Yesterday I read two stories which, when read one after the other, show an interesting contrast.<\/p>\n
The first<\/a> is from the BBC, which continues its core policy of\u00a0using\u00a0money forcibly lifted from the pockets of British citizens to\u00a0campaign for Hillary Clinton by relentlessly posting negative articles about Donald Trump:<\/p>\n In Vancouver, the developer of a new Trump Tower has been under pressure for months to drop the Republican presidential candidate’s name from the project. Meanwhile, the Trump Tower in Toronto is the subject of a lawsuit after facing years of controversy.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Squabbles over real estate in provincial Canada deserve front-page billing on the BBC’s website, apparently.<\/p>\n Donald Trump’s controversial run for US president is having an impact on his businesses in Canada and knock-on effects for those who have partnered with his brand.<\/p>\n The opening date for the Vancouver hotel has been delayed until 2017, well after November’s US election. A contest offering a chance to meet with the Trump family for the grand opening caused a stir.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Caused a stir! \u00a0Oh my! \u00a0Pass me my smelling salts, Maude!<\/p>\n Across the country, the Toronto building, which opened in 2012, has been the target of a lawsuit by small investors who claim they were misled into buying into the project. Its developer, Talon Development Inc, has tried to remove the Trump name from the troubled hotel and condominium complex.<\/p>\n The story is similar in other countries.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Is it? \u00a0Let’s see.<\/p>\n In Dubai, a firm building a golf complex with Mr Trump removed his name and image from the property. In Turkey, the developers of Trump Towers Istanbul have tried to distance themselves from the Republican hopeful. And there have been protests outside Trump buildings in the US.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Only at the BBC is a lawsuit involving possible fraud “similar” to protests about somebody’s opinions.<\/p>\n An Angus Reid Institute poll released in December indicated that 56% of Canadians supported having the Trump brand dumped from the two Canadian towers.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Presumably 44% of Canadians responded with “What the fuck has this got to do with me?”<\/em><\/p>\n Brent Toderian, a Vancouver-based city planner, was the first to openly oppose Trump branding on the 63-storey Canadian tower, designed by famed architect Arthur Erickson to have a distinctive 45-degree twist as it rose into the sky.<\/p>\n “We’ve taken a building that is the second-tallest in the skyline, carefully planned at least in part by one of our most revered Canadian architects – a very elegant piece of architecture for our skyline – and retroactively duct-taped Trump’s name to it,” he said in an interview.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n So we have a Vancouver-based city planner who appears to be unaware of how the\u00a0naming rights of buildings work. \u00a0Isn’t Canada the place all those super-clever Americans are going to flee to in the event of a Trump Presidency?<\/p>\n The luxury hotel and condominium tower in downtown Vancouver is owned by the Holborn Group, a private real-estate developer which partnered with the Trump brand in 2013.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Why should the wishes\u00a0of mere owners of a development override the concerns of a random city planner? \u00a0Democracy has failed, people!<\/p>\n The project is licensed to use the Trump name and brand – including for Canada’s first Mar-a-Lago Spa by Ivanka Trump – and will be managed by the real estate magnate’s company, which is also overseeing the building’s interior design.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Why, it’s almost as if the Trump brand adds\u00a0value.<\/p>\n In December, Mr Toderian renewed his call for the Holborn Group to distance themselves from the Trump name. He was joined by Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson, who said the brand had no place on the city’s skyline.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The owners of that skyline beg to differ:<\/p>\n The Holborn Group did not respond to requests for comment but in previous statements has noted that the still-unfinished building will create some 300 new jobs.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n 300 jobs is a small price to pay for looking virtuous.<\/p>\n “Donald Trump’s hateful positions and commentary remind us all of much darker times in our world’s past – and it is incumbent upon all of us to forcefully challenge hatred in all of the ways that it confronts us,” he wrote in a letter to the developer.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Translation from whining Canadian into other forms of English: “I don’t like Trump and everyone should be forced to agree with me.”<\/em><\/p>\n Fortunately there is somebody up there with some sense:<\/p>\n “Holborn, a company that has contributed immensely to the growth of Vancouver, is not in any way involved in US politics. As such, we would not comment further on Mr Trump’s personal or political agenda, nor any political issues, local or foreign,” CEO Joo Kim Tiah said in December.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n And yet more sensible folk are voting with their feet:<\/p>\n Despite the fuss, nearly 10,000 people have applied to work at the Vancouver Trump Tower, according to the hotel’s general manager, and Holborn says it has sold all the luxury condos in the building.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Presumably Vancouver-based city planners don’t rub shoulders with the types that work in hotels very often. \u00a0Apart from\u00a0when\u00a0snapping\u00a0fingers at them.<\/p>\n In Toronto, project developer Talon was close to a deal to sell the troubled 65-storey hotel and condominium complex at the heart of the city’s financial district earlier this year. However, Toronto’s Trump Tower is currently off the market.<\/p>\n Talon chairman Alex Shnaider was also trying to have the Trump name removed from the building, at one point seeking to do so through arbitration. Those efforts also appear to have stalled. A lawyer for Talon refused to comment other than to note there is currently no lawsuit between the owners of the hotel and Mr Trump<\/strong>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Emphasis mine. \u00a0The BBC doesn’t give up easily, though:<\/p>\n The building is the subject of a lawsuit by disgruntled buyers who lost money after investing in the property, in one instance almost 1m Canadian dollars ($750,000; \u00a3613,000).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n I’m listening.<\/p>\n The Trump Organization does not have an ownership stake in the building<\/strong> but it operates and manages the hotel and licenses the Trump name to the complex for a fee.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Oh. \u00a0So the upshot of this entire article is that a building which Trump has no ownership stake in is the subject of a lawsuit in provincial Canada, and a Vancouver-based city planner doesn’t like a development that 10,000 people want to work at.<\/p>\n Why is this on the front page of the BBC again? \u00a0That was a rhetorical question.<\/p>\n The second piece is a comment<\/a> over at Samizdata by “bobby b”:<\/p>\n A few weeks ago, I listened to a radio interview of a Democrat operative talking about the Dem National Committee e-mails that had been leaked, which showed that the DNC screwed Bernie Sanders, that the DNC and the press were working hand in hand, and that an awful lot of campaign money and influence was coming in from foreign sources.<\/p>\n His, and his interviewer\u2019s, and their call-in commenters\u2019, take on the situation was that they should be more careful with their e-mail and comm security.<\/p>\n Not a word of concern for the lies and deception that the e-mails made evident. Not a word about how our government is supposed to work versus the bastardization of a system they had created. Not a word about the felonies committed in allowing foreign money to affect our election.<\/p>\n No, their take was, we have to lie more securely.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Rampant corruption at the very highest political offices across the land is actively ignored by our contemporary media. \u00a0Instead they distract us with non-stories about people we aren’t supposed to like.<\/p>\n In a few weeks we’ll find out whether the mainstream media is still relevant. \u00a0Whatever the result of the election, I think they are damaged beyond repair and their remaining time is very limited.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Yesterday I read two stories which, when read one after the other, show an interesting contrast. The first is from the BBC, which continues its core policy of\u00a0using\u00a0money forcibly lifted from the pockets of British citizens to\u00a0campaign for Hillary Clinton … Continue reading