SPANNING HALF A MILLION LIGHT YEARS

FROM:  NASA 
Clues to the Growth of the Colossus in Coma

A team of astronomers has discovered enormous arms of hot gas in the Coma cluster of galaxies by using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and ESA’s XMM-Newton. These features, which span at least half a million light years, provide insight into how the Coma cluster has grown through mergers of smaller groups and clusters of galaxies to become one of the largest structures in the universe held together by gravity.

A new composite image, with Chandra data in pink and optical data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey appearing in white and blue, features these spectacular arms. In this image, the Chandra data have been processed so extra detail can be seen.

The X-ray emission is from multimillion-degree gas and the optical data shows galaxies in the Coma Cluster, which contain only about one-sixth the mass in hot gas. Only the brightest X-ray emission is shown here, to emphasize the arms, but the hot gas is present over the entire field of view.

Researchers think that these arms were most likely formed when smaller galaxy clusters had their gas stripped away by the head wind created by the motion of the cluster through the hot gas, in much the same way that the headwind created by a roller coaster blows the hats off riders.

Coma is an unusual galaxy cluster because it contains not one, but two giant elliptical galaxies near its center. These two giant elliptical galaxies are probably the vestiges from each of the two largest clusters that merged with Coma in the past. The researchers also uncovered other signs of past collisions and mergers in the data.

From their length, and the speed of sound in the hot gas (about four million km/hr), the newly discovered X-ray arms are estimated to be about 300 million years old, and they appear to have a rather smooth shape. This gives researchers some clues about the conditions of the hot gas in Coma. Most theoretical models expect that mergers between clusters like those in Coma will produce strong turbulence, like ocean water that has been churned by many passing ships. Instead, the smooth shape of these lengthy arms points to a rather calm setting for the hot gas in the Coma cluster, even after many mergers.

Large-scale magnetic fields are likely responsible for the small amount of turbulence that is present in Coma. Estimating the amount of turbulence in a galaxy cluster has been a challenging problem for astrophysicists. Researchers have found a range of answers, some of them conflicting, and so observations of other clusters are needed.

Two of the arms appear to be connected to a group of galaxies located about two million light years from the center of Coma. One or both of these arms connects to a larger structure seen in the XMM-Newton data, and spans a distance or at least 1.5 million light years. A very thin tail also appears behind one of the galaxies in Coma. This is probably evidence of gas being stripped from a single galaxy, in addition to the groups or clusters that have merged there.

These new results on the Coma cluster, which incorporate over six days worth of Chandra observing time, will appear in the September 20, 2013, issue of the journal Science. The first author of the paper is Jeremy Sanders from the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in Garching, Germany. The co-authors are Andy Fabian from Cambridge University in the UK; Eugene Churazov from the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics in Garching, Germany; Alexander Schekochihin from University of Oxford in the UK; Aurora Simionescu from Stanford University in Stanford, CA; Stephen Walker from Cambridge University in the UK and Norbert Werner from Stanford University in Stanford, CA.
NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., manages the Chandra Program for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory controls Chandra's science and flight operations from Cambridge, Mass.

Credits: X-ray: NASA/CXC/MPE/J. Sanders et al; Optical: SDSS

DOD SAYS RECRUITING GOALS BENG MET

FROM:  U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT 

Active Services Meet Fiscal Year Recruiting Goals Through August

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Sept. 26, 2013 - All four active services met or exceeded their numerical accession goals for fiscal year 2013 through August, Pentagon officials announced yesterday.

Here are the numbers for the first 11 months of the fiscal year:

-- Army: 62,453 accessions, 101 percent of its goal of 61,620;

-- Navy: 36,565 accessions, 100 percent of its goal of 36,565;

-- Marine Corps: 28,128 accessions, 100 percent of its goal of 28,085; and

-- Air Force: 24,335 accessions, 100 percent of its goal of 24,335.

The Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps exhibited strong retention, officials said. The Navy's retention numbers were strong in the mid-career and career categories, they added, and its achievement of 85 percent retention in the initial category is a result of reduced accessions from four to six years ago.

Five of the six reserve components met or exceeded their numerical fiscal year accession goals through August. The Army Reserve remains 3,206 accessions short of its fiscal goal.

Here are the reserve component numbers:

-- Army National Guard: 45,539 accessions, 101 percent of its goal of 45,047;

-- Army Reserve: 24,114 accessions, 88 percent of its goal of 27,320;

-- Navy Reserve: 5,296 accessions, 101 percent of its goal of 5,241;

-- Marine Corps Reserve: 8,778 accessions, 100 percent of its goal of 8,744;

-- Air National Guard: 9,465 accessions, 100 percent of its goal of 9,465; and

-- Air Force Reserve: 7,040 accessions, 126 percent of its goal of 5,593.

All reserve components have met their attrition goals, and current trends are expected to continue, officials said, adding that this indicator lags behind accessions by a month due to data availability.

Press Briefing | The White House

Press Briefing | The White House

SECRETARY OF STATE KERRY'S REMARK'S AFTER P-5+1 MINISTERIAL ON IRAN

FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT 
Remarks After the P-5+1 Ministerial on Iran
Remarks
John Kerry
Secretary of State
New York City
September 26, 2013

SECRETARY KERRY: First of all, I think you’ve heard some of the other ministers. We had a constructive meeting, and I think all of us were pleased that Foreign Minister Zarif came and made a presentation to us, which was very different in tone and very different in the vision that he held out with respect to possibilities of the future.

I have just met with him now on a side meeting, which we took a moment to explore a little further the possibilities of how to proceed based on what President Obama laid out in his speech to the General Assembly earlier this week. And so we’ve agreed to try to continue a process that we’ll try to make concrete, to find a way to answer the questions that people have about Iran’s nuclear program.

Needless to say, one meeting and a change in tone, which was welcome, doesn’t answer those questions yet, and there’s a lot of work to be done. So we will engage in that work, obviously, and we hope very, very much – all of us – that we can get concrete results that will answer the outstanding questions regarding the program. But I think all of us were pleased that the Foreign Minister came today, that he did put some possibilities on the table. Now it’s up to people to do the hard work of trying to fill out what those possibilities could do.

Finally, let me just say that prior to this meeting, I was pleased to have a meeting with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, and we did reach agreement with respect to the resolution. We’re now doing the final work of pulling that language together, but it’s our hope that that process between the Organization for the Prevention of Chemical Weapons and the United Nations and its resolution can now move forward and give life, hopefully, to the removal and destruction of chemical weapons from Syria.

Thank you all very, very much.

SECURITY PROCEDURES BEING REVIEWED WORLDWIDE AFTER NAVY YARD SHOOTING

FROM:  U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT 
Carter Details Security Reviews in Navy Yard Aftermath
By Karen Parrish
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Sept. 25, 2013 - The Pentagon and the Navy are reviewing security procedures worldwide in the wake of last week's tragic shootings at the Washington Navy Yard, Deputy Defense Secretary Ash Carter said today, with the aim of enhancing prevention of and response to any future such incidents.
Carter offered his sympathies to everyone affected "by this deplorable act of violence."

"The Department of Defense is a family. And when a family member's taken from us, it affects us all," he said in a briefing to Pentagon reporters. "So to those who are grieving, on behalf of the entire department family, please know that our thoughts and our prayers and our strength are with you."

The deputy secretary said the department is "determined to learn from this tragedy and to take decisive action to prevent such a tragedy from happening again."

Carter continued, "The bottom line is, we need to know how an employee was able to bring a weapon and ammunition onto a DOD installation, and how warning flags were either missed, ignored, or not addressed in a timely manner."

The deputy secretary briefed reporters on the two reviews, along with a third examination that will be conducted by an independent panel. Carter said former assistant secretary of defense for homeland security Paul N. Stockton and former commander of U.S. Special Operations Command, retired Navy Adm. Eric T. Olson, have agreed to lead the independent review.

Together, Carter said, the efforts will analyze physical security measures at U.S. military installations, security clearance processing procedures and emergency response plans.

Navy Secretary Ray Mabus has approved two recommendations tightening security management within Navy chains of command. Carter noted the Navy, DOD and independent reviews will all feed into a larger, White-House-led look at physical security and emergency response across government.

"We want to look at the whole system and the whole family of incidents that occur," Carter said.

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel ordered the three department reviews, Carter said.

Hagel's "guidance was clear," Carter said. "The independent panel is to arrive at its own conclusions and make its own recommendations."

Stockton and Olson are uniquely suited to identifying security shortcomings, Carter said. Stockton, he said, brings knowledge from his work leading the department's internal review and response to the Fort Hood shootings in 2009. And, Carter said, Olson's "deep knowledge of special operations and intelligence communities, [and] his personal experience evaluating and developing physical security plans, will all be invaluable."

Together, the efforts are intended to be comprehensive, complementary and mutually reinforcing, Carter said. The department's internal review will be led by Mike Vickers, undersecretary of defense for intelligence, Carter said.

The department's synthesized findings will be in Hagel's hands by Dec. 20, Carter said. Then at Hagel's direction, he added, "the department will take appropriate actions after carefully considering all of the recommendations put forward."

In examining security clearance procedures, the department's internal review will seek to point out "what steps we can take to tighten the standards and procedures for granting and renewing security clearances for DOD employees and contract personnel," Carter said.

Millions of Americans in this and other departments hold clearances, he said, and overall government-wide handling of security clearances will be one focus of the White House's study.

"There are many contractors who are central to the accomplishment of the mission of this department," Carter said. "And they, like our government employees, both civilian and military, all three of those populations contribute to the defense mission, and they're all part of the review."

Carter echoed Hagel's remarks last week: "Where there are gaps, we'll close them. Where there are inadequacies, we will address them. And where there are failures, we will correct them. That process is underway. We owe nothing less to the victims, their families, and every member of the Department of Defense community."

In response to a question, Carter noted that the alleged shooter's previous record of firearms incidents was "something that jumped out at me" in reports following last week's incident in which a Navy contractor shot dead 12 civilians working at the Washington Navy Yard.

Carter said he and Hagel are concerned at the existence of such "evidence that there was behavior well before the Washington Navy Yard incident, which had it been spotted and understood to be indicative of this possibility might have led to an intervention that would have prevented [the shootings]."

Carter added, "That's exactly the kind of thing that we need to look at in the review -- exactly."

HHS SAYS NEW HEALTH INSURANCE MARKET PLACE TO HAVE LOWER THAN EXPECTED PREMIUMS

FROM:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES 
Significant choice and lower than expected premiums available in the new Health Insurance Marketplace

A new report released by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) finds that in state after state, consumers will see increased competition in the Health Insurance Marketplace, leading to new and affordable choices for consumers.  According to the report, consumers will be able to choose from an average of 53 health plans in the Marketplace, and the vast majority of consumers will have a choice of at least two different health insurance companies - usually more.  Premiums nationwide will also be around 16 percent lower than originally expected – with about 95 percent of eligible uninsured live in states with lower than expected premiums – before taking into account financial assistance.

“We are excited to see that rates in the Marketplace are even lower than originally projected,” said Secretary Sebelius.  “In the past, consumers were too often denied or priced-out of quality health insurance options, but thanks to the Affordable Care Act consumers will be able to choose from a number of new coverage options at a price that is affordable.”
In less than a week, the new Marketplace will be open for business where millions of Americans can shop for and purchase health insurance coverage in one place.  Consumers will be able to find out whether they qualify for premium assistance and compare plans side-by-side based on pricing, quality and benefits.  No one can be denied coverage because of a preexisting condition.  October 1 marks the beginning of a six-month long open enrollment period that runs through March 2014.  Coverage begins as early as January 1, or in as little as 100 days from today.

Today’s report finds that individuals in the 36 states where HHS will fully or partly run the Marketplace will have an average of 53 qualified health plan choices.  Plans in the Marketplace will be categorized as either “gold,” “silver,” or “bronze,” depending on the share of costs covered.  Young adults will also have the option of purchasing a “catastrophic” plan, increasing their number of choices to 57 on average. About 95 percent of consumers will have a choice of two or more health insurance issuers, often many more.  About 1 in 4 of these insurance companies is offering health plans in the individual market for the first time in 2014, a sign of healthy competition.

The report also gives an overview of pricing and the number of coverage options across the nation.  It finds that the average premium nationally for the second lowest cost silver plan will be $328 before tax credits, or 16 percent below projections based off of Congressional Budget Office estimates.  About 95 percent of uninsured people eligible for the Marketplace live in a state where their average premium is lower than projections.  And states with the lowest premiums have more than twice the number of insurance companies offering plans than states with the highest premiums.

Premium and plan options are broken down by state where information is available. For example, the report shows that a 27-year old living in Dallas who makes $25,000 per year will pay $74 per month for the lowest cost bronze plan and $139 per month for the lowest cost silver plan, taking into account tax credits.  And he or she will be able to choose from among 43 qualified health plans. For a family of four in Dallas with an income of $50,000 per year, the lowest bronze plan would cost only $26 per month, taking into account tax credits. The majority (around 6 out of 10) of the people uninsured today will be able to find coverage for $100 or less per month in the Marketplace, taking into account premium tax credits and Medicaid coverage.

Consumers can get help finding Marketplace coverage through a number of different resources.  They can get more information through HealthCare.gov, or cuidadodesalud.gov.  Consumers can participate in online web chats or call 1-800-318-2596 toll free (TTY: 1-855-889-4325) to speak with trained customer service representatives, with translation services available in 150 languages.  Community health centers, Navigators and other assisters are available in local communities to provide in-person help with coverage choices.  Local libraries will help consumers learn about their options and hundreds of Champions for Coverage, which are public and private organizations all across the country, are helping people learn about their options and enroll in affordable coverage.

SECRETARY KERRY MAKES REMARKS AT MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS HIGH-LEVEL MEETING

FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT 

Remarks at the Millennium Development Goals High-Level Meeting

Remarks

John Kerry
Secretary of State

United Nations

New York City

September 25, 2013

---

Thank you very much (inaudible), Secretary General, and (inaudible) delegates, thank you for hosting this most important (inaudible). Thank you for the leadership and the commitment to universal values that we are trying to act on as we contemplate the future.
When nearly 200 countries came together in 2000 with the goal of relieving poverty, hunger, disease, and environmental degradation that disproportionately afflicts the planet’s most vulnerable people, we set a deadline to address these global challenges by 2015. At the time, 2015 felt like the distant future. But today, we have fewer than 830 days left on the clock, and everyone here, I think, knows we have to go further and we have to go faster in order to fulfill the promise of an inclusive future that leaves no one behind. So we need to finish strong and then we need to keep building in order to get the job done.

Even as we have cut in half the number who live on about a dollar a day, we know that that half is not clearly enough. So we have to decide, all of us together, to do what this institution was founded to do – to do more. As President Obama said in his State of the Union address this year and as Secretary General Ban said so eloquently yesterday, we have the historic opportunity to rid the world of extreme poverty in the next two decades. We can put all of our countries on the path to more sustained prosperity.

How do we do that? Well, frankly, experience teaches us exactly what works and it teaches us what doesn’t work. We know that creating true opportunity for every member of society without discrimination, investing in health and education, creating the conditions for broad-based economic growth, and strengthening the core institutions of democratic and accountable governance and also getting energy that works for everybody. (Laughter and applause.) (Inaudible) a serious documentation indeed. (Laughter.)

Today, thanks to our efforts, there are far fewer children who are going to sleep hungry than there were before the Millennium Development Goals were set. But every one of us knows that’s not enough. I think one of the frustrations for all of us is this confrontation with a reality that we see every day, against hurdles that we run up against, and the difficulties of actually moving forward. There are still about 870 million undernourished people around the world, more than 100 times the population of this city of New York. So we have to decide to do more. Through programs like Feed the Future and the New Alliance for Food Security, we can actually connect farmers with better technology and with more markets to bring more meals to more tables. We can save 12 million people from poverty and 1 million children from stunting.

Thanks to programs close to my heart that I began working on in the United States Senate like PEPFAR and the Global Fund, new HIV infections have declined by a third over the last decade. And as of this year, we have saved more than a million babies from becoming infected by HIV. These are remarkable achievements. But today, more people than ever are still living with this terrible disease. Fighting global AIDS is a shared responsibility, so together we must decide to do more. All partners should support the upcoming replenishment of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. And that way, we can promise and deliver on an AIDS-free generation. It is within our reach right now.

All of us are also aware that violent conflict makes development more difficult, and that conflict-afflicted parts of the world remain the furthest behind on achieving the Millennium Goals. So if we’re going to open opportunity to everyone, we need to secure peace where it is needed most, and even where doing that is the hardest.

Lastly, our efforts to improve people’s lives around the world means little if we let the planet itself fall into disrepair. That is why we must strive for a development agenda that recognizes that fighting poverty, combating discrimination, and safeguarding our environment are absolutely linked together, and are not separate endeavors. Protecting people from poverty, hunger, and disease, and protecting our planet from the threats that make all of those menaces even worse – dirty water, dangerous air, disappearing resources – these are challenges to all of us, and they are combined with the challenge of country after country in which populations are 60 percent under 30, 20 – 50 percent under the age of 21, 40 percent under the age of 18. This is our challenge, and these priorities have to go hand in hand.

So as we charge down the homestretch of the Millennium Development Goals, we are already thinking about what comes next. And our post-2015 development agenda will determine how ready the global community is going to be for the challenges ahead. Everything that we try to do here, and in all of our multilateral efforts, and in each of our countries independently is linked to these goals and to what we can decide in this effort. And I urge all of us, as President Obama does, to decide the right things. Thank you. (Applause.)

$100 MILLION IN PENALTIES IMPOSED IN "STARS" TAX SHELTER FRAUD CASE

FROM:  U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT 
Friday, September 20, 2013
Justice Department Prevails in “Stars” Tax Shelter Case, Court Imposes Over $100 Million in Penalties

BB&T Corporation Engaged in an Abusive Tax Shelter Designed by Barclays Bank and KPMG to Generate Nearly Half a Billion Dollars in Foreign Tax Credits.
On Friday, the Court of Federal Claims in Washington, D.C., ruled that a subsidiary of the BB&T Corporation was not entitled to $660 million in tax benefits that BB&T claimed based on its participation in an abusive tax shelter known as Structured Trust Advantaged Repackaged Securities (STARS).  Judge Thomas C. Wheeler, who delivered the opinion of the Court, imposed $112 million in penalties.

Barclays Bank PLC and KPMG LLP jointly developed and marketed the STARS transaction to subvert the foreign tax credit rules and generate illicit tax benefits to be shared among the transaction’s participants.  BB&T additionally employed Sidley & Austin LLP to provide  tax advice supporting the transaction.  After hearing evidence during a month-long trial in March, Judge Wheeler ruled for the United States “on all grounds,” determining that BB&T, Barclays, KPMG and Sidley Austin’s conduct with regard to STARS was “nothing short of reprehensible,” and that the considerable effort put into the transaction was a “waste of human potential.”

“It is an affront to all taxpayers who work hard and do the right thing when our largest corporations rely on abusive schemes to avoid paying their fair share of taxes,” said Assistant Attorney General Kathryn Keneally of the Justice Department's Tax Division, hailing the Court of Federal Claims’ opinion.  “Today’s ruling sends a strong message that no matter how sophisticated the scheme, these sham tax shelters will not stand.”

Assistant Attorney General Keneally thanked the agents and attorneys at the Internal Revenue Service who assisted the Justice Department, as well as Tax Division Senior Litigation Counsel Dennis Donohue, Trial Attorneys John Schoenecker, Kari Larson, Raagnee Beri, William Farrior, and Special Attorney Allen Kline.