The ICIJ's 13.4 Million File Paradise Papers, Overshadowed by Another Mass Shooting in Texas
ICIJ Drops the Paradise Papers
The Paradise Papers
The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, in coordination with 67 media organizations, has unveiled another enormous data dump on the world’s richest 1%.
The ICIJ is the same organization responsible for the Panama Papers and the Offshore Leaks Database exposing how corporations, politicians, and elite families avoid paying taxes by concealing their wealth through a plethora of shell companies located in countries with anemic tax laws from the Caribbean to the Mediterranean to the Indian ocean.
Link to ICIJ Official Website: Paradise Papers
Previous Disclosures from the ICIJ
• Panama Papers and Offshore Leaks
• Exposing the corrupt practices of the Elite 1%
• Tax Evasion by the world’s wealthiest
• Distortion of assets through multitude of shell companies
• Mossack Fonseca Law firm deeply involved
Key Findings from the Paradise Papers
Reveals offshore interests and activities of more than 120 politicians and world leaders, including Queen Elizabeth II, and 13 advisers, major donors and members of U.S. President Donald J. Trump
Exposes the tax engineering of more than 100 multinational corporations, including Apple, Nike and Botox-maker Allergan
Reveals tax haven shopping sprees by multinational companies in Africa and Asia that use shell companies in Mauritius and Singapore to reduce taxes
Shines a light on secretive deals and hidden companies connected to Glencore, the world’s largest commodity trader, and provides detailed accounts of the company’s negotiations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo for valuable mineral resources
Provides details of how owners of jets and yachts, including royalty and sports stars, used Isle of Man tax-avoidance structures
Trump's Influencers
It's been reported that key members of president Trump's administration and Trump campaign political contributors have been identified in the disclosures. Secretary of Commerce and billionaire Wilbur Ross figures prominently in the documents with apparent links to Russian oligarchs and investors.
https://www.icij.org/article/us-president-donald-trumps-influencers/
Not to be outdone there are scores of Liberals featured in the documentation, the mining behemoth Glencore whose founder Marc Rich has close connections to the Clinton's also figures prominently in the release. In his last duty before leaving the White House in 2001, President Bill Clinton pardoned Marc Rich who was a financier before
being indicted on charges of widespread tax evasion, illegal dealings with Iran and other crimes.
https://www.icij.org/investigations/paradise-papers/room-of-secrets-reveals-mysteries-of-glencore/
Politicians
As with the Panama papers, the ICIJ has supplied an interactive search page available to the public.
Here’s the link to the ICIJ Database focusing on the politicians and power players.
Interactive Page of Political Players
The database already features profiles of the most familiar of the world’s wealthiest and most powerful (names).
Queen Elizabeth the II, three former Prime Ministers of Canada and high ranking officials from the US such as the current Secretary of State, Secretary of Commerce and former military brass.
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Already, the Paradise Papers are causing a stir as more information comes to light. With millions of files in this leak it is certain that further revelations will come to the surface in the coming days and weeks.
If you're interested in keeping up with the latest from the Paradise Papers visit the ICIJ website.
It's possible to download the entire 1.4 Tb data set through torrent links and other methods. That is if you have enough storage space as not everyone has and extra Terabyte or two for a single download.
If It Bleeds It Leads - Mass Shooting as Mass Distraction
In the wake of the Las Vegas shooting I cautioned that these sensational and often bloody public executions appear to be designed to draw the public’s attention away from more important news and issues.
Before I go on, let me say that I do not mean to denigrate the memory of anyone who lost their lives in these horrific shootings but there does seem to be a pattern to these otherwise inexplicable scenes of violence.
As if on cue, just hours after the Paradise Papers were released to the public, there was another ‘senseless’ shooting of 26 people in a Texas church.
This story now dominates the American news networks and will continue to lead for days and weeks to come.
It feels as if these mass shootings play out like a nauseating script.
25 children slaughtered in an elementary school in Newtown
9 killed, dozens injured as white supremacist opens fire in Charleston church.
The media descend like vultures… with wall to wall coverage for a few weeks trying to make sense of the carnage. The gunman is a mentally disturbed loner. The victims’ stories are commemorated in flashing montages. The president is saddened and appeals for calm. We’re asked not to politicize the events. Gun manufacturers’ sales spike in the aftermath. After a period of mourning, gun control and 2nd amendment advocates square off in a never ending screaming match. Fear is featured on all stations - nowhere is safe from violence.
We're told that another deranged individual ended the lives of dozens of innocent church goers in seconds in a small town in Texas. Inevitably, if a motive for the attack is ever determined you can be sure that it will fall short of any reasonable explanation for the shooting.
A common theme in these events is that they are intended to maximize our emotional responses and fuel our fear, outrage and anguish. These shootings ARE senseless and we predictably, and understandably, react with emotion in seeing innocent lives snuffed out in such a nightmarish manner.
Just as predictable though is that following a mass shooting there are calls for a ban on certain firearms and the expected push back from gun owners and Second Amendment defenders.
In my opinion, these events act as a collective RESET by redrawing partisan lines and channel people back into the never ending US gun control debate. Call it divide and conquer, predictive programming or whatever you want.
When emotionally charged people are fighting amongst themselves they do not see that they've been manipulated like cattle and blinded to the true enemy guiding them into conflict with their fellow citizens.
A mass shooting naturally reignites the gun control issue as the media hyper-focuses on these bloody atrocities. And it's not just the main stream media who's guilty here, alternative media and independent media are equally drawn to these type of events. In most instances, alternative media really does provide much needed balance by questioning the official narratives. However, they are now focused on an event dictated by the msm and devote significant amounts of time and energy in uncovering evidence and exposing falsehoods. And while these types of efforts are certainly needed, what if drawing the attention, time and energy of the independent press and citizen journalists is by design?
What if the entire point of a false flag event is to suck you into a rabbit hole and direct good people towards an unwinnable conflict such as gun control and away from what they don't want you to notice?
Of course, I support any and all kinds of inquiry and do not intend to dissuade anyone from investigating something that interests them. Just keep looking into subjects and issues that are meaningful to you and to be conscious of the power the msm still wields in dictating what people should be focusing their attention on.
There’s no doubt that gunning people down while they assemble in church or at a concert venue are despicable acts that require justice but if the goal is to draw the public's attention towards one story and away from another they are expertly executed.
All I'm saying is even with the recent deluge of news stories from Las Vegas to Weinstein to Uranium one to the Saudis cleaning house - keep your attention on the Paradise Papers. This is something that the world's rich and powerful would love you to forget about as quickly as possible.
I'll leave you with some thoughts from James Corbett's (@corbettreport) recent r/conspiracy AMA where he explains why he's not interested in investigating the Las Vegas shootings.
nice update man, loving this posts
UK politician Lord Ashcroft hid in a toilet in order to evade questions on the millions of dollars of tax he avoided by stowing his money offshore.
I watched this episode last night along with the more detailed one that was shown today. What's interesting is that apparently the BBC use similar offshore investment funds for their staff's pensions, which they never mentioned in either of the TV programmes.
Omg this is amazing! Thanks
People vote for this filth. That is the problem.
Actually no-one has ever voted for Lord Ashcroft. He is a member of the unelected 'House of Lords' after effectively bribing his way in.
We haven't really got to grips with this whole 'democracy' malarky in the UK yet.
Actually, I was talking about the whole lot of them.
The BBC propaganda machine has already ramped up to make the Texas shooting a bigger story and defend the Royals over here in Britain. The radio news had a whole bunch of people dragged in for interviews this morning to justify the actions of the elites. Nobody should really be surprised by the information just disappointed by the inaction that will follow.
Great post V. Resteemed.
As George Carlin said, "Its a big club and you ain't in it!"
Ain't that the truth.
Sadly, you're probably right about the inaction. Although, the Panama Papers did force a few politicians from office. Most likely though anyone who resigned was replaced by another swamp dweller.
Thank you for keeping us informed.
I'm stopping by to say that I particularly appreciate your very calm and measured analysis of the possible / likely relationship between major data-dump revelations of evil behind the scenes, and the heart-rending "evil distraction" of mass murders.
Just yesterday, I had a telephone conversation with the wife of a friend who lives in the Dallas area. She answered the phone because my friend was out. She's the one who told me about the church shooting.
Now, neither of these friends is what I would call "awake" in terms of the evil powers behind the scenes, but my friend and I do discuss the horrors of human government quite often.
Because his wife answered and mentioned the church shooting, I gently tried to expose her to the concept of a false-flag event. She pretty much withdrew in horror, a self-preservation sort of denial.
I may refer her to the latter half of your article, because I feel you've handled the topic so graciously. Thank you.
😄😇😄
Very much appreciate this comment.
Thanks for the kind words, i think when most people think about propaganda they think of overt nazi type stuff and that was what 70 years ago? The current forms of propaganda are highly developed and sophisticated techniques and the West has been perfecting their methods for decades.
We would be foolish to believe that our media is not designed to manipulate our minds. Sadly, most people recoil from, or laugh off, any notion that powerful forces (including the government) would be working to control their citizens.
Your friend's wife cannot even entertain the thought in her mind. I'm certain she's not a bad person at all but most of us our so heavily indoctrinated that we cannot step back and look at it objectively and critically.
She is a very good, kind, and loving person of course - and that is partially why she shrinks from discussions like this in such horror. The cognitive dissonance of thinking that there are such incredibly evil people at the very core of the institutions we are taught, all our lives, to look to with trust and respect, is just unthinkable.
And so, I completely understand her reaction to my remarks over the phone. The real struggle for me - and I've come face to face with this stuff because I've been aware and resisting for many years now - is how to gently, clearly, and effectively communicate what is really happening to the people around me. How to do that without being immediately dismissed as some nut-job paranoid "conspiracy theorist."
So, thanks again for your clear, calm, measured discussion in this article. ;)
The elites in the media and outside of it keep their interests protected. There is no question that they sensationalize tragedies to distract us all.
The Romans said:"Give them bread and circuses".
Absolutely, our society is full of - Bread and Circuses.
It's all around us, we have lived in an illusion for such a long time now that most of us believe the illusion to be reality.
This is empirically observable.
@v4vapid, nice informations and updates, good work by icij releasing paradise papers to point out corrupt people in which they involved in tax theft and corruption by making off shore companies, these people are very strong and wealthy. Thanks for sharing.
Just did a post also on this subject -https://steemit.com/news/@davemanchester/the-paradise-papers-the-elite-tax-dodgers-exposed
Upvoted yours and resteemed it, cheers.
I couldn't agree more with your analysis of the shooting @v4vapid indeed I draw a comparrison with the worlds attention being focused on the smokesreen of N.Korea whilst the real danger and story unfolds with Iran, Saudi Arabia etc. It's all a slight of hand and still after all these years it works everytime. I'm fully aware that in making that statement I sound really heartless but as you pointed out it follows such a pattern of familiarity that it's difficult not to become numb to it, which is something I promised myself I'd never do.
Thanks for your research and for the links, I'll be sure to follow up on this. I've seen just one msm mention of Prince Charles lobbying antics and now the story has gone, forgotten in the minds of the masses. Indeed 24hr msm news culture has destroyed the attention spans of entire nations. Luckily some of us never forget.
Fantastic commentary on all of the above, however, I don't agree that the gun control issue isn't winnable. There was a quote going around that stated that after Sandy Hook - America lost it's way. But at one point, slavery was entrenched in this society and abroad. At one point we will wake up, perhaps when enough progressives and women take office - which is coming as well.
As for the leaks, well - while I don't agree with it, these are legal ways of moving your money around. We must close the tax loopholes. Again, my point about having enough people with the will to change things: Progressives and Women.
Technically you are correct it's not 'illegal' per say as they are moving their assets to locations that have feeble tax regulations. This is the main defense for these thieves.
We must remember that they are avoiding the tax regulations of the countries where they reside and where they do business. They're making their money/profits in one country and then by setting up a shell company (a company on paper that does no business in the tax haven country) paying little or no taxes on their earnings where they do business.
Due to tax loop holes that allow this kind of thing, it may not be technically illegal but it is highly unethical and deceptive. The vast majority of citizens pay their taxes and do not have the luxury to offshore their assets.
Our tax dollars go towards infrastructure, med-care (in various forms), social programs, the national budgets of our respected countries, and so on, but those who make the most and should contribute a fair amount are able hide their assets and avoid contributing to the very societies which provide their businesses with opportunities for success.
Just look at former UK Prime Minister David Cameron who publicly claimed his government was clamping down on tax loopholes and offshoring and low and behold the Panama Papers revealed his family had been offshoring assets for years.
These leaks only prove that there are different laws for the wealthy and the rest of us.
Actually, these laws are available to everyone. It's just that the wealthy have more money to store away than the rest of the people. And let me be clear, I agree with everything you are saying which is why I said we have to close those tax loopholes. It was one of the main things Bernie Sanders ran on and why I supported him. I don't agree with it, but I do understand it. You make money, you want to hold onto it as much as possible. There becomes a point though where greed takes over and these papers are the proof of exactly this methodology. As more Progressives win in the US, hopefully this will begin to shift the tide.
Most of the important news really does get manipulated by "somebody". And they are smart enough to know we will fall for their distractions. And if we don't want that, we need to be smarter than them. And I mean all of us need to understand these things, or we'd be fooled all the time into hearing what ever they want us to hear...