Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2019/07/10/why-did-jeffrey-epstein-build.html
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Logistics question: could it really be that much cheaper to ship a paper shredder from the VI to Florida than to simply buy one in Florida?
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The medieval-era lock on the front door appears designed to keep people inside.”
I’m going to go throw up now…
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I mean if you’re trying to either hide that you’re buying such things, or hide the money you’re using to buy such things it might make sense to source them in the Virgin Islands. I think its the British Virgin Islands that are a popular tax shelter/money hiding spot. But the Virgin Islands in general are popular with tax cheats and money launderers. Might be in part because you can spend lavishly but quietly there combined with ease of access to tax shelters even if you’re not in the tax sheltery part.
Dollars to doughnuts that shit was purchased by a shell company.
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Not necessarily to lock people inside… Just to hold the doors shut when you’ve left. Like on any barn.
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Could be he paid millions for this equipment instead of thousands, because it was really a transfer of funds to someone who did him a favor, or to undocumented accounts he controls there.
Bought from a shell company, more likely.
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FWIW an extractor is the common name for the floor cleaning machine you’ll usually see used in large commercial environments. A dual purpose one that will work on both tile and carpet is very useful in locations where you need to service both floor types. If the location where it was used has a high square footage and has a low nap commercial quality carpet (which is installed in some residences) or if the dual use machine was on price par with a dedicated tile cleaner then this purchase makes sense without having any nefarious undertones.
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The thing about Epstein - everything about him is weird and shady. He got a job teaching as a 20-year-old (two-time) college drop-out? He did wealth management only for billionaires (when there were only a handful of billionaires in the country)? Those ruthless billionaires just blithely gave him power of attorney to manage their funds?
It’s really about how many crimes we don’t know about he’s also been committing. Ponzi schemes? Other financial crimes? Blackmail (to keep his shady investment scheme afloat)? When someone is committing wholesale sexual exploitation/rape of children, there’s nothing too low for them. When they’re getting away with it, you have to assume they’re feeling invincible enough to do whatever else they want.
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Ugh, now me too 
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He’s just a handy guy who likes to relax with home repair projects.
If he happens to cut himself shaving in the “den” - taking out the blood stained carpet and tiles gives him a sense of accomplishment. And relief.
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While the notion of “what crimes did he commit that we DONT know about” is kind of vague and ominous and always would be with regards to any criminal. I have to assume black mail was the real venture here and it explains so much of everything else.
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Epstein owns the single largest private residence in NYC.
BUT why do you purchase such a thing, however useful. In the British Virgin Islands and pay, probably quite a bit, to ship from yourself to yourself in Manhattan. Where such devices are probably both available and probably pretty competitively priced given the large numbers of skyscrapers and commercial buildings?
Like I said hiding that you bought it, or hiding how you bought it.
And why do you buy a large paper shredder immediately after being charged with a crime? And ship it to yourself at the location where you were charged? After purchasing it in an out of the way place?
Answer: Bigfoot.
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We can add architectural crimes to his rap sheet. The “temple” is hideous.
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One thing the article did get wrong: The gold dome has been replaced, at least if you trust Google Maps:
The second claim — “its gold dome flew off during the deadly 2017 hurricane season” — is more supported. Google Earth satellites clearly captured the dome on August 10, 2017, but it’s not seen at all in photographs taken on September 7, 2017, or in any subsequent image.
Epstein also appears to have a huge sundial on his island
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Why he’d ship them, no idea, seems like a poor monetary decision but then again people with ridiculous amounts of money often make poor “small money” decisions.
I was curious about the paper shredder too. 53lbs isn’t really a large paper shredder. I scan then shred most paper that comes across my desk. I have a good small office shredder that weighs in north of 30lbs. It does up to 10 sheets at a time and does cross-cut. If I was processing a lot of paper then a 20 sheet capacity unit which weighs 55lbs and costs under $500 would be attractive.
I think this is a case where the reporter is straining for a story and doesn’t really understand what’s being reported on. 53lb shredder and carpet extractor sound bad when you don’t know what those things are. Just because they guy is a rapist who needs to be locked up doesn’t mean everything he does is in the service of that crime.
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At this point, not assuming nefarious undertones would be going against Occam’s Razor. I’m afraid we’ve only seen the tip of this iceberg of awfulness.
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How do you figure? Nefarious undertones is still more than the minimum required assumptions.
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Very fucking creepy. Now I want to take a shower. Also - this:
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I was just thinking that. Probably now some underling is getting fired.
The other option could be an observation I’ve heard from people in the service industry: “Rich people are cheap”.
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I know I run the risk of being the “well, actually” guy, but I think it’s underselling the injustice to say the judge invalidated his plea deal. The judge found it violated the Crime Victims Rights Act, but there are still arguments ongoing about what exactly to do about that. Prosecutors are arguing that the judge can’t actually invalidate the plea deal. So even now, mofugga is still getting all the breaks.
Luckily, the Southern District of New York doesn’t have to care about Florida’s plea deal.
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