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Ancient Iraqi Artifacts Imported By Hobby Lobby to be Forfeited

justice.gov

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Re: Ancient Iraqi Artifacts Imported By Hobby Lobby to be Forfeited

#71

Post by ceedan »

elif wrote: post #61
ceedan wrote: post #42

Per Hobby Lobby statement: https://newsroom.hobbylobby.com/articles/artifact-import-set... "At no time did Hobby Lobby ever purchase items from dealers in Iraq or from anyone who indicated that they acquired items from that country." lol. Don't ask don't tell, amirite? It's funny to see HL running through the motions defending themselves on this one. Surely nobody there is stupid enough to think that we actually buy…

Logic in american political discourse is too big of an ask. As long as there is a compelling narrative and complicit media, literally absolute bullshit can be accepted as valid discourse or even valid history.

It's exhausting to see all these big corporations and individuals getting away with absolute insanity. Get caught, fight hard in court to get the prosecutors to agree to a settlement... then have the old PR team release some garbage for the plebs to read.

"Oh so sorry, we just didn't know. First time collectors, you see."

Re: Ancient Iraqi Artifacts Imported By Hobby Lobby to be Forfeited

#72

Post by TACIXAT »

humanrebar wrote: post #58
WhiteNoiz3 wrote: post #16

Anyone else reminded of Snow Crash by this?

Honestly no. Which part? The themes of Snow Crash include anarcho-corporatism, psychological hacking, and virtual reality. Which of those involves ancient artifacts, smuggling, and Christian craft stores?

>In Snow Crash, a sinister industrialist has obtained and translated ancient nam-shubs and is using them to wreak linguistic havoc in the modern world. [1]

>Yes. These practical Kabbalists used a so-called 'archangelic alphabet', derived from first-century Greek and Aramaic theurgic alphabets, which resembled cuneiform. The Kabbalists referred to the alphabet as 'eye-writing,' because the letters were composed of lines and small circles, which resembled eyes. [2]

1. http://deoxy.org/aleph/nam-shub.htm

2. http://besser.tsoa.nyu.edu/impact/f93/students/tracy/tracy_m...

Re: Ancient Iraqi Artifacts Imported By Hobby Lobby to be Forfeited

#73

Post by true_religion »

humanrebar wrote: post #58
WhiteNoiz3 wrote: post #16

Anyone else reminded of Snow Crash by this?

Honestly no. Which part? The themes of Snow Crash include anarcho-corporatism, psychological hacking, and virtual reality. Which of those involves ancient artifacts, smuggling, and Christian craft stores?

Snow Crash also features the Tower of Babel, Sumerian language, and Eurasian refugees.

I can see the connection... it's fairly vague though.

Re: Ancient Iraqi Artifacts Imported By Hobby Lobby to be Forfeited

#74

Post by Brendinooo »

MrZongle2 wrote: post #40
gorkonsine wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Their customers are obviously perfectly happy to patronize them regardless of this.

Source?

https://www.forbes.com/companies/hobby-lobby-stores/

Not definitive proof of anything, as they could be losing money, but that's a big enough number to suggest that plenty of people don't know, don't care, or know but don't care about their extracurricular activities.

Re: Ancient Iraqi Artifacts Imported By Hobby Lobby to be Forfeited

#75

Post by angrydev »

Brendinooo wrote: post #70
bogomipz wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And perhaps equally infuriating and insulting is this Christian company not taking any responsibility for the theft or funding terrorists. From the BBC articles; >'Hobby Lobby said it "did not fully appreciate the complexities" of the import process when it began' and >'The company imprudently relied on dealers and shippers who, in hindsight, did not understand the correct way to document and ship these items," Hobby…

So how did this go down, in your mind? The President of Hobby Lobby got his eyes on some shiny objects, then was told to make the check out to Al-Qaeda, and decided that it was worth funding terrorism to get the items he'd been lusting after? Also, would you arrest someone who purchased an item at a yard sale that had been stolen at one point? Come to think of it, should I be grilling every yard sale proprietor to ma…

This isn't the same thing as buying a stolen lamp from a yard sale. In fact that's pretty ignorant to ignore the details with this case.

FTA: Notwithstanding these warnings, in December 2010, Hobby Lobby executed an agreement to purchase over 5,500 Artifacts, comprised of cuneiform tablets and bricks, clay bullae and cylinder seals, for $1.6 million. The acquisition of the Artifacts was fraught with red flags. For example, Hobby Lobby received conflicting information where the Artifacts had been stored prior to the inspection in the UAE. Further, when the Artifacts were presented for inspection to Hobby Lobby’s president and consultant in July 2010, they were displayed informally. In addition, Hobby Lobby representatives had not met or communicated with the dealer who purportedly owned the Artifacts, nor did they pay him for the Artifacts. Rather, following instructions from another dealer, Hobby Lobby wired payment for the Artifacts to seven personal bank accounts held in the names of other individuals.

Re: Ancient Iraqi Artifacts Imported By Hobby Lobby to be Forfeited

#76

Post by s73ver »

Brendinooo wrote: post #70
bogomipz wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And perhaps equally infuriating and insulting is this Christian company not taking any responsibility for the theft or funding terrorists. From the BBC articles; >'Hobby Lobby said it "did not fully appreciate the complexities" of the import process when it began' and >'The company imprudently relied on dealers and shippers who, in hindsight, did not understand the correct way to document and ship these items," Hobby…

So how did this go down, in your mind? The President of Hobby Lobby got his eyes on some shiny objects, then was told to make the check out to Al-Qaeda, and decided that it was worth funding terrorism to get the items he'd been lusting after? Also, would you arrest someone who purchased an item at a yard sale that had been stolen at one point? Come to think of it, should I be grilling every yard sale proprietor to ma…

No. I do attribute this to malice. Or at least to not giving a shit about the law. They knew this wasn't on the up and up. And given that this is the same company that fought for exemptions from the ACA on religious grounds. If they want to claim religion, then they need to follow through with that in all of their business; not just picking and choosing what aspects of the religion they get to follow.

Re: Ancient Iraqi Artifacts Imported By Hobby Lobby to be Forfeited

#77

Post by dsfyu404ed »

ceedan wrote: post #42

Per Hobby Lobby statement: https://newsroom.hobbylobby.com/articles/artifact-import-set... "At no time did Hobby Lobby ever purchase items from dealers in Iraq or from anyone who indicated that they acquired items from that country." lol. Don't ask don't tell, amirite? It's funny to see HL running through the motions defending themselves on this one. Surely nobody there is stupid enough to think that we actually buy…

Information can be a liability too. Sometimes you shouldn't ask.

Re: Ancient Iraqi Artifacts Imported By Hobby Lobby to be Forfeited

#78

Post by tanderson92 »

Brendinooo wrote: post #62
knodi123 wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> who said religious beliefs barred them from paying for certain kinds of contraception in their employees health care And who actually offered that contraception as part of their health care for decades, no problem, until obamacare mandated it , at which point they suddenly realized they had a deep-seated religious conviction against it.

Do you have a source for this one? I'd haven't heard this before.

http://www.politifact.com/punditfact/statements/2014/jul/01/...

Re: Ancient Iraqi Artifacts Imported By Hobby Lobby to be Forfeited

#79

Post by alwayseasy »

Brendinooo wrote: post #70
bogomipz wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And perhaps equally infuriating and insulting is this Christian company not taking any responsibility for the theft or funding terrorists. From the BBC articles; >'Hobby Lobby said it "did not fully appreciate the complexities" of the import process when it began' and >'The company imprudently relied on dealers and shippers who, in hindsight, did not understand the correct way to document and ship these items," Hobby…

So how did this go down, in your mind? The President of Hobby Lobby got his eyes on some shiny objects, then was told to make the check out to Al-Qaeda, and decided that it was worth funding terrorism to get the items he'd been lusting after? Also, would you arrest someone who purchased an item at a yard sale that had been stolen at one point? Come to think of it, should I be grilling every yard sale proprietor to ma…

Yes, antiquities from this part of the world that are sold on the black market have higher stakes. The DOJ makes it clear Hobby Lobby acted very suspiciously/maliciously. If you're at a yard sale where you're asked to meet the seller at the back to see the "real goods" and pay in unusual ways, you're exposing yourself. Let's not forget, the president of Hobby Lobby isn't naive when it comes to the law... he navigated a lawsuit to the Supreme Court.

Source:

"Further, when the Artifacts were presented for inspection to Hobby Lobby’s president and consultant in July 2010, they were displayed informally. In addition, Hobby Lobby representatives had not met or communicated with the dealer who purportedly owned the Artifacts, nor did they pay him for the Artifacts. Rather, following instructions from another dealer, Hobby Lobby wired payment for the Artifacts to seven personal bank accounts held in the names of other individuals." https://www.justice.gov/usao-edny/pr/united-states-files-civ...

Re: Ancient Iraqi Artifacts Imported By Hobby Lobby to be Forfeited

#80

Post by CaptSpify »

aaron-lebo wrote: post #38
gorkonsine wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not in my experience. It's obviously not a distorted generalization of the Hobby Lobby owners themselves, and I think they're very representative of that sub-group of Christians. Not to say that all Christians are like this, not by a long shot; evangelicals are only a fraction, and the far-right-wing politically-active ones like the HL owners are a fraction of that, but they're a really awful fraction.

Having grown up in that culture, worked at HL as my first job and a brother that worked at Mardel, you have no idea what you are talking about.

Having grown up in that culture, and lived in that area before, I'd say he's actually spot on.
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