GALNET - THE CASE AGAINST ‘CALICO ZACK’ - 22 AUG 3309

The Case Against ‘Calico Zack’

GALNET

THE CASE AGAINST ‘CALICO ZACK’​

22 AUG 3309
Financial journalist Bryanna Blanco has renewed her investigation into Zachary Rackham, seeking to invalidate him from the Federal presidential race.
“Thirty years ago, the mysterious ‘Calico Zack’ gained a reputation as a notorious pirate lord. In some backwaters, tales are still told of how he personally led countless raids against cargo ships and passenger liners. Allegedly there were very few casualties in his wake, since the pirate always focused on hijacking valuables rather than causing bloodshed.”
“As Calico Zack’s wealth and influence grew, Archon Delaine viewed him as a threat and planned to go to war. This may be what prompted him abandon piracy. He laundered his ill-gotten gains via shell corporations and stock investments, reinventing himself as Federal entrepreneur Zachary Rackham.”
“Since those days – which he now claims were spent as a struggling trader – Rackham has become a trillionaire. He has absorbed companies, funded grandiose structures, and plastered his name wherever he could. Rackham Capital Investments is largely run by former pirate comrades turned businessmen, which has led to a few violent ‘resignations’ over the years.”
“Rackham’s presidential candidacy has inspired me to redouble my efforts to expose his criminal past. I cannot imagine what the Federation will become if he is elected to high office.”
The Federal Times has come under fire from Zachary Rackham’s supporters, claiming it is acting on the orders of his political rivals. An editorial in rival newsfeed Sol Today said:
“Bryanna Blanco was once a highly respected reporter, but should be facing libel charges for this kind of mudslinging. She has pursued a years-long vendetta against Rackham with very little to show for it, and her articles often recycle discredited conspiracy theories.”
A Federal Intelligence Agency spokesperson stated:
“Mr Rackham is a long-standing member of the FIA Civilian Oversight Board. There has never been any evidence that might cause us to open a criminal investigation into his activities.”
 
[citation needed]

Rackham, as a very rich person in Elite, almost certainly has some shady dealings. It's Elite.

The coverage from Blanco is at least equally suspicious, however. Despite talks of "investigations", she doesn't seem to have provided any proof for her accusations beyond just confidently asserting them, as she does here.
Sometimes she doesn't even do that and just openly speculates: my favourite is her saying that since Rackham's birth certificate isn't public, her guess is that Rackham was born in some "anarchist backwater" outside the Federation. Oh dear.
She also complained that the mainstream media wasn't broadcasting her theories. The Federal Times is the largest newsfeed in the Federation.

On the other hand, the presidential debates made it clear that Rackham is an ass, but oh well. Again, rich person in Elite.
 
I'd advise Blanco to stay away from windows in tall buildings.

Bill

<<<heard that in olden times people could fall to their deaths from windows while being in the basement... ;)
 
[citation needed]

Rackham, as a very rich person in Elite, almost certainly has some shady dealings. It's Elite.
Indeed - being up against Jerome Archer on the Republican side and Isolde Rochester (as VP candidate) on the Liberal side means that even if Blanco's accusations were 100% true they'd probably be the least serious skeletons in closets. Some property theft and consequential small-scale murder really would barely register.

Interesting if he was driven out of his original business by Delaine, since he was spotted chatting with Trask and Volantyne at Joker's Deck not long before their attempted coup.
 
Wait... he's JUST a TRILLIONAIRE?
I'm lazy, and I have 28 billions in assets. It's that easy to be a VIP and run for president?

Vote for me next running. I promise to do nothing. You won't be disappointed.
Trillions go in three digits. He may well have several hundred trillion.
 
Trillions go in three digits. He may well have several hundred trillion.
Unlikely - in May 3308 he was estimated at just 1.012 trillion in terms of total asset value, most of which is likely to be the current market value of things like owned companies rather than ready cash. He's probably got a little bit richer since but if it's taken him 30 years to get to a trillion it's not likely the last year or so has pushed him much above that.

Still, even one trillion is a substantial amount - you could fund the tier bonuses for a few hundred CGs, or buy an entire fleet of capital ships and their support vessels, or purchase the Colonia region's entire commodity production for a year, and still have plenty of change. On a superpower scale it's a bit less - Rackham couldn't afford to give every Federal citizen a credit as a thank you for electing him, for example, even with the Federation's substantial decline in size ... but with another few years of corporate success and Federal losses he'll get there.
 
[citation needed]

Rackham, as a very rich person in Elite, almost certainly has some shady dealings. It's Elite.

The coverage from Blanco is at least equally suspicious, however. Despite talks of "investigations", she doesn't seem to have provided any proof for her accusations beyond just confidently asserting them, as she does here.
Sometimes she doesn't even do that and just openly speculates: my favourite is her saying that since Rackham's birth certificate isn't public, her guess is that Rackham was born in some "anarchist backwater" outside the Federation. Oh dear.
She also complained that the mainstream media wasn't broadcasting her theories. The Federal Times is the largest newsfeed in the Federation.

On the other hand, the presidential debates made it clear that Rackham is an ass, but oh well. Again, rich person in Elite.
Have you ever rigged up a ship to go do piracy in game?
You can't so much as take 1t of biowaste on board without "All that juicy cargo!" messages and constant hounding from other pirates for your 1t of crap.
Then when you go to sell it, it's like 5% of it's actual value when sold on black market.
Practically speaking, becoming a trillionaire from piracy is going to take more lifetimes than a single person has.
 
Have you ever rigged up a ship to go do piracy in game?
You can't so much as take 1t of biowaste on board without "All that juicy cargo!" messages and constant hounding from other pirates for your 1t of crap.
Then when you go to sell it, it's like 5% of it's actual value when sold on black market.
Practically speaking, becoming a trillionaire from piracy is going to take more lifetimes than a single person has.

Piracy was very lucrative at LTD/VO times... I did 4bn pirating players and miners at that time.

A friend did even more, I believe 6 or 7bn! Go figure :D YARRR
 
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