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
The latest data dump is a massive 1.4 Terabytes, not quite as large as its precursor, the Panama Papers, but by all accounts equal in its significance. An estimated 13.4 million files are contained in the leak released on Nov. 5th 2017.
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.
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 (
