FROM: NASA
The International Space Station update video for Feb. 12, 2013.
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION UPDATE VIDEO FOR FEB. 12, 2013
FROM: NASA
The International Space Station update video for Feb. 12, 2013.
RECENT U.S. NAVY PHOTOS
FROM: U.S. NAVY
The aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) and the French navy destroyer FS Chevalier Paul (D621) transit the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility. John C. Stennis is deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility conducting maritime security operations, theater security cooperation efforts and support missions for Operation Enduring Freedom. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Kenneth Abbate (Released) 130209-N-OY799-296
130211-N-MO201-012 SOUDA BAY, Greece (Feb. 11, 2013) The guided-missile frigate USS Nicholas (FFG 47) departs Souda harbor following a port visit. Nicholas is homeported at Naval Station Norfolk and deployed conducting maritime security operations and theater security cooperation efforts in the U.S. 6th Fleet area of responsibility. (U.S. Navy photo by Paul Farley/Released)
PRESIDENT OBAMA CONDEMNS NORTH KOREAN NUCLEAR TEST
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| Korean War Photo. Credit: U.S. DOD. |
Obama Condemns North Korean Nuclear Test
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Feb. 12, 2013 - President Barack Obama today strongly condemned the latest North Korean nuclear test, saying it undermines regional stability in an important part of the world.
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence released a statement shortly after midnight EST announcing that a "seismic event" had taken place, and later issued a second statement saying North Korea probably conducted an underground nuclear test near Punggye. The explosion yield was approximately several kilotons and the analysis of the event continues, the second statement said.
This is North Korea's third and largest nuclear test.
"This is a highly provocative act that, following its Dec. 12 ballistic missile launch, undermines regional stability, violates North Korea's obligations under numerous United Nations Security Council resolutions, contravenes its commitments under the Sept. 19, 2005, Joint Statement of the Six-Party Talks and increases the risk of proliferation," Obama said in a written statement. The Six-Party Talks include North Korea, South Korea, Russia, China, Japan and the United States.
North Korea's nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs constitute a threat to U.S. national security and to international peace and security, Obama said.
"The United States remains vigilant in the face of North Korean provocations and steadfast in our defense commitments to allies in the region," he added.
North Korean exploded its first nuclear device in October 2006, and conducted its second test in 2009.
"These provocations do not make North Korea more secure," Obama said in his statement. "Far from achieving its stated goal of becoming a strong and prosperous nation, North Korea has instead increasingly isolated and impoverished its people through its ill-advised pursuit of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery."
The U.N. Security Council is conducting an emergency session in New York to consider responses. "We will strengthen close coordination with allies and partners and work with our Six-Party partners, the United Nations Security Council, and other U.N. member states to pursue firm action," Obama said.
On Capitol Hill today, Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter expressed the hope that China would join in condemning the test.
"There's nothing more provocative than what the North Koreans did," Carter said during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, where he's testifying on the effects of looming defense spending cuts.
"It is very dangerous," he added. "We will take action to condemn and get the rest of the international community to condemn, particularly looking to China to join in that condemnation. They have a pivotal role in influencing the future here. That is an extremely dangerous situation."
NEWS FROM AFGHANISTAN FOR FEBRUARY 12, 2013
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| Credit: U.S. Navy. |
Coalition, Afghan Forces Arrest Weapons Distributor
From an International Security Assistance Force Joint Command News Release
KABUL, Afghanistan, Feb. 12, 2013 - A combined Afghan and coalition security force arrested an Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan leader in the Khanabad district of Afghanistan's Kunduz province today, military officials reported.
The leader allegedly facilitates distribution of weapons and assists in improvised explosive device operations in the district, officials said, adding that he oversees the acquisition, transfer and delivery of IED materials and explosives to insurgents.
Another suspected insurgent also was detained, and the security force seized firearms and ammunition in the operation.
In other Afghanistan operations today:
-- A combined force in Ghazni province's Andar district arrested a Taliban leader who allegedly has directly led attacks against Afghan and coalition forces and also has logistical and command responsibilities. He was engaged in the arms trade involving weapons, rocket-propelled grenades and IEDs. The security force also detained another suspected insurgent and seized a heavy machine gun with ammunition and some assault rifle ammunition.
-- In Nangarhar province's Khugyani district, a combined force detained three insurgents while searching for a Taliban leader believed to be responsible for planning and conducting attacks on Afghan and coalition forces. The security force also seized several assault rifles with associated equipment and ammunition.
In operations yesterday:
-- A precision strike in Kandahar province's Maiwand district killed a Taliban leader and facilitator who organized attacks against Afghan and coalition forces.
-- Also in Kandahar's Maiwand district, a combined force arrested a Taliban leader believed to be directly responsible for the coordination of complex attacks. His subordinate fighters were linked to several attacks on Afghan and coalition forces in the district, officials said. The security force also detained three suspected insurgents.
AFGHAN ELECTIONS SEEN AS IMPORTANT BY NATO OFFICIAL
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| Afghanistan. Credit: CIA World Factbook. |
Official Stresses Importance of 2014 Afghan Elections
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Feb. 11, 2013 - The Afghan presidential elections now set for April 2014 are looming ever larger as a milestone for measuring progress in the country, NATO officials in Afghanistan said yesterday.
How the Afghan forces protect voting and how the Afghan people accept the results will be key to the long-term success of the country, said a senior International Security Assistance Force official speaking on background.
Things are looking up in Afghanistan, the official said, but there are many hurdles to overcome. Only 22 months remain in the ISAF mandate. By spring, Afghan forces will be leading security operations throughout the country. By the end of 2014, Afghan forces will shoulder the security burden themselves as the NATO mission ends.
The Taliban are also looking forward, the official said. "There will be a '13 fighting season," he said. The Taliban will be up against 352,000 members of the Afghan security forces. That force has grown in capability as it has grown in size, the official said.
There will be negotiations and talks between the Taliban and the international community. "From my vantage point I think it's a delaying tactic," he said. "They've gone through 12 years of war and they are 22 months away from a very small presence."
He said Afghan Taliban leaders in Quetta, Pakistan, are looking at three key things over the next two years. First, how good are the Afghan security forces? Second, what will be the U.S. and NATO investment in the country after 2015? And the third are the April 5, 2014, elections.
"[The elections] are probably the most critical thing that will happen in the next 22 months," he said. Afghans will go to the polls to elect a new president and provincial councils. The last election, in 2009, was marred by allegations of vote fraud. It is supremely important that these new elections go well and that Afghans accept the outcome, the official said.
The official spoke about the changes in Afghanistan since the surge of U.S. and NATO forces ended. The surge did what it was supposed to do, he said, buy time for Afghans to field their forces. Now Afghan soldiers and police are in the lead in security through most of the country and have grown in size and capabilities.
This is a long way from January 2009, the official noted, when the entire Afghanistan campaign looked like a failure. "In January 2009, Kandahar was at risk [and] the central Helmand Valley was at risk," he said. "There were a number of attacks into Kabul."
Then-ISAF commander Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal's assessment was that the actual campaign was at risk and asked for additional troops. "Take where we were in 2009 and jump to the end of the surge ... in September 2012," the official said. "As I see the battlespace, I can honestly say that you have a less capable, less popular and less of an existential threat when you look at the insurgency. But you still have a threat."
And the threat will remain in January 2015, but the Afghans should be able to manage it.
Like Afghanistan itself, statistics that look at violence in the country are complex. "When people look at statistics, they say that you have virtually inconsequential changes from '11 to '12," he said. "If you just look at those numbers without the context there is so much you miss."
Last year was about holding the gains that the surge made possible, he said. The Afghans moved to the lead as the United States pulled 23,000 personnel out of the country in September 2012. Afghan forces held the ground and actually expanded their control in the area west of Kandahar and in the Helmand River Valley, the official said.
Another piece of the statistics equation is where the violence was happening. "What we were able to do in 2012 was slowly start separating the insurgency from the major population centers," he said.
The violence in 2012 happened increasingly in sparsely settled rural areas, the official said, noting that in surveys, Afghans report they feel safer and believe the Taliban is not coming back.
Violence is still a problem and the official said 17 districts out of the 402 in the nation are where 50 percent of the violence occurs. Put another way, 80 percent of the attacks occur where 20 percent of the population live. The worst districts are in northern Helmand.
The Haqqani network specializes in high-profile attacks, the official said. "If there is an attack in Kabul it gets the press ... It gives the impression that Kabul is under siege, which is not the case."
Afghan forces have responded quickly and professionally to attacks in the capital, another sign of their continued maturation, he said, but high-profile attacks are going to happen, and they are going to get through.
There were 18 high-profile attacks in Kabul in 2011 and nine in 2012. While there were just nine attacks, the official said, there were "hundreds of threats." And while Afghan capabilities are improving, he added, "even the best goalie in professional soccer is going to get scored on."
Afghan forces are not going to let the Taliban have the rural areas, the official said. The Afghan Local Police -- now with some 20,000 members -- are becoming a security net for the people. "The ALP becomes a hold force for you," the official said. "You have police who live and work in the rural areas."
The official sees three tiers to the threat to Afghanistan. The first tier is tactical -- the 20,000 to 30,000 mostly local insurgents in the country.
The next level is the operational cadre -- the leadership, the shadow government and the Taliban in Pakistan, he said. These men can recruit, train and supply fighters. The leaders in Pakistan are problematic for ISAF, the official said. "We've heard that the Pakistanis are changing their strategic calculus, but there is 'what you say' and 'what you do,'" he said. "I'm waiting for the 'what you do' to see how that works."
The third threat is not the insurgency, the official said, but the degree of corruption and criminality that exists within the government.
"If you can get some rule of law and move forward, then you can pull the carpet out from under the insurgency," he said. Putting in place a legal system and service infrastructure will be a key outgrowth of the April 2014 elections, the official noted.
The world will be watching those elections as well. After 2015, there are 28 NATO nations and eight partner nations that have already said they will invest in Afghanistan. "And all will be watching the elections," the official said.
ILLEGAL TRADE IN BLACK CORAL LANDS FORMER CEO A MONTH IN JAIL, CONFIMEMENT AND A FINE
FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Thursday, February 7, 2013
Former Jewelry Company Executive Sentenced in U.s.v.i. to Pay $1.1 Million in Fines and Community Service for Illegal Trade of Protected Black Coral
Ashu Bhandari, the former president and CEO of GEM Manufacturing LLC, a U.S. Virgin Islands-based company, was sentenced Thursday in federal court in St. Thomas, U.S.V.I., for felony customs violations for his role in a scheme to illegally import protected black coral into the United States, the Department of Justice announced. Bhandari is the last defendant to be sentenced as the result of a far reaching investigation into the illegal trade in black coral. The scheme cost Bhandari’s company, GEM Manufacturing, millions of dollars in financial penalties and sent two of his trading partners to prison.
At today’s hearing, the court imposed a criminal fine of $918,950 and sentenced Bhandari to one month in jail, to be followed by one month of home confinement and one year of supervised release, during which Bhandari would be required to complete 300 hours of community service and be banned from any business venture involving coral or coral products. In addition to the fine, Bhandari will be required to pay $229,687 to the University of the Virgin Islands to be used for community service projects designed to research and protect black corals. The court recognized that Bhandari’s sentence was based, in part, on his cooperation with federal investigators in related illicit coral trafficking cases.
On Nov. 7, 2012, Ashu Bhandari pleaded guilty to one felony count of false classification of goods for his efforts to conceal his illegal importation of internationally protected black coral in 2009. GEM was in the business of manufacturing high-end jewelry and sculpture products that utilize black coral. During his term as CEO, Bhandari was responsible for ensuring the continued supply of raw black coral for the company. Black corals are considered important habitat for the deep sea marine environment and are protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Each of the species of black coral is listed in Appendix II of CITES and is subject to strict trade regulations.
Bhandari admitted that by 2008, he learned that GEM’s Taiwanese suppliers of black coral could not obtain legitimate CITES certificates. In spite of this knowledge, Bhandari made a "business decision to go forward" with the Taiwanese suppliers. The Taiwanese suppliers would label the coral shipments as "plastic" in order to fool customs authorities in Hong Kong and the United States. Bhandari admitted that by 2009 he knew that the shipments he arranged on behalf of GEM were coming into St. Thomas falsely labeled.
"Mr. Bhandari actively participated in an illegal scheme to traffic in protected black coral, a trade that has helped deplete a world resource that serves as essential habitat for marine biodiversity," said Ignacia S. Moreno, Assistant Attorney General for the Environment and Natural Resources Division at the Department of Justice. "As this case clearly shows, the Department of Justice will continue to aggressively prosecute those who violate U.S. law by illegally trafficking in protected species."
"The effective stewardship of our natural resources by vigorously enforcing environmental laws is a priority of the Department of Justice," said Ronald W. Sharpe, U.S. Attorney for the District of the Virgin Islands. "This prosecution, like many cases involving the investigation and prosecution of those who set out to exploit our precious natural resources, was complex, time consuming and required the expertise of multiple law enforcement agencies. The dedication and cooperative efforts of the various law enforcement agencies involved in the successful prosecution of this matter are to be commended."
"This investigation is the culmination of a three year joint investigation led by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Office of Law Enforcement in partnership with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement-Homeland Security Investigations, U.S. Attorney’s Office, the U.S. Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division and U.S. Customs and Border Protection," said U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Resident Agent in Charge David Pharo. "This investigation serves as a great example of multiple agencies, working together to stem the tide of exploitation of internationally protected species originating in marine environments. This investigation demonstrates our commitment to combat illegal international wildlife trafficking and bring justice to those that exploit protected marine resources for personal gain no matter where they are located."
"Illegal importation and exportation of commercial quantities of CITES-protected corals is one of our Division's high priorities," said Otha Easley, Acting Special Agent in Charge for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Office of Law Enforcement's Southeast Division. "Effective enforcement of CITES helps ensure that collection of these species is sustainable and that their survival in the wild is assured."
"This sentence sends a clear message to black coral traffickers that we and our federal law enforcement partners are in the business of preventing illegal wildlife trade," said Angel Melendez, Acting Special Agent in charge of HSI San Juan and U.S.V.I. "We will continue to identify and apprehend those who exploit protected species for commercial gain."
Black coral is a precious coral that can be polished to a high sheen, worked into artistic sculptures and used in inlaid jewelry. Black coral is typically found in deep waters and many species have long life spans and are slow-growing. Using deep sea submersibles, scientists have observed that fish and invertebrates tend to accumulate around the black coral colonies. Thus, black coral communities serve important habitat functions in the mesophotic and deepwater zones. In the last few decades, pressures from overharvesting, due in part to the wider availability of scuba gear and the introduction of invasive species have threatened this group of coral. Recent seizures of illegal black coral around the world have led many to believe that black coral poaching is on the rise.
On Oct. 26, 2011, in the related case of U.S. v. GEM Manufacturing LLC, Case No. 2011-19 (D. Virgin Islands), GEM was sentenced to criminal financial penalties and forfeitures exceeding $4.47 million and three and a half years of probation that included a 10-point compliance plan that incorporated an auditing, tracking and inventory control program. GEM was also banned from doing business with its former coral supplier, Peng Chia Enterprise Co. Ltd. and its management team of Ivan and Gloria Chu. Ashu Bhandari was the individual known as "Co-conspirator X" in the related case of U.S. v. Gloria and Ivan Chu, Case No. 2010-003 (D. Virgin Islands). In January 2010, federal agents arrested the Chus as part of a sting operation in Las Vegas. The Chus were subsequently indicted in 2010 for illegally providing black coral to GEM. On June 23, 2010, Ivan Chu was sentenced to serve 30 months in prison and pay a $12,500 fine. Gloria Chu was sentenced to serve 20 months in prison and pay a $12,500 fine.
The case, developed as a result of Operation "Black Gold", was investigated by agents of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and NOAA with support from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement-Homeland Security Investigations and U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Analysis of coral samples by the FWS’s National Forensics Laboratory in Ashland, Ore., was critical to the investigation. The case was prosecuted by Christopher Hale of the Justice Department’s Environmental Crimes Section, Environment and Natural Resources Division and Nelson Jones of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Thursday, February 7, 2013
Former Jewelry Company Executive Sentenced in U.s.v.i. to Pay $1.1 Million in Fines and Community Service for Illegal Trade of Protected Black Coral
Ashu Bhandari, the former president and CEO of GEM Manufacturing LLC, a U.S. Virgin Islands-based company, was sentenced Thursday in federal court in St. Thomas, U.S.V.I., for felony customs violations for his role in a scheme to illegally import protected black coral into the United States, the Department of Justice announced. Bhandari is the last defendant to be sentenced as the result of a far reaching investigation into the illegal trade in black coral. The scheme cost Bhandari’s company, GEM Manufacturing, millions of dollars in financial penalties and sent two of his trading partners to prison.
At today’s hearing, the court imposed a criminal fine of $918,950 and sentenced Bhandari to one month in jail, to be followed by one month of home confinement and one year of supervised release, during which Bhandari would be required to complete 300 hours of community service and be banned from any business venture involving coral or coral products. In addition to the fine, Bhandari will be required to pay $229,687 to the University of the Virgin Islands to be used for community service projects designed to research and protect black corals. The court recognized that Bhandari’s sentence was based, in part, on his cooperation with federal investigators in related illicit coral trafficking cases.
On Nov. 7, 2012, Ashu Bhandari pleaded guilty to one felony count of false classification of goods for his efforts to conceal his illegal importation of internationally protected black coral in 2009. GEM was in the business of manufacturing high-end jewelry and sculpture products that utilize black coral. During his term as CEO, Bhandari was responsible for ensuring the continued supply of raw black coral for the company. Black corals are considered important habitat for the deep sea marine environment and are protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Each of the species of black coral is listed in Appendix II of CITES and is subject to strict trade regulations.
Bhandari admitted that by 2008, he learned that GEM’s Taiwanese suppliers of black coral could not obtain legitimate CITES certificates. In spite of this knowledge, Bhandari made a "business decision to go forward" with the Taiwanese suppliers. The Taiwanese suppliers would label the coral shipments as "plastic" in order to fool customs authorities in Hong Kong and the United States. Bhandari admitted that by 2009 he knew that the shipments he arranged on behalf of GEM were coming into St. Thomas falsely labeled.
"Mr. Bhandari actively participated in an illegal scheme to traffic in protected black coral, a trade that has helped deplete a world resource that serves as essential habitat for marine biodiversity," said Ignacia S. Moreno, Assistant Attorney General for the Environment and Natural Resources Division at the Department of Justice. "As this case clearly shows, the Department of Justice will continue to aggressively prosecute those who violate U.S. law by illegally trafficking in protected species."
"The effective stewardship of our natural resources by vigorously enforcing environmental laws is a priority of the Department of Justice," said Ronald W. Sharpe, U.S. Attorney for the District of the Virgin Islands. "This prosecution, like many cases involving the investigation and prosecution of those who set out to exploit our precious natural resources, was complex, time consuming and required the expertise of multiple law enforcement agencies. The dedication and cooperative efforts of the various law enforcement agencies involved in the successful prosecution of this matter are to be commended."
"This investigation is the culmination of a three year joint investigation led by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Office of Law Enforcement in partnership with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement-Homeland Security Investigations, U.S. Attorney’s Office, the U.S. Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division and U.S. Customs and Border Protection," said U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Resident Agent in Charge David Pharo. "This investigation serves as a great example of multiple agencies, working together to stem the tide of exploitation of internationally protected species originating in marine environments. This investigation demonstrates our commitment to combat illegal international wildlife trafficking and bring justice to those that exploit protected marine resources for personal gain no matter where they are located."
"Illegal importation and exportation of commercial quantities of CITES-protected corals is one of our Division's high priorities," said Otha Easley, Acting Special Agent in Charge for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Office of Law Enforcement's Southeast Division. "Effective enforcement of CITES helps ensure that collection of these species is sustainable and that their survival in the wild is assured."
"This sentence sends a clear message to black coral traffickers that we and our federal law enforcement partners are in the business of preventing illegal wildlife trade," said Angel Melendez, Acting Special Agent in charge of HSI San Juan and U.S.V.I. "We will continue to identify and apprehend those who exploit protected species for commercial gain."
Black coral is a precious coral that can be polished to a high sheen, worked into artistic sculptures and used in inlaid jewelry. Black coral is typically found in deep waters and many species have long life spans and are slow-growing. Using deep sea submersibles, scientists have observed that fish and invertebrates tend to accumulate around the black coral colonies. Thus, black coral communities serve important habitat functions in the mesophotic and deepwater zones. In the last few decades, pressures from overharvesting, due in part to the wider availability of scuba gear and the introduction of invasive species have threatened this group of coral. Recent seizures of illegal black coral around the world have led many to believe that black coral poaching is on the rise.
On Oct. 26, 2011, in the related case of U.S. v. GEM Manufacturing LLC, Case No. 2011-19 (D. Virgin Islands), GEM was sentenced to criminal financial penalties and forfeitures exceeding $4.47 million and three and a half years of probation that included a 10-point compliance plan that incorporated an auditing, tracking and inventory control program. GEM was also banned from doing business with its former coral supplier, Peng Chia Enterprise Co. Ltd. and its management team of Ivan and Gloria Chu. Ashu Bhandari was the individual known as "Co-conspirator X" in the related case of U.S. v. Gloria and Ivan Chu, Case No. 2010-003 (D. Virgin Islands). In January 2010, federal agents arrested the Chus as part of a sting operation in Las Vegas. The Chus were subsequently indicted in 2010 for illegally providing black coral to GEM. On June 23, 2010, Ivan Chu was sentenced to serve 30 months in prison and pay a $12,500 fine. Gloria Chu was sentenced to serve 20 months in prison and pay a $12,500 fine.
The case, developed as a result of Operation "Black Gold", was investigated by agents of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and NOAA with support from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement-Homeland Security Investigations and U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Analysis of coral samples by the FWS’s National Forensics Laboratory in Ashland, Ore., was critical to the investigation. The case was prosecuted by Christopher Hale of the Justice Department’s Environmental Crimes Section, Environment and Natural Resources Division and Nelson Jones of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
HEALTH CARE FRAUD PAYS, THE GOVERNEMNT IN RECOVERIES
FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENTOF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services announce record-breaking recoveries resulting from joint efforts to combat health care fraud
Government Teams Recovered $4.2 Billion in FY 2012WASHINGTON – Attorney General Eric Holder and Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today released a new report showing that for every dollar spent on health care-related fraud and abuse investigations in the last three years, the government recovered $7.90. This is the highest three-year average return on investment in the 16-year history of the Health Care Fraud and Abuse (HCFAC) Program.
The government’s health care fraud prevention and enforcement efforts recovered a record $4.2 billion in taxpayer dollars in Fiscal Year (FY) 2012, up from nearly $4.1 billion in FY 2011, from individuals and companies who attempted to defraud federal health programs serving seniors and taxpayers or who sought payments to which they were not entitled. Over the last four years, the administration’s enforcement efforts have recovered $14.9 billion, up from $6.7 billion over the prior four-year period. Since 1997, the HCFAC Program has returned more than $23 billion to the Medicare Trust Funds.
These findings, released today in the annual HCFAC Program report, are a result of President Obama making the elimination of fraud, waste and abuse, particularly in health care, a top priority for the administration.
The success of this joint Department of Justice and HHS effort was made possible by the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (HEAT), created in 2009 to prevent fraud, waste and abuse in the Medicare and Medicaid programs and to crack down on individuals and entities that are abusing the system and costing American taxpayers billions of dollars. These efforts to reduce fraud will continue to improve with new tools and resources provided by the Affordable Care Act.
"This was a record-breaking year for the Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services in our collaborative effort to crack down on health care fraud and protect valuable taxpayer dollars," said Attorney General Holder. "In the past fiscal year, our relentless pursuit of health care fraud resulted in the disruption of an array of sophisticated fraud schemes and the recovery of more taxpayer dollars than ever before. This report demonstrates our serious commitment to prosecuting health care fraud and safeguarding our world-class health care programs from abuse."
"Our historic effort to take on the criminals who steal from Medicare and Medicaid is paying off: We are gaining the upper hand in our fight against health care fraud," said Secretary Sebelius. "This fight against fraud strengthens the integrity of our health care programs and helps us fulfill our commitment to our seniors."
About $4.2 billion stolen or otherwise improperly obtained from federal health care programs was recovered and returned to the Medicare Trust Funds, the Treasury and others in FY 2012. This is an unprecedented achievement for the HCFAC Program, a joint Justice Department and HHS effort to coordinate federal, state and local law enforcement activities to fight health care fraud and abuse.
The administration is also using tools authorized by the Affordable Care Act to fight fraud, including enhanced screenings and enrollment requirements, increased data sharing across the government, expanded recovery efforts for overpayments and greater oversight of private insurance abuses.
Since 2009, the Justice Department and HHS have improved their coordination through HEAT and increased the number of Medicare Fraud Strike Force teams to nine. The Justice Department’s enforcement of the civil False Claims Act and the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act have produced similar record-breaking results. These combined efforts coordinated under HEAT have expanded local partnerships and helped educate Medicare beneficiaries about how to protect themselves against fraud. In FY 2012, the two departments continued their series of regional fraud prevention summits, and the Justice Department hosted a training conference for federal prosecutors, FBI agents, HHS Office of Inspector General agents and others.
The strike force teams use advanced data analysis techniques to identify high-billing levels in health care fraud hot spots so that interagency teams can target emerging or migrating schemes as well as with chronic fraud by criminals masquerading as health care providers or suppliers. In July, Attorney General Holder and Secretary Sebelius announced the launch of a ground-breaking partnership among the federal government, state officials, leading private health insurance organizations and other health care anti-fraud groups to share information and best practices to improve detection of and prevent payments to scams that cut across public and private payers.
In FY 2012, the Justice Department opened 1,131 new criminal health care fraud investigations involving 2,148 potential defendants, and a total of 826 defendants were convicted of health care fraud-related crimes during the year. The department also opened 885 new civil investigations.
The strike force coordinated a takedown in May 2012 that involved the highest number of false Medicare billings in the history of the strike force program. The takedown involved 107 individuals, including doctors and nurses, in seven cities, who were charged for their alleged participation in Medicare fraud schemes, involving about $452 million in false billings. As a part of the May 2012 takedown, HHS also suspended or took other administrative action against 52 providers using authority under the health care law to suspend payments until an investigation is complete.
Strike force operations in the nine cities where teams are based resulted in 117 indictments, informations and complaints involving charges against 278 defendants who allegedly billed Medicare more than $1.5 billion in fraudulent schemes. In FY 2012, 251 guilty pleas and 13 jury trials were litigated, with guilty verdicts against 29 defendants, in strike force cases. The average prison sentence in these cases was more than 48 months.
The new authorities under the Affordable Care Act granted to HHS and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) were instrumental in clamping down on fraudulent activity in health care. In FY 2012, CMS began the process of screening all 1.5 million Medicare-enrolled providers through the new Automated Provider Screening system that quickly identifies ineligible and potentially fraudulent providers and suppliers prior to enrollment or revalidation to verify the data. As a result, nearly 150,000 ineligible providers have already been eliminated from Medicare’s billing system.
CMS also established the Command Center to improve health care-related fraud detection and investigation, drive innovation and help reduce fraud and improper payments in Medicare and Medicaid.
From May 2011 through the end of 2012, more than 400,000 providers were subject to the new screening requirements and nearly 150,000 lost the ability to bill the Medicare program due to the Affordable Care Act requirements and other proactive initiatives.
The Department of Justice and HHS also continued their successes in civil health care fraud enforcement during FY 2012. The Justice Department’s Civil Division Fraud Section, with their colleagues in U.S. Attorneys’ offices throughout the country, obtained settlements and judgments of more than $3 billion in FY 2012 under the False Claims Act (FCA). These matters included unlawful pricing by pharmaceutical manufacturers, illegal marketing of medical devices and pharmaceutical products for uses not approved by the Food and Drug Administration, Medicare fraud by hospitals and other institutional providers, and violations of laws against self-referrals and kickbacks. This marked the third year in a row that more than $2 billion has been recovered in FCA health care matters. Additionally, the Civil Division’s Consumer Protection Branch, working with U.S. Attorneys’ offices, obtained nearly $1.5 billion in fines and forfeitures, and obtained 14 convictions in matters pursued under the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act.
EXERCISE COBRA GOLD 2013 GETS UNDERWAY
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| 130114-N-HI414-122 SASEBO, Japan (Jan. 14, 2013) The Whidbey Island-class amphibious dock landing ship USS Tortuga (LSD 46) is underway alongside the Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6) during a sea and anchor evolution. Tortuga is underway in preparation for an amphibious integration training and certification exercise and will participate in the annual multinational joint training exercise Cobra Gold. Tortuga is part of the Bonhomme Richard Amphibious Ready Group and is operating in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operation. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Gregory A. Harden II/Released) |
FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Exercise Cobra Gold 2013 Kicks Off in Thailand
By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Feb. 11, 2013 - The commander of U.S. Pacific Command kicked off the longest-running U.S. military exercise in the Pacific in Thailand today, calling the 13,000 multinational participants guardians of future peace and prosperity.
Navy Adm. Samuel J. Locklear III marked the opening of the 32st iteration of Cobra Gold hosted by Thailand and the United States since 1980.
Cobra Gold began as a bilateral U.S.-Thai exercise, but expanded more than a decade ago to include other regional partners to advance their common goals and security commitments in the Asia-Pacific region, officials said.
Cobra Gold 2013, which runs through Feb. 21, brings together the militaries of United States, Thailand and five other Asian countries: Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. Twenty additional nations have sent observers, including, for the first time, Burma.
"Whether you are a participant or an observer, or whether you have been here for 32 years or this is your first year, your being here demonstrates your country's resolve to peace and stability in this region and in the world," Locklear said at the opening ceremonies. "It is critical to building our multinational coordination, our interoperability with all of our partners in the region and to allow us to collectively respond to crises and protect the peace and prosperity of all our people."
This year's exercise will be demanding, as it prepares participants "for a broad spectrum of challenges we are going to face together," the admiral said. The ambitious training schedule includes a staff exercise, senior leader engagements and "humanitarian and civic projects we will do together, field training we will do together, [and] live-fire events we will do together," he said.
Highlights will include an amphibious assault demonstration that includes attack jets, helicopters, landing craft and small boats; small-boat and helicopter raids; a multilateral noncombatant evacuation operation; a combined arms live-fire exercise; and jungle warfare and chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear training.
All are designed, Locklear said, to "replicate the dynamic environment we find ourselves in today and [expect] in the future." He challenged the participants to take advantage of the training opportunities at Cobra Gold to build the bonds and capabilities that ensure they will be prepared.
"Working together, we will meet the challenges and forge a brighter future for the region and the world," he said.
Marines with 3rd Marine Expeditionary Force's Marine Wing Support Squadron 172, Marine Aircraft Group 36, arrived in Thailand last week to partner with Royal Thai Marines to build a schoolhouse at Ban Nam Chiao Elementary School in Lam Ngob district. Another civic project planned during the exercise is construction of a one-story multipurpose building for the Baan Hua Wang Krang School in Thailand's Muang district.
$50,000 AWARDED TO CHICAGO SCHOOLS FOR RECOVERY FROM SHOOTINGS
The U.S. Department of Education's Office of Safe and Healthy Students has awarded Chicago Public Schools (CPS) an Immediate Project School Emergency Response to Violence (SERV) grant totaling nearly $50,000. The grant will provide assistance for recovery efforts following 35 shootings this past year at four high schools in the Greater Englewood community.
Project SERV grants provide critical support to districts that have experienced a significant traumatic event and need resources to respond, recover, and re-establish safe environments for students. The Office of Safe and Healthy Students has awarded more than $29 million to 99 grantees, including CPS, since the grant program began in 2001.
"These grants provide support to students, educators and communities impacted by these senseless shootings," U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said. "Tragic events damage students and entire communities, and disrupt teaching and learning. These funds will support Chicago schools as they continue to recover from these acts of violence and work to make the community safer so all children can live free of fear."
Chicago Public Schools, the third largest school district in the nation, has been impacted by the city's violence this past year. Numerous students have been shot on their way to and from their schools, and reactions and responses to the violence have resulted in high rates of disciplinary infractions, gang incidents, and fights and arrests. There also has been an increase in the amount of instructional time lost due to an increased number of suspensions and high absenteeism rates.
CPS applied for a Project SERV grant to support a project designed to restore the learning environment and immediately respond to any acts of violence that would affect teaching and learning. CPS proposes to build from its Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports model of behavior management and its Response-to-Intervention model. These strategies provide academic support to create a responsive counseling program that integrates the principles of psychological first aid, conflict resolution and trauma-informed practice.
Project SERV would provide funding for a coach to train practitioners, organized into school-based teams, to identify, assess and manage student responses to violence, grief and loss. The school-based teams that comprise the counseling program will provide services and implement activities designed to reduce conflict, promote coping and healing, and facilitate teaching and learning.
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| School. Credit: U.S. Department Of Defense. |
FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
U.S. Department of Education Awards Nearly $50,000 to Help Chicago Public Schools Recover from Multiple Shootings The U.S. Department of Education's Office of Safe and Healthy Students has awarded Chicago Public Schools (CPS) an Immediate Project School Emergency Response to Violence (SERV) grant totaling nearly $50,000. The grant will provide assistance for recovery efforts following 35 shootings this past year at four high schools in the Greater Englewood community.
Project SERV grants provide critical support to districts that have experienced a significant traumatic event and need resources to respond, recover, and re-establish safe environments for students. The Office of Safe and Healthy Students has awarded more than $29 million to 99 grantees, including CPS, since the grant program began in 2001.
"These grants provide support to students, educators and communities impacted by these senseless shootings," U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said. "Tragic events damage students and entire communities, and disrupt teaching and learning. These funds will support Chicago schools as they continue to recover from these acts of violence and work to make the community safer so all children can live free of fear."
Chicago Public Schools, the third largest school district in the nation, has been impacted by the city's violence this past year. Numerous students have been shot on their way to and from their schools, and reactions and responses to the violence have resulted in high rates of disciplinary infractions, gang incidents, and fights and arrests. There also has been an increase in the amount of instructional time lost due to an increased number of suspensions and high absenteeism rates.
CPS applied for a Project SERV grant to support a project designed to restore the learning environment and immediately respond to any acts of violence that would affect teaching and learning. CPS proposes to build from its Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports model of behavior management and its Response-to-Intervention model. These strategies provide academic support to create a responsive counseling program that integrates the principles of psychological first aid, conflict resolution and trauma-informed practice.
Project SERV would provide funding for a coach to train practitioners, organized into school-based teams, to identify, assess and manage student responses to violence, grief and loss. The school-based teams that comprise the counseling program will provide services and implement activities designed to reduce conflict, promote coping and healing, and facilitate teaching and learning.
DINOSAURS, WHAT HAPPENED?
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| Dinosaur Photo Composite. Credit: Wikimedia Commons |
Looking for a 'Smoking Gun' in Dinosaur Die-off
Scientists determine most precise dates yet for dinosaur extinction 66 million years ago
February 7, 2013
The demise of the dinosaurs has been called the world's ultimate whodunit.
Was the cause a comet or an asteroid impact? Volcanic eruptions? Climate change?
In an attempt to resolve the issue, scientists at the Berkeley Geochronology Center (BGC) at the University of California, Berkeley, and at universities in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, have determined that an impact event occurred at about the same time as the mass extinction of the dinosaurs.
Using a recalibrated technique for dating Earth minerals, the researchers hypothesize that impact happened 66,038,000 years ago, and that it produced the final atmospheric conditions needed to wipe out the dinosaurs.
The newly determined date of the impact is the same, within error limits, as the date for the mass extinction event, which also occurred about 66 million years ago, according to Paul Renne, BGC director.
He and colleagues report their findings in this week's issue of the journal Science.
The dates are so close, the researchers say, that it was likely that a comet or asteroid that, if not wholly responsible for the global extinction, at least dealt the death blow.
"An impact was clearly the final straw, the tipping point," said Renne. "We've shown that [the impact and extinction] are synchronous to within a gnat's eyebrow, and therefore an impact clearly played a major role in the extinction. But it probably wasn't just the impact."
The revised date clears up lingering confusion over whether the impact actually occurred before or after the extinction, which was characterized by the almost overnight disappearance from the fossil record of land-based dinosaurs and many ocean creatures, Renne said.
"Accurately dating this major extinction, including that of the dinosaurs, has long been controversial," said H. Richard Lane, program director in the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Division of Earth Sciences, which funded the research. "These new results give us a sharper view of what happened in Earth's distant past."
Renne decided to recalculate the date of the boundary between the Cretaceous and Tertiary periods--the KT boundary--after recalibrating the argon-argon method used to date rocks, which relies on the decay rate of a radioactive isotope of potassium.
The impact in question left a 110-mile-wide crater in the Caribbean off the Yucatan coast of Mexico.
Called Chicxulub (cheek'-she-loob), the crater was excavated by an object some six miles across. It threw debris into the atmosphere that can be found around the globe in the form of glassy spheres or tektites, shocked quartz and a layer of iridium-enriched dust.
"Everybody had always looked at the age for the KT boundary and compared it with the ages that we had gotten for the tektites and the melt rock from the Chicxulub crater and said, 'oh yeah, this is pretty much the same age,'" Renne said.
"But they're not. They differ by 180,000 years. From this calibration issue, I started to realize, ‘Wow, there is a real problem here.'"
Renne and colleagues dated tektites from Haiti, analyzing them using the recalibrated argon-argon technique to determine how long ago the impact occurred.
The tektite results agreed with previously recalibrated data but were more precise.
The geologists then did the same for altered volcanic ash collected from the Hell Creek Formation in Montana, the source of many dinosaur fossils--and one of the best sites to study the change in fossils from before and after the extinction.
The new extinction date is precise to within 11,000 years, and is 200,000 years earlier than the recalibrated date determined in 1993.
Despite the synchronous impact and extinction, Renne cautions that this doesn't mean that the impact was the sole cause.
Dramatic climate variation over the previous million years, including long cold snaps amid a general Cretaceous hothouse environment, probably brought many creatures to the brink of extinction.
"The impact was the coup de grace," said Renne.
"These precursory phenomena made the global ecosystem much more sensitive to even relatively small triggers, so that what otherwise might have been a fairly minor effect shifted the ecosystem into a new state."
One cause of the climate variability could have been a sustained series of volcanic eruptions in India that produced the extensive Deccan Traps, ancient rock formations that represent one of the largest volcanic features on Earth. The Deccan Traps are believed to have formed between 60 and 68 million years ago.
Renne plans to re-date those volcanic rocks.
He and colleagues also dated rocks above the KT boundary. They concluded that Earth's atmospheric carbon cycle returned to normal within about 5,000 years of the impact.
This is in stark contrast to the world's oceans, which studies show took between one and two million years to return to normal.
Renne attributes this to a sluggish recovery of pre-impact ocean circulation patterns.
The study's results also clarify some inconsistencies between different estimates for the age of the KT boundary based on Earth's orbital rhythms recorded in sedimentary rocks.
Dutch colleagues Frederik Hilgen of Utrecht University and Klaudia Kuiper of Vrije University had previously determined an age of 65,957,000 years for the boundary using this approach, which agrees with the new independent results within the margins of error.
"This study shows the power of high precision geochronology," said paper co-author Darren Mark of the Scottish Universities Environmental Research Center in Kilbride, UK, who conducted independent argon-argon analyses on samples provided by Renne.
"Many people think precision is just about adding another decimal place to a number. But it's far more exciting than that," he said.
"It's more like putting a sharper lens on a camera. It allows us to dissect the geological record at greater resolution and piece together the sequence of Earth history."
The paper's co-authors, in addition to Mark, Hilgen and Kuipler, are William Mitchell III at UC Berkeley, Alan Deino and Roland Mundil at BGC, Leah Morgan of the Scottish Universities Environmental Research Center and Jan Smit of Vrije University in Amsterdam.
In addition to funding from NSF, the work was also supported by the Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation and UC Berkeley's Esper S. Larsen Jr. Fund.
-NSF-
DRONES: U.S. NAVY TARGET AND TEST DRONES
FROM: U.S. NAVY
040623-N-5663H-001 South China Sea (June 23, 2004) - A team of Royal Brunei Armed Forces military and civilian contractors prepare "Banshee" unmanned drones for launch from the U.S. Navy's dock landing ship USS Fort McHenry (LSD 43). The drones are used as targets while conducting underway gunnery practice during the Brunei phase of exercise Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT). CARAT is a regularly scheduled series of bilateral military training exercises with several Southeast Asia nations designed to enhance the interoperability of the respective sea services. U.S. Navy photo by Journalist Seaman David J. Ham (RELEASED)
040206-N-9222M-001 Aboard USS Essex (LHD 2) Feb. 6, 2004 - One of five BQM-74 test drones launches from the amphibious assault ship USS Essex's (LHD 2) flight deck during a missile firing exercise. The test drones are remote controlled, GPS-guided missiles. Essex and the guided missile cruiser USS John McCain participated in the missile firing exercise conducted to test the ships defensive capability. During the exercise, Essex fired three NATO Sea Sparrow anti-air missiles to intercept the drones. U.S. Navy photo by Photographer’s Mate Airman Nicholas C. Messina. (RELEASED)
Monday, February 11, 2013
SECRETARY OF STATE KERRY'S STATEMENT ON THE RESIGNATION OF POPE BENEDICT XVI
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| Holy See (Vatican). Credit: CIA World Factbook. |
FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENTOF STATE
Resignation of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI
Press Statement
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Washington, DC
February 11, 2013
The United States is grateful to His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI for his leadership of and ministry to the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics. He has been a man of action and principle, working to promote human rights and dignity in places around the globe where they are too often denied, and a voice of clarity and conviction about our obligations as stewards of a fragile planet. As I heard Pope Benedict say during the Mass he celebrated in Washington nearly five years ago, Americans remain a people of hope and America a land of freedom and opportunity. He believes, as we do, that the qualities that have made our nation strong can also help make the world freer and more just. We have been honored to work with the Holy See during the nearly eight years of his papacy and look forward to continued collaboration in areas of common interest to our nation and to the Catholic Church. We wish Pope Benedict great peace and health and we will keep him in our prayers.
INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION UPDATE FOR FEB 11, 2013
FROM: NASA
The International Space Station update video for Feb. 11, 2013.
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