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They’re Left Stuck – And There Is Nothing They Can Do

A report from Business Insider. “Boomtowns like Austin are seeing home prices drop, while fewer people are moving to the state. Samuel Cobb, an East Texas resident who’s looking to move out of the state, said the cost of living had ‘blown up’ since the pandemic. He and his wife hardly save anything, and are rarely even able to dine out at restaurants anymore, he added. ‘We were no longer able to live there, couldn’t get back there, couldn’t afford to get jobs there or anything else, so they just pushed us out,’ he said of Austin. His only problem is selling his home, which has been on the market for over two months. ‘We made a decision in August or July to move, and now we’re like, now what the crap we’re going to do? We want to get there. We’re tired of the Texas heat, tired of Texas politics,’ he said. ‘So we’re definitely feeling stuck right now.'”

“Median home prices in Texas have fallen around 7% from their highs in mid-2022, according to data from Redfin. In 2022, homes for sale in Texas were being scooped up in a matter of days, but it’s now taking months for sellers to find a buyer, according to James Willoughby, a real estate agent based in Austin. In some instances, Willoughby says he’s encouraged sellers to slash prices by 20%-30%. According to Redfin, more than a third of homes in Texas saw a price drop in August. ‘We had such an avalanche of buyers moving here from elsewhere and not that many people selling. That’s how we got into the craziness that we got into several years ago,’ he said of the Texas housing market during the pandemic, adding that he’s seen a ‘fair amount of people’ looking to move out of the state in the past year.”

“William Wheeler, an Amarillo-based real-estate agent, says the number of clients who are looking to move out of Texas is ‘pretty equal’ to the number of clients looking to move in. ‘We have done a lot of price reductions, more price reductions than normal,’ he added. Price cuts suggest that housing markets like Austin and Dallas are likely approaching a bottom, according to Redfin’s chief economist Daryl Fairweather, though she noted that the trend wasn’t uniform across the state. ‘The boom cycle’s kind of coming to a close,’ Fairweather said.'”

NBC Miami. “People living in several South Florida condo communities say they have been fighting for years to take back control of where they live. All telling NBC6 their property manager, hired by their boards, has been abusing his power and their money. ‘The biggest issue is that the owners have no rights in there,’ said Julian Londono, who owns a condo at the Cypress Gardens community in Hollywood. Owners from three different communities in both Miami-Dade and Broward say they all share the same property management company, BDM Property Management, and the same property manager, a man named Michael Curtis.”

“‘Water bills are not being paid,’ said Shelisa Anderson, an owner at the Windmill Lakes condo in Pembroke Pines. Manny Ferreira, who owns a property at the Three Horizons condo in North Miami, shared a similar concern. ‘$211,000 of water bill,’ he said, ‘I don’t understand how we still have water in this building. The pool’s been shut down for I think a little over two years now.’ Residents in other communities said they can’t access their pools either. The owners say for years, they have complained about mismanagement by Curtis and their boards of directors, who they say they never elected. ‘They just sign off on everything that he tells them to,’ Anderson said.”

“In September, DBPR revoked BDM’s and Curtis’ licenses, after filing eight administrative complaints against him in 2023. He was also ordered to pay more than $120,000 in fines and costs. The revocation order called Curtis a ‘true danger to the public’ for his conduct at another community, the Fairways of Sunrise. The order states Curtis didn’t contest the allegations against him, rather offered explanations the state said ‘appear disingenuous’ based on the evidence. ‘It’s great, but it’s also bittersweet because they have an appeal process,’ said owner Jenny Trujillo of Three Horizons, ‘So he’s trying to appeal his revocation.’ ‘Everybody’s afraid of them,’ Anderson added. ‘They use intimidation tactics for everything that they do.'”

“Just days after Curtis’ license was revoked, owners in several communities say they received the same letter, supposedly from their respective boards, saying BDM is licensed and appealing the ‘fraudulent’ case against them. It goes on to say Curtis is ‘actively suing every person who distributed false information about him…we advise the residents to refrain from putting yourselves in the same situation.’ ‘They’re doing whatever they want,’ Ferreira said. ‘And on top of it, they’re trying to threaten us.’ Condo owners shared a letter sent to them this week listing the company’s name, advising them that All Florida Rental is their new management firm and that it took over BDM’s phone number and office. ‘Everybody’s still scared they don’t know which way to turn,’ Anderson said. ‘Everybody’s just trying to figure out what we can do next. That’s why we need help.'”

The Oregonian. “Last September, the newsroom found that amid an ongoing housing crisis, Portland’s much-hyped effort to regulate short-term rentals had devolved into chaos. Unlicensed rentals proliferated. Unprocessed permitting paperwork swamped regulators, whose enforcement program was understaffed and lax. And the city was yet again at loggerheads over what data needed to be shared by Airbnb, the online rental giant that dominates the business. City officials say Airbnb still isn’t complying with Portland’s fundamental legal requirement for short-term rental platforms: checking that hosts who list properties on its site have a valid permit number on the city’s short-term rental registry before Airbnb starts taking bookings and related fees.”

“Some hosts are still using transparently fake permit numbers on the site, often on multiple properties, according to the newsroom’s analysis of the listing data. Other haven’t bothered to renew their permits or failed to ever complete the process after filing an application. Still others have relisted their properties after being booted off the platform at the city’s request, only to reclaim existing bookings – another unsolved point of city contention with the platform. Take Hayden Laverty. The 31-year-old entrepreneur said he started small, helping manage a couple short-term rentals owned by a friend when he graduated from college. Today, he, partners and investors have over 200 Airbnb listings in Portland and boast on their website of having $20 million in investor funds under management.”

“In an interview, Laverty said much of his business involves converting existing single-family homes and duplexes in commercially zoned neighborhoods into short-term rentals, effectively converting them into hotels. Laverty has been renting his units on Airbnb, first claiming the properties were ‘exempt,’ then using a single tax identification number for more than 100 listings. When the city, acting on a third-party complaint, asked Airbnb to remove dozens of those listings in July, Laverty and his brother began relisting them using permit numbers from other properties.”

“‘So this confirms what we thought,’ Mike Liefeld, the city’s code enforcement program manager, told other city officials in an Aug. 1 email. Even though city officials can ‘request Airbnb to remove listings, there is nothing that stops hosts from creating a brand-new illegal listing the very next day.’ Laverty said he’s not trying to hide anything. ‘I’ve been transparent with them about the fact that I’m relisting,’ he said. ‘It’s kind of a turning a blind eye response.'”

From The LAist. “One thing that’s jumped out to some readers about the unfolding civil fraud allegations tied to public funds directed by Orange County Supervisor Andrew Do: What (or really, how little) $1 million buys you here in Southern California. Or as one commenter on our Instagram post regarding the recent account of the home’s purchase by the supervisor’s daughter, Rhiannon Do, said: ‘I can’t believe that’s a million-dollar house.’ To which another person responded: ‘That’s the real crime here.’ One of our readers asked: ‘Which is more disgusting: the [alleged] fraud or the fact that a starter home is costing 1 million these days?'”

“According to a Harvard University report from the summer, homes in L.A. and Orange counties are now 10 times more than the median family income of the region. ‘Because I’m a real estate person, I’m always looking at what real estate costs.’ said Lexi Newman, a realtor with Compass, who recently took a trip to Michigan. ‘We were driving around in Detroit, and we saw the biggest mansion I’ve seen in my life. It was an old Abbey. It was just this gorgeous, insane, like, 12 bedrooms, eight baths. It was the most beautiful home I’ve seen.’ The selling price? A measly $1.3 million.”

Silicon Valley in California. “Most Bay Area residents are finding it harder to afford necessities such as groceries, gas, child care, housing, and home insurance, according to a new poll by the Bay Area News Group and Joint Venture Silicon Valley, with seven in 10 respondents agreeing the region’s quality of life has gotten worse in recent years. For many Bay Area residents, the most challenging monthly cost is housing. Homeowners in the poll also said the state’s home insurance meltdown is hitting their finances. But the starkest disparity was between Biden and Trump voters in the 2020 election. Fifty-one percent of Biden voters said the Bay Area is on the wrong track, compared to 93% of Trump voters.”

“‘Look at the four years under Trump. Look at what the price of gas was, interest rates, inflation — look at what they were his last two weeks in office and look at what they are now. It’s outrageous,’ said poll respondent Richard Brown, 61, a self-described independent and Trump voter. Brown, of Alameda, said some of the most shocking price hikes are at the grocery store. ‘I’ll buy a twelve-pack of paper towels that’s like $16,’ he said. ‘What the heck?’ Respondent Jorge Ruiz, 41, of Danville, plans to vote for Proposition 36. He said a consignment store and cosmetic shop in his neighborhood have been burglarized multiple times over the past year and stricter penalties would help crack down on property crime. ‘I go on Nextdoor, and people think it’s like the wild, wild West now,’ Ruiz said.”

“When it comes to the tech sector, 75% of respondents said the industry wields too much power, and 69% said it’s lost its moral compass. Eighty-one percent agreed it’s the driving force behind the region’s high housing costs. After a rash of recent layoffs and more than a decade of scandals over data privacy, children’s mental health and outright fraud, fewer residents appear to believe the region’s economic powerhouse is following through on its initial promise to make the world a better place. ‘Now people feel like the sector might be filled with villains,’ said Russell Hancock, CEO of Joint Venture Silicon Valley, a regional think tank.”

Business in Vancouver in Canada. “B.C.’s housing market remained mired in its slump in August despite Bank of Canada rate cuts. On a monthly basis, seasonally adjusted MLS home sales in B.C. fell 2.3 per cent in August to reach 5,934 units, marking a steeper decline than the 1.1-per-cent dip in July. On a year-over-year basis, sales declined by 7.4 per cent as the downward trend in year-over-year home purchases persisted. Potential buyers may be postponing home purchases in advance of further rate cuts. The average home price in B.C. fell 1.2 per cent to reach $973,053. This is down 8.8 per cent from a peak in February 2022, and down year over year by 1.6 per cent. Home prices also moved down by one per cent monthly in Kamloops and the Kootenay, and by 2.6 per cent in Chilliwack.”

Radio New Zealand. “Property coach Steve Goodey says the time is right to buy a house – but not everyone is as convinced. Goodey asked his social media followers this week what they were waiting for. ‘I can get 5.59 percent for three years even if the floating rate is still in the 8s. Auckland house prices are by average now under $1 million for the first time since 2020… Mortgage brokers round the country are recording a massive upswing in activity with investors and first-home buyers alike getting pre-approvals. Will you wait for the average price to exceed the old peak of two years ago? I’m actually interested to know what reason people have for not feeling like this is the bottom of the market and good times are ahead.'”

“He told RNZ the market had ‘most definitely’ bottomed out. ‘I think if someone wanted to be perfectly counter-cyclical and wanted to time it perfectly for growth and gains and cashflow and the rest of it now is a really good time. Now is a great time to get in because the average taxi driver or uber driver is not talking about the latest house he bought. Once he is, it’s too late, you’ve missed it.’ He said the recovery of house prices could be slower in some areas where there had been a lot of building. ‘In certain locations there’s an oversupply – townhouses in Lower Hutt, Christchurch, South Auckland – there’s certainly no shortage.'”

The Daily Telegraph in Australia. “A spate of unfinished homes have been streaming onto the market for sale after the owners abandoned construction and renovation projects in the midst of skyrocketing building costs. The unusual sales, including properties near completion as well as structural shells without windows or walls, have come as the building industry grapples with labour shortages and skyrocketing materials prices. There was also a doubling in construction company insolvencies over the past financial year – the most recent of which was Victorian construction company Grandeur Homes, which collapsed leaving more than 100 homeowner projects on hold.”

“Louise Stewart, founder of construction technology group ProjectPay, said the insolvencies contributed significantly to incomplete homes being listed. ‘Homeowners can’t even claim on home warranty insurance. They’re left stuck – and there is nothing they can do,’ she said. Many homeowners are left losing hundreds of thousands of dollars to the insolvency process, according to Ms Stewart, with homeowner’s left with no other option but to sell. ‘The way it goes when these companies collapse is it gives the homeowner’s power away and steals their life savings. When the builder enters into administration (homeowners) can claim on insurance but it’s a very small amount, when this is likely the biggest investment in their lifetime. All these poor homeowners having to sell these half built homes, they don’t have the extra money to complete the build,’ Ms Stewart said.'”

“Among the incomplete homes listed for sale in NSW was a luxury Connells Point build that had the majority of the structure complete yet was set to sell at auction on Tuesday October 8. A Hill Top property has been ‘drastically reduced to sell,’ listed with a guide of $970,000- $1.02m so close to being completed with floorboards, tiles, tapware and appliances already fitted. In Guildford, a shell of a structure missing windows, doors and a roof, sold in June for $1.255m. An Annandale warehouse had been completely gutted exposing beautiful sandstone walls and timber floorboards, selling with a DA approved plans for a four bedroom home for $2.75m.”

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A Nice Word For Busts

A report from the Wilsonville Spokesman in Oregon. "The market already has tapered a bit…

This Post Has 84 Comments

    1. New York Times — Should Biden Downplay His Own Success? (6/3/2024):

      “The performance of America’s economy over the past two years has been remarkable, especially given the dire predictions of many observers. Remember the economists who forecast a recession in 2023? Remember all those warnings that getting inflation down would require years of high unemployment?

      Instead, our economic growth has been the envy of other wealthy nations. Stocks are way up since President Biden took office. Inflation has declined sharply and unemployment is still below 4 percent. The latest numbers seem to support the view that the apparent acceleration of prices earlier this year was a statistical blip, and that disinflation is still on track.

      Yet there’s still a lingering conventional wisdom that says Biden shouldn’t trumpet his economic record. The Washington Post’s editorial board just wrote that “Telling Americans the economy is good won’t work.” The Financial Times’s editorial board wrote that “The president’s state of the nation address in March was littered with superlatives about the economy” but that his messaging “risks negating the experience of voters on the ground” — basically saying that Biden shouldn’t talk about his economic achievements, even implying that he should try to relate to voters by acknowledging that the economic picture out there is bad, which it isn’t.”

      https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/03/opinion/biden-economy.html

      Are you any better off now than you were four years ago?

  2. ‘According to a Harvard University report from the summer, homes in L.A. and Orange counties are now 10 times more than the median family income of the region’

    Loans like this are subprime by definition. All of them.

    1. If this was a problem, surely Yellen the Felon, BlackRock Jay, and Fauxahontus would lead the charge to put things right and mitigate any risks to our financial system.

      I slay me….

  3. ‘So this confirms what we thought,’ Mike Liefeld, the city’s code enforcement program manager, told other city officials in an Aug. 1 email. Even though city officials can ‘request Airbnb to remove listings, there is nothing that stops hosts from creating a brand-new illegal listing the very next day’

    And they’ll sue or threaten to sue at the drop of a hat. STR companies are criminal scumbags.

  4. In some instances, Willoughby says he’s encouraged sellers to slash prices by 20%-30%.

    Gosh, what happens if FBs who levered up on debt to get up on that housing ladder to effortless riches aren’t able to bring enough money to closing to unload their alligators?

    1. Look at how she shakes her head, side to side while talking about what she doesn’t like, and up and down while talking up the corrective measures. LOLZ!!

      1. Harris is even worse. Watch her try to make a point. If she wants you to agree with her, she’s repeatedly nods up and down while she’s talking. I’ll try to find an example.

        1. As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths.” — Isaiah 3:12 (KJV)

  8. One of our readers asked: ‘Which is more disgusting: the [alleged] fraud or the fact that a starter home is costing 1 million these days?’”

    Readers of the garbage legacy media are presumably mindless lemmings who vote for the corrupt status quo. Still, even some among this cohort are starting to ask the kinds of questions that lead to red-pilling.

    1. It’s their way of giving us the finger while saying “we’re gonna steal the election, again.”

      1. Lassie: Bark bark bark-bark!

        Farmer: What’s that you say, girl?

        Lassie: Bark-bark bark bark bark!!

        Farmer: You say Timmy fell down the well?

        Lassie: Bark-bark bark-bark-bark!!

        Farmer: I see, girl. A criminal private banking cartel called the Federal Reserve and a creepy supranational unelected world government called the WEF have consigned Timmy to a bleak existence of serfdom on the globalists’ incorporated neoliberal plantation.

  12. ‘We were no longer able to live there, couldn’t get back there, couldn’t afford to get jobs there or anything else, so they just pushed us out,’

    Cue Greg Brown’s “Boomtown”.

    1. His only problem is selling his home, which has been on the market for over two months. ‘We made a decision in August or July to move, and now we’re like, now what the crap we’re going to do?

      You’re about a year too late, Sam. As the late Groucho once said, you’re stucco. There is of course the jingle mail option, but that would wreck your credit score.

      Decisions, decisions

  13. A reader sent these in:

    If the last three GFS runs are even close to being accurate, Tampa Bay is mere days away from receiving the worst hurricane strike anywhere in its history book. A potentially devastating and benchmark storm for a major metropolitan area!

    https://x.com/HurricaneAddict/status/1842606857363542016

    Imagine taking out a HELOC to buy Mickey Mouse themed mini golf holes.

    https://x.com/DonMiami3/status/1842609045913616470

    Florida insurance bloodbath continues

    https://x.com/DonMiami3/status/1842723268723098070

    Student loan defaults incoming?

    https://x.com/NeelyTamminga/status/1842622788797919589

    I “upgraded” from the iPhone 14 Pro to the iPhone 16 Pro.

    I literally cannot tell the difference.

    It took me 24 hours to set up the new phone properly etc. It just feels like a waste of time.

    And I do not understand where this “Apple Intelligence” is????

    https://x.com/adityaag/status/1841633029791613191

    Fauci, 2021: “When people are vaccinated, they can feel safe that they are not going to get infected.”

    Fauci, 2024: “I got infected about two weeks ago. It was my third infection, and I had been vaccinated and boosted a total of six times.” 🤡

    https://x.com/wideawake_media/status/1842498858405810599

    My latest American healthcare experience

    1. Get a cheap blood test in Taiwan, which says I have a cancer marker 5.0 on a 4.7 scale

    2. 4 months later get same test in USA. 4.7 on a 3.8 scale. USA has different “acceptable ranges” (perhaps because it’s a for profit system or different populations). I get this test at a private lab because it’s impossible to ask a general doctor to order a specific test (they resist or force you to go to specialist first).

    3. I don’t want to have cancer. I have digestive issues, which the internet tells me can also cause high CEA. I book an appointment with a general practitioner. Otherwise I cannot see a gastroenterologist. It takes 1 month to get the doctor who is least in demand.

    4. She sees me, orders a poop test which comes back negative and then tells me to see a specialist who “people say they like”.

    5. Takes 45 days to get an appointment with that person (if I have cancer shouldn’t I be dead by now?). The office is extremely commercial. Advertisements for pharmaceuticals play in the poorly ventilated waiting room which is packed with old white people. You get into the office where you see the doctor and a giant tablet stares you in the face showing more advertisements.

    6. Doctor (who arrives ~45 minutes after when I’m meant to be at office) says, contrary to what internet says, CEA is for cancer not digestive issues and you need colonoscopy. He tries to sell me on medication for the digestive issues but has never heard of the sugar that I can’t digest, “fructan”. He repeatedly corrects me that it’s fructose. I get ~10 minutes with him. He orders a colonoscopy, a fructose intolerance test, and another test for CEA.

    7. This visit was $375, not covered by insurance. I ask for colonoscopy cost from a morbidly obese woman who looks like she is about to die (how do you work at a doctors office?) who tells me that I must (like 3x) sign the colonoscopy cost estimate of $1171, which is non-negotiable. If I want to know the cost of anesthesia, medication, and facility fee, I will need to contact all 3 of these providers separately. Nothing will be covered by my insurance.

    8. I get home and remember I can check some of this doctor’s relationship with pharmaceutical companies. Highest I have ever seen in a doctor I have seen. Not only does this guy have lunch with multiple pharma reps regularly, he also seems to own stock! To check your doctor go to http://openpaymentsdata.cms.gov

    Anyways, I doubt I have colon cancer and I very much want a second opinion before I do all this stuff, but to do that I would be surprised if I need to wait for another general practitioner appointment and then for a new gastroenterologist, which is more time and more money.

    The whole system is broken and I trust my own internet research than most (but not all) doctors.

    Not sure what I should do, meanwhile my wife is up my ass trying to get me to get a colonoscopy 😂 🤦‍♂️

    If you want to see the medical system of Taiwan see next tweet.

    https://x.com/Molson_Hart/status/1842582555318526208

    These guys don’t care about actual Americans. At all.

    https://x.com/RudyHavenstein/status/1842585851278340336

    This is classic.

    BidenHarris’ “Director of Public Affairs and Planning” at @fema
    has a “protected” Twitter account.

    What a weasel @jaclynroth
    .
    https://x.com/RudyHavenstein/status/1842590287157178691

    Mortgage brokers and real estate agents screaming in fear now that rates are 40 basis points higher AFTER a 50 basis point rate cut from the Fed. 😂

    https://x.com/dfwaaronlayman/status/1842261772700434515

    Multiple job holders hit new all-time record: almost 8.7 million; it’s worth noting that once a person has 2 jobs, getting a third job doesn’t increase this figure; the amount of double counting in the establishment survey is almost certainly worse today than normal…

    https://x.com/RealEJAntoni/status/1842286686467682419

    Erwin, TN is just gone.

    The entire topography of the region is changed. I’ll post a farm in Erwin in the comments so you can see…..just omg

    https://x.com/GardensR4Health/status/1842627384194793677

    Erwin, Newport, Greene County, Cooke County.. a lot of East Tenn damage

    https://x.com/Rustdawg73/status/1842651551397269522

    Popular streamer crashes his brand new McLaren during a live stream.

    https://x.com/ClownWorld_/status/1842626541911683475

    Buddy of mine, a bartender, had worked for a decade to buy one rental house on the water. He got it 7-8 years ago when prices were a lit lower, but paid cash. Anyway you can see where this is headed, no insurance and FEMa denied the claim. So…

    https://x.com/DerektheCleric/status/1842786627405623343

    Don’t let the republicans in Congress fool you.

    They’ll sympathize with the lack of funds for Hurricane victims, but they’ll be the first to vote for Israel’s next aid package.

    https://x.com/SallyMayweather/status/1842264585341980726

    Here in Pinellas County FL, the gulf coast was utterly demolished by the Hurricane.

    I haven’t seen one single FEMA truck or relief stand.

    Only private charities & a handful of local operations.

    https://x.com/SallyMayweather/status/1842248927824781797

    The people of Lebanon are facing an increasingly dire humanitarian situation. I am concerned about the security and well-being of civilians suffering in Lebanon and will continue working to help meet the needs of all civilians there.

    To that end, the United States will provide nearly $157 million in additional assistance to the people of Lebanon for essential needs such as food, shelter, water, protection, and sanitation to help those who have been displaced by the recent conflict. This additional support brings total U.S. assistance to Lebanon over the last year to over $385 million.

    https://x.com/VP/status/1842710797241434259

    You are purposely spitting in the faces of Americans in North Carolina.

    You are going to lose so badly in a month.

    https://x.com/CollinRugg/status/1842735706256392674

    The US hired a record 785,000 government workers last month, all of them paid by US taxpayers. None of them are helping with the hurricane disaster effort.

    https://x.com/zerohedge/status/1842405974746775637

    Bears YTD:

    https://x.com/NorthmanTrader/status/1842595353293668514

    1. Don’t let the republicans in Congress fool you.

      They’ll sympathize with the lack of funds for Hurricane victims, but they’ll be the first to vote for Israel’s next aid package.

      Rep. Thomas Massie is literally the only one out of 535 Congress Critters that doesn’t have his own AIPAC minder telling him how to vote. Both wings of the uniparty answer to the same cabal of globalist oligarch Israel-first mega-donors. American voters have literally no representation in the corridors of power, as AIPAC and FIRE sector lobbyists draft all legislation for the Parliament of Whores on Capitol Hill to sign into law. #OurDemocracy.

    2. The US hired a record 785,000 government workers last month, all of them paid by US taxpayers. None of them are helping with the hurricane disaster effort.

      I’m sure none of them do anything of value. A great way to get people to vote Democrat forever.

    3. “Student loan defaults incoming?”

      Taxpayers on the hook yet again for the Free Sh*tters.

    4. “Don’t let the republicans in Congress fool you.

      They’ll sympathize with the lack of funds for Hurricane victims, but they’ll be the first to vote for Israel’s next aid package.”

      ^This.

      Except for Rep. Thomas Massie, every single one one of them will.

    5. Erwin is not nearly as bad as it is being made out to be. They never show the main parts of town because they are safely up on the surrounding hills and were fine. Yes, a lot of water went through but they knew not to build along the river. Most of what you see flooded is relatively new and mostly commercial. Also, they are conveniently located next to a couple other larger towns that were unaffected and have everything they might need.

      This link is kind of cool though:
      Erwin, Newport, Greene County, Cooke County.. a lot of East Tenn damage
      https://x.com/Rustdawg73/status/1842651551397269522

      I went across the bridge that was in the top right picture on Friday evening before it was removed. We had decided to go sight seeing because it was sunny and nice out after a couple days of rain and a hurricane was coming soon. We heard Newport was going to flood so we decided to go there. First we stopped by Douglas Dam to see the lake and to see this ‘flood’. Douglas only had two gates partially open and was barely flowing at all around 5:30pm. The lake was at least half full maybe slightly more. Seemed very tame so we headed for Newport.

      When we got to near Newport we hit a traffic jam and found out the town was locked down and the 40 was closed there. We couldn’t get in and we couldn’t go further east. The 40 was already getting damaged. We decided to go around to try to get in the backside of Newport but they had that closed off as well. This is how we ultimately would up at a random historic bridge in the middle of nowhere. It is called the Conway Bridge and it has it’s own Wikipedia page as it is registered as a historic bridge. It was built around 1924 and was just turning 100. Apparently this was at least a 100 year flood because it is no longer there. We stopped, got out and walked to the middle of the bridge and the water was very high but not scary yet. It was around 6:30ish on Friday. A few hours later it was completely removed except for one little railing. On the way out we had to drive around a large turtle that was fleeing his habitat. In retrospect, things could have gone much differently for us, luckily our timing was good. A number of other people were there too, it was a good sized bridge and seemed well built.

  14. Now here is something weird:

    Mexico is paying Cuba about $27,000 Mexican pesos (about 1300 USD) per month per Cuban doctor serving in Mexico, and there are about 3000 of them, working for Mexico’s national health system (IMSS). In addition to the monthly fee per doctor, which is paid directly to the Cuban government, Mexico is also required to house, feed and provide a stipend to the Cuban MDs at an additional cost of about $3000 USD per month. I don’t think the doctors get a penny from the money Mexico pays Cuba.

    As for why they are doing this, Mexico claims that they have a doctor shortage in the IMSS, which only pays Mexican doctors about $1000 USD per month. IMSS doctors are notoriously inept and incompetent.

    The fact the the IMSS is paying a lot more for Cuban doctors is becoming a bit of a scandal. But much like our uniparty, Mexico’s uniparty doesn’t care if there is a scandal.

  15. Wall Street is starting to have buyer’s remorse on the Fed’s jumbo rate cut

    For instance, veteran market prognosticator Ed Yardeni told Bloomberg Friday that the earlier half-point cut was unnecessary and no more cuts are needed, adding that “I assume several Fed officials regret doing so much.”

    Ian Lyngen, the head of U.S. rates strategy at BMO Capital Markets, said while he still expects a quarter-point cut next month, he warned that if the next jobs report and inflation data come in too hot, then the Fed will likely hold off on more easing.

    “If anything, the employment update suggests that the Fed might be revisiting the prudence of cutting in November at all—although a pause is not our base case,” he wrote in a note.

    Lawrence Lindsey, a former Fed official who also served as director of the National Economic Council during the George W. Bush administration, told CNBC Friday that policymakers need to consider how their rate cut was followed by a jump in the 10-year Treasury yield, saying it may be a sign they are doing something wrong.

    “So my suspicion is that they’re probably going to have to pass at the next meeting,” he added. Further rate cuts, he warned, would validate expectations for sticky inflation that are underpinning demands for big wage hikes from workers at Boeing and East Coast ports.

    Apollo chief economist Torsten Sløk, who has been steadfast in his view that rates will stay higher for longer, said in a note on Saturday that there’s no need for more Fed cuts, citing the strong economy, low rates that consumer locked in earlier, fiscal spending, and AI-related business investment.

    Even before the jobs report, other data suggested the Fed’s rate cut last month was already having a significant impact.

    For example, the Institute for Supply Management’s services activity index for September came in stronger than expected.

    “Businesses are already starting to see activity and orders rebound as the Fed takes their foot off of the brake,” Comerica chief economist Bill Adams said in a note on Thursday.

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/wall-street-is-starting-to-have-buyer-s-remorse-on-the-fed-s-jumbo-rate-cut/ar-AA1rKES8

  16. The US saw an astonishing 254,000 new jobs added last month, smashing consensus estimates of 147,000. The unemployment rate dropped to 4.1%.

    According to economist Mohamed El-Erian, this permits the Fed to once again devote some of its attention to fighting inflation. Inflation concerns took a back seat in recent months as the central bank shifted focus toward what appeared to be a deteriorating labor picture.

    “For the Fed, it means push back much harder against pressure from the markets to put you in the single-mandate box,” El-Erian told Bloomberg TV. “Enough talk about ‘inflation is dead.’ Inflation is not dead. Enough talk about the Fed should only be concerned about maximum employment.”

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/inflation-is-not-dead-consumer-prices-are-still-in-focus-for-investors-despite-the-feds-labor-market-pivot/ar-AA1rJVsJ

    1. The US saw an astonishing 254,000 new jobs added last month, smashing consensus estimates of 147,000. The unemployment rate dropped to 4.1%.

      Former Iraqi Information Minister Baghdad Bob would blush with shame and indignation if asked to put across the whoppers being put out by the Biden-Harris regime. For 13 of the past 15 months, our so-faux official unemployment data has been revised downward.

  17. “Did the Fed even need to cut rates in September, let alone cut by 50bps (basis points)?” Seema Shah, chief global strategist at Principal Asset Management, wrote in a note on Friday. James Knightley, chief international economist at ING, said in a statement: “The Fed should be hiking rates with these sorts of figures, not cutting rates.”

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/the-jobs-number-surpassed-everyone-s-expectations-cue-the-complaints-about-the-fed/ar-AA1rKMyh

    1. “The Fed should be hiking rates”

      +1

      Fidelity SPAXX down from 4.97% to 4.61% APY last I checked. It’s a War On Savers.

  18. 15 cars losing the most value on the used market right now

    Following the absurd explosion of used car prices in the early stages of the pandemic, it’s encouraging to know that prices are gradually normalizing. For anyone looking to purchase an affordable used vehicle, consider one of the cars on this list to get a good deal on once-expensive models. As always, proceed with caution. Keep reliability issues for some used models in mind, and don’t forget about the current astronomical car insurance rates that could end up breaking your bank.

    https://www.msn.com/en-au/motoring/news/15-cars-losing-the-most-value-on-the-used-market-right-now/ar-AA1rJSFJ

      1. How bout this?

        ‘In a complete reversal from the COVID era, where used car buyers had to pay more money for cars with more miles on them’

        I was listening to car radio in early 2021 in north Texas and the guy was reeling off how much older cars were selling versus the same new car. It was a huge list, all sorts of makes, and the used were 30-40% more than new. 4 to 7 years old. I mentioned on the blog at the time that the world had truly gone insane.

  19. Used Cars Under $20K Are Making a Comeback

    “After years of increasing used car prices we’ve finally seen prices drop in the past year,” said iSeeCars’ Executive Analyst Karl Brauer. “While $20,000 would buy approximately half of the 1- to 5-year-old used car market in 2019, that number was down to just 12.7 percent in 2023. Now it’s on the rise again, with 16.5 percent of used cars priced below $20,000 in 2024.”

    The drop in used car pricing has been accompanied by a drop in the average mileage of these vehicles. This means buyers are not only paying less, they are also getting used models with fewer miles. Even better, some of the biggest mileage drops are in the lowest-priced segments, with used cars under $10,000 having 9.6 percent fewer miles, and used cars between $15,000 and $20,000 having 9.2 percent fewer miles.

    “In a complete reversal from the COVID era, where used car buyers had to pay more money for cars with more miles on them, today’s used car buyers are benefitting from not only lower prices but lower miles,” said Brauer

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/other/used-cars-under-20k-are-making-a-comeback/ar-AA1rKU6T

  20. Calls for federal grants on home batteries as energy retailers slammed for ‘un-Australian’ solar payment drops

    Soaring power bills and plunging incentives for excess solar power sent to the grid are pushing more Australian households into installing home energy storage.

    Yet these battery systems are still very expensive and don’t stack up for many, leading to calls for federal subsidies and agitation from the federal Greens ahead of an election.

    Neil Kumar just installed his second battery in the garage of his family home in Penrith in Sydney’s western suburbs.

    The high-end Tesla battery was not cheap at $12,000, but he thinks it is worth it.

    “It makes sense to actually recycle the energy that I’m producing in my own house rather than feeding it back to the main grid,” he told the ABC.

    Mr Kumar came to this conclusion after looking at how much cash he is getting back from his energy retailer for his excess solar power, know as a feed-in tariff (FIT).

    FITs have been dropping across Australia. In New South Wales, they have dropped from 10.2 cents per kilowatt hour in 2020 down to almost half that at 5.8 c/kWh in mid-2024, according to a recent report from the St Vincent de Paul Society.

    By this comparison, Mr Kumar has actually got a good deal at 7 c/kWh.

    But he still does not think it is worth it. “I’m literally getting $25 bucks in my pocket (a bill) for supplying the main grid,” he said. “When we were getting a better tariff [maybe], four or five years ago, I did actually make a decent profit.”

    FITs are dropping because the amount of solar being supplied to the grid has soared as more household install panels, according to the industry group for energy retailers.

    “Feed in tariffs represent the value of electricity at the time of day where its being generated,” the Australian Energy Council’s (AEC) Ben Barnes told the ABC. “There’s a supply glut.”

    https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-10-06/energy-retailers-slammed-for-unaustralian-tarrif-reductions/104428188

    1. The high-end Tesla battery was not cheap at $12,000, but he thinks it is worth it.

      That’s 8 years if electric bills for me. Unless rolling blackouts are the norm, with power gone for hours at a time, I don’t see how to justify this. Plus the price doesn’t include the solar panels.

  21. Multiple suspected Tren de Aragua gang members detained Saturday morning

    SAN ANTONIO – In a predawn sweep at the Palatia Apartments on the North Side, 20 individuals were detained. Some are believed to be members of the notorious Venezuelan prison gang Tren De Aragua.

    19 of the 20 are facing charges.

    ‘Operation Aurora’ marks a significant development in an ongoing crackdown on this transnational organization that has been found in San Antonio. About 300 empty apartments were inspected by members of the San Antonio Police Department, Texas Department of Public Safety, FBI, Homeland Security Investigations, ATF, and other Texas Anti Gang Unit members. Police tell us these vacant apartments are suspected of being used by Tren de Aragua members.

    The raid Saturday morning is part of a broader effort to disrupt Tren de Aragua’s influence in Texas. The prison gang was founded in Venezuela’s state of Aragua. Since then, law enforcement believes the gang has made its way to the United States mixed in with undocumented migrants. It is thought that Tren de Aragua in San Antonio is involved in prostitution, selling of cocaine, and other violent crimes.

    Chief William McManus sent us this statement, “Known and suspected gang activity will be investigated and dismantled when found to be operating within the San Antonio community. The safety of our residents and first responders is our top priority.”

    In a press conference on Saturday afternoon, McManus said, “We are on to you, and we are coming for you. We know who you are, and we are coming for you.”

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/sapds-operation-aurora-strikes-early-saturday-20-arrested-in-tren-de-aragua-crackdown/ar-AA1rKv2P

    1. In a press conference on Saturday afternoon, McManus said, “We are on to you, and we are coming for you. We know who you are, and we are coming for you.”

      Tren de Aragua’s accomplices in the Biden-Harris regime and DHS continue to aid and abet the TdA’s invasion and criminal activities.

  22. Is Europe Becoming Ungovernable?

    At a recent debate, a German voter had some pointed criticism for Chancellor Olaf Scholz: The German government is unable to govern and its ministers are bickering like children.

    Instead of pushing back, Scholz conceded the point. “The truth is: You are right,” he said. “But what would be your solution? I mean, I’m asking for a friend.”

    The exchange triggered little controversy in Europe’s largest economy, once considered a paragon of good governance. It is now all but taken for granted that politicians can agree on little here, and implement even less. Recent gains by Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany, or AfD, in state elections dealt Scholz’s fractious government another blow.

    France, which for decades has been the engine of the European Union along with Germany, has found itself in a similar state of political paralysis after elections in June left Parliament divided between a multitude of parties.

    President Emmanuel Macron formed a center-right government, even though a coalition of left-leaning parties won the most seats in the National Assembly. That leaves his government vulnerable to challenges from Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally, if it were to decide to back a no-confidence vote against the government or refuse to support his budget.

    Germany’s three-way coalition, featuring Scholz’s Social Democrats, the Greens and the pro-business Free Democrats, has been able to agree on some policies that polls show most people see as less urgent, such as legalizing marijuana and allowing gender self-identification. But reaching consensus on a host of other issues has proven elusive.

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/is-europe-becoming-ungovernable/ar-AA1rLjlr

    1. “But what would be your solution? I mean, I’m asking for a friend.”

      Hand over the reins of power to the AfD.

  23. Why Europe’s leadership wants war

    Anxiety and anger about the future of the European Union has been on the rise for some time now. The union has been in the grips of a deepening crisis – or rather multiple deepening crises: a cost-of-living crisis, a housing crisis, a migration crisis, a sluggish growth crisis, and above all, a political crisis. It faces a significant challenge from the far right, which is surging in the polls in many EU countries, threatening to upend the fragile EU cohesion and “liberal values”.

    Unsurprisingly, the response of the EU political leadership to these mounting crises has been not to address their root causes, which all boil down to the destructive neoliberal policies they have happily embraced. Instead, their reaction has been to warmonger, perhaps hoping that the prospect of war can help the people of Europe forget their grievances.

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/why-europe-s-leadership-wants-war/ar-AA1rKkbB

    1. Heritage UK and European males are not going to sacrifice themselves for globalist Quisling governments that hate them.

  24. Canada and Australia now focus on attracting only genuine students: Clint Khan

    Both countries are tightening regulations to prevent misuse of the student visa system

    Canada and Australia have scaled back on international student admissions to focus on attracting students with genuine study intentions. This strategic move will ensure better support, enhanced educational quality, and improved student welfare in both countries, Clint Khan, Director of Y-Axis, told Gulf News on the sidelines of Edufair.

    “Canada is capping permits at 360,000 to balance infrastructure like housing and healthcare, while still offering excellent opportunities for master’s and doctoral programmes. Australia, too, is returning to pre-pandemic levels of 270,000 students, focusing on quality and protecting students from exploitation,” he said.

    Canada and Australia’s recent changes in student visa policies should be seen as positive steps for serious learners, said Khan. This measure will regulate potential migrants who try to use the student visa “as a backdoor entry to migrate for work or other purposes.”

    https://gulfnews.com/uae/education/canada-and-australia-now-focus-on-attracting-only-genuine-students-clint-khan-1.1728204322563

  25. B.C. Election Ridings to Watch: NDP in tough in Richmond with public safety front of mind

    If there was any doubt about the role Richmond is going to play in this election, just look at the attention the leaders of the two main parties have given to the city this past year.

    In February, following an outcry from residents, Premier David Eby’s office and Vancouver Coastal Health intervened to quash a motion from Richmond city council seeking to explore the feasibility of placing a safe consumption site near the city’s hospital.

    At the end of August, the Housing Ministry hit pause on a 90-unit supportive housing project in the city following a backlash from residents.

    Then, on one of the first days of the campaign, Conservative Leader John Rustad travelled to Richmond for a rally alongside Richmond-Bridgeport candidate Teresa Wat and announced his party would get rid of all safe-consumption sites, which he called “drug dens.”

    In 2020, the NDP won three out of four seats in Richmond during the orange wave that swept much of the Lower Mainland. But this year, victory is far less certain as concerns around public safety and affordability have pushed some voters into wanting change.

    While Wat’s riding is expected to be a relatively easy hold for the Tories, the party is hoping to make inroads in Richmond-Steveston, Richmond-Queensborough and Richmond Centre, which have historically been centre-right strongholds.

    Richmond resident and blue-collar worker Steva Ebasta, 33, said he has seen a “snap-back to conservatism” in recent years after both the provincial NDP and federal Liberal governments instituted social policies he believes went too far.

    Top of mind for Ebasta are the sexual orientation and gender identity learning resources used by teachers, which he says infringes on the right of parents to teach their kids their own values and culture.

    “I think government is not very good at drawing the line where the responsibility of government or state responsibility is in terms of parents’ rights,” said Ebasta, who is leaning toward voting for the Conservatives.

    While introduced by the B.C. Liberals in 2016 to address bullying, Rustad, who was a cabinet minister when the policy was introduced, has frequently criticized the NDP over the program and claimed it’s indoctrinating children. He said a Tory government would scrap the policy.

    Hon Chan, the Conservative’s Richmond Centre candidate, said that the No. 1 issue he hears on the doorstep is public safety, with concerns that the NDP have rushed policies, such as decriminalization and supportive housing, and that the negative impacts are now spreading to Richmond.

    Chan also pointed to the $9 billion deficit the NDP racked up over the last year, accusing them of tanking the economy without fixing affordability, housing or the toxic drug crisis.

    “When I do door-knocking, I was surprised to see how many people are saying, ‘At night, I’m worried about my safety. I don’t want to go out,’ ” he said, explaining that people have told him stories about people yelling, smashing windows and breaking into cars. “They’re really worried the downtown random attacks are actually starting to extend to Richmond.”

    https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/canada/bc-election-ridings-to-watch-ndp-in-tough-in-richmond-with-public-safety-front-of-mind/ar-AA1rIMIB

  26. Organizers, supporters start final push in effort to recall Alameda County DA Pamela Price

    In Alameda County, the ballots have been sent out and mail-in voting begins on Monday. But no race has gotten as much attention as the move to recall District Attorney Pamela Price. On Saturday, recall organizers and the families of crime victims gathered to start the final push to Election Day.

    They spoke as one voice, the families of murder victims who accuse Pamela Price’s office of denying them justice.

    “Recall Price! Recall Price” chanted the group gathered in the office of Bay Area pitchman Sam Singer. And when he’s involved, it’s usually a voice that is hard to miss. On Saturday, Singer said he was acting as spokesman for the 13 different police unions in Alameda County.

    “Each and everyone has unanimously endorsed the recall of Pamela Price,” he said. “And we’re standing up to the tyrannical District Attorney that we want to see removed from office.”

    Price was elected less than two years ago, a criminal justice reformer promising to cut the rate of incarceration, particularly of young Black men. But almost immediately, she sparked criticism by people who said her refusal to seek more serious charges was creating a system of “catch and release.”

    “Fixing the system is one thing, but destroying the system is another,” said Brenda Grisham, a principal officer with the recall. “People have to be held accountable and whatever the law says is accountability, it is not the right of one person to come in and change what they feel is ‘accountability.’ A law is a law. What’s right is right. And whatever she ran on. First of all, a lot of these people voted for her and they are now victims of what she stood for. So, that is what we are here for.”

    “They voted for her because she was African American,” said Grisham. “So, the basis of her getting into office wasn’t based on her record. She was a civil rights attorney! It was mainly based on the fact that she is African American…and so am I.”

    Now the families, even some who voted for Price, said her concern is more for the accused than the victims.

    Florence McCrary’s son Terrance was one of two people murdered at a party in 2016. A suspect was caught, but she said things changed after Price took office.

    “He was arrested and charged for two murders that night where there was gunfire that erupted at a party,” McCrary said. “And he was charged with both murders and then they dropped the charges against my child’s assailant.”

    Sherrie Newsone said her son was killed in January of this year. “The person was caught and released, saying that they didn’t have enough evidence,” she said. “So, I just feel like now is just time for Pamela to leave.”

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/organizers-supporters-start-final-push-in-effort-to-recall-alameda-county-da-pamela-price/ar-AA1rLsKw

  27. Lock up your tents, California! Toss out your old camping gear! Hide your pillows and blankets where the cops will never find them!

    Because the people who run California have finally seen clearly that the greatest scourge in today’s Golden State is not climate change and not crime, not COVID and not corruption, not the rising cost of living nor grinding poverty.

    No, what most threatens our way of life is people who camp. And so, in this, the year 2024, the great state of California has gone to war against campers and their encampments.

    This war effort is unlike anything seen here in generations. The wheels of 21st century California government move painfully slowly. It takes state and local agencies days to respond to a police call, a minimum of six months to permit a coffee shop, five years to add a carpool lane on a highway and three decades (and counting) to construct a promised high-speed rail line.

    But the war on encampments is proceeding with a shocking speed, a real blitzkrieg. This summer, Gov. Gavin Newsom, known more for issuing plans than following through on them, didn’t merely order state agencies to take down encampments on land they control. He donned gloves and work clothes to throw away the tents and trash of the unhoused himself.

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/opinion-california-s-stupid-war-against-campers-and-their-encampments/ar-AA1rKIwD

    1. He donned gloves and work clothes to throw away the tents and trash of the unhoused himself.

      What a buffoon. Parasitism and antisocial behavior are the supreme virtues for California commies, as Democrat patronage and graft rackets waste billions of taxpayer dollars on Compassion, Inc. programs that line the pockets of the Democrats and their donors while exacerbating the societal breakdown that is a hallmark of progressive malgovernance.

    1. A 4.0 earthquake is no biggie.

      For reference, California’s Big Earthquakes
      Below is a table of California’s significant earthquakes. These are earthquakes of magnitude greater than or equal to 6.5, or that caused loss of life or more than $200,000 in damage. We have not adjusted damage estimates for inflation. This table includes significant earthquakes having epicenters outside of California but within approximately 100 miles of California’s border.

  29. Lebanon’s economy was in dire shape even before the Israel-Hezbollah war. Not having a functioning government makes it worse

    Even today, with Israeli warplanes flattening big chunks of south Beirut and southern Lebanon, and Israeli ground forces fighting Hezbollah inside Lebanon, there is some semblance of normal life in the capital.

    In the heart of the city, (where my hotel is), the streets bustle with life, the traffic is insane and restaurants and cafés brim with motormouths from a dozen religious groups, from Druze and Shias to Sunnis and Maronites. The Lebanese are used to war and civil strife – life goes on. On Thursday, when I covered the overnight Israeli missile attack on a civilian medical centre in the heart of the city, which killed nine people and filled the surrounding streets with broken glass and concrete, most shops, bakeries and food counters in the immediate area reopened in the morning.

    The images can be deceiving. In Lebanon, it is everyone for themselves, a daily fight for survival.

    While there is no precise definition of a failed state, Lebanon is arguably one already. The tiny country, wedged between Israel and Syria, has no president, so it lacks an executive arm, and no functioning government. The economy was a wreck even before the Israeli bombing campaign began a couple of weeks ago and is now deteriorating rapidly as the city centres of Beirut and other cities in the north become overwhelmed with 1.2 million, and rising, domestic war refugees (known as IDP – internally displaced people – in UN argot). That’s almost a quarter of the population.

    The Lebanese economy has been on a roller-coaster ride for decades – until the early 1970s, Beirut was known as the “Paris of the Middle East” – and that ride went on a seemingly irreversible plunge in 2019, when a liquidity crisis hit. Central bank shenanigans made it worse. The upshot was that the Lebanese lira lost its peg to the U.S. dollar and went into free fall. Since then, it has lost 98 per cent of its value. Today, US$1 buys 90,000 lira. Lebanon has become a dollar-based cash economy. No one wants to use fistfuls of lira to buy a pack of cigarettes or a tank of gas.

    In 2020, the pandemic and the ammonium nitrate explosion in the Port of Beirut – which killed about 220 people and left 300,000 homeless – finished the economic demolition job. Lebanon that year defaulted on its Eurobonds, which now trade at pennies on the dollar. The International Monetary Fund says the economy shrank 40 per cent between 2019 and 2022, inflation reached triple digits and the banking industry collapsed.

    The saddest economic news is the poverty rate, which has reached about 80 per cent, double its level five years ago. What prevents Lebanon from sinking below the Mediterranean waves? The Lebanese diaspora, it appears. Some 15 million Lebanese overseas funnel US$7-billion a year into the country, equal to a third of GDP.

    https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/commentary/article-lebanons-economy-was-in-dire-shape-even-before-the-israel-hezbollah/

    1. “The tiny country, wedged between Israel and Syria, has no president, so it lacks an executive arm, and no functioning government.”

      That’s one way to save money.

        1. Just look for dudes missing fingers, eyes, and “reproductive organs” from exploding pagers.

  30. Pensioner party poopers? Kāinga Ora bans elderly tenants from happy hour drinks

    Kāinga Ora has banned a 93-year-old Auckland pensioner and his friends from meeting for happy hour drinks in their public housing complex’s common room.

    The group has been meeting every Friday for five years to socialise over a wine and shandy at Ellerslie’s 66-unit Ladies Mile complex, tenant Lisa Howard says.

    The venerable pensioner parties typically run from 4pm to 6pm, with regular attendees all aged 58 or over, she told the Herald.

    However, Kāinga Ora now says it will close the ground-floor community room after 4pm to stop residents drinking alcohol in it.

    There have been recent noise complaints in the evening, and activities in the room should not “negatively impact” others, it said.

    But Howard said she is not aware of any recent noise complaints, and the soirees alleviate loneliness and promote community spirit.

    And with bad knees and hips putting paid to any hell-raising, she said the events end early: no later than 8.30pm even on rare “milestone” nights like birthday celebrations.

    “It’s not exactly like we’re going to be out there destroying public property and dancing on the tables,” Howard said. “Christ, half of us can’t even get up off our chairs.”

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/529973/pensioner-party-poopers-kainga-ora-bans-elderly-tenants-from-happy-hour-drinks

  32. The Role of Mainstream Media

    Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

    5 hours ago

    The role of the media in a democracy is to maintain a fierce posture of skepticism toward government authorities. But in the last decade, the media has become the mouthpiece for government policies.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1kAoImlsJI

    1 minute.

    1. +1,000

      No matter how much you think you hate the globalist sc*m media, you’ll never hate them enough.

  33. ‘hardly save anything, and are rarely even able to dine out at restaurants anymore, he added. ‘We were no longer able to live there, couldn’t get back there, couldn’t afford to get jobs there or anything else, so they just pushed us out,’ he said of Austin. His only problem is selling his home, which has been on the market for over two months. ‘We made a decision in August or July to move, and now we’re like, now what the crap we’re going to do? We want to get there. We’re tired of the Texas heat, tired of Texas politics,’ he said. ‘So we’re definitely feeling stuck right now’

    You forgot the gotdam traffic Sam. It’s been a sh$thole for a long time. And it was overpriced, as you found out.

  34. ‘an Amarillo-based real-estate agent, says the number of clients who are looking to move out of Texas is ‘pretty equal’ to the number of clients looking to move in. ‘We have done a lot of price reductions, more price reductions than normal’

    Jerry really fooked up this time Bill. There’s one thing that makes me think this writer didn’t know much about Texas nor Austin. For instance, why parachute an Amarillo UHS into this, they have nothing in common?

  35. ‘The biggest issue is that the owners have no rights in there…Water bills are not being paid…‘$211,000 of water bill,’ he said, ‘I don’t understand how we still have water in this building. The pool’s been shut down for I think a little over two years now…They just sign off on everything that he tells them to…Everybody’s afraid of them…They use intimidation tactics for everything that they do…Curtis is ‘actively suing every person who distributed false information about him…we advise the residents to refrain from putting yourselves in the same situation.’ ‘They’re doing whatever they want…And on top of it, they’re trying to threaten us…Everybody’s still scared they don’t know which way to turn…Everybody’s just trying to figure out what we can do next. That’s why we need help’

    I want to thank those contributors for so many great additions to the HBB Pitfalls of Commie Urban Living™ today!

  36. ‘He said a consignment store and cosmetic shop in his neighborhood have been burglarized multiple times over the past year and stricter penalties would help crack down on property crime. ‘I go on Nextdoor, and people think it’s like the wild, wild West now’

    It’s still way cheaper than renting Jorge.

  37. ‘I think if someone wanted to be perfectly counter-cyclical and wanted to time it perfectly for growth and gains and cashflow and the rest of it now is a really good time. Now is a great time to get in because the average taxi driver or uber driver is not talking about the latest house he bought. Once he is, it’s too late, you’ve missed it.’ He said the recovery of house prices could be slower in some areas where there had been a lot of building. ‘In certain locations there’s an oversupply – townhouses in Lower Hutt, Christchurch, South Auckland – there’s certainly no shortage’

    Never heard of ya Steve, but I think yer a loonie!

  38. ‘Homeowners can’t even claim on home warranty insurance. They’re left stuck – and there is nothing they can do,’ she said. Many homeowners are left losing hundreds of thousands of dollars to the insolvency process, according to Ms Stewart, with homeowner’s left with no other option but to sell. ‘The way it goes when these companies collapse is it gives the homeowner’s power away and steals their life savings. When the builder enters into administration (homeowners) can claim on insurance but it’s a very small amount, when this is likely the biggest investment in their lifetime. All these poor homeowners having to sell these half built homes, they don’t have the extra money to complete the build’

    Other than that Louise, how’s the walk ability?

    1. Many homeowners are left losing hundreds of thousands of dollars to the insolvency process

      A lot of people are getting schlonged in Oz.

  42. Another hurricane is getting ready to hit, quick Mayorkas, get that FEMA money out to the invaders before those damn U.S. citizens start clamoring for it to survive.

    1. Clearly, you have become unhinged rabble with prime eligibility for reprogramming at one of Saint Hillary’s correctional centers.

    2. An NYC friend and his family recently moved down there. They’ll be on plane tomorrow morning back to NYC.

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