The Bulldog

Mexican drug lord “Shorty” busts out through long tunnel

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Joaquin “El Chapo”  (or Shorty) Guzman has escaped from Altiplano prison near Mexico City. As the CNN story tells, his cohorts inside and out of prison are master tunnel builders and they built one for the boss. A mile long. It led to a slum where El Chapo popped up and disappeared. Now the media is hyping the prospects that Shorty is after Donald Trump. Trump, for his part, is saying simply “I told you so,” in keeping with his cynical view of Mexican law enforcement.

Kiev’s new traffic cops solemnly vow not to be corrupt

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kiev cops

Don’t bribe me

Kiev has commissioned a new 2000-strong traffic police contingent all of whom have taken an oath that specifically forbids them from taking bribes. It is an interesting requirement but not very surprising. The administration of parking tickets and minor traffic infractions is among the most corrupt activities in eastern Europe and the former Soviet republics.  It is not uncommon for drivers, including vehicles, to be in effective held hostage until someone pays the traffic officer enough money to go away. Here in South Bayview, of course, our traffic officers are honest to a fault. That’s if you can call parking their cars where ever they like honest This picture is from 2013. Park as I say, not as I park.

ticket cars 2

Germans want a trustee to sell off Greek assets

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German finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble has spoken of  five-year Greek exit from the euro zone as an option for helping the long-running debt crisis.  The newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine contains leaked extracts of finance ministry paper that offers a way out (Grexit) as one of two options. The Germans reportedly view the latest proposals from Athens as failing to address “central, important reform areas to modernize the country and bring sustainable development”. The German are bitter about what they see as Greek off-hand approach to paying their debt. Another newspaper headline above reads: “(Greek Premier) Tsipras laughs and we pay, pay, pay.”  The German paper see Greece, with parliamentary support, hand over assets worth €50 billion to a trustee fund which would sell them and set off the proceeds against Greek debt. The second Berlin proposal involves the EU agreeing a temporary Grexit of at least five years to allow Athens restructure its debts. The country would remain a full EU member and would be given technical and financial support for measures to boost growth and address humanitarian needs.