Monday, December 3, 2012
U.S. SENATOR CARL LEVIN ON EXTENDING THE "PRODUCTION TAX CREDIT" THAT BENEFITS ALTERNATIVE ENERGY
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| Senator Carl Levin |
Wind Production Tax Credit
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., today entered the following statement in the Congressional Record, thanking Sen. Mark Udall of Colorado for his Senate floor speech on Michigan’s wind energy industry and the need to extend the Production Tax Credit that expires at the end of this year.
I want to thank Senator Udall for his work bringing attention to this important issue.
To me, this issue is simple: Alternative energy, including wind power, is not only a vital component of our environmental protection efforts, but to growing our economy and creating jobs for the middle class.
Michigan is the state that put the world on wheels. Through innovation and dedication, entrepreneurs, engineers and Michigan workers combined their efforts not just to revolutionize transportation, but to create an explosion of manufacturing employment that helped create and sustain the American middle class.
Today, a new generation of Michigan innovators is harnessing the power of wind, the promise of biofuels, the power of advanced batteries. Earlier this year, I visited a wind farm in Breckenridge, Michigan, that is a marvel of technology, as far removed from the farmstead windmills of days past as a jet fighter is from the Wright Brothers’ plane. That wind farm is a textbook example of how the advance of technology is helping Michigan’s economy, enabling us not just to recover from the setbacks of the past, but to lead us into a brighter economic future.
Wind power is an important part of that advance. It’s a rapidly growing sector of our state’s electrical generating system: Wind generating capacity more than doubled in 2011, and projects under construction or in the development pipeline could increase capacity 10-fold or more. The more power we generate from wind, the more affordable, clean energy is available to our state and nation.
Michigan also has an important role in building advanced wind generation equipment, not just for our state, but for the United States and the world. Roughly 40 Michigan facilities are engaged in this business, many of them businesses that have turned expertise developed in the automotive industry to this new and growing field. Already wind is responsible for hundreds of good manufacturing jobs, and the potential is nearly as limitless as the wind itself.
That’s why renewal of the Production Tax Credit is so important. The PTC has been an important factor in helping this new industry grow. If it is allowed to expire at the end of the year, it would not only hamper efforts to generate more clean energy for Michigan homes and businesses, but also dampen the potential for new manufacturing jobs tied to wind power. That’s not a good outcome for our environment, for Michigan families or for the American economy.
So again I thank Senator Udall for his focus on this issue. I hope as we work to address the many pressing issues we must resolve before the end of the year, we can resolve this one as well, and maintain the momentum of clean energy to help our environment and our economy.
BIOSURVEILLANCE
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| Photo Credit: U.S. Department Of Homeland Security. |
The Defense Department is working with U.S. cities and countries around the world to enhance capabilities needed to detect and track a range of natural or intentional global disease outbreaks.
Biosurveillance involves using experts and a range of technologies to systematically gather, analyze and interpret data related to disease activity and threats to human and animal health for early warning and detection.
Though the strategy is new, a range of national policy documents has addressed biosurveillance, beginning in 2007 with Homeland Security Presidential Directive 21. The directive defined biosurveillance and discussed the need for a national capability.
In 2009, objectives stated in the National Strategy for Countering Biological Attacks sought to protect against the misuse of the life sciences to support biological weapons proliferation and terrorism. And the National Security Strategy of 2010 noted the ability of emerging infectious diseases to cross borders and threaten national security.
"DOD’s involvement in biosurveillance goes back probably before DOD to the Revolutionary War," Andrew C. Weber, assistant secretary of defense for nuclear, chemical and biological defense programs, told American Forces Press Service.
Today, as part of its effort to prepare for microbial storms unleashed by nature and by adversaries, DOD works internationally and domestically to improve global biosurveillance cooperation, Weber said.
"While we worry a lot about nonstate actors launching a bioterrorist attack," he added, "we also have to worry about rogue states like [North] Korea, Iran and Syria that have biological/chemical weapons programs."
To enhance biodefense capabilities on the Korean peninsula, Weber said DOD and South Korea launched the Able Response exercise in May 2011 and ran it again in May 2012.
"This is a whole-of-government to whole-of-government tabletop exercise focused on a biological incident, not during a conventional war but some type of a covert release, … that could have a major impact on the civilian population … but also on our 28,000 forces deployed on the peninsula," the assistant secretary said.
At the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, Ryan Madden is a science and technology manager in the chemical and biological technologies directorate’s physical science and technology division. Since 2007, DTRA, the Department of Homeland Security and other federal agencies have worked with the cities of Seattle and Denver, and now are working along with the State Department and with Poland on biosurveillance exercises, Madden told American Forces Press Service.
The first exercise, called the Interagency Biological Restoration Demonstration, or IBRD, ran from 2007 to 2010 in Seattle, he said, calling the demonstration "a very unique partnership" between DOD and Homeland Security.
The exercise was prompted by anthrax attacks that killed five people in the United States in 2001, Madden said.
The scenario involved a large biological anthrax release in a large city. The objective, he explained, was to get "from the baseline of more than 10 years for restoration [of the city after the attack] to a manageable number [of months or years for anthrax cleanup] that allows the city to maintain some form of viability."
IBRD was conducted in partnership with the Seattle King County Urban Area Security Initiative, Madden said, "and at the end of the program, we had a number of toolsets for decision support or efficacy."
The IBRD team had done studies on the efficacy of various solutions on bacillus anthracis — the bacterium that causes anthrax — on various surfaces, Madden said. "So there was technical data and decision toolsets that help you use that data to inform sampling approaches or decontamination strategies," he added.
As a result of the exercise, he said, "the [Seattle Urban Area Security Initiative], and their partnership with Joint Base Lewis-McChord as a key military installation there, have a regional consequence management plan that addresses catastrophic biological incidents."
For a large city like Seattle, the community resilience factor — based on how long leases and businesses can stay viable if people can’t get to work — is about six months. "And we’re still not at six months," Madden said.
Last year, Homeland Security took the lead, working with DOD, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Health and Human Services in a follow-on effort in Denver, Madden said, working with the Denver Urban Area Security Initiative.
The Denver recovery and resilience program, which wraps up this year, "expanded on IBRD with anthrax, but added a blister agent and a radiological dispersion device, and it still focuses on physical contamination [and cleanup]," the science and technology manager said.
During the Denver program, Madden added, "we started looking at how this could apply in working with a partner nation."
The international effort began in October as a partnership among DOD, the State Department, Homeland Security and Poland.
"I think [it] ties very closely with both the National Strategy for Countering Biological Threats as well as the National Strategy for Biosurveillance," Madden said, both of which recommend leveraging international collaboration.
Between October 2011 and September 2014, the exercise will use the release of two agents — one contagion and one environmentally persistent biothreat — to develop and demonstrate a capability for resilience in countering a threat that affects U.S. and Polish civilians and military personnel and key infrastructure, Madden said.
"[The international effort] is a capability integration and demonstration program, so we’re looking at technical feasibility and then operational utility," he added. "We’re working so the U.S. European Command, and warfighters are part of it. And later in the program, [we’ll have] field demonstrations and utility assessments."
The first technical demonstration will be held in August 2013, he said, and the second in the early spring of 2014.
The final operational demonstration, involving the 773rd Civil Support Team in Germany, EUCOM assets and Polish officials working together, will be in September 2014, Madden said. In the meantime, he added, "we’re funding Sandia National Laboratory to help with a methodology and a toolset we call Threat Probability to Action. The big gap we’re trying to bridge is between earlier warning and rapid response.
"The quicker you’re warned about something and the quicker you can make decisions about what to do," he said, "all of that has an impact on [saving lives]."
SEC FILES FRAUD CHARGES AGAINST CHINA NORTH EAST PETROLEUM HOLDINGS LIMITED AND CORPORATE OFFICERS
FROM: U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that, on November 29, 2012, the Commission filed fraud and other related charges against China North East Petroleum Holdings (CNEP); its CEO, President and former Chairman of the Board of Directors, Wang Hongjun (Wang); its founder, former director and Wang's mother, Ju Guizhi (Ju); and its Vice President of Corporate Finance and Secretary, Jiang Chao. The Commission also named Wang's wife, Sun Jishuang (Sun), and Jiang Chao's father, Jiang Mingfu, as Relief Defendants to recover company monies that they improperly received.
The Commission alleges that CNEP, Wang, Ju and Jiang Chao diverted offering proceeds to the personal accounts of corporate insiders and their immediate family members, and also engaged in fraudulent conduct in connection with at least 176 undisclosed transactions between the company and its insiders or their immediate family members, otherwise known as related-party transactions.
The Commission alleges that, in connection with its two public stock offerings in late 2009, CNEP falsely stated to investors in a registration statement and other public filings signed by Wang that the offering proceeds would be used to fund future business expansion and for general working capital purposes. Instead, consistent with a pre-existing pattern of engaging in undisclosed, related-party transactions, Jiang Chao then diverted over $900,000 of offering proceeds to his father, Jiang Mingfu, and at the direction of Ju, diverted at least $6 million dollars to her and Sun, who is her daughter-in-law and Wang's wife.
The Commission further alleges that during 2009, CNEP, Wang and Ju engaged in at least 176 undisclosed, related-party transactions. This fraudulent conduct involved approximately $28 million in transactions from CNEP to Wang or Ju; approximately $11 million purportedly loaned to CNEP or paid to third parties on behalf of CNEP by Wang or Ju; and $20 million of unusual post-year-end adjustments that purported to eliminate the remaining debts owed by Wang and Ju to CNEP. Together, these transactions totaled approximately $59 million of related-party activity during 2009. Neither the magnitude nor the volume of these related-party transactions has been fully disclosed to the investing public.
SPACE CENTER AND NATURE
FROM: NASA
Space Center Co-Exists With Nature
As part of Kennedy Space Center’s first Innovation Expo on Sept. 6, aquatic biologists with Inomedic Health Applications took employees on a field-guided boat tour of the unique estuarine ecosystems that are protected from commercial and residential development. They also outlined some of the innovative partnerships Kennedy has established with other government agencies and universities to monitor the ecosystem.
Space Center Co-Exists With Nature
As part of Kennedy Space Center’s first Innovation Expo on Sept. 6, aquatic biologists with Inomedic Health Applications took employees on a field-guided boat tour of the unique estuarine ecosystems that are protected from commercial and residential development. They also outlined some of the innovative partnerships Kennedy has established with other government agencies and universities to monitor the ecosystem.
THE UNSINKING OF THE USS MONITOR: U.S. NAVY HISTORICAL PHOTOS
FROM: U.S. NAVY, USS MONITOR
010627-N-5329L-002 Atlantic Ocean (June 27, 2001) – U.S. Navy diver, Gunner's Mate 1st Class James C. Burger from Henne Pin, IL, pulls on a chain fall rigged to the civil war era "iron-clad" ship USS Monitor. Divers are working from the Derrick Barge "Wotan", which is acting as the main support vessel during the Monitor 2001 Expedition, the sixth joint U.S. Navy and National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) expedition to preserve the historic vessel. The ship went down off the coast of Cape Hatteras, NC, in 1862 during a severe storm. U.S. Navy Photo by Photographer’s Mate 2nd Class Petty Officer Eric Lippmann. (RELEASED)
010703-N-5329L-005 Atlantic Ocean (July 3, 2001) – U.S. Navy diver, Senior Chief Engineman Bill Staples from Somersworth, N.H., uses a hammer and chisel to free deck plating from the historic wreck of USS Monitor. Staples and other U.S. Navy saturation divers are working around the clock with archaeologists from the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to salvage the main engine and other artifacts from the wreck to be preserved and later displayed at The Mariners Museum in Newport News, VA. Divers are working from the Derrick Barge "Wotan", which is acting as the main support vessel during the Monitor 2001 Expedition, the sixth joint U.S. Navy and NOAA expedition to preserve the historic vessel. The ship went down off the coast of Cape Hatteras, NC, in 1862 during a severe storm. U.S. Navy Photo by Photographer’s Mate 2nd Class Petty Officer Eric Lippmann. (RELEASED)
COBALT MAY REPLACE PRECIOUS METALS AS AN INDUSTRIAL CATALYST
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| Photo: Platinum Necklace. Credit: U.S. Marshals Service. |
Cobalt Discovery Replaces Precious Metals as Industrial Catalyst
Transforming the chemistry of catalysis
LOS ALAMOS, NEW MEXICO, November 26, 2012—Cobalt, a common mineral, holds promise as an industrial catalyst with potential applications in such energy-related technologies such as the production of biofuels and the reduction of carbon dioxide. That is, provided the cobalt is captured in a complex molecule so it mimics the precious metals that normally serve this industrial role.
In work published Nov. 26 in the international edition of the chemistry journal Angewandte Chemie, Los Alamos National Laboratory scientists report the possibility of replacing the normally used noble metal catalysts with cobalt.
Catalysts are the parallel of the Philosopher’s Stone for chemistry. They cannot change lead to gold, but they do transform one chemical substance into another while remaining unchanged themselves. Perhaps the most familiar example of catalysis comes from automobile exhaust systems that change toxic fumes into more benign gases, but catalysts are also integral to thousands of industrial, synthetic, and renewable energy processes where they accelerate or optimize a mind-boggling array of chemical reactions. It’s not an exaggeration to say that without catalysts, there would be no modern industry.
But a drawback to catalysts is that the most effective ones tend to be literally precious. They are the noble metal elements such as platinum, palladium, rhodium, and ruthenium, which are a prohibitively expensive resource when required in large quantities. In the absence of a genuine Philosopher’s Stone, they could also become increasingly expensive as industrial applications increase worldwide. A push in sustainable chemistry has been to develop alternatives to the precious metal catalysts by using relatively inexpensive, earth-abundant metals. The chemical complexities of the more common metals have made this research a challenge, but the Los Alamos paper holds out hope that the earth-abundant metal cobalt can serve in place of its pricier relatives.
Cobalt, like iron and other transition metals in the Periodic Table, is cheap and relatively abundant, but it has a propensity to undergo irreversible reactions rather than emerging unchanged from chemical reactions as is required of an effective catalyst. The breakthrough by the Los Alamos team was to capture the cobalt atom in a complex molecule in such a way that it can mimic the reactivity of precious metal catalysts, and do so in a wide range of circumstances.
The findings of the Los Alamos team have major ramifications and suggest that cobalt complexes are rich with possibility for future catalyst development. Due to the high performance and low cost of the metal, the cobalt catalyst has potential applications in energy-related technologies such as the production of biofuels, and the reduction of carbon dioxide. It also has implications for organic chemistry, where hydrogenation is a commonly practiced catalytic reaction that produces important industrial chemical precursors.
The research was funded by the LANL Laboratory Directed Research and Development Early Career program. "Mild and Homogeneous Cobalt-Catalyzed Hydrogenation of C=C, C=O, and C=N Bonds." Angewandte Chemie International Edition. DOI: 10.1022/anie.201206051. Guoqi Zhang, Brian L. Scott, and Susan K. Hanson* Guoqi Zhang, Kalyan Vasudevan.
U.S. AIR FORCE PHOTOS: ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY TECHNOLOGIES
FROM: U.S. AIR FORCE
Officials at Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla., opened a new fitness center Aug. 20, 2010, that is expected to reach the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Platinum level thanks to energy savings and environmentally friendly technologies, including these solar panels, or photovoltaics. The building also features cool-roof technology and a solar-generated hot-water system which are expected to help achieve a 9-percent energy savings for the building. (U.S. Air Force photo-Jonathan Green)
The Air Force's two new wind turbines at the Massachusetts Military Reservation in Cape Cod, Mass., seen from a distance, pose an interesting contrast to an ornamental traditional windmill atop a local Cape Cod shop. The 1.5 megawatt wind turbines, in addition to an existing turbine, were built to offset electrical costs for powering numerous groundwater cleanup systems at the reservation. The turbines will pay for all the Air Force's electric needs for groundwater remediation at MMR, saving more than $1.5 million per year. (U.S. Air Force photo-Scott Dehainaut)
Sunday, December 2, 2012
NASA VIDEO: JUNE LOCKHART DISCUSSES WATER RECYCLING TECHNOLOGY
FROM: NASA
June Lockhart: NASA's Clean Water TechnologyWater purification and recycling systems designed for spacecraft are helping to provide clean water for those in need here on Earth
June Lockhart: NASA's Clean Water TechnologyWater purification and recycling systems designed for spacecraft are helping to provide clean water for those in need here on Earth
AIRMAN BECOMES U.S. CITIZEN ON THE "TODAY" SHOW
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| Air Force Senior Airman Jorge Contreras sits with group of immigrants preparing to take the U.S. citizenship oath live on NBC's "Today" show, Nov. 16, 2012, at Rockefeller Plaza in New York. U.S. Air Force photo by 2nd Lt. Alexis McGee |
Face of Defense: Airman Swears Allegiance, Attains Dream
By Air Force 2nd Lt. Alexis McGee
Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst
JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, N.J., Nov. 29, 2012 - An 87th Logistics Readiness Squadron airman assigned here was full of nerves on the morning of Nov. 16, as he was about to become a U.S. citizen in a New York ceremony broadcast live on NBC's "Today" show.
Senior Airman Jorge Contreras, a materiel management journeyman and a native of Peru, has served in the U.S. Air Force for the past four years, but he said he has known for years that he wanted to become a citizen.
"I feel like I'm already a citizen," he said. "The ceremony is more of a formality."
Contreras' quest to become a citizen began in 2010. "I had already lived in America for 11 years when I decided to become a citizen," said Contreras, who calls Elizabeth, N.J., home. "I was raised in this culture, so I feel like I'm a part of it. I know this is where I want to raise my family."
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services department contacted Contreras two months after he submitted his application for citizenship and invited him to attend the "Today" program ceremony.
"I felt really excited about it," he said. "They saw something in me, and I felt really humbled that they called me."
An NBC crew traveled here Nov. 8, once Contreras' chain of command approved.
"I was nervous at first when the crew came down," Contreras said. "But then I realized all they wanted to see was me, and you can never be nervous about yourself. Once I got to know the team in person, all my nervousness went away."
The "Today" team invited Contreras' mother, Luz Reque, and girlfriend, Karla Espinoza, to attend the show and watch as he made the life-changing declaration.
"I am extremely proud of him," Espinoza said. "I know he tries really hard at everything he does, so I feel it is something he deserves." Espinoza, a citizen of Ecuador, also is working toward U.S. citizenship.
Nine co-workers and fellow airmen also traveled to New York to support Contreras.
"This is a pretty big deal for him," said Air Force Staff Sgt. Aldrine Estrella, an 87th LRS materiel management craftsman.
"I went through the same thing a few years ago, so I know how big of a deal it is to become a U.S. citizen," Estrella said.
Estrella, a native of the Philippines, earned his U.S. citizenship in 2010. He said he encouraged Contreras to do the same, but was quick to point out that Contreras didn't need much encouragement.
As Contreras scanned the spread of muffins, fruit and bagels the "Today" team put out before the ceremony, he couldn't help but smile in appreciation for what was to come.
"My mom is here, my girlfriend is here, and all the airmen are here," he said. "I feel so honored."
The 38-degree temperature did not stand in the way of the excited soon-to-be U.S. citizens who anxiously awaited the ceremony at Rockefeller Plaza.
"Once they got everything in motion, I said to myself, 'Forget the cold,'" Contreras said. "I was very happy to get my citizenship in front of my family."
Contreras became a U.S. citizen along with 29 other immigrants, and now can enjoy all the rights he has fought to preserve.
"It feels awesome to now be able to take advantage of all the rights I've been defending," said Contreras, who enlisted in the Air Force at age 21. "To me, it is less of an official title and more of a commitment."
With his commitment to the U.S. in his heart, at the forefront of Contreras' mind throughout the whole process was his family.
"A lot of doors just opened for me, and now I am ready to explore them and make my family proud," he said.
FAA PROPOSES POLICY TO KEEP FLIGHT ATTENDANTS SAFER
FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
FAA proposes policy to improve flight attendant workplace safety
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Aviation Administration, working with the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration, today proposed a new policy for addressing flight attendant workplace safety.
While the FAA's aviation safety regulations take precedence, the agency is proposing that OSHA be able to enforce certain occupational safety and health standards currently not covered by FAA oversight.
"Safety is our highest priority and that certainly extends to those who work in the transportation industry," said Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. "Under this proposal, flight attendants would, for the first time, be able to report workplace injury and illness complaints to OSHA for response and investigation."
"The policy announced today with the FAA will not only enhance the health and safety of flight attendants by connecting them directly with OSHA but will, by extension, improve the flying experience of millions of airline passengers," said Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis.
Flight attendant workplace issues could include things such as exposure to noise and bloodborne pathogens, and access to information on hazardous chemicals. The FAA and OSHA will continue to work to identify any additional conditions where OSHA requirements could apply. They will also develop procedures to ensure that OSHA does not apply any requirements that could affect aviation safety.
"Flight attendants contribute to the safe operation of every flight each day," said acting FAA Administrator Michael Huerta. "This proposed policy is an important step toward establishing procedures for resolving flight attendant workplace health and safety concerns."
"We look forward to working with the FAA and the airlines to assure the protection of flight attendants," said Dr. David Michaels, assistant secretary of labor for occupational safety and health.
Through the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012, Congress required the FAA to develop a policy statement to outline the circumstances in which OSHA requirements could apply to crewmembers while they are working on aircraft.
CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANT SENTENCED TO PRISON FOR ROLE IN HALF-BILLION DOLLAR FRAUD SCHEME
FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICEFriday, November 30, 2012
New Jersey Man Sentenced to 54 Months in Prison for Half-Billion Dollar Fraud Scheme with Thousands of Victims Worldwide
A certified public accountant (CPA) and purported outside auditor for Provident Capital Indemnity Ltd. (PCI) was sentenced today in Richmond, Va., to 54 months in prison for his role in an approximately half-billion-dollar fraud scheme that affected more than 3,500 victims throughout the United States and abroad, announced U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia Neil H. MacBride and Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.
Jorge Luis Castillo, 57, a resident of New Jersey, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge John A. Gibney in the Eastern District of Virginia. In addition to his prison term, Castillo was sentenced to three years of supervised release and ordered to pay $43,582,699 in forfeiture.
Castillo pleaded guilty on Nov. 21, 2011, to one count of conspiring to commit mail and wire fraud. Castillo was a PCI employee prior to becoming PCI’s "outside auditor."
"As a licensed accountant, Mr. Castillo used his expertise to create fraudulent financial statements out of whole cloth," said U.S. Attorney MacBride. "Many elderly investors relied on Mr. Castillo’s credibility as an outside auditor before entrusting their life savings in this fraud scheme. Accountants and auditors are the gatekeepers of our financial system and are entrusted with the critical role of protecting the public from fraud. Today’s sentence will hopefully send a strong message to those in the accounting profession that they will be held responsible when they break that trust by facilitating or participating in fraud."
"Jorge Luis Castillo will spend 54 months in prison for trading on his qualifications as a CPA to facilitate a massive fraud scheme that harmed investors throughout the United States and abroad," said Assistant Attorney General Breuer. "Mr. Castillo’s prison sentence demonstrates the Justice Department’s commitment to holding accountable any fraudster who preys on innocent, unsuspecting investors."
According to court records, PCI was an insurance and reinsurance company registered in the Commonwealth of Dominica and doing business in Costa Rica. PCI sold financial guarantee bonds to companies selling life settlements, or securities backed by life settlements, to investors. PCI marketed these bonds to its clients as a way to alleviate the risk of insured beneficiaries living beyond their life expectancy. PCI’s clients, in turn, typically explained to their investors that the financial guarantee bonds ensured that the investors would receive their expected return on investment irrespective of whether the insured on the underlying life settlement lived beyond his or her life expectancy.
Castillo admitted that he conspired with Minor Vargas Calvo, 61, the president and majority owner of PCI, to prepare audited financial statements that falsely claimed that PCI had entered into reinsurance contracts with major reinsurance companies. These claims, which were supported by a letter from Castillo stating that he conducted an audit of PCI’s financial records, were used to assure PCI’s clients that the reinsurance companies were backstopping the majority of the risk that PCI had insured through its financial guarantee bonds.
Castillo further admitted that he never performed an audit of PCI’s financial statements and that, in fact, he personally created the statements he claimed to be independently auditing. He also admitted that he and others at PCI knew that the company never actually entered into reinsurance contracts with any major companies. Castillo also admitted that he and other conspirators provided the false financial statements and fraudulent independent auditors’ report to Dun & Bradstreet (D&B), which D&B relied on in compiling its commercial reports on PCI and issuing its 5A rating of PCI’s financial strength.
From 2004 through 2010, PCI sold at least $485 million of bonds to life settlement investment companies located in various countries, including the United States, the Netherlands, Germany, Canada and elsewhere. PCI’s clients, in turn, sold investment offerings backed by PCI’s bonds to thousands of investors around the world. Purchasers of PCI’s bonds were allegedly required to make up-front payments of six to 11 percent of the underlying settlement as "premium" payments to PCI before the company would issue the bonds. Court records state that Castillo received approximately $84,000 from his work as the purported outside auditor of PCI from 2004 through 2010.
Vargas, a citizen and resident of Costa Rica, was convicted on April 30, 2012, of one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, three counts of mail fraud, three counts of wire fraud and three counts of money laundering. On Oct. 23, 2012, he was sentenced to 60 years in prison. PCI pleaded guilty on April 18, 2012, to conspiring to commit mail and wire fraud, and was sentenced on Sept. 6, 2012, to one year of probation.
This investigation is being conducted by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation, and FBI, with assistance from the Virginia State Corporation Commission, the Texas State Securities Board and the New Jersey Bureau of Securities. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael S. Dry and Jessica Aber Brumberg of the Eastern District of Virginia and Assistant Chief Albert B. Stieglitz Jr. of the Justice Department Criminal Division’s Fraud Section.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) conducted a parallel investigation and in January 2011 filed a parallel civil enforcement action against PCI, Vargas and Castillo. The department thanks the SEC for its assistance in this matter.
The investigation has been coordinated by the Virginia Financial and Securities Fraud Task Force, an unprecedented partnership between criminal investigators and civil regulators to investigate and prosecute complex financial fraud cases in the nation and in Virginia specifically. The task force is an investigative arm of the President’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force, an interagency national task force.
President Obama established the Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force (FFETF) in November 2009 to wage an aggressive, coordinated and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes. With more than 20 federal agencies, 94 U.S. Attorneys’ offices and state and local partners, it’s the broadest coalition of law enforcement, investigatory and regulatory agencies ever assembled to combat fraud. Since its formation, the task force has made great strides in facilitating increased investigation and prosecution of financial crimes; enhancing coordination and cooperation among federal, state and local authorities; addressing discrimination in the lending and financial markets and conducting outreach to the public, victims, financial institutions and other organizations. Over the past three fiscal years, the Justice Department has filed more than 10,000 financial fraud cases against nearly 15,000 defendants including more than 2,700 mortgage fraud defendants
RESEARCHERS WILL STUDY POSSIBLE OMEGA 3 BENEFITS IN REDUCING VETERAN SUICIDES
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| Photo: Omega 3. Credit: U.S. DOD |
December 2, 2012
by jtozer
DOD Funds Study of Omega 3 Benefit in Reducing Suicides
The defense department is funding a new study to determine if something as simple as drinking smoothies with high concentrations of the fatty acids found in fish oils can help to reduce suicides among veterans.
The study, to kick off in January, will assess the effect of Omega 3 fatty acids on 350 volunteer participants who have attempted suicide or are considered to be at risk of doing so, said Bernadette Marriott, a Medical University of South Carolina professor who is the study’s principal investigator.
The university is collaborating in the clinical trial with researchers from the Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center in Charleston, S.C., and the
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, part of the National Institutes of Health. Ron Acierno, director of the post-traumatic stress disorder clinic at the Charleston VA center, will partner with Marriott as an onsite collaborator.
The Military Operational Medicine Joint Program Committee is funding the study, and the
Army Medical Research and Materiel Command’s Congressional Directed Medical Research Programs Office will manage it.
The test subjects, to be recruited over the next three years from the Charleston VA center and the local veteran population, will drink two child-size juice boxes of commercially available, smoothie-type drinks each day for six months, Marriott said.
Half the veterans will receive about 4 grams of Omega 3 fatty acids in their drinks each day, said Joseph Hibbeln, acting chief of NIAA’s nutritional neurosciences section. This, he said, should elevate the concentration of Omega 3s in the experimental group’s blood to levels commonly found among populations of fish-eating countries such as Japan and Iceland.
The other half of the test subjects, the control group, will receive placebos.
Both groups will continue to receive the same mental health care services as before the study.
Meanwhile, researchers will evaluate them as they begin the study and periodically over its course to assess their depression and anxiety levels and performance on cognitive tests, Marriott said. They also will take blood samples to measure Omega 3 levels.
The investigators will have no idea until after the study which test subjects received Omega 3 doses and which were in the control, Marriott said.
Based on previous studies in both animals and humans, Marriott said she expects to see much higher Omega 3 levels in the experimental group, with corresponding improvements in their mood and performance levels.
Hibbeln has been a pioneer in linking Omega 3 deficiencies with depression and violent or impulsive disorders. For the past 20 years, he has advanced the theory that the brain, made up of fats and oils, depends on Omega 3 nutrients to operate properly and fully experience pleasure.
He uses the analogy of a tree that grows deep roots, a sturdy trunk and abundance of leaves only if it’s properly fertilized and gets the nutrients it needs.
The problem, he explained, is that the human body gets Omega 3s only through food and nutritional supplements. And the typical American diet is extremely low in Omega 3 fatty acids — with military populations consuming even fewer.
Exacerbating the problem, Hibbeln said, is that their diets tend to be high in Omega 6s, the oils commonly found in French fries, chips and other processed foods. Within red blood cells, Omega 6s are like "insurgents" who crowd out the few good-guy Omega 3s, he explained.
That double-whammy, he said, puts people at increased risk of suicide and other emotional distress.
Assessing the blood of 800 active-duty military members who committed suicide between 2002 and 2008, Hibbeln said all had "profoundly low levels of Omega 3 fatty acids, by evolutionary and world standards."
The suicide victims had particularly low levels of docosahexaenoic acid or DHA, an Omega 3 fatty acid concentrated in the brain. The levels were so low that, based on other studies, it could have elevated the service members’ risk of suicide by 75 percent, Hibbeln said.
But equally troubling was that the control group in that study, which consisted of 800 active-duty service members, had similarly low levels of Omega 3s in their blood.
Hibbeln recalled another era in military history when a nutritional deficiency caused an operational challenge. Only when the British navy began feeding lemons and limes — a great source of Vitamin C — to its sailors did they stop suffering from debilitating cases of scurvy.
Recognizing the potential benefits of Omega 3s, the
Army Natick Soldier Systems Center in Massachusetts, has started infusing them into combat rations. Natick food scientists already have started introducing them into lemon poppy seed cake and a salmon in alfredo sauce entree.
Hibbeln said he’s hoping the new study will show results like those in another he conducted that involved 49 patients who were admitted to an emergency room in Ireland for multiple episodes of "self harm." In that study, all the patients were sent home from the hospital without psychotherapy services, but half received 2 grams of Omega 3 fatty acids to take each day.
The results among that experimental group impressed even Hibbeln. "The active group had reduced their suicidal thinking by 45 percent," he said. "They reduced their depressive symptoms by 50 percent, reduced their perceptions of stress by 33 percent and increased their reports of a sense of happiness by 30 percent."
"Low Omega 3 fatty acids or low levels of any one nutrient are never going to be the sole cause of suicide or depression," he said. "People are very complex, lives are complex and biology is complex. But when you kick the legs out of that fundamental nutrient, everything else gets worse and everything else gets magnified."
But Marriott said she sees the new study as a way to give new hope to military members and veterans struggling with depression and suicidal tendencies. "We’re very excited about this, and the prospect that such a small change could make a big difference that helps a lot of people," she said.
The findings could have far-reaching impact beyond the military, Marriott said, noting that suicide is the 10th largest cause of death in the United States.
"This study will have important ramifications, not just for veterans, but for all Americans," she said.
By Donna Miles
RECENT U.S. NAVY PHOTOS
FROM: U.S. NAVY
121120-N-ZZ999-006 VENTURA, Calif. (Nov. 20, 2012) An E-2C Hawkeye aircraft assigned to the Wallbangers of Carrier Airborne Early Warning Squadron (VAW) 117 fly over the Pacific Ocean near Ventura, Calif. VAW-117 is a command and control and airborne early Warning Squadron dedicated to deliver time critical situational awareness to warfare commanders and coalition partners. (U.S. Navy photo by Command Master Chief Spike Call/Released)
121123-M-VZ265-062 CAMP BUEHRING, Kuwait (Nov. 23, 2012) Marines assigned to Sniper Platoon, Weapons Company, Battalion Landing Team 3/5, 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit (15th MEU), practice Military Operations on Urban Terrain. The 15th MEU is deployed with the Peleliu Amphibious Ready Group as a U.S. Central Command theater reserve force, providing support for maritime security operations and theater security cooperation efforts in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Timothy R. Childers/Released)
U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT CELEBRATES WILDLIFE CONSERVATION DAY WITH WORLDWIDE EVENTS
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| Photo: African Elephant. Credit: CIA World Factbook. |
Department of State Marks Wildlife Conservation DayMedia Note
Office of the Spokesperson
Washington, DC
December 1, 2012
U.S. missions around the globe will mark Wildlife Conservation Day on December 4 with programs including speaking engagements at local schools, film presentations, roundtables, an appearance by Animal Planet’s Jeff Corwin at the U.S. Department of State, and a videotaped call to action by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
In Washington D.C., Jeff Corwin, host and executive producer of Animal Planet’s "The Jeff Corwin Experience," will speak at the Department of State’s Ralph Bunche Library at 11 a.m. on December 4. Mr. Corwin will be joined by Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Tara Sonenshine and Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs Kerri-Ann Jones. Mr. Corwin will also lead two international webchats on Monday, December 3 and Tuesday, December 4.
International events include:
China: In Beijing, Under Secretary of State Robert Hormats will take part in a roundtable focused on wildlife protection. The U.S. consulate in Guangzhou has organized film presentations on wildlife trafficking to be shown in Fuzhou, Xiamen, and Guangzhou.
Kenya: In Nairobi, USAID will host a roundtable with Government of Kenya officials and civil society to discuss wildlife conservation issues.
India: The American Library in New Delhi will host a youth event on wildlife conservation and take questions via Facebook in addition to live streaming Jeff Corwin's webchat.
Kyrgyzstan: Embassy Bishkek will host a conference on snow leopards with local experts.
Thailand: Ambassador Kristie Kenney will participate in an anti-trafficking event at Bangkok’s international airport with government officials, USAID, the NGO FREELAND, and other partners.
Burundi: Embassy Bujumbura will host programs for elementary school children and distribute National Geographic’s conservation materials.
Nicaragua: Ambassador Phyllis Powers will tour a rescue center in Managua for trafficked animals, deliver remarks, and engage the press.
Central African Republic: Embassy Bangui will launch a new youth conservation group.
Russia: Embassy Moscow will conduct a panel discussion on the challenge of wildlife trafficking, with an emphasis on local efforts to protect tigers.
U.S. AMBASADOR TO NIGERIA LEADS TRADE DELEGATION TO U.S. TO PROMOTE TRADE
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| Map: Nigeria. Credit: CIA World Factbook. |
U.S. Ambassador Terence McCulley Leads Nigerian Delegations to New Orleans and Orlando and Promotes Trade with Africa
Media Note
Office of the Spokesperson
Washington, DC
November 30, 2012
U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria Ambassador Terence P. McCulley will promote business opportunities between Nigeria and America on a two-week, four-city tour in the United States December 2-14, 2012. The tour is part of the "Doing Business in Africa" (DBIA) campaign, launched by the Acting Secretary of Commerce Dr. Rebecca Blank on November 28th which helps American businesses identify opportunities for United States commercial and trade relationships in Africa. On June 14, 2012, President Obama issued the U.S. "Strategy Toward Sub-Saharan Africa," under which the United States will pursue four objectives in the region: strengthening democratic institutions; spurring economic growth, trade and investment; advancing peace and security; and promoting opportunity and development. As part of spurring economic growth, trade, and investment, the Strategy specifically calls for the development of a "Doing Business in Africa" campaign. This campaign will leverage the federal government’s trade promotion, financing, and strategic communications capabilities to help U.S. businesses identify and seize opportunities in Africa, and to help them overcome any challenges they face to establishing business relationships with Africa.
On December 5, the Ambassador will lead a substantial Nigerian delegation to New Orleans to attend business meetings and attend the International Workboat Show – the largest commercial marine tradeshow in North America - plus conduct site visits to companies and educational institutions. The Ambassador will also participate in a Tulane Energy Institute Round Table.
In Orlando on December 11, the Ambassador is leading a large private and public sector delegation to Power-Gen International. Power-Gen International offers the delegation the opportunity to join over 20,000 attendees from 92 countries to do business with the over 1,200 exhibiting companies.
While in the United States, Ambassador McCulley will also meet with business, academic, and diaspora representatives in Houston and Atlanta.
NEW JERSEY ONE MONTH AFTER HURRICANE SANDY
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| Sandy Hook, N.J., Nov. 28, 2012 -- Many roads were severely damaged by Hurricane Sandy in the National Park, which is at the top of New Jersey's shoreline. FEMA is working with state and local officials to assist residents who were affected by Hurricane Sandy. Photo by Liz Roll-FEMA |
New Jersey Recovery: One Month Later
November 30, 2012
LINCROFT, N.J. – On the evening of October 29, Hurricane Sandy made landfall along the New Jersey coast resulting in the most damaging disaster in state history. Since then, Federal funds obligated to assist the residents and communities in the state have totaled more than $730 million
The federal effort deployed to assist the state included 18 agencies with more than 2,600 personnel. In addition, under the Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC), 12 states have deployed
440 personnel and equipment to support New Jersey. This includes law enforcement teams providing security and emergency medical services supporting sheltering and other life support needs.
The New Jersey National Guard responded with a force of over 2,200 Guardsmen to support response efforts throughout the state. For New Jersey, it was the largest mobilization of National Guardsmen to a domestic emergency and the largest humanitarian effort the state has orchestrated. The Guard rescued more than 7,000 residents and their pets, operated three fuel distribution points, transported and delivered tens of thousands of basic needs commodities to armories within communities impacted by the storm and provided approximately 250 hours of helicopter lift support to civilian authorities.
Even before Sandy made landfall, FEMA positioned food, water and blankets and deployed experts from several federal agencies to New Jersey, including the U.S. Coast Guard and other components of the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Defense, the Department of Transportation, the Department of Energy, and Housing and Urban Development to provide resources and guidance to the state. Together, critical life-saving needs were provided in the immediate aftermath: emergency medical care, search and rescue, power generators in critical facilities, fuel for first responders.
FEMA also has issued 235 mission assignments to support disaster response and recovery needs, totaling nearly $250 million in projected assistance. This includes federal operational support (support among federal agencies) totaling $67.8 million, technical assistance support (federal support to the state) of $11.2 million such as the expertise brought to New Jersey to support assessment of critical infrastructure throughout the state, and direct federal assistance of nearly $170.0 million.
Immediately following Hurricane Sandy’s landfall, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), working with FEMA and local and state authorities, identified critical locations that needed temporary emergency power. They installed 102 emergency generators between Oct. 31 and Nov. 19 to provide life-saving power to 9-1-1 centers, police and fire stations and medical facilities; life-sustaining facilities such as shelters, water and wastewater treatment and pumping facilities; and other municipal facilities required to reinstitute local command and control and post-event recovery.
FEMA and local and state authorities turned to USACE for its extensive experience removing debris following natural disasters, assigning a debris management technical assistance mission in New Jersey Nov. 6. USACE placed debris subject matter experts in Monmouth, Ocean, Atlantic, Bergen, Hudson, Essex, Middlesex and Union counties working with FEMA, state, county and local authorities to assess the quantities and types of debris and recommend courses of action for its removal. Quantities of various types of debris are still being calculated but are estimated to total around 6.2 million cubic yards, or enough debris to fill the MetLife stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.
The U.S. Fire Service provided 26 chainsaw teams totaling 520 personnel to assist with tree removal in neighborhoods throughout the state. They also provided four Incident Management Teams who assisted the state Fire Marshal with fire coordination and fire planning response.
President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Shaun Donovan, Acting Secretary of Commerce Rebecca Blank, Deputy National Security Advisor John O. Brennan, Deputy Transportation Secretary John Pocari, FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate, and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Commander Lt. Gen. Thomas Bostick have toured damaged New Jersey communities and met with local leaders and emergency responders to view recovery efforts while vowing to bring all available resources to bear to support state and local partners in assisting survivors in the 21 counties designated for assistance.
"FEMA and the entire federal family have been our partners from the beginning," said State Coordinating Officer Lt. Jeff Mottley. "They anticipated many of our needs and when there were challenges, they quickly offered solutions."
"Getting survivors the assistance they need has been our top priority from the beginning," said Federal Coordinating Officer Michael J. Hall. "When families and businesses begin to recover, whole communities begin to recover. The faster we can get recovery dollars into the hands of survivors and reimburse communities for disaster expenses, the faster they will move forward in their healing."
In the first 30 days, FEMA provided $286 million to assist individuals and families repair damaged homes, find temporary housing and assist with expenses such as medical and dental bills. More than 46,000 New Jersey families have benefitted from that assistance so far.
Restoring power to over 2.6 million homes, businesses and government customers represented a critical priority. The Department of Energy worked closely with the state Board of Public Utilities to coordinate the power restoration. Demonstrating a true whole community response, over 23,000 utility professionals came together from New Jersey’s utility companies and, through mutual aid agreements with companies across the country, worked to restore service across the state.
To meet a critical need at a critical time, nearly 3,000 families have taken advantage of the Transitional Sheltering Assistance (TSA) program by lodging in 340 hotels during the first four-week period.
Helping disaster survivors who were displaced from their homes due to damage or power loss find safe and secure shelter is a key priority of the response. At peak of sheltering operations, 107 shelters were open with 4,370 people. Through efforts across federal, state, local, private sector and voluntary agencies, the last of the shelters closed on November 21.
The U.S. Small Business Administration has opened 10 Business Recovery Centers in the state to provide one-on-one help to business owners seeking disaster assistance and has approved more than $21 million in disaster loans to both individuals and businesses.
The first FEMA Disaster Recovery Centers opened just days after the storm passed and continue to assist survivors at more than 36 locations where nearly 25,000 residents have been offered assistance and information about their recovery.
More than 650 FEMA community relations specialists have met with more than 86,000 storm survivors while going door-to-door. In total, nearly 150,000 homes were visited delivering information vital to disaster survivor’s recovery.
Even as Sandy was making its way up the east coast, FEMA and the Department of Defense established Incident Support Bases at Westover, Mass. and Lakehurst, New Jersey to position supplies and other resources close to areas in the hurricane’s path. Following the storm, more than 1.7 million meals and 2.6 million snacks have been served to survivors and first responders.
The Department of Health and Human Services deployed hundreds of personnel, including five Disaster Medical Assistance Teams and three Public Health Strike Teams to support hospitals and shelters in New Jersey. In total they were able to assist more than 750 people with medical needs.
FEMA also has teamed with the private sector network of business, industry, academia, trade associations, and other non-governmental organizations as equal partners in assisting with Sandy recovery.
The storm impact on New Jersey was historic in its severity. Storm surge impacts of up to 11 feet battered the coastline and wave heights of more than 14 feet were recorded. Peak wind gusts of 88 mph were clocked in Essex County. The devastating effects of Hurricane Sandy affected, damaged or destroyed more than 122,000 structures throughout all 21 counties.
OREGON NATIONAL GUARD AND VIETNAM SIGN PARTNERSHIP PACT
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| Army Maj. Gen. Raymond F. Rees, adjutant general of the Oregon National Guard, and Vietnam Lt. Gen. Tran Quang Khue, vice chairman of the National Committee for Search and Rescue, congratulate each other following the official signing ceremony for the State Partnership Program between Oregon and Vietnam on Nov. 27, 2012. Photo by U.S. Embassy in Hanoi. |
Oregon Army National Guard
SALEM, Ore., Nov. 30, 2012 - The Oregon National Guard signed a pact with Vietnam as part of the State Partnership Program during a Nov. 27 ceremony in Hanoi.
Army Maj. Gen. Raymond F. Rees, adjutant general of the Oregon National Guard, signed the agreement with Vietnam Lt. Gen. Tran Quang Khue, vice chairman of the National Committee for Search and Rescue.
U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam David Shear; Oregon Army National Guard Brig. Gen. Todd Plimpton, assistant adjutant general (Army); Oregon Air National Guard Col. Mark Crosby, Oregon's State Partnership Program director, and other officials were on hand for the signing at the Ministry of Defense Guest House.
The agreement comes as the United States begins ceremonies marking the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War. Events and commemorations to honor era veterans and casualties are scheduled in both countries through 2025.
The State Partnership Program reflects an evolving international affairs mission for the National Guard, emphasizing its unique state-federal and civil-military characteristics to interact with both the active and reserve forces of foreign nations, interagency partners, and international non-governmental organizations.
State partners participate in a broad range of security cooperation activities to include homeland defense/security, disaster response/mitigation, consequence/crisis management, interagency cooperation, border/port/aviation security, combat medical, fellowship-style internships, and bilateral familiarization events that lead to training and exercise opportunities.
The State Partnership Program currently supports 65 partnerships between states and nations.
The Oregon National Guard is also partnered with Bangladesh.
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