#boiler room scam

[poguesmaybank]

Leverage Episode Battle

The Zanzibar Marketplace Job: Season Two, Episode Twelve. Nate's ex-wife Maggie is framed for a jewel theft in Kiev, and the team must work with an old adversary to save her.

The Boiler Room Job: Season Four, Episode Eight. The team targets a 3rd-generation con man who knows every scam in the book (because his father and grandfather practically wrote the book), and Nate decides that since they can't con him, they'll just rob him. Later, Nate learns who's been tracking them: Jack Latimer, a professional investor who's made millions off of companies who have had personnel or practices exposed by Leverage.

[recoveringdreamer]

TIMING: recent. LOCATION: a baby's day out fan event PARTIES: @banisheed & @recoveringdreamer SUMMARY: felix and siobhan attend an exclusive event for fans of the critically acclaimed film baby's day out (1994). CONTENT WARNINGS: none!

“Adventure. Comedy. Crime.” — Baby’s Day Out IMDB page genre listing

Baby’s Day Out was released on July 1st, 30 years ago. Since the baby bink (the baby of the titular day out) first crawled on screen, a handful of discerning moviegoers knew they had something special on their hands. And thus, the Coalition of Baby’s Day Out Enjoyers was born. Though their numbers have dwindled over the years, they kept studious tabs on anyone that has ever talked positively about this movie or seen it from start to mediocre finish. This was, by Siobhan’s estimation, about three people. Four, if she could be included, but she would sooner turn back into a baby herself than be counted among the ranks of these cretins. She was an idiot for thinking the vague invitation she’d received could’ve been something interesting. She remembered the moment she opened it: the paper smelt like baby powder and the words—”you’ve been chosen”—tugged on a doomed desire. For some unfathomably stupid reason, she’d thought this was from Saol Eile. Yes, of course, that was a bridge she thoroughly burned. But, still, if only…

No. Instead, she was here. Siobhan knew more about the history of the Coalition of Baby’s Day Out Enjoyers (the organizers of this belated anniversary party) than she ever wanted to. Due in large part to the woman in front of her who simply would not shut up, no matter how many threats of violence she was given. Eventually, Siobhan had to admit defeat and let the useless facts rain down on her. She tried to look around the space for something interesting to focus on instead but everything was baby themed: baby decorations, baby balloons, baby food. In lieu of the typical party champagne, there was warm milk served in sippy cups. Siobhan sipped hers slowly. “Do you think he’s coming soon?” the woman asked. Siobhan’s heavy eyes turned to the large sign at the entrance to the room: “SPECIAL GUEST APPEARANCE: JIM FOLEY (OLD SOLDIER #3)”. 

Siobhan slurped her milk. The door creaked. Anticipation vibrated through the room; three bodies snapped to attention like meerkats, their eyes bulging at the door. The door swung open and there was, finally, the reason Siobhan had stayed. But not the reason the rest had. A chorus of disappointment and grumbles echoed as soon as it was clear that Jim Foley was yet to be seen. “Felix Mendoza,” Siobhan cooed, grabbing a blue sippy cup of milk for them. “We finally meet.” Her smile was lopsided, one white, sharp canine sticking out between her lips. She had endured torture just for this moment; just to meet them. When she saw their name on the tiny guest list, it was as if Fate had kissed her. “Milk?”

—

Felix didn’t get a lot of mail delivered to the Grit Pit. They hadn’t gotten a lot of mail delivered to their apartment, either, to be fair — mail was kind of dead, really, and mostly the things they found in their mailbox were thin cardboard postcards advertising car dealerships or coupon books with deals that, when you really looked at them, kind of sucked — but they got even less here. Part of it, they knew, was because they hadn’t really updated their address anywhere. They fully expected (or hoped) to be out of the boiler room in a matter of months, even if the time was passing them by quicker than they’d hoped with no real exit in sight. But, of course, there were other factors at play, too. Any mail they got was ‘inspected’ before it made its way to them, read over and discarded more often than not. Leo said he was doing them a favor. Felix, he claimed, was exactly the type to fall for some stupid scam. Maybe it wasn’t an unfounded accusation, but… there was something a little dehumanizing about it. People got mail, but Felix didn’t. It was just another entry in the long list of ways the Grit Pit made them feel less like someone who mattered.

All this to say, the envelope sitting on the chair in the corner of the boiler room with their name scrawled neatly on the front was… unexpected. Felix had approached it with a furrowed brow, had opened it cautiously as if it was a thing that might bite. But, instead of some cruel prank left by Leo and his friends or some quiet words of encouragement from Thea, the envelope contained an invitation. Better still, it contained an invitation that was of interest to Felix.

Baby’s Day Out was a strange comfort film to have. They’d figured that out pretty quickly, when they’d mentioned it in school one day and been met with a room full of blank stares. It was stranger still for a child to love the movie as much as Felix had, but he’d worn out no fewer than four VHS tapes before the film was rereleased on DVD seven years after its initial home theater release. They’d left the DVD behind when their father packed them all up, of course, and they’d never been able to find another copy. It was on streaming, but it didn’t feel the same. It didn’t have the special features, the director’s commentary, the featurette. Perhaps, they thought, this event would be selling copies.

And they really did want to meet the guy who played Old Soldier #3.

So, with little more thought on the matter, Felix had decided to attend the event. They’d put on their nicest button-up and a pair of khakis, they’d gone to the location specified, and they’d felt a sense of excitement flowing through them as they opened the door. From the way everyone looked at them, they weren’t the anticipated guest that had seen all eyes on the door. Except… there was one woman who was staring a little. It took Felix a moment to recognize her from her icon, and they offered her a small, uncertain smile as they approached. Hadn’t she disliked Baby’s Day Out? Why was she at the party? Maybe she’d changed her mind about it. It was the kind of movie you needed to see more than once to really appreciate, after all. 

Felix glanced down at the cup in her hand, shaking their head. “Oh, um, no thank you. I’m lactose intolerant, actually, so I can’t — Milk’s not really, uh, good for me. Um, did you change your mind? About Baby’s Day Out, I mean. Do you like it now?”

—

Perhaps she had underestimated Felix. Clearly a mastermind, they’d faked lactose intolerance to embarrass her with having to hold two sippy cups. Siobhan smiled, eye twitching. Of course this meeting of small-minded, fictional-baby-adoring people hadn’t opted for dairy-free alternatives; how could she prove Felix was purposefully deceiving her? In the war, they’d already won the first battle. “Yes, of course. So many humans lack the means to digest lactose. And yet, who was it that domesticated the poor cow?” Though it was a small assurance of superiority that she could digest it—she came from generations of cattle farmers, though they preferred more pretentious titles like “yogurt barons” or “cheese sovereigns”—it was an assurance she would take. Then, the second battle: a devastating first move delivered swiftly by Felix. By asserting that her appearance here must mean she liked this horrific movie, they expertly wounded her demeanor of nonchalance. Well played, Felix. “No, this movie was an insult to all of my senses.” Surely they had to know that she was here for them? To kill them? Did they forget the fact that she wanted to kill them? Ignorance was a strategy she hadn’t anticipated. She couldn’t outright say she was going to kill them, not while holding two sippy cups. With one sippy cup, perhaps. But two? Felix had clearly orchestrated this. Siobhan seethed. “I don’t like the film. I’m here for…someone special.” She winked. Obviously, she was referring to Felix, as she was sure they would pick-up on. She wouldn’t tell them that she’d initially mistaken the invitation for something else.

If they moved to a place where she could put down the sippy cups, then the glove could be thrown down. Siobhan gestured to the food table, adorned with baby-themed foods and several jars of baby food. “You must be hungry after all your…” She surveyed Felix’s outfit: disgustingly and disarmingly banal. Was being bland a part of Felix’s plan? “…arrival. Perhaps we should venture to the food table?” There was also a table of merchandise—shirts and the like—but the contents were so unappealing to Siobhan that the table was practically invisible to her attention. The food table, at least, was such an affront that she remembered it. 

—

“Well, not just humans,” they said. Then, realizing that this might threaten to out them as something other than human, they blinked. “I mean, um, cats are lactose intolerant, too. And dogs! A lot of adult animals are. Um, something about enzymes. Your body stops producing them when you get older. I read — I read a paper about it, one time. To figure out why I was lactose intolerant.” That was a thing people did, right? Read papers? Felix felt so supremely out of their depth here. Siobhan was smart. He could tell just by the way she spoke, the way she carried herself. And Felix, as they’d been reliably informed time and time and time again, was not. Siobhan already seemed to dislike them, scorned by their suggestion that she watch a movie she evidently hadn’t enjoyed. Felix didn’t want to make her angrier at them, even if it seemed she’d warmed to Baby’s Day Out. Or… maybe she hadn’t. She was still saying she hated the film, claiming to be here for someone special instead. Felix’s eyes drifted to the poster behind her, the one advertising the event. As things clicked into place, they nodded. “Oooh,” they said, certainty washing over them like a warm ocean wave. “You want to meet Jim Foley. Has he been in other stuff? I’ve only ever seen him as Old Soldier #3, but I thought he did a really good job. He was my favorite of the Old Soldiers.”

Siobhan wanted to find a table, and Felix was a little surprised at the idea that she wanted to find a table with him. Maybe they’d misjudged her dislike of them. It was possible that Siobhan was just bad at making friends. If that was the case, didn’t Felix owe it to her to make things a little easier? They offered her a small smile, nodding their head. “We can go sit down,” they agreed. “I’m not really sure about the food, though. Baby food is so mushy, you know? I don’t really like how it feels in my mouth. Um, but maybe it tastes okay? We can try it! Which one do you want? I can grab you a spoon.”

—

Clearly an intelligent individual, Siobhan noted; reading papers and what not. She did not read papers. She read plenty of books, amalgamations of paper, but never the reported findings in medical and scientific papers themselves. Why was it that she waited until the writing was distilled into a book before she learned it? Felix was ahead of the curve. “Yes, I suppose some animals are lactose intolerant.” She seethed, squishing one of the sippy cups she held as she tried to maintain her thin smile. The plastic creaked in her hand and milk sputtered out, trailing down her arm. “Jim…Foley?” As the insinuation hooked deeper into her, her grip on the sippy cup continued to tighten. “He wasn’t even—Old Soldier #5 was clearly…no…I’m not…” They said it was such certainty that Siobhan almost believed that they believed that she was truly here to see an unknown actor. Of course, she knew better. Felix was playing a game with her, and of that she was extremely certain. Finally, the extra sippy cup burst into shards of thin plastic and splashes of warm milk. Wiping milk out of her eyes, she noticed that the entirety of the mess was on her and not a drop on Felix. That must’ve been the lactose intolerance, she thought bitterly. 

Siobhan continued to drip milk, blinking at Felix. She could fathom only one thing worse than being here, being soaked with milk: eating baby food. Again, Felix had somehow anticipated her. “No, I’m not hungry,” she grumbled. “I don’t eat baby food. I don’t want to eat baby food. I am never going to desire baby food. Do not get me a spoon. Do I look like I need a spoon right now?” She also wasn’t going to admit that some of the fruit flavors sounded tasty; it was essentially applesauce, right? 

—

Siobhan was holding her milk pretty tightly, and Felix wondered if she was worried someone might take it. They’d been later than she was to the event; maybe this was a problem that had been recurring throughout the time she’d been waiting. Felix cast a curious eye around the room, trying to determine if there were any obvious milk thieves among them, but it was hard to decipher based on looks alone. Milk thieves — they’re just like us! They offered Siobhan a smile they hoped was reassuring. “Rats aren’t lactose intolerant,” they offered. “Pigs, either. Oh! And, um, cebus monkeys. That one was really interesting to me. You don’t think about monkeys drinking milk, right?” They shifted their weight uncertainly as Siobhan squeezed the cup hard enough for milk to drip down her arm. “Oh, hey, yeah, Old Soldier #5 was good, too! Um, he was probably my second favorite Old Soldier. Old Soldier #1 is my least favorite, actually, which is kind of funny, but I —” The cup in her hand broke. Felix took a step back instinctively, wincing as it shattered. “Oh, man. I think there’s napkins over there. Well, I mean, they’re cloth diapers, technically, but you can use one as a napkin. Should I grab one for you? I don’t mind.” 

She didn’t seem to be having very much fun. Felix wondered why she’d come, if she wasn’t a Foleyhead. (That was what fans of Jim Foley’s performance as Old Soldier #3 called themselves; Felix had read about it on a Baby’s Day Out fanpage.) Maybe she did like the film and was embarrassed by it, given her extreme insistence to the contrary. Felix tried to find a way to silently communicate that it was okay to like Baby’s Day Out. It was nothing to be embarrassed by, in any case. “That’s okay, too! The texture’s a little weird, I think. And some of the combos, too. Like, you don’t have to mix carrots with so many things, right? It’s bound to taste weird.” They paused. “I think I’m going to try it anyway, though. Just to see why babies like it so much. Are you sure you don’t want any? There’s one with coconut and garlic and, like, I gotta admit, I’m curious. You know?”

—

“Yes, I suppose…rats and pigs….sure.” Why did Felix know so much about milk? Siobhan didn’t care; mammals lactated and the young supped from their mothers. “I…do think about monkeys drinking milk.” Not often, of course. Was Felix trying to get her to admit she was some pervert who thought about mammalian lactation often? The milk drinking of animals wasn’t a consideration. “They are…mammals. Most mammals… All mammals…” She couldn’t say for certain that all mammals lactate; it wasn't a topic she knew much about. It could turn out that there were some species of whale that didn’t or rather, what did those egg-laying mammals do? Siobhan loathed not knowing things; her face burned hot at her own stupidity. Did Felix know that? Is that why they’d brought up lactation? Yes, her own education blind spot had been this and with great shame, once she was freed from this battle, she would have to read some books about lactation. Fates, Felix was a cruel fighter. “Some birds produce ‘crop milk’,” she offered, though it was not truly milk at all—or was it? Siobhan clearly didn’t know. She merely wanted a fact to communicate that she wasn’t stupid; she knew things about milk. “It doesn’t have carbohydrates,” she said. “No milk sugars. So, perhaps the title of ‘milk’ is more colloquial.” Siobhan couldn’t let Felix jump in with a correction and embarrass her. 

Siobhan was rigid with anger, holding back the sharp desire to scream. Her tensed shoulders started to ache and her back—often a source of pain—burned along the spine. Yes, of course, instead of napkins they had cloth diapers. Yes, of course, what was Siobhan to do but accept the cloth diaper? It was there, it was absorbent, Felix knew this. Yet another scheme, she thought. Everything had been so perfectly crafted to infuriate her and only the smartest of minds could’ve facilitated her personal hell so acutely. Felix was a dangerous enemy to have. “Yes, fetch me a…” Siobhan shivered. “…diaper.” At least they were cloth, she thought. That was better for the environment, wasn’t it? She also didn’t know. Anything regarding babies was an additional blind spot. Fates, would she have to read books about them as well? If she had children of her own—as banshees were expected to, not that she wanted them—she would’ve taken her mother’s approach and let the child loose on their own. Yes, she’d turned out fine under her mother’s lack of early supervision, hadn’t she? Once she’d answered Fate’s call and was born anew, her mother’s attitude changed. As a child, in that useless time before the scream, she’d once heard a neighbor use an odd descriptor for it: neglect. Regardless, Siobhan never planned to know anything more about babies. Perhaps she’d simply ask Ingeborg instead of embarrassing herself at a bookstore. 

“Carrots are nutritious,” she said, stiffly following Felix along. “They have fiber and are sweet, and so rather palatable to babies and do not upset their stomachs.” Maybe she didn’t need the baby knowledge after all; she tried to remember the things her grandmother had said, who was far more passionate about child care. She was always babbling some nonsense about how to take care of them. If Siobhan thought about it, that might’ve been a response to being incapable of taking care of her own, as Siobhan’s mother was one of three but never once spoke to her about siblings. But her grandmother was unwell and it was best not to think too long about why. The word ‘neglect’ sprung to mind again. “Yes, I’ll accompany you to the baby food,” Siobhan said, “but I don’t want any.” And she would never admit that coconut and garlic sounded extremely intriguing; that was halfway to a curry, she thought. 

—

“Really?” Maybe Felix was the only one who didn’t think about monkeys drinking milk often. They wondered if they should ask Anita about it, or Wyatt. Maybe this was something they should be thinking about more. They nodded as Siobhan pointed out that most mammals drank milk. “That’s true, yeah! But most mammals lose their ability to tolerate milk after they’re weaned from their moms. It’s kind of interesting, when you think about it — humans are the only mammal that regularly consume lactose as adults! Unless they’re lactose intolerant, like me. But between you and me, sometimes I eat cheese, anyway. It’s good, you know? I like cheese, even if it makes me feel sick after.” Their eyes lit up as Siobhan continued, telling them about birds that apparently produced milk. “Oh, hey, that’s really cool! I didn’t know that. What species? Is it common for birds to do that, or are there just a few outliers out there?” If Siobhan didn’t want to talk about Baby’s Day Out — which was a little strange, considering she’d come to this Baby’s Day Out fan event — maybe they could still salvage the conversation by talking about birds. Felix liked birds, after all.

Offering Siobhan a small smile, Felix lead her towards the table with the cloth diapers. It also featured baby powder and diaper rash cream, though Felix doubted Siobhan would be needing any of that. “That makes sense. I guess babies do throw up a lot. Or, uh, spit up? I’m not sure why it’s called something different when babies do it.” They grabbed a few cloth diapers from the table. One at first, then two, then three. Looking at Siobhan and making note of the amount of milk she’d spilled — as well as the fact that her clothes seemed to be pretty fancy, by Felix’s standards, and perhaps in danger of staining if she didn’t see to the mess quickly — they added two more of the diapers to their grip, bringing the grand total up to five. Even if Siobhan didn’t need them all, Felix was sure they’d require a couple sooner or later. They had a tendency towards messiness, after all. 

With the cloth diapers obtained, they made their way towards the baby food table, pleased that Siobhan seemed to have changed her mind enough to tag along. “You don’t have to eat any,” they assured her, though privately, they hoped she might try some. Their mother had always been adamant about expanding horizons, and wasn’t this a good way to do that? You could eat coconut and garlic separately, but you couldn’t know what they tasted like together without trying it. That was probably important. Stopping in front of the table, Felix grabbed a spoon and began browsing the jars. “The colors are fun,” they acknowledged, glancing towards Siobhan.”They’re all so bright. Do you think it gets like that naturally, or do they add dye to it? I mean, I know peas are pretty green, but this looks, like, super green.” They held up a jar of very green mush, labeled apple, spinach, asparagus, and peas. That was a lot of different components, wasn’t it? Felix popped open the jar. 

—

Siobhan had started to think that Felix was an idiot, perhaps; the impression crawled into her brain between the discussion of lactation and watching them fetch diapers with a bizarrely honest resolve, as if they truly thought it would help. But if that was the case, it meant she had been bested by an idiot several times? No, this idiocracy must’ve been part of the battle; a ruse to have her doubting her senses. Siobhan knew she had too much pride to pretend to be stupid but the fact that Felix did so readily made them an enemy she couldn’t underestimate. “Pigeons,” she said dryly when Felix met her at the baby food table. “Pigeons produce crop milk.” Other birds as well, though she couldn’t name them, and didn’t want to. Surely Felix had no real interest in the lactation of animals, or in birds. Siobhan felt pushed out of her body, expelled from her own mind. “Woodpigeon,” she said. “We had…in Ireland. It’s large.” She mimicked the size with her hands. “There’s…a bird: the great tit. I thought…well, it’s funny, sure. Because…the name.” She felt like she was having a genuine conversation, without games, without meaning. She felt like a child, clumsily stumbling her way through her interests; she wanted to talk about birds, about bones, about plants and the fun things her and Jane had gotten up to all the while nervous that at any moment, interest would wane. A scolding was ever present upon the horizon but worse was the constant apathy. 

But Jane had been dead for decades and this feeling—pathetic, embarrassing and vulnerable—must’ve been a piece of Felix’s plan. As a child, she could never entertain anyone’s interest for long. As an adult, her only goal was to entertain herself. She ought to get back to that. Siobhan straightened up. She took one of the cloth diapers and dabbed herself. She wished Old Soldier #3 would show up so she could run away. An exit now, without distraction, was surely rude, and Felix must’ve known this and used it to torment her. Siobhan paused in her dabbing. Why did she care at all if it was rude? It was the terrible atmosphere Felix had crafted: friendly, polite. “You wouldn’t give a baby food dye,” she grumbled, tossing away her diaper and grabbing another. “It’s just…if you blend enough green things together you get something green.” Why was she explaining this? The jar popped open and a gentle smell wafted around them. There was nothing questionable about baby food; it was by its nature bland but generally nutritious. Yet, the labeling of ‘baby’ turned the act into an oddity. Felix was doing this. Why? A power move? 

Siobhan would not be humiliated like this; as though she was too much of a coward to engage. All this time, Felix had been humiliating her: talking to her about lactation and mammals and Baby’s Day Out and making her forget that she was here to kill them. She reached down and plucked an unappealing brown flavor: chicken and gravy. The ingredients were ground chicken, water and cornstarch. She popped it open, grabbed a spoon, and shoved the baby food into her mouth. With anger, she swallowed. It tasted like watery, unseasoned chicken. Much like her mother’s cooking. She slammed the jar back down. “What do you want?” She asked. “Don’t…” She drew her finger up. “Don’t you dare say you want to meet Jim Foley. We both know that isn’t true. What do you really want? I concede. I give up. You win. What do you want?”

—

“Oh, hey, that’s really cool! Pigeons are neat birds. You know they were one of the first animals domesticated by people? Which is — I mean, domesticating animals is cool and all, because it got us dogs and cats, but you gotta wonder, right, why they chose the animals they chose. Like, if people way back when had domesticated, uh — bears instead of wolves, or bats instead of pigeons, would everything look, like, totally different now?” They were rambling a little, and they knew it. It was hard not to. Sometimes, in moments like this, Felix felt as if they existed outside their own body, as if they were floating just above the conversation watching themself ramble on and on and on as their conversation partner’s interest waned. Siobhan probably didn’t want to hear about the history of domestication, but it was hard for Felix to force themself to stop in the middle of a sentence. They liked hearing her talk about birds, though. They wanted to hear more about the great tit, wanted to know about the woodpigeons. “Are the birds in Ireland really different than the ones here? I’ve never really been out of Maine, much less the United States, so I don’t really know as much about birds in other countries. I mean, I’ve googled, sure, but that’s different than seeing them, right? You can’t really understand a thing like that until you’ve seen it for yourself.

In a way, wasn’t that what it all boiled down to? There were so many things that Felix would never understand because there were so many things that Felix would never see. Their life was stagnant, stuck in Wicked’s Rest until Leo decided to have mercy on them or some other fighter took them out for good. Of the two possibilities, Felix had always known which was more likely. Leo was no more inclined towards mercy than a bear was towards domestication. They knew that. Glancing back to the very, very green goop, they shrugged and shoveled a small spoonful into their mouth. It tasted bland, especially considering how it looked. It didn’t quite taste like peas, or spinach, or asparagus, or apples. It didn’t really taste like all of the above, either. It was a faint, nothing taste. Felix was a little disappointed. “Well, I mean, I know you shouldn’t give babies food dye, but lots of food has dye in it anyway. Like fruit snacks! Babies love fruit snacks.” 

Siobhan opened her own jar — a less pleasant, brown-colored mix — and Felix flashed her an encouraging smile. Maybe she’d like it; maybe the brown was better than the green. They watched as she opened it, watched her dip the spoon inside. Their expression asked a question, even if they didn’t voice it aloud. Is it good? Does it taste nice? But then, Siobhan was slamming the jar on the table, sending small bits of brown mush flying in all directions. Felix’s brow furrowed in quiet confusion as she questioned their intentions. “I mean, I do think it would be neat to meet Jim Foley,” they said uncertainly. “But I thought — We were talking about birds. I just thought we could hang out.”

—

The stupid act that Felix was putting on was surprisingly well-crafted: from all angles it was convincing. Of course, Siobhan knew better; this was all a part of Felix’s plan to put her off-kilter. Everything about them was perfectly designed to irritate her, everything about this event was the same. They’d done it. They were behind all of this. Getting her to watch the damned film in the first place with lies about how the baby would be productive to society and sending the invitation out and crafting a story about a society of fans for a film that could not—in any logical world—have any fans. She could even bet that Jim Foley wouldn’t show up. All of it, everything, was just a game. Of course the birds in Ireland were different from the ones in Maine, everyone knew that; Felix was pretending. “Domestication wasn’t so calculated. Opportunities arose, certain animals showed themselves to be useful and friendly, and domestication proceeded.” But Felix must’ve known that already. “And it is one of the most despicable things humans have done.” The image of the screaming red gash across her first slaughtered cow burst into her mind. Her jaw clenched. She didn’t like this game Felix had crafted. 

But it would only end the moment she knew what they wanted. The mushy baby food obviously wasn’t for the children that progressed to solids, but Felix must’ve known. Their idiotic comment about the dyes… how devious of them. Just enough to wedge under her skin. And the answer, the simple answer she wanted, spat on with a lie: I just thought we could hangout. After her outburst, after admitting she gave up, they still continued. It was obvious—just like everything else—Siobhan was not someone to hangout with. Siobhan laughed. Perhaps she was the idiot for assuming that someone this calculated would let her go. They wanted to break her mind and they had succeeded but she still had a chance to deny them the satisfaction of seeing it through. If she played along, they wouldn’t win. 

Siobhan smiled—not as she usually did with a sharp, lopsided motion—but softly, pleasantly. She searched her mind for an older version of herself, wings on her back and free of scars, who still had the patience to fake amicability. “Sorry,” she said. “Yes, the birds in Ireland are quite different. Different species evolved in different areas, though I suppose the answer to your question also depends on what you find different enough. Some birds’ migratory patterns might have them flying great distances, but I don’t know of any specifically that travel through Maine and Ireland. If I were to hazard a guess…” she continued, as though she cared at all to explain this, as though she believed Felix didn’t know. She could hear her own saccharine voice and hated it. “…perhaps the Arctic Tern? That one, then, would be the same.” She felt wrong. She wondered if that was just the milk she was still soaked with. 

“You could birdwatch,” she suggested, hating every syllable. Friendly meant helpful and Siobhan was neither by nature. “The birds you see around you have traveled long and seen many wonderful things and if you watch them, maybe you’ll see a little of the world in them. Birds come down from Canada, up from Venezuela–for example. It’s possible a bird is not native to Maine at all, or the United States.” Siobhan set down her milky diapers. “Regardless, Felix, I don’t believe it matters how many country lines you personally cross. A home is a place of its own ceaseless wonder and worldliness means nothing if you cannot appreciate your home.” Or return to it. “Maine is a beautiful state and you mustn’t think your life has less value for being contained within it. If it is your desire to travel, you should, but I cannot agree with any notion that suggests your life is inferior for the lack of boxes it has checked, so to speak.” It was inferior for a myriad of other reasons. Siobhan realized she sounded stiff, she felt stiff; another by-product of the milk, she guessed. 

She sighed, now came the part of politeness that she especially loathed: asking someone about themself. “Do you have a favorite bird?” She asked through clenched teeth. “How was your green baby food?” If this was what it took to ensure Felix didn’t get a final victory over her, Siobhan wasn’t sure she could play along for much longer. 

—

Siobhan was smart. It was hard not to be impressed with the library of information she seemed to have such easy access to in her mind. She knew about birds, she knew about domestication, she knew about babies’ dietary restrictions. Felix thought they could probably learn a lot from Siobhan, but it felt a little selfish to ask her to teach them anything more than she was willing to offer offhand, so they only nodded. “That’s cool that you know all that.” They tended to agree that domestication wasn’t great, though mostly because of their own… connection with wildlife. It was far easier to see things from an animal’s point of view when you had one living inside of you, wasn’t it? They wondered where Siobhan’s thoughts stemmed from, wondered if there was more to it than what she was saying aloud. Asking would be rude, so they didn’t. They only nodded, offering their silent agreement.

For a moment, they feared that even doing everything in their power to achieve politeness hadn’t been enough. They said they thought that maybe the two of them could hang out, and Siobhan laughed. Felix frowned, wondering if it was a silly notion to begin with. There were probably far better people here to hang out with than Felix, weren’t there? There was a man in the corner dressed as a giant baby who probably had far better stories to tell, a woman decked out in Baby’s Day Out merchandise, including a giant foam finger with Baby Bink’s face on it, who could certainly offer more fun facts about the movie than Felix themself. And Jim Foley was on his way. Siobhan would probably much rather hang out with Jim Foley than Felix, who had never been in Baby’s Day Out at all. 

They felt self conscious, and prepared to excuse themself to go stand somewhere else until Jim Foley arrived. But then, Siobhan smiled in a way that seemed friendly. She started talking about birds and migratory habits, and Felix felt themself relax. They smiled back, listening as she spoke and making note of every word. Siobhan knew a lot about birds; Felix liked learning more. “The Arctic Tern? That sounds like one that would like more… arctic climates. Do they just fly through Maine and Ireland, or do they actually live here? I never thought of Wicked’s Rest as being cold enough for something like that, even if the winters do kind of suck sometimes.” They were engaged in the conversation fully, eager to know more about birds and what Siobhan might think of them. Did she like Arctic Terns? Did it make her homesick, seeing birds that flew through Ireland fly through Maine, too? Felix felt nostalgic sometimes looking at cardinals, which their mother had loved. Did Siobhan have any birds here that made her feel the same? Or was she cut off from them entirely, free from the bitter ache of nostalgia but unable to access the sweeter parts of it as well?

“I don’t know that I’d be much good at it,” they admitted. “Birdwatching, I mean. I know you’re supposed to be still and quiet for things like that, and neither of those are really my specialty. But maybe I could give it a try. You’re right, those birds have stories to tell. We should all be listening to them a little more closely!” Was watching birds, who had traveled from places they’d never seen and to places they’d never go, comparable to making those journeys themself? Felix was stuck where they were, as grounded as the trees rooted into the ground. The birds could build nests within the branches, but it wasn’t quite the same as the tree seeing what the world had to offer for itself. And Felix longed for that. They wanted freedom, wanted to be able to come and go as they pleased, wanted more. All the things Felix wanted were things they knew they’d never get. That hurt far more than they were willing to admit. “Home,” they repeated quietly. “Yeah.” The boiler room didn’t fit the word; they weren’t even sure Wicked’s Rest did. But what could be done about it? There was nothing else for Felix, who would never be permitted to leave. They knew that.

They didn’t notice the strain of Siobhan’s voice as she asked the question; Felix was, mostly, just happy for a change in subject. They hummed as they considered their answer, thinking of all the birds they knew. “My mom loved cardinals,” they replied. “But I don’t know. I always thought great horned owls were really cool. They just look neat, you know? What about you? Do you have a favorite bird?” Glancing down at the jar of baby food, they shrugged. “A little bland,” they admitted. “How about yours?”

—

Siobhan gave up again. She could tell Felix wanted to say more, or rather, had things they weren’t saying. After everything she said, all her useless prattling about birds—which may not have been accurate at all—she’d expected more. To her wealth of knowledge, Felix only said it was cool. Why were they like this? At what point did they give up and stop taunting her? She shook her head and tried to stay the course. Knowledge was a useful tool; an edge to gain against everyone else. Her mother believed it was necessary to amass as much of it—there were so many things she knew, yet she never once answered Siobhan’s curiosities. She wasn’t so eager to flaunt herself, to preen and be washed by praise. Even though her great-great-grandmother readily offered answers, there was never a hint of arrogance in her voice. Neither of them used their knowledge the way Siobhan did. The only thing left for her to cling to was the simple fact that she could learn more things in her centuries than any human could attempt to. If she was wiser than the person she was speaking to, then she maintained an untouchable value. She could be robbed of her wings, her dignity, her beauty but not her mind. 

Yet, it was still strange to watch someone soak in her knowledge as though filled with genuine curiosity. Siobhan hadn’t sought knowledge with pure intentions since she was a child trying to understand her strange world. If part of Felix’s game involved the chance for her to show-off, then it was probably a ploy. Still, she liked doing it. “Yes, I’m not sure it really lived there but a home is different to a bird. Some birds have many homes, some, just one. In Ireland, you saw it off in the sea. I think they bred there, I’m not sure.” I’m not sure—would she have offered such a confession if Felix wasn’t so skilled at faking interest? She only knew things about the Arctic Tern because she’d desired their bones. If Felix knew more about this than her, they weren’t letting on and they certainly weren’t correcting her and it was agonizing to speak to someone who wasn’t trying to win. Of course they were, but they were good at pretending they weren’t. 

She almost wished she was talking to the man dressed as the baby instead. At least he would be an idiot; she knew how to deal with idiots. Siobhan shook her head again. “Birdwatching doesn’t take anything special.” Or so she thought, at least. The title made it sound simple enough. “I’m sure you could start if you desired.” What more did it take that watching birds and cataloging it? Birds weren’t known for their ability to hide, were they? There certainly were some—the Canada goose—that she wished—Canada goose—would hide more—Canada goose. Certain birds that waddled with authority. Of all the animals that had adapted to living among humans, in human civilizations, she’d never seen one so domineering. The rat, the raccoon, and the coyote all seemed to carry a sense of shame and a desire for secrecy. Her distaste came from the previous year, when one nested on her farm, hissed at the dog and caused the dog to whine at her about it. Every day, the dog complained to her about the geese’s lack of desire to play. Much like her, she supposed. Then the dog was heartbroken when it left with its new family. There was something in the nature of human-adapted birds that made them brazen. …Why was she thinking about this? 

Home seemed like a sore topic for Felix, their quietness about it screamed at her like a flashing alarm, but she didn’t care to know more and so didn’t inquire. “Cardinals,” she repeated. Was that an actual fact or a lie for the game? Why were they actually having a conversation about birds? In this baby-themed room? Siobhan wanted it all to end. When was Jim Foley coming? “Yes, an owl. Wonderful creature, great tufts.” She didn’t have the bones of that one. “I’ve always been fond of magpies. Common and annoying yes but…” She trailed off. She remembered why she didn’t act like this more often: it was horribly boring. “Horrifically bland.” She glanced around, eager for something—anything—that was more interesting. “Look, Felix,” she started, gesturing to the merchandise table. “Maybe we should go there? It’s clear Jim Foley isn’t—”

The doors creaked open. Anticipation coursed through the room. Finally, there was Jim Foley himself, Old Soldier #3. Everyone flocked to him. Siobhan was flooded with relief and she nearly toppled over with the force of it. She clutched the baby food table. “I suppose you’ll want to go to him now.”

—

Curiosity was a thing that had clung to Felix since childhood. Maybe there were jokes that could be made of that — old phrases about curiosity and cats that could be flung around with quiet ease, comparisons to housecats tangled up in yarn as penance for their curious nature — but that did little to stifle the feeling. Felix didn’t consider themself to be particularly intelligent, knew that few would argue against such a claim, but they still liked to learn things. They liked to turn the television to documentaries and consume every word from the narrator’s mouth so that they could regurgitate it later, spitting out half-digested facts just to see where they landed to people who didn’t typically care much. Later, they’d probably do a deep dive on everything Siobhan was saying. They’d learn more and more about the birds’ migratory patterns, about why they roosted where they did and what made them fly in the direction they flew. They might reach back out to her, might tell her what they learned and see if she had any thoughts on it.

But for now, they only listened. They made quiet notes of everything she said, thinking of birds and their nature, thinking of how home meant something different to a bird than it did to Felix and that neither of them were wrong in their thinking. They thought of those birds in Ireland, mating somewhere far from where they’d be in a few months’ time. “Do you think they miss it?” They questioned, fiddling absently with one of the cloth diapers they were still holding. “When they’re not in Ireland, do you think they miss it? And — And when they are in Ireland, do you think they miss wherever it is they’ve left? I think… If more than one place is home, it means you’re never really home at all, doesn’t it? You can’t be. Not unless you can be in more than one place at a time.” And that was tragic, in a sense, wasn’t it? To belong everywhere meant you belonged nowhere, too. Maybe it wasn’t so bad, not knowing where you belonged at all. At least it meant you had a chance to find out someday.

They hummed, thinking it was nice that Siobhan seemed to believe in them. If they wanted to, she said, they could start birdwatching. Wasn’t that a nice thought? Wasn’t it nice to think that the only thing that stood between Felix and certain things was a desire to pursue them? “Maybe I’ll try it,” they said. “Buy some binoculars and a book and go into the woods. Would you want to come with me? We could find the Arctic terns, when they’re here instead of Ireland.” Would it feel like home, for Siobhan? How much familiarity did a thing need to carry for it to come as a comfort instead of a painful feeling of nostalgia? 

Nodding, they thought of the way their mother’s face used to light up with the flash of red that flew through the snow out the window. “The colors are pretty,” they said. They didn’t know much about cardinals beyond that, and they didn’t think their mother had, either. Maybe they didn’t need to. Maybe it was enough for a thing to exist and to be beautiful; maybe some things could be loved just because the brightness of the red against the snow made someone you loved smile once. But they liked owls better. Once, it had seemed a traitorous thing to admit, but they didn’t mind saying it to Siobhan now. “They’re called plumicorns,” they offered. “The tufts. I read that once. And – And they live in a lot of different climates. I don’t think they live in Ireland, but they probably could.” Magpies. It wasn’t the answer they’d expected, but they smiled anyway. A magpie wasn’t exotic or brightly colored or exceptional, and they liked that Siobhan liked them anyway. Not everything had to be. “I like magpies. I think they’re cool.” They glanced towards the merch table, nodding with one last look towards the door. If Jim Foley skipped out, they wouldn’t be too upset.

But then, the door opened. Jim Foley stepped in, looking a lot older than he had in Baby’s Day Out but squeezed into the costume he’d worn in the film all the same. The crowd flocked to him, but Felix hesitated. Maybe Jim Foley wasn’t the coolest person you could talk to at a Baby’s Day Out fan event. They turned back to Siobhan with a small smile and a shrug. “You were right, I think. Old Soldier #5 was cooler, anyway. Do you want more milk?”

—

With a child’s hand, it was easy to reach into the world and question. Why this? How come? Why that? When did? Everything was new then and so many answers were beyond that grasp. Curiosity was the response of living but her hands had grown and she wasn’t a child anymore. She sustained now: she ate, she slept, she obeyed her bodily functions but she didn’t dare nourish them. Siobhan watched Felix’s face, searching it for a hint of deceit. No one could be so charmed. No one could maintain such curiosity. It was beaten out of you, it always was. They told you to shut up. They told you simple lies to quiet the mind. You learned ridicule; you stopped being curious. Where was that inside Felix’s eyes? Or their simple questions? More than anything else, it was this that unnerved her: Felix held something she had lost a long time ago, and could never hope to have again. 

“Of course they miss it,” she said, staring at her warped reflecting in the baby food. “Of course they miss Ireland. They wouldn’t come back, year after year and generation after generation, if they didn’t.” Did the minds of those Arctic Terns nest on the memories of Ireland as she did? Of course she missed it, it was her home. “I think you miss every place that means something. I think you miss every place you go.” She loved the birds here, silly as it was. The birds of North America continued to charm her. The magpies of her home chirped and sang but the gobble of the wild turkey and—yes—the honk of the Canada Goose charmed her still. Wherever her gaze landed, there was life. Such was true of the whole world, she reasoned, but she didn’t live in the whole world, she lived here. Of course she missed this place too, she wouldn’t have returned otherwise. 

Would she want to come? “Yes,” she answered without thinking, robbed of the usual logical rejections that spring out like the quills of a porcupine. “I would like that.” Maybe they would find those damned Arctic Terns, or maybe they’d find a Cardinal. Maybe a turkey. Maybe a Blue Jay. She would like to remind herself of the beauty of the world. It was so easy to forget it. 

She took Felix’s correction with tender grace, unbecoming of her. She met their eyes. She nodded and soaked their knowledge in and repeated the word to herself like a child: “Plumicorn.” Now she knew what it was called and the next time she found the bones of an owl, she’d remember this moment and Felix and know that her life was a little richer for the knowledge that it was a plumicorn. How terrible, Siobhan thought, she really had lost the game Felix was playing; she liked them in an honest way, thinking that this was who they were naturally. Oh, but that wasn’t true. As with everything else, there was the trick: her mother’s volcanic anger; her grandmother’s fragile moods; her great-grandmother’s punitive silence; her great-great-grandmother’s inexplicable laughter; Felix’s lie, waiting for her.  And yet, the dominating thought on her mind was a simple thing: that sounded like ‘unicorn’. Wasn’t that remarkable? 

Siobhan expected them to go—she wanted them to go—but they stayed and she couldn’t find the winning angle there. For the second time today, they won. For the first time today, Siobhan smiled honestly. “I would like more milk,” she said. 

[hakuna-machete]

Ok so stream of consciousness... OH MY GOD the scene of Wally and his mom where he breaks down next to her and then lets go of the jersey and perfect son persona BROKE me Especially with the memory of her pushing him back into the game implied that that is how he DIED. TEARS streaming down my face I swear. Like the ACTING in that scene. You can see in his eyes when he looks up at her cheering and yelling that he realizes she is stuck in that fake memory of him loving football and football being his life because it is HER life and she is there to celebrate the game that KILLED her son because she won't recognize or doesn't see that it was her insistence that he go back into the game even when he was hurt, even when he didn't want to, that got him killed.

The scenes with him and Maddie at the game were really sweet and I loved the delivery of his "you want to go to the dance with me" and then immediately back tracks, it was so genuine. Maddie is definitely in no place emotionally to be in a relationship but they are very cute.

Now into the meat:

So I've watched a lot of supernatural shows and so far this is not giving me supernatural horror. I can't see a twist where Mr. Martin is suddenly evil and eating souls. Usually with that kind of genre there are SOME kind of hints throughout the show. Even small ones in the background but so far nothing. Not even in tone. Maybe they will come in the coming episodes? Maybe they will do a big switch reveal at the end and pull it off really well who knows? Like if I had to stretch it I could put together someone liking Nicole's photo with Maddie's account, Maddie's back pack/squatter situation, the video being sent to Maddie's friends as possibly Janet possessing Maddie's body theory. But why would Janet hang around town in the body of a missing girl or try to help that girl's friends solve her "murder/disappearance"?

With Nicole's random shady moment at Maddie's mom's trunk and talk about forgiveness I think the hazy memory Maddie had of a fight in the boiler room may be between her and Nicole. But I do not think Nicole killed her. Nicole definitely thinks Maddie is alive. Her reaction to the like from Maddie's account on her photo and her behavior at the horror festival point to her genuinely believing that Maddie isn't dead. I think in the fight Nicole may have hurt Maddie and thinks that's why she ran away and is desperate to get her back because she feels so guilty.

Claire.... With the info we got in 1x05 Claire is giving less killer vibes and more kid in an abusive/unstable home who became ruthless and hard to survive and will do whatever it takes. Her early childhood was clearly unstable and frightening for her and then her mother marries "that rich guy" clearly one of those "leader in the community" types where image means everything. So now she has this perfect autobot sort of outer shell that she uses on everybody and it actively freaks people out when it slips and they can see how angry and scared she is underneath. Like she genuinely looked and sounded like a robot in that early scene with the other contender for homecoming queen. Maybe she did kill Maddie because she thought Maddie knew about her blackmailing the teacher? Maybe she is so stressed out because with that teacher caught, her scam could possibly be exposed and whatever consequences from her mother and stepfather are terrifying to her?

I love that Maddie is pretty self centered. It's just so very true. It's annoying and frustrating and genuine. She is a seventeen year old girl who was just MURDERED and she doesn't remember why or how or who and she just learned that ghosts are REAL and she is one and she is stuck in her high school possibly for DECADES and she has an alcoholic mother who she takes care of and her boyfriend may have murdered her but maybe not but he DEFINITELY cheated on her and her teacher that she really looked up to and took care of her was shady and may have done something to her but maybe it was one of her former friends that she had to abandon because of her mom and she can talk to one of her friends but no one else and is SO reliant on him and the other ghosts want her to move on and sure, some of them are nice and cool and she likes them but she can't really bond with them because she is so angry and depressed but she is still a kind person and in between all the chaos and horror her life is now she reaches out to them in the way she can but she is still SO DETERMINED to find out who killed her and why because just because she is dead doesn't mean she is GONE and she will keep fighting no matter what. I love Maddie.

[tomorrowusa]

Slavery still exists and mainland Southeast Asia is a hotspot for it. But instead of agricultural forced labor, the victims end up in boiler rooms where they are compelled to assist their new masters with online scams. In effect, the victims also become victimizers.

The article above is largely concerned with Myanmar. But Cambodia also has a significant problem with this.

Hundreds of Taiwanese trafficked to Cambodia and held captive by telecom scam gangs

English speakers from Taiwan and Vietnam are in high demand by the slavers. But I've heard of people from the Philippines and Hong Kong being lured into slavery as well.

When looking into overseas job offers, it's essential to investigate the legitimacy of the employer from totally independent sources. Don't be naïve. When something sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

[lawonsie]

So, rewatching both Headless and Leverage, I just have to share some thoughts on Headless' heist episode (ep 8 I believe). Love it so much. And what made me laugh particularly were the moments it reminded me of Leverage and the fun that show has with silly heist/con names. Specifically the Boiler Room Job from Leverage season 4!

The silly fish themed codenames (The blow fish meets baby beluga). The ridiculous naming of scams (The moonwalking bear meets the bitsy big little boon what now?). The level of legend connected to single con men - that con artists are trying to outwit each other (Can't con a con man?). The complicated front of a heist that ends up a distraction. (Love Leverage's Moonwalking Bear <3) The heist-y music. The way things seem to go wrong only to have all been part of the plan. The roles they all take. The disguises. Gorgeous really. You should check both out if you haven't already!

[aeltri]

Did you honestly think that we wouldn't catch on to the literary reference in your latest scam? You're not very clever "Cunegonde", isn't one boiler room enough? Ben is a candide? Because I seem to recall Gambles calling him that as well. We know you better than you think, you repugnant leech. Your soul isn't dead, base animals simply don't have one...

"French literary historians are instinctively not friendly to the idea that the most famous Frenchman was a Venetian agent working for Conti, but the proof is convincing. Voltaire knew both Conti personally and Conti's works. Conti is referred to a number of times in Voltaire's letters."

[simpsonsnight]

Episode #708

Bart's in Jail Season 33, Episode 2 | October 3, 2021

Hey! SURPRISE! I am back, sporadically, to review episodes of The Simpsons from season 33. For the life of me I couldn’t figure out how to watch these as they aired, so I gave up and decided to wait for Disney+ to get them. A billion other things happened in the meantime, so lets get down to it, I GUESS:

This is a pretty simple episode, and it doesn’t really reach a satisfying conclusion, but that’s okay, I guess, because I laughed at it twice. All those laughs happened during the first act. 

Abe gets his social security check and is immediately scammed by a telemarketer who convinces him that Bart is in jail and needs bail money to get out. Homer, mostly acting selfishly because the money in question was to be his only inheritance from Abe (10 thousand bucks which is his winnings from games of chance he funds with said social security money), decides to go on a crusade to take this boiler room operation down. They do, sorta, but all they get out of the deal are gift cards (which the phone operators get paid in) for chain restaurants. 

The emotional core of the episode is mostly on Marge’s faith in humanity; she grapples with the fact that the Simpsons raiding the call center of it’s gift cards is in itself not justice but yet another scam. This development is fairly late in the episode, so it’s sorta safe to call this “tacked on”. Honestly, it’s another fairly bland episode of the show where they simply decided to pivot and go for a heart-stringy moment. It ends with Marge taking a leap of faith in a woman asking for cash at the gas station by giving her 20 bucks and her address, the woman promising she’ll pay Marge back. Surprise: she actually does get the money back. Double surprise: it was GRANDPA who forged the note and gave her 20 dollars of his own money so Marge wouldn’t lose faith in humanity. Okay. 

There are a few notable bits in this one. The episode actually starts out with a flashback to Abe and his friends as young men, working in a Meatball factory. This is where they learn the concept of social security, and we get some previously untold backstory to Grandpa’s youth. I have not kept up with the show at all this season but from what I read the show seems to be trying to unburden itself with the concept of canon. Make Grandpa a factory worker at a Meatball plant because it’s funny. It doesn’t have to jive with other Grandpa backstories. OR: he just had a lot of jobs but no real career to speak of, which also makes sense. Homer refers to Abe as a former “Meatball man” in the episode as though that’s always been his main gig, which is fine by me. 

Gags I liked: Homer imagines a life with $10,000 more and he looks at his toaster and imagines owning one just like it, but with 10 slots instead of two. That’s good. 

Another gag I laughed at was Principal Skinner explaining that his mother fell prey to a similar scam when someone called her pretending to be “punk rockers”, threatening to cut Seymour’s hair into a mohawk. Also very funny.

Two cameos: Grandpa’s is seen dozing off with a magazine that I forget what the title is, but it’s a reference to the Fuxley Archives, who are on facebook and do great hilarious work. The fella’s name is Chris Shapan and I know he’s worked on Tom Goes to the Mayor from covering it on my Adult Swim 2021 blog. 

The other cameo is Bill Cipher from Gravity Falls, who is among a rogues gallery of false idols. He’s played by what’s his name. The guy who voices him. Like, the real guy. I don’t feel like looking it up. He’s there! He’s real! He’s a real guy and I am going to start being scared of him!

MAIL BAG

TV Tropes said that The Simpsons was edited out on The Tracey Ullman Show when it came to the UK because of they lead into advert breaks which BBC never has advert breaks it is the first UK Channel from 1960 and started on radio in 1936. It is the reason why in UK we pay for television license.

Blimey! I did not know that about the Tracey Ullman Show but it makes sense. You’d think the BBC would just put a picture of the Queen smiling nicely where the commercials would go, but I guess not, I guess they killed her instead.

[nigeriannewstv]

Rentalzi Review – Fake Reputation Can’t Hide The Truth Forever

Prime conditions present at rentalzi.com should be reliable and advanced enough to elevate your trading experience and help you build most lucrative strategies. At least that’s what the website owners would like you to believe.

In truth, this brokerage company is yet another shady conduct claiming to operate under full regulatory supervision. Despite not owning any legit Forex licenses, the site in question doesn’t shy away from claiming to be one of the most well regulated international brokerage conglomerates.

Regulated Nowhere

The first clue we based the beginning of our investigation was the website’s claim about the company being based in Hong Kong. SFC, being the financial authority in charge of regulating trading platforms in that jurisdiction, doesn’t have any information about this firm.

What’s more, prominent regulators like FCA, CySEC, BaFin, ASIC and other Tier 1 supervisors also possess no data about this business. The only registry where this firm shows up is the SVGFSA register. However, the website itself doesn’t say anything about HQ being in SVG, so it remains a mystery about their true location.

It is known, though, that offshore service providers like Rich FX care not for your fund safety, negative balance protection or compensation plans.

Falsified High Ratings

The involvement of review seller networks is evident in this case. If you take a look at Sitejabber, Trustedreviews, and TrustProfile, for example, all of the ratings – 100% of them, are the highest grades.

If these reviews were truthful, flawless ratings would not be present in that percentage. Also, how come their TrustPilot page is empty if they’re so famous and reliable?!

Urges You To Deposit

The determined boiler room agents who get their foul hands on your contact number can flood you with phone calls to either drive you crazy or force you to invest.

In the beginning the deal may sound like a profit chance you wouldn’t want to miss. Pushy fraudsters urge you to deposit cash into their scheme so you wouldn’t miss the last shot at getting rich until their fake offer expires.

It goes without saying that such offers are completely fake as well as the artificial hype surrounding them. You’ll be left empty handed and without proper legal support, chances to get your investment back are slim.

Markets In Focus

As published on Whois, this shady scheme has been in business for over three years now – plenty of time to earn more than just pocket money from defrauding traders from:

France

United Kingdom

Australia

Germany

At the end of the day, it matters less where you reside. Besides the swindler’s universal focus on more developed markets, no one is truly safe.

If you’ve already fallen victim for the Rentalzi scam, please refer to our chargeback experts for help in fund recovery.

Unknown Software

The nameless Rentalzi platform is advertised throughout the entire website. All customers are promised a version for every single operating system or device. It isn’t easy to even preview this allegedly convenient, high-performance terminal, though. At least not without registering for an account first.

However, that is currently impossible without the Promo code. Since we didn’t own one, we couldn’t open an account. At this point, the sole existence of this unknown trading portal is questionable.

[digicloudm]

$12.1M fraud suspect with 'new face' arrested, crypto scam boiler rooms busted: Asia Express

Our weekly roundup of news from Asia curates the industry’s most important developments. South Korean manhunt ends as suspect caught with brand new $15K face South Korean police have apprehended 14 individuals involved in a fraudulent crypto mining scheme that pocketed 16 billion Korean won (about $12.1 million), according to reports citing an Aug. 29 press conference. Police identified the…

[citycleannews]

Jared Davis charged with $10 million fraud.

Here we go again, the CFTC or Commodity Futures Trading Commission busted well-known Options hustler, Jared Davis of Sandusky, Ohio.

Additionally, in a concurrent filing, the United States Attorney filed a 22-count indictment for conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to launder money, wire fraud, money laundering, obstruction of justice, and tax evasion.

For most of us, September 17, 2019, was like every other day. We spent the day making our football picks, tried to scrape out profits from the stock market, However, for poor Jared Davis, he spent the day in the back of a police car. All shackled up like a Hawaiian pig at an $8 luau.

Yep, Jared got arrested. the FBI woke him up at 4 am. The wife and kids were wild-eyed, screaming, and terrified as the badges and guns moved throughout the fancy house. They took all the computers, phones, papers, and any evidence laying about. Most importantly, they took Jared. And since Jared was a prick, they waddled him out to the police cruiser — still in his underwear.

Getting arrested by the FBI at 4 am is fucking scary. I should know.

What exactly did Jared Davis do wrong?

According to the FBI and the United States Attorney court filings, Jared had been operating a phony Forex, Contracts For Difference, and Binary Options brokerage out of his house, and a boiler room located in downtown Sandusky.

How did the scheme work? Glad you asked. Beginning in about 2014 through the present, Jared was running an unlicensed and unregistered stocks, options, and Forex brokerage.

Who needs to bother with registering with the SEC or the CFTC anyway!? That’s a waste of time, and those pesky regulations meant to protect investors — who needs those? ( I am being satirical)

In the past few years, City Clean News has drafted quite a few articles about the “white label” phony brokerage industry. What the heck is a “white label” phony brokerage? In a nutshell, offshore companies plug financial data into a piece of software that looks like a real brokerage, in every imaginable way, except it is not real. Instead, it’s just a video game where retail traders can open accounts and execute “live” trades on the platform.

The problem is that these “white label” trading platforms are incredibly easy to manipulate so that the investor is virtually guaranteed to lose. Think of it like a slot machine at an Indian casino, at any time, the casino can flip a switch and the machine simply stops paying. Or, they can rig the machine so that your “penny” bets pay at a higher frequency, but the moment you start upping it to “quarter” bets, the machine tightens up like a straight butthole at a gay bar.

Fraudulent “live trading room”

The scam was clever. Jared Davis had several living trading rooms and affiliate marketing agreements where 3rd parties would provide “education and trading signals” to the retail investor.

The educational component supposedly taught people how to use technical analysis to predict the stock market. The victim would be given the educational products in hopes of luring the victim into actually taking trades.

The “live trading room” would be the “education in action” where the victim would watch the moderators supposedly execute live trades. The victim would watch the supposedly profitable trades and attempt to replicate the moderator.

However, the moderator was using a version of the software that virtually guaranteed that the moderator’s trades would be successful, while the trades of victims would be harder to execute. The victim would continue to attempt to replicate the moderator at ever-worsening prices. All the while, the moderator would enthusiastically encourage the victims in live chat to “get your orders filled” no matter the cost.

Additionally, the live trading rooms contained “shills” that would hype the results by declaring themselves also profitable. However, the “shills” were nothing more than a staged audience.

The end result was predictable. The moderator,  who represented the phony brokerage would nearly always be successful. While the customers would always lose.

Some customers were actually good at trading, they still got screwed

According to the criminal indictment, some of the customers never participated in the “live” trading room and instead deployed their own strategies.

Some of these strategies were quite successful. The US Attorney highlighted several instances that resulted in large losses for Jared Davis. This frustrated and angered Jared Davis immensely. As a result of experiencing losses, Jared demanded that the “white label” software provider rig the software so that the trades became even more difficult to profit.

Yet again, the successful trader was able to keep “beating the house” and subsequently demanded payment. Did the victim get paid? Not a chance. Jared Davis simply refused.

Hide and seek from the regulators

As regulators began to tighten the noose on Jared Davis with subpoenas and regulatory action, he then attempted to circumvent the regulators by creating various shell companies and websites to keep the scam rolling.

The first company was Option Mint, then Option King, and then Option Queen, and finally Option Prince. However, the one connecting piece was the boiler room located in Sandusky Ohio.

Additionally, Jared was unaware that the FBI had subpoenaed Jared’s email server and as the emails were darting throughout the criminal network, employees, customers, that everything was being read and watched by investigators.

It certainly looks like Jared will be going away for a while. Thanks for reading. Another investment scammer bites the dust.

[innovativeideass]

FSM

Its been quite some time since FSM-dedicated thread started. Meanwhile, a lot has happened in the world of scams. Sadly, this scheme seems to be resilient to any enforcement or investigation. We believe (and know) that this is now coming to an end. Bad times ahead for scammers, in general. The hunting season is open in both US and the EU, believe it or not. So the FSM scheme will not be exempted from the proper steps in the near future.

Now we do some small follow-ups, adding some details, exploring further the scheme in some details.

Earlier in this thread (Part 1) we indicated Taris Financial Corp as a receiver of client deposits and later on, subject of regulatory warnings, related to MXTrade, an earlier scam from this group. Well, since a bank wire deposit of a scammed client went to this bogus company's account, wouldn't it be simply easier if the law enforcement representatives, together with Cyprus-based authorities (be it the CySEC or the police - we suggest both) checked the record files lodged with the receiver's bank and determined the identity via KYC documents?

Client: TARIS FINANCIAL CORP IBAN: CY79005001400001400167230301 with Hellenic Bank ltd, Cyprus entity (swift: HEBACY2N)

How hard can it be to check? Nevertheless, it's been 6 years already since this specific 10.000 eur deposit was made from Germany.

Not connected to the above information, but very much connected to scamming German and Aussie clients, there are some indications that parts of this vast scheme possibly were scams known as Olympus Markets (www.olympusmarkets.com) and Aspen Holding (www.aspenholding.com). We are not sure at this time weather true or not, but in case more information is needed, simply check the Vanuatu registrar and NexTrade Ltd and its sole Director, Ms Nonka Asenova, Bulgarian resident

There are no information of this Nonka Asenova, for the time being.

While we wait for some spectacular future crackdown, we can add some more details and new info to this story.

As a short summary, we already elaborated in Part 3 on the fact that, Trade12, HQBroker and FSMSmart(s) were and are coming from the same people, meaning the same people invented, created and launched these 'brands'. While final boiler room operators changed, as they normally do in any scam, the people behind remain the same. So does profit-sharing model between scammers on the phone in a hidden office and guys that granted them access to the 'platform' and all its 'fintech' solutions (CRM, payments, local boiler room set-ups and intermediaries that would protect them, etc).​ Here are more boiler rooms across Eastern Europe and beyond, that 'worked' on FSMSmart 'brand':

- Tbilisi, Georgia, at least from 2019 onwards: 100 Marketing Solutions Sales agent: Anna Tsitsishvili, LinkedIn: https://ge.linkedin.com/in/anna-tsitsishvili-34238bb5 Today's profile is off course relieved of any FSMSmart indications

[forwardsthinking]

FSM

Its been quite some time since FSM-dedicated thread started. Meanwhile, a lot has happened in the world of scams. Sadly, this scheme seems to be resilient to any enforcement or investigation. We believe (and know) that this is now coming to an end. Bad times ahead for scammers, in general. The hunting season is open in both US and the EU, believe it or not. So the FSM scheme will not be exempted from the proper steps in the near future.

Now we do some small follow-ups, adding some details, exploring further the scheme in some details.

Earlier in this thread (Part 1) we indicated Taris Financial Corp as a receiver of client deposits and later on, subject of regulatory warnings, related to MXTrade, an earlier scam from this group. Well, since a bank wire deposit of a scammed client went to this bogus company's account, wouldn't it be simply easier if the law enforcement representatives, together with Cyprus-based authorities (be it the CySEC or the police - we suggest both) checked the record files lodged with the receiver's bank and determined the identity via KYC documents?

Client: TARIS FINANCIAL CORP IBAN: CY79005001400001400167230301 with Hellenic Bank ltd, Cyprus entity (swift: HEBACY2N)

How hard can it be to check? Nevertheless, it's been 6 years already since this specific 10.000 eur deposit was made from Germany.

Not connected to the above information, but very much connected to scamming German and Aussie clients, there are some indications that parts of this vast scheme possibly were scams known as Olympus Markets (www.olympusmarkets.com) and Aspen Holding (www.aspenholding.com). We are not sure at this time weather true or not, but in case more information is needed, simply check the Vanuatu registrar and NexTrade Ltd and its sole Director, Ms Nonka Asenova, Bulgarian resident

There are no information of this Nonka Asenova, for the time being.

While we wait for some spectacular future crackdown, we can add some more details and new info to this story.

As a short summary, we already elaborated in Part 3 on the fact that, Trade12, HQBroker and FSMSmart(s) were and are coming from the same people, meaning the same people invented, created and launched these 'brands'. While final boiler room operators changed, as they normally do in any scam, the people behind remain the same. So does profit-sharing model between scammers on the phone in a hidden office and guys that granted them access to the 'platform' and all its 'fintech' solutions (CRM, payments, local boiler room set-ups and intermediaries that would protect them, etc).​ Here are more boiler rooms across Eastern Europe and beyond, that 'worked' on FSMSmart 'brand':

- Tbilisi, Georgia, at least from 2019 onwards: 100 Marketing Solutions Sales agent: Anna Tsitsishvili, LinkedIn: https://ge.linkedin.com/in/anna-tsitsishvili-34238bb5 Today's profile is off course relieved of any FSMSmart indications

[successvision]

FSM

Its been quite some time since FSM-dedicated thread started. Meanwhile, a lot has happened in the world of scams. Sadly, this scheme seems to be resilient to any enforcement or investigation. We believe (and know) that this is now coming to an end. Bad times ahead for scammers, in general. The hunting season is open in both US and the EU, believe it or not. So the FSM scheme will not be exempted from the proper steps in the near future.

Now we do some small follow-ups, adding some details, exploring further the scheme in some details.

Earlier in this thread (Part 1) we indicated Taris Financial Corp as a receiver of client deposits and later on, subject of regulatory warnings, related to MXTrade, an earlier scam from this group. Well, since a bank wire deposit of a scammed client went to this bogus company's account, wouldn't it be simply easier if the law enforcement representatives, together with Cyprus-based authorities (be it the CySEC or the police - we suggest both) checked the record files lodged with the receiver's bank and determined the identity via KYC documents?

Client: TARIS FINANCIAL CORP IBAN: CY79005001400001400167230301 with Hellenic Bank ltd, Cyprus entity (swift: HEBACY2N)

How hard can it be to check? Nevertheless, it's been 6 years already since this specific 10.000 eur deposit was made from Germany.

Not connected to the above information, but very much connected to scamming German and Aussie clients, there are some indications that parts of this vast scheme possibly were scams known as Olympus Markets (www.olympusmarkets.com) and Aspen Holding (www.aspenholding.com). We are not sure at this time weather true or not, but in case more information is needed, simply check the Vanuatu registrar and NexTrade Ltd and its sole Director, Ms Nonka Asenova, Bulgarian resident

There are no information of this Nonka Asenova, for the time being.

While we wait for some spectacular future crackdown, we can add some more details and new info to this story.

As a short summary, we already elaborated in Part 3 on the fact that, Trade12, HQBroker and FSMSmart(s) were and are coming from the same people, meaning the same people invented, created and launched these 'brands'. While final boiler room operators changed, as they normally do in any scam, the people behind remain the same. So does profit-sharing model between scammers on the phone in a hidden office and guys that granted them access to the 'platform' and all its 'fintech' solutions (CRM, payments, local boiler room set-ups and intermediaries that would protect them, etc).​ Here are more boiler rooms across Eastern Europe and beyond, that 'worked' on FSMSmart 'brand':

- Tbilisi, Georgia, at least from 2019 onwards: 100 Marketing Solutions Sales agent: Anna Tsitsishvili, LinkedIn: https://ge.linkedin.com/in/anna-tsitsishvili-34238bb5 Today's profile is off course relieved of any FSMSmart indications

[dollarsavvy]

FSM

Its been quite some time since FSM-dedicated thread started. Meanwhile, a lot has happened in the world of scams. Sadly, this scheme seems to be resilient to any enforcement or investigation. We believe (and know) that this is now coming to an end. Bad times ahead for scammers, in general. The hunting season is open in both US and the EU, believe it or not. So the FSM scheme will not be exempted from the proper steps in the near future.

Now we do some small follow-ups, adding some details, exploring further the scheme in some details.

Earlier in this thread (Part 1) we indicated Taris Financial Corp as a receiver of client deposits and later on, subject of regulatory warnings, related to MXTrade, an earlier scam from this group. Well, since a bank wire deposit of a scammed client went to this bogus company's account, wouldn't it be simply easier if the law enforcement representatives, together with Cyprus-based authorities (be it the CySEC or the police - we suggest both) checked the record files lodged with the receiver's bank and determined the identity via KYC documents?

Client: TARIS FINANCIAL CORP IBAN: CY79005001400001400167230301 with Hellenic Bank ltd, Cyprus entity (swift: HEBACY2N)

How hard can it be to check? Nevertheless, it's been 6 years already since this specific 10.000 eur deposit was made from Germany.

Not connected to the above information, but very much connected to scamming German and Aussie clients, there are some indications that parts of this vast scheme possibly were scams known as Olympus Markets (www.olympusmarkets.com) and Aspen Holding (www.aspenholding.com). We are not sure at this time weather true or not, but in case more information is needed, simply check the Vanuatu registrar and NexTrade Ltd and its sole Director, Ms Nonka Asenova, Bulgarian resident

There are no information of this Nonka Asenova, for the time being.

While we wait for some spectacular future crackdown, we can add some more details and new info to this story.

As a short summary, we already elaborated in Part 3 on the fact that, Trade12, HQBroker and FSMSmart(s) were and are coming from the same people, meaning the same people invented, created and launched these 'brands'. While final boiler room operators changed, as they normally do in any scam, the people behind remain the same. So does profit-sharing model between scammers on the phone in a hidden office and guys that granted them access to the 'platform' and all its 'fintech' solutions (CRM, payments, local boiler room set-ups and intermediaries that would protect them, etc).​ Here are more boiler rooms across Eastern Europe and beyond, that 'worked' on FSMSmart 'brand':

- Tbilisi, Georgia, at least from 2019 onwards: 100 Marketing Solutions Sales agent: Anna Tsitsishvili, LinkedIn: https://ge.linkedin.com/in/anna-tsitsishvili-34238bb5 Today's profile is off course relieved of any FSMSmart indications

[chroniclesofsuccess]

FSM

Its been quite some time since FSM-dedicated thread started. Meanwhile, a lot has happened in the world of scams. Sadly, this scheme seems to be resilient to any enforcement or investigation. We believe (and know) that this is now coming to an end. Bad times ahead for scammers, in general. The hunting season is open in both US and the EU, believe it or not. So the FSM scheme will not be exempted from the proper steps in the near future.

Now we do some small follow-ups, adding some details, exploring further the scheme in some details.

Earlier in this thread (Part 1) we indicated Taris Financial Corp as a receiver of client deposits and later on, subject of regulatory warnings, related to MXTrade, an earlier scam from this group. Well, since a bank wire deposit of a scammed client went to this bogus company's account, wouldn't it be simply easier if the law enforcement representatives, together with Cyprus-based authorities (be it the CySEC or the police - we suggest both) checked the record files lodged with the receiver's bank and determined the identity via KYC documents?

Client: TARIS FINANCIAL CORP IBAN: CY79005001400001400167230301 with Hellenic Bank ltd, Cyprus entity (swift: HEBACY2N)

How hard can it be to check? Nevertheless, it's been 6 years already since this specific 10.000 eur deposit was made from Germany.

Not connected to the above information, but very much connected to scamming German and Aussie clients, there are some indications that parts of this vast scheme possibly were scams known as Olympus Markets (www.olympusmarkets.com) and Aspen Holding (www.aspenholding.com). We are not sure at this time weather true or not, but in case more information is needed, simply check the Vanuatu registrar and NexTrade Ltd and its sole Director, Ms Nonka Asenova, Bulgarian resident

There are no information of this Nonka Asenova, for the time being.

While we wait for some spectacular future crackdown, we can add some more details and new info to this story.

As a short summary, we already elaborated in Part 3 on the fact that, Trade12, HQBroker and FSMSmart(s) were and are coming from the same people, meaning the same people invented, created and launched these 'brands'. While final boiler room operators changed, as they normally do in any scam, the people behind remain the same. So does profit-sharing model between scammers on the phone in a hidden office and guys that granted them access to the 'platform' and all its 'fintech' solutions (CRM, payments, local boiler room set-ups and intermediaries that would protect them, etc).​ Here are more boiler rooms across Eastern Europe and beyond, that 'worked' on FSMSmart 'brand':

- Tbilisi, Georgia, at least from 2019 onwards: 100 Marketing Solutions Sales agent: Anna Tsitsishvili, LinkedIn: https://ge.linkedin.com/in/anna-tsitsishvili-34238bb5 Today's profile is off course relieved of any FSMSmart indications

[bookeysnewsletter]

The Wolf of Wall Street: A Summary Review Analysis

Chapter 1 What's The Wolf of Wall Street by Jordan Belfort

"The Wolf of Wall Street" is a memoir by Jordan Belfort, detailing his rise to becoming a wealthy stockbroker and his subsequent downfall due to fraud and corruption. Belfort's exploits on Wall Street, which included unethical and illegal practices, were depicted in the 2013 film of the same name starring Leonardo DiCaprio. The book provides insight into the high-flying lifestyle of Belfort and his colleagues, as well as the consequences of their actions. It has been both praised for its candid depiction of the financial world and criticized for glamorizing unethical behavior.

Chapter 2 Is The Wolf of Wall Street A Good Book

The book "The Wolf of Wall Street" by Jordan Belfort is a controversial one. While some people find it entertaining and engaging, others criticize it for glorifying unethical and criminal behavior. It ultimately depends on individual preferences and opinions.

Chapter 3 The Wolf of Wall Street by Jordan Belfort Summary

"The Wolf of Wall Street" is a memoir by Jordan Belfort, detailing his rise and fall as a stockbroker on Wall Street. Belfort founded the brokerage firm Stratton Oakmont and used aggressive sales tactics to swindle millions of dollars from investors. He lived a lavish lifestyle filled with drugs, prostitutes, and extravagant parties.

As Belfort's empire grew, so did the attention from law enforcement. He was eventually arrested and convicted of securities fraud and money laundering. Belfort served time in prison and lost his fortune, but ultimately turned his life around and became a motivational speaker and writer.

The book provides a candid look at the excesses of Wall Street culture and the consequences of greed and unethical behavior. It is a cautionary tale of the dangers of unchecked ambition and the importance of integrity in business.

Chapter 4 The Wolf of Wall Street Author

Jordan Belfort, the author of the book "The Wolf of Wall Street," released the book in 2007. He is a former stockbroker who was convicted of fraud crimes related to stock market manipulation and running a boiler room as part of a penny-stock scam. Belfort served 22 months in prison for his crimes.

In addition to "The Wolf of Wall Street," Belfort has also written two other books: "Catching the Wolf of Wall Street" and "Way of the Wolf." "Catching the Wolf of Wall Street" is a memoir that follows up on the events in the first book, while "Way of the Wolf" is a guide to sales and persuasion techniques.

In terms of editions, "The Wolf of Wall Street" has been released in several formats, including paperback, hardcover, and audiobook. The hardcover edition is often considered the best in terms of quality and durability.

Chapter 5 The Wolf of Wall Street Meaning & Theme

The Wolf of Wall Street Meaning

"The Wolf of Wall Street" is a memoir by Jordan Belfort, a former stockbroker who engaged in fraudulent activities and unethical business practices on Wall Street. The title refers to Belfort's ruthless and predatory behavior in the financial industry, where he used deception and manipulation to make millions of dollars. The book explores themes of greed, corruption, and the moral consequences of pursuing wealth at all costs. It also serves as a cautionary tale about the dangers of unchecked ambition and the importance of integrity in business.

The Wolf of Wall Street Theme

The main theme of "The Wolf of Wall Street" by Jordan Belfort is the corrupting influence of greed and excess. The story follows Belfort's rise and fall as a stockbroker on Wall Street, where he becomes involved in fraudulent activities, money laundering, and excessive partying. Belfort's insatiable appetite for wealth and power leads him to make questionable decisions and engage in unethical behavior, ultimately leading to his downfall.

The novel also explores themes of addiction, morality, and the consequences of unchecked ambition. Belfort's addiction to drugs, alcohol, and reckless behavior serves as a metaphor for the destructive nature of greed and excess. The novel serves as a cautionary tale about the dangers of succumbing to the temptations of wealth and power without regard for ethics or consequences.

Overall, "The Wolf of Wall Street" highlights the dark side of the pursuit of wealth and success, and serves as a reminder of the importance of integrity, humility, and ethical decision-making in business and life.

Chapter 6 Other Accessible Resources

1. The official website for the book, "The Wolf of Wall Street" by Jordan Belfort: https://www.wolfofwallstreet.com/

2. IMDb page for the movie adaptation of "The Wolf of Wall Street" directed by Martin Scorsese: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0993846/

3. Articles and reviews on The Guardian newspaper: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/jan/15/the-wolf-of-wall-street-review

4. The New York Times coverage on Jordan Belfort and The Wolf of Wall Street: https://www.nytimes.com/topic/person/jordan-belfort

5. Variety's articles on the film adaptation starring Leonardo DiCaprio: https://variety.com/t/the-wolf-of-wall-street/

6. Interviews with Jordan Belfort on CNBC: https://www.cnbc.com/jordan-belfort/

7. The official Twitter account for Jordan Belfort: https://twitter.com/wolfofwallst

8. YouTube channels featuring clips and interviews related to The Wolf of Wall Street: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=the+wolf+of+wall+street

9. Podcast episodes discussing the book and its themes: https://podcasts.google.com/?q=the%20wolf%20of%20wall%20street

10. Online forums and discussion boards for fans of The Wolf of Wall Street: https://www.reddit.com/r/WolfOfWallStreet/

Chapter 7 Quotes of The Wolf of Wall Street

The Wolf of Wall Street quotes as follows:

1. "The only thing standing between you and your goal is the story you keep telling yourself as to why you can't achieve it."

2. "There's no nobility in poverty."

3. "The only thing standing between you and your goal is the bullshit story you keep telling yourself as to why you can't achieve it."

4. "The easiest way to make money is -create something that will change people's lives."

5. "Act as if! Act as if you're a wealthy man, rich already, and then you'll surely become rich."

6. "You know, there's an Italian word I want to teach you today. It's called 'stugots'.It means your balls in Italian."

7. "I've been a poor man, and I've been a rich man. And I choose rich every fucking time."

8. "The only thing I can't figure out is this. Why do you still work for me?"

9. "You show me a pay stub for $72,000, I'm good with it."

10. "Number one rule of Wall Street - nobody - and I don't care if you're Warren Buffet or Jimmy Buffet - nobody knows if a stock is going up, down or fucking sideways, least of all stockbrokers. But we have to pretend we know."

Chapter 8 Similar Books Like The Wolf of Wall Street

1. "Barbarians at the Gate: The Fall of RJR Nabisco" by Bryan Burrough and John Helyar - This book provides a gripping account of the hostile takeover of RJR Nabisco, offering a fascinating insight into the world of corporate finance and high-stakes deals.

2. "Liar's Poker" by Michael Lewis - In this memoir, Michael Lewis recounts his experiences working as a bond salesman on Wall Street during the 1980s. A candid and entertaining look at the excesses and absurdities of the financial world.

3. "Flash Boys: A Wall Street Revolt" by Michael Lewis - Another insightful book by Michael Lewis, "Flash Boys" explores the world of high-frequency trading and the impact it has had on the financial markets. A must-read for anyone interested in the inner workings of Wall Street.

4. "The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine" by Michael Lewis - Michael Lewis delves into the 2008 financial crisis, chronicling the stories of a few savvy investors who saw the housing bubble about to burst and bet against it. A compelling narrative that sheds light on the causes of the collapse.

5. "Too Big to Fail: The Inside Story of How Wall Street and Washington Fought to Save the Financial System from Crisis—and Themselves" by Andrew Ross Sorkin - This book provides a detailed account of the 2008 financial crisis, offering a behind-the-scenes look at the decisions made by key players in an effort to prevent a complete economic meltdown. An informative and engaging read.

Book https://www.bookey.app/book/the-wolf-of-wall-street

Author https://www.bookey.app/quote-author/jordan-belfort

Quotes https://www.bookey.app/quote-book/the-wolf-of-wall-street

YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chcYXBsNL1A

Amazom https://www.amazon.com/Wolf-Wall-Street-Jordan-Belfort/dp/0553384775

Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/522776.The_Wolf_of_Wall_Street?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=hosMMDRrw8&rank=1