Yes, a lot of the first world off loads its garbage onto the third world and these developing countries, in turn, generate just as much of their own garbage. Garbage that usually ends up in toxic/illegal landfills, into various waterways, or floating out into the ocean only to become a part of the humongous island garbage patches dotted around the globe.
In my case, nothing served as a more startling example of the waste we collectively generate than the local city dump. Occasionally, to get rid of old furniture and other random stuff, we've made trips to such a place as this, which allows you to drop off old junk in a giant dumping ground for a small fee. Even for the modest town I live in, this local dump, which is privately ran and is only one out of a couple for this area, has always had a literal mountain of garbage tens of feet high, by tens of feet long. It's sheltered in a very large half-open warehouse and there's always so much garbage there that it's practically touching the ceiling high above. And yet this is a normal amount of garbage collection for them. One that replicates itself week after week without fail. And they're not even the official dump for the city, which means that massive amount of garbage I've seen constitutes only a fraction of that actually generated by this city. And then, when you try to broaden the picture, every city, large or small, generates its own sizable amount of trash. Think how much trash a place like New York must create on a daily basis. Enough to fill hundreds, if not thousands, of warehouses like the kind I described above. Go bigger and think of the trash generated by entire countries, or entire continents. All the oceans of garbage and waste flowing out from our daily activity. And this happens every single moment, every single week, every single month, every single year. It's truly mind boggling. How we're not somehow buried in it up to our necks by now is astonishing.
I'm reminded of a joke by Bill Burr, when he remarks on the highly accurate, but not often thought about fact, that everything we've ever used is somewhere. Think about your entire life and everything you've ever donated or thrown away. All that stuff is somewhere out there. Crushed beneath a landfill, or floating out in the ocean, or, just maybe, is being used by someone else. It's crazy to think about, isn't it? The history of people's trash. Those both alive and dead have all left their mark in this way.
I can't help, but notice how in every single house, down every single street, and in every obscure little corner of human habitation; people are using things, throwing things away, buying new things, gobbling up electricity to heat their homes in the winter or cool them in the summer, ordering take-out, driving their cars, making plans for international trips which involve air travel, or other things they'd like to do which requires enormous fossil fuel energy. In every major city, at every single moment of the day, people go to stores, they shop, they dine out, they go to the movies, they mingle at nightclubs, they go to amusements parks and take in all the lurid sights they can. And all this happens. Every. Single. Day. Year upon year. I mean, just think of how this already has happened for decades now. From Chicago, to Tokyo, to Melbourne, to Toronto. Every single day. Every single night. How in the hell has it managed to go on for this long? With that much energy and resources being used by so many people, in so many places. By rights, it should have all collapsed within a week, yet it's been chugging along for decades now without stopping. Quite the opposite, it's only grown and grown. It makes me realize just how much there is in nature. How much energy to be exploited, how many animals there are to be slaughtered, how many other resources there are to be extracted. And that, as of now, we've squeezed and consumed every last drop out of it. Resources that could have lasted centuries, if not millennia, assuming they were properly managed, with far less people around to need them in the first place (at least less than a billion). Instead, we've taken all of it and stuffed into every belching furnace we could, simply to keep the infernal engine running. Hotels, restaurants, high price getaway resorts, luxury cruises, casinos, and whatever other bullshit you can think of. All so as to keep the lights on and the music booming in every single city across the world, and doubly so for the major ones. Like I said, it's just staggering to me that it's all lasted this long.
For better or worse, the world is unknown to me. In my case, I've been a hermit for nearly 15 years. I've never partied, or traveled, or done anything at all except sit quietly in my room. A tidy and well kept dungeon of near perpetual darkness, with garbage bags and thick cardboard taped over every window, leaving me lost behind my own wall of near perfect isolation. All I can do is sit with myself, stewing in morbid self-attention or mulling over any number of other equally dreary topics. Too much time spent thinking about all the things I'd rather not think about. One such common thought would be whether or not anything else will ever make itself known to me, or if all that I've come to realize is all there will ever be. Perhaps hedonism is really all there is. Perhaps matters of pleasure, for whatever form that might take for each individual, really are the only point to life. Sometimes I wonder that, if the world is going to die anyway, you might as well get drunk and party like there's no tomorrow and experience as much as you can before it's gone. If this is true, as I sometimes think to myself, then I suppose I've truly failed in my life. I haven't enjoyed myself and I have nothing, even on the most base level, that could warrant my time spent rotting on this planet. No good memories, no traveling anywhere, no having unique experiences. I've been as good as dead from the day I was born. Everything I've seen outside my window or through my computer screen, might as well be like pictures in a book. A faint two dimensional shadow of something that can never be anything more than what it is. Resting in my imagination only, but not even passing as a figment of the real thing. I'm a pale imitation of life. One that wishes I could have at least gotten something out of all this, as bad as it is, despite knowing in my heart that I never will.
ADDITIONAL EDIT BELOW:
Thanks for all the info. I hadn't considered some of what was mentioned here and it's given me more to think about. The world is, indeed, a large place and thus affords a copious amount of room for our trash. I'll admit that I wasn't aware of how efficiently garbage can, sometimes, be disposed of. Then again, in a world where a large amount of the air, food, water, and earth is poisoned, I suppose it doesn't much matter in the end how much or how little garbage it is that we actually generate. Well, like I said, it's still staggering to me how long this has gone on for. Consumerism, starting from 1945 and onwards, has been around for a little over 75 years now and, with it, most of our modern conveniences. That's nothing when compared against the rest of human history, let alone the deep time of the natural world, but I don't know. Like I said, it's dubiously amazing to me that it all even lasted a month. The fact that our current arrangements can last longer than a week at most, is even more dubiously amazing.
As for myself, I've accepted my lot in life. For what little that amounts to, I suppose. Not everyone has a taste for life, or is cut out for actually living as one would ordinarily expect. It's a sad thing, but as long as humans have been around for, there have been people like me who have puttered about in their dreary existences. Those who've just sort of trudged through life carried by their own prior inertia and fear of death. Tens of millions have come and gone who have found themselves in this predicament and, to this day, there are still those condemned to do the same. I'm just another regrettable example of it. It's not fine, but I accept it. I am what I am and, for better or worse, no one should deny who it is they truly are. Even if who they are only brings them pain and puts them apart from nearly every living thing on the planet. That's how it is, but I guess it doesn't stop me from complaining about it, as I've unfortunately done here, so apologies for that.
If there are self-made purgatories, then we all have to live in them. Mine can be no worse than someone else's.
Also, for what it's worth, I'm actually a pretty healthy individual. I engage in at-home exercises, have an extremely clean diet, and take Vitamin D and pro-biotic supplements. I do the laundry, I keep my room exceptionally clean, and, along with my mother, I keep our home well kept and decent. Believe it or not, but these are all things I've done for many years now. And you know what? I still feel the way it is I feel. Garbage bags over the windows and everything. Last year, as a matter of fact, I did enough work around this house to have kept at least 3 separate contractors busy for weeks, but, at the end of the day, I was still left with what I otherwise was. I operated a jackhammer and single-handedly cleared away tonnes and tonnes of old concrete that had been blighting our property for years, only to then do the back breaking work of disposing of it as well. I painted our entire fence, I painted and re-sanded our old deck, and I cleaned up the basement, the garage and the shed from top to bottom. It's partly thanks to what I did that we have a brand new driveway now, since I got the ball rolling on it and significantly reduced the cost through my efforts. But, in the end, I didn't do these things because I was ever asked to do them, but to silence the madness in my mind and to briefly make an escape from my isolation.
I didn't have to do these things, but I needed to all the same. Anything to make the pain inside my heart/mind stop, if only for a little while. Like modern media before I was stricken with anhedonia, these tasks were essentially a form of escapism for me. An escapism used to briefly evade experiencing my own empty existence. I don't know what's wrong with me, but, whatever it is, it's been with me all my life. Aside from my mother, and occasionally my older brother when he comes to visit, I speak with no one. I have no friends and, frankly, I have no idea how to make them. This is as true for the digital world, as it is for the flesh and blood one. I don't know what to do about whatever it is I am, but, as hard as it's been, I've tried to accept that this might just be who I was always destined to be. Plus, it's been so many years now. So many years of this. You fall down a hole long enough and, sooner or later, you can't imagine any other way to be. Well, again, it'd just been nice to get something out of all this, this whole civilization thing, besides just being a hermit. I guess in the age of COVID, that's what everyone's encouraged to be anyway. It's like Junji Ito's Army of One made manifest. Who'd have ever thought.

Hello again, and good morning!
This listing is for items that did not sell during the January 17 Auction, so you can buy anything you want right here and right now - no buyer's premiums, no additional fees.
*FREE shipping for any order over $100.
*All items priced at $1 are now .75 each
Each lot was individually imaged (front and back) for the auction - so the easiest way for you to see exactly what you're buying is to visit the auction link (the auction is over, so I'm not advertising anything different or advertising an upcoming auction) - so here that is:
https://www.invaluable.com/catalog/2qx7j50tq0?size=50&page=1&categories=&sort=
Here is the required "prove you still have the stuff" photo with the username card and today's date:
PHOTO
Payment: PayPal only. I do not have Venmo/Zello/Bitcoin or any other form of digital payment at this time. No notes if using PPFF, please. (Thank you.) If you choose to use PPFF, please make sure to send me your shipping address here as it won't automatically load with your payment.
Shipping: I will charge you what it costs me for the USPS label rounded up to the nearest dollar. For First Class that is usually $4, for USPS Priority Mail Flat Rate Small Box it will be $9. I will get you a tracking number right after payment is received and will get your package scanned into the USPS system within 24 hours of receipt of payment. I will offer "Risky Shipping" (via stamped greeting card) at my discretion for $1 - for single, small coins ONLY. NOTE: These prices are for Continental US shipping only - if you live outside the continental US, shipping will be more expensive. I am still happy to do it under the same rules as above, but just keep in mind it's going to cost more.
What do YOU need to do to buy coins from this group: send me a list of which lots you want (for example, I want to buy lots # 51, 52, 53, 54, 55) and I will send you a total. There are too many coins here (plus there are duplicates) so I cannot look up the coins you want by description - just give me lot numbers and it will be much simpler.
I'd like to make a simple and polite request - if I have sent you my PayPal information (meaning we've agreed to a deal) please finish it up as soon as you can so I can check you off the list and move on to the next person. This helps make sure you get all the coins we discussed and no one else is in limbo.
I will do my absolute best to update the ad as soon as lots sell.
LEFTOVERS:
52 China (Republic) 10 Cash $5.00
57 China (Hu-Peh Province) 10 Cash $1.00
59 Hong Kong - 1866 1 Cent NICE $8.00
61 China (Republic) 10 Cash $3.00
62 China (Kiang-Nan Province) 10 Cash NICE $20.00
63 China (Republic) 20 Cash $5.00
64 1977 D Eisenhower Dollar UNC MINT CELLO $4.00
67 British West Africa - 1940 1/10 Penny NICE $5.00
70 France (Perpignan) 1917 A 10 Centimes $5.00
71 1976 Shelbyville Dam (Illinois) Elongated/Smashed Nickel Souvenir $3.00
76 France (Orleans/Lyon/Toulouse) 10 Centimes Transportation Token (good to 31 Dec 1918) $3.00
77 Papua New Guinea - 2008 2 Kina UNC $2.00
78 Missouri Insurance Company (St. Louis) Good Luck Token $3.00
79 1900 India (Rama-Laksmana) Type C #1 (Brotman) Temple Token NICE $40.00
80 1956 Roosevelt Dime UNC TONED $6.00
83 1955 General Motors "Motorama" Medal BU $15.00
86 Central States 70th Anniversary Convention Token Jerry Lebo Advertising $6.00
87 Consolidated Numismatic Advertising Token Good For $1 Edmundston, Canada $2.00
88 France (Perpignan) 1917 A 5 Centimes $5.00
91 France (Perpignan) 1921 A 25 Centimes Scalloped Edge $8.00
93 Ukraine - 2003 100 Hryvnia UNC $2.00
94 German East Africa (Tanzania) - 1916 T 20 Heller $10.00
95 Illinois Governer Otto Kerner Inauguration Medal $2.00
96 5 Cent Trade Token NICE $3.00
98 Germany (Schleswig-Holstein) - 1923 10 Mark Notgeld UNC $10.00
99 A. Phillips Co Cambridge, Maryland 20 Cent Trade Token NICE $8.00
100 EZ Park Courtesy Token $1.00
159 Great Britain - 1949 Penny NICE $2.00
163 1959 Type B Reverse Washington Quarter UNC TONED $12.00
165 Great Britain - 1932 1 Penny NICE $3.00
166 1960 Type B Reverse Washington Quarter UNC $10.00
167 1960 Type B Reverse Washington Quarter UNC $10.00
169 Portugal - 1921 10 Centavos NICE $10.00
170 Germany (Prussia) 1700's-1800's Jeton (Token) Wilhelm 3 "Neue Ehre Neues Gluck" $3.00
172 1963 Type B Reverse Washington Quarter UNC TONED $12.00
175 1964 D Washington Quarter UNC TONED $8.00
176 Canada - 1921 1 Cent NICE $4.00
179 Stag Beer Wooden Nickel "Fair on the Square" $1.00
180 The TV Shop Slidell, LA One Wooden Buck $1.00
181 Canada - 1929 1 Cent NICE $3.00
185 1962 Type B Reverse Washington Silver Quarter NICE $8.00
186 Canada - 1920 1 Cent NICE $4.00
188 1957 Type B Reverse Washington Quarter NICE $6.00
192 Canada - 1945 5 Cents NICE $2.00
193 State of Missouri Sesquicentennial Medal $2.00
194 State of Missouri Sesquicentennial Medal $2.00
195 Canada - 1945 5 Cents NICER $4.00
196 France - 1916 2 Centimes LOW MINTAGE $2.00
197 Germany (Empire) 1914 J 2 Pfennig NICE $8.00
198 Mexico - 1946 1 Centavo NICE $1.00
200 Mexico - 1924 2 Centavos BETTER DATE $6.00
259 1954 S Washington Quarter UNC $10.00
260 1957 Washington Quarter UNC TONED $10.00
261 1963 Type B Reverse Washington Quarter UNC TONED $20.00
262 1999 D Kennedy Half Dollar UNC from Mint Set GEM BU PROOFLIKE $3.00
263 1941 S "Large S" Lincoln Wheat Cent $1.00
264 1941 S "Large S" Lincoln Wheat Cent $1.00
266 1941 S "Large S" Lincoln Wheat Cent $1.00
267 1941 S "Large S" Lincoln Wheat Cent $1.00
269 Maybrook NY Golden Jubilee Good For 10 Cent Wooden Nickel $1.00
270 Maybrook NY 1975 Golden Jubilee 25 Cent Wooden Nickel $1.00
274 2009 P Lincoln Cent "Formative Years" Doubled Die Reverse 013 UNC $2.00
275 World Silver - Barbados 1973 Proof 5 Dollars LOW MINTAGE $20.00
276 2009 P Lincoln Cent "Formative Years" Doubled Die Reverse 013 UNC $2.00
277 2009 P Lincoln Cent "Formative Years" Doubled Die Reverse 013 UNC $2.00
279 2009 P Lincoln Cent "Formative Years" Doubled Die Reverse 012 UNC $2.00
280 2009 P Lincoln Cent "Formative Years" Doubled Die Reverse 012 UNC $2.00
281 2009 P Lincoln Cent "Formative Years" Doubled Die Reverse 012 UNC $2.00
282 2009 P Lincoln Cent "Formative Years" Doubled Die Reverse Book Low UNC $2.00
286 2009 P Lincoln Cent "Formative Years" Doubled Die Reverse 002 UNC $2.00
287 1983 Lincoln Cent DDO FS-101 $25.00
288 2009 P Lincoln Cent "Formative Years" Doubled Die Reverse 012 UNC $2.00
289 2009 P Lincoln Cent "Formative Years" Doubled Die Reverse 012 UNC $2.00
291 1964 D Washington Silver Quarter UNC TONED $8.00
293 1960's Terre Haute, IN Sesquicentennial Wooden Nickel $2.00
295 2009 P Lincoln Cent "Formative Years" Doubled Die Reverse 002 UNC $2.00
296 2009 P Lincoln Cent "Formative Years" Doubled Die Reverse 002 UNC $2.00
298 1982 Buffalo NY Sesquicentennial Wooden Nickel $1.00
352 Denmark - 1950 5 Ore KEY DATE $10.00
354 2009 P Lincoln Cent "Formative Years" Doubled Die Reverse 013 UNC $2.00
355 2009 P Lincoln Cent "Formative Years" Doubled Die Reverse 013 UNC $2.00
356 2009 P Lincoln Cent "Formative Years" Doubled Die Reverse 013 UNC $2.00
357 1990 Rappahannock Area Coin Club Wooden Nickel $1.00
359 Germany (Empire) - 1874 C 1 Pfennig $2.00
360 Old Time Wooden Nickel Co Support Our Troops Wooden Nickel $1.00
361 1941 S "Large S" Lincoln Wheat Cent $1.00
362 1941 S "Large S" Lincoln Wheat Cent $1.00
364 1980 D Jefferson Nickel Mint Error - Minor Curved Clip (@3:30) $3.00
365 1979 S "Type 2 - Clear S" Proof Jefferson Nickel $2.00
367 Germany (Empire) - 1895 F 1 Pfennig $3.00
368 Germany (Empire) - 1874 A 1 Pfennig $2.00
369 Germany (Empire) - 1900 F 1 Pfennig $2.00
370 Germany (Empire) - 1874 B 1 Pfennig $2.00
371 Australia - 1951 3 Pence $2.00
372 Great Britain - 1861 3 Pence $3.00
373 Germany (Empire) - 1875 J 5 Pfennig $2.00
375 50 Cents in Trade Token $1.00
376 Germany (Empire) - 1874 E 2 Pfennig $2.00
377 Clear Lake, IA Perkins Wooden Nickel $1.00
378 50 Cents in Trade Token $1.00
379 Medallic Art Co Grand Canyon National Park 50th Anniversary Medal Bronze $3.00
380 Great Britain - 1981 25 New Pence UNC $3.00
382 Pomona National Bridge / Jackson County 200 Year Anniversary Medal $3.00
383 Guyana - 1970 1 Dollar UNC $2.00
384 Germany (Empire) - 1875 J 2 Pfennig $4.00
385 Illawarrra Numismatic Association Membership Discount Wooden Nickel Token $1.00
386 San Juan Quality Royale Casino Token $1 Face Value $1.00
387 Canada - 1963 Prooflike 1 Cent Emerald Rainbow Toning $3.00
388 Artisan Silverworks Temecula, CA Wooden Nickel $1.00
389 Canada - 1966 1 Cent Emerald Toning $2.00
390 Germany (Empire) - 1875 E 2 Pfennig $2.00
391 Germany (Empire) - 1874 H 2 Pfennig $4.00
392 5 Cent Token $1.00
394 Germany (Empire) - 1894 F 1 Pfennig $3.00
395 Denmark - 1904/804 1 Ore NICE $8.00
396 Netherlands Antilles - 1965 2.5 Cents UNC TONED $6.00
397 Germany (Empire) - 1874 G 1 Pfennig $10.00
398 Netherlands - 1921 1/2 Cent BETTER DATE $2.00
399 Netherlands - 1922 1/2 Cent BETTER DATE $4.00
400 Germany (Empire) - 1874 D 10 Pfennig $3.00
451 Sweden - 1901 1 Ore $1.00
452 Norway - 1948 50 Ore Overdate 4/4 $5.00
453 Netherlands Antilles - 1959 1 Cent UNC $2.00
454 Germany (Empire) - 1899 A 1 Pfennig $1.00
455 Germany (Empire) - 1899 A 1 Pfennig $1.00
456 Germany (Empire) - 1898 A 5 Pfennig $1.00
457 Germany (Empire) - 1875 F 5 Pfennig $1.00
458 Canada - 1948 5 Cents $1.00
460 Denmark - 1951 10 Ore NICE $5.00
461 Barbados - 1973 Proof 5 Cents in OGP $1.00
462 Germany (Empire) - 1875 A 5 Pfennig $1.00
463 Barbados - 1973 Proof 25 Cents in OGP $1.00
464 Germany (Empire) - 1876 D 5 Pfennig $1.00
465 Hungary - 1965 2 Filler Key Date $5.00
466 Germany (Empire) - 1889 A 5 Pfennig $1.00
467 Germany (Empire) - 1889 A 5 Pfennig $1.00
468 Switzerland - 1968 5 Rappen UNC TONED $1.00
469 Germany (Empire) - 1875 A 5 Pfennig $1.00
470 Germany (Empire) - 1875 C 5 Pfennig $1.00
471 Trinidad & Tobago - 1973 Proof 1 Cent in OGP $1.00
473 Germany (Empire) - 1892 D 5 Pfennig $1.00
474 Germany (Empire) - 1897 A 5 Pfennig $1.00
475 Germany (Empire) - 1890 E 5 Pfennig $1.00
477 Germany (Empire) - 1890 D 5 Pfennig $1.00
478 Germany (Empire) - 1894 D 5 Pfennig $1.00
480 Barbados - 1980 Proof 25 Cents in OGP cello $1.00
481 World Silver - Switzerland 1975 1 Franc $6.00
482 Germany (Empire) - 1897 D 5 Pfennig $1.00
484 Canada (New Brunswick) - 1861 1 Cent $3.00
485 Canada (Nova Scotia) - 1861 1/2 Cent $2.00
486 Austria - 1893 10 Heller $1.00
488 Netherlands East Indies - 1921 1/2 Cent NICE KEY DATE $8.00
489 Austria - 1895 10 Heller $1.00
490 Austria - 1894 20 Heller $1.00
492 World Silver - Mexico - 1887 Do C 10 Centavos LOW MINTAGE $5.00
551 South Africa - 1965 Proof 1 Cent LOW MINTAGE 25,000 $2.00
553 Switzerland - 1902 2 Rappen KEY DATE FIRST YEAR $8.00
554 Panama - 1975 Proof 1 Centesimo in OGP $5.00
557 South Africa - 1965 Proof 5 Cents LOW MINTAGE 25,000 $2.00
560 South Africa - 1965 Proof 20 Cents LOW MINTAGE 25,000 $2.00
561 Panama - 1975 Proof 5 Centesimos in OGP $1.00
562 Panama - 1976 Proof 5 Centesimos in OGP $2.00
563 South Africa - 1965 Proof 50 Cents LOW MINTAGE 25,000 $5.00
564 South Africa - 1966 Proof 1 Cent LOW MINTAGE 25,000 $2.00
565 South Africa - 1966 Proof 2 Cents LOW MINTAGE 25,000 $2.00
566 South Africa - 1966 Proof 5 Cents LOW MINTAGE 25,000 $2.00
567 South Africa - 1966 Proof 10 Cents LOW MINTAGE 25,000 $2.00
568 Panama - 1974 Proof 5 Centesimos in OGP cello $1.00
569 South Africa - 1966 Proof 20 Cents LOW MINTAGE 25,000 $2.00
572 Panama - 1973 Proof 1/10 Balboa in OGP $1.00
573 South Africa - 1967 Proof 1 Cent LOW MINTAGE 25,000 $2.00
574 Barbados - 1973 Proof 1 Cent $1.00
575 Panama - 1973 Proof 1/4 Balboa in OGP $1.00
576 South Africa - 1967 Proof 2 Cents LOW MINTAGE 25,000 $2.00
577 South Africa - 1967 Proof 5 Cents LOW MINTAGE 25,000 $2.00
578 South Africa - 1967 Proof 10 Cents LOW MINTAGE 25,000 $2.00
579 South Africa - 1967 Proof 20 Cents LOW MINTAGE 25,000 $2.00
580 South Africa - 1967 Proof 50 Cents LOW MINTAGE 25,000 $4.00
584 Liberia - 1974 Proof 10 Cents in OGP $1.00
590 Mexico - 1923 1 Centavo NICE UNC TONED $8.00
593 Mexico - 1923 5 Centavos NICE $5.00
594 Bahamas - 1970 Proof 1 Cent in OGP $1.00
595 Mexico - 1935 20 Centavos NICE $30.00
596 Token "10" Unknown origin $1.00
652 Indiana Sesquicentennial Medal 1966 $3.00
654 Alleppey Dist Treasury 286 Token $3.00
655 Creotina Remedies Belleville, IL Token $3.00
657 Mexico - 2001 1 Peso UNC in original cello $1.00
658 Germany (Empire) - 1903 A 1 Pfennig $4.00
662 Germany (Weimar) - 1924 A 1 Pfennig NICE $6.00
664 Malaysia - 1977 50 Sen TONED UNC $3.00
665 Franklin D Roosevelt $2 Trade Token Union Maystern $3.00
666 Great Britain - 1953 5 Shillings UNC (Crown sized) $5.00
667 Russia - 1994 50 Roubles Blind Mole Rat LOW MINTAGE UNC $3.00
672 Mint of Romania Aluminum Token UNC $3.00
673 Bahamas - 1973 and 1974 Proof 1 Cents in OGP (two coins) $1.00
675 Canada - 1939 5 Cents UNC $20.00
676 Penny Press Mint 1 Dollar Token (Morgan Dollar Inspired Design) $2.00
677 Penny Press Mint 1 Dollar Token (Morgan Dollar Inspired Design) $2.00
678 France (Paris) Montmartre Auditing Firm "Good for one audition" Token $2.00
679 Thailand - Bangkok Institute of Accounting Token $1.00
680 Swedish Shooting Medal Double Pistols Design $3.00
681 1941 Mercury Dime Pin $4.00
682 Korea (Republic) - 1968 5 Won UNC $25.00
683 Korea (Republic) - 1973 50 Won NICE $5.00
684 Russia - 1994 50 Roubles Bison NICE LOW MINTAGE $2.00
685 Coca-Cola 1974 "It's the real thing" Silver Dollar City Token $5.00
686 State Mint of Romania Octagonal Token UNC $2.00
687 Canada - 1937 Dot 5 Cents UNC $10.00
688 France - 1977 10 Francs TONED $2.00
690 Saarland - 1954 10 Franken UNC $8.00
692 Mount Vernon, VA High School Token $1.00
693 Korea (Republic) - 1967 10 Won NICE $5.00
694 Korea (Republic) - 1967 10 Won UNC $40.00
695 Princes of Jerusalem - Cahokia Council A.A.S.RITE Valley of East St Louis Token $3.00
697 Magic Mountain Valencia California Souvenir Token $2.00
698 Pearl Harbor, Hawaii Driver's Association "good for one full fare" token $1.00
700 Downtown Granite City (Illinois) Shopping Center Token $3.00
751 Canada - 1957 House of Commons Medal $3.00
753 Mr. Pizza (World's Worst Pizza) Wooden Quarter Token $1.00
754 National Pony Express Centennial Medal So Called Dollar UNC TONED $5.00
755 Pulaski Bowling Center Free Game Wooden Nickel Token $1.00
756 Four Canada 1991 UNC Cents (4 coins) in OGP CELLO $1.00
757 Four Canada 1991 UNC 5 Cents (4 coins) in OGP CELLO $1.00
758 Pair of Two Thomas Jefferson 1 Cent Postal Stamps $1.00
761 Mexico - 2000 10 Pesos UNC in original cello $6.00
764 Ye Olde Curiosity Shop Seattle 25 Cent Wooden Nickel Token $1.00
765 Mexico - 2000 20 Pesos UNC in original cello $10.00
768 Morocco - AH1320 10 Mazunas $8.00
773 Diamond Dolls Pompano Beach, FL Free Hamburger Wooden Nickel Token $1.00
774 Nadine's Backwoods Bistro One Free Tap Beer Wooden Nickel Token $1.00
775 Ocean Springs Mini Golf One Free Game Wooden Nickel Token $1.00
777 Poland - 2014 2 Zlotych UNC $2.00
778 Lansing, Michigan University Quality Inn One Free Well Drink Wooden Nickel Token $1.00
780 San Jose, California Donut Delight One Small Drink 40 Cents Wooden Nickel Token $1.00
781 H.E.B. Hustle Chip Wooden Nickel Token $1.00
782 Two Mixed Tokens $1.00
784 South Gate, California Robby's Tepee 1 Glass Draft Beer Wooden Nickel Token $1.00
785 Macadoo's One Free Sara Lee Bagle (with butter!) Wooden Nickel Token $1.00
786 Canada - 1970 1 Cent TONED $1.00
788 State Penal Institution 5 Cent Good For Token $3.00
790 Fishing Equipment & Tackle 10% Discount Wooden Nickel Token $1.00
791 District Treasury Alleppey 1860 Token Government of Kerala $2.00
792 Russia (Empire) - 1881 1 Kopek $1.00
793 Black Duck Buck Good For One Premium Drink Wooden Nickel Token $1.00
794 Goodles, Michigan Cook's Cobblestone One Free Beer Wooden Nickel Token $1.00
796 San Diego, California My Yogurt Place One Free Frozen Yogurt Sundae Wooden Nickel Token $1.00
797 Canada - 1939 Coronation Medal $2.00
798 Ellsworth, Maine Bicentennial Headquarters Wooden Nickel Token $1.00
800 Suwanee River Attractions 25 Cent Admission Wooden Nickel Token $1.00
851 Sunnyvale, California Odyssey Room 1 Free Drink Wooden Nickel Token $1.00
852 Great Britain - Queen Victoria 60 Years of Rule Medal $3.00
854 Belgium - 1944 2 Franc NICE $1.00
855 Fredericksburg, Virginia Rappahannock Area Coin Club Wooden Nickel Token One free month $1.00
859 Monarch Automatic Co Northhampton Good For One Coupon in Trading Token $2.00
860 Netherlands - 1881 1 Cent $1.00
862 Mexico - 2000 20 Pesos UNC in original cello $10.00
863 Fredericksburg, Virginia Rappahannock Area Coin Club Wooden Nickel Token One free month $1.00
864 Tullahoma, Tennessee The Finish Line Free Drink Wooden Nickel Token $1.00
865 Here's Johnny's 25 Cents off Purchase Wooden Nickel Token $1.00
866 $1 Good For Token Large $3.00
867 Canada - 1939 Coronation Medal $3.00
868 Boise, Idaho Miller's Sewing Center 25 Cent Needle Package Wooden Nickel Token $1.00
869 San Antonio, Texas Dan's 10861 FM "Round TUIT" Wooden Token $1.00
870 Belgium - 1836 2 Centimes $1.00
871 Vandalia, Ohio Skipper's $3 off purchase Wooden Nickel Token $1.00
872 Roseville, California Onyx Club One Free Beer Wooden Nickel Token $1.00
873 Long Beach, California Fayette Cleaners Wooden Nickel Token $1.00
874 Beckett, Massachussetts 1965 Bicentennial Lee National Bank 5 Cent Wooden Nickel Token $1.00
875 Munhall, Pennsylvania 5 Cent Wooden Nickel Token $1.00
877 Washington, Indiana Sesquicentennial 1966 Wooden Nickel Token $1.00
878 1953 Queen Elizabeth Coronation Medal $3.00
881 Fredonia, New York Coyle's Pub One Free Drink Wooden Nickel Token $1.00
882 Monterey, California Wharfside Restaurant Complimentary Calimari Appetizer Wooden Nickel Token $1.00
883 Lyman, Wyoming Cecil Sanderson Military Token & Wooden Nickel Collector "Round TUIT" Token $1.00
884 Eastlake, Colorado Karl's Farm Dairy Inc 25 Cent Wooden Nickel Token $1.00
885 Elko, Nevada Ed's Coins & Currency "Cents of Humor" Wooden Nickel Token $1.00
887 Richmond Hot Stuff Deluxe Tattoo One Free Drink Wooden Nickel Token $1.00
888 Australia - 2014 1 Dollar 100 Years of ANZAC $1.00
889 Sacramento, California The Tides 1 Free Beer Wooden Nickel Token $1.00
890 Lancaster, Pennsylvania The Comic Store Free Comic Wooden Nickel Token RARE $1.00
891 Bennington, Vermont Bicentennial 1961 5 Cent Wooden Nickel Token $1.00
892 Torrance, California Old Towne Mall One Free Play Wooden Nickel Token $1.00
893 Duenweg, Missouri State Bank One Quart Token NICE $3.00
894 Rotary International Token $1.00
896 Canada - 1930 House of Commons Medal $3.00
897 Greenfield, Iowa Al's Shoe Service 5 Cents Wooden Nickel Token $1.00
900 France - 1944 C 2 Francs $1.00
951 France - 1944 C 2 Francs $1.00
952 Poland - 2006 2 Zlotych $3.00
953 Poland - 2003 2 Zlotych $3.00
954 Aurora, Illinois Dairy Queen Free Small Sundae Wooden Nickel Token $1.00
955 Mullan, Idaho Silver Dollar Bar 1 Free Drink Wooden Nickel Token $1.00
956 Poland - 2004 2 Zlotych $3.00
957 New Horizons Computer Learning Center Turkey Token 10 Auction Dollars Wooden $1.00
962 Lake of the Woods 40th Anniversary Token $2.00
963 The Travancore Bank Trivandrum #103 Token $1.00
964 Perryville, Wisconsin Good For 1 Glass Tap Beer Wooden (plastic) Nickel Token $1.00
966 1925 Larkin Dollar Medal BU $8.00
968 Palmolive Soap Chicago, Illinois Good For One Cake Token NICE $5.00
969 Duenweg State Bank Duenweg, Missouri Strawberry Token Good For 1 Crate $6.00
970 Dallas, Texas City Hall Token $1.00
971 California State Numismatic Association 1973 53rd Anniversary Token $2.00
972 Worldwide Bi-Metallic Collector's Club World Money Fair Encased Coin (Mexico 20 Centavos) $3.00
973 Worldwide Bi-Metallic Collector's Club World Money Fair Encased Coin (Mexico 20 Centavos) $3.00
977 Worldwide Bi-Metallic Collector's Club World Money Fair Encased Coin (New Zealand 5 Cents) $3.00
979 Worldwide Bi-Metallic Collector's Club World Money Fair Encased Coin (New Zealand 5 Cents) $3.00
981 Worldwide Bi-Metallic Collector's Club World Money Fair Encased Coin (New Zealand 5 Cents) $3.00
983 Worldwide Bi-Metallic Collector's Club World Money Fair Encased Coin (New Zealand 5 Cents) $3.00
984 Worldwide Bi-Metallic Collector's Club World Money Fair Encased Coin (New Zealand 5 Cents) $3.00
987 Harry S Truman US Mint Bronze Medal in OGP $3.00
988 John Wayne US Mint Bronze Medal in OGP $5.00
989 Vietnam Veterans National Bronze Medal in OGP $3.00
992 2010 Korea Money Fair Token with original Flip $3.00
993 Matchless Metal Polish Co Liverpool 1906 Token $5.00
995 Marissa, Illinois 1967 Centennial Wooden Nickel Token $1.00
996 Central States Numismatic Society 2005 Token Original AirTite $2.00
997 Central States Numismatic Society 2005 Token Original AirTite $2.00
998 Central States Numismatic Society 2005 Token Original AirTite $2.00
999 Rustler Silver Gas Token $1.00
1000 Worldwide Bi-Metallic Collector's Club World Money Fair Encased Coin (Euro 5 Cent) $3.00

AS OF NOW I WILL NO LONGER BE UPDATING THIS GUIDE
I’ll start by going in order of missions and adding extras as needed by editing the TBA (to be added) as soon as I can review the information
Leave any information you can in the comments fill in and I’ll add it in when I can
——The Scope Out——
Difficulty: Very Easy
Time: About 10 minutes
Description: the player must scope out as many points of interest if the can for the most options
Miscellaneous:
Vallet Security guard Purple keypad Inside (dome) camera Outside (box) camera Vault Blueprints (in mrs bakers office)(requires casino penthouse, or a friend with said penthouse)
Access points:
Ground (3)
Main entrance (west) Waste disposal (north) Staff lobby (east)
Roof terrace (4)
2 doors on the north side 2 doors on the east side
Roof (2)
North helipad South helipad
Underground (2)
Security tunnel (under dirt track) Sewer (the drainage ditch by the casino, there’s an entrance at the beginning of it, head down until you see some metal bars that would lead under the casino)
-important notes-
Once you have discovered every point of interest available in this setup, you won’t be able to do this setup for other heist because all poi’s are now permanently unlocked
——Vault contents ——
Difficulty: Very Easy
Time: about 5 minutes
Description: You are trying to find your target, the valuables you’ll be stealing during the heist To start this setup, you hack a guards phone to get into the casino’s system and then enter the casino to walk around and find a strong enough signal for Lester to hack into the cameras BE SURE YOU FULLY ROTATE ALL 6 CAMERAS TO THE TO UNLOCK THE REST OF THE POI’S, if already unlocked all poi’s just skip to the vault camera.
When scouting out the target it is completely random chance what you will be stealing from the casino
Cash is the basic takes and take a while to grab, but it can still pay about 2.1million Normal and 2.4million Hard total (minus crew cuts)
Paintings have better value and are the quickest to grab, to get them you must cut out the paintings but again this is really fast so you might be able to get a cheaper hacker or spend the extra time grabbing lock boxes, with this take you can make about ??million Normal and 2.7million Hard (minus crew cuts)
Gold has great value, it takes time to grab just like cash but is also a lot heavier, this means you can no longer jump but the reward is worth it because it can pay about ??million Normal and 2.8million Hard (minus crew cuts)
There’s also a glitch to get a lot more gold off one tray so abuse it before it gets patched
Diamonds have the greatest value and have just been officially added to the loot pool, you grab trays of diamonds like you would cash or gold and they are worth about ??million Normal and ??million Hard (minus crew cuts)
———Crew members and Characters———
These are free mode missions and secrets that can affect the casino heist by giving access to new characters and crew
There is also the standard crew for comparison
——Optional Characters——
Yung Ancestor
Difficulty: Very Easy
Time: 2 minutes
Effect: adds another route to “The Big Con” Description: Head to the casino and go up to the roof terrace to enter a cutscene with the celebrity, afterwards Lester will contact him to ask if he would like to be involved with the job, a few minutes later you will get a call from Yung Ancestor saying he will help but needs a few favors to trust you
Find the rest of this missions details at the “Setups” section
——Hackers——
—Rickie Lukens—
Cut: 3%
Skill: Poor
Requirements: None
Vault time when undetected: TBA
Vault time when detected: about 1 minute 30 seconds
Notes: Please do not even consider using rickie
—Yohan Blair—
Cut: 5%
Skill: Good
Requirements: None
Vault time when undetected: TBA
Vault time when detected: TBA
Notes: TBA
—Christian Feltz—
Cut: 7%
Skill: Good
Requirements: None
Vault time when undetected: TBA
Vault time when detected: TBA
Notes: Use this character if you don’t have access to the next two
—Paige (Unlockable)—
Cut: 9%
Skill: Expert
Requirements: own a terrorbyte
Vault time when undetected: TBA
Vault time when detected: TBA
Notes: this is the best character to use since she is slightly cheaper then Avi
—Avi (Unlockable)—
Cut: 10%
Skill: Expert +
Requirements: “Destroy Signal Jammers” Free mode mission
Difficulty: Easy
Time: 20-40 minutes
Description: destroy all 50 signal jammers hidden across San Andreas for money and Avi’s services (guides available on YouTube)
Vault time when undetected: TBA
Vault time when detected: TBA
Notes: This character is great but if you have Paige use her since she’s slightly cheaper, the difference in time is minuscule
——Drivers——
(Unknown: unlockable) TBA this character has not been found yet
—Karim—
Cut: 5%
Skill: TBA
Requirements: None
Vehicle selection:
Sentinel Classic (best choice)
Weeni Issi Classic
Asbo (worst choice)
Kanjo
Notes: This driver is the best to pick, they always leave the cars as close to the staff lobby as they can
—TBA—
Cut: TBA
Skill: TBA
Requirements: None
Vehicle selection: TBA
Notes: TBA
—TBA—
Cut: TBA
Skill: TBA
Requirements: None
Vehicle selection: TBA
Notes: TBA
—Chester McCoy—
Cut: 10%
Skill: Expert
Requirements: None
Vehicle selection:
Vagrant
Everon
Zhaba
Outlaw
Notes: TBA
——Gunners——
—Karl Abolaji—
Cut: 5%
Skill: Poor
Requirements: None
Weapon selection:
TBA
Smg and molotovs (aggressive)
Micro smg (Big Con)
Double barrel shotgun (Big Con)
Notes: TBA
—Charlie Reed—
Cut: 7%
Skill: Good
Requirements: None
Weapon selection:
TBA
Machine Pistol (Big Con)
Sweeper Shotgun (Big Con)
Notes: TBA
—Patrick “Packie” McReary (unlockable)—
Cut: 8%
Skill: Expert
Weapon selection:
TBA
Compact rifle (Big con)
Sawed off shotgun (Big con)
Combat MG MKII (Aggressive)
Difficulty: Easy-Medium
Time: Random Chance
Requirements: “Rescue Patrick” Free mode mission
Description: find a police van blaring it’s siren driving around Los Santos and Blaine county, when close enough a blue arrow will appear over the van and a blue dot will show up on your map indicating the vans location, by getting even closer Packie will ask you to help him and another person to “give us a hand?” The implication here is he wants you to steal the van and drive it
the way to go about this is just to shoot the van enough and it will eventually stop, allowing you to steal it and bring it to Packie’s safe house at Vespucci beach,
Notes: there is a 5 minute time limit that begins when you enter the van
Packie has the best weapon selection in aggressive but this does not outweigh how much he cost this is player choice
—Gustavo Mota—
Cut: 9%
Skill: Expert
Requirements: None
Weapon selection:
Carbine rifle (Big Con)
Assault shotgun (Big Con)
Notes: TBA
—Chester McCoy—
Cut: 10%
Skill: Expert
Requirements: None
Weapon selection:
TBA
SMG MKII (Big Con)
Bullpup Rifle MKII (Big Con)
Notes: not recommended because of cost
——Approaches——
It’s recommended to have 3 or 4 players for the best take
—SILENT AND SNEAKY—
Stealth difficulty: Hard
Loud Difficulty: Medium-Hard
Time: 15-20 minutes (minus restarts)
Description: Silent and sneaky is one of the stealth approaches, you go inside with tactical gear, night vision, suppressed weapons, tasers, and an emp bomb (if the setup is complete) that the host can activate (explained below) This hiest allows you to slip in undetected and you can still slip out undetected.
-Things to note-
When you enter the vault you will have a certain amount of time depending on your hacker and whether or not you are detected by the time you arrive to the vault, if you fail to leave the vault before the timer hits “0” gas will fill the vault and the alarm will trigger
Guards will be alerted to the following: seeing you, shooting a guard without a headshot (they yell), killing a guard next to another, a dead body, a bullet flying past them, a bullet hitting a wall, a guard watching you destroy a camera, and hearing unsuppressed gunfire
The casino will raise the alarm for the following: a guard being alerted, a camera spotting you, a camera spotting a dead body destroying more then one camera, and not leaving the vault before the clock hits “0”
Guards are oblivious to the following: getting a headshot or stealth melee even if the guard yells, destroyed cameras, the sound of broken glass, and the sight of broken glass
You can disable cameras with the taser, but they will come back online, you can also shoot and destroy one camera but destroy any more and the alarm will sound
If the host completed the EMP setup, they will have access to a phone app named “Detonate EMP” this will set off the EMP of course knocking out all electricity for about 1-2 minutes, this includes: cameras, locked doors, elevators, and lights (this will make guards have a really small cone of vision)
-Important notes-
Triggering the EMP does not raise the alarm (credit goes to u/Aleapp2556 for discovering this)
Not breaking stealth until outside will give an award
You can restart the heist at anytime by running out of lives
-Best plan of attack-
Enter the south helipad
Exit the staff lobby
High level buyer
Decoy driver (optional, lowers how many stars you have)
-Steps-
Enter the cargobob
Parachute to the casino
Rappel down the elevator shaft
(You are now in the staff lobby)
Take out everyone quietly
Proceed to elevator
(You are now at vault security)
Take out the remaining guards quietly
Enter the mantrap
Drill open the vault
(You are now in the vault and the timer has started)
Grab as much loot as possible, Dedicate one person to hacking
Leave before the timer ends
Exit the mantrap
Take the elevator or stairs up
(Alarm is now raised, but you are still undetected)
Take out the remaining guards and exit through the staff lobby
Get in the getaway car
Race to Paleto Bay
Escape the cops
Finish the heist
-Overall-
the hiest is slow and very difficult so this may not be the best option for grinding
—AGGRESSIVE—
Difficulty: Medium
Time: 8-11 minutes (minus restarts)
Aggressive is loud and violent, you shoot your way to the vault, blow it open, melt open the gates and steal the loot
-Things to note-
This heist is extremely fast compared to the other two approaches, it can be and has been done in under 9 minutes with high level buyers
there are no drills or hack in the vault itself, just explosives and thermal charges
You can restart the heist at anytime by running out of lives
-Best plan of attack-
Enter sewer(you blow a hole right into the security-room just before the mantrap leading to the vault)
Exit staff lobby
High level buyers
Gunner decoy (optional, but lowers your stars)
-Steps-
Blow into the vault security room from the sewers
(You are now in the vault security room)
Enter the man trap
Blow open the vault
(You are now in the vault)
Set off a thermal before you start grabbing and try to just get everything you can
Exit the vault
Exit the mantrap
Go to the staff lobby via elevator
Exit staff lobby
(At this point stealth no longer matters)
Enter getaway cars
Race to paleto bay
Escape police
Finish heist
-Overall-
this heist is fast and effective and I recommend cycling between both this and the big con
—THE BIG CON—
Stealth Difficulty: Easy or Medium-Hard (depends on route)
Loud difficultly: Hard
Time: 10-13 minutes (minus restarts)
The Big Con is the another stealth approach, but it’s less stealth and more lies and deceit, you use disguises to get your way into the casino with all your tools and equipment needed for the job
-Important things to note-
You only have a ceramic pistol unless you pick up your stashed weapons, but if you pick up those weapons you can no longer pass through metal detectors
Your weapons are not suppressed
Gruppe sechs can get inside the vault no problem
You unlock the ceramic pistol after you are done HOSTING The Big Con
Not breaking disguise until outside will give an award
You can restart the heist at anytime by running out of lives
-Best plan of attack-
Enter Gruppe sechs disguises
Exit noose disguises
Enter security tunnel
Exit staff lobby
High level buyer
Gunner decoy (lowers stars, only helpful if you are actually caught)
-steps-
Enter the security tunnel as gruppe sechs
Park the van
Get into the elevator
(You are now in the vault security room)
Walk on by the guards
Enter the man trap
A lone guard lets you into the vault, you knock him out
(You are now in the vault)
Grab the loot, mind the hacking, one mess up and the alarm goes off
Exit the vault
exit the mantrap
Take the stairs
(Alarm is raised but no one knows where you are)
Take the route to the laundry room
Change outfits
Exit staff lobby NOT MAIN ENTRANCE
(At this point stealth no longer matters)
Get to getaway vehicles
Race to paleto bay
Escape cops
Finish heist
-Overall-
this heist is very clean and quick if you do it right, id recommend doing this and aggressive if you really want to grind it
——About undetected——
When you sneak into the vault undetected you gain bonus time to grab even more loot then you would if the alarm was raised, failure to leave the vault before the gas is released will raise the alarm;
but you still received the bonus time to grab the loot anyhow, so it’s all up to you to either get the extra few lootables or make a clean getaway
——Hard Mode——
Hard mode (just like in normal heist) gives bigger cut with less lives, but this also buffs the security of the place
The way you access hard mode is by playing through a heist (we’ll say aggressive) and then the next (the big con), after playing aggressive it will become locked and unplayable so you have to pick another approach like big con, after that heist is done aggressive will unlock but it will still be “too hot” this is hard mode and will give a bigger cut for a harder heist that’s why it’s best to cycle between both aggressive and big con
——Heist crew——
For the best take each time you need to select the perfect members for the job
-Gunner-
Cheapest gunner all the way avoid shotguns
-Drivers-
If you want more money chose the cheapest driver and pick the sentinel classic, but if you want the trade prices for all the new vehicles you’ll need to use them during a heist
-Hacker-
Now unlike the other two, an expensive hacker is necessary for this job, this person will provide you with more time in the vault, this is where Paige and Avi come in handy
——Setups——
Setups are needed to find the materials necessary to pull off this job, some are mandatory and you cannot start the job with out them, some are optional and can be avoided but also can be the difference between dealing with a few enemies or a few mini-juggernauts
-Weapons-  Need: Mandatory
Difficulty: Easy
Time: 5-8 minutes
Description: The player needs to steal untraceable weapons for the job, a pistol, a main weapon, and a piece of equipment depending on the approach
-Getaway vehicles-
Need: Mandatory
Difficulty: Easy
Time: 3-8 minutes
Description: The player needs to steal 2 vehicles that have just been imported into the US and bring them back to the arcade, if the cars are badly damaged you will have to pay a small fee to repair then on delivery
Important notes
The vehicles can be upgraded with
Level 1: bulletproof tires 10k (recommended)
Level 2: max brakes and transmission and level 1 upgrades 15k
Level 3: turbo and max engine plus level 1&2 upgrades 25k
-Hacking device-
Need: Mandatory
Difficulty: Easy
Time: 5 minutes
Description: the player(s) go to a location being investigated by the FIB, the player(s) need to kill the FIB agents
Important notes
You can be in a guards vision but not for too long
Once you have the device and take the elevator down the guards will begin to shoot you
-Vault key cards-
Need: Mandatory
Difficulty: Easy
Time: 3-7 minutes
Description: the player(s) need to go to 2 separate locations and knock out or kill two security guards on their time off to steal their key cards
-Patrol routes-
Need: Optional
Usefulness for Sneaky and Silent: Needed
Usefulness for Aggressive: not necessary
Usefulness for The Big Con: Helpful
Difficulty: Easy
Time: 2-5 minutes
Description: the player(s) need to go to a parking lot where security guards have gathered, the player(s) will be looking for a car with a certain license plate that Lester will send, Once the player(s) find the car, they will need to open the trunk, take a picture, and send it to Lester
Important notes
This mission can be done by stealth
The car is always a black or light brown Falon GT convertible
-Dugan shipments-
Need: Optional
Usefulness for all heist: Absolutely Required
Difficulty: Medium
Time: less then 10 minutes
Description: The player(s) go around all of San Andreas to destroy 10 security shipments for the casino’s guards (this includes vans, boats, and helicopters)
Effect: for every couple of shipment destroyed, the guards armor will become weaker
No shipments destroy: every guard will have the health of a Cliffford Cyborg juggernaut
7 shipments destroyed: Health of a NOOSE squad member
10 shipments destroyed: Heath of a cop with body armor (3 Star wanted level officer)
Important notes
It is recommended to have 2 players in weaponized vehicles to destroy all the shipments
-Security Intel-
Need: Optional
Usefulness for Sneaky and Silent: Needed
Usefulness for Aggressive: not necessary
Usefulness for The Big Con: Helpful
Difficulty: N/A
Time: N/A
Description: The player needs to own a casino penthouse and do all casino missions for mrs baker
Effect: allows players to know the locations and vision of all cameras in the casino
Important notes
Once this setup is completed once it will be completed permanently
-Power drills-
Need: optional
Usefulness for all heist: Player’s choice but not necessary
Difficulty: Easy
Time: 5-8 minutes
Description: the player must steal power drills from a construction site by stealing a van and delivering it to the arcade
Effect: Gives the ability to drill open safety deposit boxes for a little bonus money (does not outweigh the main target in value)
Important notes
These missions can be completed by using non lethal tactics
-Security key cards-
Need: optional
Usefulness for all heist: absolutely required
Difficulty: Easy
Time: 5-8 minutes
Description: the player must steal a security key card from a casino staff member
Effect Card Level 1: has the ability to give you access to few doors and access points, but nothing else in the higher security areas, those points will need to be hacked
Effect Card Level 2: gives player full access to all casino doors and elevators other then those in the vault
(A level 2 keycard is highly recommend and should be used in every single heist)
——Approach specific setups——
Some setups are specific to certain approaches and can be mandatory or optional
—Silent and Sneaky Setups—
-Vault Laser Drills-
Need: Mandatory
Difficulty: TBA
Time: TBA
Description: the player(s) need to steal 2 military grade laser drills to drill open the vault door
-TBA-
-TBA-
-EMP-
Need: optional
Usefulness: helpful
The player uses a cargo bob to carefully steal a EMP bomb and deliver it to the power station just across the road from the casino
Effect: give the host the ability to call the EMP to detonate it, this will shut down all electronics and lights for 1-2minutes, this mean cameras, locked doors, and metal detectors will be shut off during this time, and since the lights are off the guards have limited visibility, about 1 foot of vision in front of them
Important notes
Triggering the EMP does not raise the alarm (credit goes to u/Aleapp2556 for discovering this)
—Aggressive Setups—
-Vault explosives-
Need: Mandatory
Difficulty: Easy-Medium
Time: 8-18 minutes
Description: the player(s) must travel to a part of the ocean to steal explosives from an underwater mining operation to blow open the vault door
-Thermal Charges-
Need: Mandatory
Difficulty: Easy-Medium
Time: 8-16 minutes
Description: the player(s) must steal thermal charges to melt open the gates inside the vault
-Reinforced armor-
Need: Optional
Usefulness: helpful
Difficulty: Easy-Medium
Time: TBA
Description: The player(s) steals a few sets of experimental armor from a faction to use in the heist as an option of clothing
Effect: unlocks the armor set to be used during the casino heist, the armor is like hiest heavy combat armor when used during the casino heist giving the players more Health but less Speed
-Boaring machine-
Need: Optional
Usefulness: TBA
Difficulty: Easy
Time: TBA
Description: The player steals a drilling machine from a driver hauling the machine
Effect: TBA
—The Big Con Setups—
-Drills-
-Disguises-
-TBA-
——Phase 1 equipment——
On the phase 1 planning board you can buy equipment for finding points of interest or practice on mini-game type puzzle you need to complete while going to or when you reach the vault, you can buy equipment such as:
a model of the casino for $130,000 (Which shows points of interest)
A replica of the casinos security system for $425,000 (for practice with hacking)
And a replica vault door for $900,000 (for practice with drilling)
By taking photos of the security system and vault blueprints in the casino you unlock the option to buy the security system and vault door for practice
Once the equipment is purchased, it will stay permanently in your arcades basement
In order to practice you will need the vault drills (explosives do not count) and/or the hacking device
These items will need to be sourced each time you start a new heist if you wish to practice
My personal recommendation is to avoid this equipment as it’s price greatly outweighs its purpose, since everything can be learn relatively easy during the actual run
——Hacking——
Here’s a quick guide on the hacking during the casino heist
First it should be noted that failing or aborting a hack while undetected will trigger the alarm
There are two types of hacking
Hack 1: Memory
A 6x6 panel of dots will randomize in a pattern of 6 dots going left to right, the player’s job is to memorize this pattern and recreate it to pass the hack, they player may need to do this several times
These hacks have been found really difficult and can be skipped entirely by having a level 2 keycard
Hack 2: finger print
The player is presented with a full image of a finger print and 8 fragmented images of a finger print, all the player must do is select 4 of the 8 fragments that match the full finger print and run the scan
This isn’t as hard as the memory hack, but this can waste time, so be quick but be sure in your decision
A tip for this is to go ahead and match the obvious ones and then study the smaller details of a fragment to try to find it on the full image
——Bugs, Exploits, and other Glitches——
PATCHED If the player leaves the session before finishing “Vault contents” the player can replay the setup for a chance at a better target such as paintings and gold instead of cash
During the heist, a police maverick will spawn on the roof of a nearby police station, the players can grab it before it takes off, but once it’s gone from the helipad it won’t respawn during the same heist even after a quick restart
PATCHED The player can duplicate the gold bar on a tray by leaving a single bar and leaving the tray, start collecting the tray again to spawn a new set of bars

Continuing
“Hey, Viv!”, I say, as we’re all being shuttled onto the bus which will take us to our hotel, “Toss me one of those miniatures, if you please. Yeah. Of course, Vodka’ll do. It’s bloody dusty round these parts.”
Viv chuckles and asks if anyone else wants anything. He’s a consummate scrounger and somehow sweet-talked a demure and pulchritudinous female Air China cabin attendant out of her phone number, Email address, and a case of 100 airline liquor miniatures.
That he looks like a marginally graying version of Robert Mitchum in his heyday and speaks fluent Dutch, French, and Italian might explain his success. I mean, a guy with four ex-wives can’t be all wrong, right?
He’s a definite outlier in this crowd. We could be characterized as a batch of aging natural geoscientists who collectively, sans Viv, add up to an approximate eight on the “Looker” scale. Besides the years, the mileage, the climatic, and industrial ravages, it’s a good thing we all have expansive personalities, as most of us are dreadful enough to make a buzzard barf.
But, save for Viv, no one presently here is on the make. Oh, sure; we’ll all sweet talk some fair nubile into a free drink or a double when we really ordered a regular drink, but we’re all married, most terminally, that is, over 35 years and counting. The odd thing is that save and except for Viv, none of us married folk had ever been divorced.
That is strange, considering that the global divorce rate hovers around 50%, and we are often called to be apart from kith and kin for prolonged periods. However, we are always faithful and committed to our marital units and those vows we spoke all those many long decades ago.
But, hey, we’re all seriously male and not anywhere near dead; and there’s no penalty for just looking, right?
Continuing.
We’re all loaded on a pre-war, not certain which war, by the way, bus which stank of fish, kimchee, and diesel fuel. We really don’t care even a tiny, iotic amount. It’s free transport, we’re tired of traveling, and not keen on walking any further than we absolutely have to.
Viv has been passing out boozy little liquor miniatures, and I’ve been handing out cigars since I bought a metric shitload back in Dubai Duty-Free and somehow got them all through customs.
We didn’t light up, as there was neither a driver nor handler present. So, we figured we’d all just wait on the cigars, and concentrate on having a little ground-level “Welcome to Best Korea” party until the powers that be got their collective shit together and provided drivers, herders, and handlers.
We sat there for 15 long minutes. Being the international ambassadors of amity and insobriety, we started making noises like “Hey! Where’s our fucking driver?” and “I am Doctor Academician! Of All State Russian Geological Survey! How dare you make me wait? ”
Suddenly, a couple of characters in ill-fitting gray suits and fake Rays Bans are outside the bus having a collective meltdown. Somehow, someone fucked up and put us on a ‘regular’ bus and not the ‘VIP’ bus. In other words, we got to see what the locals really got to ride around Pyongyang on instead of our supposed to be impressed by the bus that wasn’t there; but was now just arriving.
A spanking new purple-and-chrome Mercedes long-haul bus shows up. It even has our group name emblazoned above the placard that normally tells where the bus is headed or who it is for: “’국제 석유 지질 과학 연합’ [Gugje Seog-yu Jijil Gwahag Yeonhab] or ‘International Union of Petroleum Geological Sciences’”.
We are brusquely ordered off our present bus and into the opulent, obviously bespoke, bright yellow faux-leather interior Mercedes-Benz Tourismo RH M. It’s so new and so obviously a ploy to get us to think that all things here are so new and opulent, it even smells of that new car, ah, bus, aroma.
“Well, we’ll take care of that soon enough”, I muse, as the bus is equipped with ashtrays and we’re going on the scenic route to our hotel, which is only 25 or so kilometers from the airport. However, it was announced that it’ll take us about 2 hours to get to our hotel since we need to see the city in its best light and get a feeling for the town if we should ever find ourselves lost and alone.
We all know what’s going on. They’re getting our rooms ‘ready’ for our arrival and need some extra time to make sure everything’s all wired in and transmitting properly.
“Guys”, I muse to our new handlers, “I’ve been to the Soviet Union, pre-wall fall. I stayed in places where I was definitely among the first westerners ever to grace their porticos. We’re a busload of natural scientists, of eight different nationalities, covering the economic spectrum from staunch capitalism to sociable socialism to hard-core communism. You even think for a second we’re going to spill any beans about anything you’d find interesting or useful? Think again.”
In fact, it would become a running joke between us all to see what sort of fake bombshells we could drop into the normal conversation what would give the listener’s the greatest case of the jibblies.
But for now, our bags were all loaded into the cargo compartment of this very, very nice, I must admit, mode of conveyance. Our handlers: ‘Yuk’, ‘No’, ‘Man’, and ‘Kong’, are all seated upfront and please with their latest tally of bodies. We have a couple of shady fellow travelers with the knock-off Ray-Bans and shiny gray suits that just appeared out of the woodwork in the back, seated by the loo, watching over all of us, and we’re going on a fucking city tour, whether we like it or not.
We’re all present and accounted for. Let’s keep our camera in our bags for the time being as the drinking and smoking lights had just been lit as the bus fired up its new German-engineered and machined precision diesel engine.
The bus rumbled to life and after a moment or two of checking that all dials, gauges, and indicators were where they were supposed to be; without so much as a cursory glance, we pulled out into traffic.
Except there was none.
Not another bus, pushbike, tap-tap, scooter, car, truck, hover-board, or motorcycle in sight.
Nothing.
Seems we were a big deal. They shut down the main drag so we wouldn’t be encumbered by such proletariat things like traffic jams or people-things cluttering the roadway, clambering for a look at the Western scientific cadre.
So, away we whizzed, sans traffic and into the very belly of the beast, and onward; eventually, towards our hotel.
Our handlers were very kind to point out passing scenes of interest.
“Look, look! There’s the Potong River. Notice all the lovely birds, ‘eh what? See the Norwegian Blue? Beautiful plumage!”
“See here, look. Here’s the Taedong River. Many forms of fish in the river. Maybe we’ll see some fishermen. If you like, we can stop, and ask them about today’s catch.”
We all declined, as we were certain that the fish the ‘random fisherman’ we’d talk to was flown in fresh from elsewhere earlier in the day.
Besides, we were comfortable. We had our drinks, our cigars, and we were leaving the driving to someone else.
After being driven around the city and seeing all the wonderful monuments, like the faux Arch of Triumph, which looks exactly unlike its namesake Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile in Paris.
The Arch of Reunification, a monument to the goal of a reunified Korea, which, by necessity, is unfinished. Then there’s the Tomb of King Tongmyŏng, where people are lining up, just dying’ to get in.
Finally, we all called for our hotel, the Yanggakdo, after yet another mausoleum, the Kumsusan Memorial Palace of the Sun.
Arches or tombs. Such a stunning array of monuments and places of less than moderate interest.
We were interested in Mirae Scientists street (Future Scientists street). It is a street in a newly developed area in Pyongyang to house scientific institutions of the Kim Chaek University of Technology and its employees. But we were told that it was too late, there was not much there to see, we needed to express written permission to visit, and we’d be going there tomorrow or next week.
We wheel into the parking lot of the Yanggakdo Hotel and are immediately unimpressed by the pseudo-Baroque concrete fiasco that appears to stand, wobbly, before us. It’s a page right out of the Soviet Construction-For-The-Masses Handbook. A cold, gray concrete edifice with multitudes of seemingly little, tiny windows. A perfect metaphor for our travels thus far; look at the expansiveness of Best Korean wonders, through this pinhole.
However, we judged too soon. We were told to go inside and check-in, whilst our luggage would be de-bussed for us and handled by the expertly efficient hotel staff. The lobby was opulent, tastefully laid out in earth tones of facades of veneers of marble, granite, some garnet-mica schist, if my hand lens doesn’t lie, some Prepaleozoic anatectic migmatite, displaying intricate and intense plication, xenoliths, and graphic delineation of minerals by segregation through melting points. There was a gigantic well-appointed and well kept up aquarium, complete with snuffling sharks and nuclear-submarine sized groupers.
Very handsome indeed. Impressions increasing slightly.
Then we see that there’s a bloody casino on the bottom floor of the hotel, several bars interspersed throughout the hotel, and karaoke, of which I’m not terribly fond, but some of my European counterparts almost swooned at the prospect. There are a large pool and weight rooms/gymnasia, saunas and places to relax outside of one’s room, but still under the watchful eye of the thousands of ill-concealed video cameras at every turn.
“Covert surveillance” may be a thing in Best Korea, but it’s a practice still leaves a lot to be desired. The Eastern Siberian Russians back before the wall fell were more covert with their obvious button audio microphones woven into the fabric covering the headboard of your Intourist bed than the Best Koreans here. Their cameras were ‘disguised’ as flower arrangements, overhead lights, and speakers inexplicably placed into things like standing ashtrays, refuse bins, and randomly placed holes in the wall.
The floors were all covered with exquisite what looked to be hand-woven rugs of most vibrant crimson and gold; the usual Communistic colors. Always with some sort of floral pattern or pattern that’s supposed to be reflective of nature, as I was told. Evidently, for workers to remember what nature was as they don’t get out much with 14 to 16 hours workdays here in the Worker’s Paradise.
Enough of the travelogue; we all wander up to the front desk, and each with their own passport in hand, request our reserved rooms. We supposed that we would all have rooms on different floors as the reservations were made, expired, re-made, juggled, rebooked, allowed to expire, re-jiggered, and finally formalized a scant week before we left the UK.
Nope. No such luck. We were all on the 39th floor. The place boasts 47 floors, of which, the top floor is a revolving restaurant. Evidently, food tastes better when you’re rotating.
However, it won’t spin unless you first buy a drink.
We had that thing whirling like a NASA centrifuge after its discovery the second night.
Yeah, all 12 of us are bivouacked on the 39th floor. A floor with approximately 30 rooms.
I guess we could have played “Room Roulette” and see who got which room and who’s luggage. Or we could switch every day or two to drive our handlers nuts. Or, we could just take our assigned rooms, which were conveniently located one empty room apart.
Meaning, no one had adjoining rooms. Why? Fuck if I know. We didn’t spend much time in our rooms, and that time was either sleeping or showering. We’d all meet at the bar, casino, restaurant, karaoke, bowling alley (all three lanes) or actual meeting rooms every once in a while when we thought we should get together and compare notes. It was the most inexplicable situation.
Plus, we spent an inordinate amount of time waiting on the fucking elevators to take us to our room. These elevators, and if you think you’re going to get a batch of aging senior scientists to schlep it up 39 floor’s worth of stairs, think again; are the slowest elevators in the civilized world. And that was the consensus of scientists representing not only Europe and North America, but Russia as well. 15-25 minutes added to each journey, up or down; stopping on every floor, except 5, on the way down..
Jesus Q. Fuck, dudes. If you can’t construct a bleedin’ elevator that works better than those at the Sozvezdie Medveditsy Guest House in Lesosibirsk, Eastern Siberia; then I suggest you seriously rethink your plans for world domination and new world order.
Grako and Erwin once, while waiting for the fucking elevator, figured out that we were earning some US$25 each just to wait for the lift to arrive and take us to our rooms. Every day. Sometimes several times per day.
With that, we all agreed to toss our “waiting time” funds into a kitty and on our last day of captivity here, blow it all in the hotel casino. Whatever became of that would be donated to the Koreans we thought most deserving of our largesse.
Would it be our handlers? How about the Korean Scientists we’d be meeting? The affable and most accommodating concierge? Or that plucky little Korean charwoman who was always on our floor and kept everything spotless, right down to our freshly laundered and pressed field clothes and newly polished field boots; done without our requesting or knowledge?
Only time would tell.
It could be a fortune or it could be bupkiss. Just like our expectations of the Heavenly Kingdom where we were currently sequestered.
As it was, with our official protestations, they kept only photocopies of our passports as we roundly refused and threatened a full-scale karaoke battle right here in the lobby if they didn’t relinquish our passports immediately. I had broken out my nastiest cigar and was primed to offend.
With that, we all had our keys and trooped over to the elevators for our first, of many, inexplicable waits. We made many uncharitable and potentially nasty remarks about the Anti-Western posters that made up some of the wall décor. Once we finally made it to our floor, we all fanned out to find our rooms. Viv found his first and was quite pleased to report to the rest of us that there was a “Welcome” basket in his room.
We all hoped that we would be receiving one a well.
I was in room 3914; which I considered a close call, but later only wondered as there was no 3913. Upon entering, I saw it was 1980s Hotel 6 opulent, but with an excellent over-city view. True it was late, dark, and the city was only somewhat lit up; I was looking forward to the view of the town in full daylight.
The room had a ‘king’ bed; that is if the king in question was Tutankhamen, the stubby, Egyptian boy king. The bed had no mattress pad and no box spring but it was hard enough for my liking. Many of my compatriots didn’t agree and complained bitterly. They eventually received thin mattress pads for all their kvetching.
There was an ancient Japanese color television, which only had 2 English language channels - Al Jazeera and the BBC, which was on a dated news loop. Watching the local channel is amusing though; the ads for ‘personal enhancements’ were hilarious, even without understanding a word of the language.
There were a couple of chairs and a low table, built-in dresser drawers for our clothes, a rusty and probably unusable room safe with corroded batteries, a small table built out of the wall that would serve as my travel office, and would-you-believe, a rotary telephone; how’s that for nostalgia?
There was an old-model radio built into the nightstand next to the bed. I was very surprised to find it not only received AM, FM but shortwave as well. I had brought along a pair of Bose headphones and during some rainy down days, spent many fun-filled, and I mean that sincerely, hours DXing from the comfort of my ‘enormous’ king bed.
Beyond that, the room was very nondescript. Like any other of the millions of rooms in hotels around the world that unlike here, aren’t claiming a 5-star rating. I mean, it was clean, if not a little long in the tooth. But didn’t smell too terrible, even after I took care of that with my Camacho offerings. It was utilitarian, everything worked, even the water pressure, which surprisingly could strip off layers of one’s skin if you weren’t careful.
The bathroom, though no Jacuzzi, had a large enough bathtub for the occasional soaking period. Western accouterments in the bathroom were also welcome additions. My knees can’t handle the traditional squat-holes any longer.
There were an electric teapot and several brands of tea, but no coffee. A quick “Gee! I sure wish I had some coffee!” to the four walls and damned if 30 minutes later, a porter didn’t arrive to replenish my tea and courtesy in-room coffee…
There was a small Japanese brand in-room refrigerator which I thought might house a mini-bar. Oh, no! It was actually a complimentary larder stocked with all sorts of Best Korean goodies. Multiple cans of Taedonggang beer. Several bottles of Pyongyang Soju, in various flavors ranging anywhere from 16.8 to 53 percent alcohol by volume. My fridge was skewed towards the right-hand side of the bell curve; the more heavy-duty boozy side.
Evidently, my reputation had preceded me again.
There was a selection of German-style wheat beers from the Taedonggang Brewery and the more familiar ales, steam beers, and lagers. There were some imported beers like Heineken, Bavaria, Pils, a couple of Japanese brands: Asahi and Kirin, and something called ‘Hello Beer’ from Singapore.
There were also ‘sampler’ bottles of Apricot Pit wine, and a couple of high-alcohol fruity liquors made from constituents such as apple or pear, and mushrooms. There were also special medicinal liquors like ‘Rason’s Seal Penis Liquor’.
That is going home with me unopened.
There were a couple of bottles of local sake, called Chonju. Finally, there was a couple ‘samplers’ of homemade alcohol known as Makkoli. Plus there was something called ‘Corn Grotto’, which for the life of me, looks and tastes much like a very passable Kentucky Sippin’ Bourbon.
I put our concierge on instant danger money the very next day. He’s yet to source me more than a fifth of the stuff so far.
I found that there is a popular drink here which mirrors the Yorsch of Mother Russia. Beer and soju can be mixed to create *somaek’; a foamy, frothy, funky drink of many flavors, depending on the soju chosen.
Is ethnoimbibology at thing? The science of how different cultures drink and the effects of drinking culture on different societies. If not, now I have another Ph.D. to pursue after I endow a chair at some likely Asian university.
Anyways, in everyone’s room was a “welcome” basket, just chock full of Best Korean goodies. Postcards, stamps, ads for coin sets, stamp proofs and other goodies that could be purchased at the hotel. There was a field notebook, which I thought was a very nice addition, newspapers, cookies, crackers, biscuits, candies, fruit drinks, and some fresh fruit; although tamarind chewies and durian chips aren’t on my list of personal favorites.
There were a couple of tour books, just chock full of staged photos. These were very nice as well, as so far, we haven’t had much time for shopping outside of government stores or smaller family-run shops in town or out in the boonies.
A few of us were hungry and decided to see what the hotel had to offer room service-wise.
Bupkiss.
But, they did have a selection of restaurants. There is a Chinese restaurant, a European restaurant, and a Korean restaurant on site but they all serve the same food...a Best Korean attempt at western food. And it was weird being the only ones in the restaurant even though it was fully staffed.
We grazed lightly and decided to do some late-night perambulations around our hotel. Our handlers admonished us to stay within the confines of the hotel, or see them if it was absolutely necessary to go walkabout. In the hotel, we were on our own.
We found that there were tunnels in the hotel’s basement. The basement tunnels were a real bonus. There’s a bar with pool tables, a karaoke room, bowling, and a massage parlor, where I was beaten and pummeled into submission by tiny, diminutive, little Korean lassies fully 1/5th my size.
It was wonderful.
There was a hairdresser’s, who were completely befuddled by my shoulder-length silver-gray locks and full gray Grizzly Adams beard. They did provide a lovely shampoo/cranial massage though for the equivalent of US$2.
There were a couple of shops selling Chinese goods rather than local stuff, which was sort of disappointing, a cold noodle bar, and another casino. No shops selling Korean Communist propaganda posters, as I wanted to augment my Soviet-era collection. Perhaps I’ll find something in-country later on.
We were shocked to find that the casino had WiFi that was uncensored and we were able to access; after a fee of liquor miniatures and a cigar or two. We were supposed to have access to the global internet, not local intranet, from the universities that we would be visiting. However, all of that was under the heavily squinting eyes of handlers and guys in shiny suits wearing fake Ray-Bans.
I still had my secret satellite internet lash-up available, but that was iffy, a pain in the ass to set up, and ridiculously expensive. However, it did work on the 39th floor and the times I used it instead of wandering down to the tunnels, no one appeared to be the wiser. Thus far.
So typically, we’d just head to the basement casino with our laptops, iPads, and phones. Bam! Robert’s your Sister’s Husband, we could connect more-or-less free with the outside world; hence how you are reading this now.
Herro! “Yes, I’d sure like another beer. This time a porter, if you please.”
The more they overthink the plumbing, the easier it is to stop up the drain. Or the more they put into locks, the easier they are to pick.
Besides, we were told we’d have access to unfettered and free internet. OK, so we just found it for ourselves. Whaddya expect? We’re scientists, motherfucker, back off.
Ahem.
Back to reality.
The breakfast buffet the next morning had a wide choice of Asian and Western food, although the choices seemed to be the same every day. The main event was to beat the Chinese tourists to the egg station every morning. Breakfast always included fried eggs, a limited selection of pork, kippered fish, potatoes, rice, fruit, and a very Titanium-dioxide-white white bread
After a while, I took to going to the small market behind the lobby, buying some imported Chinese or Japanese nibbly bits and heading to the tunnels for a few breakfast beers before the long hard day’s work. It took almost a week, but I gained the trust of some of the workers in the tunnels and they showed me the on-site microbrewery at the hotel. It produced very passable, and very, very cheap beers of several varieties.
Liquid bread. Beer. Is there nothing it can’t do?
After breakfast our first day at the hotel, we were told to meet in the Conference Room “Il-sung” as we were going to have a ‘Welcome foreign imperialist scientists’ introduction and indoctrination.
Besides our handlers and the shiny-suit squad, there were several Korean folks we didn’t recognize. These were students, scientists, and scholars from the Kim Chaek University of Technology, Kim Il-sung University, the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology; all hailing from Pyongyang, and the University of Geology from North Hwanghae Province.
“Oh, marvelous”, Erlen remarked, “It’s going to be a bloody Chautauqua. We’ll be here all day.”
“Well”, I replied, “It could be worse. We could be on a bus headed off on another unscheduled road trip.”
As we found our seats, our Korean counterparts were busily setting up portable screens, like the ones your grandfather had for showing his 2.1 Googleplex worth of travel slides every Christmas or Thanksgiving get-together. They had a couple of ancient Chinese brand laptops that could have doubled for body armor, they were so thick and heavy.
While they fiddled with running cords for the overhead projectors and 16mm film projector; yes, it was going to be movie time as well, the hotel’s restaurant folks wheeled in carts laden with scones, cupcakes, and other sweet sorts of bakery. Another cart was wheeled in with pump-pots of hot water, tea, and coffee. Usual scientific meeting fare.
There was one final cart that made the day bearable. It held a pony keg of hotel micro-brewed beer on ice, with several dozen frosty mugs available for all who wanted to partake.
There were instantly 12 mugs that were spoken for.
I grabbed a cold beer and wandered around the conference room, sipping beer, chewing on an unlit cigar, and just trying to be pleasant to our hosts and their scientific guests. I was surprised when one North Korean professor, who spoke amazingly British-tinged English, offered me a light for my cigar.
“Is smoking allowed here?” I asked.
“Allowed?” he laughed heartily, “My good man, it’s practically a prerequisite.”
“Here then”, I said, offering him a nice, unctuous Camacho, “Try one of mine.”
Dr. P'ung Kwang-Seon of the North Korean University of Geology became my instant and lifelong friend at that moment.
We had a very nice chat, much to the chagrin of the gray suit cadre, who could hear what we were talking about, but probably didn’t understand anything beyond every 8th word.
After a while, we were asked to take our seats, after refreshing our drinks, and introduced to the group of Korean geoscientists we’d be interacting with during our stay here in Best Korea.
I tried to record every name, but between the students, other scholars, and professors from the various universities, I decided I’d ask for a list of participants once the day had worn on. After all, they had all our names, references, and resumes if the thick folio they kept referring to was any indication.
There were a couple of hours of introductions, as every one of the Korean geoscientists there introduced themselves, mostly through translators, told of their personal area of specialty, and their latest work.
Most were what would be considered geoscientists, but oddly enough, not one that you would consider a petroleum geoscientist, however tangentially.
There were geomorphologists, structural geologists, petrologists, mineralogists, marine geologists, engineering geologists, and seismologists. However, there were no stratigraphers, sedimentologists, paleontologists, or geochemists. We were all geoscientists, but apart from the obvious Korean:English disparity, it was as if we spoke different scientific languages as well.
That would be our first hurdle to overcome.
They had no oil industry here; none whatsoever, therefore why one would bother with the geosciences that fed directly into petroleum? That, in and of itself, would make it difficult to explore for oil in the country. Couple that with the fact that they’re so insular, think their version of ‘science’ is the best, at least that’s the official line, and think all other’s ‘science’ is capitalistic, substandard, and inferior doesn’t bode well for your country discovering anything either oily or gassy.
We were having another conclave around the beer keg, ack, err…a ‘coffee break’ and I mentioned this fact to my scientific colleagues.
“Guys”, I need input here, “We’re going to get precisely nowhere if they won’t even acknowledge that they have major problems from the start.”
Ivan replies, “Very true. I’ve seen this before back home. You get a group so entrenched in their own little corner of science, they can’t even accept or acknowledge that others exist. Not only exist but actually know more about a certain problem than do you.”
Dax joins the fray, “Sure, that’s very true, but who’s going to tell them this unfortunate fact? They could take that as a personal, national, and global insult. Imagine you’re at an international conference and a bunch of foreigners walk in just to tell you you’ve been doing it all wrong for the last 75 years.”
I add, “Remember, though. These characters are scientists as well. I think it’ll be a good measure of seeing what sort of science and scientist we’re dealing with here. If they are truly researchers, they’ll listen to and evaluate what we say as for veracity and accuracy. If they’re just a bunch of Commie goons; no offense, Comrade Academician Ivan, they’ll get all pissed off, kick us out, and we get to go home and enjoy our triple Force Majeure pay.”
Ivan walks over and deliberately steps on the toes of my newly polished field boots.
“In Soviet Russia, field boots walk on YOU.” He laughs in his heavily inflected, and scary, Soviet-era speech…
“Yes, I agree”, Joon adds, “But who is going to address this issue with our hosts? Perhaps one of our Russian comrades, as they are, or were, more politically aligned with our Korean friends and perhaps best understand the issue?”
Ack speaks up, grinning maniacally, “No, I disagree. We should have the one person here who so encapsulates the ideologies and political leanings that they love to hate here so much. You know; the quiet, diminutive, and soft-spoken North American…”
Dax recoils, “Oh, no! I’m not going out in front of this mob of ornery Orientals…”
I smile wanly and tell Dax to cool out.
“Relax, Dax. They’re talking about me.”
“Oh, yes”, a collective group of voices replies, “Yes. Let out fearless Team Leader break the bad news to our Eastern Colleagues. That way we can gauge their reactions to being bounced around scientifically by a member of the Evil Capitalist Cartel.”
“OK”, I reply, “I’ll do it. But be forewarned, my fine feathered fiends. I get stuck on a topic that’s not precisely my bailiwick, I’m going to throw your ass to the wolves. Remember, we’re all in this together.”
Whoops, and catcalls were reduced to mumbles and ‘Aw, fucks.’.
Chautauqua resumption was called and I asked for the floor.
It was a bit off the agenda, but since they’ve been chewing the air for the last several hours, they understood it would be appropriate for us to at least try and get a word in edgewise.
I downed my beer, and grabbed a fresh one as what I was going to say was going to be harsh, cut-and-dried, and rather pointed. But delivered in a pleasant manner.
I hoped.
This all had to be filtered through a series of translators, one for general conversational Korean and another for the more technical and scientific transliterations. I realized I was going to be up here for a while. So, I brought a cigar.
One way or another, I was going to deliver our pronouncements and hell, I may as well be comfortable while doing it.
.
“Greetings and felicitations, my Eastern Colleagues. Let me first say how nice it is to be here in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea as part of the ….”
I’m going to fast-forward through all the flowery bullshit and introductory happiness; I’ll going to just cut to the guts of the matter.
“…Now, you do know why there has been virtually no oil, gas nor any other hydrocarbon related deposit discovered here in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea?” I asked by way of a rhetorical question.
I sipped my beer and lit my cigar. In for a chon, in for a won.
I let the buzzing subside on the side of our eastern counterparts.
“Because, and please do not take this as insulting or derogatory, but as a statement of irrefutable fact, no one with the proper training nor experience has been looking. You’re historically guilty of applying the science incorrectly and letting dogma and politics guide your search, instead of the scientific method and the facts. Geology, like all natural science, is just as truth based on the facts for a capitalist as it is for a communist. Reality is not influenced by your beliefs, be they scientific or political, secular or spiritual, ‘trusted’ rather than ‘thought’; any more than by your wish that it wouldn’t rain today during a raging thunderstorm.”
Little Boy over Hiroshima was dropped with less effect.
Our Democratic People's Republic of Korea colleagues erupted into a chaotic mixture of stuttering, internecine yelling, accusations, and sputtering.
Calling for decorum, I figured that since I was this far gone, I may as well push the plunger all the way to the bottom.
“Gentlemen, I do not denigrate the science of geology as taught and practiced here in Best Korea.” I actually said that, sort of a slip of the tongue. Continuing, “However, one would not fish for Bluefin tuna from a rowboat in a pond with a fly rod. One does not hunt bear in the city with a slingshot. Just as one doesn’t search for oil and gas with mining engineers, geomorphologists, and seismologists.”
I let that sink in and after the translation, they calmed a bit and wanted to hear the rest of what I had to say. I could sense a couple was less than thrilled with what I had to say, but forging onward…
“One fishes for Bluefin tuna in the deep ocean with huge rods, reels and a specialist boat captained by someone with deep experience in hunting the elusive fish. One hunts bear in the proper environment, the taiga or forest, with the proper tools and guided by one with the education, learnedness, and experience to know how to make the hunt come out successful.”
Hit them with some analogies they can relate to and digest. Now, go for the carotid.
“Just like one does not hunt oil and gas without stratigraphers, sedimentologists, geophysicists, petrophysicists, and other oil and gas experts who have the education, experience, and knowledge to know where to look. Knowing which environment looks most conductive to hide your quarry, if you’ll pardon the pun, and how best to find them, the guys who know how to corral and de-risk them once you find them, and the engineers and technologists who know how to bring them to the surface so they can be utilized.”
They had stopped being irritated and were listening in rapt attention.
“My colleagues and I have spent the last few days going over, in detail the geology of your country. There is nothing we can see that would preclude the development, entrapment, and preservation of economic quantities of oil and gas. Ture, the geology is quite complex as is the structural history of the entire peninsula. That’s one other thing you will have to accept. Geology doesn’t give the tiniest shit about political boundaries. One must look at the big picture, and that doesn’t stop at some man-made borders. Ignore that fact at your peril, because if you continue to view the geology here as not existing across political boundaries, you are preadapting yourself for failure.”
Drs. Ivan, Volna, and Morse make certain that everyone sees the ex-Soviets agreeing with the bushy-bearded, cigar-chomping American capitalist.
“So,” I said, hoping to bring this little spit-balling session to a fortuitous close, “If we can have an agreement; scientific agreement, on these points, then I am certain we can find a way forward with not only this discussion but the program we can devise for the best Korean (notice phase shift?) geologists to take the project forward both scientifically soundly and economically successful.”
My North Korean counterpart gets up from his seat in the conference room, goes to the keg, taps a couple of beers and walks up to the podium where I was standing.
“Thank you, Dr. Rocknocker, for saying what needed to be said”, he spoke in perfect English as he handed me a beer.
I grinned and gratefully accepted the beer.
“Why, Dr. Chang Kwang-Su”, I said, as that was his name, “You old fraud. You do speak English; and very well, I must add.”
“Yes, almost all of us do”, he relayed, “But, as you said, we are most reserved. We were more or less under orders of the ‘most illustrious’, to play coy, and act as if we spoke no English.”
“I see.” I said, “I’ve worked in several FSU countries as well as Russia and saw that there as well. I guess old habits die hard.”
“That they do, Doctor.”, he replied, “But, we must now tell you the truth. We knew exactly what you said is true, and we agree. We are not as totally insulated from the outside world as some suspect.”
“Well, I was going on what your superiors related to us. Like the police that had all their toilets stolen, I had nothing else to go on.” I replied.
“Ah, ha! Quite!”, he chuckled, “We had long suspected that we were lacking in certain areas of scholarship. What you said cements that fact as it was an independent conclusion. We can now present that to our superiors with the caveat that unless we bolster work and training in these areas, the hunt of hydrocarbon resources here will be for naught.”
“I am relieved”, I said, truthfully. “I was slightly concerned that some might take umbrage to being told their science is not up to specifications. I tried to be the bearer of that bad news but deliver it gently. Here, I find you need that to use that as a truncheon to smack one’s boss upside the head and tell him that an upgrade is required. And fast.”
“Ah, so”, he replies, “We are in total agreement. Now that is out of the way, we would appreciate it if you’d help in designing a course of study for up and coming local geoscientists. Then, we can go forward with a great plan to search for oil and gas here in…Korea. Correct?”
“Absolutely”, I remarked, “You’ve got over 400 man-years of science and exploration expertise here in this room alone. Let’s shoot for the moon, so to speak. Let’s get you up to speed on scientific journals and articles that are available out there in all of academia and industry. Let’s get you communicating on a global basis. Let’s prove that you can talk science with global scientists and still not have it affect your political or nationalistic aspirations one little bit. Let’s see if we can drag you, figuratively speaking, kicking and screaming, into the 21st century.”
“Doctor”, Dr. Chang remarked, “You are the embodiment of what we were always told what Americans are. Brash, loud, confident, and evil. Except for evil, you are American as we were led to believe.”
“Hey, I take that as a compliment”, I exclaim. “You think that’s bad, I’ve got a bunch of earnest Europeans, raucous Russians, and a couple of cagey Canadians on my side as well. Before we’re finished here, we’ll have you ordering hachee, dining on Caldo Verde, snacking on salmiakki, drinking Russkaya vodka with Pabst Blue Ribbon beer, eating poutine, and rooting for the Packers.”
“Doctor, I don’t know what half of that means, but I hope it comes to pass. It sounds most fascinating.” Dr. Chang chuckles.
The rest of the day was spent with various groups crystallizing and breaking off from the main crowd; then reforming as different groups. This was good, as it showed an interest across not only national borders but across ideologies and scientific specialties.
Most everyone here spoke English with some degree of fluency, so the translators were called in only occasionally.
I made certain they were included in everything that transpired that day. I want everyone to feel ‘part of the team’. How better to show the classlessness of Western science to include everyone in on both sides of every discussion and activity?
To be continued…

So this past weekend in Florida is a Vacation I’ll never forget.. its like one of those stories you hear on the News where you dream that one day something like this could happen to you. We’ll start On Saturday. The day was lackluster at best, you know those awkward family vacations where you feel out of place especially around your family... to make everything worse, we were in a state where we knew no one and finding some good bud was near impossible. We managed to get 2 fat joints on the Plane, hidden very well of course, but after that it was CBD from then on. It wasn’t the end of the world but, FUCK when you go a week without pot it feels like an eternity. It truly does make everything better especially when your stuck with family for the entire week.
So I had the Idea to rent a Scooter. (I HIGHly Recommend Renting a Scooter while on Vacation in SoFlo.) We cruised all up and down the coast from DeerField Beach all the Way down to the beaches in Fort Lauderdale. On the way, we went down Hillsboro Mile (which is where the story gets Juicy later into the Story) where the entire Mile is Full of Homes that only the 1% can afford. I Loved it, what an experience it was. I know I won’t have that kind of money anytime soon, but hey it definitely got me MOTIVATED!!! As we were Scootin past these homes, I pulled into a Vacant Lot in between 2 Multi Million Dollar homes and drove all the way up to the beach and parked. Man, what a view, It got me thinking, “how often do these beaches get used?” I didn’t see a single person in sight, I knew as of then that I wanted to explore this area of the beach before I leave to go back to the boring Midwest... so we left and continued south until we were in Fort Lauderdale.
We stopped and had Lunch at a small Italian place called Kisses of Italy. I ordered Chicken Parm that wasn’t even on the Menu (Best Chicken Parm Sandwich EVER) and my Gf had a Hotdog Sandwhich (3 Hotdogs on a toasted bun with toppings.) After a great Lunch we went back home to relax after a great Scooter ride.
Scroll forward about 6 hours and we are headed to the Casino because we can’t seem to get her family to do anything other than sit at home.. (were on vacation, so we don’t wanna just stay home) when we arrived at the Casino, we each took out $60 (TIP. Only take out $60, if you lose it GO HOME, if you gain $60 back, pocket it and DONT TOUCH IT, continue to play with your winning, until you either lose what you had profited or are ready to be finished) and headed straight to the Roulette Table. I started with my $60 and it was gone within 10 minutes and she put in $20 and it was gone after 2 minutes. (It was on a Red Streak and I refuse to play Red) We went outside to smoke a CBD Joint and are prepared to lose the rest when we go back inside. So when we go back in (after about 30 minutes) we see that the tables have turned and my LUCKY number 33 has been hit twice as well as a slew of other black numbers. We then put in the last $40 and got up to $200 in a matter of minutes. I think we had a number get hit 5 times in a row with $2-$3 on the number plus $75 on black. Needless to say we made our money back and profited $800 for the night! We left at 12:45am and got to sleep around 2:00am.
We woke up on Sunday at 7:30 to spend our last few hours on Florida on the Beach. (I didn’t wanna get outta bed) After sleeping an entire week on a crappy blow up mattress and having little sleep the night before, my body was telling me to stay in bed. We got to the beach around 8:30 and stayed until 10:00. I made sure we had enough time to go to the Spot I mentioned the day before. So we get home and hop on the scooter and head for Hillsboro Mile. (There is only 1 public entrance to this beach and its at least a 1/2 mile walk in the sand to get to where I wanted to go, so we took the scooter to the very last Condo Building before the Row of Mansions on Hillsboro Beach. All the parking spots were numbered so I just parked in the covered area by a door to get inside. There was only 1 sign that said no Trespassing unless your a resident, and there was a Chain going across 5 posts about 3 feet high. We hopped the Chain and were to the Beach within a minute or 2.
There wasn’t a person to be seen in the area, which is something I have wanted for awhile. Technically all Florida Beaches are Public Property, so we weren’t breaking any major rules. We started walking down the beach toward all the mansions. (I Recommend this walk for anyone that comes to the area. It’s extremely peaceful, just make sure you respect the beach and make it look better than when you got there.) As I got to about the 3rd Mansion I saw an elderly man in the distance and he saw me eagerly looking for Cool Seashells at the beach. When he got close he took off his headphones and told me that he saw a package on the beach a little ways down that had appeared to be drugs of some kind. He didn’t want to have anything to do with it, but seemed like he wanted me to take care of it. So we keep walking another 500 feet or so until we see what the man was talking about. It was a vacuum sealed black bag that was wrapped in multiple layers of plastic to form that of a brick. It had the Sun of Uruguay on the front (the Cartel Logo) it appeared to have been in the Ocean for a very very long time, but also appeared to be sealed still. (Keep in mind our flight leaves at 5:00pm and it’s currently 11:30am) so my GF takes off her shirt and we wrap it in the shirt so it doesn’t look Suspicious and we start walking back to the Scooter. At this point we had already made a video of finding it on the beach and we took a few pictures of it. (At this point No one knew about this except us, the old man was long gone by this point too) we put the brick under the seat of the Scooter and start heading towards her dads house. (Yes we’re just cruising around with a 30k brick in a cheap $500 scooter.)
When we get to the house we pull into the Garage and show them what we found, and they literary Flipped! They kept trying to tell us we were going to get a possession charge or something even worse. They wanted us to go find a trash can and go throw it away. I didn’t agree with how rash they were thinking. (Technically we didn’t do anything wrong, we took the package from the beach so someone else didn’t get their hands on it, and at this point we were pretty set on going to turn it in) So we unwrap it from the shirt and put it on a Walmart bag and bag into the Scooter seat and we start heading to the Police Station.
The Scooter has to be turned in at 12:00, and I didn’t wanna potentially get held for questioning and get a late fee, so we pulled over and call 911, I told them the short version of the story and they send a BCS out to meet up with me and we opened the Seat and he opened the bag and said that’s quite the find!! We told him where we found it and what our intentions were and he was SUPER COOL, we had a few questions about the brick and he answered all of them and talked to us about it. He took our info and asked us about our local college football Teams. All in all it was the Craziest way to end a Vacation.
I’ve been back now for 3 days and can say we are moving to Florida at the end of April. I’m an adventurer at heart and after finding the find of a lifetime it has motivated me to move to Florida to start our Fun Filled Life. I do want to say that I have never done this Product and know nothing about it. I know this could have been the Best/Worst thing that could have happened to me. I have also imagined so many other ways I could have handled it. Either way I’m happy it won’t end up on the Street even though I potentially gave up 30-100k worth of Pure Untouched Product. If you read this entire thing, I want to Thank you and welcome you to the Crazy Life I’m Living in. Follow to stay up to date with when I move and start searching the Beach again. Until then... Peace and Love

Junk bonds are bonds issued by companies with poor credit ratings, such as CCC, as opposed to investment-grade bonds that are issued by companies with a AAA credit rating.

Chronology

• 1946 = Michael Milken is born in Encino, California.
• 1957 = wrote a letter to President Eisenhower saying he wanted to lead the nation into space.
• 1968 = graduated from the University of Berkeley magna cum laude with a degree in finance.
• 1969 = gets married to his high school sweetheart.
• 1970 = receives an MBA from Wharton Business school, according to Milken he had the highest grades ever achieved at the school. Starts working for an investment firm called Drexel that would soon merge and be known as Drexel Burnham.
• 1976 = made $5 million ($23 million in 2020 dollars) from Drexel Burnham.
• 1977 = buys his current home in Encino, California that cost $587,500 (over $2.5 million in 2020 dollars). 7 bedrooms. over 7,000 square feet. Milken and the Drexel Burnham firm began to underwrite junk bonds.
• 1978 = moved his trading desk from New York to his hometown of Los Angeles, bringing about 20 traders with him. Milken stayed on the NYC schedule while in Los Angeles, waking up at 3am and working from 4:30am to 7:30pm.
• 1979 = First Predator's Ball, a financial conference hosted by Milken that continues to the present with over 3,500 people from over 50 nations attending.
• 1981 = by this time, Drexel Burnham is issuing over 60% of junk bonds in America. Milken committed to buy or sell junk bonds that Drexel Burnham had underwritten, offering liquidity and security to the market. This allowed for junk bonds to be more accurately priced and it brought new customers and their money into Milken’s junk bond market.
• 1982 = started the Milken Family Foundation with his brother Lowell Milken as a tax shelter.
• 1986 = There are more companies issuing junk bonds than investment-grade bonds. Drexel Burnham became the leading investment bank in America. Milken made $296 million ($698 million in 2020 dollars) from Drexel Burnham.
• 1987 = made $550 million ($1.25 billion in 2020 dollars) from Drexel Burnham.
• 1988 = Drexel Burnham launches an internal investigation into Milken and uncovers a shadow entity called MacPherson Partners that was engaging in suspicious financial activity. Drexel Burnham pleads guilty to 6 counts of stock parking and stock manipulation. Milken leaves Drexel Burnham to start his own firm.
• 1989 = indicted by Rudy Giuliani and charged with 98 counts of financial crimes which included insider trading, securities fraud, stock parking, and racketeering.
• 1990 = pleads guilty to 6 charges of criminal violation of securities laws and is ordered by the SEC to pay a $200 million fine plus $400 million to defrauded investors. Additional Milken has to pay a civil lawsuit settlement of $500 million to Drexel’s private investors who lost money after his crimes caused the firm to go bankrupt.
• 1992 = his jail sentence is reduced from 10 years to 2 years and Milken is released from prison after serving 22 months. After paying over $1 billion in fines, Milken still has a fortune of $2.5 billion ($4.6 billion in 2020 dollars).
• 1993 = diagnosed with prostate cancer and given 18 months to live. Milken, with the help of his money, beats the odds and his cancer has been in remission for over 25 years. Buys a vacation in Lake Tahoe for $8 million ($14.3 million in 2020 dollars) and then tears down the house and builds a new house.
• 1998 = paid $47 million to settle SEC claims he had violated his lifetime ban from the industry.
• 2009 = Milken buys his daughter an $8.75 million mansion in Beverly Hills.
• 2011 = bought a house in Malibu for $13.75 million.
• 2013 = committed another violation of his lifetime ban from the securities industry by loaning a senior executive at a financial firm $50 million.
• 2014 = George Washington University named its public health school after Milken because of his donation of $50 million.
• 2019 = bought a Beverly Hills Mansion for $19 million cash.

His Crimes

The junk bond scheme:

1. Milken controlled both sides of the deal, he controlled both the lenders and the borrowers.
2. he controlled the lenders because he controlled a huge network of federally insured Savings and Loan banks, reputable insurance companies, and junk bond funds.
3. so Milken would then raise money from his network of lenders to buy junk bonds from a junk company (borrower), with the promise that the junk company will use some of that capital to buy junk bonds from other junk companies (borrowers) in Milken’s junk bond empire. This inflated the demand for the junk bonds.
4. junk bonds yielded Milken a high commission, and Milken would also get equity in the junk companies that he had just financed with capital.

Junk bonds financed corporate raiders, and information about those takeover bids was improperly shared, creating criminal insider trading opportunities.
Milken often tried to get as much as five times the maximum markup on trades that was permitted at the time.
Milken’s friend and business associate, Ivan Boesky:

1. Ivan Boesky’s conviction of insider trading in 1986 is what lead to Milken’s downfall.
2. Milken had substantial business dealings with Boesky.
3. the first lead into Milken’s crimes was a payment of $5.3 million by Ivan Boesky to Drexel Burnham listed as a consultation fee. Boesky told the SEC this payment was for Milken’s profits form an illegal trade.
4. Boesky implicated milked in insider trading, stock manipulation, fraud, and stock parking.

Milken’s shadow entity, MacPherson Partners:

1. Drexel’s internal investigation discovered suspicious activity in one of the limited partnerships Milken had set up to allow members of his department to make their own investments called MacPherson Partners.
2. Members of MacPherson Partners included: Milken, other Drexel Burnham executives, a few high value Drexel Bernham customers, as well as a few managers of money market funds - all friends of Milken.
3. MacPherson Partners acquired several stock warrant)s for the stock of Storer Broadcasting in 1985. At the time, the powerful private equity firm KKR was in the midst of a leveraged buyout of Storer Broadcasting, and Drexel Burnham was the lead underwriter for the bonds being issued.
4. One of Drexel Burnham’s other clients bought several Storer Broadcasting warrants and sold them back to the high-yield bond department (controlled by Milken) at Drexel Burnham.
5. Drexel Burnham’s high-yield bond department in turn sold them to MacPherson Partners (also controlled by Milken).
6. Those warrants were then handed out by Milken to members of his family, and the money managers bought the warrants for themselves without notifying the clients of the funds they were managing.
7. By allowing his wealth fund management friends to buy the warrants, Milken was essentially bribing them so they would in turn help him with his junk bond manipulation.

​

His Trial, Conviction and Sentence

During the trial, Milken spent $3 million a month on his legal defense and an expensive public relations firm.
He ultimately pleaded guilty to 3 counts of securities fraud, 2 counts of tax evasion, and 1 count of conspiracy to commit the other 5 crimes.
Milken was ordered by the court to pay a fine of $200 million and to pay $400 million to defrauded investors.
In a separate civil suit Milken had to pay out an additional $500 million to defrauded investors. Sentenced to 2 years for each of the 5 counts of tax and securities fraud for 10 years total.
When the judge read the sentence, Milken misunderstood and thought he had received 2 years total. After his lawyer told him that he was getting 10 years, the blood drained out of Milken’s face, he took his wife into a witness waiting room, closed the door and let out a blood-curdling scream.

Clemency from President Trump

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On February 18, 2020 Trump granted clemency to Milken, although his lifetime ban from the securities industry is still in effect.
America’s Secretary of the Treasury, Steve Mnuchin, is longtime pals with Milken, and was the prime mover in convincing President Trump to pardon him. Mnuchin has flown on Milken’s private jet.
Another fat cat advocating for Milken was Nelson Peltz, who has raised over $10 million for Trump’s 2020 re-election campaign.
And don’t forget Trump's fattest fat cat, Sheldon Adelson, who also advocated on behalf of Milken.
Many powerful figures in high finance came together to lobby the White House on behalf of Milken, including:

1. Sheldon Adelson: a major Republican donor and Trump supporter, Adelson is the chief executive officer of casino operator Las Vegas Sands Corp.
2. David Bahnsen: a former Morgan Stanley managing director and wealth management executive who wrote Trump in 2017 urging him to pardon Milken, calling the junk bond king’s prosecution a result of “a period of class envy run amok.”
3. Tom Barrack: the chief executive officer and chairman of Colony Capital Inc., Barrack is long-time Trump ally. He faced a call from an investor in November to step down in part over distractions from investigations into his political and personal activities.
4. Rupert Murdoch: a powerful media mogul and longtime Trump ally who put the power of News Corp. behind the president.
5. Maria Bartiromo: a popular anchor on Fox Business, Bartiromo has interviewed Milken as recently as 2018 (and has also interviewed Trump). The network is part of Murdoch’s media empire.
6. Ron Burkle: a billionaire investor who controls Yucaipa Cos., Burkle made his fortune in the grocery-store industry. Burkle, a Democratic fund-raiser famous for his friendship with Bill Clinton, made news last year when he was rumored to be interested in acquiring the Trump-friendly National Enquirer.
7. Elaine Chao: the U.S. Secretary of Transportation, Chao was a key speaker at the Milken Global Conference last year, where she spoke about the future of mobility as well as women in government. She’s married to Republican Senate Majority Leader and top Trump ally Mitch McConnell.
8. Rudy Giuliani: Trump’s personal lawyer, the former New York mayor has lately been embroiled in the Ukraine scandal. As chief federal prosecutor in New York in the 1980s, Giuliani sought to prosecute Milken.
9. Rabbi Marvin Hier: dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, Hier was invited by Trump to speak at his inauguration. The rabbi in 2018 called on Trump to fight extremism in the U.S. after a shooting at a synagogue.
10. Ray Irani: chairman and chief executive officer of Ray Investments Ltd. and former CEO of Occidental Petroleum, Irani stepped down as a board member at Wynn Resorts Ltd. following a sexual harassment scandal involving company founder Steve Wynn.
11. Robert Kraft: owner of the New England Patriots and a longtime Trump supporter.
12. Richard LeFrak: a billionaire developer and Republican donor, LeFrak appeared in a 2010 episode of Trump’s reality TV show “The Apprentice.”
13. Randy Levine: the president of the New York Yankees and a longtime supporter of Republican politicians, including Trump.
14. Kevin McCarthy: a Republican congressman from California, McCarthy is the House Minority Leader and a longtime Trump supporter.
15. Larry Mizel: chairman and CEO of home-builder MDC Holdings Inc.
16. Arte Moreno: owner of the Anaheim Angels, which he purchased from The Walt Disney Co. in 2003
17. Sean Parker: Napster co-creator and Facebook Inc. billionaire who has attended the annual Milken Institute Global Conference.
18. John Paulson: founder and owner of Paulson & Co., a New York-based investment adviser that manages about $9 billion, Paulson is best-known for making $15 billion in 2007 on a bet against mortgage bonds.
19. Nelson Peltz: founder and chief executive officer of Trian Fund Management LP, Peltz is well-known as an activist investor in companies like Wendy’s and Dupont.
20. Steven Roth: chairman and chief executive officer of Vornado Realty Trust, a REIT that holds more than 22 million square feet in commercial property, mainly in New York.
21. David Rubenstein: co-chairman and co-founder of The Carlyle Group, a private equity firm with $222 billion in assets under management.
22. Larry Ruvo: senior managing director of Southern Wine & Spirits of Nevada, the state’s largest liquor wholesaler.
23. Marc Stern: the chairman of TCW Group Inc. hosted a $10,000 per person fund-raiser for Trump at his Malibu home in 2018 attended by Vice President Mike Pence.
24. Steven Tananbaum: the founder and chief investment officer of GoldenTree Asset Management LP, one of Wall Street’s biggest investors in distressed debt.
25. Ted Virtue: the chief executive officer of MidOcean Partners, the middle-market private equity and credit firm, who previously oversaw Deutsche Bank AG’s $35 billion direct investment portfolio.
26. Andrew von Eschenbach: a U.S. Food and Drug Administration chief under President George W. Bush, he now serves on the board of Bausch Health Cos.
27. Mark Weinberger: the chairman and CEO of Ernst & Young LLP, Weinberger quit Trump’s business council after the Charlottesville white supremacists rally but later dined with the president.

Conclusion

Milken likes to tell his life story as a smart guy who grew up wanting to be a scientist and lead America in the space race, but after his first year in college the Watts riots happened and it made him rethink his life. After talking with a Black man who told him that he couldn’t get access to capital because he was Black, Milken decided he would dedicate his life to making sure people with ability would have access to capital.
So Milken changed from a science major to finance, went to business school, made $billions on Wall Street all so he could help Black people?
There are plenty of people who in part owe their wealth to Milken and his junk bonds, and these people heap praise on Milken saying he created a lot of wealth in America and helped society tremendously.
The wealth, though, went to those people heaping the praise!
As for the companies Milken financed helping society, it would be difficult to argue that case. The big name companies that were financed by Milken include: CNN, Rupert Murdoch’s empire, Wynn casinos, Mitt Romney’s Bain Capital, etc.
Milken was not helping society, he was helping people on Wall Street get rich.
Government watchdogs are usually too weak to take on the crimes of the super rich, because the government watchdog worker still gets paid whether for not the Wall Street crook gets busted.
There is no incentive to play by the rules.
Milken has done a lot of philanthropic work especially in regards to cancer research with that $2.5 billion he had leftover after getting out of prison, although he hasn’t given away that much money considering his net worth in 2020 is $3.8 billion.
What I find most fascinating about the Milken story is the power of his public relations machine. All the major media outlets cast Milken as a philanthropist and not a criminal.
Another sign of the overwhelming influence of the wealthy on the American zeitgeist.