We take what we want

The captain and first officer of a Russian-flagged oil tanker have been taken out of UK territory by US Coast Guards.

The US Department of Justice told Scottish authorities on Tuesday morning that the skipper, Avtandil Kalandadze, and his unnamed colleague were on board the US Coast Guard vessel Munro.

It is understood US military aircraft landed at small civilian airports in Wick, Caithness, and Benbecula in the Western Isles during the operation on 7 January.

At the time the MoD confirmed that the Royal Navy tanker RFA Tideforce and RAF surveillance aircraft were supporting American personnel and that "deterring, disrupting and degrading" Russia's "shadow fleet" was a priority.

[...]

Scotland's Justice Secretary Angela Constance said the episode had shown a lack of respect for "Scottish jurisdiction and Scots law".

On Monday, the Court of Session in Edinburgh imposed an order banning the UK and Scottish authorities from removing the crew from Scottish jurisdiction, at the request of the captain's wife Natia Dzadzamia.

  BBC

We don't care. We snatch whoever we want wherever we want.

Constance said she had "deep concerns and frustrations" over a "lack of communication" surrounding the incident.

She said the Scottish government had "not been furnished with full information" and had to rely on updates from its UK colleagues.

She added that no notice had been given that the US was going to sail the vessel into Scottish waters.

Constance said: "We have a number of questions, we have a number of concerns and deep frustrations about how this matter has evolved, because it is a matter of significant public interest and confidence.

[...]

[Solicitor General Ruth] Charteris told the court that the US authorities had approached the Crown Office for mutual legal assistance - the process which normally kick-starts extradition proceedings - on 16 January.

But she added that request was subsequently withdrawn by the Americans on Monday.

[...]

The 26 remaining crew members of the ship - said to be from Russia, India, Georgia and Ukraine - have asked to leave the UK on a voluntary basis.

The men had been held by immigration officials at a hotel in Moray.

Arrangements are now being made to fly five of them from Scotland to the US and the remainder to their home countries.

[...]

After the hearing, solicitor Aamer Anwar, representing the captain's wife, said the events raised "serious constitutional and legal concerns".

The Glasgow-based human rights lawyer added: "Our client's judicial review can no longer be enforced now her husband has in essence been abducted by the US government on Scottish and British territory.

[...]

Scottish Greens co-leader Ross Greer accused the US government of committing "piracy on sea and gangsterism on land".

He said: "If the US government has essentially just kidnapped two people without even telling our government about it, that raises serious concerns over whether US troops should even be allowed on Scottish soil at all."

[...]

The US authorities have accused the vessel of breaching sanctions by carrying oil for Venezuela, Russia and Iran.

Which warrants a kidnapping.

The UK government backed the operation to seize the tanker, saying it was lawful action against a vessel involved in breaking sanctions.

See?

Graft

 

I'm guessing they didn't post this...

Here you have it - proof he cheats at golf

 He doesn't even move the ball himself.  He has someone else do it.  What a shameful sham.  

Was this a Scotsman who filmed it?  They do hate him.

Spread it far and wide.

Also, I see he's still doing his own hair.

Is he developing a cancerous growth on his nose?  Oh, wait, that's a cancerous growth at the end of his neck.

UPDATE 08:43 pm:  And he is batshit crazy.

The woman is frozen.  Scared of the lunatic?

They don't particularly like him in Scotland

 

Oooh, another mag cover for his golf club walls

 

And...

Tish James' case against Trump has plenty fodder

This week Trump International Scotland became a central element of a case that looks poised to dominate his post-presidential life.

[...]

[Trump] bought the 2,000 acres (809 hectares) site at Menie in 2006 for $12.6m. Within five short years it was valued by the Trump Organization in its financial statements at $161m, an increase of almost 13 times.

By 2014, the windswept Scottish holding was put at $436m.

[...]

The 2011 estimate for the Scottish property, [AG James'] investigators discovered, included an estimated £75,000 ($120,000 at 2011 exchange rates) for undeveloped land at the site.

Investigating deeper, they found that the figure had been created for an article in Forbes magazine.

[...]

The 2014 value of the Scottish golf club was based in part on the projected sale price of 2,500 houses on the land, even though none of the houses actually existed and the company had planning permission for only half that number. In 1995 the Trump Organization bought a parcel of land in Westchester, New York, known as the Seven Springs Estate, for $7.5m. By 2004 it was valued at $80m and by 2014 at $291m. That 2014 figure [...] included a valuation of $161m for “seven non-existent mansions”.

[...]

James’s investigators were puzzled to find the Trump Tower triplex in Manhattan was listed at $327m in 2015, based on the apartment’s size, allegedly 30,000 sq feet. In fact the property is 11,000 sq feet, which produces a value of $117m. That’s an overstatement in Trump’s official financial statements of more than $200m.

[...]

“We have uncovered significant evidence that suggests Donald J Trump and the Trump Organization falsely and fraudulently valued multiple assets and misrepresented those values to financial institutions for economic benefit,” James said after the filing was lodged in a New York court.

The new material disclosed by James was so compelling that some close observers of Trumpland are now convinced that he is in serious legal trouble.

[...]

James is pursuing her investigation as a civil case, which means that were Trump to be found liable it could cost him heavily in fines and penalties. More seriously, James is working in coordination with the Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg, a similarly tenacious and relentless prosecutor equipped with a large and highly experienced team of investigators.

Bragg is asking exactly the same questions as James: did the Trump Organization commit accounting, bank, tax or insurance fraud? The critical difference is that Bragg’s investigation is criminal, threatening Trump not with fines but prison time.

  Guardian

It'll never happen.

Trump continues to resist giving testimony, as do his two children, on grounds that the investigations are politically motivated witch hunts (both James and Bragg are Democrats). A third child, Eric, who runs the day-to-day work of the Trump Organization, was deposed but pleaded the fifth more than 500 times. The family’s best hope is that the prosecutors will struggle to meet the high bar that is set for criminal cases. That is especially so when it comes to the critical issue of intent, said Robert Mintz, a former federal prosecutor.

“The criminal case is more dangerous since it involves potential incarceration. But it requires criminal intent and that is difficult to prove, particularly in complex financial frauds involving organizations,” Mintz, now a partner at McCarter & English, LLP told the Guardian.

Prosecutors will have to prove that Trump knowingly and willfully violated the law.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

One more instance of Trump grift

Donald Trump’s two Scottish golf resorts collected up to $800,000 in subsidies from the British government to protect jobs during COVID-19 but fired “scores” of workers, a top union complained Sunday.

Union officials called the money grab a “scandal” and are calling for a government investigation.

[...]

The union said some 66 workers were let go at Turnberry in Ayrshire since last spring. Some have been hired back but at reduced pay, according to the union.

[...]

When Trump wooed both Ireland and Scotland to allow him to develop golf resorts in both countries, he promised the operations would deliver major tax revenue. In fact, it appears the Trump Organization hasn’t paid a penny in taxes at any of the resorts because of constantly reported losses.

  HuffPo

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

The Scots want to know where Trump's golf course financing is coming from

On the eve of a parliamentary vote on whether an investigation should be ordered into the financing of Donald Trump’s Scottish golf resorts, the former US president’s son has castigated politicians for “advancing their personal agendas”. Eric Trump issued the bulletin as the Scottish parliament prepares to host a debate called by Patrick Harvie, the co-leader of the Scottish Greens. The Trump Organization’s executive vice-president also described Harvie as a “national embarrassment”.

Harvie is urging the first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, to seek an unexplained wealth order (UWO) in relation to Trump International, a course in Aberdeenshire, and the famous Turnberry resort in Ayrshire. If granted via courts, a UWO compels businesses or individuals to detail the source of their wealth.

[...]

“There are serious concerns about how he financed the cash purchases of his Scottish golf courses, but no investigation has ever taken place. That’s why I’m bringing this vote to parliament. The government must seek an unexplained wealth order to shine a light on Trump’s shadowy dealings.”

On Tuesday, Eric Trump hit back. “Patrick Harvie is nothing more than a national embarrassment with his pathetic antics that only serve himself and his political agenda,” he said. “If Harvie and the rest of the Scottish government continue to treat overseas investors like this, it will deter future investors from conducting business in Scotland, ultimately crushing their economy, tourism and hospitality industries.”

  The Guardian

Methinks thou dost protest too much.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Racket

The Trump Organization’s golf resorts in Aberdeenshire and Turnberry will benefit from emergency funding from the Scottish government worth £2.3bn, which includes waiving the property taxes paid by hospitality, leisure and retail businesses this year.

Before the coronavirus crisis, Trump Turnberry had been due to pay £850,766 in property tax this year and Trump Aberdeenshire £121,170. The Trump Turnberry’s tax bill was recently reduced to £770,845, upon appeal.

This week South Ayrshire, the local council which includes Turnberry, and Aberdeenshire council are expected to tell both businesses they no longer have to pay any of that tax, known as business rates, because they qualify for 100% relief.

Both resorts have been able to avoid paying corporation tax, the main business tax in the UK, because they consistently report heavy losses due to their debts to Trump himself, cumulatively put at £155m in 2018.

  The Guardian

Due to their debts to Trump himself! He fucking owns those properties. How can they be in debt to him?

The ownership of the Trump Organization was shifted to a trust when Trump became president, but the businessman and former reality TV star has remained the majority owner of the trust and is expected to retain his position in the company once his term in the White House ends. “A benefit to the Trump Organization is in large part a benefit to Donald Trump,” Bookbinder said.

[...]

In Scotland, the Aberdeenshire councillor Martin Ford said he did not object to Trump’s businesses using a furlough scheme that allowed staff to continue to be paid, but criticised the business rates relief.

[...]

“Unlike many people, Mr Trump won’t be suffering any financial hardship. He doesn’t need help. Mr Trump was given every assistance to set up in Scotland and the Scottish government repeated his ridiculous claims of an enormous economic and jobs boost for the region. Now, after years of losses, Mr Trump’s Aberdeenshire business is actually getting taxpayer support, perhaps a final irony in a very sorry saga.”

[...]

Trump Aberdeenshire announced on 24 March it had delayed reopening for the 2020 season because of the UK-wide coronavirus lockdown. Eric Trump, the president’s son, who runs his golfing empire, tweeted on 28 May that both resorts were reopening the following day.

TThe whole family is slime.

Changing Ireland, Scotland and Brexit's effect on them

The problem of a split Ireland with the southern republic staying in the EU and the UK northern Ireland leaving with Brexit, thereby creating an effective trade border between the two, may not be a problem at all in the very near future.

For the first time in its history, Northern Ireland has elected more Irish-identifying nationalists than pro-British unionists. Across the water, Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has demanded an independence referendum after winning a nationalist landslide.

[...]

In a repeat of the Brexit referendum, the results in England and Wales diverge strongly from Remain-voting Scotland and Northern Ireland. The Brexit heartlands have delivered the biggest mandate in a generation to a Conservative leader who looks close to a caricature of an English Tory toff, and whose appeal does not carry far north of Hadrian's Wall.

[...]

Northern Ireland was carved out of the old Irish province of Ulster a century ago as a home for the two-thirds majority within it who still supported a union with Britain. But over the decades, Catholics — who skew Irish-identifying and nationalist — have steadily increased in number while unionist-leaning Protestants have dwindled. Now, while a firm majority of pensioners are Protestant, a majority of school children are Catholic. The balance is forecast to tip as soon as 2021. The Good Friday peace deal provides for unification with the republic to the south into a united Ireland if a majority is in favor of it.

  Politico

Very interesting.

DUP leader Arlene Foster explicitly blamed demographic change as she conceded defeat for the party in North Belfast.

[...]

The DUP's loss of North Belfast could hardly be more symbolic. The seat had always been unionist.

[...]

Until this election it was held by Nigel Dodds. Socially conservative, against same-sex marriage and abortion, the DUP's deputy leader and leader in Westminster was deeply suspicious of the potential for Boris Johnson's Brexit Deal to economically differentiate Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom.

His challenger was Sinn Féin's John Finucane, a 39-year-old lawyer and Lord Mayor of Belfast. It was a battle heavy with history: Finucane is the son of a solicitor who was murdered at the family dinner table by loyalist paramilitaries working in collusion with British state forces, in one of the most notorious murders of the conflict.

[...]

West Belfast is a Sinn Féin stronghold, and losing South Belfast and North Belfast leaves unionists just one MP in the city: Gavin Robinson of East Belfast, who was re-elected with the cross-community Alliance Party not far behind him.

[...]

The cross-community and anti-Brexit Alliance Party won its first seat ever outside of Belfast, unexpectedly taking the traditionally unionist seat of North Down from retiring incumbent.

[...]

"There was a Brexit effect. The most pro-Remain parties made the biggest gains," said Matthew O'Toole, who was a spokesman in Downing Street during the Brexit referendum and now writes and commentates on Brexit and current affairs. "It signals how Northern Ireland is changing ... nationalists and unionists are going to have to persuade this middle ground who are less interested in identity."

Or maybe the middle ground will become the future.

The sight of triumphant SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon [in Scotland] shaking her fists in victory will rattle unionists from Bangor to Belleek.

[...]

The Scottish National Party's landslide — 48 of 59 Scottish seats and 45 percent of the Scottish vote — and renewed mandate for a second independence referendum will rattle unionists across the Irish Sea.

"Unionists will be looking across the water and thinking if Scotland is going to go, then the Union is going to go," said Sarah Creighton, a unionist commentator. "That vote coming through in Scotland is going to make a lot of people nervous."

[Boris] Johnson's decisive majority enables his party to return to its default position toward Northern Ireland's unionists: ignoring them.

Within the space of a year, the DUP has gone from having the power to disrupt international negotiations by threatening a veto, to waiting in line to ask the prime minister nicely and hoping he grants them the favor.

Within the space of a year, the DUP has gone from having the power to disrupt international negotiations by threatening a veto, to waiting in line to ask the prime minister nicely and hoping he grants them the favor.

Living in interesting times.

Didn't the Trump boys say they wouldn't do any foreign business while their father is president?

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Abandoning the broken UK

It looks like Scotland is going to have another go at independence.  I bet they make it this time, and immediately deal themselves directly into the EU.

Thousands of people have marched in Glasgow in the largest show of support for Scottish independence since Nicola Sturgeon said she would introduce legislation to hold a second referendum on the issue.

The All Under One Banner event, led by a single flag-bearer and a pipe band, left Kelvingrove Park at 1.30pm and was following a route west to east through the city centre to a rally at Glasgow Green.

[...]

Sturgeon, Scotland’s first minister, said at the end of April that a second independence referendum should be held by May 2021 if Brexit went ahead, but stopped short of repeating previous calls for the UK government to give her the power to call one.

[...]

Sturgeon told the conference: “As voters go to the polls for the European elections on May 23, our message will be clear and direct. And unlike Labour’s, it will be unambiguous. Scotland’s not for Brexit, Scotland’s for Europe.”

  Guardian

Update on the Scottish golf course

I complained about this tweet from His Lardship yesterday:





How is it that he can be tying his business to America's foreign relationships?  Shouldn't somebody be looking into this?

And, today...



Unbelievable.  Yes! Somebody should be looking into this.

I hope Senator Cummings' Oversight Committee has space for yet another investigation into Trumpland.

Donald Trump's Aberdeenshire golf resort must pay the Scottish government's legal costs following a court battle over a major North Sea wind power development.

Mr Trump battled unsuccessfully in the courts to halt the project before he became US president.

A total of 11 turbines make up the development off Aberdeen.

[...]

Mr Trump had argued the development would spoil the view from his golf course at Menie.

[...]

Judges have now ruled Trump International Golf Club Scotland Ltd should pay the legal bills incurred.

[...]

The sum involved has not been disclosed.

  BBC

Up and at 'em

He may be overseas for a historical meeting, but he's still on his Twitter box.  He's up to ten already this morning.  Here are just a few:



Yes, they happened in the Obama Administration.  That's when you were campaigning for the office they were helping you win.

That one took him twice to get correct, because he pluralized his administration in the first try.  You'd think by now he'd proof his tweets before he posts them and avoid this problem.

Also...



Doesn't matter to the base.



And by "primary form" he means his only form.


We're ALL still hurting from that.

UPDATE:

Later .....

Somebody's worried.  Rightly so.

Looks Like Scotland Will Be Getting That Do-Over

The Scottish Parliament has backed Nicola Sturgeon’s call for a second independence referendum, in a landmark vote that could see Scotland leave the UK.

  Independent

This time, they'll be voting to break ties with England. Last time, it was to break ties with the EU. And...

An oil exploration company has hailed the “largest undeveloped discovery” of oil in UK waters, to the west of Shetland in Scotland. The find could influence the outcome of a second Scottish independence referendum.

Hurricane Energy said the discovery, from which an estimated 1 billion barrels could be extracted, is significantly larger than the average findings of 25 million barrels in recent years.

  RT

That seems like an easy call to make.

The news comes after oil prices plummeted to a three-month low, sparking questions over whether an independent Scotland could financially manage on its own if it chose to split from the UK.

Looks like they just got a boost. And sustainable energy just got another sock in the eye.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Scotland Is Getting a Do-Over

Nicola Sturgeon has said the Scottish people will be given a choice whether to follow the UK into a “hard Brexit” or become an independent country between autumn 2018 and spring 2019.

The Scottish first minister said she was firing the starting gun on a second independence referendum because the British government had failed to move “even an inch” towards compromise over EU negotiations.

[...]

“We accepted that Scotland would leave the EU despite the 62% vote to remain but we argued that the UK should stay in the single market or seek an outcome that would allow Scotland to do so. We set out how greater powers for the Scottish parliament could help protect Scotland’s interest in a post-Brexit landscape.

“Over the past few months we have worked really hard to find agreement. The prime minister and her government have been given every chance to compromise.” But Sturgeon accused May of failing to act in good faith, saying her government had hit a “brick wall of intransigence”.

[...]

Moreover, she said, the UK government had become even more assertive over Scotland’s powers.

“The language of partnership has gone completely. If Scotland can be ignored on an issue as important as the membership of the EU, it is clear our voice and interests can be ignored at any time.”

  Guardian

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Pending Approval

Trump officials said the plans for the Trump International Golf Course Scotland in Aberdeenshire – likely to immediately involve extending its boutique hotel and building a second 18-hole golf course – did not conflict with his promise not to pursue new or “pending” deals outside the US.

“Implementing future phasing of existing properties does not constitute a new transaction so we intend to proceed,” a Trump Organization spokeswoman told the Guardian.

  The Guardian

Did I say "pending"? I didn't say "pending".

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Brexit Snag

Whether by design or by taking advantage of an opportunity that fell into her lap, Britain's new PM, Theresa May, has found a way to either block Brexit or put it on hold indefinitely. She says she will invoke article 50, instigating the official EU pull out only when a "UK-wide approach" has been agreed to.

This gives Scotland, who voted in their own referendum a couple of years ago to remain in the UK so they could remain in the EU, a theoretical veto on Brexit. And it gives May a way to block Brexit (which she was against) without taking the blame.

[Scottish First Minister Nicola] Sturgeon has consistently said she will not allow the UK to take Scotland out of the EU against its wishes, the country having voted overwhelmingly to remain during last month’s referendum.

“We are in uncharted territory and when you are in uncharted territory with basically a blank sheet of paper in front of you, you have an opportunity to think things that might have previously been unthinkable,” she said.

“Scotland did not vote for any of those consequences. We voted by a significant margin to avoid those consequences and stay in. That gives me a mandate to try to protect our relationship with the EU. If that is not possible within the UK well then I have been very clear that the option of a second independence referendum has to be on the table.”

If the UK were to leave the EU, and Scotland attempted to rejoin after voting for independence, it would have to agree to less favourable conditions, such as joining the euro and the open border zone. Ms Sturgeon has previously said Scotland could remain in the EU while England and Wales leave it, but this is legally complex.

  Independent

And certainly no guarantee. If Scotland is economically problematic, the rest of the EU might block their entry.

“Things have changed fundamentally. There is a mood there and what I encountered in Brussels was a warmth, an openness and a great sympathy to the position that Scotland finds itself in.

“Nobody was saying to me, and I certainly wasn’t assuming, that it would be easy and there are significant challenges along the way. But there was a certain openness that the Scottish government has not found previously in Brussels and certainly didn’t encounter during the 2014 independence referendum.”

Good luck to all. There will needs be some very fine needle threading and maneuvering going forward.

Clueless

Scotland voted 62% to remain in the EU, Ding Dong.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.