In the past, when I heard money laundering, I’d think of organized criminals taking elicit money and finding ways to secure it and make it usable. But money laundering on the international level, involving authoritarian regimes, and the oligarchs and organized criminals within those regimes finding people in liberal democratic countries to help them launder their money has a national security component as well–at least if my understanding is accurate. The people in Western countries helping these people are doing something wrong, if not illegal. This can be used as leverage against them to not only continue the money laundering, but maybe do other things to help the authoritarian regimes. This is obvious if the people assisting with money laundering have political positions, but if they have any position of influence in the society–e.g., legal, media, academic, business, technology, etc.–bad actors can use the leverage with these people to harm national security and national interests. At least that’s what it seems like to me. Anyway, I started to this thread because I couldn’t find the other threads or posts that discussed this, and I wanted to post an article on this topic. The article is from Just Security and it’s called, Global Kleptocracy as an American Problem
The 35 Most Influential Musicians in the last 35 Years
Spin magazine has a feature of the 35 most influential artists in the past 35 years. (Here’s a compilation of the names.) I’m assuming this pertains to rock/pop music only, not jazz, classical, et al. What do you guys think of this list?
2020-2021 NFL: Week 13
No Thursday game.
Movie Scenes That Brought the House Down
Edgar Wright tweeted a request for examples of situations where the audience reacted strongly, and collectively to a movie scene. He mentioned the scene in A Fatal Attraction, when Anne Archer’s character tells the Glenn Close character, “If you come near my family again, I’ll kill you.” He said the audience applauded. I know I have experienced this a few times, but none come to mind right now. I must say that for much of the last twenty years, I have don’t often see movies with a large audience. I think it’s been so long that I can’t remember these moments, which is kinda sad, man.
You can see some suggestions in the thread here:
Saw Fatal Attraction again & remembered when I'd seen it with a packed crowd, Anne Archer's line: "If you come near my family again, I'll kill you", made the place ERUPT in applause. Made me miss the roar of the audience. Name some scenes that memorably brought the house down.
— edgarwright (@edgarwright) November 29, 2020
One Possible Way of Solving the Information Crisis
I made the mistake of peering into MAGA lawyer Twitter. Oh my lord these folks are delusional. They seriously believe the legal challenges are on the brink of overturning several states.
— Bradley P. Moss (@BradMossEsq) November 28, 2020
It’s laughable.
2020-2021 NFL: Week 12
Thu
Texans-Lions
Washington-Cowboys
Great Jazz Albums of the Past 50 Years
Jazz Times has a feature covering the fifty best jazz albums of the past fifty years. I was a little disappointed in the list, to be honest. I’m going to use this thread as a place to write some albums I might have chosen. But first, I’ll go over some picks I agreed with as well as some that puzzled me.
A Possible Solution to Big Tech’s Control Over the Public Square
Continue reading “A Possible Solution to Big Tech’s Control Over the Public Square”Big Tech now dominates the dissemination of information and the coordination of political mobilization, posing unique threats to democracy, @FukuyamaFrancis, @BarakRichman, and @ashishgoel write. What should policymakers do to curb these firms’ power?https://t.co/d9dMIEA3RT
— Foreign Affairs (@ForeignAffairs) November 25, 2020
Jay Rosen’s Urgency Index
Journal During the Trump Regime (11)–Interregnum
Journal (9) is getting too congested. This thread will cover the period from the election. (Note: Some events that occurred after Election Day may be in previous journal threads, as it might be a more appropriate location.)
Journal During the Trump Regime (1)
Journal During the Trump Regime (2)
Journal During the Trump Regime (3)
Journal During the Trump Regime (4)
Journal During the Trump Regime (5)
Journal During the Trump Regime (6)
Journal During the Trump Regime (7)
Journal During the Trump Regime (8)
Journal During the Trump Regime (9)
Journal During the Trump Regime (10)