ALL HALLOW"S EVE

White House Schedule - October 31, 2013

Marine One departs the South Lawn of the White House at the start of President Barack Obama's trip to Boston, Mass., Oct. 30, 2013. (Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy)

In the morning, the President and the Vice President will receive the Presidential Daily Briefing in the Oval Office. 

In the afternoon, the President will host and deliver remarks at the SelectUSA Investment Summit. The President will discuss the importance of taking measures to grow the economy, encouraging the businesses and investors from around the world in attendance to bring new investment and jobs to the U.S. 

Later in the afternoon, the President will meet with Senator-elect Cory Booker, who will have been sworn in as Senator of New Jersey at the U.S. Capitol by the Vice President earlier in the day. 

In the evening, the President and the First Lady will welcome local children and children of military families to trick-or-treat at the South Portico of the White House.

10:45 AM	The President and Vice President receive the Presidential Daily Briefing Oval Office
12:00 PM	Press Briefing by Press Secretary Jay Carney The Vice President swears in Cory Booker as Senator of New Jersey U.S. Capitol
1:30 PM	The President delivers remarks at the SelectUSA Investment Summit Marriott Wardman Park Hotel The Vice President meets with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki of Iraq White House
3:15 PM	The President meets with Senator-elect Cory Booker Oval Office
5:15 PM	The President and the First Lady welcome local children and military families to trick-or-treat at the White House White House

DEPARTMENT OF STATE PUBLIC SCHEDULE THURSDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2013

DEPARTMENT OF STATE
PUBLIC SCHEDULE
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2013

SECRETARY JOHN KERRY
12:30 p.m. Secretary Kerry holds a bilateral meeting with Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency Yukiya Amano, at the Department of State.
1:00 p.m. Secretary Kerry holds a bilateral meeting with Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, at the Department of State.
1:30 p.m. Secretary Kerry participates via video teleconference in the Open Government Partnership Annual Summit in London. 
2:15 p.m. Secretary Kerry delivers remarks at a Veterans Partnership Announcement, at the Department of State. 
4:15 p.m. Secretary Kerry and Secretary of the Treasury Jack Lew brief members of the Senate Banking Committee, on Capitol Hill.

DEPUTY SECRETARY BILL BURNS
10:45 a.m. Deputy Secretary Burns meets with British Ambassador to the U.S. Sir Peter Westmacott, at the Department of State.
11:45 a.m. Deputy Secretary Burns meets with Indian Ambassador to the U.S. Nirupama Rao, at the Department of State.
3:00 p.m. Deputy Secretary Burns meets with Republic of Korea Ambassador to the U.S. Ahn Ho-Young, at the Department of State.
3:45 p.m. Deputy Secretary Burns meets with Iraqi National Security Advisor Faleh al-Fayyad, at the Department of State.

USAID ADMINISTRATOR RAJ SHAH
Administrator Shah attends meetings and briefings, at USAID.

UNDER SECRETARY FOR POLITICAL AFFAIRS WENDY SHERMAN
Under Secretary Sherman attends meetings and briefings, at the Department of State.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR CONFLICT AND STABILIZATION OPERATIONS FREDERICK BARTON
Assistant Secretary Barton is on foreign travel to Copenhagen, Denmark to participate in the Stabilization Leaders Forum and then travels to Turkey to meet with Syrian opposition, Turkish Government officials, and U.S. government personnel in country.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIAN AFFAIRS NISHA DESAI BISWAL
11:00 a.m. Assistant Secretary Biswal meets with Sri Lankan Ambassador to the U.S. Jaliya Wickramasuriya, at the Department of State.
1:30 p.m. Assistant Secretary Biswal meets with Nepalese Ambassador to the U.S. Shankar Sharma, at the Department of State.
3:00 p.m. Assistant Secretary Biswal meets with Bangladeshi Ambassador to the U.S. Akramul Qader, at the Department of State.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR INTERNATIONAL SECURITY AND NONPROLIFERATION TOM COUNTRYMAN10:15 a.m. Assistant Secretary Countryman testifies before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Syria, on Capitol Hill. 
11:30 a.m. Assistant Secretary Countryman meets with Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency Yukiya Amano, at the Department of State.

ACTING ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR THE BUREAU OF ECONOMIC AND BUSINESS AFFAIRS WILLIAM CRAFT
Acting Assistant Secretary Craft attends the SelectUSA 2013 Investment Summit, in Washington DC.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR WESTERN HEMISPHERE AFFAIRS ROBERTA JACOBSON3:30 p.m. Assistant Secretary Jacobson meets with U.S. Ambassador to Mexico E. Anthony Wayne, at the Department of State.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR EAST ASIAN AND PACIFIC AFFAIRS DANNY RUSSEL 
4:30 p.m. Assistant Secretary Russel chairs a meeting of the UN Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, at Department of State.

ACTING ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR DEMOCRACY, HUMAN RIGHTS AND LABOR UZRA ZEYA4:30 p.m. Acting Assistant Secretary Zeya participates in the UN Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea meeting, at Department of State.

AMBASSADOR-AT-LARGE FOR WAR CRIMES ISSUES STEPHEN RAPP
1:15 p.m. Ambassador Rapp meets with Tamil Parliamentarians, at the Department of State.

AMBASSADOR-AT-LARGE FOR GLOBAL WOMEN’S ISSUES CATHERINE RUSSELL
10:00 a.m. Ambassador Russell meets with President of the American Jewish World Service Ruth Messinger, at the Department of State.

SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE FOR GLOBAL PARTNERSHIPS ANDREW O’BRIEN
2:15 p.m. Special Representative O’Brien delivers remarks at a Veterans Partnership Announcement, at the Department of State. 

Crude-oil Filled Barges Freed After Weekend Grounding

GALVESTON, Texas — Two double-skinned barges, loaded with approximately two million gallons of crude oil, grounded near the Galveston Causeway Bridge Sunday and were freed Tuesday.

After many unsuccessful attempts to unground the barges with assist tugs Monday, the Coast Guard approved a plan to offload some crude oil to stand-by barges to lessen the weight and increase buoyancy, which freed them.

Marine Safety Unit Texas City personnel were on scene throughout the offloading and reloading of the crude oil in order to ensure the evolution was successful and to investigate the cause of the grounding.

The tow vessel Richard Gonsoulin 11 was pushing the barges and reported something got caught in their prop before they grounded around mile marker 355.  Vessel groundings along the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, in the Houston/Galveston area, occur about eight times a month for a variety of reasons and are normally refloated without incident in two to 12 hours.

The barges were successfully ungrounded with no damage to the vessels and no pollution to the environment or waterways.

“Our pollution responders and marine inspectors worked very closely with the owner and operator throughout the entire evolution to ensure the safe refloating of both barges,” said Cmdr. Ricardo Alonso, the commanding officer of Marine Safety Unit Texas City. “The proactive efforts of all parties resulted in the successful transfer of over 756,000 gallons of crude oil with no impact to the marine environment.”

The cause of the grounding is still under investigation.

Using Rock-N-Roll To Teach English

(U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Chris Fahey, NMCB 3 Public Affairs Lead/RELEASED)

Story By: Petty Officer 1st Class Chris Fahey
NMCB 3 uses rock-n-roll, simple conversation to teach English

DILI, East Timor - When volunteer English teacher Lt. Brent Oglesby, the officer-in-charge of Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 3’s construction civic action detail (CCAD) in Timor-Leste, picked up an acoustic guitar belonging to a Timorese college student at the Universidade Nacional Timor Lorosa’e campus, Tues., Oct. 29, he didn’t realize the educational impact “Knock’n on Heaven’s Door” by Guns And Roses was about to have.

(U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication
Specialist 1st Class Chris Fahey, NMCB 3
Public Affairs Lead/RELEASED)

As he played, the local students sang along to every word, performing pitch-perfect enunciation, correct verb usage and seamless parallel structure between like word suffixes – as well as the lyrics would allow, anyway.

These complex themes of the English language are difficult to teach, especially when the instructors are volunteers from a construction battalion who don’t speak Tetum, Timor-Leste’s national language.

“I love to sing with my brother and the other students here at the school,” said student Leonidu De Silva. “When we study, it becomes difficult. When we are able to talk to the Americans and sing with them, we learn better English. It helps a lot.”

(U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication 
Specialist 1st Class Chris Fahey, NMCB 3 
Public Affairs Lead/RELEASED)

NMCB 3 volunteers visit the school one day each week. During the actual classes, they break into groups and help the Timorese students complete conversational exercises. The class, according to the lead instructor Australian native Jane Thomas, works thanks to the Seabee volunteers.

“There have been times where I simply can’t make it to teach, and I’ve been able to pass along the resources to the Seabees,” said Thomas. “They come, instruct the class and really do a rather amazing job. The other battalions who have come here have always lent a hand, and we appreciate them all, truly, but the current battalion, NMCB 3, makes such a strong effort to be here each and every week. It’s been great being able to rely on the so consistently.”

(U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication 
Specialist 1st Class Chris Fahey, NMCB 3 
Public Affairs Lead/RELEASED)

Thomas said that Timorese students recognize the importance of learning English. They understand English as the international language and feel learning it will make them more competitive for higher paying employment.

The classes are conversationally based, adapting difficult lessons, such as verb conjugation, into simple verbal interactions. Through these exercise, the Seabees and Timorese learn about each other and develop a deeper connection. NMCB 3 volunteers took this a step further by singing popular songs with them. During these sing-a-longs, the Seabee volunteers would point out what they learned and how it applies to the lyrics.

These moments, simple in nature and found across any continent, serve as building blocks, strengthening U.S. and Timor-Leste relations critical to ensuring peace and stability in the still-developing country.

“It’s extremely important for the Seabees to do what they are doing,” said Capt. Rod Moore, commodore of the 30th Naval Construction Regiment (NCR). “We are trying to demonstrate the U.S.’s commitment to the region and promote regional stability and security. In order to do that, we have to build, foster and sustain real relationships. So, by coming to the college and helping these kids learn English, we are developing those relationships at a local level.”

Peace and stability are of course critical in a region as active as the Pacific. With the majority of the world’s trade conducted on the maritime highways and byways surrounding Timor-Leste, teamwork between East Timor and their allies will ensure a more prosperous future.

Seabees share a rich history with the Pacific, having operated here for more than 70 years. One of the first battalions commissioned during World War II, NMCB 3’s legacy stands strong in its ability to build and fight anywhere in the world as either a full battalion or as a group of autonomous detachments, simultaneously completing critical engineering and construction missions.

For this deployment, NMCB 3 has split into nine details to perform critical construction projects in remote island areas such as Timor-Leste, Tonga, Cambodia and the Philippines. The teams will also conduct operations in Atsugi, Yokosuka and Okinawa, Japan; Chinhae, Republic of Korea and China Lake, Calif.

NCMB 3’s Timor-Leste CCAD is deployed to the island nation to execute engineering civic assistance projects, conduct formal training with the host nation and perform community relations events to help enhance shared capabilities and improve the country’s social welfare.

The Naval Construction Force is a vital component of the U.S. Maritime Strategy. They provide deployable battalions capable of providing disaster preparation and recovery support, humanitarian assistance and combat operations support.

NMCB 3 provides combatant commanders and Navy component commanders with combat-ready warfighters capable of general engineering, construction and limited combat engineering across the full range of military operations.

Five Canons Recovered From Blackbeard's Queen Ann's Revenge

PORTSMOUTH, Va. — The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Smilax worked with personnel from the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources to recover five cannons and multiple barrel hoops from the Queen Anne's Revenge in Beaufort Inlet, N.C., Monday.

The Queen Anne's Revenge was the ship of the pirate Edward Teach, better known as Blackbeard, for more than a year before the ship ran aground on the shoals in the inlet.

The crew of the Smilax, a 100-foot inland construction tender, worked with NCDCR divers to lift the approximately one-ton cannons aboard the Smilax using a combination of flotation bags and the ship's crane.

The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Smilax worked with the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources to retrieve five canon's from the pirate ship Queen Anne's Revenge, Oct. 28. Edward Teach, better known as Blackbeard the pirate, captained the Queen Anne's Revenge for more than a year before the ship ran aground and sank in Beaufort Inlet, N.C.

BREAKING NEWS: Boston Red Sox WINS World Series

**BREAKING NEWS** **BREAKING NEWS** **BREAKING NEWS**

BOSTON, Massachusetts - The Boston Red Sox has just won the World Series against the Cardinals by a score of  6-1, first at FENWAY since 1918. 

Peyton List is BYOU Magazine’s Holiday Issue Cover Star!

Fifteen year old actress Peyton List looks so adorable as she covers the BYou Holiday Issue. Peyton has great eyes for fashion and is a beautiful young lady.

Want to know how Peyton List spends her holidays or her funniest holiday memory?  How about her fashion advice and tips to stay strong in girl-world? Then don’t miss our exclusive interview with Peyton List, star of Disney Channel’s hit show Jessie!

In the upcoming holiday issue of BYOU Magazine, Peyton List talks about her family, her career (including a flashback photo from her early modeling days!), popularity, bullying, fashion, and much more! Plus you get her fave holiday recipe and her holiday mini-poster!

ORDER YOUR SUBSCRIPTION TODAY at http://www.byoumagazine.com/ for only $17.97 to get this fun-packed issue with our theme “B-KIND”, full of advice from the stars, conversations about popularity and bullying, self-esteem tips, empowering fiction, holiday crafts and recipes, free giveaways, games, jokes, and more! So you don’t miss this issue, you’ll need to order now!

Liukin To Join NBC Olympics For 2014 Olympic Games In Sochi

STAMFORD, Conn. – Former U.S. gymnast Nastia Liukin, a winner of five Olympic medals including gold in the all-around at the 2008 Beijing Games, will join NBC Olympics for its Winter Games coverage in Sochi, Russia, it was announced today.

Liukin, a dual Russian-U.S. citizen who was born in Moscow, will serve as a reporter for NBC Olympics’ multi-platform coverage and will present daily features for The Olympic Zone, NBC Olympics’ 30-minute daily show for NBC affiliates covering all aspects of the Games.

Liukin’s father Valeri won four gymnastics medals (two gold, two silver) for the former Soviet Union at the 1988 Seoul Olympics. Her mother Anna won the rhythmic gymnastics competition at the 1987 World Championships.

Liukin joined NBCUniversal in 2012 as a contributor for NBCOlympics.com during the London Olympics, and has since served as an analyst for NBC Sports Group’s gymnastics coverage.

“Nastia is a decorated Olympic champion who brings a unique perspective to the Sochi Games, both as an athlete and a member of a family with a tremendous sports legacy,” said Jim Bell, Executive Producer of NBC Olympics.

Liukin won the most medals of any gymnast at the 2008 Beijing Games (five) and tied the U.S. gymnastics record set by Mary Lou Retton and equaled by Shannon Miller for the most medals at a single Olympics (one gold, three silver, one bronze). In 2008, she became the third American woman to win the Olympic all-around competition (Mary Lou Retton, Carly Patterson).

Liukin, currently enrolled at New York University, continues to support the growth of gymnastics with her annual Nastia Liukin Cup and is an ambassador for gymnastics as an athlete representative for both the Federation of International Gymnastics and USA Gymnastics.

"On Penobscot Bay" The Maine Windjammer Project

"On Penobscot Bay" By Doug Mills

American Eagle and Nathaniel Bowditch under sail on Penobscot Bay.[07-16-2010]

www.mainewindjammerproject.com

Sweet Suspense Sings Icona Pop's "I Love It"

The girl group Sweet Suspense made up of Millie Thrasher, Celine Polenghi and Summer Reign sang a great
version of Icona Pop's "I Love It" during the October 29th X Factor live show. These three beautiful young ladies did a great job which advanced them to next week's live show.

Photos Credit: Getty

Back In the Game: Night Games Premieres October 30th (TONIGHT)

Tonight fans of the ABC series "Back In The Game" will be able to enjoy an all new episode entitled "Night Games at 8:30pm. In this all new episode: After spending every past Halloween with his mom, Danny decides to make his own plans by rallying The Angles for a night of trick-or-treating. But when the team fears that David and his friends will be out to get them, Danny devises a plan to outsmart the bullies. Meanwhile, Lulu teaches Terry how to celebrate Halloween as an adult, and The Cannon gets competitive during a visit to the cemetery, on a special Halloween episode.

“Back in the Game” stars James Caan as Terry “The Cannon” Gannon, Sr., Maggie Lawson as Terry Gannon, Jr., Ben Koldyke as Dick Slingbaugh, Griffin Gluck as Danny Gannon, Lenora Crichlow as Lulu Lovette, JJ Totah as Michael Lovette, Kennedy Waite as Vanessa, Cooper Roth as David Slingbaugh and Brandon Salgado as Dudley.

“Night Games” was written by Scott Boden Hodges and directed by David Katzenberg.

Executive producers are Mark & Robb Cullen, Aaron Kaplan and John Requa & Glenn Ficarra. The series is from 20th Century Fox Television/ Kapital Entertainment.

Photos Credit: Getty

BIW USS Zumwalt Launch Gallery

The Zumwalt-class guided-missile destroyer DDG 1000 is floated out of dry dock at the General Dynamics Bath Iron Works shipyard. The ship, the first of three Zumwalt-class destroyers, will provide independent forward presence and deterrence, support special operations forces and operate as part of joint and combined expeditionary forces. The lead ship and class are named in honor of former Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Elmo R. "Bud" Zumwalt Jr., who served as chief of naval operations from 1970-1974. (U.S. Navy photo courtesy of General Dynamics/Released)

The Zumwalt-class guided-missile destroyer DDG 1000 is floated out of dry dock at the General Dynamics Bath Iron Works shipyard. The ship, the first of three Zumwalt-class destroyers, will provide independent forward presence and deterrence, support special operations forces and operate as part of joint and combined expeditionary forces. The lead ship and class are named in honor of former Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Elmo R. "Bud" Zumwalt Jr., who served as chief of naval operations from 1970-1974. (U.S. Navy photo courtesy of General Dynamics/Released)

The Zumwalt-class guided-missile destroyer DDG 1000 is floated out of dry dock at the General Dynamics Bath Iron Works shipyard. The ship, the first of three Zumwalt-class destroyers, will provide independent forward presence and deterrence, support special operations forces and operate as part of joint and combined expeditionary forces. The lead ship and class are named in honor of former Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Elmo R. "Bud" Zumwalt Jr., who served as chief of naval operations from 1970-1974. (U.S. Navy photo courtesy of General Dynamics/Released)