Before writing about the absurd deals that were made between our erstwhile leader here in the United States and the German financial institution, Deutsche Bank, I thought it would be nice to share a few pictures from my little corner of the world.
This dog greets me and my dog every morning when we’re walking. He barks rather ferociously when Dusty and I come past, so I’m not sure if it would be wise to stop. Dusty is always totally unaffected by the noise and any signs of aggression, so maybe I’m the only one who sees aggression in how the Shepherd runs back and forth with his barking. Anyway, although he is a gorgeous dog I’m glad he is behind this sturdy fence.
Next is a picture of some unusual flowers. I’m not sure what they are, or even if they are fully open or not. They spiked up on very long stems out of a bed of irises, but their leaves are thinner than those of an iris. I will watch them to see if those little clusters of buds become small flowers over the next few days, or if this is the flower.
For over a week now I’ve been seeing these pretty bell-shaped flowers that cover a tree with splashes of white that can be noticed from quite a distance. The tree is tall, I’d guess thirty or more feet, and it is covered in these flowers. It wasn’t until I got close enough that I could see the unique shape.
If anyone knows what the name of the tree or the unusual flower is, please do let curious minds know.
Initially, when thinking about the blog, I wasn’t going to bring up anything political but after listening to The Daily Podcast yesterday about President Trump’s association with Deutsche Bank over the years since 1998, I couldn’t refrain. Apparently, when Trump was having trouble getting financing from American banks for some of his development deals he went to the German bank, which was more than happy to loan him money. At the time, Trump was in the casino business and had gone bankrupt many times at a cost to banks of hundreds of millions of dollars.
The German bank was eager to do business in the United States, and so began the years of an association with Trump that led to risky deals, defaults on loans, and lawsuits from both sides. At one point, a personal banker at Deutsche Bank gave Trump a loan that was used to pay off a loan that had come due at another arm of the bank.
In essence, the bank paid itself. And that was good business? When I heard that on the podcast, I couldn’t believe it.
The deals at the bank were skirting legality at every move and when Trump was elected president, high-ranking bank officials were in a panic. They did not want the details of the loans to be looked into or made public, and they are probably just as concerned about the request for Trump’s tax returns as he is.
There’s a lot more about all of this nonsense in this article in The New York Times, and it is well worth a read.
Okay, enough of that. Laughter is good medicine so I’ll end this with a few jokes to carry us all into the weekend. These were sent to me by a friend. Enjoy…
We had to have the garage door fixed.
Called a repairman, and he told us that one of our problems was that we did not have a large enough motor on the opener.
I thought for a minute, and said that we had the largest one made at that time, a 1/2 horsepower.
He shook his head and said, “You need a 1/4 horsepower.”
I responded that 1/2 was larger than 1/4 and he said, “NOOO, it’s not. Four is larger than two.”
We haven’t used that repairman since…
I live in a semi rural area.
We recently had a new neighbor call the local city council office to request the removal of the DEER CROSSING sign on our road.
The reason: “Too many deer are being hit by cars out here! I don’t think this is a good place for them to be crossing anymore.”
My daughter went to a Mexican fast food and ordered a taco.
She asked the person behind the counter for “minimal lettuce.”
He said he was sorry, but they only had iceberg lettuce.
Well, those jokes weren’t laugh-out-loud funny, but they were cute. Admit it. They made you chuckle while you were groaning. 🙂 That’s all for me folks. I have a busy weekend ahead. What about you? Have plans? Whatever you will be doing, be safe. Be happy.