[Daily Caller] FAISALABAD, Pakistan ‐ The father of Imran Awan ‐ an IT aide to Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz who investigators concluded made "unauthorized access" to House servers ‐ transferred a USB drive to a Pakistani senator and former head of a Pakistani intelligence agency, the father’s ex-business partner, Rashid Minhas, alleged.
Minhas told The Daily Caller News Foundation that Imran Awan’s father, Haji Ashraf Awan, was giving data to Pakistani official Rehman Malik, and that Imran bragged he had the power to "change the U.S. president."
Asked for how he knew this, he said that on one occasion in 2008 when a "USB [was] given to Rehman Malik by Imran’s father, my brother Abdul Razzaq was with his father."
"After Imran’s father deliver (sic) USB to Rehman Malik, four Pakistani [government intelligence] agents were with his father 24-hour on duty to protect him," he said. Minhas did not say what was on the USB.
TheDCNF traveled to Pakistan for this story and interviewed numerous residents who interacted with Imran, and they confirmed that he does travel that country with a contingent of armed Pakistani government officials and routinely brags about mysterious political power.
The House Office of Inspector General charged in Sept. 30, 2016 that data was being funneled off the House network by the Awans as recently as September 2016 ‐ shortly before the presidential election.
Posted by: Besoeker ||
04/19/2018 00:32 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
#1
The DNC provided an intelligence transfer vehicle to Paki intelligence. The Clinton 'home brew' servers provided an intelligence transfer vehicle to selected others.
How could anyone conducting an intelligence damage assessment assume otherwise ?
[LIBYANEXPRESS] The United Arab Emirates and Egypt are ramping up efforts and holding meetings inside and outside Libya with eastern tribes, including Furjan and Abidat, to find a substitute to Khalifa Haftar, the commander of the self-styled army in the eastern region.
These efforts come as uncertainty is still cast on the fate of the warlord Haftar, who according to conflicting reports, have either died or become non-functional after collapsing into a stroke over 7 days ago.
Local media reported on Tuesday that the Speaker of the House of Representatives in Tobruk, Aqilah Saleh, arrived in Abu Dhabi to meet the committee appointed for the task of finding an alternative scenario in Libya, with a new commander in the place of Haftar.
Up until today, however; the eastern forces’ officials are denying that Haftar is in bad shape, saying he is well and will return to Libya soon to assume his position as commander of the “Libyan National Army.”
Posted by: Fred ||
04/19/2018 00:00 ||
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[LIBYANEXPRESS] The foreign minister of La Belle France, Jean-Yves Le Drian, said in a closed meetings for the French government on Wednesday that Libyan warlord Khalifa Haftar ...Self-proclaimed Field Marshal, served in the Libyan army under Muammar Qadaffy, and took part in the coup that brought Qadaffy to power in 1969. He became a prisoner of war in Chad in 1987. While held prisoner, he and his fellow officers formed a group hoping to overthrow Qadaffy. He was released around 1990 in a deal with the United States government and spent nearly two decades in the United States, gaining US citizenship. In 1993, while living in the United States, he was convicted in absentia of crimes against the Jamahiriya and sentenced to death. Haftar held a senior position in the anti-Qadaffy forces in the 2011 Libyan Civil War. In 2014 he was commander of the Libyan Army when the General National Congress (GNC) refused to give up power in accordance with its term of office. Haftar launched a campaign against the GNC and its Islamic fundamentalist allies. His campaign allowed elections to take place to replace the GNC, but then developed into a civil war. Guess you can't win them all... is in good health now after receiving treatment in a military hospital in Gay Paree suburbs, Radio La Belle France Intrnationale reported.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/19/2018 00:00 ||
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[AAWSAT] Three Belgian firms will appear before a Belgian court on charges of exporting chemicals to Syria, including isopropanol, a common substance that can also be used in the production of sarin nerve gas, a front man said on Wednesday.
The case, which will commence in Antwerp on May 15, centers on the export of several chemical substances between 2014 and 2016 to Leb and Syria by Belgian chemical group AAE Chemie and two handling agents, Danmar Logistics and Anex Customs.
"The companies had no export license for these products," a front man for the court said.
The companies could be found in breach of international sanctions.
"Both my companies and AAE Chemie have always acted in good faith. We have always fully complied with the checks of customs officers at the port of Antwerp," a front man for Danmar Logistics said. Under Belgian law a defendant is not required to enter a plea.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/19/2018 00:00 ||
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[AP] US warns Turkey of consequences if jailed pastor isn’t freed.
The Trump administration warned Turkey on Wednesday that it is considering punitive “consequences” if the NATO ally does not throw out the charges or acquit an American pastor accused of espionage and aiding terrorist groups.
Wess Mitchell, the top U.S. diplomat for Europe, said the charges against Andrew Brunson, 50, of North Carolina, were “laughable.”
“The Turks claim to have a high standard of justice, the indictment suggests otherwise,” Mitchell told the House Foreign Affairs Committee. “This is clearly an innocent man. We are watching to see if the Turks adhere to their stated standards of justice. If that does not happen, we are considering options for consequences.”
He said the State Department is consulting with Congress about “possible measures” to take against Turkey if Brunson is not released, but he did not elaborate.
Posted by: 3dc ||
04/19/2018 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Sublime Porte
#1
I have much more.
Erdogan's Turkey is like a limb with an imminate infection.
Did you switch sides, Erdo?
I think you think you can keep both and your Country,
I would keep Turkey, but not you Erdo.
You are a fucking asshole.
You will learn more about your kind when you are up Satans.
#5
Erdogan hates Christians, the USA, Israel and freedom of religion in his own country.
Erdogan has made the US pay a heavy price to operate out of Incerlik air base.
It would be nice to have our own air base like Russia in Syria or in Iraq.
Then we would not be dependent on Turkey for an air base which is not an ally under Erdogan.
We should not let Turkey have any control outside of its borders.
We should support the Kurds in keeping Turkey out of Syria and Iraq.
And I pray God will deliver Andrew Brunson from Erdogan, the Pharaoh of Turkey.
#6
You wrote, "Then we would not be dependent on Turkey for an air base which is not an ally under Erdogan." The Incirlik base in Turkey was not used in the Syria attack. It has been reported that the US presence there is now minimal.
[AAWSAT] Ottoman Turkish President Sultan Recep Tayyip Erdogan the First ... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him. It's a sin, a shame, and a felony to insult the president of Turkey... called on Wednesday for snap elections for June 24 in a move aimed at accelerating the transition to a new presidential system.
The announcement upended the political timetable in The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the decaying remnant of the Ottoman Empire.... , which had been set to vote in simultaneous presidential and parliamentary elections on November 3, 2019.
Erdogan made the announcement in an address at his presidential palace after meeting Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) chief Devlet Bahceli who the day earlier had urged early elections.
"As a result of consultations with Mr. Bahceli, we decided to hold elections on June 24, 2018, a Sunday," said Erdogan.
Bahceli stunned Ottoman Turkish political observers on Tuesday when he urged the government not to wait for November 2019 to hold the presidential and parliamentary elections, suggesting the polls be held on August 26, 2018.
The elections are especially significant as afterwards a new executive presidency -- agreed in a 2017 referendum and denounced by critics as giving the president authoritarian powers -- will come into force.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/19/2018 00:00 ||
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#1
The Results will already in on June 22, two days earlier, with a surprising victory for Erdogan's party. Who needs to count any stinking ballots.
[IsraelTimes] Trio recorded planning attack on Somali refugees in the US, calling them 'cockroaches' and hoping to inspire similar acts.
A federal jury on Wednesday found three men guilty of plotting to bomb a mosque and apartment complex housing Somali refugees in Kansas.
Patrick Stein, Gavin Wright and Curtis Allen were convicted of one count of conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction and one count of conspiracy against civil rights. Wright was convicted of a charge of lying to the FBI. Sentencing is set for June 27.
Prosecutors have said that a fellow militia member, Dan Day, tipped off federal authorities after becoming alarmed by the escalating talk of violence and later agreed to wear a wire as a paid informant. The government’s case featured months of profanity-laced recordings in which militia members discussed plans and referred to the Somalis as "cockroaches."
The three men were indicted in October 2016 for plotting an attack for the day after the US presidential election in the meatpacking town of Garden City, about 220 miles (350 kilometers) west of Wichita.
The government argued that the men formed a splinter group of the militia Kansas Security Force that came to be known as "the Crusaders." The testimony and recordings indicate the men tried to recruit other members of the Kansas Security Force to join them.
[WashingtonTimes] The Treasury Department slapped sanctions Wednesday on a Syrian man and his criminal syndicate, blaming them for smuggling "hundreds" of illegal immigrants colonists from Syria and Leb into Mexico and then helping them to jump the border into the U.S.
Nasif Barakat and his syndicate, which authorities labeled the Barakat Transnational Criminal Organization, charged about $20,000 to complete the smuggling. The money paid for bribes and for fake documents, including false European passports, to help illegal immigrants colonists hide their identities. The fees also covered transportation from Syria through other Middle Eastern countries to South and Central America, the journey north through Mexico, and final help sneaking into the U.S.
Authorities said the sanctions will freeze the syndicate’s assets, which should undermine the smuggling operation.
The case has been pursued by the Treasury Department, Homeland Security and the Justice Department.
"The day I was sworn in as attorney general, President Trump sent me an Executive Order to dismantle transnational criminal organizations," said Attorney General Jeff Sessions. "Many of these organizations use human smugglers to bring people across our borders with little regard to their safety or our national illusory sovereignty."
Mr. Barakat, who also goes by the name Abu Tarif and lists two dates of birth in 1970 and 1971, was based in Homs.
The Treasury Department said his network would recruit customers from Syria and Leb, send them through either The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...just another cheapjack Moslem dictatorship, brought to you by the Moslem Brüderbund.... or the United Arab Emirates, where they would catch flights to Brazil, then make their way north through Venezuela, Colombia and Panama, then up through Central America and Mexico.
That turns out to be a common route for people being smuggled from terrorist-connected countries.
The Washington Times has reported over the last two years on a network operated by Sharafat Khan, a citizen of Pakistain who moved to Brazil, where he ran a human smuggling operation that specialized in bringing people from Pakistain, Afghanistan and Bangladesh into the U.S. through the same routes.
Khan, who pleaded guilty last year but is appealing his sentence, charged up to $15,000 for his customers.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/19/2018 00:00 ||
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#1
A criminal syndicate smuggling Syrians into USA - D. of State?
Baghdad (Iraqinews.com) ‐ Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Amir Hatami arrived Wednesday in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, on a two-day visit, according to the Islamic Theocratic Republic News Agency (IRNA).
Hatami was welcomed at the Baghdad International Airport by Secretary General of the Iraqi Ministry of Defense Lieutenant General Mohammad Jawad Kazim.
Hatami said his visit to the neighboring country of Iraq is aimed to develop bilateral cooperation in the fields of defense and military.
The talks will also tackle the latest regional developments, particularly the recent U.S. air strike on Syria, the Iranian defense minister pointed out.
He also congratulated the Iraqi people and government for their victory over the terrorist Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... (IS) group following nearly three months of fighting between the two sides.
Iran’s influence in Iraq has fueled sectarian tensions throughout the region, with Sunni states, and American allies, like Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... mobilizing to oppose Iranian expansionism. Besides Iraq, Iran’s expansion project includes Leb, Syria, Yemen ...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of. Except for a tiny handfull of Jews everthing there is very Islamic... and Afghanistan.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
04/19/2018 00:00 ||
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[Ynet] Israel targeted an advanced Iranian air-defense system at a Syrian base last week, according to intelligence officials and others briefed on the matter, the Wall Street Journal reports.
According to two people briefed on the plan, Israeli officials told the Trump administration about the planned strike in advance so that the US was aware of their plans to directly target an Iranian base.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
04/19/2018 00:00 ||
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[IsraelTimes] Ostensible deal said part of a larger agreement that would pave the way for the reconstruction of the Strip
So nice they agree among themselves... but it will have to change a good deal before Israel signs the formal hudna.
Hamas, a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth", and Egypt have reached agreement on the details of a prisoner exchange between the terror group and Israel, the Hezbollah-affiliated Lebanese newspaper Al Akhbar reported on Wednesday.
According to the report, the agreement was reached during recent meetings between Egyptian intelligence officials and Hamas leaders.
• Syrian air defenses activated and fired interceptor missiles during the US, UK, France's strike, but reportedly only a couple had a chance of hitting their targets.
• Syria fired only two missiles during the strike and the remaining 38 after the attack had already concluded, US government sources said.
• Syria may have fired the missiles to make it look like it was intercepting US missiles.
Syrian air defenses activated and fired interceptor missiles during the US, UK, and France's missile strike on the country's suspected chemical weapons sites, but only two of those reportedly had a chance of hitting their targets.
US government sources tell Ankit Panda writing at The Daily Beast that only two missiles fired from Syria's air defenses took off during the actual strike, and they both failed. Another 38 launched after the strike took place, and obviously found no target, according to Panda's sources.
The report from Panda matches pictures taken on the night of the strike that show missile defense sites firing on ballistic trajectories that don't resemble the paths they'd take to actually intercept a missile.
"The trajectory that I've seen from footage of reported Syrian SAMs don't match up with what I'd expect to see for intercept attempts against low-flying cruise missiles," Justin Bronk, an air-combat expert at the Royal United Services Institute, told Business Insider. "I don't believe the Russian/Syrian intercept claims." I recall seeing some maneuvering, but not much. Maybe the missiles were occasionally homing on each other?
Nonetheless, Russia and Syria claimed their missile defenses had downed 71 of the 105 US and allied missiles fired, a bold claim considering they're only known to have fired 40 interceptors.
"Most of the launches occurred after our strike was over," US Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Kenneth F. McKenzie, the Joint Staff director, said of Syria's interceptor fires. "When you shoot iron into the air without guidance, it has to come down somewhere."
But Syria is also home to advanced Russian missile defense systems treated with a healthy respect by NATO and the US, but the US says those launchers remained silent throughout the strike.
Days later, Syrian air defenses again fired off interceptors at nothing, this time claiming the US and Israel had hit them with a cyber attack.
Why Syria fired missiles blindly with no targets in sight remains a mystery, as they had no chance of hitting anything, but it's possible the attempted intercepts were staged as theater.
Here's what a real multiple missile interception looks like:
Here's what the Russians claim are downed allied missiles. I didn't see anything that screamed Tomahawk at me, but I don't know what the rest of the missiles that were used look like. These seem kind of puny, short and streamlined to be a cruise missile, but they are puny, short and streamlined like I would expect an interceptor missile to look like. Maybe I'm wrong.
Here's some raw footage of allied missiles blowing up when they hit their target. No rocket trails visible, which is kind of what I expect from a cruise missile. Maybe I'm wrong.
There is some footage of the interceptor missiles being launched all over YouTube that you can search for. Basically the same stuff over and over again. I didn't see much maneuvering. There is some Russian stuff that doesn't show the skyline in Syria, so I didn't include it here.
So it shouldn’t be long before the Syrian refugees can be sent back from Europe, right?
[Ynet] Several hundred Syrians who have lived for years as refugees in Leb left for their home country on Wednesday in a rare case of a mass return of those who left the country since the Syrian civil war began in 2011.
Nearly 500 people, including children and the elderly, left the Shebaa area in southeast Leb in 15 buses for the Beit Jinn district in Syria, southwest of Damascus, which was recaptured from rebels by pro-government forces in December. The buses reached the Lebanese border on Wednesday afternoon before crossing into Syria.
The convoy was organized by the Lebanese authorities, Leb's state news agency NNA reported. The UN refugee agency UNHCR, in a statement, said it was not involved in organizing "these returns or other returns at this point, considering the prevailing humanitarian and security situation in Syria".
[PRESSTV] An alleged chemical arsenal was discovered by Russian servicemen in the basement of a high-rise apartment building in the Eastern Ghouta city of Douma, which is recently liberated by the Syrian army from Jaish al-Islam terrorists.
A statement by the Russian Ministry of Defense reports that chemicals such as chlorine, thiodiglycol and diethylamide were found.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/19/2018 00:00 ||
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#1
Nobody is paying attention - the science is settled!
Fear not - I'm.sure we'll be told that it belonged to the rebels.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
04/19/2018 7:52 Comments ||
Top||
#4
Which leads us to assume both sides are using WMD.
Appears to be a fair fight. Please stay out of it and permit them to continue until someone taps out.
[SANA.SY] A source at Foreign and Expatriates Ministry said on Wednesday that a reconnaissance team from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) fact-finding mission entered Douma city in Eastern Ghouta on Tuesday.
The source told SANA that a reconnaissance team from the OPCW fact-finding mission for investigating the alleged use of chemical weapons in Douma has entered on Tuesday at noon upon the request of the mission to assess the security situation to pave the way for the entry of the mission to Douma.
The fact-finding mission arrived in Syria after the Foreign and Expatriates Ministry asked the OPCW to send a team to investigate the claims about the alleged use of chemical weapons in Douma.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/19/2018 00:00 ||
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[AAWSAT] Lebanese Justice Minister Salim Jreissati called on the Special Tribunal for Leb (STL) to accelerate its work in order to reach the truth about former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri’s liquidation.
Jreissati met on Tuesday with the STL president, Ivana Hrdličková, who was heading a judicial and administrative delegation from the tribunal.
According to available information, STL Prosecutor Norman Farrell filed a new indictment for the crimes against Georges Hawi, Marwan Hamadeh and Elias al-Murr. Farrell reportedly accused new Hezbollah officials, other than the five members of the party, who are being tried in absentia for the liquidation of Hariri.
"Time is gold and the Tribunal has got to move forward; its harmonious work must prevail; which does not seem imminent," Jreissati said following the meeting.
The justice minister, on the other hand, stressed that the meeting with Hrdličková was very productive, highlighting strong cooperation between the STL and the Lebanese government.
Last month, the Registrar of the STL, Daryl Mundis met with Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri Second son of Rafik Hariri, the Leb PM who was assassinated in 2005. He has was prime minister in his own right from 2009 through early 2011. He was born in Riyadh to an Iraqi mother and graduated from Georgetown University. He managed his father's business interests in Riyadh until his father's assassination. When his father died he inherited a fortune of some $4.1 billion, which won't do him much good if Hizbullah ...Party of God, a Leb militia inspired, founded, funded and directed by Iran. Hizbullah refers to itself as The Resistance and purports to defend Leb against Israel, with whom it has started and lost one disastrous war to date, though it did claim victory... has him bumped off, too. during a working visit to Beirut and discussed various matters related to the work of the Tribunal.
He also met with the Prosecutor General Samir Hammoud and members of the diplomatic community in Leb.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/19/2018 00:00 ||
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[PJMedia] An app that has been dowloaded more than a thousand times on Google Play hooks up users with a selection of audio lectures and video addresses from American al-Qaeda recruiter Anwar al-Awlaki.
Al-Awlaki, the New Mexico native who remains a powerful recruitment force spanning terrorist group loyalties, was killed in an airstrike in Yemen in 2011. ISIS fighters frequently quote the leading al-Qaeda member online. Lone jihadists are often found to have consumed al-Awlaki lectures, including 2016 Chelsea bomber Ahmad Khan Rahimi and Abdul Razak Ali Artan, the Ohio State student who rammed pedestrians on campus in 2016.
In a November anti-extremism crackdown, YouTube pulled tens of thousands of videos of al-Awlaki's myriad sermons and Q&As that had been uploaded to the site. A search on the site now finds al-Awlaki videos that were posted 3 to 4 months ago, after the company's purge.
The Google Play app titled "Anwar Al Awlaki Lectures" is filed under "entertainment" and rated E for everyone.
Goody.
Posted by: Large Ulerens5656 ||
04/19/2018 00:00 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[Daily Caller] FAISALABAD, Pakistan ‐ The father of Imran Awan ‐ an IT aide to Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz who investigators concluded made "unauthorized access" to House servers ‐ transferred a USB drive to a Pakistani senator and former head of a Pakistani intelligence agency, the father’s ex-business partner, Rashid Minhas, alleged.
...Self-proclaimed Field Marshal, served in the Libyan army under Muammar Qadaffy, and took part in the coup that brought Qadaffy to power in 1969. He became a prisoner of war in Chad in 1987. While held prisoner, he and his fellow officers formed a group hoping to overthrow Qadaffy. He was released around 1990 in a deal with the United States government and spent nearly two decades in the United States, gaining US citizenship. In 1993, while living in the United States, he was convicted in absentia of crimes against the Jamahiriya and sentenced to death. Haftar held a senior position in the anti-Qadaffy forces in the 2011 Libyan Civil War. In 2014 he was commander of the Libyan Army when the General National Congress (GNC) refused to give up power in accordance with its term of office. Haftar launched a campaign against the GNC and its Islamic fundamentalist allies. His campaign allowed elections to take place to replace the GNC, but then developed into a civil war. Guess you can't win them all...
... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him. It's a sin, a shame, and a felony to insult the president of Turkey...
...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of. Except for a tiny handfull of Jews everthing there is very Islamic...
• Syrian air defenses activated and fired interceptor missiles during the US, UK, France's strike, but reportedly only a couple had a chance of hitting their targets.
Second son of Rafik Hariri, the Leb PM who was assassinated in 2005. He has was prime minister in his own right from 2009 through early 2011. He was born in Riyadh to an Iraqi mother and graduated from Georgetown University. He managed his father's business interests in Riyadh until his father's assassination. When his father died he inherited a fortune of some $4.1 billion, which won't do him much good if 
