PRIMARY CARE WORKFORCE EXPANDING

Examination Room.   Credit:  U.S. DOD.

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
National Health Service Corps expands the primary care workforce
Physicians to practice in communities that need them most

The National Health Service Corps awarded more than $10 million in funding for loan repayment to 87 medical students in 29 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, who will serve as primary care doctors and help strengthen the health care workforce, Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced today.

Made possible by the Affordable Care Act, the National Health Service Corps’ Students to Service Loan Repayment Program provides financial support to fourth year primary care medical students in exchange for their service in the communities that need them most.

"This new National Health Service Corps initiative is an innovative approach to encouraging more medical students to work in primary care, and to bring more primary care doctors to communities," Secretary Sebelius said. "This is an important part of the administration’s commitment to building the future health care workforce."

The Health Resources and Services Administration’s (HRSA) Students to Service pilot program provides loan repayment assistance of up to $120,000 to medical students in MD and DO programs in their last year of education in return for their commitment to practice in the communities that need them most upon completion of their primary care residency.

"The average medical school debt is often more than $200,000," said HRSA Administrator Mary K. Wakefield, Ph.D., R.N. "The Students to Service program help relieve a tremendous debt burden, allowing them to follow their passion for primary care." These newest NHSC providers must provide three years of full-time service or six years of half-time service in designated rural and urban areas.

As a result of historic investments in the Affordable Care Act and the Recovery Act, the numbers of National Health Service Corps clinicians are at all-time highs. The number of providers serving in the Corps has nearly tripled since 2008. Today nearly 10,000 National Health Service Corps providers are providing primary care to approximately 10.4 million people at nearly 14,000 health care sites in urban, rural, and frontier areas.

Statement on the Attacks on the US Facilities in Benghazi, Libya before the Senate Armed Services Committee

Statement on the Attacks on the US Facilities in Benghazi, Libya before the Senate Armed Services Committee

USS COLE BOMBER SUSPECT HEARINGS DELAYED

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Mental Health Test Delays Cole Bombing Suspect Hearings
By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service


FORT MEADE, Md., Feb. 7, 2013 - Pretrial hearings for the suspected USS Cole bomber are on hold until mid-April as doctors assess his mental competency and the military commission determines how that will affect future proceedings.

The latest round of hearings for Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri kicked off Jan. 4 at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and had been scheduled to conclude today.

However, that schedule got derailed after the prosecution requested a mental-health assessment, challenging the defense claim that Nashiri suffers from long-term post-traumatic stress allegedly caused by enhanced interrogation techniques the CIA used on him before he was transferred to Guantanamo Bay.

Members of the defense questioned what such an assessment would provide, telling the commission judge, Army Col. James L. Pohl, they lack faith in any medical practitioner the convening authority might appoint to conduct it. Pohl authorized the exam, but granted the defense's request that Dr. Vincent Iacopino, a member of the Physicians for Human Rights organization with expertise in torture, be called on to provide advice on how to conduct it without "doing harm."

Iacopino testified via teleconference Feb. 5, explaining special requirements for mental health exams on torture victims. He acknowledged that he has neither met nor examined Nashiri.

Dr. Sondra Crosby, who reportedly has examined hundreds of torture victims as director of medical care at the Boston Center for Refugee Health and Human Rights, is expected to conduct the exam.

Pohl told the court Feb. 4 that he would not take up other legal and administrative issues surrounding the case until after the mental-health assessment is complete. He recessed the court following Iacopino's testimony, and proceedings are expected to continue in mid-April.

Nashiri is the alleged mastermind behind the attack off the Yemeni coast that killed 17 sailors. He is charged with perfidy, murder in violation of the law of war, attempted murder in violation of the law of war, terrorism, conspiracy, intentionally causing serious bodily injury, attacking civilians, attacking civilian objects and hazarding a vessel.

The charges arise out of an attempted attack on the USS The Sullivans in January 2000, the actual attack on the USS Cole in October 2000, and an attack on the motor vessel Limburg -- a civilian oil tanker -- in October 2002.

Nashiri is a Saudi-born member of al-Qaida. U.S. officials allege he was under the personal supervision of Osama bin Laden, and that bin Laden personally approved the attacks on the U.S. Navy ships.

SEQUESTRATION WILL CUT B-52 FLYING HOURS BY 10%



A B-52 Stratofortress flies April 20, 2011, during an eight-hour sortie to practice bomb-dropping sequences and aerial refueling. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Andy M. Kin)

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Air Force Nuclear Force Anticipates Budget Constraints
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Feb. 6, 2013 - The Air Force Global Strike Command predicts budget cuts triggered by sequestration will reduce B-52 flying hours by 10 percent and lead to a 20 percent reduction in overall flying hours should the law kick in on March 1, Air Force Lt. Gen. James M. Kowalski said.

Kowalski, the commander of Air Force Global Strike Command, spoke to reporters at the Defense Writers Group here today.

The command handles two parts of the nation's nuclear triad: manned bombers and intercontinental ballistic missiles.

The general said he's satisfied with readiness in the command today, but the fiscal problems confronting the military in the months and years ahead would, at best, cause readiness to level off or decline.

"As we look downstream at the continuing impacts of both the continuing resolution and sequestration, it's pretty clear there's going to be some degradation there," he said.

The biggest and most disturbing impact for the command is on flying hours, Kowalski said.

"We are looking at up to a 20-percent reduction in flying hours," he said.

One defense is to keep the sortie count high, Kowalski said, because the importance of flying hours is not just the time in the air for aircrews. Sorties exercise the entire process, he said, generating aircraft, fueling aircraft, arming bombs, recovering the aircraft, the maintenance of the aircraft and so on.

"All of that is exercised because that's what we pick up and deploy to a forward operating base," Kowalski said. "What we want to do is maintain the sortie count to maintain readiness across all of those."

The general said he's carefully keeping an eye on personnel issues in the command as well. There is an issue with airmen in the missile fields, he said, noting this is remote duty and there are concerns about the suicide rate among these personnel.

Reenlistment has not been a problem within Global Strike Command to date, Kowalski said. Part of the willingness to reenlist may be tied to the state of the economy, he said, and part of it is because the young airmen believe in the mission.

"All of those folks are going to continue to do a great job, but they need to know what to do and they need to know that what they are doing is important," Kowalski said. "We have been very active in reminding them of the job's importance."

The force structure may change in the command, the general said, but it doesn't change the basic mission for the command.

"This is one of the most important missions in the military -- to make sure that the nuclear inventory remains safe, secure and effective," Kowalski said.

EPA REQUIRES GOLD MINERS IN NEVADA TO CORRECTLY REPORT TOXIC CHEMICAL RELEASES

Photo:  Nevada Landscape.  Credit:  Wikimedia Commons.

FROM: U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
EPA Requires Nevada Gold Mining Companies to Correct Reporting Violations

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) settled with three gold mining companies, all subsidiaries of Barrick Gold Corporation, for failing to correctly report toxic chemical releases and waste management activities as required by the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA).

"The Toxic Release Inventory program is a vital tool for tracking toxic releases across the country, providing transparency about chemicals in communities," said Cynthia Giles, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. "The program is undermined if companies do not report or misreport the use or release of chemicals at their facilities."

The companies, Barrick Cortez, Inc., Barrick Gold US, Inc. and Homestake Mining Company, agreed to pay a total of $278,000 in penalties and spend an additional $340,000 to conduct an environmentally beneficial project.

The violations involved incorrect reporting under the federal Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) at the Cortez Gold Mine near Crescent Valley, the Ruby Hill Gold Mine near Eureka, and the Bald Mountain Gold Mine near the Ruby Lake National Wildlife Refuge, all in Nevada.

After EPA inspectors analyzed the mines’ records they found that the facilities failed to submit timely, complete and correct Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) reports in 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008, for toxic chemicals. These chemicals include cyanide compounds used to extract gold from the ore mined at the facilities, and lead and mercury compounds produced during the extraction process. Under the settlement, the Barrick gold companies will audit and correct their TRI reports for 2005 through 2011 to comply with EPCRA. There is no evidence to suggest that the violations posed any immediate danger to workers at the facilities or local communities.

The agreement requires a $340,000 supplemental environmental project at the Cortez mine to identify the metal compounds formed in its oxide mill process. The gold companies will also perform audits at other Barrick facilities in the U.S. (in Nevada and Montana), correct reporting violations, if any, and pay a $10,000 penalty per violation, not to exceed $250,000.

Under EPCRA, facilities that manufacture, process, or use toxic chemicals over certain quantities must file annual reports estimating the amounts released to the environment, treated or recycled on-site, or transferred off-site for waste management. These reports are submitted to EPA and the State or Tribe with jurisdiction over the facility. EPA compiles this information into a national TRI database and makes it available to the public.

Metal ore mining accounts for 98 percent of total TRI releases reported to EPA in Nevada. This investigation and enforcement are part of an ongoing national effort that began in 2008 to ensure that gold mining facilities are in compliance, and that the public has accurate and complete information about the facilities in their community. Barrick gold mining facilities in the U.S. produced approximately 3.38 million ounces (105.6 tons) of gold in 2011, and the Cortez Gold Mine is the second largest gold mine in the world.

RECENT U.S. NAVY PHOTOS

FROM: U.S. NAVY
The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Gridley (DDG 101) returns to homeport at San Diego after a six-month independent deployment to the U.S. 7th and 5th Fleet areas of responsibility. Gridley conducted eight successful Strait of Hormuz transits, escorting high value units in and out of the Arabian Gulf and conducted six high-visibility operations in the East and South China Seas to maintain U.S. maritime presence and improve regional stability. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Rosalie Garcia (Released) 130205-N-DH124-020

Sailors man the forecastle during a sea and anchor detail aboard the San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock USS Mesa Verde (LPD 19) as the ship departs Norfolk. Mesa Verde is on its way to New Orleans. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Stuart Phillips (Released) 130204-N-NL541-080

 

Leon Panetta At Georgetown University

Georgetown University

RBS SUBSIDIARY AGREES TO GUILTY PLEA IN LIBOR INTERST MANIPULATION CASE

FROM: U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT

Wednesday, February 6, 2013
RBS Securities Japan Limited Agrees to Plead Guilty in Connection with Long-Running Manipulation of Libor Benchmark Interest Rates
Second Financial Institution to Plead Guilty to Libor Fraud and Pay Substantial Criminal Penalties; RBS Parent Company Also Admits Fault in Deferred Prosecution Agreement

RBS Securities Japan Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Royal Bank of Scotland plc (RBS), has agreed to plead guilty to felony wire fraud and admit its role in manipulating the Japanese Yen London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR), a leading benchmark used in financial products and transactions around the world, Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Deputy Assistant Attorney General Scott D. Hammond of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division and Special Agent in Charge Timothy A. Gallagher of the FBI’s Washington Field Office Criminal Division announced today.

A criminal information, being filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut, charges RBS Securities Japan with one count of wire fraud for engaging in a scheme to defraud counterparties to interest rate derivatives trades by secretly manipulating Yen LIBOR benchmark interest rates. RBS Securities Japan has signed a plea agreement with the government admitting its criminal conduct, and has agreed to pay a $50 million fine.

In addition, the government is filing a criminal information in the District of Connecticut which charges parent company RBS as part of a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA). The information charges RBS with wire fraud for its role in manipulating LIBOR benchmark interest rates, and with participation in a price-fixing conspiracy in violation of the Sherman Act by rigging the Yen LIBOR benchmark interest rate with other banks. The DPA requires the bank to admit and accept responsibility for its misconduct as described in an extensive statement of facts, to continue cooperating with the Justice Department in its ongoing investigation and to pay a $100 million penalty beyond the fine imposed upon RBS Securities Japan.

Together with approximately $462 million in regulatory penalties and disgorgement – $325 million as a result of a Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) action and approximately $137 million as a result of a U.K. Financial Services Authority (FSA) action – the Justice Department’s criminal penalties bring the total amount of the resolution with RBS and RBS Securities Japan to approximately $612 million.

"As we have done with Barclays and UBS, we are today holding RBS accountable for a stunning abuse of trust," said Assistant Attorney General Breuer. "The bank has admitted to manipulating one of the cornerstone benchmark interest rates in our global financial system, and its Japanese subsidiary has agreed to plead guilty to felony wire fraud. The department’s ongoing investigation has now yielded two guilty pleas by significant financial institutions. These are extraordinary results, and our investigation is far from finished. Our message is clear: no financial institution is above the law."

"RBS secretly rigged the benchmark interest rates upon which many transactions and consumer financial products are based," said Deputy Assistant Attorney General Hammond. "RBS’ conduct not only harmed its unsuspecting counterparties, it undermined the integrity and the competitiveness of financial markets everywhere."

"The manipulation of LIBOR by RBS and its subsidiary directly affected the rates referenced by financial products held by and on behalf of American companies and investors. The FBI works to uncover wrongdoing such as this in order to protect American consumers and the integrity of financial markets," said Special Agent in Charge Gallagher. "Today’s announcement is the result of the hard work of the FBI special agents, financial analysts, and forensic accountants as well as the prosecutors who dedicated significant time and resources to investigating this case."

According to court documents, LIBOR is an average interest rate, calculated based upon submissions from leading banks around the world, reflecting the rates those banks believe they would be charged if borrowing from other banks. LIBOR serves as the primary benchmark for short-term interest rates globally, and is used as a reference rate for many interest rate contracts, mortgages, credit cards, student loans and other consumer lending products. The Bank of International Settlements estimated that as of the second half of 2009, outstanding interest rate contracts were valued at approximately $450 trillion.

LIBOR, published by the British Bankers’ Association (BBA), a trade association based in London, is calculated for 10 currencies at 15 borrowing periods, known as maturities, ranging from overnight to one year. The LIBOR for a given currency at a specific maturity is the result of a calculation based upon submissions from a panel of banks for that currency (the Contributor Panel) selected by the BBA. From at least 2006 through 2010, RBS has been a member of the Contributor Panel for a number of currencies, including Yen LIBOR and Swiss Franc LIBOR, which are the focus of the plea agreement and DPA.

According to the filed charging documents, at various times from at least 2006 through 2010, certain RBS Yen and Swiss Franc derivatives traders – whose compensation was directly connected to their success in trading financial products tied to LIBOR – engaged in efforts to move LIBOR in a direction favorable to their trading positions. Through these schemes, RBS allegedly defrauded counterparties who were unaware of the manipulation affecting financial products referencing Yen and Swiss Franc LIBOR. The alleged schemes included hundreds of instances in which RBS employees sought to influence LIBOR submissions in a manner favorable to their trading positions in two principal ways: internally at RBS through requests by derivatives traders for Yen and Swiss Franc LIBOR submissions, and externally through an agreement with a separately charged derivatives trader to request Yen LIBOR submissions. The trader, Tom Alexander William Hayes, was formerly employed by a Japanese subsidiary of another Contributor Panel bank, UBS AG (UBS).

According to court documents, RBS employees engaged in this conduct through electronic communications, which included both emails and electronic chats.

RECENT U.S. NAVY PHOTOS

FROM: U.S. NAVY
Sailors muster for quarters on the flight deck aboard USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70). Carl Vinson is underway conducting sea trials as the final stage of a six-month planned incremental availability. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Giovanni Squadrito (Released) 130202-N-DI878-097

130205-N-ZK021-001 JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM (Feb. 5, 2013) Master-at-Arms Seaman Christopher Rivera, assigned to Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam Military Working Dogs (JBPHH MWD) Section, runs his K-9 partner Asga through an obstacle course at the base kennel. MWD provides explosive/narcotic detection capabilities and performs patrol functions both on JBPHH and in support of worldwide contingencies. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Nardel Gervacio/Released)

2013 LUNAR NEW YEAR

U.S. Secretary Of State John Kerry

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
2013 Lunar New Year
Press Statement
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Washington, DC
February 6, 2013
　

On behalf of the American people, I am delighted to send my heartfelt wishes for good health, good fortune, happiness, and prosperity to all those around the world celebrating the arrival of the Lunar New Year this February 10.

This week, millions of people will make the journey – some across great distances – to reunite with their loved ones to mark the Lunar New Year. Here in the United States, many families will likewise gather to welcome the New Year. These public and private celebrations, held by multigenerational immigrant communities, highlight the diversity of American society and the deep and complex bonds that link the American people with peoples from around the world. President Obama and I look forward to strengthening our commitment to building ever-stronger relations with the people of the Asia-Pacific through initiatives that foster economic growth, improve regional security, and advance cooperative friendships among our peoples.

In this festive time, I would like to wish all great success in the coming year as we continue to work together to deepen partnerships and find solutions to the challenges we face.

WATCHING COMET ISON

This series of images of comet C/2012 S1 (ISON) was taken by the Medium-Resolution Imager of NASA’s Deep Impact spacecraft over a 36-hour period on Jan. 17 and 18, 2013. At the time, the spacecraft was 493 million miles (793 million kilometers) from the comet. NASA Video.

FROM: NASA

PASADENA, Calif. - NASA's Deep Impact spacecraft has acquired its first images of comet C/2012 S1 (ISON). The images were taken by the spacecraft's Medium-Resolution Imager over a 36-hour period on Jan. 17 and 18, 2013, from a distance of 493 million miles (793 million kilometers). Many scientists anticipate a bright future for comet ISON; the spaceborne conglomeration of dust and ice may put on quite a show as it passes through the inner solar system this fall.

"This is the fourth comet on which we have performed science observations and the farthest point from Earth from which we've tried to transmit data on a comet," said Tim Larson, project manager for the Deep Impact spacecraft at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. "The distance limits our bandwidth, so it's a little like communicating through a modem after being used to DSL. But we're going to coordinate our science collection and playback so we maximize our return on this potentially spectacular comet."

Deep Impact has executed close flybys of two comets - Tempel 1 and Hartley 2 - and its mission scientists, led by University of Maryland Astronomer Michael A'Hearn, have performed scientific observations on two more - comet Garradd and now ISON. The ISON imaging campaign is expected to yield infrared data, and light curves (which are used in defining the comet's rotation rate) in addition to visible-light images. A movie of comet ISON was generated from initial data acquired during this campaign. Preliminary results indicate that although the comet is still in the outer solar system, more than 474 million miles (763 million kilometers) from the sun, it is already active. As of Jan. 18, the tail extending from ISON's nucleus was already more than 40,000 miles (64,400 kilometers) long.

Long-period comets like ISON are thought to arrive from the solar system's Oort cloud, a giant spherical cloud of icy bodies surrounding our solar system so far away its outer edge is about a third of the way to the nearest star (other than our sun). Every once in a while, one of these loose conglomerations of ice, rock, dust and organic compounds is disturbed out of its established orbit in the Oort cloud by a passing star or the combined gravitational effects of the stars in the Milky Way galaxy. With these gravitational nudges, so begins a comet's eons-long, arching plunge toward the inner solar system.

ISON was discovered on Sept. 21, 2012, by two Russian astronomers using the International Scientific Optical Network's 16-inch (40-centimeter) telescope near Kislovodsk. NASA's Near-Earth Object Program Office, based at JPL, has plotted its orbit and determined that the comet is more than likely making it first-ever sweep through the inner solar system. Having not come this way before means the comet's pristine surface has a higher probability of being laden with volatile material just spoiling for some of the sun's energy to heat it up and help it escape. With the exodus of these clean ices could come a boatload of dust, held in check since the beginnings of our solar system. This released gas and dust is what is seen on Earth as comprising a comet's atmosphere (coma) and tail.

ISON will not be a threat to Earth - getting no closer to Earth than about 40 million miles on Dec. 26, 2013. But stargazers will have an opportunity to view the comet's head and tail before and after its closest approach to the sun -- if the comet doesn't fade early or break up before reaching the sun.

Launched in January 2005, NASA's Deep Impact spacecraft traveled about 268 million miles (431 million kilometers) to the vicinity of comet Tempel 1. On July 3, 2005, the spacecraft deployed an impactor that was essentially "run over" by the nucleus of Tempel 1 on July 4. Sixteen days after comet encounter, the Deep Impact team placed the spacecraft on a trajectory to fly past Earth in late December 2007. This extended mission of the Deep Impact spacecraft culminated in the successful flyby of comet Hartley 2 on Nov. 4, 2010. In January of 2012, the spacecraft performed, from a distance, an imaging campaign on comet C/2009 P1 (Garradd).

To date, Deep Impact has traveled about 4.39 billion miles (7.06 billion kilometers) in space.

JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Deep Impact mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. The University of Maryland is the Principal Investigator institution for the mission. Deep Impact is part of the Discovery Program managed at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala.

Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
agle@jpl.nasa.gov

Secretary of Sate Kerry"s Remarks at the Ceremonial Swearing-In Ceremony

Remarks at the Ceremonial Swearing-In Ceremony

PANETTA SAYS CHINA RELATIONSHIP IMPORTANT FOR PEACE

Map:  China.  Credit:  CIA World Factbook.

FROM: U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT
China Important to Pacific Peace, Panetta Tells Students
By Karen Parrish
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Feb. 6, 2013 – The United States seeks to establish a strategic dialogue with China as well as a common approach to challenges, Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta told a Georgetown University audience here today.

Following a speech on leadership and government this morning, the secretary took audience questions. One international student from Japan asked the secretary to comment on "the islands dispute between China and Japan."

Panetta noted in his response that he had visited both Japanese and Chinese leaders in recent months and had discussed the issue with both sides. Each country claims rights to a group of islands east of China and south of Japan.

The secretary said repeatedly throughout his September, 2012, trip, touching down in both nations, that the United States does not take sides in territorial disputes, but urges peaceful resolution of any such issues.

The danger in territorial clashes between nations, Panetta explained today at Georgetown, is that an unmeasured act could create an even greater crisis.

"Part of our reason to rebalance to the Pacific is because we think that in many ways … our future economic security, our trade relationships, our security relationships are going to be critical in that part of the world," he said.

Panetta said maintaining and improving those relationships, both with allies like Japan and South Korea and with "rising powers" such as China, is central to U.S. strategy.

"We've got a set of common challenges here," the secretary told his audience. "One is our ability to respond to disasters in that part of the world."

Another challenge is the threat of missile proliferation, particularly in North Korea, he added.

Panetta’s message to Chinese leaders during his visit, he noted, was, "It is in your interest to work with other countries to resolve these issues. Because if your interest is in a Pacific region that can be peaceful and that can prosper in the future, you have to be part of that."

Pacific stability requires that China not threaten other countries, the secretary said.

"It cannot be a China that threatens … to go after their territories and create territorial disputes," he said. "They have to be part of a family of nations in that region, working together in order to ensure peace and prosperity."

The secretary said recently appointed Chinese leaders he met on his trip "recognize the importance of trying to develop that kind of communication."

Panetta said he urged Chinese leaders to discuss cyber and missile defense issues with their U.S. counterparts.

"And they indicated that they were willing to engage in those kinds of strategic talks," the secretary said.

Panetta said it’s important that China recognizes "that the United States, Japan, Korea and other countries in that part of the world are going to do everything we have to do to promote security and prosperity, and that they should be a part of that, not against it."

Press Briefing For February 6, 2013 | The White House

Press Briefing | The White House

A REVERSE MORTGAGE SCHEME RESULTS IN CONVICTIONS FOR TITLE AGENT AND BROKER

FROM: U.S. JUSTICE

Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Former Title Agent and Broker Convicted in Miami for Role in Reverse Mortgage Scheme

A Miami title agent and former mortgage broker was found guilty late yesterday, Feb. 4, 2013, for her role in a "reverse mortgage" fraud scheme in connection with a loan worth more than $400,000, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Wifredo A. Ferrer of the Southern District of Florida.

After a six-day jury trial before the Honorable Richard W. Goldberg, sitting by designation in the Southern District of Florida, a federal jury convicted Yesenia Pouparina (aka Yesenia Campos), 40, of four counts of wire fraud and one count of mail fraud for her role in securing a fraudulent Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM), commonly referred to as a reverse mortgage loan, and making false representations related to the occupancy of the property and its subsequent "short sale." A HECM is a federally insured loan that enables older Americans to withdraw equity from a home so they can remain independent and financially secure. The jury also found that three bank accounts controlled by the defendant, which were seized by the government during the course of the investigation, should be forfeited.

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Pouparina, a licensed title agent in the state of Florida, devised a scheme to obtain a reverse mortgage loan on her own property in the name of her mother, an individual who failed to meet the requirements of the HECM program. Pouparina submitted to a lending institution a false loan application and doctored records in support of that application, misrepresenting her mother’s eligibility to participate in the HECM program. Pouparina acted as the title agent for the loan and disbursed the loan proceeds directly to her own personal bank accounts. Pouparina also enriched herself by collecting fees generated by the loan, and also profited by using the loan proceeds in connection with her business as a "hard money lender" in other mortgage deals.

Judge Goldberg ordered Pouparina to surrender to the U.S. Marshals on Feb. 20, 2013. At sentencing, currently scheduled for May 9, 2013, Pouparina faces a maximum potential penalty per count of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, or twice the net gain or loss from the offense.

This case was investigated by the Office of Inspector General, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Trial Attorneys Sandra L. Moser and Mary Ann McCarthy of the Justice Department Criminal Division’s Fraud Section prosecuted the case, with assistance from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida.

This conviction is part of efforts underway by President Obama’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force (FFETF), which was created 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.

U.S. ADMIRAL STAVRIDIS SPEAKS OF A CAPABILITY GAP

FROM: U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT,
Stavridis Presses to Close Language, Cultural Skills Gap
By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Feb. 5, 2013 – Despite "the widest imaginable set of skills" among the Defense Department’s 3.2 million military and civilian members, the Defense Department has an "obvious capability gap" in its lack of foreign language skills that affect its global missions, the supreme allied commander for Europe and commander of U.S. European Command lamented in his command blog.

Navy Adm. James G. Stavridis quoted Charlemagne, who observed that "to know another language is to have a second soul."

"In this rapidly globalizing 21st century world, that simple statement summarizes the gift of regional expertise, cultural understanding and the ability to communicate directly in the language of an ally, partner or colleague," Stavridis wrote. Yet, he noted, fewer than 10 percent of DOD members speak a second language.

That leaves a gap that goes beyond mere linguists, he said.

"In order to operate in a world that relies more and more on coalition action to succeed," the admiral said, "we must develop the attendant skills of regional expertise and cultural understanding."

Yet, Stavridis said, he has seen "a mixed bag" of forces arriving at their combatant command assignments: some highly skilled in language, culture and history of their region, some with just a "dusting" of exposure, and others totally inexperienced.

"We can do better," he said. "I've learned that the shipmates who truly have the language, culture, and regional skills are often ‘silver bullets’ that can transform a difficult challenge into a success."

Stavridis said he regularly sees the fruits of these abilities as he oversees NATO’s global operations.

It’s evident in Afghanistan, where 50 troop-contributing nations are operating in a nation with complex language, culture and historical challenges as they conduct supporting the "largest single security mission in the world today," he noted. But it’s equally important elsewhere in the world where nations with diverse histories, traditions and beliefs come together to support common missions, he said, noting peacekeeping in Kosovo and counterpiracy off the Horn of Africa as examples.

"As opposed to many of our European partners, who effortlessly speak four or five languages and have a deep knowledge of each other's background and culture, we in the U.S. are failing to fully train and prepare for this kind of international work," Stavridis said. "This is an area in which we have much work to do."

As a linguist himself, Stavridis said, these skills have paid off during his seven years as a combatant commander at U.S. Southern Command and Eucom. He learned French as a child living in Europe, and uses that ability in his NATO role. He studied Spanish to the point that he could use it to conduct meetings, improving his ability to work with his Latin-American counterparts. Reading Russian literature and history and learning the culture improved his ability to work with his Russian colleagues, he noted.

So to promote language and cultural skills more widely across the Defense Department, he offered three recommendations:

-- Strengthen language programs, while considering mandatory second-language skills at least among officers, and more incentives and training militarywide;

-- Boost the foreign affairs officer field by providing better promotion opportunities, recruiting top-quality candidates into the field and ensuring continued growth through appropriate grade education; and

-- Build on the "Afghan-Pakistan Hands" model to establish similar programs in other parts of the world, including the Asia-Pacific, Latin America and Caribbean, Africa and other regions.

"These individuals would be the equivalent of ‘special forces’ in the world of global engagement, with truly deep, repetitive tours in the region, utter fluency in the language and graduate-level knowledge of history, literature, geography, economics and the like," Stavridis wrote.

"All of this requires investment -- not huge amounts, but smart money spent on smart programs," Stavridis recognized. But more importantly, he said, it requires "a belief that part of providing security in this turbulent 21st century will mean we must ‘know the world’ so much better than we do today."

NEWS FROM AFGHANISTAN FOR FEBRUARY 6, 2013

U.S. Afghan Soldiers Encounter Firefight in Panjwa'i District, Afghanistan. 

A U.S. soldier leads a foot patrol using a Minehound metal detector in search of potential improvised explosive devices along their path in Panjwa’i District, Afghanistan, Jan. 29, 2013. The soldiers are assigned to the 2nd Infantry Division's 1st Battalion, 38th Infantry Regiment, 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Kimberly Hackbarth

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

KABUL, Afghanistan, Feb. 6, 2013 - A combined Afghan and coalition security force arrested a Taliban facilitator in the Panjwai district of Afghanistan's Kandahar province today, military officials reported.

The detained facilitator is believed to have overseen the management of weapons caches for his network and ensured the facilitation of equipment, vehicles and weapons to insurgent fighters, officials said.

He also is accused of having acquired and transferred large amounts of improvised explosive devices and IED-making materials. The security force also detained two suspected insurgents and seized nearly 700 pounds of illegal narcotics in the operation.

In Kandahar province's Maiwand district yesterday, a combined force arrested a Taliban leader believed to be responsible for coordinating insurgent operations, including the distribution of weapons and funds to insurgent fighters for attacks against Afghan and coalition forces. The security force also detained another suspected insurgent.

Your eye to your brain

Your eye to your brain

BIOGRAPHY: U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE JOHN FORBES KERRY

FROM: U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT

On February 1, 2013, John Forbes Kerry was sworn in as the 68th Secretary of State of the United States, becoming the first sitting Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman to become Secretary in over a century.

Secretary Kerry joined the State Department after 28 years in the United States Senate, the last four as Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Secretary Kerry was born on December 11, 1943, at Fitzsimons Army Hospital in Aurora, Colorado, one of four children of the late Rosemary Forbes Kerry and Richard Kerry, a Foreign Service Officer.

Shortly before he graduated from Yale University, Secretary Kerry enlisted to serve in the United States Navy, and went on to serve two tours of duty. He served in combat as a Swift Boat skipper patrolling the rivers of the Mekong Delta, returning home from Vietnam with a Silver Star, a Bronze Star with Combat V, and three Purple Hearts.

Back in the United States, Secretary Kerry began to forcefully speak out against the Vietnam War. Testifying at the invitation of Chairman J. William Fulbright before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, he asked the poignant question, "How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?" He also began a lifelong fight for his fellow veterans as a co-founder of the Vietnam Veterans of America, and later as a United States Senator who fought to secure veterans’ benefits, extension of the G.I. Bill for Higher Education, and improved treatment for PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder).

In 1976, Secretary Kerry received his law degree from Boston College Law School and went to work as a top prosecutor in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, where he took on organized crime, fought for victims' rights, and created programs for rape counseling. He was elected Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts in 1982, and 2 years later, he was elected to the United States Senate where he served for 28 years.

In 2009, Secretary Kerry became Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, assuming a leadership role on key foreign policy and national security issues facing the United States, including Afghanistan and Pakistan, nuclear nonproliferation, and global climate change. His service as Chairman built on his previous Senate work that included helping to expose the Iran-Contra scandal and leadership on global AIDS.

As Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs, he worked to learn the truth about American soldiers missing in Vietnam and to normalize relations with that country.

In 2010, as Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, Secretary Kerry was instrumental in the ratification of the New START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) Treaty, a vital nuclear arms reduction agreement with Russia that helps steer both countries away from dangerous nuclear confrontations.

In his 28 years on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Secretary Kerry chaired the Asia and Middle East subcommittees where he authored and passed major legislation on international drug trafficking, international money laundering, humanitarian aid, and climate change, and he helped negotiate the UN’s genocide tribunal to prosecute war crimes in Cambodia.

He also held senior positions on the Finance, Commerce, and Small Business committees, as well as served as a member of the bipartisan Joint Committee on Deficit Reduction, where he worked across party lines to try and reduce the country’s debt and strengthen our economy. Prior to his departure from the Senate, Secretary Kerry was the seventh-most senior Senator.

Secretary Kerry was the Democratic Party's nominee for President of the United States in 2004.

Secretary Kerry is the author of best-selling books, including A Call to Service: My Vision for a Better America and This Moment on Earth, a book on the environment which he co-authored with his wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry. Together they are proud of a blended family that includes two daughters, three sons, and three grandchildren.

NEW WARRIOR CENTER

Senior Army leaders, United Service Organizations leaders, and corporate sponsors participate in a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new 20,000-square foot warrior and family care facility at Fort Belvoir, Va., Feb. 5. DOD photo by U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Tyrone C. Marshall Jr.

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
New Warrior Center ‘Gift From American People’
By Army Sgt. 1st Class Tyrone C. Marshall Jr.
American Forces Press Service

FORT BELVOIR, Va., Feb. 5, 2013 – The USO, two days after its 72nd birthday, again demonstrated its commitment to wounded, ill and injured U.S. troops and their families by opening its largest center in the world.

The USO hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony here today to showcase its new 20,000-square foot Warrior and Family Care Center which will serve all U.S. service members and their families.

Sloan D. Gibson, USO president, identified a number of corporate sponsors such as the Northrop Grumman Foundation which, at $5,000,000, provided the largest donation in the USO’s history for the center.

"But what you won’t see are the names of nearly a quarter of a million individual Americans that have made a donation honoring the wounded, ill and injured troops and their families to Operation Enduring Care," he said.

"I think when we talk about this center being a gift from the American people that’s what we’re talking about," Gibson said.

The USO says this new center will support the non-clinical needs of wounded, ill and injured troops and their families throughout their rehabilitation. It will be staffed by USO of Metropolitan Washington and 350 volunteers.

Army Lt. Gen. William J. Troy, director of the Army Staff, said this new center will help troops and their families cope as they recuperate from their injuries.

"This will give the families a place to come -- a home away from home if you will -- to relax and visit," he said. "And to have a place that will be very supportive and nourishing to them as they go through this."

"It’s extremely important that they have a place that they feel comfortable -- that they feel at home," Troy said. "Especially when you’re going through some of the things that you have to go through as a wounded warrior or someone who’s here at Fort Belvoir for treatment. It’s a great asset to have a place like this here."

Army Col. Gregory Gadson, garrison commander of Fort Belvoir, praised the USO for recognizing the need for a warrior care center.

"The USO has not only identified a need, but they’ve taken action, and that is so commendable," he said. "And it’s their leadership and their partners – corporate, private, volunteers, members of the board – that have mustered the efforts that have made this day possible."

"I’ve had the privilege, over the past few years, of watching the USO’s efforts evolve as they’ve continued to provide for our service members," Gadson said. "[And] not just overseas, but in a very visible way, stateside."

Gadson, a double amputee, said the USO’s efforts in building the center in two and half years will vastly improve the quality of life of troops and their families.

"I know that my family and so many other families are in a better place because of the efforts of the USO," he said. "And there’s a lot of personal emotion that I have as I’ve seen this building."

"And now it’s about to come alive with so much hope and so much promise," Gadson added.