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Owners’ Last-Ditch Attempts To Recoup Their Losses

A report from Bloomberg. “Landlords have struggled to attract tenants throughout a pandemic that’s kept New Yorkers working from home. Apartment owners lowered rents and offered perks such as free months and gift cards – yet they still saw the number of empty units swell. Despite April’s record demand, the number of vacant apartments in Manhattan jumped 5.7 per cent from March to 20,743, Miller Samuel and Douglas Elliman said. The median rent in the borough plunged 21 per cent from a year earlier to US$2,791.”

“In Brooklyn, rents fell 18 per cent to median of US$2,614. In northwest Queens, an area including Astoria and Long Island City, they slid 16 per cent to US$2,370. ‘We’re going through a very choppy period,’ said Jonathan Miller, president of Miller Samuel. ‘It hasn’t bottomed yet.'”

From Bisnow Washington DC. “Apartment vacancy has risen dramatically in Northeast and throughout the city, leading developers to offer generous concessions that give renters the ability to move to neighborhoods that may have previously been out of their price range. In Q1, Northeast D.C.’s Class-A apartment vacancy rose to 15.2%, according to Delta Associates, just below the District average of 15.6%. Northeast’s effective rents fell 20.5% over the 12 months ending March 31, tying it for the city’s sharpest rent drop.”

From Consumer Affairs. “Before the pandemic, San Francisco Bay Area apartments were teeming with renters thanks to the technology industry. Fast forward a year and things have certainly changed. ApartmentGuide’s latest Rent Report found that the Bay Area experienced the largest decrease — 45% — in its average rental price for a one-bedroom apartment over the past year. At the same time, the average rent for a two-bedroom apartment fell by 24%.”

“Rounding out the Top 5 metropolitan areas where rent prices took the biggest hit are Chesapeake, Virginia, which had the second-largest year-over-year decline in rent at 29.4%. That was followed by Long Beach, California (-27.0%), Seattle (-18.9%), and Los Angeles (-16.0%).”

From CNBC. “Cloudera exited some Bay Area office space early last year with plans to sublease it and move employees south to the software company’s Silicon Valley headquarters. But the pandemic left the company with nobody to take over a full office, forcing it to take a substantial real estate write-down.”

“At DoorDash’s former headquarters in San Francisco, a tenant defaulted on rent a month into lockdown, resulting in lost income for the food delivery company, which was doubling as a landlord. Airbnb said in its earnings report on Thursday that it took a $113 million impairment in the first quarter ‘related to office space in San Francisco that we deemed no longer necessary.'”

“Combined, those three companies have recorded nearly $200 million in real estate impairments in the past year after Covid-19 turned the Bay Area office market into a dead zone. That dollar figure swells to almost $1 billion when adding in lease-related write-downs from large tech employers Salesforce, Dropbox, Uber, PayPal and Zendesk.”

“By the end of the first quarter of 2021, the amount of vacant sublease space in San Francisco had soared to 9.7 million square feet, up from about 3 million in late 2019, and accounted for 40% of all available commercial space in the city, according to commercial real estate firm Avison Young.”

“Mark Cote, co-founder of a tech-focused real estate firm that helps tenants with their growth plans, said that companies looking for an office in San Francisco have a rare opportunity over the next two to three quarters to get in at a discount. Unlike traditional landlords, which have been reluctant to drop lease prices, tech companies with excess space are sometimes willing to offer cut-rate rents and take the loss because they’ve already ‘faced the reckoning on the impairment,’ Cote said. Cote said companies paying $90 a square foot may offer subleases for $20 to $25 less and eat the difference.”

The Real Deal on Florida. “The Regalia condo association settled its lawsuit alleging a slew of construction and design defects and building code violations at the luxury oceanfront tower for $17.5 million. In 2018, the Regalia on the Ocean Condominium Association sued the developers, architect, general contractor and subcontractors over alleged flaws such as improperly installed pool joints and cracking tiles, unsafe steam rooms, and flawed balcony sliding glass doors and railings, according to the complaint.”

“The tower has been mired in other litigation. In one case, Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Michael Hanzman ordered the developers in 2019 to turn over control of the entire interest in the entities that own two unsold units to a receiver. Regalia Beach Developers LLC had failed to sell the tower’s top-priced beach house and penthouse. At least some of the proceeds of the sales were to go to the developers’ former attorney under a confidential agreement in a separate suit.”

From Blog TO in Canada. “The pandemic has not been kind to many industries, with things like travel and tourism being hit particularly hard, which has upended platforms like Airbnb and the hosts that operate on it. Owners of short-term rentals began to sweat early last year before Ontario even declared a state of emergency and locked everything down, citing tons of cancellations and fears that the extra income that many had come to rely on would no longer be coming in.”

“Even before the ban came into place, more and more short-term rentals in the city were popping up on the long-term rental market, being converted to actual apartments for residents who live here in owners’ last-ditch attempts to recoup their losses.”

From The National. “Indian property developer Kamal Khetan is in an unusual position. For the first time since the 2008-2009 global financial crisis, he is being inundated with offers to acquire land in Mumbai from distressed sellers. Landowners ‘are coming at a very reasonable price because it’s now the buyer’s market, not the seller’s market.'”

“The situation is pronounced in Mumbai, where land has long been scarce in the overpopulated financial capital. But it is a trend found across many major cities in India, including the national capital of Delhi and the tech hub of Bangalore, analysts say.”

“‘Definitely, the land prices have seen some kind of a correction in the last 12 months,’ Piyush Gupta, managing director of capital markets and investment services for India at global real estate services company Colliers, says. ‘This is not only linked to Covid stress, but it’s linked to the overall stress in the real estate and the non-banking sector.'”

The Brisbane Times in Australia. “A year ago, 32-year-old Gary Dickson was living and working cheek-by-jowl with two housemates in Carlton during the extended coronavirus lockdowns in Melbourne. But now, Mr Dickson is one of many renters who have upgraded to new digs on the back of the cheapest inner-city rents in more than a decade. Mr Dickson was paying about $245 a week for a room in his share house, and was expecting it would cost about $420 a week to secure an apartment and more space for himself.”

“‘[But] I started looking around September last year and I was finding at the beginning of October a lot of one-bedroom apartments that were suddenly in my price range [for about $350],’ the university lecturer said. ‘Then at the beginning of November, I ended up finding a two-bedroom apartment [in North Melbourne] that was priced the same as the one-bedrooms I was seeing in October in the same apartment complex.'”

“Engaged couple Leigh Boughton, 37, and Genevieve Carthy, 34, were renting a one-bedroom period cottage in Middle Park for $700 a week until the pandemic hit. In July last year, they moved into a brand new two-bedroom apartment on St Kilda Road with two balconies, two car spaces and an on-site gym and pool for $550. The pair, who own an investment property, were the first tenants to live permanenty in the St Kilda Road apartment because it had been used only for Airbnb guests. While it was originally listed for rent at $760 a week, Mr Boughton was able to snap it up for just $550.”

“‘That’s the only reason why I moved. I’m like, ‘I’d be crazy not to move with everything that’s here,’ he said. Mr Boughton and Ms Carthy are planning to start a family, and are now considering riding the rental wave again to find an affordable house, potentially in Camberwell, when their lease expires in July. ‘There’s homes that are now similar prices, or for $100 more you get a three-bedroom house,’ Mr Boughton said.”

From Stuff New Zealand. “Hamilton man David Musgrave is among the roughly 1000 owners of leak-prone homes taking part in a $220 million class action lawsuit against building materials maker James Hardie. When the case begins on Monday at the High Court in Auckland, the homeowners will argue James Hardie’s Harditex cladding system was defective, which James Hardie denies.”

“They also argue that James Hardie knew, or ought to have known, its system was defective, but kept supplying it. For Musgrave, owning a home clad with James Hardie’s panels has been life-changing, blighting his retirement. Musgrave intended to sell the home and move to the Bay of Islands to retire, but nobody will buy it.”

“‘I tried to sell it, and was hoping to move north, but people just take one look at the materials, and they don’t want a bar of it,’ he says. ‘I’m basically stuck in Hamilton. It’s changed the course of my life. It’s like having a brick tied around your neck when you’re trying to swim.'”

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This Post Has 93 Comments

  1. ‘Mr Boughton and Ms Carthy are planning to start a family, and are now considering riding the rental wave again to find an affordable house, potentially in Camberwell, when their lease expires in July. ‘There’s homes that are now similar prices, or for $100 more you get a three-bedroom house’

    That’s the spirit!

  3. ‘I tried to sell it, and was hoping to move north, but people just take one look at the materials, and they don’t want a bar of it…I’m basically stuck in Hamilton. It’s changed the course of my life. It’s like having a brick tied around your neck when you’re trying to swim’

    Well, it was cheaper than renting Dave.

    1. “It’s like having a brick tied around your neck when you’re trying to swim”

      Debt is slavery.

  4. ‘the Bay Area experienced the largest decrease — 45% — in its average rental price for a one-bedroom apartment over the past year’

    How do those 5% cap rates look now?

    ‘resulting in lost income for the food delivery company, which was doubling as a landlord’

    Now losing money at both!

    ‘Combined, those three companies have recorded nearly $200 million in real estate impairments in the past year after Covid-19 turned the Bay Area office market into a dead zone. That dollar figure swells to almost $1 billion when adding in lease-related write-downs from large tech employers’

    Is that a lot?

    Dead zone?

    1. California outdid itself this week. in 2021, the California University system will cease using any form of standardized testing in admissions because it’s racist. In the same week, it was announced that California public schools will cancel all advanced math curriculums through the 10th grade because advanced math classes are unfair to kids who can’t keep up. All math classes through the 10th grade will have the exact same lessons and be at the same level for all students. Go California!! The utopia is so close I can feel it.

      1. I see a future for private cram schools, which already exist as an Asian thing, and for Parochial schools.

      2. “I see a future for private cram schools…”

        This is where much of the student loan crisis exists. These schools charge full price, up front, for their cram program, which works fine for someone who already has a degree, but is changing their career due to down-sizing, off-shoring, etc., but the learning curve is too steep for students from poverty backgrounds and uneducated households. Basically, they get themselves into “deep water” without know how to swim.

        1. By “cram school” I was thinking more along the lines of an afternoon school where your kid might be taught more math than is taught at the government daycare centers. There existing ones like Kaplan, which preps students for SAT/ACT tests. I could see more informal (and this cheaper) ones being set up in places like church basements and such.

      3. California public schools will cancel all advanced math curriculums
        John g.

        Do you have a link? I would love to send to my niece who is a woke math teacher and ask if this is happening in her “rich suburban” school.
        I did a brief search but did not find anything related to this comment. Thanks,

          2. “In New York City’s public school system (which is 82% minority), such “go along” instruction has been tried for over 20 years after identity politics-infused rhetoric dismantled a substantial number of the city’s public programs for gifted students.”

            “Now, with no accountability or incentive to perform, New York City’s black and Latino students couldn’t be more lost in the world of math. In fact, 80% to 94% of students in NYC’s public middle schools passed their math classes even though only 2% to 15% of them passed their math exams.”

            Thug Life.

  5. ‘ordered the developers in 2019 to turn over control of the entire interest in the entities that own two unsold units to a receiver. Regalia Beach Developers LLC had failed to sell the tower’s top-priced beach house and penthouse. At least some of the proceeds of the sales were to go to the developers’ former attorney under a confidential agreement in a separate suit’

    So they didn’t even have the cash to pay their lawyer.

    1. Could insanely overpriced starter homes during the bubble era be harming U.S. birth rates?

      Couples who can’t afford to get on the property ladder may opt to postpone starting a family until it’s too late, or may forego even ever getting married.

      1. Here’s your future housing demand in the U.S. …

        The Financial Times
        Opinion Ageing Populations
        A midlife crisis takes shape in the US
        A country obsessed with youth must grapple with its declining birth rates
        Rana Foroohar 2 hours ago

        Demographics is destiny. For decades, America has enjoyed the economic and geopolitical fruits of its high birth rate. Between 1990 and 2010, fertility levels in the US were higher than the average for any developed country with the exception of Israel, Iceland and New Zealand.

        So what does it mean that the US birth rate is on track to plunge below the recent trend rate of Europe? In 2007, just before the great recession, the US total fertility rate, meaning the number of births that a woman is expected to have in her lifetime, was 2.12. By 2019, just before Covid-19 struck, it had fallen to 1.71.

        Provisional CDC data from 2020 shows that the total fertility rate has since dropped to a record low of 1.64, roughly the rate in Europe over the past five years. If the current trend holds, as it is likely to given last year’s lockdown (it’s a bit tougher to get pregnant during a pandemic unless you were already with a partner), then the New World may have lower fertility than the Old as soon as this year.

        So much for what the economist Nicholas Eberstadt dubbed America’s “demographic exceptionalism”. For decades, the US birth rate helped buoy growth, which is a function of people and productivity, and global status. But according to a new report by the Global ageing Institute and the Terry Group, entitled “The End of US Demographic Exceptionalism”, all the factors that have propelled America’s outlier fertility — from immigration and religious faiths to long-term economic optimism — are now in decline.
        …

        1. Only religious people, the wealthy, and the poors are having kidz in this economy. Unless you’re receiving gibs, children are a luxury.

          1. in this economy

            $500,000 houses and $60,000 cars, but kids are a luxury. What a country!

          2. Our sample is biased, but those we know who are starting or raising families are all wealthy, religious, or both. There’s also a binary couple with well defined gender roles. I have met a couple of families with two moms over the years of living in California, but that’s the exception…and they had money, too.

      2. Parents who wait until their mid-30s to have kids have a much higher chance of bearing offspring with autism, Downs Syndrome, etc. Mother Nature intended children to be born of younger parents. Society is going to pay a tremendous cost for letting central bankers turn housing into an unaffordable speculative asset.

  7. ‘We’re going through a very choppy period,’ said Jonathan Miller, president of Miller Samuel. ‘It hasn’t bottomed yet.’”

    You don’t say….

  8. In 2018, the Regalia on the Ocean Condominium Association sued the developers, architect, general contractor and subcontractors over alleged flaws such as improperly installed pool joints and cracking tiles, unsafe steam rooms, and flawed balcony sliding glass doors and railings, according to the complaint.”

    So essentially everybody involved in the construction of this defect-riddled edifice was incompetent or cut corners to maximize profits, while inspectors were either complicit or criminally negligent. Multiply this by hundreds of thousands, and it doesn’t take a penetrating analysis to conclude the stamping of little feet is going to reach a crescendo.

    1. This is what makes it a bubble story. Defects are common when it’s boom boom. Similarly, we’ve already seen money pit reports from the current “no inspection” thing.

      Miami is at sea level. The ongoing corrosion on those towers is going to add up.

      1. Didn’t Al Gore say Miami would be underwater by now due to climate change? So no need to build for the long haul.

      3. Some trivia from the net …

        “Saltwater corrodes metal five times faster than fresh water does and the salty, humid ocean air causes metal to corrode 10 times faster than air with normal humidity.”

      4. “…Miami is at sea level…”

        From Google
        Miami, Florida is at great risk of being underwater.

        Miami’s sea level is rising on an average of 1 inch every 3 years.

        It is 8 inches higher than in 1950.

        Scientists now think that in the next 15 years, the sea level will rise another 6 inches, at a slightly higher rate.

        Miami, Florida. The new Atlantis.

      5. “…Miami, Florida. The new Atlantis….”

        Gotta look at the bright side. Where else can you boast that you have a salt water aquarium in your front room without the hassle of buying a tank and all those complicated pumps?

        Bonus: You can throw a line from your granite countertop without a fishing license.

  9. The political commissars are stepping up their purges of non-“woke” military officers.

    Space Force Unit Commander Removed From His Post For Decrying Marxism in the Military

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2021/05/space-force-unit-commander-removed-post-decrying-marxism-military/

    A commander of a US Space Force unit was fired and put under investigation for anti-Marxist comments he made during a podcast.

    Lt. Col. Matthew Lohmeier, a former fighter pilot, was a commander of a unit that detected ballistic missile launches and was relieved of his duties on Friday by Lt. Gen. Stephen Whiting, Military.com reported.

    1. Meanwhile in the real world, the CCP has landed a rover on Mars. Of course, no criticism of Marxism is allowed there.

    2. There are some very specific rules governing partisan political activity in fedgov. The big no-nos are: you can’t run around the office actively campaigning for a candidate, especially collecting donations for a political party, you can’t wear or display political schwag, you can’t use company time or computers/resources to campaign, and you can’t mislead the public by acting as if your views represent those of your agency. For example, you can’t wear your military uniform while presenting your own ideas, you can’t use agency letterhead, you can’t flout your official title, etc. Usually it’s a case-by-case basis.
      However, you can express an opinion and have discussions, although almost everyone avoids it. And you can do campaigning on your own time as long as you present yourself only as a regular member of the public.

      Looks like the guy wasn’t fired; he was just assigned somewhere else while they looked at the case to see whether he broke any of those rules.

  10. What’s up with defective and dangerous cladding?

    Britian had a huge problem with this too.

    It’s not rocket science.

    “When the case begins on Monday at the High Court in Auckland, the homeowners will argue James Hardie’s Harditex cladding system was defective, which James Hardie denies.”

  11. New York Times (Real Journalists) — Unemployment Pay May Again Require a Job Search. Is It Too Soon? (5/16/2021):

    “The requirement, eased because of the pandemic, is being reimposed. Some say it presents an undue hardship …

    as vaccinations increase and the economy revs back to life, more than half of all states have revived their work search requirements. Arkansas and Louisiana did so months ago in an effort to push workers off their swollen unemployment rolls. Others, like Vermont and Kentucky, have followed in the last few weeks.

    Research suggests that work search requirements of some form in normal economic times can compel workers to find their next job and reduce their time on unemployment. But the pandemic has added a new layer to a debate over how to balance relief with the presumption that joblessness is only transitory. Most states cut off unemployment benefits after 26 weeks.

    Business groups say bringing back work search requirements will help juice the labor market and dissuade workers from waiting to return to their old employers or holding out for remote or better-paying jobs.

    Opponents contend that the mandate keeps undue numbers of Americans from continuing to receive needed benefits because it can be hard to meet the sometimes arduous requirements, including documenting the search efforts. And they say workers may be forced to apply for and accept lower-paying or less-satisfying jobs at a time when the pandemic has caused some to reassess the way they think about their work, their family needs and their prospects.”

    https://archive.is/E0cXs

    Thank you to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis for *allowing* my cousin and her fiance to keep their jobs in the hospitality industry during the plandemic.

    The CCP Flu didn’t destroy jobs, government did.

    1. reassess the way they think about their work, their family needs and their prospects

      Oh gag me with a mask. I suppose this touchy feely stuff is “infrastructure” too?

    2. And they say workers may be forced to apply for and accept lower-paying or less-satisfying jobs at a time when the pandemic has caused some to reassess the way they think about their work, their family needs and their prospects

      How long do they think they can get paid to not work? It seems they think it’s indefinite.

  12. Washington Post (Real Journalists) — With violent crime spiking, the push for police reform collides with voters’ fears (5/15/2021):

    “It has been less than a year since George Floyd was murdered by a police officer in Minneapolis, spawning a national movement to reimagine the American criminal justice system and end race-based abuses.

    Yet with shootings spiking in cities nationwide during the pandemic, there are growing signs that the thirst for change is being blunted by fears of runaway crime.

    Critical tests of just how far the pendulum has swung will come in the next several days and weeks, with a nationwide flurry of elections for mayor, district attorney and members of Congress. Although Republicans have long been skeptical of reform efforts, the races are concentrated in big cities and other areas that are friendly terrain for Democrats. They should offer, at least in theory, fertile ground for the sort of systemic overhauls that protesters who flooded the streets last summer were demanding.”

    https://archive.is/Qqkqz

    “friendly terrain for Democrats” sounds like the type of place where I won’t be paying property taxes to a bankrupt municipality that is not only unable, but unwilling, to ensure the safety of its taxpayers.

    And if you try to escape or defend yourself from the Sons Of Obama, you’ll be the one going to jail. It’s the progressive way.

    1. riendly terrain for Democrats” sounds like the type of place where I won’t be paying property taxes to a bankrupt municipality that is not only unable, but unwilling, to ensure the safety of its taxpayers.

      Or better yet, not set foot in there at all.

    2. municipality that is not only unable, but unwilling, to ensure the safety of fosters violence and robbery of its taxpayers. FIFY

  13. Some recent messages from this lady:

    https://twitter.com/EmeraldRobinson?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1393549478829957120%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2F

    ‘Maricopa County (AZ) officials have already admitted they don’t have the router passwords. They are not in charge of the election. That’s illegal. Michigan officials are admitting the exact same thing now!’

    ‘Democrats would not be able to “game” the election systems of crucial swing states CONTROLLED BY THE GOP without the aid of GOP officials. These same officials are now trying to block audits in order to hide their activities in the 2020 election.’

    ‘There’s a civil war inside the GOP because the GOP establishment collaborated with Democrats against Trump in the 2020 election. You know it. And the GOP knows that you know it. They’re just hoping that you forget.’

    ‘The state of Wisconsin authorized an audit of the 2020 election!’

    ‘What if I told you Michigan election officials MANUALLY disabled the scanned image function for ballots which is a violation of the law? Read this thread.’

      1. Politicians are liars…. and every election a crime scene.

        Something’s going to be done about it. I’m not sure what yet but there is no doubt in my mind 75 million people won’t sit and do nothing.

        1. Dan Scavino, DJT’s White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Communications and Director of Social Media, joined Telegram on May 1st. He’s quite the tease posting things like (typos unintended):

          Donald Trump isn’t going to commit to running in 2024 because he hasn’t conceded the 2020 election. And he never will. If the result of the 2020 election isn’t overturned, we’ve lost our republic.

          It’s Time . . . . . During the worst political, social and economic crisis, this man is the “apostle of Justice” who can turn everything around. It’s time for you to come back . . .

          Trump is coming back. He’s not done. But a lot of what’s taken place, and taking place now can be laid bare. The public really didnb’t know what we were dealing with but now we see it. What’s the real plan of Trump’s administration? To expose the deep darkness.

          Trump 2021

          They know they aren’t the majority. They know they lost the election. They also know justice is coming . . . The truth will always come out!

    2. Georgia and South Carolina are two other states with questionable GOP leadership.

      1. Mitch The Bitch and Linda Graham ran this thing along with the Bushes and Sin-D McCain.

        They didn’t like the way Trump told the truth about the bushes, John McCain and the rest of these pretentious GOP crooks.

        1. And what kind of conservative is McCain when he had the rare opportunity to cast the deciding vote against O’Blamercare and didn’t? Every one of these filthy bastards were presented with rare opportunities. Bush, O’blamer, McCain,etc the list goes on.. all of them caved to deep State at one point or another in there illustrious political careers.. f_cking sellouts.

          2. May they all experience the hell depicted in the Duomo’s cupola in Florence. As my friend commented, “it gives new meaning to the phrase flaming a$$hole.”

  14. Brianna Anthony and her boyfriend, Keenan Montague, have lived in three homes over the past six months in Telluride. The five-bedroom house that the local bartenders rented with friends sold last fall, and the new owner, an East Coast doctor with a home in nearby Mountain Village, launched a major renovation. They moved into another house, which this spring sold — sight unseen — for $2.2 million. And they moved again as that owner began renovations.

    They found a rental home in Rico, about 30 minutes away. And, yes, that house just sold. Now they are looking again for a place to rent.

    https://coloradosun.com/2021/05/11/colorado-resort-towns-real-estate-records-pricing-out-locals/

    “I feel like Telluride is becoming a community where locals are not welcome but the people who are there six weeks a year, they are welcomed,” Anthony said. “What happens when the only people in these ski towns are here for a month or so a year?”

    They’ll just get people to commute from Cortez or even farther away.

    1. “commute from Cortez”

      The more invisible the poors are, the better.

      Globalists gonna globe.

    1. Flood damage is very thorough leaving nothing unscathed, and it gets worse if there’s moving water that scours abutments, foundations and top soil.

      2. Growing up on the Niagara River I can say there’s nothing like a wall of ice chunks scouring the river banks. Buildings just go away.

  16. State mandated child abuse.

    The Hill — Walensky says unvaccinated children should continue wearing masks (5/16/2021):

    “The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Sunday said unvaccinated children should continue to wear masks and social distance, despite new guidelines from the agency that lifts restrictions for vaccinated adults and adolescents.

    “We recognize the challenge of parents who can’t leave their kids at home,” Walensky said, adding that children “should be masked in those settings and to the best of their ability to keep a distance.”

    https://thehill.com/homenews/sunday-talk-shows/553753-cdc-director-says-unvaccinated-children-should-continue-wearing

    1. When people ask me what my background is, I’m going to say I majored in multicultural intersectional conflict resolution studies. I’m too ashamed to say I was a scientist.

      1. When people ask my background, I tell them I’m a Yemeni lesbian. It’s quite the icebreaker.

      2. Week before last I spent a day with a fishing guide exploring some new water. Doesn’t look like I can take my boys to Ontario again this summer for our traditional trip.

        He asked me what my background was and I told him it was difficult to remember. He let it go at that.

  17. Does the prospect of outsized dollar inflation make you want to load up on cryptocurrency investments as a hedge?

    1. The Financial Times
      US economy
      Inflation fears cloud US consumer sentiment
      Survey shows Americans are increasingly nervous about rising prices as economy recovers from the pandemic
      People walking in Brooklyn, New York City
      Consumer confidence in the US had been expected to grow given the vaccine rollout and further reopening of the economy
      Mamta Badkar in New York
      May 14 2021

      Americans’ fears of rising inflation are weighing on consumer sentiment, adding to concerns about how quickly the US economy will be able to recover from the pandemic.

      The University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment survey fell to 82.8 in May, down from 88.3 in April, as consumers’ attitudes about current and future conditions weakened. That compared to expectations for the closely watched gauge to rise to 90.4, according a Reuters poll of economists.

      The decline in sentiment comes as a surprise — the rapid vaccine rollout in the US, a further reopening of the economy and the distribution of stimulus cheques had all been expected to boost consumer confidence.

      “Consumers have started to feel the pinch of inflation and they are concerned that the decades-long period of low inflation that we have experienced is over,” said Thomas Simons, money market economist at Jefferies.

      Survey respondents characterised buying conditions for homes, cars and long-lasting household items as the most negative “since the end of the last inflationary era in 1980”, said Richard Curtin, chief economist of the consumer surveys.

      Data released earlier this week showed that consumer prices had advanced at a rate of 4.2 per cent in the 12 months to April, the biggest increase since 2008. That rise has fuelled concerns that the US economy is overheating as activity ramps up.
      …

      1. “The decline in sentiment comes as a surprise”

        The globalists and Real Journalists who write these articles don’t buy food or gasoline.

        Life outside of Davos or Aspen is irrelevant to them.

    2. Bitcoin bulls have long claimed the cryptocurrency is an inflation hedge. But recent price swings have challenged that idea.
      Emily Graffeo
      May. 15, 2021, 09:15 AM
      — Bitcoin bulls have long argued that the cryptocurrency is a hedge against inflation, particularly because of its fixed supply.
      — But bitcoin tanked this past week after stronger-than-expected inflation data when it theoretically should’ve gained.
      — We spoke to one bitcoin expert who isn’t concerned about bitcoin’s recent downward movement – and who said it’s still undervalued as an inflation hedge.

      Fears of rising inflation came to a head on Wednesday when key data came in significantly higher than economists expected. Bitcoin, touted by some of its biggest supporters as an inflation hedge – because it has a finite supply, unlike the dollar – didn’t rise in response. It instead slumped around 7% on the day.

      Headline inflation data as measured by the Consumer Price Index rose 4.2% year-over-year in April, the fastest rate since 2008, while core inflation rose 0.9% in the largest monthly increase for the core index since 1982. The Dow shed nearly 700 points Wednesday.

      Meanwhile, alleged inflation hedge bitcoin dropped below $50,000 to its lowest level in nearly three weeks.

      The day that inflation fears hit a boiling point would have been bitcoin’s time to shine as the hedge against devalued, government-backed money its supporters claim it to be. With its fixed supply of 21 million bitcoin, the cryptocurrency is meant to protect against reckless central bank policy and helicopter money distributed by governments during the pandemic.

      But as inflation concerns built in the weeks leading to Wednesday’s crescendo, bitcoin was unable to break out past new records. It has slumped 24% in the last month, and Elon Musk’s tweet about its environmental impact following the inflation print didn’t help.

      The world’s most popular cryptocurrency may not be the hedge it is claimed to be, and its sensitivities to everything from local restrictions on bitcoin mining to Elon Musk’s latest tweets show that the coin is really treated by market participants as a risk asset and a vehicle for speculation.
      …

        1. One good thing to come out of this frenzy: the cryptocurrency community had their realization this week.

          https://twitter.com/TESLAcharts/status/1392991295409360901:

          $BTC HODLers:

          If you are new to the $TSLAQ hashtag, here’s a critically important definition:

          The RealizationTM = When Elon Musk comes into your field of expertise, spews absolute bullshit, and you realize he is a con, a fraud, and a two-bit huckster

          Welcome aboard!

  18. This is a pearl clutching article.

    The Hill — DHS warns terrorists may attack as coronavirus restrictions ease (5/16/2021):

    “DHS in a press release on Friday advised that the country is facing threats from domestic terrorists, individuals and groups that are influenced by foreign terrorist organizations.

    The warning came shortly after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said last week that people who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 can safely resume life without any restrictions.”

    https://thehill.com/policy/national-security/department-of-homeland-security/553777-dhs-warns-terrorists-may-attack-as

    This is the type of fear porn #Narrative that globalists are pimping now that the CCP Flu is over, Lord Fauci is irrelevant, and the non-bedwetter population has moved on.

    1. More fear porn, as narrated by Real Journalists.

      The Hill — Capitol riot fuels debate over domestic terror laws (5/16/2021):

      “The White House’s focus on rising domestic extremism has sparked a debate over whether the U.S. needs new laws to fight it, with some groups concerned that such measures could lead to over surveillance of communities of color and infringe on First Amendment rights.

      “Part of what this gap means is the lack of moral equivalency between Islamic extremist terrorism and other types of extremist motivated terrorism and most specifically white supremacist-motivated terrorism, which is the most significant and most lethal threat in the U.S.,” said McCord, who previously served as acting assistant attorney general for national security in the Obama administration.

      “But having said all of that, significant opposition to new terror statues from the civil rights community, of which I consider myself a part, is due to entrusting law enforcement with any new tool that could be misused or abused to target groups like BLM [Black Lives Matter] or antifa or groups that actually don’t represent a danger in homeland.”

      https://thehill.com/policy/national-security/553659-capitol-riot-fuels-debate-over-domestic-terror-laws

      Don’t represent a danger in homeland? Burn Loot Murder and antifa are Marxist terrorists, and Real Journalists are liars.

      Eighty million of us voted for Trump, Joe Biden is not the legitimately elected president of the United States, and the 2020 election was stolen.

      The only good globalist is a dead globalist 🙂

    1. Narrators gonna narrate.

      I never voted for giving $4 billion of U.S. taxpayer dollars to Israel every year. 52 dead Palestinian children so far in this latest episode of throwing rocks versus tanks.

      The United States has no business being involved in the Middle East, at all, ever. We were energy independent as recently as 2019.

      Go “secure the realm” and pay for it with your own Shekels. Not another penny of U.S. taxpayer dollars for this bottomless money pit.

    1. The Financial Times
      Special purpose acquisition companies
      Spacs lose their deal ‘pop’ as fever fades
      Instead of popping, share prices now typically slide on takeover announcements
      Soaring Eagle Acquisition is trading below $10 despite last week announcing a $17.5bn deal to take Bill Gates-backed Ginkgo Bioworks public
      Ortenca Aliaj, Miles Kruppa and James Fontanella-Khan
      3 hours ago

      Shares in special purpose acquisition companies are sliding following takeover announcements, a marked reversal of the enthusiasm for these vehicles earlier this year which could threaten their ability to do deals.

      Of the 13 Spacs that have announced acquisitions in May, only one is trading above $10, the level at which shares in blank-cheque companies are originally priced, according to a Financial Times analysis of Refinitiv data.

      As recently as March, about nine out of 10 traded above $10 in the wake of a deal announcement, according to Spac Research — and many significantly above.

      Market experts have attributed the about turn to a withdrawal from the market by institutional investors and a lack of interest from retail traders, who have turned their attention to other speculative assets such as cryptocurrencies.

      “The retail component of the deals has been a big issue,” said Ari Edelman, a partner at Reed Smith. “A lot of the activity around Spacs in terms of how the stocks have been trading and the success of the Spacs was very much hinged on retail.”

      The Spac boom has largely been underpinned by hedge funds who buy into the structure early and use leverage to juice up returns. But the vast majority of them sell out once a deal has been announced and are replaced by new investors eager to get a slice of the newly listed company. That appears to no longer be the case.

      “The retreat of retail investors has been particularly bad,” said a big Spac sponsor. “Retail drove gigantic speculation from September until the bubble burst [in April] and now the Spac market is dead, dead, dead.”
      …

  22. ‘I’ve been a rebel all my life, against tyranny and arrogant authority, which is what we have now.’

    Eric Clapton hits out at ‘propaganda’ over vaccine safety

    todayuknews

    By Scarlet Howes For The Mail On Sunday

    Published: 00:04, 16 May 2021

    Eric Clapton has hit out at ‘propaganda’ over vaccine safety, claiming he suffered alarming side effects after his Covid jabs.

    The legendary guitarist, a lockdown sceptic, said his hands and feet became ‘useless’ – prompting fears he would never play again.

    In a message to his music producer, he said: ‘I took the first jab of AZ [AstraZeneca] and straight away had severe reactions which lasted ten days.’

    The 76-year-old said he ‘recovered eventually’ but suffered further ‘disastrous reactions’ six weeks later after the second shot.

    He added: ‘My hands and feet were either frozen, numb or burning, and pretty much useless for two weeks, I feared I would never play again…

    ‘I should never have gone near the needle.

    ‘But the propaganda said the vaccine was safe for everyone.’

    The musician, who has emphysema, ended his email to Italian music mogul Robin Monotti Graziadei, saying: ‘I’ve been a rebel all my life, against tyranny and arrogant authority, which is what we have now.’

    Clapton criticised the Government earlier this year in an anti-lockdown song called Stand And Deliver. The song was in collaboration with Van Morrison, who is also a critic of restrictions.

    https://todayuknews.com/uk-news/eric-clapton-hits-out-at-propaganda-over-vaccine-safety/

    1. Wait until Clapton finds out that the Indian variant is spreading in the UK and Astra-Zeneca is (likely?) only 10% effective against it.

      2. the Indian variant

        The so-called vaccines don’t appear to have been effective against our own myriad variants (nor the original) here either.

        1. Almost all of the people who are “getting” COVID after vaccination are only testing positive for virus; they aren’t showing symptoms. It’s also likely that the level of virus they have is below the threshold of being contagious. What these tests did was to simply catch the prepared immune system in the act — so to speak — of neutralizing the virus before it can significantly multiply. If that counts as “infected,” whatever. I’m probably infected with polio and measles every week.

        2. What Eric Clapton had to say should of been on the main stream news. It’s not informed consent when censorship of adverse reactions are suppressed.

          Saying that a vaccine is safe and effective when it’s a new technology that they don’t really know , is the most outrageous fraud and Medical overreach against humanity I have ever witnessed.

          It was bad enough that 250 thousand were dying per year in US, based on meds taken as percribed, as if that was acceptable.

          Did anybody think that a medical system that was corrupted by Rockefeller to begin with wouldn’t lead to being a Monopoly of Pharmacy being forced down peoples throats, without them having liability over a unjustified emergency Pandemic declared?
          And the evidence shows that this Monopoly didn’t produce better health for the sheep but a greater up tick on all diseases is evident.
          One of the best things that could come out of this is a audit and scrutiny of this Medical Industry once and for all, as well as the looting of Society .

          Its not even a sustainable Medical system based on the inflated costs that people are forced to pay , for these mysterious Pharmacy drugs , that haven’t proven to make Society healthier.
          Add to this that the food industry has been craming bad oils and junk food down the throats of people, while acting like the Pharmacy magic pills were the cure, is evident.
          I watched this insanity take on a life of its own, especially in the last 30 years. Now your not even allowed to have natural immune function against viruses , and they are going after young people who had almost no risk of this so called Covid.
          So, as long as you have the greatest advertiser owning the fake news, being Big Pharmacy, who has corrupted all Government protection agencies, your being denied facts to make a informed decision. Fear mongering , lock downs and stupid masks , isn’t following the Science. Fake tests for Covid and bribing medical system to be fraudulent about cause of deaths , is a outrage. But, its just shows you to the degree that Big Pharmacy is the biggest entity bribing , so as to loot the tax payers.
          The acceptance of this conflict of interest position by the biggest political lobbyists and biggest advertisers controlling Fake News is clear, being Big Pharmacy. . Reject, reject, reject.

    3. Via Twitter, Chelsea Handler is deaf in one ear 4 hours after her second Moderna jab.

  23. “That is Unconstitutional in My Point of View” – GOP Chair Elise Stefanik Speaks Out on Biden DOJ Attempting to Block Arizona Election Audit (VIDEO)

    By Jim Hoft
    Published May 16, 2021 at 9:58am
    671 Comments

    GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik joined Maria Bartiromo on FOX News Sunday this morning. This was her first interview with Maria since she was elected by House members on Friday to replace bitter Never-Trumper Liz Cheney in the position.

    During their discussion, Bartiromo asked Stefanik about her support for the ongoing Arizona Senate audit of the Maricopa County election. This was a bold question by Maria on a network that shuns discussing election fraud in the November 2020 election.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2021/05/unconstitutional-point-view-gop-chair-elise-stefanik-speaks-biden-doj-attempting-block-arizona-election-audit-video/

    2. Man, your Blondie video sent me down the rabbit hole and i didn’t make it out until after I hit 99 Luftballons. Although that Nena did posses many of the qualities coveted by the superficial male.

  25. Some pearl clutching over ending the Mask Mandates, from the Colorado Sun:

    https://coloradosun.com/2021/05/17/colorado-coronavirus-highest-case-rate-masks/

    Never mind that the absolute numbers are alling and a re far lower than at the peak. I guess Dumverites will voluntary wear 3 masks while taking a shower.

    The high rate of spread poses a problem even for people who have been vaccinated.

    It sure seems that you are far more likely to have side effects from the not vaccine than you are to actually receive any real protection from it.

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