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Folks Are Nervous And They’re Taking A Pause In Spite Of Having So Much Inventory In The Market

A report from Market Watch. “Rick Palacios Jr., research director at John Burns Real Estate Consulting, said that he’s seeing a surge in sellers shifting from sales to rentals in California. ‘Home prices have been falling for several months now in major California markets, and sellers realize that, so they may be inclined to switch,’ he told MarketWatch. Some of these homeowners were hoping to flip their house, but the cooling market is holding them back, he noted. ‘We know that investor transactions as a percentage of all home sales in places like Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego, Sacramento, San Jose, and San Francisco, are all around 20% to 30%,’ Palacios Jr. said.”

The World Property Journal. “According to the California Association of Realtors, housing demand in California cooled further in July 2022. California’s median home price declined 3.5 percent in July to $833,910 from the $863,790 recorded in June. ‘Home sales have taken a trouncing as the market has shifted in response to the recent surge in interest rates, and pending sales suggest that the market could remain soft in August,’ said C.A.R Chief Economist Jordan Levine.”

“Eleven counties recorded a dip in their median price from July of last year, with Tehama dropping the most at -19.3 percent, followed by San Francisco (-8.2 percent) and San Mateo (-6.9 percent). Forty-six of the 51 counties tracked by C.A.R. registered a year-over-year increase in active listings in July, compared to 44 counties in June. Five counties had triple-digit year-over-year gains in for-sale properties, with Yuba leading the pack with a growth rate at 169.8 percent, followed by Merced (157.0 percent) and Solano (129.5 percent).”

From Inside NOVA. “The median single-family home-sales price in Arlington at the end of the year is expected to be about 9 percent lower than in the heat of summer. The Northern Virginia Association of Realtors (NVAR) and Center for Regional Analysis at George Mason University are projecting a median sales price for single-family homes in Arlington of $1.11 million in December, which would be down from $1.22 million in June, which is expected to be the peak month for home prices in the county for 2022. In the townhome market, the median sales price projected for December is $821,111, well below the $920,250 recorded during the peak month of July.”

From Michigan Live. “A report by Moody Analytics found 210 metro areas were overvalued by 25% or more. Within that stat are 10 Michigan markets. Moody’s Analytics Deputy Chief Economist Cris deRitis is hesitant to call it a housing bubble, though. Instead he prefers ‘a housing correction.’ ‘A bubble, for me, implies a big pop,’ he said. ‘We are assuming that we have overvaluation. Home prices are going to slow but incomes are then going to slowly increase over time and kind of catch up with house prices. And that’s how this whole thing resolves.'”

“Those who bought in the last six months may be more at risk considering they bought in what now looks like the peak of home prices and they don’t have as much of a buffer in home appreciation over time. Home flippers may be more vulnerable in this market for the same reason, deRitis said. Sellers should take note and adjust their expectations, deRitis said. ‘I think it’s pretty clear that the sellers have to have realistic expectations,’ he said. ‘This idea of listing your home on a Thursday, selling it by Sunday with five different competing offers with escalation clauses, having your pick up bids. I think you need to reset.'”

The Aspen Daily News in Colorado. “In Denver, the largest metropolitan area close to the Aspen-Snowmass market, signs are emerging that market prices are softening, inventory is rising and the market is moving from a strong seller’s market toward a buyer’s market. This is happening across the country, with markets that showed the biggest price appreciation over the past two years leading the trend from seller’s to buyer’s markets. What does all this mean for owners, sellers and buyers in the Aspen-Snowmass area? This summer, we started seeing the first indications that the local real estate market is slowing. By the end of July, the number of sold listings had declined from last year by 38% in Aspen and 52% in Snowmass. We’re also seeing the number of listings increasing and price cuts on existing listings becoming the norm.”

The Denver Channel in Colorado. “Buyer’s now have the power in Denver’s housing market as home prices are falling and homes are staying in the market for longer, according to a monthly update from the Denver Metro Association of Realtors. About 6,939 active listings were reported for the month of August. The average closing price for a single-family home last month was $744.589, down 4.39% from July. Andrew Abrams, chairman of the DMAR Market Trends Committee said said people should expect more deals that contain a seller concession.”

“‘The advice for selling is: Do your research and understand what that research means. If a property is sitting on the market, even though it might be listed higher, it doesn’t mean someone wants it at that higher price, and so use that as an indicator of what’s too high,’ Abrams told Denver7. If you’re selling, he said, you have to base your price on the last 60 days not the last 6 months, or you’ll probably have to drop your price.”

Go Banking Rates. “Prospective homebuyers can breathe sighs of relief as home prices are finally on the way down. In fact, a new report by Realtor.com found that, from July to August, national home prices experienced their most significant month-to-month plunge in data history, dating back to 2016.”

The London Free Press in Canada. “Once white-hot London home sale prices have fallen for a sixth straight month in the face of rising interest rates, with the average selling price dropping by another $19,000 last month. Average selling prices went through the roof earlier this year, hitting a record $825,221 in February, but they’ve plunged by $177,000 over the last half-year as borrowing costs have risen with a recent run-up in interest rates and another rate hike expected Wednesday.”

“In the wider London market, the average resale price for homes slid to $648,000 in August and the number of sales fell by a whopping 35 per cent compared to the same month last year, the area realty board reported Tuesday. ‘I can tell you that folks are nervous’ said Randy Pawlowski, president of the London-St. Thomas Association of Realtors. ‘They’re cautious and they’re taking a pause in spite of having so much inventory in the market.”‘

The Financial Post. “Montreal is the latest Canadian city to report that its real estate markets slowed in August, with monthly data released by the Quebec Professional Association of Real Estate Brokers (QPAREB) revealing ‘several signs of weakness.’ The median price of a single-family home in the city in August was $525,000, down from $550,000 in July, the QPAREB data showed. Prices peaked in April at $580,000 and have tumbled a cumulative nine per cent since then.”

“Meanwhile, the rush to unload properties showed no signs of slowing down. Active listings rose year over year in the Montreal CMA, with single-family home listings up 58 per cent and overall listings increasing by 37 per cent over August 2021. There are now 13,715 listings available for sale. ‘The magnitude of the increase in mortgage interest rates is beginning to be reflected in a more incisive way,’ said Charles Brant, director of the QPAREB’s market analysis department.”

The Daily Mail on the UK. “A desirable London mansion overlooking iconic Regent’s Park has had £50million shaved off its asking price of £180m, signalling that even the top end of the capital’s housing market is feeling the impact of economic downturn. For ‘prime’ properties, the decline may already have begun. According to estate agent Savills, average prices in this tier in London are 17.6 per cent below their 2014 peak. ‘There are no Russians obviously, few Chinese and very few Arab buyers,’ said Andrew Langton, chair of Aylesford International, the company marketing York Terrace East alongside Savills.”

From The Print on India. “A stench of rot fills the air as one walks through the paths of Golden Apartment in north Delhi’s Narela, near the border with Haryana. There are signs of what could have been — tall buildings, green patches, paved paths. But the structures look abandoned, weeds sway in the unkempt gardens, and the roads are strewn with garbage. It’s also eerily quiet. The housing project in Narela’s Pocket 1-A was envisioned as a bustling township, but no one really wants to live here, and many who do, wish they didn’t.”

“‘Only about 600 flats out of 1,600 must be occupied. Many people wanted to surrender them after buying from the government, as amenities were bad, but couldn’t for some reason. They now regret it as they are not able to resell them,’ said Aman Kumar, a resident of Golden Apartment.”

Interest New Zealand. “Westpac economists don’t see any chance of an ‘excess’ of houses in Auckland, even with what they describe as ‘a massive number’ of new homes still being built in the city. Westpac’s senior economist Satish Ranchhod said that in addition to the increases in operating costs, house prices have been tumbling. ‘Prices have already fallen 8% from their peak, and we think that there are further declines yet to come. We’re forecasting that house prices will fall by a total of 15% over 2022 and 2023 combined.'”

The South China Morning Post. “China’s real estate assets are facing the risk of a protracted pricing decline, if Japan’s experience in dealing with its own property bubble and more than two decades of economic stagnation are anything to go by, analysts said. ‘It does look a little bit worrisome,’ said Alicia Garcia Herrero, chief Asia-Pacific economist with the French investment bank. ‘It’s well known that if you have very low prices, that feeds asset price inflation. It happened in Japan and it’s what can happen in China, given that China has been undergoing deflationary pressures for so many reasons. One is ageing, the other is the idea of bursting of the bubble. For me, it looks like asset prices will need to correct structurally, but especially real estate prices.'”

“In the 1980s, with the Japanese having excessive savings and an easy monetary policy, the population kept buying property. This led to a massive property bubble in the 1990s, as investors were speculating that property prices would keep rising. The ensuing bubble led to Japan’s ‘lost decade,’ when its economic growth stagnated and deflation was a consistent feature of the economy, according to Natixis. Chinese developers owed as much as U$5 trillion as of the second quarter of 2021, according to Japanese bank Nomura.”

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This Post Has 149 Comments

  1. ‘It happened in Japan and it’s what can happen in China, given that China has been undergoing deflationary pressures for so many reasons’

    I guess pouring 100 years of concrete in 3 is out of the question.

    1. “I guess pouring 100 years of concrete in 3 is out of the question.”

      – Options:
      1). Government “infrastructure’ spending financed with (more) debt. Building “bridges to nowhere.” Ends in economic collapse.
      2) Government Universal Basic Income (UBI), also financed with (more) debt. Nothing is produced (why work?). Also ends in economic collapse.
      3) Free markets, limited Government, and Adam Smith’s “invisible hand.” True capitalism with competition and anti-monopoly/ anti-trust rules (referee) is the only economic system that raises all boats, but too few opportunities for graft, corruption, and control.
      – Centrally -planned, command and control economies as enabled by central banks are doomed to fail. Think (former) USSR.
      – Deep global recession + social unrest dead ahead, IMHO.
      – Who is John Galt?

  2. ‘he’s seeing a surge in sellers shifting from sales to rentals in California. ‘Home prices have been falling for several months now in major California markets, and sellers realize that’

    That’s right boys and girls, hold yer ground. Don’t give it away.

      1. That house I was watching (Las Vegas) with the two little lions listed in May at $700K gradually went down to $450K pending, then back to for sale, then off-market. Looks like it’s empty (new pictures) so soon for rent.

  3. ‘Eleven counties recorded a dip in their median price from July of last year, with Tehama dropping the most at -19.3 percent, followed by San Francisco (-8.2 percent) and San Mateo (-6.9 percent).’

    via GIPHY

  6. A reader sent these in:

    When someone suggests the US is underbuilding adequate housing…ponder the impact of these two trends moving inversely. Perhaps the issue isn’t adequate units of housing…but too many $’s in the hands of too few accumulating too much housing.

    https://twitter.com/Econimica/status/1566282513533865984

    The models are broken
    The models are shot
    What was always a bubble
    Is beginning to rot

    It’s not for inflation
    It’s no divine gift
    It’s what all bubbles are
    Hype, wrapped up in grift

    Cling to the faith
    Chant “have fun staying poor!”
    Or preserve what remains
    And head for the door

    https://twitter.com/coloradotravis/status/1567305341607776256

    Peter Schiff

    The yield on the 30-year U.S. Treasury Bond just hit 3.5%, its highest since June of 2014. The next major residence is the June 2007 high of 5.4%. The scary part is that once that high is taken out, which may occur soon, yields could easily spike to retest the 1981 high of 14.8%!

    https://twitter.com/PeterSchiff/status/1567253601898168328

    *TREASURY 30-YEAR YIELD RISES TO HIGHEST LEVEL SINCE 2014
    Mortgage rates will surge

    https://twitter.com/AlessioUrban/status/1567250113570938881

    German mortgage rate sub 1% drove a massive real estate bubble making Munich property more expensive than London 👇 The moment of reckoning is getting closer.

    https://twitter.com/MichaelAArouet/status/1567173231412404224

    How bad is San Francisco real estate?

    Wells Fargo, the city’s second-largest private employer, listed its HQ for sale and the closest bid was 70% below its 2019 estimated value.

    Risk happens fast.

    https://twitter.com/StephenPunwasi/status/1566960549979635715

    1. “The scary part is that once that high is taken out, which may occur soon, yields could easily spike to retest the 1981 high of 14.8%!”

      The other scary part is that even at 5.4%, the real yield is deeply negative and well below the recent level of inflation.

      1. The other scary part is

        Most business, people and countries run on debt, not capital. Double interest rates and cascading defaults are baked in.

    2. When I hear “there’s not enough housing,” I always remember that image from Rio de Janeiro (?) of spotless expensive apartment flats surrounded by slums.

    2. People in lockdown have a hard time organizing protests to complain about their real estate investing losses.

  8. Some of these homeowners were hoping to flip their house, but the cooling market is holding them back, he noted.

    Die, speculator scum.

  9. ‘Home sales have taken a trouncing as the market has shifted in response to the recent surge in interest rates, and pending sales suggest that the market could remain soft in August,’ said C.A.R Chief Economist Jordan Levine.”

    I’m nobody’s chief economist, but I see the trains to Schlongville pulling in to all the stations.

  10. “Eleven counties recorded a dip in their median price from July of last year, with Tehama dropping the most at -19.3 percent, followed by San Francisco (-8.2 percent) and San Mateo (-6.9 percent).

    Is that a lot?

  11. Moody’s Analytics Deputy Chief Economist Cris deRitis is hesitant to call it a housing bubble, though. Instead he prefers ‘a housing correction.’ ‘A bubble, for me, implies a big pop,’ he said. ‘

    Ah, Moody’s – the same asshats that gave AAA ratings to MBSs packed with toxic-waste subprime garbage before Housing Bubble 1.0 imploded.

  12. Home flippers may be more vulnerable in this market for the same reason, deRitis said.

    Gosh, I hope no one vulners them.

  13. If you’re selling, he said, you have to base your price on the last 60 days not the last 6 months, or you’ll probably have to drop your price.”

    Bad advice from a lying realtor (redundant). Base your price on the next 60 days, because this is as good as it gets before the Fed’s Everything Bubble bursts and the bottom drops out of the housing market.

  14. “Once white-hot London home sale prices have fallen for a sixth straight month in the face of rising interest rates, with the average selling price dropping by another $19,000 last month.

    First-time buyers who levered up on debt to get up on that housing ladder are well and truly buggered. The UK is heading into its worst socioeconomic crisis ever with the clueless globalist stooge Liz Truss at the helm – the wipeout of fake wealth created by fake money is going to be downright Biblical.

      1. All the bitcoin miners in California have backup generators, right? What about in Europe? How much is it going to cost to mine bitcoin this winter over there? Interestingly, I don’t see anyone discussing this. My guess is that Europe is essentially going offline which should create significant weakness in crypto. Sad!

  15. The 2020 election was stolen.

    January 6th is a joke, and Joe Biden will NEVER be the legitimately elected president of the United States.

    1. I have it on good authority that you are often spotted driving around Denver in your Prius sporting a KN-95 mask, and you’ve changed your FB profile pic to a blue and yellow Ukrainian flag.

  16. The Daily Mail on the UK. “A desirable London mansion overlooking iconic Regent’s Park has had £50million shaved off its asking price of £180m, signalling that even the top end of the capital’s housing market is feeling the impact of economic downturn.

    While globalist media will never admit it, it isn’t just the economic downturn impacting London mansion prices. It’s the targeted robberies of the wealthy being carried out by increasingly vicious and brazen gangs of globalist imports, undeterred by “woke” policing, with the worst yet to come.

    1. Larry Ellison owns several mansions in the US, but from what I have heard these days he never leaves his private island.

      2. wierd – the alert was supposed to end at 8PM.

        How did the authority pick Santa Clara to seek brownouts and not say San Fran?


        California’s grid operator issued a Stage 3 energy emergency alert (EEA) at 5:17 p.m. PST on Sept. 6, warning it would order rotating power outages to lower soaring power demand and stabilize its grid, if necessary.

        The California Independent System Operator (CAISO) cautiously raised the emergency alert from Stage 2, which it had declared earlier on Tuesday, based on forecasts that the state faced energy deficiency with all available resources in use until 8 p.m. PST. While the EEA 2 alert signaled to grid participants to bid more energy into the market and opened emergency demand response options, the grid operator on Tuesday evening warned that a historic heat wave was compounding tight supply conditions.

        An EEA 3 alert means that the ISO is unable to meet minimum contingency reserve requirements. “Maximum conservation efforts are urged,” CAISO said in its EEA 3 notice. “During this time, participating customers will be directed by utilities to use generators approved for emergencies, or to reduce load following the protocols of each utility program.”

        1. How did the authority pick Santa Clara to seek brownouts and not say San Fran?

          A 20 degree temperature difference?

          1. wierd – the alert was supposed to end at 8PM.

            My understanding is that power is back, but that the lab is still offline. Not sure why, there has been no blast-o-gram saying when they expect to bring the labs back. Perhaps there is concern of another blackout? Why go through all the gyrations of bringing the labs back online if the power will be cut again?

          2. Looks like I was right. There was another power outage scheduled (and it’s already begun). So they didn’t bother to bring the lab back online today. Hopefully tomorrow.

    2. Strange coincidence that when the last tech bust hit Silicon Valley there were rolling blackouts every night. They blamed it on Enron but who knows.

      The best part of tech bust 1 was that I could get a kick a$$ hotel room for $79 a night. The year before I refused to travel to SV because the “hotels” that my company could afford to pay for were basically squats that cost $249 a night. I never have any sympathy for California. I lived there for over five years and I know that they bring it upon themselves by electing “progressives.” California, uber alles…

    1. It’s over a year’s time, but still a pretty large drop.

      It’s been a good year to HODL dollars…

  22. With California facing an electricity shortage, I am grateful to own a gasoline powered automobile.

    1. Environment ·electric vehicles
      California is the first state to make electric cars mandatory. Now it’s telling owners not to charge them
      BY Alena Botros
      September 1, 2022 at 4:16 PM PDT
      A person charges a Tesla Inc. vehicle at a charging station in San Mateo, California.
      California asks EV owners to limit charging amid heat wave.
      David Paul Morris—Bloomberg via Getty Images

      California approved a plan last week to end the sale of new gasoline-powered cars by 2035, making it the first state to try to switch exclusively to electric and other zero-emission vehicles.

      But now state officials are telling drivers not to charge their electric cars during the upcoming Labor Day weekend, when temperatures are expected to hit triple digits for millions of residents, putting a strain on the power grid.

      This week, the California Independent System Operator, which oversees the state’s flow of electricity, urged residents to avoid charging their electric vehicles over the long weekend, particularly from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. That’s when the state’s power grid experiences the highest demand as residents turn on their air conditioning and solar energy production declines as the sun goes down.
      …
      https://fortune.com/2022/09/01/california-electric-cars-charge-newsom/

        1. I am Governor “Gavin” Brown
          My aura smiles
          And never frowns
          Soon I will be president …

          Carter power will soon go away
          I will be Fuhrer one day
          I will command all of you
          Your kids will meditate in school

          California Uber Alles
          Uber Alles California

    2. As 2035 approaches I wonder if Californians with the means will purchase extra ICE cars to stash away? Of course the California gooberment can make gasoline scarce with a few bills and executive orders.

      1. What if you buy an ICE car out of state and bring it in? What if you relocate from another state and want to bring your ICE car with you?

        1. I think they won’t allow registering any 2035 or later ICE cars, regardless of origin. So, if you were to move to Clownifornia and you have a 2035 or newer car, I would guess you would not be allowed to register it.

          1. “…not be allowed to register it….”

            Unless law is amended that allows owner pays a very high “special use tax” which, of course, means more $$$$ for gov’t pensions and whatever projects.

            At least here in California, if you have got the big bucks, you can pretty much do anything you want.

      2. “….As 2035 approaches I wonder if Californians with the means will purchase extra ICE cars to stash away?…”

        Yes, I believe so. It’s actually pretty cheap insurance.

        A good, solid, well engineered truck, *properly maintained* can last a very long time.

        I have a 2003 Chev S10 with 265K miles and it runs like a top. Secret is to be on top of LOF and routine maintenance. Have had *no* major issues. Only a few minor ones, (like having to replace battery 4 times in 19 years, which I suppose is to be expected).

  23. “UN Education Agency Launches War On ‘Conspiracy Theories'”

    https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/un-education-agency-launches-war-conspiracy-theories

    (snip snip snip)

    The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, better known by its acronym, UNESCO, is escalating its global war on ideas and information it considers to be “misinformation” and “conspiracy theories.”

    According to the Paris-based U.N. education agency, which released a major report on the subject for educators this summer, conspiracy theories cause “significant harm” and form “the backbone of many populist movements.”

    Among other concerns, conspiracy theories “foster and reinforce harmful thinking patterns and exclusive worldviews,” the report said.

    They also “reduce trust in public institutions” and “scientific institutions,” which can drive people to violence or decrease their desire to “reduce their carbon footprint,” UN officials argued in the document.

    While “all conspiratorial thinking threatens human rights values,” the document says without elaborating, some conspiracy theories are more dangerous than others.

    In some cases, teachers are even encouraged to report their students to authorities.

    Examples of “conspiracy theories” cited in the report include everything from widely held and respectable beliefs such as “climate change denial” and “manipulation of federal elections” in the United States, to more far-fetched notions such as the “earth is flat” or “Michelle Obama is actually a lizard.”

    “There are plenty of crazy thoughts on the Internet, many of which are patently false,” explained Citizens for Free Speech Director Patrick Wood. “The only thoughts being ‘corrected’ are those contrary to the globalist narrative. This proves that the focus is on protecting their own narratives and nothing else.”

    “UNESCO joins a censorship cartel that now includes the European Union, the U.S. government, the World Economic Forum, social media giants like Facebook and Twitter, and notably, Google,” Wood told The Epoch Times. “Anyone who does not parrot the globalist narrative is by default considered to be a ‘conspiracy theorist.’”

    At the heart of the global program to combat these ideas and theories are teachers and schools, according to the U.N. agency. Also central is the battle online and in the media, UNESCO documents explain.

    The latest strategy was unveiled at UNESCO’s “International Symposium on Addressing Conspiracy Theories through Education.” Held in late June in Brussels, the summit brought together academia, governments, civil society, and the private sector to promote “joint action” against conspiracy theories and those who believe or spread them.

    The plan includes strategies to prevent people from believing in conspiracy theories in the first place as well as tools for dealing with those who already believe them.

    Several experts on propaganda and free speech, however, warned that the U.N. effort represents a “dangerous” escalation in what they portrayed as a global war on free speech, free expression, questioning official narratives, and dissent more broadly.

    “What they mean by ‘conspiracy theory’ is any claim or argument or evidence that differs from the propaganda pumped out by the government and media,” warned New York University Professor of Media Studies Mark Crispin Miller, who studies propaganda and government misinformation.

    “I can’t think of anything more dangerous to free speech and free thought—and, therefore, democracy—than this effort by the U.N., which has no business telling us what’s true and what is not,” Miller told The Epoch Times. “That distinction is not theirs to make, but ours, as free people capable of thinking for ourselves, and unafraid of civil argument.”

    The Global War on Conspiracy Theories
    Official efforts to clamp down on “conspiracy theories” and “misinformation” are not new. In fact, Western governments—including the U.S. government—have for years been leading the charge.

    In 2010, the U.S. State Department, with help from its “Counter Misinformation Team,” published “Conspiracy Theories and Misinformation” on America.gov claiming to debunk various “conspiracy theories.”

    More recently, the Biden administration has also turned its focus to “conspiracy theories.” Last year, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security repeatedly suggested that belief in widespread voter fraud or alternative views on COVID-19 and public health measures represented a major terrorism threat to the United States.

    While the Biden administration’s proposed “Disinformation Governance Board” appears to have been shelved for now following a public outcry, the U.S. government has been working closely with technology giants to suppress speech surrounding election fraud, Hunter Biden’s laptop, alternative views on COVID-19, and more.

    National Public Radio, a tax-funded operation, has published numerous pieces over the last month echoing UNESCO’s talking points about the alleged danger and prevalence of conspiracy theories in schools and beyond.

    Outgoing senior health official Dr. Anthony Fauci has chimed in recently, too. “What we’re dealing with now is just a distortion of reality, conspiracy theories which don’t make any sense at all pushing back on sound public health measures, making it look like trying to save lives is encroaching on people’s freedom,” he said on MSNBC’s “The Rachel Maddow Show” on Aug. 22.

    The World Economic Forum, which has become a lightning rod for criticism around the world over its “Great Reset” agenda, is also working to counter ideas it labels misinformation and conspiracy theories.

    “Key to stopping the spread of conspiracy theories is educating people to be on the lookout for misleading information—and teaching them to be suspicious of certain sources,” senior WEF writer Charlotte Edmond wrote two years ago in a piece for the organization’s website.

    The U.N. has been central to the global effort. Indeed, the new program is actually an extension of a 2020 initiative by UNESCO and the European Commission dubbed #ThinkBeforeSharing to combat conspiracy theories online.

    That effort included urging citizens to post links to fact-checking services and even report journalists who may be engaged in conspiracy theorizing to “your local/national press council or press ombudsperson.”

    In an October 2020 World Economic Forum podcast on “Seeking a cure for the infodemic,” U.N. global communications chief Melissa Fleming boasts of having enlisted over 100,000 volunteers to amplify the U.N.’s views and squelch competing narratives.

    “So far, we’ve recruited 110,000 information volunteers, and we equip these information volunteers with the kind of knowledge about how misinformation spreads and ask them to serve as kind of ‘digital first-responders’ in those spaces where misinformation travels,” the U.N. communications chief said.

    The revelation came after years of U.N. and governmental efforts to quash what it describes as extremism, misinformation, and more on the internet. In 2016, the U.N. Security Council launched a “framework” to fight “extremism” online on the heels of a program from the previous year to battle “ideologies” that could lead to violence.

    But the fresh UNESCO efforts in education signal a dramatic escalation in the battle—especially in the targeting of school children.

    Combating ‘Conspiracy Theories’ at School
    Education and schools are at the center of the new UNESCO plan to combat conspiracy theories.

    “The fight against conspiracy theories, and the antisemitic and racist ideologies they often convey, begins at school, yet teachers worldwide lack the adequate training,” said UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay about the new effort. “That is why today, UNESCO is launching a practical guide for educators, so they can better teach students how to identify and debunk conspiracy theories.”

    Beyond working through education, the U.N. agency also hopes to expand its efforts to combat the spread of what it refers to as conspiracy theories in the realms of press and social media.

    “This builds on the wider work we’re doing to strengthen media and information literacy to better prepare learners to navigate a world of algorithms, artificial intelligence and invasive data collection,” added Azoulay, who served in the French government as a member of the Socialist Party before taking over the UN education organization.

    The UN strategy for fighting conspiracy theories in education lists a number of major objectives for educators.

    These include teaching teachers how to “identify and dismantle conspiracy theories,” how to develop students’ “resilience to conspiracy theories,” and how to tell the difference between a “real conspiracy” and a “conspiracy theory.”

    One of the ways offered for educators to determine the veracity of information is to check fact-checking services, which have come under repeated criticism in recent years for being highly politicized and often inaccurate. Many of the services are funded by individuals, such as billionaire founder of Microsoft Bill Gates, who UNESCO says are frequently the target of conspiracy theories.

    The document also contains multiple strategies for combating conspiracy theories. To fight “harmful information” among students, for example, UNESCO urges teachers to engage in what the agency describes as “prebunking.”

    “Prebunking is also sometimes called ‘inoculation,’” the report reads. “Psychologists have proven that weakened forms of harmful information, carefully introduced and framed, can help to strengthen the resilience against wider harmful messages, much like a vaccine.”

    When students believe in ideas because of parental influence, teachers are instructed to seek help from school officials and consider a “mediated conversation with parents.”

    If a student were to express concerns about the COVID-19 vaccine, teachers are instructed to “state that the vaccine has been scientifically proven to be safe” and “that it is important to get vaccinated to curb the pandemic.”

    It was not immediately clear whether the relevant section of the UNESCO document was written before public health authorities in the United States and around the world began acknowledging that the COVID-19 injections do not prevent infection from or transmission of the CCP virus that causes COVID-19.

    In some cases where conspiracy theories involve alleged hate or discrimination, teachers are urged to consider reporting students to “safeguarding authorities or safeguarding officers.”

    What Is a Conspiracy Theory?
    The document, titled “Addressing conspiracy theories – what teachers need to know,” defines a conspiracy theory as: “The belief that events are being secretly manipulated by powerful forces with negative intent. Typically, conspiracy theories involve an imagined group of conspirators colluding to implement an alleged secret plot.”

    The UNESCO report moves on to offer warnings about, and definitions for, misinformation, disinformation, hate speech, and fake news.

    One term that is not defined in the document, however, is the word “conspiracy” itself. Most dictionaries define it as an illegal or immoral plot carried out in secret involving two or more individuals. State and federal law-enforcement authorities charge large numbers of people with the crime of “conspiracy” each year.

    In its short guide for telling the difference between “real” conspiracies and mere “theories,” the U.N. report divides the thinking into two broad categories.

    The first, dubbed “conventional thinking” in the UNESCO document, uses Watergate as an example of a real conspiracy uncovered by following evidence and having “healthy” skepticism.

    The other mode of thinking, labeled “conspiratorial thinking,” features a “birds aren’t real” theory that concludes birds are robots spying on people and the government creates replica eggs to cover it all up. This conclusion is reached as a result of “overriding suspicion” and “over interpreting evidence,” UNESCO said.

    In the real world, experts say the line between conspiracy theory and conspiracy fact is far less obvious.

    According to a 2020 YouGov-Cambridge Globalism poll cited in the UNESCO document, strong majorities believe in overarching “conspiracy theories” in many nations. Almost eight in 10 Nigerians, for example, said they believed in “a single group of people who controlled world events.” Almost six out of 10 Mexicans, 56 percent of Greeks and 55 percent of Egyptians believed that, too, the poll showed.

    One of the reports at the center of the new UNESCO effort, “The Conspiracy Theory Handbook” by Stephan Lewandowsky and John Cook, also acknowledges that conspiracies exist and are not uncommon.

    “Real conspiracies do exist,” the report admits at the start. “Volkswagen conspired to cheat emissions tests for their diesel engines. The U.S. National Security Agency secretly spied on civilian internet users. The tobacco industry deceived the public about the harmful health effects of smoking. We know about these conspiracies through internal industry documents, government investigations, or whistleblowers.”

    The U.N. documents also outline various reasons why people believe in conspiracy theories. These include feelings of powerlessness, coping mechanisms for handling uncertainty, or seeking to claim minority status. Evidence is not listed as a reason why people might believe in a conspiracy theory.

    One of the “case studies” listed in the UNESCO document refers to Mikki Willis’s documentary “Plandemic.” Among other points, the film and the experts who are interviewed argue that COVID-19 may have been created in a laboratory for sinister purposes.

    Reached by The Epoch Times, Willis slammed the U.N. and its effort to “indoctrinate” people.

    “When I hear that the U.N. is now directing its indoctrination towards teachers, I become concerned about the well-being of our future generations,” he said, adding that the U.N.’s attack on “conspiracy theories” was an effort to stop the truth.

    “The fact that they continue to use my film series as an example of what they’re fighting against says everything we need to know,” continued Willis, saying the vast majority of scientists now agree with key points in his film and yet “propagandists” keep trying to “perpetuate the lies.”

    Critics Sound the Alarm
    Multiple experts in the field of propaganda warned The Epoch Times that the UNESCO initiative was a major threat to free expression.

    Organisation for Propaganda Studies Co-Director Piers Robinson said these kinds of developments are “extremely dangerous.”

    “Basic principles of freedom of expression remind us that, because we can never be sure who is right and who is wrong, all ideas and arguments need to be evaluated through a process of rational scrutiny and debate,” Robinson told The Epoch Times. “Censoring arguments and opinions believed to be wrong means we risk censoring the truth.”

    Explaining that these dangers have long been understood, Robinson quoted the great 19th-century British philosopher John Stuart Mill.

    “First: the opinion which it is attempted to suppress by authority may possibly be true. Those who desire to suppress it, of course deny its truth; but they are not infallible,” Mill said. “All silencing of discussion is an assumption of infallibility.”

    Robinson, who also serves as co-editor of Propaganda in Focus and sits on the executive committee of Pandemics Data & Analytics (PANDATA.org), also cautioned that powerful actors with large budgets would likely be involved in deciding what is true and not.

    “This means allowing powerful actors to define reality and, as history shows, they will define reality in a way that serves their own interests,” he said. “This is all contradictory to democracy and, of course, the reason why freedom of expression is understood to be so important: we must be free to scrutinize and criticize those in power in order to guard against tyranny and abuse of power.”

    Robinson also blasted the use of the term “conspiracy theory” as “deeply problematic,” saying it was a term often used to shut down discussion on serious issues and questions about powerful actors.

    “If we value democracy and the ideas of freedom of expression and rational debate, UNESCO could do useful work on helping people of the world to think for themselves, and develop their own critical skills,” he concluded. “They should not be in the business of telling people what to think.”

    Another expert on propaganda, environmental political theory Professor Tim Hayward at the University of Edinburgh, also warned that efforts to demonize and silence “conspiracy theories” was really an effort to pathologize dissent and inconvenient lines of questioning.

    “Instead of reasoned arguments put forward by critics and dissidents being met with proper consideration and rebuttal, they are just dismissed out of hand; and the critics themselves are smeared with the name conspiracy theorists,” warned Hayward, who has written a number of peer-reviewed academic papers on the subject in recent years.

    “Worse, of course, is that the general denigration of dissent is used to whip up moral panic about ‘disinformation’ and to try and justify increased censorship,” he added.

    Hayward views the focus on education to combat “conspiracy theories” as particularly concerning.

    “It is truly worrying when those responsible for the strategic communications challenged by dissidents get to infiltrate education systems and implant prejudices in favor of ‘official stories’ which are only official because they are backed by political authority rather than actual epistemic authority,” he said.

    While Hayward cautioned that he was not necessarily accusing UNESCO of doing this, he warned that the organization and its programs needed to be watched as this was a troubling trend.

    It would be better to teach children “the fundamentals of critical reasoning” so they can detect falsehoods on their own, he told The Epoch Times.

    “You cannot reasonably identify disinformation or reject a ‘conspiracy theory’ unless you have a robust and defensible grip on what is reliable information,” he said, calling for “logical thinking” and “broad knowledge” to help people guard against disinformation from adversaries or even their own leaders. “That should be the focus of education.”

    Truth or Misinformation?
    The fresh push to quash “misinformation” and “conspiracy theories” online comes as the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other federal agencies increasingly admit that much of what was labeled false during the pandemic turned out to be correct.

    3. Marxist infiltration.

      What is JEDI and Why It’s Important in the Poway Unified School District

      The Poway Unified School District (PUSD) was forced to look closely at racism in our classrooms. They developed a Comprehensive Plan for Racial Equity and Inclusion, began holding Community Conversations, and hired a Director of Equity and Inclusion.

      At the same time, the Palomar Council PTA established a Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (JEDI) Chair position on their board. I stepped into that role a year ago. For me, becoming involved in this work has been a slow, inevitable pull, after moving to San Diego from Asia where I spent several years working with the United Nations. This work gives me purpose because it is urgent and important; my children and yours are waiting for us.

      1. “The Poway Unified School District (PUSD) was forced to look closely at racism in our classrooms.”

        Who is doing the forcing?

        I didn’t realize that Poway, the crown jewel of San Diego County, had barrio and ghetto issues, e.g., single moms with childrens [sic] from multiple tattooed baby daddies, who are demanding Racial Equity and Inclusion? 🙂

        1. If you look at a map of Poway, Twin Peaks Rd is essentially the Mason-Dixon line with all the connotations that go with it. IIRC, there’s low income housing across from Walmart.

          3. What’s PUSD’s demographic make up? Up here, we’re definitely majority minority; my son’s school is probably 40% Chinese, 40% Indian, 20% other.

            And craptastic 1950’s flat tops are >$1M, but last time I checked, ~ 1/3 of SFH/TH/Condo had a price reduction, with a few > $200K, so hopefully RE prices will go down faster than last time.

          4. According to US News & World Report:

            The district’s minority enrollment is 60%. Also, 10.2% of students are economically disadvantaged.

            The student body at the schools served by Poway Unified School District is 40.6% White, 1.7% Black, 28.6% Asian or Asian/Pacific Islander, 17.3% Hispanic/Latino, 0.1% American Indian or Alaska Native, and 0.2% Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander. In addition, 11.5% of students are two or more races, and 0% have not specified their race or ethnicity.

            Also, 48% of students are female, and 52% of students are male. At schools in Poway Unified School District, 10.2% of students are eligible to participate in the federal free and reduced price meal program and 16.2% of students are English language learners.

          5. So I’m trying to figure what is PUSD’s serious racism problem? Anti-black? (BTW, I wonder how many of that 1.7% black is African-American, and how much African born or 2nd gen African). Anti-Asian? Anti-Mexican? Anti-White? Or, most likely, just looking for racism to support their ideology.

            From what my kids say, racism isn’t a serious problem in the schools. Heck, even in the 1980’s in NE FL, racism wasn’t a big problem (sure, I saw some, both ways, but nothing major).

        2. Poway grew from a sleepy exurb into one of the most desirable places to live in San Diego county in large part because of its schools.

          2. I think the original value proposition for Poway is that it was “affordable” for the upper middle class and there was little to no riff-raff. It’s true, La Jolla is where the “people who matter” live, so it is the crown jewel of San Diego County. But back in the day I knew more than a few people who thought they were very special because they were moving to Poway.

        1. I refused to move to Poway in 1989. It was a stark contrast to the Bel Air all girls school I’d been attending. Apparently, my grandparents looked at buying a home in our now neighborhood in the 1960s.

          1. IIRC, Poway’s motto was “Country Living”. An HP coworker who grew up on a farm mocked that motto. His words: “You don’t live in the country, you live in town!”

    4. “a censorship cartel that now includes the European Union, the U.S. government, the World Economic Forum, social media giants like Facebook and Twitter, and notably, Google”

      The 2020 election was stolen, COVID vaccines are poison, there are only two genders, and unlimited third world immigration to Europe and the United States is by design, intended to replace and exterminate their white Christian popultions.

      F* the UN. Aim for the blue helmets.

      1. If poisoning Citizens by fake vaccines wasn’t bad enough, now take energy and food, for round two of crimes against the Worlds populations. Death by famine and freezing, more destruction of small business. .
        There can be no other explanation for sabotage of energy, food and health than the One World Order/ Great Reset Terrorist Cult take over with the Dictorship they want to force.
        They have written that they want to transfer populations to 5 main city like centers in US, so people aren’t spread out.
        Sounds like overly populated prisons to me.
        Humans treated like cattle in small spaces, eating bugs , injected and hacked..
        They got to be stopped, convicted and all the money they looted given back to the World they stole it from.

        1. If poisoning Citizens by fake vaccines wasn’t bad enough, now take energy and food, for round two of crimes against the Worlds populations. Death by famine and freezing, more destruction of small business.

          The scamdemic was just the pregame show, the warm up. It revealed what portion of the population was easy to manipulate and scare. Now it’s warmism: which will be their excuse to starve us, ration energy to us with an eye dropper and make most, if not all the trappings of a first world lifestyle unaffordable for the masses. And for those in the third world: starvation.

          1. This heat is going to finish off my struggling strawberries. I rescued them from a May heatwave but I think they’re done this time for good despite shade cloth and two waterings a day.

  24. “…he’s seeing a surge in sellers shifting from sales to rentals in California. ‘Home prices have been falling for several months now in major California markets, and sellers realize that, so they may be inclined to switch,’…”

    Should be plenty of rentals available by when our lease is up at year-end 2023.

  25. Biden represents the One World Order Terrorist Cult , that has a extreme agenda of taking over the US and other World Countries. Biden promotes the One World Order, build back better, Great Reset , takeover. .
    Every act and policy coming from the White House is not the “Soul of this Nation”, but rather the bizarre intent of this small group of Mega Money and Mega Corporations, that wants to enslave, deprive, and kill populations of the World.
    Its has to be a One World Order because you can’t have even one example of a capitalist Sovereign State that has borders.
    One centralized power that Dictates the governance of billions of people.

    False premise emergencies like Climate Change, pandemics, war, to deprive the populations of food , fuel, freedoms, to force the Stakeholders Dictorship.
    A medical tyranny of the likes we have never seen , by capture of FDA , CDC, WHO, etc that works in collusion with fake news, Big Pharmacy and White House that captured medical system to get a fake vaccine in every arm.
    Open border invasion , that the fake President thinks is the Soul of the Nation.
    Young school children being sexualized and groomed with the transgender assault and brainwashing of Marxism, CRT, and open discrimination and self loathing if your White. A captured school system.

    You have to freeze or starve because the ridicules Climate Change existential threat not proven is grounds to deprive and kill.
    You will own nothing, eat bugs , be deprived, enslaved, forced medical injections, and hacked and under surveillance, against your will. Dr Harari barks “free will is over” and useless eaters aren’t really needed.

    The question for me is what are they going to do to rig the 2022 midterm ?

      1. Planned Parenthood working with a school district on a sex-ed training module. Aborted fetuses are BIG bucks.

        San Diego schools enlist Paula the Penis as part of gender-identity instruction

        Paula performs her signature “penis pirouette” for students in her transgender tutu. “Some people will say that my presence is ‘inappropriate,’” says Paula. “But that’s only because of a cisgendered, heteronormative, biologically obsessed worldview that still fails to realize that biology does not equal gender does not equal sexuality. Severing the false connection between those things is a big part of my work, which is why it’s so crucial that I be able to reach people when they’re still young enough to hear my message.”

        Last week, conservative social activist Christopher Rufo — who attracted national attention with his crusade against Critical Race Theory in public school curricula before pivoting to what he terms “radical gender theory” — published a report on San Diego Unified documents that outline an effort to, in his words, “dismantle ‘heternormativity’ and break the ‘gender binary.’” Part of that effort included a sex-ed training module produced jointly between San Diego Unified and Planned Parenthood that advised teachers to call biological males “people with a penis,” because, says Rufo, “according to the district, some women can have penises.”

        “That’s where I come in,” says Paula the Penis, a biological female who regularly dons an inflatable penis costume and performs for schoolchildren all over California. “Though I was assigned a sex – female – at birth by a gender-binary-dominated societal structure, and though there is a powerful cultural association with being female and not having a penis, by putting on this costume, I can become a person with a penis, no matter my sex, or gender, or sexuality. I’m a walking, talking visual aid, doing my part to take the trauma out of childhood.”

      1. There are a lot of plusses to being a RINO:
        -You get invited to Dem parties.
        -When you retire you get to give paid speeches and serve on corporate boards.
        -You can leave your home without being harrassed by Dem Red Guards.
        -You get appointed to committees, but don’t have to do any actual work.

      2. “I guess you have to be a member to see that.”

        No you don’t, scroll down slowly and just bellow the 3rd comment click… show more replies

        and you’re looking at Podesta’s art collection.

    2. Biden plans to bring in one of Washington’s biggest swamp creatures to help him allocate funds for climate change and green energy: John Podesta.

      This will be a feeding frenzy of grift and embezzlement. A lot of people are going to become billionaires. Many more will become mult-millionaires.

      Meanwhile, the blackouts will continue.

  30. Impact of interest rate hike on homeowners and buyers
    CP24
    Sep 7, 2022 It will be more expensive to borrow money after the Bank of Canada raised its benchmark rate for the fifth time this year. For more on how this is going to effect the housing market, Phil Soper,President and CEO of Royal LePage joins CP24

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

    3:50.

  31. First-time homebuyers are being hurt the most amid rising rates: Broker Nasma Ali
    BNN Bloomberg
    Sep 7, 2022 Nasma Ali, broker and founder of One Group, joins BNN Bloomberg to discuss the housing market after the latest BoC interest rate decision. Ali says this hike will impact all players in the housing market, seeing investors’ plans being put on hold.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2bDYctGHoI

    5:46. Says some shacks (Toronto I think) are selling at 2020 to 2017 levels. I wonder if she means the 2017 parabolic peak or decline? Either way it’s ouch.

  33. With Energy Grid Unreliable, Governor Newsom Announces All Cars To

    Be Wind-Up By 2035
    Aug 31, 2022 ·
    BabylonBee.com

    SACRAMENTO, CA — Governor Gavin Newsom announced Wednesday that he would be requiring all cars in the state of California to be fully wind-up by 2035. Experts agree that wind-up vehicles will put less strain on the state’s weak power grid and help cut back on childhood obesity.

    “I heard on the news that our state’s electrical infrastructure cannot support millions of people charging their electric vehicles simultaneously,” said a concerned Newsom. “Losing electricity at my winery is the last thing I want, so I’ve decided to alter the plan. New vehicles will no longer have to be electric.”

    “Instead,” he continued, “all Californians will need to drive wind-up cars. Only then can we be truly independent of both gas and electricity.”

    “Because it’s kind of hot during the summer,” he added.

    https://babylonbee.com/news/with-energy-grid-unreliable-governor-newsom-announces-all-cars-to-be-wind-up-by-2035

    2. Wind-up cars. A flywheel-driven car would be a type of wind-up car.

      Go here …

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flywheel_energy_storage#Transportation

      (here is a snip)

      Transportation
      Automotive
      In the 1950s, flywheel-powered buses, known as gyrobuses, were used in Yverdon (Switzerland) and Ghent (Belgium) and there is ongoing research to make flywheel systems that are smaller, lighter, cheaper and have a greater capacity. It is hoped that flywheel systems can replace conventional chemical batteries for mobile applications, such as for electric vehicles. Proposed flywheel systems would eliminate many of the disadvantages of existing battery power systems, such as low capacity, long charge times, heavy weight and short usable lifetimes. Flywheels may have been used in the experimental Chrysler Patriot, though that has been disputed.[20]

      Flywheels have also been proposed for use in continuously variable transmissions. Punch Powertrain is currently working on such a device.[21]

      During the 1990s, Rosen Motors developed a gas turbine powered series hybrid automotive powertrain using a 55,000 rpm flywheel to provide bursts of acceleration which the small gas turbine engine could not provide. The flywheel also stored energy through regenerative braking. The flywheel was composed of a titanium hub with a carbon fiber cylinder and was gimbal-mounted to minimize adverse gyroscopic effects on vehicle handling. The prototype vehicle was successfully road tested in 1997 but was never mass-produced.[22]

      In 2013, Volvo announced a flywheel system fitted to the rear axle of its S60 sedan. Braking action spins the flywheel at up to 60,000 rpm and stops the front-mounted engine. Flywheel energy is applied via a special transmission to partially or completely power the vehicle. The 20-centimetre (7.9 in), 6-kilogram (13 lb) carbon fiber flywheel spins in a vacuum to eliminate friction. When partnered with a four-cylinder engine, it offers up to a 25 percent reduction in fuel consumption versus a comparably performing turbo six-cylinder, providing an 80 horsepower (60 kW) boost and allowing it to reach 100 kilometres per hour (62 mph) in 5.5 seconds. The company did not announce specific plans to include the technology in its product line.[23]

      In July 2014 GKN acquired Williams Hybrid Power (WHP) division and intends to supply 500 carbon fiber Gyrodrive electric flywheel systems to urban bus operators over the next two years[24] As the former developer name implies, these were originally designed for Formula one motor racing applications. In September 2014, Oxford Bus Company announced that it is introducing 14 Gyrodrive hybrid buses by Alexander Dennis on its Brookes Bus operation.[25][26]

  35. Judge Orders Fauci, Other Top Officials to Produce Records for Big Tech–Government Censorship Lawsuit

    In the new ruling on Sept. 6 breaking the stalemate, Doughty said both Fauci and Jean-Pierre needed to comply with the interrogatories and record requests.

    “First, the requested information is obviously very relevant to Plaintiffs’ claims. Dr. Fauci’s communications would be relevant to Plaintiffs’ allegations in reference to alleged suppression of speech relating to the lab-leak theory of COVID-19’s origin, and to alleged suppression of speech about the efficiency of masks and COVID-19 lockdowns. Jean-Pierre’s communications as White House Press Secretary could be relevant to all of Plaintiffs’ examples,” Doughty said, referring to examples such as the suppression of the Hunter Biden laptop story ahead of the 2020 presidential election and censorship of claims COVID-19 originated in a Chinese laboratory.

    Doughty ordered Fauci and Jean-Pierre to comply within 21 days. Fauci, additionally, must provide complete answers to questions regarding his role as NIAID director.

    “We know from the previous round of discovery that efforts to censor the speech of those who disagree with the government on covid policy have come from the top. Americans deserve to know Anthony Fauci’s participation in this enterprise, especially since he has publicly demanded that specific individuals, including two of our clients, Jay Bhattacharya and Martin Kulldorff, be censored on social media,” Jenin Younes, litigation counsel for the New Civil Liberties Alliance and a lawyer for some of the plaintiffs, said in a statement.

    https://www.theepochtimes.com/judge-orders-fauci-other-top-officials-to-produce-records-in-big-tech-government-censorship-lawsuit_4714820.html

  36. The “unread comments” feature in the Joshua Tree extension works so well that they all stay unread forever now! Not complaining, just a little feedback for drummin.

        1. I have never seen this issue, and would love to understand more if you see this.

          Every time the ‘read’ comment index is updated, it is saved to local storage (and mirrored to sync’ed storage if on Firefox..not sure if Google/Chrome supports that TBH). Where you are relative to first/last unread comment should have no bearing.

          I use the extension every time I read the blog (daily) and don’t see these issues. That’s not to say they aren’t actual issues, but they are unexpected behavior and please mail me or file bugs…

          2. I’m using Chrome

            I use Brave which is chromium-based, so would expect the same behavior. I don’t see these issues.

            Again, they may exist, but it doesn’t sound like expected behavior. Being a SW dev yourself, do me a favor and file a bug report with repro details!

          3. Being a SW dev yourself, do me a favor and file a bug report with repro details!

            Windows 10 Home, 64 bit
            Intel Core i5-6400 @ 2.7 GHZ
            12 GB Installed Memory

            Chrome
            Version 105.0.5195.102 (Official Build) (64-bit)

            Observed behavior:

            If the Next button shows a non zero number of unread posts, reloading the page will leave those posts marked as unread. Those “above” the visible part of the page are marked as read after the reload.

            TBH, I don’t consider this a bug, it’s how I would expect it to behave,

          4. Observed behavior:

            If the Next button shows a non zero number of unread posts, reloading the page will leave those posts marked as unread. Those “above” the visible part of the page are marked as read after the reload.

            TBH, I don’t consider this a bug, it’s how I would expect it to behave,

            Sorry, I thought you were saying that it didn’t mark _any_ comments read unless you go to the bottom/mark them all read. You are correct – what you describe is intended behavior and has been the way it’s worked for…10 years now?

      2. On several occasions I’ve had data file corruption manually updating Firefox from the help menu while the HBB page and the Joshua Tree Extension is loaded. It means removing and reloading Firefox, which is a chore for me with a number of extensions added.

    2. Not a very useful bug report IMO. So..in some undescribed scenario with maybe some interaction on your part, or maybe just staring at the screen and thinking “make things read” it doesn’t work as you would hope.

      Happy to address issues/fix bugs, but ya gotta take some ownership here given it’s free software on a free blog. And you know, wouldn’t hurt once in a while say “thanks” for creating value for you free of charge.

      3. I have thanked you before and thought I was doing you a solid by even mentioning the issue I am now having, which is that every comment on every article is now defaulting to unread even after I have read it and clicked my way through the entire article. I use Firefox.

        For instance, when I just loaded the article here it shows all the comments as unread even though I’ve read them. I click my way through all of the comments down to where I’m typing right now and it shows 8 comments left which are unread.

        So I continue to click all the way through them then hit refresh and it shows everything unread again, whereas in the past it would know and remember that they were already read. It’s like it has no memory of what I’ve just done.

        That’s the best way I can describe it. Again, wasn’t a gripe, just a heads up. I thought I was helping by mentioning these things. If it irritates you, I’ll never say a thing again.

        1. Very odd. After the 3rd time clicking through all the comments to the end, then refreshing the page, it now shows them as read. Maybe my browser is acting up and it has nothing to do with the extension. I allow auto update and the extension show September 5th as the last update.

        2. I’m on Chrome and am not having any issues. I did update the JT extension manually. Happy as a clam here.

        3. I thought I was helping by mentioning these things. If it irritates you, I’ll never say a thing again.

          It doesn’t irritate me for anyone to mention issues they’re seeing. But your initial description was so vague as to not be helpful.

          What you just typed above is actually actionable, as it gives me a set of steps to try to follow to reproduce the issue, or at least guess at where there might be a problem.

          For all — rather than take up Ben’s bandwidth for this stuff, please email me directly (email is on the extension website) or file a bug report via the extension website (Chrome web store at least has a way to do so). Thanks!

  37. https://twitter.com/GRomePow/status/1567646057043197953
    Gee Rome Pow *BubTwit Mafia* 🦈🇺🇲🇺🇦🇵🇱🇫🇮
    @GRomePow
    Every time a house flipper has to lower their price below original purchase price, an angel get’s it’s wings.
    4:48 PM · Sep 7, 2022 · Twitter Web App

    https://twitter.com/GRomePow/status/1566919920780120065
    Gee Rome Pow *BubTwit Mafia* 🦈🇺🇲🇺🇦🇵🇱🇫🇮
    @GRomePow
    Awwww the three places near my house that weren’t registered with the city as Short-Term Rentals have all been removed from AirBnB after I reported them for a fine. I’m so sad.

    In other news, there’s a lot for sale in the neighborhood now. More than I’ve ever seen
    4:43 PM · Sep 5, 2022 · Twitter Web App

    https://twitter.com/GRomePow/status/1567652517294788609?cxt=HHwWgsDSiZTqtcErAAAA
    Gee Rome Pow *BubTwit Mafia* 🦈🇺🇲🇺🇦🇵🇱🇫🇮
    @GRomePow
    Make no mistake, all lowering interest rates for assets does is reward asset holders on the backs of young and poor people.
    Literally nothing more.
    5:14 PM · Sep 7, 2022 · Twitter Web App

    1. Yahoo
      MoneyWise
      ‘Get out of these distorted markets’: Mohamed El-Erian just issued a dire warning to stock and bond investors — but also offered 1 shockproof asset for safety
      Jing Pan
      Wed, September 7, 2022 at 6:40 AM·4 min read

      Due to rampant inflation, holding cash may not be a wise move. (Higher and higher price levels erode the purchasing power of cash savings.)

      That’s one of the reasons many investors have been holding stocks and bonds instead. But according to Mohamed El-Erian — president of Queens’ College, Cambridge University, and chief economic advisor at Allianz SE — it might be time to switch gears.

      “We need to get out of these distorted markets that have created a lot of damage,” the famed economist tells CNBC.

      Both the stock market and the bond market have been tumbling lately, and El-Erian notes that when these market corrections happen simultaneously, investors should move to “risk-off” assets.

      “What we have again learned since the middle of August, is that (stocks and bonds) can both go down at the same time,” he says. “In a world like that, you have to look at short-dated fixed income, and you have to look at cash as an alternative.”

      You can hide your cash under a mattress or put them in a savings account. Or, you can use ETFs to tap into the so-called “short-dated fixed income.”

      Here’s a look at three of them.
      …
      https://finance.yahoo.com/news/distorted-markets-mohamed-el-erian-134000279.html

      1. You can hide your cash under a mattress or put them in a savings

        Just where does one get this “cash”?

        1. “Just where does one get this “cash”?”

          Borrow it of course. A line of credit on a credit card is the primary savings account. That’s what 67% of adults in the US do. No cash… Just borrowed cash.

          Hope nobody paid too much for a rapidly depreciating house.

          1. Personal Finance
            Consumer watchdog signals ‘a closer look’ at record-high credit card rates as balances jump
            Published Mon, Aug 22 2022 11:27 AM EDT
            Updated Mon, Aug 22 2022 2:04 PM EDT
            Jessica Dickler
            Key Points
            – The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau signaled a crackdown on how much banks are charging in credit card interest.
            – With rates on the rise, consumers with an average $5,000 balance could pay $1,000 in interest over the year, the agency said.
            …
            https://www.cnbc.com/2022/08/22/consumer-watchdog-to-investigate-record-high-credit-card-rates.html

    2. Yahoo Finance
      Why the Fed wants to see a strong dollar and falling stock prices: Morning Brief
      Jared Blikre
      Thu, September 8, 2022 at 2:32 AM·5 min read

      The Nasdaq Composite notched a 2.1% gain Wednesday, ending a seven-day losing stretch that had been frustrating the buy-the-dip crowd once again.

      Problem is, surging stocks are the last thing the Federal Reserve wants to see.

      Sudden reversals of fortune — both to the upside and downside — are common in illiquid bear markets.

      But Wednesday’s rally flies in the face of a Federal Reserve doubling (or tripling) down on its steely resolve to curb runaway price inflation.

      On Wednesday before the opening bell, a report from the Wall Street Journal’s top Fed whisperer Nick Timiraos caught investors’ attention, with the report suggesting another 75 basis point rate hike will be coming from the central bank later this month.

      This move would mark a continuation of the Fed’s summer gambit to confront inflation by tamping down anything that stands in that fight’s way. Which in this case means tightening financial conditions.

      The simple outline of tighter financial conditions is a stronger U.S. dollar, wider spreads across bond markets, and lower stock prices. Trigger-happy equity bulls should read that sentence again, as they remain, de facto, fighting the Fed.
      …
      https://finance.yahoo.com/news/fed-strong-dollar-falling-stock-prices-morning-brief-093242900.html

      1. It’s simple, though difficult for bovine brains to grasp: Surging stocks are an indicator that market participants expect the Fed to fail in its efforts to contain inflation. Bulls shouldn’t expect the Fed to follow the same path as in the 1970s, which led to double digit inflation. To avoid doing so, Fed officials are taking an ultra vigilant approach this time.

        Don’t fight the Fed!

        1. Fed officials are taking an ultra vigilant approach this time.

          I get it. The arsonist is taking a serious approach to dousing the flames. Too bad about the damage. He’s a hero.

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