Swamp Sunrise

Happy Halloween.

Here are a few Washington events of note for Tuesday, October 31, 2006 as collected by the Associated Press.

President Bush is campaigning for Republican candidates in Georgia.

10 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. MIDTERM ELECTIONS — George Washington University' Graduate School of Political Management hosts a panel discussion on the fate of the 2006 midterm elections, featuring leading political experts from both sides of the aisle and moderated by Christopher Arterton, dean of GW's Graduate School of Political Management. As campaigning draws to a close, the panel will focus in on the key races that will determine the outcome of congressional control.
Location: Room 2168, Rayburn House Office Building.

Oct. 29 - 31. SCIENCE EDUCATION — The National Science Resources Center of the Smithsonian Institution and the National Academies National Science Resources Center host a national symposium on science education, ``Changing the Course of Science Education: A Symposium for Key Stakeholders in America’s Future.’’
8 a.m. - 1 p.m. Working session, featuring case studies of successful programs in Delaware, North Carolina, and Washington State.
Location: Keck Center of the National Academies, 500 Fifth St. NW,

Oct. 30 - 31. AFGHANISTAN-BUSINESS — Representatives of major U.S. corporations, development organizations, and government agencies convene for the U.S.-Afghan Business Matchmaking Conference, kicking off the second Afghanistan Investment Support Agency U.S. promotional road show, ``Investing in Afghanistan: the Heart of Asia.’’
10:30 a.m. Commerce Secretary Gutierrez speaks on U.S.-Afghan commercial relations.
Location: Four Seasons Hotel, 2800 Pennsylvania Ave. NW.

Oct. 30 - 31. US-ARAB RELATIONS — The National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations sponsors the 15th annual Arab-U.S. Policymakers Conference.
9:15 a.m. Panel on the Gulf Cooperation Council. Panelists include Dr. Michael Collins Dunn, Editor of The Estimate and Editor of The Middle East Journal.
11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Panel on What Future for the GCC Region, moderated by Anne Joyce, editor, Middle East Policy and Vice-President and Board Member, Middle East Policy Council. Keynote speaker is Prince Turki Al-Faisal, Ambassador of Saudi Arabia to the United States of America.
12:30 p.m. Luncheon kleynote address by Dr. Hussein Al-Athel, Secretary General, Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
2 p.m. Conference adjourns.
Location: Ronald Reagan Building, 1300 Pennsylvania Ave. NW.

Oct. 30 - Nov. 2. FINANCIAL CONFERENCE — The Opportunity Finance Network hosts a four-day conference on bringing Americans on the economic margins into the mainstream and opening emerging domestic markets.
Location: JW Marriott, 1331 Pennsylvania Ave, NW

Oct. 30 - Nov. 1. 9 a.m. ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION — The U.S. Department of Education hosts a summit on English language acquisition and proficiency, ``Celebrate Our Rising Stars Summit: Strategies To Close the Achievement Gap.’’ Workshops on teaching English, student demographics, government programs and partnerships, and language development.
Location: Washington Hilton & Towers, 1919 Connecticut Ave. NW

8 a.m. - 7 p.m. NATURE-ECONOMY — The World Wildlife Fund and the Nature Conservancy co-sponsor a symposium on the emerging science of valuing ecosystem services. The symposium kicks off two new programs: the Natural Capital Project, a joint effort led by Stanford University, the Nature Conservancy and World Wildlife Fund to develop and deploy innovative tools that capture the full value of ecosystem services for decision-making; and the Kathryn Fuller Science for Nature Fund, which focuses on supporting and harnessing conservation science to make scientific research more accessible to conservation practitioners.
9 a.m. Welcome: Carter Roberts, president, World Wildlife Fund; Kathryn Fuller, former president, World Wildlife Fund; Changing the Way People Think about the Environment; Jeffrey Sachs, director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University; and Walt Reid, director of conservation and sciences, David and Lucile Packard Foundation.
10:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Ecosystem Services: Science and Practice. Paul Ehrlich, Bing professor of population studies, Department of Biological Sciences, Stanford University; Franz Tattenbach, executive director of FUNDECOR, a Costa Rican environmental NGO; Steve Polasky, Fesler-Lampert professor of ecological/environmental economics, University of Minnesota; and Neil Burgess, senior scientist based in Tanzania, World Wildlife Fund.
1:30 p.m. - 3:25 p.m. Ecosystem Services: Science and Practice, continued. Andrew Balmford, Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge; Christine Tam, director, Natural Capital Project; Stefano Pagiola, economist, World Bank, Environment Department; and Miguel Martinez Tuna, freshwater technical officer, WWF- Central America.
3:45 p.m. Catalyzing Investments in Ecosystem Assets. Taylor Ricketts, director, Conservation Science Department, World Wildlife Fund; and Gretchen Daily, senior fellow at Stanford’s Woods Institute for the Environment and associate professor, biological sciences.
4:35 p.m. - 5:50 p.m. Roundtable: Making Conservation Mainstream. Felician Kilahama, coordinator, Conservation and Management of Eastern Arc Mountain Forests; Feng Dong Fang, associate professor, Policy Research Center for the Environment and Economy, China’s State Environmental Protection Agency; Larry Linden, advisory director and former general partner, Goldman Sachs; Buzz Thompson, director, Woods Institute for the Environment at Stanford University; M. A. Sanjayan, lead scientist for The Nature Conservancy; and Tom Lovejoy, president, the Heinz Center.
Location: Carnegie Institution, 1530 P St. NW.

8:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m. ECONOMICS-BLACK SEA — The Center for Strategic and International Studies hosts an international conference on economic development and security in the Black Sea region.
9:15 a.m. Remarks via videoconference by Romanian President Trainan Basescu.
12:45 p.m. Keynote address by Mark Pekala, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs.
Location: B-1 conference level, CSIS, 1800 K St. NW.

9 a.m. - 2 p.m. US-RUSSIA — A group of leading scholars and policymakers from the United States and Russia discuss the deterioration of U.S-Russian relations over the past five years, Russia' use of energy as diplomatic pressure, how Russia’s foreign policy is linked to the policies of economic and political recentralization inside the country, and what can be expected in the next two years as both Russia and the United States enter critical periods of presidential transition.
9:30 a.m. Moderator Leon Aron, AEI, spaks.
9:35 a.m. Panel with Fyodor Lukyanov, Russia in Global Affairs; Mikhail Margelov, Federation Council, Russia; Angela Stent, Georgetown University; Elizabeth Stewart, foreign policy advisor, office of Senator Gordon H. Smith; Dmitri Trenin, Carnegie Moscow Center.
1 p.m. Keynote Address: Thomas Graham Jr., National Security Council (off the record).
Location: Wohlstetter Conference Center, 12th floor, AEI, 1150 17th St. NW.

9:30 a.m. LATINO VOTE — The National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials’ Education Fund releases an analysis of the Latino vote and its impact of the 2006 elections.
Location: National Press Club.

9:30 a.m. NTSB-TETERBORO ACCIDENT — The National Transportation Safety Board holds a board meeting to examine a February 2, 2005 corporate jet accident at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey.
Location: NTSB Board Room, 429 L’Enfant Plaza, S.W.

10 a.m. JUDGES-POLITICS — David A. Schkade, University of California, San Diego, and Lisa M. Ellman, Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw LLP, holda news conference to discuss ``Are Judges Political?
Location: National Press Club.

10 a.m. LIVABLE COMMUNITIES-REPORT — National Council on Disability releases report on ``Creating Livable Communities,’’ identifying barriers and covering potential methods for overcoming these barriers. Speakers from the National Association on Area Agencies on Aging, AARP, others.
Location: AARP, Brickfield Conference Center, 600 E St.

12 p.m. NORTH KOREA — Global Resource Services holds a briefing on NGO programs in North Korea.
Location: National Press Club.

12 p.m. PRIVACY-MORALITY — Cato Institute book forum on ``Liberty for All: Reclaiming Individual Privacy in a New Era of Public Morality,’’ with author Elizabeth Price Foley, Florida International University, and William A. Galston, Brookings Institution.
Location: 1000 Massachusetts Ave. NW.

12:30 p.m. SEEDS — The School of Advanced International Studies and Seeds of Peace screen a documentary, ``Seeds,’’ which follows 10 teens from abroad attending the Seeds of Peace International Camp.
Location: Room 203, 1619 Massachusetts Ave. NW.

5 p.m. ANTI-AMERICANISM — The School of Advanced International Studies holds a program on anti-Americanism in Europe, with John Glenn of the German Marshall Fund and Andrew Kohut of the Pew Center for People and the Press.
Location: Auditorium, 1619 Massachusetts Ave. NW.