I’ve been enjoying the numerous archived interviews etc., so far

https://www.youtube.com/@theburningarchive/featured

This channel looks at World History and how it affects geopolitics today – Great Powers, Changing Cultures, & Civilization States. And great history books, of course. I share book recommendations, deep dives into world history, and commentary on current world politics. I am an author, historian and retired government official who lives in Melbourne, Australia. 33 years in government and a lifetime reading history gives can help live in tune with a changing world.

Sign up to my weekly world history book recommendations and insights at https://jeffrich.substack.com.

I also have a channel focused on world literature @WorldLit Archive

thanks to Ms Cat for directing me towards this channel

Adopting a noble spirit for 2025 and always seems like the way to go!

Happy New Year to everybody, everywhere!

Good tidings to everyone.

From A Christmas Carol

He became as good a friend, as good a master, and as good a man, as the good old city knew, or any other good old city, town, or borough, in the good old world. Some people laughed to see the alteration in him, but he let them laugh, and little heeded them; for he was wise enough to know that nothing ever happened on this globe, for good, at which some people did not have their fill of laughter in the outset; and knowing that such as these would be blind anyway, he thought it quite as well that they should wrinkle up their eyes in grins, as have the malady in less attractive forms. His own heart laughed: and that was quite enough for him.

In spite of the madness in this world, it’s good to know we can have some joy in our hearts- We should have some joy in our hearts. And maybe, just maybe, we can spread that joy around through kindness, consideration and well wishes, including smiles.

Merry Christmas to all!

If anyone else wants to share a different Christmas greeting please do!?

It has me, definitely!

Be back soon

https://www.thetimes.com/world/europe/article/bayesian-superyacht-robots-sonar-divers-deployed-pn8q6l7mx

Italy is providing special forces divers from a secretive unit of the Italian military– web archive link

Divers from an Italian navy special forces unit are searching the sunken yacht Bayesian for clues to why it went down in a storm off the coast of Sicily last month, killing seven.

About six divers from the Italian navy’s secretive Comsubin unit are combing the superyacht for electronic equipment — including data storage and CCTV footage — while checking to see if doors were left open.

“The investigating magistrate has asked Comsubin to investigate so he can check statements made by the crew of the yacht,” a source close to the investigation told The Times.

Wikipedia

The Italian Navy’s secretive Comsubin unit are combing the yacht for any electronic devices that might offer clues to why it sunk – as well as checking to see if any doors were left open on board.

The yacht’s captain and two British crew members are under investigation by Sicilian magistrates for their role in the August 19 sinking of the Bayesian, which now sits on the sea bed 50 metres down and half a mile outside the fishing port of Porticello. Seven of the 22 on board the 56-metre-long, $40 million yacht died including the British tech tycoon Mike Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter Hannah.

The victims’ bodies were recovered by divers from Italy’s fire-fighting service before Comsubin divers moved in, supported by a navy minesweeper which has a decompression chamber to assist deep-dive operations and a high-speed vessel used to deploy the divers.

Trained for demining operations and the rescue of sailors from stricken submarines, the divers — whose identities are kept secret — hail from a small unit within Comsubin, which is the Italian navy equivalent of the British Special Boat Service.

This is a private yacht, that is alleged to have sunk in a storm. Mine sweepers and secret identity divers?

The hope is to raise the superyacht, eventually

Revton has employed Drafinsub, a Genoa-based diving company, to use sonar and a submersible robot to study the position and state of the Bayesian in order to plan how to raise it.

“With the robot we will video the hull to see how the yacht and its mast are positioned on the sea floor, while the sonar we have on a vessel can map the sea floor and check the position of the anchor and chain,” a Drafinsub official said.

Bad weather has delayed the start of the operation, which may get under way next week and will take two to three days to complete, he added. Once data is collected, Revton is expected to discuss with the local coastguard and investigating magistrates the best way to raise the Bayesian — either by using buoyancy balloons or by attaching ties to it and hoisting it to the surface.

Before that happens, 18,000 litres of fuel must be syphoned out of the yacht’s tanks in order to avoid any spillage and make the vessel lighter to lift.

https://www.standard.co.uk/showbiz/captain-glenn-shephard-below-deck-sailing-yacht-season-5-gary-king-lee-bayesian-b1180597.html

Boat enthusiasts have been eager to hear Shephard’s perspective on the tragic sinking of Bayesian, especially given his experience with Parsifal III, a superyacht from the same manufacturer. Although that’s where the two vessels similarities end, with Parsifal boasting two masts, not one. It also doesn't have a lifting keel, meaning stability is always at its maximum onboard.

Speaking of the tragedy, Shephard added: “I know there’s going to be questions, and I’m happy to address them, but I’m not going to speculate. All I can say is, my heart goes out to the family and loved ones of the people that perish. It’s a horrible tragedy, and I’ll also say it’s definitely a freak accident. You know anyone thinking about going out on a boat and worried that's going to happen - that doesn't happen and I couldn't believe that it could happen.

And yet it did.

Four victims on Mike Lynch yacht died of suffocation, autopsies suggest

Initial examinations of four of the people killed when British tech tycoon Mike Lynch’s family yacht sank off Sicily last month indicated they had died of suffocation as oxygen ran out on the stricken vessel, judicial sources said on Thursday.

Lynch, his daughter Hannah, an onboard cook and four guests died when the Bayesian, a British flagged 56-metre (184-feet) superyacht, sank during a severe and sudden weather event off the port of Porticello, near Palermo, on Aug. 19.

First results from autopsies on four of the victims – Morgan Stanley International chairman Jonathan Bloomer, his wife Judy, lawyer Chris Morvillo and his wife Neda – suggested that they died from suffocation, having been trapped on the ship.

original url below

https://pennyforyourthoughts2.blogspot.com/2010/07/billionaire-hedge-fund-pedophile-mogul.html

As it was written………….

Thanks to aferrismoon for catching this one! And this scum bag has all the “right” connections!
Remember this name Jeffrey Epstein. It is the name of a man, that will go down in infamy as pedophile scum bag, who gets away with it because he has money and all the right political friends.

I’ll excerpt and encourage you to read the entire report.

Slap on the wrist!-

On Wednesday, hedge fund manager Jeffrey Epstein completes his one-year house arrest in Palm Beach.
During Epstein’s term of “house arrest,” he made several trips each month to his New York home and his private Caribbean island. In the earlier stage of his sentence for soliciting prostitution with a minor—13 months in the Palm Beach Stockade—he was allowed out to his office each day

Doesn’t that all sound like some hard time, for a disgusting crime?

Meanwhile, Epstein has settled more than a dozen lawsuits brought by the underage girls who were recruited to perform “massages” at his Palm Beach mansion. Seven victims reached a last-minute deal last week, days before a scheduled trial; each received well over $1 million—an amount that will hardly dent Epstein’s $2 billion net worth.
With that, the known victims of Epstein’s sexual compulsion have been officially silenced, and the case against him is closed.

The case may be officially closed and this bunch of victims may have been silenced, but….
But, this pedophile is not going to stop. Why would he? Look what he has gotten away with?
Look at what money and influence gets you…
Let’s take a look at the influential persons that Mr. Epstein surrounds himself with.

“Former President Bill Clinton; Prince Andrew; former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak; New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson; and former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers were just a few of the prominent passengers on his private jets—allow him to receive only a slap on the wrist for crimes that carry a mandatory 20-year sentence?

The scum all sticks together

Was he able, with his limitless assets and heavy-hitting lawyers—Alan Dershowitz, Gerald Lefcourt, Roy Black, Kenneth Starr, Guy Lewis, and Martin Weinberger among them—to escape equal justice?

Repeat, the scum all sticks together

Michael Reiter, the former Palm Beach police chief, certainly thinks so. He gave The Daily Beast exclusive access to the transcript of his nine-hour deposition for the victims’ civil suits, in which he explained how the case against Epstein was minimized by the State Attorney’s Office, then bargained down by the U.S. Department of Justice, all in an atmosphere of hardball legal tactics and social pressures so intense that Reiter became estranged from several colleagues. At the time, Reiter, who retired in 2009 and now runs his own security firm, objected both to Epstein’s plea agreement and to the flexible terms of his incarceration in the county jail rather than state prison. Asked during the deposition whether he thought Epstein received special treatment, he answered “yes.”

Epstein quickly got wind of the investigation, and progress on the case got messy very quickly. He hired a squad of lawyers and private investigators and dispatched influential friends to pressure the police into backing off.
The detectives asked their federal colleagues whether the fact that some victims appeared to have traveled out of state on Epstein’s planes—plus the use of interstate phone service to arrange assignations—might be violations of the federal 2000 Trafficking Victims Protection Act, which carries a minimum sentence of 20 years.

I am wondering, did he have some information on his influential friends that would get them onside? Since he was trafficking the children, moving then around on his private planes, would his friends have been his clientele? Quite possible, read on intrepid reader, read on.

Many of his high-powered acquaintances availed themselves of Epstein’s private jets, for which the pilot logs, obtained by discovery in the civil suits, sometimes showed that bold-face names were on the same flights as underage girls. A high-profile trial threatened to splash mud over all sorts of big players, just as both Gov. Richardson and Bill Clinton’s wife were running for president.

Guilt by association?

Let’s read just one lurid tale that emerged of this scum hedge fund billionaire crimes

The details that eventually emerged were often shocking and occasionally bizarre. For Epstein’s birthday one year, according to allegations in a civil suit, he was presented with three 12-year-old girls from France, who were molested then flown back to Europe the next day. These same civil complaints allege that young girls from South America, Europe, and the former Soviet republics, few of whom spoke English, were recruited for Esptein’s sexual pleasure.

Alan Dershowitz demonstrates his natural proclivity to scum defence?

Attorney Dershowitz says Epstein’s agreement to pay attorney fees for the victims and agree to civil damage claims—without admitting guilt—amounted to “extortion under threat of criminal prosecution.”

Dershowitz began sending the detective Facebook and MySpace posts to demonstrate that some of these girls were no angels. Reiter’s deposition also states that he heard from local private investigators that Dershowitz had launched background checks on both the police chief and Det. Recarey. Dershowitz denies all of that. According to Reiter, both he and Recarey also became aware that they were under surveillance for several months, without knowing who ordered it. And the Florida victims began to complain that they and family members were being followed and intimidated by private investigators who were then linked to local attorneys in Epstein’s employ.

Keep in mind this Jeffrey Epstein is a well known “philanthropist”

Epstein has been a serious and respected player in the highest reaches of politics and philanthropy. He has made substantial contributions to political candidates, served on the Council on Foreign Relations, and donated $30 million to Harvard University.

Thinking of yesterday’s post….and this shocker from today-
I am left wondering why, how these people are respected by anyone?
How is it that other people’s children are used and abused as their play things.
And, the masses are supposed to respect these people?
I scratch my head every single day at how out of whack the world is, and why the people let this continue?
One more question? Where was the main stream media on this story?
They sure as hell didn’t shout this one from the roof tops!

I am adding some additional links-
Another well-connected ‘paedophile’ walks free
related: Maxwell’s daughter Ghislaine gets subpoena

From the Business Insider:
New Details On Billionaire Hedge Funder Jeffrey Epstein’s Child Sex Habits As He Is Freed From House Arrest

WPEC Palm Beach- Jeffrey Epstein, a free man

——————————————————————————–

Interesting all this time later to see the media frenzy concerning this man and his dirty deeds- none done dirt cheap. I’ve seen nothing new or earth shattering in this latest document dump and it feels a whole lot like a distraction.

At my censored site, I’ve got multiple reports on this case from well over a decade ago- I’m not getting any new names from this latest release and don’t expect to. Whatever info Epstein had amassed is going to be used for other purposes.

And after all, I’m still standing and so are those that continue to stop on by!

So all the best to you and yours- With a reminder we are all stronger and more resilient than we believe ourselves to be. So a pat on the back to us all- we can get through 2024 together.

Cheers!

It’s been one crazy year, personally and geopolitically.

Wondering if the mass insanity inflicts itself into the individual lives of random persons? Sort of like this?

Manifesting itself in unexpected and disturbing ways?

Or, perhaps I”m just tired?

Thanks to everyone who stops by!

Enjoy your holidays, however you may choose to spend them!