Tom Barrett new US Ambassador to Luxembourg

 

Tom Barrett new US Ambassador to Luxembourg

Yesterday the US Senate confirmed the nomination of Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett as the new U.S. Ambassador to Luxembourg. Here the Senate information:

“The Senate Cloak Room:

Confirmed by voice vote: Executive Calendar #622 Thomas Barrett to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.”

Tom Barrett has served as Mayor of Milwaukee, the largest city in Wisconsin, since 2004. Not absent from his nomination is the fact that Luxembourg has special ties to Wisconsin: it has without any doubt the largest share of descendants of Luxembourg immigrants dating back to the 19^th century. It is also the home of the Luxembourg Cultural Society’s headquarters and Museum.

 

Population wise Milwaukee has about the same number of residents than the whole Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. It is known for its beer production. But testimony to Luxembourg’s excellent salesmanship is that BBBB is exporting its beer from Luxembourg to Wisconsin. Which is the equivalent of selling fridges in the Arctic.

 

Sadly, Milwaukee is also known for its murder rate. Close to 200 murders in a year. Milwaukee’s Mayor will be safer in Luxembourg. He’ll also have a bunch of marines watching the doors. At an equivalent population number, Luxembourg only makes it to 4 or 5 violent deaths annually. Or about 2 % of Milwaukee’s numbers. I’m sure he will ask about the numbers of white-collar crimes in Luxembourg. As a diplomat he wants some reciprocity in the numbers. He has already mentioned concern about money laundering and other financial crimes.

 

With Tom Barrett Luxembourg gains an expert to advise the City of Luxembourg about the rampant insecurity in the surroundings of the Central Railway Station.

 

On a more personal note, Tom Barrett’s claim to fame goes back to President Obama’s election: a real President needs a dog. Tom Barrett advised that it should be a Portuguese Water Dog. His dog Bailey is a Portuguese Water Dog, 

Mission Accomplished

Mission Accomplished: The Marietta Daily Journal in Georgia reports about the adventures that US Ambassadors go through, when in foreign Lands.Ambassador Evans got his share of adventures in Luxembourg. We learn how he summoned the Luxembourg Prime Minister to a meeting, and trapped him to confront the press, and either persist in front of the journalists to ignore the overdue reparations to holocaust survivors or commit to those reparations. Mr Bettel complied with the obvious. Every living holocaust survivor got 1 million. And on the side, the Ambassador played the key role of putting Luxembourg on the space map.

LuXXXembourg's Mindgeek headed for trouble in the US

LuXXXembourg's Mindgeek headed for trouble in the US 

This sad episode has been brewing for some time. This blog has repeatedly attracted attention to the inherent risks to the kind of product, some clearly very problematic to tolerate within the bounderies of the Luxembourg jurisdiction, without intervention on the part of the Justice Department. It is true that this business is quite lucrative, and helps the government pay some bills. Not to mention the well to do family fathers and mothers who earn a golden nose by having Mindgeek as a client. CBS reported. 

An excerpt of the complaint filed in the US: 

45. Defendant MindGeek S.a.r.l. is a foreign entity organized and existing under the laws of Luxembourg. MindGeek S.A.R.L. conducts business in the United States, including in this District. MindGeek S.a.r.l., formerly known as Manwin owns and operates over 100 pornographic websites, production companies, and brands including Pornhub, RedTube, Tube8, YouPorn, PornIQ, gaytube, Thumbzilla, Peeperz, PornMD, Xtube, Brazzers, Babes.com, Reality Kings, Digital Playground, Twistys, Men.com, Mofos, MyDirtyHobby, SexTube, and Webcams. MindGeek also manages websites including Wicked Pictures, lesbea.com, and Playboy. MindGeek S.a.r.l. owns and/or controls the majority of the pornography on the Internet, much of which it distributes for free, to any person with a web connection, regardless of age. Although incorporated in Luxembourg, MindGeek S.a.r.l. operates out of Montreal, Canada, and has satellite offices in, among other places, Los Angeles, California. 

This will be resolved at a cost of hundreds of millions of USD. The complete complaint filed by the US law firm Brown Rudnick is here.