The Panama Papers

[HedgeWizard]

Starting this thread to discuss the Panama Papers. As described by Edward Snowden it is the largest leak in history of data journalism

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panama_Papers

 

http://panamapapers.sueddeutsche.de/en/

[Cuffy_Meigs]

I've not read a whole lot about this yet but a cursory glance at many of the headlines here in the UK might lead you to believe that the only person in the frame was Vladimir Putin. In contrast, Associated Press reports that no major TV channel in Russia has mentioned Panama, let alone Putin. Not sure I believe this as RT.com is certainly covering it.

 

Although it is all a lot of fun for journalists and will no doubt run and run, I find it unlikely that anybody could be surprised that rich people with the opportunity to avoid paying tax are taking advantage of the possibility!

[rosencrantz]

That is because the media conglomerates are part of the system. They focus on states / people that are hostile to Western Imperialism, like Russia, Syria, and the like. The corporate media follows state propaganda: 
 

The Guardian reports this too and helpfully lists those countries as Zimbabwe, North Korea, Russia and Syria. The filtering of this Mossack Fonseca information by the corporate media follows a direct western governmental agenda. There is no mention at all of use of Mossack Fonseca by massive western corporations or western billionaires – the main customers. And the Guardian is quick to reassure that “much of the leaked material will remain private.

 

 

https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2016/04/corporate-media-gatekeepers-protect-western-1-from-panama-leak/

Also, keep in mind that the consortium who does the research in the first place is backed by powerful and well connected funds: 
 

 

What do you expect? The leak is being managed by the grandly but laughably named “International Consortium of Investigative Journalists”, which is funded and organised entirely by the USA’s Center for Public Integrity. Theirfunders include

Ford Foundation
Carnegie Endowment
Rockefeller Family Fund
W K Kellogg Foundation
Open Society Foundation (Soros)

 

 

(ibid)

What are the chances that Western corporations and billionaires appearing in the leaks? 

[HedgeWizard]

This tweet refers to the concern about the lack of US individuals;

 

https://twitter.com/mathewi/status/716771686482202625

 

Not directly mentioned by parties implicitly involved in regards to the Panama papers being leaked intentionally by govs, but these are emails leaked to and from Jake Sullivan, a top Clinton advisor;

 

http://imgbox.com/M62jssbi

 

http://imgbox.com/EYGvlSq6

 

in similar news, over 49 million Turkish citizens have just had their personal data leaked

 

• National Identifier (TC Kimlik No)
• First Name
• Last Name
• Mother's First Name
• Father's First Name
• Gender
• City of Birth
• Date of Birth
• ID Registration City and District
• Full Address

[whole2th]

"Leaks" are equal to "distractions"--providing the appearance that something is being done about Big Brother tyranny.

 

http://mashable.com/2014/06/05/edward-snowden-revelations/#yh26rTEasiqL   None of these ten "leaks" have produced tangible change in the surveillance activity.

 

We don't know who controls the surveillance.  We can't vote them out of their positions.  We have no options for communicating to large groups of people in order to organize our views outside of these systems which are monitored.

 

Julian Assange endorsed Snowden.  Here is what Julian Assange says about 9-11 activists:  

 

"His obsession with secrecy, both in others and maintaining his own, lends him the air of a conspiracy theorist. Is he one? “I believe in facts about conspiracies,” he says, choosing his words slowly. “Any time people with power plan in secret, they are conducting a conspiracy. So there are conspiracies everywhere. There are also crazed conspiracy theories. It’s important not to confuse these two. Generally, when there’s enough facts about a conspiracy we simply call this news.” What about 9/11? “I’m constantly annoyed that people are distracted by false conspiracies such as 9/11, when all around we provide evidence of real conspiracies, for war or mass financial fraud.” What about the Bilderberg conference? “That is vaguely conspiratorial, in a networking sense. We have published their meeting notes.”

 

Predicated on 9-11 narratives, wars continue to be launched.

 

Assange, Snowden, now Panama--circuses to keep us thinking there is a better day on the horizon.

[whole2th]

Why are there calls for arresting Snowden for his leaks featured in the news and the voices of those who call for Hillary's arrest for leaks of classified materials are muted?

[HedgeWizard]

Why are there calls for arresting Snowden for his leaks featured in the news and the voices of those who call for Hillary's arrest for leaks of classified materials are muted?

 

I think it is false to say that the leaks put forth by Snowden and others have not caused some tangible change in the surveillance activity. At least generally on the fringe people are taking more personal responsibility nowadays when embracing the Internet's various mediums and that there is a new wave of services that are offering solutions to privacy such as new apps like end to end encrypted Telegram, tech companies realizing their own best interest and resisting implementing backdoors, as well as protocols such as the bitcoin network being continually adopted along with its supplementary apps. Though you are right in some aspects as it is not to say the watchers have shown any less tenacity when it comes to spying.

 

For the Panama Papers it is not an otherwise well renowned source that is leaking the information like wikileaks, but it has yet to be more formally determined what the nature of the leaks are. We should be able to make better sense of all of it as time goes on, just like the other leaks. I think many journalists and individuals are well aware of the suspicious nature of a closed source leak

[shirgall]

Finally something to bring down Tina Turner and David Geffen!

[HedgeWizard]

I thought James Corbett's initial coverage was fairly objective

 

https://www.corbettreport.com/?p=18320

 

Finally something to bring down Tina Turner and David Geffen!

 

let's hope someone leaks the leak and we see more juicy folks involved. I am largely convinced this is not a gov agency's intentional leak though there is no lack for wanting to aim any bottled lightning therein. 

[wizzzardry]

I give you an objective take on the Panama Papers leak and the effect it has had on the Icelandic PM:

 

https://www.facebook.com/KrakkaRUV/videos/1693690640887904/

[AccuTron]

 

I give you an objective take on the Panama Papers leak and the effect it has had on the Icelandic PM:

 

English version?

[wizzzardry]

My bad, the embedded version doesn't have the Settings button. If you follow the Facebook link you can choose English Captions.

[David Ottinger]

Here is an analysis of what effect the Panama Papers has/had on various nations:

 

https://www.stratfor.com/analysis/those-who-are-and-are-not-sheltered-panama-papers

[vahleeb]

Personally I feel that this is a wasted opportunity.

 

Here's the ultimate evidence, sprawled out there on every tv screen in the world, that taxes are theft and that people who can afford to buy a safe (an offshore) will do it just to keep the grubby hands of the governments off of their money. Instead of discussing everything in this key and highlighting the hypocrisy of the politicians who live on taxes to admit themselves through this behaviour that taxation is theft, somehow everything got reframed into a rich vs poor perspective and "the classes" are busy tearing each other apart.

[luxfelix]

Another angle to the Panama Papers: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/12/arts/design/what-the-panama-papers-reveal-about-the-art-market.html?mwrsm=Facebook&_r=0