How Can A City Where People Can Afford Such Riches Also Be A City That Lets Human Beings Live Like This?

1. You will own nothing.

2. Are you missing out on the chance to buy inexpensive investment properties in Detroit?

   1. Real Estate
      ‘I Bought a House in Detroit for $1,800’: How a Once-Bankrupt City Has Become an Investor’s Paradise
      By Julie Taylor
      Aug 27, 2024

      Chase C. Hunter became a real estate investor in Detroit in an unusual way. She searched for “best places to buy cheap properties” on Google.

      At the time, Hunter was living in Houston and was curious to see where she could afford to invest in real estate on a limited budget. After searching online, she decided the Motor City certainly seemed to fit the bill, with sites like the Detroit Land Bank Authority selling vacant “as is” properties for as little as $1,000.

      Despite her reservations, Hunter pulled the trigger.

      “I closed on my first two properties the same day in June of 2021,” she says. “The day I closed was my very first time in Detroit.”

      Her first property cost $2,000, the second was $1,800. Since then, Hunter has purchased a total of eight Detroit homes. She’s transformed one property into her office, while renovating and renting out the others.

      She permanently moved to the city last year to have “boots on the ground” near her investments.

      “The market can be a challenge to navigate if you aren’t here every single day,” she explains. “Buyers have to know the culture of Detroit to understand how to invest here.”
      …
      https://www.sfgate.com/realestate/article/i-bought-a-house-in-detroit-for-1-800-how-a-19725075.php

      1. this same story played out in the aughts. But prices were 20 to 30,000 dollars (from 50 to 90k in the 90’s). Of course the crime, violent crime, theft, and ummmmmmm general population won in the end, it always does.

         Something is massively cheap for a reason. She’ll end up broken and in tears like the rest.

3. You will eat nothing.

   CNBC — Why the value meal is making a comeback (8/28/2024):

   “Nearly 80% of Americans said they feel fast food has become a luxury and are eating out less, according to a LendingTree survey. To try to lure them back, fast-food chains have been touting their value.”

   80% is that a lot?

   “It’s a similar playbook to the one those chains have used in the past, and the competition has sparked what some are calling a value menu war.

   “This has always been an industry where value is critically important,” said Sara Senatore, senior analyst at Bank of America Securities. “We’re seeing what I would characterize as a little bit more of a return to normal.”

   https://www.cnbc.com/2024/08/28/why-the-mcdonalds-value-meal-is-making-a-comeback-.html

   Paul Krugman muh best economy ever people can’t even afford McDonalds.

   1. McDonald’s did a $5 value meal promotion, in an effort to lure customers back into the stores. They had to get extra money from Coca-Cola to break even and even then they only did it for a month. There was an uptick in sales, but as soon as the promotion was over, customers stopped going.

      1. I know some posters here will insist they’ve seen no slowdown whatsoever (cars everywhere!). But in my neck of the woods the drive thru lines have become noticeably shorter, sometimes non existent, even during the “busy times”. I do see the same amount of road traffic, but those people are not pulling into Mickey Ds or Wendy’s.

         1. Fast food has gotten so expensive now it is a luxury for many families. The reality is that there are too many fast food restaurants and too few customers at current food prices. Many chains and locations will close or go bankrupt. Or else they’ll have to figure out a way to lower their food and labor costs by serving actual slop and cheaper, lower quality food products than they already serve.

            Along these same lines, I think I said once before here that the Mexican restaurants market is oversatured. Everyone seems to be opening a Mexican restaurant on every corner but because of food and labor costs, they’re charging $14 for a burrito or $30 for carne asade at a sit down restaurant That’s not sustainable for the average family and certainly not for the low wage Mexican customer. Other than the highly successful established restaurants, which are feeling the pain, most of these restaurants are on the verge of insolvency and collapse.

            Another interesting observation I’ve had is that the mexican community really only eats two kinds of food – mexican food, and on special occasions, chinese food. that’s all. They don’t ever go out for italian, or greek, or french, and probably never ate hummus in their life, once in a while mcdonalds, but eat almost exclusively the same half a dozen items at every mexican restaurant for every meal. And when I go into mexican neighborhoods, like the suburb next to mine, the pre-existing fast food places seem to be struggling, or have closed (the gyro and burger places have all shut down) but there is a $5 a taco joint on every corner now.

            1. There’s also a truckload of competition from 7-11, Taco Bell, and the deli section of the grocery store. As a nation it’s clear that we are over-retailed.

            2. The Langer’s story is interesting. There are drive-by videos that show the illegals have moved into that neighborhood and the sidewalks are now full of vendors selling stolen merch. Across the street in the park they have vagrants and zombies passed out everywhere. The gf and I like to look up menu price comparisons so when we saw this deli on the news recently we immediately looked for the menu. Their signature pastrami sandwich is $27. It is a no frills basic sandwich with a side pickle. Their other options generally cost more. Lunch for two with tax and tip is easily around 100 bucks there. This is for a deli that looks like it was last updated in 1978 and is beset by invaders and zombies. The owner claims his parking area is safe tho so come on by!

         2. I never notice because I never go to those places, have no interest in them, and haven’t for decades. A one or two time stop per year prior to that for coke and fries. You’d probably get more nutrition from the wrappers and cups than the food.

4. ‘Like the now-failed fund Home REIT, Domus touted itself as a company working to alleviate homelessness in the UK by buying property and leasing it to social housing providers. The structure of the firm saw Fiera’s infrastructure arm, which manages about $3bn in assets, provide funding, while Manchester-based property group HSPG supported the ‘acquisition, management and expansion’ of the company, according to a press release announcing its launch in 2021. Investors have poured money into the space on the promise of easing the UK’s homelessness crisis while earning a steady index-linked rental income’

   The REIC is putting billions of pesos into these guberment funded bum housing schemes. They have almost all quickly failed. Here’s an example:

   Slate Property Group gets $210M loan for portfolio of homeless shelters

   Slate Property Group nabbed a $210 million refinancing from JP Morgan Chase for a sprawling portfolio of homeless shelters and social services offices.

   Among the properties is the Salvation Army rehab center at 62 Hanson Place in Brooklyn and the adjacent lot, which Slate Property Group bought for $43 million two years ago.

   Another was a homeless shelter at 427 West 52nd Street in Manhattan, which Slate refinanced with a $126 million collateral loan when it bought the Salvation Army property. The lender was also JP Morgan.

   Other buildings in the refinanced portfolio include 1851 Phelan Place, 1732 Webster Avenue and 360 East 193rd Street in the Bronx; 85-15 101st Avenue in Queens; 141 West 144th Street, and three units at 161 Lexington Avenue in Manhattan, and 399 Third Avenue in Brooklyn.

   A business called Narco Freedom operates at 1851 Phelan Place in the Bronx, according to Yelp, but it was a men’s shelter in 2018. The Third Avenue address in Brooklyn houses a Praxis Housing Initiatives shelter, and 161 Lexington Avenue is the site of The Hotel @ New York City, where Bowery Residents Committee has operated a shelter for men and women.

   Slate’s principal and co-founder David Schwartz told The Real Deal in the summer of 2020, at the height of the pandemic, that the firm wanted to focus on affordable housing, including temporary apartments for homeless people, given New York City’s growing need.

   Slate spent roughly $320 million acquiring and developing at least 10 homeless shelters or supportive housing addresses over the next several years, with properties in every borough but Staten Island.

   https://therealdeal.com/new-york/2024/08/14/slate-property-group-refinances-homeless-shelters-with-210m-loan/

5. Economists = Liars.

   MarketWatch — U.S. recession fears exaggerated, economists at Jackson Hole say (8/25/2024):

   “The underpinnings of the economy look good. Broadly speaking, things look pretty solid,” said Karen Dynan, an economics professor at Harvard University.

   “When we enter the typical recession, there is usually some underlying weakness. It just doesn’t feel that way now,” she added.

   Analysts at the Jackson Hole, Wyo., meeting said that they were watching the labor market closely, but the softness so far suggests a slowdown — not a downturn.

   The unemployment rate has moved up from a low of 3.4% in April 2023 to 4.3% in July.

   In the past, such a increase in the unemployment rate has often portended a recession, but this time is different, Dynan said.

   Dynan said the substantial wave of immigration over the past few years has pushed up the unemployment rate because the new arrivals are looking for work.”

   https://www.marketwatch.com/story/u-s-recession-fears-exaggerated-economists-at-jackson-hole-say-44b18859?mod=home-page

   New arrivals, did you say?

   Note that MarketWatch is owned by News Corp, the alleged “conservative” media company that owns Fox, the Daily Mail, etc.

   The only border that those globalist scum media want to “conserve” is the border of Israel, never the United States, because globalists gonna globe.

   1. The unemployment rate has moved up from a low of 3.4% in April 2023 to 4.3% in July.

      Per shadowstats, the real unemployment rate is about 25%

      1. shadowstats

         I believe Williams stopped updating the charts over a year ago.

   2. “…The underpinnings of the economy look good. Broadly speaking, things look pretty solid,” said Karen Dynan, an economics professor at Harvard University….”

      Never once in the MSM have seen a clear definition of “underpinnings”.

      What are ‘underpinnings’ and how are they measured, Karen Dynan?

      Herein lies the rub: Would seem that ‘underpinnings’ definition could easily be shifted dependent on current narrative.

      The MSM then copies / pastes and that is what is published.

      1. Normie American has been living the same lifestyle today as he was five years ago, but unfortunately, as used credit cards to fill the gap in his income. IIRC 11% of all credit cards are in some form of default right now as normie american continued doing all the same things he did pre-pademic but used debt instead of income.

         The reality is, and no one wants to admit it, but the average american’s standard of living is about to head straight into the ground. The average american is loaded up with debt, at a time of fairly stagnant incomes, and increasingly high prices, and his standard of living in 5 years will be worse off than it was 5 years ago. That’s the sad fact. We’re all competing with foreigners for the same 1970’s split-levels that cost $400k now with 7% interest rates. Your family might be driving a beater car for an extra 5 years instead of a new car. You’ll be eating more sausage instead of beef. Your vacation might be to the Wisconsin Dells for two nights instead of three, and you’ll only go every other year. Your clothes will be tatters and you will repair rather than replace your rags. You will limit your driving with high gas prices. You might go out to eat only once a month instead of three times a month. That’s the much, much poorer future many americans are looking at.

         1. In my general area, $400K would be rock bottom for a fixer-upper. For example:

            https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/13111-Collingwood-Ter-Silver-Spring-MD-20904/37132106_zpid/

            And yes, people are filling in with credit. When everyone got COVID checks, the “laptop class” (as Elon Musk names them) who kept their jobs used the money to pay down CC debt, only to run it up again in 2022.

            1. It’s sad that our country’s housing policy is for the natives to compete with immigrants and foreigners for $400k 1970’s split-level handyman specials.

         2. +1

            It’s gonna get worse, then it’s gonna get a lot worser for the 99% who have the misfortune of being U.S. citizens.

            Illegals will get free housing, and free everything else.

            And the pigs, of course, will only get richer, because Parasite Class gonna parasite.

            1. Citizen! The Comrades of Proven Worth at the Democratic National Convention have ordained that you are to feel JOY at the prospect of Comrade Kamala being our next selected, not elected, president. Your dour mood is evidence of BadThink which can adversely impact your social credit score. You need to be like those North Koreans who if they fail to show anything less than rapturous adulation for Kim Jong-Un can expect to be sent to a re-education camp. Forward, Soviet!

   3. Economists = Liars

      Dr. Lacy Hunt and Anna Wong are good.

      1. Have Anna saved for later tonight.

6. how about a little Betty Wright this morning… no auto tune. real singing.

   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0paj1fBWT8

   1. Iris Dement – Let the Mystery Be

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlaoR5m4L80&list=RDnlaoR5m4L80&start_radio=1

      1. been out all day…Nice Americana music, Ive been into Donna the Buffalo for a long time (titles listed). lots 2 hour concerts YT

         https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5TxwUztGpk

7. A handful of prominent people have linked expensive housing prices to illegal immigration. 20,000,000 illegals cramming into the lowest cost housing available causes ripple effects throughout the entire housing market. The former, many legal, residents of these housing complexes want to move up and out; and at least where I live in the Chicagoland area, they are buying homes – often two families at a time – in former working class areas, driving up costs to unbelievable highs. Dated split levels that sold in 2016 for $125,000 as distressed sales in working class white neighborhoods are selling for $399,000 to hispanics, often two families (one family upstairs in the split, the other family downstairs) with low or no money down loans. I’m not joking, I just looked one up house at random, and these are the numbers I found.

   Far suburbs exurbs that used to be solid red are now turning blue as the old folks move or die and the hispanics, quite literally, replace them, complete with pitbull family dogs and 6 cars in the driveway.

   My elderly aunt lives in far exurb of Chicago for 40 years, in a small two bedroom single family home, in a very blue collar subdivision. In the past decade her entire subdivision has become nearly entirely hispanic as the old folks like her die or sell. The elderly lady next door died several years back and the home sold to not one but two mexican families for nearly $300k and they have 5 cars in the driveway that spill over into the street. it’s a 2 bedroom, 900 sq foot house with a full basement. One family upstairs, one family downstairs. This is very typical for the block, and there are now kids everywhere but it’s not Dennis the Menace but Diego the Degenerate smoking weed with gang banger buddies all hours of the day, before school, after school, all weekend.

   I’ve actually encouraged my relatives to leave the neighborhood because as the only remaining elderly couple on the block, they are very much a target for home invasion and burglaries. They naively claim that their guns will protect them. I said, but your guns are locked up, and you wont’ be able to get them out of the safe in time to protect yourself, and your 70 years old, you’re no match for a 17 year old.

   But beyond housing, the illegals are affecting everything. The used car market is still extremely high priced, despite the slight decrease, as every illegal comes here and needs a vehicle. I saw in the last month not one but now two old Saturns driving around, cars that haven’t been made in nearly two decades.

   It also affects food prices too, which no one wants to admit. 20,000,000 new people are eating meat and ag products, and it takes time, often years, to increase production to meet these new needs. It takes nearly two and a half years for a cow to go to slaughter plus gestation time of around 9 months, plus farmers need to get extra equipment and space to raise them.

   On top of that, many of them have EBT cards, free money essentially, to use to buy up these scare agricultural products, so normie american is competing against the illegal immigrant with free money from the government to buy the same rice, meat and beans.

   The government Democrats call it ‘price gouging’ but no one, not a single politician, wants to be on the record saying “Illegal immigrants are eating too much food, they are literally taking food out of your childrens’ mouths” for fear of swift backlash from the media and every facet of society accusing said politician of wanting to starve migrant children.

   1. I saw in the last month not one but now two old Saturns driving around, cars that haven’t been made in nearly two decades.

      The last model year was 2009, 15 years ago. Ditto for Pontiac.

      I was noticing the other day that in my neck of the woods you rarely see an old Saturn. The last one I saw was a roadster that looked pristine. I figured that it was low on miles and kept in a garage. Most Saturns are probably in the junkyard by now, and the few beaters left probably have an unlicensed and uninsured invader behind the wheel.

   2. On top of that, many of them have EBT cards, free money essentially, to use to buy up these scare agricultural products

      Yup. And even if private charities are feeding them, it still increases demand for food.

   3. debt serf

      quite an accurate summary of the state of affairs in America.
      this has been the condition of California for the past 20/30/40 years, and with Sacramento being the epicenter of Ukranian refugees, add that demographic into the mix.
      in fact, I commented the other day to my spouse that apparently all of the blonde kids in N. CA. are now Ukies!

      also noticing large groups of Muslims walking, (which is unusual in itself in CA. haha!) to & from Walmart on Auburn Blvd. Citrus Heights in separate clusters of men & women w/kids, the women covered head-to-toe in Burkas.

      must be a recent govt. sponsored re-settlement in some nearby apt. bloc. in fact the Citrus Heights Mayor made the news recently by publicly announcing moving his family across country, and the reasons why.

      1. in fact, I commented the other day to my spouse that apparently all of the blonde kids in N. CA. are now Ukies!

         That reminds me of a scene in the Karate Kid, when they arrive in California from New Jersey. Daniel’s mother gushes “Everyone here is blond!”. Funny how quickly things can change, huh?

         I know a couple in north San Diego county. The wife half of the couple worked as a playground monitor at a government school, and she also helped during drop off and pickup. Anyway, during pickup time she encountered a family that had just moved from New Jersey. Their first words to her were: “Oh thank goodness! You speak English!”

         1. I live in a bit of a bubble, a mid sized suburb of Chicago that hasn’t felt the demographic changes yet that everywhere else has, probably because the housing prices are too expensive, but surrounding me has changed. (and believe me, the AWFLs in the town express their anger at the homogeneity every chance they get!!)

            There’s a small number of immigrants around me too but they’re mostly eastern european, seem fresh off the boat, if they live in my town, they got money from somewhere. But directly north of me, across a very busy street, is another suburbs filled to the brim with low rent apartment complexes with mostly muslims and other arabs. They have a brand new mosque across the street from the enormous apartment complex.

            My town has its own little restaurant row in our walkable downtown with your typical places, pizza, irish bar, sushi, mexican. But there is a very successful indian restaurant that pretty much only caters to indians. The place is packed, and is expanding, but I don’t think anyone from in town eats there, its the indians from the surrounding areas that come here as a destination to eat.

            Other various restaurants have tried to expand on this success, there’s a kabob house, a halal steakhouse that is alcohol free, and several other ‘ethnic’ places, none of which seem to do well, because the UMC clientele in this town love their old fashions, their artisan pizza and their irish pubs. They need to bring in other people to eat halal steak, but those customers can’t afford halal steak (with no alcohol!) and parking is tough. The indians tend to have a little bit more income and are willing to spend it unlike the other demographics.

            1. I live in a bit of a bubble, a mid sized suburb of Chicago that hasn’t felt the demographic changes yet
               I grew up in a small suburb of Chicago near the Airport and the High school I graduated from over 40 years ago, 10 years ago had over 50%”minority students.” Not sure what the % is now but the black %’s was very very small 10 years ago.
               Homes are not all that expensive in the town that make up the school district.

   4. The current invasion is woefully short of migrant women and children. I don’t see that many women and children are hidden away by traffickers. 90% of them are young military-age men who are here for the freebies, and they aren’t all Hispanic.

      I don’t know of any red suburbs where I live. All of the DC burbs are overflowing with white women who brag internally to themselves about how guilty they are in their whiteness. The yards are full of We Believe signs. That’s about half the houses. The other half are Bush-era migrants. Say what you will, they are at least working and raising families. The kids are growing up to fix my plumbing. I can’t say the same about the white male gamer basement class.

      Rasmussin polls show that DJT is winning the Hispanic vote. They like their babies straight… and alive.

      1. The yards are full of We Believe signs.

         Those signs in my little burg are as rare as a Venezuelan who can speak English without an accent.

      2. The only red places left these days are the exurbs in IL and even they are turning blue. The hispanics love the Orange Man, but seemingly, only the Orange Man, as their voting patterns seem to turn every area (outside of TX) from red to blue. Speaking of the trades, I’ve talked to plumbing company owners who can’t hire people because they can’t read well or do basic math. My daughter’s friend’s father owns the largest plumbing company in town. He’s a very liberal guy too, and HATES trump. He was specifically talking about 2nd generation immigrants from public schools. They just can’t figure out plumbing, don’t want to get their hands dirty, can’t do the job, at all, even after training. The busiest HVAC guy in my community is a 65 year old guy who works for himself installing units. There’s no competition other than the Name Brand advertisers that are really selling financing with an HVAC unit attached, because there’s no one doing these jobs. At least in my area.

         As for abortions, the hispanics still abort their children at twice the rate that whites do. My state, Illinois, keeps secret abortion stats by race because the results would be horrifying, and they know that. They release race stats for everything else for ‘equity’ but keep them secret for abortion.

      3. “the white male gamer basement class”

         Jonathan Greenblatt loves this, wants more of this, especially if they don’t make white babies, and better yet if they all die from fentanyl overdoses.

         1. The vasectomy/ab**tion truck outside the DNC opened a lot of eyes. But they took JOY JOY JOY in that too.

      4. “All of the DC burbs are overflowing with white women who brag internally to themselves about how guilty they are in their whiteness.”

         A societal cancer.

   5. Illegal immigrants are eating too much food

      And how much you want to bet that those illegal immigrants are eating culturally appropriate junk food laden with corn oil and GMO tortillas, not to mention soybean oil baby formula? We pay for both for the food and for the insulin later.

      1. FWIW, South Americans and most Central Americans don’t eat tortillas. That’s a Mexican and Guatemalan thing.

   6. If only you could convince 81 million “voters” of the issue.

8. Good start fits the need for local workers, but we still have too much for a tiny home, and a loft is not wise for older people.

   The lot fit 9 McMansions. They built 44 small homes for locals instead. 31 min

   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HI0yNaIAtDY

   1. They are very cute, but you could achieve all of the same community spirit with rowhouses or garden-style condos. Or you could just build a trailer park.

9. A reader sent these in:

   For gloom and doom commentary, look no further than the comments section of the Dallas Fed Services Activity:

   “As a search and staffing firm in the business of hiring not only in North Texas but across Texas and the U.S., we have felt like we are in a recession now for months. Senior vice presidents of talent acquisition at 40,000 employee businesses have told us confidentially they are not backfilling roles when existing employees leave the company. Fortune 100 clients have put hiring freezes in place. Mid-market companies are posting fake jobs to pipeline candidates for when they can hire again, as they are not allowed to fill the roles they are posting. Clients are taking longer to pay their invoices, and the few who are hiring are taking longer to make decisions. I have eliminated one position already and am reducing the wages of the staff I have left. Please lower interest rates. I’m very worried you are already too late. But we have to try to get the economy back on track.”

   “We are a large, heavy equipment distributor in Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico At the end of July we were down 6.3 percent. That decline in this year versus last year has been consistently increasingly throughout the year. We were only down 10 percent during the pandemic of 2020, and we average 10.7 percent increase in sales per year over 65 years. So, this year’s decline is unusual for us and is unsettling! People are out of money. They’re parking their cars and throwing their keys to the dealership or banker, as it’s car or food for the family. And worst of all, I think it has just begun.”

   In ambulatory health care services: “Customers are having difficulty coming up with funds to pay for our services.”

   In accommodation: “In my 15 years at this location, this summer has been the worst business period I have seen in my area (not including COVID). Several factors are contributing to this including construction around the area and lack of group business in the market.”

   https://x.com/AnnaEconomist/status/1828454683708362783

   I have a small business that relies on people’s disposable income. In my 14 years, this is the worst I’ve ever experienced. My business is down 90 percent. Yep, 90 percent. Not sure what to do at this point.

   https://x.com/Kathleen890/status/1828473268392853912

   This is a good sign, not bad. The thinning process needs to happen and we will come out better on the other side.

   https://x.com/PrudentOD/status/1828467825356271968

   I started an optometry practice in 2005. Made it thru the GFC with 1 employee, sometimes seeing 1 patient per day. BRRRR is not the answer if you want young people to have a chance or start seeing major civil unrest. I’d rather see businesses fail and assets come back down so everyone has a chance.

   https://x.com/PrudentOD/status/1828536856725856657

   Buy now pay later company Klarna is aiming to axe almost half of its workforce & implement AI

   https://x.com/MacroEdgeRes/status/1828431615602651214

   Super Micro Computer stock, $SMCI, crashes over 8% after Hindenburg research accuses company of accounting manipulation.

   Hindenburg claims that their 3-month investigation uncovered accounting red flags.

   They are now short of the stock which is down over 50% from its all time high.

   $SMCI is down over 15% since August 16th.

   https://x.com/KobeissiLetter/status/1828426072033022084

   We live in a country run by idiots.

   Period. You could run a better state government finding people in a park in Bakersfield than the morons in Sacramento.

   https://x.com/DonMiami3/status/1828522972174520726

   Gripping headline.

   But borrowers need a minimum 680 FICO score w/ a max DTI of 45% to qualify. Income is documented.

   Then you’ve got lender overlays, which likely don’t permit non-traditional credit.

   And the small fact that the program is already closed to new applicants.

   The “no payment” loan also requires the homeowner to give up 15-20% of their future home price appreciation.

   Since inception, the program has helped 2,182 borrowers purchase a home.

   Of those, 35% identified as White (not Hispanic/Latino), 33% Hispanic/Latino, 19% Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI), 9% Other, 3% Black/African American, and 1% American Indian/AK Native.

   https://x.com/mortgagetruth/status/1826663909627146393

   I listened to Powell’s entire JH speech. He sounded exactly like Bernanke in Sept of 2007. Bernanke declared the Fed won the war on inflation & no hard landing. Meanwhile the UST bond market was saying the opposite in Sept of 07’ as it is right now. 🔽

   https://x.com/market_sleuth/status/1828456154042610120

   Rate cuts and summer season – no Canadian boom 😬?

   Two cuts to slow the spread…

   https://x.com/DonMiami3/status/1828581304218124483

   This is so 2000.

   Earnings ‘watch parties’ – what unserious times.

   https://x.com/DonMiami3/status/1828537777320857756

   Is there a shortage or does the Federal Reserve think we can’t handle this level of homes for sale? 🫣

   https://x.com/MrAwsumb/status/1827871196924481806

   Couple who own short term rental where fatal fire occurred plead guilty to charges of criminally negligent homicide, a felony punishable by up to 8 years in prison, and 2nd degree reckless endangerment, a misdemeanor punishable by up to 1 year in prison.

   https://x.com/jjsheedy/status/1828506964835627415

   “Canada and Australia have resorted to “quantitative peopling” to give the illusion of growth while individual living standards are collapsing.”

   https://x.com/daniel_foch/status/1828224826814931284

   288 Apartments outside of Dallas face foreclosure

   – Asset was purchased in 2021

   – $29.5mm loan ($102K per unit)

   – 1982 vintage

   – 5118 Broadway Boulevard in Garland

   – Auction scheduled for Sept. 3rd

   https://x.com/aryal1994/status/1828500166485102899

   Next up… boats… then… >$500K homes purchased as “investments”.

   https://x.com/GordonJohnson19/status/1828194032943861769

   Kastle’s data for 10 major metropolitan areas

   Office occupancy levels on the week’s busiest day, Tuesdays, are 59.8% of their February 2020 average.

   Occupancy falls to around 31.7% on Fridays, the lowest-occupied day of the week.

   https://x.com/FCNightingale/status/1828491542895399402

   New cycle low for ⁦@RichmondFed ⁩ … -19 in August vs. -14 est. & -17 prior; new orders slowed to -26, shipments rose to -15, inventory levels of finished goods eased to +16, and employment slipped to -15

   https://x.com/LizAnnSonders/status/1828436107823808995

   Airbnb guests still being told to do chores when they paid a cleaning fee.

   https://x.com/NotoriousAirbnb/status/1828468979121438840

   Air BNB is going to crumble

   https://x.com/TerrillCharming/status/1828259927351292397

   At least the aggressive tightening process by the Fed has removed all the post Covid excess from the system.

   Oh.

   https://x.com/NorthmanTrader/status/1828526876043735043

   Fed: We’ve finally beaten inflation, now let’s cut rates.

   https://x.com/NorthmanTrader/status/1828462459373453815

   1. People are out of money. They’re parking their cars and throwing their keys to the dealership or banker

      $800/month car payments plus insurance costs will do that.

      1. I can tell you with near certainty that inflation has really hurt much of middle America. They just don’t know it yet. But they’ve been keeping the same lifestyle as they did pre-pandemic but using debt to make up the difference. But they’ve already lost that standard of living, and their future, debt free lifestyle, after bankruptcy, has far lower standard of living.

         And I don’t mean fancy lifestyles. I mean going out to eat. They’re still going to Chilis on Friday evenings twice a month its just that the bill goes on the credit card. They’re still taking their regional vacays but instead of saving up for the trip, there is no savings, and it goes on the credit card, and they stay for a shorter period of time. The $800 a month car payment is a fact of life, it’s difficult to find cheap, reliable used cars. They’re still buying boxes of cereal for $6 each when they should be buying oatmeal. They’re buying fresh fruit like grapes and apples for $2 a pound when they shouldn’t be buying fresh fruit at all, especially if its not seasonal. They can only afford the generic brand of everything but they’re still buying the Post and General Mills product on credit. What’s coming will be really, really bad for the average consumer, and we can only hope it happens before November, because if it happens during Kamala’s term, she’s going to have her own verision of Kamalavilles

         1. “boxes of cereal for $6 each when they should be buying oatmeal. ”

            I thought that the sugar and the seed oils was supposed to make this stuff cheaper.

            $6 = one pound ground beef
            $6 = two pounds skinless boneless chicken breast
            $6 = three pounds skinless chicken thighs
            I don’t know about the price of pork.

            1. Cooking food at home is always cheaper but I realized early in life, living in a tiny apartment with my girlfriend, that it’s not always easier. Sure, the chicken breasts is $2.99 lbs but that meat ain’t going to season or cook itself. There’s the cost of spices above and beyond salt and pepper, and the vegetable side and/or bread and condiments, plus cooking in a small kitchen is difficult, especially if you’re poor and have a small kitchen with little prep area, and also overlooked are utensils and cookware. Trying to cook a chicken breast in some old, scratched up pan is difficult. And on top of that, there is time. Unless your making quick meals of sandwiches, it takes 30 minutes from beginning to eating to clean up to make even something as simple as bacon/eggs/toast. If you cook for yourself, you need to devote a certain portion of your income and time to maintaining a full kitchen. Going out is more expensive especially these days but eating at home is not cheap either, at least not as cheap as it used to be.

            2. That’s fine if you don’t want to cook raw meat. But even then, you can buy pre-cooked frozen chicken and frozen vegetables and heat it up on a plate. Or you can buy cheap hot dogs and chicken lunch meat and boil cheap eggs. All of that is still cheaper than buying cereal at $6/box.

         2. hey’re still taking their regional vacays but instead of saving up for the trip, there is no savings, and it goes on the credit card

            I read recently that about half the families at Disneyworld put the vacation on a credit card.

            1. Which is partially why attendance is way down, people are financing their vacations. The other reason is that Disney has become a disgusting groomer company. I have kids and I cancelled Disney+ because of the groomer nonsense they push. My kids got upset for a day or two and then found other junk on other apps. I nudged them towards the BentKey, the Daily Wire kids app, they seem to like a lot of shows there. Kids will watch whatever you put in front of them so BentKey I know at least won’t be pushing globohomo on the kids. As for Disneyland, that’s always been a flat out NO WAY. My wife is against it for a million reasons, including that theme park is generally packed, has zero interest in trying to do the planning required for that trip, and she and I feel zero disney nostaglia. I told the kids we can anything else you want but no disneyland.

            2. Attendance is most definitely is down in Orlando. Since Anaheim caters to local day trippers from what I have heard it’s as crowded as ever. So much so that you have to pay an extra $35, per person, per day to get the “Lightning Lane” option, which used to be free and was called Fast Pass.

            3. When people got streaming, they donated their old classic Disney DVDs to the thrift stores. Now is the time to go pick ’em up before others get the same idea.

            4. I paid $40 for 75 random odd lot kids DVDs from a guy on ebay for the DVD player in the car … we do a lot of local trips in the midwest, despite living almost next to the airport, we still drive everywhere. Just got back from the Canadian border a few weeks ago. Amazing up that far north. We got a bunch of the old Disney DVDs in that odd lot which is great.

         3. we can only hope it happens before November,
            A big part of me agrees with this statement but I worry that the mess is so big no one can fix it, with out a whole lot of pain. And the blame will be on the President however; Obama got a free ride, mostly, during the GFC so maybe Orange Man would if elected.

   2. “BRRRR is not the answer if you want young people to have a chance or start seeing major civil unrest. I’d rather see businesses fail and assets come back down so everyone has a chance”

      Major civil unrest see also: the white male basement gamer class mentioned above.

      As long as the globalist vermin can keep them in their basements, there will be no revolution.

   3. “I have a small business that relies on people’s disposable income. In my 14 years, this is the worst I’ve ever experienced. My business is down 90 percent. Yep, 90 percent. Not sure what to do at this point.”

      That seems pretty obvious

      close the doors and stop the bleeding
      it’s over.

      1. While correct, I think that is hard to do after 14 years. Plus now you have to find a job, which isn’t easy in this economy.

   4. “I have a small business that relies on people’s disposable income.”

      Yep, been there; got the tee shirt.

10. Firefighters have battled two major fires suspected to be caused by faulty lithium-ion batteries across Sydney over the past two days.

    A passing firefighter came to the rescue after an e-bike being ridden by a 15-year-old boy along Botany Road in Alexandria burst into flames about 8am on Wednesday.

    The boy, who was heading to school, said he felt heat emanating from the battery, which was burning his legs when he was riding it.

    Fire and Rescue NSW said the fire occurred when the lithium-ion battery went into thermal runaway.

    Thermal runaway is the process when a lithium-ion battery overheats to such a point that materials within the battery cell gasify, building pressure until it explodes.

    https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-08-28/e-bike-explosion-alexandria-firefighter-saves-teenager/104280558

    1. “…Thermal runaway is the process when a lithium-ion battery overheats to such a point that materials within the battery cell gasify, building pressure until it explodes….”

       Yet current battery R&D efforts are to *increase* energy density / unit volume (to increase range) and to *increase* electron flow / unit time (to decrease charging time).

       Thus more potential for over heating, hotter fires.

       Physics of battery technology not looking too appealing at the moment.

       1. Between the weight and the safety, there is clearly an upper limit to a car’s range.

    2. Over 50 EVs were destroyed by a fire outside the Rivian factory on Saturday night. I laughed out loud when Hubby told me.

       1. IMO, Lithium-ion batteries are only a stop gap technology until better, safer power sources can be engineered.

          Current Lithium-ion technology is attempting to cram too much [electrical] energy into too small a volume with too many side effects (ie. fire / explosions, reuse / recycle issues).

          Like the old saying: “You can’t put 10 pounds of sugar into a 5 pound bag:

          I think the engineering insiders know this, but don’t want to let the cat out of the bag. (Too much capital invested supporting the current narrative)

       2. i wouldn’t doubt that one is an insurance issue. “we need money, make insurance claim”

          just like these fires that keep breaking out late at night at construction sites……………

       3. Isn’t Rivian near bankruptcy?

          1. Google search: As of August 28, 2024, Rivian (NASDAQ:RIVN) has $7.867 billion in cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments, including $1 billion from an unsecured convertible note issued to Volkswagen. However, some analysts believe that Rivian could run out of money within six quarters if it maintains its current burn rate of $1.45 billion per quarter. In February 2024, Rivian’s CFO told investors that the company is confident that its cash can fund operations through 2025.

11. China accuses Canada of protectionism over 100% tariffs on electric vehicles

    Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said that Canada also will launch a 30-day consultation about possible tariffs on Chinese batteries, battery parts, semiconductors, critical minerals, metals and solar panels.

    “China has an intentional state-directed policy of overcapacity and oversupply designed to cripple our own industry,” Freeland said. “We simply will not allow that to happen to our EV sector, which has shown such promise.”

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/china-accuses-canada-of-protectionism-over-100-tariffs-on-electric-vehicles/ar-AA1pvm1Z

12. Since my first short test drive of a Nissan Leaf 14 years ago, dozens of electric vehicles have passed through my hands. But while I’ve always been bullish on EVs, the prospect of owning one stayed on hold until range and recharging issues were resolved.

    That point finally seemed to arrive about two years ago. A 2,400-kilometre-return family road trip to the Maine coast in a Polestar 2 proved sufficiently range anxiety-free that my wife and I decided an EV could work as our next car. We often drive long distances, but rarely more than 600 kilometres a day, so one recharge per day would suffice.

    Two years later, having tested many more EVs as part of my job (most of them, including the latest Polestar, with more range than the 2022 Polestar’s 435 kilometres), we’re having second thoughts.

    In part, that’s because the right electric car – with the emphasis on car, not SUV or truck – doesn’t exist in Canada at the right price. I have never drunk the SUV Kool-Aid. Where’s the EV equivalent of the 2016 Volkswagen Golf SportWagen we drive now – a compact five-door car that’s fuel-efficient, functional and fun to drive – at a price less than $40,000?

    The Chevrolet Bolt once looked good on paper, but that big battery-fire recall was cause for pause, and now the Bolt is on hiatus. That leaves the Fiat 500e as Canada’s most affordable EV, but $39,995 seems overpriced for a tiny run-about-town grocery-getter with a range of 227 kilometres.

    Our next trip brought us back down to Earth. Setting out on the 290-kilometre drive to a cottage near Kingston, the fully charged Niro was projecting 482 kilometres of range at the start. Woo-hoo! But when we stopped for a scheduled recharge after 267 kilometres of highway driving, the remaining range was down to 109 kilometres – now 376 in total.

    At first we were shocked that highway speeds (about 115 kilometres an hour) had cost us more than 100 kilometres of range. Then we remembered the official combined city/highway range is 407 kilometres – and, inversely to gas-powered vehicles, EVs suck more juice at highway speeds than in the city. We fell 31 kilometres short on the highway, but previous urban/rural driving had delivered up to 75 kilometres of bonus range.

    Officially, the Niro’s energy consumption is rated at 16.8 kilowatt-hours per 100 kilometres in the city and 20.5 on the highway. We saw as little as 11 in city driving, and even on Highway 401 the display stayed below 17. During our full 1,100 kilometres in early July, using air conditioning most of the time, it reported 15.1 over all. If it was priced a little lower (base price: $45,595) the Niro would be a contender.

    Ironically, the one charging network I’ve found to be consistently dependable – Flo – was a no-go on one trip last March because the charger was situated in a parking lot that was filled to capacity by a show at a nearby arena, and gas cars occupied the EV charging stalls.

    https://www.theglobeandmail.com/drive/culture/article-i-want-an-ev-but-it-feels-like-the-ev-industry-doesnt-want-me/

13. A woman visiting Toronto from London, Ont. last month said she nearly lost $7,500 after using her debit card to pay for a $7 taxi ride.

    “It was terrible. It was horrific. It made me wonder if I would ever take a taxi again,” LeAnne Beauchemin told CTV News Toronto.

    Beacuhemin said she was visiting Toronto with friends to see the sold-out show, “The Tina Turner Musical.” After the performance ended around 11 p.m., she said they searched for a taxi to take them to Union Station.

    “There was a black sedan parked right there, and it said taxi on its roof,” Beauchemin said.

    After a short ride, Beacuhamin said the driver wouldn’t accept cash.

    “The fare came to just $7, and I handed him a $10 bill, but he wouldn’t accept it and said, ‘No cash, just debit,'” said Beauchemin.

    Reluctantly, she paid with her debit card and thought everything was fine until the following day when she went to use her card again and saw it had been switched, and there were multiple fraudulent charges on her account — a total of $7,485.

    “I would really like the bank to honour this fraud because this is a taxi scam fraud and we are victims here,” said Beauchemin.

    https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/ontario-woman-s-7-taxi-ride-cost-her-nearly-7-500-instead-1.7016530

14. What sausage sales tell us about the economy: Dallas Fed

    The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas released its monthly Texas Manufacturing Outlook this week, which gauges the sector based on surveys of producers — and many of those manufacturers issued warnings in their feedback.

    The report said the data shows weakness in the state’s manufacturing, but it also included comments from respondents that were edited for publishing – and several sounded the alarm about the condition of the economy.

    One food manufacturer alerted the Dallas Fed to a sign that consumers are struggling.

    “As the economy weakens, we are seeing modest growth in our category of dinner sausage,” the comment reads. “This category tends to grow when the economy weakens, as sausage is a good protein substitute for higher-priced proteins and can ‘stretch’ consumers’ food budgets.”

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/other/dallas-fed-highlights-warning-pointing-to-economic-weakness/ar-AA1pxoPr

    1. That explains Danielle DiMartino Booth’s tweet yesterday:

       The pressure!

       @cvpayne is about to ask this Texan the difference between a breakfast and a dinner sausage.

       (@cvpayne is Charles Payne on Fox Business)

15. More than 200 staffers for four previous Republican presidential nominees have endorsed Democrat Kamala Harris’ White House bid, cautioning that the notion of a second term for GOP nominee Donald Trump is “simply untenable” and “will hurt real, everyday people.”

    In an open letter, first written about on Monday by USA Today, 238 people who worked for former President George H.W. Bush, former President George W. Bush, former Arizona Sen. John McCain and Utah Sen. Mitt Romney call on their fellow “moderate Republicans and conservative independents” to join them in backing Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, over Trump and his vice presidential pick, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio.

    “Of course, we have plenty of honest, ideological disagreements with Vice President Harris and Gov. Walz,” the Republicans wrote, noting the significance of a handful of battleground states that proved crucial to Democrat Joe Biden’s slim margin of victory in 2020. “That’s to be expected. The alternative, however, is simply untenable.”

    Signatories include Reed Galen, a George W. Bush and McCain campaign alum who co-founded the anti-Trump group The Lincoln Project, and Olivia Troye, a former George W. Bush staffer and homeland security adviser to Trump’s vice president, Mike Pence. The range of jobs represented runs the gamut from chief of staff to intern.

    “Another four years of Donald Trump’s chaotic leadership,” the signatories warn, “this time focused on advancing the dangerous goals of Project 2025, will hurt real, everyday people and weaken our sacred institutions.” The letter goes on to warn that “broad, democratic movements will be irreparably jeopardized as Trump and his acolyte JD Vance kowtow to dictators like Vladimir Putin while turning their backs on our allies.”

    In a statement, Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung called the letter “hilarious because nobody knows who these people are.”

    “They would rather see the country burn down than to see President Trump successfully return to the White House to Make America Great Again,” Cheung added.

    Many of the same signatories also issued a letter in 2020 supporting Biden’s candidacy over Trump.

    https://www.theglobeandmail.com/world/us-politics/article-more-than-200-former-republican-presidential-staffers-sign-open-letter/

    1. If it didn’t work in 2020, it won’t work in 2024. And what Republican is going to vote for the Dems? If they hate DJT, at most they’ll just not vote at all.

       1. As far as I’m concerned, in many ways Trump is an old school Democrat. Unlike others I’m not thrilled about him. But I will take him over Harris any day.

          1. There was a Jimmy Dore show about how President Trump was a moderate. He’s not radical policy wise. Everybody says they’ll deliver a secure border and trade policy wins. Trump actually did it. He says, I’m going to put the intelligence agencies/bureaucracy back under presidential oversight. That’s not a radical concept.

             1. I want to see if he and a hopefully friendly congress will be able to significantly reduce the deficit. I know that a Harris admin with take the deficit to new heights, so I will take the orange man over her, any day. To be fair to him, he is inheriting a wrecked nation, so he has his work cut out for him.

             2. a Harris admin

                Funny thing here: mentioning camel toe by her last name is OK, but if I mention the orange man by name, my post will go straight into moderation.

             3. so he has his work cut out for him

                Peter Navarro just released a new book 7/16/2024, entitled “The New Maga Deal: The Unofficial Deplorables Guide to Donald Trump’s 2024 Policy Platform.”

             4. straight into moderation

                I shifted to DJT; that seems to work.

                I can see that I’m too invested in this election. I guess I really don’t want that bullet to be wasted.

    2. RINOs, every single one of them. They are all probably hoping for a spot in a Harris administration.

       1. Yep!

          1. It’s either that or get a real job, and most of them are unqualified for a real job in the private sector.

       2. Just a point
          They are not RINOs. They are in fact republicans. Republicans are what they are. This happens EVERY election. This is what the republican party is and has been (for a very long time). It’s the pretend opposition side of the uni-party.

          1. The Republican party now has two factions: MAGA and RINOs. RINOs are controlled opposition globalists.

             1. Liz Cheney comes to mind. Wyoming sent her packing, though I have to wonder has she was ever elected in the first place.

             2. From what I’ve seen, I’m impressed by Liz Cheney’s successor, Harriet Hageman.

16. Kamala Harris: A Hubert Humphrey for 2024

    The party is over in Chicago. The liberals won. Kamala Harris gave a typical acceptance speech with a bit more military machismo than some Democrats might have given. The chants of USA, USA echoed nauseatingly in the hall. Some of my somewhat left-leaning friends didn’t join in the USA chants, but posted messages on their social media accounts that might as well have been written by Democratic party hacks of the mediasphere. Those men who pointed out the militarism and aggressive nature of Harris’ foreign policy remarks were silenced by female Harris supporters with the words, “so now a man is telling me how to think and feel again.” Women who pointed out the same things were called traitors to their gender. Meanwhile at the convention, Palestinian-American delegates were refused a chance to speak to the convention. One assumes this refusal was due to pressure from certain extreme Zionist elements in the Democrats leadership. I couldn’t help but think of Fanie Lou Hamer, whose group of a Black Freedom Democrats from Mississippi were refused seats at the 1964 Democratic convention to please the party’s racist Dixiecrat elements. Palestinian women in Gaza and the West Bank were too busy hoping their children wouldn’t be shot, killed or arrested by the US-armed Israeli occupation forces to care.

    Don’t get me wrong. I believe Harris needs to win the election. Not because I support her foreign policy or think her domestic politics are progressive enough, but because Trump must be defeated. I know more progressive candidates from third parties don’t really stand a chance, no matter how much their supporters say otherwise. A secondary result of a Harris win would be that the final identity-related barrier in US electoral politics would be broken. Let people who have gone head over heels for her discover that having a woman in the White House will not change the world any more than having a Black man did.

    https://www.counterpunch.org/2024/08/27/kamala-harris-a-hubert-humphrey-for-2024/

    1. Exactly, every one of those Hamas supporting protesters screaming Genocide Joe and Killer Kamala outside the convention are still going to vote straight ticket Democrat on election. Every single one of them. It’s all theater.

17. Ahead of Saturday’s International Overdose Awareness Day, a community in the Prince William County area came together to share their stories of loss to inspire change.

    Prince William County hosted an opioid overdose awareness event on Tuesday at the Manassas Park Community Center. The event centered around a panel, where multiple parents who lost children to an overdose discussed their losses and desire to help others.

    At the panel was DEA Agent Tyrone Guyse, who said fentanyl in particular is a problem the agency is trying to target.

    “Fentanyl is killing people,” he said. “It’s killing young adults. And we’re taking a strong, very strong, hard look at the abuse and use of fentanyl.”

    From 2018 to 2023, more than 450 people in the Prince William region died of an opioid overdose. The number of nonfatal opioid overdoses has more than doubled since 2017.

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/prince-william-county-urges-opioid-overdose-awareness-education/ar-AA1pyavX

    1. While browsing youtube the other day I saw a link to a music video from about 10 years ago: Little Daylights “Overdose”

       It crossed my mind that back then few people had heard of fentanyl or narcan.

       1. Lots of people were ODing back in the late ’70s, if Jim Carroll is to be believed.

          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8AMWPO4Bup8

          1. Back then OD’ing implied heroin or coke.

    2. Sounds like yet another topic for a DJT ad. He was shutting down the fentanyl coming over the border.

18. The crowds appear to be coming back to San Francisco.

    New data from Placer.ai, a company that analyzes cell phone traffic, shows that Union Square has actually seen a drop in foot traffic when compared to last year.

    Union Square comes in last when compared to nine other San Francisco neighborhoods, some of which have actually seen a significant jump in people traffic. At the top of the list is the new Tunnel Tops Park near the Presidio, which saw 45% more visitors compared to last year.

    But since the pandemic, Union Square has been weathering lots of changes. Union Square is no longer the huge, retail shopping mecca that it used to be. Some large retailers are slated to close soon (Macy’s) and others changing the way they do business.

    The Macy’s store is expected to close once the company finds a buyer for the property and as of Tuesday, Saks Fifth Avenue is open by appointment only. The luxury department store is experimenting after it and other retailers have been repeatedly hit by thieves, sometimes in packs.

    People who work in the neighborhood said the change and is still noticeable.

    “It’s sad because a lot of people left. Left the state, not just this area. And some of the people work from home. So, it’s really changed,” said Nil Yucel, who has a dental office in Union Square.

    David Perry, a spokesperson for the Union Square Alliance, is pushing back on the data showing a drop.

    Perry acknowledges a slow start to the year but said the summer has been busy, including a few special events.

    In a prepared statement, Perry wrote in part, “This AI generated analysis is more ‘artificial than ‘intelligent.'”

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/post-pandemic-tourism-improving-in-some-san-francisco-neighborhoods-report-says/ar-AA1pxTlE

    1. The crowds appear to be coming back to San Francisco.

       I’ve heard that Detroit is beautiful this time of year.

       1. Meanwhile, the crowds of Youth for Kamala are stepping up the pace of their vibrant cultural enrichment in Oakland.

          https://x.com/ClownWorld_/status/1828533676260630808

          1. In other Ookland news, yesterday a young negro girl got stuck in a swing because she was too fat to be riding it. The fire dept decided the best course of action was to cut her out of it with the jaws of life after they cut the chains down. The jaws of life were then stolen when they weren’t looking. Just another day in paradise.

             https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sb1Q-byWJE

             1. LOL

                They have been enriched by the diversity.

             2. ** ” . . a young negro girl got stuck . . ”

                err, it’s ok to say “Black” now. in fact, they prefer it.
                however,” pickaninnie” is off the table. as is “boy, buckwheat, stymie

                if your white, it’s highly advisable to never, ever say ” Mah Ni**ah”
                likewise “homie, holmes, home skillet, shuck n’ jive” are a no go.

                Eddie Murphy approves of this message
                RIchard Pryor just doesn’t give a F**K

19. Gold, Bitchez!!

    https://finance.yahoo.com/news/why-gold-is-outperforming-nearly-everything-so-far-this-year-100022695.html?

20. What is the end game on price fluctuations? See Property history. Play with the bull…..

    https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/69-Seaboard-Ln_Santa-Rosa-Beach_FL_32459_M91564-93892

    1. My eyes hurt from all that white and I’m queasy after that price action.

       1. Unremarkable property on 2,800 sq ft lot. The In-N-Out burger style business model mentality with these properties. Stick to one thing and do it good. Cram as many bedrooms and bathrooms to get families in and out 3-4 days at a time. Difference is, In-N-Out knows not to open franchises next door to one another.

21. Bro is not even pretending to be President anymore…
    Memology 101 | 32 minutes ago
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qii9RDVeChQ

    1. I heard rumors of negotiations for him to fully resign so that Special K will get an incumbency bump as The First etc. President. But I wonder why they haven’t done it yet. Maybe they think they don’t need it. Or maybe this is Jill’s revenge. If Special K wants him out, she’ll have to do the 25-cent piece.

       1. Special K
          I love that.
          Screw Special K and the short bus she rode in on.

    2. “Bro is not even pretending to be President anymore:

       Pretending is correct, sad part is the same people who have been running the country for the last 3 1/2 years are still running it now.

       And that ain’t the flip-flopper out on the campaign trail.

22. The ratio of housing prices to income in Idaho is about 7 to 1, he said. The typical goal to have affordable homes is to have a ratio of around 3 to 1…Unlike today, in 2006 and 2007, there was a lot of buying activity, especially with people taking out mortgages they couldn’t afford. ‘It had a lot of kinetic energy that was driving prices up…Today we have a supply constraint. … In essence, the market is, once you look past the veneer of high prices, the market is sort of the literal opposite of what you had in 2007′

    7 to 1 price to income is subprime Sam.

23. ‘The living conditions that Madison Equities has their tenants living in is one of the most disgusting things I’ve seen in my entire life,’ Carter said. Carter said when he walked through the building he saw trash, flies, insect infestations, rodents and feces on the floor….‘They are taking the rent money and they are not fixing the units. We’ve got holes, rats, roaches’…‘Unfortunately, crime is out of control in downtown St. Paul where the Lowry Building is located’

    You got a real mickey mouse operation there Melvin.

24. ‘she sees a ‘pattern, predominantly in Black and brown neighborhoods’ of being ‘targeted with zoning changes.’ ‘It’s almost like Roxbury is the dumping ground,’ she said. ‘They don’t involve the community and our voices get silenced and ignored’

    I call it Bum Herding™ Mayowa. They’ve been doing it for many years.

25. ‘It’s disgusting and I’m always afraid. My grandkids won’t even come over, so I wish they were gone now’

    It’s still way cheaper than renting Michelle.

26. ‘We’re not going to arrest our way out of homelessness, but we do need the tools and ability to address situations where public health is compromised. I don’t think it should be OK to smoke fentanyl at 2 p.m. on the sidewalk outside of Target’

    It is reassuring that people running things have set reasonable boundaries Jeff

    1. When you still live in a civilized town hearing stuff like this is still shocking.

       My sister visited this past summer. She was wide eyed at what she saw and remarked “Wow, it’s still America here.” And the truth is that it isn’t so great here , it just isn’t a sh!thole like where she lives. Of course I explained to her that Dumver, which is just 40 miles away, is an even worse sh!thole than hers.

27. ‘So you might think of nice neighborhoods, you might look for nice cars parked outside, but why do you have to drive around and case the joint yourself if you can do it from the comfort of your own home?’

    We don’t have that problem around here, but thanks for the tip Kristy!

    1. don’t have that problem around here, but thanks for the tip Kristy!

       Actually, I went ahead and requested to have my shack blurred. I figure it can’t hur.

       1. I considered having my shack blurred also but figured there is still time to send my ex into an aneurysm-bursting fit of rage when she looks me up on the google & sees my 50yr old weathered but in a good neighborhood pile of stucco is pretty close in value to her snooty 4yr old gated pretentious Italian-themed “Grand Floridian”
          la-dee-da trophy house post divorce proceeds from husband #2

28. ‘When Insite first opened its doors in 2003 in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside it was the first sanctioned supervised drug consumption site in North America’

    This is the way I remembered how it all started so long ago. This is not the way to legalize hard drugs.

29. ‘It’s mind-numbing to think of how many friends I’ve lost,’ said the man who has been living on the street for the past two decades. ‘I don’t think that any generation before me has had to deal with that much loss except for wartime’

    Every stinking day you’ll hear some guberment person talk about protecting you.

    1. Every stinking day you’ll hear some guberment person talk about protecting you.

       Grifters, every single one of them.

30. ‘With 17 years of experience in the non-profit sector, Daly noted that overdoses, once considered to be ‘deeply shocking’ events, have become a normalized daily occurrence – a testament, he said, to how quickly things have deteriorated. ‘I used to do this work in Edmonton and I remember when someone overdosed back then it was a massive event in the organization and everyone was talking about it…Now, no one even bothers to tell me if someone’s overdosed, I get told if someone dies. A few years ago if someone was on the pavement, passed out, people would be around them trying to get them help. Now, we just go and check if they are alive. If they’re breathing and they’re not turning blue, we just walk on and keep going about our business’

    Still, it’s 17 years of progress Julian. Is there any good Mexican food around?

    1. This is what a dying civilization looks like.

31. ‘In tonier Santa Monica, Calif., frustrated business owners hung a banner declaring the area unsafe and calling it an ‘outdoor mental asylum’

    I hear the weather is great though.

    1. Great restaurants too, or so I am told. Just don’t look out the window. You might see a deranged hobo dropping a load on the sidewalk.

       It is amazing how much people can put up with as long as it doesn’t all come all at once. Something about frogs in boiling pots.

32. ‘The vacant lot next to the building is fenced off, but filled with garbage. On the same block, the front window of a cannabis store has been penetrated by some sort of projectile. Across the street, the glass door of another fabric store has been fixed with duct tape. But around the same block, steps away, you can buy boots for almost $1,000 or a pair of jeans for $700. How can a city where people can afford such riches also be a city that lets human beings live like this?’

    They do borrow tremendous amounts of money.

    1. I am told that you just get used to it and don’t really notice the squalor. Kind of like how middle class Mexicans are accustomed to enduring lawlessness and organized crime.

       1. Kind of like how middle class Mexicans are accustomed to enduring lawlessness and organized crime.
          Kind of like how middle class in San Francisco/Oakland (and most big US Cities) are accustomed to enduring lawlessness and organized crime.

33. Condo Seller’s Keep Ignoring The Obvious (GTA Condo Real Estate Market Update)

    Team Sessa Real Estate
    18 minutes ago TORONTO

    In this episode we take a look at the current GTA Condo Markets – Toronto, York Region & Peel Region for week ending Aug 21, 2024. We also discuss why some condo seller’s seem to be avoiding the obvious when it comes to their pricing.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AK_W9iVKcKo

    13 minutes. Oh dear…

34. TORONTO CONDO MARKET DEAD?

    OwlMortgage

    1 hour ago

    Is the Toronto Condo Market Dead? Vince dives into the data and offers insightful perspectives for potential investors, focusing specifically on one-bedroom units. He also presents alternative investment strategies to consider.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9TYn7jREvM

    5 minutes.

35. Vivaldi – L’estro armonico – Concerto No. 10 in B minor for 4 violins, Op. 3 Ospedale della Pietà

    6 years ago

    0:00 Allegro
    3:49 Largo – Larghetto
    6:17 Allegro
    9:38 Credits
    Jagoda Ciechańska – violin
    Nadia Kłos – violin
    Aleksandra Lenkiewicz – violin
    Dominika Szyler – violin
    Anna Wąsik – cello
    Marcin Grabosz – conductor
    Karol Szymanowski Music School Orchestra in Wrocław, Poland
    La Folle Journee de Varsovie recorded at Polish National Opera in Warsaw, October 01, 2017.

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

    10 minutes.

36. Nina Simone: Mississippi Goddam

    Aaron Overfield

    11 years ago

    “Mississippi Goddam” by Nina Simone
    Recording session: Live in Antibes, July 24-25, 1965.

    The sixth Antibes Juan-les-Pins Jazz Festival took place from July 24 to July 29. Nina had the closing spot on the first two days.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJ25-U3jNWM

    4:40.

37. The Federalist — Arresting CEO Of Messaging App With 1 Billion Users Ramps Up Western Governments’ War On Speech (8/28/2024):

    “The purpose of targeting Durov in particular is to bring Telegram under the control of the state so that it can be used as an instrument of propaganda and social control.

    We see this across the West. Once-liberal democracies are now effectively controlled by regimes that are increasingly open in their hostility to free speech and freedom of conscience. In Britain during the recent riots, police went door-to-door arresting and jailing citizens who happened to post disfavored opinions and memes on social media. Here in the United States, every day it seems we learn more about how the federal government compels social media companies to do its bidding …

    The key thing to understand about this institutional oligarchy is that you cannot vote it out of power. The people who run the regime were not voted into office and cannot be voted out. The bureaucracy exists above and outside electoral politics as they are normally understood, and resorting to electoral politics to overthrow the regime will only get you so far. Consider Brexit, or, closer to home, what the executive branch agencies did to the Trump administration. It didn’t matter that the American people voted Trump into office in 2016, the machinery of the federal bureaucracy immediately went to war against him, hamstringing his administration from day one …

    Understand what this means: across the West, the people are not really in charge. And if the people are not in charge, why should the state allow them to post whatever they want on social media? Why should they be allowed freedom of speech?”

    https://thefederalist.com/2024/08/28/the-arrest-of-telegram-ceo-pavel-durov-shows-the-truth-about-the-wests-dying-democracies/

    1. It didn’t matter that the American people voted T****” into office in 2016, the machinery of the federal bureaucracy immediately went to war against him, hamstringing his administration from day one …

       And I fear this will happen again. I recall reading back then that the only law enforcement agency loyal to the president were the US Marshals. All the others were out to destroy him.

       1. I took Trump off the moderation list. I forgot it was on it, I probably set that up in 2015.

          1. Thx

38. Did you fall for the Nvidia stock hype?

    1. Tech
       Nvidia’s earnings report shows the problem of being priced for perfection
       Published Wed, Aug 28 20247:33 PM EDT
       Kif Leswing
       Ari Levy

       Key Points

       – Nvidia reported better-than-expected results on Wednesday and issued optimistic revenue guidance, but the gross margin showed slight slippage.

       – The stock, up almost nine-fold since the end of 2022, slid in extended trading.

       – Revenue increased 122% from a year earlier, topping estimates of 113% growth.
       …
       https://www.cnbc.com/2024/08/28/nvidias-earnings-report-shows-problem-of-being-priced-for-perfection.html

       1. “- Nvidia reported better-than-expected results on Wednesday and issued optimistic revenue guidance, but the gross margin showed slight slippage.

          – The stock, up almost nine-fold since the end of 2022, slid in extended trading.”

          Can you imagine how much CR8R will happen at some future date when worse-than-expected results are announced?

       2. Nvidia shares fall 7% in extended trade despite 122% revenue growth, $50 billion buyback
          …
          https://www.cnbctv18.com/market/nvidia-earnings-revenue-doubles-50-billion-buyback-blackwell-delays-guidance-stock-falls-19467343.htm

39. Vicente Arenas
    @vicentearenastv

    NEW VIDEO armed group at troubled #aurora #colorado apartment complex now home to many migrants. Councilmember
    @DaniJurinsky says gangs have taken over the complex

    @KDVR
    @AuroraPD

    5:50 PM · Aug 28, 2024
    ·
    https://x.com/vicentearenastv/status/1828912965023568356

40. Shock Videos: Armed Venezuelan Gangs Occupy Apartment Complexes, Unleash HELL on Residents

    by Jamie White
    August 28th 2024, 5:46 pm

    Police have launched task force to address wave of violent crimes by the Tren de Aragua cartel.

    Officials in Aurora, Colorado, are sounding the alarm over a wave of violent crimes perpetrated by armed Venezuelan gangs who’ve taken over entire complexes as their base of operations.

    Shocking videos going viral on social media show large groups of armed Venezuelans invading entire apartment complexes.

    https://www.infowars.com/posts/shock-videos-armed-venezuelan-gangs-occupy-apartment-complexes-unleash-hell-on-residents

41. The Joe Biden Economy.

    Just renewed my renter’s insurance (required by the building) at a 60% increase from a year ago.

    Do you really want four more years of this?

    1. Apparently, a lot of people will put up with anything to stop the orange man.

    2. Obama Is Going To Pay For My Gas And Mortgage!!!

       https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8lXEY8O0tQ

       1. Incredibly high expectation of entitlements!

42. Do you know where I can purchase a rental property that rents for over 12% of the purchase price (i.e. over 1% per month)?

    I don’t. For example, our place has a monthly rent of around 0.4% of what it might sell for. No wonder our landlord is so hard to track down when we have maintenance requests! I don’t know how they can even budget for maintenance after paying out outrageous HOA, insurance, taxes, etc. etc. etc.

    1. Real Estate
       A real-estate investor who used the 1% rule to buy cash-flowing rentals says it has now ‘vanished,’ but he’s sticking to his strategy
       Kathleen Elkins Aug 28, 2024, 8:34 AM PDT
       Courtesy of Atif Afzal

       – Atif Afzal started investing in real estate to supplement his freelance income.

       – The New York-based investor follows the 1% rule to ensure positive cash flow from his rentals.

       – Market dynamics have made it harder to adhere to the 1% rule, affecting new investors.

       Atif Afzal got into real estate to create cash flow.

       He said his monthly income has always fluctuated as a freelance film composer and singer-songwriter. He wanted a second income stream to give himself more financial stability.

       Afzal started his real-estate investing career in 2019 when he bought his first property in Monroe, New York. He said he followed a few basic guidelines to maximize cash flow: self-managing his rentals and buying townhomes or condos in excellent condition. Five years later, he has four investment properties and one primary home, which Business Insider verified using his tax documents.

       He’s also adhered to what’s known in real estate as the “1% rule,” which suggests that to create positive cash flow, the monthly rent of your property should equal at least 1% of the purchase price. If not, the rule suggests you should keep searching for properties.

       The first property he purchased cost about $200,000, and he rented it for $1,975 a month, giving him a rent-to-purchase price ratio of 0.98%. He rented his second property, which cost $211,000, for $2,100, yielding a ratio of 0.99%. His third followed the rule even better with a 1.125% ratio.

       Afzal said it’s trickier to follow the rule in today’s challenging market. For his properties, at least, he said it has “vanished.”

       His first property is now worth $350,000 and rents for $2,650, a rent-to-purchase price ratio of 0.76%. His second is worth $350,000 and rents for $2,780, yielding a ratio of 0.79%. The ratio on his third has dropped to 0.89%.

       “The valuation of the property has gone up way more than what the rent has gone up. It’s not commensurate,” he said. And it’s not just his portfolio of condos that is failing the 1% rule — it’s most properties he’s looking at in his market. “The whole rationale behind the 1% rule is to see if you can offset your mortgage and everything. Now, you just can’t offset it. Your HOA fee has increased; your insurance has gone up; maintenance has gone up. So, all in, it’s not as lucrative as it used to be.”
       …
       https://www.businessinsider.com/real-estate-investor-explains-the-one-percent-rule-cash-flow-2024-8

    2. Do not buy in Detroit, or Cleveland. You will make many expensive mistakes there, unless you grew up there. If you don’t know the local market you will get burned badly…

43. Alex Jones
    @RealAlexJones

    Kamala Openly Admits She Will Come For Your Guns When She Gets Elected

    Spread this video far and wide!

    Trump 2024

    2:33 PM · Aug 28, 2024

    https://x.com/RealAlexJones/status/1828863483825283078

44. Interesting find on r/FirstTimeHomeBuyer, confirming the prevalence of unreported buy-now-pay-later programs.

    Original Post: So the underwriter for my mortgage has gotten really ridiculous. He has gotten to the point of scrutinizing my PayPal transactions and thinking they show evidence of another debt. They’re all small transactions in the 15-30 dollar range. Seriously, my transactions are to Nintendo, Apple, Spotify, and some money I sent a friend who was having hard times. He even wanted further info on a 15 dollar transaction to Nintendo. This level of scrutiny has to be abnormal, especially with the amount of salary (around 90k) I make and the relatively low cost of the mortgage I’m trying to get (116k). I feel like he is just looking for an excuse to deny the loan. Anyone dealt with this stupidity?

    Response: Mortgage underwriter here. Unfortunately this is new and happening every day. Because of the environment we’re in, FHLMC, FNMA, etc, are looking for any reason not to buy a loan for fear of default. (Think 2008 housing crisis) We scrutinize the bank statements for any debts – the big issue now are the “Afterpay”/layaway type plans that are being offered by everyone these days. I order Clinique makeup and they offer me four low biweekly payments to pay for it. That counts in your debt ratios. It’s stupid. Trust me, we hate it. I noticed that it started with Peleton bikes during Covid. Everyone was buying them, Peleton wasn’t reporting those to the credit bureaus. Places like Affirm, Klarna, Afterpay, PayPal, don’t report to the bureaus, but if you have enough of them, we do take into consideration you’re ability to repay the debt you have and the new mortgage. It’s so so so dumb!

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