A ROBOT ICE-CREVASS HUNTER NAMED YETI

James Lever, U.S. Army's Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory

FROM: NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION, YETI ANTARTIC ROBOT, ICE-COVERED CREVASSES, GREENLAND
In Greenland and Antarctic Tests, Yeti Helps Conquer Some "Abominable" Polar Hazards

A century after Western explorers first crossed the dangerous landscapes of the Arctic and Antarctic, researchers funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) have successfully deployed a self-guided robot that uses ground-penetrating radar to map deadly crevasses hidden in ice-covered terrains.

Deployment of the robot--dubbed Yeti--could make Arctic and Antarctic explorations safer by revealing unseen fissures buried beneath ice and snow that could potentially claim human lives and expensive equipment.

Researchers say Yeti opens the door to making polar travel safer for crews that supply remote scientific research stations. Attempts have been made by researchers in the polar regions to use robots for tasks such as searching for meteorites in Antarctica. However, researchers who have worked with Yeti say it is probably the first robot to successfully deploy in the field that is able to identify hazards lurking under the thin cover of snow.

These findings are based on deployments of Yeti in Greenland's Inland Traverse, an over-ice supply train from Thule in the north of Greenland to NSF's Summit Station on the ice cap, and in NSF's South Pole Traverse, a 1,031-mile, over-ice trek from McMurdo Station in Antarctica to the South Pole.

A team of researchers from the U.S. Army's Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL) and the Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth College, along with a student at Stanford University's neuroscience program, recently published their findings in the Journal of Field Robotics.

"Polar exploration is not unlike space missions; we put people into the field where it is expensive and it is dangerous to do science," said CRREL's James Lever.

Using Yeti--and potential follow-on devices that Lever expects may be developed in the future by improving on the Yeti template--has value not only in reducing some of the danger to human beings working in polar environments. Deploying Yeti and machines like it also plays to the strength of robots, which are well suited for learning and performing repetitive tasks more efficiently than humans.

Lever added that robots like Yeti not only improve safety; they also have the potential to reduce the costs of logistical support of science in the remote polar regions and extend the capabilities of researchers.

Yeti was developed with funding from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Students of Lever and Laura Ray, at Dartmouth, also a principal investigator on the Yeti project and a co-author of the paper, designed and created a predecessor to Yeti--called Cool Robot-- that was funded by NSF's Division of Polar Programs to conduct work in Antartica.

Under a separate NSF grant, researchers plan to deploy Cool Robot this summer to circumnavigate NSF's Summit Station on the Greenland ice sheet, taking atmospheric samples as it goes. The solar-powered, four-wheel-drive Cool Robot led to Yeti's success, while helping the researchers meet NSF's goal of integrating research and education.

"Our focus with Yeti is on improving operational efficiency," Lever said. "But more generally, robotics has the potential to produce more science with more spatial and temporal coverage for less money. We're not gong to replace the scientists. But what we can do is extend their reach and add to the science mission."

Yeti is an 81-kilogram (180-pound) battery powered, four-wheel drive vehicle, about a meter across, that is capable of operating in temperatures as low as -30 Celsius (-20 Fahrenheit). Yeti uses Global Positioning System coordinates to navigate and to plot the position of under-ice hazards.

That work--and the accompanying risks--in the past has fallen exclusively to human crews using ground-penetrating radar to map the under-ice features.

Crevasses often can span widths of 9 meters (30 feet) or more and reach depths of up to 60 meters (200 feet). Snow often accumulates in such a way that it forms unstable bridges over the crevasse, obscuring them from view.

Prior to the development of Yeti, a vehicle pushing a GPR unit would move ahead of a traverse to attempt to detect crevasses. Although the radar was pushed ahead of the vehicle, giving some margin of advanced warning and safety, the system is none-the-less dangerous and stressful for the crews, especially when traversing long distances.

In addition to having the potential to greatly reduce the danger to humans, the Yeti project also has helped advance research into how robots learn, as the research team uses the data gathered by Yeti during hundreds of crevasse encounters to refine algorithms that will allow machines in future to automatically map and avoid crevasses on their own.

Yeti has also proven itself adept at tasks that were not originally envisioned for it.

During the 2012-13 Antarctic research season, Yeti was used to map ice caves on the slopes of Mount Erebus, the world's southernmost active volcano.

The ice caves are attracting increasingly more scientific attention. Volcanologists are interested in the volcano's chemical outgassing through fissures on its flanks, and biologists are interested in what sort of microbial life might exist in these discrete environments, which are much warmer and far more humid than the frigid, wind-sculpted surface.

In a deployment that coincided with the 100th anniversary of the arrival of the first explorers at the geographic South Pole in the 2011-2012 research season, Yeti repeatedly and uniformly executed closely spaced survey grids to find known, but inaccurately mapped, buried hazards.

The robot mapped out the long-abandoned original South Pole research station, built in the late 1950s and subsequently buried under the Antarctic ice sheet by years of snowfall and drift. A previous, less refined survey of the site by a human crew had only generally identified the outline of the major buildings. The Yeti-based survey generated a map detailed enough to allow crews to directly access the corners of structures near the ice surface in order to safely demolish them.

-NSF-

Afghan air force conducts air assault with Afghan special ops

Afghan air force conducts air assault with Afghan special ops

THE MISSILE AND SPACE INTELLIGENCE CENTER

GTR-18 surface-to-air missile simulators are fired at incoming aircraft during nighttime warfare training at the Yodaville close air support range near Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Ariz., April 11, 2011. The Defense Intelligence Agency's Missile and Space Intelligence Center helps to protect U.S. forces from similar real weapons. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Benjamin R. Reynolds

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Missile, Space Intelligence Center Saves Warfighter Lives
By Cheryl Pellerin
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, March 8, 2013 - Engineers, scientists and analysts of the Defense Intelligence Agency's Missile and Space Intelligence Center provide high-confidence assessments of foreign missile and space systems and other critical intelligence products that help to keep warfighters from harm

Spread out over some of the 38,000 acres of the Army's Redstone Arsenal in the Appalachian highlands of northern Alabama are the laboratories, high-performance computing operations, test areas and hardware storage spaces that make up MSIC's vast engineering complex.

"The work itself is pretty detailed and geeky," MSIC Director Pamela McCue explained during an interview with American Forces Press Service. "We're a bunch of engineers and scientists, and by nature we love to figure out how things work."

McCue, an electrical engineer, said the work involves looking at all sources of intelligence and figuring out the characteristics, performance and operations of threat weapons, including surface-to-air missiles, anti-tank guided missiles, ground-based anti-satellite systems and short-range ballistic missiles.

Service members who conduct operations anywhere in the world are likely to encounter a variety of weapons, McCue said.

"Our job is to understand the threat weapons and push intelligence to the military so they will be prepared," she added. "Hopefully, we can do it so our service [members] won't even encounter the threat weapons, but if they do, we want them always to come out on top."

MSIC engineers and scientists focus on how a weapon works, how well it works, and how it's vulnerable or how it can be defeated, she said. Air and missile defense is a key mission.

"These are surface-to-air missiles primarily that fire at our aircraft, ... so anywhere that we have an air operation going, we are likely to face these kinds of systems," McCue noted.

The missiles range from air defense systems that a person can carry and fire from the shoulder to long-range air defense systems that can engage targets over hundreds of miles. The director said millions of "man-portable" systems are in use around the world.

With the knowledge its scientists and engineers gain, MSIC works with those in the services who design air survivability equipment, the director said, "so if you're carrying that on an aircraft, it will detect that a missile has been launched against it, and it will take action so the missile, hopefully, will not hit the aircraft.

"It can do that either with some kind of countermeasure," she continued, "usually a laser-based countermeasure, or perhaps even [by] dropping flares, which are electro-optical infrared devices [designed to] distract the missile and pull it off course. These are techniques that we can equip our military aircraft with -- and especially our helicopters, which have to operate in harm's way -- so even if they are engaged, they won't be hit."

Another important area for MSIC includes ground-based weapons that fire missiles or directed energy at platforms in space. These include anti-satellite missiles and directed-energy weapons.

"We in the United States haven't had a lot of [directed-energy weapons] programs for a while, [but] others around the world are still developing directed-energy weapons -- Russia and China are the two big ones," she said.

Very-high-energy weapons include laser systems, she added, and such weapons either would damage sensors on airplanes or satellites, or as technology evolves, physically destroy a platform in air or space.

The other important mission area for MSIC involves short-range ballistic missiles -- those that can engage targets from tens of miles out to 600 miles out.

"These systems are important because they're the weapon of choice for a lot of [nations] to reach beyond their borders, ... and they can be fitted to carry weapons of mass destruction, so they're a big concern for us and our allies," McCue said. "They're certainly a big player in the Middle East and North Korea."

Today, MSIC helps to defend against ballistic missiles on the same ground where, in 1950, German rocket developer Wernher von Braun and his team of top rocket scientists began working with the Army to develop the Jupiter ballistic missile and others.

The work was done as part of the Army Ballistic Missile Agency, which von Braun headed, and McCue said the organization had a small intelligence cell that was "taking a look at what was going on around the world in similar developments."

MISC began then as an Army research and development center, the director added, and in the 1990s, it became part of the Defense Intelligence Agency.

"We've had some of our missions since the very first days, like looking at those threat missile developments to compare them to what we were doing on this side," McCue said. "We picked up additional missions as weapons evolved and new things came online, like the ground-based anti-satellite mission."

In the beginning, the weapons were pretty basic, she said. "For instance, a surface-to-air missile would be capable of tracking a single aircraft at a time," she explained. "It would have a very tightly controlled process for controlling the missile to the target, and it would be very straightforward."

Now, the director said, there's a lot more flexibility.

"On the surface-to-air missile side, you have systems that can track many targets at one time and send many missiles to different targets at the same time," she added, and on the ballistic-missile side, a simple ballistic trajectory may be replaced by extreme maneuvers and countermeasures.

"A lot more complexity in the weapons has come from having more capability, more technology and more computers," the director observed.

Computers have boosted capability on the analysis side, McCue said. "It makes the weapon systems harder to figure out," she said, "but it makes our analysis a little easier and more capable."

The center also has put more emphasis on command and control, as the processes and communications surrounding the launch of a rocket or missile become more computer-driven, she said.

MSIC now has fewer people than it did during the Cold War. But amid the geopolitical instability of much of the world today, MSIC's scientists, engineers and analysts have many more kinds of weapons to deal with. Computer power helps keep the pace, along with a good priority system, McCue said.

"We don't have more people, but we do what I like to call 'risk management,'" the director said. "Every weapon system out there in the world doesn't have an equally high probability of being in an engagement at any given time, so we're constantly assessing priorities and putting the resources we have on the most important weapons, knowing that we can't cover everything."

Over time, major developments in technology could drive changes in MSIC's work, but McCue said she believes being an engineering organization gives MSIC an advantage.

"We tend to keep up with technology, because we use it in our analysis techniques. The folks in the ... labs we work with and the national labs across the country also keep up with technologies, and we're well-linked there," she said. "So ... we have the right mindset, and we are following the technology as a matter of course. The trick is anticipating how that might play into threat weapons."

Technologically, she added, one game-changer could involve people who do unexpected things with weapons, driven by conflicts such as the unrest in Syria or North Korea's use of missiles.

Along with keeping up with evolving technology, working with partners is an important aspect of the work at MSIC these days.

"We are very integrated into the whole intelligence system," the director said, adding that MSIC also works closely with the services and with U.S. allies and partners.

Each service has aircraft they have to fly, she added, "so they have to worry about surface-to-air missiles, [and] they're all what we call customers of ours. We make sure we understand what they need [and] we understand what kind of intelligence they need to put the right things on their military systems, ... and we push intelligence to them in the right form."

Where international partners are concerned, McCue said, "with virtually every partner that the United States has, we work with our counterparts in those countries."

The budget problems plaguing the nation and the Defense Department present a challenge that McCue said the center's scientists and engineers will have to tackle.

"In my observation over the years," she said, "there's a lot of innovation that can come from tight times -- when you're really focused on getting the job done and you've got to figure out some way to do it. We're adaptive and we're flexible, and we're going to keep putting those priorities up there and making sure we get the important things done."

LOS ALAMOS ANNOUNCES NEW REPACKAGING FACILITY GOES ONLINE TO PROCESS NUCLEAR WASTE

A view of the new box line facility where transuranic waste will be repackaged at Los Alamos National Laboratory

FROM: LOS ALAMOS NATIONAL LABORATORY
Los Alamos National Laboratory opens new waste repackaging facility
Box line facility is largest of its kind ever built

LOS ALAMOS, N.M., March 7, 2013—Los Alamos National Laboratory has brought a third waste repackaging facility online to increase its capability to process nuclear waste for permanent disposal.

The "375 box line facility" enables Los Alamos to repackage transuranic (TRU) waste stored in large boxes.

Built inside a dome once used to house containers of waste at the Laboratory, the facility is the largest Perma-Con© structure ever constructed. A Perma-Con© is a modular structure typically used for radiological or hazardous containment. Contaminated items such as equipment and protective clothing, used during past operations at Los Alamos, are removed from their containers inside the structure and then are repackaged for shipment to licensed, permanent disposal facilities.

The record-setting structure is 110 feet long by 48 feet wide.

"We needed to build a structure big enough to accommodate these waste boxes, some of which are 40 feet long," said Jeff Mousseau, associate director of environmental programs at LANL. "These are the largest, most contaminated boxes of waste at Los Alamos, and this facility will give us the capability to repackage them safely."

The Perma-Con© structure was provided by Radiation Protection Systems, Inc.

"The 375 box line facility is the largest, most technically challenging and complex containment facility RPS has produced to date," said Bill Rambow, Radiation Protection Systems CEO. "The RPS team is very proud to have contributed to the LANL TRU waste disposal effort."

The facility is part of an effort to accelerate removal of 3,706 cubic meters of TRU waste currently stored above ground at Los Alamos. As part of an agreement with the State of New Mexico, the National Nuclear Security Administration and the Laboratory have made removing this waste one of their top environmental priorities. In the first year of the accelerated work, Los Alamos shattered its former nuclear waste shipping records, with more than 230 waste shipments resulting in the disposition of 920 cubic meters of TRU waste.

"This new repackaging facility will allow us to dispose of even greater volumes of TRU waste during the coming months," said Pete Maggiore, assistant manager for environmental operations at the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Los Alamos Field Office.

Photograph cutlines:

A view of the new box line facility where transuranic waste will be repackaged at Los Alamos National Laboratory.

A worker transports the first box of waste to be repackaged at Los Alamos National Laboratory’s newest box line facility.

What is transuranic, or TRU, waste?

TRU waste consists of clothing, tools, rags, debris, soil and other items contaminated with radioactive material, mostly plutonium. Transuranic elements such as plutonium have an atomic number greater than uranium, so they are labeled transuranic, for "beyond uranium" on the periodic table of elements.

About 90 percent of the current TRU waste inventory is a result of decades of nuclear research and weapons production at the Laboratory and is often referred to as "legacy" waste.

About Perma-Con© Modular Containment Structures The Perma-Con© structure built to process TRU waste at Los Alamos National Laboratory was provided by Radiation Protection Systems, Inc. A description of the modular enclosures, as well as company contact information, is provided here.

U.S. SANCTIONS INDIVIDUALS FOR AIDING N. KOREAN WMD PROGRAMS

FROM: U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
United States Sanctions Individuals Linked To North Korean Weapons Of Mass Destruction Programs
Fact Sheet
Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation
March 8, 2013
　

The United States welcomes the unanimous passage today of United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 2094. North Korea's nuclear and missile proliferation activities violate the UN Security Council sanctions regime comprised of resolutions 1718 (2006), 1874 (2009) and 2087 (2013), destabilize the region, and undermine the global nonproliferation regime. The international community has condemned North Korea’s weapons of mass destruction (WMD) proliferation activity and its continued efforts to advance its nuclear and missile programs, including its announced February 12 nuclear test and its April and December 2012 launches using ballistic missile technology. These provocative acts continue to threaten international peace and security and will only result in North Korea becoming further isolated from the international community.

On Thursday, March 7, 2013 the U.S. Department of the Treasury implemented the asset freeze provisions of UNSCR 2094 (2013) by designating Mun Cho’ng-Ch’o’l, a Tanchon Commercial Bank (TCB) representative who served in Beijing, China; and Yo’n Cho’ng-Nam and Ko Ch’o’l-Chae, both based in Dalian, China, and representatives of Korea Mining Development Corporation (KOMID), pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13382, which targets proliferators of WMD and their supporters. The Second Academy of Natural Sciences and Korea Complex Equipment Import Corporation, listed in UNSCR 2094 today, were previously designated pursuant to E.O. 13382 in August 2010 and October 2005 respectively.

"These individuals are important actors within North Korea’s proliferation network who have been working to gain access to international markets," said Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence David S. Cohen. "We will continue to work with our partners around the world to expose these operations and hold North Korea accountable for its provocative and destabilizing acts."

TCB was identified in the annex of E.O. 13382 in June 2005 because it acts as the financial arm of KOMID, Pyongyang’s premier arms dealer and main exporter of goods and equipment related to ballistic missiles and conventional weapons. KOMID was also listed in the annex to E.O. 13382 in June 2005 for its role in North Korea’s proliferation of WMD.

KOMID has offices in multiple countries around the world and facilitates weapons sales for the North Korean government. TCB plays a role in financing KOMID’s sales of ballistic missiles and has also been involved in ballistic missile transactions from KOMID to Iran’s Shahid Hemmat Industrial Group (SHIG), the U.S. and UN-sanctioned Iranian organization responsible for developing liquid-fueled ballistic missiles. In addition to their listings under E.O. 13382, both TCB and KOMID were designated by the UNSCR 1718 Committee in April 2009.

Today’s designations under E.O. 13382 generally result in the prohibition of transactions between these individuals and any U.S. person, and the freezing of any assets they may have under U.S. jurisdiction.

Identifying information:

Name: Mun Cho’ng-Ch’o’l
Nationality: Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (D.P.R.K.)
Location: C/O Tanchon Commercial Bank, Saemaeul 1-Dong, Pyongchon District, Pyongyang, North Korea
Title: Tanchon Commercial Bank Representative

Name: Yo’n Cho’ng-Nam
Nationality: Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (D.P.R.K.)
Location: Dalian, China
Title: Chief Representative, KOMID

Name: Ko Ch’o’l-Chae
Nationality: Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (D.P.R.K.)
Location: Dalian, China
Title: Deputy Representative, KOMID

ENERGY DEPARTMENT ANNOUNCES NEXT ROUND OF "DATA JAMS"

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Ian Kalin
Director of the Energy Data Initiative

　

2012 was a good year for American innovation. The outgrowth of the "Data Jam" from the health sector into other areas like energy and education sparked an inspiring wave of entrepreneurship. These Jams -- formerly known as Joint Application Modeling Sessions -- were a major improvement to the familiar format of public-private collaboration workshops. Looking to 2013, the Energy Department is announcing today the next round of Data Jams.

The new Data Jams are being co-hosted and organized by regional innovation hubs, industry groups and start-up incubators. Although focused on certain geographies and sectors, they all have the same common structure:
Step One: Assemble inspiring innovators and entrepreneurs from the private sector, government, academia and non-profit entities.
Step Two: Provide an introduction to valuable open datasets and align them to common challenges.
Step Three: Small groups brainstorm new products, services, apps or features that could solve common challenges and be created within 90 days.
Step Four: Large group votes on the best ideations.
Step Five: Individuals volunteer to create new products within 90 days.
Beyond the obvious commercial advantage of creating new products that help people, another incentive for volunteers at Data Jams is the possibility of being invited to annual showcase Datapaloozas, like the one hosted by the Energy Department last October. As demonstrated by the roster of upcoming Data Jams, the Federal government is not required to be "at the table" in order to host a Data Jam. Data Jams can be held wherever there are people willing to convene innovators with a bias-for-action. In the next few months, Energy Data Jams will include a vehicles-focused Data Jam with the automotive industry in Detroit, the Research Triangle Park in Raleigh, NC, Boston Cleanweb, and New York City Energy Week.

U.S. EXPRESSES CONCERN OVER AMENDMENTS TO HUNGARIAN CONSTITUTION

 Gothic Revival Hungarian Parliament Building on the West side of the Danube.

FROM: U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
Proposed Amendments to the Hungarian Constitution
Press Statement
Victoria Nuland
Department Spokesperson Office of the Spokesperson
Washington, DC
March 7, 2013
　

The United States shares the concerns expressed by the Council of Europe about proposed amendments to the Hungarian constitution. These amendments deserve closer scrutiny and more deliberate consideration, as they could threaten the principles of institutional independence and checks and balances that are the hallmark of democratic governance.

The United States urges the Government of Hungary and the Parliament to ensure that the process of considering amendments to the constitution demonstrates respect for the rule of law and judicial review, openness to the views of other stakeholders across Hungarian society, and continuing receptiveness to the expertise of the Council of Europe’s Venice Commission.

ADDITONAL INFORMATION FROM CIA WORLD FACTBOOK

Hungary became a Christian kingdom in A.D. 1000 and for many centuries served as a bulwark against Ottoman Turkish expansion in Europe. The kingdom eventually became part of the polyglot Austro-Hungarian Empire, which collapsed during World War I. The country fell under Communist rule following World War II. In 1956, a revolt and an announced withdrawal from the Warsaw Pact were met with a massive military intervention by Moscow. Under the leadership of Janos KADAR in 1968, Hungary began liberalizing its economy, introducing so-called "Goulash Communism." Hungary held its first multiparty elections in 1990 and initiated a free market economy. It joined NATO in 1999 and the EU five years later. In 2011, Hungary assumed the six-month rotating presidency of the EU for the first time.

　

West Wing Week: 03/08/13 or “Jedi Mind-Meld” | The White House

West Wing Week: 03/08/13 or “Jedi Mind-Meld” | The White House

U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY HAGEL VISITS AFGHANISTAN

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Hagel Visits Afghanistan to Thank Troops, Assess Operations
By Karen Parrish
American Forces Press Service

KABUL, Afghanistan, March 8, 2013 - Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel landed here today on his first trip as the Defense Department's leader to thank U.S. troops and to see for himself "where we are in Afghanistan."

Hagel, who was sworn in Feb. 27, said he's looking forward to visiting U.S. service members and thanking them for their work.

"I think it's always important, when new leadership comes into any office in our national security organization, that we recognize the people who make it all possible and who are the ones on the front line," he said to reporters traveling with him during the flight.

The new secretary's last trip to Afghanistan was in the summer of 2008, he noted, along with then-U.S. Sen. Barack Obama. Hagel said he also was a member of the first congressional delegation to visit the country in January 2002.

"I need to better understand what's going on there," the secretary said. "I need to talk to, listen to, get a good sense from our commanders on the ground."

Hagel said he's interested in seeing for himself, and discussing with Afghan and NATO International Security Assistance Force partners, "where the Afghans are in some of their capabilities." He added that he has spoken by telephone this week with both Afghan Defense Minister Bismullah Khan Mohammadi and NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, who recently returned from a visit to Afghanistan.

The secretary said he looks forward to meeting with Mohammadi during his visit, and to talking with senior ISAF leaders, including Marine Corps Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., who took over command of the coalition force from Marine Corps Gen. John R. Allen on Feb. 10.

Hagel said he also looks forward to getting reacquainted with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, whom he first met in 2002.

The secretary said that as the alliance prepares for the final stage of transitioning to Afghan security lead in their own country, there are "a lot of big issues and challenge ahead."

"That transition has to be done right; it has to be done in partnership with the Afghans [and] with our allies," he said. "Our country -- as well as Afghanistan, the region and our allies -- have a lot at stake here. Our continued focus and energy and attention on Afghanistan is going to be very important."

With some 66,000 U.S. service members still at war in a combat zone, Hagel said, "I don't minimize or marginalize anything." While discussions are ongoing among Afghan, U.S. and NATO member governments, he said, the question of ISAF troop numbers and mission beyond 2014 remains open.

As NATO's combat mission in Afghanistan draws to a close, the secretary said, it's important to manage the transition so the Afghan people have the best possible chance at a secure future.

"I think we all have invested an awful lot here in this effort, especially the men and women who made tremendous sacrifices from our country, and their families," he said. "I think we are transitioning in a way that gives the Afghan people a very hopeful future."

Hagel said any follow-on mission for U.S. forces in Afghanistan after the transition is complete in 2014 will be far different from the lead combatant role they've played for 12 years.

The new mission, as the president has outlined, will be training, assistance and advice, he said. "What we're working through ... with the Afghan government is a bilateral agreement that will address some of these future issues," he added. "Our role as we transition out is a totally different role."

Responding to a reporter's question on North Korea's government, which reportedly has threatened to launch a nuclear strike against the United States, the secretary said "the United States of America and our allies are prepared to deal with any threat ... that occurs in the world."

U.S. ASSISTANCE TO YEMEN

FROM: U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
Fact Sheet
Office of the Spokesperson
Washington, DC
March 7, 2013

The United States supports Yemen through a comprehensive strategy to promote the political, economic, and security sector reforms underpinning the Gulf Cooperation Council-brokered political transition initiative. Our focus is to enable the government to respond to the great needs and challenges facing the Yemeni people. We committed $356 million to Yemen in Fiscal Year (FY) 2012 – the largest amount of annual assistance ever provided by the U.S. government for Yemen. Our aid seeks both to address urgent needs and to facilitate Yemen’s long-term development, growth, and stability. Assisting Yemen’s transition remains a priority for the United States, and we will seek to continue providing significant support this year.

Political Transition

In coordination with the international community, including the United Nations, the United States plans to provide $10.4 million in technical and operational assistance to support the Yemeni-led National Dialogue process, slated to begin March 18. We plan to contribute $1.2 million to support constitutional reform and referendum projects. We also plan to provide $8.4 million in technical assistance to prepare for national elections in February 2014, including for reforms to Yemen’s voter registry. We are also supporting the efforts of Yemeni women to ensure their voices and perspectives contribute to Yemen’s transition.

Economic Growth and Development

The United States supports improvements in the livelihoods and economic opportunity for Yemeni citizens in line with the Yemeni-endorsed Mutual Accountability Framework (MAF). We are contributing to job creation and capacity-building of local communities through infrastructure rehabilitation, micro-finance and small enterprise support, and agriculture development. We are helping rebuild conflict-affected communities in the south. And we are supporting the improvement of Yemen’s healthcare system through programs that reduce maternal, newborn and child health mortality and morbidity, and by helping the Ministry of Public Health and Planning develop stronger maternal and child health commodity supply chains to better address treatment shortages in vulnerable communities.

Humanitarian Assistance

The United States contributed $119 million in humanitarian assistance last year to address Yemen’s pressing needs. Our aid serves to address the emergency needs of the most vulnerable populations, in coordination with the United Nation’s Yemen Humanitarian Response Plan.

Security

To sustain Yemen’s ongoing security sector reform and counterterrorism efforts throughout the transition period, the United States provided roughly $46 million in Department of State-funded security assistance to Yemen in FY 2012, as well as $112 million in Department of Defense-funded programs to train and equip the Yemeni security forces to conduct counterterrorism operations. We are also actively supporting Yemen’s security sector reorganization.

FEMA SAYS NEARLY $721 MILLION IN PUBLIC ASSISTANCE GRANTS TO REIMBURSE GOVERNMENTS

Photo:  Hurricane Sandy Aftermath.  Credit:  U.S. Air Force.

FROM: U.S. FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY
Public Assistance: By the Numbers
Release date:
March 7, 2013
Release Number:
NR-182

NEW YORK CITY — Since Hurricane Sandy struck New York, the Federal Emergency Management Agency has approved nearly $721 million in Public Assistance grants to reimburse state, tribal, local governments and eligible private nonprofits for some of the costs of emergency response, debris removal and repairing or rebuilding damaged public facilities. More than 268 grants have been approved so far. Here are some of the recent reimbursements:

Emergency work expenses
$7 million to the New York Department of Environmental Protection for reconstruction of environmentally associated facilities such as Water Waste Treatment Plants
$5.9 million to the New York City Department of Housing and Preservation Development for demolition of residential structures that were in imminent danger of collapse
$634,924 to the Office of the Mayor of New York for an ongoing effort by the Mayor’s office to provide communication for disaster victims regarding food, housing assistance, emergency shelter locations and the housing rapid repairs program
$152,644 to the Seaford Union Free School District for providing school transportation for students
Permanent work expenses
$2.8 million to the East Rockaway Union Free School District for repairs to the Junior and Senior High School
$37,234 to the Village of Atlantic Beach for the replacement of wooden walkways and fences that were damaged
Debris removal
$6.8 million to the Town of Huntington
$4 million to the Town of Babylon
$345,402 to the Old Westbury Gardens to clean up more than 200 fallen trees which created 19,500 cubic yards of debris throughout the 250 acres of the historical Old Westbury Gardens
FEMA’s Public Assistance program reimburses state, tribal, local governments and certain private nonprofit organizations 75 percent of eligible costs of emergency and permanent work. The remaining 25 percent is provided by non-federal funds. The state forwards the federal funds to the eligible local governments or organizations that incurred costs.

CIVIL WAR HEROS FINALY LAID TO REST AT ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETARY

FROM: U.S. NAVY
130307-O-ZZ999-004 DULLES, Va. (March 7, 2013) Members of the U.S. Navy Ceremonial Guard conduct a dignified transfer of remains ceremony at Washington Dulles International Airport for one of two Sailors recovered from the ironclad USS Monitor. Monitor sank off Cape Hatteras, N.C., in 1862. The two Sailors will be interred with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery. (U.S. Navy photo courtesy of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority by by Rob Yingling/Released)

GEN. MATHIS SAYS TRAINING HAS REDUCED INSIDER ATTACKS IN AFGHANISTAN

Marine Corps General James N. Mathis

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Training Reduces Insider Attacks, Mattis Says
By Army Sgt. 1st Class Tyrone C. Marshall Jr.
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, March 6, 2013 - Effective counterintelligence training and vigilance has helped to reduce the threat of insider attacks to one this year, the commander of U.S. Central Command said here today.

Marine Corps Gen. James N. Mattis testified before the House Armed Services Committee on the decline of "green-on-blue" violence in Afghanistan, where Afghan soldiers attack U.S. military personnel and their coalition partners.

As of September 2012, 45 International Security Assistance Force members had been killed during insider attacks.

"It goes to the very heart of trust," Mattis said. "So far this year, [there's only been] one attack. Now, I do not get complacent. I think I know why it's gone down. It has to do with training.

"It has to do with counterintelligence training we've given to the Afghans so they have ferreted out some of these people inside their ranks, and caught them," he added. "And we have very good techniques for doing that."

Despite the decline in attacks, Mattis said there has been very little change in interaction with Afghan troops.

Mattis said if contrasted to two years ago, "you would probably find very little difference in what you saw as far as our troops interacting with their troops."

"We are very much involved with them, integrated with them," he said. "We are obviously taking what you would consider prudent measures in the field to protect ourselves."

Mattis noted Afghan troops have lost more of their own in "green-on-green" than U.S. forces have in green-on-blue attacks.

"So we have had wholehearted support from the Afghan leadership in addressing this problem," he said. "And it appears to be paying off."

STATE DEPARTMENT REPRESENTATIVE DAVIES TESTIFIES ON NORTH KOREAN NUCLEAR TESTING

Bridge of No Return.  Korean Border.  Credit:  CIA World Factbook.

FROM: U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
U.S. Policy Toward North Korea
Testimony
Glyn Davies
Special Representative for North Korea Policy
Testimony Before the Senate Committee On Foreign Relations
Washington, DC
March 7, 2013

Chairman Menendez, Senator Corker, and Members of the Committee, thank you for inviting me to testify today on U.S. policy toward the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK).

Nearly sixty years have passed since the conclusion of the armistice that ended the hostilities of the Korean War, yet North Korea still persists as one of the thorniest challenges confronting the United States and the international community. Pyongyang’s February announcement of a third nuclear test—conducted in brazen defiance of the demands of the United Nations Security Council—and its subsequent threats to conduct even more follow-on "measures" are only the latest in a long line of reminders that the DPRK’s nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs and proliferation activities pose serious threats to U.S. national security, to regional security in the Asia-Pacific, and to the global nonproliferation regime.

Pyongyang continues to violate its international obligations and commitments, including to denuclearize. Its human rights record remains deplorable. Its economy is stagnant. Its people are impoverished. It pours significant sums into nuclear and ballistic missile programs that are forbidden by the United Nations. The leadership’s choices are isolating North Korea from the international community. International outrage against North Korea and its provocative and threatening actions, meanwhile, continues to grow.

The DPRK has consistently failed to take advantage of the alternatives available. The United States offered—and has continued to offer—Pyongyang an improved relationship with the United States and integration into the international community, provided North Korea demonstrated a willingness to fulfill its denuclearization commitments and address other concerns. The DPRK rebuffed these offers and instead responded with a series of provocations that drew widespread international condemnation.

Pyongyang appeared prepared to enter a period of serious diplomatic engagement in mid-2011, and the United States responded with a proactive, nearly-year-long diplomatic effort to push forward on denuclearization in a way that would lay the groundwork for improved bilateral relations. Starting in July 2011 and continuing over the next ten months, the United States and the DPRK held three rounds of bilateral denuclearization talks on three continents. In our meetings, we worked to forge the conditions necessary for resuming the Six-Party Talks, which had been stalled since 2008. Shortly after Kim Jong Un’s assumption of power, we reached a modest but potentially important bilateral understanding announced on February 29, 2012.

Pyongyang announced its commitment to, among other things, a moratorium on nuclear tests, long-range missile launches, and all nuclear activity, including uranium enrichment activity, at the Yongbyon nuclear complex. North Korea also committed to allow International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors to return to Yongbyon to monitor the cessation of uranium enrichment and confirm the disablement of plutonium-related facilities there.

But just 16 days later, North Korea reneged on these commitments by announcing its intent to launch a satellite into orbit. Such launches use ballistic missile technology proscribed by multiple UN Security Council resolutions (UNSCRs), and we had made it abundantly clear during our negotiations that such a launch, even if characterized as a satellite launch, would be a deal-breaker. Pyongyang nevertheless conducted such a launch on April 13 and was greeted by deep international opprobrium. All five Six-Party partners—China, Russia, the United States, the Republic of Korea (ROK), and Japan—joined a long list of states publicly condemning Pyongyang’s provocation. The UN Security Council unanimously issued a Presidential Statement condemning the act as a "serious violation" of UNSCRs 1718 and 1874, tightened existing sanctions, and made clear its commitment to "take action accordingly" in the event of another launch.

North Korea again brazenly defied the international community on December 12, 2012, with another long-range missile launch, again characterized by the DPRK as a satellite launch, in flagrant violation of UN Security Council resolutions 1718 and 1874 and in the face of united public and private calls by the international community to desist. Over 60 countries and international organizations issued statements criticizing the launch. The UN Security Council unanimously adopted UNSCR 2087, which condemned the launch, further expanded the scope of sanctions on the DPRK, and promised "significant action" in the event of a future DPRK missile launch or nuclear test.


The announcement of a nuclear test which Pyongyang proclaimed was targeted against the United States, represents an even bolder threat to U.S. national security, the stability of the region, and the global nonproliferation regime. The international response has been unprecedented. Over 80 countries and international organizations from all corners of the world have decried the test. Many are speaking out against DPRK provocations for the first time. As the list continues to grow, it is increasingly clear that an international consensus is coalescing in opposition to North Korea’s destabilizing activities.

We are working with the international community to make clear that North Korea’s nuclear test has costly consequences. In adopting Resolution 2087 in January after the December launch, the UN Security Council pledged to take "significant action" in the event of a nuclear test; we are working hard at the UN Security Council to make good on that pledge. We are intensively engaged with our Six-Party partners, members of the UN Security Council, and other UN member states on a strong and credible response by the international community.

China’s support for firm action remains key, and we are deeply engaged with the Chinese in shaping an appropriate response. We are strengthening our close coordination with our Six-Party partners and regional allies. And—through a whole-of-government approach, working closely with our partners in the Department of Defense and other agencies—we will take the steps necessary to defend ourselves and our allies, particularly the ROK and Japan. We have reassured both Seoul and Tokyo, at the highest levels, of our commitment to extended deterrence through the U.S. nuclear umbrella, conventional capabilities, and missile defense.

North Korea’s WMD, ballistic missile, conventional arms, and proliferation activities constitute a serious and unacceptable threat to U.S. national security, to say nothing of the integrity of the global nonproliferation regime, which many around the world have labored—over generations—to devise, nurture, and enforce. Effective, targeted multilateral and national sanctions will consequently remain a vital component of our efforts to impede the DPRK’s efforts to advance its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs and proliferation activities. UNSCR 2087 was an important step forward in this regard. Combined with the measures in resolutions 1718 and 1874, UNSCR 2087 further constricts North Korea’s efforts to procure weapons components, send agents abroad, smuggle dual-use items, and make headway on its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs.

Full and transparent implementation of these resolutions by all UN member states, including China, is critical. We are actively engaged with the international community to underscore the importance of full enforcement of these measures.

We also continue to exercise national authorities to sanction North Korean entities, individuals, and those that support them in facilitating programs that threaten the American people. Most recently, on January 24, the Departments of State and the Treasury designated a number of North Korean individuals and entities under Executive Order 13382, which targets actors involved in the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their supporters. The Department of State designated the Korean Committee for Space Technology—North Korea’s space agency—and several officials directly involved in North Korea’s April 2012 and December 2012 launches, which contributed to the DPRK’s long-range ballistic missile development efforts. The Department of the Treasury designated several Beijing-based North Korean officials linked to the DPRK’s Tanchon Commercial Bank, which has been designated by the UN and the United States for its role in facilitating the sales of conventional arms, ballistic missiles, and related items. The Treasury Department also targeted Leader (Hong Kong) International Trading Limited, a Hong Kong-based firm, for its links to the Korea Mining Development Trading Corporation, the DPRK’s premier arms dealer and exporter of missile- and weapon-related goods.

We will continue to take national measures as appropriate. We are also working closely with the UN Security Council’s DPRK sanctions committee and its Panel of Experts, the EU and like-minded partners, and others around the globe to harmonize our sanctions programs and to ensure the full and transparent implementation of UNSCRs 1718, 1874, and 2087, which remain the heart of the multilateral sanctions regime.

Sanctions are not a punitive measure, but rather a tool to impede the development of North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs and proliferation-related exports, as well as to make clear the costs of North Korea’s defiance of its international obligations. Working toward our endgame—the verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula in a peaceful manner—will require an openness to meaningful dialogue with the DPRK. But the real choice is up to Pyongyang.

We remain committed to authentic and credible negotiations to implement the September 2005 Joint Statement of the Six-Party Talks and to bring North Korea into compliance with its international obligations through irreversible steps leading to denuclearization. The President made this clear last November when he said, "…let go of your nuclear weapons and choose the path of peace and progress. If you do, you will find an extended hand from the United States of America." But let me state the obvious: North Korea’s reckless provocations have certainly raised the bar for a return to dialogue.

The United States will not engage in talks for the sake of talks. Rather, what we want are negotiations that address the real issue of North Korea’s nuclear program. Authentic and credible negotiations therefore require a serious, meaningful change in North Korea’s priorities demonstrating that Pyongyang is prepared to meet its commitments and obligations to achieve the core goal of the September 2005 Joint Statement: the verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula in a peaceful manner.

This leads to some other important principles. First and foremost, the United States will not accept North Korea as a nuclear-armed state. We will not reward the DPRK for the absence of bad behavior. We will not compensate the DPRK merely for returning to dialogue. We have also made clear that U.S.-DPRK relations cannot fundamentally improve without sustained improvement in inter-Korean relations and human rights. Nor will we tolerate North Korea provoking its neighbors. These positions will not change.

In the meantime, active U.S. diplomacy on North Korea—on a wide range of issues—continues. Close coordination with our valued treaty allies, the ROK and Japan, remains central to our approach.

ROK President Park Geun-hye and President Obama agree on the need for continued close U.S.-ROK coordination on a range of security issues, including North Korea. We are confident of President Park’s commitment to the U.S.-ROK alliance and anticipate close consultation with her administration on its North Korea strategy. Close consultation will also continue with Japan. During his visit to Washington in late February, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and President Obama agreed to continue working together closely in responding to the threat posed by North Korea, including through coordination on sanctions measures.

We have also expanded our engagement by developing new dialogues on North Korea with key global actors who have joined the rising chorus of regional and global voices calling on North Korea to fulfill its commitments, comply with its international obligations, and refrain from provocative acts that undermine regional security and the global nonproliferation regime.

China, however, remains central to altering North Korea’s cost calculus. Both geography and history have endowed the People’s Republic of China with a unique—if increasingly challenging—diplomatic, economic, and military relationship with the DPRK. Close U.S.-China consultations on North Korea will remain a key locus of our diplomatic efforts in the weeks and months ahead as we seek to bring further pressure to bear on North Korea and, over the longer term, seek genuine diplomatic openings to push forward on denuclearization.

While denuclearization remains an essential focus of U.S. policy, so, too, does the welfare of North Korea’s nearly 25 million people, the vast majority of whom bear the brunt of their government’s decision to perpetuate an unsustainable, self-impoverishing military-first policy. While the DPRK devotes limited resources to developing nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles and devising ways to avoid sanctions, one in three North Korean children is chronically malnourished, according to a 2009 UNICEF estimate. An elaborate network of political prison camps in the country is reportedly estimated to contain 100,000-200,000 inmates, who are subjected to forced labor, torture, and starvation. It has been reported that whole families have been condemned—in most cases without trial—when one member commits an alleged crime. The courageous and charismatic Shin Dong-hyuk, whose life story is chronicled in Blaine Harden’s excellent book, Escape from Camp 14, was born in one of the most infamous political prison camps and spent the first 23 years of his life there. He was not only tortured and subjected to forced labor, but was also cruelly made to witness—at the age of 14—the execution of his mother and his brother.

Even outside this prison-camp system, the North Korean government dictates nearly all aspects of people’s lives through a highly structured social classification system called songbun, which it uses to divide North Korea’s population into categories. This system, in turn, determines access to education and health care, employment opportunities, place of residence, and marriage prospects. Improving human rights conditions is an integral part of our North Korea policy, and how the DPRK addresses human rights will have a significant impact on prospects for improved U.S.-DPRK ties.

The world is increasingly taking note of the grave, widespread, and systematic human rights violations in the DPRK and demanding action. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay has called for an in-depth international inquiry to document abuses. We support this call, and next week, my colleague Special Envoy for North Korean Human Rights Issues Robert King will travel to Geneva to attend the UN Human Rights Council’s 22nd session, where he will call attention to North Korea’s human rights record and urge the adoption of an enhanced mechanism of inquiry into the regime’s abuses against the North Korean people.

We continue, meanwhile, to engage countries across the globe to raise awareness about North Korea and enlist their help in pushing for action. We are also working with international and non-governmental organizations to improve the situation on the ground for the North Korean people, including by supporting the flow of independent information into the DPRK. Working with the Broadcasting Board of Governors, Voice of America, Radio Free Asia, and independent broadcasters in the ROK, we aim to provide information to the North Korean people and—over the longer term—plant the seeds for the development of civil society.

The Obama Administration’s dual-track policy of engagement and pressure toward the DPRK reflects a bipartisan recognition that only a policy of openness to dialogue when possible, combined with sustained, robust pressure through sanctions when necessary, can maximize prospects for progress in denuclearizing North Korea.

Progress on this decades-old problem will not be achieved easily or quickly. We cannot and should not dignify or, worse, feed the North Korean narrative that U.S. actions determine DPRK behavior. North Korea makes its own choices, selects its own timing, and is alone responsible for its actions. Similarly, we need to bear in mind that this is certainly not now—if it ever truly was—solely or even primarily a bilateral U.S.-DPRK issue. It is, rather, increasingly a global issue that requires an entrepreneurial approach, multilateral diplomacy and—yes—continuing, robust American leadership.

But above all else, genuine progress requires a fundamental shift in North Korea’s strategic calculus. The DPRK leadership must choose between provocation or peace, isolation or integration. North Korea will not achieve security, economic prosperity, and integration into the international community while it pursues nuclear weapons, threatens its neighbors, tramples on international norms, abuses its own people, and refuses to fulfill its longstanding obligations and commitments.

The international community has been increasingly clear about this, and so have we. The DPRK leadership in Pyongyang faces sharp choices. And we are working to further sharpen those choices. If the North Korean regime is at all wise, it will re-embark on the path to denuclearization for the benefit of the North Korean people, the Northeast Asia region, and the world.

Thank you again for the opportunity to appear before you today. I am happy to answer any questions you may have.

"THE EVOLUTION OF THE EUROPEAN UNION" INFORMATION FROM THE CIA WORLD FACTBOOK

FROM: CIA WORLD FACTBOOK

The evolution of what is today the European Union (EU) from a regional economic agreement among six neighboring states in 1951 to today's hybrid intergovernmental and supranational organization of 27 countries across the European continent stands as an unprecedented phenomenon in the annals of history. Dynastic unions for territorial consolidation were long the norm in Europe; on a few occasions even country-level unions were arranged - the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Austro-Hungarian Empire were examples. But for such a large number of nation-states to cede some of their sovereignty to an overarching entity is unique.

Although the EU is not a federation in the strict sense, it is far more than a free-trade association such as ASEAN, NAFTA, or Mercosur, and it has certain attributes associated with independent nations: its own flag, currency (for some members), and law-making abilities, as well as diplomatic representation and a common foreign and security policy in its dealings with external partners.

Thus, inclusion of basic intelligence on the EU has been deemed appropriate as a new, separate entity in The World Factbook. However, because of the EU's special status, this description is placed after the regular country entries.

Following the two devastating World Wars in the first half of the 20th century, a number of European leaders in the late 1940s became convinced that the only way to establish a lasting peace was to reconcile the two chief belligerent nations - France and Germany - both economically and politically. In 1950, the French Foreign Minister Robert SCHUMAN proposed an eventual union of all Europe, the first step of which would be the integration of the coal and steel industries of Western Europe. The following year the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) was set up when six members, Belgium, France, West Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands, signed the Treaty of Paris.

The ECSC was so successful that within a few years the decision was made to integrate other elements of the countries' economies. In 1957, envisioning an "ever closer union," the Treaties of Rome created the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom), and the six member states undertook to eliminate trade barriers among themselves by forming a common market. In 1967, the institutions of all three communities were formally merged into the European Community (EC), creating a single Commission, a single Council of Ministers, and the body known today as the European Parliament. Members of the European Parliament were initially selected by national parliaments, but in 1979 the first direct elections were undertaken and they have been held every five years since.

In 1973, the first enlargement of the EC took place with the addition of Denmark, Ireland, and the United Kingdom. The 1980s saw further membership expansion with Greece joining in 1981 and Spain and Portugal in 1986. The 1992 Treaty of Maastricht laid the basis for further forms of cooperation in foreign and defense policy, in judicial and internal affairs, and in the creation of an economic and monetary union - including a common currency. This further integration created the European Union (EU), at the time standing alongside the European Community. In 1995, Austria, Finland, and Sweden joined the EU/EC, raising the membership total to 15.

A new currency, the euro, was launched in world money markets on 1 January 1999; it became the unit of exchange for all EU member states except the United Kingdom, Sweden, and Denmark. In 2002, citizens of those 12 countries began using euro banknotes and coins. Ten new countries joined the EU in 2004 - Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia - and in 2007 Bulgaria and Romania joined, bringing the membership to 27, where it stands today.

In an effort to ensure that the EU could function efficiently with an expanded membership, the Treaty of Nice (signed in 2000) set forth rules aimed at streamlining the size and procedures of EU institutions. An effort to establish a "Constitution for Europe," growing out of a Convention held in 2002-2003, foundered when it was rejected in referenda in France and the Netherlands in 2005. A subsequent effort in 2007 incorporated many of the features of the rejected Constitution while also making a number of substantive and symbolic changes. The new treaty, initially known as the Reform Treaty but subsequently referred to as the Treaty of Lisbon, sought to amend existing treaties rather than replace them. The treaty was approved at the EU intergovernmental conference of the 27 member states held in Lisbon in December 2007, after which the process of national ratifications began. In October 2009, an Irish referendum approved the Lisbon Treaty (overturning a previous rejection) and cleared the way for an ultimate unanimous endorsement. Poland and the Czech Republic signed on soon after. The Lisbon Treaty, again invoking the idea of an "ever closer union," came into force on 1 December 2009 and the European Union officially replaced and succeeded the European Community.

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE AWARDS $1 MILLION FOR GUN EDUCATION

Photo Credit:  Wikimedia Commons. 

FROM:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

Thursday, March 7, 2013
Department of Justice Awards $1 Million to the National Crime Prevention Council to Support Gun Safety Campaign
Award Allocated for the Development of a National Public Education Campaign on Responsible Gun Ownership Encouraging Safe Storage

The Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) awarded $1 million to the National Crime Prevention Council (NCPC) to support the development of a National Public Education Campaign on the subject of responsible gun ownership and safe gun storage. With the award, NCPC will create, produce, and distribute television, radio, and outdoor Public Service Announcements (PSAs) that encourage gun owners to safely store their firearms so that they do not fall into the wrong hands. The campaign will also emphasize the importance of immediately reporting lost or stolen guns to local law enforcement to ensure public safety.

"As part of President Obama's comprehensive plan to reduce gun violence, the Administration is committed to working with firearm owners and enthusiasts to prevent tragic accidents and keep guns from falling into the wrong hands," said Attorney General Eric Holder. "We are determined to implement the kinds of common-sense solutions that our citizens - and especially our young people - deserve."

Ensuring the public is educated in responsible gun ownership and firearm safety is a critical aspect to reducing gun violence. Gun owners, community groups and businesses must be aware and reminded to practice safe firearm storage and to make certain that firearms in the home are not casually accessible. This public awareness campaign will endeavor to decrease the threat of gun violence by promoting principles of responsible firearm ownership nationwide and providing guidelines for the safe usage and storage of firearms.

NCPC, founded in 1982, is the nation’s nonprofit leader in crime prevention. For 30 years, they have delivered crime prevention tips and public service advertising campaigns that empower citizens individually and collectively to keep themselves, their families and their communities safe from crime.

It is planned that the PSAs created through this award will be distributed to more than 1,700 television stations, nearly 15,000 radio stations and more than 500 cable networks in 210 markets in summer 2013.

THE FUTURE OF AIRCRAFT FROM NASA DRYDEN

NASA Dryden: Writing Stories of the Future Today
Prefaced by NASA Dryden Flight Research Center director David McBride's comments at the California Science Center's Space Shuttle Endeavour exhibit grand opening, this fast-paced video highlights some of the unique aircraft, aeronautical research, airborne Earth and space science missions and educational outreach activities conducted by NASA Dryden in 2012 and planned for 2013.

UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE WEEKLY CLAIMS REPORT FOR WEEK ENDING MARCH 2, 2013

FROM:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
 
SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA

In the week ending March 2, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 340,000, a decrease of 7,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 347,000. The 4-week moving average was 348,750, a decrease of 7,000 from the previous week's revised average of 355,750.
The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.4 percent for the week ending February 23, unchanged from the prior week's unrevised rate. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending February 23 was 3,094,000, an increase of 3,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 3,091,000. The 4-week moving average was 3,121,750, a decrease of 37,500 from the preceding week's revised average of 3,159,250.

UNADJUSTED DATA

The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 333,389 in the week ending March 2, an increase of 23,198 from the previous week. There were 368,433 initial claims in the comparable week in 2012.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.8 percent during the week ending February 23, an increase of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week's unrevised rate. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 3,589,315, an increase of 52,854 from the preceding week's revised level of 3,536,461. A year earlier, the rate was 3.2 percent and the volume was 3,988,890. The total number of people claiming benefits in all programs for the week ending February 16 was 5,401,893, a decrease of 362,275 from the previous week. There were 7,387,649 persons claiming benefits in all programs in the comparable week in 2012.  Extended Benefits were available only in Alaska during the week ending February 16. Initial claims for UI benefits filed by former Federal civilian employees totaled 1,138 in the week ending February 23, a decrease of 214 from the prior week. There were 2,188 initial claims filed by newly discharged veterans, a decrease of 115 from the preceding week. There were 20,902 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending February 16, a decrease of 1,780 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 38,482, a decrease of 984 from the prior week. States reported 1,780,626 persons claiming EUC (Emergency Unemployment Compensation) benefits for the week ending February 16, a decrease of 225,365 from the prior week. There were 2,929,210 persons claiming EUC in the comparable week in 2012. EUC weekly claims include first, second, third, and fourth tier activity. The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending February 16 were in Alaska (6.0), Montana (4.3), Puerto Rico (4.3), New Jersey (4.1), Pennsylvania (4.1), Rhode Island (4.1), Wisconsin (3.9), Idaho (3.7), Massachusetts (3.7), Connecticut (3.6), Illinois (3.6), and Oregon (3.6).The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending February 23 were in Massachusetts (+4,024), North Carolina (+1,995), Illinois (+1,782), Rhode Island (+988), and Connecticut (+733), while the largest decreases were in California (-40,352), New York (-2,070), Texas (-1,334), Florida (-878), and Pennsylvania (-781).

A Quiet Interlude in Solar Max

A Quiet Interlude in Solar Max

Press Briefing | The White House

Press Briefing | The White House