New Voices at SocialDocumentary.Net

It has been about a year since the inauguration of http://socialdocumentary.net, a web magazine/catalog/forum for documentary and photojournalistic photography. At it’s inception, founders Glenn Ruga and Barbara Ayotte knew that they wanted to bring socially concerned photographers together and offer them a place to show their projects. Their open concept has stimulated a diverse, web based round table of documentary photographers and photojournalists from all over the world. Check out their almost 200 exhibits.

Learn more about the SDN competition here.

To kick off the second year of activity SocialDocumentary.Net is inviting photographers to document the global recession in any, or all, of its myriad manifestations. Browse through the multicultural portfolios to see how photographers from every corner of the globe are thinking globally and photographing locally.

View by HCC alumni Jeffery Byrnes

Thinking about photographing locally gives me a great segue to the HCC Photo Club Show and Competition to be shown at the Holyoke Community College Media Arts Center (MAC) Open House on Wednesday, October 28, 2009, from 4:30-6:30. Unless you have a wedding to go to, save this date.

Above is the very first entry into the show. This is the first of three entries that Jeffery Byrnes sent me yesterday. I’ve also used one of Jeff’s submissions as the thumbnail for our new Facebook group HCC Photo Club. Area photographers might find some inspiration with Jeff. He graduated from HCC as a photo major, was president of the HCC Photo Club and is, most likely, Holyoke’s major blogger. Here are some of his many links: LenShare.Com,

1st Impression

See The Brick

For Your Eyes to See

And, along with HCC alumnus Tim Lastowski they run the True Resolution photography studio.

As for submissions from other Club members, uploading pictures to the Googlegroups has been a failure. I’m moving the Photo Club over to Facebook for our main place of communication. Please upload your submissions to the

HCC Photo Club on Facebook

Please keep your uploads small (below 300K) or we’ll max out our space allowed on Facebook. Check here for more show and competition guidelines.

I’ve been meaning to post prior to this, but I’ve been uber busy with my new job and getting acclimated to my new routine.  However, I do have some great news!  This past Thursday, I received my first interview invite!! I actually received two that day, but found out about the second one much later.  Guess which school, of all the schools I’ve applied to, heard my cry?  Tulane! Waaaay down in New Orleans.  Ha.  If you all knew how much of a Northern girl I am, you’d probably chuckle at the thought of me applying to Tulane.  But, as I previously stated (or did I?), I thoroughly researched the programs at every single US accredited medical school and selected the programs I felt were most aligned with my personality, learning style, and career goals.  As it just so happens, Tulane aligned rather well with those items.  Plus, I know it’s the South, but New Orleans is such a unique city.  I’ve never been, but at least in my mind, I picture it a culturally rich town full or character…lol  This coming in the wake of the 4th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina (shame how devastated some of the area still is…thank you, George Dubbya and FEMA)  Granted, as a friend put it, I’ll need some intense A/C and a tazzer, but I think I could handle it.  So begins the intense preparation for the interview…

To all the anxious pre-meds that might ever read this, either now or in the future – nothing will decrease your anxiety during this process like the receipt of an interview invite.  I was such a wreck before this invite: compulsively checking my e-mail and med school status pages.  After I got the first invite (which I got while doing work in Barnes & Noble, causing me to silently wig-out for a good 30sec…lol), I immediately stopped checking my inbox.  In fact, had I not been on SDN that day, and been tipped off that my second invite school (Drexel) was posting invites on-line, I probably still wouldn’t know I had an interview there!  It’s like an enormous weight has been lifted from my shoulders.  I know this isn’t it, and that I must put a lot of work into these interviews, but it feels nice to know I actually have a shot.  I’m not naive.  I know that right after the interviews, the anxiety is probably going to shoot right back up until I hear whether I got hit with the acceptance, waitlist, or rejection.  But, for now, I’m sitting on Cloud 9!  Shoot, I even got rejected from Georgetown the next day (imo, their loss, not mine – it’s expensive too!) and hardly batted an eye.  I’m not going to lie, the first rejection stings a little, but having an interview invite or two to soften the blow is rather nice

Next up: finding a summer skirt suit for interviews and prepping for the multitude of potential interview questions!  I’m pumped.

Stay blessed everyone!

In a shocker of an opinion, the US District Court for the Northern District of Ohio ruled that OFAC cannot freeze the assets of an organization suspected of terrorism ties without probable cause.

In the opinion handed down on Tuesday Judge James Carr ruled that the government must tell the organization the basis for the asset freeze and give the organization the opportunity to defend itself.

The ruling came in the case of Kindhearts for Charitable Humanitarian Development, which sued the federal government in 2008 after the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) froze its assets in 2006, alleging it was providing support to US-designated terrorist group Hamas. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) brought the suit on plaintiffs’ behalf.

Kindhearts argued that OFAC’s asset freeze, investigation, and refusal to allow KindHearts to dispute OFAC’s findings were arbitrary and capricious, and violated KindHearts’ First, Fourth, and Fifth Amendment rights.

While it has yet to be determined whether or not the government will appeal, I have to think that they will and that this decision will be overturned. This opinion files in the face of every piece of legal precedent I have seen on the matter. It is pretty much well established that OFAC, under the umbrella of national security concerns, can freeze assets in the manner which took place here.

I would be shocked to see this decision stand. Shocked but extremely happy. OFAC does seems to enjoy a certain “because we say so” right, that is frustrating to deal with. Leveling the playing field would not be a bad thing at all. While I believe in OFAC’s core mission, I think their regulations and policies need a major overhaul.

My guess is that while Kindhearts and the ACLU won the battle, the war is far from over.

The opinion, all 100 pages of it, is found here.

If you feel that you may have violated any OFAC administered regulations or seek assistance in complying with those regulations please contact the author at 202-280-6370 or by email at info@ferrari-legal.com

The author of this blog is Erich C. Ferrari, an attorney in Washington, DC, who specializes in OFAC Sanctions Law and White Collar Criminal Defense. If you have any questions please email him at info@ferrari-legal.com

Not quite sure what happened to my last couple of blogs that I posted but they aren’t showing up. Hopefully this one does.

Today the United States Department of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) added, changed, and deleted some entries from its Specially Designated Nationals (“SDN”) list. These designations were made pursuant to the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act (“Kingpin Act”), a piece of legislation that seeks to block the assets of those designated under it as well as those designees transactions with U.S. persons. The full list of today’s changes to the SDN list can be found here.

Today’s additions related to the operations of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia (“FARC”) and include one individual and four entities. The individual, Jose Cayetano Melo Perilla, is alleged to have provided material assistance to the narcotics trafficking activities of the FARC. In addition to his designation, four of his companies were also designated: Carillanca Colombia Y Cia S en CS, a Colombian company dedicated to hydroponic agriculture; Carillanca S.A., a Costa Rican company involved in tomato cultivation; Carillanca C.A., a company located in Venezuela whose focus is real estate and construction; and Parqueadero De La 25-13, a commercial parking lot located in Bogota, Colombia.

The Department of Treasury contends that FARC is the leading trafficker of narcotics out of Columbia.

Due to his new status as a designee those who engage in transactions with Mr. Melo Perilla without a specific license from OFAC can face stiff penalties. Penalties for violations of the Kingpin Act include civil penalties of up to $1.075 million per violation, criminal penalties for corporate officers up to 30 years in prison and $5 million in fines, and criminal fines for corporations up to $10 million.

Furthermore, individuals can face up to 10 years in prison for criminal violations of the Kingpin Act and fines determined pursuant to Title 18 of the United States Code.

This year OFAC has really been relying on the Kingpin Act heavily to fight the illicit drug trade. Not only have I seen this in the number of designations that have been forthcoming, but also in my the number of requests for representation in SDN list removal proceedings I have received. This area has really been heating up. If you are doing business in South America, particularly Columbia, be wary and make sure to exercise due diligence. If you are one of those you have been designated, there are procedures under which you can seek removal from the SDN list. Call a U.S. attorney specializing in OFAC litigation to learn what you can do.

If you feel that you may have violated any OFAC administered regulations or seek assistance in complying with those regulations please contact the author at 202-280-6370 or by email at info@ferrari-legal.com

The author of this blog is Erich C. Ferrari, an attorney in Washington, DC, who specializes in OFAC Sanctions Law and White Collar Criminal Defense. If you have any questions please email him at info@ferrari-legal.com