The Panama City Trumps

#trumpswindle | #WhatTheyVotedFor

This is a lede from Associated Press:

One of President Donald Trump’s family businesses is battling an effort to physically evict its team of executives from a luxury hotel in Panama where they manage operations, and police have been called to keep the peace, The Associated Press has learned. Witnesses told the AP they saw Trump’s executives carrying files to a room for shredding.

And then there is the detail:

Representatives of the hotel owners’ association formally sought to fire Trump’s management team Thursday by hand-delivering termination notices to them at the Trump International Hotel and Tower, according to a Panamanian legal complaint filed by Orestes Fintiklis, who controls 202 of the property’s 369 hotel units. Trump’s managers retreated behind the glass walls of an office where they were seen carrying files to an area where the sounds of a shredding machine could be heard, according to two witnesses aligned with the owners. The legal complaint also accused Trump’s team of improperly destroying documents.

A Toast for Trump

#Justice | #WhatTheyVotedFor

Pessimism

Perhaps this is a time to wonder if it is possible to be too pessimistic about things?

I mean, sure, to the one, there is always reason for pessimism; these are the Olympic Games, after all. Still, though, damn. You don’t need to tell Adam to let it all out; he’s way ahead of you.

I mean, damn.

____________________

Image note: Detail of Bug Martini by Adam Huber, 23 June 2016.

The Mike Huckabee Show (Great Guy)

“Mike Huckabee, who apparently is still running for president, said yesterday that President Obama’s ‘new domestic terrorism plan probably requires Americans to memorize Koran verses.’ Dear Beltway pundits who told the public Huckabee is a great guy: you were wrong.”

―Steve Benen

Just to be clear, yes, Mr. Huckabee actually said that.

Armed with grenades and guns, Al Qaeda-affiliated Islamic radicals struck again, taking 170 people hostage at the Raddison hotel in Mali. These barbaric terrorists spared the lives of hostages who proved their Islamic bona fides by reciting the Koran, while 27 innocent civilians were killed.

After this attack in West Africa, Obama’s new domestic terrorism plan probably requires Americans to memorize Koran verses.

(sigh)

____________________

Image note: Source photo by Associated Press.

Benen, Steve. “Tuesday’s Campaign Round-Up, 11.24.15”. msnbc. 24 November 2015.

Huckabee, Mike. “Huckabee: Obama’s idealistic and outright dangerous Syrian refugee relocation plan”. FOX News. 23 November 2015.

Guesticles (Bug Style)

When last we heard from Adam, our hero departed to France in search of capers, though hopefully not one involving old pottery and a Dick.

Meanwhile, back at the ‘Toonion Hall, the ever-talented Joel Duggan dons the super-suit, and it’s worth noting at least the laundry was finished.

And if you’re going to tell me you don’t know who Joel freakin’ Duggan is, I’m just going to tell you to do what I did, and go read Starcrossed.

____________________

Image note: Detail of Bug Martini by Joel Duggan, 31 August 2015. Everybody say, “Thank you, Joel!”

Something About Self-Confidence

And then there is Adam. Everybody tell him thank you. And, you know, hope he makes it home safe.

____________________

Image note: Triptych composite of Bug Martini by Adam Huber, 27 August 2015.

Enough to Make You Need a Stiff Drink

If I say it isn’t what you think, well, it’s probably worse.

Watch out for the earworm. Or, rather, that ought to be your first hint. I suppose the problem there is that then it really is what you think.

____________________

Huber, Matt. “Way Down in Chokeomo”. Bug Martini. 23 March 2015.

A Note From Lyme Regis

Greetings arrive from across an ocean, as D&C tour the Jurassic Coast of southwest England. The brief notes with the picture:

• “Real ale in every pub is a worthy goal.”

• “Thatcher’s Old Rascal cider (est. 1904, so … no, not that Thatcher) and Palmer’s Dorset Gold real ale. Cobb Arms, Lyme Regis.”

____________________

Image Credit: ©ADH, 2014

The Lede of the Month

Let’s call this one the lede of the month. Via Tom Parfitt, for The Guardian:

Police in southern Russia have launched an animal cruelty investigation after a tour operator forced a donkey to parasail over the sea.

It should be noted that nothing about the story isn’t hilarious in that morbid way of things:

Video footage showed the beast being catapulted into the air after a group of men on a beach at Golubitskaya, on the Sea of Azoz, strapped it into a harness.

The donkey was then towed by a boat for half an hour, initially flailing its legs and then hanging forlornly under a multi-coloured parachute at least 30 metres above the surf.

Stunned beachgoers said the animal had brayed in fear as it whistled through the air, causing children to burst into tears. Others calmly filmed the event on their mobile phones.

“This is a little town and we all know that donkey well,” one local woman told reporters. “He worked for several years on the beach, being photographed with tourists. As soon as his ordeal was over, a lot of the people on the beach ran forward to soothe him.” Witnesses say the animal was hauled through the sea and on to the sand as it landed.

Setting aside the bit about the catapult, we might be seeing one of the strangest sentences in all journalism for the year: “Stunned beachgoers said the animal had brayed in fear as it whistled through the air, causing children to burst into tears.”

I mean, this is horrible, so why can’t I stop laughing? I’m a monster … a monster!