Background Briefing: October 4, 2021

On By gram

 

The Pandora Papers Trove and South Dakota as an Onshore Haven For Dirty Money

We begin with the massive trove of leaked documents on offshore tax dodgers and kleptocrats published by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, “The Pandora Papers: Offshore Havens and Hidden Riches of World Leaders and Billionaires Exposed in Unprecedented Leak.” Joining us from the U.K. to discuss the inner workings of this shadow economy and the three Malibu beachfront mansions worth $68 million Jordan’s king secretly bought, the chateau on the French Riviera purchased by the Czech prime minister who ran as an anti-corruption candidate, and the $100 million Putin’s mistress has stashed offshore is Oliver Bullough. He is the author of Moneyland: Why Thieves and Crooks Now Rule the World and How to Take it Back and we discuss his article at The Guardian “The government promised to clamp down on shell companies. It has failed to do so” and how the state of South Dakota has become an onshore haven for dirty money.

 

The Latest Devastating California Coastal Oil Spill

Then we look into the devastating oil spill off Huntington Beach in Southern California in which 126,000 gallons from an offshore platform’s broken oil pipeline has spilled into the ocean killing fish and birds and is threatening marine mammals, breeding grounds and ecosystems. Joining us is Gwen Goodmanlowe, a lecturer in the marine biology department at Long Beach State University who is an expert on marine mammals whose research focuses on the effects of contaminants on seals, whales, dolphins, and porpoises.

 

Facebook Offline and in the Hotseat Following Whistleblower on “60 Minutes”

Then finally with Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp down today, Monday, we will assess the impact of the “60 Minutes” appearance on Sunday night by Frances Haugan a Facebook data scientist who charged the social media giant Facebook with “moral bankruptcy” for turning off safeguards in place over the election to prevent disinformation and hate speech which led to rousing up the rabble who stormed the Capitol on January 6. Joining us is Jonathan Taplin, an author, music and film producer and director emeritus of the USC Annenberg Innovation Lab, who in his book, Move Fast and Break Things: How Facebook, Google and Amazon Have Cornered Culture and Undermined Democracy, warned about the need to reign in Facebook’s monopolistic economic clout and to stop its magnification of hate and misinformation by making it take responsibility for its content as a publisher.