A Fraudulent Family Affair | Caught Red Hand Handed | Local Fluoride Bans

“I don’t think necessity is the mother of invention. Invention . . . arises directly from idleness, possibly also from laziness. To save oneself trouble.” ― Agatha Christie

“Europe was created by history. America was created by philosophy.” ― Margaret Thatcher

A Fraudulent Family Affair: Yesterday’s Daily Pnut began with a quote from the movie Syriana, about corruption. It said in part: “Corruption is why we win.” That quote was coupled with a predictive warning about press censorship in an authoritarian society, part of the last essay Jamal Khashoggi wrote for the Washington Post before his voice was silenced forever. Without the efforts of dedicated journalists who are committed to following stories and reporting truths, ordinary citizens would remain relegated to hearing only from those wielding power, even if they are corruptly abusing it. Speaking truth to power can be a death sentence. Fortunately it has not yet come to that in America.

This month two remarkable stories were published exposing business practices of the Trump Family going back decades and bordering on nefarious. First was the October 2 New York Times article showing that the real foundation of Donald Trump’s fortune was not his superhuman gift for doing business deals, but the vast New York real estate empire built by his father, and the utilization of a stable of lawyers and tax accountants to game the system, skirt the law, and avoid paying taxes. Second is this week’s stunning story coming out of an eight-month investigation by ProPublica and WNYC, that together with a “Trump, Inc” podcast, show how many of the Trump Organization’s international deals also bore the hallmarks of financial fraud, including money laundering, deceptive borrowing, outright lying to investors, fake “shell company” buyers, and other potential crimes.

Trump had ushered in the new millennium on a string of failed business bankruptcies. Then reality TV show genius Mark Burnett came up with The Apprentice, which aired in 2004 and propelled Trump to international TV stardom, restoring luster to his tarnish reputation. Trump then came up with a new licensing strategy that he said would get others to pay him millions just for the use of his name on real estate projects around the world, without his actually having any involvement in those projects. But what the ProPublica, WNYC investigation showed was that the post-millennium Trump business model was quite different. The Trumps would partner with felons, money launderers and suspected war criminals. They were typically way more than mere licensors or bystanders, they were deeply involved in projects that were often deeply troubled. They didn’t just help mislead investors and buyers, they often outright lied. They profited if the projects succeeded, and they profited if the projects failed. And when projects would fail, as many did, the Trumps simply ignored their prior claims of close involvement, denied any responsibility and walked away.

ADDITIONAL READ: Is Fraud Part of the Trump Organization’s Business Model? A new investigation shows a pattern in different projects around the country and the world.

ADDITIONAL READ: Revealed: Russian billionaire set up US company before Trump Tower meeting. Aras Agalarov, who helped arrange the meeting with Donald Trump Jr in June 2016, formed a shell company with an accountant who has had clients accused of money laundering and embezzlement.

America Mails China A Peace Dove At A Standard Shipping Rate: The Trump administration has elevated tensions between the US and China again, this time on Wednesday by announcing that it plans to withdraw from a 144-year old postal treaty that has allowed Chinese companies to ship small packages to the US at a discounted rate. Meanwhile, on Thursday Defense Secretary James Mattis met with his Chinese counterpart in Singapore for 90 minutes trying to calm things down. But as usual, China ignored Mattis’ complaints over its continued militarization of disputed islands in the South China Sea. And officials cancelled Mattis’ stop in Beijing due to umbrage over other Trump-imposed sanctions. (NYT)

Candy Crush And Social Revolution: Six Italian women are organizing a protest aimed at getting Rome’s elected officials to clean up the city. According to the women and their supporters, the current administration, led by the Five Star Movement since June 2016, has not made enough progress in tackling the refuse problem and other ills like potholes and exploding buses. A Facebook campaign has attracted more than 15,000 members and a mass sit-in is planned for October 27 in front of city hall. (Guardian)

The Plastic Industry Is As Fake As Plastic: The UK’s plastics recycling industry is under investigation by the Environment Agency (EA) for widespread abuse and fraud in its export system. Six UK exporters of plastic waste have had their licenses suspended or cancelled in the last three months. Allegations under investigation include false claims by exporters for tons of plastic waste that don’t exist; plastic waste being left to leak into rivers and oceans; illegal shipments of plastic waste being routed to the Far East via the Netherlands; firms with numerous citations for shipping contaminated waste being allowed to continue exporting. (Guardian)

– “How China rips off the iPhone and reinvents the Android: 2018 will go down as the year when it became impossible to ignore the increasing advancements of Chinese smartphone hardware, from superlative camera arrays and super-speed charging to in-display fingerprint scanners and creative ways to stretch the display across as much of the front of the phone as possible.” (Verge)

– “Scientists Catch Rare Glimpses of the Endangered Vaquita: An expedition in the Gulf of California yielded photographs and video of a species nearing extinction.” (NYT)

– “Key Afghan Police Chief Dies in Kandahar Shooting; Top U.S. General Escapes Uninjured” (NPR)

Caught Red Hand Handed: Saudi Arabia’s government has denied all involvement in the disappearance and presumed death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, but the Washington Post says information it has reviewed, including posts on social media, emails, and previous reports in local media, shows 12 of the men appear to be linked to Saudi security services. The Post also used a caller-ID app to identify phone numbers for the 12 men. Their names, along with images from airport and hotel security footage, were first published by Sabah, a Turkish newspaper closely aligned with the administration of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Turkish officials later confirmed that the 15 were believed to have played a role in Khashoggi’s disappearance and provided The Post with copies of seven of their passports, purportedly scanned when the Saudi men arrived in Istanbul on October 2, the day Khashoggi disappeared after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey. A passport registered to one of the men has been used to enter the United States at least five times since 2014, overlapping in three of those instances with visits by the royal family.

ADDITIONAL READ: Secret recordings give insight into Saudi attempt to silence critics. A close associate of missing Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi has provided the Post with 10 hours of clandestine tape recordings, offering a chilling depiction of how Saudi Arabia tries to lure opposition figures back to the kingdom with promises of money and safety. Human rights groups say these efforts have sharply escalated since Mohammed bin Salam became crown prince last year.

ADDITIONAL READ: Search for Khashoggi’s remains focuses on consul general’s house. Local news agencies in Istanbul also reported that the search for Khashoggi’s body had been extended to two woodland areas outside the city. And Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin announced he would not be attending this week’s government-sponsored investment conference in Riyadh, joining an exodus of western corporate leaders.

ADDITIONAL READ: Aide to Saudi Crown Prince, Suspect in Khashoggi Case, Is Shown Walking into Consulate. A Turkish newspaper published a time-stamped photograph of Maher Abdulaziz Mutreb, a frequent companion of Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, walking inside the Saudi consulate hours before Jamal Khashoggi entered. The photograph is one of the most striking pieces of evidence to date linking the crown prince to Khashoggi’s disappearance.

– “Obamacare: The big election issue that’s not Trump: Healthcare tops most lists of voters’ concerns in the US mid-term elections, but it gets precious little coverage in the national media. At a clinic in West Virginia, patients and staff explain why they think the system is broken.” (BBC)

– “Voter Turnout Could Hit 50-Year Record For Midterm Elections: ‘It’s probably going to be a turnout rate that most people have never experienced in their lives for a midterm election,’ Michael McDonald, a professor at the University of Florida who studies turnout and maintains a turnout database, told NPR.” (NPR)

– “U.S. sports leagues could reap $4.2 billion a year from legal betting: survey” (Reuters)

– “Longtime Shoeshiner Who Donated $202K To Children’s Hospital Of Pittsburgh Dies At 76” It’s the feel sad story of the year! (NPR)

– “Science says fluoride in water is good for kids. So why are these towns banning it?: In the past five years, 74 cities have voted to remove fluoride from their drinking water, despite thousands of studies showing it prevents cavities.” (NBC)

– “Lithium miners’ dispute reveals water worries in Chile’s Atacama desert” (Reuters)

– “Here’s Where the Post-Apocalyptic Water Wars Will Be Fought: So break out your goalie masks and harpoon guns, a Mad Max future awaits!” (Earther)

– “Canada’s New Marijuana Economy: Meet the Winners and Losers” Say “eh?” to drugs? (NYT)

– “Watchdog Group Finds Spooky Spotify Ad Is Too Scary For Kids, Causes ‘Distress’” Upgrade to premium for offline listening, personal playlists, and to avoid the ever present embodiment of death! (NPR)

– “Francis Fukuyama interview: ‘Socialism ought to come back’: The End of History author on what Karl Marx got right, the rivals to liberal democracy and why he fears a US-China war.”

– “A new Ikea report is an unsettling look at life in the 21st century: ‘Almost half of Americans (45%) go to their car to have a private moment to themselves,’ the company reports in a new survey of 22,000 people in 22 countries.” Don’t fall for this. They want you to spend less time in your car and more time putting together coffee tables. (Fast Company & Life Hacker)

-”A neuroscientist explains the limits and possibilities of using technology to read our thoughts: Brain activity doesn’t tell us what someone is experiencing” (Verge)

– “MIT is investing $1 billion in an AI college: One of the most sizable commitments yet to building out the talent-scarce AI field” (Verge)

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