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That Sweetener Is Now Triggering Diabetes For Many

A report from CNN. “A month after losing her job at the Department of Veterans Affairs, Corinne Bazarnyj is still waiting to be approved for unemployment benefits. The disabled veteran who started at the agency as a training specialist in November was caught up in the Trump administration’s mass culling of probationary workers. ‘I was terminated based on performance, that is not true. So, I honestly don’t know if I’m going to get unemployment or not,’ said Bazarnyj, who recently bought a house in Frederick, Maryland, to be closer to her job.”

Pro Publica. “In 2008, as the Great Recession was starting to take hold, my travels reporting on Barack Obama’s presidential campaign took me to one American city after another that was reeling from major layoffs. After each trip, I would return to my home in Alexandria, Virginia, in the metro Washington, D.C., area, and be struck by how removed the nation’s capital seemed from the pain being felt in so much of the country. Not only was it insulated because of its high proportion of government employment, it actually prospered as a result of the recession, since so much of the federal economic stimulus ended up staying with the Beltway contractors who administered the spending.”

“When my growing family started looking for a larger home in 2009, we left our corner of Alexandria. As prices in every other metro area in the country were declining, they were still rising in the inner suburbs of Northern Virginia. The situation now is sharply reversed. Is the nation’s capital, so long blessed by being the government’s company town, at risk of a fate resembling that of so many other company towns through the years? And if it is, why aren’t people beyond metro Washington more concerned about it? By 2012, when the country was finally emerging from the recession, seven of the 10 wealthiest counties were in metro Washington; the area’s number of high-net-worth households, with investable assets of more than $1 million, had risen by 30% since 2008. While Midwestern communities such as Vice President JD Vance’s hometown, Middletown, Ohio, were being crushed by the opioid epidemic, the Aston Martin dealership in Tysons Corner, Virginia, was selling hundreds of the bespoke James Bond car for about $280,000, and home prices in the District were approaching a 400% increase from the early 1990s.”

“There is also more recent fuel for schadenfreude over Washington’s pain: Federal workers were much slower than those in other industries to return to the office after the pandemic, making it easier for the Trump administration to cast the entire lot of them as cosseted and unproductive.”

From WLOS. “‘The ceiling is caved in, the walls are caved in, it’s pretty dangerous to go in there,’ said Colleen Gormley of her McDowell County home. The couple’s home was pulverized during Hurricane Helene. The home is ‘not repairable,’ according to their insurance provider but it has also denied their damage claim. Records from North Carolina’s Department of Insurance reveal 20,253 Helene Residential claims or 24 percent through February that were closed without payment. Getting to Gormley’s and Grant Means’ Buck Creek home in McDowell County still requires a high-clearance vehicle. ‘It drives you nuts,’ said Means, ‘If the insurance company doesn’t pay, I can’t do it, we have a 20-year mortgage left on this property. I don’t see myself paying on a 20-year mortgage for a property we can’t live in, so yeah, we would probably end up walking away from it.'”

7 News Miami in Florida. “Residents in Bal Harbour are suing the owners of their glitzy condo buildings — saying living conditions have turned dangerous. 7’s Heather Walker investigates. At first glance, the three towers that make up The St. Regis Bal Harbour Resort appear lavish and luxurious. But a closer look reveals trouble in paradise. Steven Leoni/resident: ‘You can see the rebar is all coming apart.’ Exposed rebar, rust, and cracking concrete. Leoni bought his condo here in 2019 and is on the association’s board. Steven Leoni: ‘What makes us unique is it’s a condo-hotel.’ People who own units here at the St. Regis spend tens of thousands of dollars in maintenance fees and assessments. But unlike a regular condominium, they don’t control how most of their money is spent. Steven Leoni: ‘The money is going somewhere, but it’s not going into the buildings.'”

“Juan Morillo/plaintiff’s attorney: ‘It’s going to take tens of millions of dollars to remediate, to fully remediate this building. It’s incomprehensible to us. It’s a building that’s owned by the Qataris, the common areas are owned by the Qataris, the hotel is owned by the Qataris. It doesn’t make any economic sense for them not to maintain the project. It’s losing value.'”

From CBS News. “Canadian snowbirds who spend their winters in South Florida are voicing frustration over new immigration rules being drafted by the Trump administration. For Annie Dupont, a condo owner in Hollywood, Florida, the new requirements feel like a personal slight. ‘We got a problem with (President Trump) personally, not with America,’ said Dupont, who is from Montreal. ‘(It’s) like he’s thinking he’s in a reality show.’ She and her husband had planned to retire in their beachside condo but are now considering moving their winter home to the Caribbean. For other Canadians, like Kristina and Aaron Consoli, who are visiting South Florida from Toronto, the proposed rule change is just one of several financial barriers to U.S. travel. ‘I can’t afford to be here longer than 30 days,’ said Aaron Consoli, pointing to the weakening Canadian dollar, which has been hit hard by U.S. tariffs on Canadian imports.”

Fox 10 Phoenix. “As Canadians flock down to the Valley for the winter months, anyone looking to spend more than 30 days in Arizona will now have to register with the U.S. government. Some fear these changes could impact the Valley economy. ‘There’s going to be billions of dollars in tourism money that will disappear, billions of dollars of real estate purchases that will disappear. So, hopefully it’s not a long-term problem,’ Miles Zimbaluk, CEO of Canada to USA, said. ‘It’s partly because of the weaker Canadian dollar as well. The cost has just become too expensive for Canadians coming down. You know, when they first started coming down ten or 15 years ago, the dollar was near par.'”

KESQ in California. “Canadians who visit the Coachella Valley and stay for long periods of time will soon have to deal with new immigration requirements. That is not sitting well with local snowbirds, because the norm has been that Canadian citizens are able to come and go to the U.S. without a visa. Some are even reconsidering further travel to the U.S. ‘We sold our lot. We sold it yesterday actually,’ Greg Sibbald, visiting from British Columbia. ‘If we can’t come back, if there are too many issues, we’ll be selling our lot here and Canada is beautiful, we’ll start traveling around Canada,’ Sheree Byer, visiting from British Columbia.”

Wall Street Journal. “In her pop-art decorated office in the heart of Beverly Hills, real-estate broker Rochelle Maize got an early look at who would control the future of the Pacific Palisades. Her clients buy and sell mansions in crown-jewel neighborhoods where listings bottom out around the single-digit millions. Many pay in cash. But after the Palisades fire, deals in the area kept falling through. The question for Los Angeles isn’t so much how to rebuild the Palisades, a coastal community that is home to some 21,000 people, but who pays if it burns again. ‘Writing new policies doesn’t make any sense at this time,’ State Farm General, California’s largest property insurer, wrote Tuesday to the state insurance commissioner.”

“The price tags matter. California’s FAIR plan, the state’s insurer of last resort, covers up to $3 million of a home’s value. After that, private insurance either covers it or the homeowner eats the loss. Maize’s client got a plan that would cover $2.25 million in rebuilding costs, less than half of the homes’ value. The client plans to seek additional coverage next year, according to a person familiar with the policy.”

The Real Deal on New York. “It took over a year, but the nonprofit that won a stake in a Signature Bank loan book that few dared to touch has hurled the first pre-foreclosures against rent-stabilized borrowers on that debt. And the nonprofit venture, Community Stabilization Partners, alleges those borrowers are personally liable for what is owed. A dozen foreclosure complaints have hit the courts in 10 days. Community Preservation Corporation, one of three parties in the venture, said the suits were not its opening strategy for the $6 billion in loans, which were deemed toxic after a 2019 law devalued some of the deals to next to nothing. Two of those groups are among the most notorious alleged profiteers in the rent-regulated space: cutthroat private lender Madison Realty Capital and Ved Parkash, a frequent flyer on the public advocate’s worst landlord list.”

“Parkash faces four foreclosure actions over $20 million in debt. For Madison, the suit count totals eight, and the defaulted debt is $157 million, court records show. It’s no shocker that the so-called slumlord’s head is among the first to roll. Parkash has an inch-thick playbook for squeezing illegally high rents out of regulated apartments. CSP’s decision to personally pursue the borrowers for whatever the properties fail to fetch at auction could signal that the venture has little faith in the portfolios’ value. Recent rent-regulated deals have traded hands at major discounts to pre-2019 prices — 60 percent to 97 percent off. That’s if they trade at all.”

The Globe and Mail. “National Bank of Canada economist Daren King points out that sales in the Greater Toronto Area slid a seasonally adjusted 28.5 per cent last month from January. In a note to clients titled, ‘Home sales collapse in February with fear of tariffs,’ Mr. King points out that the tally erased all of the gains made since June, when the Bank of Canada cut its benchmark rate for the first time in four years. Sales in the GTA reached their lowest level since the 2008 financial crisis (excluding the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic). Active listings were at their highest level since 2008.”

“At Sotheby’s International Realty Canada, real estate agents Christian Vermast and Paul Maranger say they typically advise sellers against listing a family home during the annual one-week break for the public system and the two-week sojourn for private schools. In Rosedale, the agents relisted a circa-1911 Edwardian home that had been on the market for a three-month stretch. The five-bedroom house at 105 Cluny Dr. was listed in the fall of 2024 with an asking price of $5.995-million. In January, Mr. Maranger and Mr. Vermast set the asking price at $5.395-million, then reduced the price to $4.995-million. The price cut generated bids from three buyers and the property sold for $4.9-million in February. As a result of the recent loss of confidence, Mr. Maranger and Mr. Vermast are advising jittery clients to sell an existing home before buying the next one. ‘There’s greater security in selling first,’ Mr. Maranger says. If the sellers had been contemplating a strategy to generate multiple offers, it may be time to put that aside in a more cautious market, he adds.”

The I Paper in the UK. “I’m surprised that people think Victorian terrace houses are aspirational. The houses pop up a lot on social media, with videos of people doing very expensive renovation projects. But, having lived in several Victorian terraces, I would never buy one again. Eight years ago, before I moved to a terrace in southeast London with my wife and our three children, I owned a terrace in Portsmouth. Just like the one I live in now, it was a nightmare to maintain. Now, I rent a terrace with my family of four. Right now I wouldn’t want to spend anywhere near the amount of money it would require to own a terrace in London. It would be around £700k to £800k for a house that has dust in the walls and needs a tonne of work. It’s not for me.”

From Globes. “There were 2,270 second-hand homes sold in Tel Aviv last year, while the city has 2,566 registered realtors. A ‘Globes’ investigation found that in the past two years, many real estate agents have been abandoning the profession. This trend is expected to continue in the near future. Israel Realtors Association chairman Itzik Levy adds that the number of people taking the broker licensing exam also declined last year. According to data from the Registrar of Realtors at the Ministry of Justice, at the end of 2024 there were 24,885 licensed real estate agents in Israel, double the number 15 years ago. The main reason for the increase has been the price increases recorded over these years, and a significant rise in the number of deals, which attracted more people to the profession, and try to obtain a license to enjoy the boom.”

“‘Globes’ analysis found that the industry is currently saturated with agents, not suitable for the current shrinking market conditions, and pressures for renewed price falls. Levy says, ‘A great many agents are in a difficult economic situation today, some are leaving the field and offices are closing. In the most recent exams of the Registrar of Realtors, there was a decline of almost 25% in the number of taking the exam who applied for brokerage, and from 2,300-2,400 taking the exam in recent years, the number has dropped to about 1,700.’ Thus, many who were seduced by the booming market of 2021, learned the profession and received a license in 2022, found in 2023 and 2024 that they had no income, and according to the current situation, it seems that in 2025 the number of agents quitting the profession will only increase.”

The Hindustan Times in India. “I am rarely optimistic in a room full of real estate professionals. Given the nature and complexity of the business, builders have to be positive to survive. Yet, over the past 3–6 months, that has been the common vibe I have felt in conclaves and events. Customer enquiries have dropped, and sales have fallen. Sentiment, however, has been crushed as the oversupply of homes meets the cascading impact of a battered stock market. The optically strong sales registration data met its opponent in ground-level reality for most builders. At the moment, the registration data feels akin to showing strong GDP growth data to an unemployed person.”

“What’s gone wrong here? The foundation was laid in 2021 when the municipal corporation of Mumbai provided a sweetener to builders to rescue the then-ravaged real estate industry. Builders jumped in joy and acquired projects to capitalise on the bonanza. The discount ended, but another sweetener emerged: builders were getting more construction area. Even this sweetener was gulped down with ferocity as builders scrambled to acquire land for developing new projects. That sweetener is now triggering diabetes for many builders as there is severe competition among projects in most markets of Mumbai.”

“There have been two fatal flaws in product development: 1) Excess supply of luxury apartments at high ticket prices. 2) Same product with no differentiation. The first category is reminiscent of the Lower Parel market between 2012-2020. Volumes of Maruti Suzuki were expected at price points of Mercedes Benz. Despite the presence of heavyweight developers – it was a long struggle. Now, those memories are being relived at a grander scale across Mumbai as the hunger to do luxury projects by one and all is once again being challenged by the size of the demand pool. Decision-making time has increased from three months to 7-8 months. With little differentiation at the product level, the only difference is price and payment plans.”

“Discounts have begun, and prices are negotiable, although in most cases, it is offered ‘on the table.’ It’s a tired, boring and unimaginative strategy destined to fail given the number of options for a home buyer. Eventually, prices will be cut publicly as select developers recognize the futility of the old approach. Real estate is not an investment. Theories and suggestions may float that a falling stock market will drive safety-seeking investors into real estate. It’s a dangerous strategy to deploy. Safe projects are priced at elevated prices anyway, while unsafe projects are as vulnerable as small-cap stocks. Buy a home. Buy it for the right reasons, with the right research, and, importantly, with the right counterpart. Diabetes may not be contagious, but once the home is purchased, your financial health is linked to the builder.”

This Post Has 94 Comments
  1. ‘By 2012, when the country was finally emerging from the recession, seven of the 10 wealthiest counties were in metro Washington; the area’s number of high-net-worth households, with investable assets of more than $1 million, had risen by 30% since 2008. While Midwestern communities such as Vice President JD Vance’s hometown, Middletown, Ohio, were being crushed by the opioid epidemic, the Aston Martin dealership in Tysons Corner, Virginia, was selling hundreds of the bespoke James Bond car for about $280,000, and home prices in the District were approaching a 400% increase from the early 1990s’

    The only time I’ve even seen a James Bond car is in the movies.

  2. ‘I was terminated based on performance, that is not true. So, I honestly don’t know if I’m going to get unemployment or not,’ said Bazarnyj, who recently bought a house in Frederick, Maryland, to be closer to her job’

    Fear not Corrine, that shack will earn more money that any job could.

    1. “…that shack will earn more money that any job could.”

      In that case your insurance company would like their share!

  3. ‘It drives you nuts,’ said Means, ‘If the insurance company doesn’t pay, I can’t do it, we have a 20-year mortgage left on this property. I don’t see myself paying on a 20-year mortgage for a property we can’t live in, so yeah, we would probably end up walking away from it’

    I got 5 pesos that says you will 100% be tossing the keys to yer broken shanty.

  4. ‘Sales in the GTA reached their lowest level since the 2008 financial crisis (excluding the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic). Active listings were at their highest level since 2008’

    It’s not different this time.

  5. “A month after losing her job at the Department of Veterans Affairs, Corinne Bazarnyj is still waiting to be approved for unemployment benefits”

    awwwwwwwwwwwwww the ex-government worker begins to find out how dealing with government workers is.
    TFB

      1. I love poetic justice. FedGov workers who did just enough work to avoid getting fired are now dealing with the same unresponsive slugs that they themselves were prior to being sh*t-canned.

    1. ‘I was terminated based on performance, that is not true. So, I honestly don’t know if I’m going to get unemployment or not

      In theory if you’re fired with cause, you don’t get unemployment bennies.

      1. My experience and opinion on this:
        I was in industrial electrical contracting for about 50 years, the last 35 years as an owner. I did not ever see a time that a company was successful in denying a unemployment compensation claim for a fired employee. Even if the management won (which I never saw) by the time you had management and employees called in for repeated lengthy sessions of grilling and affidavits, you learn very quickly not to contest a filing. The outcome was always the same regardless.
        Who do you think works in the government that will go to this bother?

        1. Been my experience too

          But there’s an interesting question here. Part of anyone’s wages is the fees paid (on their behalf by their employer) to the state unemployment fund. Do the fed employees pay into the state unemployment funds?

          Are they in fact eligible?

  6. CBP director faces charges for allegedly defrauding FEMA and lying to feds.

    https://www.yahoo.com/news/cbp-director-faces-charges-allegedly-202244286.html

    A U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) director in Michigan has been accused of running a scheme to defraud the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) after a series of floods damaged her home in 2023.

    The Department of Justice (DOJ) unsealed a criminal complaint against 55-year-old Serina Baker-Hill on Wednesday, charging her with engaging in a scheme to defraud FEMA and lying to federal agents.

    Baker-Hill is a career employee with CBP and serves as director of CBP’s Center for Excellence and Expertise over Automotive and Aerospace Engineering.

    “Following efforts with our interagency partners, I can report that a career Director level employee at US Customs and Border Protection has been charged with allegedly attempting to defraud FEMA, as well as lying to federal agents,” FBI Director Kash Patel said in a post on X.

    “This is part of the new FBI’s renewed efforts to crack down on public corruption and deliver accountability for the American people. Justice will be done. Thanks to our partners @AGPamBondi @TheJusticeDept and our @FBIDetroit team for their work.”

    FEMA approved Michigan’s request for a federal disaster declaration after a series of floods devastated the Detroit area in August 2023. The disaster declaration allowed residents to apply for FEMA assistance.

    The DOJ said Baker-Hill applied for assistance after her home was damaged by flooding, and a FEMA inspector determined there had been damage to the basement of the house.

    While the inspector was conducting the inspection, Baker-Hill allegedly said she could not safely live in the home while repairs were being made. So, FEMA approved benefits to help her pay for the repairs. She was also provided two months of rental assistance, which the approval letter indicated was to be used solely to help Baker-Hill pay rent and essential utility costs while in temporary housing.

    Investigators reviewed Baker-Hill’s bank records and say they discovered that none of the money was used for rental, hotel or utility expenses.

    Records also did not show a significant drop in utilities that were consistent with the home being unoccupied during the time period, according to the DOJ.

    Agents from the FBI and CBP Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) interviewed Baker-Hill, who denied committing a crime or defrauding the U.S. government.

    The investigation is ongoing. Once complete, a determination will be made on whether to seek a felony indictment.

  7. Parkash has an inch-thick playbook for squeezing illegally high rents out of regulated apartments.

    The easy way was to rent to the worst tenants you can find, people who would stay a year or two and move…..so every time you had a vacancy it was a 20% + renovations, and in say a decade a few turnovers and a $600 a month rent stabilized apart would easily become a $2000+ free market one.

  8. Bloomberg – ‘Buy The Dip’ Calls Fade as Trump Selloffs Rattle Wall Street.

    The S&P 500 has gone 15 sessions without two days of gains.
    Uncertainty from Trump’s tariffs is keeping some on sidelines.

    https://archive.ph/7y9TZ

    In a few short weeks, President Donald Trump has started silencing the buy-the-dip stock traders who set the tone on Wall Street for the better part of two decades.

    In their place are growing calls to lock in profits and sit on the sidelines while Trump’s trade-war chaos upends the economic outlook — and casts uncertainty over who, if anyone, will emerge as the new era’s stock-market winners.

  9. Bloomberg – DOGE Has 10 Staffers at Social Security in Hunt for Dead People.

    https://archive.ph/NpqNt#selection-1341.0-1341.63

    Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency now has 10 staffers at the Social Security Administration as the Trump White House looks for evidence to support its claim that there could be millions of dead people receiving public benefits.

    Their mission: detecting waste, fraud and abuse in the nation’s 90-year-old social insurance agency.

    Musk has called Social Security a “Ponzi scheme,” and suggested this week that there could be as much as $700 billion a year in entitlement fraud. Critics have said he is setting up a move to cut the popular program. Others are concerned about Musk’s team having access to Americans’ most sensitive data.

    1. The SS disability program is shot through with fraud. Females have babies to get on the dole, but males have to scam SSDI somehow, and doctors and social workers in many states are enablers.

    1. Bloomberg
      ‘Buy The Dip’ Calls Fade as Trump Selloffs Rattle Wall Street
      By Carmen Reinicke and Alexandra Semenova
      March 13, 2025 at 5:00 AM PDT
      Updated on March 13, 2025 at 6:40 AM PDT

      In a few short weeks, President Donald Trump has started silencing the buy-the-dip stock traders who set the tone on Wall Street for the better part of two decades.

      In their place are growing calls to lock in profits and sit on the sidelines while Trump’s trade-war chaos upends the economic outlook — and casts uncertainty over who, if anyone, will emerge as the new era’s stock-market winners.

  10. The Education Department is taking inventory of its remaining functions, after going through mass layoffs Tuesday that, in some cases, wiped out entire units and functions.

    The department laid off nearly half its workforce on Tuesday, as part of Reduction-in-Force (RIF) efforts happening across the federal government.

    A list of eliminated positions obtained by Federal News Network shows the department took major cuts across most of its operations. Employees impacted by the RIF include attorneys, auditors, IT specialists and research analysts.

    According to a transcript of a meeting obtained by Federal News Network, Education Department Chief Information Officer Thomas Flagg told employees that entire units under this supervision have been “dissolved.” Flagg said department leaders presented new organizational charts in a meeting Tuesday, showing which parts of the department will no longer exist.

    “It was shocking to see how many red boxes were on the charts,” Flagg told employees.

    “Everyone is saying that it’s going to be similar to USAID,” a department employee told Federal News Network. “They’re cutting down everyone. They’re keeping a skeleton crew at the end, and then once the skeleton crew is done being used, they let the skeleton crew go.”

    The Education Department employee said he fears that those cuts to non-defense spending would further impact the agency. The employee said he’s “praying for a shutdown,” to forestall further cuts to the agency.

    “I had a bunch of offers in the private sector, and turned them down,” the employee said. “Now I look back, and I’m like, ‘Did I make the right move?’”

    The department said he’s confident he will be able to find a new job, if his position is eliminated. But he said he’s worried about coworkers nearing retirement who may soon lose their jobs.

    “There’s people who are going to lose everything,” he said.

    https://federalnewsnetwork.com/workforce/2025/03/education-dept-dissolved-entire-units-in-mass-layoffs-employees-take-stock-of-whats-left/

    1. The department laid off nearly half its workforce on Tuesday, as part of Reduction-in-Force (RIF) efforts happening across the federal government.

      The Department of Education, established by Jimmy Carter – our worst president ever until Biden came along – has presided over the downfall of the American public education system and its replacement with our NEA indoctrination mills for churning out future Democrat-Bolshevik dependency voters. This bloated bureaucracy needs to be shut down, then fumigated.

  11. Union warns of impact Department of Education layoffs will have in DC region

    Union leaders are sounding the alarm about the wide-ranging impact layoffs at the Department of Education will have not only on education, but the D.C. region at large. This comes after President Donald Trump’s administration announced more than 1,300 employees will be let go as part of a reduction in force, or RIF, at the agency.

    “When you think about thousands of people being unemployed in the DMV area, the impact is going to be on the economy of D.C., Virginia and Maryland,” said Sheria Smith, with the American Federation of Government Employees.

    Smith said those let go will no longer have the ability to pay their taxes, keep their homes and support businesses, on top of the broad impact to education.

    In addition to being a union leader at the AFGE’s Local 252 Texas branch, Smith is also employed at the Department of Education’s Dallas Office for Civil Rights, which investigates reported civil rights violations at schools. She was among the five workers notified on Tuesday that they would lose their jobs.

    https://wtop.com/education/2025/03/union-warns-of-the-impact-dept-of-ed-layoffs-will-have-in-the-dc-region/

    1. “When you think about thousands of people being unemployed in the DMV area, the impact is going to be on the economy of D.C., Virginia and Maryland,” said Sheria Smith, with the American Federation of Government Employees.

      The bluest of the blue states will see their Comrades of Proven Worth (D) cast into the Outer Darkness of Paul Krugman’s Strongest Economy Ever. I am Jack’s gleeful schadenfreude at seeing the termites in the foundations standing in the unemployment line.

    2. Union leaders are sounding the alarm about the wide-ranging impact layoffs at the Department of Education will have not only on education

      I expect it will be a positive impact

  12. Job fair for fired federal employees draws large crowds to University of Maryland

    COLLEGE PARK, Md. (DC News Now) — People packed the Hotel at the University of Maryland Wednesday, not looking for a place to stay, but rather a chance at a new career.

    Montgomery County Councilmember Evan Glass announces run for county executive

    Christian Lake, who worked as a contractor at the National Institutes of Health, said it’s been like “starting over” for him.

    “It’s a little sad, honestly, because there’s a lot of people here that just probably have been in the federal government for 15 years, and then they finally say, I’m looking for a job,” he said.

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/careers/job-search/job-fair-for-fired-federal-employees-draws-large-crowds-to-university-of-maryland/ar-AA1AO2sr

    1. “It’s a little sad, honestly, because there’s a lot of people here that just probably have been in the federal government for 15 years, and then they finally say, I’m looking for a job,” he said.

      You can redeem yourselves for sucking off the public teat with every ton of crops you pick.

  13. D.C.’s hopes lie in Senate as residents, officials push to avert $1B hit

    A possible opening emerged for the District to avoid more than $1 billion in cuts to public services under a Republican spending bill after Senate Democrats indicated Wednesday that they would vote down the bill.

    The shift boosted D.C.’s hopes of avoiding potential layoffs of police, teachers and other critical workers but that also inched the nation closer to a potential government shutdown if lawmakers don’t reach an agreement.

    “Vote no on the CR!” Susanny Acosta, a D.C. activist, called out to Sen. Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina). “It will cut $1.1 billion from D.C.’s budget!”

    Acosta said she was among the thousands of federal workers purged by the Trump administration last month, and heard Bowser (D) welcome fired federal workers to apply for jobs in D.C. government — but Acosta noted that city officials have warned the Republican bill would force a hiring freeze and layoffs in D.C.

    “If they pass this bill, the jobs they’ve been telling me to find in D.C. will be drastically cut,” Acosta said.

    Others held court in Senate offices they saw as critical to their fight, including Schumer.

    By about 2:15, Kirsten Teumer had been in Schumer’s office for about an hour, waiting to speak with a senior staffer.

    “I’m a speech pathologist — I’m a regular person!” said the 52-year-old Takoma resident, who took off work to lobby senators. “People don’t think that real people live in Washington, D.C.”

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/dc-s-hopes-lie-in-senate-as-residents-officials-push-to-avert-1b-hit/ar-AA1ANOfq

    1. “If they pass this bill, the jobs they’ve been telling me to find in D.C. will be drastically cut,” Acosta said.

      Cry me a river, D.C. “activist.” Parasites being detached from the host means the world is starting to heal.

  14. Federal workers in Philadelphia were laid off last month. Now, those still employed face a shutdown.

    Federal workers in Philadelphia faced layoffs last month, and now as a government shutdown looms, some face the reality of having to work through it.

    If the shutdown comes to fruition, it would represent “fear, anxiety and insult to injury” for some Philadelphia Internal Revenue Service workers, deemed “essential” federal employees, who would be required to continue to work without pay, said Alex Jay Berman, who represents IRS workers in the city.

    LaShanda Palmer, president of Local 333 AFGE who represents TSA workers at the Philadelphia International Airport and Wilmington Airport, opposes a shutdown, remembering the toll that previous cessations have taken on workers. She said TSA employees — already distraught over the Department of Homeland Security’s decision to dismantle collective bargaining rights — are bracing for the potential impacts of being furloughed.

    Palmer said the union has been reaching out to SEPTA and food banks in the event that employees at PHL can’t afford to travel to work or feed their families without a steady income.

    “It put us in situations that we should never be put in as employees of the government,” Palmer said.

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/federal-workers-in-philadelphia-were-laid-off-last-month-now-those-still-employed-face-a-shutdown/ar-AA1APnZL

  15. 13K MD Layoffs Amid Trump Cuts: ‘I Thought We Were Safe’

    TOWSON, MD — “It kinda had that surreal, countdown to impending doom feeling,” Randallstown resident Tyrone Washington said.

    His employer found out its federal contract was terminated at 1 p.m. on Feb. 28. By 3:30 p.m. that day, Washington and his teammates were among the 13,000 Marylanders laid off amid the ongoing federal government downsizing ordered by President Donald Trump. Although frustrated, the laid-off workers see the sudden change as a chance to re-evaluate their career paths.

    David Petersen, one of Washington’s former coworkers from Dundalk, felt “shock, kind of a numb feeling.” Towson resident Hong Yee, another ex-colleague, said the firing came “out of the blue.”

    “Our contract was for another two years. I thought we were safe,” Yee told Patch.

    The writing was on the wall when Washington heard his bosses say “Office of Personnel Management.”

    “Those three words right there, I knew that was it. That was DOGE. We’re gone,” Washington said.

    Washington used to think the steadiest jobs were with the federal government and its contractors. He now thinks the most secure jobs lie in local government and private industry.

    “Federal government? Kind of iffy right now,” Washington said. “That illusion’s kind of been shattered.”

    Opinions on the government downsizing largely follow party lines, but for the laid-off employees, the debate is about more than politics; it’s about livelihood.

    “We always thought federal government was safe, but it’s not anymore,” Yee said.

    Though they didn’t anticipate the layoffs, the workers stomached the news as gracefully as possible.

    Petersen, 50, who lives in Dundalk, would have preferred more notice and a chance to transfer to a different team, but he remains grateful that his health benefits continue through March.

    “I’m not bitter. I’m a little upset,” Petersen said. “If my business was in the same shoes, I probably would do the same thing.”

    Petersen didn’t feel personally attacked by the layoffs. He sees the cuts as a necessary part of spending reduction.

    “It’s to be expected. I grew up in a small business, and if the money’s not there, you gotta do something. You have to cut something,” he said, comparing government balance sheets to personal and business budgets. “As long as the important services get covered, things should all work out.”

    Petersen was already looking for a new job, so he views this as an opportunity to prepare for the second half of his career.

    “I’m not crazy. I know the environment changes,” Petersen said. “It seemed to be kind of the world saying, ‘Now, you really need to do it.'”

    Yee is similarly looking for a change. He doubles as a graphic and web designer, but he is also looking to break into technical writing.

    “I’m in a crossroads right now,” Yee said. “It kind of gave me the kick in the butt I needed.”

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/politics/government/13k-md-layoffs-amid-trump-cuts-i-thought-we-were-safe/ar-AA1ANGfp

    1. Ima gonna go out on a limb and say that Tyrone Washington is a DEI hire and a D-voter to boot. Buh-bye, Tyrone.

      1. What truly worries these people is that once the dust settles on the new and very reduced Federal workforce is that no one will notice their absence.

  16. FEMA launches review of migrant shelter aid, suggesting smuggling laws were violated

    McALLEN, Texas (AP) — The Trump administration has launched a review of organizations that provide temporary housing and other aid to migrants, suggesting they may have violated a law used to prosecute smugglers.

    The Department of Homeland Security has “significant concerns” that federal grants used to address a surge of migration under former President Joe Biden were used for illegal activities, wrote Cameron Hamilton, acting administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

    His letter, dated Tuesday and obtained by The Associated Press, asks recipients of grants from FEMA’s Shelter and Services Program to provide names and contact information for migrants served and “a detailed and descriptive list of specific services provided” within 30 days. The letter says funding will be withheld during the review.

    While it doesn’t explicitly threaten criminal prosecution, it raises concerns that recipients may have violated U.S. Criminal Code Section 1324, a felony offense against bringing people across the border illegally or transporting them within the United States. It also says executive officers must sign sworn statements that they have no knowledge or suspicions of anyone in their organizations violating the smuggling law.

    The demand appears to be a new salvo against organizations that provide food, housing and travel aid to people who cross the border. Migrants often arrive exhausted, low on money and unsure how to navigate on their own through bus stations and airports.

    FEMA’s Shelter and Services Program awarded $641 million to dozens of state and local governments and organizations across the country in the 2024 fiscal year to help them deal with large numbers of migrants who crossed the border from Mexico. They include the cities of New York, Philadelphia, Chicago and Denver, as well as the United Way of Miami, the San Antonio Food Bank and several branches of Catholic Charities.

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/politics/government/fema-launches-review-of-migrant-shelter-aid-suggesting-smuggling-laws-were-violated/ar-AA1AOBWC

    1. Why have these activities been funded by FEMA?
      Even if they have not violated any law, I still do not understand why FEMA assumes funding for them. Hidden agenda?

      1. Why have these activities been funded by FEMA?

        Because the Great Replacement is not self-funding, & it’s being perpetrated by FedGov.

    2. “a felony offense against bringing people across the border illegally or transporting them within the United States”

      Taxpayers want to see perp walks.

  17. ‘Losing from uncertainty’: Experts say chaotic federal funding freezes are disrupting rural Alaska projects

    Alaska experts on energy, housing and infrastructure said almost three-quarters-of-a-billion dollars is in limbo from President Donald Trump’s funding freezes – and that uncertainty is affecting local communities.

    One example is a Bureau of Indian Affairs initiative called the Tribal Climate Resilience Program, which supports tribally led climate adaptation. The program, which has allocated $72 million in funding for nearly 40 Alaskan tribal projects, is now on pause.

    https://alaskapublic.org/news/alaska-desk/2025-03-12/losing-from-uncertainty-experts-say-chaotic-federal-funding-freezes-are-disrupting-rural-alaska-projects

  18. Local Humanitarians share concerns about USAID

    EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (WEAU) – Thousands of workers and hundreds of programs have already been cut from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and families in the Chippewa Valley are already seeing and feeling the impact.

    Some former Peace Corps members shared their concerns and mixed emotions over the agency’s uncertain future as the U.S. government purges USAID.

    “Rumor mills were simmering, and it was kind of torturous because we knew it was coming, knew it was coming, didn’t know when it was going to come,” Bonni Knight, a former Peace Corps member, said.

    Mary Kante, the founder of Eau Claire Consulting, a global public health firm, shared that people became concerned when stop-work orders were issued.

    Knight also shared that her daughter, who worked for USAID, was one of the thousands of employees notified by email to clear their belongings.

    “It’s traumatic. It’s uprooting their family. Both she and her husband are humanitarians, and now they’re jobless.”

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/local-humanitarians-share-concerns-about-usaid/ar-AA1AL0is

    1. “Both she and her husband are humanitarians, and now they’re jobless.”

      You are being humanitarian with US taxpayers borrowed money. If you are so humanitarian, volunteer for free or use your own money.

      1. jobless

        Humanitarians spend their fortune to help others. Extracting a fortune from a charity is something else.

    2. Some former Peace Corps members shared their concerns and mixed emotions over the agency’s uncertain future as the U.S. government purges USAID

      I kind of expect it to be announced the Peace Corps “volunteers” are actually paid handsome salaries.

  19. Federal education department office in Philadelphia is among seven to be shut nationally

    The U.S. Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights in Philadelphia is one of seven such offices to be shut down nationally as part of the sweeping cutbacks and layoffs being carried out in the department this week, according to a source familiar with details.

    The office, which oversees five states including Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Maryland, West Virginia, and Delaware, is responsible for the enforcement of laws around discrimination cases based on sex and race, as well as shared ancestry, and those involving disabilities. In recent months, it oversaw probes into local colleges and school districts charged with failing to properly handle complaints about antisemitism in the wake of Hamas’ October 2023 attack on Israel.

    The Philadelphia OCR is based in the historic Wanamaker building, which is largely vacant and in foreclosure. The office’s lease already had been targeted for cancellation by the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency. Employees in the office are to be placed on administrative leave through June and then possibly offered severance or retirement, the source said.

    Beth Gellman-Beer, regional director of the Philadelphia office who has worked in the department for 18 years, did not respond to requests for comment, but acknowledged the cuts in a post on LinkedIn Wednesday afternoon.

    “It’s true,” she wrote. “I, along with my entire staff, were terminated last night. I feel blindsided, barely able to catch my breath.

    “Hundreds of agreements negotiated through the years on every possible jurisdictional basis. Just since October 7, at least ten agreements resolving complaints of shared ancestry harassment at k-12 schools and universities. All that work, just gone overnight … my heart is shattered into a million pieces.”

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/federal-education-department-office-in-philadelphia-is-among-seven-to-be-shut-nationally/ar-AA1ANkbb

    1. Just since October 7, at least ten agreements resolving complaints of shared ancestry harassment at k-12 schools and universities.

      Sounds like the dictionary definition of a useless “woke” job & perpetual grievance factory. Hit the bricks, parasites.

  20. Thousands of trees will go unplanted in Los Angeles after Musk pulls funding

    Tree planting programs across the U.S. are on the chopping block as a result of federal funding cuts under the billionaire Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency.

    The cuts include $75 million to the U.S. Forest Service, $1 million to nonprofits in Nashville and $12 million to Philadelphia.

    In Los Angeles, thousands of trees may now go unplanted.

    “We’re taking a hit somewhere to close to $2.5 million, which for a small nonprofit is a big deal,” says Aaron Thomas,  director of urban forestry for North East Trees.

    North East Trees is a tree-planting nonprofit that primarily operates in low-income communities in Los Angeles like Watts, Boyle Heights and Northeast and South L.A. They build parks, run cleanup events in the L.A. River and plant thousands of shade trees.

    “Between 80 and 90% of our budget is from government grants,” Thomas said.

    This year’s funding is largely spoken for thanks to grants from CalFire, but since “the Biden administration secured so much funding for urban greening, California decided to not use their own funding for these kinds of programs going forward,” he added.

    https://boyleheightsbeat.com/north-east-trees-elon-musk-funding/

  21. Liberal North Carolina city’s DEI plan for hurricane relief shut down by HUD secretary

    Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Scott Turner shut down a hurricane relief draft plan put forth by the city of Asheville, North Carolina, that included a diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiative that would have prioritized some residents over others, his office said.

    “Once again, let me be clear DEI is dead at HUD,” Turner said of axing the plan. “We will not provide funding to any program or grantee that does not comply with President Trump’s executive orders.”

    The city of Asheville, North Carolina, which is a Democratic stronghold in a state that has elected Republican presidential candidates since 2012, posted a draft plan to its website on March 4 on how it could distribute millions of dollars for Hurricane Helene disaster relief, including a section that focused on DEI.

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/opinion/liberal-north-carolina-citys-dei-plan-for-hurricane-relief-shut-down-by-hud-secretary/ar-AA1ANmwa

      1. You, sir, are correct.

        I’m working at a water treatment facility now. They got everybody here working on this job. White, BBlack, Hispanic, Asian. Only catch is, you have to be a U.S. citizen to be on the job, no illegals, because it’s considered a potential terrorism target.

  22. Stanford found guilty in $7b Ponzi scheme

    Financier and cricket mogul Allen Stanford has been found guilty by a court in Houston, Texas, yesterday, of running a $7 billion Ponzi scheme. Stanford, 61, was convicted on 13 of the 14 charges. He had pleaded not guilty to defrauding some 30,000 investors with bogus investments through his Stanford International Bank in Antigua to fund a lavish lifestyle.

    He faces a sentence of up to 20 years in prison for the most serious charge. However, the judge will have to decide whether the sentences should run consecutively. The jury of eight men and four women found him not guilty of one charge of wire fraud. Stanford looked down as the guilty verdicts were announced, and one of his daughters started crying. The same jury will now deliberate in a brief civil trial as prosecutors seek to seize funds from more than 30 Stanford bank accounts worldwide.

    One of Stanford’s lawyers, Ali Fazel, told Associated Press he was “disappointed in the outcome”, adding: “We expect to appeal.” Stanford’s defence was based on blaming a former chief financial officer, James Davis, and arguing that most of the money was lost by court-appointed receivers following the bank’s seizure. Prosecutors said Stanford’s bogus certificates of deposit had promised artificially high returns to fund his lavish lifestyle over a 20-year period.

    They said Stanford had told depositors in more than 100 countries that their money was safely invested in stocks and securities. However, it was in reality being transferred to his businesses and personal account. Davis, who had earlier pleaded guilty to fraud as part of a deal with prosecutors, testified he had worked with Stanford to falsify records. Stanford did not take the stand during the six-week trial.

    Stanford was the organiser of the money-spinning Stanford Twenty20 cricket tournament in the West Indies in 2008. Forbes Magazine listed him as the 605th richest man in the world in 2006. He has spent three years in detention after being denied bail. Stanford’s trial was delayed after he was involved in a prison fight in September 2009 and developed an addiction to an anti-anxiety drug. But in December 2011 he was declared fit to stand trial.

    https://www.guardian.co.tt/article-6.2.417508.ffc28f32c5

  23. Swedish EV battery maker Northvolt files for bankruptcy, putting Quebec plant plans in doubt

    Northvolt AB, the European electric-vehicle battery maker, has filed for bankruptcy in Sweden in a move that raises serious doubts about the viability of a megafactory planned for Quebec.

    The Stockholm-based battery-cell maker said in a statement that it exhausted all available options and was unable to secure the necessary financial conditions to continue in its current form. A court-appointed trustee will now oversee the sale of the business and its assets and settlement of outstanding obligations.

    “This was a decision we did not take lightly,” and it was the only realistic path forward, Northvolt chairman Tom Johnstone told a news conference, saying every avenue had been pursued to avoid bankruptcy for the company, which puts 5,000 jobs at risk.

    It also has potentially serious implications for Canada. The company was building a giant battery-cell factory in the greater Montreal region with financial backing from the Quebec and federal governments – a key facility in Premier François Legault’s industrial strategy to make the province a global hub for electric-vehicle battery production and development.

    That $7-billion project, billed as the largest private-sector investment in Quebec history when it was announced two years ago, is now in doubt.

    Observers have pointed to several reasons for Northvolt’s collapse, both internal and external. They include poor leadership, a flawed battery design, and a failure to scale-up production effectively.

    The Swedish company was once seen as the future of EV battery making in Europe. But it ran out of money last year after a wave of problems that started when BMW AG cancelled a US$2-billion order in June after Northvolt failed to deliver on a long-term contract.

    https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/international-business/article-swedish-ev-battery-maker-northvolt-files-for-bankruptcy-putting-quebec/

  24. The S.F. region still leads the nation in population loss this decade

    The Bay Area is seeing modest population growth as the region continues its long recovery from a COVID-related exodus, according to new U.S. Census data.

    The San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont metropolitan area’s population grew 0.8% between July 2023 and July 2024, a gain of about 39,000 residents to a total of 4.64 million residents. But as of July 2024, the metro area’s population was still down 2.2% from April 2020, the biggest percentage loss among the country’s most populous regions. The city of San Francisco was down almost 51,000 people, or 5.8% in that period.

    California’s biggest population center, the Los Angeles metropolitan area, is seeing weak growth in the wake of disruptive strikes in the entertainment industry. The region saw only 0.3% population growth between July 2023 and 2024, and it’s down 2.1% from April 2020.

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/urban-infrastructure/housing-and-urban-development/the-s-f-region-still-leads-the-nation-in-population-loss-this-decade/ar-AA1AOE58

    1. That ‘growth’ as everyone here knows, is going to all be from illegal invaders. Take that away and the crater would be getting serious. That said, the crater is obvious for anyone paying attention. It will be interesting to see what happens if an actual recession shows up. In a just world, Facebook (Meta) and Google (Alphabet) stock would collapse right about now and there would be tons of layoffs. For Meta, first they went all in on VR which was a bust. Then they went all in on AI and DeepSeek did it way better and gave it away for free. Alphabet has the same problem. They keep trying to pretend that they are still relevant but they aren’t. DeepSeek can be downloaded for free and run on a reasonably priced home computer. No one has to pay gatekeepers or buy expensive Nvidia products to do it. At some point the overall market will figure this out and react accordingly. Then things will really get interesting in the bay area.

  25. Crackdown on homeless tents

    The bold move was announced by Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner on Wednesday, stating the public had raised concerns about the safety of people sleeping in tents on public land, particularly at Musgrave Park and Kurilpa Point near the Gallery of Modern Art.

    He said the move was an effort to make the city safer.

    “As a community that cares, I don’t believe we should ever accept that tents in public parks are an acceptable substitute for secure and safe accommodation,” Mr Schrinner said in a statement. “Our parks and playgrounds should be safe spaces for everyone to enjoy.”

    Mr Schrinner said the majority of those who lived in temporary housing had rejected offers of “secure accommodation” before Tropical Cyclone Alfred.

    “Shockingly, the vast majority refused,” Mr Schrinner said.

    People living in tents and in vehicles will be given 24 hours to relocate, with police and state housing agencies to relocate them away from parks.

    The closure of tent cities comes after Moreton Bay City Council announced it would make it illegal for homeless people to camp or sleep on public ground.

    Mr Schrinner argued the move to criminalise camping on public ground, which he supported, was prompting homeless people to relocate to Brisbane to seek alternative living arrangements.

    “Just like our northern neighbours, Brisbane residents don’t want their parks and public spaces becoming dangerous no-go zones because of violent, aggressive and anti-social behaviour,” he said.

    “We won’t let Brisbane turn into the San Francisco Bay area where encampments have grown out of control and become magnets for crime, violence and illegal drugs.”

    https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/australia/not-cool-crackdown-on-homeless-tents/ar-AA1ANvcJ

  26. In a confidential survey, 94% of priests said parishioners who are realtors confessed to lying. However, since realtors are liars, the priests did not know if such confessions are genuine or not.

  27. Recent rent-regulated deals have traded hands at major discounts to pre-2019 prices — 60 percent to 97 percent off. That’s if they trade at all.”

    Is that a lot?

  28. And if it is, why aren’t people beyond metro Washington more concerned about it?

    Ever since the 1970s, the Democrat-Bolshevik termites in the foundation in Panem on the Potomac have been implementing the malign agendas of their globalist masters, especially the Great Replacement and the systematic economic disenfranchisement of white males. Do you think it bothers me in the least to see FedGov apparatchiks who want nothing good for me & mine suddenly get pried off the levers of power? Let them experience the economic dislocation and marginalization their globalist masters have for decades been inflicting on white blue collar workers.

    1. asking price $6,450,000
      taxes $49,673 / yr
      HOAs $7,330 / month

      If USAID would hurry up and lease this place for me I could get to work on solving the earth’s wobble about its rotating axis, which would reduce climate change.

  29. What You Don’t Know Could Cost You A Fortune (York Region Real Estate Market Update)

    Team Sessa Real Estate

    36 minutes ago VAUGHAN

    In this episode, we discuss how people thinking of doing Reno’s may have to increase their price buffers as price for materials may be going up. We also look at the current Vaughan Home Prices, Richmond Hill Home Prices & Markham Home Prices and real estate market trends for the week ending Mar 5, 2025.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lhi3teWe0cA

    11:32.

  30. ‘What makes us unique is it’s a condo-hotel.’ People who own units here at the St. Regis spend tens of thousands of dollars in maintenance fees and assessments. But unlike a regular condominium, they don’t control how most of their money is spent. ‘The money is going somewhere, but it’s not going into the buildings’

    Condotels are maybe the most speculative and dumbest investment ever invented Steve. Not only do you have the HBB Pitfalls of Commie Urban Living™, you borrowed money to buy into the hotel biz with a partner who will fook you in a heart beat like the Qataris did to you.

  31. ‘For other Canadians, like Kristina and Aaron Consoli, who are visiting South Florida from Toronto, the proposed rule change is just one of several financial barriers to U.S. travel. ‘I can’t afford to be here longer than 30 days’

    I’ve never gone on a 30 day vacation Aaron. You guys must be doing pretty well as we pay for yer defence.

  32. ‘We sold our lot. We sold it yesterday actually’…‘If we can’t come back, if there are too many issues, we’ll be selling our lot here and Canada is beautiful, we’ll start traveling around Canada’

    Sheree and Greg, you didn’t mention that you may not have jobs in a month. That’s all the rest of K-dns are talking about.

  33. ‘The question for Los Angeles isn’t so much how to rebuild the Palisades, a coastal community that is home to some 21,000 people, but who pays if it burns again. ‘Writing new policies doesn’t make any sense at this time’

    They are talking about the whole state. The can’t do state.

    1. Maize’s client got a plan that would cover $2.25 million in rebuilding costs, less than half of the homes’ value. The client plans to seek additional coverage next year, according to a person familiar with the policy.

      What company is going to provide that “additional coverage”?

  34. ‘In Rosedale, the agents relisted a circa-1911 Edwardian home that had been on the market for a three-month stretch. The five-bedroom house at 105 Cluny Dr. was listed in the fall of 2024 with an asking price of $5.995-million. In January, Mr. Maranger and Mr. Vermast set the asking price at $5.395-million, then reduced the price to $4.995-million. The price cut generated bids from three buyers and the property sold for $4.9-million in February’

    Yer client even got schlonged for the extra 5k at the end Paul. Yer giving it away.

  35. ‘Globes’ analysis found that the industry is currently saturated with agents, not suitable for the current shrinking market conditions, and pressures for renewed price falls. Levy says, ‘A great many agents are in a difficult economic situation today, some are leaving the field and offices are closing. In the most recent exams of the Registrar of Realtors, there was a decline of almost 25% in the number of taking the exam who applied for brokerage, and from 2,300-2,400 taking the exam in recent years, the number has dropped to about 1,700.’ Thus, many who were seduced by the booming market of 2021, learned the profession and received a license in 2022, found in 2023 and 2024 that they had no income’

    I know things look bleak UHS, but nobody said being a winnah! was going to be easy.

  36. ‘There have been two fatal flaws in product development: 1) Excess supply of luxury apartments at high ticket prices. 2) Same product with no differentiation. The first category is reminiscent of the Lower Parel market between 2012-2020. Volumes of Maruti Suzuki were expected at price points of Mercedes Benz. Despite the presence of heavyweight developers – it was a long struggle. Now, those memories are being relived at a grander scale across Mumbai as the hunger to do luxury projects by one and all is once again being challenged by the size of the demand pool’

    Fun fact. During the 2000’s Mumbai bubble, there was a big push toward super lux. At one point a giant shack was planned at one billion US dollars. Which would have been the most expensive residence in human history. Of course it never happened but it was discussed widely for at least two years. Such was the Mumbai mania.

  37. Does it seem like we are in a replay of the COVID financial markets crash, but this time without any inflationary bailouts on the way to rescue foolish gamblers from their folly?

    1. Warren Buffett Said ‘Bad News Is an Investor’s Best Friend’ and If You’re Not Ready for Stocks to Drop 50%, You Shouldn’t Be Investing
      Jeannine Mancini
      Thu, March 13, 2025 at 1:30 PM PDT 4 min read

      The stock market is taking a beating—again. The Nasdaq just hit its lowest level since 2020, the S&P 500 is deep in the red, and investors are scrambling. Recession fears, inflation worries, and policy uncertainty have Wall Street on edge.

      But Warren Buffett? He’s been here before. And if history is any guide, he’d tell you that now is not the time to panic—it’s the time to pay attention.

      https://finance.yahoo.com/news/warren-buffett-said-bad-news-203018862.html

  38. Collin Rugg
    @CollinRugg

    NEW: High school track runner gets attacked with a baton in the middle of a relay at the VSHL Class 3 State Indoor Championships.

    Kaelen Tucker was on the second leg of the 4x200m relay at Liberty University in Lynchburg, VA, when she got smacked in the head.

    Tucker suffered a concussion and a potential skull fracture.

    “When we got to the curve she kept bumping me in my arm and when we got off the curve I finally passed her and that was when she hit me with the baton,” Tucker said.

    The girl’s mother said neither the runner nor the coach apologized for the incident.

    It’s unclear if Trucker will file charges.

    12:38 PM · Mar 9, 2025
    ·
    12.7M
    Views

    https://x.com/CollinRugg/status/1898775366245732774

    1. The poor girl who bashed the other kids head in says it was all a mistake and nobody is thinking about her feelings.

      Collin Rugg
      @CollinRugg

      JUST IN: Track runner Alaila Everett charged with assault & battery after hitting a runner in the head with a baton at a track meet.

      Everett claims her hand simply slipped which resulted in the other runner Kaelen Tucker, getting a concussion & possibly fractured skull.

      The runner recognizes that Tucker might be hurt, but wants people to think about her feelings.

      Lynchburg Commonwealth’s Attorney Bethany Harrison confirmed the charge on Wednesday, according to ABC 13.

      Tucker says she never even received an apology from Everett and the only apology came from Everett’s dad and the school’s athletic director.

      “No one apologized or came to check on her. Even if it was a fluke or freak accident, you still would check on her.”

      8:10 PM · Mar 12, 2025
      ·
      https://x.com/CollinRugg/status/1899976245540250106

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