The leak of the century?
4/4/16 10:29![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
dreamville-bg.livejournal.com posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
talkpoliticsMost of us must have heard about this already...
What are the Panama Papers? A guide to the biggest leak in history
From the website dedicated to the leak:
"Over a year ago, an anonymous source contacted the Suddeutsche Zeitung (SZ) and submitted encrypted internal documents from Mossack Fonseca, a Panamanian law firm that sells anonymous offshore companies around the world. These shell firms enable their owners to cover up their business dealings, no matter how shady.
In the months that followed, the number of documents continued to grow far beyond the original leak. Ultimately, SZ acquired about 2.6 terabytes of data, making the leak the biggest that journalists had ever worked with. The source wanted neither financial compensation nor anything else in return, apart from a few security measures.
The data provides rare insights into a world that can only exist in the shadows. It proves how a global industry led by major banks, legal firms, and asset management companies secretly manages the estates of the world’s rich and famous: from politicians, Fifa officials, fraudsters and drug smugglers, to celebrities and professional athletes."
The fucking PM of ICELAND!? Mr. Anti-Corruption himself?! I'm a little bit surprised the PM of Malaysia, Najib "Gift from the Saudis" Razak isn't on the leak. Also, Jackie Chan lol. But then you read more about him and find out he's not that good of a person - disowned his daughter, gave up his son, etc.
This has the potential to be huge. The journalists worked for years on this. I'm actually impressed that they managed to keep quiet about this until the time was right.
Of course, it's hardly a surprise that wealthy people are using tax havens. Everybody already knew that. The only thing that would surprise me is if anything positive would come out of these leaks. There will be the usual tut-tuting from the media on the various high-profile people that might be in the leaks, but on the political side nothing will be done to dismantle the system of tax havens, it's too entrenched and those that have any pull to push through change are probably involved in it too in one way or another.
Again nothing new under the sun. We all knew that the wealthy do their best to horde their wealth and make sure to pay minimal tax on it. We all know that the politicians are corrupt and will do what their donors ask them to do. The common people are too content and distracted to show more than indignation about the current system and quickly forget it and accept the status quo. Because they feel too powerless to have a say on how our world is run.
What are the Panama Papers? A guide to the biggest leak in history
From the website dedicated to the leak:
"Over a year ago, an anonymous source contacted the Suddeutsche Zeitung (SZ) and submitted encrypted internal documents from Mossack Fonseca, a Panamanian law firm that sells anonymous offshore companies around the world. These shell firms enable their owners to cover up their business dealings, no matter how shady.
In the months that followed, the number of documents continued to grow far beyond the original leak. Ultimately, SZ acquired about 2.6 terabytes of data, making the leak the biggest that journalists had ever worked with. The source wanted neither financial compensation nor anything else in return, apart from a few security measures.
The data provides rare insights into a world that can only exist in the shadows. It proves how a global industry led by major banks, legal firms, and asset management companies secretly manages the estates of the world’s rich and famous: from politicians, Fifa officials, fraudsters and drug smugglers, to celebrities and professional athletes."
The fucking PM of ICELAND!? Mr. Anti-Corruption himself?! I'm a little bit surprised the PM of Malaysia, Najib "Gift from the Saudis" Razak isn't on the leak. Also, Jackie Chan lol. But then you read more about him and find out he's not that good of a person - disowned his daughter, gave up his son, etc.
This has the potential to be huge. The journalists worked for years on this. I'm actually impressed that they managed to keep quiet about this until the time was right.
Of course, it's hardly a surprise that wealthy people are using tax havens. Everybody already knew that. The only thing that would surprise me is if anything positive would come out of these leaks. There will be the usual tut-tuting from the media on the various high-profile people that might be in the leaks, but on the political side nothing will be done to dismantle the system of tax havens, it's too entrenched and those that have any pull to push through change are probably involved in it too in one way or another.
Again nothing new under the sun. We all knew that the wealthy do their best to horde their wealth and make sure to pay minimal tax on it. We all know that the politicians are corrupt and will do what their donors ask them to do. The common people are too content and distracted to show more than indignation about the current system and quickly forget it and accept the status quo. Because they feel too powerless to have a say on how our world is run.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 4/4/16 10:37 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 4/4/16 10:39 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 4/4/16 18:31 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 4/4/16 10:40 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 4/4/16 10:41 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 4/4/16 10:43 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 4/4/16 18:29 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 4/4/16 12:22 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 4/4/16 18:28 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 4/4/16 15:48 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 5/4/16 20:42 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 4/4/16 16:08 (UTC)But an interesting take was at:
https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2016/04/corporate-media-gatekeepers-protect-western-1-from-panama-leak/
Mr. Murray's point being that, insofar as the Suddeutsche Zeitung chooses to expose some parts of this 2+gig archive, and keep others private, its method for selecting where to do which is biased in a way that protect western governments, government officials, and Western Capitalism in general (being based on keyword lists formed primarily from regimes under UN Sanction)
He predicts that their spotlights will be aimed at the likes of Russia. This article was posted the same day as NPR's article about the leak which zeroed in on Putin, but I don't have an exact time stamp... so I'm not sure if Mr Murray's piece was wonderfully predictive, or a quick reaction.
(no subject)
Date: 5/4/16 09:33 (UTC)Also, one of the fellows from SZ has said to be patient and more will be coming. It is a lot of data and seemingly complicated, so I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. Besides, while there certainly is corruption in the West, it's nowhere near as brazen or common as what I've seen in China or what I've heard about in Russia. I expect far more Russians and Chinese to be implicated than Danes or Swedes even after allowing for population differences.