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It’s All The Stages Of Grief — Anger, Resentment, Denial — Everything

A report from CBS Minnesota. “A Minnesota man who was fired from his federal job as part of President Trump’s federal layoffs should get his job back because of a new federal court order. Chris Wicker is one of those employees who could go back to work as soon as Monday. Wicker, a six-year Air Force veteran, was fired last month from his job as Deputy Director of the Small Business Administration in Minneapolis. ‘Nobody has been in contact with me. It’s my understanding they have until noon central on Monday to reinstate me, but what that means — I don’t know,’ Wicker said. Wicker joined a class action lawsuit that argued the layoffs are invalid under federal law because there was no cause given, no notice and no severance. ‘One of the biggest concerns for me, personally, is the colleagues I have had here,’ he said. Wicker says co-workers are also devastated and some are in rough financial shape, not knowing how they will pay mortgages and other bills.”

Wall Street Journal. “Condominium owners across the country are facing a paralyzing problem: They can’t sell their properties because of a fast-growing and mostly secret mortgage blacklist. Real-estate agent Paul Gangi was days away from closing a sale of his listing in Shadow Ridge, a 440-unit townhouse and condo complex in Ventura County, Calif., in December. That is when his phone rang. ‘I got a panicked call from the lender saying, ‘Sorry, we’ve just found out Shadow Ridge has been blacklisted,’ he said. The buyer tried several other options for getting a loan, without success, and the sale collapsed. Its homeowner’s association was recently quoted $2.6 million a year for a Fannie-compliant policy, 10 times the current rate, according to Jinah Kim, one of the board members. ‘The timing of the blacklisting is horrific,’ she said. ‘Even though we were spared in the fires, we now don’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of getting affordable insurance.'”

“The blacklist is maintained by Fannie Mae and includes condo associations that the mortgage finance giant thinks don’t have adequate property insurance or need to make critical building repairs. Florida has more than 1,400 developments blacklisted. The next four states featuring heavily on the blacklist—California, Colorado, Hawaii and Texas—are prone to natural disasters and restrictive insurance policies. After Robert Cenzon listed his two-bedroom condo in Dallas for sale last year, he learned that his neighbor’s sale had fallen through and that the neighbor had ended up selling the unit for cash at a lower price. Cenzon’s unit sat on the market for months, and he cut the price from $239,000 to $170,000.”

“He accepted an offer at that price, but the buyer’s mortgage was denied because the condo association’s insurance policy didn’t provide replacement cost value for some amenities, including the pool, Cenzon said. The association told him that it could buy additional insurance but that Cenzon would need to cover the cost, he said. Instead, the buyer found another lender that was willing to make the loan. ‘I just got lucky’ that the sale went through, Cenzon said. ‘Otherwise, I think I’d probably still be stuck with that place.'”

From CBS News. “A new condo safety bill looks to shore up safety, but it comes at a cost. A Florida House panel has advanced legislation that allows condo boards to borrow money without member consent. ‘Assessments have been tough to handle,’ shared Brickell condo owner Julian Donado. Donado told CBS News Miami he never imagined paying so much to live in Brickell by the Bay when he purchased his condo in 2019. ‘I did the math at the time,’ explained Donado. ‘My mortgage was actually going to be cheaper. Now, not by a long shot, a lot more expensive.’ And now, a new financial cliff could await him and others. Condo owners told CBS News Miami they’re trying to keep up with the changing laws and the cost that comes with it. ‘It’s just a lot of money to keep up with all the repairs to meet the state requirements, really just trying to get ahead,’ said a Brickell condo owner who goes by Kurd. ‘I just wish that it happened a little bit sooner, probably before I bought in and I had a little bit more of an idea of what I was buying into,’ added Donado.”

From KTAR News. “A Phoenix insurance producer was ordered to pay $1,411,950 in restitution for scamming several real estate investors via a ‘Ponzi scheme,’ according to the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC). Gregory Patrick Talbot was caught offering ‘alternative’ investment options to potential investors which he claimed were ‘sound and proven,’ according to initial court documents filed in December 2022. A key option discovered by the ACC was connected to a Ponzi scheme-ridden company named Woodbridge. The ACC said Talbot had offered these false investments since at least July 2016. These investments were controlled by Florida-based company, EquiAlt, LLC., and potential investors were advised EquiAlt was ‘raising capital to purchase, improve, lease and dispose of distressed real property,’ according to a press release.”

“Through its case investigation, the ACC discovered EquiAlt was also operating a Ponzi scheme, and nationwide at that. At the end of Talbot’s scheme in February 2020, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) confirmed suspicions of EquiAlt’s Ponzi scheming by filing a complaint that alleged the company had raised over $170 million by fooling more than 1,100 investors.”

Wall Street Journal on California. “The wildfires that devastated Pacific Palisades, Malibu and Altadena in January created an especially tricky challenge for real-estate agents. Ruslan Shkurenko, an agent with Carolwood Estates, has a two-bedroom, 1,708-square-foot listing in the Pacific Palisades that is for sale for $2.35 million. The marketing touts it as being located in ‘one of Los Angeles’s most desirable neighborhoods,’ but that language will have to change, he says. The house was only partially damaged, but it is surrounded by rubble, he says. With the construction traffic that will inevitably come over the next few years, he says ‘it will be difficult. Everything is completely burnt down.’ The seller wants to keep the house on the market, which means Shkurenko will have to figure out the appropriate price. He says he hasn’t heard from any buyers in the Palisades right now, except for bargain hunters who have called offering $400,000 for the property.”

“In the Portuguese Bend Beach Club neighborhood of Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif., one of the most impacted areas of continuing landslides on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, the marketing blurb for a $2.599 million, two-bedroom, 1,159-square-foot home starts with ‘Location, location, location.’ However, the listing fails to mention that much of the neighborhood currently has no power or gas service, since it was cut off for safety reasons by the utility companies last year. The house will be sold ‘as-is’ but it is unclear if it has had power and gas restored and the listing agent declined to comment.”

“Nearby, in an area of Rolling Hills where the risk of land movement also prompted a shutoff of gas and power to some of the homes, a four-bedroom, 3,165-square-foot house that is listed for $3 million is touted as an ‘opportunity to go completely off Grid and Green.’ After sitting on the market since June, the price was lowered by around $1 million from its original listing price of $4.15 million. It is currently in contingency, which means certain terms must be satisfied before the deal can close.”

From Bisnow. “The race to slash the federal government’s real estate footprint has created a bewildering gauntlet for brokers and landlords that work with agencies. Lurching along for weeks, the effort has resulted in stalled negotiations, stymied commissions and panicked owners. In the past, individual agencies have handled their own spaces, according to Arco Real Estate Solutions principal Chad Becker. ‘Now, it’s GSA looking at the lease portfolio and saying, ‘We don’t think you need this space, therefore we’re going to send out a termination notice, and you, the agency, have X number of days to vacate.’ So it’s GSA, essentially, that’s driving the decision to terminate space based on perceived inefficiencies in the lease portfolio,’ he said.”

“With an estimated $12B in CMBS debt threatened by the cuts, landlords already coping with a historically difficult market are feeling the strain. ‘It puts more pressure on owners too. I mean, owners are completely freaking out because they’re hearing about this,’ the federal leasing specialist told Bisnow. From spring 2020 to January 2025, the demand for federal lease space declined, said Norman Dong, former head of the Public Buildings Service who now works as a broker specializing in federal government leases. ‘What that meant was that you had fewer and smaller lease transactions and if you work on a commission basis, you can do the math, right?’ he said. ‘Sometimes you would have leases that were renewed at 50%, sometimes you wouldn’t have leases renewed at all. They just simply let the lease terminate.'”

CBC News in Canada. “Being a headliner on the TV series Hustlers Gamblers Crooks was never a goal of Lana McKenzie’s. Nevertheless, that’s where the Courtenay, B.C., mom found herself last year, sharing a nightmare story of being conned out of hundreds of thousands of dollars by notorious B.C. Ponzi schemer Greg Martel. McKenzie says she lost $330,000 to Martel’s swindle. Between 2018 and 2023, Martel took in $301 million from investors and paid out $210 million, according to court-appointed receiver and bankruptcy trustee PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). They say he blew the remaining $91 million on options trading losses, other failing business ventures, and to pay for his extravagant lifestyle. Martel disappeared in 2023 amid lawsuits brought by angry investors wanting their money back.”

“Earlier this week, lawyers and investors lined up to make submissions to B.C. Supreme Court Justice Shelley Fitzpatrick as bankruptcy proceedings for Martel and his bogus company, My Mortgage Auction Corp., move into the clawback phase. A total of 480 so-called ‘winner’ investors and 81 ‘preferred’ investors who profited from the scheme are being ordered to pay all gains minus their original investment into a bankruptcy pool. Many of those facing clawbacks say they dispute PwC’s calculations, including Quadra Island resident Damian Richards, who is cited as owing $22,375.52. ‘We lost our nest egg,’ he said. ‘I’ve paid tens of thousands of dollars in taxes on money I never made. It’s been really tough to suffer a loss like that. It’s all the stages of grief — anger, resentment, denial — everything.'”

The Evening Standard. “Across Britain, the average price of a home coming on the market this month is £371,870, according to a property portal. While new spring buyers will not beat the stamp duty deadline, they will benefit from the highest property choice at this time of year for a decade, Rightmove said. Colleen Babcock, a property expert at Rightmove said: ‘Historic averages show that this March is likely to be one of the strongest months of the year for sellers to spring into action. However, sellers can’t just rely on these historic averages for success, as this year they are facing a decade-high level of competition. Those who are successfully finding buyers right now are working hard with their agents to price competitively and present their home in the best possible light.'”

“The pace of rental growth has been dragged down by London, where newly agreed rents were down 2.8 per cent on a year earlier. The falls put the cost of moving into a new rental property in London back to May 2023 levels, the report said. Aneisha Beveridge, head of research at Hamptons, said: ‘Tenants moving into a new home have seen rental growth grind to a halt, with prices rising at the slowest rate since September 2020. Londoners, in particular, have seen rents go backwards.'”

South China Morning Post. “Hong Kong property investment firm Gale Well Group is set to offload assets worth around HK$3 billion (US$386 million) amid banks’ wary attitude towards the real estate market, according to the firm’s founder. ‘Many banks have looked down on the property market and kept on calling investors’ loans,’ said Jacinto Tong Man-Leung, the firm’s founder, vice-chairman and CEO. ‘As a result many investors are in a very bad financial situation and have to sell some of their properties at a price lower than the market price.’ As rental incomes sink and valuations shrink, more property owners are struggling to meet their debt obligations amid high rates, leading to a surge of distressed assets. In 2024, roughly three out of four property transactions were distressed sales, according to Reeves Yan, executive director and head of capital markets at CBRE.”

“It also appointed agents to sell two luxury residential sites on the south side of Hong Kong Island last month. Gale Well has also been seeking buyers for its 21-storey Austin Plaza in Tsim Sha Tsui at HK$880 million since January, as well as the 26-storey Butterfly on Morrison Boutique Hotel in Causeway Bay at HK$630 million since last November. ‘As rental incomes plummeted and were not enough to cover the interest, selling the properties was the solution,’ Tong said.”

This Post Has 102 Comments
  1. ‘Condominium owners across the country are facing a paralyzing problem: They can’t sell their properties because of a fast-growing and mostly secret mortgage blacklist’

    I mentioned this a week or two ago. This happened starting around 2007, in south Florida largely. The market got hammered. You got a dodgy bunch of airboxes and suddenly nobody can get a loan. Two things are exactly the same: you don’t find out about the list until something gets denied. And fannie and freddie are saying there is no blacklist.

    However it seems these blacklists are starting all over the country. It is different this time!

    1. Shadow Ridge, a 440-unit townhouse and condo complex in Ventura County, Calif.” I know exactly where these are. The whole area has been red lined extreme fire danger .

    2. Does any bank even hold a mortgage maturity anymore, or are they *all* just pass-throughs to Fannie/Freddie? And what about the bigger banks? Can they buy the mortgages that Fannie/Freddie won’t?

  2. ‘Nearby, in an area of Rolling Hills where the risk of land movement also prompted a shutoff of gas and power to some of the homes, a four-bedroom, 3,165-square-foot house that is listed for $3 million is touted as an ‘opportunity to go completely off Grid and Green.’ After sitting on the market since June, the price was lowered by around $1 million from its original listing price of $4.15 million’

    That’s what I want for 3 million pesos: camping out in a slanty shanty! Honey, did you bring some marshmallows?

    1. [A Blast from the Past …]

      Rancho Palos Verdes Moratorium Deemed A Taking.

      October 27, 2008

      https://www.cp-dr.com/articles/node-2163

      [a snip]

      The City of Rancho Palos Verdes’ 30-year moratorium on new home construction in an area the city says is prone to landslides is an unconstitutional taking of private property, the Second District Court of Appeal has ruled. The decision marks a rare takings victory for property owners in state court.

      … The property owners’ attorney, Stuart Miller, said the city’s moratorium is a classic “Lucas taking.”

      “We’ve got a city that is so extreme and unreasonable,” contended Miller, who said there is no evidence his clients’ land will slide. “It’s an absolute ban on use, and there’s no justification for it.”

      1. Certainly the City of Rancho Palos Verdes should have no legal obligation or liability of any sort to the outcome of these developments. Let the buyer be aware and the developers are the culprit but I am sure they are long gone or behind highly paid attorneys’ barriers.

  3. ‘Many of those facing clawbacks say they dispute PwC’s calculations, including Quadra Island resident Damian Richards, who is cited as owing $22,375.52. ‘We lost our nest egg,’ he said. ‘I’ve paid tens of thousands of dollars in taxes on money I never made. It’s been really tough to suffer a loss like that. It’s all the stages of grief — anger, resentment, denial — everything’

    Bargaining <- Damian you are here.

    1. Google maps says that Quadra Island is beautiful, but it’s 95% uninhabited. I guess I’m too accustomed to living in heavy suburbia, because I don’t know how people would live in such a place. Yes, there are 6 streets of houses, one small grocery store, one two-pump gas station, and a golf course. I don’t think there are enough existing houses to house the employees who work the golf course. How do folks carry on with life in such places? Do they make a massive grocery run every couple months? What if something breaks in the house?

  4. BREAKING: This Will Cause Some Heartburn: Trump Declares POTATUS Auto-Pen Pardons ‘Void’

    https://hotair.com/headlines/2025/03/17/breaking-this-will-cause-some-heartburn-trump-declares-potatus-auto-pen-pardons-void-n3800845

    Donald J. Trump Posts From His Truth Social:

    The “Pardons” that Sleepy Joe Biden gave to the Unselect Committee of Political Thugs, and many others, are hereby declared VOID, VACANT, AND OF NO FURTHER FORCE OR EFFECT, because of the fact that they were done by Autopen. In other words, Joe Biden did not sign them but, more importantly, he did not know anything about them! The necessary Pardoning Documents were not explained to, or approved by, Biden. He knew nothing about them, and the people that did may have committed a crime. Therefore, those on the Unselect Committee, who destroyed and deleted ALL evidence obtained during their two year Witch Hunt of me, and many other innocent people, should fully understand that they are subject to investigation at the highest level. The fact is, they were probably responsible for the Documents that were signed on their behalf without the knowledge or consent of the Worst President in the History of our Country, Crooked Joe Biden!

    1. “The necessary Pardoning Documents were not explained to, or approved by, Biden.”

      Lets see the lawyers talk this down.

  5. David Stockman shreds Trump claim of unfair Canadian tariffs

    (International Man, via Zero Hedge)

    Excerpt:

    Consider his point above about Canada’s anti-farmer tariffs, which he claims rise to 250% to 390% of various US dairy products.

    Well, no, in 2024 Canada did not collect one single Canadian dollar or US dollar or even plug nickel of tariff revenue from US dairy exporters of the four leading dairy export products—fluid milk, butter, cheese and powder milk. That’s right, the tariff on US dairy exports of these four products was zero, nichts, nada and nothing, respectively.

    And the reason for that lies in the so-called TRQs (tariff rate quota) that the Donald himself negotiated with the Canadians in the course of attaining his ballyhooed USMCA deal in 2020.

    These TRQ arrangements, of course, are Rube Goldberg devices of the kind that anti-free market government bureaucrats love to tinker with, and the Donald’s were no exception. So what they negotiated was a “tariff free” amount of US dairy exports up to a specified quota level, after which the huge Canadian dairy tariffs the Donald referenced in his rant would become effective.

    These TRQs, in turn, were to be phased in over six year—so as of 2024 we were almost there. Yet on the four leading dairy products listed in the table below, US exports did not reach the quota level in any of them. Therefore, no tariff was applied to nearly 71 million pounds of US dairy exports to Canada.

      1. “tilting your portfolio away”

        This sounds a lot like selling stocks. Like someone in 1999 selling pets.com and buying 3M.

    1. The Magnificent Seven tech stocks plummet as the Nasdaq marks worst day in three years
      Tesla led the drop, but Meta, Apple and Nvidia were all down more than 4% intraday trading
      By Ece Yildirim
      Updated March 10, 2025

      The so-called Magnificent Seven tech stocks fell sharply Monday, sending the Nasdaq down 4% in what has been its worst day since September 13, 2022, when the Nasdaq composite shed 5.16%.

      Nvidia dropped a little more than 5% to $106.98 a share on Monday, and Apple ended the day down 4.84% at 227.48 a share. Google parent Alphabet and Meta ended the day down more than 4%, Microsoft was down a little over 3%, and Amazon closed down 2.36%.

      https://qz.com/magnificent-seven-tech-stocks-nvidia-tesla-google-nadaq-1851768811

    2. Wall Street sees no guard rails for Trump 2.0, with Bessent embracing MAGA
      The Treasury secretary’s muted reassurances to financial markets shows there may be no one in the administration willing to stand in the way of Trump’s agenda.

      Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was expected by some on Wall Street to play a moderating force in the administration. But he’s emerged as a proponent of President Donald Trump’s aggressive trade policy that’s roiling financial markets. | Yuri Gripas/abacapress.com
      By Sam Sutton and Michael Stratford
      03/16/2025 02:00 PM EDT

      Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, a successful hedge fund manager straight out of central casting, has quickly become one of the administration’s strongest advocates for policies that are upending global trade and roiling financial markets.

      The deliberate, wonkish Wall Street veteran who once called for the gradual implementation of new trade barriers has transformed into a bullhorn for President Donald Trump’s MAGA 2.0 agenda, making it clear that short-term market reactions are secondary to administration priorities such as sweeping tariffs.

      https://www.politico.com/news/2025/03/16/wall-street-hoped-scott-bessent-would-keep-trump-in-check-he-had-other-ideas-00231771

    3. Yahoo Finance
      Fortune
      Why lowering the yield on 10-year bonds is more important to Trump than the stock market or interest rates
      President Donald Trump (right) and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent (left) have both said they want to bring down borrowing costs for Americans. · Fortune · Anna Moneymaker—Getty
      Greg McKenna
      Fri, March 14, 2025 at 9:28 AM PDT 5 min read

      The Trump administration has talked a lot about the yield on the 10-year Treasury, the benchmark for rates on mortgages and other common types of loans, as the president pledges to bring down borrowing costs for Americans. Data suggests more households are exposed to changes in interest rates than swings in the stock market,…

      https://finance.yahoo.com/news/why-lowering-yield-10-bonds-162851838.html

        1. Yahoo Finance
          ‘A sentiment shift’: What Wall Street is saying after the S&P 500’s 10% tumble
          Josh Schafer · Reporter
          Updated Mon, March 17, 2025 at 2:42 AM PDT 4 min read

          The S&P 500 has entered correction, falling 10% from its February all-time highs as political uncertainty has driven fears over the market outlook.

          “There’s been a sentiment shift,” Citi US equity strategist Scott Chronert told Yahoo Finance. “The sentiment and the client and investor focus has completely swung upside down versus where we started the year.”

          https://finance.yahoo.com/news/a-sentiment-shift-what-wall-street-is-saying-after-the-sp-500s-10-tumble-133045156.html

      1. The Moneyist
        ‘I’ll retire when I’m dead’: My 401(k) lost $50,000 in the market turmoil. I’m in my early 40s. What should I do now?
        ‘I have no clue how the funds in my 401(k) are invested’
        Last Updated: March 17, 2025 at 3:01 p.m. ET
        First Published: March 17, 2025 at 5:31 a.m. ET

        https://www.marketwatch.com/story/ill-retire-when-im-dead-my-401-k-lost-50-000-in-the-market-turmoil-im-in-my-early-40s-what-should-i-do-now-98cb9ce9

  6. TRUTH OVER NEWS – The Lie That Locked Down the World.

    Germany, alongside Fauci, concealed evidence that Covid came from a lab—ensuring the world pursued disastrous policies that made the pandemic far worse.

    https://truthovernews.org/p/the-lie-that-locked-down-the-world

    On March 12, 2025, it was revealed that Germany’s foreign intelligence service, the BND, had early information—known with a high degree of certainty—that Covid originated in a lab in Wuhan, and the German government deliberately buried it. While it has been clear since at least September 2021—when the Wuhan Institute of Virology’s 2018 blueprint for creating Covid-like viruses was leaked—that the virus came from a lab, this new revelation is significant for what it reveals about responsibility for the aftermath. The fact that German authorities had confidential information in 2020 strongly pointing to a lab origin isn’t just an academic detail for historians. The virus’s true origin had enormous implications for how the pandemic unfolded, and the cover-up profoundly shaped the course of events, with devastating consequences.

    Had the truth not been concealed—had it been revealed that Covid was engineered for maximum infectivity in humans—the public health response would have unfolded very differently. Natural viruses don’t spread like wildfire overnight; they require time to adapt and become more contagious.

    The original SARS virus, for instance, killed 774 people worldwide and infected only about 8,000 in total. In the United States, there were no local transmissions at all. As a natural virus, SARS struggled to spread because it lacked the precision needed to efficiently infect human cells.

    This can be likened to a key that doesn’t quite fit a lock. With enough luck, wiggling, and forcing, the wrong key might eventually open the lock—but it’s difficult and unreliable. That’s what happened with SARS.

    Covid, on the other hand, was like a key perfectly cut for the lock. From the moment it appeared, it was primed to infect human airway cells with remarkable efficiency. That doesn’t happen in nature. The Covid virus had been designed to infect humans from the start—and the authorities knew it. They lied.

    1. The Covid virus had been designed to infect humans from the start—and the authorities knew it. They lied.

      They lie about everything

      1. The H5N1 bird flu virus was also engineered to transmit easily among mammals – in 2011.

        ‘Surprising Twist in Debate Over Lab-Made H5N1’

        “Fouchier sparked the controversy in September 2011 when he revealed at an influenza conference in Malta that his lab had engineered H5N1 to transmit readily in mammals for the first time.”

        And who appears front and center in this debate? Mr. Pandemic himself, Fauci.

        ‘At the ASM meeting … Anthony Fauci, who heads the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, which funded both experiments’

        https://research.fredhutch.org/content/dam/stripe/cbf/files/0029_cohen.pdf

        ‘Engineering H5N1 avian influenza viruses to study human adaptation’

        https://www.nature.com/articles/nature11170

  7. Dumb question of the day:

    If U.S. housing prices in many locales stop appreciating or even begin to drop, where are all the people who have been living off their home equity wealth gains going to get spending money?

    1. That’s an easy one. Just don’t pay. Game the system. I believe FHA will let you keep tacking on back end liens up to 30% original loan amount. It’s been documented that many don’t make payments from day one. After 5 or so missed payments the servicer in many cases doesn’t even contact the borrower they just tack a zero percent lien on the back of the loan to cover missed payments. Fannie has something similar. And equity isn’t even a concern. Just keep restructuring until you reach 30% of original amount. Unbelievable, right? It’s happening. So why wouldn’t you buy and never make a payment. You’ll get free housing until the forbearance options run out, then probably another few years waiting for them to foreclose. Just another form of hidden stimulus. What a stinking joke!

      1. Saw an article on this (wish i kept the link) that you can do this up to 45 payments. Basically not pay, get 3 months behind, they restructure, you still don’t pay, they restructure………..

        over a million loans are like this.

        Everything is fake

  8. #MuhResistance

    HuffPaint — Democrat Party Approval Sinks To All-Time Low (3/16/2025):

    “A survey of registered voters found that just 27% said they have positive views of the party.

    That is the lowest number in the history of NBC News’ poll, which dates back to 1990.

    Of those polled, only 7% said they had a “very” positive view of the Democrats.

    Democratic pollster Jeff Horwitt of Hart Research Associates, who conducted the research with GOP pollster Bill McInturff of Public Opinion Strategies, told NBC News the data reflects a do-or-die moment for the party.

    “With these numbers, the Democratic Party is not in need of a rebrand,” he said. “It needs to be rebooted.”

    https://www.huffpost.com/entry/democratic-party-approval-all-time-low-poll_n_67d71f91e4b0c332fd9c672d

    Go torch some more Teslas, that will win the 2026 midterms.

  9. should get his job back because of a new federal court order

    These judicial activists/insurrectionists will be overturned and they will be impeached.

    1. Possibly overturned by I will believe successful impeachments when I see them. Too many lawyers with democratic donors.

  10. Venezuelans deported by U.S. arrive in El Salvador despite federal judge ordering their return

    The Trump administration has deported alleged members of a Venezuelan gang from the U.S. despite a court order forbidding it from doing so, saying in an extraordinary statement that a judge did not have the authority to block its actions.

    The deportation operation followed a move by Judge James Boasberg to block President Donald Trump’s use of the Alien Enemies Act’s wartime powers to rapidly deport more than 200 alleged members of Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan gang that has been linked to kidnapping, extortion and contract killings.

    “A single judge in a single city cannot direct the movements of an aircraft … full of foreign alien terrorists who were physically expelled from U.S. soil,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement.

    She said the court had “no lawful basis” and that federal courts generally have no jurisdiction over how a president conducts foreign affairs.

    The following day, El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele posted footage to the social media site X showing men being hustled off a plane in the dark of night amid a massive security presence.

    “Oopsie … Too late,” Bukele posted above a headline, “Fed judge orders deportation flights carrying alleged Venezuelan gangbangers to return to the US.”

    Bukele followed the comment by a laughing-so-hard-I’m-crying emoji. His statement was reposted by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who also thanked Bukele for his “assistance and friendship.”

    https://www.theglobeandmail.com/world/article-us-prepares-to-deport-about-300-alleged-gang-members-to-el-salvador/

    1. The Globe and Mail got the story from Reuters. No wonder they used editorial phrases like “extraordinary statement.”

  11. DeepSeek May Have Been More Smoke Than Fire, But Panic Shows Data Centers Are ‘Too Big To Fail’

    Nearly two months after DeepSeek roiled markets and triggered alarm about the future of the data center sector, greater clarity is emerging as to what the Chinese artificial intelligence model actually means for the industry.

    At the same time, DeepSeek does represent a meaningful step forward in making AI computing more efficient and less expensive — innovation that some industry insiders say is already driving a shift in the geography of the data center development landscape.

    For some, the significance of January’s DeepSeek hysteria is primarily that it served as a reminder of the volatility and uncertainty of a data center sector that’s increasingly viewed as a sure bet and of the sudden centrality of a previously obscure segment of the CRE landscape to the global economy.

    “It wasn’t just Nvidia stock plunging or a bunch of data center company stocks plunging … the entire stock market took a nosedive just based on one piece of breaking news about one AI model in China,” Ryan Hughes, managing partner at Florida-based developer Sailfish Investors said at the DICE event, held at the Crowne Plaza Atlanta Midtown.

    “That shows how this entire sector is really getting almost too big to fail.”

    https://www.bisnow.com/national/news/data-center/deepseek-more-smoke-than-fire-but-shows-data-centers-are-too-big-to-fail-128499

  12. Federal layoffs couldn’t be coming at a worse time for workers

    Federal workers trying to trek to the private sector could find they’ve walked into a minefield. Lackluster corporate hiring, a shrinking middle-management job market, and dwindling academic positions are making the path to employment beyond federal agencies trickier to navigate than in the past, workplace observers told Business Insider.

    “Right now is absolutely a very difficult time for the government workers that need to go back on the job market,” Andy Wu, an associate professor of business administration at Harvard Business School, told BI.

    It’s been a tough job market over the past few years for many people, especially those with desk jobs. Now, the US job market appears to be “frozen by an environment of economic uncertainty,” Cory Stahle, an economist at Indeed, recently wrote on LinkedIn.

    For years, some companies have been trying to scrub management layers from their org charts to trim costs.

    Growing uncertainty over the economic fallout from tariffs and a jittery stock market could push companies to cut more management layers, Angela T. Hall, an associate professor at Michigan State University’s School of Human Resources and Labor Relations, told BI.

    “When we see recession or hints of recession, what do they do? They lay off middle managers,” she said.

    Hall said that would likely be bad news for longtime government workers who have historically been good fits for those types of roles.

    Another possible escape route for one-time federal workers isn’t looking as promising as it once had.

    Some NGOs and universities, facing drops in federal outlays, are hoisting their ladders. More than a dozen top schools, from Brown to Harvard, recently halted hiring because of uncertainty around funding, according to reports.

    Some skills might be so specific that government workers could face a tough job search. While being a specialist is often a good thing, a long record of sending up weather balloons or serving as a nuclear submarine engineer could limit someone’s job prospects.

    Hall pointed to the plight of a man who had worked with dogs at Alaska’s Denali National Park and had been laid off.

    “There aren’t a lot of opportunities for dog mushers,” she said.

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/federal-layoffs-couldn-t-be-coming-at-a-worse-time-for-some-workers/ar-AA1B4jrN

    1. “There aren’t a lot of opportunities for dog mushers,” she said.

      We’ve had a couple of mountain lions and a juvenile bear wander into town over the years, and the fish and wildlife teams trap and sedate on a timed IV system them before transporting them back to the wilderness. FWIW, there are no cowards in this crew!

    1. If you violate the terms of your Visa, you will leave this country.’
      I have a long term visa and I can not protest against the Govt. or I would lose my visa.

  13. Washington, DC’s economy is headed for a recession as Trump slashes federal workforce

    Tyler Wolf was laid off last week from his job as an employment attorney at the US Department of Health and Human Services. The 32-year-old had been saving up to buy a home and planned to move in with his girlfriend this year.

    Wolf is now planning to move out of his apartment near The Wharf, a trendy waterfront business district in the city, by early April to live with his parents in Virginia. He has also cut back on his spending.

    And with signs of strain already showing, economists at Moody’s say DC could slip into a recession as soon as this year.

    Wolf has already adjusted his behavior accordingly as he looks for a new position in a competitive job market.

    “I’m lucky that I don’t have children or a mortgage because it gives me a bit more flexibility, but this is definitely going to set me back quite a bit,” Wolf said. “Now I’ve been cooking at home, I try not to go out for drinks, and it’s been a bit disheartening seeing most open attorney positions here asking for a lot more experience than I have.”

    Alexandra Reid, who lives in Washington with her husband and dog, was laid off last month from her program specialist job at the National Institutes of Health. The 30-year-old said losing her job halved her household’s income; the couple will likely need to dip into their savings just to get by.

    “I have stopped pretty much all spending on nonessentials since I received the termination notice, only making food, grocery, and transportation purchases as a protective measure,” Reid said. “And this is just a terrible job market right now to be in.”

    The metro’s housing market also suggests more people might be leaving the metro area amid Trump’s layoffs: Homes listed for sale began to pick up in late January, according to Realtor.com data, and were 56.2% higher in the week of March 8 compared to the same week a year earlier. That reflects a sharp acceleration from the second half of last year, when inventory growth hovered between 20% and 30%.

    “So far, we’re seeing more homes on the market, and modestly lower asking prices, but the situation continues to evolve,” Danielle Hale, chief economist at Realtor.com, said in a statement. “While I expect many households will choose to stay in the area and pivot to find new job opportunities, some will likely choose to leave and retire or find a job elsewhere.”

    “I’m more upset than anything because of the arbitrary nature of all this, but I do feel confident that I’ll get back on my feet — with time,” said Wolf.

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/washington-dc-s-economy-is-headed-for-a-recession-as-trump-slashes-federal-workforce/ar-AA1B1lx7

  14. Hundreds gather in San Francisco to protest mass firings of federal employees

    On Sunday afternoon, a few hundred demonstrators gathered outside San Francisco City Hall to protest the mass firings of federal employees. Their rally highlighted growing concern about job security and the treatment of federal workers under the current administration.

    “Nearly everyone I work with is in fear right now. Even giving this interview, I’m afraid. I think there’s been a real chilling effect in the way they just summarily terminate people,” said Andrew Fish, a worker for the National Park Service.

    Fish also revealed that his local department has already lost ten colleagues due to the firings.

    “This isn’t meant just to destroy the federal government, it’s meant to traumatize us along the way,” he said. “We’re being bullied. And you’re right, we’re angry.”

    Hai Binh Nguyen, another CFPB employee, echoed similar sentiments, saying, “I help make sure that banks don’t cheat everyday people. I do investigations, and I go to court on behalf for those everyday people. I hope I can get back to work. But I’m currently being told not to work.”

    Despite two federal court rulings ordering the reinstatement of fired workers, the demonstrators expressed uncertainty about when or whether those orders would be followed through.

    “I am worried. If I don’t have a job, we’re not going to have healthcare. I have two small kids,” said Nguyen.

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/hundreds-gather-in-san-francisco-to-protest-mass-firings-of-federal-employees/ar-AA1B3gj6

    1. Hundreds gather in San Francisco to protest mass firings of federal employees

      They’ve protested here in my little burg, in front of the Tesla dealership that has been fire bombed.

  15. Trump’s purge of federal workers threatens environmental, scientific studies in SC

    Before losing his job in President Donald Trump’s purge of federal workers, Phil Tanabe planned to study how toxic forever chemicals are affecting tidal creeks that draw anglers to coastal South Carolina.

    Relatively few research projects have examined the chemicals’ impact on fish in salty and brackish water, so for Tanabe – who has a Ph.D in environmental toxicology – this was a chance to educate the public about the threat the chemicals present in the Lowcountry.

    Then came Feb. 27.

    Late that afternoon, Tanabe received a curt email, saying his job had been eliminated as a research scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Charleston. He was deemed non-essential to NOAA, a widely respected government research agency now under scrutiny by Trump.

    Weeks later, Tanabe remains angry he was fired – and he’s worried that important research will fall by the wayside.

    “I don’t think many people realize the way this is happening, the lack of logic behind it and the inhumane treatment like this,’’ Tanabe said of the Trump Administration’s layoffs. “We are not being treated as people. We’re just numbers on paper.’’

    “It’s going to be a rough time for natural resources,’’ said Steve Gilbert, a biologist who formerly worked at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and NOAA in South Carolina. “The president doesn’t believe in science. And he doesn’t care what happens to the environment.’’

    Nick Castillo was an ecotoxicologist hired last fall at NOAA’s Charleston area laboratory after completing his doctorate at Florida International University.

    Castillo, who attended Duke University as an undergraduate, planned multiple studies with the S.C. Department of Natural Resources and Coastal Carolina University on forever chemicals.

    One of those was to look at forever chemicals in horseshoe crabs. That could help determine if PFAS was affecting their ability to breed, and also whether it was building up in crab eggs that other species eat. Birds, such as one type of the rare red knot, depend on horseshoe crab eggs for survival.

    “We wanted to understand what’s going on,’’ he said. “Is there the capability of this transferring and affecting other organisms that feed on the eggs?’’

    Castillo, who earned $95,000 at NOAA, said he was told that his skills did not meet the needs of the agency in the future. He also said the government officials who put him out of work were, at one point, demeaning in their emails to him and others at NOAA in Charleston.

    One communication he received indicated he and other federal workers were lazy, Castillo said.

    “The way to greater American prosperity is encouraging people to move from lower productivity jobs in the public sector to higher productivity jobs in the private sector,’’ the unsigned government missive said.

    Castillo said the emailed communication “was so offensive because everyone I know worked hard.’’

    For now, Castillo, 32, said he’s making ends meet, but that may not be the case in a few months. His savings are running low, Castillo said. Like Tanabe, he said it hasn’t been easy finding a position such as the one he had at NOAA because so many federal workers are now looking for jobs.

    He’s also working with a group of Washington lawyers and fellow laid off workers on a lawsuit challenging the layoffs. It’s a frustrating time because he plans to get married and the layoff isn’t helping prepare for a wedding.

    “Most of us are applying for unemployment because we don’t know what is going on,’’ he said. “Financially, I’m not on the streets right now, but I’ve got enough money for rent for maybe two more months. I’m just trying to keep expenses low.’’

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/trump-s-purge-of-federal-workers-threatens-environmental-scientific-studies-in-sc/ar-AA1B4AIK

    1. Something I like to ask people who are upset with the slashing is if they would be OK with having their income tax doubled to pay for all the pork barrel spending, or if they don’t pay any income tax how they would feel about say paying 10%

  16. Law students mourn loss of ‘dream jobs’ after government offers disappear: ‘I was distraught’

    On January 22, Andrew Nettels spent the morning onboarding for his Honors Program role with the Department of Justice. Later that day, an email put his future on hold.

    The third-year law student at George Washington University had his full-time offer with the Department of Justice rescinded due to the federal government’s hiring freeze. He was planning on starting after his graduation in the spring.

    “At first, I thought it was an error,” says Nettels, 25. “It was several days before I realized it wasn’t.”

    Nettels is one of many early-career professionals affected by the freeze, confirmed by rescission letters which CNBC Make It reviewed.

    Some, like Isaiah Gonzales, a third-year law student at the University of Vermont who had an Honors Program offer with the Department of Justice rescinded, signed long-term leases in anticipation of their jobs. While Gonzales, 28, says he was able to get out of the lease, the disappointment of losing his “dream job” stung.

    “I was distraught,” Gonzales says. “I worked my whole three years in law school to get this and somehow, with the strike of a pen, it’s been taken away from me.”

    Interns have been affected, too. Austin Mun, a second-year law student at Seton Hall, had a summer offer with the IRS rescinded. He says he was looking forward to taking a role with the agency, which he says has a “good re-hiring policy.”

    He immigrated to the United States from South Korea when he was in middle school and planned on being the first in his family to buy a house if he received a full-time offer. Now, he fears those plans are in jeopardy.

    “That job security is gone, so all that dream is gone,” says Mun, 31.

    He has found summer employment with the insurance company AIG but is “not sure how well it translates into full-time, like [the] IRS does.”

    Many students decided to forego other opportunities in the private sector and with state and local governments in favor of the federal government offers. Now, a lot of them say they are left without a backup plan.

    “When I accepted the offer with the government, I didn’t apply to a lot of other places that I could have,” says Michael Stile, 25, a second-year student at Seton Hall who also accepted a summer role with the IRS. And now it’s too late: “A lot of firms and everything that I could have applied to, the applications have closed.”

    Nettels is still in the job search. He started a support group chat with other students to “talk about what we’re going through” and discuss potential opportunities. He estimates that there are 100 members to-date.

    https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/business/money-report/law-students-mourn-loss-of-dream-jobs-after-government-offers-disappear-i-was-distraught/3656332/

  17. Protestors gather to support laid-off workers: ‘Federal employees are not villains’

    KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) – A crowd of protestors lined Pershing Street on Saturday, standing in solidarity with laid-off federal workers and rallying for support of civil services.

    “Power to the People,” “Save the Civil Service” and “Public Service is a Badge of Honor,” their signs read. A shout of “Union!” was met with the response, “Power!”

    “This is not right, it is not fair, and they need to do their job to support the federal agencies,” said Shannon Ellis, president of the National Treasury Employee Union (NTEU) Chapter 66.

    The Trump Administration and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) prompted the firings toward the end of February, starting with thousands of probationary federal employees across the country. It’s part of the administration’s attempt to downsize the federal government and cut back on what its officials call decades of wasteful spending.

    “We’re cutting down the size of government. We have to,” President Donald Trump said in February during the first Cabinet meeting of his second term. “We’re bloated. We’re sloppy. We have a lot of people that aren’t doing their job.”

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/protestors-gather-to-support-laid-off-workers-federal-employees-are-not-villains/ar-AA1B1J6z

    1. Protestors gather to support laid-off workers: ‘Federal employees are not villains’

      It doesn’t matter what they are. They could all be Mother Teresas, but we can’t continue with $2T deficits.

      1. My understanding is that FedGov added over half a million employees in the past five years. The government wasn’t falling apart in 2019, so what are these extra half-million people doing?

        In related news, for the moment, my co-workers got a small piece of news that suggests that our specific job duties are statutorily mandated, and therefore not on the immediate chopping block. Woohoo. I was doing some early contingency planning for a RIF, but I guess I can go back to thinking about business as usual.

        1. The government wasn’t falling apart in 2019, so what are these extra half-million people doing?

          Performing make work and collecting paychecks.

  18. Trump signs executive order shutting down Radio and TV Martí; employees placed on administrative leave

    NORTHWEST MIAMI-DADE, FLA. (WSVN) – The Trump administration ordered the shutdown of a major broadcasting agency with headquarters in South Florida that is financed by the federal government, placing its employees on administrative leave.

    7News cameras on Sunday captured the headquarters of Radio y Televisión Martí, or Radio and TV Martí, in Northwest Miami-Dade. The premises are now vacant, a day after employees were forced out.

    President Donald Trump signed an executive order dismantling the U.S. Agency for Global Media, the parent company of the Office of Cuba Broadcasting, which oversees Radio and TV Martí.

    Radio Martí was created in 1983, a Reagan-era effort to allow information to Cubans in the troubled island. TV Martí was added in 1990.

    The Office of Cuban Broadcasting had an annual budget of $12 million, after reductions in recent years. Previously, it received more than $20 million annually from Congress.

    U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., called the move a gift to the communist regime.

    “They’re broadcasting music, where there used to be neutral, objective information that ensured that Cubans on the island can really be able to get access to information that they need to be able to push for their own rights,” she said. “It’s going to basically strengthen the regime.”

    https://wsvn.com/news/politics/trump-signs-executive-order-shutting-down-radio-and-tv-marti-employees-placed-on-administrative-leave/

    1. “It’s going to basically strengthen the regime.”

      Cuba can’t keep the lights on anymore. It’s only a matter of time before it collapses. What we should be preparing for is to rush in with humanitarian supplies when the population is staving to death.

      1. When I was young a friend would take me down to see a radio station. It was one guy. He did everything, put new records on, take calls, run ads. It shouldn’t cost 20 millions to broadcast music nobody is listening to.

        1. I suppose at one time it served as a propaganda outlet. That it has outlived its usefulness doesn’t matter, because as Reagan once said, it’s next to impossible to kill a government program.

  19. ‘I assume I’ll be driven out the country’: Workers fear Trump is leading a purge of LGBTQ+ federal employees

    When Wylie joined the Postal Service in December, they had two very contradictory thoughts about the coming return of Donald Trump.

    They knew, as a nonbinary transgender person, that the next four years would be hell. Trump, after all, had made attacking what he called “transgender insanity” a central part of his 2024 campaign and his first administration. But Wylie didn’t want to hide who they are, either.

    “I wanted to be out in the streets, be where people can see me, and also see the day-to-day on the streets so that if anything starts changing I perhaps have time to respond,” said Wylie, who asked not to use their full name for their safety.

    Federal workers told The Independent these steps amount to a new Lavender Scare, the paranoid, Cold War-era purge of LGBTQ+ people from the federal government that caused thousands to leave federal service for good. None of those interviewed for this story wanted to use their full names for fear of reprisals.

    Wylie has alternated between defiance and defense, continuing to using the bathroom of their choice in federal buildings, while also engaging an immigration attorney in case they have to flee the country if Trump goes further down what they see as his “Nazi” path.

    “I kind of assume that I will be driven out of the country in the next four years,” Wylie added. “I am an Eagle Scout. I love this country, but it clearly doesn’t love me back.”

    Brigette, who works at the Department of Interior in Colorado, is a trans woman, but her government documents and email address still use her previous name.

    “I have the profound benefit at the moment of still passing as a cisgender man and being in a straight-passing relationship,” she said.

    Brigette had been meaning to change her government documents to reflect her identity, but the Trump administration has declared there are only two immutable sexes which begin at birth, man and woman, and suspended the process for those seeking to change the gender on their U.S. passport.

    “As far my employer is currently concerned,” Brigette said, “I don’t exist.”

    She’s been careful not to speak too much about anything LGBTQ+-related on official channels, for fears it could later be used against her.

    A lesbian woman who works in federal law enforcement told The Independent she became alarmed when employees at her agency were told to take down their Pride flags and leave identity-focused government employee resource groups for their “safety.” She’s not out to her colleagues, and she intends to remain this way for now.

    “It’s just like this really weird headspace that I’m in,” she said. “Can I say anything? Is someone going to report me? I don’t know. I’ve just kind of been pretending to be my old self until I figure out what’s happening.”

    https://www.msn.com/en-nz/news/other/i-assume-i-ll-be-driven-out-the-country-workers-fear-trump-is-leading-a-purge-of-lgbtq-federal-employees/ar-AA1B2sc4

    1. Just deliver the mail in a timely manner, without mistakes nor drama and I won’t care if you think you’re a French Poodle

    2. “I have the profound benefit at the moment of still passing as a cisgender man and being in a straight-passing relationship”

      The word “pass” has a very sad historical context. Mixed-race slaves who had lighter skin tried to “pass” as white so they could escape North without detection, or fit into white society. Of course it was risky, because if the person was discovered to be a slave, the punishments were extremely harsh.

      I didn’t know that the nonbinary community had adopted this context.

      1. It’s a total hijacking of the legitimate civil right movement from Civil War to circa 1965.

        You’re not getting lynched or beaten with billy clubs for demanding YOUR RIGHTS as an American to vote, attend school, or eat at a lunch counter.

        You’re a man in a dress with a 5 o’clock shadow and veiny hands with big knuckles.

        As always, at its root, is Marxism.

    3. “I kind of assume that I will be driven out of the country in the next four years,” Wylie added. “I am an Eagle Scout. I love this country, but it clearly doesn’t love me back.”

      The gravy is probably thicker here than back home.

  20. Whistleblowers have come forward disclosing that the Chem trail program that Bill Gates donates to is a punch of toxic chemicals and pharmaceuticals being sprayed on humans and animals.

    The Food Industry is being exposed for toxic food supply.
    Our Government continues to do gain of function research to create killer pathogens.
    So, its acceptable that some rich guy like Bill Gates can partner with government and institutions and he has influence on programs . Gates is a unelected private party that’s acting like the Climate and Health dictator for globe.
    How is it Gates knows ahead of time about Panademics?

    What if they are delivering Panademics and sickness by targeted chem trailing. The mysterious fog that hit certain areas made people sick and they could smell the chemicals.

    A couple weeks ago Trump said he was going to investigate all this spraying taking place.
    How come Gates, or Soros or the WEF as unelected private parties are dictating global policies in every realm.
    The Powers That Be have infiltrated many a Government to partner with their power grab to have a One World Order dictorship.
    And some guy on some Podcast was saying they want to implement AI and Robots to control all humans and they don’t care if humanity wants it or not. And same guy said they don’t care if they have to fake a Alien Invasion or whatever to get their control of world and all the resources.
    Unbelievable

  21. At Gridiron, journalists joke around but skip the presidential toast

    For as long as anyone can remember, the Gridiron Club and Foundation dinner has ended the evening with a toast to the president of the United States. But, on Saturday night, after hours of gallows humor about the state of the media under the second Trump administration, Gridiron President Judy Woodruff, the former anchor of “PBS NewsHour,” raised her glass to something else.

    “A toast to the First Amendment,” she said.

    A knowing look passed between attendees as they clinked their glasses.

    The first sketch of the night, featuring Jeff Bezos and a chainsaw-clutching Elon Musk, got a rise from the crowd. As did a pair of leaf-covered Democrats who sang, “No one cares about your pronouns when you’re lost in the woods.”

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/politics/government/at-gridiron-journalists-joke-around-but-skip-the-presidential-toast/ar-AA1B1TKg

  22. After a stint in Guantanamo Bay, a Venezuelan deported from the US adjusts to his homeland

    MARACAIBO, Venezuela (AP) — Jhoan Bastidas was deported from the United States and spent 16 days at the U.S. naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, watched by cameras and eating small meals that left him hungry.

    “I was locked up all day in a little room — I counted the feet: 7 wide and 13 long — without being able to do anything, without a book, looking at the walls,” Bastidas, 25, said in his father’s middle-class home in the western city of Maracaibo, Venezuela.

    Three weeks after he was returned to Venezuela under President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, Bastidas is just starting to make sense of it all — how he is back in the once-prosperous hometown that he left as a teenager; how tattoos on his chest earned him a reputation as a criminal; and how he became one of the few migrants to set foot on the naval base best known for housing terrorism suspects.

    He set off for Texas in November 2023, bankrolled by a brother whose promise of a car and a food delivery job in Utah convinced him to migrate.

    Bastidas turned himself in to U.S. authorities after reaching the border with Mexico and was taken to a detention facility in El Paso, Texas. He remained there until early February, when one morning he was handcuffed, driven to an airport and put in an airplane without being told where it was headed.

    After the aircraft landed, fellow passengers thought they were in Venezuela, but when he reached the door and only saw “gringos,” Bastidas said, he concluded they were wrong. When he saw “Guantanamo” written on the floor, it did not mean anything to him. He had never heard that word before.

    Bastidas said his hands and feet were shackled whenever he left his cell, including when he went to shower every three days. At one point, he and other detainees were given small Bibles, and they began praying together, reading Scripture loudly and placing their ears against the door to hear each other.

    “We used to say that the one who was going to get us out was God because we didn’t see any other solutions. We didn’t have anyone to lean on,” Bastidas added.

    Bastidas and other Venezuelans returned to Venezuela from Guantanamo on Feb. 20. Armed state intelligence service agents dropped them off at their homes.

    Bastidas spent the next two weeks resting. He then began working at a hot dog stand.

    Few people might know Bastidas by name in his sweltering hometown, but practically everyone in Maracaibo knows someone who has migrated. So, news of the Venezuelans’ transfer to Guantanamo was shared seemingly endlessly on social media and WhatsApp, setting off debates over their living conditions and alleged gang affiliations as well as the complex crisis that drove them to migrate in the first place.

    Bastidas is leaning into faith to ignore the noise and move forward.

    “I see it as a kind of test that the Lord put me through,” he said. “He has another purpose for me. It wasn’t for me to be (in the U.S.), and he kept me there (in detention) for some reason.”

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/after-a-stint-in-guantanamo-bay-a-venezuelan-deported-from-the-us-adjusts-to-his-homeland/ar-AA1B3nNl

    1. When he saw “Guantanamo” written on the floor, it did not mean anything to him. He had never heard that word before.

      Bullsh!t. Everyone in LatAm knows about the “yanqui occupation” in Cuba.

  23. Should you book that trip to the U.S.? Philosophy prof breaks down ethics of retaliating against Trump tariffs

    Peter Dietsch, a philosopher and economist, said it’s a double-edged sword.

    “Our hope is when we disengage, we’re signalling to not just our fellow Canadians, but especially to Americans: ‘Hey, this is not normal. We need to change something here,'” he said.

    We’ve been hearing a lot from people who have cancelled their plans to travel to the United States. We haven’t heard as much from people who have decided that they’re still going to go. Is there some shame that plays into this?

    Well, so independently of how you frame it, whether just as a trade war or as something worse, when we try to do the right thing and disengage, there is a collective action problem. We’re only going to be able to send that signal if enough people actually do it. One of the ways to enforce the solution to a collective action problem is through shame. So if someone goes, and we show them that we disapprove because we think it’s a bad idea, that has an effect.

    How are you framing this personally?

    Unfortunately, I think the existential threat arguments are stronger. But you know, here’s the thing, I think we all try to hang on to normality. But that’s exactly the problem. Things are not normal right now. I think we need to communicate that, and we need to signal that to others who maybe haven’t realized that.

    https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/u-s-travel-trade-war-1.7482967

    1. I think we all try to hang on to normality. But that’s exactly the problem. Things are not normal right now.

      Things haven’t been normal in iglooland for a long time.

  24. The new hate for Elon Musk is childish and hypocritical

    In Mr. Musk’s case, it has also become a violent one. In the past few weeks, his company’s vehicles and dealerships have been the targets of vandalism, arson, gunfire and protests, including the torching of four Tesla Cybertrucks in Seattle last weekend.

    Earlier this month, seven Tesla charging stations near Boston were set ablaze and shots were fired at a Tesla dealership in Oregon. Hundreds of protesters gathered outside a showroom in Lower Manhattan last Saturday, chanting, “Nobody voted for Elon Musk” and “Oligarchs out, democracy in.” Six of them were arrested.

    In Colorado, federal prosecutors charged a woman with malicious destruction of property for allegedly throwing Molotov cocktails at cars and spray-painting “Nazi” at a Tesla dealership north of Denver. Teslas parked on a Chicago street were also vandalized.

    Canadians, reacting to U.S. President Donald Trump’s taunts about Canada becoming the 51st state, are particularly angry with Mr. Musk. A recent poll by the Toronto Star newspaper found that 71 per cent of Canadians supported a Tesla ban, and thousands have signed a petition demanding that Mr. Musk’s Canadian citizenship be revoked.

    To be fair, there may be no evidence yet that those protesting, burning, shooting, defacing and allegedly seeking to blow up Teslas are left of centre. But let’s be honest – it is not a big stretch to deduce that they probably don’t share the political views of Mr. Musk and his boss.

    To that point, it seems no coincidence that the protests and attacks in the U.S. have all occurred in the bluest cities in the bluest states – New York, Massachusetts, Colorado, Illinois, Oregon and Washington state.

    And while his detractors say that because Mr. Musk is neither an elected official nor a government employee he does not have the authority to take on the mandate of rooting out widespread waste, fraud and abuse in the federal government, what responsible taxpayer doesn’t think that’s a good idea?

    Disagree with Mr. Musk’s tactics, fine, but the worthiness of the quest – and the potential benefits for all taxpayers – should be apparent and applauded across political lines.

    But in the current political climate, wracked by emotion and partisan hysteria, even seemingly reasonable initiatives such as the DOGE agenda become politicized – and its main advocate vilified.

    The fact that the objections to Mr. Musk and the way he is carrying out his new role have turned violent and are directed toward objects that have nothing to do with the politics themselves is beyond regrettable, even juvenile.

    This isn’t the playground sandbox. Those who are attacking Teslas are like children who throw things and break stuff when they get angry. And those seeking to dump their Teslas in protest or boycott the products, well, it seems that for them virtue signalling is a one-way street.

    https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/commentary/article-the-new-hate-for-elon-musk-is-childish-and-hypocritical/

    1. his company’s vehicles and dealerships have been the targets of vandalism, arson, gunfire and protests, including the torching of four Tesla Cybertrucks in Seattle last weekend.

      Violence. It’s the leftist way.

      They are no longer the loyal opposition.

    2. “In Colorado, federal prosecutors charged a woman with malicious destruction of property”

      That’s not a woman.

  25. Don’t ‘mess with Alaska,’ U.S. senator warns B.C., even as state Republicans affirm friendship with Canada

    As state-level Republicans in Alaska work to affirm their close relationship with Canada amid U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade war and threats of annexation, an Alaskan senator has warned British Columbia’s premier that “you don’t want to mess with Alaska.”

    Dan Sullivan of the Republican Party, who represents Alaska in the U.S. Senate, made the remarks in an interview with an Anchorage radio station posted to his Facebook page.

    During the conversation, which touched on topics ranging from energy development to Ukraine, Sullivan, one of two senators who represent the state in Washington, was asked about B.C. introducing legislation that grants the province the ability to levy new fees on U.S. commercial trucks heading to Alaska.

    “I don’t know the premiers of the different provinces but it is a bit of a dangerous game,” Sullivan said before launching into his desire to repeal, either through the senate or by executive order from Trump, the Passenger Vessel Services Act.

    Under the act, foreign-built ships are not allowed to carry passengers between two U.S. ports without a stopover in a foreign country. The law is meant to protect U.S. shipping interests, much the same as the Jones Act which applies the same rules to cargo ships.

    Many Alaska-bound cruise ships stop in B.C. — primarily Vancouver but also Nanaimo, Victoria and Prince Rupert — bringing in significant tourism revenue to the province’s economy.

    Sullivan says he would like to see that rule repealed, noting it was done when COVID-19 restrictions were in place.

    “Canada, you don’t want to mess with Alaska. And if you do, we are going to work hard on having our cruise ships bypass your ports, and that will help our economy tremendously,” Sullivan said. “They’re playing a dangerous game here, and I hope they back down.”

    https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/alaska-republicans-tariff-threat-1.7484565

  26. Don’t panic over the stock market. Trump is fixing holes in our economy. | Opinion

    When the markets go down, it’s his fault, according to Democrats and the legacy news media. But when they rise, as they eventually will, it won’t be because of Trump.

    It’s undeniable that Trump’s tariff war with Canada, China, Europe and Mexico has injected uncertainty and fears of recession into the markets.

    And his critics have pounced with disdain on the markets’ decline. “Wall Street is turning its back on Trump,” a recent CNN headline blared. “Uncertainty is Trump’s Brand,” announces a New Yorker headline over Susan Glasser’s piece blasting his tariffs.

    It’s natural to feel anxious when the markets plunge. Nobody wants to see their retirement accounts drop, especially if you’re near retirement age. I have empathy for people in that position.

    But it’s important to remember that a large swath of the electorate didn’t vote for Trump to make the stock markets skyrocket. They instead want more opportunities for good jobs and a lower rate of inflation.

    And creating better jobs in the United States is the point of Trump’s tariffs. The easiest way for companies to avoid the tariffs is to make more goods in this country, and that in turn will drive up wages.

    Cutting inflation is the point of another Trump initiative that continues to dominate the news. Under Biden, the federal government ran deficits of nearly $2 trillion a year and the national debt soared past $36 trillion. It’s imperative to cut the deficit, both to slow inflation and to trigger interest rate cuts.

    Trump didn’t promise that the stock markets wouldn’t dip; he promised to improve the economy. Through the Department of Government Efficiency and other initiatives, that will happen, but it will take time.

    There’s another piece to the stock market panic worth mentioning: the left’s egregious double standard.

    For four years, Biden made policy decisions that rapidly drove up prices on items that Americans need − from food to cars to homes. As the Cato Institute reported last year, food prices rose less than 18% between January 2010 and January 2021, when Biden took office. But they shot up 21% in the first three years of Biden’s term.

    Where were the progressive protests when millions of families struggled to buy milk and fruit for their kids? The left might have amnesia, but I don’t.

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/dont-panic-over-the-stock-market-trump-is-fixing-holes-in-our-economy-opinion/ar-AA1B4574

  27. “Nearby, in an area of Rolling Hills where the risk of land movement also prompted a shutoff of gas and power to some of the homes, a four-bedroom, 3,165-square-foot house that is listed for $3 million is touted as an ‘opportunity to go completely off Grid and Green.”

    You can toast champagne and celebrate your greenness as you slide into the blue pacific.

    But the view is terrific.

  28. https:// nitter.poast.org /WhatLayoff /status /1901628933445190106#m:

    Amazon is reportedly planning to eliminate approximately 14,000 managerial positions within its organization between the first and second quarters of 2025. This decision stems from the high cost associated with managers, with annual expenses ranging from $200,000 to $350,000. By reducing the worker-to-manager ratio by 15% and simplifying the organizational structure, Amazon anticipates substantial cost savings of up to $3.5 billion annually.

    1. Amazon is reportedly planning to eliminate approximately 14,000 managerial positions within its organization
      I am sure people will be protesting these layoffs all over the country very soon. Sarc/

  29. “Nearby, in an area of Rolling Hills where the risk of land movement also prompted a shutoff of gas and power to some of the homes,”

    Now there’s an aptly named city.

  30. ‘Assessments have been tough to handle’ shared’…he never imagined paying so much to live in Brickell by the Bay when he purchased his condo in 2019. ‘I did the math at the time,’ explained Donado. ‘My mortgage was actually going to be cheaper. Now, not by a long shot, a lot more expensive

    It was still way cheaper than renting Julian.

    ‘It’s just a lot of money to keep up with all the repairs to meet the state requirements, really just trying to get ahead’…‘I just wish that it happened a little bit sooner, probably before I bought in and I had a little bit more of an idea of what I was buying into’

    Kurd:

    [Verse 1]
    And now, the end is near
    And so I face the final curtain
    My friend, I’ll say it clear
    I’ll state my case, of which I’m certain
    I’ve lived a life that’s full
    I traveled each and every highway
    And more, much more than this
    I did it my way

    [Verse 2]
    Regrets, I’ve had a few
    But then again, too few to mention
    I did what I had to do
    And saw it through without exemption
    I planned each charted course
    Each careful step along the byway
    And more, much more than this
    I did it my way

    [Chorus]
    Yes, there were times, I’m sure you knew
    When I bit off more than I could chew
    But through it all, when there was doubt
    I ate it up and spit it out
    I faced it all, and I stood tall
    And did it my way

    https://genius.com/Frank-sinatra-my-way-lyrics

  31. ‘At the end of Talbot’s scheme in February 2020, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) confirmed suspicions of EquiAlt’s Ponzi scheming by filing a complaint that alleged the company had raised over $170 million by fooling more than 1,100 investors’

    Obammie opened the floodgates to this.

  32. ‘What that meant was that you had fewer and smaller lease transactions and if you work on a commission basis, you can do the math, right?’ he said. ‘Sometimes you would have leases that were renewed at 50%, sometimes you wouldn’t have leases renewed at all. They just simply let the lease terminate’

    Norm:

    Yip-yip-yip-yip-yip-yip, bmm
    Sha-na-na-na, sha-na-na-na-na, ahh-do
    Sha-na-na-na, sha-na-na-na-na, ahh-do
    Sha-na-na-na, sha-na-na-na-na, ahh-do
    Sha-na-na-na, sha-na-na-na-na
    Ahh, yip-yip-yip-yip-yip-yip-yip-yip
    Mum-mum-mum-mum-mum-mum, get a job
    Sha-na-na-na, sha-na-na-na-na
    Well every morning about this time (Sha-na-na-na, sha-na-na-na-na)
    She gets me out of bed, a-crying get a job (Sha-na-na-na, sha-na-na-na-na)
    After breakfast everyday she throws the want ads right my way
    And never fails to say – get a job
    Sha-na-na-na, sha-na-na-na-na, ahh-do
    Sha-na-na-na, sha-na-na-na-na, ahh-do
    Sha-na-na-na, sha-na-na-na-na, ahh-do
    Sha-na-na-na, sha-na-na-na-na
    Ahh, yip-yip-yip-yip-yip-yip-yip-yip
    Mum-mum-mum-mum-mum-mum, get a job
    Sha-na-na-na, sha-na-na-na-na
    Lord, and when I get the paper I read it through and through
    I, my girl never fail to see if there is any work for me…
    I got to go back to the house, hear that woman’s mouth
    Preachin’ and a cryin’, tell me that I’m lyin’ about a job
    That I never could find
    Sha-na-na-na, sha-na-na-na-na, ahh-do
    Sha-na-na-na, sha-na-na-na-na, ahh-do
    Sha-na-na-na, sha-na-na-na-na, ahh-do
    Sha-na-na-na, sha-na-na-na-na
    Ahh, yip-yip-yip-yip-yip-yip-yip-yip
    Mum-mum-mum-mum-mum-mum, get a job
    Sha-na-na-na, sha-na-na-na-na
    Lord, and when I get the paper I read it through and throu-ough
    I, my girl never fail to see if there is any work for me…
    I better go back to the house, hear that woman’s mouth
    Preachin’ and a cryin’, tell me that I’m lyin’ about a job
    That I never could find
    Sha-na-na-na, sha-na-na-na-na, ahh-do
    Sha-na-na-na, sha-na-na-na-na, ahh-do
    Sha-na-na-na, sha-na-na-na-na, ahh-do
    Sha-na-na-na, sha-na-na-na-na, ahh-do
    Sha-na-na-na…

  33. [Some Monday afternoon humor …]

    GOP move to make ‘Trump derangement syndrome’ a mental health disorder.

    Republican lawmakers in Minnesota have introduced a bill to designate “Trump derangement syndrome” as a mental illness.

    https://archive.ph/6VhH0#selection-579.0-583.118

    Republican legislators in Minnesota have proposed to classify “paranoid and hysteric” reactions to President Donald Trump and his policies as a new mental illness, dubbed “Trump derangement syndrome.”

    The proposal was introduced to the state Senate on Monday by five GOP lawmakers, suggesting the addition of “Trump derangement syndrome” to the state’s list of recognized mental health disorders.

    The bill characterizes the disorder as “acute onset of paranoia in otherwise normal persons that is in reaction to the policies and presidencies of President Donald J. Trump. Symptoms may include Trump-induced general hysteria, which produces an inability to distinguish between legitimate policy differences and signs of psychic pathology in President Donald J. Trump’s behavior.”

    It describes the condition as “verbal expressions of intense hostility toward President Donald J. Trump” and “overt acts of aggression and violence against anyone supporting President Donald J. Trump or anything that symbolizes President Donald J. Trump.”

    The contentious bill, which is not anticipated to pass in the divided legislature, was criticized by an opposition party, the Minnesota Democratic Farmer-Labor Party.

  34. ‘Many banks have looked down on the property market and kept on calling investors’ loans’…‘As rental incomes plummeted and were not enough to cover the interest, selling the properties was the solution’

    How do you like those 5% cap rates now Jacinto?

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