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As Rents Plummet, We Are Reminded That PR Talks But Money Walks

A report from Bloomberg on New York. “In pricey Manhattan, having a roommate or two is a traditional rite of passage. Now, as the city empties out and rents plummet, even recent college graduates are finding they can afford to live solo. In October, Manhattan studio rents tumbled 17 per cent from a year earlier to a median of $2,245 – the lowest since 2011, data from appraiser Miller Samuel Inc. and Douglas Elliman Real Estate show. Incentives such as free months and payment of brokers’ fees brought the median down even further, to $2,069.”

“‘I honestly never thought I was going to be able to afford a studio or one-bedroom apartment until, maybe, my late 20s,’ said Ines Montfajon, 23, who’s relocating from a Greenwich Village share to a Lower East Side studio for about $100 more a month than she currently pays. Montfajon negotiated the asking rent down to to $1,700, then when she said she’d rather pay $1,685, the landlord’s broker, eager to close the deal in lean times, personally paid her the difference for the entire 15-month lease, she said.”

The San Francisco Chronicle in California. “Apartment vacancy rates have more than doubled since last year in the San Francisco rental market, as many tenants have deserted the market during the coronavirus pandemic. Not only do renters suddenly have more options, but the spike in supply has caused prices to plummet and put them in a rare position of power in the historically competitive market, analysts say.”

“‘For the first time in a long time, they hold some leverage in the market,’ said Rob Warnock, a research associate at listings service Apartment List. ‘With more options to choose from, they can be more selective and they have more opportunities to negotiate their rent payments, knowing landlords have a greater-than-usual number of vacancies to fill.'”

From Socket Site in California. “With the average asking rent for a studio apartment in San Francisco having slipped below $2,000 a month for the first time in nearly a decade earlier this month, the average asking rent for a one-bedroom apartment in the city has since slipped under $2,700 a month for the first time since 2012. As such, the average asking rent for a one-bedroom in San Francisco has dropped nearly 25 percent since the end of February and is down around 27 percent from the local market’s peak in 2015, driven by a sharp increase in vacancy rates (which continue to climb).”

“The weighted average asking rent for an average apartment in the city has slipped under $3,200 a month, is down 23 percent over the past eight months, and is 29 percent below its 2015-era peak, with over 3 times as many apartments currently listed for rent in San Francisco than at the same time last year.”

The Washington Post. “The District’s rental market has suffered in recent months, with a recent report from Apartment List, showing median rents are down 10.7 percent in the city since the pandemic started.”

From Blog TO in Canada. “Last month, the average rent for all residential property types in Toronto proper hit $2,150 — an astounding 17.1 per cent drop from Oct. 2019 — according to data from Rentals.ca and Bullpen Research & Consulting’s latest Toronto GTA Rent Report. With Toronto’s huge decrease, it all averaged out to a 13 per cent reduction in rents across the board in the GTA overall, down for the 11th straight month to $2,122. Rents for condo units in particular are plummeting the most significantly in the region, as are prices to actually purchase them, especially small-square-footage ‘micro-condos’ in the downtown core.”

The Vancouver Sun in Canada. “People are leaving the cores of major cities, including Vancouver, and that has led to some rent drops. The average monthly rent in Vancouver in October for a two-bedroom apartment was the highest in Canada at $2,712, but it was an eight per cent drop from a year earlier, the steepest fall in B.C. The report said it’s based on looking at ‘asking rents,’ which can hide even larger drops in rents. ‘When conditions are poor, landlords will often accept rents below their asking rent rate or offer incentives like one or two months of free rent,’ said Paul Danison, content director at Rentals.ca. ‘Vancouver rents are down year-over-year, which suggests a higher vacancy rate.'”

“He said another indication of a rising vacancy rate is that many landlords are offering incentives to renters in downtown Vancouver and the West End, with some offering one or two months of free rent.”

The Property Reporter on the UK. “Newly released data from Home.co.uk has revealed that renters are quitting London and heading out of the city. The study found a dramatic increase of 68% in the monthly supply of homes to rent in the capital region compared to a year ago, as tenants fail to renew tenancies. The current average rent in Greater London remains a hefty £2,127 a month, but this is down a massive 11.2% over the year. The bulk of this fall (10.5%) occurred in the last six months.”

“In the worst-hit boroughs, landlords have dropped their rents by more than double the London-wide average fall in rental value. Over the last year, rents have fallen in the City of London by 28.8%, in Hammersmith and Fulham by 23.5% and in Kensington and Chelsea by 22.5%.”

From Gulf News on Dubai. “In more recent times Jumeirah has faced growing competition from new villa communities such as Arabian Ranches and Emirates Living which offered a mix of affordable townhouses and large independent villas with well managed community facilities. As the city has grown out in to the desert and the supply of new villas increased, rents in the area have dropped approximately 50 per cent from their height.”

From Money Web on South Africa. “Rental price growth hit a fresh all-time low for the second consecutive quarter in Q3, according to the PayProp Rental Index, the lowest since the index was launched in 2012. It is likely this is the lowest in over a decade, with the aftermath of the global financial crisis in 2009 likely the previous low point. PayProp also highlights the fact that ‘the market has essentially been flooded with supply’ because of the ‘many short-term lets reallocated to the long-term rental market [to avoid standing empty while travel restrictions were in place].’ This has added ‘to existing downward pressure on rental growth.'”

“PayProp points to a potentially ‘dire effect’ of the current rental market on estate agencies. These businesses are caught between low rental growth and elevated arrears, which will impact their cashflow. PayProp says while arrears have peaked, rental growth is likely to remain subdued: ‘We don’t foresee a recovery anytime soon – in fact, it is possible that we will see even lower rates in Q4 this year.'”

The Australian Financial Review. “The pandemic hasn’t quite killed off short-term holiday letting but it’s certainly given it a hearty twist. According to a report in Domain, apartments in Sydney’s very central Millers Point have seen rents drop by more than 25 per cent due to falling demand. This is probably due to recession-hit families bunkering down together, while former short-term holiday rental flats flood the market. In Melbourne, according to figures released by SQM Research, the drop has been less dramatic with the average asking rent for all units down 9 per cent, from a record of $424 a week in March to $386 this month.”

“The fact that tenants are leveraging empty flats to get lower rents in our city centres, confirms the central thesis of a new book by two American academics. ‘Airbnb, short-term rentals and the future of housing’ examines the effect of holiday lets on rental communities globally. It has a whole section devoted to Australia, claiming we are one of the least regulated countries in the world when it comes to short-term holiday lettings.”

“The authors argue that the most disruptive impact of Airbnb and short-term rentals has been in urban centres where housing markets are stressed, exacerbated by Airbnb’s tight control over access to critical data. That’s as may be, but raw data can only tell you so much. As city-centre rents plummet, we are reminded that PR talks but money walks.”

From CBD News in Australia. “Living and working in the CBD has been difficult since the pandemic began and no clear picture of the future has yet emerged. Flinders Lane agent Dionne Wilson, of Harcourts, has a heritage apartment for sale in the old Masonic Lodge on Flinders St. The two-bedroom apartment is on the market for $650,000 and she hopes it has held its price. ‘I won’t lie,’ she said. ‘We have a 30 per cent vacancy rate in the CBD. I expect other agents are in the same boat. It’s been a difficult time.'”

“Renters are benefitting by an estimated 20 to 25 per cent drop in rents. Many are renegotiating their leases based on the rentals being asked for empty apartments in their buildings. The vendor of the Masonic Lodge property previously rented it to visitors through Airbnb but this was banned during the COVID crisis. She had four other CBD apartments on the books and ran them as a business. ‘Now she’s got a fulltime job,’ Dionne said. ‘She’s selling kitchens.'”

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This Post Has 86 Comments

  1. The Mechanics Behind the Electronic Vote Steal Operation

    https://www.bitchute.com/video/OJrljwQFcIvc/

    https://twitter.com/tom2badcat/status/1325126091460268032

    https://archive.vn/KPwUa

    Michigan @ 45:20. And on. 5 out of 5 states.

    Another poster added:

    ‘At 31:30 in the video, he explains how Trump was comfortably ahead in all the 5 key battleground states, and suddenly all 5, AT THE SAME TIME, quit counting and went offline for 3 hours.’

    ‘Then when they came back, suddenly there were massive numbers of found votes and were all for one candidate and one candidate only (Biden). Statistically impossible.’

    Lots of info and links here:

    https://everylegalvote.com/country

    https://hereistheevidence.com/

    https://censoredbyjack.com/channel/evidence-of-widespread-election-fraud

    https://www.deepcapture.com/2020/11/election-2020-was-rigged-the-evidence/

    From the last link:

    Example

    Example

    Example

    Example

    1. ‘”We began to look and realized how easy it is to change votes.”

      ‘Election security expert @RussRamsland
      has performed many investigations on US election machines.’

      ‘The most *shocking* thing about this interview is it took place just days BEFORE the election. Watch’

      https://twitter.com/kylenabecker/status/1327511568993701888

      I believe this is the gentleman in the top video.

      ‘The claims of unexplained anomalies by Wayne County, Michigan, election board canvassers are validated by one renowned election fraud experts who states, definitively, that Michigan’s election results – across the state and not just in Wayne County – are a “physical impossibility.”

      ‘The examination of the Michigan voter data was performed by Russell Ramsland, the co-owner of Allied Security Operations Group (ASOG). His company specializes in detecting election fraud, cybersecurity, open source intelligence and global security services. Ramsland served in the Reagan administration and has worked for both NASA and MIT.’

      ‘In the affidavit concerning the election in Michigan, Ramsland determined – without question – that vote fraud and ballot tampering took place in the 2020 General Election in Michigan determining the results as they are currently known to be a “physical impossibility.”

      ‘In addressing the Dominion Voting System, Ramsland was critical of its security over-all citing “vulnerabilities to hacking and tampering, both at the front end where Americans cast their votes, and at the back end where the votes are stored, tabulated, and reported.”

      ‘Ramsland noted that the vulnerabilities described are well-known by experts in the voting securing field and that these vulnerabilities have been extensively written about. “My colleagues and I… have studied… the November 3, 2020, election results. Based on the significant anomalies and red flags that we have observed, we believe there is a significant probability that election results have been manipulated…” Ramsland wrote.’

      ‘His colleague, Dr. Andrew Appel, a professor of computer science at Princeton University and an election security expert, said, “I figured out how to make a slightly different computer program that just before the polls were closed it switches some votes around from one candidate to another. I wrote that computer program into a memory chip and now to hack a voting machine you need just 7 minutes alone with it and a screw driver.”

      https://nationalfile.com/election-fraud-expert-michigans-election-results-are-physical-impossibility/

      1. Smartmatic CEO apologizing in the 2017 Venezuela Election for 1 million vote switch

        https://www.bitchute.com/video/e2Fxswdf1SsG/

        ‘In an interview with the Fox Business Channel, Giuliani, in his capacity as lawyer of reelectionist US President Donald Trump, claimed that the Smartmatic vote-counting machines were “hackable.”

        ‘He said Dominion, the company that provided the automated vote-counting system used during the most recent presidential election, was owned by Smartmatic through an intermediary company referred to as Indra.’

        ‘He claimed that the Smartmatic vote-counting machine was basically developed and designed to commit fraud in the process of vote-counting, particularly for the Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez.’

        ‘He claimed that Smartmatic had been behind the electoral frauds in many countries, without actually mentioning the Philippines, which has been using its system for over a decade.’

        ‘Giuliani also hinted about the origins of the Dominion- Voting System and the company’s alleged connection with Smartmatic, one of the most questioned automated voting companies, primarily because of the affiliation of the people behind the company to Chávez.’

        ‘He accused Smartmatic of manipulating the recent US presidential election in key US states, adding that its Dominion Voting System was using machines designed to allow human intervention.’

        ‘He said Smartmatic was founded by three Venezuelans who were very close to the dictator Hugo Chávez back in 2003, adding that the company was formed to fix elections. “That’s the company that owns Dominion. Dominion is a Canadian company, but all its software is from Smartmatic,” Giuliani was quoted during the interview.’

        https://manilastandard.net/news/national/339587/smartmatic-poll-machines-come-into-question.html

        ‘Charlie is joined by Lt. General Thomas McInerney to detail the shocking allegations surrounding Hammer and Scorecard, weaponized digital tools that allegedly allow our intelligence agencies to alter election results, including those in the United States. Are these tools actually real? Were they deployed in this most recent election? Can we know who is behind these treasonous acts if they did in fact occur?’

        ‘In what might be one of the most important interviews ever conducted on the show, Gen. McInerney lays out an election fraud scheme in extensive detail on a scale never before experienced in America or the world.’

        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ti3gNXz2F8w

        1. 3 Million Dead Voted, 7 Million Votes Stolen From DJT. Sidney Powell With Howie Carr

          Nov 20, 2020

          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5vndAmMqAM&feature=youtu.be

          I saw this:

          https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/nov/23/trump-campaign-cuts-ties-with-attorney-sidney-powell-after-bizarre-election-claims

          I also posted this:

          “Dominion-izing the Vote”

          https://www.bitchute.com/video/qlEUbPLvW98w/

          So when senator running dear and 4 other senators/lawmakers said Dominion was a election fraud disaster, was that bizarre?

          “Dominion-izing the Vote”

          This video is about 30 minutes and has two long commercials (kinda) that you can skip. But it starts to drill down into substance. They have a computer guy who knows his stuff: says the ability to manipulate votes was a “feature, not a bug.” They also explore the Dominion “security” expert who was a rabid antifa nut, boasted of “making sure” the President wasn’t going to be re-elected, and had several unhinge TDS social media posts that were saved.

          1. ‘Attorney Sidney Powell filed a federal lawsuit late Wednesday alleging “massive election fraud” and multiple violations of the Constitution and Georgia’s state laws in the 2020 general election, as well as issues pertaining to Dominion Voting Systems.’

            ‘The civil action alleges that the purpose of the scheme was for “illegally and fraudulently manipulating the vote count to make certain the election of Joe Biden as president of the United States.” A similar separate suit was filed in Michigan.’

            ‘The 104-page complaint argues that “incontrovertible evidence Board of Elections records demonstrates that at least 96,600 absentee ballots were requested and counted but were never recorded as being returned to county election boards by the voter. Thus, at a minimum, 96,600 votes must be disregarded.”

            ‘According to the suit, fraud was also allegedly “executed by many means” but the “most troubling, insidious, and egregious” way was the “systemic adaptation of old-fashioned ‘ballot-stuffing.’” It alleges computerized ballot-stuffing and manipulation by software created and run by domestic and foreign actors. The complaint cited affidavits from multiple witnesses, documentation, as well as expert testimony that raised “sheer mathematical impossibilities” in the election results supporting the claims.’

            “Especially egregious conduct arose in Forsyth, Paulding, Cherokee, Hall, and Barrow County,” the complaint read. “This scheme and artifice to defraud affected tens of thousands of votes in Georgia alone and ‘rigged’ the election in Georgia for Joe Biden.”

            ‘In particular, the suit took issue with election software and hardware from Dominion Voting Systems, which it noted was recently purchased and “rushed into use” by Kemp, Raffensperger, and the Georgia Board of Elections.’

            ‘Plaintiffs allege that the design and features of the Dominion software do not allow for a simple audit to see whether votes were misallocated, redistributed, or deleted, pointing to a Jan. 24 decision by the Texas secretary of state to deny certifying the software “because of a lack of evidence of efficiency and accuracy and to be safe from fraud and unauthorized manipulation.”

            “First, the system’s central accumulator does not include a protected real-time audit log that maintains the date and time stamps of all significant election events. Key components of the system utilize unprotected logs,” the filing reads. “Essentially this allows an unauthorized user the opportunity to arbitrarily add, modify, or remove log entries, causing the machine to log election events that do not reflect actual voting tabulations—or more specifically, do not reflect the actual votes of or the will of the people.”

            ‘The suit also alleges “incontrovertible physical evidence that the standards of physical security of the voting machines and the software were breached, and machines were connected to the Internet in violation of professional standards and state and federal laws.”

            ‘Part of the suit mentions a delay in voting at State Farm Arena in Fulton County, where video on Nov. 3 shows that election workers “falsely claimed a water leak required the facility to close.” It adds, “All poll workers and challengers were evacuated for several hours at about 10:00 PM. However, several election workers remained unsupervised and unchallenged working at the computers for the voting tabulation machines until after 1:00 AM.”

            Another part of the complaint said that cybersecurity expert Navid Keshavarz-Nia testified that “U.S. intelligence services had developed tools to infiltrate foreign voting systems including Dominion.” Pointing to vulnerabilities in the Dominion’s software, he claims that “hundreds of thousands of votes” were transferred from President Donald Trump to Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden in battleground states.’

            ‘The complaint also cites a former electronic intelligence analyst under the 305th Military Intelligence Battalion, who declared that the Dominion software was accessed by agents acting on behalf of China and Iran to monitor and manipulate elections, including the 2020 U.S. general election.’

            ‘A former U.S. Military Intelligence expert had analyzed the Dominion software system and concluded that the system and software “were certainly compromised by rogue actors, such as Iran and China,” according to another part of the complaint.’

            “By using servers and employees connected with rogue actors and hostile foreign influences combined with numerous easily discoverable leaked credentials, Dominion neglectfully allowed foreign adversaries to access data and intentionally provided access to their infrastructure in order to monitor and manipulate elections, including the most recent one in 2020,” the filing said.’

            ‘The lawsuit also claims: “Georgia’s election officials and poll workers exacerbated and helped, whether knowingly or unknowingly, the Dominion system carry out massive voter manipulation by refusing to observe statutory safeguards for absentee ballots. Election officials failed to verify signatures and check security envelopes. They barred challengers from observing the count, which also facilitated the fraud.”

            https://www.theepochtimes.com/sidney-powell-files-lawsuit-in-georgia-alleging-massive-election-fraud_3594227.html

          2. ‘Attorney Sidney Powell filed a lawsuit late Wednesday seeking to set aside the results of the election in Michigan, claiming that “hundreds of thousands of illegal, ineligible, duplicate, or purely fictitious ballots” enabled by “massive election fraud” helped make possible Biden’s vote count lead in the state. The suit also pointed to multiple issues pertaining to Dominion Voting Systems.’

            ‘The attorney, who previously worked with President Donald Trump’s legal team, also filed a separate lawsuit in Georgia late Wednesday with allegations of voting irregularities and fraud. She announced on Twitter that the “Kraken” had been released in both states, with exhibits to follow. The 75-page complaint (pdf) filed in Michigan alleged “massive election fraud” throughout the state in violation of Michigan’s Elections Code and the U.S. Constitution.’

            “The scheme and artifice to defraud was for the purpose of illegally and fraudulently manipulating the vote count to manufacture an election of Joe Biden as president of the United States,” the suit alleged. It added that fraud was committed in many ways, but the most “troubling, insidious, and egregious ploy” involved “systemic adaptation of old-fashioned ‘ballot-stuffing.’”

            ‘The complaint alleged “an especially egregious range of conduct” in Wayne County and the City of Detroit and similar conduct throughout the state, which it attributed to direction from Michigan state election officials. It noted that the “same pattern of election fraud and voter fraud writ large occurred in all the swing states with only minor variations” in Pennsylvania, Arizona, and Wisconsin.’

            ‘The complaint cited eyewitness and expert testimony to allege that there were enough ballots identified to overturn and reverse the election results. It also said results of the election cannot be relied on because the entire election process was “riddled with fraud, illegality, and statistical impossibility.”

            ‘“Smartmatic and Dominion were founded by foreign oligarchs and dictators to ensure computerized ballot-stuffing and vote manipulation to whatever level was needed to make certain Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez never lost another election,” it added, citing a whistleblower’s affidavit alleging that the Smartmatic software was used to manipulate Venezuelan elections in favor of Chavez.

            “A core requirement of the Smartmatic software design ultimately adopted by Dominion for Michigan’s elections was the software’s ability to hide its manipulation of votes from any audit,” the complaint alleged. The complaint cited a former electronic intelligence analyst under the 305th Military Intelligence Battalion, who declared that the Dominion software was accessed by agents acting on behalf of China and Iran to monitor and manipulate elections, including the 2020 U.S. general election.’

            ‘Another part of the complaint said that a former U.S. Military Intelligence expert had analyzed the Dominion software system and concluded that the system and software “were certainly compromised by rogue actors, such as Iran and China.” “By using servers and employees connected with rogue actors and hostile foreign influences combined with numerous easily discoverable leaked credentials, Dominion neglectfully allowed foreign adversaries to access data and intentionally provided access to their infrastructure in order to monitor and manipulate elections, including the most recent one in 2020,” the filing said.’

            ‘It later added, “In addition to the Dominion computer fraud, this complaint identifies several additional categories of ‘traditional’ voting fraud and Michigan Election Code violations, supplemented by healthy doses of harassment, intimidation, discrimination, abuse, and even physical removal of Republican poll challengers to eliminate any semblance of transparency, objectivity, or fairness from the vote-counting process.”

            https://www.theepochtimes.com/sidney-powell-files-suit-in-michigan-alleging-dominion-computer-fraud-and-illegal-conduct-by-election-workers_3594298.html

          3. Ben, are there any foreign news stories about what the Venezuelans think of this? I tried to google “Venezuela reaction dominion voting” and the first four pages were all MSM propaganda about fact-checking Sidney Powell’s claims or Dominion “setting the record straight” or Trump’s “inaccurate” claims of voting irregularities. The media isn’t even bothering to hide behind editorial any more. They report “inaccurate” of “false claims” the same way they report rainfall at the airport.

            Do they even realize that they are only digging themselves into a deeper hole with half the adults in this country?

          5. This is why I am fighting these bashtards:

            ‘A website belonging to former federal prosecutor Sidney Powell, who recently filed lawsuits on behalf of President Donald Trump alleging election fraud, appear to have been blocked by Twitter. When one tries to share the link, defendingtherepublic.org, or includes it in a direct message, the social media website says: “Something went wrong, but don’t fret—let’s give it another shot.”

            ‘Another message toward the bottom of the screen adds: “We can’t complete this request because this link has been identified by Twitter or our partners as being potentially harmful. Visit our Help Center to learn more.” The message does not elaborate on why the website is “potentially harmful” and doesn’t identify who “our partners” might be.’

            ‘Some users later posted that including the text, “defendingtherepublic dot org,” is a way to circumvent Twitter’s censors.’

            ‘When one clicks on a link to Powell’s website that successfully went through on Twitter, the website includes a “warning: this link may be unsafe” message. “The link you are trying to access has been identified by Twitter or our partners as being potentially spammy or unsafe,” it reads.’

            ‘Twitter has not responded to a request for comment.’

            https://www.theepochtimes.com/sidney-powells-website-apparently-blocked-by-twitter_3594648.html

            Keep feeding the bear puddle watchers.

          7. This is why I am fighting these bashtards:

            More and more people are waking up to the media con job. I check my Yahoo mail every morning. The main page of Yahoo news is chalk full of anti-Trump spew. You cannot find anything positive. It’s relentless. Day, after day, after day. Here are today’s main headlines:

            Critic of FBI calls Trump’s election moves ‘despicable’

            Trump’s inner circle is telling him that Giuliani and the rest of his legal team are making him look like an idiot, report says

            For his final act, Trump plans to have 5 federal prisoners executed

            El Paso lawyered up to try and collect $570,000 owed to the city by the Trump campaign

            Trump’s staffers are reportedly now avoiding him to stay out of legal jeopardy

            Strongmen review: a chilling review for one nation no longer under Trump

            Trump-supporting sheriff who visited White House charged with theft

            Trump pushing through dozens of last minute policy changes – including use of firing squads

            Trump lawyer gets the meme treatment for posting fake Roosevelt quote

            Obama says Republicans won votes for Trump by wrongly framing white men as victims

            Mueller prosecutor says Trump should be investigated and face charges after leaving office

            And yet not ONE single mention of election or voter fraud. Not one. The people are being lied to.

          8. “For his final act, Trump plans to have 5 federal prisoners executed”

            I’m sure they’re all family supporting doting dads, drug free, moral paragons, exemplars in thought and deed for the entire human race.

          9. ‘A Republican poll observer from Pennsylvania’s Delaware County, told a Senate GOP Policy Committee hearing in Gettysburg on Wednesday, that he witnessed a range of Election Day irregularities, including 47 USB cards that went missing.’

            ‘Greg Stenstrom, who, besides being a poll watcher, said he is an expert in security fraud, told the hearing that he witnessed a number of chain-of-custody violations, including around mail-in ballots, the balance of votes from drop boxes, and the handling of USB card flash drives—all of which he said broke rules defined by the Delaware County Board of Elections and the election process review.’

            “They didn’t follow one,” Stenstrom said. “It shocked me that this could happen,” he added.’

            ‘He described witnessing a situation in which data on USB cards was uploaded to voting machines by a warehouse superviser without being observed by a poll watcher, which he said he saw happening at least 24 times.’

            “He’s walking in with baggies, which we have pictures of and that were submitted in our affidavits,” Stenstrom said, adding that Democrat poll watchers also witnessed this occurrence.’

            ‘Stenstrom said he was told by an attorney that it’s normal for several USB cards to be left in machines and then brought back by the warehouse manager for input into tally systems. He added that when he later raised the issue with U.S. Attorney General William McSwain and some law enforcement officers, he was told it is unusual for more than two drives to be left in voting machines.

            He said he was later told that “these 24 to 30 cards that were uploaded” were unaccounted for, adding that “as of today, 47 USB v-cards are missing.”

            “People ask me all the time, how do people commit crimes? I know there’s a lot of theories here. And I always look for the simplest thing. People that stuff…stick USB sticks in, putting ballots in—a very simple thing. Only takes a couple of people, doesn’t take a big conspiracy,” he said.

            “As a forensic computer scientist, my interest is in the data—where did it go? Where did the spoilage go? How did the data come in and go out of the system?” he said, and called for an audit.’

            ‘Stenstrom also said that it recently emerged that “virtually all chain of custody logs, records, yellow sheets, everything was gone” in Delaware County.’

            “They had a signing party where they sat down, and coworkers were invited back to recreate those logs,” he said. “And our understanding as of today was that they were unsuccessful in getting them all.”

            ‘He said the situation is that there are up to 120,000 ballots that remain “in question.”

            “There’s no cure for this, no remedy for this,” he said, adding, “I don’t believe, as a citizen and an observer to this, that anybody could certify that vote in good conscience.”

            ‘At the same hearing, President Donald Trump’s attorney Rudy Giuliani said that the type of election irregularities witnesses described in Pennsylvania also occurred in other battleground states.’

            “What we’re going to describe to you, with these witnesses, happened in roughly the same way in Michigan, Wisconsin, Nevada, and Georgia—the primary device was mail-in ballots,” Giuliani said, characterizing the election in Pennsylvania as a “sham.”

            “We don’t want to disenfranchise anyone. We want to disqualify 672,000 votes so 72 million people are not disenfranchised, because that’s what happened by the cheating that went on here,” Giuliani said.’

            https://www.theepochtimes.com/poll-watcher-describes-pennsylvania-election-irregularities-including-47-missing-usb-cards_3594549.html

            Here’s the testimony on video:

            “Baggies of USBs” – PA Witness Gives Explosive Testimony

            https://www.bitchute.com/video/AdaglXlcuqYt/

          10. Dem Ballot Inspector Says She Was Threatened with Violence for Speaking Up About Suspicious Activity

            “The majority inspector threatened to slap me in the face,” said Olivia Jane Winters, a registered Democrat and minority ballot inspector in Pennsylvania, testifying to Pennsylvania State Republicans Wednesday that she had been threatened and harassed by other election officials after she asked about suspicious activities during the 2020 election.’

            https://www.bitchute.com/video/_KrpyDlHTe8/

            Crowd Gasps after Finding out about Absurd Spike of Votes in Favor of Biden

            https://www.bitchute.com/video/jmNUAx8wQYdO/

            There was some laughing too. Sure, a spike with 570,000 D’pedo votes and 3,200 for the President, within 90 minutes.

            Sen. Doug Mastriano closing remarks PA state legislature meeting.

            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIqujobvDFI

        2. he witnessed a range of Election Day irregularities, including 47 USB cards that went missing.

          That’s nothing. I heard Trump is going to be executing people soon. Orange man bad….real bad….

          1. Under oath, penalty of perjury if he’s lying. So where are the under oath affidavits saying this didn’t happen? Or all the hundreds of similar affidavits? Zilch. Nada.

            Every day that passes, it looks more certain Dpedo ain’t gonna be president of anything but the puddle watchers. Might can get a diaper under one of those orange jump suits tho.

          2. Every day that passes, it looks more certain Dpedo ain’t gonna be president of anything but the puddle watchers. Might can get a diaper under one of those orange jump suits tho.

            I sure hope so. Man do I ever…

          3. I sure hope so.

            Educated and empowered state legislators taking back the reins of our republic would be the most glorious middle finger to our ruling class.

          4. Educated and empowered state legislators have gone AWOL for most of the pandemic, except for collecting their bennies. Why should they come back to life now?

          5. This also deserves attention (if true):

            you have this gap that I don’t understand between the mail-in ballots. You’ve sent out: 1.8 million and the number you counted: 2.5 million!” Rudy said.

            Rudy continued, “That’s totally impossible to explain other than what some of the other witnesses were suggesting that they were basically stuffing the ballot box.

          6. I tell anyone that’s close to me, family, friends etc… You must be PROACTIVE, not reactive in searching for the truth. if you sit back and allow that box with the talking head to tell you what’s right and what’s wrong, you are doing yourself a great disservice. Yes, it takes much more time and effort to find the truth, but once you do, the clarity is overwhelming.

          7. FWIW, I haven’t read anything about CISSP security and auditing processes used in ballot processing rooms. I used to manage several SLR digital cameras used to record accidents and incidences of infrastructure failure. The camera users were locked-out of auditing and editing functions, and all images were retrieved by an administrator using an database app that performed a checksum on each image during the update phase to indicate image validity if requested, and activity logs were printed and signed. Otherwise, the images were inadmissible as evidence.

  2. ‘negotiated the asking rent down to to $1,700, then when she said she’d rather pay $1,685, the landlord’s broker, eager to close the deal in lean times, personally paid her the difference for the entire 15-month lease’

    That’s the spirit!

    1. I don’t think I have missed more than 3 Thanksgivings since 1977 without listening to Alice’s Restaurant.

      Thanks for posting

      “Kid, what did you get?” I said, “I didn’t get nothing, I had to pay $50 and pick up the garbage.”

      🙂

  4. ‘the average asking rent for a one-bedroom in San Francisco has dropped nearly 25 percent since the end of February and is down around 27 percent from the local market’s peak in 2015, driven by a sharp increase in vacancy rates (which continue to climb)’

    ‘The weighted average asking rent for an average apartment in the city has slipped under $3,200 a month, is down 23 percent over the past eight months, and is 29 percent below its 2015-era peak, with over 3 times as many apartments currently listed for rent in San Francisco than at the same time last year’

    How do those 5% cap rates look now?

  5. PayProp says while arrears have peaked, rental growth is likely to remain subdued: ‘We don’t foresee a recovery anytime soon – in fact, it is possible that we will see even lower rates in Q4 this year.’”

    Wait until the Fed’s Everything Bubble finally bursts under the weight of its own debt, fraud, and fictitious valuations.

    1. Wait until the Fed’s Everything Bubble finally bursts under the weight of its own debt, fraud, and fictitious valuations.

      It’s looking more and more like a Potemkin Village scenario – where the stock market and other asset classes maintain the appearance of a lofty plateau, with the media regaling us with stories of prosperity, while the average person sinks into a life of poverty and despair. It’s a winner take all eCONomy.

  6. The two-bedroom apartment is on the market for $650,000 and she hopes it has held its price. ‘I won’t lie,’ she said. ‘We have a 30 per cent vacancy rate in the CBD. I expect other agents are in the same boat. It’s been a difficult time.’”

    Hope was the last and most dangerous thing in Pandora’s box, Dionne.

  8. Happy Thanksgiving all!

    Thank you Ben for your blog and providing a corner of sanity within the internet.

    1. Speaking of sanity, to help us all keep up with the blog and avoid the trolls, check out the JoshuaTree extension for Chrome and Firefox – helps track new comments since your last visit, allows for ignoring of other posters, adds formatting options for comments, etc:

      * Chrome
      * Firefox

      (can you believe this thing is 10 years old at this point?!?!)

      2. Yup, I installed it for Chrome on my home puter and haven’t looked back. I’ve only had to block one poster so far and he’s … uh… not showing up anymore.

    1. It took the landlord a while to rent out his old apartment. The ad said: “Two bedroom apartment for rent. Roommates included. Some assembly required.”

    2. When I was in my late teens and early twenties, around the time when Dahmer had just been caught, my best friend and I used to joke around about Dahmer’s “favorite meals.” I still remember a few of them:

      Mac and Tony’s knees
      Jake tar tar
      Jimichanga burrito
      Spaghetti and feet balls
      Fish and hips…

  11. Here is a special no-charge treat for you guys, a video with a transcript of some of the ideas of one of my personal heros, Edward Bernays.

    Edward Bernays and Group Psychology: Manipulating the Masses
    https://academyofideas.com/2017/07/edward-bernays-group-psychology-manipulating-the-masses/

    Here is a sample of the transcript:

    “The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country. We are governed, our minds are molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of…in almost every act of our daily lives, whether in the sphere of politics or business, in our social conduct or our ethical thinking, we are dominated by the relatively small number of persons…who understand the mental processes and social patterns of the masses. It is they who pull the wires which control the public mind, who harness old social forces and contrive new ways to bind and guide the world.”

      2. George Carlin on the American Dream (with transcript) « shoqvalue.com
        https://shoqvalue.com/george-carlin-on-the-american-dream-with-transcript/

        Some snips from the transcript …

        “But there’s a reason. There’s a reason. There’s a reason for this, there’s a reason education SUCKS, and it’s the same reason it will never, ever, EVER be fixed.

        “It’s never going to get any better, don’t look for it, be happy with what you’ve got.

        “Because the owners, the owners of this country don’t want that. I’m talking about the real owners now, the BIG owners! The Wealthy… the REAL owners! The big wealthy business interests that control things and make all the important decisions.

        “Forget the politicians. They are irrelevant. The politicians are put there to give you the idea that you have freedom of choice. You don’t. You have no choice! You have OWNERS! They OWN YOU. They own everything. They own all the important land. They own and control the corporations. They’ve long since bought, and paid for the Senate, the Congress, the state houses, the city halls, they got the judges in their back pockets and they own all the big media companies, so they control just about all of the news and information you get to hear. They got you by the balls.

        “They spend billions of dollars every year lobbying, lobbying, to get what they want. Well, we know what they want. They want more for themselves and less for everybody else, but I’ll tell you what they don’t want:

        “They don’t want a population of citizens capable of critical thinking. They don’t want well informed, well educated people capable of critical thinking. They’re not interested in that. That doesn’t help them. Thats against their interests.

        “Thats right. They don’t want people who are smart enough to sit around a kitchen table and think about how badly they’re getting f*cked by a system that threw them overboard 30 f*cking years ago. They don’t want that!

        “You know what they want? They want obedient workers. Obedient workers, people who are just smart enough to run the machines and do the paperwork. And just dumb enough to passively accept all these increasingly shitty jobs with the lower pay, the longer hours, the reduced benefits, the end of overtime and vanishing pension that disappears the minute you go to collect it, and now they’re coming for your Social Security money. They want your retirement money. They want it back so they can give it to their criminal friends on Wall Street, and you know something? They’ll get it. They’ll get it all from you sooner or later cause they own this fucking place! It’s a big club, and you ain’t in it! You, and I, are not in the big club.”

    2. Here is a rather interesting snip of the transcript …

      “By dividing a population along lines such as race, class, religion, gender, or political preference, or in other words into groups naturally prone to clash, the effects of group psychology render rational discourse and debate between individuals in these separate groups extremely unlikely.

      “’Each group…considers its own standards ultimate and indisputable, and tends to dismiss all contrary or different standards as indefensible.’ (Crystallizing Public Opinion, Edward Bernays)

      “Unable to settle differences in opinions via rational discourse, groups whose belief structures clash tend to revert to more destructive means in their attempt to defeat those they perceive as a threat. A society dominated by such groups is thus easily divided in increasingly hostile conflict, and as a result, not only does the population as a whole become weakened as Machiavelli pointed out, but its eyes are diverted away from the actions of those operating behind the scenes who constitute, in the words of Bernays, the ‘invisible government who controls the destinies of millions’ (Propaganda, Edward Bernays).”

      FWIW.

      1. FWIW It’s worth a lot. However Bernays was not the first one to comment on this issue. The tendency of the “masses,” i.e., humanity in general, to be fooled & manipulated has been known for a very long time.
        Another example:

        Idries Shah (“Seeker After Truth”, page 117) wrote about a spoof documentary [available on YouTube] in 1969:

        The BBC 2 television man Tony Bilbow hoaxed viewers by saying that he had obtained film clips of ‘The Great Pismo’ and showed forgeries of the film.

        Then:

        ‘Everybody began to remember The Great Pismo when he made his television debut. Letters piled into the BBC praising the 1920’s comedian.

        ‘A woman wrote enthusiastically: “My aunt was a great fan of the Great Pismo – she saw him at a show in Hastings.” She added: “What a pity he was not recognized on television before she died in 1957.”
        One man even sent in photographs of The Great Pismo’s father.’ (Daily Sketch, June 26, 1969, page 9.)

  12. Nice to see students fighting back against being gouged by greedy administrators during COVID lockdowns.

    Manchester Students Win 30 Percent Rent Reduction Following Strike

    https://www.vice.com/en/article/7k9xxd/university-of-manchester-rent-strike-30-per-cent-reduction

    Hundreds of students taking part in a rent strike at the University of Manchester have won their demands for a rent reduction after recent escalation tactics that saw them occupy an empty building on campus.

    All students in the university’s accommodation will receive 30 percent off their rent from the first semester when many were forced to isolate amid coronavirus outbreaks. It marks the largest rent reduction in the university’s history, gaining traction after the university fenced students in without warning and left many feeling unhappy at the support provided while self-isolating.

    1. WHOA. That’s some serious crater – a real blow off top if there ever was one. I wonder what the suckers I mean investors think about this.

    1. Why is it that corrupt, incompetent socialist regimes, be they in California or Venezuela, are unable to provide reliable power supplies? ”

      yea why ?

      1. just a few years ago they had almost limitless clean nuclear power to do things like desalinate water, another CA created problem, and provide round the clock energy. The power company was ecstatic they could raise the rates 30% as they have, reduce reliabilty, AND even get a blank check for burning down entire towns. Such a bang up job California.

  17. Happy Thanksgiving Day holiday to all HBB bloggers!

    – The Fed is allegedly having a difficult time finding 2% inflation. Apparently they’re not looking at the housing (or stock) markets.

    – From the OCR:

    https://www.ocregister.com/2020/11/25/high-balance-loan-limits-to-soar-to-record-822375-for-2021/
    High-balance loan limits to soar to record $822,375 in 2021
    Regulator for Fannie, Freddie has raised the maximum loan limits for a fifth straight year.
    By Jeff Lazerson | jlazerson@mortgagegrader.com | MortgageGrader.com
    PUBLISHED: November 25, 2020 at 11:10 a.m. | UPDATED: November 25, 2020 at 4:09 p.m.

    “What a way to kick off Thanksgiving weekend.”

    “For the second year in a row, maximum mortgage limits have broken a record, officially entering the stratosphere, and heading toward the moon.“

    “The new “conforming” loan limits for high-cost areas, including Los Angeles and Orange counties, will rise to $822,375 starting Jan. 1, a 7.4% increase over 2020’s limit of $765,600, the Federal Housing Finance Agency announced Tuesday, Nov. 24.”

    “That means loans up to that amount can be acquired by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, making them eligible for lower interest rates.”

    “For the rest of the nation, including Riverside and San Bernardino counties, conforming loan limits will increase to $548,250, up from $510,400 in 2020.”

    ““High-balance” loans, or mortgages for amounts between $548,250 and $822,375 in high-cost areas, will be more costly than those for under $548,250, with rates about 0.25-0.5% higher plus an additional 0.25-1 point higher in loan costs.”

    “This is the fifth straight year that the FHFA (Fan and Fred’s conservator and regulator) has increased both high-balance and conforming maximum loan limits, enabling the mortgage giants to purchase higher-balance closed loans from lenders.”

    – Is there any fundamental limit to housing prices? Do loan origination costs (1-2%, I’m told) provide a floor for mortgage rates? So far, record low mortgage rates continue to drive house prices “to the moon” and beyond.

    – I would think that affordability would be a problem again, but with rates relentlessly dropping lower, and house prices commensurately rising, the monthly payment stays roughly constant, which is all the buyer apparently cares about. Meanwhile, the loan balance (debt) also keeps rising. This is our debt-based economy. Must keep the debt growing, and housing prices inflated, else collapse. In my view, housing is too darn expensive. Period.

    – And in related news, also from the OCR. Nothing to see here. Move along. This is fine. /s :

    https://www.ocregister.com/2020/11/22/seriously-late-california-mortgages-jump-6-fold/
    Seriously late California mortgages jump 6-fold
    Homeowners who can’t satisfy lenders is a worry for the housing market – and the broad economy.
    By Jonathan Lansner | jlansner@scng.com | Orange County Register
    PUBLISHED: November 22, 2020 at 7:00 a.m. | UPDATED: November 22, 2020 at 10:12 a.m.

    “Skipped mortgage payments across California are jumping to levels not seen since the mortgage mess surrounding the Great Recession.”

    “Should we be very worried about a pandemic-burdened economy’s hit to bill-paying abilities?”

    “Let’s start with a few numbers from mortgage tracker CoreLogic and its measure of “seriously delinquent” home loans in August — those with 90 days or more of late payments.”

    “Statewide, 3.8% of home loans were in deep trouble compared with 0.6% a year earlier. Yes, that’s a six-fold-plus jump.”

    “It’s largely the same story in this sample of key markets …”

    “Riverside and San Bernardino counties: 4.6% “seriously” tardy vs. 1% a year earlier.
    Los Angeles-Orange County: 4.2% vs. 0.6% a year earlier.
    San Francisco metro: 2.8% vs. 0.3% a year earlier.
    San Jose metro: 2.2% vs. 0.2% a year earlier.”

    “This isn’t just California craziness. The nation’s rate was 4.3% — up from 1.3% in August 2019 and the highest rate of “serious” trouble since February 2014.”

    “Plus, let’s not forget what the Federal Reserve has done. It lowered mortgage rates to historic lows. It did so, in part, by buying over $1 trillion of mortgages to support housing – a sum larger than the stimulus plan for the entire economy during the Great Recession.”

    “Still, with all these comforts paying the bills is still a headache. The latest U.S. Census Bureau survey on the pandemic’s impact shows 6% of Californians in early November expressing severe difficulty handling housing costs — mortgage or rent. That’s down from 7.6% in late July. Curiously, this housing insecurity is on the rise nationally — from 7.2% to 8.5%.”

    1. – The Fed is allegedly having a difficult time finding 2% inflation. Apparently they’re not looking at the housing (or stock) markets.

      Thanksgiving Dinner Costs up 9.8% in 2020

      https://advisorsmith.com/data/thanksgiving-dinner-costs-up-10-percent/

      AdvisorSmith found that a basket of Thanksgiving foods costs approximately 9.8% more in 2020 when compared to Thanksgiving of 2019. The foods included in our analysis were turkey, vegetables, and baking & bread. Vegetables included were potatoes, cranberries, squash, sweet potatoes, corn, green beans, and pumpkin. Baking and bread products included flour, white bread, milk, eggs, and butter.

    2. Many years ago I heard an interview with a man whose name I don’t remember. He was explaining that one of strategies they would use to foment a socialist revolution in the US was going to be to make housing so expensive that few would be able to afford it. The resulting class division between property owners and those permanently frozen out of home ownership would be used to prompt the disenfranchised into violent revolution. He said there would be mechanisms to prevent housing from becoming affordable even when there were no buyers. Sounded crazy at the time.

      Almost as crazy as the guy I heard explaining in an interview that in the future there would be no cash. It seemed crazy when I heard it about 20 years ago. I thought it was the ramblings of an insane conspiracy theorist.

      Truth, again, stranger than fiction.

  18. As I’m getting the feast ready, I thought about a HBB tip: did you know the busiest day of the year for plumbers is Thanksgiving? Do not peel yer eggs under running water! Put the shells in the trash. And don’t run potato peels through the disposal.

    1. “did you know the busiest day of the year for plumbers is Thanksgiving?”

      Yet another song I haven’t heard in over 40 years. Although it’s not a Thanksgiving song like Alice’s Restaurant it is cued up to…

      Be a plumber he’s a bummer
      He’s a bummer every summer

      But if anyone here still partakes in Cannabis refreshment (which I haven’t in over 32 years) I would recommend waiting until after your Thanksgiving dinner, burning some oil and then listening to all of Brown Shoes Don’t Make It by Frank Zappa.

      https://youtu.be/oNULHGsy3SE?t=30

      1. +1 for the Zappa.

        “Be a loyal plastic robot for a world that doesn’t care.”

        I ate dinner with two other people and the dog. We watched some football and drank some beers. Nobody died yet.

    2. I remember reading somewhere that Indian and Asian households were some of the worst since they eat a lot of fried food and pour the grease and oil straight down the drain.

      Imagine buying into a condo with shared plumbing with some of these types? NO THANK YOU.

    1. I simply do not spend time around people with TDS. Once they show their hand, I’m done with them forever. Life is too short.

      1. In final analysis, I am confident it will be clear, a few years hence, that TDS did more damage to society than COVID-19.

        2. “…that TDS did more damage to society than COVID-19.”

          Most intelligent people acknowledge that extreme economic inequality is to blame for most of our problems, but they’re not sure what to do about it. In the dark ages, the strong who could wield a sword without guilt were the winners. Today, it is the disciplined and intelligent who reap technology’s advantage.

  25. Another night of vandalism and destruction in Portland last night from the usual suspects that even if arrested are only released without charges. Imagine paying property taxes to live there, I never will.

      1. “They’re not sending their best.”

        Andy Ngo’s Twitter has a post about some woke business with all the usually virtue signals in the windows that got smashed up anyway last night.

        I want to feel bad for people who live in Portland but I can’t. It’s been months now, there has been no real effort to clean up the city, and it’s been long enough that people could plan to leave and act on it, but they don’t.

        1. It’s deliberate.

          The Bolsheviks did the same thing starting in 1912 and eventually took power years later in 1917 after the October revolution.

          You’ve been told here may months ago and I’m sure you’ve heard it elsewhere…. we are dealing with bonifide Bolsheviks…. Marxists. The BLM “leadership” are sworn marxists. It’s right on their website.

          Do you think they’re lying or joking?

      2. “Mug shots, as usual, reveal the caliber of these vermin.”

        Yup, if Antifa wasn’t hiring they would be SOL.

        1. Antifa, like their Bolshevik forerunners in Russia, are 100% dependent on the international financier oligarchy for funding.

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