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It Was A Pipe Dream And It’s Cost Us All

A report from the Tahlequah Daily Press in Oklahoma. “The cost of homes in Cherokee County has risen 54% since 2019, knocking many first-time homebuyers out of the market. People moving in from out of state are paying higher than what properties are worth, and it raises the market price and inflates the values, County Assessor Stephanie Teague said. Tyler Shockley, a real estate agent with Century 21 Wright Real Estate said he is seeing a lot of 100% mortgages, instead of paying a down payment, which increase costs to the buyer. ‘I do expect prices will go up once rates go down,’ Shockley said. ‘I hope that they aren’t going to have a crazy boom like they did before, but I do expect prices to trickle up as rates become more affordable.'”

From Denver 7. “Finding a home has been challenging for thousands of Coloradans, especially since the pandemic. Real estate expert Joy Dysart with HomeSmart said the promise of a federal rate cut stirred prospective buyers and sellers. In anticipation of the rate cut, more buyers started looking for their new homes. This anticipation also motivated sellers to list their properties. ‘I think the buyers are basically gaining ground just because inventory is higher. It’s the highest it’s been in a decade,’ Dysart said. Dysart also said that buyers now have more breathing room to make a decision. ‘They have more time to think about it. They can go back and look at the house more times. They can take a two- to three-day period to mill it over, to figure out their finances,’ Dysart said.”

Wood Working Network. “New single-family home inventory increased 1.7% to 467,000 in August, a 7.8-month supply at the current sales pace. Completed, ready-to-occupy inventory increased to 105,000 homes, which is the highest level since 2009. Median new home price fell back to $420,600, down 4.6% from a year ago due to builder price incentives amid multidecade highs for housing affordability challenges.”

WGME in Oregon. “A revaluation in South Portland is causing some residents to panic as some homeowners are seeing their tax bills rising thousands of dollars. ‘I’m going to have an additional $150 or more a month added to my tax bill,’ said South Portland resident Rosemarie DeAngelis. DeAngelis is one of many residents facing a 30 to 60 percent increase on their tax bill. ‘36.5. That’s too much, that’s too much,’ said South Portland resident Maryanne Brown. ‘I don’t see myself being able to be here in 10 years,’ said Barbara Everitt, a South Portland resident. ‘My property taxes monthly now are greater than my mortgage ever was, and that’s pretty significant,’ said DeAngelis. ‘So, there is a problem, and we need to figure out how to put our heads together and solve it.'”

12 News in Florida. “Palm Beach County Commissioners are talking about possibly offering low-interest loans to condo owners. County leaders say they’re getting calls from condo owners who are struggling to pay these special assessments. ‘Oh it’s horrible, it’s horrible!’ said Mona Guynn, a Singer Island resident. Guynn owns a two-bedroom condo at Dunes Towers, an oceanfront condo development on Singer Island. She says the special assessment she had to pay recently for building repairs was really expensive. ‘It was $70,000 for concrete work, plumbing work, all that and it’s still goin’ on,’ Guynn said. She says this isn’t the only assessment.”

“‘I know of three more coming. We don’t know how much, and we don’t know when,’ Guynn explained. She says some of her neighbors have already decided to sell their condos because they can’t afford these assessments. Guynn feels giving condo owners low-interest loans may not help very much. ‘That’s fine but you’ve got to pay it. You know, if you don’t have any income comin’ in, how are you gonna pay it?’ Guynn said.”

Turn to 23 in California. “‘We have seen fluctuation over the last 6 months, the median home value has gone up and down and up and down. More recently this month it has gone down probably about 4% here. Now I’m talking about Bakersfield it went from about 405,000 median home value down to about 380,000 median home value,’ said Kevin Oliver. Gary Crabtree the creator of the Crabtree report, said ‘We have seen a great influx of new construction mostly in the south part of town and also towards the northwest part of town. The main thing is that new construction is now almost commanding the market. Last month one of every three homes sold in Bakersfield was new construction.'”

Silicon Valley in California. “The loan for a San Jose site where two huge housing towers were proposed — but never broke ground — has been acquired by a group closely affiliated with the new owner of a big South Bay mall. The undeveloped housing site in downtown San Jose is a former Greyhound bus terminal where a company affiliated with China-based Z&L Properties had proposed two residential towers that would have produced a combined 708 units. Now, by owning the loan, the Texas-based affiliate could wind up owning the property through foreclosure or deal with the Z&L affiliate that owns the property.”

“‘Most of the time, getting the loan transferred to a new owner is a precursor to a foreclosure and the new loan holder owning the property,’ said Mark Ritchie, president of Ritchie Commercial, a San Jose-based real estate firm. ‘The last thing on earth banks want to do these days is to own foreclosed real estate. Banks don’t want to foreclose on properties if they can avoid it. By assigning the loan, the bank licks its wounds, gets out of the bad loan and just moves on.'”

Bisnow on Georgia. “‘You’re seeing a lot of loans that are almost finished with construction and the bank’s like, ‘Get it off my books,’ Red Oak Capital Regional Manager Ken Wood said at the Atlanta Marriott Buckhead Hotel & Conference Center. While the office sector has been the main source of distress in commercial real estate, multifamily hasn’t been far behind, with delinquencies and defaults piling up among investors who gobbled up buildings during the pandemic. Roughly 11% of multifamily CMBS loans were delinquent in August, up from 3% at the start of the year, according to securitized debt tracking firm CRED iQ. And MSCI projected last month that nearly $57B in apartment loans taken out by borrowers who capitalized on rock-bottom interest rates during the Covid-19 pandemic are potentially trouble.”

“Both Freddie and Fannie clamped down on lending standards as they have grappled with fraud over the past year. Three developers pleaded guilty in August to a $119M mortgage fraud scheme involving Fannie Mae loans, a conspiracy that forced JLL to take an $18M loss in the second quarter for originating those loans. Todd Robinson, a partner with the commercial real estate law firm Robinson Franzman, said the agencies now are requiring new borrowers to partner with seasoned developers when applying for loans as part of those increased underwriting standards. ‘I’ve had two deals recently in the last two weeks where it was what we call an emerging sponsor, maybe their first deal. Two or three years ago, Fannie, Freddie would rubber stamp that deal,’ Robinson said onstage. ‘Now they’re requiring that the [general partner] bring in an experienced operator … so that was kind of new to us.'”

The Globe and Mail in Canada. “The court-ordered breakup of former child actor Robby Clark’s insolvent 400-property real estate portfolio has devolved into a multiparty scramble to find value amid the wreckage. The unwinding of $144-million in debt Mr. Clark amassed before the collapse of his companies (referred to as Balboa et al. in court documents) comes after attempts to market the properties as a package failed. While some lenders are being given a chance to bid on the properties they loaned against, many are decrying the expensive buyout terms, the barrage of communications urging different collective action options and expressing severe misgivings about the entire attempt to restructure under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act.”

“‘Why are they forcing me to pay $40,000 when there’s no benefit to me? Why am I getting dinged to pay legal fees for lawyers I’m fighting against? Why did I get dragged into this,’ said Peter Lindstrom, a private mortgage investor who holds a first mortgage on a house purchased by Mr. Clark’s companies in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.”

“The term sheet put together by court-appointed monitor KSV Restructuring Inc. – which is running the sales and credit bid process – requires a non-refundable $10,000 deposit, and for successful bidders to pony up more cash at closing time to pay for a portion of the $15-million in Debtor in Possession loans that were spent on everything from unpaid property taxes and renovations to professional and legal fees during the eight-month-long insolvency. The KSV pool is also the only proposal that offers any chance of repayment for the unsecured promissory note lenders – who are sitting on $54-million of virtually worthless personal guarantees. Many of these promissory note holders have sent out e-mails advocating for the pool option.”

“An increasing number of lenders are coming around to the position that while lending money to Mr. Clark’s companies was a mistake, the court process to untangle his collapse may have been one, too. ‘Part of my DIP fees of $58,000 was almost $30,000 in renovations,’ said Cathy Hugh, a private lender who has raised questions about KSV-approved spending on renovations. ‘The judge made a mistake to allow this to go to a CCAA,’ Ms. Hugh said. ‘They were trying to find a solution that saves money for everybody; it was a pipe dream and it’s cost us all $15-million more.'”

The Irish Independent. “Construction work has not yet started on over 50,000 apartments that have planning permission in Dublin, according to new figures published by the four local authorities in the city. They show that building apartments in Dublin has largely become commercially unfeasible, as construction costs are now higher than what buyers are willing to pay. ‘In many cases, certainly in and around Dublin, they cost more to construct, when you take in all the costs including the land, than you can actually sell them for,’ said Bryn Griffiths, vice-chair of the quantity surveying group within the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland (SCSI). ‘There’s definitely a viability equation that isn’t stacking up. From a construction-cost point of view, we saw rapid inflation in 2021 and 2022. That has cooled, but it is still going up. What it isn’t doing is falling.'”

“Conor O’Connell, director of housing and planning at the Construction Industry Federation, said the problem is a lack of available funding. Mr O’Connell said the average cost of building an apartment in Dublin, though it varies according to location and whether the blocks have a basement, is in excess of €500,000, and they are more expensive than building a house. ‘The pension funds require stability in relation to public policy. With the rise in interest rates, and the rise of the cost of construction since ­Covid, an awful lot of those apartment blocks simply became unviable,’ he said. ‘Now no one is willing to fund them, because the yield – the criteria these international pension funds use – simply wouldn’t be there for them.'”

From ABC News. “On Tuesday, People’s Bank of China governor Pan Gongsheng said the central bank would reduce the amount of reserves banks are required to keep, freeing up more money for lending. The central government was even encouraging local governments to invest in the real estate market because, Monash University’s associate professor of economics He-Ling Shi said, property is ‘the number one financial time-bomb in China.’ Some 70 per cent of China’s household savings are parked in real estate, according to Reuters. But, the economist questioned, ‘If housing prices are going down, what’s the reason for investing in the real estate market?'”

The Vietnam Express. “Chairwoman of property developer Van Thinh Phat Truong My Lan has offered nearly 300 assets, including a 11,000-square-meter ‘mega project’ in downtown HCMC, to compensate bond fraud victims at her latest trial. Lan, who is accused of masterminding a fraudulent bond issuance scheme in 2018 that resulted in over 35,800 investors losing VND30 trillion (US$1.2 billion), listed a number of projects she was willing to offer as compensation in court Tuesday. She denied all culpability, but admitted to allowing the Saigon Commercial Bank management to issue the bonds through four of her companies.”

“‘I regret letting the bank use those companies to issue the bonds, which resulted in thousands of people losing their money,’ she said, adding she wanted to take responsibility for the consequences. Lan said that the value of the assets she has offered for compensation has totaled VND40 trillion, but the victims have yet to receive any money. She is now willing to put up more projects at a discount to raise more money for paying compensation, she said. She said she recently sold a building to state-owned Vietcombank at a 50% discount at VND2 trillion. Lan is in court on charges of fraudulent appropriation of assets through the issuance of bonds, money laundering and illegal trans-border movement of money. Earlier this year she was sentenced to death for embezzling money from the SCB between 2012 and 2022.”

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This Post Has 135 Comments

  1. ‘Both Freddie and Fannie clamped down on lending standards as they have grappled with fraud over the past year. Three developers pleaded guilty in August to a $119M mortgage fraud scheme involving Fannie Mae loans, a conspiracy that forced JLL to take an $18M loss in the second quarter for originating those loans…’Two or three years ago, Fannie, Freddie would rubber stamp that deal’

    That’s some sound lending right there.

  2. ‘Tyler Shockley, a real estate agent with Century 21 Wright Real Estate said he is seeing a lot of 100% mortgages, instead of paying a down payment’

    More sound lending!

    ‘I do expect prices will go up once rates go down,’ Shockley said. ‘I hope that they aren’t going to have a crazy boom like they did before’

    In Oklahoma. You really screwed up this time Jerry.

    1. How are all these 100% mortgages expected to do if appreciation goes into reverse, like it has this summer in SoCal?

          1. In fairness, both parties do this because they work for the bankers.

            The higher house prices are the more money people have to borrow to buy them and the more people are enslaved by the banking system.. “Making homes more affordable” is just a euphemism for making it easier for the serfs to become even more indebted to the banks.

      2. ** ” . . ‘My property taxes monthly now are greater than my mortgage ever was, and that’s pretty significant,’ said DeAngelis. ‘So, there is a problem, and we need to figure out how to put our heads together and solve it.’”

        oh, of course, it’s “WE” need to “figure this out” when “YOU” owe, but it’s only “ME” when you are getting compensation.

        and don’t forget the always heart-tugging “Like EVERYONE ELSE..” excuse when bad things happen.

        and cry.

        a lot

    1. ‘Rich getting richer in San Diego,’ especially in July, says Case-Schiller housing expert
      Overall, San Diego home prices are up 7.19% but, month-to-month, dipped in July by 0.58%
      By Eric S. Page • Published September 25, 2024 • Updated on September 25, 2024 at 3:11 pm
      An aerial view of of La Jolla shot via helicopter from an altitude of about 300 feet over the Pacific Ocean.
      Getty Images

      While the housing-price news was good for most San Diego homeowners in the latest S&P Corelogic Case-Shiller Index, it was great for the city’s wealthiest property owners.

      Brian D. Luke, who is the head of commodities, real & digital assets for the organization, issued a statement alongside the latest monthly metrics, saying that, nationwide, the so-called low-price tiers in most markets have been the real-estate stars during what he called a “three- and five-year horizon.” In California’s major markets, though, where the most-expensive high-price tiers in the nation reside, the news is most eye-popping for those showing the bling.

      “The relative outperformance of low-price-tiered indices has both benefited first-time homebuyers as well as made it more difficult for those looking for a starter home,” Luke is quoted as saying, in part. “The opposite is happening in California, which has the most expensive high-price tiers in the nation, all well over $1 million. The rich are getting richer in San Diego, Los Angeles and San Francisco, where their high-price-tiered indices outperformed on a one- and three-year basis.”

      So, how did San Diego do overall in July? According to the 20-city composite index, housing prices ticked up a tenth of a point month-to-month, but San Diego actually entered negative territory, dipping 0.58%. Fret not, Diego: Year-over-year, San Diego home prices are up 7.19%.

      Our neighbors to the north suffered similar financial indignities when looking at prices since June: Angelenos’ home prices slipped 0.28%, and up in City By the Bay, the tumble was further, -1.09%. Again, however, looking year-over-year, San Franciscans posted gains of 3.38%, and Los Angeles prices jumped 7.23% during those same 12 months.

      Nationally, home prices have risen a hair under 5% from July 2023 to July 2024.
      …
      https://www-nbcsandiego-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/rich-getting-richer-in-san-diego-especially-in-july-says-case-schiller-housing-expert/3632093/

      1. Notice how the top of the article is all about rich people getting richer, while negative appreciation this summer is mentioned almost as an afterthought at the bottom, with abundant disclaimers?

  6. ‘I think the buyers are basically gaining ground just because inventory is higher. It’s the highest it’s been in a decade,’ Dysart said.

    B…b…but I don’t understand. The dissemblers at the NAR said hordes of buyers were waiting on the sidelines just as soon as inventory became available. Yet these mythical buyers seem to be as scarce as work boots at a “White Dudes for Harris” rally.

  7. “She says the special assessment she had to pay recently for building repairs was really expensive. ‘It was $70,000 for concrete work, plumbing work, all that and it’s still goin’ on,’ Guynn said. She says this isn’t the only assessment.”

    I was at a condo yesterday where the assessment was $180,000 per unit with more coming.

      1. “Ah, but those hapless condo owners weren’t throwing away money on rent.”

        There is some additional information on this building. Evidently many of the units are rented out at $20,000 to $25,000 per month, come with a slip that will take small ships at a marina within walking distance, have an ocean and Intracoastal view and stay rented throughout the year. Others are owner occupied and they all have deep pockets.

        You can probably figure out where it is from that information. There is generally a big $ difference between these people and Singer Island condo owners.

      1. ‘Oh it’s horrible, it’s horrible!’ said Mona Guynn, a Singer Island resident. Guynn owns a two-bedroom condo at Dunes Towers, an oceanfront condo development on Singer Island.
        I bet it wasn’t horrible looking at the ocean every morning while totally underpaying for maintenance. Kicking the can down the road only works for so long. Then reality hits. And people are acting like this is a big surprise. Every since Surfside they should have know something major was going to change but chose to ignore it and “kick the can down the road” a few more years. Everyone should have seen these special assessments coming.

  8. Completed, ready-to-occupy inventory increased to 105,000 homes, which is the highest level since 2009.

    Is that a lot?

  9. ‘I’m going to have an additional $150 or more a month added to my tax bill,’ said South Portland resident Rosemarie DeAngelis. DeAngelis is one of many residents facing a 30 to 60 percent increase on their tax bill.

    Shack owners in commie-controlled municipalities are low-hanging fruit for the tax man, Rosemarie, especially as the productive and successful decamp for the red states. So ante up – Compassion, Inc. rackets aren’t self-funding, you know.

  10. You know, if you don’t have any income comin’ in, how are you gonna pay it?’ Guynn said.”

    That sounds like a Guynn problem, Guynn. Welcome to Schlongville, population: you.

    1. Guynn is a rare voice of fiscal sanity in this country, in contrast with so many people (and governments) who binge on debt with little prospect of ever repaying the principal.

      1. “rare voice of fiscal sanity”

        Looks like she’s a mortgage ‘consultant,’ so highly doubtful. She sounds like it now, though, as she was tarred with her own brush.

  11. New York City Mayor Eric Adams has been indicted by a federal grand jury on criminal charges, according to two people familiar with the matter.

    The charges were first reported by The New York Times and remain unclear, as the indictment remains under seal, according to the people who spoke with The Associated Press. The two spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to leak the matter to the media publicly.

    The beleaguered mayor declared his innocence and suggested the federal investigation into him, his office, and associates is linked to his criticism of the Biden administration’s immigration policies.

    “Despite our pleas, the federal government did nothing as its broken immigration policies overloaded our shelter systems with no relief. I put the people of New York before party and politics,” the mayor said.

    During Adams’s two years in office, his administration has been largely focused on managing a housing crisis caused by the tens of thousands of illegal immigrants overwhelming the city’s homeless shelters and resources.

    https://www.theepochtimes.com/us/new-york-city-mayor-eric-adams-indicted-by-grand-jury-media-sources-5730369

    1. Adams, like most Democrat-Bolshevik big city mayors, was all-in on sanctuary cities and open borders before the influx of migrants became a political liability.

        1. Comedy gold watching all the deviant A-listers scramble to scrub their social media profiles & distance themselves from their association with this degenerate.

      1. “The secret of a great fortune made without apparent cause is soon forgotten if the crime is committed in a respectable way.” —??

  12. While the office sector has been the main source of distress in commercial real estate, multifamily hasn’t been far behind, with delinquencies and defaults piling up among investors who gobbled up buildings during the pandemic.

    Die, speculator scum, and take your cursed Fed enablers with you.

  13. This open border invasion plan has been much bigger than just the United States.

    Migrant Rapist Suspected of Murdering 19-Year-Old French Girl Was Released Early From Prison, Evaded Deportation

    Kurt Zindulka
    26 Sep 202417

    A Moroccan migrant rapist suspected of killing a 19-year-old French girl in Paris was set free from prison early and despite having a deportation order was not removed from the country before the alleged murder, sparking demands that the new government finally crack down on immigration.

    France has once again been rocked by another gruesome murder apparently at the hands of a migrant, as the body 19-year-old student, named as Philippine, was discovered Saturday half-buried in the Bois de Boulogne park of the affluent 16th arrondissement of Paris.

    https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2024/09/26/migrant-rapist-suspected-of-murdering-19-year-old-french-girl-was-released-early-from-prison-evaded-deportation/

    2. From the article comments: “The ugly truth is that the Globalists and foreigners in control of the regimes in Western Europe get a secret thrill every time an indigenous white person is murdered by one of the replacement population. This is what population replacement is all about.”

  14. Why did I get dragged into this,’ said Peter Lindstrom, a private mortgage investor who holds a first mortgage on a house purchased by Mr. Clark’s companies in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.”

    You are speculator scum, Lindstrom, and I hope you end up living in a Wal-Mart tent drinking Mad Dog 20/20 behind a 7-11 dumpster after you become insolvent.

  15. The KSV pool is also the only proposal that offers any chance of repayment for the unsecured promissory note lenders – who are sitting on $54-million of virtually worthless personal guarantees.

    It’s schadenfreude at its most sublime watching the lenders who enabled the reckless, greed-fueled scamdemic-era property speculation get their heads handed to them as the long-deferred financial reckoning day slouches closer.

    1. Financial Times
      Chinese politics & policy
      China lifts markets with promise of more support for economy
      Chinese and European shares buoyed as politburo promises to drive investment
      Xi Jinping waves in front of a red backdrop and a Chinese Communist party flag with a yellow hammer and sickle
      China’s politburo, led by President Xi Jinping, issued a statement of support for the economy on Thursday in the wake of greater stimulus from the central bank
      © Wang Zhao/AFP/Getty Images
      Joe Leahy in Beijing and Arjun Neil Alim in Hong Kong 7 hours ago

      China’s leaders have vowed to intensify fiscal support for the world’s second-largest economy, fuelling markets with hopes of more intervention just days after the central bank announced the biggest monetary stimulus since the pandemic.

      The politburo, led by President Xi Jinping, pledged on Thursday to “issue and use” government bonds to better implement “the driving role of government investment”, in comments that come as analysts warn that China is in danger of missing its official economic growth target this year.

      The politburo usually does not hold economic sessions in September, suggesting “an increased sense of urgency” about growing deflationary pressures, Morgan Stanley analysts said.
      …

  18. 2:48

    MJTruthUltra
    @MJTruthUltra

    🚨 FBI Whistleblower Urges Americans to Vote, Arm Yourself, Stock up 3-4 Months Supply of Food and Water, and Pray 🙏

    “This is a warning, to the American people I say.. I personally have no confidence the FBI will reign in its own conduct.”

    •Marcus Allen, a former FBI staff operations specialist choked up as he spoke about his years of suffering for lawfully expressing dissent for the actions of the FBI & DOJ..

    • higher-ups “accused him of promoting conspiratorial views and unreliable information” for questioning how many FEDS were present at J6.

    7:28 PM · Sep 25, 2024
    ·
    https://x.com/MJTruthUltra/status/1839084566687957115

    1. ** ” •Marcus Allen, a former FBI staff operations specialist ..”

      I see Marcus Allen & think NFL running back. probably just my old azz. Hey, GET OFF MY LAWN !!

      1. Democrats adhere to an alien-imposed ideology, Marxism, that is implacably hostile to the Constitution and any notion of free, sovereign people endowed by their Creator with God-given rights and liberties. As such, no Democrat should be eligible to occupy any position of trust or authority that involves swearing an oath of allegiance to the Constitution, since they will always work to undermine and subvert the Constitution and Heritage America. I give you Exhibit A: the corrupt subverters at the DoJ and FBI.

  19. Looks like the huricane is growing worse by the hour…I studied it at midnight ,and saw it was swinging to the east, it will rake the upper gulf coast bad , it looks like …..this has got to affect values soon, especially if the insurance people pull out …..Get out of Florida if you still can…..Wonder how our favourite spot, Alligator Point ,is faring by now…

  20. The video is a hoot.

    Who doesn’t love a yellow bus? 🙂

    Topic Show
    @OffTopicShow2

    Kamala Harris’ New Hampshire Rally: Buses from Massachusetts Reveal Imported Crowd?

    In a surprising turn of events at Vice President Kamala Harris’ recent rally in New Hampshire, a fleet of 12 buses was spotted departing the scene, hinting at a strategy to bolster attendance numbers with attendees from neighboring Massachusetts. This move has sparked discussions on the authenticity of grassroots support for Harris in the Granite State.

    Local reports and eyewitness accounts before the event had already hinted at this tactic, with a New Hampshire radio station receiving calls about buses heading from Massachusetts to the rally. “It’s a New Hampshire event. We’re getting listener calls, eyewitness accounts that buses en route are coming in from Massachusetts,” the station reported, highlighting the unusual logistics for what was supposed to be a local engagement.

    A witness added to the narrative, stating, “Lots of yellow buses from a Yankee line… I counted at least half a dozen of them…” This observation aligns with previous strategies employed by the Harris campaign, such as bussing attendees from Atlanta to her rally in Savannah, Georgia, a journey of about four hours.

    This development raises questions about the organic support for Kamala Harris in key states. Critics argue that such tactics might reflect a lack of genuine local backing, while supporters might see it as an efficient way to gather crowds for visibility and momentum. The use of transportation to import supporters could be interpreted as either a smart campaign strategy or a sign of weakness in local voter engagement, depending on one’s perspective.

    5:29 PM · Sep 4, 2024
    ·
    https://x.com/OffTopicShow2/status/1831444582241874081

      1. Crises actors coming after Trump wins

        Keep an eye out for pallets of bricks magically appearing on street corners.

    2. “raises questions about the organic support for Kamala Harris in key states”

      There isn’t any.

      Question answered.

      1. The only signs in my general neighborhood are for Harris-Walz. No Trump supporter is stupid enough to put a bullseye on his or her house. The Harris-Walz supporters are self-identifying as morons, much like their candidate.

  22. Chevy Silverado EVs Already Selling For Cut-Rate Prices From Hertz

    Hertz’ honeymoon phase with the Chevy Silverado EV did not last long. The rental giant announced in August 2023 that it planned to acquire a big fleet of electric General Motors cars, including Cadillac Lyriqs and Silverado EVs. Just 13 months later, it’s already begun offloading some of the trucks, but Hertz’s loss can be your gain.

    The company’s used car arm, Hertz Car Sales, has 35 Silverado EVs listed for sale. Hertz said earlier this year that it was dialing back its EV ambitions, citing high depreciation and repair costs, especially on its fleet of Tesla Model 3s. The Model 3 is one of the worst-depreciating cars this year, thanks in no small part to Tesla’s aggressive price cuts. That’s a huge problem for Hertz, which has to sell a lot of used cars every year, and gets a substantial proportion of its revenue from reselling cars.

    It’s been steadily offloading Model 3s for months, but now it’s selling off some of its EV trucks, too. A Hertz representative told InsideEVs that the company is selling these trucks as part of its broader effort to align EV fleet size with demand. It still rents Silverado EVs and has no specific complaints about the truck.

    A selection of Silverado EVs available from Hertz Car Sales.

    All of the 35 turcks available on Hertz Car Sales’ site are 3WT models. That’s one of the Silverado’s fleet-only work truck trims, which slots before the spendier 4WT. Retail customers can only buy the Silverado EV RST, which starts around $96,000. Editor-in-chief Patrick George wasn’t convinced that the truck was worth that kind of money when he drove it this summer. He preferred the GMC Sierra EV Denali.

    But a used 3WT is a different proposition. Hertz’ Silverado EVs are all listed for around $63,500. That’s a much more compelling price, especially considering all of these trucks have between 4,000 and 16,000 miles.

    GM doesn’t list a public price for the 3WT, since it’s designed to be bulk ordered, but GM Authority reported this March that a standard 3WT stickers for $74,900. You can get a cheaper 3WT-1FL “fleet package” truck that comes with steel wheels, no side steps, no included charging cord and no soft tonneau, but it looks like the Hertz trucks all have the wheels and side steps you get on the $74,900 model.

    That means you’re getting about $11,000 off the fleet pricing for a new Silverado EV WT. Despite the lower price, you’re still getting a lot of the good attributes of the pricier Silverado EVs.

    Sure, it doesn’t go 450 miles on a charge like the 4WT or 440 like the RST. But its 393-mile range still bests most electric trucks, and almost every electric car, too. It also tows more than the 4WT. That truck can pull 10,000 lbs, but thanks to a lighter battery pack the Silverado can pull 12,500 lbs. Max payload is also up from 1,400 lbs to 1,750 lbs. That brings it roughly in line with a fleet-spec gas Silverado.

    https://www.msn.com/en-au/motoring/other/chevy-silverado-evs-already-selling-for-cut-rate-prices-from-hertz/ar-AA1rcrlc

  23. European battery makers struggle as EV demand cools and investments falter

    Europe’s homegrown lithium battery sector is grappling with widening losses as electric vehicle (EV) demand slows and automakers face challenges in their transition to electrification.

    Industry insiders note that Europe’s earlier aggressive investment in the lithium battery market was fueled by optimism around EV growth and geopolitical concerns, as nations sought to reduce dependence on Asian battery suppliers. At that time, European carmakers held significant sway in the industry.

    However, as EV sales fail to meet expectations, automaker-led investments have been gradually scaled back since the second half of 2023, with some projects frozen entirely. The situation worsened with the unexpected withdrawal of German government subsidies toward the end of the year, further destabilizing the supply chain.

    Compounding the issue, Europe’s inexperience in battery production is becoming glaringly evident. The region’s lack of competitiveness against established Asian manufacturers has led to growing instances of capital stranded in stalled projects. In response, European automakers are increasingly relying on Chinese and Korean battery suppliers to mitigate the impact of a faltering transition.

    Northvolt, once the crown jewel of Europe’s battery ambitions, now finds itself in a financial bind, scrambling for cash as it struggles to meet payroll obligations for September. Efforts to secure emergency funding have so far been fruitless. Long-time backers, including key shareholders and the governments of Germany and Sweden, have shifted their stance, placing Northvolt under close scrutiny.

    In the second quarter of 2024, Northvolt faced a series of setbacks, with production inefficiencies and rising costs driving one of its major shareholders, BMW, to cancel a significant order, reportedly shifting it to South Korea’s Samsung SDI. Volkswagen’s Scania unit has also been affected, with delays in the delivery of over 1,000 electric trucks due to Northvolt’s production issues, pushing deliveries back by a year.

    Volkswagen, now closely monitoring the situation, has reportedly formed a task force to assess Northvolt’s delivery capabilities. With Northvolt teetering on the brink of insolvency and no clear rescue in sight, market observers speculate that bankruptcy could be on the horizon.

    A potential Northvolt collapse could have severe ripple effects, impacting partnerships with companies such as Portugal’s Galp Energia, with which it set up a lithium conversion plant, and Swedish battery recycler Revolt Ett. Northvolt’s joint venture battery recycling plant with Norway’s Hydro, Hydrovolt, may also face collateral damage.

    Volkswagen itself is under mounting pressure as its operations continue to underperform, compounded by a shrinking market in China. The company is implementing layoffs and closing plants, including scaling back plans for its lithium battery plant in Salzgitter, Germany. While the first 20GWh production line is complete, expansion plans for a second line have been shelved.

    https://www.digitimes.com/news/a20240925PD216/europe-ev-demand-lithium-battery-northvolt-production.html

    1. How does the USA, which is $36 trillion in debt, propose to finance this latest aid package?

      Biden explained this quite clearly. First, we build weapons in America, which means jobs. Then, we give those weapons to foreigners who kill other foreigners. And finally, we build more weapons and create more jobs.

      Remember, he’s Joe Jobs, the Job President.

  25. The West is in EV denial. We need to overhaul our complacent strategy

    This winter promises to be a cold one for the Western electric-vehicle industry. Disappointed by weaker-than-expected demand, legacy carmakers are scaling back their EV targets and winding down investments. Northvolt AB, a Swedish battery maker and European EV darling, cut an entire fifth of its work force this week, raising questions about the timeline of its planned battery plant in Quebec. Western auto companies have largely themselves to blame; they were hesitant to commit and slow to innovate.

    Our governments, to some extent, are already doing their part. Massive subsidies, consumer incentives and walls of tariffs, for better or for worse, will insulate our car manufacturers from Chinese competition for a time. And the West does have an example of early EV success: Tesla Inc.

    Often cited is how EV demand growth has been much weaker than projected, which gives a profit-driven explanation for why EVs are simply not currently feasible in the West. Yet this weak demand is temporary and it’s dependent on decisions the companies themselves are making.

    This is not meant to trivialize what is clearly a difficult situation for Western carmakers. China has a number of advantages that cannot be dismissed or easily overcome by grit alone. Cheaper labour, domestic processing of critical mineral inputs and a two-decade head start on a co-ordinated EV strategy puts us at a serious disadvantage. The short-term cash flow issues for legacy companies are a real problem.

    Western industrial policy and protectionism closes a part of the pricing gap with China, but eliminating the rest depends on building factories for a new purpose, securing and innovating on the supply chain at each point, and committing wholeheartedly to the EV business. It will be necessary to lose money early to close the competitive distance, and hopefully cement a lead some day. This is a matter of survival for Western car manufacturers unless they wish to suckle from corporate welfare indefinitely.

    https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/commentary/article-the-west-is-in-ev-denial-we-need-to-overhaul-our-complacent-strategy/

  27. Vineyard Wind contractor announcing hundreds of layoffs

    The contractor hired by Vineyard Wind to install 62 turbines south of the Island is reporting significant financial losses amid damages to turbine blades in multiple projects, and most recently, they are announcing intentions to downsize while pushing forward with billions of dollars in unfinished work.

    GE Vernova, who have contracts to manufacture and install turbines around the world, said last week that they plan to cut as many as 900 jobs.

    “The proposal reflects industry wide challenges for wind and aims to transform our Offshore Wind business into a smaller, leaner and more profitable business within GE Vernova,” a spokesperson told The Times in an email statement.

    The announcement was made in a report to the European Works Council, which represents workers. Vernova did not specify where the job losses would be felt, but a spokesperson did say that they plan to finish out existing projects, including Vineyard Wind.

    Last week’s announcement comes as top officials told investors earlier this month that they are losing approximately $300 million in the current, third quarter.

    “Having lost two months during the summer when, frankly, because of weather dynamics, those were important months for us to get a lot done on behalf of our customers,” GE Vernova CEO Scott Strazik said, according to a Sept. 12 transcript of a call with investors. “We’ve had to take a step back and look at the costs that are needed to complete the $3 billion backlog we have.”

    With a broken blade reported at the Vineyard Wind site earlier this summer — due to what officials say was a manufacturing flaw at its Canadian facility — the offshore-wind project is no longer delivering power to the grid, per an order from the federal government. Vernova also reported two fractures at a project they are developing in the United Kingdom called Dogger Bank.

    The fractures, officials with the company have said, not only led to delays on the construction project itself, it’s hurting the bottomline of Vernova during a time when the nascent offshore wind industry is already facing troubles due to rising construction costs and global supply chain challenges. Vernova has said that these are industry-wide issues that competitors also are facing. Even without blade failures, some projects have run into financial issues before construction. Avangrid, for example, pulled a project in 2022 to renegotiate electricity rates. Vineyard Wind had hoped to be finished with the project this summer.

    “Through three very distinctly separate blade events we had this summer, our installation was stalled substantially,” Strazik told investors earlier this month. “So, we didn’t get anywhere near as much work done over the course of the summer as we anticipated.”

    https://www.mvtimes.com/2024/09/25/vineyard-wind-contractor-announcing-hundreds-layoffs/

  28. ‘Not impossible’: Facebook whistleblower Haugen talks protecting kids on social media

    Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen feels “extremely hopeful” about society’s ability to push social media platforms into being safer but for change to come, she says these companies need to be motivated in a new way.

    “We are not powerless,” said Haugen in an interview during a visit to Toronto, where she was due to speak at a conference aimed at online safety for kids.

    “These systems are not impossible to fix. It’s just we lack the incentives today to have these platforms act in a positive way.”

    Haugen’s criticism of social media platforms and the broader societal systems that have fostered them has mounted over the course of her more than 20 years in tech, including stops at Google, Hinge, Yelp and Pinterest.

    She reached a brink in 2021 and disclosed thousands of internal documents from her previous employer Facebook, which detailed how the company prioritized profits over addressing problems it was aware of on its social network.

    One of the internal studies she leaked showed 13.5 per cent of teen girls in the U.K. had suicidal thoughts that multiplied after joining Instagram. Another said 32 per cent of teen girls who felt bad about their bodies felt even worse after visiting the platform.

    Haugen’s vision for social media doesn’t stop at the release of data. She has a long wish list for the platforms, including several ideas that are aimed at protecting children but are just as likely to be useful for adults.

    Among them is a suggestion that platforms could detect when users were up late scrolling through their feed and then ask the next day what time someone hoped to go to bed.

    If they entered something like 11 p.m., Haugen said the company could then begin slowing down the app gradually two hours before.

    “Around 11 p.m., they’d get tired and go to bed (because) it’s less satisfying,” Haugen said.

    The idea is based on a reality Haugen said tech companies have known about for at least 20 years: “If you add a little latency into an experience, people use it less” but often stick around long-term.

    The battle reached a new height last year when several Ontario boards sued Meta, TikTok and Snap for billions over accusations that the companies negligently design their products for compulsive use and rewire the way children think, behave and learn.

    Many provinces including Ontario, Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia, Manitoba and Alberta, upped the ante even more, banning cellphones from classes this year.

    Haugen applauded the moves.

    “If you’re splitting your attention between math class and your phone, there’s no way you can keep up,” she said.

    “There’s studies that show you lose like a half a year of instruction, having your phone in your lap because you just can’t focus.”

    https://infotel.ca/newsitem/haugen-social-media/cp899100250

  29. The Main Stream News is not reporting the News that is necessary for a informed public. This is a crime of obstruction and admission to essentially defraud the public into not knowing what’s taking place , for false narrative brainwashing instead.

    The WEF earlier declared earlier that misinformation was the highest priority that they needed to combat moving forward.

    You got the exposure by Musk, that the Government partnered with Social Media to censor targeted Entities that disputed the Covid 19 Panademic and the Vaccine Campaign of “safe and effective vaccine”
    Prevention of Vaccine Hesitancy doesn’t trump
    the Constitutional protected right to free speech, insured by the first amendment.
    The Powers that be are claiming they have the right to obstruct free speech, based on declaring it misinformation.
    People are being arrested in European Countries for exercising free speech, and Brazil has banned entirely X and Rumble. Hilary Clinton recently said American people should be arrested for exercising free speech.
    Your not allowed to challenge the global Narratives, that Klaus Swab called the “Great Narratives.”
    The Great Narratives of doomsday Climate Change,Global Panademics, equity for all, etc are all the pre planned counter measures of warfare to capture the resources of earth and control all consumption. A defined end game of the enslavement of humanity, under these Entities technology control grid, and total compliance and submission to their dictates.
    The entirely false narrative that carbon emissions need to be reduced to zero by 2050 to avert doomsday Climate Change is one of the more ridiculous frauds they don’t want any dispute to.
    Expiermental killer vaccines as the counter measure to global Panademics that are apparently created by gain of function release, is another Great Narrative of insanity.
    You judge a tree by the fruit it bears, and the massive excess mortality and injury of the EUA vaccines , they are trying to cover up, is the rotten fruit of this genocide.
    Its a power grab that was pre planned by Entities infiltrating global Government to partner in this Great Reset of civilization , that can only be deemed the biggest existential threat to humans, animals, plants and the earth.
    Currently they are in escalating World War that could result in weapons of mass destruction.
    The invasions of the US borders, also occurring in other Countries, is part of the plan by this enemy to
    destroy the targeted Sovereign States.
    And the Mega Monopolies and Rich Elites like Bill Gates and George Soros, are the “market forces” that John Kerry said no government can stop. Klaus Schwab said “Whoever controls technology will control the World.”
    But, I would add that whoever controls the Media narratives and free speech, does not want any dispute to a warfare type of fraud.
    Governments aren’t doing anything about this war launched against billions for a end game of a One World facist/Commie dictorship.
    Klaus Schwab calls it “Stakeholder Capitalism” with public/private partnership to dictate Global policy.
    A clear attempt to transfer power by Treaty to unelected Organizations like the UN/WHO that plans to override all Sovereign States, Constitutional protections, Governments, etc, for One World dictates under the pretense of global emergencies and equity goals.
    Just saying.

    1. The WEF earlier declared earlier that misinformation was the highest priority that they needed to combat moving forward.

      Who died and made them Elvis?

  30. Passenger killed when gunman hijacks bus, leads police on chase through downtown Los Angeles

    A passenger was killed after a gunman hijacked a city bus in Los Angeles early Wednesday, leading to a slow police chase through downtown before the suspect was eventually arrested, authorities said.

    The armed man boarded the Metro bus with the driver and two passengers aboard shortly before 1 a.m. in South Los Angeles, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.

    Officers approached the bus as it slowly rolled away. A cavalcade of police vehicles followed it as the driver drove at gunpoint for the next hour. A flashing sign on the front of the bus read: “Emergency. 911 Call Police.”

    Police deployed spike strips, which punctured one of the tires. After traveling more than seven miles (11 kilometres), the bus eventually came to a stop at a downtown intersection near the city’s Arts District, and the suspect surrendered, officials said.

    TV news footage showed a series of small explosions around the bus stopped in the neighborhood of lofts and warehouses, then police storming aboard with shields. The bus driver climbed out of window and ran to safety behind an armored vehicle while officers moved in.

    A man was found inside the bus with gunshot wounds, but details about what led up to the shooting were not immediately available. The victim was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead, officials said.

    The killing is the latest in a series of violent incidents, including stabbings and shootings on buses and trains as Los Angeles seeks to expand the transit system ahead of hosting the Olympics in 2028. In May, Mayor Karen Bass called for increased security on transit routes — a message she reiterated on Wednesday.

    Janice Hahn, an LA County supervisor and chair of the Metro board, said transit officials must figure out how to prevent people from bringing weapons onto buses and trains.

    https://www.ctvnews.ca/world/passenger-killed-when-gunman-hijacks-bus-leads-police-on-chase-through-downtown-los-angeles-1.7051882

    2. Janice Hahn, an LA County supervisor and chair of the Metro board, said transit officials must figure out how to prevent people from bringing weapons onto buses and trains.

      Or maybe you could quit coddling and enabling criminals.

    3. The killing is the latest in a series of violent incidents, including stabbings and shootings on buses and trains as Los Angeles seeks to expand the transit system ahead of hosting the Olympics in 2028.

      And they thought no one went to the Paris games this year. They way SoCal is going it will eventually be unsafe to go to Disneyland.

  31. ‘Execution-style’ Ontario murderer was spared deportation in 2021

    Months after he was spared from deportation on humanitarian grounds, Yohanna David Chol lured a man into a dark stretch of Clarence Street and fired seven bullets into his back in what prosecutors described as an “execution-style” killing.

    A jury deliberated for one day on Tuesday before finding Chol, 38, guilty of the second-degree murder of 36-year-old Vuyo Kashe on July 15, 2022.

    No motive was ever revealed for the murder at Chol’s trial, which commenced on Sept. 3 and heard closing arguments on Monday from the Crown and from Chol’s defence lawyers, Joe Addelman and Ariya Sheivari. Chol did not testify in his own defence.

    “There was very likely some explanation, but we just don’t know what precipitated this murder,” said Assistant Crown attorney D’Arcy Wilson.

    “We can’t prove the ‘why.’ We aren’t able to, but we aren’t required to,” Wilson told the jury. “We are able to prove the what, the who, the where, when and how.”

    According to the prosecution, Chol was hanging out with Kashe and another man on the steps of a church at the corner of King Edward Avenue and Clarence Street on the night of the murder.

    “The shooting conveniently happened in a blind spot” on Clarence Street, away from the camera’s view, Wilson said, though the video captured the sound of a gunshot followed in rapid succession by six more.

    “Mr. Chol chose to arm himself with a nine-millimetre handgun and lured Mr. Kashe down a dark, lonely street,” Wilson said. “He chose to aim and fire. He listened to Mr. Kashe cry out, then he fired six more times, execution-style, in the back.”

    In order to preserve Chol’s right to a fair trial, the jury was unaware of his lengthy criminal history, and jurors didn’t know Chol had been deemed a danger to the public who was scheduled to be deported to South Sudan in December 2021.

    https://www.thesudburystar.com/news/execution-style-lowertown-murderer-was-spared-deportation-in-2021/wcm/17333514-455f-40eb-8b10-f7804d4fc283

  32. ‘Education of hatred’: Killing of Japanese boy sparks soul searching in China over rising nationalism

    The killing of a Japanese schoolboy in China has sparked an outpouring of anger and soul searching over the rise of extreme nationalism in the country, with some accusing the government of fanning anti-Japan sentiment and even the “education of hatred.”

    The tragic loss of a young life has once again thrown a spotlight on the complex relationship between Asia’s two biggest economies, which has been shaped by their wartime history and changing power dynamics brought about by China’s rise.

    The 10-year-old, born to a Japanese father and Chinese mother, was fatally stabbed on his way to school by a man in the southern city of Shenzhen last Wednesday. It was the second knife attack on Japanese children and third assault on foreigners in China in recent months.

    Authorities in Beijing have refused to disclose the motive in each case, describing them as “isolated incidents” that could happen in any country.

    But to some Shenzhen residents and online commentators, the daylight killing in one of China’s most cosmopolitan cities has prompted urgent reflection on the role of nationalistic propaganda and xenophobia in fueling such attacks.

    “As a Chinese, I feel heartbroken, outraged and ashamed,” said a Shenzhen resident who laid a white rose outside the Japanese school following the boy’s death last Thursday.

    “This kind of violence is the result of long-term education of hatred … There’s no good in instilling hatred from a young age,” said the resident, who requested anonymity for fear of reprisals.

    The resident’s comments echo a groundswell of commentaries and online posts calling for a reckoning on anti-Japan sentiment, many of which have since been censored by Chinese social media platforms.

    “The ‘anti-Japan rhetoric’ based on nationalist narratives has increased to dominate the internet,” a Chinese blogger said in a now-removed viral article on social platform WeChat. “These online remarks … will inevitably spill over from the screen and impact the ‘real world,’” they wrote.

    The killing has shaken the Japanese community in China, with some of Japan’s biggest companies offering to repatriate staff members and their families. The development risks undermining Beijing’s recent efforts to court Japanese businesses to expand investment in China, amid a record exodus of foreign capital from the country’s flagging economy.

    China has ramped up patriotic education under leader Xi Jinping, who frequently evokes the country’s “century of humiliation” by imperial powers to rally public support behind his nationalistic agenda to assert Chinese power on the world stage.

    The fatal stabbing of the Japanese boy coincided with the anniversary of Japan’s invasion of northeast China, an emotionally charged day commemorated with sirens and moments of silence across the country.

    https://au.news.yahoo.com/education-hatred-killing-japanese-boy-235724502.html

  33. Germany’s Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance advances: lessons for the left?

    The new party is growing and winning not only due to its refusal to beat the war drums over Ukraine, but because of its fearless scepticism of liberal orthodoxy from cancel culture to immigration.

    A DAY before last Sunday’s vote for a new parliament in the east German state of Brandenburg, opinion polls had the ruling Social Democratic Party (SPD) and the far-right AfD neck and neck.

    The SPD finished up on 30.9 per cent, with the AfD on 29.2 per cent. The Christian Democrats slumped to 12.1 per cent, while the new Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance — Reason and Justice (BSW), on its first outing, won 13.5 per cent.

    The gung-ho militarist Greens and Die Linke, from which BSW broke away over the latter’s abandonment of its anti-war position, failed to meet the 5 per cent barrier and are predicted to lose representation.

    Brandenburg is the German region that lies adjacent to Berlin and is a bit more prosperous than Saxony and Thuringia — the two other former East German states where the governing parties in the so-called “traffic light” coalition of the SPD, Green Party and the extravagantly neoliberal Free Democrats collectively collapsed into a single figure, and where the AfD and BSW both grew at the expense of the government parties.

    The BSW anticipated the Brandenburg election result with an undertaking that it would only enter a governing alliance with a party that favoured diplomatic action to end the Ukraine war.

    The issue which exercised the political and media establishment in advance of the election was not so much the composition of a new Brandenburg regional government, where the national ruling coalition has little chance of constituting the local government and where even a mini version of Germany’s traditional “grand coalition” of the SPD and the CDU looks unlikely to garner enough mandates, but rather the likely knock-on effect in national politics and the fate of Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

    The Chancellor is held in such low regard that Dietmar Woidke, the Brandenburg SPD premier, refused to campaign with him.

    Having long ago abandoned firstly his anti-capitalist student roots and later his general orientation towards constructive dialogue with China and Russia — the latter upon which Germany relied for cheap energy for its manufacturing economy — Scholz is now seen as both unprincipled and a loser.

    https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/germanys-sahra-wagenknecht-alliance-advances-lessons-left

    1. Scholz and his fellow globalist Quislings in the “center-right” and “center-left” parties are traitors to Germany and Europe.

  34. Moving homeless people from streets to shelter isn’t easy, San Francisco outreach workers say

    Outreach worker Edgar Tapia hit a San Francisco neighborhood on a mission to find people to take eight available shelter beds, including a tiny cabin perfect for a couple.

    He approached a cluster of tents in the Mission District, calling out greetings and offers of snacks and water bottles. He crouched to chat with tent occupants and asked if anyone was interested in moving indoors. He reminded them city street cleaners would be by to clear the sidewalk.

    “Do you have any more hygiene kits?” asked a woman inside an orange tent with five friends. “Can we get some socks?”

    “Today somebody wasn’t ready because they were hanging out with their friends. They’re not ready because they don’t like the options that we have,” said Jose Torres, Homeless Outreach Team manager with the city’s Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing.

    “Sometimes we get lucky and they accept the one thing we have available, and if that doesn’t work out, we try something else,” he said. “It’s that ‘try again, try again’ system.”

    The woman inquiring after socks, who gave her name as Mellie M., 41, said her group wants hotel rooms or an apartment. She wants a place with locked doors and a private bathroom because she was raped while homeless.

    “In order for us not to live in tents anymore,” she said, “they need to give us a place that we can call home.”

    https://www.wavy.com/news/national/ap-us-news/ap-moving-homeless-people-from-streets-to-shelter-isnt-easy-san-francisco-outreach-workers-say/

    2. “In order for us not to live in tents anymore,” she said, “they need to give us a place that we can call home.”

      F*ck you, social parasite. I have enough trouble paying for my own shelter & living expenses without being put on the hook for yours. Your poor choices almost certainly led to you living on the streets, so maybe society needs to start dealing with you & your ilk like the pestilence that you are.

    3. The stench from homeless, as well as probable health hazards, increase in rats, and filthy debris every where is a public health hazard that the public health authorities ignore.

      The World Health Organization should declare a Panademic of Homeless, that threatens all realms of health.

      And by the way, homeless were not mandated to take Covid vaccine and the illegals crossing borders, or Chinese Students on student visas.

      But seriously the stench is so strong from homeless not having bathrooms, that its beyond anything that anyone would say is acceptable.

  35. The One World Order doesn’t want homelessness solved, if anything they want more homeless.

    The homeless are destroying small business, and CA laws that they can steal up to $950 without fear of arrest is more destruction of business.
    The billions put into the homeless by taxes go to high salaries for government homeless social workers, that don’t do much in terms of solving any problems.
    Everyone knows a lot of drug use and mental illness is prevalent in the homeless. A lot of crime is committed by the homeless against business and citizens.
    But the homeless wouldn’t mind being supplied a personal apartment, food and all needs without any requirement to stop drugs, or get a job, etc.
    It all revolves around the idea that everyone is a victim, and requirements aren’t required out of people up to the Presidency. Merits or accomplishment has been replaced with you can’t say something that might offend a group, because its hateful or racist or insensitive.

    The net result of this is that its the destruction of Western Civilization, that is exactly what the One World Order enemy wants.

      1. The yield-chasers were all-in on the Fed’s asset bubbles & Ponzi markets. Platinum gets zero mention in the so-called financial media, and most “investors” know nothing about its fundamentals. Its primary industrial usage was as a catalyst in diesel engines, but it is also a noble metal that is 10X more rare than gold, but per oz is less than half as expensive as gold. Chinese girls love it because it looks good against their skin. With South Africa – source of 3/4 of the world’s platinum supply – circling the drain, and Russia – the #2 supplier – being dodgy from a geopolitical risk standpoint, the supply/demand fundamentals look like a no-brainer to me. Not investing advice, just one man’s opinion.

        1. I love the British Commonwealth 1-oz bullion platinum coins, especially Canadian Maple Leaf coins, but in 2024 they replaced Queen Elizabeth II with the Lizard King, WEF stooge, and all-around wanker Prince Charles. I refuse to buy any bullion coin with his hideous visage on it. My letters to the Commonwealth mints suggesting they replace Queen Elizabeth II with another renowned English queen – Boy George – have gone unheeded.

          1. “I refuse to buy any bullion coin with his hideous visage on it”

            Owns 2022 Maple Leafs with Queen Elizabeth II, beautiful coins.

      2. Why has it been going sideways for almost a decade?
        I researched earlier and saw the same thing and wondered, “is it going to explode up”?

  40. MATT GOODWIN: What Are They Hiding? Immigration Data Kept Secret from YOU!

    Matt Goodwin

    4 hours ago

    I’m here to tell you the truth about what the government doesn’t want you to know. Since when did asking about immigration make you “misinformed”? Well, they’re at it again, hiding crucial data that YOU, the British public, deserve to see. Why won’t the Department for Work and Pensions, HMRC, and the Home Office release vital information on how mass immigration is affecting welfare claims, crime rates, and housing prices? They’re refusing to share it, or worse, they’re not collecting it at all. What are they hiding from us? In this video, I’m exposing the truth behind the secrecy and asking the tough questions the media won’t.

    If you’re tired of being kept in the dark about the real impact of immigration, this is for you. Let’s demand transparency and expose the hidden facts

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

    1:40.

  41. ‘In anticipation of the rate cut, more buyers started looking for their new homes. This anticipation also motivated sellers to list their properties. ‘I think the buyers are basically gaining ground just because inventory is higher. It’s the highest it’s been in a decade’

    I haven’t read one article that said the rate cut brought out more buyers than sellers Joy.

  42. ‘We have seen a great influx of new construction mostly in the south part of town and also towards the northwest part of town. The main thing is that new construction is now almost commanding the market. Last month one of every three homes sold in Bakersfield was new construction’

    Oh dear…

  43. ‘The last thing on earth banks want to do these days is to own foreclosed real estate. Banks don’t want to foreclose on properties if they can avoid it. By assigning the loan, the bank licks its wounds, gets out of the bad loan and just moves on’

    Yer right Mark, banks take their a$$ pounding and move on. Comps be damned and where it lands who cares.

  44. ‘Why are they forcing me to pay $40,000 when there’s no benefit to me? Why am I getting dinged to pay legal fees for lawyers I’m fighting against? Why did I get dragged into this’

    It’s a ponzi scheme Pete, you didn’t think the bleeding has stopped?

  45. ‘In many cases, certainly in and around Dublin, they cost more to construct, when you take in all the costs including the land, than you can actually sell them for’

    They paid too much for the land Bryn, that’s the essence of the mania.

  46. ‘property is ‘the number one financial time-bomb in China.’ Some 70 per cent of China’s household savings are parked in real estate, according to Reuters. But, the economist questioned, ‘If housing prices are going down, what’s the reason for investing in the real estate market?’

    They are kinda dumb and they’re commies He-Ling.

    1. Do they even own the land? My understanding is that the land everything is built on in China belongs to the gooberment,

      1. When you consider the exorbitant property tax a newly purchased $1 million California starter home, not to mention payments to insure the home and interest paid on the 100% financed mortgage loan, it is a bit hard to say who the actual owner is in that case as well.

      2. Do they even own the land? My understanding is that the land everything is built on in China belongs to the gooberment,

        Rural people, technically, own their own land. Eminent domain can be used for development, and depending on how honest a local government is, people can receive substantial payouts.

        Urban people, by contrast, largely live in apartments, so they only own the unit. Some are co-ops, where unit owners collectively own the building. In urban areas, property taxes are paid at point of purchase, with a lease for a specified period of time, but generally 70 years. The challenge in the decades ahead is how does an expired lease get renewed and at what cost? Will it be a lump sum payment for another 70 years, or turn into a monthly/annual style tax commitment?

    2. “…property is ‘the number one financial time-bomb in China.’ …”

      Is it much different here in Chinafornia? It’s hard to overstate how overinvested most people I know are in real estate, or how certain they are in the financial genius underlying their investment decisions.

      “I think without a doubt, that what is called “financial genius” is merely a rising market.”
      — John Kenneth Galbraith

  47. ‘Chairwoman of property developer Van Thinh Phat Truong My Lan has offered nearly 300 assets, including a 11,000-square-meter ‘mega project’ in downtown HCMC, to compensate bond fraud victims at her latest trial. Lan, who is accused of masterminding a fraudulent bond issuance scheme in 2018 that resulted in over 35,800 investors losing VND30 trillion (US$1.2 billion), listed a number of projects she was willing to offer as compensation in court Tuesday. She denied all culpability, but admitted to allowing the Saigon Commercial Bank management to issue the bonds through four of her companies…’I regret letting the bank use those companies to issue the bonds, which resulted in thousands of people losing their money’ …Earlier this year she was sentenced to death for embezzling money from the SCB between 2012 and 2022’

    Bargaining < - My you are here.

  48. Caution: Buyer Beware (York Region Real Estate Market Update)

    Team Sessa Real Estate

    31 minutes ago VAUGHAN

    In this episode, we look at the current Vaughan Home Prices, Richmond Hill Home Prices & Markham Home Prices and real estate market trends for the week ending Sept 18, 2024. We also discuss why purchasing a home as is should still include an inspection condition.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ki1_o-j2ZSw

    13:15.

    2. NYC 80s. My husband worked many of Trump’s jobs in NYC. The crews had had only praise for him.

      Fauci – my aunt was one of many to die of AIDS due to a blood transfusion. She was treated with AZT and died. I still regret that I didn’t let her see my kid because I was afraid (’92-’93).

    1. The video you posted yesterday speaking about taking on Big Pharma and Big Ag felt like a Teddy Roosevelt moment.

      And quoted as saying at a recent DJT rally “the Democratic Party is the party of censorship and war.”

      Keep hitting ’em out of the park, Bobby 👏

  52. The Yardbirds (Jimmy Page) — Train Kept a Rollin’ 1968:

    WTF@ how the band is all dressed? Ruffles, shiny pants, platform boots. Fun fact: Led Zeppelin was originally named the New Yardbirds.

    1. Beloved Fast Food Chain Closing Restaurants Across California This Week
      By Logan DeLoye
      Sep 25, 2024
      Unemployment
      Photo: Moment RF

      A once beloved fast-food staple will officially close a few more restaurants across California this week as eateries across the nation continue to shutter underperforming locations as a financial strategy amid an ever-changing economy.

      Shake Shack is the latest fast-food chain to announce that they will be closing nine struggling locations across the U.S. in an effort to cut down on cost of operation. The popular chain joins a growing list of American fast-food staples shuttering establishments across the country amid financial turmoil including Applebee’s, Popeyes, Red Lobster, and more.
      …
      https://patriotla.iheart.com/content/2024-09-25-beloved-fast-food-chain-closing-restaurants-across-california-this-week/

    2. Marin Independent Journal
      Opinion Commentary
      California Voice: Minimum wage hikes are driving surge in youth unemployment
      Employers who may have used entry-level labor will move toward older, longer-term workers to justify higher costs
      An employee packs an order for a customer at a McDonald’s restaurant in Phoenix, Arizona, on Oct. 21, 2017. MUST CREDIT: Caitlin O’Hara/Bloomberg
      (Caitlin O’Hara/Bloomberg)
      By Christopher Thornberg and Niree Kodaverdian
      PUBLISHED: September 26, 2024 at 2:53 p.m.

      Since mid-2023, California’s labor market has grown by roughly 20,000 jobs per month. Despite this, the state’s unemployment rate remains above 5%, seasonally adjusted, one of the highest rates in the nation, making California one of four states that has seen its unemployment rise by more than a full percentage point since 2022.

      This contrasts sharply with other measures of the state’s economy. California’s economy has been expanding at a healthy pace, outpacing the national average, with real output up 3% over the past year. The rise in unemployment doesn’t appear linked to weakness in any specific sector, such as tech or the motion picture industry. Initial unemployment claims, a strong indicator of layoffs, remain at their pre-pandemic level of just over 40,000 per week. And there is still plenty of demand for labor, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The job openings rate has cooled from where it was two years ago but remains higher than at any time prior to the pandemic.

      A deeper dive into the U.S. Census Current Population Survey data clearly reveals what is happening: The incongruous increase in California’s unemployment rate is primarily a young-person phenomenon. Of the 130,000 newly unemployed people in the state, 90% are under the age of 25. Hardest hit are workers still in their teens. The unemployment rate for workers aged 16 to 19 has gone from 14.5% last year to 22.9% this year. And this isn’t due to a general slowdown in the state economy. After all, the unemployment rate for workers aged 25 and up has fallen over the same period.
      …
      https://www.marinij.com/2024/09/26/opinion-minimum-wage-hikes-are-driving-surge-in-youth-unemployment-2/

      1. “Christopher Thornberg”

        Great to see he’s moved on from repeatedly saying, ‘Bayarea real estate always goes up.’

      2. When you are 16 and need a job during the summer, who else is going to hire?

        Maybe all the kids can get internships at their uncle’s company or something.

  54. Had to drive around west Las Vegas today. Hadn’t been over there in quite a while, and many landmarks were shuttered.

    So many new apartment complexes, though.

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