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Now You’ve Brought It Down 15 Per Cent And You’re Going To Have To Sell 5 To 10 Per Cent Below That

A report from the Tampa Bay Times. “Owners of more than 1.5 million condominium units in Florida are bracing for rules going into effect this year. About 78% of condo units in Tampa Bay are 30 years or older, according to Zillow. ‘Unfortunately in these older buildings, many people’s perspective was that you only need to fix it when it’s broken,’ said Greg Main-Baillie, executive managing director for the Florida Development Services Group at Colliers who oversees construction projects for condos across the state. He noted that certain repairs, like concrete restoration, could end up costing tens of millions of dollars. If the board hasn’t saved enough to cover the bill, the cost will fall on the shoulders of condo owners. ‘It’s going to force people to decide whether they can afford to stay,’ Main-Baillie said. Larry Buckner, a Florida-based advisory manager for the housing research firm Zonda said though some individuals may end up selling their units at a loss, he doesn’t expect to see any widespread price drops or a ‘fire sale.'”

Newsweek on Florida. “A five-bedroom, six-and-a-half bath property only a few minutes away from former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residency is on the market for less than it sold about a year ago. The listing on Zillow reveals that the property was last sold in September 2023 for $14 million. It was again listed for sale in January for $15.25 million. But as of June 26, the listing on the real estate platform showed that the price has been cut to $13.9 million. The Palm Beach market has seen some slowness over the last year. Single-family properties have seen prices plunge 25 percent in the first quarter of 2024 to $15.6 million from the same time a year ago.”

The Wall Street Journal. “Long a magnet for New Yorkers drawn to its schools, historic townhouses and proximity to Prospect Park, Park Slope is awash in ‘for sale’ signs. Having so many nearby homes on the market at the same time is unprecedented, local real-estate agents said, and it has led to a glut of luxury product in the area. Andrea Farrington, 62, and her husband, Dr. Louis Mudannayake, 63, purchased their house on Montgomery Place for $2.5 million in 2004 and watched neighborhood values rise. With their children out of the house, they listed the roughly 4,700-square-foot house for $9.75 million in March. Such a large home requires endless upkeep. ‘These big houses, they are just money pits, frankly,’ she said.”

The Seattle Times in Washington. “King County home prices dipped in June after hitting a record high a month earlier, a sign that the local housing market is already beginning to cool from its spring peak. Many people are facing ‘buyer fatigue,’ said Seattle Redfin agent Bliss Ong. ‘That’s really the factor, they just got frustrated again,’ she said. ‘There is no urgency. We have a lot of people looking but not feeling they have to pull the trigger.’ Meanwhile, as potential first-time buyers struggle with high costs, rent prices have started to level off. ”They have to really decide,’ Ong said, ‘Is this worth it for me to get into the market, when, in some cases, I’m going to be buying a house that’s not as nice as my rental?'”

Denver Gazette in Colorado. “For the first half of 2024, it seemed like the Denver area’s housing market was beginning to bounce back to its regular cycle despite higher interest rates. As sellers became more comfortable putting homes on the market, according to the June Market Trends report from the Denver Metro Association of Realtors, buyers are still taking their time. Because of that, the month was ‘unpredictable,’ DMAR said in a statement. In the June report, Libby Levinson-Katz, chair of the DMAR Market Trends Committee, said buyers and sellers have a different view of the state of the market. Buyers fear another 2008 crisis while sellers want the market to go back to 2021 heights. Both are misled, she added, rather the market is balancing from the influx of listings. Then there’s buyers who are still patiently waiting for interest rates to drop. Some homes may be on the market for days, Levinson-Kantz said, but many are sitting for weeks if not months and sellers may wait longer if they don’t make concessions. Active listings are up nearly 70% from June 2023, according to the report.”

From Lodi News. “If you think the local housing market is bad, a national real estate data analytics firm has put some numbers on it. A recently-published report says we live in the ‘riskiest’ housing market in the nation. Wow! ‘California has 6 of 10 ‘most vulnerable’ housing markets in the U.S., but San Joaquin County is the nation’s riskiest of the 590,” according to ATTOM Data Solutions. It says California’s high-risk counties are less-populated regions to the north (like where we live). ‘Their prices may have been pushed out of economic balance by remote workers seeking cheaper homes to live in away from the Bay Area job hubs,’ adding, ‘Local house hunters need 58% of (their) incomes to buy a $505,000 median-priced home.’ Remarkably, it says 6.7% of mortgages are underwater in San Joaquin County, and 0.11% of homes around here are somewhere in the foreclosure process. On top of all that it says the county has 7.2% unemployment. We’ve written in that past that Lodi is the second-poorest city in the county, second only to Stockton, based on per capita income.”

The Nebraska Examiner. “A mansion being built by a local businessman implicated in a multimillion-dollar bank fraud case has a new name and a record-high price. The partly finished luxury home and ‘barndominium’ being built by Aaron Marshbanks in east Lincoln is now called ‘The Plainsman’ and, when mostly finished, is being offered for sale at $6.469 million. That is the highest advertised selling price for a residence right now — by more than $1 million. The $6.469 million price is based on completing construction of the nearly 12,000-square-foot main house, both inside and out, which is expected to take a year.”

“Marshbanks, 45, died of a drug overdose in November 2022, leaving behind a wife and four children. Despite the discovery of a suspected suicide note, officials ruled that his cause of death was ‘undetermined.’ What was determined, in the weeks after his death, was that he had defrauded dozens of banks in Nebraska and Iowa out of well over $30 million, using counterfeit financial statements to obtain several unsecured operating loans of more than $2 million each. The revelations left bankers questioning how the ambitious young businessman, with ties to Lincoln’s fundamental Christian community and a charity devoted to attacking human trafficking, could have bamboozled them out of so much money. The City Bank & Trust of Lincoln, which had loaned him $2.5 million to build the structures, eventually won back ownership of the acreage. It was sold in September 2023 for $2 million.”

The Sahan Journal. “A planned Lakeville housing development aimed at Somali families is under investigation by both state and federal agencies, officials confirmed this week. In a legal motion filed Thursday, the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office says Nolosha Development has twice refused to provide investigatory documents. The motion alleges that not only is Nolosha collecting money from prospective buyers without a real estate license, but that the owners are spending money lavishly on salaries and other perks. Also Thursday, a U.S. Attorney’s Office spokeswoman confirmed that Nolosha is under federal investigation related to its attempt to sell lots on a property that is tied up in the federal Feeding Our Future food aid fraud.”

“A tipster earlier this month alerted the Department of Labor that 160 clients had paid Nolosha $25,000 to reserve a future home in Nolosha’s planned community in Lakeville, where the company aims to build 160 housing units, a mosque, a school, restaurants, and more. Nolosha Development does not own the 37-acre parcel, and lacks both a building license and a real estate license, according to state records. The Attorney General’s motion, filed by Assistant Attorneys General Mark Iris and Katherine Kelly, alleges that the project ‘is far from move-in ready.’ ‘The reality of the development project is bleak,’ the motion reads. The Attorney General’s motion alleges that Nolosha has raised $1 million, all from Somali families seeking a home, and is far short of the $3.4 million it will cost to buy the Lakeville parcel. That’s also a fraction of the full cost to develop Nolosha. No staffer working for the company has land development experience, according to the motion.”

Bisnow on Texas. “DFW apartment sales have hit a snag as the dreaded wall of supply descends on the Sun Belt. Nearly 40,000 units hit the DFW market over the last 12 months, marking a 50-year high in apartment deliveries and causing rents to decline by 4.2% on average, according to MRI ApartmentData. More than 32,000 units are expected to debut in DFW this year, the most of any major metro, according to Yardi Matrix. Distress is on the rise among value-add properties that were financed using short-term floating-rate debt during the early years of the pandemic. Many of those loans have now reached maturity, and refinancing at the current rate isn’t an option for owners who can no longer cover their monthly debt service, said Abbie Thomson, managing member and chief operating officer at Dallas-based Thomson Multifamily Group, which focuses mostly on the Class-B and C investment market. ‘Business plans built on those floating-rate debt products are no longer sustainable in the current market,’ she said. ‘They are being put in a position that they need to sell.'”

The Globe and Mail in Canada. “A surfeit of listings in many Toronto neighbourhoods has prompted an increasing number of real estate agents to resort to an unfamiliar strategy: they are discouraging homeowners from listing their homes for sale. As inventory in Rosedale soared in recent weeks, a cluster of properties sat unsold at that level. James Warren, real estate agent with Chestnut Park Real Estate Ltd., says he is advising homeowners to hold off in areas with abundant inventory except in cases where they need to list because of a job transfer, an estate sale or another pressing reason. ‘Unless I absolutely had to, I would wait until the fall,’ says Mr. Warren. ‘The audience isn’t listening right now. You can’t have seven or eight houses in Rosedale at $20-million-plus. Where are the buyers?’”

“Mr. Warren says homeowners who set an asking price that’s too rich to start with do themselves a disservice because the house soon appears stale and the buyers have more leverage. ‘Then if you are going to reduce, hold your breath,’ warns Mr. Warren. ‘Now you’ve brought it down 15 per cent and you’re going to have to sell 5 to 10 per cent below that.'”

Blog TO in Canada. “A home sold at a staggering $800,000 loss is just the latest example of a property in and around the GTA selling for much less than its original price tag. Located in Oshawa’s Eastdale neighbourhood, the custom-built home was originally sold in March 2022 for $2.55 million — at a time when cheaper borrowing rates resulted in heightened demand throughout the province’s real estate market, which, in turn, drove prices up. In April 2024, the home was put back on the market for $1.78 million but failed to attract any buyers. After its first failed attempt, the home was re-listed for $1.799 million and eventually sold for $1.75 million — exactly 800,000 less than it sold for just two years earlier. The home was reportedly listed as a power of sale, which differs from a regular home sale. The clause is usually written into a mortgage note that authorizes the mortgagee to sell their property in the event of default to repay the mortgage debt.”

CBC News in Canada. “An Ontario Superior Court justice has ordered four landlords to hand over control of their real estate empire after it was alleged they spent millions of dollars of investors’ money on a lavish lifestyle, let rental properties fall into ruin and continued borrowing funds as their business failed. The corporations have been under bankruptcy protection — shielding them from dozens of lawsuits — since January. But, through an investigation this spring, KSV alleged the landlords ‘diverted, misused or misappropriated funds that were borrowed from investors,’ according to the accounting firm’s report. Lawyers for KSV and hundreds of investors, who are owed around $144 million, said at a hearing last week they’d only support an extension of bankruptcy protection if KSV was allowed to take control.”

“In recent years, the landlords had borrowed tens of millions of dollars from investors in the form of first and second mortgages and unsecured promissory notes, largely facilitated by a Hamilton mortgage broker. The money was supposed to be used to buy Ontario properties to fix up and then rent out or sell at a higher price. Instead, millions of dollars were transferred to the landlords’ unrelated corporations and personal bank accounts and used for ‘extravagant’ expenses like private jets, luxury vacation homes, nightclub and strip club bills, a private chef, among other things, KSV’s report said.”

“Andrew Adams, a police officer who lives in Halton Hills, Ont., lent the landlords over half a million dollars for three properties, he said in an affidavit. As more information was coming out about the landlords’ business practices, Adams asked a family member to check on one of the houses in Sault Ste. Marie in May. He was under the impression some of his $200,000 had been used for renovations, he said. What that family member found was a vacant lot. The property had sat vacant for months and experienced two fires, leading to the city demolishing it last summer, said Adams. If not for his family member, ‘I would have remained unaware of the true circumstances surrounding the property,’ he said. Now the property is worth less than half of what he invested, or about $60,000, he said.”

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This Post Has 75 Comments

  1. HBB warning to readers: wall street journal is globalist scum media that peddles conspiracy theories, election lies and mis, mal and dis-informations.

        1. “We know that they are lying, they know that they are lying, they even know that we know they are lying, we also know that they know we know they are lying too, they of course know that we certainly know they know we know they are lying too as well, but they are still lying. In our country, the lie has become not just moral category, but the pillar industry of this country.”

          ― Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

  2. ‘we live in the ‘riskiest’ housing market in the nation. Wow! ‘California has 6 of 10 ‘most vulnerable’ housing markets in the U.S., but San Joaquin County is the nation’s riskiest of the 590,” according to ATTOM Data Solutions. It says California’s high-risk counties are less-populated regions to the north (like where we live). ‘Their prices may have been pushed out of economic balance by remote workers seeking cheaper homes to live in away from the Bay Area job hubs’

    This article is not from 2006.

    ‘Local house hunters need 58% of (their) incomes to buy a $505,000 median-priced home.’ Remarkably, it says 6.7% of mortgages are underwater in San Joaquin County’

    That’s some sound lending right there.

  3. ‘A planned Lakeville housing development aimed at Somali families is under investigation by both state and federal agencies, officials confirmed this week. In a legal motion filed Thursday, the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office says Nolosha Development has twice refused to provide investigatory documents. The motion alleges that not only is Nolosha collecting money from prospective buyers without a real estate license, but that the owners are spending money lavishly on salaries and other perks. Also Thursday, a U.S. Attorney’s Office spokeswoman confirmed that Nolosha is under federal investigation related to its attempt to sell lots on a property that is tied up in the federal Feeding Our Future food aid fraud’

    This article is worth reading in full. They didn’t (allegedly) have any experience with shacks, and they didn’t need it cuz (allegedly) they were just taking the money and blowing it.

  4. Larry Buckner, a Florida-based advisory manager for the housing research firm Zonda said though some individuals may end up selling their units at a loss, he doesn’t expect to see any widespread price drops or a ‘fire sale.’”

    “It’s hard to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on him not understanding it.” — Upton Sinclair

  5. “Buyers fear another 2008 crisis while sellers want the market to go back to 2021 heights. Both are misled, she added, rather the market is balancing from the influx of listings”

    Saying it’s not 2008 is so 2008.

  6. Single-family properties have seen prices plunge 25 percent in the first quarter of 2024 to $15.6 million from the same time a year ago.”

    B…b…but the REIC shills in the garbage legacy media said getting up on that housing ladder was the key to building “muh generational wealth.”

  7. Imdependence Day.

    U.S. taxpayers, it’s time to declare i dependence from Ukraine and Israel, forever.

    The “hostages” aren’t in Gaza, because the hostages are you, the U.S. taxpayer.

    1. We do not celebrate “Our Democracy” which is exactly what the Founding Fathers warned would happen to us if the “monied interests” were allowed the hijack the Republic and replace it with a mobocracy of easily manipulated rabble who could vote themselves benefits someone else would have to pay for.

      1. “…easily manipulated rabble who could vote themselves benefits someone else would have to pay for.”

        \\

        “In general, the art of government consists of taking as much money as possible from one class of citizens to give to another.” – Voltaire

        “The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public’s money.” – Alexis de Tocqueville

        “In other words, a democratic government is the only one in which those who vote for a tax can escape the obligation to pay it.” – Alexis de Tocqueville

        “A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world’s greatest civilizations has been 200 years. These nations have progressed through this sequence: From bondage to spiritual faith; From spiritual faith to great courage; From courage to liberty; From liberty to abundance; From abundance to selfishness; From selfishness to apathy; From apathy to dependence; From dependence back into bondage.” – Alexander Fraser Tytler

        – Fortunately, the U.S.A. is a Constitutional Republic and not a Democracy. Let’s reverse the trend towards a Banana Republic this coming November. The alternative is exercising our 2A rights in a hot civil war. 🇺🇸

        “Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.” – John F. Kennedy

        “Only an educated and informed people will be a free people.” – John F. Kennedy

  8. Such a large home requires endless upkeep. ‘These big houses, they are just money pits, frankly,’ she said.”

    Gosh, with selling points like that, you’d think buyers would be lined up down the block to take that alligator off yer hands, Andrea.

    1. All houses are money pits that require endless upkeep. Doesn’t matter how big, it’s just a level of scale. Funny how the REIC never tells the new buyers this.

  10. In the June report, Libby Levinson-Katz, chair of the DMAR Market Trends Committee, said buyers and sellers have a different view of the state of the market.

    Pick a last name, Libby, then stop lying about the state of the housing market.

    1. <<>> every single time.

      Anyway, of course buyers and sellers have a different view of the market, that’s always true. But it’s BUYERS that set the price.

  11. Big Mike.

    Fox News — Michelle Obama leads Biden, Harris in match-up against Trump in latest post-debate poll (7/3/2024):

    “Former first lady Michelle Obama is the leading candidate to take on former President Trump in 2024, according to a new poll conducted after last week’s presidential debate.

    In the hypothetical match-up, the former first lady led Trump by 11 percentage points, receiving 50% of the vote over the former president, who was the choice candidate of 39% of respondents.”

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/michelle-obama-leads-biden-harris-in-match-up-against-trump-in-latest-post-debate-poll/ar-BB1plFcS?ocid=BingNewsSerp

    Polls like this are only possible because there isn’t a literacy test for voting.

    “They’re not sending their best”

    1. Globalist scum media will be going all out to promote the Narrative that we the sheeple really, really want Big Mike to come & save us.

  12. ‘Business plans built on those floating-rate debt products are no longer sustainable in the current market,’ she said. ‘They are being put in a position that they need to sell.’”

    Die, speculator scum.

  13. “A home sold at a staggering $800,000 loss is just the latest example of a property in and around the GTA selling for much less than its original price tag.

    I love the smell of burning housing speculators in the morning. It smells like…victory.

  14. Lawyers for KSV and hundreds of investors, who are owed around $144 million, said at a hearing last week they’d only support an extension of bankruptcy protection if KSV was allowed to take control.”

    I loves me a good “housing speculator scum getting fleeced” story first thing in the morning.

  15. He was under the impression some of his $200,000 had been used for renovations, he said. What that family member found was a vacant lot.

    LMAO. Canadian police were zealots when it came to persecuting and harassing citizens who resisted Lil’ Fidel Trudeau’s arbitrary, capricious scamdemic-era “mandates.” Seeing these jackbooted thugs getting swindled by the corrupt System they served is karma at its finest, as far as I’m concerned.

    1. “Andrew Adams, a police officer who lives in Halton Hills, Ont., lent the landlords over half a million dollars for three properties”

      how the hell does a working police officer (doesn’t say retired) have half a million dollars just lying around to invest??????????? Seriously this is wrong on so many levels. Nobody even bats an eye at this? Imagine if we had real journalists.

  16. For your HBB holiday enjoyment.

    Biden touching girls compilation (RAW CSPAN FOOTAGE) 12m15s:

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=V4PLSPvJ9BY&pp=ygUcYmlkZW4gc25pZmYgZ2lybHMgcmF3IGMgc3Bhbg%3D%3D

    Related article.

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/joe-biden-s-daughter-ashley-admits-her-diary-entries-are-real-in-court-letter-showers-with-dad/ar-BB1mWabj

    LOL@ Biden supporters calling in on C-SPAN Washington Journal defending his “decency” and “morality” brain dead individuals on an IV drip of MSNBC.

    It’s a Democrat Party kind of thing.

    1. Biden’s widening his preferences. While talking to a guy the other day, he was stroking his arm. Before that, he was drooling over a Russian guy’s “guns”.

      Reminds me of this oldie (“I derive NO SENSUAL PLEASURE from the mere touch of your hand!):
      Dick Clark’s Live Wednesday Show 07 David Steinberg comedy performance1https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlF4bFvn9ic&t=306s

  17. Democrats are on track for an election bloodbath following Joe Biden’s disastrous debate performance, according to leaked polling.

    A confidential memo circulating among Democrats, obtained by Puck News on Tuesday, has revealed the 81-year-old President’s support is tumbling in key battleground states needed to win back the White House in November.

    The poll, conducted by Democratic data firm OpenLabs in the 72 hours after Thursday’s debate in Atlanta, suggest Mr Biden’s “diminished standing is now putting previously non-competitive states like New Hampshire, Virginia and New Mexico in play for Donald Trump”, wrote Puck News’ Peter Hamby.

    If the election were held today, the numbers suggest Mr Biden would not only lose all seven of the swing states thought to hold the key to the White House in 2024 — Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — but also states he won convincingly four years ago.

    Those include New Hampshire, which last voted Republican in 2000, Virginia, which Mr Biden won by 10 points in 2020, and New Mexico, which has gone Democrat in seven of the last eight presidential elections.

    Hamby said the memo “circulating among anxious Democrats is confirming some of their worst fears”.

    In Pennsylvania, the state that “now represents the tipping point” for the Republican to reach the required 270 electoral votes needed for the presidency, Mr Biden now trails Mr Trump by 7.3 per cent, according to the memo.

    An electoral map based on the polling data shows the US painted a sea of red, suggesting Republicans could win as many as 333 electoral votes to Democrats’ 205.

    In the 14 battlegrounds spotlighted by OpenLabs, which also included Colorado, Maine, Minnesota, and Nebraska’s 2nd Congressional District, Mr Biden lost between 1.7 per cent and 2.4 per cent to Mr Trump compared to the Democrat’s pre-debate numbers.

    “Underpinning the decline is an increase in already-high concerns about the President’s age, and a growing split among Democrats about what should happen with his candidacy,” it states.

    The OpenLabs poll also found 40 per cent of those who voted for Mr Biden in 2020 now believe he should end his campaign, representing a “significant shift” since May when only one quarter believed he should drop out.

    It comes after Mr Biden on Tuesday offered a new excuse for his debate performance last week, claiming foreign travel left him so tuckered out that he nearly “fell asleep”.

    “I decided to travel around the world a couple of times … shortly before the debate,” Mr Biden told Democratic donors in McLean, Virginia.

    “It wasn’t very smart [to be] travelling around the world a couple times. I didn’t listen to my staff … and then I almost fell asleep on stage.”

    Mr Biden blamed foreign travel for the debate performance despite making just two brief recent foreign trips — travelling on June 5-9 to France to mark the 80th anniversary of D-Day and on June 12-14 to the annual G7 summit in Italy — ahead of the June 27 CNN debate against Mr Trump.

    Mr Biden was at his Rehoboth Beach getaway June 18-20 before travelling to Camp David in western Maryland, where he remained out of public view for the week before the debate.

    Debate prep sessions “never started before 11am and Mr Biden was given time for an afternoon nap each day”, The New York Times reported on Tuesday.

    Speaking to CNN on Monday, legendary journalist Carl Bernstein said he had been told of multiple occasions that left those around Mr Biden concerned.

    “These are people, several of them who are very close to President Biden, who loved him, have supported him, and among them are some people who would raise a lot of money for him,” Bernstein said.

    “They are adamant that what we saw the other night is not a one-off, that there have been 15, 20 occasions in the last year-and-a-half when the president has appeared somewhat as he did in that horror show that we witnessed.”

    He added, “I’ve talked to people in the last year [who have said] we have a problem. There have been numerous instances where the President has lost his train of thought [and] can’t pick it up again.”

    https://www.news.com.au/world/north-america/us-politics/insanity-leaked-polling-predicts-biden-bloodbath/news-story/0c86c0356f853d0d2c0a3beb05967212

    1. They don’t need VOTERS, all they need are the BALLOTS.

      We’ve discussed that hundreds of times here. It doesn’t matter who is on top of Democrat Party ticket this year.

      Democrat Party is not a political opponent or an ideology you may disagree with, it is pure EVIL.

      They literally f* little kids.

      This is Democrat Party.

        1. It could be part of the kabuki theater. They pretend to panic while preparing to stuff the ballot box, then when they come from behind and “win” they proclaim that democracy has been saved.

          My other pet theory is that they know that the SWHTF in 2025 and perhaps they prefer that the orange man be in the oval office so they can blame him.

  18. Construction of new rental housing south of the Texas A&M campus was discussed at the end of the last College Station city council meeting (June 27).

    Councilwoman Linda Harvell described as “horrifically ugly”, three story rental structures on Highland north of Fidelity.

    Harvell asked if the city could create architectural standards. She was told that was not allowed by state law.

    Then councilman Bob Yancy brought up potential fire safety issues with the three story rentals.

    A council majority supported discussing a future workshop, what the city can and can not do.

    https://wtaw.com/college-station-council-discussion-after-a-member-describes-the-construction-of-horrifically-ugly-rental-housing/

    Photo at link.

    1. They don’t look any uglier than the usual crap being thrown up around the US. They are definitely going to be little section 8 ghettos in 5 years though.

  19. The Natick Mall, a sprawling suburban shopping center larger than any other in the region, may run into issues this fall.

    Owner Brookfield Properties holds a $505M commercial mortgage-backed securities loan backed by a 1M SF central portion of the Natick Mall. Morningstar Credit has the loan, which matures in November, on its watchlist, and Senior Vice President David Putro said there is “lots of risk” that it could go into special servicing.

    This risk comes after Wegmans closed its 134K SF store at the mall a year ago, with the popular grocery chain saying it was “unable to attract enough customers for our business model to work.”

    The grocer is still paying rent and has a lease through 2037, according to servicer commentary in Morningstar’s database, but Putro said the space being dark is one bad sign for the property.

    Another is that 64 tenants at the mall have leases expiring in the next 12 months, making up about 25% of the square footage tied to the CMBS loan.

    The loan was underwritten at $40.9M in net cash flow, but the property produced $32.6M last year despite being 90% leased, Putro said in an email to Bisnow. The loan was originated in 2019 by Bank of America, according to Morningstar.

    “Cash flow is adequate to keep it from defaulting during the course of the loan, but refinancing it will likely be tricky,” Putro said.

    https://www.bisnow.com/boston/news/retail/brookfields-505m-cmbs-loan-on-its-natick-mall-could-be-heading-for-trouble-124775

    90% leased but hemorrhaging cash = sound lending!

  20. Thirteen senior citizens reported being brutally attacked and robbed in just one week in an Oakland community. But according to leaders at one senior living facility in the city, they say the number is much higher and closer to an astounding 30.

    There is no shortage of terrifying stories from residents of Westlake Christian Terrace who have been attacked in recent days.

    “It was happening every hour on the hour,” says Sister Marie Taylor, president of the Westlake Christian Terrace resident council. She says she’s counted nearly 30 violent attacks and robberies on elderly Asian residents in a span of less than a week.

    “Not only do you grab their purse but you beat them brutally. We had several who had to be taken to the emergency, one broke the wrist. We had police here almost 7 hours filing reports. Then it continued on Sunday with more. Multiple residents being attacked.”

    The block of 28th Street north of Lake Merritt is where the assisted living facility is more than 700 elders, with an average age of 85. Many walk along nearby Valdez to get to the grocery store and run errands.

    Ling Shang recalls how one of the victims on Saturday has Alzheimers and couldn’t quite grasp what was happening when she was assaulted.

    “This is disgusting,” she says.

    These crimes are why more than 50 residents gathered on Wednesday to show support for one another and to tell the city, enough is enough.

    “This is serous and need to be addressed most aggressively,” says Sister Marie.

    Oakland police tell ABC7 they’ve made several key arrests thanks in part to the number of people who have reported their crimes. However, they encourage even more people to come forward.

    Caregiver Kitty Pang says she was helping residents on Sunday when she was groped, beaten and robbed. She pulled up her pant leg to show a large bruise on her shin and pointed to another injury on her thigh.

    “Me very scared, very upset… nighttime no sleeping, scared.” She said with a quaver in her voice.

    https://abc7news.com/post/exclusive-least-13-oakland-senior-citizens-attacked-robbed/15026452/

  21. what they forget quite a few have elevators in them or they were rennovated to add them, who wants to climb 3 or4 flights of stairs a couple of times a day? so it could be renovated into 3.4 luxury apartments.

    Just like the guy i worked for at his internet radio station he owned a 5 story building in tribaeca bough 40+ years
    sold it to developers who added an elevator here is an old picture and you can see the new one too
    https://www.google.com/maps/@40.7214063,-74.0091227,3a,75y,317.23h,105.16t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1ss4FcWuFB72SQSLPIKxF0ZQ!2e0!5s20080801T000000!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3Ds4FcWuFB72SQSLPIKxF0ZQ%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.share%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26yaw%3D317.2315063975901%26pitch%3D-15.157158374551898%26thumbfov%3D90!7i13312!8i6656?authuser=0&coh=205410&entry=ttu

  22. A second hand Tesla that’s been listed for sale for the past four years without finding a buyer offers a stark insight into the challenges faced by Australians trying to offload older used electric vehicles.

    The 2015 Model S in question is almost a decade old and has 115,000 kilometres on the clock, with some visible wear and tear across its interior.

    Despite its age and the fact it’s sat unsold since July 2020, the current owner is seeking $86,800, although the price has been discounted by almost $16,000 over the years. Used car valuations site RedBook puts the guide for such a car in a considerably lower range of $51,400 to $57,300.

    It’s one of almost 1000 used Teslas currently listed on carsales.com.au, ranging from a sleek 2011 Roadster for $349,000 to a stock standard 2019 Model 3 for just $32,000.

    Analysis by news.com.au shows a large number of those vehicles for sale have been languishing for several months and up to two years.

    “Second hand EVs do pose some challenges for retailers and private sellers at the moment,” Michael Costello from Cox Automotive Australia, which owns the Manheim wholesale auction house, told news.com.au.

    A “perfect storm” of factors have combined recently to deliver generally lower residual values compared to traditional fuel cars, Mr Costello said.

    “New EV prices continue to get cheaper, due largely to new Chinese players and Tesla’s ongoing price cuts. When new models get cheaper, you can’t sell an older model at inflated prices,” he explained.

    Carsales.com.au motoring reviewer Toby Hagon said a surge in the supply of new Teslas globally, combined with weaker demand for the brand, has seen the US carmaker aggressively discount some of its models in recent times.

    “Over the past 18 months or so, there have been multiple price reductions to Teslas, the most recent of which shaved $3000 off the Model 3,” Hagon said. “It’s all aimed at luring more buyers by lowering the price.”

    In addition, rapid advancements in battery technology in the past few years mean older Teslas are beginning to look “a little obsolete”, Mr Costello added.

    And then there’s customer anxiety over ageing batteries, which can cost anywhere between $10,000 and $20,000 to replace. “A lack of clarity for consumers around battery longevity beyond the eight-year warranty, and a lack of battery health tests to reassure used buyers, [is another reason].”

    Australian owners of Tesla vehicles flooded social media in May when the latest new car discounting was announced, claiming they had been “screwed” when trying to sell their used cars.

    “Not so great for us current owners looking to sell,” one wrote on Facebook. “Thank you Tesla for screwing your own second-hand market.”

    Another wrote: “Awesome, my car will be completely worthless when my lease is up. Last Tesla I will ever buy.”

    And one was furious to have paid $80,000 just 18 months earlier for a vehicle now priced from $64,900 brand new.

    On top of Tesla’s steep discounting, record sales of new cars this year means the number of used vehicle listings have surged, flooding the market with supply and giving buyers more choice than ever.

    https://www.news.com.au/technology/motoring/motoring-news/screwed-aussies-trying-to-sell-their-used-teslas-face-massive-challenges/news-story/2f140cb5a8cbda0f794e12ddebdc462b

  23. U. Mich. surveys – Life’s a beach bitch. Housing is unaffordable; it’s shelter, not a financialized asset class for price manipulation by .gov, but here we are. Inflation, including in asset prices is a policy.

    “The most important thing to remember is that inflation is not an act of God, that inflation is not a catastrophe of the elements or a disease that comes like the plague. Inflation is a policy.” – Ludwig von Mises

    \\

    https://data.sca.isr.umich.edu/charts.php
    Charts — May 2024
    Last 50 Years

    https://data.sca.isr.umich.edu/get-chart.php?y=2024&m=5&n=41h&d=ylch&f=pdf&k=8e22789587aef780565d4cbce9cd2e94e4d1f6b798facc3afb7fd1ea8a26af26

    CHART 41: BUYING CONDITIONS FOR HOUSES

    https://data.sca.isr.umich.edu/get-chart.php?y=2024&m=5&n=42ah&d=ylch&f=pdf&k=7b1c7cf6e82b3531a896b1fb1b347d262d2a72452ca6d3f48620b35c6d5e2c1e

    CHART 42A: PRICE REASONS FOR BUYING CONDITIONS FOR HOUSES
    (%LOW PRICES – %HIGH PRICES)

  24. A Port Orange woman and eight others say they were harmed by COVID-19 vaccinations and have filed a federal lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, seeking to break the immunity granted to vaccine makers.

    Moms for America, an Ohio-based nonprofit, was joined by Michelle Utter of Port Orange and eight other individuals in suing the government in a case filed last week in the Middle District of Florida in Tampa. They argue a provision of a federal law protecting vaccine manufacturers from damage claims is unconstitutional and should be struck down.

    In a phone interview last week, Utter, a 55-year-old mother of three sons who all serve in the U.S. Navy, shared her story of how she reacted to her second dose of a vaccine on Jan. 11, 2021.

    At the time she said she was an employee in the surgical nursing unit at AdventHealth Daytona Beach who ran three to six miles a day, participated in a CrossFit regimen, and was training for a Spartan Race, a rugged, long-distance running competition involving an obstacle course. The hospital mandated that she receive the vaccine, she said.

    After receiving the first shot of the two-part vaccination on Dec. 22, 2020, Utter became ill for two weeks, with inflammation throughout her body, restless leg syndrome and flu-like symptoms, the suit states.

    She was hesitant, but took the second dose three weeks later, which the lawsuit described as “a tragic mistake.” She said she felt fatigued and weak.

    “From my hips to my feet, it felt like pins were sticking out of my skin,” she told The News-Journal. “Inside my body, I felt like I was on fire.”

    At home, her symptoms got worse, and despite it being early in the morning, she fell asleep and didn’t awaken until 24 hours later. When she did, she felt swelling. “It felt like bricks weighing on my legs,” she said. “I tried to get out of bed. … I fell to the floor. … It was like nothing I had ever experienced before in my life.”

    Her condition never improved, and for months she saw doctors and underwent tests, scans, and lab tests.

    She was ultimately diagnosed with CIDP, a neurological disorder caused by damage to the myelin sheath, the protective covering that surrounds nerve fibers, due to an autoimmune response, the suit states.

    She has had other complications, as well, and has been regularly receiving intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG), which manages immunodeficiency and other conditions including micro-clotting in her blood.

    “Tests show that her body still produces the COVID-19 spike protein, a vaccine artifact,” the suit states.

    The suit says Utter and the other plaintiffs obtained medical opinions from healthcare professionals who say the vaccines caused their injuries.

    If allowed by law, the plaintiffs would bring claims against the manufacturers including “fraud, conspiracy, product liability, negligence, malpractice, and wrongful death.”

    However, the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act (PREP Act) allowed previous HHS Secretary Alex Azar on March 17, 2021, to declare a public emergency as COVID-19 raged across the country, and provide legal cover for manufacturers of COVID-19 drugs, the suit claims.

    “The PREP Act’s liability shield covers nearly any action undertaken by a healthcare provider while treating COVID-19 regardless of how negligent, reckless or even intentional,” the suit states.

    The PREP Act, passed in 2005, grants pharmaceutical companies broad immunity from lawsuits for products used to combat public health emergencies.

    “By crafting blanket immunity into the PREP Act, Congress and Big Pharma lobbyists left American citizens to fend for themselves in the face of widespread, devastating injury and even death,” said Jeff Childers of Childers Law Firm, lead counsel representing Moms For America. “So, in the true American spirit, we are accepting that challenge with this lawsuit seeking to strike down their immunity as unconstitutional.”

    Utter said the impacts of her vaccine reaction have drastically altered her life.

    She no longer works or drives. She lost her job and health insurance.

    Because of her illness, she said she’s lost friends, and some family members and coworkers stopped talking to her.

    One of her sons took a seven-month leave of absence from his Navy to help care for her.

    In October 2021, she applied to CICP for benefits. In February, her claim was denied, leaving her to seek Social Security disability benefits after spending most of her savings. Utter said she fears losing her apartment.

    “It’s like being in the Matrix because I took the wrong pill,” Utter said.

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/medical/florida-woman-says-covid-19-shots-made-her-sick-but-federal-law-protects-vaccine-makers/ar-BB1pkJh1

    Some of the other injuries/deaths in the article are worth reading.

  25. Justin Trudeau looked like a million bucks in a white shirt and a bright blue blazer as he made a funding announcement in his own Montreal riding in his usual energetic style.

    Then he dodged a bunch of questions. Including the big one.

    The reporters’ queries were almost all about the prickly concerns about his leadership coming from inside his own party. Some were so basic that it’s pretty startling that a sitting prime minister can’t answer them.

    Will he meet with his MPs? After all, nine Liberal MPs penned a letter last week calling for an urgent, in-person meeting of the entire Liberal caucus. They warned the Liberals’ loss in the June 24 by-election in the party’s long-time stronghold of Toronto-St. Paul’s was a sign that Canadians aren’t listening anymore.

    Yet Mr. Trudeau wouldn’t commit to meeting his own caucus. He smiled, but swivelled and skated his way around the question three times in a manner that suggested he’d prefer to dive into a sack of electric eels than meet his own MPs all at once. He’ll talk to some on the phone.

    But nothing about the big question Mr. Trudeau left hanging in the air: Why you?

    Mr. Trudeau talked about the Liberal agenda, but didn’t answer the question about why he should lead. Some in his party now say he’s an obstacle, and he hasn’t answered.

    His insistence that the political stakes are high is also the argument put forward by backers of U.S. President Joe Biden to Democrats appalled at the prospect that Donald Trump could be elected president again. But Democrats don’t have to be convinced of the importance of defeating Mr. Trump. They fear concerns about Mr. Biden’s age will make voters rule him out.

    Mr. Biden’s halting performance in his debate with Mr. Trump and the Liberals by-election loss in Toronto-St. Paul’s have been shocks with similar effects. They have shaken some members of their own parties into feeling they can’t be trapped with a leader who they think is doomed to defeat.

    https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/opinion/article-trudeau-dodges-a-list-of-leadership-questions-and-leaves-the-biggest/

  26. Toronto Real Estate Market June Update ‘Sales Crash’
    Mark Mitchell – Mortgage Broker London Ontario

    1 hour ago CANADA

    Toronto’s real estate market saw sales fall to their lowest level in June in 10 years, even after the Bank of Canada cut interest rates at the beginning of the month.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hK5kGSNTXTo

    8:28.

  27. Collin Rugg
    @CollinRugg

    NEW: Phoenix police officer pulls over a driverless Waymo car for driving on the wrong side of the road leading the nonexistent driver to roll the windows down to speak with the police.

    This is hilarious.

    Waymo has since released a statement, apparently blaming the incident on “inconsistent construction signage.”

    The car “was blocked from navigating back into the correct lane” for about 30 seconds when the officer pulled it over.

    “In an ffort to clear the intersection, the Waymo vehicle proceeded forward a short distance and pulled into the next available parking lot,” the company said.

    10:53 AM · Jul 4, 2024

    https://x.com/CollinRugg/status/1808876793149206845

    1. Watch: Policeman Pulls Over Driverless Car Heading Into Oncoming Traffic

      by Kelen McBreen
      July 4th 2024, 11:03 am

      One troubling issue is that since there was no driver, the police department couldn’t ticket the company for breaking the law.

      “UNABLE TO ISSUE CITATION TO COMPUTER,” the Phoenix PD dispatch records read.

      As more autonomous vehicles hit the streets of American cities, more problematic situations like this will undoubtedly arise.

      https://www.infowars.com/posts/watch-policeman-pulls-over-driverless-car-heading-into-oncoming-traffic/

    1. Time to think like an illegal, let biden pay for it, make yourself poor on paper, get food stamps find the food pantries, live cheap find roommates get rid of everything you dont need move to a place on a major bus route you can do it.

      “And now, honestly, I haven’t gone in because if it came up positive,” she said, “there’s no money to pay for services anyway.”

    1. man, cleaning 20 bathrooms would be a fulltime job
      but think about how many illegals you could house all on that sweet sweet government money. Better than a hotel room

  34. ‘Owners of more than 1.5 million condominium units in Florida are bracing for rules going into effect this year. About 78% of condo units in Tampa Bay are 30 years or older, according to Zillow. ‘Unfortunately in these older buildings, many people’s perspective was that you only need to fix it when it’s broken,’ said Greg Main-Baillie, executive managing director for the Florida Development Services Group at Colliers who oversees construction projects for condos across the state. He noted that certain repairs, like concrete restoration, could end up costing tens of millions of dollars. If the board hasn’t saved enough to cover the bill, the cost will fall on the shoulders of condo owners. ‘It’s going to force people to decide whether they can afford to stay’

    I concluded several years ago Greg, that this commie urban airbox living thing was a scam. If left up to people collectively, it will go to hell. Oh you say, we’ll toughen the laws and liability. Well that’s exactly what’s kicking their a$$ as I type. It blows up at the worst time and when people are close to needing to sell. The chickens have well and truly come home to roost in Florida.

    (one’s) chickens come home to roost
    One’s previous actions will eventually have consequences or cause problems for oneself. I knew not handing in my homework would be a problem sooner or later. I guess my chickens came home to roost. I’d be careful before making any rash decisions if I were you. Your chickens will come home to roost eventually. You can keep training and ignoring the pain in your knee, sure, but your chickens will come home to roost eventually.
    See also: chicken, come, home, roost, to
    chickens come home to roost
    proverb One’s previous actions will eventually have consequences or cause problems for oneself. I knew not handing in my homework would be a problem eventually. Chickens always come home to roost. I’d be careful before making any rash decisions—you know that chickens come home to roost. You can keep training and ignoring the pain in your knee, sure, but just remember—chickens come home to roost eventually.
    See also: chicken, come, home, roost, to
    Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
    chickens come home to roost
    Prov. You have to face the consequences of your mistakes or bad deeds. Jill: Emily found out that I said she was incompetent, and now she won’t recommend me for that job. Jane: The chickens have come home to roost, I see.
    See also: chicken, come, home, roost, to
    McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
    chickens come home to roost
    The consequences of doing wrong always catch up with the wrongdoer, as in Now that you’re finally admitting your true age, no one believes you-chickens come home to roost . The fact that chickens usually come home to rest and sleep has long been known, but the idea was used figuratively only in 1809, when Robert Southey wrote, “Curses are like young chickens, they always come home to roost” ( The Curse of Kehama).
    See also: chicken, come, home, roost, to
    The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
    chickens come home to roost your past mistakes or wrongdoings will eventually be the cause of present troubles.
    This phrase comes from the proverb curses, like chickens, come home to roost .
    1997 Arundhati Roy The God of Small Things He knew, had known, that one day History’s twisted chickens would come home to roost.
    See also: chicken, come, home, roost, to
    Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
    (your/the) chickens come home to ˈroost after a long time you experience the unpleasant effects of something bad or stupid that you have done in the past: For years he avoided paying tax. But now his chickens have come home to roost and he’s got a tax bill of $25 000.
    Roost is used about birds and means ‘to rest or go to sleep somewhere’.
    See also: chicken, come, home, roost, to
    Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
    chickens come home to roost, one’s
    One’s sins or mistakes always catch up with one. The idea of retribution is, of course, very old, recorded in ancient Greek and Roman writings. Virgil’s Aeneid, for example, has it, “Now do thy sinful deeds come home to thee.” This particular turn of phrase, however, appears to have been invented by the English poet Robert Southey, who wrote it as a motto in The Curse of Kehama (1809): “Curses are like young chickens; they always come home to roost.”
    See also: chicken, come, home, to
    The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer

    https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/chickens+come+home+to+roost

  35. ‘They have to really decide…Is this worth it for me to get into the market, when, in some cases, I’m going to be buying a house that’s not as nice as my rental?’

    Rents are sinking like a turd in a well Bliss, especially in all the previous hotspots.

  36. ‘Some homes may be on the market for days, Levinson-Kantz said, but many are sitting for weeks if not months and sellers may wait longer if they don’t make concessions’

    That’s the spirit Libby! I knew you would come around.

  37. ‘What was determined, in the weeks after his death, was that he had defrauded dozens of banks in Nebraska and Iowa out of well over $30 million, using counterfeit financial statements to obtain several unsecured operating loans of more than $2 million each. The revelations left bankers questioning how the ambitious young businessman, with ties to Lincoln’s fundamental Christian community and a charity devoted to attacking human trafficking, could have bamboozled them out of so much money. The City Bank & Trust of Lincoln, which had loaned him $2.5 million to build the structures, eventually won back ownership of the acreage. It was sold in September 2023 for $2 million’

    We don’t hear much from this isolated sh$thole, but when we do it’s usually something sordid.

  38. ‘Nearly 40,000 units hit the DFW market over the last 12 months, marking a 50-year high in apartment deliveries and causing rents to decline…More than 32,000 units are expected to debut in DFW this year, the most of any major metro’

    It was a 40 year high before minor respiratory illness. Build baby!

    ‘Distress is on the rise among value-add properties that were financed using short-term floating-rate debt during the early years of the pandemic. Many of those loans have now reached maturity, and refinancing at the current rate isn’t an option for owners who can no longer cover their monthly debt service, said Abbie Thomson, managing member and chief operating officer at Dallas-based Thomson Multifamily Group, which focuses mostly on the Class-B and C investment market. ‘Business plans built on those floating-rate debt products are no longer sustainable in the current market,’ she said. ‘They are being put in a position that they need to sell’

    I blogged about this whole sorry mess since 2014 Abbie. That year and many after all we heard was it was the holy grail of investing, etc. The gravestone reads:

    Value-Add Properties That Were Financed Using Short-Term Floating-Rate Debt During The Early Years Of The Pandemic

    1. Seems like every college town across the country has a similar tale of private equity vampires buying up anything within walking distance of the campus, tear it down and build a semi luxury complex on it.

  39. ‘Unless I absolutely had to, I would wait until the fall,’ says Mr. Warren. ‘The audience isn’t listening right now. You can’t have seven or eight houses in Rosedale at $20-million-plus. Where are the buyers?’…Mr. Warren says homeowners who set an asking price that’s too rich to start with do themselves a disservice because the house soon appears stale and the buyers have more leverage. ‘Then if you are going to reduce, hold your breath,’ warns Mr. Warren. ‘Now you’ve brought it down 15 per cent and you’re going to have to sell 5 to 10 per cent below that’

    Yer right Jim, slash it early and get out. So you don’t have to give it away!

  40. ‘A home sold at a staggering $800,000 loss is just the latest example of a property in and around the GTA selling for much less than its original price tag. Located in Oshawa’s Eastdale neighbourhood, the custom-built home was originally sold in March 2022 for $2.55 million’

    A mighty 31% a$$ pounding in two years.

  41. ‘He was under the impression some of his $200,000 had been used for renovations, he said. What that family member found was a vacant lot. The property had sat vacant for months and experienced two fires, leading to the city demolishing it last summer, said Adams. If not for his family member, ‘I would have remained unaware of the true circumstances surrounding the property,’ he said. Now the property is worth less than half of what he invested, or about $60,000’

    You got schlonged Andy, just one small bit of the 140M K-dn pesos took yet again.

  42. Reporters Blame “Right-Wing Media” For Their Failure To Disclose Biden’s Infirmity.

    https://www.zerohedge.com/political/reporters-blame-right-wing-media-their-failure-disclose-bidens-infirmity

    The media is sorry . . . sort of. After the shocking appearance of President Joe Biden in the presidential debate, the public has turned its attention to the press which has, again, buried a major scandal for years. According to CNN, the reporters at the White House are really, really sorry but explained that it was the “right-wing media” that prompted them to avoid the story. It is a telling admission that, yet again, reporters chose not to report on a story because they wanted to frame the news for political purposes. It is precisely the pattern that I discuss in my new book The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage where the media now rejects objectivity and neutrality as core values in journalism.

    For years, there have been questions about President Joe Biden’s mental and physical decline. Those concerns reached their apex when Special Counsel Robert Hur issued his report. While finding that Biden had unlawfully retained and mishandled classified material for decades, he concluded that prosecution would be difficult because a jury would be swayed by the appearance of an elderly man with declining memory.

    The media pounced and attacked Hur while media figures attested to the President’s acuity and ability. Then, as videos repeatedly surfaced showing the President confused and fragile, the media declared them “cheap fakes” and attacked Fox News and other outlets for airing them even though Fox noted that the clips were unedited. (For full disclosure, I am a Fox News analyst). Virtually every news outlet aired the attack with politicians, pundits, and celebrities attesting that the President was sharp and engaged.

    On MSNBC, Joe Scarborough stated

    “start your tape right now because I’m about to tell you the truth. And F— you if you can’t handle the truth. This version of Biden intellectually, analytically, is the best Biden ever. Not a close second. And I have known him for years…If it weren’t the truth I wouldn’t say it.”

    Then the presidential debate happened and, after years of being protected by staff, tens of millions of people watched the president struggle to stay focused and responsive.

    So, as an embarrassed press struggled to explain the most recent belated disclosure, the reason is the “right-wing press” and the need to counter their narratives.

    While saying that reporters “are now expressing regret,” CNN explains that “some members of the White House press corps who have regular exposure to President Biden are now admitting they were “turned off” from exposing his mental decline before last week’s debate in part because of the attention it has got from ‘right-wing media.’”

    It was just part of shaping the news, which is now the priority in journalism.

    A recent series of interviews with over 75 media leaders by Leonard Downie Jr., former Washington Post executive editor, and Andrew Heyward, former CBS News president, reaffirmed this shift. As Emilio Garcia-Ruiz, editor-in-chief at the San Francisco Chronicle, stated: “Objectivity has got to go.”

    But that objectivity seems to depend heavily upon what ideology you are advocating.

    We have been discussing the rise of advocacy journalism and the rejection of objectivity in journalism schools. Writers, editors, commentators, and academics have embraced rising calls for censorship and speech controls, including President-elect Joe Biden and his key advisers. This movement includes academics rejecting the very concept of objectivity in journalism in favor of open advocacy.

    In an interview with The Stanford Daily, Stanford journalism professor, Ted Glasser, insisted that journalism needed to “free itself from this notion of objectivity to develop a sense of social justice.” He rejected the notion that journalism is based on objectivity and said that he views “journalists as activists because journalism at its best — and indeed history at its best — is all about morality.” Thus, “Journalists need to be overt and candid advocates for social justice, and it’s hard to do that under the constraints of objectivity.”

    Lauren Wolfe, the fired freelance editor for the New York Times, has not only gone public to defend her pro-Biden tweet but published a piece titled “I’m a Biased Journalist and I’m Okay With That.”

    Former New York Times writer (and now Howard University Journalism Professor) Nikole Hannah-Jones is a leading voice for advocacy journalism.

    Indeed, Hannah-Jones has declared “all journalism is activism.”

    The problem comes with these little embarrassing moments when the public suddenly sees that prior coverage was false. Whether it is the Russian collusion story (for which reporters received Pulitzer Prizes) or the Hunter Biden laptop or the Lafayette Park photo shoot or the migrant whipping controversy, there is an inescapable pattern of omission and misdirection. This is why media outlets are collapsing as the public seeks other sources for information.

    As I previously wrote, the mantra “Let’s Go Brandon!” was embraced by millions as a criticism as much of the media as President Biden. It derives from an Oct. 2 interview with race-car driver Brandon Brown after he won his first NASCAR Xfinity Series race. During the interview, NBC reporter Kelli Stavast’s questions were drowned out by loud-and-clear chants of “F*** Joe Biden.” Stavast quickly and inexplicably declared, “You can hear the chants from the crowd, ‘Let’s go, Brandon!’”

    So, in expressing guilt for not pursuing the President’s mental and physical decline, the media is left with explaining that they are just doing what they are trained to do in the new J Schools. They were countering conservatives and framing the news.

    This is why Washington Post publisher and CEO William Lewis is under attack for dropping a truth bomb on the staff of the Post when he told them:

    “We are going to turn this thing around, but let’s not sugarcoat it. It needs turning around,” Lewis said.

    “We are losing large amounts of money. Your audience has halved in recent years. People are not reading your stuff. Right. I can’t sugarcoat it anymore.”

    Staff is now trying to get him fired.

    1. ‘the mantra “Let’s Go Brandon!” was embraced by millions as a criticism as much of the media as President Biden. It derives from an Oct. 2 interview with race-car driver Brandon Brown after he won his first NASCAR Xfinity Series race. During the interview, NBC reporter Kelli Stavast’s questions were drowned out by loud-and-clear chants of “F*** Joe Biden.” Stavast quickly and inexplicably declared, “You can hear the chants from the crowd, ‘Let’s go, Brandon!’ So, in expressing guilt for not pursuing the President’s mental and physical decline, the media is left with explaining that they are just doing what they are trained to do in the new J Schools. They were countering conservatives and framing the news’

      I for one am enjoying all the winning.

    2. In an interview with The Stanford Daily, Stanford journalism professor, Ted Glasser, insisted that journalism needed to “free itself from this notion of objectivity to develop a sense of social justice.”

      This guy is way out on the proverbial limb.

  43. July 4, 1776, changed the trajectory of world history forever. On that day the Continental Congress voted to adopt Jefferson’s draft of the Declaration of Independence. But at the time, it was far from obvious that July 4 would become Independence Day.

    July 2 seemed the obvious day for celebration to John Adams. On that day, the Continental Congress adopted Virginian Richard Henry Lee’s motion officially declaring that the colonies “are, and of right ought to be, free and independent states.” Writing to his wife, Abigail Adams, Adams famously declared that July 2: “Will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other.”

    Of course, it was ultimately the adoption of the Declaration on July 4, and not the July 2 adoption of the resolution that paved its way, that became the United States’ formal Independence Day.

    When people think about the Declaration of Independence, they may think of a room of elder statesmen, as depicted in the famous work of artist John Trumbull. Trumbull painted “Declaration of Independence” in 1819, and it depicts a crucial moment in the American quest for independence.

    In point of fact, the 56 delegates gathered in Philadelphia in 1776 were younger than this image may suggest, on average clocking in at just 44 years old. That included a broad range of ages, from 20-somethings to a septuagenarian.

    The youngest signatory of the document was South Carolina’s Edward Rutledge, who was just 26 years and 8 months old. Another South Carolina signatory, Thomas Lynch Jr., was three days shy of his 27th birthday. A plurality of the signatories, meanwhile, were in their 30s with many others in their early 40s. Only seven of them, including 70-year-old Benjamin Franklin, the oldest signatory of the declaration, were 60 years of age or older.

    While independence may seem in retrospect to be a foregone conclusion, that wasn’t necessarily the case. Several members of the Continental Congress were skeptical of independence. Many founders initially took a more moderate stance toward grievances with the home island.

    That’s not to say that nobody was thinking about it—the idea was already stirring in coffeehouses and taverns across the colonies, and revolutionary leaders like Adams were outspoken in favor of independence as early as 1774.

    By 1775, particularly following the Battles of Lexington and Concord, the idea had been adopted by most congressional leaders. But some moderates—led by John Dickinson, famous for his “Letters From a Pennsylvania Farmer”—remained skeptical about independence until the eleventh hour.

    These included Robert Livingston, one of the most powerful and renowned names in New York who later served a variety of diplomatic roles for the fledgling U.S. government, and John Jay, who later became the first chief justice of the Supreme Court.

    The divides were even more pronounced among the people: After the war, Mr. Adams was famously quoted as saying: “One-third of the [American] people were for the Revolution, one-third were against it, and one-third were neutral.”

    Of all the signatures attached to the Declaration of Independence, John Hancock’s is perhaps the most famous. Mr. Hancock was famously unfazed by the risk of being hanged for treason, affixed his name—now the most recognizable signature in American political history—in large characters to the bottom of the Declaration.

    What fewer people know are the personal motives that may have influenced this decision. Prior to the Revolutionary War, Mr. Hancock was one of the most successful smugglers in North America. His business flourished, in large part, thanks to the phenomenon of “salutary neglect,” during which British agents were lax in their enforcement of customs laws.

    But after the end of the French and Indian War in 1763, British coffers were empty. To refill them, Britain ended the unofficial policy of salutary neglect, coming down hard on smugglers and others trying to evade British customs laws.

    Mr. Hancock, as the most successful smuggler in North America, was especially adversely affected by this crackdown, even having his ship—the Liberty—seized by British officials for legal violations. Thus, for Mr. Hancock, the Revolution represented not only an ideological imperative but a financial one as well.

    The Declaration of Independence is today viewed by Americans as a near-sacrosanct document, a founding justification of the core ideals of the new nation founded in 1776. Today, its words—with their message of “inalienable rights” and “self-evident” truths—are deeply entangled in Americans’ political sense of self and are regularly repeated from presidential stump speeches to the halls of Capitol Hill.

    But for all that, it took time for the declaration to become such an important fixture of American life and history. At the time, it simply made official a revolt against the Crown that was already effectively underway. After the last signature was affixed in August 1776, the document itself remained in the custody of Congress in Philadelphia, only one of several important documents at the time.

    It wasn’t until Jefferson became President Jefferson in 1800—the “Revolution of 1800”—that the document, written by him, began to take pride of place in Americans’ hearts and minds. That year, the document was moved to the new seat of government in Washington.

    Until 1952, it was moved often within the capital, sometimes being held in the Library of Congress, sometimes in the State Department; it was moved twice, during the War of 1812 and again during World War II, for safekeeping. But since 1952, the document has been prominently displayed in the National Archives, where it remains one of the capital’s most famous attractions.

    https://www.theepochtimes.com/us/5-things-you-may-not-know-about-independence-day-5679681

    1. Benjamin Franklin: “We must, indeed, all hang together or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately.”

  44. Russia’s Popularity With Americans Is Growing.

    https://www.newsweek.com/russia-popularity-growing-americans-pew-1920571

    More Americans had a positive view of Russia than a year ago, according to a poll that looked at attitudes in NATO countries and elsewhere toward Moscow, the alliance and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

    The survey by Pew Research Center found that the percentage of Americans who had a “favorable” view of Russia was 11 percent in 2024, which was an increase of 4 percentage points from the 7 percent last year. The poll of 3,600 American adults was conducted from January 5 to May 21 and had a margin of error of 2.1 percent.

    In 2020, two years before the start of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, 15 percent of Americans had a favorable view of Russia, according to Pew. Newsweek contacted the Ukrainian and Russian foreign ministries for comment.

    Also polled were more than 44,000 people in 36 countries ahead of the NATO summit in Washington, D.C. It marks the alliance’s 75th anniversary, during which support for Ukraine against Russian aggression will be at the top of the agenda.

    In other NATO countries, 13 percent of Canadians had a favorable view of Russia, which was up 1 percent from 2023. In France, the same attitude was up by 3 percentage points to 17 percent, while, in Germany, those with positive feelings toward Russia increased by 5 percent to 15 percent. In the United Kingdom, 13 percent of respondents had a favorable view of Russia—up 4 percent from last year.

    However, the polling found that, globally, views about Russia and Putin remain largely negative. In the survey of three-dozen countries, 65 percent of respondents had an unfavorable view of Russia, while 73 percent lack confidence in the Russian leader “to do the right thing regarding world affairs.”

    In a media statement shared with Newsweek, Pew said it had also found that the opinions of Russian and Putin “have warmed since we last surveyed there. For instance, people in Argentina have grown 11 percentage points more favorable toward Russia and nine points more confident in Putin.”

    Pew added that, in Europe, those with favorable views of a right-wing populist party see Russia and Putin more positively than those with unfavorable views of such parties.

    Its survey’s findings give a snapshot on how support for Ukraine is straining among its Western allies and that efforts to isolate Putin are faltering.

    Overall, an average of 46 percent of respondents said they do not have confidence in Zelensky to do the right thing in the war, compared to 40 percent who said they do.

    Pew said in its statement that confidence in Zelensky has decreased significantly in 11 countries over the last year, with the largest drop in neighboring Poland, where confidence has fallen 22 percentage points, from 70 percent to 48 percent.

    There were also smaller but significant decreases in Australia, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, South Africa, South Korea, Sweden and the U.S.

  45. You Have No Choice, You Still Have To Close (York Region Real Estate Market Update)

    Team Sessa Real Estate

    1 hour ago VAUGHAN

    In this episode we take a look at the current Vaughan Home Prices, Richmond Hill Home Prices & Markham Home Prices and real estate market trends for week ending June 26, 2024. We also discuss how in many situations, although things could happen before closing that could really upset the buyer, the chances of being able to not close because of it are slim to none.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7ZLhnatv5g

    11:36.

  46. Now I’m wondering if you need a line item for estimates in Chicago remodels for workers being robbed at gunpoint and what percentage or price you would put on it?

    10% overhead
    10% profit
    10% potential robbery at gunpoint

    I’ll have to check my liability policy net week and see if it’s covered.

    Comments

    “That 2-3 minutes he had that gun pointed to his head must have seemed like decades.”

    Shock Video: Construction Workers Robbed at Gunpoint in Chicago

    by Dan Lyman
    July 4th 2024, 2:30 pm

    A pair of construction workers narrowly survived a harrowing robbery at gunpoint in Chicago this week, according to reports.

    The shocking incident unfolded at around 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday morning in the Windy City.

    CWB Chicago published footage of the the brazen heist, which was captured by a Ring doorbell camera.

    The victims were working around their van in a residential neighborhood when a suspect rushed toward them with gun drawn.

    The men were forced to lie on the ground as the suspect pointed a pistol at their heads and rummaged through their pockets.

    https://www.infowars.com/posts/shock-video-construction-workers-robbed-at-gunpoint-in-chicago/

  47. ICE Arrests MS-13 Gangbanger Wanted for Murders

    by Dan Lyman
    July 4th 2024, 3:22 pm

    Salvadoran illegal has been wanted for two homicides in home country since 2019

    An MS-13 gang member who is wanted for two homicides in his home country of El Salvador was recently arrested in New York.

    On Monday, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced the capture of Melvin Orlando Hernandez Villanueva, a 27-year-old Salvadoran who was living illegally in the United States.

    ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) agents tracked Hernandez Villanueva down at his residence in Queens on June 20.

    Hernandez Villanueva was the subject of an INTERPOL Red Notice issued in October of 2023 and has been wanted by Salvadoran authorities for two counts of aggravated murder and unlawful groups since 2019.

    He illegally entered the U.S. at an unknown date and time.

    “This violent criminal and MS-13 gang member erroneously thought he could escape murder charges in El Salvador by sneaking into the United States and hiding out in New York City,” ERO New York City Field Office Director Kenneth Genalo said in a statement.

    https://www.infowars.com/posts/ice-arrests-ms-13-gangbanger-wanted-for-murders/

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