Two things today that made me go, huh, it’s good to be the King…
One. Rich people play in the ocean. Rich lady gets et by a shark. Sharks eat seals. Other rich people who want to play water now want seals culled.
Damn. That’s some cold reasoning…but they aren’t wrong. It’s behavioral science I think.
The incident is not an anomaly. Beaches across the Northeast have closed repeatedly in recent days after great white sharks were spotted swimming close to shore, a worrying trend that has led some people to suggest that states thin the population of seals, the sharks’ primary source of food.
Local business owners and some Cape Cod, Mass., politicians have long called for culling the seal population there. Many worry that more shark sightings and beach closures could lead to a downturn in tourism, which is vital to the local economy.
All marine mammals are protected in the United States by the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972. Seal populations have multiplied exponentially in the years since the act, and marine scientists say levels are now so high that they are making a discernible difference in coastline shark activity since seals are among their favorite prey. Subsequent federal legislation also led to greater protections for sharks, experts say, leading to a far larger number of great whites. Still, not everyone thinks culling seals is the answer.
I can solve that problem in one executive order.
And this one, my pet peeve, shell companies…which btw can be started to hide like as little as 90K. Makes a guy want to break the law. Even more so after this:
In September 2019, a jury convicted Jack Stephen Pursley, also known as Steve Pursley, of conspiring with a client to repatriate more than $18 million in untaxed income that the client had earned through his company, Southeastern Shipping. According to the evidence presented at trial, Pursley knew that the client had never paid taxes on these funds so Pursley designed and implemented a scheme to transfer the untaxed funds from Southeastern Shipping’s business bank account, located in the Isle of Man, to the United States. Pursley helped to conceal the movement of funds from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) by disguising the transfers as stock purchases in United States corporations owned and controlled by Pursley and his client.
Pursley received more than $4.8 million and a 25% ownership interest in the co-conspirator’s ongoing business for his role in the fraudulent scheme. In 2009 and 2010, Pursley evaded the assessment of and failed to pay the taxes he owed on these payments by, among other means, withdrawing the funds as purported non-taxable loans and returns of capital. Pursley used the money he garnered from the fraudulent scheme for personal investments, and to purchase personal assets, including a vacation home in Vail, Colorado, and property in Houston, Texas.
In addition to the term of imprisonment, U.S. District Judge Lynn N. Hughes ordered Pursley to serve 2 years of supervised release and to pay approximately $1,788,753 in restitution to the United States.
Those numbers seem to suggest, well, that it was so worth it. Guy made at least 2 million…and whatever else he hid better…maybe he outsourced his dirty money and got house arrest.
Oh and yes, very white white collar crook.
