MAY 17 AND 18, 2018


NEWS AND VIEWS


EVENTS IN TURKEY, PALESTINE AND THE US, RELATED TO OUR DIPLOMATIC RELATIONSHIP AND TO THE NEARING ONSET OF FULL SCALE WAR, PERHAPS. I CERTAINLY HOPE NOT.

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkey-recalling-ambassador-not-to-diminish-relations-us-state-department-spokesperson-131997
Turkey recalling ambassador not to diminish relations: US State Department spokesperson
WASHINGTON
May 18 2018 12:35:00

U.S. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said on May 17 that Turkey recalling its ambassador from Washington is not likely to affect the relations between the two countries.

“We are aware that Turkey has recalled its ambassador. That is within Turkey’s right to do so. And I don’t see that as diminishing our relationship with the government of Turkey,” Nauert told reporters in a briefing on May 17.

“They [Turkey] continue to be an important NATO ally. That is being maintained and we look forward to our next conversations with the government,” she added.

Turkey on May 14 declared a three-day national mourning following the killings of dozens of Palestinians by fire opened by the Israeli forces along the Gaza border and has recalled its ambassadors to the United States and Israel for consultations.

The Israeli ambassador to Ankara and the Israeli consul general were also told to leave the country temporarily.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan initiated phone diplomacy with leaders of Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) member countries, inviting them to an extraordinary meeting of the organization on May 18.

No agreement yet on Manbij

During the presser, Nauert also said that talks on Manbij were ongoing and nothing had been concluded.

“This is something that we addressed at NATO when the secretary had met with his counterpart in Brussels as well, and so we just don’t have any new updates on that,” she added.

“We do have a new secretary, and so he has the ability to have conversations with the government of Turkey, and then they can decide a new way forward if they should want to,” Nauert said.

Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu is expected to meet with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for a long awaited meeting in Washington on June 4.

Ankara has long been upset with the U.S.’s partnership with the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) in the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). Turkey considers the group a terrorist organization and has long been asking its NATO ally to cease its cooperation with the group.

Turkey recently cleared Syria’s Afrin district of the YPG and has turned its focus to Manbij, where YPG militants and U.S. troops have long been stationed together.

After their meeting in Brussels, Çavuşoğlu expressed optimism that the two countries will soon approve the road map and will begin to implement it.

Jailed pastor Brunson case

At the press briefing Nauert also brought up the case of jailed U.S. pastor Andrew Brunson.

“His case is one that we watch very carefully, very closely, not just here at the State Department. I know the vice president has been keeping a close eye on it,” she said.

“This is also something that the president [Donald Trump] has watched very closely and carefully. It’s something that this administration continues to bring up in its bilateral meetings with the government of Turkey, and at the next opportunity. Congress is also following this very carefully and very closely,” Nauert added.

A court in the Aegean province of İzmir on May 7 decided to keep Brunson in jail up until the next hearing on July 18.

Brunson was arrested in October 2017 and now faces up to 35 years in jail on terror and spy charges.

Trump and the U.S. State Department have repeatedly called on the Turkish government for his release.

Nauert, Us, Turkey, diplomacy, Gülen, SDF, Manbij, Syria, Afrin, dispute, Brunson, pastor, State Department



http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/turkey-urges-muslim-nations-to-stand-with-palestinians/article23927989.ece
Turkey urges Muslim nations to stand with Palestinians
AP ISTANBUL: MAY 18, 2018 18:25 IST
UPDATED: MAY 18, 2018 18:25 IST

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and Secretary General of Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Yousef bin Ahmad Al-Othaimeen are seen during a meeting of the OIC Foreign Ministers Council in Istanbul, Turkey on Friday. | Photo Credit: Reuters

Turkey has taken a leading role in condemning Israeli actions in Gaza, which has led to a diplomatic spat with both countries expelling senior diplomats this week.
Turkey has called on Muslim nations to stand with Palestinians and to work to stop countries joining the United States in relocating their Israeli embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Speaking on Friday to his counterparts from Muslim nations, Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said the “illegal” U.S. decision encouraged Israel to “massacre innocent Palestinians in cold blood.”

Turkey, which currently holds the rotating presidency of the organisation, called an extraordinary summit of the 57-member Organization of Islamic Cooperation, or OIC, after Israeli forces killed dozens of people in Gaza earlier this week.

Addressing the morning session of the OIC in Istanbul, Mr. Cavusoglu said “we must prevent other countries from following the U.S. example.”

The Minister said the OIC in its final declaration of the summit late Friday would emphasize the importance of the Palestinian cause and “together shout out that we will not allow the historic status of this holy city be changed.”

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Jordanian King Abdullah II and the Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah are expected to speak later on Friday. Iranian President Hasan Rouhani is to attend the summit.

Mr. Cavusoglu also said “precautions” must be taken within the grouping after some nations voted against, abstained or did not show up at a United Nations vote in December. Some 128 countries overwhelmingly supported the U.N. motion against Washington’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

Despite that, Mr. Cavusoglu said “the U.S. administration did not give up on ignoring the basic principles of international law or the will of the international community.”

Turkey has taken a leading role in condemning Israeli actions in Gaza, which has led to a diplomatic spat with both countries expelling senior diplomats this week.


ANOTHER HORRIBLE SHOOTING HAS OCCURRED. THE SHOOTER IS CAPTURED. THAT’S THE GOOD NEWS.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/santa-fe-high-school-shooting-today-2018-05-18-live-stream-updates/
CBS/AP May 18, 2018, 10:46 AM
Texas school district confirms injuries in high school shooting - live updates

A suspect was in custody after a high school shooting south of Houston, an assistant principal at Santa Fe High School told CBS affiliate KHOU-TV. The school district said on social media that "there have been confirmed injuries" but didn't provide more details.

Tyler, a senior at the school, told KHOU-TV that his friend saw "some kid" with a gun pull a fire alarm in a school hallway and then run outside. When teachers and students were outside, shots were fired.

Tyler ran behind some trees, heard more shots, jumped a fence and ran to a car wash. He said he saw firefighters treat a girl who had a bandage around her knee and may have been shot.

Galveston County sheriff's Maj. Douglas Hudson said units responded to reports of shots fired. He had no immediate details on whether anyone has been hurt.

According to a law enforcement official, the FBI is responding to offer assistance, CBS News senior investigative producer Pat Milton reports.

The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said on social media that it was also responding to the scene.

View image on Twitter

ATF HQ
✔
@ATFHQ
BREAKING: ATF is responding to a school shooting at Santa Fe High School in Santa Fe, Texas.

9:28 AM - May 18, 2018
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550 people are talking about this
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A mother said that a police officer told her that the shooting happened in an art classroom, KHOU-TV reports.

A parent told KHOU-TV that some students were evacuated to an auto shop near the campus.

Santa Fe is a city of about 13,000 residents, located 30 miles southeast of Houston.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

© 2018 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.



CULTURAL VARIANCES COME WITH CITY LIFE, AND ARE SIMPLY NOT CHANGEABLE AT THE DROP OF A HAT. PEOPLE WHO FEEL THIS WAY SHOULD JUST TRY TO LEARN ANOTHER LANGUAGE WELL ENOUGH TO EXPRESS THEMSELVES CLEARLY, AND ESPECIALLY WITH NO “FOREIGN ACCENT.” OF COURSE, PEOPLE WHO HAVE THIS ATTITUDE AND STANCE IN LIFE ARE JUST TRYING TO HARASS, EMBARRASS AND DOWNGRADE THE VICTIM’S BASIC HUMAN RIGHTS. IT IS DESPICABLE BULLYING. OF COURSE, THE MAN IN THIS STORY TODAY IS PROBABLY EITHER AT LEAST SLIGHTLY INSANE, OR USING A DANGEROUS DRUG. HE SHOULD BE HOSPITALIZED FOR A MONTH OR SO AND PUT ON ANTIPSYCHOTIC DRUGS ACCOMPANIED WITH TALK THERAPY.

IN THIS LIGHT, I WILL TAKE AN EXCURSION OFF THE PATH AND TELL YOU ONE OF MY FAVORITE JOKES FROM A FORMER HOUSEMATE. IT SEEMS THERE WAS AN ARROGANT MAN OF THIS SAME TURN OF MIND AS SCHLOSSBERG WHO, TO AMUSE HIMSELF WITH A LITTLE LIGHT CRUELTY, BEGAN TO BERATE THE JAPANESE WAITER AT HIS TABLE. “WHY DO YOU JAPANESE ALWAYS SAY “L” WHEN YOU SHOULD SAY “R?” EMBARRASSED AND ANGRY, THE WAITER WENT AWAY. THE NEXT DAY THE SAME MAN CAME IN AGAIN AND WAS APPROACHED BY THE WAITER, BUT WITH A TWIST. OVERNIGHT HE HAD PRACTICED AND PRACTICED. WHEN THE BULLY AGAIN STARTED TO MESS WITH HIM, AND TOLD HIM TO SAY L AND R, WHICH THE JAPANESE MAN PERFORMED PERFECTLY, HE THEN FINISHED OFF WITH “HOW YOU RIKE DAT, YOU GLEEK PLICK?”

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/lawyer-aaron-schlossberg-pays-price-after-video-of-tirade-goes-viral/
CBS/AP May 18, 2018, 7:33 AM
Lawyer pays the price after video of NYC restaurant tirade goes viral

NEW YORK -- A lawyer who was caught on video ranting against Spanish-speaking restaurant workers has been kicked out of his office space and faces a complaint from two elected officials. The lawyer's brief tirade prompted the officials to send a letter on Thursday to a disciplinary committee that oversees lawyers in the state. The power of the internet also went to work against him, with a fundraiser started to send a mariachi band to perform outside his office.

The clip of the man yelling in a Manhattan restaurant went viral Wednesday, and he was identified through social media as attorney Aaron Schlossberg.

Emily Serrano, a regular customer at the Madison Avenue restaurant, told CBS News she befriended one of the workers there and often interact with him in English and Spanish.

Serrano says a patron who was in the line before her ordered his food in Spanish and that appeared to agitate the man in the video. Once she and her friend placed their order in the language, she said he flipped out on the workers. She then decided to pull out her phone and record him once she started to feel threatened by him.

In the video, Schlossberg said he would be calling Immigration and Customs Enforcement to have the workers "kicked out of my country." He complained to another restaurant employee that "it's America" and that in a Manhattan eatery "staff should be speaking English."

The clip quickly sparked outrage among many critics, including U.S. Rep. Adriano Espaillat and Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr., who wrote to New York state's court system, which has a grievance committee for attorney complaints.

Espaillat and Diaz, Democrats, called the video "vile" and said "the audacity to profile and verbally assault innocent bystanders and customers in a public commercial location is a violation of our civil society."

It was unclear what action the disciplinary committee could take, if any. A message left with the committee was not immediately returned.

Schlossberg also didn't respond to a call and an email seeking comment. In a video posted by the New York Post, Schlossberg held an umbrella in front of his face as he avoided reporters.

The social media furor turned up more instances of a man who appeared to be Schlossberg getting irate with others. One clip was posted to YouTube in October 2016 by a man who said Schlossberg attempted to shove him on a sidewalk before threatening to call the police, and another from May 2017 showed him berating a group of Jewish protesters who were speaking in support of a Palestinian American activist.

Schlossberg's bio on his website says he focuses on commercial and insurance coverage issues. It says besides English he speaks Spanish, French and some Hebrew and Chinese.

The company that runs the building Schlossberg uses as his law firm's address said Thursday that his agreement with it had been terminated because his actions "were contrary" to its rules and regulations.

New York City has a human rights law that protects against discrimination and harassment based on immigration status or national origin. The city's Commission on Human Rights can investigate potential violations and levy fines.

The commission said it was aware of the Schlossberg matter but wouldn't comment on whether it was or would be the subject of an investigation.

The city has always been home to multiple languages, and there are anywhere from 600 to 800 languages spoken in the metropolitan region, said Ross Perlin, co-director of the Endangered Language Alliance.

"This is the most linguistically diverse city," he said, "not only in the world but in the history of the world."

And if Schlossberg wanted to speak the city's indigenous language, Perlin said, it wouldn't be English. He'd have to learn the Native American language of Lenape.

© 2018 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.


FAKE JEW?? THIS IS CLEARLY A DONALD TRUMP INFLUENCE. THEY JUST LOVE THAT WORD, ALONG WITH “SNOWFLAKE” AND “CUCK.” HOW GROTESQUE CAN THEY GET? THE MAN SCHLOSSBERG ISN’T JUST POLITICALLY AROUSED TO THE POINT OF BEING A TRUE FANATIC, THOUGH. LOOK AT THE EXPRESSION ON HIS FACE. HE IS ENRAGED EMOTIONALLY BECAUSE THERE PEOPLE AROUND HIM WHO ARE “DIFFERENT,” AND, ALSO, LOOKS READY TO START A FIGHT. IT’S A GOOD THING THAT HE DOESN’T HAVE A GUN ON HIS PERSON. THESE PEOPLE IN TOO MANY CASES WANT A “WHITE NATION.” I’VE SEEN THAT PHRASE TWICE IN NEWS ARTICLES THIS LAST YEAR OR SO. THAT WOULD BE SUCH A BORE TO ME. HUMAN DIVERSITY AND OTHER NEW EXPERIENCES ARE WHAT I LOVED ABOUT WASHINGTON, DC. THAT, LIKE NYC, DRAWS PEOPLE FROM THE WORLD OVER. ONE DAY IN THE SUBWAY THERE, AS I CAME OFF THE ESCALATOR, A BLACK LADY IN A LONG COLORFUL DRESS DOWN TO HER ANKLES WAS WALKING IN FRONT OF ME. I ASKED HER TO LET ME TAKE HER PICTURE. WITH A BEAUTIFUL SMILE SHE SPREAD HER ARMS TO THE SIDE SO I COULD SEE THE WIDE SLEEVES, AND SHE STOPPED AND POSED FOR ME. I TOLD HER “THANK YOU,” AND SHE RESPONDED WITH AS MUCH PLEASURE AT THE ENCOUNTER AS I FELT MYSELF. IF PEOPLE WOULD SIMPLY REACH OUT MORE OFTEN, MANY GOOD THINGS WOULD HAPPEN.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/17/us/aaron-schlossberg-attorney-racist-rant/index.html
New York attorney in racist rant has history of confrontations
By Eric Levenson, Paul P. Murphy and Gianluca Mezzofiore, CNN
Updated 8:17 PM ET, Thu May 17, 2018

(CNN) — The man who berated employees and customers for speaking Spanish in a New York City cafe has a history of aggressively confronting strangers on their identity.

Aaron Schlossberg, an attorney in New York, was identified as the man in a Fresh Kitchen in Manhattan who angrily told employees and customers to speak English because "This is America!"

"If they have the balls to come here and live off my money, I pay for their welfare," he says, incorrectly asserting that undocumented immigrants are eligible for federal public benefits. "I pay for their ability to be here. The least they can do ... is speak English."

Man to Spanish speakers at New York restaurant: 'My next call is to ICE'

Related Article: Man to Spanish speakers at New York restaurant: 'My next call is to ICE'

Since that video went viral, two men have come forward with other stories about Schlossberg becoming belligerent in public.

Willie Morris said Schlossberg bumped into him on the sidewalk and called him an "ugly f***ing foreigner" (Morris is from Massachusetts). Isaac Saul described Schlossberg angrily yelling at an ultra-Orthodox Jewish man who was participating in a protest, accusing him of being a fake Jew. Both encounters were caught on video.

"If it's once, maybe you can pawn it off as someone having a bad day, but this is not," Morris said. "This is like an ongoing thing for this person. To be caught on video twice? How many times has he not been caught on video?"

CNN has called and left messages with Schlossberg's law office but has not heard back.

'I'm a citizen here, you're not'

Willie Morris, a 34-year-old consultant and adviser for tech companies, said he recognized Schlossberg from an encounter on Manhattan's Fifth Avenue in October 2016.

Morris said he was walking down the street when a man coming from the opposite direction made eye contact, walked faster toward him and shoved him with his briefcase.

"He immediately ... starts yelling mostly racist and xenophobic stuff," Morris said. "I was so shocked, I've lived in NYC for five years and have never had anything like this happen. I was waiting for someone to jump out and scream, 'Gotcha!' "

Morris posted video of the incident, along with his own commentary, to YouTube the next day. In the video, a man can be seen asking Morris, "What country are you from?" and then saying: "I'm going to call the police. You don't run into me. I'm a citizen here, you're not. You're an ugly f***ing foreigner. F*** you."

In commentary afterward, Morris said he was born in Massachusetts, and he held up his US passport.

"It was so surreal," he told CNN. "Thankfully, I had started vlogging a few months before, so I had turned my camera on and caught it all. He was threatening to call the cops, but he eventually walked away, and we realized it wasn't just a weird stunt."

The Fresh Kitchen video jolted his memory about the incident.

"I let it go and pretty much forgot about it until I was scrolling through Twitter yesterday and randomly saw a thumbnail and thought, 'No freaking way!'" Morris said.

'You are not a Jew'

Isaac Saul, lead editor for the digital media organization A Plus, saw the Fresh Kitchen video and recognized Schlossberg from a previous encounter at a protest just outside Saul's Midtown Manhattan office.

A screenshot of Aaron Schlossberg yelling during a protest in New York City on May 25, 2017.

On May 25, 2017, Linda Sarsour, an outspoken American Muslim political activist, was speaking at a City University of New York graduation ceremony. Saul said there was a protest against Sarsour just outside his office, and notable anti-Islam activist Pamela Geller and far-right personality Milo Yiannopoulos attended.

Saul also said there were Haredi Jews -- ultra-Orthodox Jews who, in some cases, are stringently opposed to Zionism and the State of Israel -- counterprotesting in support of Sarsour's speech.

Saul said that after the protest ended, he saw some members of the protest "get in the face" of the counterprotesters.

In video of the confrontation, Schlossberg can be seen yelling profanities and saying, "You are not a Jew" at the counterprotesting Haredi Jews. He also flips his middle finger at the counterprotesters.

"Yeah, I'm Jewish," Schlossberg says. "I've been to Israel twice."

"I just remembered this guy because he was so intense," Saul said, referring to Schlossberg. "Of all the people that were there, he sort of seemed most incensed by (the counterprotesters') presence."



INSTEAD OF “FOLLOWING THE MONEY,” MAYBE WE SHOULD USE OUR WONDERFUL AND POWERFUL COMPUTERS TO MAKE AN EXHAUSTIVE LIST OF PRODUCTS PRODUCED THAT REQUIRE THEM, ESPECIALLY IN ASIA, THAT USE CFC’S OR THEIR SUBSTITUTES, AND THE NAMES OF ALL MANUFACTURERS AND SELLERS. SURELY, CFCS WOULD REQUIRE A FACTORY SETUP TO MAKE, AND THAT SHOULD BE DETECTABLE BY SIGHT. SATELLITES OF THE SORT THAT MAP EVERY INCH OF CITIES AND PHOTOGRAPH THEM FOR MAPQUEST, ETC. WOULD BE A POSSIBILITY IN SEARCHING FOR THEM. I LOOKED ON MAPQUEST FOR MY ADDRESS ONCE A FEW YEARS AGO AND FOUND IT, COMPLETE WITH MY CAR SITTING THERE. A GOOD PLACE TO START FOR ANOTHER KIND OF CLUE MIGHT BE THE STOCK MARKETS. PRODUCERS OF REFRIGERANTS, ETC. WILL HAVE A LISTING ON SOME STOCK MARKET SOMEWHERE. I WOULD SAY THAT A SIMPLE GOOGLE SEARCH FOR THE RIGHT SET OF WORDS MIGHT PRODUCE OTHER USEFUL INFORMATION. CLEARLY WE THE HONEST AND INTELLIGENT HUMANS ON THE EARTH NEED TO FIND AND IMPRISON ANYONE WHO IS DOING THAT ON PURPOSE TO SELL ON THE BLACK MARKET. AT LEAST TEN YEARS WOULD BE ABOUT RIGHT, AND A HIGH ENOUGH FINE TO MAKE THAT KIND OF PRODUCTION BECOME UNPROFITABLE.

https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/05/17/611984631/banned-ozone-depleting-chemical-is-still-being-produced-somewhere-scientists-say
INTERNATIONAL
Banned Ozone-Depleting Chemical Is Still Being Produced Somewhere, Scientists Say
May 17, 2018 3:01 PM ET
CAMILA DOMONOSKE

An image provided by NOAA shows the hole in the ozone layer in 2015. NOAA scientists now say emissions of one ozone-depleting chemical appear to be rising, even though the chemical has been banned and reported production has essentially been at zero for years.
NOAA via AP

Someone appears to be producing a banned ozone-depleting chemical, interfering with the recovery of Earth's damaged ozone layer, according to a newly published study led by scientists with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The illicit emissions are believed to be coming from somewhere in eastern Asia, but nothing else is known about the offender. It's a scientific whodunit — or rather, a who's-doing-it.

"I think it's the most surprising thing I've seen in my 27 years of making measurements of trace gases in the atmosphere," Stephen Montzka, the study's lead author, tells NPR.

THE TWO-WAY
Ozone Levels Bounce Back, Showing First Increase In 35 Years

In the study, published in Nature on Wednesday, the scientists say the atmospheric level of trichlorofluoromethane, or CFC-11, is still dropping overall. But it's not declining as quickly as it should be.

"It appears that emissions of CFC-11 have increased in recent years, which is quite a surprise given the fact that production has been phased out — reportedly," Montzka says.

CFCs, or chlorofluorocarbons, "were once widely used in the manufacture of aerosol sprays, as blowing agents for foams and packing materials, as solvents, and as refrigerants," according to a news release.

THE TWO-WAY
Amending Montreal Protocol, Nations Clinch Landmark Pact To Fight Climate Change

But scientists realized the chemicals were harming the ozone layer, which filters out harmful UV rays that can increase the risk of skin cancer (and, if left unchecked, would interfere with agriculture and ecosystems). So in the late 1980s, the world agreed to phase out the use of the chemicals, including CFC-11.

Some CFC-11 still exists in insulation and older appliances, according to the researchers. But production was supposed to have stopped as of 2010. That means the amount of CFC-11 in the atmosphere should be declining more and more each year, allowing the ozone layer to replenish.

Data from an NOAA study shows that emissions of CFC-11 — as calculated using two different models — rose after 2012, even though production was supposedly phased out.
Figure 2, Panel a, Montzka et al., 2018; NOAA

But the rate of reduction is slowing, which doesn't fit with expectations. The scientists analyzed measurements from 12 different sites and concluded that CFC-11 emissions started to increase after 2012, two years after production of the chemical was reportedly at zero.

Their data indicate the source is north of the equator and probably in eastern Asia.

Montzka says it's possible the production is accidental, but it also might be the result of an intentional violation of the Montreal Protocol.

Either way, it's bad news for the ozone layer. CFC-11 is the second-most abundant ozone-depleting substance in the atmosphere, and reducing levels is essential for the ozone layer to recover.

The next step for atmospheric researchers is to try to narrow down the source of the emissions, with help from scientists across eastern Asia, Montzka says.

The U.N. Ozone Secretariat says it is "critical" to "identify the causes of these emissions and take necessary action."

"It is important to note that these findings also highlight the efficacy of the Montreal Protocol, its institutions and mechanisms, with science at their core," the secretariat says. "So long as scientists remain vigilant, new production or emission of ozone-depleting chemicals will not go unnoticed."

Noticing the problem is not the same as fixing it, however.

The Montreal Protocol has been a remarkably effective agreement. But David Victor, a professor of international relations at the University of California, San Diego, says there is no easy way for the international community to crack down on violations.

If a country is willfully violating the protocol, "there's an enforcement mechanism, but it doesn't really have any teeth," Victor tells NPR. "You can file reports, threaten trade sanctions. ... At the end of the day, if a country is really committed to violating an agreement, they can probably do that."

SHOTS - HEALTH NEWS
RELATED -- End Is Nigh For Over-The-Counter Inhalers That Eat The Ozone Layer

Another likely scenario is that a government wants to enforce the ban but lacks the enforcement capacity to crack down on illegal production. That has been an issue with the Montreal Protocol before.

"As CFCs have been regulated out, the value of them on the black market has gone up," Victor explains. "It's not too different from running a drugs business."

In that case, other countries can offer technical assistance, but "it's very hard for an outside country to go in .... and engage in enforcement activities," Victor says.



“A TERRIFYING TIME TO BE AN AMERICAN ....” YES, IT IS “TERRIFYING.” READ THIS MASSIVE ARTICLE ABOUT A MASSIVE AMOUNT OF COMPLICATED AND INTERLACED FINANCIAL CHICANERY. TRUMP HAS TO BE IMPEACHED. IT ISN’T JUST THAT HIS DEALINGS HAVE BEEN DIRTY, BUT ALL OF HIS APPOINTEES ALSO ARE. IT MAKES ME GLAD THAT I WAS BROUGHT UP WITH VERY LITTLE MONEY. “THE LOVE OF MONEY IS THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL” SOUNDS LIKE IT MIGHT BE AN EXAGGERATION, BUT I DON’T THINK IT IS. ABOVE ALL, THESE PEOPLE SHOULDN’T BE IN OUR GOVERNMENT. THEY JUST AREN’T “PUBLIC SERVANT” MATERIAL.

https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/missing-files-motivated-the-leak-of-michael-cohens-financial-records
Missing Files Motivated the Leak of Michael Cohen’s Financial Records
A law-enforcement official released the documents after finding that additional suspicious transactions did not appear in a government database.
By Ronan Farrow May 16, 2018

Transactions involving Michael Cohen, President Trump’s personal lawyer, were the subject of multiple unreleased suspicious-activity reports. Photograph by John Taggart / MediaPunch / Alamy

Last week, several news outlets obtained financial records showing that Michael Cohen, President Trump’s personal attorney, had used a shell company to receive payments from various firms with business before the Trump Administration. In the days since, there has been much speculation about who leaked the confidential documents, and the Treasury Department’s inspector general has launched a probe to find the source. That source, a law-enforcement official, is speaking publicly for the first time, to The New Yorker, to explain the motivation: the official had grown alarmed after being unable to find two important reports on Cohen’s financial activity in a government database. The official, worried that the information was being withheld from law enforcement, released the remaining documents.

The payments to Cohen that have emerged in the past week come primarily from a single document, a “suspicious-activity report” filed by First Republic Bank, where Cohen’s shell company, Essential Consultants, L.L.C., maintained an account. The document detailed sums in the hundreds of thousands of dollars paid to Cohen by the pharmaceutical company Novartis, the telecommunications giant A.T. & T., and an investment firm with ties to the Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg.

The report also refers to two previous suspicious-activity reports, or sars, that the bank had filed, which documented even larger flows of questionable money into Cohen’s account. Those two reports detail more than three million dollars in additional transactions—triple the amount in the report released last week. Which individuals or corporations were involved remains a mystery. But, according to the official who leaked the report, these sars were absent from the database maintained by the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or fincen. The official, who has spent a career in law enforcement, told me, “I have never seen something pulled off the system. . . . That system is a safeguard for the bank. It’s a stockpile of information. When something’s not there that should be, I immediately became concerned.” The official added, “That’s why I came forward.”

Seven former government officials and other experts familiar with the Treasury Department’s fincen database expressed varying levels of concern about the missing reports. Some speculated that fincen may have restricted access to the reports due to the sensitivity of their content, which they said would be nearly unprecedented. One called the possibility “explosive.” A record-retention policy on fincen’s Web site notes that false documents or those “deemed highly sensitive” and “requiring strict limitations on access” may be transferred out of its master file. Nevertheless, a former prosecutor who spent years working with the fincen database said that she knew of no mechanism for restricting access to sars. She speculated that fincen may have taken the extraordinary step of restricting access “because of the highly sensitive nature of a potential investigation. It may be that someone reached out to fincen to ask to limit disclosure of certain sars related to an investigation, whether it was the special counsel or the Southern District of New York.” (The special counsel, Robert Mueller, is investigating Russian interference in the 2016 Presidential election. The Southern District is investigating Cohen, and the F.B.I. raided his office and hotel room last month.)

Whatever the explanation for the missing reports, the appearance that some, but not all, had been removed or restricted troubled the official who released the report last week. “Why just those two missing?” the official, who feared that the contents of those two reports might be permanently withheld, said. “That’s what alarms me the most.”

fincen said in a statement that it protects the confidentiality of sars “in order to protect both filers and potentially named individuals.” The statement added, “FinCEN neither confirms nor denies the existence of purported SARs.” Spokespeople for the special counsel’s office and the Southern District of New York declined to comment. Michael Cohen and his lawyer did not respond to requests for comment.

Banks are legally mandated to file suspicious-activity reports with the government in order to call attention to activity that resembles money laundering, fraud, and other criminal conduct. These reports are routed to a permanent database maintained by fincen, which can be searched by tens of thousands of law-enforcement and other federal government personnel. The reports are a routine response to any financial activity that appears suspicious. They are not proof of criminal activity, and often do not result in criminal charges, though the information in them can be used in law-enforcement proceedings. “This is a permanent record. They should be there,” the official, who described an exhaustive search for the reports, said. “And there is nothing there.”

Cohen set up the First Republic account for Essential Consultants in October, 2016, shortly before the Presidential election, in order to pay the adult-film actress Stephanie Clifford, who performs under the name Stormy Daniels, a hundred and thirty thousand dollars in return for signing a nondisclosure agreement about her alleged affair with Donald Trump. First Republic’s compliance officers later began flagging Cohen’s transactions in the account as possible signs of money laundering. Among other potential violations, the documents cite “suspicion concerning the source of funds,” “suspicious EFT/ wire transfers,” “suspicious use of multiple accounts,” and “transaction with no apparent economic, business, or lawful purpose.” (A spokesperson for First Republic Bank declined to comment.)

By January of this year, First Republic had filed the three suspicious-activity reports about Cohen’s account. The most recent report—the only one made public so far—examined Cohen’s transactions from September of 2017 to January of 2018, and included activity totalling almost a million dollars. It alludes to the two previous reports that the official could not find in the fincen database. The first report that the official was unable to locate, which covered almost seven months, appears to have listed a little over a million dollars in activity. The second report that the official was unable to locate, which investigated a three-month period between June and September of 2017, found suspect transfers totalling more than two million dollars.

A substantial portion of this money seems to have ended up in Cohen’s personal accounts. Morgan Stanley Smith Barney filed a separate sar showing that, during that same three-month period, Cohen set up two accounts with the firm, into which he deposited three checks from his Essential Consultants account, two in the amount of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars and one in the amount of five hundred and five thousand dollars. Morgan Stanley Smith Barney marked those transactions, which added up to more than a million dollars, as possible signs of “bribery or gratuity” and “suspicious use of third-party transactors (straw-man).”

Cohen appears to have misled First Republic repeatedly regarding the purpose of the Essential Consultants account. In paperwork filed with the bank, he said that the company would be devoted to using “his experience in real estate to consult on commercial and residential” deals. Cohen told the bank that his transactions would be modest, and based within the United States. In fact, the compliance officers wrote, “a significant portion of the target account deposits continue to originate from entities that have no apparent connection to real estate or apparent need to engage Cohen as a real estate consultant.” Likewise, “a significant portion of the deposits continues to be derived from foreign entities.” David Murray, a former Treasury official focussed on illicit finance, told me, “There are a ton of red flags here. The pattern of activity has indicators that are inherently suspicious, and the volume and source of funds do not match the account profile that was built when the account was opened.”

The report released last week highlights a payment from Cohen’s account to Demeter Direct, Inc. In publicly filed paperwork, Demeter Direct represents itself as a Korean food company. However, a Web site, since taken down, suggested that it was a global consulting firm. After the press began scrutinizing Cohen’s accounts, a man listed as Demeter Direct’s C.E.O., Mark Ko, told CNN that he served as an intermediary and translator in Cohen’s dealings with an aviation firm, majority-owned by South Korea’s government, called Korea Aerospace Industries. According to the First Republic report, the aerospace company paid Cohen a hundred and fifty thousand dollars in November of 2017, the same month President Trump visited South Korea. At the time, the company was lobbying for a controversial multibillion-dollar contract with the U.S. Air Force.

The report also shows how Cohen apparently used the Essential Consultants account for personal expenses. He seems to have used it to pay his American Express, A.T. & T., and Mercedes Benz bills, marking account numbers on the memo lines of his checks. He paid initiation fees and dues to the Core Club, a social club that the Times once described as a “portal to power.” He also cut himself multiple personal checks from Essential Consultants, amounting to more than a hundred thousand dollars, on top of the million he had already deposited into his Morgan Stanley accounts.

In many cases, the suspicious-activity reports highlight activity of potential interest to ongoing investigations, including that of the special counsel, Robert Mueller. Bank compliance officers noted eight payments from a company called Columbus Nova to Cohen’s account between January and August of 2017, totalling five hundred thousand dollars. The investigators wrote that Columbus Nova’s biggest client is a company controlled by Viktor Vekselberg, whom they described as “reputed to be a longtime ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin.” The report also points out that Andrew Intrater, Vekselberg’s relative and the C.E.O. of Columbus Nova, donated more than three hundred thousand dollars to Trump-related causes. The report flagged the activity as suspicious “because the CEO’s company transferred substantial funds to the personal attorney of Trump at the same time the CEO reportedly donated substantial funds to Trump’s inauguration fund and joint fundraising committee for Trump’s reelection and the Republican National Committee.”

Other banks also noticed Cohen’s suspicious transactions and filed their own sars about his activity. Some of those show the banks piecing together the reasons for the transactions from news reports, citing articles from publications including the Wall Street Journal and Vanity Fair about Trump, Russia, and secret election-season payments, including the payment to Clifford. One, filed by City National Bank, follows money paid to Cohen by Elliott Broidy, at the time the deputy finance chairman for the Republican National Committee. The report notes, “Broidy also owns a private security company, Circinus, which provides services to the U.S. and other governments. The company has hundreds of millions of dollars in contracts with the U.A.E.” Broidy has said that Cohen and another lawyer, Keith M. Davidson, worked out a deal in which Broidy would pay $1.6 million to a former Playboy model he had impregnated. Broidy appears to have paid both lawyers for arranging the deal. The City National report shows that Broidy funnelled the payments through Real Estate Attorneys’ Group, a legal corporation. Broidy seems to have paid Davidson two hundred thousand dollars, and to have sent three payments, of $62,500 each, to Cohen—one to the Essential Consultants account and two to the account of Michael D. Cohen and Associates. The payments may have been a part of the settlement. Davidson said, “Like any lawyer, I maintain an attorney-client trust account, where funds for clients are held. I have never performed legal services for, nor have I ever been compensated for performing legal services for, Elliott Broidy.”

A representative for Broidy said that this description of the payments was “not correct,” and that “Mr. Broidy is not going to detail his payments for legal services to Mr. Cohen.” The representative added, “Mr. Broidy did not pay Mr. Davidson.” However, the City National report shows that on November 30, 2017, a wire of two hundred thousand dollars was received by the Real Estate Attorneys’ Group from Broidy. Then, on December 5, 2017, two hundred thousand dollars were transferred from Real Estate Attorneys’ Group to an account belonging to Keith M. Davidson and Associates.

Michael Avenatti, an attorney representing Clifford, who has released summaries of Cohen’s transactions on social media, said, “The Treasury Department should release all of the sars immediately to the American public.”

Suspicious-activity reports are kept strictly confidential, as a matter of law. “sars are secret, to protect the government and to protect financial institutions,” the former prosecutor told me. “I don’t think there’s a safe harbor for somebody who discloses it.” According to fincen, disclosing a sar is a federal offense, carrying penalties including fines of up to two hundred and fifty thousand dollars and imprisonment for up to five years. The official who released the suspicious-activity reports was aware of the risks, but said fears that the missing reports might be suppressed compelled the disclosure. “We’ve accepted this as normal, and this is not normal,” the official said. “Things that stand out as abnormal, like documents being removed from a system, are of grave concern to me.” Of the potential for legal consequences, the official said, “To say that I am terrified right now would be an understatement.” But, referring to the released report, as well as the potential contents of the missing reports, the official also added, “This is a terrifying time to be an American, to be in this situation, and to watch all of this unfold.”

This story has been updated to include a statement by the lawyer Keith M. Davidson.

Ronan Farrow is a contributing writer to The New Yorker and a television anchor and investigative reporter whose work also appears on HBO. He is the author of the book “War on Peace: The End of Diplomacy and the Decline of American Influence.”
BIO -- The son of Mia Farrow and Woody Allen. (Wikipedia)


MNUCHIN TREASURY CONFLICT OF INTEREST? TOO CLOSE TO THE PRES? NOTE: “TPM” REFERS TO “THE TALKING POINTS MEMO.” SO, WHO DID PULL THOSE COHEN SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY REPORTS, WHO TOLD HIM TO DO IT AND WHY? WHAT DID HE OR SHE DO WITH THEM? A “MEMBER OF LAW ENFORCEMENT” BROUGHT THE MATTER TO PUBLIC ATTENTION BY LEAKING THE ONLY ONE THAT REMAINED IN THE FILE TO THE PRESS A FEW DAYS AGO.

WHAT THIS DOES POINT UP TO ME EMPHATICALLY IS THAT SOME INFORMATION ON TRUMP AND COMPANY IS DAMNING. NOT A HOAX OR A WITCH HUNT.

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/democrats-crew-ask-mnuchin-recusal-cohen-sara
MUCKRAKER RUSSIA PROBE
Missing SARs Stoke Fears About Mnuchin Conflict Of Interest
By Allegra Kirkland | May 17, 2018 1:35 pm

PHOTOGRAPH – MNUCHIN, BY Mark Wilson/Getty Images North America

For months, good-government groups and some Democratic lawmakers have been calling on Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin to recuse himself from matters related to the federal investigation into Russian election meddling. Mnuchin’s role as finance chair of Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign means he can’t impartially oversee a probe that delves into Trump associates’ financial affairs, they have argued.

Those calls took on a new urgency this week when The New Yorker revealed that Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) filed on long-time Trump fixer Michael Cohen were removed from a database kept by the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) division.

Their absence, which is highly unusual, so alarmed a longtime law enforcement official that he or she leaked some of the documents to the press out of concern that information was being intentionally withheld from law enforcement.

In multiple letters sent since late 2017, Democratic lawmakers have asked Mnuchin to recuse himself from the Russia probe, and to detail any information Treasury has received about potential illegal activities by Trump and his associates.

“Have you ever directed, or has any other Trump administration official, Trump campaign official, or Trump family member called on you to direct U.S. Treasury officials or staff members to obscure, destroy, or withhold information implicating the president, Trump campaign officials, Trump family members, or his associates?” the Democrats wrote in January.

They received no response from Mnuchin.

Appearing on MSNBC Wednesday night, one of the Democrats, Rep. Maxine Waters of California, said the reported removal of the SARs from the Treasury database underscores the need for Mnuchin to provide answers.

“Someone removed this information, and the Treasury Secretary is going to have to answer for this,” Waters said. “The question is, why did he ignore us?”

In December, progressive groups noted in their own letter to Treasury’s Inspector General that Mnuchin had replaced the director of FinCEN with his own choice, just days after former Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort was indicted for money laundering and a host of other financial crimes.

The groups called the timing “extremely worrisome,” and asked the IG’s office to look into whether Mnuchin should recuse, a request the IG declined.

On Thursday, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington filed a complaint with the Treasury Department Inspector General asking for an investigation into the “possible compromise” of information in the database.

Sources familiar with FinCEN’s database told the New Yorker they could have been removed by a request from the special counsel’s team or from federal prosecutors who are investigating Cohen for financial crimes.

The Treasury Department did not immediately respond to TPM’s request for comment. In a Thursday afternoon statement, a FinCEN spokesperson said that they do sometimes limit access to SARs in ongoing investigations.

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Aruna Viswanatha
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New statement from FinCEN spox - it does limit access to SARs in ongoing investigations

3:08 PM - May 17, 2018
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LOOKS LIKE DEVOS IS ON THE HOTSEAT NEXT.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/a-state-attorney-general-calls-out-betsy-devos-on-for-profit-colleges/ar-AAxrbkB
A State Attorney General Calls Out Betsy DeVos on For-Profit Colleges
By DANIELLE IVORY MAY 18, 2018

© Al Seib/Los Angeles Times, via Getty Images Everest College was one of the for-profit schools in the Corinthian Colleges chain. An investigative team at the Education Department was created after its collapse.

The attorney general of New Jersey said on Thursday that federal education officials had stopped cooperating on issues involving fraudulent activities at for-profit colleges, and requested that the Education Department renew its investigations into the institutions or hand them over to the state.

Gurbir S. Grewal, who became attorney general in January, expressed frustration with the officials in a letter to Betsy DeVos, the education secretary.

Mr. Grewal said they had ignored requests from New Jersey to work with the state on behalf of students who were defrauded by Corinthian Colleges, a bankrupt for-profit chain. And he raised concerns about the status of investigations by the Education Department into large for-profit institutions like the DeVry Education Group, which paid $100 million in 2016 to settle a lawsuit alleging that it misled prospective students with ads about employment and salaries after graduation.

In an article this week, The New York Times reported that a special investigations team at the Education Department created in the final year of the Obama administration had been unwound under the Trump administration, effectively killing inquiries into DeVry and other schools where top hires of Ms. DeVos previously worked.

“If the federal government continues to pursue these investigations, let us partner with you,” Mr. Grewal wrote, citing The Times’s article. “If the federal government will not pursue these investigations wherever the facts and law take them, let us pick up where you leave off.”

a man standing in a room: Gurbir S. Grewal, the attorney general of New Jersey, wrote a letter raising concerns about the status of federal investigations into for-profit schools.
© Joe Lamberti/Camden Courier-Post, via Associated Press Gurbir S. Grewal, the attorney general of New Jersey, wrote a letter raising concerns about the status of federal investigations into for-profit schools.
Mr. Grewal said in the letter that his office would protect the confidentiality of investigative files shared by the department. A person with knowledge of the New Jersey effort said that the attorney general’s office was also exploring other legal routes to obtain any federal files on the suspended investigations if Ms. DeVos did not make them available.

The Education Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The special investigative team was created in 2016 after the collapse of Corinthian Colleges, which catalyzed a flurry of complaints from students about predatory activities at for-profit schools. The institutions had been accused of widespread fraud that involved misrepresenting enrollment benefits, job placement rates and program offerings, which could leave students with huge debts and no degrees.

The team expanded in the last months of the Obama administration to include a dozen or so lawyers and investigators, according to former and current employees of the department. Since President Trump took office, the group has dwindled to three, and its mission has been scaled back to focus on processing student loan forgiveness applications and looking at smaller compliance cases.

“New Jersey is among the states whose residents carry the most student-loan debt, so we are acutely aware of the need to ensure that educational institutions keep their promises,” Mr. Grewal wrote in the letter.

Under the Obama administration, the group was investigating not only DeVry, now known as Adtalem Global Education, but also Bridgepoint Education and Career Education Corporation, which also operate large for-profit schools.

The investigation into DeVry ground to a halt early last year. Later, in the summer, Ms. DeVos named Julian Schmoke, a former dean at DeVry, as the team’s new supervisor. Former employees of Bridgepoint and Career Education also work for Ms. DeVos, including Robert S. Eitel, her senior counselor, who worked for both, and Diane Auer Jones, a senior adviser on postsecondary education, who was with Career Education.

Last month, Congress confirmed the appointment of a lawyer who provided consulting services to Career Education, Carlos G. Muñiz, as the department’s general counsel. And Bridgepoint is a former client of Mercedes Schlapp, the director of strategic communications at the White House.