Category Archives: News to use
Useful news for all to advance knowledge of the world and how it works
Pandora Papers reveal secret offshore financial system for global elites – Washington Post
The revelations include more than $100 million spent by King Abdullah II of Jordan on luxury homes in Malibu, Calif., and other locations; millions of dollars in property and cash secretly owned by the leaders of the Czech Republic, Kenya, Ecuador and other countries; and a waterfront home in Monaco acquired by a Russian woman who gained considerable wealth after she reportedly had a child with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Other disclosures hit closer to home for U.S. officials and other Western leaders who frequently condemn smaller countries whose permissive banking systems have been exploited for decades by looters of assets and launderers of dirty money.
The files provide substantial new evidence, for example, that South Dakota now rivals notoriously opaque jurisdictions in Europe and the Caribbean in financial secrecy. Tens of millions of dollars from outside the United States are now sheltered by trust companies in Sioux Falls, some of it tied to people and companies accused of human rights abuses and other wrongdoing.
Source: Pandora Papers reveal secret offshore financial system for global elites – Washington Post
Minbari Mondays, Soul Mates, and, Things Are Not Always as They Seem…
Context, Thought, and Learning: ShiraDest Offers Project Do Better
This week, Ranger Mayann did not send a report, so this 8th episode (in original, not viewing, order) of season 2, will again be from my point of view, rather than from the Minbari point of view:
I love the way this episode highlights the fact (much like many of the Harry Potter books, too) that things really are not always as they appear to be:
1.) more institutional abuse, and yes, Neatnik, “be afraid, be very afraid” of the Corps,
and
2.) also be a little afraid of Londo Mollari, or very afraid, when he starts wearing blue…
In this episode, we see a rather humiliated Ambassador Delenn. A bad hair day is not ok for the Minbari.
May we all learn to look past appearances, and keep those who tell us the truth in our lives.
Neatnik’s review of this episode has more…
View original post 416 more words
Illegal logging threatens rare Cameroonian hardwood with extinction
“Chinese merchants [in the port city of Douala] pay people to go into the forest, harvest the tree and bring it back to them,” said Nana, who led the survey to assess the status of African zebrawood (Microberlinia bisulcata) and other threatened species in the forest, which covers an area of around 1,500 square kilometers (580 square miles).
The price of a cubic meter (equivalent to 1 metric ton) has risen to $600, from around $300 in 2018. Loggers are paid up to 100,000 CFA francs (around $180) per tree. The illegal loggers only saw off around 40-50% of each tree they fell, leaving the rest to rot.
“It’s just a huge waste,” Nana said. “All standing trees we identified last year have been cut.”
Source: Illegal logging threatens rare Cameroonian hardwood with extinction
La MUERTE de la NATURALEZA – por la Mercancía de Oro y Diamantes – El Arte del lavado verde por los comerciantes de lujo y la muerte de la naturaleza y los pueblos indígenas … en sus propias palabras … actualizado 2021

En la “Utopía” de Thomas More, publicada en 1516, el oro y las piedras preciosas no tienen valor. De hecho, han sido lastradas por la sangre, la esclavitud y la locura humana….

Fotos: Fundación Cartier – Luc Boegly / minería de oro – João Laet
Foto de Yanomami, Alto Orinoco, Amazonas, Venezuela y foto-montaje – Barbara Crane Navarro
El arte de la manipulación: El concepto corporativo del patrocinio artístico fue perfectamente descrito por Hans Haacke en “Libre-Echange“, el libro de Pierre Bourdieu y Hans Haacke, publicado por Editions du Seuil / les press du Réel en 1994, que cito de un extracto aquí:
“Pero…
View original post 3,775 more words
Aboriginal people in Australia recover Daintree rainforest — Stigmatis

Australia’s Daintree rainforest was returned to its Aboriginal owners as part of the government’s effort to cede control of the world’s oldest rainforest, officials said Wednesday (29.09.2021). Daintree National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site containing a 135-million-year-old rainforest, was handed over to the Eastern Kuku Yalanji people at a ceremony Wednesday in the remote[…]
Aboriginal people in Australia recover Daintree rainforest — Stigmatis
Indigenous people in Brazil at risk of losing their right to land… — msamba

King’s Academic warns how the state decision could set a precedent for many other cases unless overruled by the Supreme Court Land reserves occupied by indigenous groups in Brazil are at risk of being lost because of a constitutional decision that could affect hundreds of cases, warns Professor Anthony Pereira. The case, which is sparking[…]
Indigenous people in Brazil at risk of losing their right to land… — msamba
WARE Collective’s Virtual Art Auction to support Jamaica’s unique architectural heritage
For me, there is a strong connection between preserving and protecting our cultural traditions and history and environmental conservation. In Jamaica, we are not very good at either. One example is the continued deterioration of the Vale Royal building in St. Andrew, which is the responsibility of the Office of the Prime Minister. The late Prime Minister Edward Seaga, who once lived there, must be turning in his grave at its deplorable state.
Since COVID-19 started to eat into Jamaica’s budget, there is “no money” for such matters; it seems that we can do without those things that make us feel good about our island and its heritage. No matter. We like new things: new highways, new apartment blocks, even new trees and mangroves!

So, if you feel, as I do, that Jamaica’s cultural heritage is actually still rather…
View original post 592 more words
Maine hospitals report rising vaccination rates, few departures in response to mandate – Portland Press Herald
While activists have protested the Mills administration’s mandate that health care workers be vaccinated against COVID-19, most in Maine are complying and getting their shots. And, so far, only a small number have resigned over the mandate.
Three of Maine’s four major health care systems are reporting that 90 percent or more of their employees are now fully vaccinated, based on a survey late last week by the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram. And the reduced likelihood of workers becoming ill and missing work has tempered concerns about losing employees who refuse to be vaccinated.
One hospital system, Central Maine Healthcare in Lewiston, has a slightly lower vaccination rate and has expressed more concern about the potential loss of workers later this month.
Report: Michael Flynn Received $200,000 in Undisclosed Secret Payments – Rolling Stone
Michael Flynn, the former general and former Trump advisor who thinks companies may be putting the Covid vaccine in salad dressing, allegedly received a total of $200,000 in undisclosed secret payments in 2014 and 2015 for consulting he did on a plan to build 40 nuclear power plants in the Middle East, the Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad reported.
The nuclear power plan, which never came to fruition, would have involved companies from the U.S., French, Canada and Russia constructing and managing nuclear plants in Arab nations. According to SpyTalk, a site run by national security reporter Jeff Stein, the paper reported that an audit of a Dutch company specializing in transport revealed the payment to Flynn.
Source: Report: Michael Flynn Received $200,000 in Undisclosed Secret Payments – Rolling Stone
You must be logged in to post a comment.