Jared Kushner – New York’s answer to the 1960s London slumlord Peter Rachman – shown to be unable to pay his debts just as he sticks his mucky mitts in over coronavirus
Quite rightly branded an “daddy’s boy, total nerd, unelected slumlord” and “sleazy” and “unqualified” by rising star men’s swimwear designer George Sotelo on Instagram, Jared Kushner – the dimwitted Rachman-like husband of the self-serving wench Ivanka Trump – was exposed last week by Guest of a Guest as being unable to pay his debts “right now.”
Kushner – whose father is a convicted tax evader and witness tamperer – has defaulted on the mortage of 229 West 43rd Street, the former New York Times building, and now he’s totally without justification “playing politics” with coronavirus.
Of his input into something this thick-as-pigshit imbecile knows zilch, zero, nada about, many are rightly asking: “Why is Donald Trump allowing this moron to stick his oar in?”
Whilst Guest of a Guest suggest that their “main takeaway” from the finance problem issue is that “if the Kushners can’t afford their payments, we’re all truly screwed,” we’ll take a different tack. Instead, we’d argue, if the Kushners are indeed f**ked, the world would be a far better place. It’s most certainly time to get this ratbag family off the stage.
Pictured top: Slumlord Jared Kushner and slumlord Peter Rachman (1919 – 1962). The word ‘Rachmanism’ entered the ‘Oxford English Dictionary’ as a synonym for the “exploitation and intimidation of tenants” and today ‘Kushnerism’ will enter it as an updated example also.
“Hard head – healing hands” Welsh businessman looks to sell his £18 million Irish estate complete with a James Wyatt mansion and 1,120 acres; Sir David Davies became an Irish citizen after Brexit and has no time for Boris Johnson
Designed by Robert Adam’s rival James Wyatt in 1773 and “clothed in the Italiante manner” in 1859 to 1860, “grand and beautifully executed” Abbey Leix in County Laois is considered “one of Ireland’s most important country houses.”
Placed for sale last June for £17.8 million ($22 million, €20 million or درهم81 million), the main house on the 1,120-acre estate, Abbey Leix House – also known as ‘Abbeyleix House’ and’ Abbeyleix Castle’) – is vast and includes 26,910 square foot of accommodation. Aside from 9 bedrooms and 10 bathrooms, the classical building has amongst other things 3 major rooms on the park front, a deep hall, a music room with original Wyatt plasterwork, a library and a conservatory.
Sir David Davies (born in Wales in 1940) at Abbey Leix.
Renovated and remodeled since being sold to the Welsh born, twice divorced, father of five Sir David Davies in 1995 by its previous owners of the 250 years, the de Vesci family, Abbey Leix is described by agents Sotheby’s International Realty as a “21st century family home with an appropriate balance between comfort and informality on the one hand and grandeur for entertaining and the display of art on the other.”
As well as Ireland’s oldest oak tree being within the grounds, the property also includes some of the “last surviving remnants of Ireland’s ancient woodland” and frontage to the River Nore. There is also a stud farm with 24 loose boxes, a separate farmyard with many outbuildings and 10 lodges and cottages on the estate. The present owner’s private airstrip was created because he wanted to be able to “fly from wherever in the UK straight into the estate.”
Of why he is selling Abbey Leix, “superstar banker and businessman” Sir David – who has variously held senior posts at Chase Manhattan Bank, Hill Samuel, MEPC, Hardine Matheson, Hong Kong Land, Johnson Matthey and EFG Private Bank – told the Business Post:
“I’m organising my whole estate for the benefit of my children… Although the children all love this place very much, none of them wanted to take it on… The typical refrain is ‘Dad, this is your project,’ and I’m lucky enough to have Killoughter House, the home of my childhood, to return to.”
Though born in Wales, Sir David – whom was knighted “for his work as chairman of the Advisory Committee on Business and the Environment” in 1999 – has maintained a home in Ireland throughout his adulthood. He “proudly” became an Irish citizen after Brexit and described “inept” Theresa May as “going from one catastrophe to that leads to the next catastrophe.” Of her successor, the opera loving son of a South Wales steel mill owner went further and recently remarked: “I have no time for Boris Johnson: he doesn’t do his homework, and can’t be trusted.”
Further questions about the conduct of Essex Police raised as it is revealed they destroyed the bible, nightclothes and pillows that were found with the victims at White House Farm on the night of the 1985 murders
In a tweet, the ‘Official Campaign’ for Jeremy Bamber shared an image of his late sister, Sheila Caffell, a diagnosed schizophrenia sufferer, alongside a letter from the Criminal Cases Review Commission to Glaisyers Solicitors LLP (whom then represented the convicted serial killer).
That correspondence, dated 20th March 2000, contained a statement that tellingly reads: “It is desirable that this information does not become generally known” and given its contents, we can now see why.
Most shockingly, the letter informs Jeremy Bamber’s legal advisors that June Bamber’s nightdress, Sheila Caffell’s nightdress and Ralph Bamber’s, Daniel Caffell’s and Nicholas Caffell’s pyjamas were all “destroyed in 1986” along with a bible found next to Miss Caffell and various pillows and pillowcases.
Given Essex Police’s mismanagement of this investigation is abundantly clear and that there are discrepancies relating to call logs and timings and issues relating to non-disclosure and contamination of evidence, yet again we join those suggesting that Jeremy Bamber’s conviction deserves to be reinvestigated. We neither claim Mr Bamber is innocent or guilty, but at the very least, this is a matter that should finally be properly examined on the basis that it is clearly unsafe.
The 20th March 2000 letter from the Criminal Cases Review Commission to Glaisyers Solicitors LLP and Sheila Caffell.The scene of the murders – White House Farm, Pages Lane, Tolleshunt D’Arcy, Maldon, Essex, CM9 8AA.Ralph and June Bamber.
1967 Mercedes ‘Dictator Car’ limousine owned until 1993 by the first President of Ivory Coast to be auctioned after being restored at vast expense
Félix Houphouët-Boigny (whom claimed to be born in 1908, but was more likely born in 1905, and died in 1993) was known variously as ‘Papa Houphouët’ (‘The Old One’), the ‘Sage of Africa,’ the ‘Farmer President’ and the ‘Grand Old Man of Africa.’ Westerners, more simply called him: ‘HB.’
The first President of Ivory Coast and ruler from 1960 to 1963 was considered “politically moderate” and under him the country “prospered economically.” His tenure was referred to as the “Ivorian miracle” and with growth, this larger-than-life leader moved the capital from Abidjan to his hometown, Yamoussoukro, in 1983. There he built not only an international airport, but also, at an extraordinary cost of the equivalent of £629 million ($780 million, €713 million or درهم2.9 billion) today, the largest church in the world, the Basilica of Our Lady of Peace of Yamoussoukro.
“Well-loved first President of Ivory Coast” Félix Houphouët-Boigny (1905 or 1908 – 1993).Félix Houphouët-Boigny travelling in one of his Mercedes-Benz ‘Dictator Cars’.
Aside from the usual ‘perks’ purchased by leaders of his time – including homes in France, Italy and Switzerland – Houphouët-Boigny was known for his love of shiny metals. In 1983, he declared: “People are surprised that I like gold. It’s just that I was born in it.” With his ‘Françafrique-style’ of diplomacy, Houphouët-Boigny liked to travel in style also and now one of his fleet of cars is to be sold at auction in June.
The car to be offered by RM Sotheby’s is a 1967 Mercedes-Benz 600 Pullman with six-doors. It is one of five delivered to Ivory Coast at that time, unusually has no door handles on its middle doors and is fitted with air conditioning and an intercom also. Presented in its original colour combination of black lacquer with a natural coloured leather interior and brown carpets, the car left Africa after the death of Houphouët-Boigny in 1993. It was then exported to Germany and in the time since has been subject to restorative work costing some £88,000 ($109,000, €100,000 or درهم401,000) in 1994 and between 2013 and 2014 also. The auctioneers note that “the car is equipped with a replacement engine of the right type and that a second engine of the right type comes with the purchase.”
Twice married Houphouët-Boigny was said to be worth somewhere between the staggering sums of £5.7 billion and £8.9 billion ($7 billion and $11 billion, €6.4 billion and €10 billion or درهم25.7 billion and درهم40.4 billion) on his death. His funeral was attended by 7,000 people and subsequently Ivory Coast’s economy declined rapidly. A religiously grounded civil war followed and still today, what was previously a prosperous land remains “severely damaged.”
RM Sotheby’s will sell the ex-Félix Houphouët-Boigny Mercedes-Benz 600 Pullman at their Essen sale on behalf of its current owner, Dr Urich Speicher. The event runs from 24th to 27th June and an estimate of £220,000 to £247,000 ($273,000 to $306,000, €250,000 to €280,000 or درهم1 million to درهم1.1 million) has been set.
Bath pensioner gets very, very, very worked up about the quality of stamps available in a Post Office in a WHSmith store
Right now, whilst most people are either worrying about the health of their friends and relatives or their next pay cheque during the coronavirus lockdown, a man named Dave French from Bath, Somerset has other priorities.
Last month, Mr French contacted SomersetLive to moan about the quality of service and stamps in his local WHSmith. Speaking to the local newspaper’s senior reporter Richard Mills, the 68-year-old remarked:
“I buy hundreds of pounds of postage stamps for correspondence and parcels. I prefer to buy sheets of commemorative stamps the first day they are issued. When legibly franked and postmarked they take on a second life… So, I was disappointed soon after the new Post Office in WHSmiths opened to be told that they had not received the new stamp issue.”
After returning on another occasion, after getting what he ‘thought’ he wanted, this moaning Minnie added:
“I returned a few days later to the Smiths Post Office and bought what was left of the newly issued stamps. Very attractive but when I got home I found they had been ripped across and parts of them missing. Somebody hadn’t noticed you are meant to use the perforations. What kind of staff were they employing?”
Mr French supposedly then visited again. This time, he found: “On my third and final attempt to get decent service in Smiths, there was the usual long queue, nowhere to sit and the priority was the staff fixing the self-service stamp machines.”
Summing up, the pensioner concluded by sharing his fury: “Speechless, I left and will not be returning… Ralph Allen [an 18th century British postal service reformer] will be turning in his mausoleum in Claverton churchyard… I won’t go back there.”
One thing is for sure about customer from hell Dave French’s decision: The workers of WHSmith and the Post Office of Bath will be eternally grateful.
Lindsay Lohan sinks to a new low during the coronavirus crisis and attempts to relaunch her tawdry self on April Fool’s Day; the washed-up wench claims to be “evolving”
Loathsome leech Lindsay Lohan once curiously claimed she was a “normal, nice person, a good person” and that she “[didn’t] have any bad intentions.” She then proceeded to prove herself totally wrong in leaping to the defence of the now convicted sex abuser Harvey Weinstein in 2017.
Jailed for 90 days in 2001 and put in rehab in 2008 (and on many other occasions since), this often violent, deranged, on-off druggie has now decided to revive her music ‘career’ at quite possibly the most inappropriate time – that being on April Fool’s Day during the coronavirus crisis. You simply couldn’t make it up, but, as we all know, ‘Loopy Lindsay’ can’t actually get a PR advisor for toffee.
Some might argue that this move is reflective of this trashbag’s position in society, but that Lohan – whom the term “celebutard” was created in her very honour by Michael Musto some years back – issued a cryptic video on Instagram that ends with the wastrel weirdly stating: “I’m back!” about says it all. Frankly, the public will be the judge of that love and given past performance tends to be a guide to the future, we all already know where this almighty mess is going to end up next.
Here we go again, Lindsay: Another car crash that’s headed to be washed away down the gutter. Next!
A Twitter user aptly summed up Lindsay Lohan’s April Fool’s Day 2020 actions.In her video message on Instagram, the self-absorbed mess showed a message that stated: “Evolution of Lindsay Lohan.”
Coachbuilt 2018 Range Rover ‘Adventum Coupé’ for sale for an eye-watering sum; it comes with two umbrellas with handles made of the same leather as the interior
Niels van Roij is a Dutchman who has set about reviving the craft of the coachbuilders of the early 20th century. Aside from having the work of his award-winning eponymous automative studio exhibited at the London Transport Museum and the Victoria & Albert Museum, this autodidact car adapter has developed shooting brakes based on the Tesla Model S and the Range Rover.
Now, the very first example of this talented designer’s Land Rover adaptations – named the Adventum Coupé – has become available for sale. The vehicle in question, converted from a 2018 5.0-litre supercharged V8 Range Rover to a “two door model based on the world’s best SUV,” is priced at £256,300 ($318,000, €290,400 or درهم1.2 million) including VAT and available through the Classic Youngtimers Consultancy based in Uden in Noord-Brabant, Netherlands. It has covered about 8,000 miles.
Presented with its hand-beaten aluminum body panels in Arctic white with a Nappa red leather interior and black piano lacquer dashboard, the car features flooring of handmade teak from the front seats to the trunk. Two hand-stitched black and red umbrellas can be found in the boot complete with handles made of the same leather as the interior.
Speaking generally of the Adventum Coupé range he intends to craft – the build run of which will be limited to 100 vehicles only – van Roji commented:
“The bespoke Adventum Coupé is a real design statement with a distinctive, custom-made aluminum bodywork, built by coachbuilder Bas van Roomen. Unique personal ideas can also be added to the hand-produced exterior, such as subtle ventilation openings in the fender and the bonnet. The interior can be equipped with the finest materials. In a co-design process with the future owner, we shape exterior and interior. We process the finest materials, such as tweed, teak and lambswool. We make it so personal that even the favourite pinstripe from the owner’s suit can be incorporated into the interior.”
“If desired, each Adventum Coupé can have striking materials and colour schemes for both interior and exterior: Everything is possible: from unique fuel filler caps, duotone exterior paints, highly polished wood on the dashboard, personalised tread plates to colour-matched leather in chic patterns. Even refined embroidery is a possibility.”
“Because: form follows function. This new look visually extends the car. The shutlines of the door actively contribute to a more elegant side view. The interior has also been largely redesigned due to the major changes to the exterior.”
Whilst we’d never urge anyone to buy a Range Rover in white (unless you were planning to use it in a country such as Kuwait), here is a future classic and a car that’ll most certainly stand out from the many other Rangies parked outside the pubs of the Cotswolds on a Sunday afternoon.
Eton and Oxford educated former Supreme Court judge and historian Jonathan Sumption, as a barrister, successfully represented the billionaire Roman Abramovich against the late oligarch Boris Berezovsky. Formerly one of the highest paid legal eagles in Britain, this father of three termed his £1.6 million salary “puny” in 2001 in a letter to the Guardian and subsequently charged the extraordinary sum of £800,000 to successfully represent the UK government in what was then then the largest class actions against the state ever in 2005. The trial lasted just four weeks. Sumption speaks French and Italian fluently, owns a chateau in South West France and serves as a director of the English National Opera. He became an outspoken critic of the “hysteria” over the police reaction to coronavirus outbreak in the UK in March 2020. Of this “frightening opponent” with an “icy analytical instinct,” the Guardian’s Wendell Steavenson suggested: “Sumption is a man who cannot stop thinking” whilst the former Labour spinner Alastair Campbell more simply concluded: “Brain the size of a planet.”
Texan estate for sale for sum 43% less than in 2011; it comes with the “finest private bowling alley in America” and a car museum
In March 2015, The Steeple Times featured a Texan mansion described by some as “more iconic than Southfork.” Back then this “replica of George Washington’s Virginia estate” had been for sale for four years already and now, in March 2020, it’s still on the market.
Offered at prices as high as £26.1 million and as low as £12 million, Mount Vernon overlooks White Rock Lake in Dallas and was built between 1928 and 1930. It was sold in 1938 to one of the world’s largest oil baron’s, H. L. Hunt (1889 – 1974) – a man “reputed to have the highest net worth of any individual in the world” at the time of his death.
John Amend with Laura Bush at the bowling alley at Mount Vernon and with his wife Teresa.One of the entrances to Mount Vernon, 4009 West Lawther Drive, Dallas, Texas, TX 75214, United States of America.
Passing on to a commercial real estate tycoon and fellow supporter of the Bush political dynasty named John Amend in 1999, the 10,511 square foot house was subsequently renovated and aside from creating spaces including a prayer room, a 10,000 bottle wine cellar, a 1950s style diner and a car museum, what is considered to be the finest private bowling centre in America was added. It comes complete with a digital jukebox that has over 500,000 songs on its concert hall quality sound system
Whilst Mr Amend and his wife Teresa hosted guests including Glenn Close and President George W. Bush at Mount Vernon, in 2011 they decided to “simplify their lives” and placed it for sale. In the time since, its yoyo-ed on and off the market but speaking about the property to the Dallas News in February this year, realtor Allie Beth Allman claimed the Amends have now “made it a goal to sell the property this year.” She went further and stated:
“Many interested buyers have made offers, but the family has been reluctant to sell… The kids are just now at the age that they really enjoy it, and they spend a lot of time over there. It’s hard to give that up when your grandkids are saying, ‘Oh, don’t sell.’”
The Names & Numbers – Mount Vernon, 4009 West Lawther Drive, Dallas, Texas, TX 75214, United States of America
March 2020 – Relisted at £14.9 million ($18.5 million, €16.6 million or درهم67.9 million) and still for sale through Allie Beth Allman & Associates.
May 2019 – Relisted at a price of £12 million ($14.9 million, €13.4 million or درهم54.7 million).
May 2016 – Relisted at a price of £14.1 million ($17.5 million, €15.7 million or درهم64.3 million).
March 2015 – Featured in The Steeple Times whilst listed with Allie Beth Allman & Associates and Christie’s Real Estate at a price of £15.3 million ($19 million, €17 million or درهم68 million).
September 2013 – Reduced in price to £15.3 million ($19 million, €17 million or درهم68 million).
November 2012 – Reduced in price to £23.7 million ($29.5 million, €26.5 million or درهم108.3 million).
2011 – Placed for sale for £26.1 million ($32.5 million, €29.2 million or درهم119.4 million).
2004 – Hosted its first event as “the nation’s finest professionally equipped bowling centre.” The alley reportedly cost £1.16 million ($1.45 million, €1.3 million or درهم5.33 million) to construct.
2002 – Renovated and expanded.
1999 – Sold to the self-declared real estate “pioneer and innovator” John T. Amend and his wife Teresa for an undisclosed sum.
1938 – Sold by Thomas Y. Pickett to Harold Lafayette Hunt, Jr. for $69,000 or the equivalent of £740,000 today ($922,000, €826,000 or درهم3.4 million today).
New Haven, Connecticut born Sarah Winchester became one of the wealthiest women in the world after the death of her Winchester Repeating Arms Company heir husband, William Wirt Winchester, in 1882. With a 50% holding in the rifle making manufacturer plus a legacy equivalent to £426 million ($529 million) in 2020, this true eccentric – whose only child died aged just one – took the advice of a medium and moved west to California.
Here, in San Jose, this grief obsessed and beyond superstitious, American equivalent of Queen Victoria spent the remainder of her life constructing a mansion that she believed would appease the spirits of her relatives and those of the victims of Winchester weaponry. Known as ‘The Winchester Mystery House’ and built (but never completed) between 1884 and 1922 at a cost estimated at the equivalent of £57 million ($71 million) today. Starting from an 8 room farmhouse, the property grew to 24,000 square foot and eventually included 10,000 windows, 2,000 doors, 160 rooms, 52 skylights, 47 stairways (some leading absolutely nowhere), 17 chimneys (some that didn’t even reach the roof), 13 bathrooms, 6 kitchens and a séance room (that was once used by Harry Houdini).
Described as being a “woman of independence, drive and courage,” Sarah Winchester died of heart failure in her sleep in September 1922 leaving a will written in 13 sections that was signed 13 times and a safe that contained a lock of her infant daughter’s hair. She was portrayed by Helen Mirren in the 2018 horror film Winchester.
‘The Winchester Mystery House’ was sold five months after its creator’s death and has been open to the public for tours since June 1923.
The vast Winchester Mystery House, 525 South Winchester Boulevard, San Jose, California, CA 95128, United States of America.
