Sometimes they are funny.

Trump slams ‘rat-infested’ district – but his own restaurant had a rodent problem
by Edward Helmore, The Guardian
Sat 27 Jul 2019

Donald Trump attacked the House oversight committee chair, Elijah Cummings, on Saturday, claiming his congressional district in Baltimore was a “disgusting, rat and rodent infested mess”. But Trump has had his own problems with rodents.

For example, in February, the Trump Tower Grille in the president’s signature Manhattan property was reported for “live mice” and other health code violations.

New York City health inspectors visited the restaurant on 11 July 2018 and found “evidence of mice or live mice” in and around the kitchen, a violation of sanitary standards that was deemed to be “critical”.

The inspectors also found the restaurant to be “not vermin-proof” and said it was “conducive to attracting vermin” and “allowing vermin to exist”.

The New York Daily News reported that the Trump Tower restaurant has been cited for health code violations in each of the past five years, including sightings of “live roaches” in 2016 and “filth flies” in 2017.

A Trump Organization spokesman told the paper such infractions had been dealt with and the restaurant retained an A rating from the city health department.

But a former business associate told the Daily News that despite being a self-described “clean hands freak” and germaphobe, Trump has “always been far more focused on creating an image for his properties than in spending what it takes to make them excellent”.

The president’s Trump Golf Links in the Bronx has also had problems with health inspections. The course restaurant’s plumbing and sewage systems were deemed substandard, the Daily News reported.

Rats have also been involved in anti-Trump protests.

In 2018, an artists’ collective used live rats in an installation in a room in the Trump International hotel, at the south-west corner of Central Park. The piece also featured a Trump impersonator wearing golden handcuffs.

“The big question is the rats,” a source told the New York Post’s Page Six team. “They’re not emotional support rats. I’m sure it’s a health code violation, but I’m not sure what kind.”

Back on the other side of the park, a 15ft inflatable “Trump Rat” has appeared on the north-west corner of 58th Street and Fifth Avenue, outside Trump Tower.

Welcome to The Breakfast Club! We’re a disorganized group of rebel lefties who hang out and chat if and when we’re not too hungover we’ve been bailed out we’re not too exhausted from last night’s (CENSORED) the caffeine kicks in. Join us every weekday morning at 9am (ET) and weekend morning at 10:00am (ET) (or whenever we get around to it) to talk about current news and our boring lives and to make fun of LaEscapee! If we are ever running late, it’s PhilJD’s fault.

Britain’s Prince Charles marries Lady Diana Spencer; Italy’s fascist dictator Benito Mussolini born; President Dwight Eisenhower signs an act creating NASA; Artist Vincent Van Gogh dies.

The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public’s money.

Alexis de Tocqueville

Continue reading

Hong Kong protests: China condemns ‘horrendous incidents’

China has condemned the recent anti-government protests in Hong Kong as “horrendous incidents” that have caused “serious damage to the rule of law”.

“We hope that… people will stand firm in defence of the rule of law,” a spokesman for the government’s Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office said.

Hong Kong has seen eight consecutive weekends of anti-government and pro-democracy protests.

There were violent clashes over the weekend between police and protesters.

In a rare statement the spokesman condemned “the evil and criminal acts committed by the radical elements” in Hong Kong.

‘People are dying’: how the climate crisis has sparked an exodus to the US

As part of the Running Dry series, the Guardian looks at how drought and famine are forcing Guatemalan families to choose between starvation and migration

by Nina Lakhani in Camotán

Mon 29 Jul 2019 07.00 BST

At sunrise, the misty fields around the village of Guior are already dotted with men, women and children sowing maize after an overnight rainstorm.

After several years of drought, the downpour brought some hope of relief to the subsistence farmers in this part of eastern Guatemala.

But as Esteban Gutiérrez, 30, takes a break from his work, he explains why he is still willing to incur crippling debts – and risk his life – to migrate to the United States.

Russia’s Alexei Navalny may have been poisoned: doctor

A Russian doctor has said the opposition leader’s symptoms suggest that he might have been targeted with a “toxic agent.” Alexei Navalny is serving a month-long jail sentence for urging an unauthorized protest.

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s personal doctor, Anastasiya Vasilyeva, said Monday that an unidentified poison may have caused his illness.

“Some toxic agent may be the reason for Alexei Navalny’s ‘illness,'” said Vasilyeva.

Navalny was rushed to the hospital on Sunday for what authorities described as an “allergic reaction”while serving a 30-day jail sentence.

Vasilyeva complained that she wasn’t given access to Navalny to examine him, saying hospital workers behaved strangely when she approached them.

‘Brownface’ ad sparks anger in Singapore

An advertisement featuring an actor of Chinese origin with his skin darkened to portray different races has sparked anger in multi-ethnic Singapore, prompting an apology from the country’s state-owned broadcaster.

Race is a sensitive issue in Singapore, which is home to ethnic Chinese, ethnic Indians and Muslim Malays, as well as a large number of expatriates from all over the world.

The ad, part of a government-initiated campaign for cashless transactions in the tech-savvy city-state, featured actor Dennis Chew from broadcaster Mediacorp as four characters.

Ethics report accuses UNRWA leadership of abuse of power

From Black Weed Smoking Sharks to Brain Eating Ameoba it’s Sum, Sum, Sum, Summertime.

Umbrella Uprising? We always thought it would be the Robots.

Happy Summer everybody.

People on the Intertubz is mean.

Spare Me the Purity Racket
By Maureen Dowd, The New York Times
July 27, 2019

After I interviewed Nancy Pelosi a few weeks ago, The HuffPost huffed that we were Dreaded Elites because we were eating chocolates and — horror of horrors — the speaker had on some good pumps.

Then this week, lefty Twitter erected a digital guillotine because I had a book party for my friend Carl Hulse, The Times’s authority on Capitol Hill for decades, attended by family, journalists, Hill denizens and a smattering of lawmakers, including Pelosi, Chuck Schumer and Susan Collins.

I, the daughter of a D.C. cop, and Carl, the son of an Illinois plumber, were hilariously painted as decadent aristocrats reveling like Marie Antoinette when we should have been knitting like Madame Defarge.

Yo, proletariat: If the Democratic Party is going to be against chocolate, high heels, parties and fun, you’ve lost me. And I’ve got some bad news for you about 2020.

The progressives are the modern Puritans. The Massachusetts Bay Colony is alive and well on the Potomac and Twitter.
…
The rest of us more imperfect beings don’t want the world to perish. And maybe justice can be done, without losing the White House, the House, chocolate, high heels, parties and fun.

Happy for you to express your selfishness in print like that for all the world to see.

Umm… grow up dude. Accept that you won’t be able to appeal to your privilege and post anonymously, subjecting your statements to the “Scientific” Test (Can I try this at home? Yes. Will I get the results predicted? Well, that’s the test isn’t it?) if the hurtful calumny of others is negatively effecting your personal sense of self worth.

Until then quit whining because it only adds to your well deserved and established reputation for being a stuck up prig.

Nothing to see here at all

Did Norman murder the girl in the Bates Motel? Yes, or No?

To understand the case, you have to go back to the time ten years ago when the young Norman murdered his mother and her lover.

Matricide: perhaps. The most unbearable crime of all. Norman refused to come to terms with the horror of his deed. His mother was still alive. He stole her corpse and preserved it with chemicals. He kept her alive by wearing her clothes; speaking in her voice; thinking her thoughts.

He became both mother and son. Norman Bates; normal, healthy young man with regular interests and habits.

And Mrs. Bates; a clinging, possessive woman, and a homicidal maniac. When Norman encountered the girl at the motel, his sexual instincts were aroused. He wanted her – desired her.

This was too much for the other side of Norman’s personality, in a jealous frenzy, Mother murdered the girl.

When two personalities share the same mind, there is always conflict, now, that conflict is over. Mother has taken over Norman’s mind, perhaps for all time.

Norman Bates no longer exists.

Too bad. He was such a normal guy.

You know my name

Look up the number

If you wanna be evil and awful and free…

Then you should thank your lucky stars that you were born the girl you are. The daughter of an evilicious queen…

Like me!

Ship’s flag can help its owner keep costs down. But for the crew, it can be a nightmare

By Ivana Kottasová, CNN

Updated 0614 GMT (1414 HKT) July 28, 2019

‘No difference’: Hong Kong police likened to thugs after Yuen Long violence

Images circulate online comparing gang attacks to police baton charge as fresh protests begin on Sunday

Lily Kuo in Hong Kong

Sun 28 Jul 2019 07.25 BST

Hong Kong police have come under criticism for charging protesters in a mass transit station in Yuen Long, where some were resting or preparing to leave after clashes with police on Saturday.

In scenes that protesters and critics said were reminiscent of an attack on commuters by suspected triad gangs last week, police fired tear gas and rushed into the station shortly before 10pm. The team, a special tactical unit, pepper sprayed and beat people with batons, causing panic. Some protesters attempted to fight back with fire extinguishers. Bloodied gauze and drops of blood could be seen on the station floor.

The criticism comes as the city prepared on Sunday for its third consecutive day of mass civil dissent, following Saturday’s rally in Yuen Long and an 11-hour-sit-in at the Hong Kong airport on Friday.

Human body ‘close to thermal limits’ due to extreme heatwaves caused by climate change, scientist says

I’m not quite sure why I’ve turned into the Site’s resident Golf Expert in the same way I’m not sure why I’m the resident Economist. Someone has to do it I suppose and it’s true enough that I play and have been involved with a Charity Tournament or two (great fundraisers), keeping as far away from actual Golfers, pros, celebs, and spectators (the only thing more horrible than watching Golf on TV is watching it live) as I possibly can. In general they are as Racist as you would expect in that casual way which laments the prospect of seeing a circumcised schlong in the communal Clubhouse Shower and resents the fact ladies get individual accommodations instead of a cigarette butt filled trough.

Besides you only shower at the Club to wash the scent of your Secretary off before you go home after a hard day of “work” to the wife and kidlings for a “normal” dinner anyway.

Real golfers, no matter what the provocation, never strike a caddie with the driver. The sand wedge is far more effective.

I am still trying to puzzle out if the Romanov Seal meets the 14 club limit (you are only allowed so many in the bag). Zen Golfers carry a 3 Wood, a 2 Iron, a 5 and a 9 Iron (who needs Wedges?), and a Putter (Into the Fairway, into the Trap, into the Trap, over the Green, 3 Putts. That’s a 5.).

In other News it’s hardly surprising that Unindicted Co-conspirator Bottomless Pinocchio, a man who bankrupts Casinos (a feat rarely attempted because of difficulty), is finding it hard to make money on hs sweetheart Course Management deals.

Trump golf course in the Bronx lost money last year, city documents show
By David A. Fahrenthold, Washington Post
July 26, 2019

President Trump’s company operates a city-owned golf course in the Bronx under a contract that makes it far easier for Trump to turn a profit. New York City agreed to pay Trump’s massive irrigation bills. And, for the first four years, it didn’t require Trump to pay a cent in rent on 192 acres.

Despite all that, Trump’s course lost money for the first time last year — running $122,000 in the red, according to a new filing with the city.

The loss for the past operating year, from April 2018 to March 2019, is the latest bad financial news for Trump Golf Links at Ferry Point. It comes as other Trump golf courses — from his Doral resort in Florida to his expensive courses in Scotland and Ireland — have reported declining revenue, or outright losses, during Trump’s polarizing presidency.

In the Bronx, Trump’s stubbly, Scottish-style course is built on top of an old landfill, with views of the East River, two huge bridges and the coast of Queens. It opened in April 2015, two months before Trump entered the 2016 presidential race.

ince then, the course — located in the district of liberal Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D) — has struggled. The number of rounds played has declined every year. Overall revenue has fallen 14 percent, according to documents filed with the city.

The latest filing — an annual “income statement” in which Trump’s company summarized the club’s income and expenses at the city’s course — was released by the city parks department after a public records request.
…
Before last year, the Bronx golf course had managed to turn a profit of about $500,000 per year — helped by the city paying its water bills and not asking for rent.

Last year, however, the club’s expenses rose faster than its revenue, according to the Trump Organization’s filing. It fell into the red.

“He’s managed to do the impossible: Get this amazing gift from the city, and lose money,” said Geoffrey Croft, of the watchdog group NYC Park Advocates. He said one major problem was “the terrible reputation of the Trump name” in New York, after Trump’s rise as a hard-right politician. Croft also blamed the Trump club’s high greens fees, which top out at $224 per round. Most of the city’s other public courses charge $53 at most.

Trump’s clubhouse is now fully open, which could bring in more revenue for next year.

But now, Trump’s company faces a new challenge in the Bronx: Its four years of free rent are over. Next year, the club will have to pay the city at least $300,000 in fees.

Well, yes actually, but not in the sense of functioning as advertised.

Banks Sued for LIBOR Collusion — Again!
By Matt Taibbi, Rolling Stone
July 26, 2019

LIBOR was once set by the British Bankers’ Association. It’s now managed by the Intercontinental Exchange, owners of the New York Stock Exchange, which rebranded it “ICE LIBOR.” Since February, 2014, ICE LIBOR has been “the world’s most widely used benchmark for short-term bank borrowing rates.”

Every day, by 11:40 a.m., a panel of 18 of the world’s biggest banks tells ICE how much they estimate they’d have to pay to borrow from other banks, by answering the following question:

“At what rate could you borrow funds, were you to do so by asking for and then accepting inter-bank offers in a reasonable market size just prior to 11 am?”

LIBOR was originally created during a time when banks were borrowing a lot of cash from each other. Beginning in the nineties and early 2000s, however, banks began to use other venues, like the Treasury Repo market, to obtain financing when needed. Interbank lending tapered off.

Because of this, for years and years, when banks on the LIBOR panel submitted numbers, they were apparently just submitting guesses based on what they believed it would cost to borrow, if they actually were borrowing.
…
In other words, banks were guesstimating. Why? After the crash, regulators sniffed out two motives for manipulation.

The first cases involved suppressing LIBOR in 2008 and 2009, to create an artificial impression of market stability during the crisis. In one incident, the Bank of England was accused of asking Barclays chiefs to “just do it” and push LIBOR lower, so as to reassure the public.

In a second, more grotesque form of corruption, individual traders at various banks goaded LIBOR submitters to move rates to protect certain investments. In an infamous case involving the Royal Bank of Scotland, traders were nabbed in texts offering LIBOR submitters everything from sex to “sushi rolls from yesterday” to drop LIBOR “like a whore’s drawers.”
…
Two years ago, we learned LIBOR was probably not based on reality, an assertion that by now is not even really controversial (witness Bloomberg describing LIBOR last month as “just a made up number, or an aggregate of made-up numbers”).

The new concept: LIBOR is not just made up, but has been kept systematically low to tilt the entire lending landscape in favor of megabanks. It’s hard to conceive of a settlement broad enough to compensate for years of that kind of activity.

LIBOR is set to be phased out in 2021. If you read the financial press closely, you’ll note occasional semi-panicked comments to the effect that no one has a good plan for replacing the rate written into trillions of dollars of contracts.

You’ll be pleased to know (at least I am pleased to tell it) that having survived the recent bat attacks with minor losses I am safely in my bunker with 10 years worth of Twinkies and smuggled A&W.

I Fell In Love With The Devil – Avril Lavigne

Stressed Out – twenty one pilots

April In Houston – SWMRS