A weekend topic starting with the Courier Journal. "The first call came in December 2011. It was a real estate broker from Mexico offering an exciting opportunity: A buyer wanted to pay Stephen, a financial manager from the Midwest, $65,000 for his timeshare in Cancún — far more than the $47,000 he had spent on it six years earlier. He had originally bought two weeks a year so his children could spend time near the ocean. As they grew older and joined sports teams, there was less and less time for family vacations. The telemarketer’s call seemed fortuitous."

"But there was one catch: Stephen — then 54 — would have to first cover a Mexican federal tax of $3,900 that would be held in escrow, and credited back to him when the deal closed. Looking back, that was the first sign that he was getting duped by a telemarketing scam, one that would end up costing him nearly $1.8 million as he tried time and again to sell his timeshare. 'It’s almost like an addiction,' said Stephen, who asked that only his first name be used because he doesn’t want his employer to know. 'I kept thinking the next person was going to help me get out of it.'"

"The Jalisco New Generation Cartel, commonly known as CJNG, started its timeshare fraud business in Puerto Vallarta and has now largely taken over the Cancún timeshare market as well. It has expanded the fraud network to at least two dozen call centers that contact owners of property in those two cities, as well as other areas popular with North American retirees, including Acapulco. he Jalisco cartel is known for its brutality, with regular headlines across Mexico documenting beheadings, torture and deadly gun battles against Mexican military forces. And the cartel controls its employees with an iron fist. Last June, cartel leaders turned their fury on eight call center employees who local news outlets reported had tried to quit. Their remains were found in 45 black plastic bags at the bottom of a canyon outside Guadalajara."

From McClatchy News. "Less than a week after crossing the U.S.-Mexico border and catching a flight to Florida, Joseliel Montilla, his wife and their five-year-old daughter waited on a cold February morning outside the Department of Children & Families outpost in Hialeah where their family members had taken turns spending the night — not because they had nowhere else to go, but because they wanted to beat the daily rush on the office where new arrivals apply for refugee benefits with the state. Amid a historic rush on the border, the family is part of an unquantifiable group of migrants who have recently chosen to settle in this majority-Cuban city of roughly a quarter-million people in northwest Miami-Dade County. But their presence is increasingly becoming a source of division, with Hialeah’s mayor laying blame on new arrivals for some of the city’s problems, including a lack of affordable housing."

"Mayor Esteban Bovo, Jr. has claimed that as many as 80,000 Cubans have arrived in Hialeah over the last two years, stretching the city’s resources. He says it’s a plausible estimate when considering that more than 420,000 migrants have come to the U.S. from Cuba during that time, which he likened to a 'Mariel on steroids,' referring to the 1980 mass-flotilla from Cuba to Florida."

The Guardian on California. "More than 2,000 unhoused people died in Los Angeles in 2023, meaning an average of nearly six deaths a day of people living on the street or in shelters in the nation’s most populous county. The numbers reveal an escalating humanitarian emergency as the housing crisis and drug addiction epidemic collide, with victims found in tents, encampments, vehicles, parks, alleys, vacant lots, underpasses, bus stops and train stations. Deaths have consistently increased every year. In 2023, 2,033 people died, a staggering 291% increase from the 519 cases recorded in 2014 and an 8% increase from the 1,883 fatalities in 2022."

From CBS Boston. "Concerns are growing over a homeless camp that has popped up under a Massachusetts highway. The area under Interstate 93 in Somerville is shielded in blue tarp that surrounds furniture and children's toys. There are cars speeding in front of it, behind it, and overhead on the Southeast Expressway. 'I just had a package opened and stolen,' one neighbor told WBZ-TV. The woman, who did not want to be identified, owns a condominium at 60 Cross Street, a luxury building across the street from the encampment. Another resident shared a photo of someone sleeping in the building's vestibule. 'Entered in, fell asleep, peed in the building, and stole packages,' the woman said."

"'There was somebody intoxicated, I think laying there and an ambulance came and then I saw the person try to get away,' said Chris Elrod, who lives in the building. Jason Ferraro, who lives down the street, said the trash piles up. 'You see the police out there, and the fire department, as well as ambulances. Those resources are being called, and most of the time it's for people that are passed out on the side of the road,' he told WBZ."

The National Post in Canada. "Three days after a proposed class-action lawsuit against a Toronto supervised consumption site was all over the news , the Toronto Star published a feel-good harm-reduction story. The Star article had an intriguing headline: 'Here’s what happened to overdose deaths in Toronto neighbourhoods with safe consumption sites.' The story was about a study published this month in The Lancet. Unfortunately, this study does not track overdose mortalities beyond 2019. In 2021, for example, the number of confirmed overdoses in South Riverdale practically tripled to 32 (from 11 in 2019), according to the same police data. In 2022, that number grew again to 36. Last fall, we were on track for that number to be in the thirties again for 2023."

"Obviously, the supervised injection site at South Riverdale was operational during all these years, so I’m not sure it’s accurate for the Star to report our neighbourhood has seen 'dramatic decreases in drug fatalities' when, in fact, it hasn’t."

The Calgary Herald in Canada. "We all understand the meaning of a 'tipping point' and the implied concept that a series of events can lead to larger and more important or disruptive change. In our world today, the question is whether a tipping point inevitably moves toward a foregone conclusion, or can its effect be reversed. I recently wrote on the imposition of new zoning rules , or rather the removal of zoning rules, and the reaction from the public was loud and long. I received many calls and emails from individuals voicing their concerns and worries about the changes proposed for their communities, yet the process continues. Almost daily we can see houses being fenced for demolition to allow for council’s dream of urban density at all costs."

"There is little doubt that our city council has come to the conclusion that the time will come when we will all just accept the abandonment of zoning as inevitable, throw up our hands and stop complaining. Perhaps they are applying the same philosophy to their incredible spending on the Green Line LRT project without confirming just how much it is likely to go over budget. What will be the tipping point for that project? Our climate-obsessed government in Ottawa may have reached its tipping point if recent polls are any indication. It sounds as if Canadians have finally said 'enough' to the imposed taxes, regulations and ideology that have overtaken our lives."

The Telegraph. "How do we make housing in Britain even more expensive? How do we ruin the dreams of even more aspiring homeowners? If these aren’t the questions that have been going round Whitehall the past few months, they might as well be, considering the policy answers that are being offered up. The Government has been considering plans for a 99pc mortgage scheme that could be announced ahead of the March Budget. It is broadly agreed that the Conservative Party needs a big idea to address the UK’s chronic housing crisis. Let’s hope, for the sake of would-be homeowners everywhere, that this isn’t it. In other words, it’s a scheme designed to water down the financial requirements for first-time buyers to secure a mortgage. What could possibly go wrong?"

The Sydney Morning Herald in Australia. "People in Sydney now need to save over $100,000 extra for a deposit on a house compared to 2018, and Melburnians need an additional $38,000 according to an article in this masthead this week. While we are on comparisons, I heard this week of a medical science graduate earning a little bit over $50,000 for a full-time laboratory job. I was paid $47,000 plus very generous super as a lecturer in psychology at UNSW in 1995. My colleague who started at UNSW in 1972 said he needed only three times his then salary to purchase a terraced-house in Glebe. There is one for sale now with a guide of $2.2 million. In 1972 terms, three times a salary of $700,000."

From Mises.org. "Big corporations and global leaders adhere to and assume the growing interventionism and the advance of socialism because, for politicians, it is an excellent way of perpetuating their power and control over citizens, while multinationals tolerate it because they have enough financial muscle and size to absorb the pernicious effects of the massive rise in public debt and monetary imbalances, public spending, taxes, barriers to trade, and progress."

"They all know that the burden of interventionism falls entirely on small businesses and families, destroying the middle class in the process. The wealthy can escape the negative impact of monetary debasement and confiscatory taxes. People with salaries and small entrepreneurs cannot. Whitewashing Marxist collectivism does not stop it. It is no surprise to see how this neocommunism disguised as social justice attacks with even greater cruelty those companies and leaders who embrace their false messages. Just like wokeism often cancels and destroys its most staunch defenders, Neomarxism does the same with corporations and business owners because its objective is full control."

Market Watch. "Ten years ago, when a then–newly appointed president, Xi Jinping, first used the phrase ‘new normal’ to refer to a slowing Chinese economy that would be reconfigured into a healthier model, Xi was both prescient and flatly wrong. While the failure of China’s economy to rebound after the coronavirus pandemic and its continued lethargy are shocking to experts and laypeople alike, the slowdown is actually longer in the making. Xi’s vision of reshaping the economy away from exports and infrastructure, and of taming a perilous property market while pivoting toward domestic consumption, has been an unequivocal failure."

"The economy is still manufacturing-focused, billions in stimulus funds are being poured into the most overinfrastructured country in the world, and the property crisis is as bad as ever. But it is flaccid domestic demand that is most glaring in an economy Xi thought would be reignited by the pocketbooks of a billion consumers, experts said. When asked if China’s economy was now in its 'new normal' of slow growth, 50-year-old Li Jian, who runs a 3D printing company in Beijing, said, 'Absolutely.' 'I’m old enough to have seen a gradual economic slowdown. But things were always still humming. Now, we’ve reached some kind of tipping point. Things have stalled. And people can feel it.'"

The Daily Times. "Across Pakistan, billboards and newspaper ads blare promises of luxurious living in meticulously planned housing schemes. Images of glittering skyscrapers and manicured lawns evoke visions of Dubai or Paris, a stark contrast to the dust-choked, overcrowded reality of many Pakistani cities. Yet, beneath the glossy veneer lies a harsh truth: this surge in land development schemes is not just fueling urban sprawl, it’s exacerbating economic woes and widening the gap between rich and poor."

"Pakistan’s high savings rate (14 percent, compared to the regional average of 29 percent) is often celebrated. However, a lack of trust in formal financial institutions leads many to hoard cash, gold, and real estate. This, combined with government policies favouring real estate over productive sectors, has created a dangerous trend: capital flight from crucial activities like manufacturing and exports."

"This skewed investment pattern has dire consequences. The country becomes increasingly reliant on imports, draining foreign reserves and widening the current account deficit. The real estate boom creates a temporary illusion of prosperity for a select few while neglecting the need for sustainable economic growth based on exports and job creation. The wealth gap widens as 'rent-seekers' (those benefiting from land-related activities) amass riches, while the majority struggles with inflation and a lack of opportunities."

"Breaking this vicious cycle requires bold and decisive action. Redirecting investments from speculative real estate towards export-oriented enterprises is crucial to generating jobs and foreign exchange. Formalizing the economy by encouraging savings in official channels, reducing tax evasion, and incentivizing entrepreneurship beyond real estate is essential. Finally, strengthening regulations by implementing stricter land ownership laws, enforcing environmental regulations, and cracking down on corruption is imperative for sustainable development."

"These changes may ruffle feathers and upset vested interests, but they are not optional. They are the foundation upon which a brighter future for Pakistan can be built, a future where prosperity reaches all 220 million Pakistanis, not just a privileged few. This may upset a few thousand rent seekers, and upset many of those at the helm as well. Effectively, the decision is whether we want a country that catalyzes prosperity for 220 million plus people, or a country that exists for a few thousand rent seekers and their cronies. The time for action is now."