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Samizdata, derived from Samizdat /n. - a system of clandestine publication of banned literature in the USSR [Russ.,= self-publishing house]

The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists… investigating people on behalf of governments worldwide

The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists are an interesting outfit, a group crowd sourcing denouncing people to various states across the globe.

Just as we see the edifying example of Edward Snowden revealing routine US surveillance of hundreds of millions of people, we have as a counterpoint the ICIJ, who are folks that clearly think there is not nearly enough surveillance being carried out by nation states… and so they want to see if like minded folks can help nations worldwide ensure there is nowhere anyone can keep their money free from appropriation by the world’s tax men.

The ICIJ no doubt warms the cockles of Tory leader Dave Cameron’s heart as much as the likes of Edward Snowden scare the crap out him.

Yet I suspect many people who have not really thought this through very well might assume people like NSA whistle-blower Edward Snowden on one hand, and the ICIJ on the other, are actually doing much the same thing.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

5 comments to The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists… investigating people on behalf of governments worldwide

  • They can do what they want – BUT, who is financing them?

  • Michael G

    “Recent ICIJ funders include: Adessium Foundation, Open Society Foundations, The David and Lucile Packard Foundation, Oak Foundation, Pew Charitable Trusts and Waterloo Foundation.”

    The obvious “tell” is the Soros connection via Open Society. Packard & Pew should be familiar to American audiences; the others are European. All appear to mouth the standard “social justice” platitudes.

    The Oak Foundation is interesting in a different way: one of their causes is “to support Danish and Greenlandic society”. I haven’t the stomach to delve further but perhaps someone with a stronger constitution can dig in?

  • jdm

    Michael G, as you probably saw in the About Section of Oak Denmark: Many Greenlandic immigrants are vulnerable to abuse, homelessness and loneliness.

    All too true, as it was also the case all the way back in the 70s and before that. Unfortunately, helping these “immigrants” didn’t give the Danish “gutmensch” that frisson that they so need. In fact, after inviting in all the immigrants and so-called refugees from the Middle East and North Africa, the Greenlanders, now completely forgotten, have real problems as the new immigrants actively torment them. The fact that the Greenlanders quite often dull the pain of “abuse, homelessness and loneliness” with alcohol means that the new immigrants feel their behavior is completely justified.

    Of the two Oak Foundation founders, one is (born and raised) Danish. The rest are the children of the two founders, and so Danish by birthright, but I doubt they know much about life in Denmark.

  • mike

    There is a vague article on their blog entitled “Why We Are Not Turning Over the Offshore Files to Government Agencies”, which has a few comments including this one by Wolfgang Ksoll:

    “I understand your massage so that you further want to exploit the data commercially for your own profit but therefore you want to protect criminals against prosecution. This is the opposite of what wikileaks did: they earned no money with publishing data about criminals and published them completely….”

    So the running conjecture is surely that they’ll turn over the data to governments eventually, but not until they can make sure of plundering some of that offshore money for themselves.

  • Paul Marks

    Mr Cameron (and all the rest) could take every last Pound from wealthy people and the out-of-control government spending would still be unsustainable.

    But this will not stop them – they will carry on pushing class war, hatred-of-the-rich.

    Mr Cameron is a rich man, and he married into a wealthy family – yet he carries on with this stuff (hoping that pushing hatred of the rich will make him popular).

    It is like various wealthy French aristocrats pushing the ideas of Rousseau – and they did push them, for many years before the Revolution (indeed that is what helped cause the very Revolution that killed “Citizen Equality”, the ultra wealthy Duke of Orleans, and the rest).

    Mr Cameron and his family may escape the sort of Revolution they are (unwittingly) promoting, but (thanks to his own proposals) he will find that his money will be stolen (whereever in the world he goes).

    Blame the rich, blame the “corporations”, say how much you support “Social Justice”.

    The Duke of Orleans (“Citizen Equality”) lives! Till the moment his head is cut off.