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When Someone Shows You Who They Are, Believe Them The First Time

A weekend topic starting with The College Fix. “The ‘Solidarity Journalism Initiative’ at University of Texas at Austin teaches students to ‘convey outrage’ and and abandon neutrality with the funding of top tech companies and George Soros’ Open Society Foundations. The initiative, which is part of the University of Texas at Austin’s Center for Media Engagement, ‘helps journalists, journalism educators, and journalism students improve coverage of marginalized communities,’ according to its website. ‘The decision to report – or not report – on these conditions inherently leaves neutrality behind,’ the Solidarity Journalism program states. Financial backers of the initiative include Google and Facebook according to the ‘About Us’ page.”

“The program began at UT-Austin in 2021, after Professor Anita Varma brought it from Santa Clara University. The College Fix reached out by email to Varma twice over two weeks but did not receive a response. She wrote an article in 2021 for Nieman Lab: ‘objectivity as an aspirational ideal ends up encouraging journalists to avoid addressing what matters. In coverage of issues like immigration, Covid-19, police brutality, and housing instability, the idea that observations will objectively speak for themselves is quickly off the table,’ Varma wrote.”

“Journalism Professor Jeffrey McCall criticized this approach in an email to The College Fix. ‘The journalism profession should absolutely reject this vacuous and harmful approach to ‘news,’ McCall said. ‘Credibility for the news industry is already at historic lows,’ the DePauw University professor told The Fix. ‘If advocacy journalism becomes the norm in America, the public will simply tune it out because it will be untrustworthy,’ he said. ’Solidarity reporting’ works by ‘first determin[ing] an ideological goal, and then craft[ing] content to meet that objective,’ McCall said. Instead, ‘professional journalism should go where facts lead and report without fear or favor,’ McCall said.”

Fox 7 in Texas. “Small businesses in South Austin are trying to recover after having their windows smashed. This isn’t the first time the owners have dealt with homeless-related crimes in the area. The employees in the area said a church nearby feeds the homeless, so they flock there every day, but they also linger and cause destruction at night. ‘In the last probably two months, we’ve had, easily, well over $10-15,000 worth of damages,’ Headspace Salon and Co-op Owner Laura North said. She said, as a small business, it hits hard. ‘They’re just coming there and smashing things with rocks and just walking off and not understanding for small business owners that is a huge, huge financial hit for us, and it’s just not sustainable,’ North said. ‘We see a lot of drug use, a lot of open sexual behavior, a lot of defecation and urinating in public areas and a lot of that stuff, and I will say it seems like some of that has gotten better, but it seems like definitely the vandalism and the kind of destruction, especially later in the evening has gotten significantly worse'”

KOMO Seattle in Washington. “The man arrested after Monday’s massive fire at a homeless encampment near the Mercer Street on and off ramp told police it was an accident, according to court documents. During his court hearing Tuesday, it was revealed that he lives in the encampment at Mercer Street and Fairview Avenue and told officers the fire started when he accidentally knocked over a candle while cleaning his tent. ‘I told the city this was going to happen, they set fires all the time. We called fire department about seven or eight times this year,’ said one of the residents whose apartment building borders the encampment who asked KOMO News not to reveal her identity for safety reasons. ‘It’s absolutely insane they are protecting 10 people over 2,000 innocent people.'”

The Boston Herald. “Boston Mayor Michelle Wu is considering an ordinance that would strengthen the city’s ability to enforce a tent ban at Melnea Cass Boulevard and Massachusetts Avenue, as part of her new approach to address escalating violence in the area. These policies proved to be ineffective the last time the mayor tried to enforce a ban on tents at Mass and Cass, at the beginning of May. ‘It’s a very, very difficult situation when there are so many residents in need gathered in one location, and there are also individuals who are looking to prey on people or exploit the vulnerabilities that are there,’ Wu said, later adding, ‘The concern has been that when we see the types of violence or drug trafficking that is concerning, it is often connected to and shielded by tents in the area.'”

From Fox News. “New York’s Erie County has put the brakes on accepting asylum seekers after a second migrant from New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ resettlement program was charged with sexual assault in the community. At a press conference Saturday, Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz, a Democrat, announced no more asylum seekers would be sent from the Big Apple until security measures could improve. The decision comes as two asylum seekers face sex crime charges in the county, one in the alleged assault of a Buffalo hotel worker, and another with allegedly raping a woman in front of a three-year-old child.”

“‘Months ago, when this first started, I had a press conference where I said that we needed to call a state of emergency and that there needed to be a pause to give us time, to be able to plan accordingly to what might happen to Erie County,’ said Republican Chrissy Casilio, a local business owner hoping to unseat Poloncarz. Poloncarz declared such an order ‘illegal’ and ‘morally repugnant’ in June. ‘[He] called me morally repugnant for wanting to put a pause and asking for transparency and asking for a plan. But you know what’s really repugnant? Is a woman getting raped in front of her three-year-old daughter. What’s morally repugnant is a hotel worker getting sexually assaulted,’ Casilio responded.”

From CTV News. “That many Canadians with mortgages are seeing their amortization periods stretched in a way they’ve never seen before is something economists and mortgage brokers agree on. But how ‘infinity mortgages’ really impact homebuyers, mortgage default rates and the economy is less clear, experts say. And while they might not stay infinite for everyone, they’re not benign. Unlike borrowers with fixed-rate mortgages, those with variable-rate mortgages have seen the changes reflected in their loans in one of two ways. Borrowers with variable-rate variable-payment mortgages have seen their monthly payments swell with the interest rate.”

“Those with fixed-payment mortgages have seen their amortization periods swell instead, from the typical 25 or 30 years to, in some cases to 70 or more. In other cases, says mortgage broker Ron Butler, borrowers’ online loan profiles have started to display an infinity symbol for their amortization period where a number should be, hence, the ‘infinity mortgage.’ ‘The (bank’s) computer cannot calculate this moment when your payment is less than the required interest,’ Butler told CTVNews.ca in a phone interview. ‘When the interest is more than your payment, the computer gives up and shows infinity sign.'”

“According to Randy Robinson, political economist and the director of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives’ Ontario office, as many as one in five mortgage holders have seen their amortization periods stretch this year. Once a borrower hits their trigger rate, they are no longer paying down the principal of their mortgage. According to Robinson, borrowers can, and do, find themselves trapped in this scenario for long periods of time. ‘My estimate is that there must be at least a half a million households in Canada who are facing this problem where… they’re not reducing the principal at all,’ Robinson said. ‘That’s a really, really conservative estimate, if the numbers I’ve been reading are correct. So it is a big deal.'”

“This is when a mortgage can begin to feel infinite. Robinson says some people in this position spend the rest of their lives paying their lender. ‘People who want to become homeowners do so because they want to escape that kind of having to pay for their entire life,’ Robinson said. ‘And if you die before your mortgage does, well, that’s what happened to you. You paid for your entire life.'”

The Australian Financial Review. “China’s police have reportedly warned investors facing financial losses against making public protests, in stepped up efforts to clampdown on criticism and head off any social unrest over the country’s increasingly precarious financial health. With concern growing China is on the brink of a financial crisis, Xi Jinping’s government has doubled down on efforts to contain negative economic data. Authorities this week stopped publishing data on the rising youth unemployment rate, while land sales figures were also missing from regular economic updates.”

“Investors who put money into troubled financial giant Zhongzhi said security police had visited them at their homes this week, urging them to avoid public protests, Bloomberg reported. Investors who received the visits come from a wide area of China, including from Beijing. Experts said rising sensitivities from the Chinese authorities about the state of the economy reflected growing concern about the government’s ability to contain the country’s property, debt and unemployment problems.”

“‘The ship is not sinking, but it is taking on water,’ Drew Thompson, a visiting research scholar at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore, said. ‘This feels different. This isn’t like the tail-end of COVID when people protested. This is a tough one to fix. Is this a Lehman moment or a 1932 moment? It is more a question of scale than whether or not it is going to happen, and Chinese policies are exacerbating the crisis that is emerging by either cooking the books, not releasing information, or covering up unflattering data.'”

“China has a successful history of clamping down on protests, including public demands to end its zero-COVID policies late last year. For years, there have been protests by investors who have lost money in failed companies which are quickly shut down by police. The economy has also long been a politically sensitive issue, with investors and stockbrokers saying they could no longer say anything negative about China’s financial health in public. Experts said while there was the potential for widespread protests from investors in uncompleted apartments and now the shadow banking sector, the government would crack down on them hard.”

From Reuters. “Buy the state, sell the capitalist – that’s how global investors are trying to play China’s latest anti-graft crackdowns as they see private enterprise increasingly sidelined in Beijing’s quest for ‘common prosperity.’ Several government bodies in July launched a year-long anti-corruption campaign into the medical system, making clear that China’s drive to deliver affordable housing, education and healthcare to its masses was more important. That forced many investors to quickly draw parallels with last year’s crusade against private tutoring and a long-running one against tycoon Jack Ma’s consumer finance firm Ant Group. The one unanimous conclusion they came to was that Beijing wants a greater state presence in these sectors.”

“Investors now believe Xi will be relentless in his social and economic agenda, much of which draws on Mao Zedong’s Marxist and socialist thinking. Thomas Masi, a partner and equity portfolio manager at Boston-based GW&K Investment Management, spoke to heads of several Chinese firms that he reckoned were at the fore of innovation in healthcare. ‘Basically the message they were getting from the government was that they should be doing some of this innovation for national service, as opposed to for profitability only. That was a lightbulb for us,’ said Masi, who was once bullish on healthcare. ‘We basically understood…we were not necessarily going to be paid as shareholders.'”

From 1945. “Klaus Schwab, the infamous leader of the WEF (World Economic Forum), who bears a striking semblance to Dr. Evil, proclaimed in 2016: ‘You’ll own nothing and you’ll be happy.’ While some write off the concern for the WEF’s agenda as nothing more than the rants of conspiracy theorists, Schwab’s words are less prophetic than they are an inevitable outcome of orchestrated urban planning. Take real estate, for example. Several monumental events have set the stage for a large buyout of individual family homes and along with it, a huge transfer of wealth.”

“The Great Recession (2007 – 2009), largely precipitated by the burst of the housing market and subprime mortgage crisis, was probably the largest contributor to the shift away from home ownership to rental in recent history. Millions of homes entered foreclosure and the government did what it does best: intervene. Many financial institutions and investment firms either shut down, merged – consolidating assets into more centralized command centers – or were bailed out by the government.”

“The Obama administration launched a pilot program for investors to buy foreclosed homes in bulk and convert them into rentals. ‘It was ‘get this off of our balance sheet and our plate’ kind of thinking,’ says Desiree Fields, an associate professor at the University of California-Berkeley. ‘And it was a real once in a generation opportunity for these investors.'”

“Private equity firms like Blackstone Group (Invitation Homes), Pretium Partners (Progress Residential), and Amherst (Main Street Renewal) convinced public pension funds and other large institutional investors to bankroll their homebuying sprees. Their sales pitch: With tighter lending standards, slow wage growth, and a mountain of student debt, many millennials might never be able to afford a home of their own. One of the biggest profiters from these buyouts has been the goliath investment firm, Blackstone.”

“In 2021, Blackstone bought 66 relatively low-rent apartment buildings in San Diego County from a charitable foundation. Tenants of those 5,800 dwellings say they see rent increases, maintenance issues, and evictions in their future. Also in 2021, the firm acquired Home Partners of America Inc., which owns more than 17,000 houses throughout the U.S. In early 2022 Blackstone expanded its portfolio of rental housing and commercial real estate in the United States. The firm spent roughly $6 billion to acquire Preferred Apartment Communities, a real estate investment trust based in Atlanta that owns 44 multifamily communities and about 12,000 housing units in the Southeast. Not surprisingly, Blackstone is a partner of the WEF.”

“Globalists like Schwab tout a shared economy where everything belongs to everyone and we all ride off in the sunset on our electric bikes on impeccably paved, tree-lined streets within the borders of a 15-minute city. Fun fact: the concept was initially designed and advocated by the Chinese government to improve overall health and reduce the risk of noncommunicable diseases. However, what the masterminds don’t tell you is everything doesn’t actually belong to everyone – it belongs to a select few. Everyone else is borrowing just about everything from elite owners, or ultimately, the state, as governments increasingly cozy up to private investment firms.”

“If you still think this is all just a conspiracy theory, watch a video entitled ‘8 Predictions for the World in 2030’ from the WEF. Again, less predictions and more deliberate planning. Western values, the video says – undoubtedly including free markets, individual liberty, religious freedom, and private property – ‘will be tested to the breaking point.’ In the wise words of Maya Angelou: ‘When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.'”

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This Post Has 79 Comments

  1. ‘Those with fixed-payment mortgages have seen their amortization periods swell instead, from the typical 25 or 30 years to, in some cases to 70 or more. In other cases, says mortgage broker Ron Butler, borrowers’ online loan profiles have started to display an infinity symbol for their amortization period where a number should be, hence, the ‘infinity mortgage.’ ‘The (bank’s) computer cannot calculate this moment when your payment is less than the required interest,’ Butler told CTVNews.ca in a phone interview. ‘When the interest is more than your payment, the computer gives up and shows infinity sign’

    That’s some sound lending right there Ron.

  2. ‘Basically the message they were getting from the government was that they should be doing some of this innovation for national service, as opposed to for profitability only. That was a lightbulb for us,’ said Masi, who was once bullish on healthcare. ‘We basically understood…we were not necessarily going to be paid as shareholders’

    They are commies Tom and they fooked you.

    via GIPHY

  3. ‘The journalism profession should absolutely reject this vacuous and harmful approach to ‘news,’ McCall said. ‘Credibility for the news industry is already at historic lows,’ the DePauw University professor told The Fix. ‘If advocacy journalism becomes the norm in America, the public will simply tune it out because it will be untrustworthy’

    Already happened Jeff. Look at the ratings for ‘cable news’.

    1. the idea that observations will objectively speak for themselves is quickly off the table

      Reality won’t be real unless you have an agenda. Got it.

  5. So, Bentonville Arkansas ,home of Walmart, is the new Hip place for yuppies to be ,or move to ,according to WSJ…..hmmm,wonder what or how soon the homeless crowd will start heading there….and ruin it all..Wal-mart to me ,is a lot like the major news media to me, I just don’t go there …..Home Depot,or Lowes , or a good Ace hardware ,for me, or better yet ,a good local hardware store ,where they have about everything, if they can find it….those are still around ,if you look hard enough …

    1. We have a superlative local hardware store here in N AZ. Cornville Mercantile, on Cornville rd. in Cornville Az.

    2. Amazing that more homes were not fitted with modern composite shingle roofing given the hurricane frequency among the islands. In addition, modern composite shingles have a class-a fire resistance rating, which are required by building codes in many areas.

    3. The media has already buried this story. What’s being reported is how much aid and help is being provided by FEMA and other local and state agencies. Instead of focusing on the disaster, all the politicians there are talking about recovery and rebuilding.

      They claim that 80% of the burned area has been search for victims. I checked every story I could find about casualties and there are no details–just the number 114. There’s video from a helicopter of men unloading a body bag and carrying it into a refrigerated trailer. The black bag looked like it weighed 5 pounds and was the size of half of a golf bag–could not have been a whole lot of remains, or it was a very small child.

      It’s obvious that all of the Federal, State and local governments just want this story to die. There’s no talk of possible gross negligence on the part of any government entity. They are now talking about how this fires is the result of climate change.

      I looked it up and found that the number of deaths DIRECTLY caused by Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana was 341. 565 deaths were indirectly caused by Katrina (mostly heart attacks). The total attributed to Katrina was 1,392:
      https://www.nola.com/news/hurricane/how-many-people-died-in-katrina-toll-reduced-17-years-on/article_e3009e46-91ed-11ed-8f2a-a7b11e1e8d34.html#:~:text=And%20while%20the%20National%20Hurricane,weather%20disasters%20in%20modern%20times.

      The way the MSM covered Katrina made it sound like thousands of poor blacks died in New Orleans while GW Bush was flying over the scene in Air Force 1. Katrina is still beat like a dead horse with the MSM never failing to mention that it was all GW’s fault.

      They haven’t even finished looking for bodies in Lahaina and the MSM has forgotten the story. Biden has yet to make personal remarks on the disaster–we only have releases from the White House. He still hasn’t even flown over the mess and he’s sure taking his time getting there.

      His FEMA director just mumbled something about the trauma the people of Maui are suffering. No widespread news and video coverage showing relief efforts, it’s as if a small 2 alarm fire happened in Lahaina.

      1. The difference with Katrina is that they had days and days of advance warning. There was a lot of time for people to prepare and to stage a response.

  7. ‘It’s absolutely insane they are protecting 10 people over 2,000 innocent people.’”

    Nobody who votes “progressive” can claim to be an innocent victim of this societal breakdown.

    1. Nobody who votes “progressive” can claim to be an innocent victim of this societal breakdown.

      What about children and non-US citizens? Or do non-immigrant people from mostly Asian countries not count, or are of lesser importance than Red Blooded Americans? Before anyone makes broad generalizations, I think it would be prudent to wait until all the facts are in. If it turns out that only 3 people died because of the fire, then who cares….But if it’s 500 or 1,000 then it’s on the order of magnitude of the Titanic or USS Arizona. Who knows…

      1. What about children and non-US citizens?

        They obviously don’t vote (progressive or not), or at least shouldn’t. But FS was talking about those who pull the D lever time and time again.

  8. To understand the political left and their tactics you have to understand their relationship with the globalists. Woke groups are a creation of the corporate/globalist regime. For decades think-tanks like the Ford Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation have been grooming universities to produce a steady supply of cult members, all of them indoctrinated into a carefully crafted narrative that clings to socialism and uses victim status as a currency.

    They abhor meritocracy and have delusions of equity. They demand an impossible Utopia that guarantees equal outcomes. They see self sufficiency as criminality; an attempt to escape from collective oversight. And they are more than willing to rationalize dishonesty, disinformation, deconstruction, chaos and murder as a means to get what they want.

    As I’ve noted in the past, it’s difficult to combat a movement with no morals and no shame. If your purpose is to convince them to stop what they are doing using logic, data, common sense and appeals to conscience, you will fail. They don’t care about any of these things. The leftist obsession with power is absolute – It’s all they talk about. It’s the root of every one of their arguments.

    That said, their concept of power is rather limited and childish.

    For the woke, power is in cancel culture. Power is in the mob. Power is in displays of collective destruction and control. They ask themselves “What can we take from others, and how can we instill fear?” They believe the more they can take, the more power they have.

    Globalists view power in a similar manner to leftists, but they expand on the manifesto with the question “How can we convince others to give us control willingly?”

    Woke useful idiots see power as something that must be stolen through intimidation or force. Globalists see power as something that is handed to them by useful idiots. In order to get that power, globalists spend the vast majority of their energy and wealth on the manufacturing of consent. It’s not enough to control the population, you have to make them believe that your oligarchy is THEIR IDEA. That way, they never try to fight back.

    While woke activists are running around like monkeys with matches trying to burn down the world, globalists are looking at the activists and saying “How can I make those monkeys burn down the things I want them to burn down?”

    Manufacturing consent from half the population of a nation requires a massive disinfo apparatus. I doubt that most leftists even realize their entire philosophy was funded and fabricated by corporate interests. And if you educate them on the fact that they are now allied with the same ultra-rich corporate vampires they say they hate, you’ll soon discover they don’t mind. They’ll happily embrace the devil’s contract because they see it as a means of “winning.” In this way political leftists and the globalists are indelibly intertwined.

    This is why I don’t take arguments over the “false left/right paradigm” very seriously anymore. Sure, there are still Neo-Cons in the Republican Party that claim to be conservative when they are actually globalists and leftists. That’s not the point. The point is, millions upon millions of regular people on the left have willfully chosen to side with the globalists and have specifically targeted conservative and patriot culture for destruction.

    They are the enemy, just as much as the globalists are the enemy. Without the leftist mob the globalists have no power. It’s time to accept this reality instead of falling back on the same old lazy argument: “But both sides are the problem…” No, only one side is the problem. They have always been the problem regardless of the political masks they wear.

    If you look at the pyramid from the bottom-up, there is no such thing as the “false left/right paradigm” anymore. There is a VERY REAL left/right paradigm. The division is a fact of life. The lines have been drawn by the establishment; either you’re with them or you’re against them. There is no in-between.

    In the film ‘The Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari’ an elite member of society turns a man into a monster through hypnosis, sending him to stalk the countryside to kill people the elite wants out of his way. The globalists have also used mesmerism to summon their own leftist monster whenever they need some dirty work done. There are two key pillars that they want leftists to tear down – People’s perceptions of freedom and people’s perceptions of objective fact.

    For example, look at the recent covid “crisis” and the draconian response that the majority of leftists supported. Also look at the hysterical climate change narratives and the calls for carbon restrictions that would inevitably lead to mass depopulation; once again largely supported by the political left.

    Both agendas rely on the notion of an existential threat that requires people to sacrifice their freedoms on a micro-level. Yet, covid mandates suggest that we need to save the population from death while climate change mandates suggest that we need to kill most of the population to protect the environment. It doesn’t make sense unless you understand that diminishing freedom is the ultimate point. Covid was never about saving lives and climate controls have nothing to do with saving the planet.

    As for perceptions of objective fact, one need only look at the transgender movement to see that the very foundations of truth are under siege. If biology is subjective, if identity is subjective, if the genetic details we use to define and categorize our species are “social constructs” instead of facts, then almost any truth could be targeted. I believe that this attempt to make biological truth a matter of prerogative is done with the intent of making moral truth mutable.

    If civilization is convinced to accept the surgical/chemical mutilation and sterilization of our youth, if we can be convinced to accept the sexualization of children from an early age, then we can easily be convinced to accept just about anything else. Pedophilia? Slavery? Murder? All in the name of hedonism posing as freedom.

    By extension, the abandonment of universal truths will invariably lead to the rebuke of freedom itself. What is freedom really? Is it a legitimate concern for the future? We “live in a society” after all, and according to leftists everything we do “affects everyone else.” Therefore, freedom can be dangerous; it might hurt or upset others. It might ruin the planet. Best to get rid of it entirely for the good of the collective…

    It is an eternal dichotomy – Without truth there can be no freedom – Without freedom there can be no truth. On the dark side of that coin is the globalist/leftist dichotomy – Without the globalists there is no leftist mob, without the leftist mob the globalists will be erased.

    Globalists are seeking to subjugate the world, and to do that they need to undermine the basic tenets of human interaction and understanding. They have allied with the political left in order to blitz the populace with chaos, keeping people distracted and off balance while the powers-that-be wrap their tentacles around every last vestige of private liberty.

    Our greatest hope is for the citizenry to adopt a hostile posture and refuse to compromise another inch. We have to start calling the political left out for what they really are – The striking hand of the globalist cabal. There can be no give-and-take when it comes to our core principles. No more tolerance of deconstruction, no more slack given to saboteurs. If a subversive group is trying to tear down the moral fabric that makes the west functional and free, if they desire to eradicate the heritage that our founders fought to establish, then we must do as the founders did and remove the threat.

    https://alt-market.us/understanding-the-parasitic-cooperation-between-globalists-and-leftists/

    1. +1

      When I say it’s okay to kill communists, it really is.

      It’s okay to kill communists.

    2. “diminishing freedom is the ultimate point”

      Re-reading this article post and thinking about it. The conflict with these globalists is existential, their goal is to exterminate anyone advocating for freedom and liberty.

      Which in this country, mostly mean white males who own guns, many of whom are Christians.

      This is the only demographic that is capable of resitance to, and overthrow of, tyrannical government.

      The only one, and that is why the Marxist globalists must exterminate them, all of them.

          2. IME, most people don’t understand the difference.

            Or worse, they think equality is equal outcomes.

    4. And if you educate them on the fact that they are now allied with the same ultra-rich corporate vampires they say they hate, you’ll soon discover they don’t mind.

      Well, they expect to be given choice, good paying jobs in those huge corporations. Not doing anything useful, of course. And as we know, once a corporation is converged it rapidly loses its ability to perform its “mission” and goes into a doom loop.

  10. Ford CEO Jim Farley admitted he underwent a “reality check” when he tried to make a cross-country road trip in the Ford electric F-150.

    “Charging has been pretty challenging,” Mr. Farley said in a video on X, formerly known as Twitter. “It was a really good reality check of the challenges of what our customers go through and the importance of fast charging and what we’re going to have to do to improve the charging experience.”

    In California, Mr. Farley said he encountered slow charging times. When using a low-speed charger, it took about 40 minutes for it to charge the electric F-150’s battery to 40 percent.

    According to Ford, the company has said it partnered with Telsa to allow Ford customers to use the more than 12,000 Tesla Superchargers next year. Other electric vehicles have also announced partnerships with Tesla.

    “Long hauling in an electric truck is an act of pioneerism, not because it’s hard or dangerous, but because it’s a new way to experience America,” Mr. Farley wrote in a LinkedIn post on Aug. 7. “Shifting from fueling stations to charging stations requires new behaviors and opens new possibilities.”

    It comes after a Canadian man told news outlets that he was forced to abandon his Ford electric truck after suffering charging failures during a road trip. Dalbir Bala of La Salle, Manitoba, said he left his Lightning in Minnesota last month after he couldn’t charge its battery at two different stations.

    He then continued his drive in a rented gas-powered vehicle instead, he said. His wife and three children joined him for the trip to Wisconsin and Chicago, setting out with three scheduled stops to recharge on the trip. “It was really a nightmare frustration for us,” Mr. Bala told CBC News.

    His first stop was in Fargo, North Dakota, roughly 350 kilometers south of Winnipeg. He paid $56 to charge his vehicle’s battery from 10 percent to 90 percent capacity.

    The problems began at his next stop in Albertville, Minnesota, when he received a “faulty connection” message in his truck after he plugged in the charger. He dialed the number on the charger for assistance but received no response.

    “It was in [the] shop for 6 months. I can’t take it to my lake cabin. I cannot take it for off-grid camping. I cannot take for even a road trip,” he added. “I can only drive in city—biggest scam of modern times.”

    A report from the American Automobile Association (AAA), released in June, found that the vehicle’s battery range drops significantly when it is hauling heavy cargo—possibly jeopardizing the vehicle’s usage as a work truck. That includes hauling items like tools, toolboxes, equipment, and other items.

    “In the case of battery electric pickups used as work vehicles, permanent loads (such as equipment racks, toolboxes, and equipment trays built into the vehicle) will reduce the range at all times, even without additional cargo,” the AAA said.

    https://www.theepochtimes.com/mkt_app/article/ford-ceo-admits-reality-check-when-he-took-electric-f-150-truck-on-road-trip-5474740

    2. that the vehicle’s battery range drops significantly when it is hauling heavy cargo

      Not to mention hauling people. There are already a ton of jokes about ditzy wives running down the gas tank and leaving hubby with the gas light on. Now imagine that same ditz hauling an SUV full of soccer kids, not realizing that her range isn’t what she thought it was.

      Not to mention Tesla’s supposed “features” like keeping the A/C on in the car to keep a pet cool. Really?

      1. ‘Now imagine that same ditz hauling an SUV full of soccer kids, not realizing that her range isn’t what she thought it was’

        Somebody is going to die, just a matter of time.

  14. A reader sent these in:

    Reminder that some people are paying mortgage payments for fancy cars. These are real, active car leases in 5 states:

    https://twitter.com/GuyDealership/status/1692192858176917849

    The facts:
    — New car inventory is 71% higher than a year ago.
    — New car incentives have increased for 10 consecutive months.
    — New car loan rates are at decade highs.
    But the big question remains: will this lead to significant downward pressure on prices?

    https://twitter.com/GuyDealership/status/1691969782478700980

    The vacation’s over, kids Time to go back to school #ABNB

    https://twitter.com/texasrunnerDFW/status/1692268204742029431

    You can’t make this up: On July 27th, the Fed said they are no longer forecasting a recession. Since then, the S&P 500 has lost $1.8 TRILLION in market cap. Then, on August 4th, JP Morgan said they no longer expect a recession. Since then, the S&P 500 has lost $1.3 TRILLION in market cap. Both statements marked the exact high of day for the S&P 500 when released. Is this a coincidence?

    https://twitter.com/KobeissiLetter/status/1692237606208032770

    OUCH! 30y US Treasury yield rises to 4.42%, highest since 2011.

    https://twitter.com/Schuldensuehner/status/1692127584228671886

    Historically, the last rate hike is an excellent moment for purchasing long-term bonds. However, it appears that the market is in a panic mode now.

    https://twitter.com/bastion_manager/status/1692130105361887343

    Don’t think yields on 10s, think equivalent 30Y mortgage rates. With all time record multi-family units under construction. F*ck around and find out.

    https://twitter.com/INArteCarloDoss/status/1692477146034524605

    Coinbase Currently Down Eight Straight Days, on Track for Record Losing Streak

    https://twitter.com/DeItaone/status/1692613759800422453

    I worked 15 yrs in residential mtg lending. I keep in touch w my peers often. My recent phone calls resulted in most professionals realizing there’s not going to be a Fed pivot and maybe it’s time they sell rental properties to weather this storm.

    https://twitter.com/1NickSilveira/status/1692647809516712422

    Fake housing shortage study based on decades old UN population projections that never came true. Media every f*cking day for 3 years: “OMG there’s a shortage buy now!” Federal Reserve study showing massive occupancy fraud leading to a speculative mania. Media: ………..

    https://twitter.com/GRomePow/status/1692594458611577077

    “Prepare for Shift” BMO Predicts Home Price Adjustments as Cheap Credit Era Fades Away #ToRE #VanRE 👇🏽

    https://twitter.com/ShaziGoalie/status/1692685915720650942

    So I guess the Chinese aren’t going to buy up all the real estate after all. Shame….

    https://twitter.com/GRomePow/status/1692678142299673049

    *Re/max to lay off additional 7% of workforce

    https://twitter.com/DonMiami3/status/1692669693738336548

    Housing Affordability Index from NAR fell in 2Q to its lowest/worst on record

    https://twitter.com/LizAnnSonders/status/1692497678721048898

    Rendon, who worked on luxury developments in Sunny Isles, faces 41 months in prison and three years of probation. She was also ordered to pay nearly $200,000 in restitution.

    https://twitter.com/trdmiami/status/1692575381411262935

    “Everybody was doing it.” You don’t say. Miami agent sentenced to prison for PPP fraud

    https://twitter.com/TrishaFLsun/status/1692642801840779502

    Remember when everyone thought they could just rent out their STRs and then rental vacancies hit the highest level since at least 2017? Good times.

    https://twitter.com/GRomePow/status/1686041631915642880

    All of a sudden they care about “other people” when their jobs are about to eat sh$t. While pricing out median income families from typical things families need to survive…..nothing.

    https://twitter.com/GRomePow/status/1692634462604189882

    “Looming Insurance shock spells trouble for CA and FL”

    https://twitter.com/DisruptorStocks/status/1692604576237551806

    Anyone surprised China’s on verge of deflationary collapse after totalitarian lockdowns and implementation of Orwellian 1984 digital dictatorship on roids? Awful for Chinese people/economy. Will be a drag globally. PBOC created too much currency. Super bubbles end in deflation.

    https://twitter.com/BP_Rising/status/1692612640940478907

    “We had 97 offers over list and there is a shortage of housing and buy now before you’re priced out and China, AI and crypto.” Meanwhile, the shortage:

    https://twitter.com/GRomePow/status/1692602291537297845

    Auto and credit card delinquencies are now above pre-pandemic levels.

    https://twitter.com/Growth_Value_/status/1692473044634128838

    Residential avg. sale prices down 1.3% in GTA and 3.0% in Surrounding areas so far in August (from July).
    Pretty much knocking on February’s door.
    All Springs gains wiped out in 2 months.
    It will be interesting to see how the fall plays out.

    https://twitter.com/JonFlynnREstats/stats/1692351541074624669

    “Detroit officials want to triple property-tax bills on vacant land and reduce payments by an average of 30% for homeowners. The idea is to spur development on 30,000 neglected vacant lots held by owners who pay almost no taxes.”

    https://twitter.com/FairweatherPhD/status/1692578547817234823

    This is Dallas and the Fort Worth area is the same. These are homes that have been on the market for over 6 months. There is no supply issue. There is a price issue.

    https://twitter.com/GsxrEconomics/status/1689358854348214272

    What the builders are doing:
    House $500,000
    Cost of buydown from 7% to 5%, $40,000
    REAL value of house $460,000
    FHA 580 FICO 96.5% LTV – $482,500
    Real LTV: 105%
    So basically FHA is a doing 105% LTV loans on new builds for DEEP subprime borrowers

    https://twitter.com/GRomePow/status/1691505461739261952

    JUST IN: $1,000,000,000 liquidated from the #crypto market in the past 24 hours.

    https://twitter.com/WatcherGuru/status/1692567007214874802

    Toronto has endured an unprecedented multi-decade housing boom and it’s on the verge of insolvency. A colossal mismanagement of pubic finances.

    https://twitter.com/SteveSaretsky/status/1692561978794164432

    Every American should look at what’s happening to Canada with absolute horror and anger. Can never be allowed in the US. Surveillance, woke, mass immigration, no economy, dystopia.

    https://twitter.com/GRomePow/status/1692222645864190433

    “He (Shane Oliver) also argued that high population growth meant investors were buying homes for capital gain, to take advantage of a housing shortage, instead of ploughing their money into new business ventures or shares.”

    https://twitter.com/AvidCommentator/status/1692434053285503403

    So CBRE cut their hospitality/hotel outlook based on weak incoming data on travel but AirBNB gurus 17 leveraged properties are somehow going to be just fine?

    https://twitter.com/DonMiami3/status/1692329335493960158

    Been looking at a new place to rent in Dallas for October. Everything I am seeing is Airbnbs being put on the market and they all want more than double what they will ever get for them..

    https://twitter.com/JonMartInlo/status/1692311001360658519

    When I was looking to buy an investment property they wanted 40% down. If I wanted to live there – I could possibly do FHA and do 3% down. That is a massively different monthly payment and fraud.

    https://twitter.com/natefishpa/status/1692304882185760926

    UK Restaurants closed at their highest rate in a decade in the first three months of the year, at an average rate of five per day.

    https://twitter.com/dedkatbouns/status/1692539707790688514

    Let’s check in on the Redditor economy… whoops!

    https://twitter.com/DonMiami3/status/1692320998215831886

    1. ‘So basically FHA is a doing 105% LTV loans on new builds for DEEP subprime borrowers’

      It’s not just new: this has been going on all across the country for years.

    2. “Everybody was doing it.” You don’t say. Miami agent sentenced to prison for PPP fraud

      It’ll be interesting to see if there is going to be statistical data on just how much real estate was purchased with fraudulent PPP funds. I know of several cases in my circle of contacts. These folks were bragging about using PPP money for down payments or all cash on investment properties.

      1. It never occurs to the little fish that they don’t have immunity. Only the big fish are allowed to get away with that kind of grift.

    3. UK Restaurants closed at their highest rate in a decade in the first three months of the year, at an average rate of five per day.

      This was foretold late last year, because of stratospheric energy costs in the UK.

    4. Some people are paying mortgage payments for fancy cars.

      $4000-$5000, for a Iease? For reference, that’s double the payment on my 20-year mortgage, including taxes.

  15. ‘The Obama administration launched a pilot program for investors to buy foreclosed homes in bulk and convert them into rentals. ‘It was ‘get this off of our balance sheet and our plate’ kind of thinking,’ says Desiree Fields, an associate professor at the University of California-Berkeley. ‘And it was a real once in a generation opportunity for these investors’

    Every time you think you smell poo, Obammie is somewhere near by.

    1. If you want to explain the growing number of homeless people camping on the streets of America’s cities, the rise of corporate landlords with centralized monopoly control over local rents would be a great place to start.

    2. Every time you think you smell poo, Obammie is somewhere near by.

      Obummer is a coked-out cokksmoker.

  16. “The initiative, which is part of the University of Texas at Austin’s Center for Media Engagement, ‘helps journalists, journalism educators, and journalism students improve coverage of marginalized communities,’ according to its website.”

    Proposed new moniker:

    Center for Media Enragement

  17. “That many Canadians with mortgages are seeing their amortization periods stretched in a way they’ve never seen before is something economists and mortgage brokers agree on. But how ‘infinity mortgages’ really impact homebuyers, mortgage default rates and the economy is less clear, experts say. And while they might not stay infinite for everyone, they’re not benign.”

    Sign right here to pay 7% interest forever on a bubble valued shack.

    Who is dumb or desperate enough to take that deal?

  18. China property
    Evergrande’s debt case hits China’s stock markets
    Chinese commentators think foreign creditors will see the firm’s haircut plan as better for them than liquidation
    by Jeff Pao August 19, 2023
    Hui Ka-yan, or Xu Jiayin, chairman of Evergrande Group Photo: Evergrande.com

    An application in the United States seeking protection from creditors while Evergrande Group restructures its heavy debt has burdened Chinese stocks as it fueled investors’s concerns about China’s property crisis.

    Evergrande asked protection from creditors under Chapter 15 of the US bankruptcy code, which is invoked when insolvency cases involve multiple countries. The company said it needs the protection while it makes efforts to restructure its debt during upcoming negotiations in Hong Kong and the Cayman Islands. Chapter 15 is used less commonly than chapters 7 and 11.
    …
    https://asiatimes.com/2023/08/evergrandes-debt-case-hits-chinas-stock-markets/

  19. “When the interest is more than your payment, the computer gives up and shows infinity sign.”

    So, in other words, your unpaid interest is then added to principal creating a growing amount of interest, endlessly increasing principal on the back end. Under this scenario the “homeowner” will never “own” the shed. Rather they will have a never ending debt. Time to walk.

  20. The title: “When Someone Shows You Who They Are, Believe Them The First Time”

    Is the same advice about dealing with gas-lighting from a narcissist. The first time that they gas light you or put you down or insult, you should remember “When Someone Shows You Who They Are, Believe Them The First Time. Think “thank you very much for revealing who you truly are and I won’t let you do it again”

    Co-dependence is when a person who has emotional issues believes or becomes attached to the narcissistic abuse. Think Stockholm Syndrome.

  21. Crypto
    Bitcoin’s tumble: Here’s what may have sparked selloff — and why it may spell trouble for other assets
    Last Updated: Aug. 18, 2023 at 4:20 p.m. ET
    First Published: Aug. 18, 2023 at 2:55 p.m. ET
    By Frances Yue
    Bitcoin falls ‘decisively’ below 200-day moving average
    Bitcoin has seen a muted trading volume and decreased volatility for several months.
    Getty Images/iStockphoto

    Bitcoin fell below its 200-day moving average on Friday, as investors remain worried that global interest rates will stay high for longer while economy may slow down.

    The cryptocurrency saw a sudden drop of more than 7% over the past 24 hours, after observing a muted trading volume and decreased volatility for several months. The coin fell to as low as $25,392 on Thursday.

    Bitcoin gained 60% so far this year, but is still down over 60% from its all-time high in 2021, according to CoinDesk data.

    The next important support level to watch is $25,200, according to Katie Stockton, founder and managing partner of Fairlead Strategies. The secondary support for bitcoin stands at around $20,600, Stockton said.

    The low trading volume and muffled volatility for the past several months have rendered bitcoin vulnerable to being pushed around by large trades, according to James Butterfill, head of research at CoinShares.

    Bitcoin’s fall was driven by large liquidations of perpetual futures on options exchanges Deribit and OKX, analysts at QCP Capital wrote in a Friday note.

    Still, timing-wise, some attributed the trigger for the move to an article in The Wall Street Journal on Thursday saying that SpaceX wrote down the value of bitcoin it owned by a total of $373 million in 2022 and 2021, and had sold the cryptocurrency.

    From the macroeconomic perspective, yield on the 10-year Treasury note on Thursday reached its highest level in almost 16 years, as investors are worried that global central banks may keep interest rates at elevated levels for longer.

    High interest rates typically make risky investments, such as crypto, less appealing.

    “Bitcoin has often been the first to act in recent years, so this may be indicative of a broader crash in other asset classes,” wrote Butterfill.

    U.S. stocks traded mostly lower on Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA unchanged. The S&P 500 SPX dipped 0.1% and the Nasdaq Composite COMP fell 0.3%, according to FactSet data.
    …
    https://www.marketwatch.com/story/bitcoins-tumble-heres-what-may-have-sparked-selloff-and-why-it-may-spell-trouble-for-other-assets-a0d568b2

    1. Speaking of crypto, is Sam Bankman-Fried at peace now with his cellmate’s swimmers at the Brooklyn Metropolitan Detention Center?

      1. They need to give him his laptop back before bitcoin goes to zero! His network of wash trading is too important to keep him jailed.

        Free Sam Bankster-Fraud!

  22. WE INTERRUPT YOUR NORMAL PROGRAMMING FOR THIS URGENT BREAKING NEWS…

    PRESIDENT TRUMP HAS NOT, I REPEAT HAS NOT BEEN INDICTED TODAY!!!

    cartoon from Long Island newspaper.

    1. Ghost cars parked peacefully in the shadows of a ghost city. Saving the planet one car at a time. Meeting the quota.

      1. Ghost cars parked peacefully in the shadows of a ghost city.
        But how many of the new expensive pickups, luxury and performance vehicles driving around today here in this country are actually “owned” by their “owners”?

        On Roku, the free TV streaming service, there are lots of auto related programs dedicated to custom cars, hot rods, racing and performance street cars. They feature 1,000 HP Mustangs, etc. You’re talking six figure vehicles that is sustaining TV shows and an entire industry. Just who is paying for this stuff and what are they using for money?

        Back in the day (say 1969-1973) if someone had a Z-28 Camaro, it would be impressive if the owner installed headers and glass packs. Even better was an aftermarket intake manifold and a big Holley carb. Even the factory Trans-Am cars back in 1969 would be considered lightly modified by today’s standards.

        It’s just like the prices of houses. I just don’t believe that there’s enough REAL wealth floating around to afford everything you see today.

        We’re just like China except that their “ghost wealth” is more plainly visible.

        1. HGTV is more fantasy than Lord of the Rings ever was. I remember all those preggo couples on House Hunters with seemingly endless funding. Interspersed with commercials for eHarmony, I kid you not. At least the producers understood their demographic.

  25. New Treasury Department Data Shows Homeowner Assistance Fund Helped Keep More than 300,000 Families In Their Homes

    As of March 31, HAF programs made roughly $3.7 billion in payments to more than 318,000 homeowners at risk of foreclosure. In the first quarter of 2023 alone, HAF programs distributed $1.2 billion in assistance to households – a 50 percent increase over the fourth quarter of 2022

    https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy1594

    2. Bidenomics

      “HAF is a key component of the Biden-Harris Administration’s efforts to help families across the country remain in their homes, which include a foreclosure moratorium, increased options for mortgage payment forbearance, and enhanced loan modifications to resolve delinquencies.”

  27. ‘People who want to become homeowners do so because they want to escape that kind of having to pay for their entire life…And if you die before your mortgage does, well, that’s what happened to you. You paid for your entire life’

    First of all Randy, if you think buying a shack is the end of yer money pit yer a fool. If you die with a mortgage with principle increasing every month, yer heirs get a big fat bill!

      1. Not that I blame them. I blame our government for protecting their interests over our own.

  30. Bill Gates Now Determining What You Can Say On YouTube
    The Jimmy Dore Show
    Aug 19, 2023
    YouTube has reportedly revised its guidelines for creators, expanding what can get videos demonetized or channels banned outright for alleged “medical misinformation.” Now rather than limiting its censorship to COVID-related questions, the platform will restrict any videos that conflict with World Health Organization dictates.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdni0S2WoWM

    12:10.

    Jimmy and Americans’ Comedian Kurt Metzger note that the WHO is largely funded by Bill Gates, which essentially means the mega-billionaire will have veto power over how medical topics are discussed on YouTube.

  31. “The Obama administration launched a pilot program for investors to buy foreclosed homes in bulk and convert them into rentals. …
    Private equity firms like Blackstone Group (Invitation Homes), Pretium Partners (Progress Residential), and Amherst (Main Street Renewal) convinced public pension funds and other large institutional investors to bankroll their homebuying sprees.”

    I know liberals who seethe at the way fat cat speculator scum have moved housing out of their and their descendants’ reach forever, yet of course they think Obama is God.

  32. Bill Gates, the master of mass genocide.

    Biden wants to fund vacuuming up CO2, and Gates “Block out the Sun” insanity.
    I heard a Climate Scientist saying the other day, that if they do what they are proposing, it would kill a bunch of crops , greenery, or anything that requires Co2. Scientist said it would be a wipe out of 50% of population pretty quickly.
    Do these Elites have bunkers set up with a bunch of food to survive the ultimate destruction of what they want to unleash?

    2. Do these Elites have bunkers set up with a bunch of food to survive the ultimate destruction of what they want to unleash?

      Of course not. Even the biggest most secure bunker in the World, the NORAD complex inside of Cheyenne Mountain in Colorado Springs, won’t protect its occupants indefinitely. They’ll run out food and fuel after a relatively short time. If the end of the world scenario really occurred, you’re going to have to grow your own food for years or decades. Fuel for generators will be quickly used up.

      The reality is that people like the super rich that are building these modern day Maginot Line bunkers are the most dependent on an advanced functioning economy to keep them running. Simple things like getting rid of big rig trucks will render these expensive holes in the ground death traps. These people are so stupid that they think that the little people will continue to work and slave away so that the Bill Gates of the World can have their caviar and New York strip steaks. The rich are the most vulnerable people on the planet because they’ll be the first ones attack with the SHTF. Their puny security guards numbering in the dozens would be mowed down by the millions of gun owning little people. Populations in Europe and elsewhere may be unarmed, but that’s not the case here in America.

      Off the grid people living a quiet and low profile life in the middle of nowhere will last far longer than the NWO leaders.

  33. Just looked up a house that recently sold nearby. Sold for 560K last month. They now have it up for rent for $2700. Explain to me how that pencils. If it’s a 10% down deal your looking at a payment (PITI) around $3700. So you’re in the red a grand every month. But even if your an all cash buyer you can put that 560K in a CD or treasuries right now and make about $2500. I’ll take the $2500 with zero expenses and no maintenance, not mention factoring in vacancy ratios. Lunacy.

    1. “…Explain to me how that pencils….”

      Seen similar deals.

      Only explanation I have to offer is that it is money in search of a laundromat.

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