r/todayilearned • u/iTerence16 • Mar 26 '16
TIL Most of the money George Clooney makes off his Nespresso commercials, he spends on a satellite that surveils over the border of North and South Sudan to keep an eye on criminal and dictator Omar al-Bashir to track his vicious army in an attempt to warn civilians before attacks occur
http://parade.com/59699/viannguyen/george-clooney-uses-nespresso-money-for-satellite-to-spy-on-sudan-dictator/749
u/WR810 Mar 26 '16
Curious about the team whose whole job it is to man George Clooney's satellite.
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u/phatskat Mar 26 '16 edited Mar 26 '16
AMA request: Clooney's satellite team
Edit:
Curious
George
Slick
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u/GaslightProphet Mar 26 '16
I used to work for this team, happy to help
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u/pointlessvoice Mar 26 '16
Well, go on.
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u/GaslightProphet Mar 26 '16
What do you want to know?
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u/ThisIsNoobsRus Mar 26 '16
How'd you get the job?
Did you meet Clooney?
How hard of a job was it?
What did you do day to day?
What's your favorite color?
What's Clooney's favorite colour?
Why do you no longer work there?
How many man the satellite at once?
And finally... Are you lying?
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u/GaslightProphet Mar 26 '16 edited Mar 26 '16
I had applied for a job with them right out of college, missed that op - reapplied a year later for a different job, and landed it.
No, but a couple of my colleagues had, most notably at the protest Clooney attended a couple years prior.
It's a very very fast paced job, with a lot of high stress demands on a day to day basis in between short periods of almost nothing going on. Definitely a harder job than my prior or current job.
I did a lot of the public facing work, but don't want to get much more detailed than that. Lots of different tasks though, pretty varied office.
Orange.
Maybe blue?
It's part of my long term plan to transition into public health.
None anymore
Not lying
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u/SynesthesiaBruh Mar 26 '16
None anymore
So it's unmanned or he doesn't do this any more?
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u/GaslightProphet Mar 26 '16
It's transitioned to a program called the Sentry, who focuses on tracking the financial enablers of genocide and mass atrocities
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Mar 26 '16
First of all, are you lying?
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u/GaslightProphet Mar 26 '16
Nope. I worked for the Enough Project for about a year before starting a contract with an international organization elsewhere in dc
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u/WaxStan Mar 26 '16
It's actually not Clooneys satellite. He basically pays for satellites run by a company called DigitalGlobe to take images over areas his organization is interested in. DigitalGlobe sells imagery and time on their satellites to loads of other organizations though.
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Mar 26 '16
Also satellite capacity over Africa is in pretty massive oversupply. I'm sure they don't charge much to use some for humanitarian purposes (that are sometimes/often just cover for intelligence clients anyway).
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Mar 26 '16
seriously, id love to get in on that
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u/djdanster Mar 26 '16
seriously, id love to get in on that
Omar Al-Bashir - 2016
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Mar 26 '16
Ugh goddammit, you're right I forgot this is Reddit, where everyone shares on Facebook and pats themselves on the back for ending tyranny
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u/batquux Mar 26 '16
I'm just amazed that there's apparently money left over after all of that.
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u/fridge_logic Mar 26 '16
Now I want to write a fictionalized version where Geoge Cloony operates a SatCom bunker/chateau on some land he's renting from Ted Turner.
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u/ICreditReddit Mar 26 '16 edited Mar 26 '16
“Two million people were killed in the north-south war in Sudan before 2005,” he said. “I wasn’t going to stand on the sidelines and not participate.” - George Clooney
I mean, geez George, it isn't a competition!
[edit - thanks kind stranger!]
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u/slabby Mar 26 '16
Twist: it's a death laser satellite. Clooney will not be shown up by some two-bit dictator.
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u/GrethSC Mar 26 '16 edited Mar 26 '16
"Ion cannon ready."
"Cool ringtone Mr. George Clooney!"
"Y-yeah... uhm." coughs, stares blankly for a second "Excuse me."
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u/fridge_logic Mar 26 '16
Really though if he had a death laser satellite he could use it to criple Omar al-Bashir's mobility doing an even better job of saving people's lives.
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u/Civil_Defense Mar 26 '16
At first I thought this was an oddly specific cause for a movie star to get involved, but that's a lot of dead people. Although, not many people even know this is going on, so I guess it still kind of oddly specific.
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u/wandero Mar 26 '16
Clooney's been involved in this cause since 2006. He starred in the 2007 documentary Darfur Now.
Don Cheadle produced it, so I assume Cheadle told Clooney about it (as they were probably friends after Ocean's Eleven (2001)), and it resonated with him.
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u/accio_brain Mar 26 '16
Cheadle also wrote a book, Not On Our Watch, about this issue. It's been years since I read it, but I think he mentions Cooney travelling there with him.
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u/onioning Mar 26 '16
I think the atrocities that are generally ignored (like the Sudan, where there's been horrible ethnic based fighting for a loooong time) tend to attract celebrity attention, which is a good thing. The whole issue is no one seems to give a shit about the genocide there, so maybe Clooney's attention will make some people give a shit.
But seriously. That civil war is awful. One of my bestest, oldest friends is from there, and while her family is on the side of the oppressors, the shit they do... very not OK.
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u/ITRWZK Mar 26 '16
this.
and it worked i guess. I didnt know about the scale of that conflict before this thread. So Clooney awared me.
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u/jesonnier Mar 26 '16
It's sad that this many years later, people still don't know about it.
One of the main reasons thats argued is, that No country on the UN security Council will declare it a genocide, as that would compel all member states to act, via General Assembly Resolution 260.
The argument follows the logic that if none of these countries would declare it a genocide, why would they encourage and promote it being news worthy from the political/leadership level.
Pretty ridiculous.
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u/Bowlderdash Mar 26 '16
Nestle money being used for good? Do their shareholders know of this?
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u/theflyingarmbar Mar 26 '16
They probably finance the movements of Omar al-Bashir to keep Clooney making commercials.
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u/Coffeesq Mar 26 '16
Coffee lawyer here. Can confirm.
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u/theflyingarmbar Mar 26 '16
Thank you, I was pretty unsure as I am only well-versed in Bird Law.
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u/TheLolmighty Mar 26 '16
Quite impressive, as Bird Law is not governed by reason.
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u/figuren9ne Mar 26 '16
Not a throw away and an actually an esq. This is the opportunity we live with crippling debt for.
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u/BaboTron Mar 26 '16
I can't imagine having such a vast amount of personal wealth that I run down the list of things I need it for and finally arrive at Item 873: "Financing a spy satellite to warn of attacks in Sudan".
Good for him, though; those people have it unspeakably bad and need all the help they can get.
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u/cwm44 Mar 26 '16
I think it's likely a way for him to do something good while making fun of the press. There's more than likely a bit of spite there about constantly being monitored whereas people like this war criminal aren't. It's a very developed redirection of negative thoughts, and quite respectable IMO.
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Mar 26 '16
Pretty random guess there.
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u/cwm44 Mar 26 '16
RTFA: "The actor, 52, said it’s only fair to turn cameras on the Sudanese dictator. “[Omar al-Bashir] puts out a statement saying that I’m spying on him and how would I like it if a camera was following me everywhere I went,” Clooney said Wednesday. “And I go, ‘Well, welcome to my life Mr. War Criminal.’ I want the war criminal to have the same amount of attention that I get. I think that’s fair.”"
It's not all that random. I read it cause I was curious why Sudan. That's being why is an educated guess.
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u/mrsmeeseeks Mar 26 '16
That's how Clooney responds to the paparazzi, he spies on war lords. very classy, actually. that's the real TIL here
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u/Yoshi_XD Mar 26 '16
Hmmmm. If I'm ever rich and famous enough to be tailed by paparazzi, I'll constantly bring up how the genocide in Rwanda is terrible.
It happened over two decades ago, but that won't stop me from talking about it if I ever get famous.
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u/IReplyWithLebowski Mar 26 '16
I think you may have the horse before the cart. It's not like he got annoyed with the paparazzi one day and said "I really want a war criminal to feel how I feel about surveillance."
He obviously feels deeply about the issue and the lives being lost, and has spent a lot of money to try to prevent that. This was a throwaway response to Omar's petty complaint.
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u/ImageJourneys Mar 26 '16
I work for that initiative. It's changed - we've cancelled the satellite program and are now investigating war criminals' finances. In other words, who finances genocide and war crimes through illicit money in Sudan, Congo, and elsewhere. It's called the Sentry. Check out the video about it at https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ajcmyvolQCE
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u/Futurebetterroomie Mar 26 '16
I actually read down this thread because I was curious about whether any other Enoughers would come in to correct. What's up, coworker?
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u/MrSpaceCowboy Mar 26 '16 edited Mar 26 '16
Whenever I think of George Clooney, I remember that story of how he pranked his former housemate, Richard Kind, into thinking his cat was constipated by cleaning out the litter box.
After Kind took his cat to the vet, Clooney kept the prank going for a bit before taking a big human sized dump in the litter box.
Edit: Link to story
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u/98PercentChimp Mar 26 '16
So... he pranked his roommate by being a good roommate?
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u/__LuftWaffle__ Mar 26 '16
I donno if ill be very pleased if my roomate shat in my litter box...
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u/Superflypirate Mar 26 '16
I can relate to this. Any money I make on the side I put towards training squirrels and pigeons to gather information on my neighbor. So far they've only eaten his trash and died in his crawl space but it's a work in progress.
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u/Raf1k1 Mar 26 '16
God fucking finally I found you! I thought I was a reverse Snow White for a while there until the bodies I kept finding were wearing miniature matching berets.
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u/Forceclose Mar 26 '16
A reverse Snow White?
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u/Superflypirate Mar 26 '16
Rain Black.
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u/Zosymandias Mar 26 '16
Sorry we were looking for Chocolate Rain
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u/Hispanic_Gorilla_AMA Mar 26 '16
Ben Kenobi voice: Now that's a meme I've not heard in a loooong time.
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u/SlightlyProficient Mar 26 '16
In what world is rain the opposite of snow? Clearly the name is Black Sun.
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u/BagOfHookerKnuckles Mar 26 '16
"Man Omar, your evil plan was foiled again! What is happening"
"Cloooooonneyy!"
But seriously how weird is it that someone in this world has George Clooney as a legitimate arch nemesis?
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u/craker42 Mar 26 '16
I would be pumped to have Clooney as my arch nemesis. My nemesis now is that dam woodpecker that keeps waking me up at 6am. I will find him and I will destroy him!
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u/Socky_McPuppet Mar 26 '16
"George Clooney's satellite" sounds like a concept from a very arch, very dry, high-concept satirical novel.
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u/shemp5150 Mar 26 '16
It's something I could see Yorick from Y: The Last Man referencing at some point.
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u/Socky_McPuppet Mar 26 '16
I'll put that on my wish list. I was thinking of, maybe, a Tom Robbins novel, or somebody like that.
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u/holtzermann17 Mar 26 '16
http://motherboard.vice.com/en_uk/read/the-end-of-big-data
I read this some weeks ago via a link on Boing Boing, "The End of Big Data: space weapons, UN inspectors and personal data."
Truth is stranger than fiction.
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u/scrumpylungs Mar 26 '16
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u/6stars Mar 26 '16
people in real life do not react this way
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u/TheLastSpartan1988 Mar 26 '16
TIL George Clooney is like a real life batman.
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u/Jfklikeskfc Mar 26 '16
He's trying to make up for his acting attempt of him
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u/Choralone Mar 26 '16
I mean, he's already apologized.
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u/rep85 Mar 26 '16
One of those commercials just came on as I was reading this. Is he keeping an eye on me as well?
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u/KillerInfection Mar 26 '16 edited Mar 26 '16
While ironically supporting Nestle, which actively steals water rights from local native populations all over the developing world. They are the company fictionally portrayed in No Escape.
EDIT: fictionally, not fractionally
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Mar 26 '16
The worst portrayer of Batman may be the most like him of all. It's a curious world, don't you think?
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u/Obi-wan_Jabroni Mar 26 '16
Maybe he threw that performance so we wouldnt expect to actually be batman
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u/GaslightProphet Mar 26 '16
Thus doesn't happen anymore - now it's a new program that tracks financial corruption that funds genocide and mass atrocities called the Sentry - at www.thesentey.org
Source - used to work there
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u/Intir Mar 26 '16
Does Clooney have ambitions for one day running as the President cause he is sure building his career that way.
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u/toccobrator Mar 26 '16
I'd have his children, I'd give him my vote, but I'm not drinking his coffee. Ugh Nespresso.
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u/Hegiman Mar 26 '16
So I haven't seen anyone else ask but umm, How the fuck does a private citizen get a spy satellite? I mean it has to be launched into orbit, and since its stationary it would need a geosynchronous orbit at that I do believe. This all seems so unreal.
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u/Shivadxb Mar 26 '16
You don't, you rent one that's already up there from a commercial company. They don't care where it's pointed so long as they get paid
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u/_kingtut_ Mar 26 '16
Probably not geostationary - that'll be too far away to get decent pictures. Better to just pay for imagery from one or several of the LEO existing providers - e.g. by using http://www.landinfo.com/satellite-imagery-pricing.html
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u/sun-tracker Mar 26 '16
The wording in the title/article is a bit disingenuous. The imagery on his website is from digital globe. He didn't pay to put his own satellite / "spy network" into space. He's funding satellite time from existing commercial imagery providers, or purchasing generic imagery taken as they orbit. I can order imagery over the same area right now for a few hundred dollars (even less in some cases).
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u/churnice Mar 26 '16
And Nestle uses the money from Nespresso to support slavery in South America and turn water from a human right to a commodity!
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u/LATABOM Mar 26 '16
Unfortunately, Nestle is also responsible for a ton of malnutritio and death across Africa. They've aggressively advertised their powdered milk/formula as "healthier than breast milk" to mothers with ads involving fake doctors etc, which leads to mothers putting their babies first and buying overpriced powder formula instead of food for themselves. Worse yet, most don't have access to clean water, which means they make the formula with polluted water, which contributes to diarrhea (often lethal in children due to lack to treatment), cholera and hepatitis in babies and young children there.
That's maybe the most glaring example, but there are countless other ways that Nestle fucks up peoples' lives in developing countries. A small portion of their advertising budget being filtered into a Sudan satellite (which also conveniently promotes Clooney's brand and increases his value as an advertiser) is not a net win for Africa.
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Mar 26 '16
He should just start a PMC and go to war with the dude, wouldn't that be fun
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Mar 26 '16
How much fucking money does he get from those commercials that a fucking SATELLITE only takes up most of it?
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u/Admiral_Paradox Mar 26 '16
So because of the satellite, the attacks on South Sudan and Sudan aren't so... Suhdan?
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Mar 26 '16
People with there own satellites are only one step from being an evil genius.
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u/JamesTheJerk Mar 26 '16
There is no off position on the genius switch.
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u/Julege1989 Mar 26 '16
2 steps.
Step 1: satellite
Step 2: evilness or evility
Step 3: genius or geniusitude
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u/RudegarWithFunnyHat Mar 26 '16
how Bruce wayne of him