My two favorite articles from this week. In case it’s not obvious, those are my own very “descriptive” titles:
GAS ATTACK! (BUT NOT THE FUN KIND). This one is just crazy. Apparently a world-famous F1 racer, his wife, and their friends were knocked out while sleeping with some form of gas introduced into their air conditioning unit in the South of France. Then they were robbed. Insane and worth a read if you enjoy learning about criminal “tactics.” – goo.gl/hr2Zki
EDITOR OF RUSSIAN GQ FINDS “FREEDOM” IN SCREENWRITING. NYTimes article about the former editor of Russia GQ, and his trials and tribulations as a creative leader in Russia. – goo.gl/c7TToh
I’ve been posting a number of WEEKEND READS, and they’re literally all worth reading if you haven’t already. So here is a recap of some from the past:
ANTWERP DIAMOND HEIST. Right out of a movie, a brazen, successful (at first), and detail-oriented robbery. This Wired article could definitely be made into a movie. “I may be a thief and a liar,” he says in beguiling Italian-accented French. “But I am going to tell you a true story,” the bad guy (in jail) begins… goo.gl/QdssKj
BAD GRANDPA HIKES KIDS ALMOST TO DEATH AT GRAND CANYON. I have rafted the Grand Canyon in the middle of the summer. It is absolutely, definitely not a place you want to try to conquer without the right supplies. But what I like about this Indianapolis Monthly article is not just the jovial tone, but the lack of black-and-white. Both points of view are represented very well… goo.gl/Q0mwyR
A Chinese Hacker’s Identity Unmasked (from Bloomberg Business, written by Dune Lawrence and Michael Riley) – goo.gl/YS3pLU
In March 2011, Stewart was examining a piece of malware that looked different from the typical handiwork of Russian or Eastern European identity thieves. As he began to explore the command nodes connected to the suspicious code, Stewart noticed that since 2004, about a dozen had been registered under the same one or two names—Tawnya Grilth or Eric Charles—both listing the same Hotmail account and usually a city in California. Several were registered in the wonderfully misspelled city of Sin Digoo.
New police radars can ‘see’ inside homes (from USA Today, written by Brad Heath) – goo.gl/UMM9aN
At least 50 U.S. law enforcement agencies quietly deployed radars that let them effectively see inside homes, with little notice to the courts or the public.
Boom! Inside a British Bank-Bombing Spree by Nick Summers – goo.gl/XVRsPN
No American ATM has ever been robbed with explosive gas. The same WAS true in Britian – Until 2013. Now there have been more than 90.
The Lost Man by Graeme Wood – goo.gl/AaduRb
In 1948, a man was found on a beach in South Australia. The mysterious circumstances of his death have captivated generations of true-crime fanatics. Today, one amateur sleuth has come close to solving the case — and upended his life in the process.
Is This Where The Secret JP Morgan London Gold Vault Is Located? – goo.gl/d8GQ21
The title says it all in this @zerohedge article.
The Deputy Who Disappeared by Claire Martin for LA Magazine – goo.gl/PmBhvu
This is a truly fascinating story about an LA County Sheriff’s Deputy who disappeared off the face of the earth while long-distance running in the Antelope Valley. What starts out as a possible lost-and-perished-in-the-woods tale starts to become something much different as the article proceeds.
None Dare Call It a Conspiracy by Scott Anderson for GQ – goo.gl/BJ60fG
False flag terrorism, in which one entity conducts a terrorist attack but makes it seem like another is responsible, in order to provoke a counterattack, is age-old. But is still still practiced today? This article is very controversial, as it’s about Russia, and Putin, and the apartment bombings that marked the beginning of Putin’s reign… And you won’t be able to stop reading.