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Mon. Jan. 11 Daily HUT Content - What is new?
Heyooo everyonee! It’s Coooolin! Monday, Monday, Moooondaayy! I feel so alive, and I really don’t know why, hahaha. How was everyone’s day back to work / school , and the braand new weeekk? Let me knooww, doownn beloooww! Here’s the new Daily Content for today! Thanks as always, EA!
Fantasy Hockey
Alex Pietrangelo - 84 OVR - LVK / RD - (1) BAR , SH Justin Schultz - 83 OVR - WAS / RD - (1) H and S , SPE Ryan Pulock - 83 OVR - NYI / RD - (1) BAR , LTL Vince Dunn - 83 OVR - STL / LD - (1) SWA , PP Joe Pavelski - 82 OVR - DAL / C - (1) DIS , T Jake Virtanen - 81 OVR - VAN / RW - (1) SPA , WH Dylan Strome - 81 OVR - CHI / C - (1) BAL , WM James Neal - 80 OVR - EDM / RW - (1) DIS , GLA Connor Brown - 80 OVR - OTT / RW - (1) BAL , MAG ... I want Juuse Saros - 80 OVR - NAS / G - 5’11” / 180 lbs - (1) BAR , SPA Evgeni Malkin - 74 OVR - PIT / C - (1) SWA , WM Filip Chytil - 74 OVR - NYR / C - (1) H and S , HOW ——— ———- ——- ——- ——- ———
EUROPEAN HC
Event Austin Matthews - 91 OVR - ZSC / C - (1) MAG , WH Kevin Fiala - 89 OVR - HV7 / LW - (1) LTL , GLA Juuso Valimaki - 88 OVR - ILV / LD - (1) WM , SH Eemeu Suomi - 87 OVR - ILV / C - (1) T , WM Ryan Lasch - 87 OVR - PEL / RW - (1) SPE , MAG Daniel Viksten - 87 OVR - FAR / RW - (1) HOW , PP Joel Persson - 87 OVR - LAK / RD - (1) GLA , WH Dominik Kahun - 86 OVR - WÛN / C - (1) MAG , WM Gauthier Descloux - 86 OVR - GEN / G - (1) BAL , SPA Milan Gulas - 86 OVR - PLZ / LW - (1) HOW , PP Maury Edwards - 85 OVR - WAI / RD - (1) SPE , MAG Rafael Rotter - 85 OVR - VIE / RW - (1) T , WM
Daniel Winnik - 79 OVR - GEN / RW - (1) HOW , SWA ... * Samuel Ersson - 78 OVR - BRY / G - 6’2” / 175 lbs (1) BAL , BAR ... * Johan Mattson - 78 OVR - IND / G - 6’4” / 196 lbs (1) DIS , H and S ... * Ludovic Waeber - 77 OVR - ZSC / G - 6’1” / 176 lbs (1) SPA , SWA ... * Daniel Zaar - 77 OVR - FAR / RW - (1) H and S , MAG ... * Carson Lambos - 77 OVR - ICE / LD - (1) BAL , WM ... * Yannick Zehnder - 77 OVR - EVZ / C - (1) BAR , PP ... * Nils Lundkvist - 77 OVR - LUL / RD - (1) BAL , SPE ... * David Bernhardt - 77 OVR - SAI / LD - (1) DIS , LTL Chase Stillman - 76 OVR - WOL / RW - (1) BAR , SH Axel Rindell - 76 OVR - JUK / RD - (1) DIS , WH • • • • • • • • • • - - - - - - - - - • • • • • • • • • • • •
Packs Available
1D , 23H • Elite Players Pack - 37.5k C / 750 P 10 items, all Gold Players, with at least 8 80+ OVR Players • Primetime Double Pack - 35k C / 700 P Limited Pack. || Quantity Rem - 2,125 13 items, at least 5 players with 2 guaranteed PT players • Elite Pack - 25k C / 500 P 10 items, with at least 5 80+ OVR Players • Players Pack - 15k C / 300 P 10 items, all Players, at least 5 Golds and 1 80+ OVR Player.
1 EUROPEAN HC COLLECTABLE Req. - 10 Gold Players Recieve - 1 EUROPEAN COLLECTABLE This is important if you want to do the GC set, and an MSP item! ——-
What’s to Come?
• Rivals Resets - Tomorrow at 5pm EST • SB Season Reset - Wednesday at 5pm EST • Rivals Rewards - Wednesday at 5pm EST • HUT Champ Rewards - Wednesday at 6am EST • SB Rewards !! - Thursday at 5pm EST —————
Summary of the day
Quick Read Best Forward of the Day - HC - is AUUSTINN MAATTHEWSS OVR 91 with the syn MAAAGICIAANN and WOORKHORSEE Best Defence of the Day - HC - is JUUUSSOO VAAALLIIMAAKIII OVR 88 with the syn WIIINGG MAAAN and SHUUUTTT DOOWNN //// Best Forward of the Day - PT - is BRREETTT RITTCHIIEEE OVR *80 with the syn SPAARRRKK and GLAADIAATORR Best Defence of the Day - PT - is CAAARSSSOON LAAMBOSS OVR 77 with the syn BAALANCEDD AND WINGMAAN ———— —— ———
Important Notice
Save money, and money will save you. If you can’t buy the item you want twice, you can’t afford it. They say money isn’t everything, but everything needs money. So before you buy that new game, buy points, or what not - think twice. Is it something you really need, or just want? ——— —— —— Cooolin —— // ——- /// —— ///
Interested in Stocks?
EA’s Stock Price, after hours - Jan. 11 $ 141.22 (usd) —- Currency Converter we looked at the stock at $137.54 usd —— That is a difference of ( $ 3.68 / 2.68 % ) — Disclaimer - I am not a financial advisor. It is your money, please do your own due diligence. I am not responsible for your money. This is *not** advice. I added this section for an added educational purposes only. Thanks* —— —— —— —-
NEED A SOUNDTRACK TO LISTEN TO?
I made this for everyone. I’ll update it whenever I feel like it, but its been often!
WE’RE AT 1000+ SONGS! YOU SHOULD CHECK IT OUT TO FIND A NEW BOP TODAY! Comment songs to add, and please give feedback! It’s much appreciated!! I currently have “Better of Dead” by “Jxdn” stuck in my head! How do you guys like the playlist!? I have a friend who makes music...and I really want to surprise him with some new people listening to his music... if you wanna help me, please click Here!! it would mean a lot to me!! ———-
Stream Hockey Games
If you click here you will be redirected to bilasport. Bilasport is a streaming site for all your Sport needs! You can stream; NHL , NFL , NBA , MLB , Boxing / MMA , and NCAAF. With the NHL season coming up, this is a great resource if you want to watch a game! Bookmark it today! I am not affiliated with Bilasport. This is just a recommendation for your entertainment needs. ——- —— —— —— —— —— —— —— —- —— —-
Fighting a Gambling Addiction?
Don’t feel scared to click here. Winning is SO much louder than losing. Know that you are NEVER alone. We are all here for eachother, and it is never too late to get help. I am here for you. This is a VERY important thread, especially if you are new to HUT. Here! ——- 11 / 365 —— —— —— —- —- ——- —- —— —— Thanks for reading. I’m always welcome to feedback, please let me know what I can improve on. If there’s anything missing, please let me know! Take care, happy gaming! 2 DAYS TIL HOCKEY COMES!WHO IS EXCITEDD? I am not affiliated with EA. Please don’t message me about your problems about the game, even though I find them rather entertaining. You still can, just I might not be able to help!! • Coolin Killin It (Life is like a puzzle, you just have to find the right piece.)
The original Megathread got archived automatically by Reddit, so I've now re-upped it. This megathread is to compile all the information into 1 place so that information can be accessed more easily and smoothly. Please post all questions/comments on this thread. This includes selling/buying tickets, meetup plans, etc. Any further posts about the tour, including questions, will be removed. Please feel free to use the "#live-shows" channel on the subreddit Discord server to discuss and post about the tour. Next, please use Reddit’s spoiler feature when discussing things about the tour that others want to be surprised about. As posted in the sidebar, you can now hide your text on Reddit, so please utilize this feature in posts and comments. Don’t ruin the fun for other members of the horde!
Media
The tour will feature the brand new, highly-anticipated “Cube V3” – with new visuals completely designed by Deadmau5 himself!
NOTE: While the UMF 2019 set may spoil some things for the tour, Joel has confirmed on Reddit that there will be A LOT of changes for the tour - including new visuals and NEW MUSIC! Ultra was essentially just a way to test out the new system before tour season begins.
Set times, ticket prices, age restrictions, and other regulations vary for each venue, so your best bet for specific venue questions would be to visit venues' websites or call them.
The set length will be about 2 hours and 15 minutes, and the opening sets will each be about an hour long.
VIP PACKAGES:
1) deadmau5 On Stage Experience: -One Premium Reserved or General Admission ticket to the show -One (1) Meet & Greet with deadmau5* -One (1) Individual photo with deadmau5* -The ability to watch the first 3 songs of deadmau5’s set, side-stage* -Exclusive access to special VIP pre-show production tour (see the new cube up close and personal)* -One commemorative VIP laminate -One exclusive merchandise item -Priority entry into the venue* 2) deadmau5 VIP Meet & Greet Experience: -One Premium Reserved or General Admission ticket to the show -One (1) Meet & Greet with deadmau5* -One (1) Individual photo with deadmau5* -Exclusive access to special VIP pre-show production tour (see the new cube up close and personal)* -One commemorative VIP laminate -One exclusive merchandise item -Priority entry into the venue* 3) deadmau5 VIP Cube Tour Experience: -One Premium Reserved or General Admission ticket to the show -Exclusive access to pre-show production tour* -One commemorative VIP laminate -One exclusive merchandise item -Priority entry into the venue* * = no liquids permitted side stage (alcohol, soda, etc)*side stage locations will operate in a different format from city to city depending on local venue capabilities *production tour done in groups of 10*meet & greet and photo opportunity may occur after general doors have opened
MORE DATES WILL BE ANNOUNCED SOON:
No need to complain yet that you don’t see the city that you wanted. Joel also confirmed on Mau5Trap Radio Episode #28 that although this first part of the tour is United States only, they are working on plans for worldwide dates afterwards. GUEST VOCALS:
LIGHTS (EVERY SHOW)
SOFI (Select shows only)
OPENERS: (In alphabetical order:)
ATTLAS
BlackGummy
Callie Reiff
E̶D̶D̶I̶E̶ (EDIT: CANCELLED DUE TO VISA ISSUES - replaced by Bentley Dean & Julian Gray)
Great Hall Stage: Testpilot, Layton Giordani, Rinzen
Kings Hall Stage: ATTLAS, BlackGummy, MSTRKRFT, SIAN, Speaker Honey
Lost Circus Stage: Todd Edwards, Jay Robinson, Gooey Vuitton
LOS ANGELES POP-UP SHOP:
What:
Special pop-up shop with an interactive art & music installation (powered by Specdrums from Sphero)
Buy exclusive merch
See special displays (i.e. mau5heads, McLaren 720s Spider, etc.)
Meet Mau5Trap artists & get stuff signed
Drink Corona
Where:
Sunset Strip - 1114 Horn Ave, West Hollywood, CA 90069
When:
Thurs. September 26th to Sat. September 28th
12:00PM - 8:00PM PDT
Deadmau5 signing from 3:00PM - 5:00PM PDT on 26th and 27th
i_o signing from 2:00PM -5:00PM PDT on 27th; 4:00PM - 6:00PM on 28th
Various Mau5Trap artists appearing/signing on 28th (including a Q&A panel from 1:00PM - 2:00PM PDT)
DENVER POP-UP SHOP:
What:
Special pop-up shop with an interactive art & music installation (powered by Specdrums from Sphero)
Buy exclusive merch
See special displays (i.e. mau5heads, McLaren 720s Spider, etc.)
Meet Mau5Trap artists & get stuff signed
Drink Corona
Where:
2100 Larimer Street, Denver, CO 80205 (Intersection of Larimer & 21st Street)
When:
Fri. November 1st to Sat. November 2nd
11:00PM - 8:00PM MDT (both days)
Deadmau5 signing from 2:00PM - 4:00PM MDT (both days)
i_o signing from 5:00PM - 5:45PM MDT (Nov. 1 only)
Other Mau5Trap artists signing from 5:30PM -7:30PM MDT (Nov. 2 only)
NEW YORK CITY POP-UP SHOP:
What:
Special pop-up shop with an interactive art & music installation (powered by Specdrums from Sphero)
Buy exclusive merch
See special displays (i.e. mau5heads, McLaren 720s Spider, etc.)
Meet Mau5Trap artists & get stuff signed
Drink Corona
Where:
260 Johnson Ave, Brooklyn, NY, 11206
When:
Thurs. February 6th to Sun. February 9th
12:00PM - 6:00PM EST (both days)
Deadmau5 signing from 3:00PM - 5:00PM EST (Feb. 7th & Feb. 8th only)
SETLIST:
NOTE: Keep in mind, the below setlist compiles every track he's played at the shows so far in order - so therefore, he doesn't play ALL of these songs each show. Every show has a slightly different setlist. BOLDED = Unreleased
Bitcoin brought to light the power of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology. I wanted to share some other projects to show the world that blockchain technology is a viable solution to real world problems. I had a look into some of the projects that are disrupting industries like advertising, communication, energy, finance, gambling, video games, privacy, and social media - here’s what I found:
Advertising
Personal data is gathered and sold to third parties, but the money never makes it to the user whose data has generated the value for the company using it.
Basic Attention Token (BAT) BAT is a product of Firefox co-founder Brendan Eich, raising over $20million in less than a minute during the ICO craze of 2017. BAT is a feature of the Brave browser, enabling users to be rewarded in $BAT for their attention. As of March 2020, Brave has amassed an impressive 4 million daily active users.
DAD (DAD) DAD, short for Decentralized Advertising, is making advertising data more transparent without infringing on users’ privacy. DAD uses the Lightning Network to facilitate high frequency microtransactions.
Communication
Edward Snowden (among others) revealed the extent of surveillance technology collecting civilian communication data and expressed the need for a safe, secure and surveillance free method for individuals and businesses to communicate over the internet.
Status (SNT) Status is an Ethereum based encrypted messaging app, web3 browser and $ETH/$SNT wallet. Status was one of the most funded ICOs in 2017 and have achieved +10k downloads on Android phones. Recently, Status upgraded their communication protocol to allow 10x more users, however this only raised their limit to 10k simultaneous users.
Orchid (OXT) The Orchid network is an incentivized bandwidth proxying protocol for a decentralized VPN that allows users to buy bandwidth from a global pool of service providers using $OXT.
Privacy
With the shift away from physical cash and the move towards online payments, user privacy is at risk. Digitalization often means more surveillance, privacy is more important than ever.
Monero (XMR) With Monero you can spend safely, knowing that others cannot see your balances or track your transaction activity - by default. Using a combination of ring signatures, ringCT and stealth addresses, Monero provides all the benefits of an open-source and decentralized cryptocurrency, without any privacy concessions.
Loki Network (LOKI) Loki is a Monero fork modified to facilitate instant anonymous transactions and communication. The Loki Network consists of Lokinet, an onion routing protocol similar to Tor, and Session, a cross-platform end-to-end encrypted messaging application with anonymous registration that has been downloaded +100k times. Both applications use Loki’s masternode network to anonymously route data.
Energy
Energy markets are inefficient and act in the interest of the middlemen, not the generator or consumer. With the continual transition to cleaner energy, the energy sector is looking to leverage new and existing technologies.
Power Ledger (POWR) Power Ledger has developed a world-first blockchain enabled energy trading platform to make energy markets more efficient. Currently used in Australia, Thailand, India, Japan and the United States, The Power Ledger platform enables the trade of electricity in real time with all transactions recorded on the blockchain.
WePower (WPR) WePower marketplace connects companies directly with green energy generators so that all companies, no matter the size, can make a tangible environmental impact whilst buying green energy at competitive rates with full transparency.
Financial Sector
The financial system is out of date and in serious need of an update. Traditional banking only runs during business hours and cross border payments are exceptionally slow, inefficient and costly. As we continue transitioning to a more digital world, money is making the same change.
Synthetix (SNX) Synthetix is a decentralized synthetic asset issuance protocol that enables minting of synthetic assets when $SNX tokens are locked in the contract. Assets are assigned exchange rates via price feeds supplied by an oracle and can be traded on the Synthetix Exchange DApp.
COTI (COTI) COTI’s DAG-based protocol combines infrastructure, services and application layers to create a holistic payments solution which is modular and fully customizable. At the core lies the Trustchain, which assigns trust scores using machine learning to increase transaction speeds and reduce transaction costs.
Gambling
Gambling usually takes place in a physical or virtual casino, where the house always wins. Blockchain based gambling platforms will provide more transparency on how odds are formed, fees are charged and how payouts are scheduled.
WINk (WIN) WINk was the first DApp launched on Tron and boasts the largest library of casino games on the blockchain. WINk’s platform provides a set of tools and resources for developers that allow them to easily create unique gaming DApps. The scaling solutions implemented in WINk’s games have completely eliminated transaction costs.
Casino Coin (CSC) CasinoCoin is an open source, peer-to-peer, cryptocurrency specifically designed for the regulated online gambling industry. CasinoCoin uses a modified version of the Ripple code, optimised to work within the regulated gaming industry, but also with an eye to work within the banking system long term.
IoT
With the introduction of IoT technology, the amount of data points being collected need to be managed and secured to avoid massive data breaches and leaks. The use of Blockchain technology can increase transparency and virtual incorruptibility.
Walton Chain (WTC) Waltonchain combines RFID, Blockchain and IoT technologies to help business merchants monitor their production, logistics, warehousing and retail aspects of the supply chain. This ensures all data is authentic and reliable and increases transparency and reduces human error - which would have been useful for their infamous Twitter giveaway...
IoTeX (IOTX) Backed by a global team of research scientists and engineers, IoTeX combines blockchain, secure hardware, and data services innovations to empower intelligent IoT networks and machine economies; an ecosystem where information and value can be exchanged by physical and virtual participants on a global scale.
Video Games
The video game industry is an ever evolving space which often adopted technological advancements before many others. The use of Blockchain is being explored for things such as in-game Microtransactions and digital collectables.
Enjin Coin (ENJ) Enjin is an ERC20 token built on the Ethereum network which aims to allow the gaming industry to create and manage their own virtual goods. Game developers could create their own in-game digital assets for their gaming community to use which would all be backed by the parent coin, $ENJ. Enjin soard to popularity on announcement of their partnership with Samsung.
Decentraland (MANA) Decentraland is a fully decentralized and open market where you can discover, buy, sell, and manage parcels of virtual land. Using Decentraland’s editor, you can design your own pieces of land in the virtual world. Decentraland’s world is built around MANA, an ERC20 token used for trading goods and services provided by users.
Social
Typical social platforms are run by centralized companies and depending on their jurisdiction, they may not be able to serve certain people. Censorship resistance is critical to allow for freedom of speech.
Steem (STEEM) Steemit is a blockchain-based blogging and social media website, which rewards its users with $STEEM for publishing and curating content. All text content is stored on the Blockchain for eternity, although images still require a hosting platform such as Imgur.
Hive (HIVE) Hive, a new fork of Steem, recently launched in an attempt to limit exchanges from using customer holdings to participate in governance attacks, as witnessed on the Steem blockchain earlier this year. This comes with a move towards providing a remedy for distribution issues and reliance on a central entity for code and infrastructure.
Looking forward
There are literally thousands of projects out there, these are just some of the projects I've found to be doing interesting things. If I’ve missed something super important, let me know. I might look into blockchain projects next that have the most current active user bases if you guys like these kinds of posts.
A great example provided by Cuba is that in its poverty it has known how to share, with all its international programmes. Cuba is the country with the greatest cooperation in relation to its gross domestic product and it is an example for all of us. This doesn’t mean that Cuba doesn’t have big problems, but it is also certain that it is impossible to judge the success or failure of the Cuban model without considering the US blockade, a blockade that has lasted for 50 years. Ecuador wouldn’t survive for five months with that blockade.
Let’s consider the embargo: the Cuban government estimates that it has cost the island US$753.69 billion. Their annual report to the United Nations provides a detailed account of that calculation. That’s a lot for a country whose average GDP between 1970 and 2014 has been calculated at US$31.7 billion. Yes, Castro presided over mistakes and errors in Cuba’s planned economy. Yes, there is bureaucracy, low productivity, liquidity crisis, debt and numerous other problems – but where aren’t there? Castro pointed to these weaknesses in his own speeches to the Cuban people. But President Correa is right – to objectively judge Castro’s legacy, Cuban development and contemporary reforms today, we cannot pretend that the US blockade – which remains today despite rapprochement – has not shaped the Cuban economy. Castro almost saw out 11 US presidents since 1959, but he never lived to see the end of the US embargo. New challenges face Cuba, with economic reforms underway and the restoration of relations with the United States. The next step, including for me personally, is to assess the Cuban revolution’s resilience in this post-Castro, Donald Trump era. End of article.
MCU Movies Behind the Scenes Facts *Wanted to do this for fun* Day 6: The Avengers
So i'm going to go on IMDB and look at each MCU movies behind the scenes facts and POST THE MOST INTERESTING ONES here, I will post each movie a day instead of what I did before where I did 10 posts, I will start with the first Iron Man and each day will be the next MCU movie after it, ending with Guardians 3, I will also do the Netflix Shows, Agents of Shield and Agent Carter
THE AVENGERS
1. Robert Downey Jr. kept food hidden all over the lab set, and apparently nobody could find where it was, so they just let him continue doing it. In the movie, that's his actual food he's offering, and when he was eating, it wasn't scripted, he was just hungry. 2. Reportedly, Iron Man's "Let's just not come in tomorrow" speech was improvised by Robert Downey, Jr., as was "Doth mother know thou weareth her drapes?" 3. There were very few times that everyone was in town at once, but on one night when they were, Chris Evans sent them all a text message simply saying "Assemble" (the tagline to the movie), prompting a night out on the town. Clark Gregg has stated that this is his favorite text message that he has ever received. 4. Robert Downey, Jr. asked the Marvel production manager permission to take away the letter "A" that was on the Stark Tower with him, but he declined. However, on his next birthday, the manager gave it to him as a gift. 5. Reportedly, a scene was filmed where, during the final battle, Captain America saves an old man trying to protect his grandchildren. He tells him to "Get them to cover", but as he walks away, the old man asks him "Cap, is that really you?" He turns and, noting the man's World War II veteran lapel pin, trades salutes with him. As Captain America sprints away, the children ask their grandfather, "Do you know him?", and he replies "We ALL know him." 6. Gwyneth Paltrow is noticeably barefoot in all of her scenes in Stark Tower, while Robert Downey, Jr. is in three or four-inch platform shoes, so he looks taller than her. 7. (At around two hours) When the missile is released over Manhattan, the pilot calls detonation in two minutes and thirty seconds. The sequence between then, and the detonation, is two minutes and thirty seconds of film time. 8. In the final end credit scene, Captain America is the only one not eating. That is because Chris Evans got a buzz cut, and grew out his beard after this movie was done filming. He was called in later to do this extra scene, and refused to shave off his beard, due to filming Snowpiercer (2013) at the time, so they gave him a prosthetic jaw. He holds his hand over his face because the prosthetic made him look like he'd been attacked by a hive of angry bees. He also is unable to eat or talk with the prosthetic on. The wig he wears is also quite clearly visible in certain shots of this scene. 9. To prepare for the role of Agent Clint Barton (Hawkeye), Jeremy Renner was trained by Olympic archers. 10. Joss Whedon explained that two of the founding Avengers members, Ant-Man and Wasp, were cut from the script because the film had too many characters. Also, the screenwriters didn't want Ant-Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe until his movie was released. 11. (At around fifty-four minutes) According to writer and director Joss Whedon, the "That man is playing Galaga!" line was ad-libbed by Robert Downey, Jr., and worked so well that Whedon decided to add in an image of Galaga on "that man's" console as the scene's punchline. 12. (At around forty-six minutes) After Thor takes Loki off the Quinjet down on the mountain side, two large ravens fly by them as they are talking. In Norse mythology, Thor's father Odin had two ravens, Huginn and Muninn, who would bring Odin information from Midgard (Earth). (This film repeats the "family tree" error from the original Marvel comics.) 13. Chris Hemsworth had to increase and expand his food intake in order to maintain the physique he built up for Thor (2011), consisting of chicken breasts, fish, steak, and eggs every day (Hemsworth said he had to consume "his body weight in grams of protein."). 14. (At around two hours) The shocked expression of Loki, after being slammed by The Incredible Hulk, was created by animation director Marc Chu, shaking Tom Hiddleston violently and repeatedly. 15. (At around fifty-five minutes) Chris Evans was unsure about his character's line, "I understood that reference!", because he was worried that it would make audiences think that his character was unintelligent. However, he was quickly comforted after he watched the movie with an audience, and he saw that they found the line humorous, as opposed to stupid. 16. (at around two hours and five minutes) The Hulk bringing Iron Man back to consciousness by roaring at him was improvised by Mark Ruffalo during his motion-capture performance. 17. (At around thirty-nine minutes) The German police car skidding on its front end after Loki blasts it was a complete accident, as it failed to flip over initially. 18. Samuel L. Jackson's Nick Fury is from the Ultimate Marvel Universe, created in 2000 to re-imagine and update the Marvel heroes for the twenty-first century. Fury's likeness was actually based on Jackson, who gave Marvel permission to do so. Subsequently, based on that likeness and his star power, Jackson was cast as Fury for all Marvel Cinematic Universe films, starting with Iron Man (2008). 19. Clint Barton (Hawkeye) is an ambidextrous archer (although Jeremy Renner is left-handed). He is seen shooting right-handed in Thor (2011) and both left-handed and right-handed in this film. 20. The final end credit scene was added after Robert Downey, Jr. encouraged a scene re-write. After Tony Stark falls back to Earth, he originally awakens and asks, "What's next?" Robert Downey, Jr. thought the line could be more interesting, and the idea of going to a local shawarma restaurant was born. The scene was added one day after the global premiere. Since then, shawarma sales in Los Angeles, St. Louis, and Boston have reportedly skyrocketed. 21. (At around one hour and eleven minutes) The laboratory scene, where Bruce Banner explains how he once attempted to commit suicide by shooting himself in the mouth is a direct reference to a deleted scene from The Incredible Hulk (2008), where Edward Norton's Bruce Banner tried to commit suicide in this manner out in the middle of Alaska's wilderness, only to be stopped by his transformation into the Hulk. 22. Joss Whedon suggested to Marvel that there should be a bigger villain plotting behind the scenes, which enabled Loki to conquer the Earth, and that someone should be Thanos the Mad Titan. The executives just rolled with it. 23. According to writer and director Joss Whedon, the original cut of the movie was over three hours long. About thirty minutes of the excised footage are included on the Blu-ray, most of which revolves around Steve Rogers (Captain America) struggling to adjust to the modern world. 24. There are two spoken references to the early The Incredible Hulk comic books. When Captain America is giving orders, he says "Hulk, smash", a catchphrase uttered by the Hulk in the comics, as well as The Incredible Hulk (2008). After the Hulk thrashes Loki, he says "Puny god", a reference to another oft-repeated Hulk phrase, "Puny humans". 25. The first Marvel Cinematic Universe film to earn $1 billion. 26. Samuel L. Jackson's role as Nick Fury in this film makes him the second actor (after Hugh Jackman, who has appeared in all of the X-Men movies) to play the same comic book character in five different movies. 27. Joss Whedon had earlier been considered to direct X-Men (2000) in the 1990s. A big fan of the X-Men, he even wrote a script, from which only two lines made it into the film. He wrote the story "Gifted" for "Astonishing X-Men", which became the basis for X-Men: The Last Stand (2006). 28. Sound editor Christopher Boyes has stated that he went through a complicated process to craft the Hulk's voice. The final product "turned out to be (a combination of) Mark Ruffalo, some Lou Ferrigno, and a little bit of me and two people from New Zealand." 29. There was going to be a brief fight scene between Iron Man and the brainwashed Hawkeye as a nod to Hawkeye starting off as an Iron Man villain in the comics. 30. (At around fifty-three minutes) According to Joss Whedon's commentary, Bruce Banner's saying of Loki, "You can smell crazy on him" was a set-up for when the Hulk faces off against Loki in Stark Tower. Originally, Loki was going to make multiple versions of himself and the only way the Hulk was going to discern where Loki was, was to smell them. Only the real Loki would have a scent. 31. Originally, Joss Whedon had not intended the film to include supporting characters from the heroes' individual films, reasoning, "You need to separate the characters from their support systems in order to create the isolation you need for a team." However, he eventually decided to cast Stellan Skarsgård, Paul Bettany, and Gwyneth Paltrow (Paltrow was cast at Robert Downey Jr.'s insistence). 32. Tony Stark casually refers to three of the other main characters, Loki, Thor, and Hawkeye, as either movie characters, or movie titles. He calls Loki "Reindeer Games", Thor "Point Break", and Hawkeye "Legolas". 33. Edward Norton was originally set to reprise his role from The Incredible Hulk (2008), but negotiations between him and Marvel Studios broke down. Norton was replaced with Mark Ruffalo, who had also been considered for the role in the prior movie. 34. The character to whom the Other is talking in the credits is Thanos the Mad Titan, a major supervillain in the Marvel Universe. He is a cosmic mass murderer, who is literally in love with the personification of Death, which is why he is smiling at the phrase, "To court death". 35. (At around two hours) After Iron Man flies through a Leviathan, he can be seen crashing on the ground in front of a Shawarma Palace, which later appeared in the post-credits scene. 36. (At around one hour and twenty-nine minutes) One of the cards in Agent Coulson's Captain America card set is a reproduction of Captain America's first comic book appearance, where he punched out Adolf Hitler. 37. The crew hired twenty-five members of the Ohio-based 391st Military Police Force Battalion for the attack on New York City, to add realism to the battle. 38. According to writer and director Joss Whedon, the film is strongly influenced by the early 1960s Avengers comics, of which he was a fan while growing up: "In those comics, these people shouldn't be in the same room, let alone on the same team, and that is the definition of family." 39. Disney had the film's title changed in the United Kingdom to "Marvel Avengers Assemble" to avoid confusion with the iconic British espionage franchise The Avengers (1961) and The Avengers (1998). 40. Surpassed The Dark Knight (2008)'s record of $1,001,921,825 to become the highest-grossing comic book film of all time. 41. In the movie, Captain America is a founding member. In the comics, Captain America was unfrozen in Avengers #4, when he was accidentally discovered, when the team was looking for Namor the Sub Mariner. 42. Writer and director Joss Whedon supposedly had a detailed backstory for Hawkeye written up, but was unable to even reference any of it due to time constraints. During the early planning stages, Hawkeye was envisioned to be depicted as a circus performer, trained by supervillains, who manipulate him into fighting the team, essentially a modernized version of his 616 origin story. At another point, he was planned to debut in Iron Man 2 (2010) as an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., who works closely with Natasha Romanov, a.k.a. Black Widow, and Nick Fury. 43. According to Joss Whedon, the arrangement of the monitors on the Helicarrier bridge were arranged to resemble the wings of the S.H.I.E.L.D. logo. The eagle head can actually be seen at the foot of the conference round table at the end of the film, when repairs are being made. 44. Lou Ferrigno contributed to the voice of the Hulk in this film. He has played the Hulk in almost every live-action version since 1978: he played the Hulk in the television series The Incredible Hulk (1978), and its subsequent three television specials. He voiced the Hulk in the big-screen The Incredible Hulk (2008), in which he also played a security guard. He also played a security guard in Hulk (2003). He also has voiced the Hulk in various animated productions. 45. Alyson Hannigan from Joss Whedon's Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1996) (and wife of Alexis Denisof, who plays The Other in the film), recommended her How I Met Your Mother (2005) co-star Cobie Smulders, for the part of Agent Maria Hill. 46. The cast became good friends while filming, so if all of the cast members happened to be filming scenes together in the same place, they would go out together afterwards. 47. This was the highest grossing film of all time not directed by James Cameron (it was third under Titanic (1997)'s second place and Avatar (2009)'s first). It has since been replaced by Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015). 48. (At around two hours) When filming the scene of Loki yelling at the Hulk, Tom Hiddleston had a rope tied to his leg, and since the Hulk is just CGI, when the rope was pulled, it would appear that the Hulk had grabbed him. Tom knew it was going to be pulled during the speech, but he didn't know when, so that he wouldn't be anticipating it. 49. Mark Ruffalo claims to be the only actor to date (2012) to play both The Hulk and Bruce Banner in the same movie. Technically, Eric Bana and Edward Norton had done motion-capture work for their respective Hulks, but Ruffalo is the first actor to perform the Hulk live on-set via performance capture. What is most certainly a confirmed "first" for Ruffalo's Hulk, however, is clearly defined chest hair (of which Ruffalo has plenty). That has absolutely never been done before in any portrayal of the Hulk, whether it be live, animated, or drawn. 50. (At around twenty-six minutes) Tony says Coulson's name is Agent. This refers to the fact that originally, his character was only going to be called Agent. 51. According to Vulture Magazine, this is the amount of screentime each hero has in the film: -Steve Rogers/Captain America: 37:42. -Tony Stark/Iron Man: 37:01. -Natasha Romanov/Black Widow: 33:35. -Bruce BanneThe Hulk: 28:03. -Thor: 25:52. -Clint Barton/Hawkeye: 12:44. 52. The name "chitauri" originates from Zulu mythology, and is used to describe a "serpent race from the sky". Mark Millar, the creator of "The Ultimates", took the name from the writings of David Icke, who argues that these "chitauri", are in fact aliens, bent on dominating humanity. 53. Tom Hiddleston describes Loki in this film as having evolved since Thor (2011): "How pleasant an experience is it to disappear into a wormhole that was created by some super-nuclear explosion of his own making? I think by the time Loki shows up, he's seen a few things, and has bigger things in mind than just his brother and Asgard." 54. Thor is knocked off screen four times: twice by Iron Man, and twice by The Incredible Hulk. 55. (At around one hour and forty minutes) Tony Stark describes his group as "Earth's mightiest heroes, that kind of thing." This refers to the famous tagline that has been featured on the cover of "The Avengers" comic books since its 1963 debut. The phrase was also used as the subtitle for the animated series, The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes (2010). 56. The female superhero The Wasp was included in an early draft of the script. She was, however, replaced with the already-existing Natasha Romanov, a.k.a. Black Widow. 57. Thor spends most of this movie in his Asgardian armor, but with bare arms, a nod to his early appearances in the comics. During his time on the Helicarrier, he is also seen without his cape, an allusion to his Ultimate Comics appearance. 58. Loki brings the Chitauri alien race to Earth to help him invade it. The Avengers are formed to prevent this from occurring. This is in keeping with the first issue of their self-titled comic book series, in which Loki is responsible for manipulating a chain of disasters that bring The Avengers together in the first place. 59. Dr. Bruce Banner doesn't turn into The Incredible Hulk until one hour and fourteen minutes in. 60. (At around twenty-seven minutes) When Agent Coulson visits Stark Tower, Pepper asks him about the cellist in Portland. Tony is also heard telling Coulson he could fly him to Portland (at around fifty-three minutes). This woman ends up being a plot point for an episode of Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2013). 61. Natalie Portman was going to cameo as Jane Foster, but had to drop out when she became pregnant. 62. An alternate opening and ending frame the movie as a flashbacks from Agent Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders), allowing them to simultaneously flesh out her dislike towards Fury's methods and her undying loyalty to S.H.I.E.L.D. 63. Scarlett Johansson turned down a role in Total Recall (2012) due to her commitment to this movie. 64. Mark Ruffalo's performance of the Hulk is the first created by motion-capture. Previous live-action versions have either had Bruce Banner and the Hulk be played by separate people (Bill Bixby and bodybuilder Lou Ferrigno), or were key-frame animated. 65. Cinematographer Seamus McGarvey described the film's look as visceral and naturalistic: "We wanted this to feel immersive, and did not want a comic book look that might distance an audience. We moved the camera a lot on Steadicam, cranes, and on dollies, to create kinetic images, and we chose angles that were dramatic, like low angles, for heroic imagery." 66. The Chitauri appeared in the first story arc of "The Ultimates", an alternate universe retelling of the origins of the Marvel superheroes. In the comics, their leader claims that they go by many names, including Skrulls. It was originally assumed that the reason for using "The Chitauri", instead of "The Skrulls", was because Twentieth Century Fox owns the rights to the Fantastic Four and their supporting characters. However, Marvel Studios' President of Production Kevin Feige stated in an interview that the film rights to the Skrulls are not owned by either Marvel Studios or Twentieth Century Fox. They were not being used as Joss Whedon did not want to use shape-shifters in the first film. 67. Jon Favreau was at one point attached to direct, and stayed on as executive producer. 68. Thor doesn't appear until almost forty-five minutes in. 69. Mark Ruffalo describes Bruce Banner as "a guy struggling with two sides of himself, the dark and the light; everything he does in his life is filtered through issues of control." He furthermore describes Banner's alter-ego the Hulk as "a loose cannon. He's the teammate none of them are sure they want, it's like throwing a grenade into the middle of the group and hoping it turns out well!" 70. (At around fifty-six minutes) In the film, Bruce Banner references the fact that the last time he was in New York City, he "broke Harlem". This is a reference to The Incredible Hulk (2008), when The Hulk fought The Abomination in Harlem, New York. 71. This film holds an unusually high number of Academy Award nominees in the cast and crew for a comic book movie: Robert Downey, Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Samuel L. Jackson, Jeremy Renner, Mark Ruffalo, Joss Whedon, and Seamus McGarvey, possibly many others. This tops Iron Man (2008) and Iron Man 2 (2010) which each had four acting nominees a piece. 72. (At around one hour and thirty minutes) Harry Dean Stanton, who appears as the janitor who discovers Banner after he fell from the Helicarrier, asks "are you an alien?" Stanton was known for his role as Brett in Alien (1979). 73. The title screen doesn't appear until twelve minutes into the film. 74. Only the paint on Captain America's shield is scratched in the film. In the comics, his shield is made of an adamantium and vibranium alloy, with a third mystery catalyst, and can only be damaged by beings who possess nearly ultimate power, such as Molecule Man, Rune King, Thor, or Thanos with the Infinity Gauntlet. The shield is otherwise impervious. 75. (At around one hour and eleven minutes) When Banner talks about having tried to kill himself, by putting a bullet in his mouth, but the Hulk spit it out. In the deleted scene of The Incredible Hulk (2008), where Banner goes to kill himself, he clearly never got the chance to shoot himself, since the Hulk starts to appear to stop him. 76. (At around thirty minutes) In order to create a total extra-terrestrial look for the Chitauri, they have four thumbs, two on each hand. This can be seen, when Loki is talking with The Other. 77. Several members of the cast participated in adaptations of comic book and/or graphic novel adaptations outside of the Marvel Cinematic Universe: Scarlett Johansson appeared in Ghost World (2001), The Spirit (2008), and Ghost in the Shell (2017). Chris Evans appeared in Fantastic Four (2005), Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007), TMNT (2007), The Losers (2010), Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010), and Snowpiercer (2013). Powers Boothe (who provides a cameo in the film) appeared in Sin City (2005). Alexis Denisof appeared in several DC productions beforehand. Samuel L. Jackson appeared in The Spirit (2008). 78. (At around two hours and ten minutes) At the end of the film, when the news clip of Beth the waitress appears on Nick Fury's computer screen, it is listed as S.H.I.E.L.D. File A113. "A113 is the room number of the animation classroom at CalArts. The A113 reference is a running gag in films made by Pixar and Disney, starting with Toy Story (1995), a film partially written by Joss Whedon, who wrote and directed this movie. 79. The outdoor scenes, which were supposed to take place in Germany, but were filmed in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, contained numerous Cleveland Historical landmarks including; Tower City, Higbee Building and Casino, the Renaissance Building, and the Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument. 80. The film's shooting schedule was ninety-three days, but filming was completed one day early. 81. The first film to gross $200 million in its first three days in the U.S. 82. The weapons powered by the Tesseract are all engraved with H.Y.D.R.A.'s emblem. 83. Scarlett Johansson and Chris Evans appeared in The Perfect Score (2004) and The Nanny Diaries (2007). Robert Downey, Jr. and Mark Ruffalo appeared in Zodiac (2007). 84. The twelfth film to surpass the $1 billion mark worldwide, and the tenth to surpass the $400 million mark in the U.S. It tied with Avatar (2009) and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011) for surpassing the $1 billion mark worldwide in the fastest time (nineteen days), and set the record of surpassing the $400 million mark in the U.S. (fourteen days). 85. This is the first Marvel film to be distributed by Walt Disney Pictures. 86. Two founding members of The Avengers from the comics were left out of this movie: Ant-Man and The Wasp. They were replaced by Hawkeye and Natasha Romanoff, a.k.a. Black Widow, in an attempt to better integrate S.H.I.E.L.D. into the story. 87. Due to UK copyright issues over the name, Marvel had to release the film in the UK under the name "Avengers Assemble", as there had already been an unrelated film with Sir Sean Connery and Ralph Fiennes released by Warner Brothers, The Avengers (1998). That movie was based on The Avengers (1961), which starred Patrick Macnee. As Warner Brothers UK owned the copyrighted name, and objected to Marvel using it, Marvel were forced to change the name to "Avengers Assemble" for its UK theatrical and home video release. As film prints and marketing for the Republic of Ireland were handled by Disney UK. They decided to stick with the name change for that territory too, for cost effectiveness reasons. 88. Lieutenant Colonel James Rhodes was considered to have a cameo in the post-credits scene, where he is wearing his War Machine armor, only to find out he came too late for the battle, and sits down with The Avengers, but the scene was thrown away to where they just show The Avengers eating. 89. This is only the second time that Bruce Banner, a.k.a. Hulk, and Thor have appeared together in a movie. They previously appeared together in NBC's television film The Incredible Hulk Returns (1988), which starred Bill Bixby as Dr. David Bruce Banner. 90. Before Mark Ruffalo was cast as The Hulk, Joaquin Phoenix was rumored for the part. Joaquin Phoenix was also rumored for the part of Dr. Stephen Strange in Doctor Strange (2016). 91. Due to this movie's record-breaking success at the box office, it made Samuel L. Jackson, Robert Downey, Jr., and Scarlett Johansson three of the top ten highest grossing actors and actress of all time at second, fifth, and tenth respectively. 92. Morena Baccarin, Jessica Lucas, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, and Cobie Smulders screentested for the role of Agent Maria Hill. 93. Powers Boothe, who played a World Security Council member, was also featured in Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2013) playing the same character, whose name was revealed to be Gideon Malick. 94. (At around seventeen minutes) Mark Ruffalo also ad-libbed touching a baby's cradle in the abandoned house, in which he meets Natasha Romanov, a.k.a. Black Widow. 95. One draft of the movie had it taking place from Tony's point of view. 96. The Science and Entertainment Exchange provided science consultation for the film. 97. The sixth and final chapter of Phase One in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. 98. (At around one hour and forty-five minutes) Enver Gjokaj played the young police officer to whom Captain America gives orders at the beginning of the battle of New York City. He also played Agent Sousa on Agent Carter (2015). 99. The highest grossing film of 2012. 100. When Loki is held prisoner on the helicarrier, the computer screen monitoring him shows an infrared image of the cell. Loki's temperature is shown as blue (cold) due to the fact that he is a frost giant by nature. 101. (At around thirty-two minutes) When Agent Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson) is on the Helicarrier showing Captain Rogers (Chris Evans) and Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) around, she's wearing a black jacket and pants with a red shirt underneath, signifying the iconic colors of her code name: Black Widow. 102. As of October 2014, this is the highest grossing Marvel movie of all time. 103. The film was originally rated R. It took Marvel three tries with the MPAA to grant the film a PG-13, instead of an R rating, because of Agent Coulson's death scene. Originally, Loki's staff was seen bursting through his chest. Instead, a gruesome sound effect was added after Loki appears behind him, and then a quick-cut to Thor's reaction. 104. This was the highest-grossing film in Malaysia, grossing about $10.96 million. 105. This movie is the second highest-grossing film of all time in the Philippines, with over 601 million PHP (over $13.3 million U.S.) in box office revenue, behind Iron Man 3 (2013). 106. The film was released in theaters on May 2012, one year and four months before the 50th Anniversary of the original "Avengers" comic. 107. Lindsay Lohan reportedly auditioned for a role. 108. Joe Carnahan was considered to direct the film before Joss Whedon was finally chosen. 109. Amanda Peet was considered for the role of Agent Maria Hill. 110. This movie, as well as Avengers: Infinity War (2018) are the only times where two Infinity Stones are in the same movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. 111. Loki's name is mentioned or used by other characters thirty-three times. 112. The only film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in which Thanos is not played by Josh Brolin. 113. As each character is introduced, the previous scene references that character. It begins when Fury says to call in the rest of the team, leading to the next scene of Black Widow being called. In that scene she is told to bring in "the big guy", referencing the Hulk. The next scene has her luring Bruce Banner. In the next scene, Fury is having a video conference with the World Security Council and says a war is won with soldiers, leading to the next scene with Captain America. In that scene, he says the tesseract should've been left in the ocean, leading to the next scene, in which Iron Man is in the water. 114. Since landing on the Helicarrier, Bruce Banner wears a purple shirt. In the comics, The Hulk predominantly wears purple pants. 115. Tony and Steve's constant bickering towards each other and near confrontation on the Helicarrier is a nod to their Civil War story line where they took opposing sides to superhero registration. 116. CAMEO: Stan Lee: (At around two hours and ten minutes) Creator of such Marvel comics as the X-Men, Spider-Man, the Incredible Hulk, the Fantastic Four, Iron Man, Thor, and many others, is the old man being interviewed at the end of the New York battle montage who says: "Superheroes in New York? Give me a break!" and then returns to a game of chess with a fellow senior citizen. He also appeared in a deleted scene: after witnessing a waitress flirt with Steve Rogers, Lee's character says, "Ask for her number, you moron!" 117. According to Joss Whedon, it was his decision to include Thanos in a post-credits scene: "He, for me, is the most powerful and fascinating Marvel villain. He's the great-granddaddy of the badasses, and he's in love with Death, and I just think that's so cute. Somebody had to be in control, and had to be behind Loki's work, and I was like 'it's got to be Thanos'." 118. (At around one hour and nine minutes) While Fury and the Avengers are arguing with each other on the Helicarrier, characters throw certain remarks that coincidentally foreshadow plot points in subsequent films: Steve asks Tony what he is without his armor, a topic deeply analyzed in Iron Man 3 (2013); Fury aggressively chastised Thor about foreign species going to his planet to "blow stuff up", which comes into play in Thor: The Dark World (2013), with the invasion of Asgard by the Dark Elves. The most unassuming one (which is ironically translated into the biggest plot point in the whole cinematic universe) is when Bruce asks Natasha if Captain America is on threat watch, to which she replies "we all are". In Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014), Steve (and by extension, Natasha) becomes a fugitive of S.H.I.E.L.D. after the "murder" of Nick Fury. Natasha also mentions that S.H.I.E.L.D. monitors potential threats, which plays heavily into this film as well. 119. (At around one hour and twelve minutes) A few seconds before Hawkeye's attack on S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Helicarrier, Bruce Banner finds the Tesseract's location on the computer. This explains why he later arrives in New York City during the invasion of the Chitauri, after the Hulk fell to the ground from the Helicarrier, during Hawkeye's attack. 120. Body Count: one hundred fifty-one (including the Chitauri). 121. (At around thirty-seven minutes) Jasper Sitwell, outed as a H.Y.D.R.A. operative in Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014), makes an appearance in this film. He is the Agent who first finds Loki in Germany, through the facial recognition they were running. 122. It was revealed in an interview that the Galaga playing SHIELD agent was dusted behind the scenes of Avengers Infinity War.
Just finished watching The Weekly (it’s kind of a Vice rip-off by the NYT) on Hulu where they went into detail about their story published this week about a « hacker » named Patrick Kessler who claimed to have tens of thousands of hours of Epstein’s private videos. Turns out, Patrick did not released the videos and there is a lot of questions with his credibility, nonetheless, he clearly exposed two lawyers (Bois and Pottinger) for attempting to profit by offering to reach large settlements in which they would take 40%. The article is here: Jeffrey Epstein, Blackmail, and a Lucrative Hotlist Even though it sounds like this guy Kessler is full of shit, I REALLY wish that he wasn’t and at some point these troves of photos and videos get released and a bunch of rich and powerful people get what they deserve for abusing these women. For those who need access to NYT- it is a long article, but here’s the full text: By Jessica Silver-Greenberg, Emily Steel, Jacob Bernstein and David Enrich Nov. 30, 2019 Soon after the sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein died in August, a mysterious man met with two prominent lawyers. Towering, barrel-chested and wild-bearded, he was a prodigious drinker and often wore flip-flops. He went by a pseudonym, Patrick Kessler — a necessity, he said, given the shadowy, dangerous world that he inhabited. He told the lawyers he had something incendiary: a vast archive of Mr. Epstein’s data, stored on encrypted servers overseas. He said he had years of the financier’s communications and financial records — as well as thousands of hours of footage from hidden cameras in the bedrooms of Mr. Epstein’s properties. The videos, Kessler said, captured some of the world’s richest, most powerful men in compromising sexual situations — even in the act of rape. Kessler said he wanted to expose these men. If he was telling the truth, his trove could answer one of the Epstein saga’s most baffling questions: How did a college dropout and high school math teacher amass a purported nine-figure fortune? One persistent but unproven theory was that he ran a sprawling blackmail operation. That would explain why moguls, scientists, political leaders and a royal stayed loyal to him, in some cases even after he first went to jail. Kessler’s tale was enough to hook the two lawyers, the famed litigator David Boies and his friend John Stanley Pottinger. If Kessler was authentic, his videos would arm them with immense leverage over some very important people. Mr. Boies and Mr. Pottinger discussed a plan. They could use the supposed footage in litigation or to try to reach deals with men who appeared in it, with money flowing into a charitable foundation. In encrypted chats with Kessler, Mr. Pottinger referred to a roster of potential targets as the “hot list.” He described hypothetical plans in which the lawyers would pocket up to 40 percent of the settlements and could extract money from wealthy men by flipping from representing victims to representing their alleged abusers. The possibilities were tantalizing — and extended beyond vindicating victims. Mr. Pottinger saw a chance to supercharge his law practice. For Mr. Boies, there was a shot at redemption, after years of criticism for his work on behalf of Theranos and Harvey Weinstein. In the end, there would be no damning videos, no funds pouring into a new foundation. Mr. Boies and Mr. Pottinger would go from toasting Kessler as their “whistle-blower” and “informant” to torching him as a “fraudster” and a “spy.” Kessler was a liar, and he wouldn’t expose any sexual abuse. But he would reveal something else: The extraordinary, at times deceitful measures elite lawyers deployed in an effort to get evidence that could be used to win lucrative settlements — and keep misconduct hidden, allowing perpetrators to abuse again. Mr. Boies has publicly decried such secret deals as “rich man’s justice,” a way that powerful men buy their way out of legal and reputational jeopardy. This is how it works. 7 men and a headless parrot The man who called himself Kessler first contacted a Florida lawyer, Bradley J. Edwards, who was in the news for representing women with claims against Mr. Epstein. It was late August, about two weeks after the financier killed himself in a jail cell while awaiting trial on federal sex-trafficking charges. Mr. Edwards, who did not respond to interview requests, had a law firm called Edwards Pottinger, and he soon referred Kessler to his New York partner. Silver-haired and 79, Mr. Pottinger had been a senior civil-rights official in the Nixon and Ford administrations, but he also dabbled in investment banking and wrote best-selling medical thrillers. He was perhaps best known for having dated Gloria Steinem and Kathie Lee Gifford. Mr. Pottinger recalled that Mr. Edwards warned him about Kessler, saying that he was “endearing,” “spooky” and “loves to drink like a fish.” After an initial discussion with Kessler in Washington, Mr. Pottinger briefed Mr. Boies — whose firm was also active in representing accusers in the Epstein case — about the sensational claims. He then invited Kessler to his Manhattan apartment. Kessler admired a wall-mounted frame containing a headless stuffed parrot; on TV, the Philadelphia Eagles were mounting a comeback against the Washington Redskins. Mr. Pottinger poured Kessler a glass of WhistlePig whiskey, and the informant began to talk. In his conversations with Mr. Pottinger and, later, Mr. Boies, Kessler said his videos featured numerous powerful men who were already linked to Mr. Epstein: Ehud Barak, the former Israeli prime minister; Alan Dershowitz, a constitutional lawyer; Prince Andrew; three billionaires; and a prominent chief executive. All seven men, or their representatives, told The New York Times they never engaged in sexual activity on Mr. Epstein’s properties. The Times has no reason to believe Kessler’s supposed video footage is real. In his apartment, Mr. Pottinger presented Kessler with a signed copy of “The Boss,” his 2005 novel. “One minute you’re bending the rules,” blares the cover of the paperback version. “The next minute you’re breaking the law.” On the title page, Mr. Pottinger wrote: “Here’s to the great work you are to do. Happy to be part of it.” Mr. Pottinger also gave Kessler a draft contract to bring him on as a client, allowing him to use a fake name. “For reasons revealed to you, I prefer to proceed with this engagement under the name Patrick Kessler,” the agreement said. Despite the enormities of the Epstein scandal, few of his accusers have gotten a sense of justice or resolution. Mr. Pottinger thought Kessler’s files could change everything. This strange man was theatrical and liked his alcohol, but if there was even a chance his claims were true, they were worth pursuing. “Our clients are said to be liars and prostitutes,” Mr. Pottinger later said in an interview with The Times, “and we now have someone who says, ‘I can give you secret photographic proof of abuse that will completely change the entire fabric of your practice and get justice for these girls.’ And you think that we wouldn’t try to get that?” A victim becomes a hacker Mr. Pottinger and Mr. Boies have known each other for years, a friendship forged on bike trips in France and Italy. In legal circles, Mr. Boies was royalty: He was the one who fought for presidential candidate Al Gore before the Supreme Court, took on Microsoft in a landmark antitrust case, and helped obtain the right for gays and lesbians to get married in California. But then Mr. Boies got involved with the blood-testing start-up Theranos. As the company was being revealed as a fraud, he tried to bully whistle-blowers into not speaking to a Wall Street Journal reporter, and he was criticized for possible conflicts of interest when he joined the company’s board in 2015. Two years later, Mr. Boies helped his longtime client Harvey Weinstein hire private investigators who intimidated sources and trailed reporters for The Times and The New Yorker — even though Mr. Boies’s firm had worked for The Times on other matters. (The Times fired his firm.) By 2019, Mr. Boies, 78, was representing a number of Mr. Epstein’s alleged victims. They got his services pro bono, and he got the chance to burnish his legacy. When Mr. Pottinger contacted him about Kessler, he was intrigued. On Sept. 9, Mr. Boies greeted Kessler at the offices of his law firm, Boies Schiller Flexner, in a gleaming new skyscraper at Hudson Yards on Manhattan’s West Side. Kessler unfurled a fantastic story, one he would embroider and alter in later weeks, that began with him growing up somewhere within a three-hour radius of Washington. Kessler said he had been molested as a boy by a Bible school teacher and sought solace on the internet, where he fell in with a group of victims turned hackers, who used their skills to combat pedophilia. Kessler claimed that a technology executive had introduced him to Mr. Epstein, who in 2012 hired Kessler to set up encrypted servers to preserve his extensive digital archives. With Mr. Epstein dead, Kessler boasted to the lawyers, he had unfettered access to the material. He said the volume of videos was overwhelming: more than a decade of round-the-clock footage from dozens of cameras. Kessler displayed some pixelated video stills on his phone. In one, a bearded man with his mouth open appears to be having sex with a naked woman. Kessler said the man was Mr. Barak. In another, a man with black-framed glasses is seen shirtless with a woman on his lap, her breasts exposed. Kessler said it was Mr. Dershowitz. He also said that some of the supposed videos appeared to have been edited and cataloged for the purpose of blackmail. “This was explosive information if true, for lots and lots of people,” Mr. Boies said in an interview. Mr. Boies and Mr. Pottinger had decades of legal experience and considered themselves experts at assessing witnesses’ credibility. While they couldn’t be sure, they thought Kessler was probably legit. A chance to sway the Israeli election Within hours of the Hudson Yards meeting, Mr. Pottinger sent Kessler a series of texts over the encrypted messaging app Signal. According to excerpts viewed by The Times, Mr. Pottinger and Kessler discussed a plan to disseminate some of the informant’s materials — starting with the supposed footage of Mr. Barak. The Israeli election was barely a week away, and Mr. Barak was challenging Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The purported images of Mr. Barak might be able to sway the election — and fetch a high price. (“Total lie with no basis in reality,” Mr. Barak said when asked about the existence of such videos.) “Can you review your visual evidence to be sure some or all is indisputably him? If so, we can make it work,” Mr. Pottinger wrote. Kessler said he would do so. Mr. Pottinger sent a yellow smiley-face emoji with its tongue sticking out. “Can you share your contact that would be purchasing,” Kessler asked. “Sheldon Adelson,” Mr. Pottinger answered. Mr. Adelson, a billionaire casino magnate in Las Vegas, had founded one of Israel’s largest newspapers, and it was an enthusiastic booster of Mr. Netanyahu. Mr. Pottinger wrote that he and Mr. Boies hoped to fly to Nevada to meet with Mr. Adelson to discuss the images. “Do you believe that adelson has the pull to insure this will hurt his bid for election?” Kessler asked the next morning. Mr. Pottinger reassured him. “There is no question that Adelson has the capacity to air the truth about EB if he wants to,” he said, using Mr. Barak’s initials. He said he planned to discuss the matter with Mr. Boies that evening. Mr. Boies confirmed that they discussed sharing the photo with Mr. Adelson but said the plan was never executed. Boaz Bismuth, the editor in chief of the newspaper, Israel Hayom, said its journalists were approached by an Israeli source who pitched them supposed images of Mr. Barak, but that “we were not interested.” ‘These are wealthy wrongdoers’ The men whom Kessler claimed to have on tape were together worth many billions. Some of their public relations teams had spent months trying to tamp down media coverage of their connections to Mr. Epstein. Imagine how much they might pay to make incriminating videos vanish. You might think that lawyers representing abuse victims would want to publicly expose such information to bolster their clients’ claims. But that is not how the legal industry always works. Often, keeping things quiet is good business. One of the revelations of the #MeToo era has been that victims’ lawyers often brokered secret deals in which alleged abusers paid to keep their accusers quiet and the allegations out of the public sphere. Lawyers can pocket at least a third of such settlements, profiting off a system that masks misconduct and allows men to abuse again. Mr. Boies and Mr. Pottinger said in interviews that they were looking into creating a charity to help victims of sexual abuse. It would be bankrolled by private legal settlements with the men on the videos. Mr. Boies acknowledged that Kessler might get paid. “If we were able to use this to help our victims recover money, we would treat him generously,” he said in September. He said that his firm would not get a cut of any settlements. Such agreements would have made it less likely that videos involving the men became public. “Generally what settlements are about is getting peace,” Mr. Boies said. Mr. Pottinger told Kessler that the charity he was setting up would be called the Astria Foundation — a name he later said his girlfriend came up with, in a nod to Astraea, the Greek goddess of innocence and justice. “We need to get it funded by abusers,” Mr. Pottinger texted, noting in another message that “these are wealthy wrongdoers.” Mr. Pottinger asked Kessler to start compiling incriminating materials on a specific group of men. “I’m way ahead of you,” Kessler responded. He said he had asked his team of fellow hackers to search the files for the three billionaires, the C.E.O. and Prince Andrew. “Yes, that’s exactly how to do this,” Mr. Pottinger said. “Videos for sure, but email traffic, too.” “I call it our hot list,” he added. Image The Grand Sichuan restaurant in Manhattan. The Grand Sichuan restaurant in Manhattan.Credit...Stephanie Diani for The New York Times A quiet table at the back of Grand Sichuan In mid-September, Mr. Boies and Mr. Pottinger invited reporters from The Times to the Boies Schiller offices to meet Kessler. The threat of a major news organization writing about the videos — and confirming the existence of an extensive surveillance apparatus — could greatly enhance the lawyers’ leverage over the wealthy men. Before the session, Mr. Pottinger encouraged Kessler to focus on certain men, like Mr. Barak, while avoiding others. Referring to the reporters, he added, “Let them drink from a fountain instead of a water hose. They and the readers will follow that better.” The meeting took place on a cloudy Saturday morning. After agreeing to leave their phones and laptops outside, the reporters entered a 20th-floor conference room. Kessler was huge: more than 6 feet tall, pushing 300 pounds, balding, his temples speckled with gray. He told his story and presented images that he said were of Mr. Epstein, Mr. Barak and Mr. Dershowitz having sex with women. Barely an hour after the session ended, the Times reporters received an email from Kessler: “Are you free?” He said he wanted to meet — alone. “Tell no one else.” That afternoon, they met at Grand Sichuan, an iconic Chinese restaurant in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood. The lunch rush was over, and the trio sat at a quiet table in the back. A small group of women huddled nearby, speaking Mandarin and snipping the ends off string beans. Kessler complained that Mr. Boies and Mr. Pottinger were more interested in making money than in exposing wrongdoers. He pulled out his phone, warned the reporters not to touch it, and showed more of what he had. There was a color photo of a bare-chested, gray-haired man with a slight smile. Kessler said it was a billionaire. He also showed blurry, black-and-white images of a dark-haired man receiving oral sex. He said it was a prominent C.E.O. Soup dumplings and Gui Zhou chicken arrived, and Kessler kept talking. He said he had found financial ledgers on Mr. Epstein’s servers that showed he had vast amounts of Bitcoin and cash in the Middle East and Bangkok, and hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of gold, silver and diamonds. He presented no proof. But it is common for whistle-blowers to be erratic and slow to produce their evidence, and The Times thought it was worth investigating Kessler’s claims. The conversation continued in a conference room at a Washington hotel five days later, after a text exchange in which Kessler noted his enthusiasm for Japanese whiskey. Both parties brought bottles to the hotel, and Kessler spent nearly eight hours downing glass after glass. He veered from telling tales about the dark web to professing love for “Little House on the Prairie.” He asserted that he had evidence Mr. Epstein had derived his wealth through illicit means. At one point, he showed what he said were classified C.I.A. documents. Kessler said he had no idea who the women in the videos were or how the lawyers might go about identifying them to act on their behalf. From his perspective, he said, it seemed like Mr. Boies and Mr. Pottinger were plotting to use his footage to demand huge sums from billionaires. He said it looked like blackmail — and that he could prove it. ‘We keep it. We keep everything’ Was Kessler’s story plausible? Did America’s best-connected sexual predator accumulate incriminating videos of powerful men? Two women who spent time in Mr. Epstein’s homes said the answer was yes. In an unpublished memoir, Virginia Giuffre, who accused Mr. Epstein of making her a “sex slave,” wrote that she discovered a room in his New York mansion where monitors displayed real-time surveillance footage. And Maria Farmer, an artist who accused Mr. Epstein of sexually assaulting her when she worked for him in the 1990s, said that Mr. Epstein once walked her through the mansion, pointing out pin-sized cameras that he said were in every room. “I said, ‘Are you recording all this?’” Ms. Farmer said in an interview. “He said, ‘Yes. We keep it. We keep everything.’” During a 2005 search of Mr. Epstein’s Palm Beach, Fla., estate, the police found two cameras hidden in clocks — one in the garage and the other next to his desk, according to police reports. But no other cameras were found. Kessler claimed to have been an early investor in a North Carolina coffee company, whose sticker was affixed to his laptop. But its founder said no one matching Kessler’s description had ever been affiliated with the company. Kessler insisted that he invested in 2009, but the company wasn’t founded until 2011. The contents of Kessler’s supposed C.I.A. documents turned out to be easily findable using Google. At one point, Kessler said that one of his associates had been missing and was found dead; later, Kessler said the man was alive and in the southern United States. He said that his mother had died when he was young — and that he had recently given her a hug. A photo he sent from what he said was a Washington-area hospital featured a distinctive blanket, but when The Times called local hospitals, they didn’t recognize the pattern. After months of effort, The Times could not learn Kessler’s identity or confirm any element of his back story. “I am very often being purposefully inconsistent,” Kessler said, when pressed. A Weinstein cameo On the last Friday in September, Mr. Boies and Mr. Pottinger sat on a blue leather couch in the corner of a members-only dining room at the Harvard Club in Midtown Manhattan. Antlered animal heads and oil paintings hung from the dark wooden walls. The lawyers were there to make a deal with The Times. Tired of waiting for Kessler’s motherlode, Mr. Pottinger said they planned to send a team overseas to download the material from his servers. He said he had alerted the F.B.I. and a prosecutor in the United States attorney’s office in Manhattan. Mr. Boies told an editor for The Times that they would be willing to share everything, on one condition: They would have discretion over which men could be written about, and when. He explained that if compromising videos about particular men became public, that could torpedo litigation or attempts to negotiate settlements. The Times editor didn’t commit. Mr. Boies and Mr. Pottinger later said those plans had hinged on verifying the videos’ authenticity and on having clients with legitimate legal claims against the men. Otherwise, legal experts said, it might have crossed the line into extortion. The meeting was briefly interrupted when Bob Weinstein, the brother of Harvey Weinstein, bounded up to the table and plopped onto the couch next to Mr. Boies. The two men spent several minutes talking, laughing and slapping each other on the back. While Mr. Boies and Mr. Weinstein chatted, Mr. Pottinger furtively displayed the black-and-white shot of a man in glasses having sex. Both lawyers said it looked like Mr. Dershowitz. ‘You don’t keep your glasses on when you’re doing that’ One day in late September, Mr. Dershowitz’s secretary relayed a message: Someone named Patrick Kessler wanted to speak to him about Mr. Boies. “The problem is that they don’t want to move forward with any of these people legally,” Kessler said. “They’re just interested in trying to settle and take a cut.” “Who are these people that you have on videotape?” Mr. Dershowitz asked. “There’s a lot of people,” Kessler said, naming a few powerful men. He added, “There’s a long list of people that they want me to have that I don’t have.” “Who?” Mr. Dershowitz asked. “Did they ask about me?” “Of course they asked about you. You know that, sir.” “And you don’t have anything on me, right?” “I do not, no,” Kessler said. “Because I never, I never had sex with anybody,” Mr. Dershowitz said. Later in the call, he added, “I am completely clean. I was at Jeffrey’s house. I stayed there. But I didn’t have any sex with anybody.” What was the purpose of Kessler’s phone call? Why did he tell Mr. Dershowitz that he wasn’t on the supposed surveillance tapes, contradicting what he had said and showed to Mr. Boies, Mr. Pottinger and The Times? Did the call sound a little rehearsed? Mr. Dershowitz said that he didn’t know why Kessler contacted him, and that the phone call was the only time the two men ever spoke. When The Times showed him one of Kessler’s photos, in which a bespectacled man resembling Mr. Dershowitz appears to be having sex, Mr. Dershowitz laughed and said the man wasn’t him. His wife, Carolyn Cohen, peeked at the photo, too. “You don’t keep your glasses on when you’re doing that,” she said. Data set (supposedly) to self-destruct In early October, Kessler said he was ready to produce the Epstein files. He told The Times that he had created duplicate versions of Mr. Epstein’s servers. He laid out detailed logistical plans for them to be shipped by boat to the United States and for one of his associates — a very short Icelandic man named Steven — to deliver them to The Times headquarters at 11 a.m. on Oct. 3. Kessler warned that he was erecting a maze of security systems. First, a Times employee would need to use a special thumb drive to access a proprietary communications system. Then Kessler’s colleague would transmit a code to decrypt the files. If his instructions weren’t followed precisely, Kessler said, the information would self-destruct. Specialists at The Times set up a number of “air-gapped” laptops — disconnected from the internet — in a windowless, padlocked meeting room. Reporters cleared their schedules to sift through thousands of hours of surveillance footage. On the morning of the scheduled delivery, Kessler sent a series of frantic texts. Disaster had struck. A fire was burning. The duplicate servers were destroyed. One of his team members was missing. He was fleeing to Kyiv. Two hours later, Kessler was in touch with Mr. Pottinger and didn’t mention any emergency. Kessler said he hoped that the footage would help pry $1 billion in settlements out of their targets, and asked him to detail how the lawyers could extract the money. “Could you put together a hypothetical situation,” Kessler wrote, not something “set in stone but close to what your thinking.” In one, which he called a “standard model” for legal settlements, Mr. Pottinger said the money would be split among his clients, the Astria Foundation, Kessler and the lawyers, who would get up to 40 percent. In the second hypothetical, Mr. Pottinger wrote, the lawyers would approach the videotaped men. The men would then hire the lawyers, ensuring that they would not get sued, and “make a contribution to a nonprofit as part of the retainer.” “No client is actually involved in this structure,” Mr. Pottinger said, noting that the arrangement would have to be “consistent with and subject to rules of ethics.” “Thank you very much,” Kessler responded. Mr. Pottinger later said that the scenario would have involved him representing a victim, settling a case and then representing the victim’s alleged abuser. He said it was within legal boundaries. (He also said he had meant to type “No client lawsuit is actually involved.”) Such legal arrangements are not unheard-of. Lawyers representing a former Fox News producer who had accused Bill O’Reilly of sexual harassment reached a settlement in which her lawyers agreed to work for Mr. O’Reilly after the dispute. But legal experts generally consider such setups to be unethical because they can create conflicts between the interests of the lawyers and their original clients. ‘I just pulled it out of my behind’ The lawyers held out hope of getting Kessler’s materials. But weeks passed, and nothing arrived. At one point, Mr. Pottinger volunteered to meet Kessler anywhere — including Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia. “I still believe he is what he purported to be,” Mr. Boies wrote in an email on Nov. 7. “I have to evaluate people for my day job, and he seemed too genuine to be a fake, and I very much want him to be real.” He added, “I am not unconscious of the danger of wanting to believe something too much.” Ten days later, Mr. Boies arrived at The Times for an on-camera interview. It was a bright, chilly Sunday, and Mr. Boies had just flown in from Ecuador, where he said he was doing work for the finance ministry. Reporters wanted to ask him plainly if his and Mr. Pottinger’s conduct with Kessler crossed ethical lines. Would they have brokered secret settlements that buried evidence of wrongdoing? Did the notion of extracting huge sums from men in exchange for keeping sex tapes hidden meet the definition of extortion? Mr. Boies said the answer to both questions was no. He said he and Mr. Pottinger operated well within the law. They only intended to pursue legal action on behalf of their clients — in other words, that they were a long way from extortion. In any case, he said, he and Mr. Pottinger had never authenticated any of the imagery or identified any of the supposed victims, much less contacted any of the men on the “hot list.” Then The Times showed Mr. Boies some of the text exchanges between Mr. Pottinger and Kessler. Mr. Boies showed a flash of anger and said it was the first time he was seeing them. By the end of the nearly four-hour interview, Mr. Boies had concluded that Kessler was probably a con man: “I think that he was a fraudster who was just trying to set things up.” And he argued that Kessler had baited Mr. Pottinger into writing things that looked more nefarious than they really were. He acknowledged that Mr. Pottinger had used “loose language” in some of his messages that risked creating the impression that the lawyers were plotting to monetize evidence of abuse. Several days later, Mr. Boies returned for another interview and was more critical of Mr. Pottinger, especially the hypothetical plans that he had described to Kessler. “Having looked at all that stuff in context, I would not have said that,” he said. How did Mr. Boies feel about Mr. Pottinger invoking his name in messages to Kessler? “I don’t like it,” he said. But Mr. Boies stopped short of blaming Mr. Pottinger for the whole mess. “I’m being cautious not to throw him under the bus more than I believe is accurate,” he said. His longtime P.R. adviser, Dawn Schneider, who had been pushing for a more forceful denunciation, dropped her pen, threw up her arms and buried her head in her hands. In a separate interview, The Times asked Mr. Pottinger about his correspondence with Kessler. The lawyer said that his messages shouldn’t be taken at face value because, in reality, he had been deceiving Kessler all along — “misleading him deliberately in order to get the servers.” The draft retention agreement that Mr. Pottinger had given to Kessler in September was unsigned and never meant to be honored, Mr. Pottinger said. And he never intended to sell photos of Mr. Barak to Mr. Adelson. “I just pulled it out of my behind,” he said, describing it as an act to impress Kessler. As for the two hypotheticals about how to get money out of the men on the list, Mr. Pottinger said, he never planned to do what he carefully articulated. “I didn’t owe Patrick honesty about this,” he said. Mr. Pottinger said that he had only one regret — that “we did not get the information that this liar said he had.” He added, “I’m building legal cases here. I’m trying not to engage too much in shenanigans. I wish I didn’t, but this guy was very unusual.”
The age of steam. Airships rule the sky and Victorian houses vie for power. In a dark alley two gentlemen meet. They adjust their monocles and tip their top hats cordially before drawing their sword canes. There can be only one. South of Canal Street was where the young and the rich went to party. The spires of the city loomed above everything, stretching high into the darkness above. The sound of the airship horns echoed dimly in the streets as the late night flights came to rest on their moorings at the grand air dock that had been erected out of the bay. It was a long, pyramid like structure that was always lit up- like a light house for ships of both water and air. Tucked in between Portland Road and Trinity Way was an alley. It was a fairly normal alley, if such a thing was possible. There was garbage, fire escapes, creaking iron balconies. Clothes lines strung between building on the upper floors. It didn't have an official name on the map, but everyone called it 'Bloody Alley.' There were casinos, bars that catered to the wealthiest of tastes and dive bars that were little more than shacks with roofs, walls and tables. There were whorehouses and brothels. South of Canal Street catered to every taste. It was also where the rich scions of the Republic would meet in the dead of night to settle their petty feuds and insults to their honor. Jock Cavendish, son of the Earl of Cavendish entered from the south end of the alley, his second, Edward Barrington IV stepped forward with him while the rest of his retinue remained at the entry way, as was customary. Cavendish and Barrington both hailed from the Northlands of the Republic and dressed like it. They were in kilts with sporans in the style of their respective clans. They each wore the traditional dueling sash of their houses and were wearing the monocles that anyone who was anyone had to wear to be taken seriously these days. Sword canes in hand, they advanced down the alleyway. Approaching from the north end of the alleyway George Monmouth and his second Delilah Quinten Stagg IV stepped forward. Monmouth was dressed in his usual florid doublet and pantaloons, sword cane in his hand, monocle over his eye. Delilah was dressed in leather from head to toe, her boots jangling and her long hair tied back into a pony tail. The four of them met in the middle of the alley. "Ill met by moonlight, fair Cavendish," Monmouth sneered. "Monmouth," Cavendish said. Barrington and Stagg stepped forward. "Are all the conditions satisfactory?" Barrington asked. Stagg nodded. "They are. You serve as his second?" "I do," Barrington replied. Stagg turned to Cavendish and Monmouth. "Last chance, gentlemen. If you wish to make amends and apologize we can forget this whole sorry business and go have some fun. New casks of madeira were brought in on the Minerva, or so I hear." "It is not I who must apologize," Monmouth said. "I was told that a gentlemen never apologizes for telling the truth," Cavendish replied. Barrington and Stagg exchanged a long look and sighed. "Very well," Barrington said. "Stand back to back, gentlemen." Monmouth and Cavendish stood back to back. "Ten paces acceptable Lady Stagg?" "It is," she replied. "At your count." Barrington began counting off the paces one by one. The chatter from the respective retinues at either end of the alleyway began to subside and as Barrington reached ten, a tense silence filled the alley. Both Barrington and Stagg stepped to the far side of the alley as Monmouth and Cavendish turned. They each took the time to straighten their monocles and then with his typical bombast, Monmouth drew the sword from his cane and rushed at Cavendish. Cavendish neatly side stepped at the very last moment and then drew his own sword from his cane and the duel began in earnest. Cavendish was more deliberate and strategic in his style than Monmouth, which, to Barrington and Stagg seemed to give him an advantage, but Monmouth was faster than he was, which forced Cavendish onto his back foot and threw off his game plan. "Did you put a wager down?" Barrington asked Stagg. "A lady never kisses and tells," she replied. "So you did," Barrington smiled. "And a sizable one as well." "If you're going to bet, bet big," Stagg replied with a smile of her own. "Though in my case, I tend to bet like a drunken sailor more often than I should." "You really think Monmouth is that good?" "I really think these two fools are going come to their senses and we'll all be drinking by the end of the night," Stagg said. Barrington sighed. "I wish I shared your optimism." He winced as Cavendish only barely parried a thrust from Monmouth. "Unfortunately, Cavendish is very protective of his sister's honor." "Which remains intact," Stagg pointed out. "Unlike that of Monmouth's fiancee." "I am forced to concede your point," Barrington admitted. Stagg chuckled. "They're both sort of contemptible in their way, aren't they?" "The privileges of the upper class," Barrington said. "You don't look like you come from poverty," Stagg said. "My family are minor nobles from the west," he replied. "We weren't poor, but we weren't as rich as either of them," he nodded toward the combatants. "That's more or less my story as well," Stagg said.' "May I ask, my lady?" Barrington said. "I am not betrothed, no," Stagg replied. "I have no intention of becoming that way anytime soon," "I live in hope-" Monmouth had not turned fast enough and Cavendish's blade had caught him on the side of his torso. Blood was visible through the tear on the shirt. Monmouth staggered back and that was all that opening the Cavendish needed. He pressed forward, slashing, slashing and forcing Monmouth backward until finally Monmouth tripped and fell. Cavendish pointed his blade at Monmouth's throat. "Yield." "Never," Monmouth spat. "Yield," Cavendish replied. "My honor has been satisfied." "Mine has not," Monmouth said. "Enough," Stagg called. "Let's go and get drunk." "I agree," Barrington said. "Yield, Monmouth." From either end of the alley the respective retinues added their own calls for Monmouth to yield. The night was still relatively young and there was plenty of time for them to enjoy the night. "Yield, Monmouth," Cavendish said. "Please. I have no wish to kill you. Let's go get drunk." Monmouth's face screwed up and twisted with rage and then he shouted. "Damn you! Never!" He slapped Cavendish's blade away and tried to thrust upward but Cavendish was too quick for him and plunged his own blade downward. With a shuddering gasp Monmouth arched his back for a long moment and then collapsed and went limp, dead. Stagg sighed. "Damn it." "Must have been a lot of money," Barrington said. "It was," Stagg replied. "I should be able to afford to get a cask of that madeira though." "Why my lady," Barrington said, as the rest of Monmouth's retinue came down the alley to retrieve the body and take it away to be buried. "Don't you have duties to attend too?" He nodded toward the retinue. She shrugged. "I only did it as a favor to his brother," she said. "He was always a hotheaded impetuous pig. His family knew it would be the end of him." Cavendish approached, his face ashen and pale. "Are you all right?" Slowly, he nodded, adjusting his monocle. "I am," he said. "That was... regrettable. Please," he nodded to Stagg, "convey my deepest condolences to his family." "I will." Barrington and Stagg watched as Cavendish walked back to his retinue and they made their way out of the alley and out of sight. Monmoth's body was carried out of the alleyway at the opposite end. Then they were both alone. "So," Stagg said offering her arm to Barrington. "The Minerva should be docked by now. With fresh casks of madeira in her hold. And I happen to know the view of the city from her airship berth is stunning." Barrington slipped his hand into the crook of her arm. "Why that sounds lovely, my lady."
Edward Thorp, the father of card counting and quantitative investing, fills you in on his mistakes so you don’t have to repeat them. https://www.barrons.com/articles/the-stockpickers-burden-and-other-lessons-1521460800 By Leslie P. Norton and Dan Lam March 19, 2018 8:00 a.m. ET In 1962, the young writer Tom Wolfe wrote a sympathetic profile in the Washington Post about a 30-year-old mathematician who had learned how to beat the house in blackjack. The mathematician, Edward Thorp, described how to figure out the sequence of the cards and how to bet accordingly. The story went viral. And Thorp, who taught math at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and then at the University of California, Los Angeles, became an instant celebrity who wrote best-selling books about his techniques. (In fact, Fischer Black and Myron Scholes used a key idea from one of those books for their formula to price options; they subsequently won the Nobel Prize.) Thorp also invented a wearable computer that could beat the casino at roulette. Soon, he took what he knew and began applying it to the stock market and taking private clients. One early admirer was Warren Buffett, who having briefly shut down an early money management vehicle because stocks were too expensive, advised a client to sign on with Thorp. In 1969, Thorp opened Princeton Newport, a quant fund that returned 19.1% a year until 1988. A few years later, Thorp started a new statistical arbitrage fund using techniques he discovered in 1980. “Ed is known as the father of quantitative investing, but his genius has really been the ability to identify inefficient areas of the market and figure out ways to take advantage of mispricings,” said Steven Friedman, founder of the Santangel’s Investor Forum, an investor conference. Thorp shut the second fund down in 2002, when returns “were down to the low teens. I didn’t want to work for the low teens,” he recalled. All along, Thorp has been writing his books, including the entertaining and informative memoir A Man for All Markets, which comes out in paperback next month. We caught up with Thorp, now 85, just before he left for a hiking vacation in New Zealand. In this first part of the wide-ranging interview, he told us how stock markets are like casinos, and why index investing is worth it. Barron’s: How did you become the father of card counting? Thorp: In high school, it occurred to me that the roulette ball moves in a stately orbit like a planet. I thought it might be predictable. I did a lot of doctoral work in physics, and was convinced I could predict from the motion of the ball and the spinning rotor roughly where the ball would fall, and if I did so I would have a huge advantage. That’s what got me interested in gambling. I went to the casinos in Christmas of 1958, and while there I read an article from a statistics journal that showed how to play blackjack so you lost slowly. I decided the game was beatable essentially by keeping track of the cards. So I got all the information from the people who wrote the article, improved their calculations, and used those calculations to figure out how to count cards. I was at M.I.T. at the time and [entered the data into] an early high-speed computer that was available to the faculty. After nine months, I had my results. I saw that indeed you could beat blackjack and do a nice job. I announced it at the American Math Society, which was attended not just by mathematicians but lots of other characters like Tom Wolfe, and then it went viral on the Associated Press wire. Q: Why are some tables hot and cold? A: If the game is honest, most of the time it’s just random fluctuations. Those random fluctuations are what I think of as luck. Q: How are casinos similar to the stock market? A: Imagine you are investing in an index fund. The casino is Mr. Market, who offers you a collection of bets. If you choose an index fund, say VTSAX [the Vanguard Total Stock Market Index fund], on a typical day it randomly fluctuates by 1%. But there is a long-term drift in your favor of about one twentieth of a [percentage point]. So if you had $1 million in your portfolio in such an index, Mr. Market will come to you each day and say, “Let’s flip a coin. If it’s 50/50, then you’ll win $10,000 or lose $10,000. But I’ll pay you $500 if you play that day.” If you play for one day, you’ll be at $9,500 or at $10,500. If you play for a year, the chances are moderately good that you’ll be ahead because those $500 payments add up and overcome the fluctuation. Maybe a third of the years, you’ll be down and unhappy. But if you play for 10 years or 20 years, then those $500 payments just keep adding up. Warren Buffett has also devoted his life to compounding. So a similar process happens at blackjack tables. If you’re counting cards, you have a little drift in your favor. But in blackjack you play 100 hands an hour, and in a week you may play 4,000 hands. In a casino, you get to the long run fairly quickly. Q: That stock market drift you’re talking about—are those the real numbers? A: It is five basis points a day. [A basis point is one-hundredth of a percentage point.] Multiply that by 250 days, and it’s about 12.5%. The historical geometric growth is about 10.5%, because of the fluctuations. Q: Given that drift, is stock-picking even worth it? A: There are three types [of investors]. One wants to do well and not spend a lot of time. Those should be passive investors, and they will beat most of the others who will be dragged down by fees and costs and punished by what I call “the scared-rabbit syndrome,” which is that they run out at the bottom and get back in at the top. The index investors who just buy and sit avoid all these issues. Then there is the small group of investors who want to be professionals—hedge fund managers, people who work for endowments, universities, and so on. I might add that they haven’t done all that well. Then there are people who just enjoy messing around in the market and are willing to spend time to get an education. For them, I say, take a small amount of capital and learn. But put most of it in an index fund where it will grow while you are busy getting your education and paying for it. I paid for my education and know it can be fairly expensive. My book talks about some big mistakes and also about the Kelly Criterion formula, which tells you how to allocate money between risky alternatives and gives you an idea of how much to allocate to each. Q: But before applying the Kelly Criterion, as you’ve pointed out, you need to know how big your edge is. How do you do that? A: At a casino, you can generally calculate your edge fairly precisely. In the stock market, it’s not so easy. For an index fund, the statistical numbers we’ve viewed are probably not too far off what you can expect going into the future, assuming the world stays something like the world we know and the U.S. is the successful country it is. It doesn’t have to be the only superpower. The historical experience in first-world countries goes back for centuries. So we have a pretty good idea what the statistics are going to be for equities going forward. Then take those numbers and shade them somewhat conservatively, using [your assumption of] rates and tail risk. Then you can do a pretty good conservative calculation of how much to invest. But really, don’t borrow. You can make much more if you borrow when things are reasonably good, but every so often, something nasty happens. Look at all those people who were in the VelocityShares VIX Short Volatility Holding exchange-traded note. For years people minted money and kept telling me how great it was. I studied it, couldn’t see their edge, and I could see the black swan downside. Sure enough, it was wiped out last month. Read part 2 of our interview with Edward Thorp, “Why Edward Thorp Only Owns Berkshire Hathaway” In the second part of our interview with card counter and mathematician Edward Thorp—the father of quantitative investing—he recalled an early brush with Bernie Madoff, described what’s in his portfolio, shared his solution to gun violence, and served up the secrets of a long life. He also shared his most recent list of what he does to promote healthy longevity, which we post in its lightly edited entirety below. Barrons.com: All the way back in 1991, you were suspicious about Bernie Madoff’s returns. Edward Thorp: I was asked to review the portfolio for a client, the pension plan of a large international consulting firm. I looked through their various managers. All looked fine except Bernard Madoff Investment Securities. The returns were exceedingly regular—1% or 2% a month no matter what was going on in the market, using an allegedly simple strategy of an options collar. Even when the market went down, they had magically guessed they should put on a large short in S&P index futures. It couldn’t be right. I asked the client for confirmations. For half of them, the trades never took place on the exchange that the tickets said they traded on. Then for another quarter of them, the volume didn’t match the exchange volume. I called a friend at Bear Stearns and asked him, as a special favor since I was a large client, to get information on trading on 10 particular options on certain days. The 10 options they checked for me showed no evidence they were connected in any way with Madoff. So I told my client this was an absolute fraud and he needed to pull out. Of course, it didn’t blow up for 17 years. Some people were enraged that I never told them, but I had a fiduciary obligation to keep my mouth shut. Q: What’s in your portfolio now? A: One good stroke of good fortune was meeting Warren Buffett in 1968. It led me to realize that I needed to invest in Berkshire Hathaway (ticker: BRK.A), although I didn’t do it until 1982. It’s my single investment in the stock market. It’s like a broad value-stocks equity index. I hold it in lieu of VTSAX [the Vanguard Total Stock Market fund]. It does about as well with no current taxes to pay. VTSAX has dividends that are taxed annually. I also have some hedge funds, but I consider them not as good as Berkshire, so I use them to spend and finance other things I do. Q: Why not go out and find better investments, as you did in the past? A: When I was 35, I had lots of time and less money, so doing 10% or so better than the index, with little risk, was attractive and fun. At 85, the marginal value of time is higher and the marginal value of money is lower. These are strong disincentives when I can make a long-run 10% or so by doing nothing. Q: There are a lot of quant funds in the market today. Is there so much competition that the inefficiencies, which at one time you would have exploited, are gone? A: I don’t think so. The quant funds trawl through massive amounts of data. But there’s a lot of information about companies that aren’t in the available data, including strategic thinking. Take, for instance, the fact that some companies buy back stock intelligently and some do it very stupidly. The intelligent ones buy back stock when they’re getting their money’s worth, when it’s actually worth paying for the shares because they’re underpriced. Take an extreme case where the stock has liquidation value of $10 a share and the company can buy back stock at $8 a share. Many closed-end funds are in exactly the situation I just described. They just don’t happen to buy back their stock because they don’t want to reduce the amount of capital they manage and [thus] reduce their fees. There are a lot of things that involve thinking that artificial intelligence isn’t going to find. Q: What do you think of stocks? A: Stocks today are on the high side and will be hurt as rates rise. We are probably late in this cycle. We’re due for a slowdown and maybe another severe correction. If you’re a long-term investor, though, equities are the way to go. NEWSLETTER SIGN-UP Q: What lessons do you want people to come away with from A Man for All Markets? A: That the best thing you can do for yourself is to educate yourself to think clearly and rationally. It helps to have math or science or logical training. The next is to be widely read and curious. If you are that way, you have so much more to use in terms of tools. [Berkshire Hathaway Vice Chairman] Charlie Munger has a collection of multiple mental models—shorthand ways to think of things. I also have my own, and one of my favorites is to understand externalities [spillover effects from other economic activity]. For example, if I buy fire insurance for my house, my neighbor is a little safer. That’s an externality benefit. If someone drives a polluting gasoline car and uses the atmosphere as a waste dump without paying any consequences, that’s a negative externality. Another one is guns. Gun dealers make a lot of money, their clients go out and kill people, and society pays huge costs. Gun dealers don’t. Externalities are a good way to start analyzing problems. A lot of problems go away if you make people who distribute negative externalities pay the consequences. There’s a neat solution. Automobiles kill about 35,000 people a year. If you want to drive a car, you need a license, some training, and also insurance if your car does damage. People have to be accountable for their guns, just like cars. If your car is stolen, you are expected to report it. [What if it were the] same with guns? People wouldn’t be able to accumulate thousands of guns, because what insurance company will insure it? What do you think the insurance would be for an AR-15? It would be very high. Q: You’re 85 and look like you’re in your early 60s. What’s your secret? A: I think rationally and clearly about how to slow aging. I’ve been exercising since my 20s. I started running marathons when I was 47. I’ve run 22; my personal lifetime best is 3.17 hours. I spend five hours a week in vigorous walking or easy jogging. I work out with a trainer twice a week. I feel I should do more. I have a body-mass index of 22 and am comfortable there. I try to eat semi-intelligently. I have never smoked. It has got to be one of the stupidest things. I have never met Jim Simons of Renaissance, the greatest quant hedge fund guy ever, because he was a chain smoker and I didn’t want to go into his office. You should think about your overall health and fitness plan. You are your own best health manager. Get started by telling yourself: Some is better than none, and more is better than less. Q: Thanks, Ed.
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