Kurt Campbell Nomination

Obama nominee is consummate Asia insider By FOSTER KLUG, AP
2009-04-25 08:02 AM » » »CST: 10:02:00 a.m. Saturday April 25, 2009
http://www.etaiwannews.com/etn/news_content.php?id=930208&lang=eng_news

Kurt Campbell nominated for vice secretary of state By William Lowther
Saturday, Apr 25, 2009, Page 1 » » »CST: 03:00:00 a.m. Saturday April 25, 2009
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2009/04/25/2003442000

Old Asia hand nominated for US East Asia portfolio
AP 2009-04-23 23:58:03 » » »CST: 01:58:00 p.m. Friday April 24, 2009
http://www.pr-inside.com/old-asia-hand-nominated-for-us-r1205627.htm

Kurt Campbell nominated to head U.S. State Dept.'s E. Asia, Pacific team Kyodo
Apr 23 08:36 PM US/Eastern » » »CST: 10:36:00 a.m. Friday April 24, 2009
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D97OHF202&show_article=1

Obama nominates Campbell for Asia post AFP
09:01 AEST Fri Apr 24 2009 » » »CST: 09:01:00 a.m. Friday April 24, 2009
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/world/805636/obama-nominates-campbell-for-asia-post
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gtZ4uQ3D8U72AZWISWAEk5lLGFdg

CIA Superstar on His Way Into Obama Administration; CNAS Occupation Continues
By Spencer Ackerman 4/23/09 5:05 PM » » »CST: 07:05:00 a.m. Friday April 24, 2009
http://washingtonindependent.com/40275/cia-superstar-on-his-way-into-obama-administration-cnas-occupation-continues

President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts
(Editor's Note: This statement was provided by the White House on April 23, 2009.)
07:00:00 a.m. Friday April 24, 2009
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/news/2009/04/president_obama_announces_more_key_administration_7.php

Obama’s Pentagon-in-Waiting, Center for a New American Security Widely Viewed as Source of People and Ideas
By Spencer Ackerman 11/10/08 3:07 PM » » »CST: 06:07:00 a.m. Tuesday November 11, 2008
http://washingtonindependent.com/17710/obama

Ambassador Howard Baker Announces Japan-U.S. Strategic Advisory

Business Wire 2008
2008-10-29 11:16:02

Today, former Senator and Ambassador to Japan Howard H. Baker, Jr. announced the launch of a new consulting service, The Japan-U.S. Strategic Advisory. The Baker Advisory serves leading Japanese companies that are investing or expanding their business activities in the U.S., as well as companies seeking a broader strategic outlook for a new political and economic era.

Japan and the United States remain the world's largest economies and closest allies, but they face new challenges as the 21st century unfolds-- in world markets, in international security, in energy security," said Ambassador Baker, who currently serves as Senior Counsel at Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, PC. "In a global economy shaken by energy and financial shocks, I'm convinced that we need to bolster our bilateral relationship by encouraging greater economic interaction between our private sectors."

The Baker Advisory will create for each client a "strategic map of the world" focusing on the trends and developments that affect the U.S.-Japan relationship and the business opportunities and risks developing daily around the globe. Ambassador Baker and his advisors will systematically monitor key developments, assess their importance and future impacts, develop scenarios for planning purposes, and provide strategic advice directly to senior business leaders. A key component of the new service is the process of a one-on-one dialogue and exchange of views between Ambassador Baker and business leaders in Japan.

The Baker Advisory utilizes a wide array of advisors including distinguished former officials and experts from the U.S. and Japan. Former Democratic Senator J. Bennett Johnston, who served for 24 years in the U.S. Senate and was the highly respected Chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, serves as an advisor. Today Senator Johnston is considered Washington's most influential "wiseman" on energy issues. Also serving as advisors are former Japanese Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, Shotaro Yachi, considered one of Japan's most knowledgeable and best connected authorities on the United States, and Professor Shuzaburo Takeda, who has long been a trusted advisor to Ambassador Baker and has an unparalleled network of contacts in government, business and academia in Japan, the United States and globally. Working with experts like Johnston, Yachi and Takeda, the Baker Advisory provides unique, multi-national perspectives on economic and political developments in Japan, the U.S. and the world.

Ambassador Baker has served with distinction in a number of positions in the United States including: U.S. Ambassador to Japan, Chief of Staff to President Ronald Reagan, and as Senate Majority Leader. Ambassador Baker has been awarded the Medal of Freedom by the President of the United States and the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Paulownia Flowers by the Emperor of Japan. For additional information, please go to: www.bakerdonelson.com.

Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, PC is one of the 100 largest law firms in the country. Through strategic acquisitions and mergers over the past century, the Firm has grown to include more than 550 attorneys, and public policy and international advisors. Baker Donelson represents clients across the U.S. and abroad from offices in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Washington, D.C., and a representative office in Beijing, China.

Rational PR
Annette Larkin

US ends probe of nuclear submarine leak in Japan

The Associated Press
Published: August 30, 2008

TOKYO: Japan has received a final U.S. report concluding that small amounts of radiation escaped from a faulty valve on an American nuclear-powered submarine during Japanese port visits but posed no health or environmental threat, the Foreign Ministry said.

The U.S. Navy disclosed in early August that the USS Houston had leaked water containing radiation during several calls to Sasebo and Okinawa in southern Japan and Yokosuka near Tokyo between July 2006 and April 2008.

U.S. Deputy Chief of Mission James P. Zumwalt submitted the report Friday, saying the Navy investigation concluded that the leakage in the three ports totaled 0.6 micro curies, or less than one-millionth of a curie, which posed no danger to Japan, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement obtained Saturday. The ministry provided a copy of the report.

"The trace levels of radioactivity would have no adverse effect on human health, marine life, or the environment," the U.S. report said. "The radiation exposure dose would be less than that received from a routine chest X-ray."

The report said the U.S. Navy was improving the valve's quality before sending the submarine back into operation.

It said the Navy, after reviewing records dating back to 2004, concluded that "the valve had been steadily leaking" from June 2006 until the submarine entered dry dock in July, when the problem was discovered for the first time. About a gallon of water spilled onto a crew member on July 17 when a fitting came loose. The report also said no similar leakage had occurred in the past 50 years.

U.S. officials were not available for comment Saturday.

The incident has caused a stir in Japan weeks ahead of the arrival of the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS George Washington, to be permanently based in Yokosuka, near Tokyo. The George Washington is to arrive in late September after a fire aboard the vessel in May delayed its departure — another incident that irked many Japanese.

The presence of nuclear submarines is particularly sensitive in Japan, the only country to have been attacked by U.S. atomic bombs in the closing days of World War II.

The Navy has said the Houston also released tiny amounts of radiation in Guam, Pearl Harbor, and during port visits in Singapore, Port Kelang, Malaysia and Saipan.