10 Best All Inclusive Family Resorts in the Bahamas (2021)

can you gamble at 18 in the bahamas

can you gamble at 18 in the bahamas - win

The next BTC crash could be something to behold

Also on my blog with better formatting, cute footnotes and inlined images.
Note that not much here is new material, mostly rehashing existing points.

Disclaimer

This article started out as research for my betting against Bitcoin on the stock market. This isn't financial advice. As a matter of fact, I encourage all readers you to not buy or short crypto, through any market or derivative. Use your money for productive uses.
Here's a TL;DR:
  1. The current parabolic price increase in Bitcoin is a bubble that has started popping.
  2. A stablecoin called Tether is either one of the largest frauds or money laundering operation in history, and is providing most of the liquidity in the cryptocurrency ecosystem.
  3. A BTC bubble pop, incoming regulation on stablecoins or the current NYAG investigation into tether will expose tether's insolvency to the crypto market. This is bigger than it sounds.
  4. (Speculative, but one can hope) Current prices to mine BTC could end up higher than BTC market price, exposing BTC to a 51% attack.

A Recap: Bitcoin is useless and should go away

Bitcoin serves no purpose. Let's just rehash that by quickly debunking the major claimed uses over time as seen here
The stupidest version of the "uncorrelated asset" argument I hear is "Bitcoin is a great hedge for inflation!"
You know what's a good "hedge for inflation"? Literally anything. The definition of inflation is "the price of money". If the price of money goes down (inflation) then everything else has a positive return by comparison.
People who say "bitcoin is a good hedge for inflation" shouldn't be trusted to manage their own money, let alone give financial advice to anyone.
I already went into detail into this, but BTC is a terrible store of value because it's volatile. Assets that can lose 20% of value overnight don't "store value". BTC is a "vehicle for speculation".
The only way price is sustained for BTC is that you can find some other idiot to sell it to. Just as a reminder, 50% of Gold is used for things that aren't speculation, like Jewelry, so you'll never have to worry finding a seller there.
Here are some real uses for bitcoin:
Reminder: BTC is an ecological scourge
The current cost to mine a BTC is around $8000 in electricity. This electricity mostly comes from subsidized coal in China.
And given the current amount of BTC generated each day, we're using about equivalent to the electricity from all of Belgium, largely in coal, to keep this going.
I don't mind wasting time on intellectual curiosities, but destroying our planet for glorified gambling is not something I'm happy about. I want cryptocurrencies to go away entirely on this basis, philosophically.

Current BTC prices are a bubble

Before we go into tether, reminder that at the time of writing, the plot of BTC price against the S&P500 looks like this
BTC price has increased by ~800% since March. Still, no one uses it for anything useful since the last bubble in 2017, or the other one before that in 2013. This is another bubble however you put it.
BTC is not "new technology"
10 years the internet became popular, Google and Amazon already existed. We're 8 years after the popular emergence of deep learning and it has already revolutionized machine translation, computer vision and natural language processing in general.
You could argue that deep learning and the internet existed before their emergence, but so did cryptocurrencies. Look up b-money and hashcash for instance.
Bitcoin has existed since 2008 and emerged in popularity around the same time as deep learning did, yet we're still to find actual uses for it except speculation and criminal uses. It's a solution waiting for a problem.
Institutional investors are also idiots
The narrative this time is that "institutional investors" are buying into BTC. This doesn't mean it's not a bubble.
Many of the institutions were buying through Grayscale Bitcoin Trust. Rather, many of them were chasing the premium over net asset value that hovered around 20%. Basically, lock money in GBTC for 6 months, cash out and collect the premium as profit. Of course, this little Ponzi couldn't last forever and the premium seems to be evaporating now.
Similarly, totally-not-a-bitcoin-ETF-wearing-a-software-company-skinsuit Microstrategy (MSTR) trades at a massive premium over fundamentals.
There will always be traders chasing bonuses from numbers going up, regardless what is making the number going up. The same "institutional investors" were buying obviously terrible CDOs in the run-up to 2008.

Tether is lunacy

Tether is a cryptocurrency whose exchange rate is supposed to be pegged to the US Dollar. Initially this was done by having 1-to-1 US Dollar reserves for each tether issued. Then they got scammed by their money launderer, losing some $800M, which made them insolvent.
Anyway, now tether maintains their reserves are whatever they want them to be and they haven't gotten audited since 2017.
You know, normal stuff.
There's a problem to backing your USD-pegged security with something that isn't US Dollars. Namely, if the price of the thing you're backing your US Dollars against goes down, you're now insolvent. If you were backing $10B in tether with $10B of bitcoin, then the bitcoin drops by half, you're insolvent by $5B.
And then this spotlessly clean company they somehow added $20B to their balance sheet in the second half of 2020
Reminder: one side of that balance sheet is currently floating around the cryptocurrency ecosystem. Cryptocurrency traders own it as an asset and sell it to others. The other half of the balance sheet is whatever tether wants.
There are only two possibilities that explain tether's growth:
It could also be a happy mix of both.
One particularly interesting date is 30/8/2020, where tether added $3B to its balance sheet overnight. This is interesting because it predates the subsequent movement in bitcoin price and large movements in other cryptocurrencies.
The story from tether and tether's bank's CEO is that this money largely comes from foreign nationals through an OTC desk which implies the transaction goes as following:
  1. A foreign national sends money in a foreign currency to an OTC desk. This is exactly as clean as you'd think -- often raw cash transactions in the millions.
  2. That OTC desk converts the money to USD and sends it to tether's correspondent US bank. The OTC desk gives tether to the foreign national.
  3. Wait tether has a correspondent US bank?
Oh, I forgot to mention, no bank wants tether as a customer because they obviously break KYC/AML compliance. So tether first bought invested in a bank called Noble which then lost its relationship with Wells-Fargo when they realized tether were lying to them about AML. Poor tether lost its legal access to USD.
Tether has been banking in the Bahamas with a bank called Deltec since. First they had a money launderer called Crypto Capital Corp to send funds to customers, who stole the $800M from them and subsequently went to jail.
But worry not! Tether found a way to get banked in USD afterwards. Curious coincidence, an executive at Deltec was randomly blogging about buying small US community banks in 2018. You know, that thing money launderers do.
So tether's story is that in 2020, they took in roughly twenty billion USD of shady foreign money into the small community US bank their deltec bankers bought. These transactions are necessarily breaking KYC/AML. The foreign parties to those transactions wouldn't take such a rickety route to convert billions into cryptocurrencies if they weren't laughed out of the room in serious banks.
But of course, Deltec will say it did KYC on tether. Really solid KYC, clearly, since they're the last bank on earth taking tether's business. Tether says they do KYC on their customers (the large OTC desks). And I'm sure the OTC desks would be shocked, shocked if the cash money they get in Russia and China turns out to be dirty. So everyone can pass the buck of responsibility down the road and claim "We do KYC on our customers".
Sure you do, tether. If you did such great KYC, you wouldn't have such problems finding banking relationships. I mean when even HSBC is not doing business with you you're apparently more obviously moving criminal money than fucking drug cartels.
And, according to tether's people, this money is what's backing tether's reserves. Money that will get frozen the instant a prosecutor even looks at it.
Reminder: the above is the charitable, positive case for tether.
The less charitable case is that they took crayons and added zeros to their balance sheet, and that there's a couple billions waiting to burn a hole in the crypto ecosystem.
Anyway, the $25B garbage fire that is tether will make a great book/netflix series at some point and their hilariously stupid CTO going on podcasts while flinching on questions about how BTC ended up on their balance sheet will be a fun part of it.
But I'm not here to write a book, I'm here to make money by shorting all of this. For my purposes, even in the positive case tether is a ticking time bomb waiting to burn a hole in the crypto ecosystem, because...

KYC and AML are coming for cryptocurrencies

If you listen to "crypto news", all incoming crypto regulation is just great, because that means crypto is becoming legit. However, companies investing in crypto are very angry about them.
This is because crypto transactions break the FinCEN travel rule, where KYC information should "travel" along transactions, to prevent money laundering obfuscation schemes.
Of course, according to the crypto industry this is "stifling innovation". A more reasonable take is that by being leaving the crypto industry outside normal financial regulations, we're enabling a "race to the bottom". As we saw with shadow banks in the 2000-2007 era this leads to "creative banking". I don't want my bankers to be creative, I want them to be solvent.

Tether's effect on the crypto ecosystem

When tether implodes, it's taking most of the crypto industry along for a fun ride. Tether can implode in one of a few ways:
  1. A BTC price crash triggers it. If
  2. Regulators decide they've had enough of AML avoidance and regulate them.
  3. The NYAG investigation, which is waiting for an update in a few weeks, finds something and shuts them out.
Let's assume tether falls to $0 for simplicity. The analysis is the same directionally if tether significantly "breaks the buck".
This doesn't happen instantly, but it happens quickly. The peg breaks, and most people holding tether will try to sell it for other crypto (BTC, ETH, etc.). This puts downward pressure on the price of tether, incentivizing even more people to "pass the buck". Automated inter-exchange arbitrage bots might try to exploit emerging gaps in bid-ask spreads, only to end up with worthless tether instead, as their operators rush to pull the plug.
Then, we have a small village of cryptocurrency enthusiasts being out some $24B. With the trading bots turned off and the trading lubricant (a dollar pegged asset) gone, the bid-ask spreads blow up. You get a predictable flight to safety -- that is, to real money. This puts downward pressure on BTC.
While all of this is happening, there are all sorts of fun second-order effects happen. A lot of DeFi derivative products are priced in cryptocurrencies, so having normally stable prices shuffle around (eg. USDC price moving above $1 in a flight to safety) triggers a tsunami of margin calls. Some exchanges might insolvent (they're the ones redeeming tether for USD after all).

If BTC price drops below $8000, fun things happen

Currently, the price to mine a BTC is roughly $8000. Most of the mining comes from huge mining farms using subsidized coal in China, and mining costs more the more hardware there is to mine it.
Since the price of BTC hasn't substantially dropped below cost to mine we're in for a fun experiment if the price drops below this threshold. Most of these farms should turn off so that the price to mine comes back to breakeven in a case of prisoner's dilemma.
But if too much hardware turns off, this leaves mining hardware idle and the door becomes wide open to a 51% attack. It's not clear at what price below breakeven cost to mine a 51% attack becomes a serious threat, but once this threshold is crossed, we're in the "irreparable harm to BTC" risk zone.
And for a person like me, who just wants to see crypto disappear forever this is very exciting.
Maybe those mining farms could be replaced with nice forests soaking up all the carbon they emitted for posterity. One can hope.

How do I bet against all of this?

Microstrategy (MSTR) is, at this point, a bitcoin ETF wearing the skinsuit of a dying software company.
Michael Saylor, MSTR's CEO, is quite the character. I wrote a lot about his lack understanding of what a currency is, but it's on another level to look at the early stages of a bubble pop and decide this is a good time to buy $10M more of the stuff, as seen here
However, this bubble is tame by Michael's standards. Look at the historical stock of his company
What's happening on the left is that Saylor pumped the numbers with accounting fraud then the SEC took issue with the fake numbers. The stock dropped 90% practically overnight. Their accountants, PWC, paid $51M in fines. Saylor and friends paid fines, partly with company stock.
You could also short GBTC, but when Mr. Saylor provides you with an options market instead, why not use it? Shorting on crypto exchanges that might become insolvent in the very event you want to happen with this bet is a bad idea, on the other hand.

Mike can't cash out

The bitcoin market is illiquid and leveraged when it comes to real money coming in and leaving the ecosystem. Buys in the $10M-$100M seemingly move the price of BTC by upwards of $1000 in the last weeks. This means hundreds of millions of real money means tens of billions in movement in BTC market capitalization.
Now imagine what cashing $1.1B of BTC into real money would mean for the price. And this is purely in market terms, before the PR damage from bitcoin's demigod abandoning ship would have second-order effects.
Saylor has painted himself into a corner. Even if he wanted to cash out, he can't.

MSTR fundamentals: Why it should be valued below $10

In early 2020, MSTR was a slowly dying business. The EBITDA has been rapidly evaporating in the last 5 years
At that point, MSTR a stock price of $115 meaning a market cap of $1.1B. This included some $560M of cash they were sitting on. I presume the remaining $550M was an implicit sales premium for the inevitable private equity firm investors expected was going to relieve them of this stock and make the business profitable again.
Of course, they didn't sell.
Instead, they took the $560m they were sitting on and bought $400m of BTC at prices $11k and $13k in late summer 2020. Then, in early December, they took on $600m of debt to buy BTC with at $23k. They also bought $10m more in January at a price of $30.5k.
At this point, we can mostly value MSTR like a trust.
GBTC's 20% premium-to-NAV is a joke compared to the MSTR premium.
submitted by VodkaHaze to Buttcoin [link] [comments]

Big Brother Isn't Coming Back

The summer after freshman year of college, we took a family vacation. It was the first one where we were all adults, with me at the freshly minted age of 18. We went to an all inclusive resort in the Bahamas, which basically means you could drink as much you wanted because you weren't paying per drink.
On the last night or maybe second to last night, we went gambling at the resort over. Not super important only to say that the family unit broke up and went separate ways before the end of the night. It was just my brother and I around 2 am or so. We went to the low tier bar and grill on the first floor of the resort (our resort). It was one of those bars where the floor is unfinished cement, walls are white, all of the chairs and tables are plastic or metal, and the bar and grill is a square in the center. I've seen them before, but unsure what they are called.
Anyway, brother and I get to talking to some of the other vacationers, but as time goes on, most of the crowd filters out. At this point in the night, it was just my brother, myself, The Guy(TM) of this story, and maybe a couple other people. Bar was closing down, so I don't remember if there was even a staff member. Brother goes to take a piss and takes his sweet ass time with it.
At first everything is fine. The Guy and I are just chatting. I believe any remaining customers have left at this point. The Guy makes a comment that my brother has been gone for a while, am I sure he is coming back? I say yes and nervously sip my water, the buzz from earlier in the night waning. He pushes further, saying he could take care of me. #badtouch
After a few moments of alternating between awkward silence and him pressuring, he finally says something to the effect of "I don't think big brother is coming back." There was something about the way he said it that deeply unsettled me. There was certainty, and... a threat? Did he do something to my brother?
At this point, I'm freaking out rightly, a barely legal girl in a foreign country, all alone, late at night. I make some excuse about going to the bathroom myself and run to the elevator. It was one of those elevators that tells other people what floor the elevator is on (that might be standard, I don't come across elevators very often) so I just press a random number that's not my floor. I take the stairs to my floor, but I don't have the room key. I pound on the door my siblings and I were sharing, but my sister was either passed out or not there. I return to the elevator and go back to the first floor, hoping my brother is still in the bathroom and I can just barge in.
The elevator doors open and there's a figure. I am on edge, flight or fight response in peak form.
Fortunately, it's just my brother; The Guy nowhere in sight. He looks vaguely confused and annoyed, not recognizing how terrifying of a situation I was in. I stammer something (not important) and we go back to the room together. We left either the next day or the after, but luckily I did not see The Guy again.
When covid is over I plan to travel again, but, The Guy, let's not meet.
submitted by frustrxxted to creepyencounters [link] [comments]

RESULTS of the State of the Game Survey - October 2019

Hi all,

It’s time for the results!

Thank you to everyone who took the time to respond, these results wouldn’t be possible without you!

As always, neither myself nor this survey are associated with Intelligent Systems or Nintendo in any way. Please direct feedback about the game itself to the official channels.

Now let’s get into it!
 
Previous Survey Results:
August_2019_State_of_the_Game_Survey

~ Demographics ~

56.9% began playing FE:H in February 2017, with 23.6% more joining during the first year of the game. 12.6% of respondents joined during the second year, and 6.6% joined during the third.

36.9% report being F2P, while 26.6% have spent less than $100, 17.9% spent between $100 - $499, 6.3% spent between $500 - $999, and 8.8% have spent over $1000.

42.4% last spent money on FE:H during the third year of the game, while 22.9% last spent money during the second year of the game and 11.1% last spent money during the first year of the game.

45.4% play FE:H between 30-60 minutes per day, with 16.1% playing less than 30 minutes per day, and 26.4% play between 1-2 hours per day. 7.8% play for 2-3 hours, and 2.5% play for 3+ hours per day.

~ Summoning ~

A Monstrous Harvest is the most summoned-from banner since the previous survey, with 66.1% of respondents reporting that they have used orbs on it at least once. Brave Echoes is the runner-up at 64.8%, followed by Mythic Hero: Thrasir at 62.7%. Full results here: [Graph].

Brave Echoes is the most common orb-draining banner since the previous survey, with 22.0% of respondents reporting that they used the most orbs on it. Runner-up is Mythic Hero: Thrasir at 21.3%, followed by A Splendid Soiree at 17.7%. Full results here: [Graph].

Brave Echoes is the most common favorite banner since the previous survey, with 27.2% of respondents reporting it as their favorite. Runner-up is A Splendid Soiree at 20.1%, followed by A Monstrous Harvest at 16.7%. Full results here: [Graph].

A Monstrous Harvest was the banner that the most respondents spent money on, with 8.8% buying orbs specifically to summon on it. Mythic Hero: Thrasir is the runner-up at 7.8%, followed by A Splendid Soiree at 7.6%. Full results here: [Graph].

~ New Features ~

81.3% have completed all 15 ranks of the Heroes’ Path, compared to 18.3% who have not.

69.3% have completed all levels in the Hall of Forms, compared to 30.6% who have not.

Mae was the best Forma unit for 34.4% of respondents, followed by Alm at 27.8%, Celica at 18.1%, and Boey at 12.2%.

Boey was the worst Forma unit for 50.3% of respondents, followed by Celica at 21.9%, Mae at 9.2%, and Alm at 8.1%.

25.4% say that the Hall of Forms influenced them to want to summon for or build one of the featured heroes, compared to 68.8% who say it did not.

68.3% prefer character selection for the Hall of Forms be developer-chosen characters as it is currently, while 16.3% would prefer randomized characters and 9.9% would prefer player-chosen characters.

40.0% want the Hall of Forms events to always be active, with 36.9% wanting them active frequently but with a week or so of break in between. 19.0% want them to be active once a month, 1.6% only want them active every couple of months, and 0.5% don’t want any more Hall of Forms events.

63.5% would like an option to restart/reset the Hall of Forms after completion, compared to 19.5% who would not.

4.5 is the average enjoyment rating for the Hall of Forms game mode. 93.1% rated their enjoyment at a 4/5 or above.

35.9% feel negatively about the introduction of Duo Heroes, compared to 13.6% who feel positively. 47.9% feel neutral.

65.0% feel negatively about the Duo Skill feature in particular, compared to 4.3% who feel positively. 27.4% feel neutral.

~ Special Focus: Heroic Grails ~

85.4% have summoned a Heroic Grail unit to use for a merge, compared to 14.2% who have not.

61.7% have summoned a Heroic Grail unit to use for skill fodder, compared to 37.7% who have not.

“Which of the following best describes how you use Heroic Grails?”
  • (44.5%) “I almost always use them for Merging
  • (24.8%) “I use them for Merging more often than I use them for Skill Fodder
  • (8.5%) “I use them for Merging about as often as I use them for Skill Fodder
  • (9.5%) “I use them for Skill Fodder more often than I use them for Merging”
  • (4.7%) “I almost always use them for Skill Fodder”

48.1% have merged a Heroic Grail unit to 5*+10, compared to 48.1% who have not.

Aversa is the most common 5+10 Heroic Grail unit, achieved by 10.3% of those with a 5+10 merged Heroic Grail unit. Black Knight is the runner-up at 5.9%, followed by Masked Marth at 5.7%. Full Results here: [Graph].

77.1% say they would be happy if a character they want in the game who hasn’t been added yet gets introduced as a Heroic Grail unit, compared to 7.7% who say they would not be happy.

~ Old Questions, Revisited ~

“Which Brave Hero do you believe is the overall strongest?”
  • (61.3%) Micaiah (+1.1% from August)
  • (10.5%) Camilla (+3.7% from August)
  • (10.0%) Alm (-5.2% from August)
  • (7.1%) Eliwood (+2.8% from August)

67.4% have bought Three Houses (+5.2% from August), while 18.0% have not but plan to (-4.0% from August). 14.3% have not and don’t plan to (-0.7% from August).

82.4% want to see more characters from Three Houses added to FE:H, compared to 4.9% who do not. The previous survey only asked this question to those who had purchased Three Houses (resulting in 94.4% in favor, 1.7% not), so this result is now from all respondents regardless of whether they bought Three Houses.

31.0% have completed all of the Blessed Gardens maps, compared to 68.8% who have not. I can’t find the last time this was previously asked >_<

2.85 is the average rating on Pair Up as a mechanic. 16.5% rated their feelings on Pair Up at a 4/5 or above. The last time this question was polled (in May), the responses were in a different format, but 22.3% felt positively about Pair Up as a mechanic while 32.0% felt negatively.

~ Opinions ~

92.9% would like to see more heroes added directly into the summoning pool at 3-4* rarity without a focus banner, compared to 2.9% who would not.

12.2% believe the pace of 5* demotions after banners is adequate, compared to 78.0% who do not.

10.8% feel positively about the recent trend of new characters being added as seasonal units before having their “standard” form added, compared to 54.6% who feel negatively about this trend. 32.9% are neutral.

47.0% feel positively about Heroes original characters receiving seasonal alts, compared to 14.7% who feel negatively. 37.3% are neutral.

29.6% feel Intelligent Systems handles game selection in New Heroes banners well, compared to 12.6% who feel they handle it poorly. 57.8% are neutral.

35.0% feel Intelligent Systems handles character selection in New Heroes banners well, compared to 10.8% who feel they handle it poorly. 54.2% are neutral.

11.7% feel Intelligent Systems handles gender balance in New Heroes banners well, compared to 44.4% who feel they handle it poorly. 43.9% are neutral.

38.6% believe the menu system needs to be re-worked/streamlined, compared to 41.3% who do not.

~ Miscellaneous ~

Three Houses is the game most wanted for a New Heroes banner at 36.4%. The runner-up is Sacred Stones at 11.9%. Full Results here: [Graph].

Player crossover with other Nintendo Mobile games:
  • 19.1% actively play Pokemon GO
  • 16.3% actively play Dragalia Lost
  • 10.4% actively play Pokemon Masters
  • 8.9% actively play Mario Kart Tour
  • 4.6% actively play Animal Crossing Pocket Camp
  • 0.9% each actively play Dr. Mario World and Super Mario Run
  • 58.6% do not actively play any of the above

18.9% say they would still play the game if it was a new IP and not Fire Emblem, compared to 51.3% who say they would not.

52.8% generally consider themselves Savers, while 40.3% generally consider themselves Spenders.

58.9% chose their Summoner Support because they are one of their favorite characters, while 20.4% did so because they’re one of the units they use the most and 15.8% did so because they make the most of the extra stats. 4.4% chose their Summoner Support for other reasons not listed.

94.3% use 1 FE:H account actively. 3.8% use 2, 0.6% use 3 or more, and 1.4% use 0.

Book 3 is the most liked by 67.3% of respondents, followed by Book 2 (12.5%), then Book 1 (3.7%).

86.9% were already playing FE:H when Three Houses released, but 0.9% started playing FE:H because of Three Houses, while 11.5% started playing FE:H for other reasons.

Fire Emblem: Awakening is the recommended entry point into the main series by 34.1% of respondents, followed by Fire Emblem: Three Houses (18.8%) and Fire Emblem 7: Blazing Blade (12.7%). Full Results here: [Graph].

60.9% say that a character already having one or more alts influences their desire for them to receive alts in the future, while 32.7% say it does not.

“How often do you use Auto Battle on a typical Tempest Trials day?”
  • 30.6% almost always use Auto Battle
  • 20.0% use Auto Battle more than they play manually
  • 6.6% use Auto Battle about as much as they play manually
  • 11.2% play manually more than they use Auto Battle
  • 31.7% almost always play manually

~ Intelligent Systems Approval Ratings ~

The approval ratings are calculated by the proportion of Approve responses compared to the number of both Approve and Disapprove responses.

Percent who approve of the way Intelligent Systems is handling heroes and summoning in the game:
  • 84.0% - New Heroes (+8.8%)
  • 46.5% - Alternate Forms of Heroes (+3.9%)
  • 76.4% - Legendary Heroes (-7.0%)
  • 65.6% - Mythic Heroes (-14.4%)
  • 65.2% - Summoning Banners (+7.4%)

Percent who approve of the way Intelligent Systems is handling different Game Modes:
  • 78.8% - The Story (-3.4%)
  • 63.5% - Voting Gauntlets (-9.9%)
  • 25.4% - Arena (-7.1%)
  • 38.0% - Arena Assault (-10.8%)
  • 96.9% - Tempest Trials (+1.5%)
  • 92.6% - Hero Battles (Grand, Bound, Legendary) (---%)
  • 71.3% - Grand Conquest (+1.7%)
  • 90.4% - Forging Bonds (+3.7%)
  • 81.4% - Tactics Drills (Skill Studies, Grandmaster) (+0.0%)
  • 19.6% - Aether Raids (-2.0%)
  • 85.8% - Aether Resorts (+24.6%)
  • 60.2% - Allegiance Battles (+5.3%)
  • 72.5% - Rokkr Sieges (-1.1%)
  • 55.0% - Lost Lore (+11.6%)
  • 98.7% - Hall of Forms (---%)

52.1% believe Intelligent Systems cares about its Free to Play userbase (up 5.1% from the last survey), while 26.8% do not. This continues the upward trajectory for this question in the second half of the year, coming back from the downward trend in the first half of the year and breaking above 50% for the first time in 2019.

31.3% believe Intelligent Systems is treating its high-paying “whale” users fairly (about the same as the last survey), while 27.3% do not.

45.1% approve of the way Intelligent Systems is handling Fire Emblem: Heroes as a whole (up 5.9% from the last survey), while 12.5% disapprove. This continues the upward trajectory of the second half of the year, after a downward trend in the first half of the year. While not above the 50% line, this is still the highest in the last year.

~ 5* Hero Data ~

157.6 is the average number of Unique Available 5* Heroes, up 10.1 from the last survey (excluding duplicates, merges, SI’d or sent home units). Median is 159.

Percentiles:
  • 115 is the cutoff for the 25th percentile
  • 159 for the 50th percentile
  • 198 for the 75th percentile
  • 233 for the 90th percentile
  • 261 for the 95th percentile

Other game data results:

277 is the average unique hero count (Catalog of Heroes number) at the time of this survey, up 11 heroes from the last survey. The median is 285.

8.05 is the average highest merge level achieved on a 5* unit. The median is 10. A +10 merge on at least one 5* unit has been achieved by 64.3% of players.

4.0 is the average number of 5* + 10 heroes available to respondents. The median is 3.

22.6% of respondents have a 5* + 10 of a 5* -exclusive hero. 0.53 is the average number of 5* -exclusive heroes at 5* + 10. The median is 0.

~ Special Results: 5* Hero Data for Release Month F2Ps Only ~

170 is the average number of Available 5* Heroes for Release Month F2Ps only, up 13 from the last survey. Median is 167.

Percentiles:
  • 137 is the cutoff for the 25th percentile
  • 167 for the 50th percentile
  • 202 for the 75th percentile
  • 233 for the 90th percentile
  • 261 for the 95th percentile

~ Bonus Questions ~

Who is your Favorite Hero added in the last 3 months?
  • L’Arachel (Halloween) is the winner, followed by Rinea (Performing) and Julia (Legendary)
  • Full results here: [Graph]

Who is your Most Wanted Hero added in the last 3 months?
  • Thrasir is the winner, followed by Julia (Legendary) and Hector (Halloween Duo).
  • Full results here: [Graph].

Selected responses for the prompt “The next Duo Hero to be added to the game should be”:

[Selected Responses Snip]

Selected responses for the prompt “In honor of Halloween, who is the Scariest hero in the game and why?”:
[Selected Responses Snip (Part 1)], [Selected Responses Snip (Part 2)]

~ Feedback ~

As always, I received lots of great feedback, both in your survey responses and in the thread itself. A heartfelt thank you to all participants for your encouragements and criticisms - these surveys wouldn’t be where they are without your feedback. But it’s not all serious; feedback messages also included:

  • Powercreeped Heroes, a song parody by u/juuldude
  • #8CorrinAltsPlease #BringBackGlassesAzura #DemoteGenOneUnits #JusticeForAnna #GatekeeperForCYL4 #JusticeForCanas #Micaiah4Smash #BlueLions
  • “Greetings, survey creator! Nothing to report! _
  • “I look forward to the next Nils quote. Those are priceless.”
  • “I have finally made it back. You thought me defeated, but you were wrong. Any day now (probably a month from now) you will all see the vengeance of my boy Nils on the far fetched heroes banner. You didn't think we needed another dragon dancer, and you were right! We NEED a dragon bard. He plays a LUTE (and no, not the girl). Most of you probably don't even know what that is! How cool! Just wait til he is a cavalry movement higher than armor BST monster that chews you up online. Oh yeah, it's coming.”
  • “Thank you for changing your flair to Norne, now I don't have to see Azura's face when I click on your surveys. Looks like you're taking a step in the right direction. I'm expecting a Roy flair one day. Roy mains rise up!”
  • “Alright this is it. Within the next month, we could have Jill in FEH. I’ve been saving for this moment for almost a year now, and honestly, I don’t know what I’ll do if she isn’t added. It’s more of a question of when Farfetched will be rather than if Jill will be on it, but still, I’m terrified at the thought of her not being included on the banner. If she isn’t, then I swear I’m gonna drop this game. Please just give me my red hair wyvern waifu IS” – Godspeed
  • “I thought for sure I had just filled one of these out and was briefly convinced you had started posting these sooner. No, it's just somehow been a really fast month.” – It has been a really fast month, but this is also a much shorter gap than the others recently (~1.5 month gap compared to the ~3 month gaps between surveys earlier in the year)
  • “Why did you not give me the option to submit to Grima? I wish to submit to Grima. I live for being able to submit to Grima.”
  • “It's fun doing these surveys, I like looking through the results but I think the question variety should be increased, for example, I think you should ask more questions about the good characters in the game, like Myrrh, the best character in the franchise. Myrrh ticks all the boxes of a good character: 1) Is a dragon 2) Strong character 3) Absolutely adorable 4) Appeared in Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones 5) Purple Hair. I would definitely answer every question on a survey like that.” – lol
  • “Nino is the sweetest girl in Fire Emblem. It is an undeniable fact. A universal truth. Self-evident. All who disagree are obstacles to be crushed, without exception.”
  • “When you think about it, Anna is the type of person who would take pictures of herself in various outfits to sell for money. Thus, it is highly logical that Anna would have an alt by now because that’s how she would make money, but she just doesn’t have one. Therefore, I propose that the Anna in this universe is not actually Anna, but rather some imposter, likely another Anna from the Lif and Thrasir universe, sent here to spy on the order of heroes. She could actually wield the Breidablik, but pretends to not do so, summoning Kiran as a puppet, secretly sabotaging the Breidablik whenever Kiran pulls, leading to only 3 star and 4 stars appearing. Coupled with Kiran’s horrible gambling addiction, this plan eventually steals all the wealth of the Askran Kingdom. Kiran sells all the legendary weapons for more orbs, including the only weapon that could defeat Hel: Axe of Virility. That finally leads to the downfall of the Askran kingdom and Hel’s demolition of this world. Book 3 comes to and end with Kiran’s death, and book 4 starts with Kiran getting isekai’d back into Earth and trying to cure his gambling addiction through calling, for some reason, suicide prevention hotlines.”
  • And greetings from the Bahamas, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong (best of luck to you, friend!), Italy, Malta, the Netherlands, Peru, South Korea, Vietnam, Alaska, Belhalla, Garreg Mach Monastery, Enbarr, the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus, the Leicester Alliance, and Alois’ facial hair.

~ Closing Remarks ~

If you missed out on responding to this survey when it was available, consider subscribing to FEHSurveys. Many users express concerns over missing out on new surveys, so this subreddit serves as a place to organize FE:H-related surveys, make new releases more visible, and make it easier for users to see when surveys are active.

Thanks again to everyone who participated! I hope you find the results interesting, and if there’s anything else you think can be discovered from the data, let me know and I’ll do my best to oblige!
submitted by ShiningSolarSword to FireEmblemHeroes [link] [comments]

Day 42

First post on reddit so forgive me if I’m doing anything wrong.
Ever since I’ve turned 21 and been able to gamble, I’ve been addicted. I turn 22 in two weeks and I can safely say this is the worst year of my young life, financially speaking. The things you tell yourself to justify spending $200 (or more) at the casino vs getting ahead on bills, treating yourself to new clothing, or just saving cash, is asinine. Truly one of the worst addictions one can face.
Here’s my story, hopefully it will inspire others to beat this demon.
All started on a trip to the Bahamas with my family. I’ve always been interested in gambling because of the chance of making some quick money. Problem was at this point in time, I was only 20 (month away from legal age) and figured I couldn’t enter the casino at Atlantis Resort.
“Don’t worry, the legal age to gamble here is only 18” my stepdad said.
That was all it took for me. First chance we got to go, i jumped at it. My stepdad went with me. I sat down with $100 in my hand and slid it into the video blackjack machine. I didn’t know much about blackjack but my stepdad gave me advice on what moves to make, but it didn’t matter. That $100 was gone (for both of us) in a matter of minutes. Terrible shoe, so I went and withdrew $100 more. After a ton of ups and downs we went on this crazy run as I was down to $20. Every double down, split, hit was working.....dealer breaking, and the thrill was euphoric, and I ended up leaving $40 up. I bought us both a drink celebrated. Cloud nine.
Once I turned 21, I started going to my local ho chunk casinos with my buddies, started off having small limits like $50-100, sometimes win and sometimes lose. It got to the point we were heading there 2-3 times a week, 45 minute drive each time just to get there. I didn’t care if I lost, I was truly there for the thrill. Those small limits have since been blown past to where I’m blowing half a paycheck in one sitting. At its peak, I would go down to my favorite bar after work and just sit on bar slots for hours. December 23, still haven’t bought Christmas presents for my family, I was too busy funneling $500 into a triple jack slot machine. When I lost that, I returned home (where I purposefully left my cash to NOT use) to grab my wad of $1200. Somehow, by the grace of god, I won it back and a tiny bit more. I vowed myself to never gamble again. My heart and stomach felt like they weighed 1000 pounds. Three days later, I was back.
Since that day, I definitely gambled less, until I got an urge to head down to the casino with my friend. Ended up blowing $400 in one sitting and the next week $500 in another. The feeling I felt was like no other, that walk of shame back to your car, the emptiness, the depression really creeps in.
March 2nd was the day I decided to change my life. Those two losses were the wake up call I needed. I broke down and told my girlfriend, and thankfully she was understanding and supported me. I feel great knowing that I don’t have to worry about money, that I can get return for my hard earned money with material value. It feels so damn good.
Thank you all for taking the time to read this. If you ever need someone to talk to, don’t be afraid to reach out to me.
submitted by flimsytoast to problemgambling [link] [comments]

Do you guys believe in fate?

I am a senior in high school this year and got accepted to the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Wisconsin Madison and am unsure which school I want to attend next year. (I was leaning towards UT Austin). For Christmas break me and my family are on a trip to the Bahamas to celebrate my grandmas 90th birthday. So yesterday night before we went out to celebrate New Year’s Eve with the family my mom and I went down to the casino to play blackjack for a little bit. We soon realized that the University of Texas vs Utah college football game was kicking off at the time on the TV directly in front of us. We were having a good time gambling and watching the football game together and rooting for Texas. Then about 5 minutes later this man sits down at the table next to us. We played some hands and soon realized that the guy sitting next to us was rooting for Texas also in the game. So I asked him if he had money on the game (the casino had a sports book) or he was just a fan. It turns out he grew up in Texas and wanted to go there for school but he was offered a scholarship to play baseball at another school (he didn’t say where). I told him how I was considering about going there next year for college and he screams “Do it!!” For the next 5 minutes or so we had a conversation and he was telling us how amazing of a school it is and how I should go there. He was telling my mom how it’s a school parents are proud of their kids going there and how graduates are proud they went to school also. You could tell the guy was extremely passionate about the school and me going there (keep in mind we just met this guy). Soon after he got up and told us he was going over to the sports book to watch the football game but made sure to tell me that Texas was the perfect school for me. Once he walked away my mom said to me “It’s a sign. You’re going to Texas!! He’s a Texas angel!!” I told her that it was really odd that he only sat down at the table for a little more than 5 minutes and that it was a huge coincidence. Then (on god) the next blackjack hand I was dealt I got two aces and the dealer was showing a 4. I decided to split the aces and I got another ace on the first card!! So I decided to split the other ace again so now I have three aces on the table and I get 3 pictures cards in a row!!! So I had 3 hands of 21 something that is extremely lucky and uncommon in blackjack. (For those that do not how to play 21 is the best hand you can get in blackjack). My mom stayed cause she had 18 or 19 (not sure which I was a little bit drunk and don’t remember). And the dealer ended up busting on the hand. I look over to my mom and say “It was definitely a sign”. Also UT Austin ended up beating Utah in the game 38-10 when Utah had the better ranking and recorded!! I’m not a superstitious person at all but for all that to happen I feel like it had to be fate and I’m now pretty confident that I’m going to be attending UT Austin next year. Let me know what y’all think, Happy New Years to all and Go Longhorns!!
submitted by Branky1572 to stories [link] [comments]

Trip Report: Three months across the USA, three weeks across China/Hong Kong (Very Long/Detailed!)

Hello! Howdy! Ni hao!
I recently returned home from a 4-month journey around the USA and China/Hong Kong, and I wanted to share it with you guys! This place was a source of information, advice, and inspiration when I was planning this trip, so I'm hoping this post can provide the same to others. This was a long trip, and this will be a long post... but I'll try to organize it the best I can.

About Me

The Trip

23rd March - 14th July

Map of the route, and a map with just the USA.
Calendar of the dates.

Why?

  • I had a newfound love of travelling.
  • I've been inspired by places like this subreddit, and various YouTube videos... I wanted to make my own.
  • I'm half American and I love the USA. I wanted to see more of it.
  • I've relatively inexperienced and would feel more comfortable doing my first big trip in an English-speaking country.
  • I've got friends/family to visit in the USA.
  • I had a good amount of money sitting in the bank and had no real use for it.

In Numbers

  • 115 Days / 16.4 weeks / 3.8 months
  • 6 Countries
  • 9 US States
  • 8 Hostels
  • 7 Hotels
  • 11 Campgrounds
  • 13 Flights
  • 6 Long Distance Trains
  • 350GB of Pictures/Videos

What I Brought

My bag was an Osprey Farpoint 55L. It would be my first time living out a bag.
Here’s a list of everything I took with me.
Picture of most of it on leaving day! I bought the rest at my Dads house a couple of weeks in.

What I Wish I Brought

  • Warmer clothes. Chicago was very cold and camping in California during May is cold as hell!
  • A GoPro. Compared to my Gimbal & Waterproof case for my camera, a GoPro & Pole would have done a similar job, taking up way less space.
  • A Duffel Bag. The Farpoint 55L was great don't get me wrong but wearing It on my back was so uncomfortable. I used it as a duffel bag 90% of the time... and it was heavy. In the future I'll travel with a normal duffel bag, preferably one with wheels.

What I Regretted Bringing

  • Neck Rest. I mean... I lost it in London, before my first flight...
  • Hiking Boots. Were fantastic during my hikes, but they were large, heavy, and I wore them maybe 5 times. Next time I'll get my trainers dirty.
  • Underwater Camera Case. I was never going to not bring it… but still. Only used it 3 times, and it took up so much space.
  • Water Bottle. It got sand inside and was impossible to clean, then it broke. Buying water bottles as you go along is so much easier.
  • Jacket. Used it twice... such a waste of space!
  • Refillable Toiletry Bottles. They're great on a short trip, but on a long one, once they run out they are just taking up space.
  • First Aid Kit. Didn't use a single thing in there, and there was really no need for it with the places I was going.
  • Airport Lounge Pass. I bought a Priority Pass card, 10 Lounge visits for £131. £13 per lounge visit. £13 for free food/drinks, a nice resting area, free Wi-Fi, power outlets, and showers. Worth it, especially as I was going on 13 flights! In reality I only got to use 4. Not every airport had a lounge, and even if they did, it wasn't always in my terminal, or it wasn't open when I needed it. Even got turned away for two because they were 'full'. Big waste of money.

What I'm glad I brought

  • My Camera. Got a lot of great photos and videos, a lot better than what my phone could do. Here is a comparison. It was also so small! A GoPro does good video, but not good enough for photos.
  • Camera Gimbal. It was big and heavy but the difference it makes in videos is incredible. Example.
  • Headphones. Seemed like a waste of space, especially when I had earphones, but they were so great to have when flying and laying in bed.
  • Laptop. Used it almost daily for uploading/editing photos and booking/planning stuff.
  • Imodium. Holy crap I used this a lot! Ran out on my second day and had to buy more. Think I topped up about 5 times throughout the 4 months.
  • Packing Cubes. Very, very, very handy. Highly Recommend. Hype is real.
  • Power Bank. Only regret is not bringing two of them, a must have.
  • World Wide Adapter. From one power socket I could charge my laptop, phone, watch, camera, stabilizer, and power bank at the same time.
  • Smart Phone with a Data Connection. Would have been screwed without it. Google maps will get you anywhere!

Accommodation

I'd never stayed in a hostel before, and I was hesitant about them. I like my privacy, and I'm not the most social person... but the price difference was hard to resist, so I fit them in as much as possible. I really didn't like the experience at all. The hostels which had a privacy curtain on my bed were bearable, but the rest were just a real pain. Having to always look out for my stuff and share a bathroom wasn't fun.
Oh, and people are very loud, especially at night. Trying to sleep when people are talking/whispering is the worst. Even with earplugs. Actually, that is a lie, the worst is when your bunk make brings back a girl at 3am and has sex with her on your shared, metal barred, squeaky bed. Eventually she left, and he went to sleep, snoring so loud the bed was literally shaking. (happened at the Seaside Hawaiian Hostel in Oahu)
The good thing about the hostels is that they forced me to go out more. When I was in a hotel, I sometimes got too comfortable and stayed inside rather than going out... not an issue in hostels! Hostel staff are also normally very friendly and helpful. The staff at the previously mentioned Seaside Hawaiian Hostel were some of the loveliest people I met on the whole trip, would recommend staying there just for that!
In the future I'm going to aim for cheap hotels, and maybe try Airbnb. Will also consider small hostel dorms, but only if there's a privacy curtain.
I’m being harsh on hostels. If you're a social person and are looking to meet people, you'll love them. But that isn't me. I was there for the price tag, and I guess I got what I paid for.
Camping was really enjoyable! One of my favourite parts looking back on it. Only downside was the lack of power outlets and the re-occurring 'did I just hear a bear?' worries.

The Trip Itself

London

  • Days Spent: 3
  • Money Spent: £198
  • Per Day: £66
My trip started off in a panic, finding out all trains from my hometown up to Glasgow Central were cancelled. But by pure luck I made it there. Pretty sure I jamp into an out of commission train going in for a repair... but I made it. The train ride to London was beautiful.
My hostel was a bit out of the way. It was a 21-bed dorm, and once I got into my bed I was too scared to leave. This resulted in me not using the toilet and uhm, getting stomach problems. That lasted a few days. Made the experience interesting...
I wasn't too fussed about London, I only really went there because the flights were drastically cheaper compared to anywhere else. Going to London for a few days and then flying to Chicago was cheaper than just going from Glasgow to Chicago. But I've never been and thought I would give the city a chance.
I went to the National Gallery, walked along the Thames, went to the top of the Shard, saw the guards change at Buckingham Palace, and walked to the Tower Bridge at night. It was nice to just walk around the city, always looking for a toilet.
Will likely re-visit again one day, and I'd like to see Windsor Castle when I do. I enjoyed London more than I thought I would!
Photos from London! (there's an album at the bottom of this post with pictures from all locations if you would rather see them all at once)

Chicago

  • Days Spent: 4
  • Money Spent: £380 ($497)
  • Per Day: £95 ($124)
The flight to Chicago was with Norwegian and it was wonderful, highly recommend them.
Half the reason I went to Chicago, at this time, was to go to my first ever concert (new experiences!). It was at the All State Arena, which is next to the Airport, so I figured I would just get a hotel near the airport for 2 nights and same some hassle.
I was seeing Lorde, and it was incredible. I was a few rows from the front and had a great view, but wow it was loud. Who knew concerts would be loud? The girl next to me was also there by herself and was nice to talk to!
My time in the city was great. I did the river walk and went on a river cruise. It was so interesting hearing about all the buildings. I also went to the Field Museum which was fantastic, and went to the observatory for some skyline views. Got to try some Deep-dish Pizza and see the big old weird shiny bean thing.
Chicago is so... clean. I was comparing it to New York the whole time, and in comparison, it is so clean and smells so nice.
Photos from Chicago!

Cruise to Florida/Bahamas

  • Days Spent: 7
  • Money Spent: £12 ($16)
After Chicago I went to my Dads house, as he had invited me to go on a cruise with him and his family. Hard to say no to! Always wanted to try one.
In Florida I went to the Kennedy Space Centre which was amazing. Missed a rocket launch by one day, a shame... but the place was awe-inspiring. I also loved seeing the local wildlife. Florida is somewhere I'm dying to really see.
In the Bahamas we just laid around on beaches and went snorkelling, which was fun. Felt like I was drowning at first, but I got the hang of it. (not a great swimmer)
The cruise itself was neat, but I'm not really one for the 'relaxation' holidays, and the onboard activities didn't interest me too much. Buffet was wonderful though.
I'd like to try another cruise, but probably only with a girlfriend/group of friends.
Photos from the Cruise!

Oahu

  • Days Spent: 10
  • Money Spent: £683 ($895)
  • Per Day: £68 ($89)
Flew here via Virgin America and they were wonderful. Could order PB&J sandwiches from my seat! I paid a little bit extra to get a Layover in SFO rather than a direct flight, I feel like it was a good idea. Long flights are awful.
I never thought I'd see Hawaii... but there I was. The weather was perfect, although it did rain a bit while I was there. The rain ruined my plans to hike the stairway to heaven, but I really wasn't fit enough for that anyways.
The bus system was a breeze to use.
I hiked Diamond Head, which was a great experience, and I also hiked Koko Head, which was a killer, but still beautiful. I also went snorkelling out at Hanauma Bay, which was so fun.
The main reason I wanted to visit Hawaii is because I’m a huge Jurassic Park fan. So, I just had to visit Kualoa Ranch and go on the movie tour... seeing that place was amazing. I also went on an ATV tour through the ranch. It was raining, and I wasn't allowed to take photos, but it was so surreal. There I was, racing through Jurassic Park in a rainstorm on an ATV!!
Even more surreal, I went diving with Sharks up at the North Shore. It was with One Ocean Diving, who specialise in doing dives without any cage. Just free diving with the sharks.
We went a few miles off shore in a small boat, and then jamp in. We got to stay in the water with 8 sharks circling us for about 45 minutes. It was very windy and hard to stay afloat. When it was time to leave, I got tangled in the safety line as the sharks started getting closer and closer and I couldn't get free... that's a fun story! Highly recommend doing a dive with them if you're ever in Oahu and feeling suicidal.
Can't wait to visit again.
Photos from Oahu!

Kauai

  • Days Spent: 4
  • Money Spent: £122 ($159)
  • Per Day: £31 ($41)
Again, Jurassic Park made me come here.
I went a few days after a state of emergency was declared due to flooding, so the north part of the Island was off bounds, as was the Kalalau Trail Hike. Bummer!
Kauai is the closest place to paradise I have ever seen. Waimea Canyon and the Napali Coast should both be separate wonders of the world.
I got to go along the rim of the Canyon, fly over the island in a small plane, hike the Kalalau Lookout trail, and go on a cruise along the Napali Coast (where we were joined by a ton of Dolphins and Whales).
Photos from Kauai!

Tour of the Western USA

  • Days Spent: 21
  • Money Spent: £2,987 ($4,182)
  • Per Day: £142 ($199)
The Tour I did was the Westerner 3 with TrekAmerica. It was me, a male tour guide, and 6 girls. Was a little worried about those dynamics, but they were all incredibly nice, and we were all likeminded people looking for an adventure. Being the only guy meant that I got my own tent and hotel rooms, which was very nice.
Here's the route we took.
Week 1
Big Sur was beautiful. San Francisco was beautiful. The Golden Gate Bridge was as phenomenal as I had pictured. Alcatraz was super interesting, especially with the audio tour, which was the best audio tour I've ever listened to!
Yosemite was completely breath-taking. Everything was gigantic. We hiked up to the lower falls (I think?) and it was great. Tunnel View was also amazing to see in person.
Driving to Zion took forever, but it was nice. Long drives through wasteland, listening to country music, stopping at gas stations for snacks, seeing random stupid attractions on the roadside (I've seen the world largest thermometer now!!). That is the American dream.
Week 2
Zion, specifically Angels Landing, was the most fun I've ever had hiking. The adrenaline made it so enjoyable, although I was acting stupid and probably deserved to fall and die. Narrows was less fun, but doing it right after Angels Landing probably wasn't the best idea anyways.
Bryce was neat, as was Capitol Reef.
MOAB is somewhere I'd love to stay for a week and just do stupid stuff. The best thing we did there was go to Arches NP and see the sunrise, then do some hiking. I'm in love with the sandy, rocky desert terrain. We even went up a mountain nearby and had a snowball fight (pretty odd after a day of hiking in the desert sun). There were some Cougar tracks in the snow, which was even cooler than all the dinosaur tracks we saw in the area. The only thing I like more than Dinosaurs are Cats.
Monument Valley was one of the best parts of the whole trip. We got a guide in the valley from a member of the Navajo Tribe, and we got to camp down in the valley. It was my birthday, so they gave be a 'good health' bracelet as a gift and a birthday dance/song in front of the campfire, which was awkward but appreciated. Camping under the stars was incredible, they were so bright, you just wanted to stare at them all night. This was convenient as our Navajo guide told us some very creepy stories about Skin walkers... so sleeping was out of the equation anyways.
Week 3
The Grand Canyon was as Grand as you'd imagine. We did a helicopter flight over it, and then a hike into it, which was exhausting. It didn't have the same magic as Yosemite, but I guess we had been spoilt with so many natural wonders by that point.
Vegas was fun. I've never been 'drunk’, but I got pretty close there! We mainly stuck to Freemont street as our hotel was there, and it was really lively. Went up $80 on the slots, and then 10 minutes later I was down -$30… but Vegas.
All I saw in San Diego was the Zoo, I'd say it has earned its reputation.
The whole trip was incredible. It was to be my 'meet new people' part of the trip, and it worked well, I made 6 new friends! The experiences we shared made me question if solo travel is even right for me, it was so nice to be a part of a group like that.
But it was exhausting. Up at 6am every morning, packing up tents, cooking breakfast, packing van, long drive, then setting up camp, cooking dinner, doing dishes. Plus, the daily activities, where we frequently went over 30,000 steps and 100 floors climbed.
In terms of price... yeah it was a lot. But could I have done the same trip for less on my own? I don't drive, so no. Even if I did drive, car rental prices would be a ton, and we drove over 3000 miles.
Will be looking to do another tour with them one day, maybe around Yellowstone or in Alaska.
Photos from the Trek!

Las Vegas

  • Days spent: 5
  • Money spent: £1,608 ($2,252)
  • Per day: £322 ($450)
I've always wanted to visit Vegas, but I made sure to line up the dates for my visit so that I could attend the Electric Daisy Carnival (EDC). It is a massive rave and looked extremely cool! If you've heard of Tomorrowland, think that, but entirely at night and in a desert.
EDC was more incredible than I was anticipating. I've never been to a music festival, or a rave, or a club, or even a proper party, so it blew me away. The lights were everywhere, the fireworks were insane, the music was so loud. People had crazy costumes, and everyone was so lively! But oh, so nice. I laid down for a few minutes one night as I was tired, and 3 different people asked me if I was doing okay.
I got to see my favourite artist play (Illenium) and in general just had a great time dancing the nights away. Strangest moment was when some drunk guy came up to me and was fascinated by my led flashing glasses. He asked if he could buy them for $10, and I said sure! It was the last night and I was leaving anyways. So, he pulls out his wallet and has like five $100 bills, and he just says, "Aw man this is all I have". I just gave them to him anyways, he seemed nice. Also, maybe a drug dealer looking back at it...
The downside of EDC was that I was asleep most of the day and away most of the night, so I didn't get to see much of the strip. I know there's not a whole lot to 'see' in Vegas, but I went there twice and never really got to experience it, which I'm sad about. Vegas is such a unique, interesting city. So different from everywhere else I went. Will definitely go back one day. This was also the only city that I think would have been more enjoyable going with someone else.
After EDC was finished, I spent my last night there going out into the desert and doing a sunset Horsehide with a couple of cowgirls, and then having a BBQ dinner with them. My first time on a Horse.
I did lose my phone at EDC, which was a real pain. But thankfully I had my laptop, so I was able to buy a new one and get a new sim card for a low price of £581/$761. EDC cost me £393/$515, the horse ride was £145/$190, my hotel was £67/$87 a night... see how Vegas cost me so much?! On the bright side I did win $30 gambling!
Photos from Las Vegas!

Los Angeles

  • Days spent: 5
  • Money spent: £410 ($574)
  • Per day: £82 ($115)
By this point, I was exhausted.
LA was great, but I was too tired to enjoy it in all honesty. I spent more time in my hostel bed here than I did anywhere else. The public transportation was fine despite what everyone says. One of the better subway systems I used, it gets you to all the tourist points easily. No airport link was a pain though.
Hollywood Boulevard was neat; however, it is something you can see in an hour. I did go down to Santa Monica but came back after an hour, was too tired to do anything there sadly. I went up to the observatory, and the views from there were outstanding! I'm a big GTA player so seeing all these places in person was really cool.
I went to Universal Studios, which was a fun day. The 'solo' lines were great and so fast. On the studio tour I got to see Steve Harvey and he waved to me! Wouldn't be Hollywood without bumping into a celebrity I guess.
The best thing I did was hike up to the Hollywood sign. The hike was a nice way to get away from the city, it was pretty easy, and the views were amazing. Being so close to the famous sign was great, and watching the sunset from up there was an experience I'll never forget. Even if walking back down in the dark was terrifying, always looking out for P-22. (I swear it was stalking me)
Photos from Los Angeles!

Washington DC

  • Days spent: 2.5
  • Money spent: £195 ($273)
  • Per day: £78 ($109)
My journey to DC was an exhausting one, which included another night on the airport floor. By the time I got here I was pooped. Went to my hostel and just slept. Woke up at 2am, and decided to head out, cause what else am I going to do?
I spent the next 2 nights on a bike riding around DC & the National Mall all night. It was incredibly cool; the streets were so quiet, and the monuments/memorials were all empty. Walking up the steps to the Lincoln Memorial, and entering that empty room with just me and Abe there was unforgettable.
On my last day I had some time to kill, so I went to the White House. There was some kind of event going on, and I'm sure if I waited with the news reporters for long enough I could have seen the president, but I had to leave. I also went to the Museum of American History, but could only stay for 30 minutes. Will need to go back one day to see all the Museums!
On the way back to my hostel I saw a car crash which was neat. (not a bad one)
Photos from Washington DC!

New York City

  • Days spent: 6
  • Money spent: £410 ($573)
  • Per day: £68 ($96)
NYC is my favourite city in the world and I've already been here around 5 times, but I was determined to make this the best visit yet! I went to the 9/11 Memorial and took the Staten Island Ferry. I visited the Westfield Mall, which I've somehow never seen before, and while there I went to the Shake Shack for the first time. Don't judge me, but that Shake Shack meal was the best meal I had over the entire 4 months. Easily the best.
I went to the MoMA and concluded that I don't like art museums at all. Great place but not for me.
I went up to the Top of the Rock and saw that postcard view, which is incredible. You really see the scale of the city from up there.
Other activities included walking the High Line, going to Gantry Plaza Park for sunset, and of course Times Square. Oh, I also walked across the Brooklyn Bridge, where I was a bad tourist and got myself hit by a cyclist. Got shouted at, but we were both okay (physically, I am still scarred emotionally).
The highlight was going on a Fly-Nyon doors off helicopter flight across the city. Now that was an experience. Flying right over the top of the Empire State Building and tilting to the side so you can get that perfect picture... was sure I was about to fall out!
The city was smelly, the people weren't the nicest I met, and the subway was awful. Seriously how is it that bad? I got lost every time I tried to use it. And the heat was the worst, even worse than Vegas. But for every bad part about New York, there's 10 great parts.
With all the cities I visited on this trip, nowhere beats New York. Nowhere ever will.
Photos from New York City!

Guangzhou / China

  • Days spent: 13.5
  • Money spent: £29 (¥258)
This was another trip with my Dad & his family. My step mum is Chinese, so we would be visiting her family.
The 14-hour flight was brutal, and after arriving at 7am, we went straight into a full day tour of Guangzhou. Tired doesn't even describe it.
Baiyun Mountain is very pretty! The tour guide only spoke Chinese, so I had no idea what was going on half the time, but we got to see some neat places. A highlight was going on a river cruise and seeing Canton Tower light up at night.
After that we went on the bullet train up to Chenzhou and did a 3-day tour of the Dongjiang Lake and nearby mountain ranges. Another Chinese speaking guide so again I had no idea what was going on, but the locations were spectacular.
The rest of the time was spent in my Step-Mums hometown. (It is described as a 'small town', but this is what it looks like?!)
I wish I could remember the name of the town, but it keeps slipping my mind. What I do know is that they get almost no Western Tourists. This resulted in people constantly staring at me, asking to take photos with me, and sneaking photos of me. I even make a group of school girls scream with joy just by telling them my name hahaha
The heat & humidity in China was brutal, I never stopped sweating.
Most people I met were so incredibly kind and welcoming. It's a very different culture, so you need to be accepting to new behaviours. Spitting, shoving, and staring may be considered rude in the USA however it is normal in China.
Through the tours and staying with families I got to try lots of new food... but I'm not much of a food person. It was not my favourite part of the trip. Something I ate made me sick and I had to sit out some of the hikes, which I was sad about. Very nice ramen though!
Overall it was a completely new experience, but it still felt familiar. Most countries work in the same general way, and most people in the world are good hearted. That is something I took away from this trip. Always believe in the kindness of strangers!
Can't wait to see more of the country one day. The country is developing so fast, you can see entire new cities being built. I must have saw hundreds of skyscrapers under construction.
Pictures from China!

Hong Kong

  • Days spent: 5.5
  • Money spent: £242 (HK$2,486)
  • Per Day: £32 (HK$328)
Rather than going back with my family to New York, or going straight to London, I opted to go to Hong Kong for a few days first, as I've always wanted to visit and it was so close!
I took the bullet train down, and wow they're fast. Having one fly past me in the station was genuinely terrifying. I went to Shenzhen and then walked across the border to Hong Kong.
Hong Kong is an English-speaking city, so getting around is easy. Being able to access social media again (China blocks most websites) was wonderful!
I wanted to go on some hikes, but the heat was too much. Instead I went out to see the giant Buddha, which was a real sight. Later that night I went up to the Peak to watch the sunset, and wow. Some of the best views from the whole trip came from up there.
Other activities included the Ladies Market, various shopping malls for that sweet AC, seeing the new Jurassic World movie, watching the light show, riding the world's longest escalator, and going to the Happy Valley Racecourse.
The city smelled strangely nice, and there was great food everywhere, which was a relief for my stomach!
Would love to go back one day, if not just for some hiking.
Pictures from Hong Kong!

Pictures

Here's a combined album of all the above pictures!
I'm too lazy to add a description for all of these, as I already did it in the individual albums for each location. If you want to know a specific place you could check them, or just ask!
I've also got a ton of videos. Here's a fun one to see what EDC was like...
I'm planning on making a sort of montage video at some point and I'll be sure to post that video here when it is done.
Semi-related, I printed out most of the above album and got a physical photo album for all the photos. Here's what is looks like.
I like it as it is a fun way to look back at everything, and it's easier to show people than flipping through photos on my phone. Would recommend it! Best of all, I've got back ups, so if I lose it a new one will only cost around £20. Considering doing a photo album like this for all my future trips… only issue is that most trips aren't long enough to produce 200 good photos.

Money

Category Spent USD Spent Percentage of Total Spend
Accommodation £1,948 $2,552 17%
Food £1,126 $1,475 10%
Transport £2,643 $3,463 24%
Activities £2,170 $2,843 20%
Pre-Trip Purchases £1,978 $2,591 18%
Everything Else (Toiletries, Souvenirs, ect) £1,186 $1,554 11%
Total £11,051 $14,477
Per Day £97 $126

Detailed Summary

I've got a whole spreadsheet with more information in it. Here is an album of the screenshots! I recorded all prices in GBP for some reason. Constantly Googling the exchange rate before entering it into my expense tracker was effort.
My 'Per Day' average is a bit off as I spent around a third of the trip with my family having very little expenses. If you remove those days, the new average is £154 ($202) per day. If you cut out my long-distance transportation costs and my Pre-Trip purchases, and just look at what I actually spent in each location on accommodation, food, activities, local transport, toiletries and everything else, then the average is £106 ($139) per day.
I definitely could have done it cheaper. Cut out the new camera, lounge pass, comfort hotels, and the expensive activities, and I'd save thousands. But the best part about travelling for me is the activities/experiences. The occasional comfort was nice, and I enjoy photography... so i've got no ragrets!
I know you're thinking 'how did you afford this??'
I'd say about 30% of the money came from the last year of work and making money from my PC. I live a very boring life, so outside of giving my Step Dad rent money, I don't have any large expenses. I don't drive, drink, smoke, or socialize much... so I save a lot!
The other 70% was from inheritance money I received a few years ago after my Mum passed away. Had no real use for it (no interest in driving, free university, not enough for a house without a mortgage), and the pound is crashing, so why not spend it on an incredible journey?
I know that if I ever die and leave my children some money, I'd want them to use it to celebrate life and do something like this. I know my Mum would have wanted me to do something like this with it.
I spent less on food than I anticipated, but I did drink more than I thought I would. I budgeted £0 for alcohol (I don't drink remember!) and spent around $150 on the stuff.
My original budget for the trip was £11,000 ($14,400), so I was pretty much spot on.
To come up with my budget, I followed this plan:
  1. Decide everywhere I wanted to go and how long I would like to spend there.
  2. Decide what route I would take and specific travel dates.
  3. Price out all the flights/trains and make a note of the likely prices.
  4. Look into the accommodation, see how much an average hostel or hotel will cost per night. Make a note of this for each location.
  5. Look into all the paid activities which I wanted to do, including any tours. Get prices for them all.
  6. Add £20 a day for food
  7. Add £10 a day for 'other' costs (toiletries, souvenirs, whatever)
  8. Look at how much a transport pass for the local subway costs, or in general see how much people spend on local transport while in each location.
  9. Make a list of everything I need to buy beforehand and the prices. Included clothes, camera, insurance, ect.
  10. Add £500 just in case of an emergency.
Then you add it up: Flights/Trains + Pre-Trip Purchases + £500 Emergency Cash + the cost of each location.
For the cost of each location it would be: Activity Costs + Local Transport Pass + (days in location * (20 Food + 10 Other + Nightly Accommodation Cost)
That gave me a total cost, and then I just worked on cutting stuff out and changing dates until It was at the right level. (Had to remove Miami, Boston, New Orleans, and Alaska :( )
I also kept increasing my budget… which I guess is nice if you can do so. I originally wanted to do this trip on £3000 ($4000). Ha...
If you want to be spontaneous, obviously the above wouldn't work for you. Expect to pay more for last minute bookings. But, that is an exciting way to travel and I wouldn't discourage it. I just like to plan in advance.

Favourite Memories (with pictures!)

What Went Wrong

  • Lost my phone at EDC Vegas and had to buy a new one. (+ sim card)
  • Lost my wallet in Washington DC. Thankfully it was returned at a later date.
  • Lost my neck rest & my cooling towel.
  • Got very sick in China and never got to enjoy much of the hiking.
  • Getting homesick bad around the 3-month mark. Stuck with me the rest of the trip.
  • Being too exhausted to really enjoy LA or DC. Should have stayed in Vegas a bit longer to relax.
  • Ending the 3-week tour and saying goodbye to the people on it. You spend 3 weeks with these people, all day every day, doing the most incredible things, and then you leave, and you'll probably never see them again. That was hard.
  • Wearing one pair of shoes so much that they started to smell horrendous. Had to hose them down with 'Stink Stopper' constantly.
  • Accidently deleting nearly every photo/video I took during the first week of my TrekAmerica trip. Included Santa Barbra, Big Sur, San Francisco, and Yosemite. :(
  • Watching Liverpool FC lose the Champions League Final. I'm a big fan. Amazing to get there don't get me wrong... but that game was tough. -The journey home from Hong Kong took 55 hours, with multiple flights and trains. Poor planning.

What I Would Have Done Differently Looking Back

  • Got a credit card with no foreign transaction fees and use it to book the whole trip. Could have gathered a lot of points...
  • Had an extra 3-4 days in Vegas to rest.
  • Tried more local food.
  • Tried to be more social.
  • Saw more of DC during the day.
  • Left the hiking boots behind.

Tips

Running out of space here, so I'll include all my tips in comment to this post!

Summary

This whole trip was incredible and at times surreal. The USA is such a diverse and beautiful country! There's nowhere else like it and I'm so grateful that I got to see all these places in person. China and Hong Kong were also incredible in their own right. China has so much more to see and I can't wait to go back.
Despite how much I spent, it was definitely worth it. All the experiences were... wow. Did I really do all that?? EDC Vegas? Shark Diving? Helicopter flights? I barely even leave my bedroom; how did I do all that?!?
Not sure if I would say it changed my life, but it has made me more confident in myself. Made some new friends and have some great memories/stories to hold on to. Overall it was just… fun. Such a good time!
There were some bad parts, however they were few and far between.
It was everything I expected and more.
Thanks again to this subreddit for the help/inspiration! I originally asked for some advice here. The trip ended up quite different looking back at it!

What's next?

University for 4 years, so no long trips. Not that I could afford one anyways.
I'll try to go to some places around Europe, taking advantage of the cheap flights. Current ideas are Rome/Venice, Paris, Vienna, Liverpool, and Belfast. Also want to see more of my own country, spend some time in Edinburgh and check out Orkney/Shetland!
I have plans to get a motorbike next year, and the Scottish Highlands are on my doorstep, so I'll have some nice trips to go on with that.
Next time I'm at my Dads house, I may take a train to DC or Boston. Potentially fly to Florida if it is affordable. I've seen most of where I want to see in the USA, but Alaska, Yellowstone, New Orleans, Boston, and Miami/Tampa are still on my list!
I loved EDC so much that I want to go back, however it won't be possible with how the dates line up with University. Instead I've started a savings pot to go to Tomorrowland. Hopefully in Summer 2020!
But the dream is to save up as much as possible for when I graduate. My target is £25,000 ($32,000). Then go on a trip around the planet, for 12 months, which will put this one to shame. After that, the next dream is to get a motorbike and go across North America. But I’m worried I may have a 'family' and 'commitments' by that point...
Thanks to anyone who read this novel, have a good day!! Feel free to ask any questions!
submitted by The-Smelliest-Cat to solotravel [link] [comments]

A half-breed Indian who made his tribe a multi-millionaire. Jim Hookipa

Seminoles have lived in Florida since ancient times. For more than 40 years, they fought for their freedom in countless skirmishes and 3 bloody wars. But the forces were unequal, and in 1858, after the Third Seminole War, almost the entire tribe was evicted from their native lands to distant Oklahoma. Only about 200 Indians escaped the General sad fate and disappeared into the vast tropical swamps of the Everglades, where they engaged in cattle breeding, somehow making ends meet, because there were few pastures, more swamps. There, under the protection of Panthers, alligators, and malaria, they felt comparatively safe.
In early 1944, in Florida, a Seminole Agnes Billy of the Bird clan had a boy born out of wedlock. My father was an Irishman, a cadet at the naval aviation school that was based near the reservation. In 1943, he went to war without even knowing about his girlfriend's pregnancy. Mother called son Chukie, which means "the one who was taken."The shamans of the tribe did not recognize the half-breed baby and decided to get rid of it, sentencing it to death. The boy was saved from death by his mother's friend, Potaki, who was also a half-breed.
The women raised a terrible cry, the neighbors ran, and Potaki publicly vowed that she would inform the police if anyone touched the baby.
Jim Hukipi and his mother lived very poorly, and when he was 9 years old, she died. The first orphan was sheltered by his mother's parents, but soon became them, and Hokie homeless. But his rescuer Potaki, who felt responsible for the teenager, took care of him and kicked him to school. Over time, it became difficult to cope with the boy and he was sent to the Haskell boarding school in Kansas, a special school where they tried to teach the Indians how to become white. A few years later, with grief in half, Jim received a school diploma and returned.
Strong, cunning, agile, tough, and a natural leader, he was created to become a Ranger for the U.S. army. The Vietnam war was breaking out, and that was where he belonged. The jungle was like the Everglades, but without alligators,and the war was like hunting. Jim distinguished himself very soon, he was promoted to Sergeant, appointed commander of the Department, and began to give tasks more and more complex. Capture languages, raids behind enemy lines, reconnaissance and other activities of the Rangers he liked. His group often went on a knife edge, but always returned without loss. The blood of his brave ancestors played a role, and Jim could feel ambushes, traps, mines, and poisonous snakes on his skin. It seemed that luck would never leave him, and his companions were ready to follow him into the fire and water.
After serving a full term in the Inferno, he had every right to go back, but signed up for another term. Ranger didn't want to leave his comrades, but he liked the risk. Again, RAID after RAID, task after task, and success after success. Jim soon became a master Sergeant and Deputy platoon commander. He would have been sent to officer courses, but he did not show any desire. After another successful RAID in 1968, he was given the highest award of a soldier, a vacation home. When Jim returned, he learned the terrible news that the platoon's luck had run out without him. Friends went on another task, but with them there was no "one who was taken away", and there was no one to smell the danger in time. The platoon was ambushed and only its name remained.
Something broke inside, and Jim blamed himself for the deaths of his comrades. "What am I fighting for? he thought, and couldn't find an answer. The fight was abruptly stopped, and the depression started in my head swarmed dark thoughts. After completing his term, he left the army and returned to the reservation. The boy Hukipi matured, matured, and adult beyond his years, he felt pain for his tribe, which
looked at new look. Beggars, reduced to despair and alcohol, living on handouts, without prospects and hope, and yet... such relatives. Jim remembered his skills as a Builder and started building Chiki, traditional Seminole homes. Hollywood did its job and the Indian theme became popular. Chukie decided on this play, saying: "This Chica can build only a true Indian. Everything else is nothing more than a fake."Very soon his Chicks appeared in parks, private clubs, and in the yards of the rich. Business quickly grew and he became one of the most successful members of the tribe (although the entire tribe was less than 1.5 thousand people).
Now it was possible to deal with public Affairs. The problem was obvious, the reservation was chosen by drug couriers as a transit point. Seaplanes loaded with cocaine from Central America regularly landed in the swamps, and from there the poison spread further. The former special forces officer decided: "we need to eliminate the root cause."He loaded a revolver, took a Winchester in the boat, and persuaded a couple of friends, also veterans of the Vietnam war, to go with him. Then from the marshes began to hear gunfire and explosions, but Hookie always came out unscathed. Very soon, the drug traffic through the reservation disappeared forever.
Hokie admired, began to be afraid, his voice on the tribal Council became very important and in 1979-m to year Hokie became the Supreme leader. Jim announced, " it's time for a change. We are Seminoles, we are a great tribe, and it is time for us to regain our greatness."
The chief received the tribe in a very deplorable state. But Hokie was a clear plan:"we Should open on the RES hall to play Bingo. If it goes well, we'll open a casino."He considered the situation and realized that he needed serious help. A friend told him about an old man-a pensioner who can help. This grandfather's name was Mayer Lansky.
Mayer Lansky was a well-known figure in the underworld. He was the brain of a huge underground Empire that controlled the Jewish and Italian mafia.
Hokie got a meeting with an old gangster.
Old Mayer was sitting at a table. He looked tired and listless.
"So I know why you came to me. Why do you need money? Lansky asked.
"I want to open a case."started Hookipa.
"You want to start a business and get rich."- with a grin said the pensioner.
The Indian understood that full frankness was needed with Meyer. Something leaped in his chest and he spoke, breaking into a low cry:
"Yes, I want to be rich, I won't deny it. Everyone wants it. But more than that, I want to finally get my tribe out of the shit we've been living in for more than 120 years. Do you know what it's like to live on a reservation? Live outside the line like animals? When people look down on you with disdain? I grew up on a chimpanzee farm, and I remember that tourists looked at me and the monkeys as curiosities. We live in bestiality, we have a beggar sitting on a beggar and driving beggars, and everyone is trying to somehow feed themselves. Land, freedom, and pride were taken from us, and in return they gave us alcohol and meager handouts. We have almost lost our language and our faith. From day to day, from year to year, from decade to decade, it's the same thing. We will soon stop being ourselves. You will not believe it, but many of us almost can not read and write. I am not the prophet Moses who brought you out of Egypt, but I love my little people. And I want, I really want to make it prosperous. And I will do it, no matter what it takes. I could, of course, succeed for myself by going somewhere else, but is it worthy of a man? If I am not for myself, who is for me? But if I am only for myself, then why am I? And if not now, then? Do you understand me, Mr. Lansky???"
Mayer was no longer sprawled out. His hands were clenched into fists, his eyes glittered, and his face was tight with muscle. It seemed that the old bandit remembered something, something long forgotten, but painfully native. Hokie paused, and Lansky looked at him, breathing hard.
"I heard you. I understand you. the old man dropped it slowly. "I used to be myself... however, let's not talk about it.. Lansky sighed heavily.
"And how will you perform this miracle?"
"I want to open a bingo hall where people can play big. If it goes well, then open a casino. I think there will be a lot of demand."the chief replied.
"My boy, I understand you. Casinos in Florida. This is a pipe dream of my life. There are thousands of problems and pitfalls on the way, but the main ones are two. The first is this Catholic Church and Archbishop McCarthy himself, the head of the Catholic Church in Florida. The priests hold the "bingo for charity" market firmly in their tenacious hands. These bigots with a mind so Holy, and in fact, much worse than the gangsters from the East side, so I do know. They fill their pockets, buy real estate and jewelry, and if they allocated at least one percent of what they have for good deeds, they could feed all the world's hungry for 10 years. The second difficulty is that the bureaucrats will never be allowed to open a casino in Florida. It's easier to negotiate with the wall. If you knew how much money, time, and effort my friends and I spent on these stupid and stubborn donkeys in Tallahassee (the capital of Florida). These fools can't see past their noses. Oh, if I could open a casino in Florida, do you think I'd be interested in opening casinos in Las Vegas, Cuba, and the Bahamas? No, son, I really want to help you, but it's not possible."Mayer said sadly.
"Mr. Lansky, I know what you're capable of. If there is a wizard in the world, it is you. I understand that you didn't succeed, but I will open a bingo hall and a casino."
"My dear fellow, as soon as you open the doors, the police will come and close the shop. And you will lose in court."
"You see, I have two trumps that you and your friends didn't have. Listen."
And, carefully looking around, Hokie whispered something almost in my ear Lansky. Old Mayer's mouth dropped open in surprise.
"It can't be. My boy, are you sure? Is this really true?"what is it?" he asked.
- "Certainly. Why else would I come to you? However, your lawyers will be able to verify my words."Yes," said the chief.
- "Amusingly. Here is the deal, this is on our way. Yes... it's going to be a nice job, we'll RUB the nose of these bureaucrats."
Lansky had a mischievous smile on his face.
"So you will give money?"asked Hokie.
"Where did I get the money? I live on a modest pension. But I have a good friend, Jack Cooper, I think if I ask him very much, he will not refuse the loan. Perhaps I can persuade some of my friends to politely ask the Archbishop not to interfere with us. I also know a couple of lawyers who will agree to help us for a nominal amount. By the way, you will need a good adviser on a regular basis. I would suggest an old friend of mine, Stephen Wilden. He is a reliable man, by the way, also served two terms in Vietnam."- almost accidentally showed his awareness of the gangster.
"And to manage the casino itself, I have in mind a guy from a very good family, his name is James Weissman. A very competent young man, and his brother, Eugene, can also help with various minor difficulties. You're not going to object if the order will be watching very responsible and decent people? Lansky half-asked, half-pointed, and stared at Hukipi.
"Of course I won't! Agreed. I am very happy."the chief replied, and they shook hands.
Cooper did lend money to the Indians without complaint, and Wilden began to spend a surprising amount of time on the reservation. And the Weissman brothers gave up all their business altogether and began to focus solely on helping the Seminoles. And very soon a new building with a major bingo game opened on the reservation. And the amazing thing is that Archbishop McCarthy has not objected to bingo on the reservation and even good luck to Jim.
As Lansky predicted, the police showed up on the first day and arrested employees and managers. And of course the Seminoles sued, claiming they had every right to do anything on their land.
"This is not acceptable. What kind of arbitrariness? Your Honor, we must close this receptacle of Vice and sin."- officials groaned.
- "Really. The only place where gambling is allowed in the United States is Nevada. Do you have any arguments in your favor?"
"We have two, Your Honor."don't be embarrassed," said Jim Billy and his lawyers.
"First, look at the precedent. Russell and Elena Bryan, from the Chippewa tribe, lived quietly on a reservation in Minnesota. All of a sudden, the state sends them a property tax bill that they've never paid before. They challenged it, the case went to the Highest Court, and he decided that:
a) the state does not have the right to collect taxes on business or property on the reservation
b) the state has no right to regulate the business of Indians on their land. And the bingo hall is just the business on our land.
And second and foremost, Your Honor, we are not part of the United States at all. All Indian tribes surrendered to the U.S. government. Some earlier, some later, but all signed peace agreements and in fact admitted defeat. Everyone but us. We are the only tribe that has never surrendered to the palefaces. Our ancestors went to the Everglades, but they didn't give up. We are still at war with you. Since when does anyone have the right to dictate terms and indicate what to do to an undefeated opponent on their land?"
After hearing such arguments, the judge was forced to make a fair decision: - " the Seminoles should be left alone. Let them do what they want on their land, even play bingo, even open a casino. And neither the state nor the feds have the right to take a cent from their income."
And the money flowed to the reservation. Soon Jim opened a casino and the flow of money increased. The tribe paid its debts to Cooper ahead of time, though all the people recommended by Lansky remained in charge of the business. However, is it a pity some 47% of profits for good and honest people, especially if they are so good at helping business development. Moreover, they advised how to correctly open other casinos.
For example, in Tampa, they decided to build a large Parking lot, but it turned out that this place is an ancient burial of Seminoles.
"I will not allow the pale-faces to defile the graves of our ancestors. Or have you forgotten that we are still officially at war with you? If so, I'll remind you. We'll give You the fourth Seminole War. We lit the fires of combat and beat Tom-Toms" - shouted angrily Hokie.
- "Oops. We didn't even know. Forgive us. What do you want?"- the mayor's office asked, confused.
"Okay, so be it, build your Parking lot."- was replaced by anger at the mercy Hokie.
"Just give us a piece of land to bury our ancestors in another place, but still not far from the city."
"Ufff. That's all. You are welcome. This is a great place, right next to the highway and not far from the city. Just do everything culturally and organize a Museum. We will study you."- happily breathed out officials.
- "Perfectly. Agreed."grinned the leader .... the Seminoles built a second casino.
"Er, that's not what we agreed to."no!" yelled the bureaucrats.
- "So we are about the world, too, did not agree and the Tomahawks we are not buried" - wisely said Jukie.
"Where's the Museum??? Where is he? Keep your word!"
"Where? Yes, inside the casino. Come and take a look. the chief laughed.
And the stream of money became a full-flowing river. There was so much money that the Seminoles even bought a stake in a casino on St. Martin and started building more casinos in Florida. True, there were dirty rumors that almost disinterested Seminole assistants were taking cash out of hundreds of boxes in private planes to various offshore locations, but all curious people were shown documents that clearly said they were taking food for the needy, and ridiculous rumors were a shame to believe.
The leader gained strength and developed a stormy activity. Electric companies that laid their networks, gas companies that stretched their pipes, garbage processing companies that buried waste, and other companies that rented land from the Seminoles for a penny, received an unpleasant surprise.
"That's it, the freebie is over."said Hokie.
"Now you will pay a fair rent. Otherwise, you will all go away."
Jim knew perfectly well that companies that had buried pipes and networks worth tens of millions would not go anywhere and would accept all his terms. And the flow of money has become even greater.
For almost 22 years, Hukipi led his small tribe with an iron hand. He became the highest-paid employee in Florida. Hukipi established a system of dividends for each Seminole, created a special Fund that provides any absolutely free medical care to all members of the tribe, and established schools on the reservation where learning the native language and traditions was mandatory. Moreover, every Indian can now get an education at any University in the United States and does not have to pay a penny for it.
Money was invested in real estate, energy, tourism, securities, and of course ... in the new casino. Money brought money and the tribe grew rich before our eyes. The Indians had beautiful new homes and expensive cars. But everything ends sooner or later, the chief noticed that the Council of chiefs began to spend a lot of money on themselves. Each of the leaders spent unaccountable millions and did not even think to answer to the tribe. And when Hokie was outraged and decided to investigate, he was dismissed from the post of the Supreme leader.
As usual, the official reason was accusations of sexual harassment of a subordinate. Then he was accused of corruption and abuse of power. But the former chief sued and... won. As a result, the tribe paid him more than $600,000. He retired, started building his Chiki again, and lived happily ever after. But the tribe is mired in corruption and scandals, because big money brings big problems. And in 2011, Hukipi was elected chief again.
Hukipi broke up corrupt officials, stopped the vicious practice of paying minors ' money to parents who might have squandered it, put things in order in reporting, and invested in new projects. Surprisingly, without corruption, there was again extra money, which turned into additional dividends for the Indians. Now every adult Seminole, in addition to free medicine and education, receives $128,000 a year. And the money of minors now goes to a special trust so that every member of the tribe reaches the age of 18 is already a multi-millionaire.
In 2016, the year once again, the Council leaders decided to shift Jucie. It is visible it strongly interfered with a free life. Now Jim Hookipa on the deserved rest. He is only 73 years old and still full of strength and energy. Who knows, maybe the Seminoles will need a strong hand and wise advice again, and then "the one who was taken" will again become a leader and lead his tribe to new heights. It is not for nothing that the popular wisdom says: "a Herd of rams led by a lion is much stronger than a flock of lions led by a RAM."
More https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmYpavSD9aALIt_lhde2Ewg?view_as=subscriber
submitted by chapikla to u/chapikla [link] [comments]

Part 2: A Timeline of Epstein, Trump, Sex Trafficking, and the Intelligence Community

I don't think John DeCamp gets everything right, especially his claims about satanic groups, but in 1988 we learn about the Franklin Coverup, which Wikipedia describes as:
"The Franklin child prostitution ring allegations began in June 1988 in Omaha, Nebraska and attracted significant public and political interest until late 1990, when separate state and federal grand juries concluded that the allegations were unfounded and the ring was a "carefully crafted hoax."[1][2].
From the NYT:
(12/18/88) A Lurid, Mysterious Scandal Begins Taking Shape in Omaha
In the Executive Board's public session Monday, Mr. Chambers said the activities of Lawrence E. King Jr., the credit union's manager for the last 18 years and the central figure in its collapse, were ''just the tip of an iceberg, and he's not in it by himself.'' But Mr. Chambers added nothing that would shed light on his cryptic assertion....Mr. King is a 44-year-old Omaha resident who wholly or partly owns several small businesses here and lives with his wife and school-age son in a large house in one of the city's better neighborhoods. He is a tall, expansive figure well known for his costly style of dressing, lavish celebrations and extensive travel, sometimes in chartered jets and often with an entourage of young men.In 1972 he headed a national political organization, Black Democrats for George McGovern. But he gained greater prominence after he had switched parties a while later, serving for a time as vice chairman of the National Black Republican Council, an official affiliate of the Republican Party, and becoming a familiar figure on the Republican social scene.Mr. King has maintained a $5,000-a-month residence off Embassy Row in Washington and has also entertained generously at Republican National Conventions. At the 1984 gathering, in Dallas, where he sang the national anthem on the convention floor, he rented the ranch where the television series ''Dallas'' is filmed and organized a party there for black Republicans....Mr. King's trouble with the authorities came to the surface early last month when officials of the Government's National Credit Union Administration, acting on information from the F.B.I. and the Internal Revenue Service, arrived at the offices of the Franklin Community Federal Credit Union and shut it down. Then, on Nov. 14, the agency, which oversees the nation's federally chartered credit unions and insures their deposits, filed the Government suit against Mr. King, whose salary as Franklin Community's manager had been less than $17,000 a year.
(1989) Washington Call Boy Scandal
Craig J. Spence (1941 – November 10, 1989) was a Republican) lobbyist who was found dead in a Ritz-Carlton hotel room in 1989.[1][2] ...Spence was implicated in a gay call-boy ring scandal, that arranged after-hours visits to the White House, the Washington Times and other papers reported in June 1989. Afterward, Spence committed suicide in a Boston hotel....Spence's name came to national prominence in the aftermath of a June 28, 1989 article in the Washington Timesidentifying Spence as a customer of a homosexual escort service being investigated by the Secret Service, the District of Columbia Police and the United States Attorney's Office for suspected credit card fraud. The newspaper said he spent as much as $20,000 a month on the service. He had also been linked to a White House guard who has said he accepted an expensive watch from Mr. Spence and allowed him and friends to take late-night White House tours.[4]Spence entered a downward spiral in the wake of the Washington Times exposé, increasingly involving himself with call boys and crack,[5] and culminating in his July 31, 1989 arrest at the Barbizon Hotel on East 63rd St in Manhattan for criminal possession of a firearm and criminal possession of cocaine.[6]Months after the scandal had died down, and a few weeks before Spence was found in a room of the Boston Ritz-Carlton Hotel, he was asked who had given him the "key" to the White House. Michael Hedges and Jerry Seper of The Washington Times reported that "Mr. Spence hinted the tours were arranged by 'top level' persons", including Donald Gregg, national security adviser to Vice President George H. W. Bush at the time the tours were given.[5]When pressed to identify who it was who got him inside the White House, Spence asked "Who was it who got [long-term CIA operative] Félix Rodríguez) in to see Bush?", agreeing that he was alluding to Mr. Gregg.[5]Gregg himself dismissed the allegation as "absolute bull", according to Hedges and Seper. "It disturbs me that he can reach a slimy hand out of the sewer to grab me by the ankle like this," he told the reporters. "The allegations are totally false."[5]
I'll let you decide how credible you find any of this so far. It should be noted that many of the people implicated in these affairs -- Wilson, Singlaub, Moon, Casey, Rodriguez, Bush, Stone, and Gregg -- were also involved to varying degrees in the Iran Contra Affair, which illegally raised money for anti-communist terrorists in Central America through the use of death squads, rape, and drug sales. One does not necessarily equal the other, but sexual blackmail and human trafficking don't seem like much of a stretch.
An article by The Guardian notes:
Czechoslovakia ramped up spying on Trump in late 1980s, seeking US intel:
In summer 1987, Donald and Ivana Trump visited Moscow and Leningrad, following a personal invitation from the Soviet ambassador in Washington, Yuri Dubinin. The trip was arranged by Intourist, a travel agency that was also an undercover KGB outfit. Soon after returning from Moscow, Trump announced he was thinking of running for president. That presidential bid failed to materialise.In October 1988, on the eve of the US election, Ivana Trump visited her parents in Zlín, known at the time as Gottwaldov. According to the files she “confidently” predicted Bush’s victory to her father, who in turn passed the tip to local StB officers.“The outcome of the election confirmed the veracity of this information,” StB field agent Lt Peter Surý wrote, in a document dated 23 January 1989 and marked “secret”.The prediction came “from the highest echelons of power in the US”. Ivana was “not only a well-heeled US citizen” but moved in “very top political circles”, Surý stated....It is unclear when the KGB began a file on the future president. In Prague about 60,000 StB documents were declassified in the mid-1990s, after the collapse of communism. The StB destroyed most records.However, secret memos written by the KGB chief, Vladimir Kryuchkov, in the mid-1980s reveal that he berated his officers for their failure to cultivate top-level Americans. Kryuchkov circulated a confidential personality questionnaire to KGB heads of station abroad, setting out the qualities wanted from a potential asset.According to instructions leaked to British intelligence by the KGB defector Oleg Gordievsky, they included corruption, vanity, narcissism, marital infidelity and poor analytical skills. The KGB should focus on personalities who were upwardly mobile in business and politics, especially Americans, the document said.
Another article in the Chicago Tribune notes:
Czechoslovakia secret police file: Trump sure of presidential win — in 1996:
A year before the 1989 collapse of communism in many parts of Europe, details about Ivana Trump's 1988 visit back to her homeland were recorded in a classified police report. The Oct. 22, 1988 report claimed that Trump refused to run for president in 1988 — despite alleged pressure to do so — because he felt, at 42, he was too young. But the secret report said he intended to run in the 1996 U.S. presidential race as an independent, when he would be 50."Even though it looks like a utopia, D. TRUMP is confident he will succeed," the police report said, based on information from an unspecified source who talked to Ivana Trump's father, Milos Zelnicek, about her visit.It was unclear where the alleged "pressure" was coming from. [Note: In "Get Me Roger Stone", Stone claims he was the one who convinced Trump to run.]...Trump's first wife was born Ivana Zelnickova in 1949 in the Czechoslovak city of Gottwaldov, the former city of Zlin that just had been renamed by the Communists, who took over the country in 1948. She married Trump, her second husband, in 1977. As she kept traveling home across the Iron Curtain on a regular basis, Ivana became a tempting target for the powerful, deeply feared Czechoslovak secret police agency known as the StB.
And by at least 1989, Trump himself was in the social circle of both Iran Contra figures and the father of Epstein's alleged "madame", Ghislaine Maxwell:
(This is from a previous post I made, seen here. Some of the links are subscription only, but are provided for accuracy)
NY Daily News - May 5, 1989:
“Everybody, but everybody at the party aboard British media mogul Robert Maxwell’s yacht Wednesday night had to doff their shoes before boarding the plush-carpeted “Lady Ghislaine.” Maxwell insisted, and his guests cooperated, including Donald Trump (minus Ivana), who has a much bigger yacht and was happy to compare notes with Maxwell. [Note: This is in reference to the Kingdom 5KR, originally owned by Adnan Khashoggi, international arms dealer and uncle of slain journalist Jamal Khashoggi.] There were John Tower [Republican Senator in charge of the Tower Commission, which investigated Iran Contra]; ex-Navy secretary John Lehman [Reagan appointee 1981-1987], now with Paine Webber; lawyer Tom Bolan [law partner of Roy Cohn]; literary agent Mort Janklow [clients include both Nancy and Ronald Reagan for their memoirs]; UN envoy Thomas Pickering [currently a board member at the world’s biggest pipe company, OAO TMK, in Moscow and Chairman of the Rostropovich-Vishnevskaya Foundation, “a non-profit organization based in Washington, DC that supports programs to improve the health of children worldwide”]; and Peter Kalikow, owner of the New York Post [awarded the Israel Peace Medal in 1982; created a super PAC for Herman Cain that was later revealed to be entirely financed by his donations]; Maxwell’s daughter, Ghislaine, and his niece, Helene Atkin of Macmillan, the publishing house Maxwell recently took over."[Note: This sentence wasn't in the Daily News article but shows up in a St Louis Dispatch piece a week later]: “Maxwell, who weighs about 300 pounds, went over the guest list personally.""No one could tell who didn’t make the final list, but we do know that Martha Smilgis of Time was disinvited by David Adler, public relations chief at Macmillan. She wrote the profile of Maxwell which he apparently did not like.”
Who was Ghislaine’s father?
Ian Robert Maxwell "MC (10 June 1923 – 5 November 1991), born Ján Ludvík Hyman Binyamin Hoch, was a British media proprietor and Member of Parliament (MP). Originally from Czechoslovakia, Maxwell rose from poverty to build an extensive publishing empire….Maxwell had a flamboyant lifestyle, living in Headington Hill Hall in Oxford, from which he often flew in his helicopter, and sailing in his luxury yacht, the Lady Ghislaine. He was notably litigious and often embroiled in controversy, including about his support for Israel at the time of the 1948 Palestine war. In 1989, he had to sell successful businesses, including Pergamon Press, to cover some of his debts. In 1991, his body was discovered floating in the Atlantic Ocean, having fallen overboard from his yacht. He was buried in Jerusalem. Maxwell's death triggered the collapse of his publishing empire as banks called in loans. His sons briefly attempted to keep the business together, but failed as the news emerged that the elder Maxwell had stolen hundreds of millions of pounds from his own companies' pension funds. The Maxwell companies applied for bankruptcy protection in 1992....Shortly before Maxwell's death, a former employee of Israel's Military Intelligence Directorate, Ari Ben-Menashe, approached a number of news organisations in Britain and the U.S. with the allegation that Maxwell and the Daily Mirror's foreign editor, Nicholas Davies, were both long-time agents for Mossad. Ben-Menashe also claimed that in 1986, Maxwell had told the Israeli Embassy in London that Mordechai Vanunu had given information about Israel's nuclear capability to The Sunday Times, then to the Daily Mirror. Vanunu was subsequently kidnapped by Mossad and smuggled to Israel, convicted of treason and imprisoned for eighteen years.Ben-Menashe's story was ignored at first, but eventually The New Yorker journalist Seymour Hersh repeated some of the allegations during a press conference in London held to publicise The Samson Option, Hersh's book about Israel's nuclear weapons. On 21 October 1991, two MPs, Labour's George Galloway and the Conservative's Rupert Allason (also known as espionage author Nigel West), agreed to raise the issue in the House of Commons under Parliamentary Privilege protection, which in turn allowed British newspapers to report events without fear of libel suits. Maxwell called the claims "ludicrous, a total invention" and sacked Davies.[44] A year later, in Galloway's libel settlement against Mirror Group Newspapers (in which he received "substantial" damages), Galloway's counsel announced that the MP accepted that the group's staff had not been involved in Vanunu's abduction. Galloway himself, however, referred to Maxwell as "one of the worst criminals of the century....The Maxwell companies filed for bankruptcy protection in 1992. Kevin Maxwell was declared bankrupt with debts of £400 million. In 1995, Kevin and Ian and two other former directors went on trial for conspiracy to defraud, but were unanimously acquitted by a twelve-man jury in 1996.”
Epstein's own weird history has been spoken of to some degree, and I'm not sure I have much to add at this point, but perhaps it's important in context.
Financier in sex abuse case went from math whiz to titan
He taught calculus and physics at the prestigious Dalton School, a prep school in Manhattan, from 1973 to 1975, despite not having a college degree. Attorney General William Barr's father, Donald Barr, was headmaster at the time...Epstein left Dalton in the mid-1970s for a job at Bear Stearns at the urging of a student's father who arranged a meeting with the chairman of the investment bank, according to published reports. He later began his own money-management business, J. Epstein & Co....Epstein has long obscured the source of his wealth. Even after his arrest, he refused to provide authorities with even basic information about his income and assets. His attorney said Epstein's lawyers intend to provide the information but want to make sure it is correct first.This much is clear: "He is a man of nearly infinite means," federal prosecutor Alex Rossmiller said in court....Epstein also forged a relationship with Leslie Wexner, the retail titan behind Victoria's Secret, The Limited and other store chains. He started managing Wexner's money in the late 1980s and helped straighten out the finances for a real estate development Wexner was backing in a wealthy Columbus, Ohio, suburb.It was through Wexner that [in1996] Epstein acquired his Manhattan mansion, a seven-story, 21,000-square-foot former prep school less than a block from Central Park. It has been valued at about $77 million.
Around the same time, Trump started dating Marla Maples, who was working at his Atlantic City Taj Mahal Casino:
(1988) The Untold Story of Trump Model Management (Part 1):
Donald Trump, for his part, was becoming increasingly restless, and reckless. Despite fathering 3 children and having a devoted wife, by all accounts he didn’t spend much time with any of them, preferring work and play to the routines of domestic life. In the 80’s he made at least two life changing decisions-to step out on his wife publicly, and to expand his negligible empire into Atlantic City casinos. He built Harrah’s at Trump Plaza in 1984, and a partially completed building that became Trump Castle in 1985-a property that would be managed by his first wife, Ivana. He also scooped up the Taj Mahal in 1988, which at a cost of $1.1 billion made it the most expensive casino ever built at the time.
Some weirdness starts to pop up here, at least allegedly. According to the Philadelphia Inquirer:
(10/27/83) GROUND BROKEN FOR RESORTS' 2D N.J. CASINO-HOTEL
Resorts International, which opened the city's first gambling hall 5 1/2 years ago, broke ground yesterday for a second casino-hotel that will cost $250 million to build and will contain 1,000 hotel rooms and the world's second-largest casino.
According to Wikipedia:
Resorts International was a hotel and casino company. From its origins as a paint company, it moved into the resort business in the 1960s with the development of Paradise Island in the Bahamas, and then expanded to Atlantic City, New Jersey with the opening of Resorts Casino Hotel in 1978.
So how did a paint company morph into a multimillion dollar casino company? We're going to have to go to conspiracy theorists again. Make of it what you will:
Goodfellas: The Hidden History of Resorts International:
Resorts International was largely a family affair that grew out of a company called the Mary Carter Paint Company."Mary Carter (she never existed) was pretty much a family affair controlled by Jim Crosby, two of his brothers, and his in-laws. Based in Tampa, Florida, the firm included in its directorate James Crosby, John Crosby (a plastic surgeon in Mobile, Alabama), William Crosby (a Tampa realtor), and the Murphy brothers, Henry and Tom, who'd married the Crosby daughters. Henry owned a funeral home in Trenton, New Jersey, while Tom was board chairman of Capital Cities Communications, a successful broadcasting business founded by explorer Lowell Thomas. The explorer too was an early shareholder in Mary Carter Paint, as was Republican Thomas Dewey." (Spooks, Jim Hougan, pg. 381)Acclaimed researchers Sally Denton and Roger Morris note: "... the Mary Carter Paint Company, which was widely considered to be a CIA front that laundered payments to the Cuban exile army in the early sixties..." (The Money and the Power, pg. 284).This is certainly quite plausible considering Mary Carter was then based out of Tampa, a hub for joint CIA-Syndicate efforts to assassinate Castro. As was noted before here, Tampa don Santo Trafficante, Jr. was one of the gangsters initially tapped by the CIA's notorious Office of Security to arrange for Castro's untimely demise. Trafficante, a close associate of Meyer Lansky (whom we shall return to again), had been deeply involved in Cuba's gambling operations prior to the revolution and would later become even more deeply immersed in the world heroin trade. As was noted before here, he was very close to the emerging Cuban Mafia, which provided ample recruits to the CIA during the early 1960s despite much suspicion that Trafficante was a double agent for Castro.Certainly the Mary Carter Paint Company would have been well positioned to assist Trafficante in these endeavors in Tampa. And such a connection would also explain why the corporation, in the mid-1960s (as CIA Cuban operations were winding down), abruptly sold off its paint business and boldly delved into gambling. By the end of the decade it was managing one of the most profitable casinos in the world on the Bahama's Paradise Island.What it amounts to is that by the late period James Crosby emerged as not only the CEO of Mary CarteResorts International, but as an extremely well connected figure within the GOP and beyond."... Crosby was himself uniquely situated in Republican circles: a sometime guest at the White House, he'd donated $100,000 to Nixon's 1968 campaign. He was also a friend of, and frequent host two, Bebe Rebozo (with whom he banked). Moreover, Crosby's private intelligence agency, Intertel, was even then working with White House aides and ITT executives to discredit Jack Anderson's revelations anent ITT and Chile. At the same time, Intertel was the de factocustodian of the demented billionaire Howard Hughes (his own $100,000 donation would later result in two volumes of Senate testimony in the Watergate affair). Indeed, the ties between Paradise Island and Richard Nixon's administration were of the sort that bind: Allan Butler, owner of the failing bank that was his namesake, claims the Nixon was a silent partner of Crosby's in his Bahamian ventures, sharing a healthy chunk of Paradise Island bridge revenues with yet another secret partner, Bebe Rebozo. And by by no means finally, James O. Golden, Resorts' vice-president and one of Intertel's founding spooks, had formerly served as Nixon's Secret Service shield, later taking charge of security for the Nixon forces at the GOP's 1968 convention in Miami Beach. That Paradise Island is a special place, and had a special place in the heart (or what passed for a heart) of the Nixon regime, is abundantly clear... (Spooks, Jim Hougan, pg. 180) ...And that brings us to possibly the most curious aspects of Resorts, namely its ownership of its own vast private intelligence network.It was known as Intertel, short for International Intelligence, Inc. Intertel was incorporated in 1970 as an almost wholly-owned subsidiary of Resorts International and hit the ground running. During its heyday, Intertel had an impressive roster and an international reach. It would turn up in host of intrigues throughout the 1970s and 1980s. Curiously, it had its origins with Robert Kennedy's "Get Hoffa" squad."... Intertel, known especially and remarkably for its composition of former organized crime strike force attorneys from Robert Kennedy's Justice Department... The IRS considered Intertel... 'an organized crime enterprise of some type aimed at the Bahamas,' as one account summed up the agency's view. Roberts Peloquin and William Hundley, Kennedy's top crime fighters, had joined the firm and recruited operatives from the CIA, FBI, IRS, Secret Service, and other intelligence agencies. Staffed exclusively by what one author called 'Get Hoffa agents,' it was likened into a corporate CIA.' (The Money and the Power, Sally Denton & Roger Morris, pg. 284)...Intertel's other ventures include spying of muckraker Jack Anderson) for ITT, investigating the Chicago Tylenol murders and the Bhopal disaster. Even more ominous, however, were its dealings with a shady Belgium-based private detective agency known as Agence de Recherche et d'Information (ARI). As was noted before here, ARI was linked to members of the neo-fascist terror organization known as the Westland New Post, a few of whom had also been implicated in drug trafficking and pedophile rings. Intertel reportedly hired ARI to do some work for them during the 1980s....What is of great interest to us here is Trump's third Atlantic City casino: the Taj Mahal. While now widely associated with Trump, thanks in no small part to it leading to his first bankruptcy, it was not in fact Trump who started the casino. That dubious distinction lies with Resorts International.The company had begun construction on the Taj Mahal in 1983, but had run into persistent difficulties in finishing construction in the following years. Then, in April 1986, James Crosby died suddenly. This left Resorts in turmoil (allegedly) and Trump stepped in. Trump bought a controlling stake in the company in 1987 and was promptly named its chairman of the board.Let that sink in for a moment: Donald J. Trump, the current President of the United States, was briefly the chairman of a corporation long suspected of being a CIA front, that had decades-spanning involvement with the Syndicate, numerous "rogue" financiers, various drug and arms traffickers and which owned a vast private intelligence network...."
According to the Philadelphia Inquirer:
(07/22/87) TRUMP COMPLETES THE DEAL FOR RESORTS INTERNATIONAL
Developer Donald Trump took control of Resorts International Inc. yesterday in a $79 million deal that gives him his third Atlantic City casino, including what will be the largest gaming hall in the city.Trump sealed the deal in New York with those connected to the estate of the late founder of Resorts International, James M. Crosby.Trump paid a cash price of $135 a share for 585,068 shares of Class B stock, which has 100 times the voting power of Class A stock.He is expected to make a formal tender offer for the remaining 167,230 shares of Class B stock within the next several weeks at the same $135-a-share price. Owning all the Class B stock would give him 93 percent of the company's voting power.At a board meeting immediately after the transaction with the Crosby estate, Trump was elected chairman of the board of Resorts International, replacing Henry B. Murphy, Crosby's brother-in-law, who resigned.
And his relationship with Ivana was falling apart:
(1989) Ex-Wife: Donald Trump Made Me Feel ‘Violated’ During Sex
After a painful scalp reduction surgery to remove a bald spot, Donald Trump confronted his then-wife, who had previously used the same plastic surgeon.“Your fucking doctor has ruined me!” Trump cried.What followed was a “violent assault,” according to Lost Tycoon. Donald held back Ivana’s arms and began to pull out fistfuls of hair from her scalp, as if to mirror the pain he felt from his own operation. He tore off her clothes and unzipped his pants.“Then he jams his penis inside her for the first time in more than sixteen months. Ivana is terrified… It is a violent assault,” Hurt writes. “According to versions she repeats to some of her closest confidantes, ‘he raped me.’”Following the incident, Ivana ran upstairs, hid behind a locked door, and remained there “crying for the rest of night.” When she returned to the master bedroom in the morning, he was there.“As she looks in horror at the ripped-out hair scattered all over the bed, he glares at her and asks with menacing casualness: ‘Does it hurt?’” Hurt writes.
In 1992, Trump would divorce Ivana. It's this same year that we find him arranging a party of 30 for himself, Jeffrey Epstein, and 28 young aspiring calendar girls:
(1992) Trump Was Alone at a 1992 Party with 28 Girls and Accused Sex Trafficker Jeffrey Epstein
Part of a “calendar girl” competition organized at Trump’s request, the party was put together by a businessman named George Houraney, who spoke with the New York Times for a story published Tuesday.Houraney was also one of many to accuse Trump of sexual harassment, this time toward his former girlfriend and business partner, Jill Harth, who described an incident in 1997 as an attempted rape by Trump.“I arranged to have some contestants fly in,” Houraney told the Times. “At the very first party, I said, ‘Who’s coming tonight? I have 28 girls coming.’ It was him and Epstein.”...Before the “calendar girl” event, Houraney warned Trump about Epstein once again.“Look, Donald, I know Jeff really well, I can’t have him going after younger girls,” Houraney recalled telling Trump in the Times interview. “He said: ‘Look I’m putting my name on this. I wouldn’t put my name on it and have a scandal.’”
[EDIT: MSNBC reports on 07/17/2019 on newly discovered footage of Trump and Epstein discussing women at a party in November of 1992.]
The Boston Globe reported:
(1992) The pageant of Donald Trump’s dreams
It was a snowy night in Manhattan, December 1992, and the festive group was embarking on a circuit of exclusive clubs after a sumptuous dinner at the Plaza Hotel’s Oak Room.As the limo wove through the city, Trump discussed his views on dating, according to one of the women riding along. The billionaire casino mogul declared that “all women are bimbos” and said most were “gold diggers” who would be smart to go after men with money. Like him.Rhonda Noggle, the model who relayed the story to the Globe in an interview, said that, at that point, she had had enough. Speaking sharply to Trump, she said, she asked him to stop the limo. The car grew silent.
(1989-1995) The Untold Story of Trump Model Management (Part 1):
1989-1995 just so happens to be the same time period in which Donald Trumps world and empire was falling apart at the seams. In the beginning of the decade he was facing the end of his first marriage and a looming court battle. Despite his purportedly active dating life, by many accounts Trump was being rejected by many, if not most, of the women he pursued-including Carla Bruni and Jill Hearth. Marla Maples, after years of being the secret mistress and repeated rounds of being dumped and publicly humiliated by Trump, was starting to lose her patience. And the big gamble he took in Atlantic City was, by all accounts, failing miserably-a direct result of his jaw droppingly awful business practices and general incompetence. In 1991, his Taj Mahal Casino filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy. In 1992, he again filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy again, this time on his Trump Plaza Hotel (also in Atlantic City), at the time owing $550 million dollars. Recall that he would report an almost 1 billion dollar loss on his 1995 tax returns, according to the copies obtained by the New York Times. Indeed, the early 90’s were not a very good era for Donald Trump. In light of this fact, it’s worth noting that the sexual assault allegations against him are all clustered within this very time frame. [Note: This article was written in 2016, prior to more allegations]...By the time “New York Magazine” did a front page profile of him in 1988, Casablancas reputation for bedding young models was established and begrudgingly accepted (a price to pay in exchange for his “genius”) within the New York social scene, but the expose came as a shock to many outside the bubble. John Casablancas would soon find out that he was not as untouchable as he thought he was. In the article-which ran under the title “Girl Crazy”-Casablancas was portrayed as a champagne guzzling pervert, singularly dedicated to the “new look” department of Elite where he spent his days ogling the scantily clad, sometimes naked bodies of teenage girls. In light of Donald Trump’s more alarming comments and decisions around his daughter Ivanka, this quote stands out:"Casablancas talked about his seventeen year old daughter, Cecile. He said Cecile had been solicited by a photographer last summer on a beach in Ibiza. The photographer asked her to pose in a bikini, and Casablancas raced over to try to get a $2,000 fee for the shot. “She’s got a great little body” he told his models."Another quote that brings a chuckle and a nod of recognition in this story is Casablancas’s bizarre pride over never having changed a diaper. Donald Trump would make similar boasts in a Howard Stern interview a few years later. Compelling proof this is not, but I do believe it’s a hint at the kind of Don Juan persona that Don, far from a Juan, actually a dejected, balding husband with a crumbling empire....But the scandal did not end there, nor did it begin. Less than a month earlier 60 minutes aired a prime-time special on the abuses of underage girls in the modeling industry. Investigative reporter Craig Pyes portrayed the modeling industry as infested with agents who were notorious hustlers and playboys. His report revealed that both Claude Haddad- the head of European scouting for Ford- and Ford’s Paris-based agent Jean-Luc Brunel had been accused of horrific sexual misconduct by many models. [Note: Brunel's name appears multiple times on Epstein's flight manifests.] The special aired the interviews of dozens of women who accused both Brunel and Haddad of a litany of crimes, ranging from racist invective towards black models to violent rape. And in fact the hidden camera footage captured in filming the special caught it all- from Xavier lamenting about n**er models, to Haddad chuckling about drugging and raping 13 year old girls. According to Model At a retreat soon after the one-two punch delivered by the coverage, Haddad, Jean Luc Brunel and Casablancas were once again overheard (albeit not taped this time around) laughing about their crimes. Alternatively they were angry when confronted by interim scouting manager Trudi Tapscott - ”I’m a man and I have needs, I will not apologize for that!” Casablancas is said to have declared....Over time Donald Trump would emerge from the ruins of his empire with a new approach to business, and a new source of income-in 1996 he bought the rights to the Miss Universe franchise, and became the central figure in the running of these pageants. And in 1999 he started a modeling agency - T models, later changed to Trump Model Management. The correlation of interests is quite clear-for a man awkward around women but dependent on his public image saying otherwise, a stable of women under his employ was a way to boost his image-and even better, he was able to lock all of these women into non disclosure agreements, ensuring that his behavior with them had little chance of becoming public knowledge. It also appeared to have served as a useful tool regarding his business transactions-which, in the aftermath of his bankruptcy, were increasingly dependent on some less than savory characters. How he did this, and the breadth of this activity, will be explored in the next installment. But for the time being, there is one final aspect of this story that is breathtaking, and speaks more to the character of Donald Trump than anything else.
More in Part 3.
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can you gamble at 18 in the bahamas video

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Caribbean Castaways Travel Blog - YouTube

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can you gamble at 18 in the bahamas

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