News on Youtube Dec 5 2017

Carlo Marinello is the petitioner in this case.

He was convicted by the DOJ of tax fraud as well as obstruction.

He owned and operated his own freight couriering business.

He did not keep a tight ship.

He was accused of impeding the administration of the tax code by failing to maintain corporate

books and records, failing to provide his accountant with complete and accurate information

related to his personal income and the income of his business, destroying and discarding

business records.

The government, in this case, claims that Mr. Marinello committed north tax fraud and

obstruction.

The IRS has defined obstruction as any attempt to interfere with the day-to-day work of the

IRS.

Mr. Marinello admits that he committed tax fraud.

But he says that he can't also be convicted of obstruction when he did not even know that

an investigation was underway.

The fighting issue in this case really is: Can a defendant be said to have a criminal

state of mind to obstruct when he doesn't know that an investigation is in process.

More typically in criminal cases, obstruction is related to after-the-fact behavior.

Section 7212(a) of the Internal Revenue Code says, "Whoever corruptly, or by force, endeavors

to obstruct or impede the due administration of this title shall, upon conviction therefore,

be fined not more than $5,000 or imprisoned not more than three years, or both."

The term corruptly goes to a defendant's state of mind, and state of mind is a very important

question in every criminal case.

State of mind, or scienter, as the law defines it, is an element of almost every criminal

offense.

A person cannot be guilty of a crime unless he intended to cross a certain line.

So whether or not Mr. Marinello possessed the requisite state of mind is a critical

question in this case.

As it's written, it's very broad.

The IRS gets to decide whether or not their procedures have been interfered with.

A broad interpretation of the statute gives the IRS more power to pursue more wrongdoers.

The government's position, in this case, is that every hour of every day, the United States

IRS is administering the tax code.

The IRS basically says that Mr. Marinello, as a business owner, should have known that

is conduct violated tax law.

Mr. Marinello says that although he may have ad- violated the tax law, he did not know

that he was obstructing in any way a pending investigation.

Statutes have to be clear enough that a reasonable man would know he was violating them.

The government's best argument is its reliance on the plain language of the statute.

The statute in question nowhere mentions a pending investigation, nowhere requires the

defendant have knowledge of a pending investigation.

And the government says, by its own terms, the statute does not require this additional element.

The government argues that Mr. Mar- Marinello has simply made this up to suit his own situation.

A victory for the government is the ability to send a strong message to taxpayers that

they will be pursued aggressively for any perceived violation of the tax laws.

And this case would certainly embolden the IRS to continue to seek aggressive judgments

and prosecutions against defendants whether or not they knew an investigation was underway.

For more infomation >> Marinello v. United States [SCOTUSbrief] - Duration: 4:00.

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Lavrov Welcomes Foreign Ministers Of Caspian Littoral States - Duration: 2:40.

Colleagues,

I would like to cordially welcome you to another meeting of the foreign ministers of the Caspian

littoral states.

This is our regular format.

We are meeting for the seventh time in the past few years.

We are pleased with how well the Caspian Five mechanism operates: an open interaction on

an equal and mutually respectful basis.

We discuss all issues that come up and search for best solutions together.

A solid multi-level dialogue system is up and running, which helps to maintain an atmosphere

of neighbourliness and mutual understanding on the Caspian.

As I said, there are regular meetings of heads of state and foreign ministers, and effective

sector-based discussion platforms.

I would especially like to note the activities of the Ad Hoc Working Group for the Elaboration

of a Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea at the level of our deputies,

the Intergovernmental Commission on the Conservation and Rational Use of Aquatic Biological Resources,

and the Committee on Hydrometeorology.

We praise the efforts of our countries' regions that are adjacent to the Caspian Sea

to expand direct contact.

We attach great importance to the dialogue between defence and law enforcement agencies,

and rescue services.

We expect our joint environmental activities to grow even more effective.

Today's agenda is packed, as a lot of issues have accumulated since our previous meeting

in July 2016 in Astana.

We would like to see how our experts' work is progressing on the Convention on the Legal

Status of the Caspian Sea.

We expect that the talks on this document will be completed at the next, fifth Caspian

summit in Kazakhstan, and that the Caspian Five will have the reliable legal foundation

they need to reach a higher level of interaction.

In addition to legal status, we need to discuss several practical aspects of the five countries'

economic, transport, environmental and security cooperation on the Caspian.

I think it is important to make every effort for the results of this meeting to contribute

to the preparations for the heads of state summit.

For more infomation >> Lavrov Welcomes Foreign Ministers Of Caspian Littoral States - Duration: 2:40.

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Lavrov's Statements Following Meeting Of Caspian Littoral States' Foreign Ministers - Duration: 4:38.

Ladies and gentlemen,

We have completed the meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the five Caspian states.

My colleagues asked me to update you on the results.

We have held a substantive discussion of the issues on the current Caspian agenda, paying

particular attention to the work on the draft Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian

Sea.

I announce with great satisfaction that we have found solutions to all the remaining

major issues related to the preparation of this document.

The text of the Convention is actually ready.

In the near future, it will be edited and finalised, and translated into the national

languages of the signatories, and each of the countries will perform the domestic procedure

preparing it for signing at the top level.

The Convention will be signed at the Fifth Caspian Summit, which will be held in Kazakhstan

in the first half of next year.

The final decision on the summit timeframe will be made by the leadership of Kazakhstan

once it makes sure that all the technical and legal aspects of work on the Convention's

text have been cleared.

The participants have stated their high opinion of the progress made on other aspects of the

contractual framework for cooperation between the littoral states in the most important

areas.

They confirmed the successful implementation of the 2014 Astrakhan summit decisions.

In particular, all the agreements signed have come into force: on the bioresources, hydrometeorology

and prevention of emergencies in the Caspian region.

The intergovernmental commissions established on the basis of these three agreements have

held their opening meetings recently.

The five-sided moratorium on sturgeon fishing has been extended.

Last year and in the autumn of this year, the rescue services of all the five states

successfully operated in the water area of ​​the Caspian Sea.

We have agreed to continue to vigorously promote the implementation of new promising joint

projects, especially in the transport sector with its various aspects – from infrastructure

development and commercial navigation to improving navigation safety – and the deepening of

economic cooperation between the Caspian Five.

At the initiative of Turkmenistan, we are intensively preparing intergovernmental agreements

on economic and transport cooperation.

We have agreed to document cooperation between our law enforcement agencies in their efforts

to fight poaching, terrorism and organised crime as separate protocols.

We have positively evaluated the interaction between our defence ministries in the Caspian

Sea.

This year, almost all coastal states exchanged friendly visits by their Navy ships.

In summer, the Sea Cup 2017 international contest was held with great success.

Joint exercises are planned for next year.

The draft Agreement on the Prevention of Incidents in the Caspian Sea is at a very advanced stage

of coordination; it lays the groundwork for a strong system of confidence-building measures

in the region.

We expect to propose all these documents I have mentioned, which are now being discussed

at the expert level, for approval at the Kazakhstan summit along with the draft Caspian Sea status

convention.

We have specifically touched upon the implementation of the framework Tehran Convention for the

Protection of the Marine Environment of the Caspian Sea, noting the five countries'

readiness to adopt the Protocol on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context

(EIA) to the Tehran Convention as soon as possible.

The Russian Federation expects this Protocol to be signed before the signing of the Convention

or simultaneously with its approval by the heads of state.

Overall, I am greatly satisfied with the meeting results.

We have completed almost two decades of work on the Convention and submitted it for approval

to our heads of state.

We expect them to support it.

We will continue to work on the development of Caspian cooperation.

For more infomation >> Lavrov's Statements Following Meeting Of Caspian Littoral States' Foreign Ministers - Duration: 4:38.

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Important Landmarks in the United States - Duration: 3:26.

A landmark is some recognizable place or thing that has significance for a group of people.

The United States has many landmarks that we see as important for different reasons, and today we will look at three of those.

The first landmark we will discuss is the White House.

The White House is the official residence and workplace of the President of the United States.

It is located in Washington D.C., the capital of the United States.

The address of the White House is 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

The White House was designed by Irish architect James Hoban and was under construction between 1792 and 1800.

It sits on 18 acres, and has been home to every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800.

The three main sections of the house are the West Wing, the East Wing, and the Executive Residence where the president and his family live.

The West Wing is where the president's personal office is, known as the Oval Office.

The White House receives around 6,000 visitors a day.

However, to get a tour you have to fill out an application 6 months in advance.

Our next landmark is the Statue of Liberty.

The Statue of Liberty is located on Liberty Island in New York City

and the figure represents a Roman Goddess named Libertas.

She is incredibly tall, about the height of a 30 story building.

The Statue of Liberty was a gift from France to the people of the United States

and she stand for stands for freedom and liberty.

The tablet in her hand represents the law and has July 4, 1776 on it in Roman numerals.

There are broken chains at her feet that symbolize the United States' escape from tyranny.

The statue was completely finished in 1886 and a dedication ceremony was held.

Today, it is one of the most famous landmarks in the world and is visited by about 4 million people a year.

The last landmark we will look at is the Grand Canyon.

The Grand Canyon is located in northern Arizona.

It is a massive canyon of red rock, and at the bottom of the canyon runs the Colorado River.

The coolest part about this landmark is that it is completely natural and was not man-made

like the others we've discussed.

It was made by the Colorado River and the river has run through it for almost 2 billion years.

The weather in the Grand Canyon is extreme.

The temperature can rise up to 100 degrees in the summer and fall to 0 degrees in the winter.

About 5 million people visit this majestic canyon every year to hike, camp, bike,

or just walk around and enjoy the views.

There are many other incredible landmarks to visit across the world,

and plenty of them are right here in the United States.

If you haven't already, I hope that you get to visit at least one of the landmarks we talked about today

and experience the beauty of them for yourself!