The Panama Papers

HOW REPORTERS PULLED OFF THE PANAMA PAPERS, THE BIGGEST LEAK IN WHISTLEBLOWER HISTORY ANDY GREENBERG | 04.04.16 When Daniel Ellsberg photocopied and leaked the Pentagon Papers to the New York Times in 1971, those 7,000 pages of top secret Vietnam War documents represented what were then the biggest whistleblower leak in history—a couple dozen megabytes if it were contained in a modern text file. Almost four decades later, WikiLeaks in 2010 published Cablegate, a world-shaking, 1.73 gigabyte collection of classified State Department communications that was almost a hundred times bigger. If there’s some Moore’s Law of Leaks, however, it seems to be exponential. Just five years have passed since WikiLeaks’ Cablegate coup, and now the world is grappling with a whistleblower megaleak on a scale never seen before: 2.6 terabytes, well over a thousandfold larger. On Sunday, more than a hundred media outlets around the world, coordinated by the Washington, DC-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, released stories on the Panama Papers, a gargantuan collection of leaked documents exposing a widespread system of global tax evasion. The leak includes more than 4.8 million emails, 3 million database files, and 2.1 million PDFs from the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca that, according to analysis of the leaked documents, appears to specialize in creating shell companies that its clients have used to hide their assets. … http://www.wired.com/2016/04/reporters-pulled-off-panama-papers-biggest-leak-whistleblower-history/
Documents leaked Sunday from a Panama-based firm, which sells offshore shell companies, purport to show corruption and questionable business practices of the world’s politicians, billionaires, entertainers, athletes, drug barons, and others. At the heart of the nearly four decades of records from Mossack Fonseca, the Panamanian law firm … http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2016/04/panama-papers-names/476688/
But, will any of this newly gained information make any difference? :blank:

No.

But, will any of this newly gained information make any difference? :blank:
Sure it will, but the white collar criminals will be busy creating new ways to avoid contributing their fair share. Greed never ends, but the same can be said for the desire by many to expose and push it back as much as possible.

Very cool piece, Thanks for posting CC!

According to this CBC News piece there could be more than $32 Trillion being hoarded away from the taxman worldwide.

But the Tax Justice Network, an international research and advocacy organization, says the number is far greater. The group estimates that as of 2010, there was between $21 and $32 trillion kept in offshore holdings. That would represent between eight and 13 per cent of total global wealth.

Crazy shit, for sure. Tell me that ain’t a form of insanity.
I’ve always figured a healthy economy demands that all pockets have holes in them.
What these people do makes as much sense as
10 Biggest Hoarders In The World - YouTube

Crazy shit, for sure. Tell me that ain't a form of insanity. I've always figured a healthy economy demands that all pockets have holes in them. What these people do makes as much sense as https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWWIrGqpmRw
So true. What's the point in all the greed and the insane drive by just a relatively few people to accumulate unlimited amounts of wealth. Past a certain point it becomes meaningless, but the overall consequences of this is rapidly making any future for any of us highly questionable when you understand that climate change denial and the idea of endless consumerism no matter the ecological impacts is firmly rooted in the concept of unlimited wealth and economic growth. It's like treating aggressive cancer as the best possible health outcome.

Another prominent politician has been caught up in this unfolding scandal, Britain’s PM David Cameron.

David Cameron has finally admitted he benefited from a Panama-based offshore trust set up by his late father. After three days of stalling and four partial statements issued by Downing Street he confessed that he owned shares in the tax haven fund, which he sold for £31,500 just before becoming prime minister in 2010. In a specially arranged interview with ITV News’ Robert Peston he confirmed a direct link to his father’s UK-tax avoiding fund, details of which were exposed in the Panama Papers revelations in the Guardian this week.

I want to know when the Americans are going to be outed.

I want to know when the Americans are going to be outed.
There's been hints that it could happen this week.
I want to know when the Americans are going to be outed.
There's been hints that it could happen this week. And they'll get a tap on the wrist at most. Lois

Rich Americans have other easily accessible venues for hiding money.

Rich Americans have other easily accessible venues for hiding money.
Yeah, {Panama's party ended for Americans about 1989. After that it was like, how you say, damaged goods, we'll date someone else. :coolhmm:
Yeah, {Panama's party ended for Americans about 1989. After that it was like, how you say, damaged goods, we'll date someone else. :coolhmm:
Ahh...you're referring to "Operation: Just Cus' We Felt Like Invading"...

What I mean is:

What I mean is: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/08/business/need-to-hide-some-income-you-dont-have-to-go-to-panama.html?_r=0
For wealthy Americans looking to veil their assets and shield some of their income from taxation, there is no need to go to Panama or any other offshore tax haven. It’s easy to establish a shell corporation right here at home. “In Wyoming, Nevada and Delaware, it’s possible to create these shell corporations with virtually no questions asked," said Matthew Gardner, executive director of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a nonprofit research organization in Washington. :bug: In some places, it can be more difficult to get a fishing license than to register a shell company. And it doesn’t cost much more. :ohh: … (400 words later) “You can create anonymous companies anywhere in the United States," Ms. Lowe said. “The reason people know about Delaware, Nevada and Wyoming is because these states market themselves internationally." :-/ (there's more)
Why does it seem every time I learn something new about the people world, it just gets more depressing and hopeless seeming
What I mean is: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/08/business/need-to-hide-some-income-you-dont-have-to-go-to-panama.html?_r=0
For wealthy Americans looking to veil their assets and shield some of their income from taxation, there is no need to go to Panama or any other offshore tax haven. It’s easy to establish a shell corporation right here at home. “In Wyoming, Nevada and Delaware, it’s possible to create these shell corporations with virtually no questions asked," said Matthew Gardner, executive director of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a nonprofit research organization in Washington. :bug: In some places, it can be more difficult to get a fishing license than to register a shell company. And it doesn’t cost much more. :ohh: … (400 words later) “You can create anonymous companies anywhere in the United States," Ms. Lowe said. “The reason people know about Delaware, Nevada and Wyoming is because these states market themselves internationally." :-/ (there's more)
Why does it seem every time I learn something new about the people world, it just gets more depressing and hopeless seeming You mean stuff like this where it appears modern stratified civilization has been based on the 1% using human sacrifice of the poorest least powerful members of society from the dawn of civilization to maintain their status. Kind of explains why they appear to be throwing all of the rest of us under the bus now. http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/human-sacrifice-1.3527357

In our society, we have human sacrifice (from among our combat soldiers). Islamists also have their suicide bombers.

In our society, we have human sacrifice (from among our combat soldiers). Islamists also have their suicide bombers.
More than a few anthropologists have also compared the Death Penalty in the US to ritualized murder in older societies. And as you say many in the 1% in the US are more than willing to sacrifice their fellow Americans for profit. Like Prescott Bush who worked closely with Fritz Thyssen - Hitler's banker - for decades, the only reason that Hitler was able to come to power and rebuild German industry and military might was the millions of dollars made available from rich investors in the west. IBM helped supply Germany with information systems that made the Holocaust possible and German tanks rolled out of factories built by Ford. It took the US government seizing Bush's assets in 1942 - after the US was at war with Germany - to get the father of two future presidents to stop trading with America's enemy.