I thought it was pretty funny that the police had to do a token effort to anonymize the alleged criminal: For those not aware, this is the man commonly referred to as Prince Andrew.
"As part of the investigation, we have today (19/2) arrested a man in his sixties from Norfolk on suspicion of misconduct in public office and are carrying out searches at addresses in Berkshire and Norfolk.
"The man remains in police custody at this time.
"We will not be naming the arrested man, as per national guidance.
For those not aware, this is the man commonly referred to as Prince Andrew.
From the BBC live thread: And on his 66th birthday to boot too, lol.
From the BBC live thread:
My understanding is that there’s been a very significant development in the investigation into the Epstein files. Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has been arrested this morning on suspicion of misconduct in public office.
That goes back to documents from when he was a trade envoy, that are alleged to have been passed to Epstein.
It was the Mail Online this morning that had some pictures of what looked like police officers near the Sandringham Estate. I was able to confirm that there has been an arrest made this morning.
It’s Thames Valley Police who have been looking into these allegations against Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.
They have been looking into allegations of misconduct in public office and allegations that a second woman was sent to the UK by Jeffrey Epstein for a sexual encounter with Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.
My understanding is that this arrest is just about the misconduct in public office and obviously a very significant moment that the former prince has been arrested.
He has previously strenuously denied any wrongdoing on any of these matters related to Epstein.
in Cantonese, our birthday song contains the lyrics "may every year have this day again, and may every age have this morn once more; congratulations, congratulations" -- seems fitting. I hope to...
in Cantonese, our birthday song contains the lyrics "may every year have this day again, and may every age have this morn once more; congratulations, congratulations" -- seems fitting. I hope to see his sentencing this time again next year.
"Charles R."
that R is Rex isn't it, because Charles doesn't use the hyphenated last name.
From this story it seems that the main issue is that he was sharing state secrets with Epstein. The obvious question is “in exchange for what”? Most people are concentrating on the horrible sex...
From this story it seems that the main issue is that he was sharing state secrets with Epstein.
The obvious question is “in exchange for what”?
Most people are concentrating on the horrible sex trafficking and human rights violations but there’s also plenty of billionaire old boy network skirting of financial and other laws going on too.
I don't have enough corkboard, yarn, Adderall, or cigarettes to begin to put the pieces together, but Drop Site News has done a lot of reporting on Epstein's ties to Israeli intelligence....
I don't have enough corkboard, yarn, Adderall, or cigarettes to begin to put the pieces together, but Drop Site News has done a lot of reporting on Epstein's ties to Israeli intelligence. Obviously, given the current political environment, that might come off as extremely conspiratorial, but we are talking about an elite pedophile ring, might as well throw in one of the world's elite spy organizations.
I had thought the potential Israel connection was already a known possibility, given Maxwell's family ties. Lately though it seems like it's hitting people as a new revelation.
I had thought the potential Israel connection was already a known possibility, given Maxwell's family ties. Lately though it seems like it's hitting people as a new revelation.
Well, for starters, I think it's a very difficult pill for people to swallow, especially those who still cling to their belief in institutions. That's probably a big reason why you had guys like...
Well, for starters, I think it's a very difficult pill for people to swallow, especially those who still cling to their belief in institutions. That's probably a big reason why you had guys like Ezra Klein saying last year that he thought Epstein's sex crimes and close social network of powerful men were kept separate. Then there's some of the actual reporting from mainstream outlets like The New York Times that went out of its way to say things like,
Abundant conspiracy theories hold that Epstein worked for spy services or ran a lucrative blackmail operation, but we found a more prosaic explanation for how he built a fortune. A relentless scammer, he abused expense accounts, engineered inside deals and demonstrated a remarkable knack for separating seemingly sophisticated investors and businessmen from their money.
I should note that Drop Site offered a rebuttal to that claim in this piece about Epstein's ties to Iran-Contra
Of course, it could be an extraordinary coincidence that Epstein shared a penthouse with an Iran-Contra lawyer, worked for an Iran-Contra arms dealer, and then, as we report below, moved the Iran-Contra planes to Ohio for use by billionaire retail mogul Leslie Wexner. It may simply be a coincidence that Ehud Barak, one of Epstein’s closest friends, was the head of Israel’s military intelligence during the planning for Iran-Contra, and he supervised the CIA’s first delivery. But it might also be something The Times should look a bit closer at, if they’re so inclined.
I'm not super plugged into this saga (again, not enough amphetamines, yarn, or space in my smooth little brain to keep track of the slow drip of information coming from the files), but my understanding is that the recent document releases have shed additional light on the connection, making it appear more concrete than coincidental. I think that's why more people are starting to take it connection seriously.
What would it even mean to take the connection seriously, though? The DoJ doesn't seem much interested in filing charges against anyone, and the FBI (nominally the US counterintelligence agency)...
What would it even mean to take the connection seriously, though? The DoJ doesn't seem much interested in filing charges against anyone, and the FBI (nominally the US counterintelligence agency) is ... maybe on vacation or something? Their Slack has an "out of the office Mon & Tues" badge, but it's Thursday and they haven't responded, so I don't know.
I don't see people queuing up to storm the Bastille yet, so that's good, I guess?
This is super important. Morally, the sex trafficking is obviously the most horrific part of it. But in terms of preventing these kinds of things from happening going forward, we need an...
This is super important. Morally, the sex trafficking is obviously the most horrific part of it. But in terms of preventing these kinds of things from happening going forward, we need an accounting of all the less grotesque stuff as well. One thing we ought to learn from this scandal is that these sorts of people care about themselves, and nothing else. We shouldn't let them get away with claiming some kind of greater good in the future to sell whatever schemes they may hatch.
Finished watching a documentary on Epstein and I couldn’t believe how many of these people are still out and about. It also made me think how can people do these kinds of acts? Do they not pause...
Finished watching a documentary on Epstein and I couldn’t believe how many of these people are still out and about. It also made me think how can people do these kinds of acts? Do they not pause after, say, sexually assaulting a young girl, and say “hmm wtf am I doing here?” Instead they basically say “that was fun, let’s do more of that!” Is it after you’re a certain amounts of billion dollars rich that your core human values or emotions just mutate into some sort of disgusting criminal mutant? You’re so rich you become bored of being a decent person? I don’t get the correlation. If I were that rich I’d be supporting a ton of charitable organizations and trying to do good. Even the charities, these same illustrious figures use them to hide their cash to be more rich! And this particular example of human garbage got stripped of his title and the punishment was “move to your smaller castle!” Are you kidding me? Anyway, this was a great news story to wake up to. Good job UK police department.
I think it goes both ways. Money corrupts, so as people become richer, they usually become worse people. You say you'd be supporting charities and try to do good, and you probably mean it too, but...
You’re so rich you become bored of being a decent person? I don’t get the correlation. If I were that rich I’d be supporting a ton of charitable organizations and trying to do good.
I think it goes both ways.
Money corrupts, so as people become richer, they usually become worse people. You say you'd be supporting charities and try to do good, and you probably mean it too, but if you actually became rich, you'd see the world differently and maybe decide not to support those charities after all.
But also; bad people are more likely to become rich people. They're more willing to lie, cheat, conspire, backstab, etc. This gives them a big advantage over more good and honest people. And bad people tend to be more ambitious and self-serving, therefore more likely to be entrepreneurs.
I heard a saying that I have found true with my limited experience of seeing acquaintances come into boatloads of money: Money doesn't necessarily change you, it just exaggerates who you already...
I heard a saying that I have found true with my limited experience of seeing acquaintances come into boatloads of money:
Money doesn't necessarily change you, it just exaggerates who you already were.
You a kind person? Well now you have a lot more opportunities to be generous!
You an asshole? Well now you have a lot more opportunities to be a part of an Epstein group!
It also works the other way around - even if you have made a lot of money, you can be a good person and truly give your money away, or check out and go do something chill with your life, which...
It also works the other way around - even if you have made a lot of money, you can be a good person and truly give your money away, or check out and go do something chill with your life, which plays a part in keeping down the amount of wealth you hold.
Child molesting aside, the current crop of (mostly tech) billionnaires seem like the worst ever when it comes to selfishness and obsession with control. Though I have no doubt it can get even worse in the future.
Your second point is painfully true—like you mentioned, "if I had money I would do ______ to help people" may be true, but if you do it that way then you don't end up having all that money lol....
Your second point is painfully true—like you mentioned, "if I had money I would do ______ to help people" may be true, but if you do it that way then you don't end up having all that money lol. But then there's the John Steinbeck quote folks who are sure they're next in line, and how can you say that CEOs are inherently evil? I'm not talking about you being CEO of your Scentsy empire on linkedin, Madison, I'm talking about Lex Luthor, he's real, he allegedly may or may not have rigged an election.
There is a pretty big difference between seeing the world differently and not supporting charities, and the kinds of things these people did/do. Plenty of things in the legal spectrum that are...
There is a pretty big difference between seeing the world differently and not supporting charities, and the kinds of things these people did/do. Plenty of things in the legal spectrum that are excessive and available only to the super rich, and yet are still perfectly legal and not really harmful to others (buying a sports car). No matter how rich I get, I can't see myself causing suffering to others. Big difference between not donating wealth to charities because you see the world differently now, and deciding that hurting people is fun, the suffering of others is cool as long as you get your fun, and you want to make it available to your other rich friends too.
People are very good at rationalizing the horrible things they do. No one sees themselves as the villain of their story, so they tell themselves stories to make themselves the good guy. In the...
People are very good at rationalizing the horrible things they do. No one sees themselves as the villain of their story, so they tell themselves stories to make themselves the good guy.
In the case of these pieces of shit, it's usually something like "she's so into me" or "I'm giving her financial opportunities beyond her wildest dreams" or "this is way better than the alternative she'd face in <developing country I lured her from>" it doesn't matter that they're all obvious nonsense. They don't have to be convincing, they just have to be repeated to oneself over and over to soothe the psyche.
I think the terrifying thing about humanity is our capacity to be both good and bad, which mislead us to think we're surely not a bad person. Some of these people might do a lot of charity, and...
If I were that rich I’d be supporting a ton of charitable organizations and trying to do good.
I think the terrifying thing about humanity is our capacity to be both good and bad, which mislead us to think we're surely not a bad person. Some of these people might do a lot of charity, and some might even have the capacity to care for those in their true inner circles. For their crimes, maybe they rationalize it: I know I do when I behave poorly so perhaps them too. Example, if someone were "purchasing" a person, they might rationalize it as, well it's only X amount of their time, and then I'm paying for them to have a "better" quality of life than they had already anyway. That's how abusive employers think, right, that at least I'm paying these shoe making children 5 cents a day, otherwise they would be starving instead.
I thought it was pretty funny that the police had to do a token effort to anonymize the alleged criminal:
For those not aware, this is the man commonly referred to as Prince Andrew.
The nonce formally known as Prince. They did after all rescind his titles.
From the BBC live thread:
And on his 66th birthday to boot too, lol.
in Cantonese, our birthday song contains the lyrics "may every year have this day again, and may every age have this morn once more; congratulations, congratulations" -- seems fitting. I hope to see his sentencing this time again next year.
that R is Rex isn't it, because Charles doesn't use the hyphenated last name.
From this story it seems that the main issue is that he was sharing state secrets with Epstein.
The obvious question is “in exchange for what”?
Most people are concentrating on the horrible sex trafficking and human rights violations but there’s also plenty of billionaire old boy network skirting of financial and other laws going on too.
I don't have enough corkboard, yarn, Adderall, or cigarettes to begin to put the pieces together, but Drop Site News has done a lot of reporting on Epstein's ties to Israeli intelligence. Obviously, given the current political environment, that might come off as extremely conspiratorial, but we are talking about an elite pedophile ring, might as well throw in one of the world's elite spy organizations.
I had thought the potential Israel connection was already a known possibility, given Maxwell's family ties. Lately though it seems like it's hitting people as a new revelation.
Well, for starters, I think it's a very difficult pill for people to swallow, especially those who still cling to their belief in institutions. That's probably a big reason why you had guys like Ezra Klein saying last year that he thought Epstein's sex crimes and close social network of powerful men were kept separate. Then there's some of the actual reporting from mainstream outlets like The New York Times that went out of its way to say things like,
I should note that Drop Site offered a rebuttal to that claim in this piece about Epstein's ties to Iran-Contra
I'm not super plugged into this saga (again, not enough amphetamines, yarn, or space in my smooth little brain to keep track of the slow drip of information coming from the files), but my understanding is that the recent document releases have shed additional light on the connection, making it appear more concrete than coincidental. I think that's why more people are starting to take it connection seriously.
What would it even mean to take the connection seriously, though? The DoJ doesn't seem much interested in filing charges against anyone, and the FBI (nominally the US counterintelligence agency) is ... maybe on vacation or something? Their Slack has an "out of the office Mon & Tues" badge, but it's Thursday and they haven't responded, so I don't know.
I don't see people queuing up to storm the Bastille yet, so that's good, I guess?
This is super important. Morally, the sex trafficking is obviously the most horrific part of it. But in terms of preventing these kinds of things from happening going forward, we need an accounting of all the less grotesque stuff as well. One thing we ought to learn from this scandal is that these sorts of people care about themselves, and nothing else. We shouldn't let them get away with claiming some kind of greater good in the future to sell whatever schemes they may hatch.
Once you diddle kids, a little insider trading is pretty tame in comparison.
Finished watching a documentary on Epstein and I couldn’t believe how many of these people are still out and about. It also made me think how can people do these kinds of acts? Do they not pause after, say, sexually assaulting a young girl, and say “hmm wtf am I doing here?” Instead they basically say “that was fun, let’s do more of that!” Is it after you’re a certain amounts of billion dollars rich that your core human values or emotions just mutate into some sort of disgusting criminal mutant? You’re so rich you become bored of being a decent person? I don’t get the correlation. If I were that rich I’d be supporting a ton of charitable organizations and trying to do good. Even the charities, these same illustrious figures use them to hide their cash to be more rich! And this particular example of human garbage got stripped of his title and the punishment was “move to your smaller castle!” Are you kidding me? Anyway, this was a great news story to wake up to. Good job UK police department.
I think it goes both ways.
Money corrupts, so as people become richer, they usually become worse people. You say you'd be supporting charities and try to do good, and you probably mean it too, but if you actually became rich, you'd see the world differently and maybe decide not to support those charities after all.
But also; bad people are more likely to become rich people. They're more willing to lie, cheat, conspire, backstab, etc. This gives them a big advantage over more good and honest people. And bad people tend to be more ambitious and self-serving, therefore more likely to be entrepreneurs.
I heard a saying that I have found true with my limited experience of seeing acquaintances come into boatloads of money:
Money doesn't necessarily change you, it just exaggerates who you already were.
You a kind person? Well now you have a lot more opportunities to be generous!
You an asshole? Well now you have a lot more opportunities to be a part of an Epstein group!
It also works the other way around - even if you have made a lot of money, you can be a good person and truly give your money away, or check out and go do something chill with your life, which plays a part in keeping down the amount of wealth you hold.
Child molesting aside, the current crop of (mostly tech) billionnaires seem like the worst ever when it comes to selfishness and obsession with control. Though I have no doubt it can get even worse in the future.
Your second point is painfully true—like you mentioned, "if I had money I would do ______ to help people" may be true, but if you do it that way then you don't end up having all that money lol. But then there's the John Steinbeck quote folks who are sure they're next in line, and how can you say that CEOs are inherently evil? I'm not talking about you being CEO of your Scentsy empire on linkedin, Madison, I'm talking about Lex Luthor, he's real, he allegedly may or may not have rigged an election.
There is a pretty big difference between seeing the world differently and not supporting charities, and the kinds of things these people did/do. Plenty of things in the legal spectrum that are excessive and available only to the super rich, and yet are still perfectly legal and not really harmful to others (buying a sports car). No matter how rich I get, I can't see myself causing suffering to others. Big difference between not donating wealth to charities because you see the world differently now, and deciding that hurting people is fun, the suffering of others is cool as long as you get your fun, and you want to make it available to your other rich friends too.
People are very good at rationalizing the horrible things they do. No one sees themselves as the villain of their story, so they tell themselves stories to make themselves the good guy.
In the case of these pieces of shit, it's usually something like "she's so into me" or "I'm giving her financial opportunities beyond her wildest dreams" or "this is way better than the alternative she'd face in <developing country I lured her from>" it doesn't matter that they're all obvious nonsense. They don't have to be convincing, they just have to be repeated to oneself over and over to soothe the psyche.
Right, I didn’t think of that: thinking of themselves as saviours and rationalizing it.
I think the terrifying thing about humanity is our capacity to be both good and bad, which mislead us to think we're surely not a bad person. Some of these people might do a lot of charity, and some might even have the capacity to care for those in their true inner circles. For their crimes, maybe they rationalize it: I know I do when I behave poorly so perhaps them too. Example, if someone were "purchasing" a person, they might rationalize it as, well it's only X amount of their time, and then I'm paying for them to have a "better" quality of life than they had already anyway. That's how abusive employers think, right, that at least I'm paying these shoe making children 5 cents a day, otherwise they would be starving instead.
That’s a good point about being both good and bad. What a weird species humans are.