Discussion Topic |
|
This thread has been locked |
NutAgain!
Trad climber
South Pasadena, CA
|
|
|
Topic Author's Reply - Sep 14, 2017 - 12:42pm PT
|
FOLLOW THE MONEY
Ferreting out corruption from our legal institutions is not something that will ever be accomplished. However, it is a continual struggle worth fighting, because those seeking to pervert the system will not stop if those defending justice give up. Life for all of us will get uglier. So many examples to disentangle... here is one I spent an hour distracting myself with. Imagine what can be uncovered by Mueller's investigation?
 In 1996, Hermitage Capital Management launched and specializes in Russian markets, taking an investment stake in companies, then trying to root out and expose corruption. They make a profit when investors value the company higher when they see less money wasted through corruption. For example, investors assumed 99% of Gazprom (the Russian oil giant) assets were stolen through corruption, and his firm investigated and said it was more like 10%, which would place the company valuation higher. My editorial/conspiracy theory: this would be a perfect shield for a blackmail business, taking a cut off of all the corruption they uncover. The official accounting shows their P&L from official investments where they uncover stuff, then the black book contains the blackmail money for what they keep covered up.
2005: Russian government blacklists/denies entry to the founder of Hermitage Capital Management as a threat to national security. Maybe they got greedy and asked for too much? I don't have acces to the article, but this article from The Economist. probably discusses it more.
2007: Hermitage Capital and related offices in Moscow raided by Ministry of Interior. Extensive documents outside the scope of the warrant taken. The founder of Hermitage Capital claims the warrant (ostensibly related to taxes due) was totally baseless. My editorial/conspiracy theory: Russian officials who are threatened to be either exposed or pay blackmail to Hermitage capital fight back- they know Hermitage is dirty too, and mock up a reason to go prove it to get Hermitage off their backs.
A small cog in this machinery: Sergei Magnitsky is an auditor in Moscow, working for a legal firm representing Hermitage Capital Management; their offices had been raided too. He gets assigned to figuring out what happened with the tax issues.
Magnitsky's research uncovers, and he testifies, to these alleged plots:
police accused Hermitage of tax evasions to get warrant to get access to the docs
police handed over the docs to other criminals
these criminals use the info to hijack 3 of the Hermitage companies and file for tax refunds from Russian government, reclaiming $230 million of previously paid taxes. (they forged a change in owernship, then filed claims of $1 billion expenses to other shell companies to make their taxable earnings look smaller to get the tax refunds)
Magnitsky's testimony implicates police, judges, tax officials, bankers, and Russian Mafia
One of the policmen involved subsequently accused Magnitsky of being a go-to person for these shenanigans, and Magnitsky ends up in jail by the end of 2008
2009 Magnitsky dies in a Moscow prison; denied medical care for months and beaten to death, family claims he was tortured, all this without having a chance for a trial (he died at 358 days in, when Russian law required his release or trial within 365 days).
2012 US signs into law the Magnitsky Act to block the specific Russians thought to be involved in his death from entering US and using the US banking system. Symbolically, this is a message of US government fighting back against financial corruption and organized crime. Hard to disentangle from the echoes of Soviet/US cold war conflict too.
2012 Russia responds with Dima Yakovlev Law which is a tit for tat blocking of US individuals from entering Russia, freezing their assets, etc... also blocks US citizens from adopting Russian children.
July 2013 Russia has a posthumous trial for Magnitsky and convicts him of tax evasion.
Sept 2013: Preet Bharara (U.S. Attorney for Souther District of New York) along with leaders of other agencies in New York file a claim against 11 companies related to money laundering for some of the $230 million fraud that Magnitsky had testified about, into Manhattan real estate. Prevezon Holdings is one of these. Preet said "While New York is a world financial capital, it is not a safe haven for criminals seeking to hide their loot, no matter how and where their fraud took place."
October 2015: Preet Bharara has a deposition from Nikolai Gorokhov in support of this case. Gorokhov is a lawyer representing Magnitsky's family since 2011 in Russian cases related to the original $230 million that Magnitsky's family says he was killed for. Lawyers for Prevezon want to buy time and force Gorokhov to testify at the Prevezon trial in New York. Preet Bharara files to make the deposition be his official testimony, so if anything happens to Gorokhov, the trial won't be impacted. In that filing, Preet Bharara explicitly mentions the US Govt concern that if Gorokhov and his family return to Russia they would be threatened or harmed to prevent him from testifying. Here is the full text of Preet Bharara's filing.
June 2016 Don Trump Jr, Manafort, and Kushner meet with an "infamous" Russian lawyer to discuss "the Russian ban on an adoption program" (i.e. the anti-Magnitsky act in Russia). Ok, at a pivotal moment in the election campaign, top people in Trump's camp are worried about the issue of US citizens adopting babies from Russia? That sounds like a head scratcher, but discussing the ongoing fall-out of the Magnitsky act, it's ongoing litigation around New York city real estate in the industry and community at the heart of Trump's wealth... ok now we see the carrot (dirt on Hillary) and the stick (dirt on Donald) in this meeting. More info.
March 11, 2017: Preet Bharara is fired by Trump after a series of efforts by Trump to read Bharara or cultivate a relationship with him. Bharara had multiple investigations with connections to Trump.
March 23, 2017: Nikolai Gorokhov "falls out of a window" in Moscow and plummets 4 stories, but somehow survives. He probably got the message that pursuing the Magnitsky cases in Russia and the USA testimony in the Prevezon case is not a good idea. In a July 2017 he says he believes it was not an accident. He also claims to not remember what happened.
May 2017: The acting US Districit Attorney in New York, on the eve of trial with witnesses flown in, settles case with Prevezon. Hundreds of millions of known money laundering is at issue, with more than a billion made from investments in USA related to it, and they settled for $5.8 million. Prevezon was expecting to pay more than that for their lawyers at trial. Here's what CNN had to say. And here's a European perspective.
And there you go. I've laid out a few dots. Use your own judgment to connect them.
|
|
Jon Beck
Trad climber
Oceanside
|
|
|
Sep 14, 2017 - 09:04pm PT
|
Some guy named Robert Muller is going to write a book, or is he going to throw it?
|
|
rbord
Boulder climber
atlanta
|
|
|
Sep 14, 2017 - 10:39pm PT
|
How did a guy fall out a window four stories and survive? He must be an alien. There you go.
|
|
rottingjohnny
Sport climber
Sands Motel , Las Vegas
|
|
|
Sep 15, 2017 - 05:33am PT
|
The concrete was only 27 days old...
|
|
Ken M
Mountain climber
Los Angeles, Ca
|
|
|
Sep 15, 2017 - 10:41am PT
|
Taxpayers were billed $1,092 for an official who stayed at Mar-a-Lago
The receipt for the two-night visit at the president’s Florida club, obtained in recent days by the transparency advocacy group Property of the People and verified by The Post, offers one of the first concrete signs that Donald Trump’s use of Mar-a-Lago as the “Winter White House” has resulted in taxpayer funds flowing directly into the coffers of his private business.
Nixon: "it's not a crime if the President does it"
|
|
Vlad Pricker
Mountain climber
The cliffs of insanity, inconceivable
|
|
|
Sep 16, 2017 - 03:23pm PT
|
I think I'm sophisticated
'Cos I'm living my life like a good homosapien
But all around me everybody's multiplying
Till they're walking round like flies man
So I'm no better than the animals sitting in their cages
In the zoo man
'Cos compared to the flowers and the birds and the trees
I am an ape man
I think I'm so educated and I'm so civilized
'Cos I'm a strict vegetarian
But with the over-population and inflation and starvation
And the crazy politicians
I don't feel safe in this world no more
I don't want to die in a nuclear war
I want to sail away to a distant shore and make like an ape man
I'm an ape man, I'm an ape ape man
I'm an ape man I'm a King Kong man I'm ape ape man
I'm an ape man
'Cos compared to the sun that sits in the sky
Compared to the clouds as they roll by
Compared to the bugs and the spiders and flies
I am an ape man
In man's evolution he has created the cities and
The motor traffic rumble, but give me half a chance
And I'd be taking off my clothes and living in the jungle
'Cos the only time that I feel at ease
Is swinging up and down in a coconut tree
Oh what a life of luxury to be like an ape man
I'm an ape, I'm an ape ape man, I'm an ape man
I'm a King Kong man, I'm a voo-doo man
I'm an ape man
I look out my window, but I can't see the sky
'Cos the air pollution is fogging up my eyes
I want to get out of this city alive
And make like an ape man
Come and love me, be my ape man girl
And we will be so happy in my ape man world
I'm an ape man, I'm an ape ape man, I'm an ape man
I'm a King Kong man, I'm a voo-doo man
I'm an ape man
I'll be your Tarzan, you'll be my Jane
I'll keep you warm and you'll keep me sane
And we'll sit in the trees and eat bananas all day
Just like an ape man
I'm an ape man, I'm an ape ape man, I'm an ape man
I'm a King Kong man, I'm a voo-doo man
I'm an ape man.
I don't feel safe in this world no more
I don't want to die in a nuclear war
I want to sail away to a distant shore
And make like an ape man.
Ray Davies and friends, the Kinks
|
|
Happiegrrrl2
Trad climber
|
|
|
Sep 16, 2017 - 04:11pm PT
|
Until he is removed from office, I will refer to him as the "Figment of the President of the United States." #FOPOTUS
According to Renato Mariotti(a legal expert) on Twitter
(link: https://twitter.com/renato_mariotti/status/909046790292418561);
1/ Last night, the @WSJ reported that Mueller obtained info from Facebook via search warrant:
Renato MariottiVerified account @renato_mariotti 9h9 hours ago
2/ The @WSJ talks about some of the info Mueller obtained (see below). Mueller could not obtain *content* of an account without a warrant.
3/ I was initially wary about discussing implications of this story because I worried @WSJ may have presumed a warrant that didn't exist.
4 replies 261 retweets 1,292 likes
Renato MariottiVerified account @renato_mariotti 9h9 hours ago
4/ But @CNN has confirmed that Mueller obtained content via search warrant, including ads, acct details, targeting.
5/ That is huge news. It means that Mueller has concluded that specific foreign individuals committed a crime by making a "contribution"
36 replies 845 retweets 2,928 likes
Renato MariottiVerified account @renato_mariotti 9h9 hours ago
6/ in connection with an election. It also means that he has evidence of that crime that convinced a federal magistrate judge of two things.
5 replies 480 retweets 2,046 likes
Renato MariottiVerified account @renato_mariotti 9h9 hours ago
7/ First, that there was good reason to believe that the foreign individual committed the crime. Second, that evidence of the crime existed
4 replies 425 retweets 1,866 likes
Renato MariottiVerified account @renato_mariotti 9h9 hours ago
8/ on Facebook. Why is that big news? Until now, Mueller's efforts to obtain information about Russian interference in the election could
3 replies 356 retweets 1,547 likes
Renato MariottiVerified account @renato_mariotti 9h9 hours ago
9/ be seen as an effort to gain counterintelligence or to investigate a matter unlikely to result in charges. Now we know he believes that
2 replies 335 retweets 1,498 likes
Renato MariottiVerified account @renato_mariotti 9h9 hours ago
10/ he's close to charging specific foreign people with a crime. Can he do that? Yes, if they committed a crime in the U.S.
10 replies 422 retweets 1,924 likes
Renato MariottiVerified account @renato_mariotti 9h9 hours ago
11/ For example, my former boss indicted Osama Bin Laden for the first World Trade Center bombing.
6 replies 297 retweets 1,499 likes
Renato MariottiVerified account @renato_mariotti 9h9 hours ago
12/ So what does this mean for Trump and his associates? This news also has large implications for them.
6 replies 340 retweets 1,524 likes
Renato MariottiVerified account @renato_mariotti 9h9 hours ago
13/ It is a crime to know that a crime is taking place and to help it succeed. That's aiding and abetting. If any Trump associate knew about
28 replies 651 retweets 2,556 likes
Renato MariottiVerified account @renato_mariotti 9h9 hours ago
14/ the foreign contributions that Mueller's search warrant focused on and helped that effort in a tangible way, they could be charged.
11 replies 450 retweets 1,985 likes
Renato MariottiVerified account @renato_mariotti 9h9 hours ago
15/ In addition, anyone who agreed to be part of this effort in any way could be charged with criminal conspiracy. They wouldn't need to
16 replies 397 retweets 1,861 likes
Renato MariottiVerified account @renato_mariotti 9h9 hours ago
16/ be involved in the whole operation or know everyone involved but they would have to agree to be part of some piece of it.
16 replies 314 retweets 1,611 likes
Renato MariottiVerified account @renato_mariotti 9h9 hours ago
17/ One thing I should note is that this particular violation of the law preventing foreign contributions in connection with an election
6 replies 355 retweets 1,525 likes
Renato MariottiVerified account @renato_mariotti 9h9 hours ago
18/ is far stronger than earlier speculation that Donald Trump Jr. violated the same law by accepting information from the Russian attorney.
11 replies 375 retweets 1,743 likes
Renato MariottiVerified account @renato_mariotti 9h9 hours ago
19/ One hurdle is that to violate the statute criminally, you have to do so knowingly and willfully. Here, Mueller has evidence that the
5 replies 305 retweets 1,427 likes
Renato MariottiVerified account @renato_mariotti 9h9 hours ago
20/ foreigner(s) had that intent, and it is far more difficult for an American to claim that he/she didn't know that a massive Russian
20 replies 319 retweets 1,631 likes
New conversation
Renato MariottiVerified account @renato_mariotti 9h9 hours ago
21/ influence operation was against the law than it would be to claim that about hearing talk at a meeting. Jurors would be inclined to
10 replies 265 retweets 1,330 likes
Renato MariottiVerified account @renato_mariotti 9h9 hours ago
22/ convict anyone who was part of or aided a Russian effort to subvert our election.
7 replies 275 retweets 1,424 likes
Renato MariottiVerified account @renato_mariotti 9h9 hours ago
23/ If I represented someone who was caught up in this part of the investigation, I'd be very worried. /end
Should we start a Supertopo Pool on a time/date that the shite hits the fan? It would have to be detailed by someone who can give some definitive legal action, because IMO the shit's been spinning the whole while. And who knows how to manage a pool(I haven't a clue, but would like to join in). But - the moment when it is clear that they intend to move forward with some sort of charge or action that will result in The Figment being removed from office if proven true.
|
|
Vlad Pricker
Mountain climber
The cliffs of insanity, inconceivable
|
|
|
Sep 17, 2017 - 02:59am PT
|
You are not an apeman.
You are a floogie bird.
I posted a song from the Kinks, to lighten matters up, but you Cosmic Dwaine just wanted to pursue your idiocy and name calling, not that I take offence to a floogie bird, whatever that is. But I would guess you wrote that not in any friendly manner.
Well Cosmic, I have refrained from writing this for some time. Yes I did a GoFundMe on the net to help with the cat's surgery (I sold a heck of a lot climbing gear, good gear, for about half the price to save Betty's leg. Some Irish climbers came away happy with good gear).
But at least I did not cry and beg on the Taco Stand about needing money like you have. And soliciting such funds from fellow climbers like you have. In my 12 plus years on Supertopo I have not seen somebody as brash as you are asking for money like you have. So go take a flying leap.
And I also did not link in my GoFundMe "plea" on the Taco Stand, some other climber from Acalanes High School District did that, and I was not happy about it.
And when the chips are down, I'll bet I have achieved far more in life than you have. But then, that is a subjective (maybe you know what subjective means, you play it all the time, but then subjective to you means objective it seems) assessment of our lives. Perhaps you are a grand wizard who has changed people's lives. I am no wizard, but I have, in a small way, helped others. Proof upon request.
You are a sad person by your posts. I pity you.
So let's end this now, I will not criticise you anymore Dwain, and you do not flame me. And if you want to go ahead and be infantile, I will not be losing sleep over your ignorance. So get the last word in and then let's call it quits. Okay? We should and will leave it at that.
Patrick
NB And just to help you if you want to flame me, my former avatar was my name, Patrick Sawyer. One Supertopian asked me why I changed it, I had my reasons, I will change it back if Chris allows me to.
So Drain (sic), flame away. I will not respond unless you have anything sensible to say.
And yes folks, I still climb, I climbed at Rocklands yesterday, what a jungle to get to it, sort of. But then it reminds me of the article in Mountain written by Mo Anthoine about his journey with Joe Brown, Don Whillans, Hamish MacInnes, to climb Mount Roraima. Talk about jungle. No thanks.
|
|
zBrown
Ice climber
|
|
|
Sep 17, 2017 - 10:00am PT
|
Anyone calculated the cost of this?
"You have to ask the President what fire and fury meant," Haley said. "But I think we all know that basically if North Korea keeps on with this reckless behavior, if the United States has to defend itself or defend its allies in any way, North Korea will be destroyed."
|
|
Marlow
Sport climber
OSLO
|
|
|
Sep 17, 2017 - 10:18am PT
|
Learning from mistakes in climate research
Among papers stating a position on anthropogenic global warming (AGW), 97 % endorse AGW. What is happening with the 2 % of papers that reject AGW? We examine a selection of papers rejecting AGW. An analytical tool has been developed to replicate and test the results and methods used in these studies; our replication reveals a number of methodological flaws, and a pattern of common mistakes emerges that is not visible when looking at single isolated cases. Thus, real-life scientific disputes in some cases can be resolved, and we can learn from mistakes. A common denominator seems to be missing contextual information or ignoring information that does not fit the conclusions, be it other relevant work or related geophysical data. In many cases, shortcomings are due to insufficient model evaluation, leading to results that are not universally valid but rather are an artifact of a particular experimental setup. Other typical weaknesses include false dichotomies, inappropriate statistical methods, or basing conclusions on misconceived or incomplete physics. We also argue that science is never settled and that both mainstream and contrarian papers must be subject to sustained scrutiny. The merit of replication is highlighted and we discuss how the quality of the scientific literature may benefit from replication.
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00704-015-1597-5
|
|
rottingjohnny
Sport climber
Sands Motel , Las Vegas
|
|
|
Sep 17, 2017 - 01:45pm PT
|
I'm choking on my beef jerkey sandwich...rj
|
|
Vlad Pricker
Mountain climber
The cliffs of insanity, inconceivable
|
|
|
Sep 18, 2017 - 01:26pm PT
|
Take it easy Dwain, don't you know a wind up when you "see" one? Don't have an "apoplexy". I can be reached at dpatricksawyer@gmail.com if you care to chat.
Cheers, in sincerity
Patrick
|
|
Vlad Pricker
Mountain climber
The cliffs of insanity, inconceivable
|
|
|
Sep 18, 2017 - 03:39pm PT
|
Hah hah that is funny Dwain. Good one.
|
|
Vlad Pricker
Mountain climber
The cliffs of insanity, inconceivable
|
|
|
Sep 19, 2017 - 10:50am PT
|
I deleted my last post because frostback is correct, let's keep this on topic. Mr Flip Flop President doesn't know where he is going. Must be somewhat of a disappointment to his hardcore fans. But then this is a guy who has been bankrupt and used the system, the one he says he is against, to enrich himself. A guy who has screwed many small business people and yet some of you support him.
Weird.
And we see where he is headed. He now thinks he is the best president ever and looking at 2020, so he is courting all sides he thinks will sustain him. The guy may be an idiot but he is an idiot savant. In a warped way, one could almost admire him. Perhaps the ultimate bullshit artist, ever?
Or am I giving Trump too much credit? He has honed in on a populace who are either stupid, or sick of the system and this snake oil salesman has offered them a tonic. I think that stoopid voters are the answer to Trump's prayers.
|
|
Vlad Pricker
Mountain climber
The cliffs of insanity, inconceivable
|
|
|
Sep 19, 2017 - 11:15am PT
|
What is Trump's handicap Locker, or is than an obvious question.
|
|
dirtbag
climber
|
|
|
Sep 19, 2017 - 11:23am PT
|
No, it isn't funny at all. It's juvenile, petty, and vindictive. He's the leader of the free world: he needs to act like it.
|
|
dirtbag
climber
|
|
|
Sep 19, 2017 - 12:13pm PT
|
Sep 19, 2017 - 12:02pm PT
"No, it isn't funny at all"...
Sure it is...
You just can't see beyond your anger...
It's highly inappropriate for a president to engage in this crap. He's not posting on the taco, he's the face of our country. As an American, I'm deeply humiliated by and ashamed of our president. He won't do it, but he needs to knock this sh#t off.
|
|
Gary
Social climber
Desolation Basin, Calif.
|
|
|
Sep 19, 2017 - 12:27pm PT
|
Cheese-n-rice, that's a very bad golf swing. Sad!
|
|
Happiegrrrl2
Trad climber
|
|
|
Sep 19, 2017 - 03:00pm PT
|
No, it's not funny. It is a message from a misogynist that says it is "funny" to attack. And while Trump didn't make the video, he DID Retweet it to what's left of his following base and for the rest of us to wonder how on earth so many fell for his "charm."
What's "funny" is that the figment of the President has his head so deep in denial that he doesn't seem to understand that Indictment Day is drawing VERY near.
Sometimes I inadvertently "catch" smidgeons of energy, essences of things actually occurring or being said.It's kind of wierd, but it's happened enough times that I have been pretty surprised about it.
Last night, about 11pm, I "got a whiff" of one of these things. It feels sort of like an electrical impulse, and though there aren't really words attached, I understand what is being "said." What I "got" was the group with Mueller/NYAG investigation had reached a climactical point. There seemed to be a large sigh, and some sort of "We have it; we have connected it all, beyond any shadow of a doubt, and can now proceed to the next phase. We now will choose when to make this proclaimation public."
I know that is a very weird thing for me to say, and that it's like saying "I'm psychic" or "I can communicate with Extraterrestrials." I know that....
But I also know what it feels like when I sense the things I do. Not that it carries any weight. It doesn't.
But, meanwhile the ones I have been following on Twitter seem to have also received some sort of similar information. The difference is that they are getting it directly from sources involved with the investigation(s) and not just a fleeting sensation that passes through them like an electrical current..
What is being said today is the "there are tapes, and it is is very, very bad. Worse than you can imagine." The same was said months ago, but it was too early in the process to take that topic much further. It is not "just" about Russian interference with the election and the weaponization of social media postings. But "it" is connected. And according to these folks, it is going to be scarring for us as a country.
Pray for Indictments. Pray for the day of reckoning to come SOON. Before they succeed in debilitating our economic foundation or going "scorched earth" in an "If I can't have it, no one can" and nuking the planet.
|
|
|
SuperTopo on the Web
|
Let us know!