People Will No Longer Pay Whatever It Takes
A report from News Center Maine. “Dozens of existing homeowners in rural Maine are facing foreclosure, according to court documents. The recent series of foreclosure filings is related to what are known as Section 502 loans, issued by the US Department of Agriculture. When Jennifer Cyr took out a home loan through the USDA, she believed she’d finally found long-term stability. But that dream is unraveling. ‘So again, I’m just waiting to get kicked out of my house,’ she said. She began struggling to make payments in 2014, after a layoff. For nearly a decade, she claims she tried contacting the USDA for help—with no response. ‘I couldn’t speak to nobody… it was like they just fell off the face of the earth,’ Cyr said. Now, many of these families are finding themselves in a financial crisis. In one instance, one homeowner who took out a $87,000 loan in 2006 defaulted in 2017. According to court filings, they now owe close to $200,000, with $12 in daily interest accumulating.”
News 5 Cleveland in Ohio. “Akron is on a mission to fight blight. Since the start of the year, the city has demolished dozens of eyesore properties, and another house is scheduled to meet a wrecking ball on Monday. A house on Aqueduct Street is next on the list. It has overgrown bushes and windows knocked out. ‘It’s just ugly,’ said De’Aiere Palmer, who lives across the street. ‘It’s just beat up, run down. It’s pretty gross.’ It will also bring a sigh of relief to real estate agent Antonio Goodwin, who has been trying to sell a house next door for several months. ‘This just one home, that one bad apple can ruin the whole tree,’ Goodwin said. ‘We’re listed at $170,000, but if I pay $170,000 for a home, I don’t want to come home every day, or come out of my house every day, and look at this.'”
Gulf Coast News in Florida. “After Hurricane Ian barreled through the Gulf Coast in 2022, Carla Dickey was among the hundreds of thousands of people who filed insurance claims for storm damage. But she had concerns with her insurance company from the beginning. So, she hired Francisco Chaparro, the owner of All Elements Public Adjusters, to help her. She signed a contract agreeing to pay him 10% of her claim payout. Then, last summer, Dickey was stunned to discover that Chaparro had been arrested. He was charged with three felonies after state investigators said he failed to forward another homeowner more than $100,000 he received from her insurance company. ‘You just don’t do this to somebody. You don’t steal from people like this,’ Dickey said. ‘Completely betrayed, lied to, stolen from,’ Dickey described feeling at the time. ‘I don’t need the money for my personal self. I need the money to fix my house.'”
Chinook Observer in Washington. “Pacific County house sales slowed in April and the south county condo market stalled as economic uncertainties and persistently high mortgage rates put the brakes on the real estate market. The slowdown was particularly noticeable in the peninsula-Chinook-Naselle area, according to statistics from Northwest Multiple Listing Service. Nineteen house sales were finalized at a median price — half sold for more and half for less — of $380,000, a 13% decline from April 2024. Fifty-nine new south county house listings brought the total available inventory to 169, 72% more than a year earlier. At the current rate of sales, there are nine months of available invention, well into the range of a buyers market. Elsewhere in the county, seven houses sold in Raymond, up from two in April 2024. The median selling price of $225,000 was a year-over-year drop of 26%.”
Silicon Valley in California. “An East Coast buyer has emerged for two landmark San Jose housing towers that had teetered on the brink of foreclosure, becoming a high-profile example of a neglectful and absent owner. The two residential towers at 188 West St. James Street in downtown San Jose, have been bought by New York City-based Machine Investment Group, the real estate firm said. China-based Z&L Properties, through an affiliate, had owned and developed the 188 West St. James towers. After numerous construction blunders, only one tower was fully completed and became home to an unknown number of occupants. The second tower remains incomplete and unoccupied. In October 2024, the 188 West St. James towers went into default on the $264 million construction loan for the tower. A subsidiary of Claros Mortgage Trust scheduled many public auctions of the towers, during which the lender could have seized the highrises through a foreclosure or sold them to the highest bidder.The lender postponed every trustee sale it had scheduled for the two towers — until last week.”
CBC News in Canada. “A north Edmonton condo evacuated nearly two years ago over fears the building could collapse has been sold. The long-awaited sale will offer some financial reprieve to previous residents of Castledowns Pointe, which has sat vacant since September 2023. Condo board president Susan Strebchuk said the sale is a welcome sign of closure for its former residents but added there’s still a long road ahead. The sale proceeds will take months to be distributed, with owners not likely to see anything until October or November, Strebchuk said. And their share will be a ‘drop in the bucket’ against the mounting costs they’ve paid for repairs, condo fees and mortgage payments on homes that were no longer habitable, Strebchuk said. ‘The damage that’s been done to either your financial standing — or even your ability to move on from this — is not going to be recovered through whatever funds you will get,’ Strebchuk said. As Strebchuk reflects on the loss of her home, there is a pang of anger and disbelief. ‘We all wish that this never happens to anybody else,’ she said. ‘But, through all of this, we haven’t seen anything that has changed that would protect owners. And that’s a little bit of a bitter pill for us to swallow.'”
This Is Money. “While many estate agents continue to talk the market up, data suggests prime London property is struggling. Several central London boroughs have seen prices fall by more than 20 per cent within the last four years, with one borough seeing its house prices plummet 25 per cent in just two years. In parts of Belgravia, Knightsbridge and Chelsea, it’s taking 201 days to sell a home on average – almost two and half times longer than the national average. Meanwhile, close to half all homes listed in Pimlico undergo at least one price reduction, according to TwentyCi. That compares to 37 per cent of homes across the UK. In the City of Westminster, average house prices have fallen 25 per cent since they peaked in January 2023 and are still below 2014 prices. The average home is selling for £920,000, based on latest Land Registry data, down from a high of £1,225,000. In Kensington and Chelsea, average house prices are down 28.5 per cent since they peaked in October 2021 and still remain below 2014 levels. The average home is selling for £1,183,000, down from a high £1,653,000.”
“‘There’s something strange happening to the top end of the London market but nobody wants to talk about it,’ says Henry Pryor, a professional buying agent. ‘Some estate agents worry that if they voice it, then it will make it true, but ignoring it just prolongs the agony. However, if you’re buying or selling you need to hear this. The market isn’t as strong as it was. What most people aren’t being told is that while sellers of £1million plus homes think that it’s 2021, but most buyers think it’s 2015. The froth has come off the market and privately most estate agents will admit it’s a buyers market. It’s not because of Liz Truss or Brexit or non-doms fleeing the country. It’s not because of interest rates, Ukraine or what’s happening in The White House. It’s because people will no longer pay whatever it takes.'”
Scoop Business. “Lower home values and easing interest rates are creating a rare opportunity for first-home buyers to enter the New Zealand housing market, particularly in hard to access main centres like Auckland and Wellington. QV senior consultant, David Cornford said: ‘Buyers have plenty of options currently and are not afraid to walk away from a property. Economic and employment uncertainty continues and we are seeing this reflected in a relatively soft market where buyers are taking a cautious approach.’ QV Property Consultant, Craig Russel said ‘In the Tasman and Nelson markets, demand for homes within the $500,000 to $800,000 price range is still strong, with multiple offers being a common occurrence. Pricing remains a key determinate, with accurate pricing required to avoid properties languishing on the market for an extended period, and with multiple price reductions.'”
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‘You just don’t do this to somebody. You don’t steal from people like this,’ Dickey said. ‘Completely betrayed, lied to, stolen from,’ Dickey described feeling at the time. ‘I don’t need the money for my personal self. I need the money to fix my house’
Carla lives in Lehigh Acres, which is where I took shadow inventory photos in early 2010 IIRC. It was apocalyptic, dozens of shanties in clusters on 5 or 10 acre lots with doors standing open, etc.
Lehigh Acres is another very strange area, per Google maps. There are tons of small streets, but the houses are far apart, like half the houses had been removed. It’s not all due to Ian — it looks like those empty lots have a lot more than 3 years of vegetation. But then again, it’s FL, I guess things grow fast. I wonder who owns the land, at $23K per lot. Sounds like a good place for some Chinese or Middle Eastern immigrants to buy up a few blocks’ worth and start a colony.
My parents on a lark (early 90’s) bought a plot for $6K in Lehigh Acres. After getting covid, they got unsolicited offers – sold for $30K (getting $22K net but practicallly nothing when accounting for inflation) in 2021. We were looking on real-estate sites – only about 50% of the lots had houses after all these years. Many like theirs was just sitting empty
BTW: the only time my dad ever made/broke even money on a speculation. lost on 2 other small timey purchases.
‘In October 2024, the 188 West St. James towers went into default on the $264 million construction loan for the tower. A subsidiary of Claros Mortgage Trust scheduled many public auctions of the towers, during which the lender could have seized the highrises through a foreclosure or sold them to the highest bidder.The lender postponed every trustee sale it had scheduled for the two towers — until last week’
Speaking of shadow inventory, these ‘Chinese investors’ stopped paying the loans years before 2024.
‘It’s just ugly,’ said De’Aiere Palmer, who lives across the street. ‘It’s just beat up, run down. It’s pretty gross.’ It will also bring a sigh of relief to real estate agent Antonio Goodwin, who has been trying to sell a house next door for several months. ‘This just one home, that one bad apple can ruin the whole tree,’ Goodwin said. ‘We’re listed at $170,000, but if I pay $170,000 for a home, I don’t want to come home every day, or come out of my house every day, and look at this’
The article mentions lots of bums and squatters. Yer not getting 170k Tony.
Nineteen house sales were finalized at a median price — half sold for more and half for less — of $380,000, a 13% decline from April 2024.
But…but…muh generational wealth!
Realtors are liars.
Realtors are liars.
‘I couldn’t speak to nobody… it was like they just fell off the face of the earth,’ Cyr said.
You sound semi-literate, Jennifer. Maybe that’s at the root of your financial problems.
And didja notice that she didn’t make full payments for TEN YEARS before anyone at USDA paid attention? She got 10 years free living. I have NO sympathy for her at all.
The median selling price of $225,000 was a year-over-year drop of 26%.”
Oh dear…and the real cratering hasn’t even started yet.
In Kensington and Chelsea, average house prices are down 28.5 per cent since they peaked in October 2021 and still remain below 2014 levels.
UK FBs who levered up on debt to get up on that housing ladder to effortless riches are well & truly buggered, it seems.
However, if you’re buying or selling you need to hear this. The market isn’t as strong as it was.
You don’t say…but here’s the good news, FBs: the real cratering hasn’t even begun yet.
Remember when the globalist scum media all covered up Dementia Joe’s sad cognitive decline? Now the same Real Journalists are writing tell-all books about it. The beginning of wisdom is to unplug from the lying garbage legacy media.
https://nypost.com/2025/05/14/media/jake-tapper-slammed-for-rewriting-history-to-cash-in-on-book-covering-bidens-decline/
Alberta is defying Canada’s globalist quisling regime in Ottawa.
https://hotair.com/tree-hugging-sister/2025/05/13/alberta-tells-carbon-tax-carney-to-suck-a-cold-stone-n3802720
Heckova job, “Zimbabwe Ben” Bernanke, Yellen the Felon, & BlackRock Jay.
https://www.visualcapitalist.com/mapped-the-income-needed-to-buy-a-home-in-every-u-s-state/
Canadian colleges are slashing headcount now that international student enrollment is way down because Canada is fooked. But keep those elbows up, K-dans!
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/london/employees-devastated-as-fanshawe-college-moves-to-cut-400-jobs-1.7529729
Hmmm… per Chat GPT, Fanshawe College appears to be closer to an American community college. They offer 1-3year certificates for hands-on applied majors like Retirement Residence Management.
Part of me is sorry to see stuff like this go, because these are useful majors, and the kind of cheap focused education that we should be doing in the us instead of a 4-year generalized nebulous career in Victim Studies.
But then, if you don’t have enough students, you don’t have enough students. Both Canada and the US need to consolidate their colleges the same way we’re consolidating malls: Pick out the good ones, fix them up nice, and knock down the other 2/3.
WSJ – The Unraveling of the King of Davos.
A stunning fall from grace for World Economic Forum founder Klaus Schwab came amid threats against board members and allegations of financial impropriety, which he denies.
https://archive.ph/1QmdJ#selection-2091.0-2099.170
For decades, Klaus Schwab ruled over Davos like royalty. That reign ended when he hit “send” on an email to World Economic Forum trustees on a recent Friday afternoon.
Schwab was seemingly headed for a graceful exit from the organization he founded more than a half-century ago, after a 2024 investigation by The Wall Street Journal exposed evidence of a toxic culture at the Forum for women and Black employees. But by Friday, April 18, the trustees’ audit committee recommended opening a probe into a new wave of whistleblower allegations against Schwab and his wife, Hilde.
Incensed, Klaus Schwab fired off a two-paragraph message to the board’s audit committee, threatening trustees with an investigation into how they were carrying out their duties and accusing them of risking the future of the organization.
“You have the opportunity to withdraw your note to the board in the next 24 hours with the specific regret to have put into question my reputation,” his email said. He offered some advice: “To facilitate such a move, you could refer to the fact that I will file a criminal complaint.”
“Yours sincerely,” he signed off. “Klaus.”
The bombshell email was aimed at stopping trustees from responding formally to accusations that the Schwabs for years had improperly intermingled their personal finances with the well-endowed nonprofit’s accounts.
Instead it backfired on the 87-year-old founder of the Forum, the Swiss institution behind the glitzy annual gathering of world leaders, finance moguls, celebrities and journalists each January in the Alps.
For decades, Klaus Schwab handpicked executives at the Forum and fired employees who crossed him. He personally tapped royalty, politicians and CEOs for the Forum’s board of trustees. His wife was granted wide leeway as head of a Forum-linked foundation and the organization’s highest-profile volunteer.
Now, the founder is at war with the organization he started and led with an iron grip. He has been instructed by Forum lawyers not to destroy emails, financial documents or other records, said people familiar with the situation, and he is forbidden from interacting with staff or using Forum computer systems.
Schwab said he and his wife deny all the allegations raised in the whistleblower letter. “We are of the opinion that the audit and risk committee and the board of trustees of the WEF overreacted timewise also concerning the mandate of the new investigation without a prior in-depth discussion,” he said in a statement.
“My wife Hilde and I have devoted the last 55 years to public service, always living up to the highest professional, financial and ethical standards,” the statement said.
The Forum said its board unanimously decided to initiate an independent investigation into the whistleblower allegations, a decision endorsed by its Swiss regulator. “The process will be carried out thoroughly, diligently, and in a timely manner,” it said in a statement.
“The developments of the past weeks do not alter the World Economic Forum’s steadfast commitment to its mission and values,” the Forum said, including coming events in Tianjin, China, and San Francisco.
The fracture has left trustees racing to get a handle on the fallout within the organization, which generates around $500 million a year, much of it from fees paid by corporate partners. Big banks, consulting firms and tech giants have reliably poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into Forum partnerships year after year, helping bankroll the Davos gatherings and other events.
Bankers and CEOs say they can get more business done during five days in Davos than over weeks of frenetic travel. Most of the dealmaking happens in private suites and meeting rooms tucked away from journalists and nonprofit attendees. The tiered access—to hotels, restaurants and late-night parties—is governed by color-coded badges worn around visitors’ necks. It fosters a pecking order that keeps VIPs coming back for more.
This article is based on interviews with senior Forum officials, current and former employees and other people familiar with the organization’s inner workings, as well as internal Forum documents reviewed by the Journal.
Succession drama:
The Forum’s famous annual power jamboree made the quaint Swiss ski town of Davos a household name, helping the nonprofit amass a fortune in luxury properties and cash reserves. Klaus Schwab was its omnipresent host, presiding over both private and public meetings, often featuring catchphrases declaring his views on globalization, technology and geopolitics.
The Forum’s roughly 30 trustees include BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, celebrity cellist Yo-Yo Ma, former U.S. Vice President Al Gore and the Queen of Jordan. By January 2024, a growing faction of trustees privately discussed ways to persuade the founder to name a successor and begin the process of relinquishing control.
Clashes between Schwab and his top deputy, Børge Brende, a former Norwegian foreign minister, were becoming increasingly frequent and disruptive. People familiar with the situation say Schwab micromanaged even routine day-to-day hiring decisions and strategies to attract more younger attendees.
Trustees enlisted help from Schwab confidant Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, a former CEO of Nestlé, in efforts to nudge Schwab toward a graceful exit. Brabeck-Letmathe had sway with Schwab, but even he hit resistance.
Schwab insisted that his retirement was his call to make—and that his influence over the Forum wouldn’t end there. The Forum’s bylaws state: “The Founder himself designates his successor in the Board and so forth for the latter’s succession,” and Schwab or “at least one member of his immediate family” is on the board of trustees.
Schwab wanted to slowly relinquish responsibilities in phases, and to help choose his successor.
Schwab’s plans were disrupted last year when the Journal contacted the Forum about its reporting on its workplace culture, said people familiar with the matter.
In consultation with advisers, Schwab chose a route that might have taken the spotlight off him. In a May 2024 memo, Schwab told staff he planned to give up his executive role to become nonexecutive chairman. Schwab also sent letters to the Journal’s publisher and editor in chief claiming that reporters were relying on disgruntled former employees.
The June 29, 2024, article, based on accounts from dozens of current and former Forum employees and other people familiar with the Forum’s practices, reported Schwab had presided over a workplace atmosphere at the Forum that was hostile to women and Black people, including incidents of sexual harassment, racial discrimination and pregnancy-related discrimination.
The Forum issued a press release denying the reporting and threatening a defamation lawsuit.
Some Forum corporate partners, including Pfizer and Mastercard, reached out to the organization to ask about the allegations. The board assigned a committee to oversee the response, headed by AXA CEO Thomas Buberl and including Accenture CEO Julie Sweet and Carlyle Group co-founder David Rubenstein. It hired the U.S. law firm Covington & Burling and Swiss law firm Homburger to investigate.
The probe, led by former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, a Covington senior counsel, lasted for months.
Behind the scenes, tensions ran high. In an August 2024 email to trustees, Schwab defended his legacy. “I could have created the Forum as a commercial company since I carried the full entrepreneurial and financial risk when creating the Forum. I would be now probably celebrated as a self made billionaire,” he wrote.
In a November 2024 text, Schwab said: “Related to racism particularly against African people,” he texted, “I just want to mention that I was knighted (KCMG) by Queen Elisabeth (sic) mainly for my efforts to overcome apartheid.”
The missive and others like it struck some trustees and senior Forum officials as a sign of desperation, according to people familiar with internal discussions over recent months, noting that Schwab had a tendency to exaggerate his role in the events that brought the end to South Africa’s racist regime.
The Foreign Office press release about Schwab’s honorary knighthood, presented by the British foreign secretary on stage in Davos in January 2006, doesn’t mention apartheid. It cites Schwab’s “contribution to UK global priorities of safeguarding the environment and reducing poverty through sustainable development” and calls Davos a “unique global forum.”
‘He needs to leave’:
In a March call with Forum trustees, Holder recommended personnel changes after the investigation. There was one individual he was adamant about: Schwab’s son, Olivier Schwab.
“He needs to leave,” Holder told trustees. Holder cited evidence that Olivier had overlooked serious sexual harassment perpetrated by a direct report, a case documented in the Journal’s 2024 article, and then misled investigators about his knowledge of the complaints.
Covington representatives, including Holder, didn’t return requests for comment.
Klaus Schwab was livid. His daughter, Nicole Schwab, had already left the Forum in December. He told trustees that he disagreed with plans to remove his son and threatened to retaliate if they did, according to people familiar with the matter.
A Schwab family spokesman said Schwab wasn’t involved in discussions about his son’s departure but had threatened to resign if they named his son and two close lieutenants in the Covington report.
In heated discussions, trustees worked out a compromise that allowed Olivier Schwab to resign rather than be fired.
Olivier Schwab, through the spokesman, said that as soon as he had evidence of the offending employee’s misdeeds in February 2018, he fired him, but until that time it was hearsay.
The week of March 24, Brende invited Klaus Schwab several times to discuss Brende’s reorganization plan for the Forum, but Schwab each time gave reasons why he couldn’t meet. The plan received board signoff, and on March 27 Brende sent a 3,700-word memo outlining far-reaching changes to the management structure, including executive appointments.
Klaus Schwab received the memo along with other employees. It included the departure of his son and reduced responsibilities for two of his top lieutenants, Saadia Zahidi and Jeremy Jurgens.
The founder blew up at Brende, arguing that some of the people promoted weren’t ready for the responsibility. He complained to Brabeck-Letmathe, then-vice chairman of the board, that key decisions affecting the future of the Forum had been made without consulting him. Brabeck-Letmathe wasn’t sympathetic and told him he should step down.
The clash frustrated trustees, already stunned by Schwab’s defense of his son despite the findings of the independent investigation.
On April 2, Klaus Schwab told staff and trustees that he’d give up the chairmanship. The Forum said it would start a search for a replacement, with a target of completing the process by January 2027.
The whistleblowers:
About two weeks later, a long email hit trustees’ inboxes, signed “on behalf of current and former employees.”
It laid out 11 areas of complaint, ranging from allegations of misuse of Forum resources to Klaus Schwab’s behavior with female employees, including personal remarks and other communications that made the women uncomfortable, and Olivier Schwab’s handling of the sexual-harassment issue. It also expounded on other alleged governance failures, including the Forum’s lavish spending on a luxury property called Villa Mundi, a project overseen by Hilde Schwab.
After the Forum in 2018 spent about $30 million on the mansion next to its headquarters overlooking Lake Geneva, it launched into a roughly $20 million renovation. Hilde steered the project. She also maintained control over how Forum employees could use Villa Mundi, and when—limiting access to an entire floor employees were told was for the Schwabs’ exclusive use, according to the whistleblower letter and a person familiar with the situation.
The whistleblower letter also alleged that Schwab had misused Forum resources and staff in a personal quest to get nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. “This was not a WEF initiative but a self-driven effort disguised as organizational work,” the letter states.
The Schwab spokesman said Schwab and his wife deny all the allegations in the whistleblower complaint, including about Villa Mundi and the Nobel Peace Prize effort.
Trustees, many of whom have served on the Forum board for years, suddenly faced the prospect of more scrutiny about how effectively the organization had been supervised. They consulted lawyers for the board.
On Good Friday, April 18, the audit committee chaired by Buberl, the AXA boss, notified the full board of its intention to open a new investigation into the whistleblower letter’s claims. Klaus Schwab told board members that everything in the letter was false and said the Covington inquiry hadn’t substantiated prior allegations against him.
Buberl responded that if he had nothing to worry about, Schwab should accept the investigation. Soon after, Schwab let loose his threatening email to the audit committee. The committee forwarded the message to the board.
Brabeck-Letmathe called his longtime friend and had a tough conversation. Schwab tried to explain it was unacceptable to put him through another inquiry. Brabeck-Letmathe disagreed.
Schwab followed up Saturday night with a resignation email to the board. Schwab in the email said his legacy is “well established and does not need any further validation.” He cited his more than 20 honorary degrees and professorships and wrote, “I have received the highest national distinction from numerous countries for my efforts in helping economic developments, reconciliation efforts and even avoiding a war.”
Schwab’s implosion culminated on Easter Sunday with an emergency meeting of the Forum’s board that went on for around two hours. Some trustees spoke up in support of Schwab, but in the end, all trustees agreed that a probe was warranted.
Trustees also talked with lawyers over the weekend about needing to move quickly amid worries that Schwab or others acting in his interest might try to destroy evidence.
On Monday, April 21, the Forum issued a statement saying Schwab had decided to step down as chair, effective immediately.
The Schwab spokesman said that Schwab never meant to threaten the board in his April email. He has since filed a criminal complaint against the anonymous author of the whistleblower letter in Switzerland, the spokesman added.
” the 87-year-old founder of the Forum”
Just a reminder, both Jim Henson and John Denver died at age 53. 😕
David Hogg is a sorry excuse for a “male,” but now this pathetic, woke little twit is belatedly figuring out that the Democrat-Bolshevik party hates white males and seeks their systemic marginalization and economic disenfranchisement.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/david-hogg-slams-fast-track-effort-oust-him-dnc-vice-chair
The Canadians were, and still are all involved with “Evening out” with the rest of the world , and voted to keep on doing it .
In the beginning of WWI , when the Germans were first bringing in machine guns to the front, the Official response from British and K-nuck officers was …”Nonsense ,there’s nothing like it” as they charged thousands of young conscripts to their deaths as machine gun fodder ….that’s still their way of thinking, on housing and whatever,….
Most K-dans enthusiastically support their WEF puppet regime. They purely & simply deserve everything that’s going to happen to them in consequence.
Not housing today but dang. 8 crashes and still …..
Alabama authorities said reports have been completed for four of the eight crashes. According to the reports, the first crash happened at 6:45 p.m. at mile post 362.
https://www.29news.com/2025/05/14/truck-driver-admits-drinking-unknown-amount-tequila-before-causing-deadly-crash-troopers-say/
Mass email urging immigrants to self-deport sows fear, confusion in Nebraska
In late March, clients started calling Brian Blackford with the same question. They sounded scared, he says. Desperate. I got this email, they asked the Omaha-based immigration attorney. Does this mean I have to flee the country?
That’s what the email itself, sent by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, says in stark language. “It is time for you to leave the United States,” it reads. “Do not attempt to remain in the United States – the federal government will find you.”
The mass email went out to migrants here legally, who had entered the United States using an app and a Biden-era program that gave people temporary legal status.
Many have pending asylum applications, allowing them to stay until an immigration court judge issues a final decision. Another had a pending green card application, because he married a U.S. citizen.
“It’s so blatantly misleading, and just obviously a scare tactic,” Blackford said. “If you don’t have an attorney that can properly advise you, that would be terrifying.”
“It’s like a threat,” said Maria Arriaga, executive director of the Nebraska Commission on Latino-Americans. “It is not only terminating your employment authorization, it is terminating the possibility for everyone to build their life when they were granted entrance.”
It’s not actually a deportation order, said Anna Deal, legal director for the Omaha-based Center for Immigrant and Refugee Advancement. Unlike typical immigration agency emails, the message included zero personal information, like names and identifying numbers. The email even ended up in the inboxes of immigration attorneys who are citizens, Deal said.
At some meatpacking plants, “employers were calling in hundreds of workers based on nationality and (their work permit category) and telling them that they’d be terminated,” Deal said. “Many of those individuals weren’t even CHNV parolees. They were being told that they were going to lose their job in error.”
The 10 printed out pages surround the docket of cases for the day, on a bulletin board at the Omaha Immigration Court. One flyer threatens “possible imprisonment.” The words are overlaid onto an image of a man being transported by masked guards through a maximum-security prison in El Salvador.
But while attorneys are telling their clients not to self-deport, immigrants across Nebraska are doing their own mental calculus, said Kevin Ruser, who runs the Nebraska College of Law’s Immigration Clinic. Should we stay and risk deportation if our parole is suddenly revoked?
In Columbus, Centro Hispano had a family come in for the first time last week asking for help to self-deport, said Karina Perez, executive director of Centro Hispano in Columbus.
“The fear is really high. When you feel like there’s no other reality for you now, people are like, this might be the best option for me,” Perez said. “Even if they do have status right now, it’s the unknown of how long their status will keep them here.”
https://flatwaterfreepress.org/like-a-threat-mass-email-urging-immigrants-to-self-deport-sows-fear-confusion-in-nebraska/
The article is conflating legal parolees with totally illegal aliens. I don’t see how a company is going to terminate the legal CHNV parolees, since they still have status and work permits. If their work permit status is over, then yeah, they should be terminated.
RE the parolees: So far, the courts are upholding the Mayorkas’s last-minute renewal of the 18-month period. That means that their time is up next summer. Then we need DOJ to hire a truck load of immigration judges to dispose of the asylum cases. This will give those meatpackers over a year to get legal workers.
More from this article: “At Honeywell in Nebraska City, where factory workers put together gas meters, workers from countries like Nicaragua and Haiti were told their last day of work would be April 24”
Something tells me the work doesn’t require an engineering degree, or even 12th grade English. You’re going to tell me that they can’t find light-duty factory workers in freekin’ NEBRASKA? And who was doing this work 5 years ago?
Looking for a job with no education requirements or previous work experience?
If you are considering applying to be a bus operator for the MTA, the application process has just gotten slightly easier.
At the time of appointment, applicants must either have a Class A or Class B Commercial Driver’s License or a Learner’s Permit for a Class B Commercial Driver’s License.
https://pix11.com/news/local-news/mta-is-hiring-for-jobs-with-no-education-requirements-or-experience-3/
WTOP radio plays ads for entry-level electricians all the time. Skilled trades are high demand.
Baja Peninsula’s tomato growers unite to fight upcoming US levies
With a U.S. levy on imported Mexican tomatoes set to start in mid-July, Mexico’s growers are lobbying intensely against a measure they say would harm both countries, joining forces with U.S. partners and President Claudia Sheinbaum’s administration. One grower acknowledged it’s an uphill fight.
“It’s very difficult to negotiate with someone who shows no interest in negotiating,” said Walberto Solorio, president of the Baja California Agricultural Council, a group that represents 120 tomato growers in the states of Baja California and Baja California Sur. “We are going to keep knocking on the door. We are not giving up,” he added.
Mexican tomato growers are facing a 17.09% “anti-dumping” duty at the U.S. border starting on July 14, following an announcement last month by the U.S. Department of Commerce that it is withdrawing from the Tomato Suspension Agreement. The accord with Mexican growers has exempted Mexican fresh tomatoes from being subject to a levy at the U.S. border since 1996, provided that the growers agree to quality inspections and pricing rules.
The stakes are high for Mexican farmers, as more than half the country’s tomato crop is exported to the United States, according to the Economy Ministry. That’s a value of more than US $3 billion. Mexico’s tomato exports have risen sharply in recent years with the expansion of Mexico’s greenhouse production — and today, the country supplies close to seven out of 10 fresh tomatoes consumed in the United States.
“We’re looking at all alternatives, diplomatic, economic, political,” Solorio said in an interview after returning to Baja California. His family-owned Heirloom Farms, located south of the Pacific port city of Ensenada, specializes in a variety of tomatoes for the export market, including cherry, baby heirloom and vine-ripe varieties.
The dispute over Mexican tomato imports has been around for years, led by the Florida-based growers group, Florida Tomato Exchange, which accuses Mexican farmers of taking advantage of lower labor costs and selling at below U.S. market prices, a practice known as “dumping.”
In announcing its withdrawal from the suspension agreement, the U.S. Department of Commerce said that “this action will allow U.S. tomato growers to compete fairly in the marketplace.”
According to reporting by the Associated Press, California and Florida are the United States’ biggest growers of tomatoes, but California’s tomatoes mainly go into processed tomato foods like sauces. Florida is Mexico’s main competitor for producing fresh tomatoes.
The dispute over Mexican tomato imports has been around for years, led by the Florida-based growers group, Florida Tomato Exchange, which accuses Mexican farmers of taking advantage of lower labor costs and selling at below U.S. market prices, a practice known as “dumping.”
In announcing its withdrawal from the suspension agreement, the U.S. Department of Commerce said that “this action will allow U.S. tomato growers to compete fairly in the marketplace.”
According to reporting by the Associated Press, California and Florida are the United States’ biggest growers of tomatoes, but California’s tomatoes mainly go into processed tomato foods like sauces. Florida is Mexico’s main competitor for producing fresh tomatoes.
Florida farmers can’t compete because “they lack the technology, the water, the climate, the workforce; they have many disadvantages, but they don’t see it that way,” Solorio said.
According to reporting by the horticulture industry media outlet HortiDaily, Florida’s tomato industry has seen a decline since the 1990s with the implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). HortiDaily reported that tomato grower acreage in the state has fallen from just over 25,000 hectares in 1990 to around 9,000 acres today, in part because Mexican growers responded at the time with major investment in greenhouse technology, allowing them to grow specialty tomatoes, whereas Florida’s industry traditionally has grown mainly round tomatoes.
The new levy would force up retail prices “because it’s practically impossible for the producer to absorb such a high percentage,” Solorio said.
In Baja California, 80% of the tomato crop is exported, according to the state’s Agriculture Ministry. Most of those exports are sent to California, and from there, a portion is sent to other parts of the United States.
In Baja California, 80% of the tomato crop is exported, according to the state’s Agriculture Ministry. Most of those exports are sent to California, and from there, a portion is sent to other parts of the United States.
Baja California’s largest tomato-producing region is San Quintin, a rural community located some 150 miles from the California border. The region has been an export agricultural zone for decades. An import fee would be a big blow — not just for growers but for the region’s overall economy, which has struggled due to a number of factors, including government regulations and water scarcity.
The peninsula’s isolation from the mainland makes its growers particularly vulnerable, he said, as “the national market for us is not an option” due to distance and shipping costs. Growers could disappear or “would be forced to move to a different product, and that takes time, investment and a learning curve,” Solorio said.
https://mexiconewsdaily.com/baja-california-peninsula/baja-california-tomato-tariffs-growers-band-together-to-fight-u-s-tariffs/
“California’s tomatoes mainly go into processed tomato foods”
This reminds me my bag of frozen bell peppers, which were a product of Spain, or other canned and frozen produce. If you’re going to can and/or freeze the produce, then you don’t need to import from a foreign country, or even from a warm state. You can grow frozen bell peppers or canned tomato sauce in Minnesota, with all the water you want.
Florida used to have a major tomato growing and packing industry, but as Perot predicted (1992), NAFTA initiated a “giant sucking sound as jobs left the US”.
“…An import fee would be a big blow — not just for growers but for the region’s overall economy..”
Time to buy Baja and fast track to statehood. Problem solved.
Ford vows to hold Honda ‘accountable’ after it postpones $15B Ontario EV project
Ontario Premier Ford is vowing to hold auto companies that pull out from Ontario “accountable” after news that Honda is putting a major electric vehicle supply chain planned for the province on hold.
The move is the latest blow for Ontario’s auto sector. General Motors announced in it will be laying off hundreds of workers at its Oshawa, Ont. plant later this year in recent weeks.
It also raises big financial questions for Ford’s government. His Progressive Conservatives are set to release this year’s budget on Thursday, and it was expected to have significant funding to begin mining critical minerals that are crucial to building electric vehicles.
“We’re going to hold them accountable, each auto-manufacturer,” Ford said in response to Honda’s announcement. “Were going to make sure they’re held accountable and they continue manufacturing automobiles here in Ontario.”
Japan’s Honda Motor said Tuesday it would put on hold a plan to build an EV supply chain in Canada after forecasting a 59 per cent profit decrease, amid the uncertainty stemming from U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
“The company will continue to evaluate the timing and project progression as market conditions change,” Honda Canada spokesperson Ken Chiu said in a statement Tuesday.
Following Honda’s announcement, Ontario’s minister of economic development, job creation and trade said the government remains in close contact with Honda, adding that the company has reaffirmed its commitment to the project.
“Our government will continue to fight every single day to protect the progress we have made in our auto-manufacturing sector and secure good-paying jobs and support for workers and their families,” said Minister Vic Fedeli.
Ottawa was set to give the Japanese automaker around $2.5 billion through tax credits, while Ontario committed to provide up to $2.5 billion in support directly and indirectly.
Honda’s forecast is the latest signal of the difficulty car makers are having navigating Trump’s tariffs on foreign-made automobiles at the same time the industry is being hit by the rise of Chinese EV producers.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/doug-ford-honda-electric-vehicle-plant-1.7533410
I read earlier Honda is pulling a plant out of Mexico to make it entirely in the US. Does anybody remember Fords crazy brother?
‘Doug Ford’s brother is Rob Ford, who served as the 64th mayor of Toronto from 2010 to 2014 and was known for his controversial political career, including a scandal involving drug use. Rob Ford passed away in 2016 at the age of 46.’
What does “accountable” mean? You send someone a strongly-worded letter to make him feel bad? I suppose Ontario could sue Honda for some sort of breach of contract. And Honda will settle for hundred million or so and wash their hands of it, meh cost of doing business.
It wouldn’t surprise me if Honda will deliberate blaming “tariffs” to get out of wasting money to build cars that nobody Canadian will buy. Canada isn’t exactly famous for warm weather and long battery range.
And at first I thought “Ford” was the Ford motor company, oops.
Federal Grand Jury Indicts Wisconsin Judge Accused of Helping Illegal Immigrant Evade ICE
Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan was indicted by a federal grand jury on May 13, after being arrested and accused of helping an illegal immigrant evade Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) last month.
Her indictment comes after she was arrested by the FBI on April 25 and subsequently suspended from her duties as a judge by the Wisconsin Supreme Court.
A reserve judge has been working in her stead.
The grand jury reviewed the charges brought forth in a complaint, as a check on the prosecutor’s power, and determined that enough probable cause existed to continue the case.
Dugan faces one count of “obstructing or impeding a proceeding before a department or agency,” and another of “concealing an individual to prevent his discovery and arrest.”
She could face up to six years in prison if convicted of both counts.
She was assigned to preside over a hearing for Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, a Mexican national who was charged with domestic violence, on April 18. Flores-Ruiz had previously been deported in 2013, and there was no evidence that he reentered the country legally.
However, according to the affidavit, witnesses said Dugan appeared “visibly upset and had a confrontational, angry demeanor,” upon learning of the arrest party’s arrival.
They alleged that Dugan “escorted” Flores Ruiz and his lawyer “out of the courtroom through the ‘jury door,’ which leads to a nonpublic area of the courthouse,” after she “ordered” the team of FBI and deportation officials to go to the chief judge’s office. The jury door is normally used by defendants only if they are in the custody of deputies.
Another officer, according to the affidavit, noticed Flores-Ruiz and his lawyer on an elevator and alerted the arrest team. Flores-Ruiz was apprehended after a foot chase outside the courthouse.
https://www.theepochtimes.com/us/federal-grand-jury-indicts-wisconsin-judge-accused-of-helping-illegal-immigrant-evade-ice-5857378
Lock her up! Democrat-Bolshevik judges are there to subvert the rule of law, not enforce it.
Oh Dear
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/my-wife-and-i-paid-off-my-stepdaughters-415k-mortgage-in-exchange-for-her-house-but-its-now-worth-310k-should-we-sue-a36a262d
That story is a hot mess.
Does business with family without lawyers involved
Ends badly
Who is shocked by this?
Who doesn’t get a lawyer involved for half a million dollars????? Idiocy on all levels.
Clutch those pearls, globalist scum! The rise of the “far right” brings the day closer when the globalist quislings might be held accountable for their treason against formerly sovereign nation-states and Heritage populations.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/a-political-tipping-point-in-britain-a-far-right-party-gains-clout/ar-AA1EKkdF
The reason prices are falling in London (England) is because nobody wants to live in Bombay or Karachi and they certainly aren’t paying top dollar for it.
Let in the 3rd world, become the 3rd world.
House went up for sale about 2 months ago a block away. Talked to the guy (boomer, single, retired) and he said he was moving to Oklahoma (nowhere near here). House sits on market for 1.5 months. Price gets lowered 5k. Houses sits another week and gets removed from market. Hmmmmmmmmmmm
Happened to see guy yesterday, asked why ti’s off the market. “well, the agent wanted to lower the price some more, I can’t do that, I got too much money in it (doubt), I set the price here. I held my tongue
Why no, I didn’t get any offers in 2 months, you don’t set the price, the buyer does. So, I guess he’s just gonna ride it all the way down.
“…you don’t set the price, the buyer does. So, I guess he’s just gonna ride it all the way down….”
As Judge Judy says: “S*ck it up”