vessels and other oil and gas industry projects.
The investigations are part of an ongoing, multi-year initiative aimed at ending an illegal and alarming trend of employers labeling part of employee wages as per diem payments, often to avoid overtime, payroll taxes and other costs.
Investigators are actively monitoring staffing agencies and other employers in the 1,600-mile Gulf Coast region for signs of this practice.
"Workers don't often complain about receiving per diem pay in place of regular wages because they believe they make more money being paid this way," said Wage and Hour Division Administrator David Weil. "The truth is these workers are losing out. They are not getting all of the short- and long-term benefits their employer owes them."
Companies break the law when they label part of a worker's regular wages as per diem expense reimbursement instead of wages to lower labor costs, avoid paying overtime, and avoid making payments toward federal and state taxes, workers' compensation, unemployment insurance and Social Security payments. By attempting to reduce these obligations illegally with this scheme, these employers also gain an unfair advantage over their competitors.
Per diem pay is intended as a way for employers to reimburse workers for lodging, meals and other travel expenses incurred on behalf of their employer. Regular wages mislabeled as per diem cheat workers out of correct overtime wages. The payments may prevent workers from receiving full benefits in the event of a lay-off or workplace injury, and do not make full contributions toward a worker's Social Security benefits.
"Illegal per diem pay also hurts law-abiding employers, defrauds local, state and federal governments and cheats all of us who pay increased taxes as a result," Weil added. "Our division has dedicated the people and resources we need to stop this illegal pay practice on the Gulf Coast and throughout the nation."
The initiative has also found troubling trends in the region's staffing industry in Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. Employers that use temporary staffing agencies may be liable if investigations find workers employed jointly by the staffing agency, and the business that contracted them, received illegal per diem payments.
The FLSA requires that workers receive at least the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour for all hours worked, plus time and one-half their regular rates, including commissions, bonuses and incentive pay, for hours worked beyond 40 per week. Employers must maintain accurate time and payroll records. Under the FLSA, employers who violate the law are liable for employees' back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages. Affected employees receive liquidated damages directly.
Employers must also distinguish employees from bona fide independent contractors. An employee, as distinguished from a person who is engaged in a business of his own, is one who, as a matter of economic reality, follows the usual path of an employee and is dependent on the business that he serves
LISA KUBISKE MAKES REMARKS AT GLOBAL REPORTING INITIATIVE ROUNDTABLE
FROM: U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
Remarks at the Global Reporting Initiative Roundtable
Remarks
Lisa J. Kubiske
Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Finance and Development, Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs
GRI
Washington, DC
June 22, 2015
As Prepared
Welcome to what I consider to be an incredibly important collaboration – and thank you for taking time out of your very busy schedules to be here this afternoon. Many of our private sector participants have come long distances to participate in these roundtables, and we greatly appreciate their willingness to do so. Although this is an event jointly organized by GRI and The State Department’s Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs, GRI has done more than its fair share of the preparations. Teresa, Robyn, and the rest of the GRI team have done an incredible job.
2015 will be a critical year for development and for the multilateral system. Three major UN conferences this year together have the potential to form a global consensus on development that could last 15 years or more and have impacts that affect generations to come.
All the reflection and analysis that takes place before these conferences reinforces what we already know: the private sector is the key player in advancing development. This is why it is so important that GRI brought together such innovative and dynamic U.S. companies here today so that we in the U.S. government can learn from and capitalize on your experiences and best practices.
For 17 years, the Secretary of State has, through the “ACE” awards or Awards for Corporate Excellence, formally recognized U.S. businesses that undertake responsible activities to improve lives and advance the needs of local communities around the world.
Beyond private philanthropy and corporate social responsibility, the private sector is a key partner in development through establishing new enterprises, creating jobs, providing goods and services, generating income and profits, and contributing to public revenues. Domestic private sector growth is the lifeblood to developing countries’ economies, whereby businesses deliver investment, trade, jobs, and innovation. Domestic private finance has greatly surpassed public finance in recent years, making it the single largest source of finance for all developing countries.
According to World Bank, in 2014, private infrastructure investment for energy, transport and water projects was $107.5 billion among the 139 emerging economies. Foreign direct investment (FDI) is by far the biggest source of international capital flows to developing countries – around 60% on average.
But there is also growing recognition that some of the most important, effective development initiatives involve the public and private sectors working together. Today, Official Development Assistance represents only about 28% of all official and private flows from OECD members. Through innovative financing mechanisms and public-private partnerships, ODA can spur key investments and prompt important reforms in developing countries that enable the private sector to have even more impact.
The UN conferences this year provide a real opportunity to reaffirm and build upon the global development consensus that we developed in Monterrey and confirmed in Doha. And the private sector should be at the heart of that consensus.
The U.S. Government is taking initiative to make the world a more hospitable place for U.S. businesses to set up shop. We are negotiating trade and investment agreements. Some are in the headlines, like TPP and T-TIP. Some, less so, like the China BIT negotiations. We are also working hard to put together the National Action Plan on Responsible Business Conduct that President Obama announced last September. We believe the plan will help to consolidate the excellent brand and reputation U.S. businesses have established around the world by being responsible partners in development for nations and communities alike.
I look forward to today’s discussion and the ideas that come from it. And I am excited about finding new ways we can further collaborate and drive private sector investment and public private partnerships.
Remarks at the Global Reporting Initiative Roundtable
Remarks
Lisa J. Kubiske
Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Finance and Development, Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs
GRI
Washington, DC
June 22, 2015
As Prepared
Welcome to what I consider to be an incredibly important collaboration – and thank you for taking time out of your very busy schedules to be here this afternoon. Many of our private sector participants have come long distances to participate in these roundtables, and we greatly appreciate their willingness to do so. Although this is an event jointly organized by GRI and The State Department’s Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs, GRI has done more than its fair share of the preparations. Teresa, Robyn, and the rest of the GRI team have done an incredible job.
2015 will be a critical year for development and for the multilateral system. Three major UN conferences this year together have the potential to form a global consensus on development that could last 15 years or more and have impacts that affect generations to come.
All the reflection and analysis that takes place before these conferences reinforces what we already know: the private sector is the key player in advancing development. This is why it is so important that GRI brought together such innovative and dynamic U.S. companies here today so that we in the U.S. government can learn from and capitalize on your experiences and best practices.
For 17 years, the Secretary of State has, through the “ACE” awards or Awards for Corporate Excellence, formally recognized U.S. businesses that undertake responsible activities to improve lives and advance the needs of local communities around the world.
Beyond private philanthropy and corporate social responsibility, the private sector is a key partner in development through establishing new enterprises, creating jobs, providing goods and services, generating income and profits, and contributing to public revenues. Domestic private sector growth is the lifeblood to developing countries’ economies, whereby businesses deliver investment, trade, jobs, and innovation. Domestic private finance has greatly surpassed public finance in recent years, making it the single largest source of finance for all developing countries.
According to World Bank, in 2014, private infrastructure investment for energy, transport and water projects was $107.5 billion among the 139 emerging economies. Foreign direct investment (FDI) is by far the biggest source of international capital flows to developing countries – around 60% on average.
But there is also growing recognition that some of the most important, effective development initiatives involve the public and private sectors working together. Today, Official Development Assistance represents only about 28% of all official and private flows from OECD members. Through innovative financing mechanisms and public-private partnerships, ODA can spur key investments and prompt important reforms in developing countries that enable the private sector to have even more impact.
The UN conferences this year provide a real opportunity to reaffirm and build upon the global development consensus that we developed in Monterrey and confirmed in Doha. And the private sector should be at the heart of that consensus.
The U.S. Government is taking initiative to make the world a more hospitable place for U.S. businesses to set up shop. We are negotiating trade and investment agreements. Some are in the headlines, like TPP and T-TIP. Some, less so, like the China BIT negotiations. We are also working hard to put together the National Action Plan on Responsible Business Conduct that President Obama announced last September. We believe the plan will help to consolidate the excellent brand and reputation U.S. businesses have established around the world by being responsible partners in development for nations and communities alike.
I look forward to today’s discussion and the ideas that come from it. And I am excited about finding new ways we can further collaborate and drive private sector investment and public private partnerships.
Tuesday, June 23, 2015
RECENTLY RELEASED U.S. DOD PHOTOS
FROM: U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT
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| 150617-M-OM669-022 USTKA, Poland (June 17, 2015) Amphibious assault vehicles landat Ustka, Poland for the BALTOPS 2015 amphibious landing. U.S. Marines and service members from Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Army who comprise the BALTOPS Combined Landing Force and Combined Amphibious Task Force conducted the amphibious landing. BALTOPS, an annually recurring multinational exercise designed to enhance flexibility and interoperability, as well as demonstrate resolve of allied and partner forces to defend the Baltic region. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by 1st Lt. Sarah E. Burns/Released). |
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| 150617-N-QI595-185 PACIFIC OCEAN, (June 17, 2015) The aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) breaks away from a replenishment-at-sea while the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force training vessel JDS Shimayuki (TV-3513) receives fuel from the Military Sealift Command fleet replenishment oiler USNS Yukon (T-AO 202). The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyer JDS Yamagiri (DD-152) and the training vessel JDS Kashima (TV-3508) transit behind. John C. Stennis is undergoing fleet replacement squadron carrier qualifications off the coast of Southern California. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Marco A. Villasana Jr./Released) |
EXPORT-IMPORT BANK TO FINANCE EXPORT OF 144 AMERICAN-MADE BRIDGES TO AFRICA
FROM: U.S. EXPORT-IMPORT BANK
Export-Import Bank Approves Financing for Export of 144 American-Made Bridges to Sub-Saharan Africa
Transaction will support jobs in Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey, and several other states
Washington, D.C. – The Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) Chairman and President Fred Hochberg announced today in New Castle, Delaware that the Bank will finance the sale of Acrow Corporation of America’s modular steel bridge components to the Road Development Agency in the Republic of Zambia (ROZ). EXIM will guarantee a $73 million commercial loan to facilitate the export of 144 steel bridges. This action is expected to support approximately 200 jobs at Acrow’s manufacturing facility in Milton, Pennsylvania along with thousands more in Delaware, New Jersey and several other states.
In pursuit of its congressional mandate to support the export of U.S.-made goods and services to the Sub-Saharan region, EXIM authorized more than $2 billion in financing to support such exports in 2014, the largest total in the Bank’s 81-year history.
"With this transaction, we’ve not only leveled the playing field for an American manufacturer in a highly competitive global market, but we’ve also empowered Acrow to hire more American workers,” said EXIM Chairman and President Fred P. Hochberg. "This deal is a great example of how EXIM financing equips American exporters to beat the competition overseas while supporting jobs at home."
Acrow’s competitive proposal was chosen over those developed by its European and Chinese counterparts in a market that has historically been the focus of substantial Chinese investment, thanks to the financing it applied for and received from the Bank. As a result, the company’s bridges will be used in ROZ’s repair and modernization plan to improve Zambia’s rural road infrastructure, connecting people to schools, hospitals and enhanced economic opportunities.
“These EXIM Bank-supported projects transform Acrow Bridge's international presence by offering clients financing alternatives that assist emerging markets in accessing immediate and profound upgrades to their bridging infrastructure, particularly in rural areas where agricultural development depends so heavily on quality road and bridge networks,” said Acrow President and CEO Bill Killeen.
“The Zambia project will build on Acrow Bridge’s decades-long commitment to providing high-quality bridge infrastructure solutions in Africa, with a special focus on local skills capacity building,” added Paul Sullivan, Acrow’s Vice President of International Business Development.
Export-Import Bank Approves Financing for Export of 144 American-Made Bridges to Sub-Saharan Africa
Transaction will support jobs in Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey, and several other states
Washington, D.C. – The Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) Chairman and President Fred Hochberg announced today in New Castle, Delaware that the Bank will finance the sale of Acrow Corporation of America’s modular steel bridge components to the Road Development Agency in the Republic of Zambia (ROZ). EXIM will guarantee a $73 million commercial loan to facilitate the export of 144 steel bridges. This action is expected to support approximately 200 jobs at Acrow’s manufacturing facility in Milton, Pennsylvania along with thousands more in Delaware, New Jersey and several other states.
In pursuit of its congressional mandate to support the export of U.S.-made goods and services to the Sub-Saharan region, EXIM authorized more than $2 billion in financing to support such exports in 2014, the largest total in the Bank’s 81-year history.
"With this transaction, we’ve not only leveled the playing field for an American manufacturer in a highly competitive global market, but we’ve also empowered Acrow to hire more American workers,” said EXIM Chairman and President Fred P. Hochberg. "This deal is a great example of how EXIM financing equips American exporters to beat the competition overseas while supporting jobs at home."
Acrow’s competitive proposal was chosen over those developed by its European and Chinese counterparts in a market that has historically been the focus of substantial Chinese investment, thanks to the financing it applied for and received from the Bank. As a result, the company’s bridges will be used in ROZ’s repair and modernization plan to improve Zambia’s rural road infrastructure, connecting people to schools, hospitals and enhanced economic opportunities.
“These EXIM Bank-supported projects transform Acrow Bridge's international presence by offering clients financing alternatives that assist emerging markets in accessing immediate and profound upgrades to their bridging infrastructure, particularly in rural areas where agricultural development depends so heavily on quality road and bridge networks,” said Acrow President and CEO Bill Killeen.
“The Zambia project will build on Acrow Bridge’s decades-long commitment to providing high-quality bridge infrastructure solutions in Africa, with a special focus on local skills capacity building,” added Paul Sullivan, Acrow’s Vice President of International Business Development.
DOJ SAYS OVER 1000 CHILD PREDATORS ARRESTED IN OPERATION BROKEN HEART
FROM: U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT
Monday, June 22, 2015
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Forces Arrest More Than 1,000 Child Predators in Operation Broken Heart
Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Forces arrested 1,140 child predators from 41 states during a two-month, nationwide operation, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) announced today.
The 61 ICAC Task Forces, funded through an OJJDP grant program, conducted Operation Broken Heart, a coordinated investigative operation to intensify efforts to identify and arrest child sexual predators during the months of April and May 2015.
“Predators use technology in sinister and inventive ways to reach their child victims across state and national boundaries,” said Administrator Robert L. Listenbee of the OJJDP. “Through collaborative efforts such as Operation Broken Heart, ICAC Task Forces and their law enforcement partners are countering these attacks by pooling resources and investigative expertise, increasing their ability to identify and arrest sexual predators and protect children.”
More than 3,000 federal, state and local law enforcement agencies participated in the operation, which targeted offenders who: possess, manufacture and distribute child pornography; engage in online enticement of children for sexual purposes; engage in the commercial sexual exploitation or prostitution of children; and engage in child sex tourism – traveling abroad for the purpose of sexually abusing children in other countries. ICAC Task Forces first conducted Operation Broken Heart in 2014. The task forces also delivered more than 2,200 presentations on Internet safety to more than 186,000 youth and adults during these two months.
“By arresting and prosecuting child predators across the country, our task forces are sending a clear message that we are working together better than ever before to bring these perpetrators to justice,” said Lt. Andrea Grossman of the Los Angeles Police Department, Commander of the Los Angeles Regional ICAC Task Force and chair of the ICAC Public Awareness and Outreach Committee. “The ICAC Task Forces’ dedicated efforts and professionalism help fulfill the ultimate goal of keeping children safe.”
In 1998, OJJDP launched the ICAC Task Force Program to help federal, state and local law enforcement agencies enhance their investigative responses to offenders who use the Internet, online communication systems or computer technology to exploit children. To date, the ICAC Task Forces have reviewed more than 516,000 complaints of child exploitation, which resulted in the arrest of more than 54,000 individuals. In addition, since the ICAC program's inception, more than 465,000 law enforcement officers, prosecutors and other professionals have been trained on techniques to investigate and prosecute ICAC related cases.
Monday, June 22, 2015
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Forces Arrest More Than 1,000 Child Predators in Operation Broken Heart
Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Forces arrested 1,140 child predators from 41 states during a two-month, nationwide operation, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) announced today.
The 61 ICAC Task Forces, funded through an OJJDP grant program, conducted Operation Broken Heart, a coordinated investigative operation to intensify efforts to identify and arrest child sexual predators during the months of April and May 2015.
“Predators use technology in sinister and inventive ways to reach their child victims across state and national boundaries,” said Administrator Robert L. Listenbee of the OJJDP. “Through collaborative efforts such as Operation Broken Heart, ICAC Task Forces and their law enforcement partners are countering these attacks by pooling resources and investigative expertise, increasing their ability to identify and arrest sexual predators and protect children.”
More than 3,000 federal, state and local law enforcement agencies participated in the operation, which targeted offenders who: possess, manufacture and distribute child pornography; engage in online enticement of children for sexual purposes; engage in the commercial sexual exploitation or prostitution of children; and engage in child sex tourism – traveling abroad for the purpose of sexually abusing children in other countries. ICAC Task Forces first conducted Operation Broken Heart in 2014. The task forces also delivered more than 2,200 presentations on Internet safety to more than 186,000 youth and adults during these two months.
“By arresting and prosecuting child predators across the country, our task forces are sending a clear message that we are working together better than ever before to bring these perpetrators to justice,” said Lt. Andrea Grossman of the Los Angeles Police Department, Commander of the Los Angeles Regional ICAC Task Force and chair of the ICAC Public Awareness and Outreach Committee. “The ICAC Task Forces’ dedicated efforts and professionalism help fulfill the ultimate goal of keeping children safe.”
In 1998, OJJDP launched the ICAC Task Force Program to help federal, state and local law enforcement agencies enhance their investigative responses to offenders who use the Internet, online communication systems or computer technology to exploit children. To date, the ICAC Task Forces have reviewed more than 516,000 complaints of child exploitation, which resulted in the arrest of more than 54,000 individuals. In addition, since the ICAC program's inception, more than 465,000 law enforcement officers, prosecutors and other professionals have been trained on techniques to investigate and prosecute ICAC related cases.
NSF TOUTS FUNDING OF LASER RESEARCH
FROM: NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
On the road to ubiquity
NSF support of laser research
When the National Science Foundation (NSF) was founded in 1950, the laser didn't exist. Some 65 years later, the technology is ubiquitous.
As a tool, the laser has stretched the imaginations of countless scientists and engineers, making possible everything from stunning images of celestial bodies to high-speed communications. Once described as a "solution looking for a problem," the laser powered and pulsed its way into nearly every aspect of modern life.
For its part, NSF funding enabled research that has translated into meaningful applications in manufacturing, communications, life sciences, defense and medicine. NSF also has played a critical role in training the scientists and engineers who perform this research.
"We enable them [young researchers] at the beginning of their academic careers to get funding and take the next big step," said Lawrence Goldberg, senior engineering adviser in NSF's Directorate for Engineering.
Getting started
During the late 1950s and throughout the 1960s, major industrial laboratories run by companies such as Hughes Aircraft Company, AT&T and General Electric supported laser research as did the Department of Defense. These efforts developed all kinds of lasers--gas, solid-state (based on solid materials), semiconductor (based on electronics), dye and excimer (based on reactive gases).
Like the first computers, early lasers were often room-size, requiring massive tables that held multiple mirrors, tubes and electronic components. Inefficient and power-hungry, these monoliths challenged even the most dedicated researchers. Undaunted, they refined components and techniques required for smooth operation.
As the 1960s ended, funding for industrial labs began to shrink as companies scaled back or eliminated their fundamental research and laser development programs. To fill the void, the federal government and emerging laser industry looked to universities and NSF.
Despite budget cuts in the 1970s, NSF funded a range of projects that helped improve all aspects of laser performance, from beam shaping and pulse rate to energy consumption. Support also contributed to developing new materials essential for continued progress toward new kinds of lasers. As efficiency improved, researchers began considering how to apply the technology.
Charge of the lightwave
One area in particular, data transmission, gained momentum as the 1980s progressed. NSF's Lightwave Technology Program in its engineering directorate was critical not only because the research it funded fueled the Internet, mobile devices and other high-bandwidth communications applications, but also because many of the laser advances in this field drove progress in other disciplines.
An important example of this crossover is optical coherence tomography (OCT). Used in the late 1980s in telecommunications to find faults in miniature optical waveguides and optical fibers, this imaging technique was adapted by biomedical researchers in the early 1990s to noninvasively image microscopic structures in the eye. The imaging modality is now commonly used in ophthalmology to image the retina. NSF continues to fund OCT research.
As laser technology matured through the 1990s, applications became more abundant. Lasers made their way to the factory floor (to cut, weld and drill) and the ocean floor (to boost signals in transatlantic communications). The continued miniaturization of lasers and the advent of optical fibers radically altered medical diagnostics as well as surgery.
Focus on multidisciplinary research
In 1996, NSF released its first solicitation solely targeting multidisciplinary optical science and engineering. The initiative awarded $13.5 million via 18 three-year awards. Grantees were selected from 76 proposals and 627 pre-proposals. Over a dozen NSF program areas participated.
The press release announcing the awards described optical science and engineering as "an 'enabling' technology" and went on to explain that "for such a sweeping field, the broad approach...emphasizing collaboration between disciplines, is particularly effective. By coordinating program efforts, the NSF has encouraged cross-disciplinary linkages that could lead to major findings, sometimes in seemingly unrelated areas that could have solid scientific as well as economic benefits."
"There is an advantage in supporting groups that can bring together the right people," said Denise Caldwell, director of NSF's Division of Physics. In one such case, she says NSF's support of the Center for Ultrafast Optical Science (CUOS) at the University of Michigan led to advances in multiple areas including manufacturing, telecommunications and precision surgery.
During the 1990s, CUOS scientists were developing ultrafast lasers. As they explored femtosecond lasers--ones with pulses one quadrillionth of a second--they discovered that femtosecond lasers drilled cleaner holes than picosecond lasers—ones with pulses one trillionth of a second.
Although they transferred the technology to the Ford Motor Company, a young physician at the university heard about the capability and contacted the center. The collaboration between the clinician and CUOS researchers led to IntraLASIK technology used by ophthalmologists for cornea surgery as well as a spin-off company, Intralase (funded with an NSF Small Business Innovative Research grant).
More recently, NSF support of the Engineering Research Center for Extreme Ultraviolet Science and Technology at Colorado State University has given rise to the development of compact ultrafast laser sources in the extreme UV and X-ray spectral regions.
This work is significant because these lasers will now be more widely available to researchers, diminishing the need for access to a large source like a synchrotron. Compact ultrafast sources are opening up entirely new fields of study such as attosecond dynamics, which enables scientists to follow the motion of electrons within molecules and materials.
Identifying new research directions
NSF's ability to foster collaborations within the scientific community has also enabled it to identify new avenues for research. As laser technology matured in the late 1980s, some researchers began to consider the interaction of laser light with biological material. Sensing this movement, NSF began funding research in this area.
"Optics has been a primary force in fostering this interface," Caldwell said.
One researcher who saw NSF taking the lead in pushing the frontiers of light-matter interactions was University of Michigan researcher Duncan Steel.
At the time, Steel continued pursuing quantum electronics research while using lasers to enable imaging and spectroscopy of single molecules in their natural environment. Steel and his colleagues were among the first to optically study how molecular self-assembly of proteins affects the neurotoxicity of Alzheimer's disease.
"New classes of light sources and dramatic changes in detectors and smart imaging opened up new options in biomedical research," Steel said. "NSF took the initiative to establish a highly interdisciplinary direction that then enabled many people to pursue emergent ideas that were rapidly evolving. That's one of NSF's biggest legacies--to create new opportunities that enable scientists and engineers to create and follow new directions for a field."
Roadmaps for the future
In the mid-1990s, the optical science and engineering research community expressed considerable interest in developing a report to describe the impact the field was having on national needs as well as recommend new areas that might benefit from focused effort from the community.
As a result, in 1998, the National Research Council (NRC) published Harnessing Light: Optical Science and Engineering for the 21st Century. Funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, NSF and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the 331-page report was the first comprehensive look at the laser juggernaut.
That report was significant because, for the first time, the community focused a lens on its R&D in language that was accessible to the public and to policymakers. It also laid the groundwork for subsequent reports. Fifteen years after Harnessing Light, NSF was the lead funding agency for another NRC report, Optics and Photonics: Essential Technologies for Our Nation.
Widely disseminated through the community's professional societies, the Optics and Photonics report led to a 2014 report by the National Science and Technology Council's Fast Track Action Committee on Optics and Photonics, Building a Brighter Future with Optics and Photonics.
The committee, comprised of 14 federal agencies and co-chaired by NSF and NIST, would identify cross-cutting areas of optics and photonics research that, through interagency collaboration, could benefit the nation. It also was also set to prioritize these research areas for possible federal investment and set long-term goals for federal optics and photonics research.
Developing a long-term, integrated approach
One of the recommendations from the NRC Optics and Photonics report was creation of a national photonics initiative to identify critical technical priorities for long-term federal R&D funding. To develop these priorities, the initiative would draw on researchers from industry, universities and the government as well as policymakers. Their charge: Provide a more integrated approach to industrial and federal optics and photonics R&D spending.
In just a year, the National Photonics Initiative was formed through the cooperative efforts of the Optical Society of America, SPIE--the international society for optics and photonics, the IEEE Photonics Society, the Laser Institute of America and the American Physical Society Division of Laser Science. One of the first fruits of this forward-looking initiative is a technology roadmap for President Obama's BRAIN Initiative.
To assess NSF's own programs and consider future directions, the agency formed an optics and photonics working group in 2013 to develop a roadmap to "lay the groundwork for major advances in scientific understanding and creation of high-impact technologies for the next decade and beyond."
The working group, led by Goldberg and Charles Ying, from NSF's Division of Materials Research, inventoried NSF's annual investment in optics and photonics. Their assessment showed that NSF invests about $300 million each year in the field.
They also identified opportunities for future growth and investment in photonic/electronic integration, biophotonics, the quantum domain, extreme UV and X-ray, manufacturing and crosscutting education and international activities.
As a next step, NSF also formed an optics and photonics advisory subcommittee for its Mathematical and Physical Sciences Directorate Advisory Committee. In its final report released in July 2014, the subcommittee identified seven research areas that could benefit from additional funding, including nanophotonics, new imaging modalities and optics and photonics for astronomy and astrophysics.
That same month, NSF released a "Dear Colleague Letter" to demonstrate the foundation's growing interest in optics and photonics and to stimulate a pool of proposals, cross-disciplinary in nature, that could help define new research directions.
And so the laser, once itself the main focus of research, takes its place as a device that extends our ability to see.
"To see is a fundamental human drive," Caldwell said. "If I want to understand a thing, I want to see it. The laser is a very special source of light with incredible capabilities."
-- Susan Reiss, National Science Foundation
-- Ivy F. Kupec, (703) 292-8796 ikupec@nsf.gov
Investigators
John Nees
Jorge Rocca
Duncan Steel
Tibor Juhasz
Carmen Menoni
David Attwood
Henry Kapteyn
Herbert Winful
Steven Yalisove
Margaret Murnane
On the road to ubiquity
NSF support of laser research
When the National Science Foundation (NSF) was founded in 1950, the laser didn't exist. Some 65 years later, the technology is ubiquitous.
As a tool, the laser has stretched the imaginations of countless scientists and engineers, making possible everything from stunning images of celestial bodies to high-speed communications. Once described as a "solution looking for a problem," the laser powered and pulsed its way into nearly every aspect of modern life.
For its part, NSF funding enabled research that has translated into meaningful applications in manufacturing, communications, life sciences, defense and medicine. NSF also has played a critical role in training the scientists and engineers who perform this research.
"We enable them [young researchers] at the beginning of their academic careers to get funding and take the next big step," said Lawrence Goldberg, senior engineering adviser in NSF's Directorate for Engineering.
Getting started
During the late 1950s and throughout the 1960s, major industrial laboratories run by companies such as Hughes Aircraft Company, AT&T and General Electric supported laser research as did the Department of Defense. These efforts developed all kinds of lasers--gas, solid-state (based on solid materials), semiconductor (based on electronics), dye and excimer (based on reactive gases).
Like the first computers, early lasers were often room-size, requiring massive tables that held multiple mirrors, tubes and electronic components. Inefficient and power-hungry, these monoliths challenged even the most dedicated researchers. Undaunted, they refined components and techniques required for smooth operation.
As the 1960s ended, funding for industrial labs began to shrink as companies scaled back or eliminated their fundamental research and laser development programs. To fill the void, the federal government and emerging laser industry looked to universities and NSF.
Despite budget cuts in the 1970s, NSF funded a range of projects that helped improve all aspects of laser performance, from beam shaping and pulse rate to energy consumption. Support also contributed to developing new materials essential for continued progress toward new kinds of lasers. As efficiency improved, researchers began considering how to apply the technology.
Charge of the lightwave
One area in particular, data transmission, gained momentum as the 1980s progressed. NSF's Lightwave Technology Program in its engineering directorate was critical not only because the research it funded fueled the Internet, mobile devices and other high-bandwidth communications applications, but also because many of the laser advances in this field drove progress in other disciplines.
An important example of this crossover is optical coherence tomography (OCT). Used in the late 1980s in telecommunications to find faults in miniature optical waveguides and optical fibers, this imaging technique was adapted by biomedical researchers in the early 1990s to noninvasively image microscopic structures in the eye. The imaging modality is now commonly used in ophthalmology to image the retina. NSF continues to fund OCT research.
As laser technology matured through the 1990s, applications became more abundant. Lasers made their way to the factory floor (to cut, weld and drill) and the ocean floor (to boost signals in transatlantic communications). The continued miniaturization of lasers and the advent of optical fibers radically altered medical diagnostics as well as surgery.
Focus on multidisciplinary research
In 1996, NSF released its first solicitation solely targeting multidisciplinary optical science and engineering. The initiative awarded $13.5 million via 18 three-year awards. Grantees were selected from 76 proposals and 627 pre-proposals. Over a dozen NSF program areas participated.
The press release announcing the awards described optical science and engineering as "an 'enabling' technology" and went on to explain that "for such a sweeping field, the broad approach...emphasizing collaboration between disciplines, is particularly effective. By coordinating program efforts, the NSF has encouraged cross-disciplinary linkages that could lead to major findings, sometimes in seemingly unrelated areas that could have solid scientific as well as economic benefits."
"There is an advantage in supporting groups that can bring together the right people," said Denise Caldwell, director of NSF's Division of Physics. In one such case, she says NSF's support of the Center for Ultrafast Optical Science (CUOS) at the University of Michigan led to advances in multiple areas including manufacturing, telecommunications and precision surgery.
During the 1990s, CUOS scientists were developing ultrafast lasers. As they explored femtosecond lasers--ones with pulses one quadrillionth of a second--they discovered that femtosecond lasers drilled cleaner holes than picosecond lasers—ones with pulses one trillionth of a second.
Although they transferred the technology to the Ford Motor Company, a young physician at the university heard about the capability and contacted the center. The collaboration between the clinician and CUOS researchers led to IntraLASIK technology used by ophthalmologists for cornea surgery as well as a spin-off company, Intralase (funded with an NSF Small Business Innovative Research grant).
More recently, NSF support of the Engineering Research Center for Extreme Ultraviolet Science and Technology at Colorado State University has given rise to the development of compact ultrafast laser sources in the extreme UV and X-ray spectral regions.
This work is significant because these lasers will now be more widely available to researchers, diminishing the need for access to a large source like a synchrotron. Compact ultrafast sources are opening up entirely new fields of study such as attosecond dynamics, which enables scientists to follow the motion of electrons within molecules and materials.
Identifying new research directions
NSF's ability to foster collaborations within the scientific community has also enabled it to identify new avenues for research. As laser technology matured in the late 1980s, some researchers began to consider the interaction of laser light with biological material. Sensing this movement, NSF began funding research in this area.
"Optics has been a primary force in fostering this interface," Caldwell said.
One researcher who saw NSF taking the lead in pushing the frontiers of light-matter interactions was University of Michigan researcher Duncan Steel.
At the time, Steel continued pursuing quantum electronics research while using lasers to enable imaging and spectroscopy of single molecules in their natural environment. Steel and his colleagues were among the first to optically study how molecular self-assembly of proteins affects the neurotoxicity of Alzheimer's disease.
"New classes of light sources and dramatic changes in detectors and smart imaging opened up new options in biomedical research," Steel said. "NSF took the initiative to establish a highly interdisciplinary direction that then enabled many people to pursue emergent ideas that were rapidly evolving. That's one of NSF's biggest legacies--to create new opportunities that enable scientists and engineers to create and follow new directions for a field."
Roadmaps for the future
In the mid-1990s, the optical science and engineering research community expressed considerable interest in developing a report to describe the impact the field was having on national needs as well as recommend new areas that might benefit from focused effort from the community.
As a result, in 1998, the National Research Council (NRC) published Harnessing Light: Optical Science and Engineering for the 21st Century. Funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, NSF and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the 331-page report was the first comprehensive look at the laser juggernaut.
That report was significant because, for the first time, the community focused a lens on its R&D in language that was accessible to the public and to policymakers. It also laid the groundwork for subsequent reports. Fifteen years after Harnessing Light, NSF was the lead funding agency for another NRC report, Optics and Photonics: Essential Technologies for Our Nation.
Widely disseminated through the community's professional societies, the Optics and Photonics report led to a 2014 report by the National Science and Technology Council's Fast Track Action Committee on Optics and Photonics, Building a Brighter Future with Optics and Photonics.
The committee, comprised of 14 federal agencies and co-chaired by NSF and NIST, would identify cross-cutting areas of optics and photonics research that, through interagency collaboration, could benefit the nation. It also was also set to prioritize these research areas for possible federal investment and set long-term goals for federal optics and photonics research.
Developing a long-term, integrated approach
One of the recommendations from the NRC Optics and Photonics report was creation of a national photonics initiative to identify critical technical priorities for long-term federal R&D funding. To develop these priorities, the initiative would draw on researchers from industry, universities and the government as well as policymakers. Their charge: Provide a more integrated approach to industrial and federal optics and photonics R&D spending.
In just a year, the National Photonics Initiative was formed through the cooperative efforts of the Optical Society of America, SPIE--the international society for optics and photonics, the IEEE Photonics Society, the Laser Institute of America and the American Physical Society Division of Laser Science. One of the first fruits of this forward-looking initiative is a technology roadmap for President Obama's BRAIN Initiative.
To assess NSF's own programs and consider future directions, the agency formed an optics and photonics working group in 2013 to develop a roadmap to "lay the groundwork for major advances in scientific understanding and creation of high-impact technologies for the next decade and beyond."
The working group, led by Goldberg and Charles Ying, from NSF's Division of Materials Research, inventoried NSF's annual investment in optics and photonics. Their assessment showed that NSF invests about $300 million each year in the field.
They also identified opportunities for future growth and investment in photonic/electronic integration, biophotonics, the quantum domain, extreme UV and X-ray, manufacturing and crosscutting education and international activities.
As a next step, NSF also formed an optics and photonics advisory subcommittee for its Mathematical and Physical Sciences Directorate Advisory Committee. In its final report released in July 2014, the subcommittee identified seven research areas that could benefit from additional funding, including nanophotonics, new imaging modalities and optics and photonics for astronomy and astrophysics.
That same month, NSF released a "Dear Colleague Letter" to demonstrate the foundation's growing interest in optics and photonics and to stimulate a pool of proposals, cross-disciplinary in nature, that could help define new research directions.
And so the laser, once itself the main focus of research, takes its place as a device that extends our ability to see.
"To see is a fundamental human drive," Caldwell said. "If I want to understand a thing, I want to see it. The laser is a very special source of light with incredible capabilities."
-- Susan Reiss, National Science Foundation
-- Ivy F. Kupec, (703) 292-8796 ikupec@nsf.gov
Investigators
John Nees
Jorge Rocca
Duncan Steel
Tibor Juhasz
Carmen Menoni
David Attwood
Henry Kapteyn
Herbert Winful
Steven Yalisove
Margaret Murnane
USDA ISSUES RULE ON ADDING SELENIUM TO INFANT FORMULA
FROM: U.S. FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION
FDA Issues Final Rule to Add Selenium to List of Required Nutrients for Infant Formula
June 22, 2015
The U. S. Food and Drug Administration today announced a final rule to add selenium to the list of required nutrients for infant formula, and to establish both minimum and maximum levels of selenium in infant formula.
U.S. manufacturers began adding selenium to infant formula after the Institute of Medicine recognized selenium to be an essential nutrient for infants in 1989, and currently, all infant formulas on the U.S. market contain selenium. By amending regulations to add selenium to the list of required nutrients for infant formula and establish a safe range for this use, the FDA is able to require manufacturers currently marketing infant formula in the U.S. to add selenium within this safe range, and to require any manufacturer newly entering the U.S. market to adopt this practice as well.
Specifically, the rule requires 2.0 micrograms (μg) selenium/100 kilocalories as the minimum level and 7.0 μg/100 kilocalories as the maximum level of selenium in infant formula. It also amends the labeling requirements for infant formula to require the listing of selenium in micrograms per 100 kilocalories on infant formula labels.
Selenium, found in breast milk, is an essential nutrient for infants. Among its benefits, it helps the body defend against oxidative stress and aids in the regulation of thyroid hormones. Because infant formula often serves as a sole source of nutrition for infants, selenium in infant formula is needed to ensure that formula-fed infants are getting this essential nutrient at appropriate levels. Selenium is the 30th nutrient required by law to be in infant formula.
FDA Issues Final Rule to Add Selenium to List of Required Nutrients for Infant Formula
June 22, 2015
The U. S. Food and Drug Administration today announced a final rule to add selenium to the list of required nutrients for infant formula, and to establish both minimum and maximum levels of selenium in infant formula.
U.S. manufacturers began adding selenium to infant formula after the Institute of Medicine recognized selenium to be an essential nutrient for infants in 1989, and currently, all infant formulas on the U.S. market contain selenium. By amending regulations to add selenium to the list of required nutrients for infant formula and establish a safe range for this use, the FDA is able to require manufacturers currently marketing infant formula in the U.S. to add selenium within this safe range, and to require any manufacturer newly entering the U.S. market to adopt this practice as well.
Specifically, the rule requires 2.0 micrograms (μg) selenium/100 kilocalories as the minimum level and 7.0 μg/100 kilocalories as the maximum level of selenium in infant formula. It also amends the labeling requirements for infant formula to require the listing of selenium in micrograms per 100 kilocalories on infant formula labels.
Selenium, found in breast milk, is an essential nutrient for infants. Among its benefits, it helps the body defend against oxidative stress and aids in the regulation of thyroid hormones. Because infant formula often serves as a sole source of nutrition for infants, selenium in infant formula is needed to ensure that formula-fed infants are getting this essential nutrient at appropriate levels. Selenium is the 30th nutrient required by law to be in infant formula.
Monday, June 22, 2015
DEFENSE SECRETARY CARTER WILL DISCUSS RUSSIA, SOUTHERN THREATS WHILE IN EUROPE
Right: U.S. Defense Attaché to Germany Army Col. Greg Broecker, left, greets U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter as he arrives in Berlin while German Army Lt. Col. Frank Gaebel, center, a representative from the German Defense Ministry looks on, June 21, 2015. Carter plans to meet with European defense ministers and participate in his first NATO ministerial as defense secretary during the trip to Germany, Estonia and Belgium. DoD photo by U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Adrian Cadiz.
Carter Arrives in Europe to Discuss Russia, Southern Threats
By Jim Garamone
DoD News, Defense Media Activity
WASHINGTON, June 22, 2015 – The challenges to NATO from Russia and on the alliance’s southern flank will be the focus of Defense Secretary Ash Carter’s trip to the continent this week.
Carter arrived in Berlin yesterday for talks with the German defense minister. From Germany, he will travel to Estonia and then end his trip at the NATO defense ministerial in Brussels.
Yesterday, the secretary spoke to reporters traveling with him.
NATO is Changing
The secretary said NATO must, and is, changing to confront the new threats. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s aggressive behavior in Georgia and Ukraine must be countered, and further aggression must be deterred, he said.
The secretary said he’ll explain America’s “strong but balanced approach” to dealing with Russia.
“It's strong, in the sense that we are cognizant of the needs to deter and be prepared to respond to Russian aggression, if it occurs, around the world, but also especially in NATO and with NATO,” Carter told reporters.
NATO is countering Russian behavior with the Spearhead Force designed to move quickly and powerfully to the scene of an incident, the secretary said.
“Another part of that is helping the states, both NATO members and non-NATO members, at the periphery of Russia … to harden themselves to malign influence or destabilization of the kind that Russia has fomented in eastern Ukraine,” he said.
Adapting to Challenges
The balance comes from needing to work with Russia on other issues, Carter said. Russia is a part of the P5-plus-1 talks with Iran. Russia also has a role in countering terrorism.
In short, Russia’s interests do in some areas align with those of the rest of the world, the secretary said.
“The United States, at least, continues to hold out the prospect that Russia -- maybe not under Vladimir Putin, but maybe some time in the future -- will return to a forward-moving course rather than a backward-looking course,” Carter said.
Southern Europe is threatened by extremism, the secretary said, noting that NATO defense ministers will discuss this threat. The dangers of extremism in the Middle East, he said, is manifested by increasing streams of refugees seeking to escape ungoverned or poorly governed areas of North Africa, sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East.
“In both of those areas NATO needs to, and is, adapting,” Carter said. “These are challenges that are different in kind from the old Fulda Gap, Cold War challenge. They are different in their own ways from Afghanistan and the kinds of things that we've been doing there. So it's new, but NATO … is adapting for both of them.”
OPERATION INHERENT RESOLVE AIRSTRIKES CONTINUE AGAINST ISIL
FROM: U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT
Military Airstrikes Hit ISIL Terrorists in Syria, Iraq
From a Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve News Release
SOUTHWEST ASIA, June 22, 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, bomber, fighter and remotely piloted aircraft conducted seven airstrikes in Syria:
-- Near Hasakah, one airstrike destroyed an ISIL vehicle bomb.
-- Near Aleppo, one airstrike struck an ISIL tactical unit, destroying an ISIL excavator, an ISIL fighting position, an ISIL mortar system and an ISIL vehicle.
-- Near Tal Abyad, five airstrikes struck one large and four small ISIL tactical units, destroying three ISIL fighting positions and an ISIL vehicle.
Airstrikes in Iraq
Attack, bomber, fighter and remotely piloted aircraft conducted 22 airstrikes in Iraq, approved by the Iraqi Ministry of Defense:
-- Near Baghdadi, two airstrikes destroyed an ISIL excavator and an ISIL vehicle.
-- Near Habbaniyah, one airstrike struck an ISIL rocket firing position.
-- Near Haditha, one airstrike struck an ISIL tactical unit, destroying two ISIL vehicles.
-- Near Hit, one airstrike destroyed an ISIL structure.
-- Near Makhmur, three airstrikes struck an ISIL vehicle bomb factory.
-- Near Mosul, five airstrikes struck one large and two small ISIL tactical units, an ISIL rocket firing position and an ISIL mortar firing position, destroying three ISIL heavy machine guns, an ISIL building, an ISIL motorcycle and an ISIL vehicle.
-- Near Ramadi, one airstrike destroyed an ISIL heavy machine gun and an ISIL vehicle.
-- Near Sinjar, five airstrikes struck an ISIL tactical unit and two ISIL staging areas, destroying three ISIL tunnel systems, two ISIL bunkers, an ISIL heavy machine gun, an ISIL cache and an ISIL mortar system.
-- Near Tal Afar, three airstrikes struck two ISIL tactical units and an ISIL tunnel system, destroying an ISIL building and an ISIL mortar firing position.
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.
Coalition nations conducting airstrikes in Iraq include the United States, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Jordan, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Coalition nations conducting airstrikes in Syria include the United States, Bahrain, Canada, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Military Airstrikes Hit ISIL Terrorists in Syria, Iraq
From a Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve News Release
SOUTHWEST ASIA, June 22, 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, bomber, fighter and remotely piloted aircraft conducted seven airstrikes in Syria:
-- Near Hasakah, one airstrike destroyed an ISIL vehicle bomb.
-- Near Aleppo, one airstrike struck an ISIL tactical unit, destroying an ISIL excavator, an ISIL fighting position, an ISIL mortar system and an ISIL vehicle.
-- Near Tal Abyad, five airstrikes struck one large and four small ISIL tactical units, destroying three ISIL fighting positions and an ISIL vehicle.
Airstrikes in Iraq
Attack, bomber, fighter and remotely piloted aircraft conducted 22 airstrikes in Iraq, approved by the Iraqi Ministry of Defense:
-- Near Baghdadi, two airstrikes destroyed an ISIL excavator and an ISIL vehicle.
-- Near Habbaniyah, one airstrike struck an ISIL rocket firing position.
-- Near Haditha, one airstrike struck an ISIL tactical unit, destroying two ISIL vehicles.
-- Near Hit, one airstrike destroyed an ISIL structure.
-- Near Makhmur, three airstrikes struck an ISIL vehicle bomb factory.
-- Near Mosul, five airstrikes struck one large and two small ISIL tactical units, an ISIL rocket firing position and an ISIL mortar firing position, destroying three ISIL heavy machine guns, an ISIL building, an ISIL motorcycle and an ISIL vehicle.
-- Near Ramadi, one airstrike destroyed an ISIL heavy machine gun and an ISIL vehicle.
-- Near Sinjar, five airstrikes struck an ISIL tactical unit and two ISIL staging areas, destroying three ISIL tunnel systems, two ISIL bunkers, an ISIL heavy machine gun, an ISIL cache and an ISIL mortar system.
-- Near Tal Afar, three airstrikes struck two ISIL tactical units and an ISIL tunnel system, destroying an ISIL building and an ISIL mortar firing position.
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.
Coalition nations conducting airstrikes in Iraq include the United States, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Jordan, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Coalition nations conducting airstrikes in Syria include the United States, Bahrain, Canada, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
SEC CHARGES OWNER AND FIRM WITH MOVING $17 MILLION IN CLIENT MONEY INTO STOCKS WHERE OWNER HAS UNDISCLOSED INTERESTS
FROM: U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
06/17/2015 09:35 AM EDT
The Securities and Exchange Commission announced fraud charges against a Massachusetts-based investment advisory firm and its owner for funneling more than $17 million in client assets into four financially troubled Canadian penny stock companies in which the owner has undisclosed business and financial interests.
The SEC alleges that clients at Interinvest Corporation may have lost as much as $12 million of their $17 million investment based on the recent trading history of shares in the penny stock companies, some of which are purportedly in the business of exploring for gold or other minerals. Interinvest’s owner and president Hans Peter Black has served on the board of directors of these companies, which have collectively paid an entity he controls approximately $1.7 million. Black’s involvement with these companies and his receipt of payments from them created a conflict of interest that he and Interinvest failed to disclose to their advisory clients.
The alleged violations were first identified in an SEC examination of the firm. The SEC’s complaint filed late yesterday in federal court in Boston alleges that Interinvest and Black have stonewalled the SEC’s investigation. The SEC is seeking a court order to freeze Interinvest’s assets and prohibit the firm and Black from continuing to exercise investment authority over client assets under management. As of April 2015, Interinvest purported to manage almost $95 million.
“Investment advisers have a duty to put their clients’ interests first and fully disclose all conflicts of interest,” said Paul G. Levenson, Director of the SEC’s Boston Regional Office. “We allege that Interinvest and Black violated that duty by investing client money in companies where he has a stake without fully disclosing that conflict to clients.”
The SEC’s complaint filed alleges that Interinvest and Black violated the antifraud and related provisions of the federal securities laws. In addition to emergency relief, the SEC’s complaint seeks to permanently enjoin Interinvest and Black from violating the securities laws and require them to repay allegedly ill-gotten gains with interest and penalties.
The SEC’s investigation was conducted by Michael Vito, Peter Moores, John McCann, Chip Harper, and Celia Moore of the Boston office. The SEC’s examination of Interinvest was conducted by Raymond G. Titus, Paul Prata, Daniel B. Wong, and Melissa Clough of the Boston office.
06/17/2015 09:35 AM EDT
The Securities and Exchange Commission announced fraud charges against a Massachusetts-based investment advisory firm and its owner for funneling more than $17 million in client assets into four financially troubled Canadian penny stock companies in which the owner has undisclosed business and financial interests.
The SEC alleges that clients at Interinvest Corporation may have lost as much as $12 million of their $17 million investment based on the recent trading history of shares in the penny stock companies, some of which are purportedly in the business of exploring for gold or other minerals. Interinvest’s owner and president Hans Peter Black has served on the board of directors of these companies, which have collectively paid an entity he controls approximately $1.7 million. Black’s involvement with these companies and his receipt of payments from them created a conflict of interest that he and Interinvest failed to disclose to their advisory clients.
The alleged violations were first identified in an SEC examination of the firm. The SEC’s complaint filed late yesterday in federal court in Boston alleges that Interinvest and Black have stonewalled the SEC’s investigation. The SEC is seeking a court order to freeze Interinvest’s assets and prohibit the firm and Black from continuing to exercise investment authority over client assets under management. As of April 2015, Interinvest purported to manage almost $95 million.
“Investment advisers have a duty to put their clients’ interests first and fully disclose all conflicts of interest,” said Paul G. Levenson, Director of the SEC’s Boston Regional Office. “We allege that Interinvest and Black violated that duty by investing client money in companies where he has a stake without fully disclosing that conflict to clients.”
The SEC’s complaint filed alleges that Interinvest and Black violated the antifraud and related provisions of the federal securities laws. In addition to emergency relief, the SEC’s complaint seeks to permanently enjoin Interinvest and Black from violating the securities laws and require them to repay allegedly ill-gotten gains with interest and penalties.
The SEC’s investigation was conducted by Michael Vito, Peter Moores, John McCann, Chip Harper, and Celia Moore of the Boston office. The SEC’s examination of Interinvest was conducted by Raymond G. Titus, Paul Prata, Daniel B. Wong, and Melissa Clough of the Boston office.
BRIEFING: COUNTRY REPORTS ON TERRORISM IN 2014
FROM: U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
Counterterrorism: Briefing at the Release of Country Reports on Terrorism 2014
06/19/2015 01:12 PM EDT
Briefing at the Release of Country Reports on Terrorism 2014
Special Briefing
Tina S. Kaidanow
Ambassador-at-Large and Coordinator for Counterterrorism
Washington, DC
June 19, 2015
(As Prepared)
Thank you all very much for coming. Today, the State Department is issuing Country Reports on Terrorism 2014, which fulfills an important congressional mandate and provides us with an opportunity to review the state of terrorism worldwide and define the nature and the scope of the terrorist threat. Doing so also allows us to assess our effectiveness and best calibrate our strategy and response. Reviewing how involved and engaged countries are in various aspects of their counterterrorism efforts – which comprises the bulk of this report – helps us make informed assessments about priorities and where to place resources in our various capacity building programs.
First, I would note that, according to the Statistical Annex prepared by the University of Maryland, the numbers of terrorist attacks in 2014 increased 35% and total fatalities increased 81% compared to 2013, largely due to activity in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Nigeria. More than 60% of all attacks took place in five countries: Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan, India, and Nigeria, and 78% of all fatalities due to terrorist attacks also took place in five countries: Iraq, Nigeria, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Syria. The increase in total fatalities was, in part, a result of certain attacks that were exceptionally lethal – in 2014, there were 20 attacks that killed more than 100 people, compared to two such attacks in 2013.
While I cite these statistics, which are compiled by the University of Maryland and are not a U.S. government product per se, I stress again that they do not provide the full context. Aggregate totals or numbers of attacks are not a particularly useful metric for measuring the aims of extremist groups, or of our progress in preventing or countering their activities.
To that end, I’d like to talk about the content of the report itself and some of the trends we noted in 2014.
Despite significant blows to al-Qa’ida’s (AQ) leadership, weak or failed governance continued to provide an enabling environment for the emergence of extremist radicalism and violence, notably in Yemen, Syria, Libya, Nigeria, and Iraq. We are deeply concerned about the continued evolution of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the emergence of self-proclaimed ISIL affiliates in Libya, Egypt, Nigeria and elsewhere, and tens of thousands of foreign terrorist fighters who are exacerbating the violence in the Middle East and posing a continued threat to their home countries.
The ongoing civil war in Syria has been a spur to many of the worldwide terrorism events we have witnessed. Since the report covers calendar year 2014, it notes that the overall flow of foreign terrorist fighter travel to Syria was estimated at more than 16,000 foreign terrorist fighters from over 90 countries as of late December – a number that exceeds any similar flow of foreign terrorist fighters traveling to other countries in the last 20 years. Many of the foreign terrorist fighters joined ISIL, which has seized contiguous territory in western Iraq and eastern Syria. Iraqi forces and the Counter-ISIL Coalition have dealt significant blows to ISIL, but it continues to control substantial territory.
As with many other terrorist groups worldwide, ISIL has brutally repressed the communities under its control and used ruthless methods of violence such as beheadings and crucifixions. Uniquely, however, it demonstrates a particular skill in employing new media tools to display its brutality, both as a means to shock and terrorize, but equally to propagandize and attract new recruits. Boko Haram shares with ISIL a penchant for the use of brutal tactics, which include stonings, indiscriminate mass casualty attacks, and systematic oppression of women and girls, including enslavement, torture, and rape.
Though AQ central leadership has indeed been weakened, the organization continues to serve as a focal point of inspiration for a worldwide network of affiliated groups, including al-Qa’ida in the Arabian Peninsula – a long-standing threat to Yemen, the region, and the United States; al-Qa’ida in the Islamic Maghreb; al-Nusrah Front; and al-Shabaab in East Africa.
We saw a rise in "lone offender attacks," including in Ottawa and Quebec in October and Sydney in December of 2014. In many cases it was difficult to assess whether attacks were directed or inspired by ISIL or AQ and its affiliates. These attacks may presage a new era in which centralized leadership of a terrorist organization matters less, group identity is more fluid, and violent extremist narratives focus on a wider range of alleged grievances and enemies. Enhanced border security measures among Western states since 9/11 have increased the difficulty for known or suspected terrorists to travel internationally; therefore, groups like AQ and ISIL encourage lone actors residing in the West to carry out attacks on their behalf.
ISIL and AQ affiliates, including al-Nusrah Front, continued to use kidnapping for ransom operations, profits from the sales of looted antiquities, and other criminal activities to raise funds for operational purposes. Much of ISIL’s funding, unlike the resources utilized by AQ and AQ-type organizations, did not come from external donations but was internally gathered in Iraq and Syria. ISIL earned up to several million dollars per month through its various extortion networks and criminal activity in the territory where it operated, including through oil smuggling. Some progress was made in 2014 in constraining ISIL’s ability to earn money from the sale of smuggled oil as a result of anti-ISIL Coalition airstrikes that were conducted on ISIL-operated oil refineries, but the oil trade was not fully eradicated.
ISIL and AQ were not the only serious threats that confronted the United States and its allies. Iran continued to sponsor terrorist groups around the world, principally through its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF). These groups included Lebanese Hizballah, several Iraqi Shia militant groups, Hamas, and Palestine Islamic Jihad.
Addressing this evolving set of terrorist threats, and the need to undertake efforts that span the range from security to rule of law to efficacy of governance and pushing back on terrorist messaging in order to effectively combat the growth of these emerging violent extremist groups, requires an expanded approach to our counterterrorism engagement. President Obama has emphasized repeatedly that we need to bring strong, capable, and diverse partners to the forefront and enlist their help in the mutually important endeavor of global counterterrorism.
A successful approach to counterterrorism must therefore revolve around partnerships. The vital role that our partners play has become even clearer in the last year with the emergence of ISIL as the hugely destructive force in Iraq and Syria that I have described. We have worked to build an effective counter-ISIL coalition, a coalition that is clearly crucial because the fight against ISIL is not one the United States can or should pursue alone. More than 60 partners are contributing to this effort, which is multi-faceted in its goals – not only to stop ISIL’s advances on the ground, but to combat the flow of foreign fighters, disrupt ISIL’s financial resources, and counteract ISIL’s messaging and undermine its appeal, among other objectives. I would also highlight the adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 2178 in September as a particularly significant step forward in international efforts to cooperate in preventing the flow of foreign terrorist fighters to and from conflict zones.
The notion of finding and enabling partners, of course, is not new or limited to the counter-ISIL effort, and indeed many of our most significant counterterrorism successes in the past have come as a result of working together with partners on elements ranging from intelligence to aviation security.
The United States needs partners who can not only contribute to military operations, but also conduct arrests, prosecutions, and incarceration of terrorists and their facilitation networks. Addressing terrorism in a rule of law framework, with respect for human rights, is critical both for ensuring the sustainability of our efforts and for preventing the rise of new forms of violent extremism. Multilateral entities such as the United Nations and the Global Counterterrorism Forum can also play a critical role in promoting good practices and mobilizing technical assistance in this regard.
As we develop partnerships to disrupt terrorist plots and degrade terrorist capabilities, we also need partners – both governmental and non-governmental – who can help counter the spread of violent extremist recruitment and address the conditions that make communities susceptible to violent extremism. We must do more to address the cycle of violent extremism and transform the very environment from which these terrorist movements emerge. That is why we are committed to enlarging our strategy in ways that address the underlying conditions conducive to the spread, and not just the visible symptoms of, violent extremism. This was a major theme of the White House Summit on Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) earlier this year, which brought together 300 participants from over 65 countries representing national and local governments, civil society, the private sector, and multilateral organizations. The Summit highlighted the especially vital role that partnering with civil society plays in our counterterrorism efforts.
In addition to counterterrorism assistance rendered in the fields of rule of law and countering recruitment, we provide a wide array of expertise and programmatic support for our partners to help them identify and disrupt the financing of terrorism, strengthen aviation and border security, and sharpen their law enforcement and crisis response tools to respond to the terrorist threat.
The terrorism challenges that we face continue to evolve at a rapid pace, and we cannot predict with precision what the landscape will look like one decade or even one year from now. However, we believe we can best protect America’s interests and people over the long run by engaging in robust diplomacy, expanding our partnerships, building bilateral and regional capabilities, and promoting holistic and rule of law-based approaches to counter terrorism and violent extremism. This remains our program of action over the months ahead.
And now, I invite your questions about the report and its findings.
Counterterrorism: Briefing at the Release of Country Reports on Terrorism 2014
06/19/2015 01:12 PM EDT
Briefing at the Release of Country Reports on Terrorism 2014
Special Briefing
Tina S. Kaidanow
Ambassador-at-Large and Coordinator for Counterterrorism
Washington, DC
June 19, 2015
(As Prepared)
Thank you all very much for coming. Today, the State Department is issuing Country Reports on Terrorism 2014, which fulfills an important congressional mandate and provides us with an opportunity to review the state of terrorism worldwide and define the nature and the scope of the terrorist threat. Doing so also allows us to assess our effectiveness and best calibrate our strategy and response. Reviewing how involved and engaged countries are in various aspects of their counterterrorism efforts – which comprises the bulk of this report – helps us make informed assessments about priorities and where to place resources in our various capacity building programs.
First, I would note that, according to the Statistical Annex prepared by the University of Maryland, the numbers of terrorist attacks in 2014 increased 35% and total fatalities increased 81% compared to 2013, largely due to activity in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Nigeria. More than 60% of all attacks took place in five countries: Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan, India, and Nigeria, and 78% of all fatalities due to terrorist attacks also took place in five countries: Iraq, Nigeria, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Syria. The increase in total fatalities was, in part, a result of certain attacks that were exceptionally lethal – in 2014, there were 20 attacks that killed more than 100 people, compared to two such attacks in 2013.
While I cite these statistics, which are compiled by the University of Maryland and are not a U.S. government product per se, I stress again that they do not provide the full context. Aggregate totals or numbers of attacks are not a particularly useful metric for measuring the aims of extremist groups, or of our progress in preventing or countering their activities.
To that end, I’d like to talk about the content of the report itself and some of the trends we noted in 2014.
Despite significant blows to al-Qa’ida’s (AQ) leadership, weak or failed governance continued to provide an enabling environment for the emergence of extremist radicalism and violence, notably in Yemen, Syria, Libya, Nigeria, and Iraq. We are deeply concerned about the continued evolution of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the emergence of self-proclaimed ISIL affiliates in Libya, Egypt, Nigeria and elsewhere, and tens of thousands of foreign terrorist fighters who are exacerbating the violence in the Middle East and posing a continued threat to their home countries.
The ongoing civil war in Syria has been a spur to many of the worldwide terrorism events we have witnessed. Since the report covers calendar year 2014, it notes that the overall flow of foreign terrorist fighter travel to Syria was estimated at more than 16,000 foreign terrorist fighters from over 90 countries as of late December – a number that exceeds any similar flow of foreign terrorist fighters traveling to other countries in the last 20 years. Many of the foreign terrorist fighters joined ISIL, which has seized contiguous territory in western Iraq and eastern Syria. Iraqi forces and the Counter-ISIL Coalition have dealt significant blows to ISIL, but it continues to control substantial territory.
As with many other terrorist groups worldwide, ISIL has brutally repressed the communities under its control and used ruthless methods of violence such as beheadings and crucifixions. Uniquely, however, it demonstrates a particular skill in employing new media tools to display its brutality, both as a means to shock and terrorize, but equally to propagandize and attract new recruits. Boko Haram shares with ISIL a penchant for the use of brutal tactics, which include stonings, indiscriminate mass casualty attacks, and systematic oppression of women and girls, including enslavement, torture, and rape.
Though AQ central leadership has indeed been weakened, the organization continues to serve as a focal point of inspiration for a worldwide network of affiliated groups, including al-Qa’ida in the Arabian Peninsula – a long-standing threat to Yemen, the region, and the United States; al-Qa’ida in the Islamic Maghreb; al-Nusrah Front; and al-Shabaab in East Africa.
We saw a rise in "lone offender attacks," including in Ottawa and Quebec in October and Sydney in December of 2014. In many cases it was difficult to assess whether attacks were directed or inspired by ISIL or AQ and its affiliates. These attacks may presage a new era in which centralized leadership of a terrorist organization matters less, group identity is more fluid, and violent extremist narratives focus on a wider range of alleged grievances and enemies. Enhanced border security measures among Western states since 9/11 have increased the difficulty for known or suspected terrorists to travel internationally; therefore, groups like AQ and ISIL encourage lone actors residing in the West to carry out attacks on their behalf.
ISIL and AQ affiliates, including al-Nusrah Front, continued to use kidnapping for ransom operations, profits from the sales of looted antiquities, and other criminal activities to raise funds for operational purposes. Much of ISIL’s funding, unlike the resources utilized by AQ and AQ-type organizations, did not come from external donations but was internally gathered in Iraq and Syria. ISIL earned up to several million dollars per month through its various extortion networks and criminal activity in the territory where it operated, including through oil smuggling. Some progress was made in 2014 in constraining ISIL’s ability to earn money from the sale of smuggled oil as a result of anti-ISIL Coalition airstrikes that were conducted on ISIL-operated oil refineries, but the oil trade was not fully eradicated.
ISIL and AQ were not the only serious threats that confronted the United States and its allies. Iran continued to sponsor terrorist groups around the world, principally through its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF). These groups included Lebanese Hizballah, several Iraqi Shia militant groups, Hamas, and Palestine Islamic Jihad.
Addressing this evolving set of terrorist threats, and the need to undertake efforts that span the range from security to rule of law to efficacy of governance and pushing back on terrorist messaging in order to effectively combat the growth of these emerging violent extremist groups, requires an expanded approach to our counterterrorism engagement. President Obama has emphasized repeatedly that we need to bring strong, capable, and diverse partners to the forefront and enlist their help in the mutually important endeavor of global counterterrorism.
A successful approach to counterterrorism must therefore revolve around partnerships. The vital role that our partners play has become even clearer in the last year with the emergence of ISIL as the hugely destructive force in Iraq and Syria that I have described. We have worked to build an effective counter-ISIL coalition, a coalition that is clearly crucial because the fight against ISIL is not one the United States can or should pursue alone. More than 60 partners are contributing to this effort, which is multi-faceted in its goals – not only to stop ISIL’s advances on the ground, but to combat the flow of foreign fighters, disrupt ISIL’s financial resources, and counteract ISIL’s messaging and undermine its appeal, among other objectives. I would also highlight the adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 2178 in September as a particularly significant step forward in international efforts to cooperate in preventing the flow of foreign terrorist fighters to and from conflict zones.
The notion of finding and enabling partners, of course, is not new or limited to the counter-ISIL effort, and indeed many of our most significant counterterrorism successes in the past have come as a result of working together with partners on elements ranging from intelligence to aviation security.
The United States needs partners who can not only contribute to military operations, but also conduct arrests, prosecutions, and incarceration of terrorists and their facilitation networks. Addressing terrorism in a rule of law framework, with respect for human rights, is critical both for ensuring the sustainability of our efforts and for preventing the rise of new forms of violent extremism. Multilateral entities such as the United Nations and the Global Counterterrorism Forum can also play a critical role in promoting good practices and mobilizing technical assistance in this regard.
As we develop partnerships to disrupt terrorist plots and degrade terrorist capabilities, we also need partners – both governmental and non-governmental – who can help counter the spread of violent extremist recruitment and address the conditions that make communities susceptible to violent extremism. We must do more to address the cycle of violent extremism and transform the very environment from which these terrorist movements emerge. That is why we are committed to enlarging our strategy in ways that address the underlying conditions conducive to the spread, and not just the visible symptoms of, violent extremism. This was a major theme of the White House Summit on Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) earlier this year, which brought together 300 participants from over 65 countries representing national and local governments, civil society, the private sector, and multilateral organizations. The Summit highlighted the especially vital role that partnering with civil society plays in our counterterrorism efforts.
In addition to counterterrorism assistance rendered in the fields of rule of law and countering recruitment, we provide a wide array of expertise and programmatic support for our partners to help them identify and disrupt the financing of terrorism, strengthen aviation and border security, and sharpen their law enforcement and crisis response tools to respond to the terrorist threat.
The terrorism challenges that we face continue to evolve at a rapid pace, and we cannot predict with precision what the landscape will look like one decade or even one year from now. However, we believe we can best protect America’s interests and people over the long run by engaging in robust diplomacy, expanding our partnerships, building bilateral and regional capabilities, and promoting holistic and rule of law-based approaches to counter terrorism and violent extremism. This remains our program of action over the months ahead.
And now, I invite your questions about the report and its findings.
MAN SENTENCED TO PRISON FOR 15 YEARS FOR ATTACKING POWER GRID
FROM: U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT
Thursday, June 18, 2015
Arkansas Man Sentenced to 15 Years for Attacks on Central Arkansas Power Grid
Jason Woodring, 38, of Jacksonville, Arkansas, was sentenced to 15 years in prison today on charges related to his attacks on Central Arkansas’ power grid between August and October 2013. In addition to the term of imprisonment, Woodring will be required to pay $4,792,224 in restitution to Entergy for his attacks on the power lines and electrical tower near Cabot, Arkansas, and a switching station in Scott, Arkansas. Woodring will also pay $48,729 to First Electric Cooperative for damage to the downed power lines and poles in Jacksonville.
Assistant Attorney General for National Security John P. Carlin, U.S. Attorney Christopher R. Thyer of the Eastern District of Arkansas, Special Agent in Charge David T. Resch of the FBI’s Little Rock, Arkansas, Division and Resident Special Agent in Charge Grover Crossland of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Little Rock Field Office made the announcement.
Today, U.S. District Court Judge Billy Roy Wilson of the Eastern District of Arkansas accepted the plea agreement and imposed the recommended 15-year sentence. On March 10, 2015, Woodring pleaded guilty to destruction of an energy facility for downing the Cabot power lines and for setting fire to the Scott power station. He also pleaded guilty to using fire to commit a felony in relation to the arson in Scott, and to being an illegal drug user in possession of various firearms and ammunition. Woodring also agreed to forfeit the firearms and ammunition.
Woodring’s 2013 attacks included sabotaging an electrical support tower and downing a 500,000-volt power line onto a railroad track near Cabot, which resulted in approximately $550,000 worth of damage; setting fire to and destroying an Extra High Voltage switching station in Scott, causing over $4 million in damages; and cutting down two power poles, which led to the temporary loss of power to approximately 9,000 people in Jacksonville. Woodring was charged in an eight-count indictment by a federal grand jury on Nov. 6, 2013.
The case was investigated by the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force; ATF; Union Pacific Police; Entergy; First Electric; the Lonoke County, Arkansas, Sheriff’s Office; Cabot Police; Arkansas State Police; the Conway, Arkansas, Police Department; the Little RockPolice Department; and the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael S. Gordon and Cameron Charles McCree of the Eastern District of Arkansas, with the assistance of the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section.
Thursday, June 18, 2015
Arkansas Man Sentenced to 15 Years for Attacks on Central Arkansas Power Grid
Jason Woodring, 38, of Jacksonville, Arkansas, was sentenced to 15 years in prison today on charges related to his attacks on Central Arkansas’ power grid between August and October 2013. In addition to the term of imprisonment, Woodring will be required to pay $4,792,224 in restitution to Entergy for his attacks on the power lines and electrical tower near Cabot, Arkansas, and a switching station in Scott, Arkansas. Woodring will also pay $48,729 to First Electric Cooperative for damage to the downed power lines and poles in Jacksonville.
Assistant Attorney General for National Security John P. Carlin, U.S. Attorney Christopher R. Thyer of the Eastern District of Arkansas, Special Agent in Charge David T. Resch of the FBI’s Little Rock, Arkansas, Division and Resident Special Agent in Charge Grover Crossland of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Little Rock Field Office made the announcement.
Today, U.S. District Court Judge Billy Roy Wilson of the Eastern District of Arkansas accepted the plea agreement and imposed the recommended 15-year sentence. On March 10, 2015, Woodring pleaded guilty to destruction of an energy facility for downing the Cabot power lines and for setting fire to the Scott power station. He also pleaded guilty to using fire to commit a felony in relation to the arson in Scott, and to being an illegal drug user in possession of various firearms and ammunition. Woodring also agreed to forfeit the firearms and ammunition.
Woodring’s 2013 attacks included sabotaging an electrical support tower and downing a 500,000-volt power line onto a railroad track near Cabot, which resulted in approximately $550,000 worth of damage; setting fire to and destroying an Extra High Voltage switching station in Scott, causing over $4 million in damages; and cutting down two power poles, which led to the temporary loss of power to approximately 9,000 people in Jacksonville. Woodring was charged in an eight-count indictment by a federal grand jury on Nov. 6, 2013.
The case was investigated by the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force; ATF; Union Pacific Police; Entergy; First Electric; the Lonoke County, Arkansas, Sheriff’s Office; Cabot Police; Arkansas State Police; the Conway, Arkansas, Police Department; the Little RockPolice Department; and the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael S. Gordon and Cameron Charles McCree of the Eastern District of Arkansas, with the assistance of the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section.
Sunday, June 21, 2015
DOD ANNOUNCES MORE AIRSTRIKES IN SYRIA AND IRAQ
FROM: U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT
Anti-ISIL Airstrikes Continue in Syria, Iraq
From a Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve News Release
SOUTHWEST ASIA, June 21, 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
Fighter aircraft conducted three airstrikes in Syria, all near Tal Abyad, striking three ISIL tactical units, destroying three ISIL fighting positions and an ISIL heavy machine gun.
Airstrikes in Iraq
Attack, bomber, fighter and remotely piloted aircraft conducted 18 airstrikes in Iraq, approved by the Iraqi Ministry of Defense:
-- Near Baghdadi, one airstrike struck an ISIL tactical unit, destroying an ISIL improvised explosive device, an ISIL structure and an ISIL vehicle.
-- Near Rutbah, one airstrike struck an ISIL tactical unit.
-- Near Beiji, one airstrike struck an ISIL tactical unit, destroying an ISIL supply truck.
-- Near Fallujah, two airstrikes struck an ISIL tactical unit, destroying an ISIL vehicle-borne IED and an ISIL vehicle.
-- Near Haditha, two airstrikes struck an ISIL safe house and an ISIL headquarters.
-- Near Makhmur, two airstrikes struck an ISIL rocket and land features denying ISIL a tactical advantage.
-- Near Mosul, four airstrikes struck two ISIL tactical units and land features denying ISIL a tactical advantage, destroying an ISIL mortar system and an ISIL vehicle.
-- Near Sinjar, one airstrike struck an ISIL tactical unit, destroying two ISIL buildings.
-- Near Tal Afar, four airstrikes struck an ISIL tactical unit, an ISIL heavy machine gun and an ISIL mortar system, three ISIL fighting positions and land features denying ISIL a tactical advantage, destroying two ISIL buildings and an ISIL heavy machine gun.
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.
Coalition nations conducting airstrikes in Iraq include the United States, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Jordan, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Coalition nations conducting airstrikes in Syria include the United States, Bahrain, Canada, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Anti-ISIL Airstrikes Continue in Syria, Iraq
From a Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve News Release
SOUTHWEST ASIA, June 21, 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
Fighter aircraft conducted three airstrikes in Syria, all near Tal Abyad, striking three ISIL tactical units, destroying three ISIL fighting positions and an ISIL heavy machine gun.
Airstrikes in Iraq
Attack, bomber, fighter and remotely piloted aircraft conducted 18 airstrikes in Iraq, approved by the Iraqi Ministry of Defense:
-- Near Baghdadi, one airstrike struck an ISIL tactical unit, destroying an ISIL improvised explosive device, an ISIL structure and an ISIL vehicle.
-- Near Rutbah, one airstrike struck an ISIL tactical unit.
-- Near Beiji, one airstrike struck an ISIL tactical unit, destroying an ISIL supply truck.
-- Near Fallujah, two airstrikes struck an ISIL tactical unit, destroying an ISIL vehicle-borne IED and an ISIL vehicle.
-- Near Haditha, two airstrikes struck an ISIL safe house and an ISIL headquarters.
-- Near Makhmur, two airstrikes struck an ISIL rocket and land features denying ISIL a tactical advantage.
-- Near Mosul, four airstrikes struck two ISIL tactical units and land features denying ISIL a tactical advantage, destroying an ISIL mortar system and an ISIL vehicle.
-- Near Sinjar, one airstrike struck an ISIL tactical unit, destroying two ISIL buildings.
-- Near Tal Afar, four airstrikes struck an ISIL tactical unit, an ISIL heavy machine gun and an ISIL mortar system, three ISIL fighting positions and land features denying ISIL a tactical advantage, destroying two ISIL buildings and an ISIL heavy machine gun.
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.
Coalition nations conducting airstrikes in Iraq include the United States, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Jordan, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Coalition nations conducting airstrikes in Syria include the United States, Bahrain, Canada, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
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