U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE THURSDAY NOVEMBER 29, 2012

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
PUBLIC SCHEDULE
THURSDAY NOVEMBER 29, 2012

SECRETARY HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON

9:15 a.m. Secretary Clinton meets with the regional bureau secretaries, at the Department of State.

10:00 a.m. Secretary Clinton meets with Chairman of Afghanistan’s High Peace Council Salahuddin Rabbani, at the Department of State.

10:30 a.m. Secretary Clinton delivers remarks in recognition of World AIDS Day, at the Department of State. Please click here for more information.

11:15 a.m. Secretary Clinton holds a bilateral meeting with Foreign Minister of Georgia Maia Panjikidze, at the Department of State.

1:30 p.m. Secretary Clinton delivers remarks on The U.S. and Europe: A Revitalized Global Partnership, at the Brookings Institution.
Secretary Clinton’s remarks will be streamed live on state.gov and viewers may follow the conversation on Twitter using the hashtag #SecClinton


4:50 p.m. Secretary Clinton meets with Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski, at the Department of State.

5:00 p.m. Secretary Clinton delivers remarks at the Policy Planning Staff - Foreign Policy Group’s “Transformational Trends 2013” Forum, at the Newseum, in Washington, DC. Please click here for more information.

DEPUTY SECRETARY BILL BURNS

9:00 a.m. Deputy Secretary Burns delivers opening remarks at the Policy Planning Staff - Foreign Policy Group’s “Transformational Trends 2013” Forum, at the Newseum, in Washington, DC. Please click here for more information.

11:00 a.m. Deputy Secretary Burns meets with the Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, at the Department of State.

1:30 p.m. Deputy Secretary Burns attends a meeting at the White House.

4:15 p.m. Deputy Secretary Burns delivers remarks to the Yale World Fellows, at the Department of State.

DEPUTY SECRETARY TOM NIDES

10:10 a.m. Deputy Secretary Nides meets with Chairman of Afghanistan’s High Peace Council Salahuddin Rabbani, at the Department of State.

7:00 p.m. Deputy Secretary Nides delivers remarks at the annual Awards Dinner for the U.S. Travel Association, in Dallas, Texas and accepts an award on behalf of the Department of State for improvements in global visa processing.

UNDER SECRETARY FOR POLITICAL AFFAIRS WENDY SHERMAN

Under Secretary Sherman is on foreign travel to India, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan through December 1.

2012 effort raises total donation to Children's Miracle Network Hospitals to $1.8 million

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – The wildly successful "Turn the World Upside Down" initiative to celebrate this year's National Gymnastics Day yielded $121,890 to bring the USA Gymnastics community's donations to Children's Miracle Network Hospitals to more than $1.8 million since 2001. Nearly 44,000 gymnasts and fans nationwide, including cast members of the Kellogg's® Tour of Gymnastics Champions, joined together to turn upside down to celebrate USA Gymnastics' annual National Gymnastics Day by doing handstands at 1 p.m. ET on Sept. 22.

California Sports Center in San Jose, Calif., raised $37,431 to become the top-fundraising club, and the club's Lilly Anderson was the top individual fundraiser at $10,572.

Melissa Rycroft and Tony Dovolani Wins Dancing With The Stars: All-Stars Crown

Melissa Rycroft and Tony Dovolani
Dancing With The Stars: All-Stars Winners
ABC

Tuesday night, November 27th Melissa Rycroft and Tony Dovolani won the Dancing With The Stars: All-Stars season. Melissa Rycroft and Tony Dovolani were crowned champions of this all-star season, on the Season Finale of "Dancing with the Stars: All-Stars.

Shawn Johnson (Gymnast) and her partner Derek Hough (Dancer) finished the Dancing With The Stars: All-Star season as runner ups.

Here is a recap of the finale of Dancing With The

iCarly Finale Draws 6.4 Million Total Viewers, Ranks as November’s Top Telecast with Kids and Tweens

 

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and SpongeBob SquarePants Rank as Top 

Animated Series with Kids for the Month

Marvin Marvin Series Premiere Bows with 2.6 Million Total Viewers, 

Posts Double-Digit Gains with Kids and Tweens

New York City, New York – Nickelodeon’s hit comedy series iCarly scored 6.4 million total viewers with its hour-long finale, “iGoodbye” (Friday, Nov. 23, at 8 p.m. ET/PT). The finale ranks as the top telecast for the month with all kid and tween demos.  Also, SpongeBob SquarePants and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT) ended the month as the top two animated series with K2-11 across all TV and are basic cable’s top animated kids’ shows with total viewers, respectively.  Nickelodeon’s newest addition to its live-action roster, Marvin Marvin, debuted with a strong 2.6 million total viewers, posting double-digit gains over last year with kids and tweens.
iCarly’s “iGoodbye” ranks as the top telecast with kids and tweens for November, averaging a 8.4/2.8 million K2-11 (+100%),  11.7/2.3 million K6-11, 12.5/2.6 million T9-14 and 6.4 million total viewers.  The finale also ranks as basic cable’s top kids’ telecast with total viewers for the month.
For November, SpongeBob SquarePants and  TMNT rank as the top two animated series with K2-11 across all TV, with SpongeBob averaging 6.2/2.1 million and TMNT averaging 4.9/1.6 million.  The two series are also basic cable’s top animated shows among total viewers, with 4.1 million total viewers for SpongeBob and 3.3 million total viewers for TMNT.

Leyva, Price compete this weekend in Stuttgart's World Cup

© John Cheng / Brian Freed

2012 Olympic all-around bronze-medalist Danell Leyva of Miami/Universal Gymnastics, and 2012 Olympic team alternate Elizabeth Price of Coopersburg, Pa./Parkettes National Gymnastics Center, are representing the United States at the World Cup in Stuttgart, Germany, Dec. 1-2. One week later, the two will compete in the World Cup event in Glasgow, Scotland, Dec. 8.

In Stuttgart's Porsche-Arena, the DTB Cup has the women's all-around scheduled on Saturday, Dec. 1, followed by the men's competition on Sunday, Dec. 2. The event's official website is www.dtbpokal.de, and live commentary on the competition will be available at www.dtb-liveticker.de in German.

The field in Stuttgart includes eight men and eight women.

Men
David Belyavskiy, Russia
Claudio Capelli, Switzerland
Gonzalez Fabian, Spain
Danell Leyva, USA
Marcel Nguyen, Germany
Daniel Purvis, Great Britain
Kazuhito Tanaka, Japan
Kristian Thomas, Great BritainWomen
Kim Bui, Germany
Vanessa Ferrari, Italy
Kristina Goryunova, Russia
Elizabeth Price, USA
Niamh Rippin, Great Britain
Elisabeth Seitz, Germany
Giulia Steingruber, Switzerland
Rebecca Tunney, Great Britain

In Glasgow, both men's and women's all-around are scheduled for Dec. 8 at the National Indoor Sports Arena. Both of these events are part of the International Gymnastics Federation's all-around World Cup series, which also includes the AT&T American Cup.

Three gymnasts are among 20 most popular female athletes online for 2012

© Diane Bidermann / Group Photo

Three members of The Fierce Five℠ - Gabrielle Douglas of Virginia Beach, Va./Chow's Gymnastics and Dance, McKayla Maroney of Long Beach, Calif./All-Olympic Gymnastics, and Aly Raisman of Needham, Mass./Brestyan's American Gymnastics - are among the top 20 "most searched female athletes," according to statistics released by Bing. Not surprisingly, all of the top 20 women on the list are 2012 Olympians, and almost all of them took home medals for their countries.

Maroney was the highest ranked gymnast at number four, followed by Douglas at number seven and Raisman at 20.

Maine Windjammer Association's Contest Honorable Mentions

And in no particular order, our Honorable Mentions include:

Windjammer Parade by Jackie Normile

Stonington Harbor by Keith Mendel

Angelique's Tender by Bridget Rolfe

All Hands of Dock by Curt Watts

End of Day Category

With all the gorgeous weather we had this past summer, it's no surprise we had tons of beautiful sunset entries. Here are two images that deserve special recognition:

Sunset by Roseline Therrien

Sunset on Eggemoggin Reach by Matthew Macone

Thank you, photographers one and all, for your wonderful entries. A slideshow of all 300+ submissions can be viewed online — the perfect way to enjoy a cold winter’s day while waiting for warmer sailing days ahead!

Vote for Gabrielle Douglas for USSA's 2012 Female Athlete of the Year

2012 Olympic all-around champion Gabrielle Douglas of Virginia Beach, Va./Chow's Gymnastics and Dance, is one of 12 women vying for the United States Sports Academy's female Athlete of the Year. Sports fans from around the world will decide who the outstanding male and female athletes for 2012 are through online voting at www.ussa.edu/ballots/athlete-of-the-year. The ballot with 12 men and 12 women goes live at midnight on Saturday, Dec. 1, and closes at midnight on Friday, Dec. 21. The Academy, in conjunction with NBC Sports, will announce the 2012 Male and Female Athletes of the Year on Tuesday, Dec. 25.

In 2012, Douglas helped the USA to

Coast Guard Recognizes Good Samaritans For Heroic Actions

From left to right: Capt. Joe Vojvodich, Commander, Sector Long Island Sound, John Bologna, Martin Safer, and Master Chief Petty Officer Terry Lathrop, Officer-in-Charge, Station Jones Beach, stand for a photo, displaying the Certificate of Merit Public Service Award. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Lt. Sarah Janaro.

JONES BEACH, N.Y. – Coast Guard Sector Long Island Sound and Coast Guard Station Jones Beach recognized Martin Safer and John Bologna for their performance in rescuing five persons from the Atlantic Ocean.

Safer and Bologna were boating in a 21-foot pleasure craft two miles south of Atlantic Beach, N.Y., on Sept. 22, 2012, when they saw a nearby vessel capsize, launching its passengers into the water.  Safer and Bologna proceeded to the location and immediately rescued five people from the water.  Upon retrieving the fifth individual, they were informed that a sixth person was trapped under the hull.  They called emergency services and shortly after, the New York Police Department divers were on scene to rescue the sixth person.

“It takes a community of mariners, not just the Coast Guard and other local first responders, to ensure that we have confidence in our waterways.  I cannot emphasize enough my appreciation of capable, willing Good Samarians like Mr. Safer and Mr. Bologna for their contributions to the well-being of our maritime communities and public at large,” said Capt. Joe Vojvodich, Commander, Sector Long Island Sound. 

The two men were presented the Certificate of Merit Public Service Award at Station Jones Beach by Captain Vojvodich and Master Chief Petty Officer Terry Lathrop, officer in charge of Station Jones Beach, N.Y.

“Without the selfless acts, ingenuity, and the ability to overcome obstacles displayed by Mr. Safer and Mr. Bologna, the persons struggling to stay afloat in the treacherous ocean waters would have easily succumbed to exhaustion and drowned,” said Lathrop.

The Certificate of Merit Public Service Award is granted to private individuals that displayed initiative in advancing one or more of the Coast Guard’s missions or made a significant effort that resulted in the completion of an endeavor that is significantly beneficial to one or more of the Coast Guard’s missions or statutory responsibilities as to require a tangible expression of appreciation.

Cumberland Gymnastics organizes Operation Christmas Child

By Christine Harrigan-McIlhenny

2012 marks the fourth year that Cumberland Gymnastics in Carlisle, Pa., has organized Operation Christmas Child. The gymnasts and parents, under the direction of head coach Melanie (Heckert) Sheriff, work together to wrap and fill shoeboxes with necessities and fun items to send to needy children worldwide through Samaritan's Purse. Scroll down for photos from this year's event.