At NYU, HUD's Julian Castro Speaks Lofty, "Whether Through Specific Goals or Not," Inner City Press Asked About Affordable Housing Goals

By Matthew R. Lee

NEW YORK, November 16 -- When the US Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro held “an intimate speaking engagement” at NYU on November 14, it was according to HUD to “allow economists, housing industry and policy experts, and distinguished NYU faculty and staff to hear directly from Secretary Castro about our nation’s rebounding housing market.” There was an area marked “Reserved for Press,” and that where Inner City Press went.

  When it came time for Q&A, Inner City Press asked Castro for his view of the US Affordable Housing Goals, whether they can continue to perform their function if the conservatorship of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac continue. Video here.

   In his response, Castro referred to folks of modest means, and to lending to people of color -- but he said, “whether through the use of specific goals or not.” Many working on this issue, such as NCRC, wonder what this says about his and his prospective partner's commitment to the Affordable Housing Goals. We'll have more on this.

   On November 14 the Democratic Party debate in Des Moines was supposed to be primarily about the economy. But then the night before, 129 people were killed in terrorist attacks in Paris. So CBS' John Dickerson began with the issue, if the Obama Administration (and Hillary Clinton who was a part of it) underestimated ISIS.

  Bernie Sanders tracked ISIS back to the US invasion of Iraq; Hillary Clinton emphasized that extremism existed before that invasion, citing the bombing of US Marines in Beirut under Reagan, the attack on US embassies in African under “my husband.”

  Sanders said he is not a fan of regime change, rattling off Iran, Chile / Allende and Guatemala. Martin O'Malley said the US should not be roving the world looking for dictators to topple. Previously, he wrote that the UN should pay victims for bringing cholera to Haiti; there was nothing even near that in the foreign policy opening of the Des Moines debate.

  Somehow, the airstrikes on and chaos in Yemen was not even mentioned in the segment. Then it cut to the economy, and one wondered how Goldman Sachs, for example, would come up.

Update: Bernie Sanders brought up Goldman Sachs, as dominating; Hillary Clinton again deflected calls to reinstate the Glass Steagall Act by referring to her plan for non-banks. Does that no longer includeGoldman Sachs?

   Back on October 13 when the then-five Democratic Party candidates for President debated on CNN from Nevada, they crossed swords on bank regulation and Edward Snowden, less so on foreign policy. Near the end, Hillary Clinton said she was proud “the Iranians” don't like her; Bernie Sanders, that Wall Street doesn't like him.

   Martin O'Malley called for restoring the Glass Steagall Act which separated banking from investment banking. Bernie Sanders recounted asking why Goldman Sachs -- now seeking Federal Reserve approval to acquire GE Capital Bank's deposits -- didn't itself do a bailout.

   Lincoln Chafee, amid some flubs, said to bring Snowden home without penalty; he cited the US bombing of the Doctors Without Borders hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan. Absent was reference to theUnited Nations, much less the corruption scandal there. Hillary used the UN to speak out about her emails, about which Bernie Sanders said, “Enough with your damn email.” Jim Webb repeatedly cited his military service. But why wasn't Laurence Lessig in it? 

  Back in August amid debate about Jorge Ramos of Univision and Fusion being ejected from Donald Trump's press conference in Iowa, then allowed back in to ask questions, from the United Nations the comparison is inevitable to UN Peacekeeping boss Herve Ladsous.

  Ladsous who after openly refusing to answer any questions from Inner City Press about rapes in DR Congo, Darfur and the Central African Republic used Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's guards to eject the Press from a supposedly open meeting, here.

  Ladsous has STILL not answered questions about his role in covering up peacekeepers' rapes in the Central African Republic. And the old-school UN Correspondents Association, UNCA, said nothing about that, or the ejection. That most corporate media just sucks up to power? Sadly, not news. That's why the Free UN Coalition for Access, FUNCA, was created, here.

  On August 26, as Ramos was interviewed by Megyn Kelly on FOX, over on CNN that network congratulated itself on not celebrating shooters, as it devoted hours to such coverage, of Vester Lee Flanagan a/k/a Bryce Williams killing TV journalists Alison Parker and Adam Ward. But that's... another story.

On Yemen, No UN Security Council Statement About No Diesel in Country, Where to Meet, "Procrastination"

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, May 1, with transcript -- On Yemen, the UN Security Council convened a closed door meeting on Friday May 1 at 1 pm. Going in, Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin explained that he called it, because not only weapons but diesel fuel is being blocked from getting in, to propose a statement.

  Churkin emerged mid-meeting and said more, then finally at the end expressing disappointment no agreement was reached. Here's Inner City Press' fast transcription of what Churkin said:

"There were some proposals for language from resolution 2216. But this really shows an amazing indecision and I think lack of understanding of how things are evolving. I told them, listen, when you were pushing for this resolution 2216 your forecast was not what we are seeing now. If it wasn’t, then there is a problem with their analysis. They are, some countries are going back to the capitals. But I see the mood, I don’t see any prospect for this.

"It was a procrastination reaction. In one situation we heard people talking about humanitarian problems, and now they are prepared to ignore them altogether. They play lip service. They say, things are very bad. But what can we do?

  "It is very clear from resolution 2216 that it did not authorize the use of military force. Some colleagues were saying that the Saudi led coalition is trying to make sure that resolution 2216 is implemented. This is not the case. Their action is completely outside the resolution. The resolution does not provide for military means....
 
  "The next step, I am pretty sure we will not have any statement today. But we’ll see what the new special representative is going to do. I think I was encouraged, somewhat encouraged, to hear Jeff Feltman say the SG wants to act quickly. He wants to put together a conference very quickly. And I think also it’s my understanding the things which were worked on before agreed on before are not going to be discarded.

"The GCC initiative is there, and the GCC initiative is supported in 2216. So you cannot – if that were to be discarded we would have to start from scratch. The GCC initiative needs to be implemented. And this is what the special representative of the SG, the previous one, had been working on. Now we have a new person, and we hope he can restart the process very quickly."

  We'll see. New UK Ambassador Matthew Rycroft stopped on his way into the meeting and said "there can be no military solution, the only way out is a political solution and that means a return to political talks."

  Good - but where?

  On is way into the meeting, Churkin had cited an April 30 statement by Saudi Arabia which he said could be read as calling for the talks to resume in Riyadh, which "some of the parties are definitely not going to attend."

  As Inner City Press reported and asked the UN, Iran's foreign minister Javad Zarif at NYU this week said Geneva might be the venue; Inner City Press asked the UN which, in a rare answer, said it is a possibility.

Here is Inner City Press' fast transcript of what Churkin said on his way into the UNSC:

  "There are very serious basic shortages of food, medicine, diesel fuel which for some reason they’re not allowing to be brought in. Everything there works on diesel fuel in Yemen. 
There is no embargo of bringing anything but weapons for some people. So, why they are posing problems for bringing in diesel fuel is something which has to be looked at.

"And generally, we all support negotiations and we don’t see an interest on the part of those who are engaged in bombing in engaging with the new special representative of the Secretary General. So, we are going to discuss, and I hope we hear what Mr. Feltman has to stay about the statement they issued yesterday where it could be read as calling for a meeting in Riyadh, which some parties definitely are not going to attend, and sort of as a rallying cry for those who support President Hadi, against whom, I suppose against those who they are fighting now in Yemen.
But always, it is boding very ill for developments in the near future, both on humanitarian and security front. We want to discuss the situation with members of the Security Council.

....we’ll be proposing a brief press statement. As from the outset. From the outset. It reflects end of hostilities, or at least humanitarian pauses, and immediate resumption of talks on the basis which has been prepared through a lengthy process of negotiations by Mr. Benomar."

  UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on April 25 named Ismael Ould Cheikh Ahmed to replace Jamal Benomar as envoy.

  Three times Inner City Press had asked the Office of the UN Spokesperson why Ould Cheikh Ahmed is not listed on Ban's webpage of public financial discloure and to say, yes or no, if he has an interest in a business which received funding from the Gulf. Three times the Office of Spokesperson promised to look into and give an answer, but never did. This is Ban's UN.
 
   

UN's Ban Ki-moon Prefaces Qatar Ammbassador's Book, After Free Jet Flights, Vuk Jeremic & d'Escoto Brockmann Not Shown

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, October 7 -- For whom would UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon write a book preface? While it's not clear how many people have asked Ban, he did say yes to former Qatar Ambassador to the UN Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser, who after serving one year as President of the UN General Assembly has written, what else, “A Year At The Helm of The United Nations General Assembly.”

  Would Ban write a preface for other recent GA Presidents, like Nicaragua's Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann or Serbia's Vuk Jeremic? What we can say is that Ban recently accepted free private jet travel paid for by Qatar, click here for Inner City Press exclusive, credited by Newsweek.

  On October 7, Inner City Press asked Ban's spokesman Stephane Dujarric if Ban has taken any country-paid travel since then. After initially not answering, Dujarric seemed to indicate “no.” Such disclosures should be automatic, the Free UN Coalition for Access has argued. But if there have been none since, it makes the private jet - book preface connection all the more unique.

  On October 9 at NYU, there will be a reception for the publishing of the book, by NYU Press. While the shortexcerpt offered on Amazon.com doesn't show one way or the other, one wonders if notably moments of Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser's GA Presidency, like having the UN Television cameras cut off when Syrian Ambassador Bashar Ja'afari spoke, are included in the book.

  Or, in Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser's time as Qatar's Ambassador before becoming PGA, getting the head of the Counter-Terrorism Executive Directorate Javier Ruperezsacked. Description of these would be interesting.

  Who will be the Leon Panetta of the UN of the era of Ban Ki-moon and, for one year, Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser? These are the exposes we are awaiting; it's not clear if we'll get them from NYU. Watch this site.

   

Posner Claims Obama on Sri Lanka Is Success, Wal-Mart's NYU Safe Space?

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, March 4 -- When Michael H. Posner, soon to leave the US State Department's top human rights post, spoke at the Council on Foreign Relations on Monday evening he bragged about the Obama administration's rights work in Myanmar, Egypt and even Bahrain.

  Inner City Press asked Posner about the Obama administration's failure to act in 2009 as 40,000 people were killed in Sri Lanka, and only recently moving on UN Human Rights Council resolutions that seem unlikely to hold anyone in the Rajapaksa brothers' government to account.

  Posner said, instead, that Sri Lanka is a success because it shows that the administration's thinking can evolve if a government doesn't make progress. But what about the 40,000 killed?

  Posner recounted that recently Jane B. Zimmerman from his office, along with the Department of Defense's Vikram Singh, went to Sri Lanka and ostensibly talked truth to power.

  Meanwhile, as shown by Inner City Press, Sri Lankan military leader Shavendra Silva was giving a talk before US Marines, and hobnobbing with Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia.

  Posner acknowledged that the US did not support, more closely after the bloodbath on the beach, any commission of inquiry. In another answer, he said that for the US, or Obama, pursuing national security and human right is the same thing. 

 This seems unlikely, taking the relative silence on the crackdown on opponents and tweeters there as an example.

   Most of the questioners, selected by Slate's Jacob Weisberg, were already known to Posner. He was asked about labor rights in Myanmar, and gave a preview of what he'll say in his next job at NYU's Stern School of Business.

  There, he said, he wants to create a “safe space” for businesses to talk. Doesn't the UN's Global Compact already do that? There's more than enough safe space for businesses.

  Posner did chide the American Chamber of Commerce for opposing moves to expand workers' rights in China. When asked about Dennis Rodman's trip to North Korea, he quipped that he liked Rodman when he was with the Chicago Bulls, since he's a fan.

   He noted that of the 100 largest economies in the world, 50 are businesses. He said “we have an ambassador to Benin, but no ambassador to Wal-Mart.” But the Obama administration now has an ambassador FROM Wal-Mart, just as it has one from Citigroup in Jack Lew. Safe space, indeed. Watch this site.