TWO FORMER OFFICERS OF STERLING FINANCIAL CORP. SUBSIDIARY SENTENCED TO LENGTHY PRISON TERMS AND ORDERED TO PAY $53 MILLION

FROM: U.S. COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING COMMISSION
The Securities and Exchange Commission announced that on September 11 and 12, 2012, Joseph M. Braas, of Lititz, Pennsylvania, and Michael J. Schlager, of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, were sentenced in a criminal action for orchestrating a sophisticated financial fraud that lasted over five years. Braas and Schlager were two senior officers at Equipment Finance, LLC ("EFI"), formerly a commercial lender to the soft pulp logging industry and wholly-owned subsidiary of Sterling Financial Corp. ("Sterling"), a publicly traded bank holding company based in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Judge Paul S. Diamond of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania sentenced Braas to 15 years in federal prison, and Schlager to 20 years in prison, each followed by five years of supervised release. Braas and Schlager were also each ordered to pay $53 million in restitution. Braas and Schlager had each previously pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud, and two counts of mail fraud, all affecting a financial institution.

On January 6, 2011, the Commission filed a civil action against Braas and Schlager based on the same conduct alleged in the criminal case. Without admitting or denying the Commission’s allegations, Braas and Schlager agreed to settle the matter, and Final Judgments were entered as to each. The Commission’s complaint alleged that, from at least February 2002 until April 2007, Braas, EFI’s Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, and Schlager, EFI’s Executive Vice President, orchestrated a pervasive and wide-ranging scheme using fraudulent underwriting and reporting practices to hide mounting losses and defaults within EFI’s commercial loan portfolio from Sterling’s senior management and auditors.

The Commission further alleged that Braas and Schlager were able to subvert virtually every aspect of EFI’s loan process and internal controls. They created fictitious loans for the purpose of making monthly payments on delinquent loans, altered loan documents to hide delinquent and fictitious loans, granted excessive deferrals and resets of delinquent loans to make them appear current, reassigned loan payments to unrelated accounts to fund payments on delinquent loans, and used aliases for borrowers to circumvent EFI’s maximum lending limitations. They also deceived Sterling’s internal and independent auditors through fraudulent accounting entries, false collateral descriptions and appraisals, fabricated UCC filings, and by recruiting vendors to assist in the circumvention of loan confirmation procedures.

As alleged in the complaint, Braas and Schlager caused EFI to report false financial information to Sterling which, in turn, from 2002 through 2006, filed quarterly and annual reports with the Commission containing materially false and misleading financial statements. As a result of the fraud, Sterling ultimately charged off $281 million of EFI finance receivables, which represented a large majority of EFI’s loan portfolio, and approximately 13 percent of Sterling’s total loan portfolio during the period of the fraud.

WHEN LIGHT GETS BENT

WHEN LIGHT GETS BENT

FROM: NASA, BENDING LIGHT AND DARK MATTER

Bending the Light
This image of galaxy cluster MACS J1206.2-0847 (or MACS 1206 for short) is part of a broad survey with NASA's Hubble Space Telescope.

The distorted shapes in the cluster are distant galaxies from which the light is bent by the gravitational pull of an invisible material called dark matter within the cluster of galaxies. This cluster is an early target in a survey that will allow astronomers to construct the most detailed dark matter maps of more galaxy clusters than ever before.

These maps are being used to test previous, but surprising, results that suggest that dark matter is more densely packed inside clusters than some models predict. This might mean that galaxy cluster assembly began earlier than commonly thought.

The multi-wavelength survey, called the Cluster Lensing And Supernova survey with Hubble (CLASH), probes, with unparalleled precision, the distribution of dark matter in 25 massive clusters of galaxies. So far, the CLASH team has completed observations of six of the 25 clusters.

Dark matter makes up the bulk of the universe's mass, yet it can only be detected by measuring how its gravity tugs on visible matter and warps space like a fun-house mirror so that the light from distant objects is distorted.

Galaxy clusters like MACS 1206 are perfect laboratories for studying dark matter's gravitational effects because they are the most massive structures in the universe. Because of their heft, the clusters act like giant cosmic lenses, magnifying, distorting and bending any light that passes through them — an effect known as gravitational lensing.

MACS 1206 lies 4.5 billion light-years from Earth. Hubble's keen vision helped CLASH astronomers uncover 47 multiple images of 12 newly identified faraway galaxies. Finding so many multiple images in a cluster is a unique capability of Hubble, and the CLASH survey is optimized to find them. The new observations build on earlier work by Hubble and ground-based telescopes.

The era when the first clusters formed is not precisely known, but is estimated to be at least 9 billion years ago and possibly as far back as 12 billion years ago. If most of the clusters in the CLASH survey are found to have excessively high accumulations of dark matter in their central cores, then it may yield new clues to the early stages in the origin of structure in the universe.

Image Credit: NASA, ESA, M. Postman (STScI), and the CLASH Team

U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE CLINTON'S REMARKS ON THE SAHEL

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Remarks at a UN Secretary General Meeting on the SahelRemarks

Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State
United Nations
New York City

September 26, 2012
Secretary General, thank you for calling this meeting and co-chairing it along with so many distinguished heads of state and government and ministers and excellencies. And let me recognize the leadership of President Hollande. I think we all respond to President Hollande’s sense of urgency and passion, and therefore, it is imperative that we leave this special high-level meeting resolved to immediately get to work. And it is the work that should begin in the Security Council to consider the various proposals by ECOWAS, France, and others because the chaos and violence in Mali does threaten to undermine the stability of the entire region. We all know too well what is happening in Mali, and the incredible danger posed by violent extremists imposing their brutal ideology, committing human rights abuses, destroying irreplaceable cultural heritage.

But it’s not only the violent extremists. We now have drug traffickers and arms smugglers finding safe havens and porous borders, providing them a launching pad to extend their reach throughout not only the region, but beyond. And nearly 500,000 people have been displaced from their homes, and 4.5 million more are suffering from dwindling food supplies. This is not only a humanitarian crisis; it is a powder keg that the international community cannot afford to ignore.

The United States supports the appointment of a senior UN envoy empowered to lead a comprehensive international effort on Mali and the creation of a diplomatic core group. This effort must include coordinating the delivery of emergency aid, helping address longstanding political grievances of ethnic groups in the north, and preparing for credible elections. We need to bring together all of the nations affected, and I appreciated President Yayi’s very strong statement about what is at stake for the countries of the region, and also his speaking on behalf of the African Union. The African Union must be at the table, ECOWAS must be at the table, because these are complex and interconnected security, political, and humanitarian challenges.

The United States has already provided more than $378 million to meet the escalating humanitarian needs in the Sahel, and we call on all parties to ensure unhindered access so that emergency aid meets those who need it most. We encourage fellow donors to increase their pledges and follow through quickly and fully. The need is urgent and growing.

It is also critical for all the actors in the region to redouble their efforts to develop a sound approach to tackling what is happening coming over their borders. We have to train the security forces in Mali, help them dislodge the extremists, protect human rights, and defend borders. We have seen the success of African-led efforts to do just that in Somalia and in Cote d’Ivoire and elsewhere. We need to now get about the business of examining seriously proposals to do the same. Because in the end, only a democratically elected government will have the legitimacy to achieve a negotiated political settlement in Northern Mali, end the rebellion, and restore the rule of law. So it is imperative that the interim government meet the April deadline for holding elections that are fair, transparent, and free of influence by the military junta. And all parties must do more to protect human rights and punish abuses.

But let us be clear. What is happening inside Mali is augmented by the rising threat from violent extremism across the region. For some time, al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb and other groups have launched attacks and kidnappings from northern Mali into neighboring countries. Now, with a larger safe haven and increased freedom to maneuver, terrorists are seeking to extend their reach and their networks in multiple directions. And they are working with other violent extremists to undermine the democratic transitions underway in North Africa, as we tragically saw in Benghazi.

This is a threat to the entire region and to the world, and most particularly, to the people in the region themselves who deserve better. They deserve better from their leaders and they deserve better from the international community. The United States is stepping up our counterterrorism efforts across the Maghreb and Sahel, and we’re working with the Libyan Government and other partners to find those responsible for the attack on our diplomatic post in Benghazi and bring them to justice. But we are also expanding our counterterrorism partnerships to help countries meet their own growing threats. We’re taking aim at the support structure of al-Qaida and its affiliates – closing safe havens, cutting off finances, countering their ideology and denying them recruits. Let me mention briefly three initiatives.

First, our Trans-Sahara Counterterrorism Partnership is now helping build the capacity of 10 countries across the region, providing training and support so they can tighten border security, disrupt terrorist networks, and prevent attacks. This program brings together civilian, law enforcement, and military experts to pursue a comprehensive approach to counterterrorism.

Second, we are expanding our work with civil society organizations in specific terrorist hotspots – particular villages, prisons, and schools – trying to disrupt the process of radicalization by creating jobs, promoting religious tolerance, amplifying the voices of the victims of terrorism.

And third, we are working with our partners to reform security services and strengthen the rule of law. For example, Tunisia has agreed to host a new international training center that will help police, prosecutors, and other criminal justice officials across the region move away from the repressive approaches that helped fuel radicalization in the past, and instead develop strategies grounded in the rule of law and respect for human rights.

Ultimately, our perspective is that strengthening democratic institutions must be at the heart of our counterterrorism strategy. It is democracies that offer their citizens constructive outlets for political grievances, create opportunities for upward mobility and prosperity, and are clear alternatives to violent extremism. And their success offers a powerful rejection of the extremist ideology of hate and violence as we also saw in Benghazi last week.

So all this work, from meeting the humanitarian crisis in the Sahel to bringing stability back to Mali to combating violent extremism across the region is a shared responsibility. And there is no place where that shared responsibility can be actualized other than the United Nations. So in the days and weeks ahead, I look forward to deepening our cooperation and accelerating our common action. I personally don’t believe we have any time to waste.

Thank you. (Applause.)

THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE COMMITMENT TO CYBERSECUTITY

The U.S. Cyberbrigade On Parade.  Credit:   U.S. DOD

FROM:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Official Reaffirms DOD Commitment to Cybersecurity

By Army Sgt. 1st Class Tyrone C. Marshall Jr.
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Sept. 25, 2012 – The Defense Department remains vigilant and committed to cybersecurity, especially since its cyber operations present a target for hackers, a senior Pentagon official said here today.

Speaking at the Telework Exchange’s fall town meeting, David L. DeVries, the Defense Department’s deputy chief information officer for joint information enterprise, said the department is an attractive target for potential cyber attacks, due in part to its size.

"DOD is a large magnet for the security vulnerability side of the house," he said. "Just like they would like to hack into Wall Street or a financial institution, they would also like to hack into the Department of Defense and other federal agencies here."

Defense Department officials take cybersecurity very seriously, DeVries said, and that creates pressure on the department’s information technology personnel to stay vigilant.

"It gets exponentially more complex to ensure the security of the whole thing," he said. "And that’s why I have to keep security at the [forefront]."

DeVries said when he turns on his personal computer at home, it automatically seeks updates from Microsoft and implements those changes. "So Microsoft is keeping track of my computer for me," he said. "And it’s saying, ‘Hey, I found something and I updated this thing. You need to do this now, Mr. DeVries.’ So I … say, ‘OK, do it.’"

As the Defense Department moves away from laptops and personal computers and toward smart technology, DeVries said, officials face a difficult challenge. "There are more vendors with these [smartphones] that we’re trying to get connected into the network than we can possibly keep track of," he said.

To police this issue, he added, rules and policies have been published.

"We’re now starting to enforce it," he said. "I’m looking at it from an end-device capability: Are you complying with the measures I’ve put forth?"

DeVries said he was shocked when he learned, during an earlier panel, of a general lack of security for personal information when people use smartphones.

"What’s amazing is, I thought everything I bought was checked out," he said, waving his smartphone. "So I thought all those [applications] were checked by somebody."

A panelist in the earlier discussion said he had a report that said 80 percent of the apps on his smartphone are not compliant with security requirements, DeVries said.

"[This is] my personal stuff I’m worried about there, and now I’ve put it into my workspace. … That’s a scary thought," he added.

Some companies work with the business world to make sure that their apps and operating systems are secure, DeVries said.

"Other vendors are more worried about, ‘I just want to be open to everybody out there from the teenager all the way up to the grandfather,’" he added.

DeVries said the Defense Department already has taken certain precautions.

"So we published our mobile strategy, and again, with a corporation the size of DOD, we’re going a little bit slow," he said.

"I can’t keep up with how fast this stuff gets on the street," he continued. "But I do know I have to protect the data that resides inside DOD -- No. 1, because people’s lives are at stake, and 2, the defense of the nation is at stake. So I take this seriously."

RELIABLE, SAFE NUKES WITHOUT EXPLOSIVE TESTING

Photo:  Nuclear Bomb Test.  Credit:  U.S. Army Signal Corps

FROM: U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
Maintaining the U.S. Nuclear Stockpile in the Absence of Nuclear Explosive Testing
Fact Sheet

Bureau of Arms Control, Verification and Compliance

September 26, 2012

The leading methods used to maintain the United States nuclear weapons stockpile include:
The Stockpile Stewardship Program (SSP), run by the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), maintains the continued safety, security and reliability of the nation’s nuclear weapons in the absence of nuclear explosive testing. A key goal of the SSP is to increase scientific understanding of nuclear device performance, as well as the aging behavior of weapon materials and components to ensure a safe and effective nuclear deterrent.

Life Extension Programs (LEPs) extend the service life of the current weapons in the stockpile by using only nuclear components based on previously tested designs thereby eliminating the need to conduct nuclear explosive tests. NNSA, in coordination with the Department of Defense (DoD), also performs alterations and modifications to the stockpile in order to sustain the warheads that underpin the U.S. nuclear deterrent.

Advanced Simulation and Computing capabilities provide greatly increased confidence in the ability to model and evaluate the performance and safety of nuclear weapons without nuclear explosive testing. Computers have become at least a hundred-thousand times more powerful, and modern integrated design codes now more realistically capture the behavior of real nuclear devices.

Enhanced Surveillance tools and models play critical roles in providing information essential to assessing weapon safety, security, and performance changes that would affect military effectiveness. The use of data from surveillance of our nuclear weapons enables us to predict how the weapons will perform over time without using underground nuclear explosive testing.

The Annual Assessment process of the U.S. Nuclear Weapons Stockpile is the authoritative method for the DoD and NNSA to evaluate the safety, reliability, performance and military effectiveness of the nuclear weapons stockpile, and it is a principal factor in our ability to maintain a credible nuclear deterrent without nuclear explosive testing.

Infrastructure Modernization is in accordance with the Nuclear Posture Review; NNSA has identified a path for sustaining the nuclear deterrent while modernizing the supporting infrastructure without nuclear explosive testing. This modernization is implemented by focusing on recapitalization and refurbishment of existing infrastructure for plutonium, uranium, tritium, high-explosive production, non-nuclear component production, high-fidelity testing and waste disposition

Mutated smokers

Mutated smokers

NEWS FROM AFGHANISTAN, SEPTEMBER 26, 2012

 

An AV-8B Harrier II Plus with Marine Attack Squadron 211, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing (Forward), awaits its next mission on the tarmac at Camp Bastion, Afghanistan, Sept. 18, 2012. The aircraft provides air support to the ground units throughout Helmand and Nimroz provinces. Despite a roller coaster week for the squadron, VMA-211 remains fully operational and continues to provide support to ground troops throughout Regional Command Southwest’s area of operations.
Date Photo Taken- 9-18-2012
Unit: Marine Attack Squadron 211
Photo ByLine- Cpl. Timothy Lenzo
Photo VRIN- 120918-M-PC317-325.jpg
Photo Size- 994 KB

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Coalition, Afghan Troops Arrest 2 Taliban Leaders
From an International Security Assistance Force Joint Command News Release

KABUL, Afghanistan, Sept. 26, 2012 - A combined coalition and Afghan security force arrested two Taliban leaders -- an attack commander and an improvised explosive device expert -- during an operation in the Ghazni district of Afghanistan's Ghazni province today, military officials reported.

The attack commander is suspected of having directed IED attacks against coalition and Afghan security forces across the district, officials said, in addition to coordinating the construction of homemade bombs and providing training on their use and placement. He also is believed to be involved in suicide bomber training. The security force also detained three other suspected insurgents in the operation.

Also today, an Afghan and coalition security force arrested a Taliban leader in Ghazni province's Wali Muhammad Shahid Khugyani district. He is believed to have coordinated with insurgent groups to conduct direct-fire and IED attacks targeting Afghan and coalition forces. The security force also detained four other suspected insurgents.

In operations around Afghanistan yesterday:

-- A precision airstrike killed Malang, a Taliban leader, in the Sayyidabad district of Afghanistan's Wardak province after a combined security force saw him engaged in insurgent activity and ensured that no civilians were in the area. Malang was directly involved in planning attacks using improvised explosive devices against Afghan and coalition forces, as well coordinating the movement of insurgent fighters throughout the region. A post-strike assessment determined no civilians were harmed and no civilian property was damaged during the operation.

-- Provincial Response Company Wardak, mentored by coalition forces, reinforced another response company patrol that came under enemy fire in Wardak province's Maidan Shahr district. The combined force defeated the attack, killing seven insurgents. Responding to a request for a quick-reaction force, the combined element reached the unit in contact and was itself engaged by small arms and rocket propelled grenade fire from insurgents before fighting off the attack. Coalition officials said the rapid and effective response from PRC Wardak demonstrates their increased capability and their dedication to supporting their fellow Afghans in arms.

-- A combined U.S. Army Special Forces and Afghan National Army force killed an insurgent after being attacked at a local bazaar and at a combined outpost in Wardak province's Bahadur village. After eight to 10 insurgents opened fire with small arms and rocket propelled grenades, the combined force returned fire, secured the bazaar and village, and killed the insurgent at his fighting position. No civilians or Afghan forces were injured or killed during the engagement.

In a Sept. 24 operation, a combined security force arrested a Haqqani network IED attack leader in Khost province's Khost district. Officials said he is suspected of coordinating and planning IED attacks against Afghan and coalition forces throughout the region and was directly involved in acquiring and distributing a large amount of explosives and weapons, as well as providing training on the use of homemade bombs. He also is believed to have been trying to infiltrate Afghan security forces. The security force also seized firearms and heavy weapons ammunition.

In other news, an orphaned Afghan boy escaped from insurgents who were trying to use him as a suicide bomber and fled to the Afghan National Police in Helmand province's Nawa district Sept. 22.

The boy told Afghan police that insurgents had given him money to influence him to wear a suicide vest and detonate it near coalition or Afghan security personnel. He refused, and now is receiving care and support from the police.

PRESIDENT OBAMA'S REMARKS TO THE UN ON BEGHAZI ATTACKERS

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Beghazi Attackers Struck Against U.N. Ideals, Obama SaysBy Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Sept. 25, 2012 - The assault on the U.S. Consulate earlier this month in Benghazi, Libya, was an attack not only on America, but also on the ideals of the United Nations, President Barack Obama said in a speech to the U.N. General Assembly today.

The attack that killed four Americans, including U.S. Ambassador to Libya J. Christopher Stevens, was an assault on "the notion that people can resolve their differences peacefully, that diplomacy can take the place of war, and that in an interdependent world, all of us have a stake in working towards greater opportunity and security for our citizens," the president said.

Nations must be serious about the assault on those ideals and must go to the root causes that extremists use to incite populations, Obama said. "If we are serious about those ideals," he told the General Assembly, "we must speak honestly about the deeper causes of this crisis, because we face a choice between the forces that would drive us apart, and the hopes we hold in common."

Leaders, the president said, must decide that violence and intolerance have no place in the United Nations.

America has supported the forces of change sweeping North Africa and the Middle East, Obama said. "We were inspired by the Tunisian protests that toppled a dictator, because we recognized our own beliefs in the aspirations of men and women who took to the streets," he said. "We insisted on change in Egypt, because our support for democracy put us on the side of the people."

The United States supported leadership transition in Yemen and intervened in Libya alongside a broad coalition "because we had the ability to stop the slaughter of innocents, and because we believed that the aspirations of the people were more powerful than a tyrant," he said.

Obama also restated the U.S. position that the regime of Syrian dictator Bashar Assad must end.

"We have taken these positions because we believe that freedom and self-determination are not unique to one culture," he said. Freedom is a universal value, the president added.

The events of the past two weeks -- in which extremists have used an Internet video that denigrates the Prophet Muhammad to spur anti-American demonstrations -- speak to the need for nations to address the tensions between the West and an Arab World moving to democracy, Obama said. The United States will not dictate the outcome of democratic transitions, the president said, nor does America expect every nation to agree with U.S. positions.

"However, I do believe that it is the obligation of all leaders, in all countries, to speak out forcefully against violence and extremism," he said. "It is time to marginalize those who -- even when not resorting to violence -- use hatred of America, or the West, or Israel, as a central principle of politics. For that only gives cover, and sometimes makes excuses, for those who resort to violence."

Obama reiterated that the United States will not allow Iran to develop nuclear weapons. "America wants to resolve this issue through diplomacy, and we believe that there is still time and space to do so," he said. "But that time is not unlimited."

A nuclear-armed Iran is not a challenge that can be contained, Obama said. "It would threaten the elimination of Israel, the security of [Persian] Gulf nations, and the stability of the global economy," he added.

Iranian possession of nuclear weapons would spur an arms race in the region and unravel the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty, Obama said.

"That is why a coalition of countries is holding the Iranian government accountable," he added. "And that is why the United States will do what we must to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon."

Little Briefs the Pentagon Press Corps

Little Briefs the Pentagon Press Corps

MAN AND FOUR COMPANIES ARE CHARGED IN COMMODITY POOL FRAUD INVOLVING MADOFF/MF GLOBAL

The Legacy of the Bernie Madoff Ponzi Scheme

FROM: COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING COMMISSION

CFTC Charges Nikolai S. Battoo and Four Companies He Controls with Fraud In Connection With Commodity Pools that Accepted Over $140 Million from U.S. Investors

Defendants allegedly made fraudulent misrepresentations and omissions to hide losses sustained by a series of commodity pools called "Private International Wealth Management"

Washington, DC – On September 6, 2012, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) filed an emergency action in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois to freeze assets under the control of defendants Nikolai S. Battoo (Battoo), BC Capital Group S.A., BC Capital Group International Limited, BC Capital Management LLP, and BC Capital Group Holdings S.A. (the BC Common Enterprise). The action also seeks an order appointing a receiver for the BC Common Enterprise and related entities, prohibiting the defendants from destroying books and records, and granting the CFTC immediate access to evidence.

The CFTC’s complaint alleges that defendants operated a series of commodity pools called "Private International Wealth Management" (PIWM) that solicited more than $140 million from U.S. residents. The complaint also alleges that defendants made fraudulent misrepresentations and omissions in connection with significant losses sustained by the PIWM pools through periodic account statements and asset verification documents as well as through telephone calls and letters to pool participants.

Specifically, defendants allegedly committed fraud in 2008 by failing to disclose the PIWM pools’ significant exposure to the Bernard Madoff Ponzi scheme, as well as trading losses suffered by other of Battoo’s hedge funds in which the PIWM pools were invested. In 2009, defendants sent asset verifications to pool participants that the CFTC alleges overstated the value of the PIWM pools’ investments. Finally, in 2011, defendants allegedly overstated the impact that the bankruptcy of MF Global, Inc. had on the PIWM pools and used it as an excuse for refusing to return pool participants’ funds.

In the continuing litigation against the defendants the CFTC seeks a permanent injunction from future violations of federal commodities laws, permanent registration and trading bans, full restitution to defrauded pool participants, disgorgement of any ill-gotten gains, and the payment of appropriate civil monetary penalties.

The CFTC appreciates the assistance of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in this matter.

The CFTC Division of Enforcement staff responsible for this action are Andrew Ridenour, Amanda Harding, David Slovick, Stephen Turley, Carlin Metzger, Erica Bodin, Theodore Kneller, Kathleen Banar, Rick Glaser and Richard Wagner.

ESA bei Hamburger Klimanacht am 28. September 2012

ESA bei Hamburger Klimanacht am 28. September 2012

U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE CLINTON'S REMARKS ON WATER SECURITY

Photo:  Desert In Libya.  Credit:  CIA World Factbook 

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Roundtable on Water Security
Remarks
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State
United Nations
New York City

September 25, 2012
Thank you very, very much, Maria, and I am delighted to be able to join you for this meeting. Sometimes when you look at the busy schedule of the UN General Assembly, you see only the headlines, the problems, the hotspots, the conflicts, the challenges, and all of those are certainly important. But you also have to look at the trend lines, and you’re here because you know that water is an issue that cuts across borders and affects every human being.

You know better than any that water management and resource issues are both a moral imperative and a strategic investment, and I want to thank everyone who has participated in this, because whether you’re talking about economic development or improving global health, whether you focus on promoting food security or building peace or coping with climate change or providing sustainable energy, access to clean water is critical. And the problems that are already coming to the forefront around the world will only intensify as populations grow and demands increase.

Now, this year alone in the United States, we’ve experienced extreme drought conditions in some parts of our country and devastating floods in others. We are well aware that Europe, Asia, and Africa have all experienced similar challenges. Now, you’ve already heard about our Intelligence Community Assessment on Global Water Security, and I hope that you will have if you didn’t today have a chance to really study it, because water scarcity could have profound implications for security. The report found that dwindling supplies and poor management of water resources will certainly affect millions of people as food and crops grow scarcer and access to water more difficult to obtain. In fact, in some places, the water tables are already more depleted than we thought and wells are drying up.

In other parts of the world, water resources could become a real source of manipulation and increasing instability. And we want to get ahead of what those potential problems might be. We can’t wait until we already have a crisis. So I think water should be a priority in every nation’s foreign policy and domestic agenda, and we need to work together to advance cooperation on shared waters. Here at the UN, we have to work in our continuing efforts to ensure no child dies of a water-related disease and certainly no war is ever fought over water.

Now, to give just one example of what we need to be doing, the United States is working with the UN Development Program and other partners from not only governments but the business world, civil society, philanthropy, and academia on the shared waters partnership to help build really robust institutions. And also, as part of that, we will be looking for ways to establish online platforms to facilitate cooperation and to facilitate regional dialogues. All of us are here today because we understand the urgency. It is for me a critical issue that we have to start asking ourselves what are we going to do today and tomorrow to address.

Many of you are already working on developing practical solutions. How can we better connect and share what you’ve already learned? How can we build more effective institutions for managing shared water resources? And how do we bring safe drinking water and sanitation to all the world’s people? I’m sure it’s been said many times already today, but there are countries where there are more cell phones than toilets. How do we look for every possible creative, innovative approach to safe drinking water and sanitation? I’m excited, because I think this is now getting the attention that it so richly deserves. I thank Under Secretary Otero for leading our efforts inside the United States Government, and I look forward to hearing the results of your deliberations and working with you to try to implement your very practical solutions. Thank you all. (Applause.)

ICP, FOUNDER, SETTLE CDO FRAUD CASE FOR $23 MILLION

FROM: U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C., Sept. 7, 2012 – The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that New York-based investment advisory firm ICP Asset Management and its founder and president Thomas C. Priore have agreed to settle the agency’s charges that they defrauded several collateralized debt obligations (CDOs) they managed.

ICP, Priore, and related entities have agreed to pay more than $23 million to settle the case the the SEC filed in federal court in Manhattan. The SEC alleged they engaged in fraudulent practices and misrepresentations that caused the CDOs to overpay for securities and lose millions of
dollars. Priore and the ICP companies also improperly obtained fees and undisclosed profits at the expense of the CDOs and their investors.

"The settlement with Priore and ICP sends a clear message that investment advisers must always act in the best interests of their advisory clients, even if those clients are sophisticated investors," said George S. Canellos, Deputy Director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement. "When advisers put their own interests ahead of their clients’ interests, the SEC will seek to hold them accountable."

The court approved the settlement terms on September 6. The final judgment orders Priore to pay disgorgement of $797,337, prejudgment interest of $215,045, and a penalty of $487,618. ICP and its holding company Institutional Credit Partners LLC are required, on a joint and several basis, to pay disgorgement of $13,916,005 and prejudgment interest of $3,709,028. ICP also must pay a penalty of $650,000. An affiliated broker-dealer ICP Securities LLC is ordered to pay disgorgement of $1,637,581, prejudgment interest of $301,893, and a penalty of $1,939,474. Priore also agreed to settle an administrative proceeding against him and be barred from association with any broker, dealer, investment adviser, municipal securities dealer, or transfer agent, and from participating in any offering of a penny stock. He has a right to reapply for association or participation after a period of five years.

Priore and the ICP companies also consented, without admitting or denying the SEC’s allegations, to permanent injunctions enjoining them from future violations of the securities laws that they were alleged to have violated, which include Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, Sections 10(b) and 15(c)(1)(A) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rules 10b-3 and 10b-5, and Sections 206(1), (2), (3), and (4) of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 and Rules 204-2, 206(4)-7 and 206(4)-8.

The SEC’s investigation was conducted by Celeste A. Chase, Joseph Boryshansky, Joshua Pater, Susannah Dunn, and Kenneth Gottlieb of the New York Regional Office. Joseph Boryshansky led the litigation with assistance from Jack Kaufman, Mark Germann, Joshua Pater, and Susannah Dunn.

PARTNERED OPERATIONS CONTINUE IN AFGHANISTAN



U.S. Army Pfc. Michael Weymouth, left, and Sgt. Christopher Ouzts, center, provide dismounted security for U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Michael Myers, right, and his military working dog, Rambo, in front, while clearing a hill of improvised explosive device threats along a route during Operation Southern Strike III in the Takhteh Pol district of Afghanistan's Kandahar province, Sept. 7, 2012. Weymouth and Ouzts are combat engineers assigned to the 569th Engineer Company. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Brendan Mackie

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Partnered Coalition Operations Continue Despite Insider Attacks
By Nick Simeone
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Sept. 25, 2012 - Partnered operations between coalition and Afghan forces are continuing despite a decision by the top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan to scale them back in response to a series of deadly insider attacks, Pentagon Press Secretary George Little said today.

On Sept. 16, Marine Corps Gen. John R. Allen ordered that all combined International Security Assistance Force and Afghan operations below the battalion level must be approved at the regional command level following attacks by Afghan soldiers and police that have killed 51 members of the coalition this year.

At a Pentagon news conference today, Little told reporters he did not know how long such operations would be scaled back, but that some patrols below the battalion level do continue. "This is a temporary measure," he said, "and let me be clear as well that operations with our Afghan partners continue."

Last week, Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, described the pullback as precautionary and partly in response to the violent anti-American demonstrations that broke out across the Islamic world after an American-made video surfaced on the Internet defaming the Prophet Muhammad. "The protection of our personnel is paramount, and we will continue to make adjustments as required over time to ensure their security," Little said.

The spokesman said it would be up to the command in Afghanistan to determine how long partnered operations are curtailed, and that Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta strongly supports Allen's decision. He called coalition operations "successful" and stressed that the U.S. goal in Afghanistan remains the same.

"We see Afghans more and more in the lead for their own operations and for their own governance. That is the goal here, that is what we're training toward," he said.

"At the end of the day," he added, "that is how success is going to be defined: whether Afghans can provide for their own security and govern themselves."

THE ROVER LOOKS TOWARD IT'S DESTINY, MT. SHARP

 

 

FROM: NASA, MARS

Layers at the Base of Mount Sharp

A chapter of the layered geological history of Mars is laid bare in this postcard from NASA's Curiosity rover. The image shows the base of Mount Sharp, the rover's eventual science destination.

This image is a portion of a larger image taken by Curiosity's 100-millimeter Mast Camera on Aug. 23, 2012.

For scale, an annotated version of the figure highlights a dark rock that is approximately the same size as Curiosity. The pointy mound in the center of the image, looming above the rover-sized rock, is about 1,000 feet (300 meters) across and 300 feet (100 meters) high.

JPL manages the Mars Science Laboratory/Curiosity for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The rover was designed, developed and assembled at JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

THE NEW ASIA-PACIFIC FOCUS FOR THE UNITED STATES

Pentagon Official Explains Asia-Pacific Focus
FROM:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 

By Army Sgt. 1st Class Tyrone C. Marshall Jr.
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Sept. 24, 2012 - The entire U.S. government has made a concerted effort to improve U.S.-China relations while implementing the tenets in the defense strategic guidance, a senior Pentagon official said here today.

Speaking to an audience at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Kathleen Hicks, principal deputy undersecretary of defense for policy explained the U.S. military's strategic shift in focus toward the Asia-Pacific region.

"The investment of time and resources that the entire U.S. government is making in our relationships in this region includes a strong emphasis on improving relations with China," she said. But as President Barack Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta and Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter have emphasized, the rebalance is not just about China, she added.

"It is not just about the U.S. goal in the region, and it's not an attempt by the U.S. to contain China," she said.

Hicks said the need for rebalancing became apparent in 2011 as the Defense Department's senior leaders, along with the president's staff, engaged in a strategic review of how to achieve the objectives of the national defense strategy amid changes to the geo-strategic and resource environments.

"The end of the war in Iraq and the onset of our transition to Afghan leadership for security in Operation Enduring Freedom were among the dynamics we felt necessitated a re-look prior to the next [Quadrennial Defense Review]," she said.

Hicks noted Clinton, Panetta and Carter all have visited Asia in recent months.

"These travels provide our leaders venue to describe the United States vision for a prosperous and peaceful Asia-Pacific," she said. "[It will be] supported by a shared commitment to the values of free and open commerce, unimpeded access to the global commons and a system based on a rule of law.

"This vision scans the spectrum of our diplomatic, economic and defense policies," she continued. "Our whole-of-government efforts include strengthening our alliances and partnerships, deepening working relationships with emerging powers, engaging in and strengthening multilateral institutions, expanding trade and investment and advancing principles of democracy and human rights."

Hicks said the rebalancing reflects the larger picture of the entire region "including U.S. engagement with China, including military-to-military relations."

"The stability and prosperity in this region will be shaped by our ability to work together," she said.

Hicks explained some of the changes to come during the course of the rebalancing to the region.

"As U.S. forces return from Afghanistan and reset globally, one of our priorities is having forces present and positioned in the Pacific to assure regional allies and partners, deter threats to regional stability and prevail in conflicts if necessary," she said.

"This includes the Army aligning specific forces to U.S. Pacific Command, as well as the return of Marine Corps units to the 3rd Marine Expeditionary Force," Hicks said. "We're also shifting our overall naval presence to the Pacific region."

She noted that Panetta has said the United States intends to have 60 percent of its naval assets based in the Pacific by 2020.

"The department continues to work with our allies and partners in the region to increase the number and size of bilateral and multilateral exercises," Hicks said. "For example, just a few weeks ago, and for the first time, Indonesian [forces] participated alongside Thai, U.S., and Australian fighters in the biannual exercise 'Pitch Black' in Australia's northern territory."

Hicks said these exercises and training with allied and partner militaries are essential to the United States remaining the "security partner of choice" in the region, while encouraging others to share the burden.

"Our forward presence and engagement play an essential role in strengthening the capabilities of Pacific nations to defend and secure themselves," she said. "Building strong partnership in the Asia-Pacific region requires us to sustain and enhance American military strength there."

ATV-3 REENTRY AND END

NEWS FROM AFGHANISTAN SEPTEMBER 25, 2012

Photo:  U.S. Air Force

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Combined Force Kills Taliban Weapons Dealer
From an International Security Assistance Force Joint Command News Release

KABUL, Afghanistan, Sept. 25, 2012 - An Afghan and coalition security force killed a Taliban weapons dealer and destroyed his cache of illegal weapons during an operation in the Omnah district of Afghanistan's Paktika province today, military officials reported.

Hizbullah, the weapons dealer, and another armed insurgent maneuvered on the Afghan and coalition troops as the security force approached Hizbullah's compound, officials said. The security force engaged both armed insurgents, killing them. No civilians were harmed.

Hizbullah acquired and provided firearms, ammunition and explosives to Taliban insurgents under his command, enabling them to conduct attacks against security forces throughout the region, officials said. He also was believed to have been attempting to acquire a heavy machine gun and additional equipment for future insurgent attacks.

A number of suspected insurgents were detained in the operation, officials said. The security force also found and destroyed assault rifles, rocket-propelled grenades, an RPG launcher, fragmentation grenades and ammunition.

Also today, a combined force arrested the leader of a Taliban cell and several other suspects in the Panjwai district of Kandahar province. The arrested leader's insurgent cell is suspected of conducting small-arms fire and improvised explosive device attacks against Afghan and coalition forces. He also allegedly is linked to attempts to acquire weapons -- including mortar rounds -- for future attacks. The Taliban leader also was believed to be involved in a plot to kidnap Afghan security officers.

In a Sept. 23 operation, an International Security Assistance Force patrol seized 1,150 pounds of opium during a drug interdiction operation in the Reg-e Khan Neshin district of Helmand province. The ISAF patrol discovered the drugs after stopping and searching a vehicle traveling along a known narcotics smuggling route. ISAF troops detained the driver and destroyed the opium.

DOD News Briefing with George Little from the Pentagon

DOD News Briefing with George Little from the Pentagon

U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE CLINTON MEETS WITH LIBYAN PRESIDENT MOHAMED MAGARIAF

FROM: U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
Remarks With Libyan President Mohamed Magariaf Before Their Meeting
Remarks
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State
Waldorf-Astoria
New York City

September 24, 2012
SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, it’s wonderful to welcome the President of Libya and his distinguished delegation here to New York.

As we all know, the United States lost a great ambassador and the Libyan people lost a true friend when Chris Stevens and three other Americans were killed in the terrorist assault on our consulate in Benghazi.

Through everything, the President and the Libyan Government have been staunch partners to the United States. I want to thank them in person, as we already have through communications and through your Ambassador, for the important efforts that they are taking to help find and bring to justice all those responsible for the attacks. I’d also like to thank the Libyan people for the outpouring of support they have shown to not only Ambassador Stevens, but on behalf of the United States.

This summer, the Libyan people had the chance to choose their own leaders, and we have a President who has been freely chosen by the Libyan people. Courage has been the defining characteristic of the Libyan people over these last two years – courage to rise up and overthrow a dictator; courage to choose the hard path of democracy; courage to stand against violence and division in their country and the world. And Mr. President, that kind of courage deserves our support.

The United States was proud to stand with you and the Libyan people as you fought for your country last year. And we will continue to stand with you as you now write Libya’s new future as a democracy that will give all of your people a chance to have a better future.

Thank you.

PRESIDENT MAGARIAF: (Via interpreter.) Madam Secretary, at the outset, I would like to thank you, Secretary of State Clinton, for these kind words that you have expressed towards our Libyan people, towards the Libyan revolution, and toward the General National Congress of Libya that is today the legitimate and – the legitimacy and the legitimate authority in Libya.

Madam Secretary, I wouldn’t wish to speak for long, but however, before we continue, I would like to express – again reiterate the expression of my sincerest condolences, the condolences of the Libyan National Congress, the Libyan Government, the Libyan people, to you, to President Obama, and to the American people and to the families of the victims that fell during this painful, tragic tragedy. And they were the victims Ambassador Chris Stevens and his three comrades.

Madam Secretary, that was a very painful, huge tragedy, not only to the American people and the families of the victims but also for the Libyan people. The Libyan people lost a friend, lost someone who was very supportive of them, someone who was very supportive of their revolution, and someone who was always there for them.

Madam Secretary, undoubtedly, the understanding that was expressed by President Obama, by you as Secretary of State, towards these tragic events and your positive expression to continue to support Libya has led to mitigating the repercussions of this regrettable tragedy and incident on our close relationship.

Madam Secretary, their support, of course, mitigated the repercussions and the consequences. However, on the other hand, that support also furthered the responsibility on our shoulders towards taking responsibility – a great responsibility – for this tragedy and also let us look at the necessity to expedite the investigation in the incident and to pursue – to bring to justice those perpetrators. Of course, we are – we express our great readiness to cooperate with the U.S. Government in order to cooperate in the investigation and bring those perpetrators to justice.

Madam Secretary, I also will seize this opportunity to reaffirm that what happened on the 11th of September towards these U.S. citizens does not express in any way the conscience of the Libyan people, their aspirations, their hopes, or their sentiments towards the American people.

Madam Secretary, and I am confident that the protest that happened last Friday in Benghazi and the other protests that took place across the Libyan cities in protest to what happened are a very clear message to how we feel toward the United States. These protests embodied the conscience of the Libyan people. The Libyan people have spoken through these protests last Friday and expressed their true sentiments, how they feel towards the U.S. Administration and American people. You have mentioned the courage of the Libyan people, and we truly appreciate those words.

Madam Secretary, there is no doubt that the Libyan people have shown to the world and perhaps to across the world with their true courage and their love for their country and for the love for the freedom.

Madam Secretary, their courage would not have been possible for them also to win over a tyrant if it were not for the unlimited U.S. support, the political and military support of the United States, and the United States support in – at all levels that was given to the Libyan revolution, that the U.S. Administration gave to the Libyan revolution as well as your support, President Obama’s support, the American people’s support, and the support of the entire international community to this revolution.

This not only makes it our duty to thank you, thank the United States as well as the international community for that support, but that also makes it our duty to rise up to the level of the confidence and the trust that you, the United States, and the international community have put in us.

Madam Secretary, of course, despite all the challenges, the perils, the difficulties, and the – all the obstacles that we faced, the Libyan people were able – humbly as well as with pride – to show to the world the degree of their keenness to safeguard this revolution and to make it a success in order to bring about the goals – the noble and great goals of this revolution, mainly to establish a constitutional, democratic, civil state that would be based on pluralism and a peaceful transfer of authority.

Undoubtedly, these elections that happened over the past summer and brought about the General National Congress in Libya and also demonstrated the transparent elections that brought to power a new prime minister, all these events show and send a message of the new road that Libya is determined to take.

I am confident that the General National Congress and this new government – the new government are keen on undertaking their duties and fulfilling their responsibilities with integrity and sincerity as well as responsibility towards the world.