FOMO Is Flipping The Other Way
It’s Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. “A Lake Tahoe housing shortage is leaving more residents in dire straits. Ironically, though, Tahoe has plenty of houses. They just sit vacant most of the year. More than half of Tahoe homes are vacation residences owned by people who live elsewhere. ‘We don’t need to build more, we just need to re-purpose the ones we have better,’ said Heidi Hill-Drum of the Tahoe Prosperity Center, a coalition working on the housing issue.”
“A $1.15 million townhouse has gone up for sale in North Vancouver, a property that has never been lived in since it was built in 2007. The listing is a stark reminder of Vancouver’s growing issue with vacant housing and housing affordability. According to analysis of Statistics Canada census data from 2016, there were 25,502 unoccupied or empty housing units in the City of Vancouver in 2016, representing a 15 per cent increase since 2011. Further, the number of ‘unoccupied’ units or properties, ‘occupied solely by foreign residents and/or temporary present residents on Census Day’ has risen to 8.2 per cent in 2016 from four per cent in 1986.”
“An overwhelming 26 percent of homes are empty in the French capital’s 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th arrondissements, a new report shows. The report by The Paris Urbanism Agency shows that a quarter of housing in these four central Paris arrondissements is vacant - amounting to 20,300 homes. This compares to an average of 15 percent empty homes across the rest of the capital. While the problem certainly isn’t new, it is getting worse, according to the report, with the number of vacant homes in these four areas experiencing a sharp increase.”
“NSW and Victoria are sitting on a glut of 100,000 underused houses, with more than 2000 six-bedroom homes across Sydney and Melbourne occupied by just one person, a Fairfax Media analysis has revealed. In NSW, Canterbury-Bankstown, Northern Beaches and Blacktown local government areas each have between 1400 to 2000 four-bedroom homes with just one person living in them, while in Victoria, there are more than 1000 in Monash, Whitehorse and Frankston, census figures show.”
“The apartments at Hannam The Hill in Hannam and the Signiel Residence in Jamsil are famously pricey and located in two of the most coveted neighborhoods in the country. But because of their sky-high prices, most of the rooms are vacant. According to a registry office at the Supreme Court, only 24 percent of apartments bigger than 240 square meters (2,600 square feet) at Hannam The Hill have been sold so far.”
“The situation is worse at the Signiel Residence, a set of luxury apartments located on the 42nd to 71st floors of the Lotte World Tower. Only seven out of 223 apartments have been sold. While Korea’s real estate market is facing an unprecedented boom these days, sales of luxury apartments are unexpectedly slow. ‘The two areas [Hannam and Jamsil] have been seen an excessive amount of homes being built in a similar time period,’ said Park Won-gab, a senior adviser for real estate at KB Kookmin Bank.”
“The Norwegian real estate market seems to have peaked as statistics from Eiendom Norge show declining prices for the third month in a row, falling 1.2% in July as compared to June. Oslo saw a particularly severe drop of 2.8%. ‘In recent months the housing market has seen a sharp decline in prices in Oslo, which has affected the statistics on a national level,’ said CEO of Eiendom Norge, Christian Vammervold Dreyer. He argues that the depressed prices are due to an oversaturation in supply, with no obvious end in sight.”
“Hundreds of homebuyers of Jaypee Infratech Group decided legal and political action after the private housing major in Noida teetered on the brink of insolvency. The people want their investment refunded amid growing fears that lawsuits will become ineffective if the company is declared insolvent. ‘Why should buyers who have invested their life savings suffer?’ said Vipin Kumar, a man who fears he will not get possession of his promised flat and lose his hard-earned money.”
“First-home buyers are being told now is the time to strike with cheeky offers on houses, to see if they can get a good deal from an over-stretched investor. ‘A lot of investors have over-extended themselves in the past three years and their hopes of new investors taking property off their hands at a tidy profit have been dashed,’ said Tony Alexander, BNZ’s chief economist.”
“He said, ‘Auckland is interesting in that there is now an over-supply of properties which can be intensified. The finance is not there to allow construction, and neither are the builders. So lots of investors are now sitting on potentially highly geared up properties they cannot get anyone to buy and develop. Some investors were getting worried, he said, that profit they had made on paper over the past couple of years could be disappearing fast. The fomo [fear of missing out] which drove them to gear up and buy any old piece of property last year and before is now working in the opposite direction. They are vulnerable as a mass to something. Some trigger.’”
“He said first-home buyers could ‘take advantage of their pain’ by taking their time, looking at a number of properties, and throwing in ‘low-ball offers in case you catch a truly panicked fish.’ ‘Alternatively, simply make an offer for what you think a place is really worth – and stick with it. Don’t let the agent work you. They know that at this point in the housing cycle the effort they need to put in is on the vendor – convincing them that the days of stupid prices have ended. Stick with your price and walk away if they won’t budge. If they spray, walk away!’”
“‘Currently my deepest interest is in the vibe of the market,’ Alexander said. ‘I’m looking at the language agents are using in their ads, trying to get a feel for if it is turning, trying to see how much fomo is flipping the other way - investors feeling they need to sell now before prices ease further. Those sort of emotive factors will become dominant this coming year and for a while will hide the underlying fundamental of supply growth remaining well short of demand growth.’”
Realtors are liars.
Their clients are loosers.
Their bankers have it made.
‘Auckland is interesting in that there is now an over-supply of properties which can be intensified’
Another world beater sees over supply replace shortage.
‘David Hargreaves says the Auckland housing market has gone cold at exactly the wrong time’
From the comments:
‘by Doris
‘An alternative view is that current Auckland house prices are due to a speculative bubble - which could implode at any time - and have nothing to do with supply.’
by Cowpat
Doris , you are questioning a religion.’
‘David Hargreaves says the Auckland housing market has gone cold at exactly the wrong time’
Well hopefully their government housing authorities can step in the way Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have to loosen lending standards in order to goose demand and keep the music playing a while longer so folks can keep dancing.
Exactly the wrong time = I didn’t have time to get to the exit
Here’s another former world beater:
‘A buyer at a luxury development in Mid- Levels forfeited a whopping HK$30 million deposit rather than complete the purchase after agreeing to the deal in January last year. It marked the highest single amount of forfeiture since 2013.’
‘The case involved a 3,917 saleable square foot apartment on the 41st floor of Henderson Land’s (0012) project at 39 Conduit Road, which the purchaser originally signed an agreement to buy for about HK$299 million, or HK$76,600 per square foot. A 10 percent deposit was paid to the developer, but the buyer recently decided to back out of the deal.’
‘Meanwhile, Cheung Kong Property’s Ocean Supreme project in Tsuen Wan also saw three cases of deposit forfeiture so far in this month. They involved apartments priced from about HK$9.05 million to HK$9.19 million, according to the register of transactions. The three buyers had paid 5 percent deposits to the developer, which means a total of about HK$1.37 million was forfeited.’
‘In Prince Edward, Lai Sun Development’s (0488) latest nano-flat project, Novi, also reported two cases of deposit forfeiture recently. Five percent of deposits was paid to the developer, which means about HK$150,000 and HK$250,000 of deposits have been surrendered.’
originally signed an agreement to buy for about HK$299 million, or HK$76,600 per square foot. A 10 percent deposit was paid to the developer, but the buyer recently decided to back out of the deal.’
Wow, if that report is accurate, I think the buyer just walked away from a $3.8M deposit!!
Remember when London was the hottest of the hot?
‘Foreigners might suppose cricket is Britons’ most hallowed pastime, but London dinner party guests know that it’s more likely to be property speculation. The passion is not shared by investors in buy-to-let focused banks, such as Aldermore.’
‘Changes to stamp duty, extra charges on purchases of second homes, and falling mortgage interest tax relief have depressed rental yields and demand for buy-to-let mortgages. These loans now account for 14 percent of all mortgage advances, compared with around 20 percent in the first quarter of 2016, according to the Bank of England.’
‘Yet the upstart banks have growing loan books…The newcomers also generally specialise in dealing with professional landlords, who are better able to cope with increased tax complexity and enjoy the benefits of scale.
Challenger banks have scope to grow their business since, together, they account for less than 5 percent of the mortgage market. Loan growth may have slowed, but the buy-to-let market, which is currently worth 228 billion pounds, is still expanding, the Council of Mortgage Lenders says. And these lenders may have some built-in shelter from a housing market crash.’
‘First, average loan-to-value ratios are modest, at around 64 percent. Second, the newcomers’ lowly valuations already anticipate a jump in impairments. Take Aldermore. If operating income hits consensus forecasts next year, annual loan loss provisions would have to more than quadruple from 2016 for the lender to trade, like Lloyds, at 10 times next year’s earnings, according to Breakingviews calculations. Yet analysts expect no worse than a doubling in such provisions. Lenders who are already priced for a downturn may be better able to weather one when it comes.’
amazing how little the additional fees/taxes need to be to depress the market
I don’t see how these central bankers can maintain the illusion that they plan to soon take away the punch bowl. The moment they did, bubbles of their own making would resoundingly pop all over the planet.
Here’s why the Fed’s not increasing interest rates
Business Insider | Updated: Aug 18, 2017, 09.11 AM IST
…
Wait for next year as counties grab the “appreciation”
‘According to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, US household debt reached $12,730bn in the first quarter of 2017, surpassing the $12,680bn peak at the start of the 2008 financial crisis.’
That’s a mere two years gross household income. Like someone pointed out a few days ago, there are plenty of us with multiple years income saved and no debt. I figure the average debt donkey in the US paid 10% of their takehome in reducing their debt, it would take something like 40 years to wipe out. Or they default at the slightest provocation.
Would Spring 2018 be a good time to buy the dip?
By one measure, the market is now the most expensive it’s been since 2003
Rebecca Ungarino
Published 2 Hours Ago | Updated 5 Mins Ago CNBC.com
Are stocks a poor value now?
18 Hours Ago | 03:16
By one measure, the market is now more expensive that it has been since just after the dot-com bubble popped. Some strategists are concerned about stocks trading at such multiples, but others say earnings growth is somewhat justifying current valuations.
The S&P 500’s forward price-earnings ratio just hit its highest level in 13½ years, according to a new report from Bank of America Merrill Lynch. The forward P/E ratio expanded in July to 17.7 times, from 17.4 times, according to the equity and quantitative strategy team led by Savita Subramanian.
This development came as the valuation backdrop remained the same, the strategists wrote, as U.S. stocks continue trading above “nearly all metrics we track, but equities continue to look attractive relative to bonds.” Across sectors, all but two — industrials and consumer staples — saw multiples expand in July.
Yet the S&P 500’s forward P/E ratio would have to touch about 19 times to appear “peakish” and give investors real reason to get nervous, said Erin Gibbs, portfolio manager at S&P Global.
…
$30 mil deposit forfeiture!? whoa!
I get all verklemped over the $10 per A/C freon can deposit at WalMart.
Think you slipped a digit there, aquis.
299M $HK == $38.22 $US
A 10% deposit is only $3.822M $US.
Still substantial.
Prime, it looks like I didn’t add the “HK”
to differentiate between currencies.
you are correct in that detail. good catch!
Still makes one pucker up tighter than a snare drum.
‘Why should buyers who have invested their life savings suffer?’ said Vipin Kumar, a man who fears he will not get possession of his promised flat and lose his hard-earned money.”
OMG, that quote is _priceless_.
Hint: maybe buyers should lost their investment because they performed no due-diligence or risk assessment?
Welcome to Investing 101! You are about to receive an education that you will likely not enjoy.
I came across a short story (fiction) and thought I’d paste a part of it-for Friday fun:
CHAPTER 1
I looked down at my clipboard and reviewed the information one last time. I looked up at the young couple in front of me. The blonde wife clutched her husband’s hand. The husband grimaced, whether in anticipation of my coming report or because his wife’s grip on his hand was cutting off circulation to his fingers, I couldn’t tell. The wife had pretty well developed biceps. She looked like she spent a lot of time with her personal trainer.
“Mr. and Mrs. Guilfoyle,” I said. “I have completed my appraisal of your property. By my estimate, your house is worth six-fifty.”
“Oh,” Mr. Guilfoyle said, “That’s not too bad. Six hundred and fifty thousand is a lot of money. I mean we’re still underwater but…”
I shook my head. “No. I’m afraid you don’t understand. When I said six-fifty I meant six dollars and fifty cents.”
Mr. Guilfoyle’s shoulders sagged. His wife tightened her grip on his hand and started to cry. I thought I heard a finger snap, but it was hard to tell with all the sobbing. Mr. Guilfoyle looked like he might pass out.
“Six dollars…” he stammered. “But we paid eight hundred and fifty thousand…”
I shrugged. “What can I say? The market has tanked. If it’s any consolation, a lot of people are in your position.”
“How?” Mrs. Guilfoyle wailed. “How is it possible that our house is worth less than a McDonald’s value meal?”
“Well,” I replied. “The house is made of tongue depressors held together with Elmer’s glue. The walls are construction paper. And the stucco on the exterior? That’s paper mâchè. This place was put together with materials available to your average fourth grader. This sort of cost cutting happens every time there’s a real estate boom. Your case is pretty extreme, though.”
“God dammit Linda,” Mr. Guilfolye said, pulling his hand free from his wife’s grasp with a great deal of difficulty. “I told you. I told you the builder looked awfully young, but you wouldn’t listen.”
“I thought he was a little person,” Linda said through her tears. “I didn’t want to be rude.”
“Children are little people!” Mr. Guilfoyle screamed.
“You know what I mean, you insensitive jerk! I just didn’t want you to make another racist comment about dwarves, like you did at the Christmas party. “
“Dwarves aren’t a race!” Mr. Guilfoyle said. “I swear to God, Linda I regret getting you that World of Warcraft subscription almost as much as I regret letting you talk me in to buying this house.”
I cleared my throat. “Mr. and Mrs. Guilfoyle, I can see you’re having a private moment here, so if you could just pay me my fee, I’ll get out of your hair.”
They both turned and looked at me with murder in their eyes.
Mr. Guilfoyle said, “How exactly are we supposed to pay you? We have nothing! Our equity is gone and we’re in debt up to our eyeballs!”
“That’s a nice Beamer you’ve got in the driveway,” I said. “Perhaps you could take out a title loan?”
With an ear-piercing shriek, Linda Guilfoyle launched herself across the room, her face a hideous mask of pain and rage. I stumbled backwards, tripping over my own untied shoelace. Mrs. Guilfoyle passed right over me, crashing though a plate glass window. Well, she crashed through what would have been a plate glass window in a house that hadn’t been built by greedy kids out to make a quick buck during a real estate boom. Instead, she crashed through a wall of Saran wrap, spun around a few times, and collapsed on the deck, thrashing and wailing. I quickly ducked outside and made my escape while her husband knelt over her, trying to claw a hole in the plastic wrap so his wife could breathe.
As I made my way to my beat up Toyota Corolla, I kicked myself for not having my phone ready so I could have recorded Mrs. Guilfoyle’s little misadventure. That sort of thing was YouTube gold, and my YouTube channel could have used the traffic. Embedded ads were pretty much my only steady source of income these days. Now that no one was buying real estate, real estate appraisers weren’t much in demand, and the jobs I did get usually ended with someone’s face contorting into a hideous mask of pain and rage, just like this one had. People rarely paid their bills once you told them that they didn’t have any of the money they thought they did. People are funny like that.
Oh that’s awesome!!!
Thanks for sharing.
the bust has to come no one can afford the homes.
Bannon is out….War drums grow louder…
Mr. Bannon’s dismissal followed an Aug. 16 interview he initiated with a writer with whom he had never spoken, with the progressive publication The American Prospect. In it, Mr. Bannon mockingly played down the American military threat to North Korea as nonsensical: “Until somebody solves the part of the equation that shows me that 10 million people in Seoul don’t die in the first 30 minutes from conventional weapons, I don’t know what you’re talking about, there’s no military solution here, they got us.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/18/us/politics/steve-bannon-trump-white-house.html
You do realize the Washington establishment and the MSM have become completely unhinged from reality regarding the President?
A reader sent this to me:
http://blog.dilbert.com/post/164297628606/how-to-know-youre-in-a-mass-hysteria-bubble
Did the Dutch government guarantee the loans used to buy Tulip Bulbs?
“You do realize…”
None of this needs to be explained to anyone not living in the hysteria. None of this can be explained to anyone who is.
The hysteria is in the White House
a psychological disorder (not now regarded as a single definite condition) whose symptoms include conversion of psychological stress into physical symptoms (somatization), selective amnesia, shallow volatile emotions, and overdramatic or attention-seeking behavior. The term has a controversial history as it was formerly regarded as a disease specific to women.
Psychiatry, the original fake medicine show. Witch doctors and chitty drugs.
None of this needs to be explained to anyone not living in the hysteria. None of this can be explained to anyone who is.
That’s probably what the Dilbert guy thinks. You see that attitude in a lot of Zerohedge comments. A guy will detail some wacky conspiracy theory based on made up nonsense. Then he’ll write that anyone who disagrees is a moron.
Well Palmy, if you have never had a loved one who suffered from a serious mental disorder, you are indeed fortunate. Serious as in extreme difficulty functioning in society, in relationships and at time even continuing to live.
The mental disorder of the foot stompers over the election is garden variety. Still rather insidious. I’ve stopped reading the news mostly.
You dunno the half of it, which is why I am so cynical about witch doctors and their poison potions.
Riddle me this: The labels on their poison potions are quite clear about what these drugs can cause, in effect saying “Taking this crap will make you worse”. They couldn’t be more clear. Why do people take them, then?
The Dilbert guy predicted Trump would win before anybody. And he actually has a methodology, as opposed to you who pulls statements out of your ass.
I don’t what the methodology is. He invented some theory just yesterday. It doesn’t make sense internally and there’s evidence that refutes it. And I don’t pull statements out of my ass. I have facts.
For example, Bannon was quoted just a couple of days ago saying that it’s good for Trump when Democrats get into “identity politics”. So Trump’s recent remarks could easily be a strategy to make Democrats talk about such issues.
This is Bannon:
“The Democrats,” he said, “the longer they talk about identity politics, I got ’em. I want them to talk about racism every day. If the left is focused on race and identity, and we go with economic nationalism, we can crush the Democrats.”
http://prospect.org/article/steve-bannon-unrepentant
This would correspond to an explanation that Adams dismisses:
1. A sitting president, who is a branding expert, thought it would be a good idea to go easy on murderous Nazis as a way to improve his popularity.
The explanation that Adams prefers is this one:
4. The guy who didn’t offer to be your moral leader didn’t offer any moral leadership, just law and order, applied equally. His critics cleverly and predictably framed it as being soft on Nazis.
Trump has been talking quite a bit good people and bad people, thus making moral judgments.
“I’ve stopped reading the news mostly.”
Ditto.
‘I don’t pull statements out of my ass. I have facts.’
‘That’s probably what the Dilbert guy thinks. You see that attitude in a lot of Zerohedge comments. A guy will detail some wacky conspiracy theory based on made up nonsense. Then he’ll write that anyone who disagrees is a moron.’
You should wash your hands after picking that one out.
‘Trump has been…’
Watching lots of TV ‘makes you stupid’, say researchers Universities of …
http://www.independent.co.uk › News › Science
Dec 3, 2015 - Watching lots of TV ‘makes you stupid’, say researchers Universities of … TV people watched, the worse they performed in a series of intelligence tests.
The More You Drive The Less Intelligent You Are - YouTube
Video for the more TV you watch the less intelligent you are
▶ 0:25
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ntoF4dYAyA
Jul 26, 2017 - Uploaded by jeffmerch
Driving makes you stupid, just like watching too much TV. Instead, spend your life reading books about the …
Does watching TV make us stupid? | Psychology Today
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the…/does-watching-tv-make-us-stupid
Mar 12, 2009 - If you ask whether children who watch a lot of TV do worse in school, the … far less time talking to their children than working class, or professional … is to note that education and intelligence are more important for success in …
Does TV Rot Your Brain? - Scientific American
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/does-tv-rot-your-brain/
Jan 1, 2016 - You may even find yourself repeating the threat when you see … his colleagues found that the more television these kids watched, … Ultimately, Mom is right: the more time spent sitting on the couch, the less time … Get smart.
“You should wash your hands after picking that one out.”
Oh, sheet, laughing so hard, can’t..breathe. Whew, dang.
You should wash your hands after picking that one out.
I don’t see why. It’s an observation based on reading that website. If I had the time, I could find examples.
I’m not sure what the reference to watching TV is. I haven’t learned about Trump’s statements about Charlottesville by watching TV. It’s been covered by various media - newspapers, radio, internet.
“You had many people in that group other than neo-Nazis and white nationalists,” Trump said. “The press has treated them absolutely unfairly.”
“You also had some very fine people on both sides,” he said.
…
The substance of Trump’s unscripted remarks hewed more closely to his initial reaction to Charlottesville on Saturday, when he blamed “many sides” for what happened. On Monday, after two days of relentless criticism, Trump gave a stronger statement, saying “racism is evil” and specifically condemning white supremacists, the Ku Klux Klan, and neo-Nazis.
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/08/trump-defends-white-nationalist-protesters-some-very-fine-people-on-both-sides/537012/
So he’s talking about evil and very fine people, the language of morality, not law and order As Adams claims. If he wanted to talk about law enforcement he would talk about evidence, investigations, charges, trials and so forth.
This is the attorney general, who spoke about law and order.
This week, Sessions told NBC’s “Today”: “You can be sure this Department of Justice in this administration is going to take the most vigorous action to protect the right of people like Heather Heyer, to protest against racism and bigotry. We’re going to protect the right to assemble and march. And we’re going to prosecute anybody, to the full extent of the law.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/wp/2017/08/18/jeff-sessions-is-trumps-mvp-in-the-aftermath-of-charlottesville/?utm_term=.ee7930980157
‘It’s an observation based on reading that website.’
The only time I read ZH is when someone posts something here that I haven’t already seen. I have never read their comments, didn’t even know they had them. For someone who goes on and on about it, why not just stop reading it? I scan a couple or 3 hundred articles a day. Read in full maybe around a hundred. I learn a lot. But 99.9% of the reporting on Trump has been nothing but garbage since way before the election. I’ve never seen such a full court establishment attack in my life. There was a time when socialists, I mean progressives, like yourself had some disregard of the establishment.
No matter: when you are taking flak you are over the target.
For someone who goes on and on about it, why not just stop reading it?
Comments on sites are a source of great information. Usually critics of the MSM agree with that. Zerohedge is great because there’s no censorship. This also relates to what Adams wrote. Reading those comments tells you a lot about the Trump voters and their anger.
I’ve never seen such a full court establishment attack in my life. There was a time when socialists, I mean progressives, like yourself had some disregard of the establishment.
I’m not sure what this statement is about. I don’t think that I’ve endorsed any establishment. Trump, on the other hand, is rolling back regulations for the benefit of big corporations, who are the real establishment.
This is the semi-famous video of the woman screaming “NOOOOOOO” at Trump’s inauguration.
“Unhinged” is the word which keeps coming to mind.
I remember the MSM howling about Trump unwilling to come out and say he would “accept the outcome of the election”, which everyone knew meant, ‘Would he accept losing?’ because everyone knew Hillary was a shoo-in.
O irony of ironies, regarding who’s not accepting the election results today.
I remember the MSM howling about Trump unwilling to come out and say he would “accept the outcome of the election”, which everyone knew meant, ‘Would he accept losing?’ because everyone knew Hillary was a shoo-in.
It’s not necessarily because everyone thought that Hillary would win. It was reasonable to assume at the time that he accept the result of the election if he won. No one would pose the question, “Would you accept a victory?”
“The Dilbert guy predicted Trump would win before anybody.”
Are you forgetting about the Simpsons?
“For someone who goes on and on about it, why not just stop reading it?”
There is some priceless advice for the chronically agitated!
@mikey
“If the left is focused on race and identity, and we go with economic nationalism, we can crush the Democrats.”
bannon is no economist.
since ‘economic’ nationalism is uneconomic, it makes it harder to crush the democrats. nationalism is just a form of protectionism, which always fails economically. although it does help the trains to run on time.
“You can be sure this Department of Justice in this administration is going to take the most vigorous action to protect the right of people like Heather Heyer, to protest against racism and bigotry.”
the right to peaceably assemble or protest is a right guaranteed in the constitution. it amounts to free speech, and no counter protesting should be allowed to stifle it. no one should have the right to stop free speech no matter how offensive they believe it to be.
if antifa and blm hadn’t been there, there would have been no violence that day. there would have only been at worst, some jerks that hardly anyone would have paid attention to. the blood is solely on antifa’s hands, no matter who or what drove that car.
That’s quite a position there. I suppose that you would like the police to release the driver and drop all charges, thus communicating to other violent a–holes that they should feel free to kill people in any similar situations in the future.
I suppose that you would like the police to release the driver and drop all charges,
you make stupid suppositions. of course he should be arrested. but if antifa woudn’t have shown up, he wouldn’t have had anyone to attack. neither antifa nor anyone else has a right to stifle free speech. all counter protesting should be illegal.
as usual, you have more strawmen than a nebraska corn field.
You wrote that “the blood is solely on antifa’s hands, no matter who or what drove that car”. That would imply that the driver has no culpability, that other people are at fault. My mistake was trying make sense out of your statements when there is none.
That’s a brilliant point about counter-protesters. If they hadn’t been there, they wouldn’t have been run down. This could be extended to many crimes. If Lincoln hadn’t gone to the theater that evening, he wouldn’t have been assassinated.
“That would imply that the driver has no culpability”
no, it wouldn’t. he’s still responsible for his part in it. he should have been arrested. i’m not justifying what he did. i’m saying that antifa instigated the violence that the driver was part of. antifa had to reason to be there other than to shut down the other group.
“If they hadn’t been there, they wouldn’t have been run down.”
more to the point, if they hadn’t been counter protesting, there wouldn’t have been any violence. what give’s antifa the right to try to stop anyone else’s free speech?
if antifa got the permits to protest something, i’d be against the right showing up to counter protest. antifa has the right to free speech, but no right to stop others.
So the driver must have blood on his hands. Do you agree with that?
so if antifa wasn’t there stifling his right to assemble, the driver wouldn’t have run over them. do you agree with that?
yes mikey, even though the driver should have been arrested, antifa was responsible for the violence.
You didn’t answer the question. Does the driver have blood on his hands?
i don’t yet know all the facts on the driver or the incident. i do know he should have been arrested. if he’s mentally competent, he should be on trial. ‘blood on hands” means at least partially responsible. antifa is (to me) ultimately responsible. if there’s no antifa, no one dies.
it’s too early to know if the driver is even partially responsible in the eyes of the law. it’s not too early to know that antifa set the backdrop for the violence and began it.
even if the driver were found to be not responsible, he’s still accountable. which means that at the very least he should be in a mental institution.
but antifa was solely responsible for all the violence that occurred at the event. BECAUSE, they began the violence in order to end the other group’s rights.
all the mask wearing, black block, antifa thugs should have been arrested as soon as they took a step toward the other group.
“During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act.” — Orwell
You do realize the Washington establishment and the MSM have become completely unhinged from reality regarding the President ??
I get it Ben but he provides new material every single day…Most chaotic early presidency I have ever witnessed but I am not surprised..If he carried over his Campaign rhetoric into the oval office (which he has) then it was likely to turn out badly…The key component here is Bannon…Without Bannon IMO, Trump does not win…First thrown out of the cabinet and now under the bus and its very crowded under the bus right now…Bannon is heading back to Briebart…No telling what he will do now that the globalist have won the day in the White House…Me says he is not too happy…Could even be some nuggets that he could toss Mueller’s way…
Try to keep up. Very poor form to opine on things about which you know absolutely nothing, however psych drugs do have a tendency to dull the mind and make things seem what they’re not.
In an interview with Bloomberg, Bannon said he was “going to war” for Trump…
“If there’s any confusion out there, let me clear it up.
I’m leaving the White House and going to war for Trump against his opponents… on Capitol Hill, in the media, and in corporate America”
however psych drugs do have a tendency to dull the mind and make things seem what they’re not ??
I would not know…Unlike you, I have never had the experience but thanks for the advance notice…
Don’t confuse the 24/7 Trump bashing fake legacy media reporting for reality.
You did that with the election and it didn’t work out then either.
They brought him to heel. The media is an echo chamber and it was more united and hysterical than even right after the election. They had the throttles maxed before, and this time they hit the afterburners.
Trump is almost certainly fully enveloped in that echo chamber. And he backed off.
As Michael Moore correctly identified in his famous video, a vote for Trump was often a vote against the establishment.
The media’s monopoly hold on the public discourse was broken with the election of Trump. They’re not getting the stranglehold back, in fact their grip will get yet weaker, by overtly and repeatedly claiming things that were obviously untrue.
And Bannon being defiant is to be expected. But being let go as chief strategist is a significant turning point. It’s a different day at the White House. Looking at who’s left, I expect a more traditional, conciliatory chief executive.
Time will tell. With Trump’s approval ratings dropping, I’m thinking it’s coming due for us to launch some missiles at somebody so we can all rally behind the prez. Win-win for both Trump and the MIC.
And if economy goes into the crapper, do the above for the same reasons.
I don’t know much, but gads we do live in interesting times!
“With Trump’s approval ratings dropping”
How do we know this, really? Based on what? What the painstream media sez? Some pollster? The wind from Obama’s cheeks?
Does anyone even get how badly they’ve been lied to, EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. about everything? Even stuff that doesn’t matter, they lie about. They lie to everybody. They lie to the fish.
The only poll that matters is in November 2020.
“How do we know this, really? Based on what? What the painstream media sez?”
The last time the MSM told me Trump’s poll numbers were so low Hillary ended up throwing an Election Night Party that looked like this…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6IxQg6h708
Hi, jeff. It’s really good to see you.
Thanks Mr. palm and to Professor Bear from last night also.
I’ve been reading the blog three or four times a week at night, I can’t sleep very well anymore. I’m just trying to find my way.
“The only poll that matters is in November 2020.”
Yep.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/07/17/immigration-arrests-up-deportations-down-under-trump/484437001/
” trying to find my way…”
That is an important thing. I am going to find my way down to Virginia and move in with my youngest daughter who is apparently being sorely abused. A little bit of changing up the dynamics. A bully is a coward. I’ve go t two grandsons in the mix who deserve a safe place to live, as does she. Should prove to be an adventure.
Jeff, I hope this post brings back pleasant memories of your youth that help take your mind off present troubles, like it does for me.
Is this the real life?
Is this just fantasy?
Caught in a landslide,
No escape from reality.
Open your eyes,
Look up to the skies and see,
I’m just a poor boy, I need no sympathy,
Because I’m easy come, easy go,
Little high, little low,
Any way the wind blows doesn’t really matter to me, to me.
…
“I am going to find my way down to Virginia and move in with my youngest daughter who is apparently being sorely abused.”
Let nothing stop you from that.
“I am going to find my way down to Virginia and move in with my youngest daughter who is apparently being sorely abused.”
Good luck! I hope to never face a similar situation, but will take action when and if I ever do.
“I’m thinking it’s coming due for us to launch some missiles at somebody so we can all rally behind the prez. Win-win for both Trump and the MIC.”
My thought as well…except my understanding is that the missiles are already being launched here or there with little MSM fanfare.
“Looking at who’s left, I expect a more traditional, conciliatory chief executive.”
Conciliatory toward who? Never tip your hat to a snake, you only get bit. Come to think of it, he often recited that poem during his campaign, The Snake. But he didn’t know who the snakes really were, in fact he thought they were his friends, although he’s getting a good lesson who they are now.
And so is Bannon.
Trump may bend the knee, Bannon never will.
Leave your rage-ravaged skulls behind and get on the Trump Train.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EvGn22Mplg
Django Reinhardt performing live (1945)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZ308aOOX04
That dude could play.
No Surprises - Vintage 1930s Jazz Radiohead Cover ft. Chloe Feoranzo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upb2m2JTGGA
John Lee Hooker “Boom Boom Boom Boom” - Mississippi Delta Blues
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLi_6tCOQhk
Who was the dude Canned Heat stole Going Up The Country from?
You could do worse than get on the train with this lady
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzLd2MDAHK8
If you don’t want to watch the whole 3:41 from 1:45 - 2:15 will do.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVQKiqCZ9No
As many as 5.2 million UK adults - or one in 10 - have bought or inherited a second home, according to research.
Think tank the Resolution Foundation said the number of multiple home owners grew by 30% between 2002 and 2014.
That figure includes buy-to-let landlords - counted as one owner even if they have multiple properties - as well as those who own separate properties to live in themselves……………..
Those most likely to own a second home are baby-boomers, currently aged between 52 and 71. They also typically live in the south of England.
“Contrary to the popular narrative, these second-home owners are rarely your typical middle-income worker shoring up savings, or ordinary retirees boosting pension income,” said Laura Gardiner, senior policy analyst at the Resolution Foundation.
“They tend to be baby boomers who are very wealthy indeed relative to their peers, living in the south and east of England.”
Those born since 1981 own just 3% of second homes, according to the report.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-40973859
Yup, they took everything.
The Paris thing is concerning. With the development of developing countries, it is becoming a big world relative to what once was the “first world” and if they want their second home in your town, they can empty it despite high demand.
I used to say in New York that without development, the city’s options were Venice or Detroit. Perhaps Manhattan would end up like Venice, a desirable but dead city of tourists and empty second homes, and the rest of the city would end up like Detroit.
These days the rest of the city might also end up like Venice. But at least of the empty second homes are in new buildings, it doesn’t empty out the rest of the city. In that sense, hooray for the soon to be bankrupt “billionaire’s row.”
“Think tank the Resolution Foundation said the number of multiple home owners grew by 30% between 2002 and 2014.”
That’s ALOT of excess empty houses.
Why would anyone think it’s a prudent and profitable idea to pay retail +200% for a depreciating asset like a house when they’re losing their ass on the one they have?