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The Dream Has Been Fading For A Long Time, And People Have Been Voting With Their Feet

A weekend topic starting with the New Times SLO. “So, where is the state of California headed? Even a casual follower of the news has noticed that a lot of companies are leaving the state, taking the jobs and tax revenues that they provide with them. Employers fleeing California cite ever-increasing taxes, a metastasizing regulatory bureaucracy, sky-high living costs, high crime, and a firmly ensconced ‘progressive’ political establishment promising even higher taxes and more anti-business legislation.”

“They are eager to get their kids out of a deteriorating California school system emphasizing indoctrination and minimizing rigor, and in which educational failure is addressed by lowering standards and eliminating the objective measurements of learning. Many flee the famous California ‘catch and release’ criminal justice system, for a safer environment.”

“Clearly, we are facing a future in which our tax base is shrinking, while our politicians continue to buy votes with more and more pricy programs and benefits, creating even more dependency. The large urban areas of San Francisco and Los Angeles have fared the worst. In San Franciso, a town famous for housing scarcity and exorbitant rents, the rents are dropping, and yet around one-third of properties remain vacant. Both cities find themselves inundated with rapidly spreading homeless encampments, and the governmental efforts to address the problem only aggravate it.”

“Large areas in each city now smell like an open sewer, and are littered with human waste and needles. Pedestrians gingerly navigate the sidewalks and parks like soldiers negotiating a minefield, and parents must keep their kids out of the playgrounds favored by junkies. Police no longer bother with property crimes like auto break-ins, and prosecutors refuse to prosecute all but the most grievous crimes. Merchants, prevented from physically stopping thieves, increasingly place their goods in locked cabinets to limit pilferage.”

“While Los Angeles has always been ‘challenging’ even in the best of times, the descent of the once-charming city of San Francisco into a dystopian cityscape of homeless squalor, crime, and governmental corruption and dysfunction, has been more shocking. The homeless influx, and the flight of the law-abiding and productive, evokes a future rather like that forecast in the classic H.G. Wells movie, The Time Machine, in which humanity devolves into the Eloi and the Morlocks.”

“In my fevered nightmares, I foresee a future where San Francisco is populated by homeless Morlocks, the few remaining Eloi who were unable to unload their over-priced homes in time, and political warlords. These warlords shall rule their shabby domain from fortified citadels, venturing out into their fiefdoms only during the relatively safe daylight hours to engage in the governmental looting of any remaining wealth, deeming it ‘tax collection.'”

“Can the future of the rest of California be any brighter? As our tax revenues plummet, state leaders will attempt to make up the shortfall by raising taxes still higher, perhaps imposing a wealth tax or revoking Proposition 13, sending still more of the ‘rich’ and productive fleeing the state. Soon, the term ‘rich’ shall include anyone with a job and a home. Eventually, the ‘rich’ shall be anyone who has scavenged a full bag of aluminum recycling.”

The Bay Area Newsgroup. “Three months’ free rent on a 2-bedroom apartment with a pool in West San Jose. A Lake Merritt studio in Oakland at a 50 percent discount for the first six months. Two months of ‘complimentary rent plus a $2,000 MasterCard gift card’ on a luxury high rise renting for $4,375 a month in San Francisco’s Potrero Hill neighborhood.”

“‘We ended up saving about $2,000 a month and got a better apartment,’ said Julian Jacobson, an account executive who moved into a new place in Russian Hill with his girlfriend in September, catching a 2-months-free rent deal on a bigger, better-located apartment without even having to put down a security deposit.”

“As residents seeking more space and cheaper locations continue to empty out of their Bay Area apartments, rents in the region have kept falling. In San Francisco, rents dropped 26.7 percent since March — the highest dip in the country and more than four times the statewide decline of 6 percent, according to a recent analysis by Apartment List. In Santa Clara, prices are down 17.8 percent and in Oakland, 14.2 percent, the company’s data shows.”

“‘Vacancy is through the roof,’ said Sid Lakireddy, president of the California Rental Housing Association. ‘The market’s beaten up.'”

“Now, some owners in San Jose, Oakland and San Francisco are offering big deals to lure new renters. ‘We moved around the block and why we did it? We doubled the size of our apartment at no extra cost,’ said Mykhailo Achey, an IT consultant who moved with his girlfriend in July into a new $5,000-a-month high-rise apartment in San Francisco.”

“Some smaller landlords with high vacancy rates or who aren’t collecting as much rent as usual are also struggling. ‘I have units in Oakland and we can’t get people to show up. No one’s moving to the Bay Area,’ Lakireddy said, adding that some owners of less expensive units have lowered prices too. ‘But you can only drop it so far.'”

From the SFist. “If the New York Times wasn’t reveling in the schadenfreude of publishing pieces about how unbearable San Francisco had become in the last couple years, they were taking seemingly great pleasure in reporting on the various missteps of the tech companies that fuel a good portion of the economy here. And while there’s no denying there has been an exodus of city residents during the pandemic that is driving down rents, did the Times need to go with the headline, ‘They Can’t Leave the Bay Area Fast Enough’?”

“The editor-in-chief of the San Francisco Business Times just wrote an editorial this week titled ‘There’s no denying the exodus anymore.'”

From Socket Site. “Marketed as a ‘fantastic opportunity to get in on the new and ultra chic community of The Shipyard,’ the two-bedroom, two-bath unit #216 at 451 Donahue Street, which was purchased pre-construction from Lennar for $560,800 in 2014, was flipped for $780,000 in June of 2016, shortly after the unit was completed. The 912-square-foot unit features HOA dues of $510 per month.”

“And having returned to the market priced at $788,000 in February of 2019, re-listed for $695,000 this past August and then reduced to $649,000 in September, the re-sale of 451 Donahue Street #216 has now closed escrow with a contract price of $623,000, down 20.1 percent from the second quarter of 2016 on an apples-to-apples basis.”

The Los Angeles Times. “The California dream has been fading for a long time, and people have been voting with their feet. In the last few years, the exodus has accelerated, with tens of thousands more people leaving than moving in. In the fiscal year that ended in July, Los Angeles County had by far the greatest net loss due to migration of any California county — more than 74,000 people, according to state demographers.”

“Wilber Rubio was already growing tired of L.A. Then came the pandemic. His job as a special-education math support teacher at a charter school went online. He missed the in-person interaction with his students. Rubio; his partner, Scott; and their three kids piled into an RV to see Scott’s extended family in Arkansas. They liked it so much they decided to stay. People in Arkansas, a state that voted overwhelmingly for President Trump, have been surprisingly open-minded about a gay couple with children, Rubio said.”

“‘I’m a gay, brown man. I didn’t think I would feel this way in a red state,’ he said. ‘I’ve been through a lot of social justice circles, and to be living in an area where you are still accepted regardless of your politics or identity has been refreshing. They do accept me, and they don’t care.'”

From Bisnow New York. “The pace of New York City commercial property sales picked up in the last quarter of 2020 as sellers started dropping their prices. Last year, $8.5B worth of Manhattan commercial property changed hands across 160 transactions, according to Avison Young data. That marks a 51% drop in the sales volume from 2019, per the brokerage. Overall, 2020’s dollar volume was 66% below the 10-year average.”

“‘In the second quarter, a lot of us, myself included, we were deer in headlights … there were people in the summer saying, ‘OK, there is going to be a vaccine and it’s just a matter of time,’ Avison Young’s Tri-State Investment Sales Group principal James Nelson said. ‘Sellers are [now] saying, ‘Hey, if I was looking for a quick rebound, that’s not going to happen, we’re going to be in this for a while. If I need to sell, if I need to do something, better now than have to wait years to get through this.'”

“Nelson, who expects it could take years for prices to return to pre-COVID levels, began seeing many long-term owners opting to sell toward the end of last year, and predicts that trend to continue through 2021. The recovery of the market, he said, hinges heavily on the office leasing market and companies returning to their workplaces. ‘We need those high-paying jobs, and we need people to return to New York.'”

“Meridian Capital Group Senior Executive Managing Director David Schechtman said that unlike in 2008, sellers have accepted quickly that there has been dislocation in the market and their prices have come down. He remains concerned about anti-business sentiment in the city and capital flowing out of the city.”

“‘I have handled $7B worth of sales in the past almost 15 years, and six years prior as an attorney, and never have I see such headwinds like we are facing today,’ he said, adding that he is working with people who are looking beyond New York to places that are ‘not hindered by a socialist City Council.'”

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  1. ‘We ended up saving about $2,000 a month and got a better apartment,’ said Julian Jacobson, an account executive who moved into a new place in Russian Hill with his girlfriend in September, catching a 2-months-free rent deal on a bigger, better-located apartment without even having to put down a security deposit’

    That’s the spirit!

    1. This is one of the best California threads I’ve read in a while, excellent compilation of why nobody wants to live there.

      2. I’ve mentioned this a few times over the years. In the 1980’s, Texas had America’s team. The best colleges, the hottest college girls per Penthouse. The number one TV show for years. Movies, pop songs sang the praises. Everything was coming up roses. Then the bubble popped and we all realized it was just another sh$thole.

        For so many years, there were polls saying bay aryans wanted out. But nothing much came of it. Then they killed the golden goose, the bubble popped years ago, and it’s just another sh$thole. In 2009 or so I went out to CA. In S CA I asked people about bay aryans. “It’s so laid back” I was told. When I got there I couldn’t wait to leave. The HBBers were nice but the city was angry, I spoke about it at length at the time.

        When the money is flowing, we convince ourselves of things that aren’t true. When it stops flowing, you get California. How many times have we seen this? Ask the people in west Texas. You got yer boom, enjoy the bust.

        1. When the money is flowing, we convince ourselves of things that aren’t true.

          Pan Sutong convinced himself that binging on Yellen Bux hot money flows to build a speculative real estate empire was the ticket to fantastical riches. Now he’s a “how the mighty are fallen” cautionary tale.

          Hong Kong property tycoon loses billions as business empire unravels in battle with debt collectors

          https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/3117519/hong-kong-property-tycoon-loses-billions-business-empire

        2. Then they killed the golden goose, the bubble popped years ago, and it’s just another sh$thole.

          I think what’s unique about yourself and the people who read here is that we can see the shithole through the facade. We don’t need a bust to see that a $500,000 house on a postage stamp piece of worthless desert in a town where $15 per hour jobs are considered good is ludicrous.

          1. The MSM expects us to not remember stuff. Like amazon employees crapping in driveways cuz they can’t get bathroom breaks. Oh he’s so rico! Yes, and so was Carnegie.

        3. Last time I visited the area, in Fall 2019, I dined with a friend who goes back with me 25 years. Grew up in the East Bay and planted roots in San Francisco. The homeless situation before COVID-19 had already become so intolerable that they were concerned about the effects on their school aged kids and trying to figure out where to relocate.

          I can’t imagine how much worse the situation is now with COVID-19, a real estate crash, and people looking to escape permanently.

          Next up: Tech stock crash 2.0

        4. “we all realized it was just another sh$thole”

          It’s interesting that both conservative and mainstream media has singled out SF to pick on recently.

          Yes, it’s a total cesspit (and getting worse), but it was in the 90s too. And there is plenty of blight to go around in cities across America, rich or poor. Baltimore comes to mind. New York, Seattle, Philly, Detroit, Denver.

          Is this just billionaire tech globalists trying to convince us that even with all their money, in their own city, they can’t fix society’s failures, so it’s not their fault? Are we supposed to feel sorry for them? It’s obvious SF has become the agreed-upon poster child for a failed city, but I would love to understand the motivation driving the narrative.

          1. I would love to understand the motivation driving the narrative.

            I thought it was outsider schadenfreude at the new masters of the universe.

          2. Outsider schaudenfreude makes sense. But so many media types want to glorify tech masters of the universe, not take them down. And SF is supposed to be leftwing paradise – one party, one philosophy, totally socialistic but also lots of rich “capitalists” running around. Why would the media take joy in highlighting the problems of democrat utopia?

          3. “Ultimately, deprived of the tax revenues which currently feed and support the homeless, the city will descend into cannibalism as bands of hungry Morlocks pry the remaining Eloi out of their overpriced homes, much like oysters being shucked.”

            Great outlook here. Progressive!

  2. ‘I’m a gay, brown man. I didn’t think I would feel this way in a red state,’ he said. ‘I’ve been through a lot of social justice circles, and to be living in an area where you are still accepted regardless of your politics or identity has been refreshing. They do accept me, and they don’t care’

    I always laugh at people with their stereotypes about the south. We grew up with minorities, for hundreds of years. What would you rather have, platitudes from SJW, or actual tolerance?

    1. Don’t look at what we do, look at the horsesh$t that passes for reality!

      ‘A new study from the University of California at Berkeley reveals six of the ten most segregated cities in the Bay Area are in Marin County. So, why would an area that prides itself on its progressive thought have such a lack of diversity? The study from the university’s Othering & Belonging Institute, analyzed 2010 census data and determined the towns of Ross, Belvedere, Sausalito, San Anselmo, Fairfax and Mill Valley are leaders in the Bay Area for lack of diversity.’

      ‘In Sausalito, less than 1 percent of residents are African American, even though it’s right next to Marin City, a predominantly black town. Community organizer Paul Austin said it goes back to post WWII when blacks were forbidden from buying or building homes. “But I can’t say that currently it’s done intentionally,” Austin said. “It’s just that it’s been done for so long that how do you break into it? How do you desegregate some areas?”

      https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/realestate/study-reveals-marin-county-is-home-to-6-of-10-most-segregated-bay-area-cities/ar-BB1bvDEG?ocid=hplocalnews

      “I can’t say that currently it’s done intentionally”

      Really? Cuz if this was in say, Texas, you’d say that day after day and never stop. Hypocrite.

      1. Richmond and Oakland, across the Bay, are where the brown people live…not in lily white Marin.

    2. Their bias was out of date 40 years ago. Some old TX guy throw the N word around, then proudly show you his biracial kid.

      Nobody really cared anymore.

  3. ‘unlike in 2008, sellers have accepted quickly that there has been dislocation in the market and their prices have come down’

    Unlike 2008? Sounds like it’s worser!

    ‘he is working with people who are looking beyond New York to places that are ‘not hindered by a socialist City Council’

    Pretty hard to get around that, right frozen soup line Larry?

  4. ‘the re-sale of 451 Donahue Street #216 has now closed escrow with a contract price of $623,000, down 20.1 percent from the second quarter of 2016 on an apples-to-apples basis’

    But UHS say red-hotcakes?

    ‘reveling in the schadenfreude of publishing pieces about how unbearable San Francisco had become’

    So many headlines…

  5. ‘I have units in Oakland and we can’t get people to show up. No one’s moving to the Bay Area’

    No one wants to live there Sid.

    ‘rents are dropping, and yet around one-third of properties remain vacant’

    How do those 5% cap rates look now?

  7. People forget that California was a reliable republican state for a long time.

    That all changed with mail in voting and the massive fraud that goes along with it.

    “The Los Angeles Times. “The California dream has been fading for a long time, and people have been voting with their feet. In the last few years, the exodus has accelerated…”

  8. And Rubio will vote and work like crazy to turn Arkansas into California.

    “They liked it so much they decided to stay. People in Arkansas, a state that voted overwhelmingly for President Trump, have been surprisingly open-minded about a gay couple with children, Rubio said.”

  9. The first article by “John Donegan” was “kind of wild.”
    I loved the part how the definition of what “rich is” changed. I have had discussions about tax rates and Wealth taxes with my brother. He always says “well I don’t have $20/50 MM so what do I care.” Of course, Canada is now talking about a wealth tax starting at $15.6 MM USD and when I mentioned Argentina is talking about a wealth tax at around $2.45 MM USD he says, “well I ain’t moving to Argentina.” He doesn’t seem to get that having $1.00MM may soon make you the new evil rich.

    1. The United States Income Tax was sold by congress to the American people as a 1% tax on the rich.

      20 years later it was at 90% and “rich” was upper middle class.

    2. He doesn’t seem to get that having $1.00MM may soon make you the new evil rich.

      One million? Heck, in many states if you own an ordinary shack, you’re expected to hand over several thousand dollars a year in property taxes. $1000+ car registration fees on new vehicles isn’t uncommon.

      And now that Dems have perfected the art of stuffing the ballot box, I expect we can say goodbye to TABOR pretty soon.

  10. Expedia’s Vrbo hit with backlash for not following Airbnb’s lead and canceling D.C. reservations

    ‘Steve Schmidt, one of the founders of the anti-Trump group Project Lincoln, was among those calling out Expedia and Vrbo on Twitter on Saturday, urging the company to “be responsible” and “do good” and warning that the company’s CEO, board and senior management “don’t have what it takes” for a fight with Project Lincoln.’

    ‘Here is the deal. @ProjectLincoln and the majority of America detests sedition and chaos. We love democracy and the rule of law. Here is some free advice. I suggest you get your shit together immediately. You will feel immense pain if we fight…Reservations and help secure DC. Do you really want to be the quartermasters and housing supply to the fascist, racist, violent, extremist mob that has attacked America? Be responsible. Do good. @ProjectLincoln is not playing games and trust me when I say this.’ — Steve Schmidt

    https://www.geekwire.com/2021/expedias-vrbo-hit-backlash-not-following-airbnbs-lead-canceling-d-c-reservations/

    A song for Steve:

    Hangman, hangman, hold it a little while
    Think I see my friends coming
    Riding a many mile
    Friends did you get some silver?
    Did you get a little gold?
    What did you bring me my dear friends
    To keep me from the gallows pole?
    What did you bring me to keep me from the gallows pole?

    I couldn’t get no silver, I couldn’t get no gold
    You know that we’re too damn poor
    To keep you from the gallows pole

    1. Lincoln Project co-founder John Weaver exits after reportedly sexting young men

      ‘Some two dozen men have claimed Weaver dangled job opportunities while propositioning them for sex, including one who claimed he had consensual intercourse with the longtime GOP operative in a hotel, but never got a gig out of it.’

      ‘Others said Weaver slid into their direct messages on Twitter, referred to them as “my boy,” complimented their hair or asked about their genitals.’

      ‘The married Weaver took a medical leave from the Lincoln Project over the summer, but said in a Friday statement to Axios he would not be returning. Weaver could not be immediately reached by The Post.’

      “For far too long I’ve tried to live a life that wasn’t completely true,” he wrote in the statement. “I was lying to myself, to my family who gave me nothing but unconditional love, and to others, causing a great deal of pain to all.”

      https://nypost.com/2021/01/16/lincoln-project-co-founder-john-weaver-exits-after-sexting-young-men-report/

  11. ‘A state appeals court has overturned a civil rights violation conviction and felony hate crime enhancement for a San Clemente man serving six years in prison for randomly attacking a Black grocery store worker in Laguna Beach in 2019.’

    ‘Fernando Ramirez was 23 years old on June 15, 2019, when he entered a Whole Foods Market on Broadway Street and sucker punched a 26-year-old employee who’d been on a lunch break, breaking the man’s nose and severely damaging the victim’s two front teeth, according to reports at the time of the incident.’

    ‘Two witnesses saw the unprovoked attack and called 911 as Ramirez fled the scene. They followed Ramirez until police arrived and apprehended him, according to the facts of the case outlined in a written opinion delivered Wednesday by the 4th District Court of Appeal.’

    ‘Then-Laguna Beach police officer Randy Bitonti arrested the suspect and placed him in the backseat of his vehicle, where a video camera recorded a conversation between Ramirez and the officer.’

    ‘During that conversation, Ramirez said the reason he attacked the victim — identified in court records by the initials M.R. — was, in part, because “M.R. was Black and he hated all Black people,” the opinion states.’

    ‘Ramirez inquired as to where he would be housed in jail and asked to be segregated, so he would not have to interact with Black detainees, according to court records. He further intimated he might otherwise “do something stupid.”

    ‘Ramirez used several expletives and racial slurs throughout the conversation, according to Bitonti’s testimony in court, and said Black people, including M.R., had repeatedly used racial epithets against him as a Latino.’

    ‘Because the backseat conversation was the only evidence the attack against M.R. was racially motivated and an essential reason for the jury’s finding on the hate crime enhancement and civil rights conviction, the court ruled those convictions be reversed and the associated sentences vacated.’

    https://www.latimes.com/socal/daily-pilot/news/story/2021-01-15/court-overturns-hate-crime-civil-rights-convictions-for-man-who-attacked-black-grocery-store-worker-in-o-c

  12. San Francisco Chronicle
    Tech titans give S.F. the finger as they flee. But this
    billionaire …
    He explained that he understands why many people and companies are leaving San Francisco and the Bay Area: lower taxes, more house and backyard for …

    Da meddle fanger?

    1. And will work tirelessly and provide massive campaign donations to turn their new found homes into California.

  13. The D.C. Capitol building being fenced off with razor wire is the most brazen admission that its occupants are, in fact, an illegitimate occupation government.

      2. From Portland yesterday, a street brawl in front of Powell’s bookstore:

        Fighting *FOR* censorship and the banning of a book.

        The jokes write themselves. Of course, this story won’t see the light of day on the MSM, as it will be sent ASAP to the memory hole.

        1. Andy Ngo’s book won’t be published until February 2nd but just from pre-orders it’s already the top seller on Amazon now.

  14. ‘When it comes to pride in your nationality and country, no one is better and more grandiose than Cubans. They always manage to solve their personal and collective difficulties. That neighbor, whom we’ll call Manolo, got away with this. “Have you already realized that in Miami we Cubans are better than the Yumas?” The game stopped. “How? Don’t exaggerate, there’s nothing greater than the Americans?” The rest, players and assistants ̶ there’s always someone who comes to watch the games because, among other things, it is a pretext for having a beer ̶ we remain silent.’

    https://oncubanews.com/en/cuba-usa/the-superiority-of-the-cubans-over-the-yumas/

    1. ‘Although the city has yet to set up its own Safe Outdoor Spaces location, two safe-camping sites opened last month in Capitol Hill, both hosted by churches and run by non-profit service providers.’

      ‘One site is reserved for women and trans individuals, the other for three dozen men. The day before that facility at 16th Avenue and Pearl Street opened, Conor McCormick-Cavanagh spent a night there; he returned this week to see how the concept had weathered its first month.’

      ‘There have been some challenges — two men evicted for fighting — as well as some real achievements. “I knew in my heart that it was going to be a success,” site manager Cuica Montoya says. “But it was a much greater success than what I could have anticipated.”

      ‘Responds Ken: ‘Look around any sanctioned camp. Just go drive through Denver for yourself. Don’t take my word for it. I just live down here. And I’m moving out. This city is ruined and will only continue to decline. Sad. Sad. Sad.’

      ‘Replies Scott: ‘Imagine living in those $2,000 a month apartments overlooking all that free housing wondering where you went wrong in your life.’

      https://www.westword.com/news/denver-safe-camping-sites-have-friends-foes-after-a-month-11883228

      1. Voting, funding and supporting democrat marxists.

        ‘Replies Scott: ‘Imagine living in those $2,000 a month apartments overlooking all that free housing wondering where you went wrong in your life.’

    2. FYI

      “Yumas” is similar to n***ers but for Americans or foreigners from any non-Spanish speaking country.

  15. “a deteriorating California school system emphasizing indoctrination and minimizing rigor, and in which educational failure is addressed by lowering standards and eliminating the objective measurements of learning”

    That sounds like the “racial jungle” that Joe Biden was quoted about in 1977. Cultural relativism is the greatest fraud ever perpetuated by the anti-white, anti-American left.

  16. Some nice little health station that I use to check out from time to time has been banned.
    I went to Alex Jones last night and he was talking about not knowing if he will be totally shut down any day or not.
    As I said they took Michael Savage off the air after 26 years . They told the remaining hosts they couldn’t talk about subjects censored.
    Fox news is altering to a lefty stance with just a few shows even debating anything.
    None of these so called right wing news stations are disputing covid 19 . The advertisers own the news and Big Pharma ads are controlling content.
    So, it one narrative with any dispute being tempered or censored.
    I believe this was a Globalist Monopoly Corporation takeover of the Goverment . The Commie, racism , foreign enemy element is used to conquer and divide.
    Usually with a Commie takeover it’s where the people overtaken the Government, than they take the means of production with Commie Top Down Control.
    In this case it’s Globalist Monopolies taking control while getting in bed with the Commies and Foreign enemies.

    So it’s a One Word order of Globalist Monopolies wanting to control the World in bed with Commies, which is a little different than your normal Commie type takeover.
    So, Monopolist Globalist Corporation control of Government is not what a free America should have. It’s no different than a Hilter/Stalin type of wanting to take over the World by a dictorship.
    Biden with his 25 thousand Military protection for being sworn in is a message he has the military to combat any thing they deem a insurrection.
    So the right to protest, free speech and more to come is being taken so quickly that its a horror.
    And the Medical Monopoly Cartel that in cohoots with Government locking you down and forcing a medical dictorship of forced vaccines and surveillance is obvious.
    The two weeks to flatten the curve has turned into a power grab of Medical dictorship with this obvious medical scam.

    1. AJ just wants to sell dried food and silver that you swallow. It’s OK, but I’m not buying the doom. After all these years, he can’t rent a server? They are a dime a dozen you know. “Oh, I can’t use app downloads!” Why were you relying on them in the first place?

      Bitchute was down less than 24 hours when they were “cancelled.” All this talk about censorship is overblown IMO. Stop using their crap. Sure it’s convenient, but that comes at a cost. As we’ve seen, 99.99% of their media is disinformation: yer better off without it. “But Ben, I want my MTV.” Well I can’t help you then.

      1. Yeah. I can’t understand it.

        Should be looked at as a “Challenge Accepted!” And then go set up your own high end servers in Switzerland using military grade encryption.

        There used to be a time when engineers and business folks rolled up thier sleeves to cut the balls off the competition.

        Now, if it’s more effort than “swiping right” – people can’t be bothered.

        I see it everywhere.

        1. It’s fundraising. “We’re about to get cancelled – let’s have a money bomb!” Pretty transparent.

      2. True that AJ sells health products and it might be just hype that he’s being shut down.
        I’m seeing and hearing a lot of evidence that taking this vaccine is going to be mandatory if you want to function in Society.
        For me this is a big nightmare because I’m not a vaccine taker, and certainly not the covid 19 vaccine. Forced vaccines are just not my idea of freedom of choice to not have something injected in you that you believe is harmful.
        Nope, I don’t trust the Medical Cartel to do no harm, and the Lockdowns were not following the Science.
        No, the racism narrative is false and it’s used to divide and conquer.
        Now it’s the insurrection narrative that is false to justify attack on Trump and Voters .
        It’s all about them projecting what they do onto who they think are the enemy of their takeover , which is more than half the Country.
        Constant false labeling of millions of people like racist, white privileged, fascist, klansman, Nazis, cult, all painted with broad brush. Outrageous indictment of over half the Country.

        1. Most of the stuff you mention has been ongoing for decades.

          Don’t get me wrong, I’m aware that money is what makes the world go around. I used to watch AJ on ACC when he had one 30 minute show a week, and I’ve learned some things. Like who Soros and antifa are many years ago.

          But I can see most of what his site has is intended to piss you off. I don’t need that. It’s what some people come back for. If a teevee channel shows chevy truck ads, I take it for what it’s worth – nothing to me cuz I owned one and it’s junk.

          I look up housing bubble data because it helps me stay on top of things. If I didn’t prepare this blog I doubt I would be as diligent. There are going to be apartment foreclosures galore – early retirement for those prepared to take advantage. So I keep my eye on the prize and this other stuff will work its way out. Negative thoughts just cloud things. Staying healthy is important and that includes mental health.

          2. Well said. I’ve found that keeping a guitar and a tennis racket within reach are useful for staying healthy and sane, when gyms and indoor musical collaboration are off limits.

          3. I’ve found that keeping a guitar and a tennis racket within reach are useful for staying healthy and sane

            Because both work well to bash against the ground when angry? 😉

        2. I wouldn’t worry too much even if one part of government demands vaccine the other part wont give it up so..

          “A hospital Covid-19 vaccination team shows up at the emergency room to inoculate employees who haven’t received their shots.

          Finding just a few, the team is about to leave when an ER doctor suggests they give the remaining doses to vulnerable patients or nonhospital employees. The team refuses, saying that would violate hospital policy and state guidelines.

          Incensed, the doctor works his way up the hospital chain of command until he finds an administrator who gives the OK for the team to use up the rest of the doses.

          But by the time the doctor tracks down the medical team, its shift is over and, following protocol, whatever doses remained are now in the garbage.

          Isolated incident? Not a chance, Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, told NBC News.

          “This kind of thing is pretty rampant,” Jha said. “I have personally heard stories like this from dozens of physician friends in a variety of different states. Hundreds, if not thousands, of doses are getting tossed across the country every day. It’s unbelievable.”

          Jha said the ER doctor whose story he laid out in a Twitter thread this week asked to not be identified, but his story, seen by thousands of people, resonated with other medical professionals frustrated by rules and regulations that they say are making it harder to get more Americans vaccinated.

          Why is this happening? Covid-19 vaccines have a short shelf life once they are thawed out for use, Jha said. And because of federal and state mandates, hospitals and other health care providers would rather risk a dose going bad than give it to somebody who isn’t scheduled to get a shot.

          1. Yup. I expect the promise of widespread availability this summer to fall flat on its face. They’ll still be struggling to vaccinate the octogenarians this summer.

          2. And because of federal and state mandates, hospitals and other health care providers would rather risk a dose going bad than give it to somebody who isn’t scheduled to get a shot.

            Sounds like a system based more on control than results. I worked for an uncle like that once. Uncle Sam.

          3. Sounds like a system based more on control than results.

            Which helps explain the SLS test engine failure yesterday. NASA is will be futzing around trying to get that lame azz rocket to fly long after SpaceX lands people on Mars.

          4. And because of federal and state mandates

            sounds like last day of sale food, better to throw it out then to offer your cusiomers 1/2 price off right now.

  19. ‘But you can only drop it so far.’

    YOU can only drop it so far. But the next owner may get it for a better price and be more flexible.

  20. Ca hates it when they lose a proposition they will keep at it until the voters vote right, after all what else are they going to do with all the tax payers money ? Fix roads ?? 🤣🤣🤣

    “A group of rideshare drivers in California and the Service Employees International Union filed a lawsuit alleging Proposition 22 violates California’s constitution. The goal of the suit is to overturn Prop 22, which classifies gig workers as independent contractors in California.

    The suit, filed in California’s Supreme Court, argues Prop 22 makes it harder for the state’s legislature to create and enforce a workers’ compensation system for gig workers. It also argues Prop 22 violates the rule that limits ballot measures to a single issue, as well as unconstitutionally defines what would count as an amendment to the measure. As it stands today, Prop 22 requires a seven-eights legislative supermajority in order to amend the measure.”

    1. Fix roads I am saving that $600, , instead of buying a new mac mini.. shocks tie rods ball joints, i expect nothing much will get fixed and sooner or later kerclunk a pot hole

        1. Maybe you should save it to pay back in taxes?

          Some people didn’t get the checks, even though they are technically eligible. They will instead get a tax credit on their 2020 1040.

  21. Like the spirit of negotiating – but do they really want/need to spend $5K/month in rent – could they spend $3 or $4 and save a little for a rainy day.

    Way back when — the rules of thumb were 30% of income for rent or mortgage – what is it now?

    ‘We moved around the block and why we did it? We doubled the size of our apartment at no extra cost,’ said Mykhailo Achey, an IT consultant who moved with his girlfriend in July into a new $5,000-a-month high-rise apartment in San Francisco

    2. Way back when — the rules of thumb were 30% of income for rent or mortgage – what is it now?

      Until the late 80s they were saying rent should be no more than 1 week’s gross pay (25%). Now it is 35% (approx 1/3 of gross income). This is what the government expects section 8 users to pay.

    3. Scratching my head over that too. 5K/mo in a collapsing urban hell hole? Sucker born every minute. I guess the poor guy cant work from home, has to keep those servers up and running. Must get paid lotsa yellen bux courtesy of vulture capitalists.

    1. You post that prices are cratering, but in most of the posts the sq. ft. price is increasing. Help me understand, are prices really cratering?

  23. Are you concerned about record levels of margin loans used to buy stocks resulting in an epic collapse when the resulting bubble stops expanding?

    IIRC unsustainable levels of margin debt were an exacerbating factor in the Great Crash of 1929. I realize that this time is different, with far more intervention to provide market support, etc…

    1. Markets
      Investors Double Down on Stocks, Pushing Margin Debt to Record
      Chasing bigger gains, some have exposed themselves to potentially devastating losses through riskier plays, such as concentrated positions and trading options
      By Michael Wursthorn
      Dec. 27, 2020 9:00 am ET

      Bruce Burnworth used to clip coupons and look for deals before his investment in Tesla Inc. (TSLA -2.23%) made him a millionaire.

      He is part of a widening class of affluent Americans who are doubling, or even tripling, down on this year’s highflying stock market. The S&P 500 has soared 66% since bottoming in March in the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic, while dozens of individual stocks, like Tesla, have surged even higher.

      Some investors have been tempted to chase bigger gains—and have exposed themselves to potentially devastating losses—through riskier plays, such as concentrated positions, trading options and leveraged exchange-traded funds. Others are borrowing against their investment portfolios, pushing margin balances to the first record in more than two years, to buy even more stock.
      …

        1. Couldn’t find the school nurse obituary but found this picture of her from a 2012 article.

          Salute to Veterans returns to Greenwich

          Lisa Chamoff
          June 23, 2012

          9 of 23

          WW II U.S. Army veteran Caroline Ducibella of Riverside during the Salute to Veterans ceremony at Havemeyer Field in Greenwich, Saturday afternoon, June 23, 2012. Ducibella said she was a First Lieutenant in the U.S. Army Nursing Corps and served in Normandy during D-Day.

          https://www.greenwichtime.com/news/article/Salute-to-Veterans-returns-to-Greenwich-3657975.php

          1. Found it!

            Ducibella, Caroline
            Caroline Teresa Ducibella, whose life was defined by her love of God, country and family, died July 7 in Stamford. A resident of Greenwich and Riverside for more than six decades, she was 100 years old.
            Born in the Bronx to Sicilian immigrants who soon moved to Danbury, she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Public Health and Nursing from New York University in 1934.
            She enlisted in the Army during World War II and, three days after the D Day invasion at Normandy, was among those sent to shore to tend to the wounded.
            As with all things Caroline, there was an endearing story. She didn’t know how to swim, and her fellow nurses kept pulling her out from under the water.
            Six months later, she served at the Battle of the Bulge.
            A First Lieutenant, she served from 1943-46 then worked as a public health nurse for the town of Greenwich until her retirement in 1978. Her favorite memories happened at Greenwich High School with friend and guidance counselor Don Page and football coach Mike Ornato.
            She possessed an unwavering faith in God, and attended daily Mass at St. Catherine of Siena in Riverside, where she served as a lay Eucharistic minister, taught Religious Education and sang in the choir.
            Caroline is survived by a brother, James, and many, many adoring nieces and nephews, their spouses, great nieces and great nephews. She was preceded in death by her mother, father, sisters Lucy Besozzi, Antoinette and Mary Ducibella, and brothers Joseph, Charles, John and Salvatore.
            Viewing will be at Castiglione Funeral Home, 544 Old Post Road #3, Greenwich, CT Sunday, July 17, 2016 from 3-6 p.m. A funeral Mass will be held at St. Catherine of Siena on Monday, July 18, 2016 at 10 a.m., followed by burial at St. Peter’s Cemetery in Danbury. In lieu of flowers, the family asks for donations to Hill House, 10 Riverside Avenue, Riverside, CT 06878.

  29. Fox News Ratings Plummet After Trump Supporters Abandon Network

    by Paul Joseph Watson
    January 18th 2021, 6:18 am

    The Daily Beast reports that Fox News finished third to both MSNBC and CNN for three days running last week, their worst performance in over 20 years.

    Much of the viewership loss is due to Trump supporters switching to competing conservative networks like OAN and Newsmax due to the perception that Fox News abandoned its implicit support for Trump over the last 2 years.

    With viewers defecting to Newsmax and OAN, both those networks are now being targeted by CNN in a transparent effort to have its competition silenced.

    “We are going to have to figure out the OAN and Newsmax problem. These companies have freedom of speech, but I’m not sure we need Verizon, AT&T, Comcast and such bringing them into tens of millions of homes,” guest Alex Stamos told Brian Stelter yesterday.

    DailyCaller
    Former Facebook insider Alex Stamos tells @brianstelter: “We have to turn down the capability of these Conservative influencers to reach these huge audiences… There are people on YouTube for example that have a larger audience than daytime CNN.”

    https://www.infowars.com/posts/fox-news-ratings-plummet-after-trump-supporters-abandon-network

  31. Margin Trading Can Be Greater – All You Need To Know
    Posted On: January 14, 2021 Posted By: Vivek

    Borrowing money increases purchasing potency, that’s how you capture a domicile or alternate high-ticket items you can’t confer straight-out. Merely did you concede that you can execute that with stocks, similarly? It turns verboten that many investors can. Depending along with your brokerage firm account prototype and balance, you may possess the power to attain margin trading, or leveraging your capital, as the pros foretell it. But even out whether you are apt to, is it a marvelous thought to utilize borrowed money to bedeck in stocks? And do the advantages outbalance the risks? Here’s what you should acknowledge beforehand examination of the waters with margin trading.
    …

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