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The Spring Housing Market Is Dead On Arrival

A report from Alabama.com. “Are federal job cuts to blame for a sudden cool-down in the Huntsville housing market? Some realtors and real estate analysts believe that may have been the case in February. ‘While Huntsville is dynamic and growing with significant job opportunities for professionals, recent federal job cuts in key sectors like defense, technology, and research, along with rising interest rates, have raised concerns about a potential slowdown in the housing market,’ said William Cary Hulsey Fellow at the University of Alabama’s College of Business. And realtor Matt Curtis said February’s numbers signaled a ‘shift in momentum.’ He said there were ‘plenty of price drops out there and eager to move on sellers are bringing a surge of buyers to the market.'”

From WPEC. “Snowbirds are flying elsewhere! According to South Florida real estate agent Catherine Spino, some Canadians are flocking out of Florida. She notes there are three main reasons for this shift in the market: the U.S. to Canadian dollar exchange rate, the new condo assessments, and the cost of insuring your property. Most of the snowbirds Spino is working with are looking to sell their condos, which are second homes for her clients. Spino, a Canadian American, tells CBS12 News says some families just can’t keep up with the rising cost of HOA fees which have increased to keep up with the rising cost to insure condo buildings. She also says some families can’t afford to come up with large amounts of money, on such short notice, to pay for the new 40-year condo assessments and any fixes that those assessments uncover. So, some families are taking a cut on their investment just to sell it off.”

“‘If they don’t even have the money to pay the $20,000 to $25,000 assessment, they put it for sale on the market, and in the contract, the buyer is going to be liable for his assessment at closing,’ Spino tells CBS12 News. ‘So they are selling it for a bit less.’ Spino tells CBS12 News the exchange rate is also a big factor for Canadians who want their money to go further. As of mid-March, $1 U.S. dollar is equivalent to 70 cents in Canada.”

KJZZ in Arizona. “Residents of cold-weather places have made the Valley their winter home for years. These so-called ‘snowbirds’ tend to come from places like Minnesota, Illinois or the Dakotas. There are also a lot of snowbirds from Canada, but as Laurie Lavine, a dual American-Canadian citizen and Valley realtor, explains, that number is dropping a bit. Lavine says part of that is due to the currency exchange — the Canadian dollar is weaker than the American one. And higher interest rates also play a role, he says. But Lavine says there’s something else going on. He says working with Canadian buyers and sellers accounts for about three-quarters of his business. Lavine joined The Show to discuss, before the reporting on the registration requirement, if he’s seeing Canadian homeowners in the Valley trying to get out of this market and sell their homes.”

“‘I shouldn’t say all of them, but definitely the overwhelming majority of them. So out of the 10 listings that I have right now with Canadians, seven out of 10 of those are leaving for the reasons that we’ve just been discussing, you know, fatigue from the currency exchange. But the way that they’re feeling bullied is the last straw that broke the camel’s back. So with the current, you know, political climate just being, you know, enough to say, OK, that’s it, we’re doing it, we’re going to sell. And some of them are saying, well, we might come back, but for now we’re just, you know, not not sure of what’s going to happen. The properties that they, that they put on the market, you know, they’re, they’re selling, you know, fairly quickly if they’re priced appropriately because, you know, they’re, they’re not living in the, you know, 12 months of the year.'”

“‘So how big of a topic of conversation is this among Canadians? Both, I guess here in the Valley and elsewhere, in terms of should we stay or should we go? LEVINE: ‘It’s very commonplace. And actually we’ve been trying to talk out some of our talk, you know, to convince some of our friends that are purchased down here that are thinking of selling. We’re trying to talk them out of it.'”

WATE in Tennessee. “The community where Gary Mooneyham’s home once stood is off of State Highway 353, about 18 miles east of Greeneville. When he would step on his porch for coffee, he had a spectacular view of the mountains. The view is still there, but his house is not, and he can’t get any help to replace it. Mooneyham bought his two-bedroom place in April 2017 using a home loan from the VA. The home was elevated. Today, his homeowner’s insurance company won’t cover the loss. Farm Bureau wrote, ‘Water damage is excluded.’ FEMA cut Mooneyham a check for $46,000, which he used to buy a small camper trailer. However, he was hoping for more from the government.”

“‘I was asking for help on my mortgage and everything because I still owe $85,000 on this patch of dirt right here,’ said Mooneyham. Freedom Mortgage has been after him since he stopped his monthly payments. ‘They want their mortgage payments. They will want their money, but I’m not giving it to them because I ain’t got nothing to give for,’ said Mooneyham. Over the weekend, Mooneyham received a notice from his homeowners insurance company, that his yearly premium of $1,300 is due. He couldn’t believe they sent it to him. He’s hoping FEMA’s ‘Financial Housing Assistance Program’ will come through. The program helps qualified homeowners replace a primary residence that is destroyed. He’s behind more than $3,200 in his mortgage and does not plan to make it up. ‘I told them you come up here and build my house or help me get it back, I’ll start paying the mortgage again or go to foreclosure,’ said Mooneyham. Mooneyham told us, he’s not the kind of guy that likes handouts, but in this case, he just wants a ‘fair deal.'”

The Indiana Lawyer. “From a modest duplex on the near-east side to a recently constructed modern home in Fountain Square to a condo near Eagle Creek Park, more than 200 residential properties around Indianapolis have one thing in common: All are connected to at least one of the more than two dozen active lawsuits that investors, lenders and contractors have filed against brothers Jeremy and Joshua Tucker. The complaints, all of them real estate-related, come from local and out-of-state plaintiffs who allege they lost money—in the case of one Florida investor, more than $7 million—when the defendants defaulted on loan payments, failed to pay invoices for home repairs or committed outright fraud. Some of the litigation involves lenders seeking foreclosure.”

“Indianapolis resident D. Michael Harding’s complaint alleges a conspiracy in which the defendants used several ‘nefarious mechanisms to siphon money from Harding and conceal their fraudulent activity.’ One example: The defendants engaged in a series of property transfers between them to artificially inflate the homes’ values, Harding alleges, ‘enabling them to obtain financing from investors like Harding at prices far above market value.’ In his complaint, Harding alleges he has extended more than $3 million in loans to the defendants since 2023, with the intent of making money on home-flipping projects. Harding said all of those loans have gone into default. Harding also alleges that even though he was supposed to have a first-mortgage position on the homes purchased with these loans, several of the homes have been transferred to new owners without satisfying Harding’s loans on these properties.”

“Indianapolis attorney James Knauer, who is representing the Perrinas, said he would characterize Jeremy Tucker’s activities as that of a Ponzi scheme. ‘It’s clear in complaint after complaint after complaint, people were induced to invest in homes with the idea that he would rehab the homes, and then he took the money and didn’t rehab them, and that money was either used to acquire other properties and bring in other investors or, to pay people who he already owed money to and couldn’t pay,’ Knauer said.”

ABC 10 News in California. “One resident is still feeling stuck after a decades-long on-site security resident program with the South Bay Union School District ended in June of last year. Pete Salisbury is a resident for Oneata Elementary School and currently lives next to the school, a fence bordering his home with the school on one side and the playground on the other. ‘Going through a lot of grief,’ said Salisbury. ‘When you have a place that you really care about and the students and parents and the teachers of this school, they really appreciate me, they care about me very much.’ The South Bay Union School District’s security program was created in the 1970’s to provide security to the schools. Residents would own their homes but not their land, exchanging living on campus for security services.”

“‘Losing my house is one of my biggest purchases of my life,’ said Salisbury. ‘I used a lot of my retirement savings and it’s mine but in the process of me having to leave, the school district is going to just bulldoze it down because it’s too old to move. So losing that is really hard.’ However, in a statement to ABC 10News, the Board of Trustees for the district ended the program because they identified it as a significant uninsured liability risk, obsolete due to current security technology, and limited the potential open site access between classrooms and outdoor play space.The district said he’s required to leave his property by April 5th.”

The Oregonian. “The company buying Portland vacation rental management firm Vacasa said Monday it will pay 6% more to acquire the business, upping the size of the deal after another bidder emerged. That raises the size of the transaction to about $120 million. Vacasa manages vacation rental homes across the country and lists them on its website, taking a cut of the fees that renters pay. The business has been faltering for years, with sales falling and losses mounting as the company struggled to efficiently manage far-flung properties. All the offers represent a dramatic comedown for Vacasa, which had a $4 billion market value when it began trading on the Nasdaq exchange in 2021.”

From Global News. “Spring is typically the time of year when activity in Canada’s housing market heats up, but this year’s spring housing market appears to be dampened by the threat of U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs. By the end of February, nearly five months’ worth of housing inventory had accumulated in Canada. ‘The spring housing market is dead on arrival,’ Clay Jarvis, mortgage expert at NedWallet Canada, told Global News. ‘That’s just for February. In March, we’re going to have the same uncertainty hanging over the market. On April 2, we might have another round of tariffs coming along.’ Jarvis added that fears of a recession and mass layoffs have spooked new buyers. ‘When you can’t plan for the next six months, it’s really hard to take on a 25-year mortgage,’ he said.”

“This does not, however, mean there isn’t demand for home ownership, he said. ‘People want to buy homes. It’s Canada. People see homes as a major investment. They see it as their retirement. People want homes. They just don’t want to be shackled by a mortgage at a time when they don’t know if they’re going to have a job three to six months from now.’ Rishard Rameez, CEO of Toronto-based realty group Zown said anyone looking to upsize to a bigger home could also find some luck in the market. ‘If a seller is looking to upsize, that’s their motivation to sell their property, they might be better off taking that loss on the initial purchase,’ he said. He said this is because even though they might take some losses on their property, they might get a fairly good deal on a bigger property.”

From News.com.au. “A panellist on last week’s QandA has revealed what she would have said to Aussie dad Morgan Cox, who drew a standing ovation for his heartbreaking plea for the government to cut immigration before ‘every regular working Australian is homeless.’ He recounted going to inspections to try to find cheaper places, only to be outnumbered by ‘dozens of people lined up”, many of them immigrants ‘and they have plenty more money than I can possibly get. My family has already been forced out of Sydney for the same reasons. I want to know is the government going to cut immigration to match housing availability or are we just going to keep going until every regular working Australian is homeless?'”

“Asked by QandA host Patricia Karvelas whether there ‘other things you’re looking for’ beyond lowering immigration, Mr Cox said ‘that’s really the main one.’ ‘And as I understand it the government makes the laws and decides who comes in, so if you’ve got 2.5 million people coming in in a few years, surely you can say to them, ‘No, we don’t have enough houses for you,’ he said, drawing more applause from the audience.”

Radio New Zealand. “So where did the global economic system go so wrong? Dr Cahal Moran is behavioural economist and a fellow at the London School of Economics, and told Nine to Noon why he believes the world finds itself in its current state – an economic turmoil that seems to never go away. ‘For a long time, the economy has been structured in a way that, there’s average growth, there’s GDP growth, there’s some technological developments,’ he said. ‘But a lot of the things that people really care about that really signify economic stability and security, from housing to good jobs to health and education, we’ve kind of neglected those areas. I think that we’re seeing that unfold, and we’ve seen a lot of political backlash to that as well.'”

“So, why are we poorer? Costs of services that used to be provided by the state have crept up, which Moran said have been particularly noticeable in the United Kingdom. ‘The thing is that a lot even a lot of these things that are still provided by the state, the services kind of started to deteriorate a bit,’ he said. ‘This is very true in my home country of the UK. We’ve had austerity for such a long time and student fees, they were introduced 20 years ago or so and they went up.’ Moran said a report released by Bennett Institute in Cambridge found that facilities across the UK are disappearing, such as doctors, pharmacies and local community centres. Despite that, fees and prices are still increasing, while general services continues to deteriorate, he said. ‘They tripled just after I went to university…there’s been more and more fees introduced into public services and services that matter to people, but also, they’ve just been cut down.'”

“Moran’s introduction to economics was as a high school student in 2007 as the world was devastated by a global recession. He said while unfortunate, it helped shaped his idea of economics. ‘It was the biggest recession in 70 years at the time, and it wiped a lot of people out, and it threatened people across the globe and at one point, it really seemed like the cash machines were going to stop spitting out money,’ he said. ‘That’s what people thought before there was this sort of massive rescue package. But then we had, in my opinion, completely the wrong response to the financial crisis, completely the wrong response with austerity. We failed to address the issues that had been, exposed by the financial crisis. I think our economies across the world had been quite reliant on the financial sector. They’ve been quite reliant on the housing bubble and the credit that came with it, and credit cards were propping up consumer spending. I think we could have responded to it much, much better, and we probably could have fixed, ameliorated a lot of the problems that have festered until today and have only got worse.'”

“Those problems include globalisation, he said. Moran said while it was a separate issue, it was part of the same ideology, such as free markets and free trade, which would work in the financial sector. ‘Globalisation meant moving a lot of a lot of industry to poorer countries, as we know, China being usually the canonical example, but also a lot of other countries like Bangladesh and Vietnam and we exported things like clothes production and toy production.’ What that meant really was that a lot of the manufacturing hubs and the industry that held a lot of towns and communities together, in countries like the US and UK, but really across the world…even in Brazil, this was this was true. So, it’s not just a rich world thing.'”

“‘A lot of these industries kind of suffered…it’s not like I want to reverse the growth in China, that’s not what I’m saying. But again, we just didn’t do enough to ameliorate it. I think between the financial crisis and then the response to it of austerity with deteriorating public services and lacklustre growth, and also this issue of these communities that have been left behind for a very long time under the guise that a rising tide lifts all boats, free trade is going to work, we just got a lot of political discontent.'”

This Post Has 93 Comments
  1. ‘Going through a lot of grief,’ said Salisbury. ‘When you have a place that you really care about and the students and parents and the teachers of this school, they really appreciate me, they care about me very much’

    Yeah, that’s why they gave yer shanty the heave-ho Pete. This article is from:

    IMPERIAL BEACH, Calif. (KGTV)

  2. ‘Today, his homeowner’s insurance company won’t cover the loss. Farm Bureau wrote, ‘Water damage is excluded’

    Insurance doesn’t work if they have to pay out Gary.

    ‘I was asking for help on my mortgage and everything because I still owe $85,000 on this patch of dirt right here,’ said Mooneyham. Freedom Mortgage has been after him since he stopped his monthly payments. ‘They want their mortgage payments. They will want their money, but I’m not giving it to them because I ain’t got nothing to give for’

    This is because VA loans are no money down. Sound lending!

    1. Insurance doesn’t work if they have to pay out Gary.
      I have a bit of a different view to this, Ben.

      IMO, Insurance doesn’t work if the policy is not selected and priced for coverage for the risk of this excluded coverage.
      My homeowner’s policy states clearly what it covers it covers and what it does not.
      If I want more coverage, I must identify the additional coverage and PAY FOR IT to receive it.
      Every article about these events describing the homeowner’s losses and their “feelings” contains the common refrain “My insurance policy WOULDN’T cover the damage; oh woe is me, please please FEMA (taxpayers) come to my rescue”.

      1. exactly. and FFS the guy got 46k from FEMA, that’s free money (well from taxpayers) and he still wants more. Should have gotten more insurance then.

    2. ‘I told them you come up here and build my house or help me get it back, I’ll start paying the mortgage again…

      Your promise isn’t worth spit Gary.

    3. Given the info, I tried to find an elevated two-bedroom house with a porch on Bill Mauk Road, but I couldn’t pinpoint it exactly. However, even in today’s Zestimates, the property is likely not worth more than $200K, including the land value. $46k from FEMA is probably all he will get. What is his best option? Sell the land to pay the mortgage?

    1. Financial Times
      US equities
      Investors slash US equity holdings by most ever, BofA survey shows
      Threat to global growth from Trump’s trade tariffs sparks ‘bull crash’ in fund manager sentiment
      A trader in a red jacket operates multiple computer screens on the New York Stock Exchange floor,
      According to the BofA survey, nearly 70% of investors say the ‘US exceptionalism’ theme has peaked
      © Angela Weiss/AFP/Getty Images
      Mari Novik, Ian Smith and Emily Herbert in London
      Published 2 hours ago
      Updated 05:16

      Investors made the “biggest ever” cut to their US equity allocations in March, as President Donald Trump’s erratic trade war sparked fears over the US economy and prompted a heavy Wall Street sell-off.

      Allocations to US equities plunged 40 percentage points, from 17 per cent overweight in February to net underweight 23 per cent in March, according to Bank of America’s closely watched survey of fund managers.

      Stagflation fears, the global trade war and an end of US exceptionalism were cited as drivers of a “bull crash” in sentiment. The month-on-month decline in investor sentiment is the survey’s largest since the Covid-19 drop in March 2020.

          1. I bought a small position in SH and SQQQ this week, so that comment is not made as a neutral observer with no skin in the game…

    2. Stock Market Today
      Dow Jones Slides Ahead Of Fed Meeting; Tesla Tumbles On Price-Target Cut, Nvidia Sells Off
      SCOTT LEHTONEN 09:46 AM ET 03/18/2025

      The Dow Jones Industrial Average and other major stock indexes fell Tuesday with the Federal Reserve’s two-day policy meeting set to get underway. On the losing end was Tesla (TSLA), which tumbled on an analyst’s price-target cut, while Nvidia (NVDA) sold off ahead of a critical address from Chief Executive Jensen Huang.

      Early Tuesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.6%. The S&P 500 lost 0.9%. And the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite declined 1.6%.

      https://www.investors.com/market-trend/stock-market-today/dow-jones-sp500-nasdaq-fed-meeting-tesla-stock-nvda-stock/

        1. And gold blew through $3000 like it wasn’t even there. That is very unusual, given that $3000 is a significant psychological barrier. Normally there’s a retreat after a round number, due to automatic sell orders. Not this time?

    3. Nvidia’s GTC event is here. What to expect when Jensen Huang takes the stage.
      Last Updated: Mar 18, 2025, 1:03 PM EDT
      3 hours ago
      How Nvidia could stick it to the bears at GTC
      By Emily Bary

      What’s the biggest way that Nvidia can tamp down the bear case at GTC? Perhaps by following Broadcom’s playbook, according to a Truist Securities analyst.

      Truist’s William Stein thinks that demand ultimately will slow for Nvidia’s hardware as customers take time to digest their purchases. But in the interim, Nvidia could do what Broadcom did and emphasize “commitments” from customers to build new chip clusters in the years to come.

      “We think this is a realistic possibility, but far from a certainty,” Stein wrote.

      NVIDIA Corp.
      Last Updated: Mar 18, 2025 1:21 p.m. EDT Real time quote
      $118.24 -1.29 -1.08%

      https://www.marketwatch.com/investing/stock/nvda

      1. It looks to me like the bears have ended their hibernation fasts early this year and are are feasting.

        Nvidia
        Closed
        Last Updated: Mar 18, 2025 4:00 p.m. EDT Real time quote
        $115.43 -4.10 -3.43%

    4. Retail investors ditch buy-the-dip mentality during the market correction
      Published Tue, Mar 18 20252:00 PM EDTUpdated 2 Hours Ago
      Yun Li
      pop-up kiosk for the online brokerage Robinhood along Wall Street
      Spencer Platt | Getty Images

      Individual investors, whose assets are more tied to the stock market than ever, have abandoned their tried-and-true dip-buying mentality as the S&P 500 recently fell into a painful, 10% correction.

      Retail outflows from U.S. equities rose to about $4 billion over the past two weeks as tariff chaos and mounting economic concerns caused a three-week pullback in the S&P 500, according to data from Barclays. During March’s sell-off, 401(k) holders have been aggressively trading their investments, to the tune of four times the average level, according to Alight Solutions’ data going back to the late 1990s.

      “If people were trying to buy the dip and get their stocks on sale, maybe you would see people actually buying large-cap equities. But instead we see people selling from large cap-equities,” said Rob Austin, director of research at Alight Solutions. “So this does appear to be a bit of a reactionary trading activity.”

      https://www.cnbc.com/2025/03/18/investors-ditch-buy-the-dip-mindset-as-market-corrects-but-dont-capitulate.html

      1. “Why the Fed may have a tough time putting a lid on market volatility”

        Did you ever notice how Wall Street cheerleaders don’t ever complain about insane levels of upside volatility?

        It’s only when prices are falling that volatility becomes a threat to humanity, which they lobby the Fed to remedy.

  3. ‘So, some families are taking a cut on their investment just to sell it off…‘If they don’t even have the money to pay the $20,000 to $25,000 assessment, they put it for sale on the market, and in the contract, the buyer is going to be liable for his assessment at closing,’ Spino tells CBS12 News. ‘So they are selling it for a bit less’

    Loanowners = broke a$$ losers.

  4. New York Times — A Judge Ordered Deportation Planes to Turn Around. The White House Didn’t Listen (3/17/2025):

    “A New York Times review of the flight data showed that none of the planes in question landed in El Salvador before the judge’s order, and that one of them did not even leave American soil until after the judge’s written order was posted online.

    During a Monday court hearing, a Justice Department lawyer argued that the White House had not defied the order by the judge, James E. Boasberg of the Federal District Court in Washington.

    The lawyer, Abhishek Kambli, argued that the judge’s decision was not complete until it was codified in written form. And — crucial to the government’s explanation — the written version did not include the specific instruction to turn planes around.

    In an interview on Fox News, Thomas D. Homan, Mr. Trump’s border czar, was dismissive of concerns that the Trump administration violated a court order.

    “I don’t care what the judges think,” he said, adding that “the plane was already over international waters with a plane full of terrorists and significant public safety threats.”

    “We removed terrorists,” Mr. Homan said. “That should be a celebration in this country.”

    https://archive.ph/MqNJE

    Democrat Party ever takes control of the federal government again, they will be flying all of them BACK to U.S.A. given free housing, $5,000 a month debit cards, Obamaphones, all of which will be paid for by YOU, the taxpayer.

    Democrat Party.

    1. Related article.

      New York Post — White House, Border Patrol troll critics with deportation ‘Closing Time’ meme video: ‘Can’t stay here’ (3/17/2025):

      “The official White House and US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) X accounts trolled critics on Monday by posting a meme video showing deportations to the famed ’90s song “Closing Time,” a longtime staple at closing bars and weddings.

      The video, which was posted by the White House as well as US Border Patrol Chief Michael Banks and Customs and Border Protection, shows authorities processing shackled illegal immigrants to the tune of “Semisonic” lead singer Dan Wilson singing, “Closing time, you don’t have to go home but you can’t stay here.”

      White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt explained the video during Monday’s White House press briefing, saying it “sums up our immigration policy pretty well: You don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here.”

      “The White House and our entire government clearly is leaning into the message of this president and we are unafraid to double down and to take responsibility and ownership of the serious decisions that are being made,” said Leavitt. “The president was elected with an overwhelming mandate to launch the largest, mass deportation campaign in American history. And that’s exactly what he is doing.”

      https://nypost.com/2025/03/17/us-news/white-house-border-patrol-troll-critics-with-deportation-closing-time-meme-video-cant-stay-here/

      1. https://nitter.poast.org/Geiger_Capital/status/1901743726025658879#m w/ 9m43s video:

        Stephen Miller on CNN talking about the Alien Enemies Act of 1798.

        Absolute must-see TV.

        Replies (no links):

        Stephen Miller has spent the last 4 years researching exactly how this would go down…

        He’s been sitting at his desk, reading 18th century laws and forgotten Supreme Court cases until 2am under the light of a lone burning candle.

        CNN anchors are not prepared for this.
        Pundit: asked question
        Stephen: answers question in a way even a 7th grader could understand
        Pundit: asks same question, this time in a more condescending way
        Stephen: clarifies answer so now a 4th grader could understand the answer
        Pundit: repeats same question with smug attitude
        Stephen: now knowing he is talking to a retard, answers question with clarity even a family pet could understand.
        Retard: asks same question again. 🤣🤣🤣

      2. Hi Red, I found this in another article about this case:
        ===
        “Matt Tympanick, founder of Tympanick Law, P.A., wrote on X: “From a purely non-partisan standpoint: Telling the Judge they didn’t violate the order because it was verbal order instead of written isn’t going to fly. Most Judges make their rulings orally from the bench and they possess the same power as a written order.”
        ===

        Is this true, that rulings are made orally from the bench, and are instantly binding? My layman’s guess is that a judge would have already written and signed his ruling before orally explaining it from the bench. Or, he would orally explain it from the bench and then issue his ruling later that day. But it’s always the written ruling that is binding.

        What’s important here is the timing. If this judge waited even a few hours to issue a written ruling, then the planes were already over international waters and the case — at least for these first flights — would be moot.

        And what is the procedure for future flights, when timing is no longer an issue?

        I get the impression that the 47 Admin planned this purposely. Surely they anticipated that La Resistance would go judge-shopping for every single one of these legally controversial moves.* It seems that the 47 Admin (Alina Habba? Steven Miller?) want to first to trick liberals into siding with the gang members, and later to force this to a Supreme Court ruling which would potentially discount this judge-shopping once and for all.

        1. What’s important here is the timing.

          Timing is a red herring. 47 is reclaiming executive powers usurped by the unelected judicial branch and administrative state. Stephen Miller explains it more succinctly in another video I saw this morning but can’t find now.

          1. Social emotional learning (SEL) is DEI. I learned that looking into one of our school board members.

          2. Vice President, Michelle O’Connor-Ratcliff has an autistic son. Another board member does too. I’m not concerned about special education.

  5. This is who #MuhResistance is protesting to keep in the country.

    New York Post — Convicted fentanyl dealer seen sobbing as she’s nabbed by ICE after illegally re-entering US (3/18/2025):

    “A Dominican drug dealer previously deported for peddling fentanyl was seen breaking down in tears as she was arrested while illegally back in the US.

    Virginia Basora-Gonzalez, 36, was sobbing as agents arrested her in Philadelphia last Wednesday, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said.

    A US magistrate judge issued a federal warrant for her arrest on the same day a notice of intent to reinstate a final removal order against her was to be served.

    She will remain in federal custody pending charges for re-entry after deportation, the feds said.”

    https://nypost.com/2025/03/18/us-news/convicted-drug-dealer-seen-sobbing-as-shes-arrested-by-ice-after-reentering-us/

    The photo in the article, OMG so nasty please pull those sweat pants up 🤮🤮🤮

    “They’re not sending their best”

  6. It’s funny how so many people are in vehement denial about home prices. How exactly can you maintain current home prices when people have all these bills and financial stresses they claim to have? I’ve been calling for a 90 – 95%+ drop in home prices for awhile now. Looking at the articles that Ben posts here makes me wonder if even a lot of the housing ‘bears’ are in denial about housing prices.

    1. “a 90 – 95%+ drop in home prices”

      You gotta pump those numbers up, those are rookie numbers in this racket.

  7. National Park rangers are pushing back against firings of probationary employees. Two associations told NPC acting director Jessica Bowron the firing were illegal and the Park Service should bring the people back. For more of what’s going on, the Federal Drive with Tom Temin turn to the executive director of the Association of National Park Rangers, Bill Wade.

    Tom Temin: In your years of service as a ranger and later as a park superintendent before becoming the association executive director, did you sense that these were considered desirable jobs for people? Did you have more applicants than you could hire for the National Park Service?

    Bill Wade: Yes, that’s definitely correct. Many of the people we’ve heard from who were illegally fired characterize this as their dream job. They had been trying for years to get a permanent position.

    https://federalnewsnetwork.com/workforce/2025/03/park-rangers-want-their-probationary-employees-rehired/

    1. Why all these positions considered “dream” jobs?
      Every article describing individuals affected categorize the job they had as their dream job.

      1. Their office is the Grand Canyon. Mine is a anonymous concrete and glass blob. Their jobs have a hint of purpose. My purpose is to compete against other teams with similar charters to dig deeper roots so that we’re less risky to fund than close.

    2. Many of the people we’ve heard from who were illegally fired characterize this as their dream job. They had been trying for years to get a permanent position.

      Our local fire department pays handsomely and there is a long waiting list full of volunteer firefighters who wait years, even decades to be hired. I’m sure those are dream jobs too.

      1. Years ago, my sister’s girlfriend’s husband attempted to join the fireman ranks. They had a ladder truck with the extended ladder resting against the roof’s parapet of a 3-story building on a steep hill, and the hopefuls were directed to climb to the roof and descend in the stair well to the street. Most stopped about halfway up due to fear of heights, and some were simply out of shape and unable to climb. Strength testing followed, but the husband didn’t get past the ladder climb. 🙂

        1. My understanding is that our local volunteers are academy grads, so they have already been vetted. But they pretty much have to wait for someone to retire to get a paid position.

  8. Virginia elected officials host town hall on how federal actions could affect Hampton Roads

    Congressman Bobby Scott, Senator Aaron Rouse, Delegate Michael Feggans, Delegate Alex Askew, and Councilwoman Jennifer Rouse convened to host the conversation regarding several of the recent actions at the federal level.

    “People are upset,” one Virginia Beach local said. “I think people are in a state of disbelief as to what’s happening with our federal government.”

    Suzanne Richmond has lived in Virginia Beach since she was young, and said she knows several people who are either currently involved or have some tie to the military. Due to these ties, Richmond said her main concern involving recent federal actions has to do with federal job cuts, including those in the VA.

    Hampton Roads itself is home to more than 60,000 federal workers. With potential impacts stemming from federal cuts, locals like Richmond are concerned.

    “To mess with someone’s livelihood and take their job away without any notice, without good cause, I think that’s incredibly dangerous and immoral,” Richmond said.

    While local and state politicians look for potential solutions to these ongoing developments, they encourage the community to work together and voice their concerns when it comes to these major changes across the nation.

    “We hold the power here in our hands,” state senator Aaron Rouse explained at the meeting, “so we’re gonna step up here in Virginia and show the rest of the world how we do it… so now isn’t the time to be scared.”

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/politics/government/virginia-elected-officials-host-town-hall-on-how-federal-actions-could-affect-hampton-roads/ar-AA1B7Bzo

      1. A reminder, their former Congresscrook then House Majority Leader Eric Cantor lost his primary in 2014, after which:

        “Several weeks later, he announced his resignation from Congress, which took effect on August 18, 2014. Shortly thereafter, Cantor accepted a position as vice chairman of investment bank Moelis & Company.”

        They only fail uphill.

  9. Federal workers plead for protection after Trump-era firings in Oregon town hall

    Dozens of federal employees fired during the first weeks of President Donald Trump’s second term delivered a plea for protection at a town hall Monday, addressing members of Oregon’s congressional delegation.

    Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, along with Reps. Suzanne Bonamici, Maxine Dexter, Val Hoyle, and Andrea Salinas and Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield listened as workers from multiple federal agencies described the impact of the firings.

    “My story is the story of all these people behind me,” said Isabella Isaksen, a U.S. Forest Service employee. “The impact of these job losses will stretch far beyond fire season. As an Oregonian, as an American I am deeply concerned. Not just for the immediate consequences, but for what this means for our country.”

    She added, “After two federal rulings have deemed these firings illegal, still without a job.”

    Shawn McMurtrey, who worked for the Department of Agriculture, criticized the dismissals.

    “On behalf of myself and other federal employees, many of whom are unable to openly speak at this time due to fear of retaliation or the risk of losing their jobs, I’d like to say that this cruel and unusual treatment of our public servants will not be tolerated,” McMurtrey said. “I’m not a waste of money! My fellow employees and veterans are not wastes of money.”

    Estelle, a USDA climate fellow, said she was hired in 2023 on a two-year probationary term and had received multiple awards and a promotion in her first year. Despite that, she received a notice of termination last month.

    “My near-term future as a federal employee is certain. I will not be one soon. The only question is when,” she said.

    “I received notice of termination on Valentine’s Day. It’s been a lot of chaos as you can imagine,” Estelle told the panel. “To be frank, I won’t seek federal service again during this administration and that makes me really sad, because this is something that I have worked for and aspired towards most of my adult life.”

    Salinas took a sharper tone, expressing frustration over low pay for federal workers.

    Veteran federal employees said the instability was making it harder to retain talent or recruit new workers.

    “I am 28 years in my career. I do not have 30, so I cannot retire,” said Matt, a graphic designer for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. “I love what I do. I do not want to move on, but I feel like my hand is being forced.”

    https://www.kgw.com/article/news/politics/national-politics/federal-workers-plead-protection-after-trump-firings/283-6a0665be-87b8-4163-bcae-9b714a7d77b9

    1. “I am 28 years in my career. I do not have 30, so I cannot retire.”

      I’d curious why he says that. In Fedgov, 25+ years is usually enough to take some form of retirement, regardless of age.

  10. Scientists Say NIH Officials Told Them to Scrub mRNA References on Grants

    National Institutes of Health (NIH) officials have urged scientists to remove all references to mRNA vaccine technology from their grant applications, two researchers said, in a move that signaled the agency might abandon a promising field of medical research.

    A scientist at a biomedical research center in Philadelphia wrote to a colleague, in an email reviewed by KFF Health News, that a project officer at NIH had “flagged our pending grant as having an mRNA vaccine component.”

    “It’s still unclear whether mRNA vaccine grants will be canceled,” the scientist added.

    A senior official at the National Cancer Institute confirmed that NIH acting Director Matthew Memoli, MD, sent an email across the NIH instructing that any grants, contracts, or collaborations involving mRNA vaccines be reported up the chain to HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s office and the White House.

    Memoli sent a similar message ahead of the agency canceling other research, such as studies of vaccine hesitancy.

    Memoli’s email on that topic bluntly stated that NIH was not interested in learning why people shun vaccines or in exploring ways to “improve vaccine interest and commitment.”

    The National Cancer Institute official, who also spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals, said that “it is reasonable to assume mRNA vaccine work is next.”

    The official said a similar memo also went out regarding NIH-funded work in South Africa, which the White House has targeted over false claims that the country’s government is persecuting white people. More recently, another one went out regarding all global research collaborations, the official said.

    The NIH, whose latest annual budget was $47 billion, is one of the world’s most critical sources of funding for basic biomedical research. Its mission and programs are under unprecedented scrutiny from Trump’s White House and the Department of Government Efficiency, the Elon Musk-led agency created by a Trump executive order that has directed federal agencies to prepare for widespread layoffs.

    The NIH is funding at least 130 studies involving the mRNA technology in COVID vaccines produced by Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna that have been administered to billions of people worldwide.

    A former government official familiar with internal discussions said that the Trump administration intends to cut some grants for mRNA vaccine research but that the timing is unclear. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity to protect relationships with the administration.

    Political conservatives in the U.S. have promulgated conspiracy theories, unsupported by scientific evidence, that the shots and their relatively new technology are dangerous. This has undermined public support for COVID vaccinations and mRNA research.

    “There will not be any research funded by NIH on mRNA vaccines,” the scientist in New York said in an interview. “MAGA people are convinced that these vaccines have killed and maimed tens of thousands of people. It’s not true, but they believe that.”

    Meanwhile, hundreds of other vaccine-related studies are in limbo. Kawsar Talaat, MD, a vaccine researcher at the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University, has been waiting since the fall for money needed to recruit subjects for a study of an antidiarrheal vaccine.

    “NIH approved our funding,” she said, “and now we’re waiting, and we don’t know if it’s going forward or going to be killed.”

    The scientist in Philadelphia signaled that he believes Kennedy, a longtime anti-vaccine activist, is responsible for the NIH’s turn against mRNA research.

    “Kennedy’s war on vaccines has started,” the scientist told his colleague.

    The scientist in New York said that it was “ridiculous” to remove mRNA language from the grant applications. But “if my grant is rejected for any reason,” the scientist said, “people in my lab will lose their jobs.”

    “I’ve worked with some of them for 20 years,” the scientist added. “They have children and families. There is a real climate of fear in academia about this now, especially among vaccine scientists.”

    “My grant does not involve a request for funds to conduct mRNA vaccine experiments,” the scientist said, “so my principal concern was to avoid word-search flags that, at minimum, would lead to delays in any funding.”

    While tenured research professors at universities generally receive a salary from their institution, the staffers who work in their labs and offices are often paid through NIH grants. The 2023 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine was given to two scientists for developing mRNA vaccines, through work that relied on pharmaceutical companies and on NIH scientists working under infectious disease specialist Anthony Fauci, MD.

    As part of the Trump administration’s push to examine spending on mRNA vaccines, health officials are reviewing a $590 million contract for bird flu shots that the Biden administration awarded to Moderna, Bloomberg News has reported. Legislation introduced by GOP lawmakers in at least seven states is aimed at banning or limiting mRNA vaccines. In some cases, the measures would hit doctors who give the injections with criminal penalties, fines, and the possible revocation of their licenses.

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/other/scientists-say-nih-officials-told-them-to-scrub-mrna-references-on-grants/ar-AA1B6hWB

    1. “NIH is funding at least 130 studies involving the mRNA technology in COVID vaccines produced by Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna”

      This needs to be cut to $0 immediately. COVID has evolved to where we no longer need vaccines (i.e. symptom reducers). All we need is for RFKJ to allow doctors to prescribe de-wormer off-label.

      That said, there might be some value to mRNA for other conditions, and I’m not completely close-minded to it.

  11. Death of American dream after Trump axes refugee funds

    Ali landed in the United States as a relieved refugee from Iraq just as Donald Trump moved back into the White House.

    His timing wasn’t good.

    “When I came to America, they assured me … they’ll help me financially, provide a place and food,” Ali said by phone.

    “But when I came here, everything changed.”

    The 22-year-old spoke to the Thomson Reuters Foundation on condition of anonymity out of fear of retribution for himself and his family back home.

    Ali had been in Texas only a matter of weeks when the official helping hand he had been promised in Iraq was withdrawn, and there was almost nothing else on tap to help him.

    It had taken him a year to win his coveted refugee status, and it was in January, as Trump prepared to resume office, that Ali arrived in Houston with a bag of clothes and $120 in cash.

    He had no family or friends in the United States, but he had been promised official help to find an apartment, day-to-day basics and a job – everything he’d need to launch a new life.

    However, on day one in office, Trump suspended the $2.8-billion US Refugee Admissions Programme and then froze the federal money earmarked to help new refugees settle.

    According to recent estimates by the Danish Refugee Council, the termination of all US refugee funding would mean assistance would reach 57 million fewer people globally, ultimately assisting little over a quarter of those in need.

    Trump’s actions are now the subject of lawsuits by refugees, assistance organisations and faith groups, but in the meantime, thousands of new arrivals feel abandoned and struggle to cope.

    “I got an email that said the case manager is no longer working for the agency,” he recalled. “I couldn’t sleep. I was’t having a lot of food – just one meal a day.”

    As a gay man, Ali said he had faced violence in Iraq and sought refugee protection from persecution after he was arrested in 2023 on suspicion of romantic involvement with another man.

    His plan had been to study and become a nurse in his adopted homeland, but Ali quickly hit major obstacles following the funding freeze.

    He said: I thought … ‘Am I going to sleep on the street?’

    Eventually, a local charity paid rent for Ali’s apartment for a month, but critical help finding a job has dried up.

    Still, he considers himself luckier than other newcomers who speak no English or are navigating the chaos with children.

    “I don’t see how they are managing to live,” he said.

    Beth Hickey, a volunteer at LSS Resource Center, which provides everyday goods to new arrivals in the capital region, said:
    I’ve heard some people are still stuck in hotels with their families. Others may be in housing but not getting funded for rent now.

    “It’s a real scramble for them because the next step for them will be getting evicted,” she said.

    https://www.news24.com/news24/world/news/death-of-american-dream-after-trump-axes-refugee-funds-20250317

  12. White House Makes ‘Bye-Bye Rasha’ Post After Deportation Of Brown University Professor To Lebanon

    Brown University Professor Rasha Alawieh was deported to Lebanon on Monday by US authorities. This development comes amid the Trump administration’s crackdown on pro-Palestine protestors at university campuses.

    As per US authorities, the Rhode Island doctor was deported after “sympathetic photos and videos” of Hassan Nasrallah, a former leader of Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, were found in her phone.

    “Last month, Rasha Alawieh traveled to Beirut, Lebanon, to attend the funeral of Hassan Nasrallah— a brutal terrorist who led Hezbollah, responsible for killing hundreds of Americans over a four-decade terror spree. Alawieh openly admitted to this to CBP officers, as well as her support of Nasrallah,” reads the official statement issued by the Department of Homeland Security.

    “A visa is a privilege not a right—glorifying and supporting terrorists who kill Americans is grounds for visa issuance to be denied. This is commonsense security,” they added further.

    Sharing the statement issued by Homeland Security, the White House posted two tweets on social media platform X. The first tweet said – “Bye-Bye Rasha”

    This tweet was followed by a picture of President Donald Trump waving from a drive-through window.

    https://www.outlookindia.com/international/us/white-house-makes-bye-bye-rasha-post-after-deportation-of-brown-university-professor-to-lebanon-details

  13. Newsom to ask California Legislature for another $2.8 billion to cover Medi-Cal cost overruns

    Days after telling lawmakers that he took out a $3.4-billion loan to pay for Medi-Cal costs through March, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office said Monday that he’s asking the state Legislature to approve another $2.8 billion in extra funding for the healthcare program for low-income Californians through the end of the current fiscal year.

    The funding decisions suggest Medi-Cal spending is running as much as $6.2 billion above state estimates from last summer at a time when California is experiencing higher than expected costs for expanding coverage to undocumented immigrants, greater enrollment and rising pharmacy expenses for the program.

    The governor’s office declined to provide information about how much of the new Medi-Cal price tag can be attributed to unforeseen expenses of providing state-sponsored healthcare coverage to the undocumented immigrant community. In February, the Newsom administration said the cost of expanding coverage to all income-eligible immigrants, regardless of residency status, had ballooned to $9.5 billion in state and federal funding, which was more than $3 billion over June estimates.

    The rising costs have drawn criticism from Republicans and added pressure on Democrats to consider scaling back the program as the state anticipates cuts to federal funding and other economic headwinds that could force difficult conversations during budget negotiations this year.

    Medi-Cal, the state program that provides healthcare coverage to roughly 15 million low-income Californians and half of the children in the state, largely relies on federal Medicaid funding. Nearly two-thirds of all federal dollars received by the state, or more than $100 billion, fund Medi-Cal.

    Lawmakers will also have to pay back the $3.4-billion loan at some point in the budget process.

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/newsom-to-ask-california-legislature-for-another-28-billion-to-cover-medi-cal-cost-overruns/ar-AA1B6IMU

  14. Canada Is Limited in Matching Further US Tariffs, Carney Says

    Canada can only go so far in responding to new import taxes imposed by US President Donald Trump given the mismatch in size between the economies, Prime Minister Mark Carney said.

    “There is a limit to matching these tariffs dollar for dollar given the fact that our economy is a tenth the size of the United States,” Carney told reporters in London on Monday.

    When Trump first threatened across-the-board 25% tariffs on Canada, then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau outlined potential retaliation on C$155 billion ($108 billion) worth of US goods. Trudeau’s government went on to target about C$60 billion in US imports in response to Trump’s actions.

    Carney, who replaced Trudeau as prime minister on Friday, suggested it will be difficult for Canada to go beyond the remaining C$95 billion on the list. He said those items were chosen because they have “maximum impact on the United States and limited — but not zero — impact in Canada.”

    “We are not going to take an action that we think is not ultimately going to influence the United States, and certainly not one that is outright harmful to Canada,” Carney said.

    https://www.msn.com/en-au/money/other/canada-is-limited-in-matching-further-us-tariffs-carney-says/ar-AA1B6ZJO

      1. There’s really nothing to discuss with globalists like you. We tried your system for 70 years. It destroyed the middle class in several countries. Now we’re using a tax system that worked well for working people for generations.

  15. Windsor snowbirds express frustration over new U.S. travel policy change

    Windsor “snowbirds” are voicing frustration over a new U.S. travel policy that could require them to register with American immigration authorities if they stay south of the border longer than 30 days.

    “If there was not already a deterrent to not visit the United States, there is now,” said Mark McCondach, a retiree who has spent the past three winters in Savannah, Georgia. “It’s frustrating and does nothing but sow confusion.”

    Unnerved by the political uncertainty, McCondach said he decided to cut his trip short this year.

    “This is the first time we’ve cut our stay short and the first time that we’ve not reserved for the next year,” he told the Star. “We sort of soured on the place this year because of all the political rhetoric. It’s deeply offensive and personal.”

    Asked about his experience as a Canadian snowbird in the U.S., McCondach called it “bizarre,” noting most locals were “largely unaware” of the rising tensions between both countries.

    “It’s like their sleepwalking through all this stuff that’s affecting them,” he said. “How we’re feeling is not reflected in how the people that are living around us are feeling.”

    As for McCondach, he has no plans to return to the U.S. anytime soon.

    “The relationship has been so severed,” McCondach said. “I certainly wouldn’t think about going back in the United States until there was a regime change and Trump is out of office.

    “I can’t control policy, I can’t control rhetoric, but what I can control is where and how I spend my money.”

    https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/canada/windsor-snowbirds-express-frustration-over-new-us-travel-policy-change/ar-AA1B5V59

    ‘How we’re feeling is not reflected in how the people that are living around us are feeling’

    Nobody gives a sh$t Mark.

  16. ‘Senseless, hurtful trade war,’ Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow criticizes Trump’s tariffs on CNN

    “The City of Toronto, we’re just like really upset. We’re the fourth largest city in North America, and we have a $79 billion budget at City Hall here, and its about the size of Florida, and we’re saying, we will not allow any American companies to bid on our contract anymore,” Chow explained.

    Reflecting on Canada’s values in the CNN interview, Chow described her city as a “global beacon of hope,” noting Toronto’s diverse population and its commitment to empathy and cooperation.

    “We have universal health care, we have good education, and we have the most educated workforce in the world,” she said. “We prefer to build each other up rather than divide… We’re very resilient, we’re very united, and we are strong.”

    https://nowtoronto.com/news/toronto-mayor-olivia-chow-criticizes-trumps-tariffs-on-cnn/

    We know you got yer healthcare paid Ollie. You also have us paying for yer defense. You know jet planes, missles, ships, very expensive stuff. And we buy yer cars when we could make them ourselves. Oh and do you like to travel! Florida, California, Arizona, you guys are vacationing a month and a half and people in the US can’t afford it.

    So shut yer commie pie hole.

  17. A banker like Mark Carney? Don’t the Liberals hate his type?

    Remember when the Liberal Party of Canada loathed bankers? And bankers like Mark Carney thought politicians were “circus clowns”? Liberals don’t. They just elected Canada’s most famous banker, Mr. Carney, as their party’s Leader and now Prime Minister.

    Mr. Carney did not just head two central banks. Before that he had proved himself as an investment banker toiling for 13 years at the golden temple of global investment banking, Wall Street’s Goldman Sachs, a bank known for its “extreme profitability and market prowess.” He parleyed that into success at the Bank of Canada and later, at the Bank of England, cutting the most unique path to Prime Minister in Canada’s history.

    Before Mr. Carney, Liberals juiced their populist credibility by bashing bankers whenever the opportunity presented itself. It was part of the Liberal Party brand. Standing up for regular folks and small business against banking big shots from Bay Street and elsewhere was the Liberal way.

    What will the Liberal way be now that the party is being led by one of those big shots?

    It wasn’t long ago, indeed it seems just like the last fall economic statement (2024), that Liberals were bashing bankers by attempting to impose “no-cost bank accounts” on them because they were too mercenary to do it on their own.

    Then there was the last federal election (2021), and subsequent federal budget (2022), when Liberals led by Justin Trudeau used the party’s well-worn, populist stick to publicly beat bankers into submission as his government imposed special taxes on bank profits to generate billions for the federal purse because bankers wouldn’t pay their “fair share” otherwise.

    Such policies were made easy because the Liberal caucus in the 1990s “roundly hated” big-shot bankers, according to former Liberal trade minister Roy MacLaren. “Who are those sons of bitches to be telling us how to run the country when they are hauling in so much money,” he asked a Toronto Star reporter in 1995.

    Thirty years later, one of those banker big shots is the Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada. As Prime Minister, he will now be telling Liberals how to run this country.

    https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/commentary/article-a-banker-like-mark-carney-dont-the-liberals-hate-his-type/

  18. Trump’s America is abandoning climate action and the fight just got harder

    While markets and media were chasing Donald Trump’s tariff fiasco last week, something far more important happened in East Palestine, Ohio.

    The new head of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Lee Zeldin, chose the fire station in that tiny village between Pittsburgh and Cleveland to announce that he was “driving a dagger through the heart of climate change religion”, as he put it.

    Zeldin is rolling back 31 environmental rules (Make America Dirty Again?) including the EPA’s 2009 finding that greenhouse gases endanger public health and welfare, which has been the legal basis for all US action against climate change.

    In short, Trump’s America is abandoning climate action.

    Meanwhile in Brazil, the government is clearing a swathe of the Amazon rainforest for a road to get 50,000 delegates to the next UN climate change conference – COP30 – to held, weirdly, in the remote city of Belem in November.

    Bulldozing the Amazon rainforest is a fitting way to mark 30 years of failure, of annual gabfests that have released colossal amounts of carbon dioxide from the mouths of the well-meaning, and burned tonnes of aviation fuel to get them there, while reducing greenhouse gas emissions not one bit.

    The withdrawal of America, and the influence that will have on other countries and companies, means the COP30 delegates might as well stay home this year.

    The global effort to prevent climate change which began with COP1 in Berlin in 1995 and peaked two years later with a burst of optimism in Kyoto, is pretty much over; it’s dead.

    China talks, and does, a big game about renewable energy, but is frantically building coal-fired power stations. Last year it added 100GW of coal capacity, five times Australia’s entire coal-fired capacity, another 94.5GW is under construction and 66.7GW more has been approved.

    Energy scientist, Vaclav Smil puts the total cost of achieving net zero by 2050 at $US444 trillion, or $US17 trillion a year for 25 years, “requiring affluent economies to spend 20 to 25 per cent of their annual GDP on the transition”.

    Only once before in history has that much money been spent – in World War 2. This time the spending would have to last three decades, not five years, and no country is contemplating anything like that.

    https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-03-17/climate-change-religion-trump-zeldin-epa-wind-back-rules/105057538

  19. Tesla Owners Silicon Valley
    @teslaownersSV

    Internet do your thing.

    Let’s make this dude famous.

    He keyed a member of our clubs Tesla in South San Jose

    10:21 PM · Mar 14, 2025

    https://x.com/teslaownersSV/status/1900733967630037402

    This guy caught up with the leftist key man who lied through his teeth and denied it.

    Moni 💕
    @MoniFunGirl

    Old guy that keyed a Tesla in a parking lot because “Elon Derangement Syndrome”

    Got caught on video doing it.

    If it costs $1000 in damage, which body work for deep scratches and new paint can cost, it is a felony. Some states less than that.

    Dvmb!
    0:30 / 1:36
    From
    MAGA Voice

    12:10 AM · Mar 17, 2025
    ·
    https://x.com/MoniFunGirl/status/1901486236973285801

  20. Can California Republicans keep the 2024 momentum going? New chair wants to ‘go on offense’

    California’s Republican delegates chose Corrin Rankin as the party’s next leader at their spring organizing convention in Sacramento over the weekend.

    Rankin just completed two years as CAGOP vice chair and is the first Black woman to lead the party. But in an era of Republican attacks on diversity initiatives, she called herself “the most qualified person who happens to be a woman, who happens to be Black. … I had the qualifications, I had the experience, and that’s why I was elected chair.”

    She takes over leadership of the party from Jessica Millan Patterson, who touted adding a million Republican voters during her six-year tenure while expanding volunteer infrastructure to reach Latino voters in key regions.

    “Change is coming to California,” Rankin said in remarks after she was elected Sunday. “It’s time to end the Democrats’ one-party rule and make California great again.”

    Republicans flipped three legislative seats in November and Rankin plans to keep the party “on offense” and woo voters who are “unhappy with the rising crime (and) the rising cost of living.”

    While it’s still unlikely a Republican could win a statewide election, there is opportunity for the party to continue chipping away at the Democratic supermajority in the Capitol. A PPIC analysis found a cross-section of voters left the Democratic party for the GOP in 2024 – particularly younger voters.

    The CAGOP’s new chair is aligned with President Donald Trump and said she “can’t think of any” place she disagrees with him. Nor is she concerned that his trade policies or cuts to health care could hurt Republicans in the 2026 midterms, particularly in the Central Valley, where most residents rely on Medicaid.

    “We’ve got some really great elected officials throughout the Central Valley,” she said. “They’re very pragmatic. So I think that communication, listening to voters and town halls will help us move the needle.”

    QUOTE OF THE DAY

    “I personally think it’s beneath her, but I welcome it.” –Outgoing CAGOP Chair Jessica Millan Patterson on a potential Kamala Harris gubernatorial bid.

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/can-california-republicans-keep-the-2024-momentum-going-new-chair-wants-to-go-on-offense/ar-AA1B4Uf8

  21. Putin Agrees to Limited Cease-Fire on Ukraine’s Energy Targets Following Trump Call

    WASHINGTON—After President Donald Trump held his much-anticipated call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, the White House announced Putin is willing to accept a partial cease-fire covering energy and infrastructure targets.

    The two leaders started the conversation at 10 a.m. EST in the Oval Office, with Trump aiming to broker a cease-fire between Russia and Ukraine.

    The agreement comes a week after Kyiv agreed to a U.S.-backed 30-day cease-fire covering all aspects of the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Putin had indicated some willingness to enter into the more expansive temporary cease-fire but said he had other concerns the proposal didn’t address.

    “The leaders agreed that the movement to peace will begin with an energy and infrastructure ceasefire, as well as technical negotiations on implementation of a maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea, full ceasefire and permanent peace,” the White House said in a readout of the nearly two-hour call.

    https://www.theepochtimes.com/world/putin-agrees-to-limited-cease-fire-on-energy-and-infrastructure-targets-following-trump-call-white-house-5827519

  22. ‘So out of the 10 listings that I have right now with Canadians, seven out of 10 of those are leaving for the reasons that we’ve just been discussing, you know, fatigue from the currency exchange’

    So most are broke and bailing, nothing to do with orange man bad.

    ‘But the way that they’re feeling bullied is the last straw that broke the camel’s back. So with the current, you know, political climate just being, you know, enough to say, OK, that’s it, we’re doing it, we’re going to sell’

    It’s a good thing they can always sell Mark. Florida and Phoenix are red hotcakes right now.

    ‘And some of them are saying, well, we might come back, but for now we’re just, you know, not not sure of what’s going to happen. The properties that they, that they put on the market, you know, they’re, they’re selling, you know, fairly quickly if they’re priced appropriately because, you know, they’re, they’re not living in the, you know, 12 months of the year’

    Hank Williams Lyrics

    “My Bucket’s Got A Hole In It”

    Yea! My Bucket’s Got A Hole In It
    Yea! My Bucket’s Got A Hole In It
    Yea! My Bucket’s Got A Hole In It
    I can’t buy no beer.

    Well I’m standin’ on a corner – With a bucket in my hand
    I’m waitin’ for a woman – That ain’t got no man.

    ‘Cause My Bucket’s Got A Hole In It
    Yea! My Bucket’s Got A Hole In It
    Yea! My Bucket’s Got A Hole In It
    I can’t buy no beer.

    Well, I went upon the mountain – I looked down in the sea
    I seen the crabs and the fishes – Doin’ the be-bop-bee.

    ‘Cause My Bucket’s Got A Hole In It
    Yea! My Bucket’s Got A Hole In It
    Yea! My Bucket’s Got A Hole In It
    I can’t buy no beer.

    Well, there ain’t no use – of me workin’ so hard
    When I got a woman – in the boss man’s yard.

    ‘Cause My Bucket’s Got A Hole In It
    Yea! My Bucket’s Got A Hole In It
    Yea! My Bucket’s Got A Hole In It
    I can’t buy no beer.

    Well, me and my baby – we just bought a Ford
    And now we sit together – on the running board.

    ‘Cause My Bucket’s Got A Hole In It
    Yea! My Bucket’s Got A Hole In It
    Yea! My Bucket’s Got A Hole In It
    I can’t buy no beer.

    https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/hankwilliams/mybucketsgotaholeinit.html

    1. So most are broke and bailing, nothing to do with orange man bad.

      And everything to do with Fidelito’s failed policies.

      Remember all those Tik Tok videos made during the lockdowns in Canada, where Canucks were bawling over the cost of living?

  23. ‘Harding’s complaint alleges a conspiracy in which the defendants used several ‘nefarious mechanisms to siphon money from Harding and conceal their fraudulent activity.’ One example: The defendants engaged in a series of property transfers between them to artificially inflate the homes’ values, Harding alleges, ‘enabling them to obtain financing from investors like Harding at prices far above market value’

    If these fraudulent sales were used as comps, it was still sound lending at the time.

  24. ‘Vacasa manages vacation rental homes across the country and lists them on its website, taking a cut of the fees that renters pay. The business has been faltering for years, with sales falling and losses mounting as the company struggled to efficiently manage far-flung properties. All the offers represent a dramatic comedown for Vacasa, which had a $4 billion market value when it began trading’

    Puddle watchers: short term rentals fail!

    HBB: they always fail.

  25. ‘People want to buy homes. It’s Canada. People see homes as a major investment. They see it as their retirement. People want homes…If a seller is looking to upsize, that’s their motivation to sell their property, they might be better off taking that loss on the initial purchase’

    One of these things is not like the other.

  26. ‘It was the biggest recession in 70 years at the time, and it wiped a lot of people out, and it threatened people across the globe and at one point, it really seemed like the cash machines were going to stop spitting out money’

    Along comes bernake!

    ‘That’s what people thought before there was this sort of massive rescue package. But then we had, in my opinion, completely the wrong response to the financial crisis, completely the wrong response with austerity. We failed to address the issues that had been, exposed by the financial crisis. I think our economies across the world had been quite reliant on the financial sector. They’ve been quite reliant on the housing bubble and the credit that came with it’

    This is the phony economic engine the globalist scum have been using to run the global economy.

  27. Starliner Astronauts Return to Earth After Nearly 10 Months in Space

    SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule Freedom splashed down into the Gulf of America just before 6 p.m. on March 18, finally returning home two astronauts whose eight-day trip to orbit was extended to more than nine months.

    The crew departed from the International Space Station just after 1 a.m. on March 18, and their capsule turned itself around and fired its re-entry burns around 5:11 p.m., slowing itself to a point where it was pulled out of orbit and began re-entering the atmosphere, aiming for a splashdown zone off the coast of Tallahassee, Florida.

    By 5:37 p.m., all cargo was stowed, harnesses were strapped tight, and their spacesuit helmets were closed, and at 5:44 p.m. they faded into a communication blackout.

    Commander Nick Hague’s voice broke routine radio silence, letting SpaceX mission control know he and his crew were “Enjoying the ride,” as video from a high-altitude aircraft showed the first images of Freedom coming back to the earth as a plasma trail streaked behind.

    At 5:54 p.m., Cheers erupted as drogue parachutes deployed, followed shortly by the main parashutes, slowing the spacecraft from more than 370 mph down to 16 mph.

    Another round of cheer erupted at 5:58 p.m. as the capsule landed in the calm gulf waters.

    “What a ride,” Hague said. “There is a capsule full of grins ear to ear.”

    Dragon Freedom conducted the push through the atmosphere autonomously, and NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams rode that man-made comet seated on both sides of their fellow astronaut Hague, Crew-9’s Commander, and Roscosmos Cosmonaut Alexander Gorbunov, Crew-9’s pilot.

    Hague and Gorbunov themselves returned after serving a multi-month mission as part of the International Space Station’s 72nd liveaboard science expedition.

    Theirs was the final splashdown of a SpaceX crew dragon off the coast of Florida, as NASA officals announced that all future splashdowns occurring off the coast of southern California beginning with the return of Crew-10 this summer.

    https://www.theepochtimes.com/science/starliner-astronauts-return-after-nearly-10-months-in-space-5827435

  28. Don’t Inherit The Seller’s Problems (Toronto Real Estate Market Update)

    Team Sessa Real Estate

    25 minutes ago

    In this episode, we discuss how some buyers have unintentionally become landlords by allowing people to live in their home after closing. We also look at the current Toronto Real Estate Market, specifically the detached home prices and market trends for the week ending Mar 12, 2025.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LtcDjA06nI

    17:26.

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