“Freezing Order: A True Story of Money Laundering, Murder, and Surviving Vladimir Putin’s Wrath“
How can I get you to read this book?
I was hanging with a 17-year-old yesterday. He spends two hours a day on TikTok, an hour on Snapchat, and almost never watches streaming television. There are so many diversions today, how do you get someone to sit down and read a book?
It’s really hard. Somewhere along the line reading got a bad rep. If you read you’re a nerd. But reading is how you get the most accurate, deepest understanding of the subject matter. The network news, which almost no one watches anymore anyway, wouldn’t even cover the front page of the New York Times. There’s not that much there. But in the newspaper, in books, there’s a wealth of information.
Then again, too many have been recommended loser books. This is a problem with music too. People recommend what they like, they don’t think about what the person they’re recommending the record to likes. It’s got to be easy, it’s got to cut like butter, it has to be enticing.
That’s “Red Notice.”
I wrote about it here.
That was six years ago. But what is discussed in “Red Notice” has only gotten worse.
To make a long story short, Bill Browder ran a hedge fund in Russia and then Russia said it didn’t pay $230 million in taxes when in truth it had and the Russian government operatives stole it. In the process, the hedge fund’s lawyer lost his life and ever since Browder has been traveling the world to try and get the Magnitsky Act passed (Magnitsky is the name of the deceased attorney).
The Magnitsky Act denies entrance into the country of human rights offenders and allows the government to freeze their assets. You might have read the opinion piece in yesterday’s “New York Times”: “Don’t Freeze Russia’s Reserves. Liquidate Them.” Online, the article is entitled: “$100 Billion. Russia’s Treasure in the U.S. Should Be Turned Against Putin”: nyti.ms/383w3vu
That’s right, Russian oligarchs have $100 billion parked in the U.S., and a great percentage of that is Putin’s! You think the seizing of assets is a foreign issue, the yachts in the Mediterranean. But right here we’ve got a problem, and almost no one seems to be aware of it.
That’s what “Freezing Order” is about. It’s about Bill Browder’s tracking of the stolen $230 million and his effort to hold the offenders to account. Oh, it’s also about Putin’s mission to extradite Browder and put him in jail.
So “Freezing Order” starts off riveting, your eyes will bug out, but as it wears on it’s mostly a cat and mouse game, along with Browder’s emotions. Meaning it’s not quite as good as “Red Notice,” but the content will blow your mind. It will horrify you. It will have you questioning your beliefs. You’ll wonder whether it can happen here. Even though to a great degree it already has.
Here’s the bottom line. Putin and his buddies have raped Russia financially. And they don’t want anybody questioning their behavior. Putin is in bed with the Russian Mafia. And if you get in the way of their efforts, usually you die. That’s right, one witness after another is killed. They fall off a building or are hit by a car. There is no law when it comes to Putin. Nothing he says is trustworthy. And he’s got a personal vendetta against Browder, he told Trump that he’d exchange twelve Russian offenders for Bill. And what did Trump say? “I think that’s an incredible offer.” That’s a quote. Literally.
So Browder is freaking out. The President of the United States says he’ll trade him to Putin for twelve Russians convicted in the U.S. in absentia.
And this brings up two issues. Why does Putin have such a bug up his rear end about Browder? Mainly, he wants the Magnitsky Act gone, he doesn’t want his overseas assets frozen.
As for Trump? It appears he had no idea who Browder was, never mind throwing him to the wolves without looking at the facts of the case.
That’s right, Browder says one thing and Putin says another. But when you read this book you’ll realize NOTHING Putin says is trustworthy, NOTHING! I mean we’re used to the U.S., where there’s at least some accountability. There is none in Russia. And everybody’s working for Putin, despite what they say. The “independent” lawyer who met with Trump, Jr? She was working for Putin.
But it’s even worse than what I’ve said here. Much worse. It’s all in “Freezing Order,” but a small sliver of Americans will ever read it.
Browder is constantly under the gun, so he uses the media to get his message out. And it takes all day! Because to reach everybody in the U.S., you’ve got to be on numerous TV channels, and in print, and you still don’t reach most of the people. We live in a Tower of Babel society where too often might makes right.
I mean you can believe what Putin says. You can take it at face value. There are commentators and elected officials who do. But if they read these books they’d change their minds instantly. INSTANTLY! Unless they were on the take. Yeah, that’s how you get rich in politics, you take the money. Everybody is about taking the money today. Musicians are some of the worst offenders. No one can say no, no one can stand up for what is right. They’ll associate with a pariah for the perks. Oh, you’ll put me on the private jet and fly me to the island and… Then they own you.
This guy is twenty times worse than you ever imagined.
So your homework tonight is to buy “Red Notice” and “Freezing Order” and read them. I guarantee you the former will rival any streaming drama, and it’s true! And the latter puts the brain dead police procedurals on network TV in their place, i.e. the dumper.
These are not hard reads. If it takes you more than a week to read both…you probably don’t know how to read. Your eyes will bug out, you’ll tell everybody you know about the books and what they contain. You’ll feel educated, in a world where those with no experience, no firsthand knowledge, bloviate, and it’s accepted as the truth.
Sure, it’s pretty horrifying watching the images from Ukraine. But you need to go to the source, the man pulling the levers, and that’s Vladimir Putin. And Bill Browder has more experience with Putin than just about anybody. He’s been talking, but not enough people are listening.
If you read these books you’ll know more about what’s happening in Russia than not only the people in your neighborhood, but many on TV! All you have to do is read them.
You can download them to your electronic device instantly! But too many Luddites insist books must be on paper. No, it’s information and it doesn’t matter how you consume it, as long as you do.
These are the most important books on the market now… READ THEM!
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