This seems like a very obvious case of corruption, using political power to give a lucrative contract to a crony.
A case of corruption that is going to make Puerto Rico getting power back on infinitely more difficult, and could cost lives. No way these people are qualified to handle this level of operation. It's called disaster capitalism, and Naomi Klein's "The Shock Doctrine" is the definitive book on it, and one of the most important books of the last 20 years period.
I just read a story that they have 44 people on the island. They were handed a 300 million dollar contract. That means Whitefish energy is getting 6.8 million dollars for every worker they have in Puerto Rico. Electrical workers get paid well, but not that well. Not even remotely.
I assume they will be buying the materials needed for repairs. That's part of the contract normally...
I'm not convinced that 44 people can actually use 6.8 million dollars in materials each.
Some serious questions about this deal from Josh Marshall at TPM:
Here’s a story in The Washington Post. On its face, it’s how things should work: bipartisan cooperation to make sure things run right. There seems to be bipartisan agreement that the board charged with providing financial oversight of Puerto Rico’s bankruptcy process should appoint an emergency manager to oversee the territory’s bankrupt power company, PREPA.
That seems a bit draconian. The territory’s governor opposes the move. But as the Post describes it, the push to do this is coming from Democrats up in arms over that inexplicable $300 million contract with Whitefish Energy, the two year old, two person contractor out of Montana with juice in the Trump administration. But Nick Mulvaney, OMB Director, also thinks it’s necessary to appoint the emergency manager. Because he’s such a zealous custodian of federal dollars and the Whitefish Energy deal seems fishy.
Again, on the face of it, wow, everyone seems to agree! How great!
But I’m more than a bit suspicious of Nick Mulvaney. And how exactly did that Whitefish Energy contract come about in the first place? Getting to the bottom of that seems like the first order of business. It’s owned by a friend of Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke and based in Zinke’s hometown. Zinke’s son even briefly worked for the company. And there’s more! It’s main financing comes from a major Trump donor.
You’re going to have to come up with a pretty strong alternative explanation to convince me that the juice for Whitefish to get this fabulously lucrative contract didn’t come from within the Trump administration as opposed to some kind of nefariousness the Trump administration wants to clamp down on.
The Daily Beast noted that the Colonettas, the money behind Whitefish, not only gave money to Trump and have a relationship with Zinke. They’ve also recently shown up at meet and greets with Ben Carson and Rex Tillerson. A member of the Puerto Rico House of Representatives told the Beast this …
Luis Vega-Ramos, member of the Puerto Rico House of Representatives, told The Daily Beast, “Whitefish’s most important expertise or assets seems to have been… having the U.S. secretary of the interior, Ryan Zinke, as their former congressman and current ally and having the wisdom to retain the services of key people close to the governor [of Puerto Rico].”
I’m not sure who’s scamming who here. But the Whitefish contract seems comically off. And I’m not buying the idea that Trump’s OMB Director wants to clamp down because of a contract that seems to have been secured because some money people had so much juice in the Trump administration.
I think in some areas the grid need to be rebuilt completely. I don't mean "reconnect existing lines and/or repair them"; instead, I mean "we have to run completely new lines once the new towers are built". I know a guy who works for an electric provider--sometimes they sit around and do almost nothing all day but other times they work 18 hour days 7 days per week, taking time off only long enough to shower, eat, and catch a few hours' worth of sleep.
This was *definitely* a backroom deal. Now we need to look into who was originally bankrolling Whitefish and answer questions such as "how does an electric service company provide service to anyone with only two employees?". Sure, I suppose they could have been contracting all the work because contractors don't actually count as "employees" on certain reports but that seems awfully thin.
I think in some areas the grid need to be rebuilt completely. I don't mean "reconnect existing lines and/or repair them"; instead, I mean "we have to run completely new lines once the new towers are built". I know a guy who works for an electric provider--sometimes they sit around and do almost nothing all day but other times they work 18 hour days 7 days per week, taking time off only long enough to shower, eat, and catch a few hours' worth of sleep.
This was *definitely* a backroom deal. Now we need to look into who was originally bankrolling Whitefish and answer questions such as "how does an electric service company provide service to anyone with only two employees?". Sure, I suppose they could have been contracting all the work because contractors don't actually count as "employees" on certain reports but that seems awfully thin.
If you want to look at the thing from a completely cynical point of view, I'd almost believe this company was set-up specifically to wait around until a major disaster struck to get handed hundreds of millions of dollars. I just visited their website, and it is fairly simple and describes nothing about the company other than that they have relationships with sub-contractors and a bunch of various mish-mash. They haven't even existed for 2 years. It's not quite the "Jukt Micronics" website from the movie Shattered Glass (if you are familiar), but it's damn close. Not only that, the website was only set up this year. You tell me if this is the website of a company equipped to handle getting power back to an entire island:
Imagine if Hillary Clinton or Elizabeth Warren pulled this crap, handing a $300m contract to a shell company for two of her friends and donors. Whitewater? Nah Whitefish!
We would literally never hear the end of it. In 2050 Republicans would still be launching investigations.
That site is almost non-existent, having only "home", "about", and "contact" links (the contact link is also on the home page). It does mention HBC Investments as one of its backers. Follow the links on their site for more information but read this if you want to know what a "family office" is. (the short version: a family office is a way for a high net worth investor or family operate as a private equity firm) Anyway, there is no press release for when they invested into Whitefish even though there are press releases for their other investment projects. Also, it seems they co-invested with Flat Creek Capital, LP on the Whitefish project. Both companies are located in Dallas. Flat Creek's site is pretty thin, as well--doesn't even list the projects/companies in which it has invested--and the company really seems to be just this one guy, Lance Etcheverry.
Flat Creek Capital Management, LP is a registered investment advisory firm located in Dallas, Texas. This firm does not report having any employees or assets under management. Many more details can be found below. You can also click here to see a list of all 493 investment advisors located in Dallas, Texas.
On the most recent Form ADV filing, Flat Creek Capital Management did not report any client type details.
On the most recent Form ADV filing, Flat Creek Capital Management did not report having any regulatory assets under management.
No employees or assets under management? How can you run a "capital management" company while you manage no assets? Did you just go into business last week? Now maybe he just didn't fill out any details for this website but when a company exists and its sole raison d'etre is to invest in other companies, surely you think they would broadcast their success to anyone who will listen. Instead, there seem to be *no* disclosure forms of any kind here. what the--? Shadow corporation! No, seriously--the address listed on this website is a UPS outlet in a shopping center. see for yourself. At least the phone number matches on both sites.
The rabbit trail also found a Michael Milne from St. Louis, MO as a business parter of Lance. Who are these guys and why are they hiding so efficiently?
*whew* Following the money is difficult when you aren't a PI.
It's worth noting that the two of us, complete nobodies on a obscure internet forum, managed to piece together that fact that at least 3 layers of this company are a sham within one hour. Where is the media on this?? What seems to be happening is that they are going to pay whatever the going rate for electrical workers is to people they hire to do this work (currently somewhere between 44 and 80 people) and then pocket, what?? 150, 200 million dollars?? I mean, I've never seen anything this BLATANT before. I mean, Haliburton was absolutely engaging in war profiteering during the Iraq War in my estimation, but you could at least argue they are a major international company who could easily handle what they were being asked to do on a logistical scale. These companies seem to be made up of cheap websites and post office boxes.....
So, in what is sort of an uncomfortable story to talk about, former President George H. W. Bush has now been accused by two actresses of grabbing their behind during photo opportunities and I am inclined to believe them, because they are both telling the same story, which is that he told both of them the same lame joke when he did it, saying his favorite magician was "David cop-a-feel". That's too specific and dumb to be a made-up coincidence. So, on the one hand, I think these women are telling the truth and this happened. On the other hand, I have read comments from people who work with elderly men in nursing homes that this behavior is very common in older men who are losing their cognitive abilities, which Bush Sr. has clearly been doing for awhile now, and both of these incidents are from the past 5 years. So, I'm not really sure what to think. On the one hand, it's weird to hear someone say a 85-90 year old man sexually assaulted them. On another hand, I believe their stories. And on another, it's entirely possible the former President is not in his right mind and isn't in full control of his actions. Unfortunate for everyone involved.
One of the trials against the Ontario Liberals has concluded with an acquittal.
The bribery charges stemmed from a previous candidate for the liberals being asked to step aside for a "star" candidate, in return they would offer him a position within the party.
According to the Election Act, “no person shall, directly or indirectly, give, procure or promise or agree to procure an office or employment to induce a person to become a candidate, refrain from becoming a candidate or withdraw his or her candidacy.”
The judge ruled that the elections act does not cover "private" parties, meaning the Liberals can appoint who ever they want for each seat, and the word candidate only refers to a person running in an election.
The Liberals are taking it as a win, claiming that it was politically motivated (sorta) and a waste of money (which is HILARIOUS coming from them).
Whitefish telling the Mayor of San Juan they can all die if she doesn't shut up. Of course the Trump administration gave this highly respected "company" the contract.
Since Harvey Weinstein's rapid fall, it's seems some kind of dam has broken and women who have been harassed by powerful men for years are just saying "Enough!!" and coming out and telling their stories despite the fear and shame. Even more disturbing revelations came out against Bill O' Reilly. Both a Hollywood director, famous photographer, and Marilyn Manson's former bassist have been accused in the last few days. Tonight?? Mark Halperin, an omnipresent political pundit for the last decade. Halperin has always embodied the worst aspects of horse-race political coverage (and is also famous among liberals for saying that the incident where John McCain couldn't remember how many houses he owned during the 2008 campaign to be a net positive, and ever since when something clearly bad happens to a Republican, many of us will joke "this has been a great week for John McCain", it's a running joke). Regardless, he has now been accused by 5 women of sexual harassment while he was working at ABC News. There seems to be a veritable epidemic of powerful men in this country engaging in this type of behavior. The #metoo hashtag on Twitter has gotten MILLIONS of responses with women coming forward and telling their stories.
This seems to be a societal problem as big as guns in many ways. I'll remind everyone that researchers have found that only somewhere between 2-10% of sexual assault claims are found to be false. That means if 10 women come forward with these stories and claims, it is a good bet at least 9 of them are telling the truth. The one thing this wave of accusations hasn't done?? Refocus the spotlight on the President of the United States, who has been accused of this behavior by somewhere between 12 and 17 women. At a bare minimum, based on statistics, the amount of them who are telling the truth is in the double digits. I'll remind everyone that this is also a man who, when he owned the Miss Teen USA competition, walked into a dressing room of underage girls when they were changing, basically just to show that he could and take a peak. No one in this country (besides Lindsey Lohan and Woody Allen) have any problem believing Harvey Weinstein was guilty of what he is accused of. Like Weinstein, Trump is on tape admitting to his behavior. Like Weinstein, Trump has been accused by many, many women who tell remarkably consistent stories about what and how he went about his harassment and assault. None of them as far as I know have taken a dime to cash in on their stories. What is it that is preventing some of the people who (rightly) know deep down that Harvey Weinstein is a predatory pig from believing the same thing about Donald Trump??
My wife has been harassed at every company she's worked for. Downfall of being a woman in tech, she says. Now that she and I run our own (very small, for now) tech company, we're doing our part to break that stigma.
My wife has been harassed at every company she's worked for. Downfall of being a woman in tech, she says. Now that she and I run our own (very small, for now) tech company, we're doing our part to break that stigma.
Considering how tied to the Alt-right tech and gaming culture is, and how much straight-up misogyny (and if not misogyny then certainly extreme anti-feminism) plays into that movement, it's a wonder we all didn't see this situation coming sooner.
My wife has been harassed at every company she's worked for. Downfall of being a woman in tech, she says. Now that she and I run our own (very small, for now) tech company, we're doing our part to break that stigma.
I think you get that anytime there's 50 dudes and one woman unfortunately. It can be tech, business, the military, Hollywood or anything. There doesn't seem to be much done to prevent it.
I believe it would take a significant culture change to address this. Fox paid 32 million dollars for Bill O'Reillys sexual harassment then turned around and extended his contract. Tougher consequences don't really deter anyone, at best maybe they make them want to be more sneaky.
Culture change is what's needed. It's unlikely to happen because people resist change. Those in power don't want a change to the status quo, their checkbook or the "perks" of the job.
What kind of culture change? Well, it is theoretical of course but I think we have to get away from the commercialization of women's bodies. Pretty models and so forth are a commodity - a thing. Sweeping introspective change won't happen especially now with our regressive government and atmosphere.
Women would have to be empowered and able to stand up to power and not be things. It would help to study other cultures where sexual harassment is less of an issue and find out what they do differently and actually implement change. I don't really know what that would turn up but it would probably require radical change to American customs.
And it's not going to happen anytime soon, possibly ever, because those in power control things and don't want to give it up.
Lance registered and issued the sale of the securities using an exemption found in Title 17, Chaper II, Part 230, Paragraph 506 of the Securities Act of 1933; the exemptions themselves refer back to definitions in paragraphs 501 and 502. Long story short--he could list himself as the "general partner" of an "accredited investor" using his or others' money as the funding source and from there form this company using exemptions so that they don't have to disclose who or how much. He charged the investors $0 in both finder's fees (you can charge this amount to locate investors in your securities offering) and sales commissions--someone selling securities who *isn't* charging a commission? That's awfully generous of him.
He has 5 different businesses listed as "active" and all are listed as being located at a residential street address in Dallas. He definitely seems to prefer incorporating them as domestic limited liability corporations; connected people spreading out from him are in Houston and Tulsa. hrm...another site lists him as being a financial advisor working for JP Morgan--now there is a big name in the financial services industry.
One of his companies has a different address, located just north of downtown Dallas. There are 30 (!) companies all listed as having this same address. Yes, you read that correctly--30. Gando Holdings LLC, Aita Capital Partners LLC, Lafayette Oil Gas LLC, Black Oak Ranch LLC, Doctors Oil And Gas LLC, Peyton Omnicrest LLC, Mcgowen Shaw PLLC, Mcgr Operating Company Inc, Gross Real Estate And Investment Co Inc, Arapaho Energy LLC, Arapaho Group LLC, Arapaho Oil Gas LLC, Dylan Peyton LLC, Longbow Ventures LLC, Wysteria Holdings LLC, Sk Land Minerals LLC, Avatar Energy LLC, Southeast Kansas Royalty Trust LLC, Gross Real Estate And Investment Co, Dycad LLC, Nape International LLC, Alvarado Home Place LLC, Gandg Ventures LLC, Arapaho Exploration LLC, Nape Charities Fund, Buffalo Claim Development Ltd, Elk Claim Development Ltd, Walborn Capital LP, White Tail Development LP, and Big Cat Development LP.
Okay, I am not a high net worth individual so I suppose I have no idea. Is this how some of those people live? They create company after company, putting money into one company only to have it invest in another company, listing themselves or the other company as "managing partner" or some such nonsense, all in an effort to hide their finances? I like privacy, too, but this boggles the mind.
At this point, if I dig any more I am going to start to feel like a stalker. *yeesh*
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Whenever I watch a MtG tournament and a female player is on screen, the Twitch chat devolves into two comments, either overly-positive opinions or overly-negative opinions of her looks. I never join the chat for tournaments, though--too many trolls.
@Mathsorcerer: Killer work. I'm glad to see substantive research steering the conversation rather than just partisan talking points. I appreciate your contributions to the discussion.
An anti-Trump Facebook page apparently has been tied to Russia. It's only one example so far and may not amount to a trend, but I've been wondering for quite some time exactly why Russia interfered in Trump's favor. This suggests that Russia's motive was less to help Trump or hurt Hillary and more to just cause harm to the U.S. I remember thinking a while back that it wouldn't surprise me either way; both motives make sense for Putin's Russia.
Again, it's just a single Facebook page (which Facebook has since taken down), and Russian content is much more often pro-Trump than anti-Trump. But if we see more of this, then we have reason to believe Putin is trying to exploit divisions within America.
My wife has been harassed at every company she's worked for. Downfall of being a woman in tech, she says. Now that she and I run our own (very small, for now) tech company, we're doing our part to break that stigma.
Considering how tied to the Alt-right tech and gaming culture is, and how much straight-up misogyny (and if not misogyny then certainly extreme anti-feminism) plays into that movement, it's a wonder we all didn't see this situation coming sooner.
@jjstraka34 What? Silicon Valley isn't really the home of the Alt-Right in my eyes. What are you talking about tech is tied to Alt-Right?
@Mathsorcerer: Killer work. I'm glad to see substantive research steering the conversation rather than just partisan talking points. I appreciate your contributions to the discussion.
Thank you--I do only that of which I am capable (thankfully, I am quite capable). If you perform an Internet search for "Lance Etcheverry" now, though, this very thread is linked on page 5 (at least on the search I did). It is a good thing he had addresses listed in Dallas, Athens TX, and Baton Rouge LA because if he wants to remain secret he will need to move around. I am not the only one, either--there was another forum where someone else made the quick connection from Whitefish to HBC to FlatCreek.
edit/add: Hey! I was going back over my research when I reread the info on FlatCreek's pitiful little website. Lance's previous job duties included "provided investment banking services to governmentally owned electric, gas and water utilities in the United States and Puerto Rico". He already had connections to PREPA!
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The Las Vegas shooter had a laptop in his room. The hard drive in that laptop is *missing*. Not misplaced after the police inventoried it for evidence--missing. When they examined the laptop it had been physically removed. Clearly the shooter didn't remove it--he was sequestered in his room, committed the crime, then killed himself--so it must have been removed *before* the event, which means that either a) he put it in the trash (in which case it is in a landfill and probably won't ever be found) or b) he gave it to someone before the event took place. If he gave it to someone before the event, to whom did he give it? There are no cameras in the hallway, only facing the elevator banks, but if an accomplice entered via the stairwell there wouldn't be video evidence of them showing up.
Also, the security guard who got shot, Jesus Campos, had taken previous trips to Mexico using his own car, registered with Nevada plates (obviously). However, only *one week* after the shooting he went to California, rented a car there, and then made another trip to Mexico, presumably so that the record of his entry back into the United States wouldn't register as his car. Why did he make this trip in this manner and who did he visit while he was there?
The recent troll activity on this front has been to accuse victims of mass shootings of being paid actors. *sigh*
My wife has been harassed at every company she's worked for. Downfall of being a woman in tech, she says. Now that she and I run our own (very small, for now) tech company, we're doing our part to break that stigma.
I think you get that anytime there's 50 dudes and one woman unfortunately. It can be tech, business, the military, Hollywood or anything. There doesn't seem to be much done to prevent it.
I believe it would take a significant culture change to address this. Fox paid 32 million dollars for Bill O'Reillys sexual harassment then turned around and extended his contract. Tougher consequences don't really deter anyone, at best maybe they make them want to be more sneaky.
Culture change is what's needed. It's unlikely to happen because people resist change. Those in power don't want a change to the status quo, their checkbook or the "perks" of the job.
What kind of culture change? Well, it is theoretical of course but I think we have to get away from the commercialization of women's bodies. Pretty models and so forth are a commodity - a thing. Sweeping introspective change won't happen especially now with our regressive government and atmosphere.
Women would have to be empowered and able to stand up to power and not be things. It would help to study other cultures where sexual harassment is less of an issue and find out what they do differently and actually implement change. I don't really know what that would turn up but it would probably require radical change to American customs.
And it's not going to happen anytime soon, possibly ever, because those in power control things and don't want to give it up.
Women have been well-represented, numerically speaking, in project manager and account manager tech positions for years. They all have the same stories of dude bros and their BS.
One of my former Cisco sales engineers became a pro-football cheerleader before going back to tech. The cheerleader pay and schedule was lousy, which were factors being a single mom, but she says she was treated better as a cheerleader! How ironic that a role viewed primarily as eye candy would be more supportive and empowering than tech. Sad.
My wife has been harassed at every company she's worked for. Downfall of being a woman in tech, she says. Now that she and I run our own (very small, for now) tech company, we're doing our part to break that stigma.
Considering how tied to the Alt-right tech and gaming culture is, and how much straight-up misogyny (and if not misogyny then certainly extreme anti-feminism) plays into that movement, it's a wonder we all didn't see this situation coming sooner.
@jjstraka34 What? Silicon Valley isn't really the home of the Alt-Right in my eyes. What are you talking about tech is tied to Alt-Right?
Just that many of the Youtube personalities who espouse what I would call "Alt-lite" views that focus on never-ending critiques of feminism are often former tech employees or deeply involved in gamer culture.
@smeagolheart I'd say that every problem we face with people in this country is due to culture. From sexual harassment to guns to just the general sociopathy people subscribe to these days. The root is always culture. The means to cause problems means little, its always someone who has the will.
A computer server crucial to a lawsuit against Georgia election officials was wiped clean by its custodians just after the suit was filed, The Associated Press has learned.
Then just after the case later moved to federal court the backups were wiped.
Wiping the server clean “forestalls any forensic investigation at all,” said Richard DeMillo, a Georgia Tech computer scientist who has closely followed the case. “People who have nothing to hide don’t behave this way.”
Georgia’s secretary of state, Brian Kemp, a Republican who is running for governor in 2018 and is the main defendant in the suit.
The server data could have revealed whether Georgia’s most recent elections were compromised by malicious hackers or Republicans intent on retaining seats.
The plaintiffs in the lawsuit contend the obvious that the results of both last November’s election and a special June 20 congressional runoff— won by Kemp’s predecessor, Karen Handel — cannot be trusted.
You have to have extremely compelling reasons to completely wipe a hard drive clean, especially if you are a business or public entity such as an election official's office. I don't mean "format the drive" because that actually retains the data and the MFT (master file table) can still be recovered; instead, I mean *wiped*--you used a utility program that overwrote the information on the hard drives by putting a "1" in every byte. We have a utility like that here but to use it we have to fill out a form, get it signed by our boss, then put in the log the computer upon which we are using it. Typically, we do that only for executive computers after backing up the hard drive contents on the storage device in our boss's office.
A computer server crucial to a lawsuit against Georgia election officials was wiped clean by its custodians just after the suit was filed, The Associated Press has learned.
Then just after the case later moved to federal court the backups were wiped.
I never thought I'd see this in my own country. But apparently we have had at least one election that was truly fraudulent.
This is enough evidence for me. There is no alternative explanation for destroying evidence.
A computer server crucial to a lawsuit against Georgia election officials was wiped clean by its custodians just after the suit was filed, The Associated Press has learned.
Then just after the case later moved to federal court the backups were wiped.
I never thought I'd see this in my own country. But apparently we have had at least one election that was truly fraudulent.
This is enough evidence for me. There is no alternative explanation for destroying evidence.
And this is the reason the pessimistic among us, despite a massive generic ballot preference, and what was just reported as a phenomenally large fundraising quarter for the Democrats, that 2018 and 2020 seem like crap-shoots. We have countless examples of voter supression efforts (which at this point many Republicans will straight up admit to), and then you have stuff like this. Personally, I've always been very suspicious of what went on in Ohio in 2004, but there simply wasn't enough concrete evidence to go that route. We know Russians accessed voter rolls and information in the last election. The next step is clearly altering totals. We are susceptible as long as we are using hackable machines. The only solution is paper ballots.
Ontario just passed a bill that forbids people from protesting within 50 metres of an abortion clinic.
Regardless of your stance on the issue, this a good thing as women get constantly assaulted by pro-lifers when they visit a clinic, including being spat on.
Yes assault itself is a punishable offence, but no one wants a poloce officer to be stationed outside a clinic having to babysit people.
This type of assault also doesn't help the pro-life message.
It is probably the one good thing the Ontario Liberal government did since being elected amdwas backed by both opposition parties with only one independent MMP voting against it.
Comments
Here’s a story in The Washington Post. On its face, it’s how things should work: bipartisan cooperation to make sure things run right. There seems to be bipartisan agreement that the board charged with providing financial oversight of Puerto Rico’s bankruptcy process should appoint an emergency manager to oversee the territory’s bankrupt power company, PREPA.
That seems a bit draconian. The territory’s governor opposes the move. But as the Post describes it, the push to do this is coming from Democrats up in arms over that inexplicable $300 million contract with Whitefish Energy, the two year old, two person contractor out of Montana with juice in the Trump administration. But Nick Mulvaney, OMB Director, also thinks it’s necessary to appoint the emergency manager. Because he’s such a zealous custodian of federal dollars and the Whitefish Energy deal seems fishy.
Again, on the face of it, wow, everyone seems to agree! How great!
But I’m more than a bit suspicious of Nick Mulvaney. And how exactly did that Whitefish Energy contract come about in the first place? Getting to the bottom of that seems like the first order of business. It’s owned by a friend of Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke and based in Zinke’s hometown. Zinke’s son even briefly worked for the company. And there’s more! It’s main financing comes from a major Trump donor.
You’re going to have to come up with a pretty strong alternative explanation to convince me that the juice for Whitefish to get this fabulously lucrative contract didn’t come from within the Trump administration as opposed to some kind of nefariousness the Trump administration wants to clamp down on.
The Daily Beast noted that the Colonettas, the money behind Whitefish, not only gave money to Trump and have a relationship with Zinke. They’ve also recently shown up at meet and greets with Ben Carson and Rex Tillerson. A member of the Puerto Rico House of Representatives told the Beast this …
Luis Vega-Ramos, member of the Puerto Rico House of Representatives, told The Daily Beast, “Whitefish’s most important expertise or assets seems to have been… having the U.S. secretary of the interior, Ryan Zinke, as their former congressman and current ally and having the wisdom to retain the services of key people close to the governor [of Puerto Rico].”
I’m not sure who’s scamming who here. But the Whitefish contract seems comically off. And I’m not buying the idea that Trump’s OMB Director wants to clamp down because of a contract that seems to have been secured because some money people had so much juice in the Trump administration.
This was *definitely* a backroom deal. Now we need to look into who was originally bankrolling Whitefish and answer questions such as "how does an electric service company provide service to anyone with only two employees?". Sure, I suppose they could have been contracting all the work because contractors don't actually count as "employees" on certain reports but that seems awfully thin.
https://www.whitefishenergy.com/
We would literally never hear the end of it. In 2050 Republicans would still be launching investigations.
lolwut? No employees or assets under management? How can you run a "capital management" company while you manage no assets? Did you just go into business last week? Now maybe he just didn't fill out any details for this website but when a company exists and its sole raison d'etre is to invest in other companies, surely you think they would broadcast their success to anyone who will listen. Instead, there seem to be *no* disclosure forms of any kind here. what the--? Shadow corporation! No, seriously--the address listed on this website is a UPS outlet in a shopping center. see for yourself. At least the phone number matches on both sites.
This other site lists variations on the name as "executives, directors, and promoters". The more I follow this rabbit trail the weirder it becomes. 79 investors raised $14 million back in 2016 but I am certain I will never figure out who they are. I did find the SEC Form D which got filled out when the company was formed, though so I guess that's something. Still lists the UPS store as its address, though.
The rabbit trail also found a Michael Milne from St. Louis, MO as a business parter of Lance. Who are these guys and why are they hiding so efficiently?
*whew* Following the money is difficult when you aren't a PI.
I concur--they are going to realize a sizable return for their investment.
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And meanwhile in Canada:
One of the trials against the Ontario Liberals has concluded with an acquittal.
The bribery charges stemmed from a previous candidate for the liberals being asked to step aside for a "star" candidate, in return they would offer him a position within the party.
According to the Election Act, “no person shall, directly or indirectly, give, procure or promise or agree to procure an office or employment to induce a person to become a candidate, refrain from becoming a candidate or withdraw his or her candidacy.”
The judge ruled that the elections act does not cover "private" parties, meaning the Liberals can appoint who ever they want for each seat, and the word candidate only refers to a person running in an election.
The Liberals are taking it as a win, claiming that it was politically motivated (sorta) and a waste of money (which is HILARIOUS coming from them).
Their other trial is still on going however.
Whitefish telling the Mayor of San Juan they can all die if she doesn't shut up. Of course the Trump administration gave this highly respected "company" the contract.
This seems to be a societal problem as big as guns in many ways. I'll remind everyone that researchers have found that only somewhere between 2-10% of sexual assault claims are found to be false. That means if 10 women come forward with these stories and claims, it is a good bet at least 9 of them are telling the truth. The one thing this wave of accusations hasn't done?? Refocus the spotlight on the President of the United States, who has been accused of this behavior by somewhere between 12 and 17 women. At a bare minimum, based on statistics, the amount of them who are telling the truth is in the double digits. I'll remind everyone that this is also a man who, when he owned the Miss Teen USA competition, walked into a dressing room of underage girls when they were changing, basically just to show that he could and take a peak. No one in this country (besides Lindsey Lohan and Woody Allen) have any problem believing Harvey Weinstein was guilty of what he is accused of. Like Weinstein, Trump is on tape admitting to his behavior. Like Weinstein, Trump has been accused by many, many women who tell remarkably consistent stories about what and how he went about his harassment and assault. None of them as far as I know have taken a dime to cash in on their stories. What is it that is preventing some of the people who (rightly) know deep down that Harvey Weinstein is a predatory pig from believing the same thing about Donald Trump??
I believe it would take a significant culture change to address this. Fox paid 32 million dollars for Bill O'Reillys sexual harassment then turned around and extended his contract. Tougher consequences don't really deter anyone, at best maybe they make them want to be more sneaky.
Culture change is what's needed. It's unlikely to happen because people resist change. Those in power don't want a change to the status quo, their checkbook or the "perks" of the job.
What kind of culture change? Well, it is theoretical of course but I think we have to get away from the commercialization of women's bodies. Pretty models and so forth are a commodity - a thing. Sweeping introspective change won't happen especially now with our regressive government and atmosphere.
Women would have to be empowered and able to stand up to power and not be things. It would help to study other cultures where sexual harassment is less of an issue and find out what they do differently and actually implement change. I don't really know what that would turn up but it would probably require radical change to American customs.
And it's not going to happen anytime soon, possibly ever, because those in power control things and don't want to give it up.
He has 5 different businesses listed as "active" and all are listed as being located at a residential street address in Dallas. He definitely seems to prefer incorporating them as domestic limited liability corporations; connected people spreading out from him are in Houston and Tulsa. hrm...another site lists him as being a financial advisor working for JP Morgan--now there is a big name in the financial services industry.
One of his companies has a different address, located just north of downtown Dallas. There are 30 (!) companies all listed as having this same address. Yes, you read that correctly--30. Gando Holdings LLC, Aita Capital Partners LLC, Lafayette Oil Gas LLC, Black Oak Ranch LLC, Doctors Oil And Gas LLC, Peyton Omnicrest LLC, Mcgowen Shaw PLLC, Mcgr Operating Company Inc, Gross Real Estate And Investment Co Inc, Arapaho Energy LLC, Arapaho Group LLC, Arapaho Oil Gas LLC, Dylan Peyton LLC, Longbow Ventures LLC, Wysteria Holdings LLC, Sk Land Minerals LLC, Avatar Energy LLC, Southeast Kansas Royalty Trust LLC, Gross Real Estate And Investment Co, Dycad LLC, Nape International LLC, Alvarado Home Place LLC, Gandg Ventures LLC, Arapaho Exploration LLC, Nape Charities Fund, Buffalo Claim Development Ltd, Elk Claim Development Ltd, Walborn Capital LP, White Tail Development LP, and Big Cat Development LP.
Okay, I am not a high net worth individual so I suppose I have no idea. Is this how some of those people live? They create company after company, putting money into one company only to have it invest in another company, listing themselves or the other company as "managing partner" or some such nonsense, all in an effort to hide their finances? I like privacy, too, but this boggles the mind.
At this point, if I dig any more I am going to start to feel like a stalker. *yeesh*
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Whenever I watch a MtG tournament and a female player is on screen, the Twitch chat devolves into two comments, either overly-positive opinions or overly-negative opinions of her looks. I never join the chat for tournaments, though--too many trolls.
An anti-Trump Facebook page apparently has been tied to Russia. It's only one example so far and may not amount to a trend, but I've been wondering for quite some time exactly why Russia interfered in Trump's favor. This suggests that Russia's motive was less to help Trump or hurt Hillary and more to just cause harm to the U.S. I remember thinking a while back that it wouldn't surprise me either way; both motives make sense for Putin's Russia.
Again, it's just a single Facebook page (which Facebook has since taken down), and Russian content is much more often pro-Trump than anti-Trump. But if we see more of this, then we have reason to believe Putin is trying to exploit divisions within America.
edit/add: Hey! I was going back over my research when I reread the info on FlatCreek's pitiful little website. Lance's previous job duties included "provided investment banking services to governmentally owned electric, gas and water utilities in the United States and Puerto Rico". He already had connections to PREPA!
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The Las Vegas shooter had a laptop in his room. The hard drive in that laptop is *missing*. Not misplaced after the police inventoried it for evidence--missing. When they examined the laptop it had been physically removed. Clearly the shooter didn't remove it--he was sequestered in his room, committed the crime, then killed himself--so it must have been removed *before* the event, which means that either a) he put it in the trash (in which case it is in a landfill and probably won't ever be found) or b) he gave it to someone before the event took place. If he gave it to someone before the event, to whom did he give it? There are no cameras in the hallway, only facing the elevator banks, but if an accomplice entered via the stairwell there wouldn't be video evidence of them showing up.
Also, the security guard who got shot, Jesus Campos, had taken previous trips to Mexico using his own car, registered with Nevada plates (obviously). However, only *one week* after the shooting he went to California, rented a car there, and then made another trip to Mexico, presumably so that the record of his entry back into the United States wouldn't register as his car. Why did he make this trip in this manner and who did he visit while he was there?
The recent troll activity on this front has been to accuse victims of mass shootings of being paid actors. *sigh*
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Apparently we have 28 national emergencies which are still in effect right now. erm...should we panic or what?
One of my former Cisco sales engineers became a pro-football cheerleader before going back to tech. The cheerleader pay and schedule was lousy, which were factors being a single mom, but she says she was treated better as a cheerleader! How ironic that a role viewed primarily as eye candy would be more supportive and empowering than tech. Sad.
A computer server crucial to a lawsuit against Georgia election officials was wiped clean by its custodians just after the suit was filed, The Associated Press has learned.
Then just after the case later moved to federal court the backups were wiped.
Wiping the server clean “forestalls any forensic investigation at all,” said Richard DeMillo, a Georgia Tech computer scientist who has closely followed the case. “People who have nothing to hide don’t behave this way.”
Georgia’s secretary of state, Brian Kemp, a Republican who is running for governor in 2018 and is the main defendant in the suit.
The server data could have revealed whether Georgia’s most recent elections were compromised by malicious hackers or Republicans intent on retaining seats.
The plaintiffs in the lawsuit contend the obvious that the results of both last November’s election and a special June 20 congressional runoff— won by Kemp’s predecessor, Karen Handel — cannot be trusted.
This is enough evidence for me. There is no alternative explanation for destroying evidence.
Ontario just passed a bill that forbids people from protesting within 50 metres of an abortion clinic.
Regardless of your stance on the issue, this a good thing as women get constantly assaulted by pro-lifers when they visit a clinic, including being spat on.
Yes assault itself is a punishable offence, but no one wants a poloce officer to be stationed outside a clinic having to babysit people.
This type of assault also doesn't help the pro-life message.
It is probably the one good thing the Ontario Liberal government did since being elected amdwas backed by both opposition parties with only one independent MMP voting against it.