Archiv: Milliardäre / billionaires


15.03.2024 - 17:43 [ Vice.com ]

Two US Citizens Are Accused of Assassinating Haiti’s President

(09.07.2021)

Solages also worked as a security guard for the Canadian Embassy in Port-Au-Prince. (…)

Despite an obvious failure in police operations, the masthead of the police force has not changed, with Charles remaining the Chief of Police, despite claims from Haitian journalists that he gave the order to allow the caravan of assassins into the President’s neighborhood. In February, the Haitian National Police began a partnership with Colombian police forces, but it is unknown if any of the mercenaries arrested participated in this arrangement.

In the two days since the attack, former Prime Minister turned interim President Joseph has consolidated power. In 2004, Joseph was a member of the group Grenn Nan Bouda (GNB) which means “balls up your ass” in Haitian Creole. GNB participated in the coup to oust President Jean-Bertrand Aristide that same year.

Joseph was not elected to his position, but was appointed in April by Moïse, and served only three months as Prime Minister. After declaring himself interim President, he has been breezily accepted by the international community, including the United States.

15.03.2024 - 17:04 [ Jacobin ]

Were Haiti’s Capitalists Behind the Assassination of President Moïse?

(07.09.2021)

Claiming to be agents with the US Drug Enforcement Agency (the DEA, which maintains a presence in Haiti to assist with counter-narcotics operations), the group gained entry to the home and killed the president.

(…)

What happened in Haiti on July 7?

KIM IVES There was a band of mercenaries with brand new Nissan Patrol vehicles. They clearly had knowledge of the layout of the presidential compound, where Moïse lived. They were clearly well-financed, well-prepared. It was a very sophisticated operation.

Who had the money to do that? And who would want to do that?

Haiti Liberté’s working hypothesis is that the mercenaries, more than likely, were hired by one or a consortium of the bourgeois families who are opposed to Moïse. Reginald Boulos is one. Dimitri Vorbe is another. There are several others who were unhappy with Moïse.

If this hypothesis is correct, their fear is of the uprising that is coming out of Haiti’s vast shantytowns, where the lumpenproletariat is organizing itself into armed gangs, which have now vowed to carry out a revolution against the bourgeoisie and “the rotten system,” as they call it in Haiti.

15.03.2024 - 16:30 [ MoneyInc.com ]

The 9 Richest People in Haiti (Updated 2023)

Once upon a time, Haiti was called the Jewel of the Antilles because it was the richest colony in the world. However, much of this wealth was built through slave labor, and the roots of Haiti’s French colonial past put in place a caste system of the “elites and noirs,” which grew into the socioeconomic disparity that Haiti struggles with today. The richest Haitian families hold most of the wealth, while a much larger portion of the population struggles with poverty, resulting in food insecurity, health problems, and educational deficiency.

15.03.2024 - 16:07 [ International Consortium of Investigative Journalists ]

How US lawyers and bankers aided powerful Haitian tycoons now sanctioned over corruption by Canada

(07.02.2023)

In the early 1990s, the U.S. government sanctioned Bigio, his wife, son and others for their support of a military coup that ousted Haiti’s first democratically elected president. Years later, a member of a Haitian militia ‒ or private army ‒ accused Bigio and another businessman of paying for the 1993 assassination of a prominent democracy activist, according to Jeb Sprauge, author and University of California Riverside research associate. Authorities in Haiti did not charge Bigio with or accuse him of wrongdoing.

15.03.2024 - 15:30 [ New Republic ]

The Billionaire Oligarch Who’s Enabling Haiti’s Murderous Gangs

(16.12.2022)

For years, Haitians have said Bigio and other oligarchs are complicit in the violence strangling the nation: This year 1,448 people have been killed, with another 1,005 kidnapped for ransom. Until now, however, the international community has stayed mostly silent about Haiti’s corrupt elite. (…)

Daniel Foote, the former U.S envoy to Haiti who resigned in September 2021 to protest against the disastrous American policy, told me that he thinks Canada and the U.S. State Department are working together to economically punish Bigio and the others. But he suspects that the United States cannot follow Canada’s example by imposing stiff sanctions, possibly because Bigio may be a U.S. citizen and thus entitled to due process. In theory, however, U.S. prosecutors could bring cases against Bigio and other oligarchs for funding the vicious gangs whether these defendants have U.S. citizenship or not. As things stand, inaction is much more likely.

30.01.2024 - 11:30 [ Reuters ]

Elon Musk‘s Neuralink implants brain chip in first human

The study uses a robot to surgically place a brain-computer interface (BCI) implant in a region of the brain that controls the intention to move, Neuralink said previously, adding that its initial goal is to enable people to control a computer cursor or keyboard using their thoughts alone.

30.01.2024 - 11:25 [ Futurism.com ]

Neuralink Is Now Recruiting Human Subjects

(20.09.2023)

It‘s only a tiny incremental step towards Musk‘s sweeping vision for his company‘s brain chip. In 2020, Musk promised Neuralink devices could solve numerous neurological conditions, including addiction or memory loss, or restore movement for people with spinal cord injuries. He‘s even promised that one day, a Neuralink brain chip could allow for human-to-human telepathy.

In short, despite Musk‘s grand ambitions, Neuralink still has a lot of work to do to catch up with its competitors — and isn‘t about to completely revolutionize the field just yet.

22.12.2023 - 23:10 [ Politico.com ]

An unsanctioned coterie of pro-Israel quasi-lobbyists has descended on D.C.

(22.10.2023)

“It’s not an official government representation,” he conceded.

Instead, he is part of a ragtag group of donors, activists and allies who have moved swiftly these past two weeks to help Israel. They have leveraged their political clout, their relationships with lawmakers and their fundraising networks to do so.

Their overarching goal is to shape how elected officials in the U.S. react to the crisis. But their work also underscores how much of the political fight around the nascent war is being done on the fly; and how much is being waged in unconventional theaters: college campuses, corporate boardrooms, K Street offices and stuffy Capitol Hill restaurants.

19.10.2023 - 22:15 [ CovertActionMagazine.com ]

Hamas’ Attack on Israelis Strengthens, Not Weakens, Israel’s Right Wing Political Elite

Hamas, for Zionist leaders, is controlled opposition. It’s not controlled like a puppet, but funded and kept in power by Israel because its aims, like those of the corrupt Palestine Authority, are to dominate and control ordinary Palestinians in the name of supposedly standing up against Israel while not doing anything that can actually defeat Israel.

The latter would require waging the class war against the billionaire ruling class of Israel. Hamas and Israel’s leaders need each other; each helps the other keep a grip on its own people, providing the other a perfect enemy with which to frighten its “own people” into obedience.

16.09.2023 - 00:05 [ Glenn Greenwald / Locals.com ]

EU and The Washington Post Escalate Their Censorship Campaign with a New Fraudulent “Disinformation Study” About Twitter and Russia. Plus: The John McCain Institute Used to Promote Neocon Dogma on War

(September 08, 2023)

The way this typically works is that groups claim to employ “disinformation experts” – a brand new and fake expertise they created overnight – and then produce studies that purport to document who is either circulating harmful disinformation or who is permitting it to be heard. This latter accusation, permitting dangerous disinformation to be heard, always means that one social media company or another is failing to censor in accordance with the demands of the group and its funders. They then get corporate media outlets who crave censorship to melodramatically trumpet their accusatory studies using flamboyant headlines that claim a disobedient technology platform has the blood on their hands, knowing that it will spread virally, but very few people actually read the study to determine if the accusations have any validity.

15.07.2023 - 08:20 [ Patriotic Millionaires ]

It’s the inequality, stupid

(June 15, 2023)

Economic inequality has exploded in the US since Bill Clinton took office. (It started to tick up after Clinton’s predecessor Ronald Reagan came on the scene, but Clinton’s tenure witnessed a continuation of this trend.) Today, there are 735 billionaires in the US, three of whom – Elon Musk, Larry Ellison, and Jeff Bezos – hold wealth more than 1 million times (!) the median American household wealth. Meanwhile, nearly 60% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck, 1/3 of workers make less than $15 an hour, and roughly 38 million Americans live below the poverty line.

15.07.2023 - 08:08 [ Wired.com ]

Millionaires Are Begging Governments to Tax Them More

(Jun 23, 2023)

On both sides of the Atlantic, the Patriotic Millionaires are notable for being unusually public and unusually frank—US chair Morris Pearl, a former MD at investment firm BlackRock, has described how the Covid-19 pandemic made him personally wealthier, and how he doesn’t check his bank balance because he doesn’t need to. (…)

The richest 1 percent of Brits hold more wealth than the poorest 70 percent combined. “I see it as a problem if you’ve got so much money that you no longer need a functioning society,” she says.

08.07.2023 - 14:20 [ Haaretz ]

Hollywood Mogul Milchan Treated His Netanyahu Testimony as He Treats Everything Else: A Commodity

With careful consideration, it is plausible to suggest that Milchan‘s decision may have been influenced by the judges‘ proposal to withdraw the bribery charge in Case 4000, which was presented just before his testimony. The witness perceived this case to overshadow his own involvement, often remarking that the magnitude of „hundreds of millions of dollars“ cannot be compared to indulgences in cigars and champagne. This positioning allowed Milchan to assume a supporting role in the unfolding narrative, but an unexpected turn of events thrust him into the spotlight. Being fluent in the language of power, it appears that Milchan recognized Netanyahu‘s resurgent influence and chose not to risk challenging him.

28.06.2023 - 13:56 [ Jerusalem Post ]

Netanyahu trials: Milchan improved PM‘s image in Israeli media

Milchan had also introduced Mozes to Australian businessman James Packer, who „really liked each other.“ Netanyahu had also asked Milchan to look into laying the groundwork for news mogul Rupert Murdoch, who the prime minister felt had business and political interests aligned with the Netanyahu administration.

Under Case 2000, Netanyahu is accused of having engaged in fraud and breach of trust for meeting with Mozes about advancing legislation to cripple his news competitor in exchange for positive coverage.

28.06.2023 - 13:45 [ APNews.com ]

Hollywood mogul acknowledges gifts to Netanyahu may have been ‘excessive’ in 2nd day of testimony

He said he had instructed his aides to give the Netanyahus “whatever they want” and was assured by the prime minister that there was nothing illegal going on.

26.06.2023 - 19:22 [ Haaretz ]

If There Was Ever a Time for Israel‘s Protesters to Wake Up, It‘s Now

If there was a time to wake up, once again, with all our strength against the judicial coup – that time is now. This is not a drill; it‘s back with us. The protest leaders promised in the beginning that they „sleep with their boots on.“ Now it‘s time to put ours on.

26.06.2023 - 13:46 [ Haaretz ]

Is Israel Prepared to Prosecute Its Prime Minister?

For this saga to end now, one of two things has to happen: Either the prosecution has to withdraw the indictment, or Netanyahu has to admit to some of the charges and leave office immediately. But the prime minister is now breathing easy and praising the judges whom he previously suspected of being leftists. And Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, who views the court’s position as a colossal mistake, is currently determined to go all the way, including to the Supreme Court.

26.06.2023 - 08:20 [ PBS.org ]

Hollywood producer testifies about ‘supply line’ of gifts at Netanyahu’s corruption trial

The indictment accuses Netanyahu of using his influential perch to assist Milchan to secure a U.S. visa extension by drawing on his diplomatic contacts, among them former Secretary of State John Kerry. Prosecutors also accuse Netanyahu of working to push legislation that would have granted Milchan millions in tax breaks.

26.06.2023 - 07:36 [ New York Times ]

Hollywood Tycoon Testifies in Netanyahu’s Corruption Trial

Mr. Milchan, 78, who produced blockbusters like “Pretty Woman,” “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” and “Bohemian Rhapsody,” also worked for years for Israeli intelligence as a weapons procurer. His colorful life and relationship with Mr. Netanyahu has helped turned the Case 1000 trial into a showcase of the nexus of money, power and influence in Israel.

23.06.2023 - 12:55 [ Times of Israel ]

Film mogul Milchan to testify at Netanyahu trial Sunday, as AG said to mull deal

Hollywood mogul Arnon Milchan, a key witness in one of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s corruption cases, is set to testify at the premier’s corruption trial via video link from Brighton, England, beginning on Sunday.

The film producer is a witness in Case 1000 — one of three in which Netanyahu faces charges — involving suspicions that the premier illicitly accepted gifts including cigars and champagne from Milchan and another billionaire, James Packer.

12.06.2023 - 10:07 [ The Jerusalem Post / Nitter ]

Yair Lapid‘s investigation by the state attorney in Netanyahu‘s corruption trial took less than an hour but the cross-examination is expected to take days.

12.06.2023 - 09:50 [ Haaretz ]

Netanyahu Corruption Trial: Lapid Takes the Witness Stand in a Long-awaited Testimony

The head of the Yesh Atid party testifies as a prosecution witness in „Case 1000“, in which Netanyahu is accused of fraud and breach of trust for favors he allegedly received from businessmen Arnon Milchan and James Packer.

Lapid is expected to be asked about meetings he held with Milchan while he served as finance minister in Netanyahu‘s government, as well as appeals he received from the prime minister about the promotion of a law that would benefit the businessman.

23.05.2023 - 08:52 [ Haaretz ]

Netanyahu on Trial: PM Projects Panic Ahead of Hollywood Producer‘s Testimony

Milchan didn’t see his relationship with the Netanyahus as true friendship. In conversations with other politicians, he often imitated the couple and mocked their demands. Asked by police what would have happened had he not supplied the requested goods, he replied, “I imagine I would have been a less wanted guest” at the prime minister’s residence.

The Netanyahus, in contrast, described the Hollywood producer as one of their best friends. The prime minister said he spoke with Milchan more often than with his own brother, while Sara termed him a “close friend.”

05.05.2023 - 10:50 [ NYmag.com ]

Who Are the Newly Revealed Jeffrey Epstein Associates?

(04.05.2023)

A multiple-part report from The Wall Street Journal has revealed a number of additional prominent people who were associates of Jeffrey Epstein’s. Their ties to the notorious sex trafficker and longtime high-society hobnobber were not previously known, having not appeared in Epstein’s infamous black book or in the public flight logs of passengers who traveled aboard his private jet before his jailhouse death in 2019 while awaiting trial.

The new reports also deepen public understanding of the ties between Epstein and some boldfaced names who he had previously been associated with. And they underscored just how frequently Epstein met with his high-flying pals.

05.05.2023 - 10:40 [ Wall Street Journal ]

Bill Gates, Leon Black, Thomas Pritzker: ​One​ Day in the Life of Jeffrey Epstein

(May 4, 2023)

On Monday, Sept. 8, 2014, Jeffrey Epstein had a full calendar. He was scheduled to meet that day with Bill Gates, Thomas Pritzker, Leon Black and Mortimer Zuckerman, four of the richest men in the country, according to schedules and emails reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.

Epstein also planned meetings that day with a former top White House lawyer, a college president and a philanthropic adviser, three of the dozens of meetings the Journal reported he had with each of them.

30.04.2023 - 10:45 [ New York Times ]

Who’s Behind the Judicial Overhaul Now Dividing Israel? Two New Yorkers.

(March 20, 2023)

“I don’t want to sound arrogant,” he told Ami, the Orthodox Jewish magazine, in 2019, “but in some sense we’re the brains of the Israeli right wing.”

Kohelet is not required to disclose the names of individual donors, and for years Mr. Koppel has artfully deflected questions about funding.

But one source of money is a second New Yorker: Arthur Dantchik, a 65-year-old multibillionaire who has donated millions to Kohelet, according to people familiar with his philanthropic giving. Mr. Dantchik did not return a call for comment.

30.04.2023 - 10:40 [ Haaretz ]

The American Billionaires Behind the Far-right Attempt to Destroy Liberal Israel

(Jan 15, 2023)

Justice Minister Yariv Levin‘s judicial overhaul was apparently written by the Kohelet Policy Forum, one of the best-funded research institutes in Israel, which advances nationalist, libertarian policies – and is funded by two American billionaires

09.03.2023 - 05:30 [ Navy Vet / Nitter ]

Republicans say new tax bill is DOA. It would raise Medicare$ from 3.8% to 5% for income greater than $400K. Also tax wealthy >$100 million and families 20% on income & stocks.

I guess this would be bad for @GOP next taxes on bribes.

09.03.2023 - 05:09 [ ABC7 News Bay Area / Youtube ]

President Biden plans new taxes on the rich to help save Medicare

President Joe Biden on Tuesday proposed new taxes on the rich to help fund Medicare, saying the plan would help to extend the insurance program‘s solvency by 25 years and provide a degree of middle-class stability to millions of older adults.

09.03.2023 - 04:57 [ New York Times ]

Biden Is Set to Detail Nearly $3 Trillion in Measures to Reduce Deficits

Mr. Biden’s plans to trim the deficit are unlikely to mollify Republicans. He has refused to negotiate over the debt limit and has said he will not cut benefits for Social Security or Medicare, two popular safety net programs. But he has said repeatedly that he is open to reducing deficits by raising taxes on corporations and the rich.

09.03.2023 - 04:51 [ Kiplinger.com ]

Biden Wants a Wealth Tax: Should Billionaires Pay More?

For example, in 2021, a ProPublica report indicated that the richest twenty-five Americans had an effective zero percent tax rate. When the ProPublica analysis was first released, it generated controversy over confidentiality of taxpayer information. But the data made some people aware of how the very wealthy can sometimes avoid paying federal taxes.

So, why does all of this matter? Well, there’s a wealth distribution gap in America.

05.03.2023 - 14:30 [ theHill.com ]

Millionaires urge Democrats to include billionaire tax in spending bill

(01.11.2021)

A group of about 250 millionaires on Monday urged top Democrats to include a proposal to tax billionaires‘ investment gains annually in their social-spending package, after the proposal was left out of a framework the White House released last week.

20.02.2023 - 07:41 [ theIntercept.com ]

GOP Megadonor Is Funding a Far-Right Israeli Think Tank — and Establishment Democrats

Pulling from the playbook of the American Legislative Exchange Council — a Koch-backed group that writes model legislation for conservative lawmakers across the U.S. — Kohelet’s founder helped draft the law that became Israel’s Basic Law on the Nation-State in 2018. The controversial policy established Jewish people as having the sole right to self-determination, downgraded Arabic from its status as an official language, and declared the development of Jewish settlement a “national value.” Kohelet also drafted a new law that gives Israel’s Parliament the power to override Supreme Court decisions, grants the government complete control over judicial appointments, and abolishes the courts’ reasonableness doctrine, which was most recently used to disqualify a thrice-convicted criminal and Netanyahu ally from serving as health and interior minister.

15.02.2023 - 22:44 [ DailyDot.com ]

What is Black Cube, the Cambridge Analytica-linked intelligence firm?

(May 21, 2021)

In May, Black Cube resurfaced in the news, when it was revealed it was used to get information on two Americans who supported the Iran nuclear deal, which President Donald Trump has since pulled out of.

According to the New York Times, Black Cube assembled a file on Ben Rhodes, a former national security adviser to President Obama that contained “pictures of his apartment in Washington, telephone numbers and email addresses of members of his family, as well as unsubstantiated allegations of personal and ethical transgressions.”

Additionally, Black Cube collected information on Colin Kahl, a national security adviser to Vice President Joseph Biden.

29.01.2023 - 20:32 [ Bert Walther / Nitter ]

Schlapphüte offen für neue Technologien…

17.01.2023 - 19:24 [ theHill.com ]

Millionaires urge Democrats to include billionaire tax in spending bill

(01.11.2021)

A group of about 250 millionaires on Monday urged top Democrats to include a proposal to tax billionaires‘ investment gains annually in their social-spending package, after the proposal was left out of a framework the White House released last week.

17.01.2023 - 17:50 [ ZDF ]

Oxfam: Superreiche sind Gewinner der Krisen

Sie erzielten demnach 306 Milliarden US-Dollar an Zufallsgewinnen und schütteten 257 Milliarden US-Dollar (84 Prozent) davon an Aktionärinnen und Aktionäre aus. Oxfam definiert hier Gewinne als Zufallsgewinne, wenn sie den Durchschnitt der Jahre 2018 bis 2021 um 10 Prozent oder mehr übersteigen.

Unter dem Strich seien Konzerne und Superreiche die Gewinner von Corona-Pandemie und Energiekrise, hielt Oxfam fest. So habe das reichste Prozent der Weltbevölkerung seit Beginn der Pandemie rund zwei Drittel des weltweiten Vermögenszuwachses kassiert.

17.01.2023 - 11:44 [ Oxfam America ]

SURVIVAL OF THE RICHEST

Oxfam briefing paper – January 2023

We are living through an unprecedented moment of multiple crises. Tens of millions more people are facing hunger. Hundreds of millions more face impossible rises in the cost of basic goods or heating their homes. Poverty has increased for the first time in 25 years. At the same time, these multiple crises all have winners. The very richest have become dramatically richer and corporate profits have hit record highs, driving an explosion of inequality. This report focuses on how taxing the rich is vital to addressing this unprecedented polycrisis and skyrocketing inequality. The report explores how, in recent history, taxation of the richest was far higher; how talk of taxing the rich and making billionaires pay their fair share is hugely popular; and how taxing the rich claws back elite power and reduces not just economic inequality, but racial, gender and colonial inequalities, too. The report lays out how much tax the richest should pay, and the practical, tried and tested ways in which governments can raise such taxation. It shows us how taxing the rich can set us clearly on a path to a more equal, sustainable world free from poverty.

01.01.2023 - 19:23 [ theHill.com ]

Millionaires urge Democrats to include billionaire tax in spending bill

(01.11.2021)

A group of about 250 millionaires on Monday urged top Democrats to include a proposal to tax billionaires‘ investment gains annually in their social-spending package, after the proposal was left out of a framework the White House released last week.