Welcome to Fall

Or is it THE fall? From the NY Times:

If the pandemic has been good to anybody, it’s been homeowners listing their properties, as pent-up demand for homes has sent prices skyrocketing. But could this sellers’ market finally be on the way out? Data suggests that may be the case.

A new report by Redfin examining more than 350 metropolitan areas nationwide shows that in the four weeks ending Sept. 5, half of homes sold went for over the asking price — down from a July peak of 55 percent. Homes aren’t moving as quickly, either: 47 percent sold during this period went into contract within two weeks, down from the March apex of 56 percent.

Bidding wars are worth keeping your eye on too, according to Redfin. The report shows that multiple bids on a property were less common nationwide in August than they were in the previous month and a year ago. Among Redfin brokers who submitted offers, 59 percent faced competition in August — 2021’s slowest month for bidding wars — down from a peak of 74 percent in April and 60 percent in August 2020.

Where is the trend most visible? When looking at 48 large metros in which Redfin brokers submitted at least 20 offers in both July and August of this year, multiple bids were at their lowest levels in Oklahoma City — 36 percent in August, down from 60 percent in July and a similar 60 percent a year earlier. Sarasota, Fla., and Richmond, Va., followed, as seen in this week’s chart.

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312 Responses to Welcome to Fall

  1. grim says:

    Looks like the good ol days are back.

    ‘City of the Walking Dead:’ Junkies shoot up in broad daylight in Midtown

    The Garment District is Gotham’s newest shooting gallery, a disturbing heroin hotspot of addicts booting up in broad daylight.

    The outgoing de Blasio administration appears unwilling or unable to address the crisis, as the quality-of-life disaster unfolds just steps from high-profile Midtown landmarks such as Macy’s, Madison Square Garden and the sparkling new Moynihan Train Hall.

    The block bordered by 35th and 36th streets, and Seventh and Eighth Avenues, is “littered with used needles, broken glass crack pipes, trash, urine, and feces” as junkies shoot up and dealers brazenly sell drugs, lamented one neighbor on social media. “I’ve personally seen dozens of deals go down. I’ve seen a person OD and nearly die.”

    During a single walk around the block last week, The Post witnessed three different people injecting needles in their wrists or fingers in the middle of the afternoon. Each addict sat on the sidewalk or in empty storefronts. Dozens of other junkies sat or lay nearly comatose, many of the men shirtless, on the same block.

  2. Juice box says:

    Social Justice Bail reform is working.

    Under new state law, possessing needles or small amounts of heroin, or injecting drugs, are non-bail offenses. So even if arrested, addicts are usually right back on the street and unlikely to face any prosecution. Cops are hands off as well…so don’t expect it to change soon.

    So according to the only law that is in effect now according to Darwin anyway natural selection will sort it out. There are now thousands of overdose deaths in NY every year now do to Mexican Heroin and Chinese Fentanyl…

  3. The Great Pumpkin says:

    It’s wild how much money the tech industry has created. Just wild. You were damn close to being one of them too.

    Juice Box says:
    September 25, 2021 at 7:56 pm
    Pumps buddy of mine for 20 years just had an IPO too.. Sadly I did not follow him there even though the offer was solid…We decided to raise our kids here in NY Metro with their cousins, not to say I would have stayed long enough but you never know.

    It used to be you had to have a $100 million in Silicon Valley to be a player now it seems to be north of $10 Billion Crazy how much these IPOs are valued now…..

  4. Juice Box says:

    Pumps – More than once actually. The floor fell out of the markets back in 2000… The dot com bubble may be ancient history now but it the crash happened quick from about March 2000 through 2002 the NASDAQ dropped over 75%.

    Ofcourse they blame 9/11…Funny Grim mentions the Garment District today… Back then there was a ton of startups in the offices in that NYC neighborhood…Many vaporized and the only thing left was the expensive leased furniture….

  5. Juice Box says:

    I predicted this.. somebody clogged up the Space X Dragon capsule throne……

    https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/25/tech/spacex-toilet-waste-management-system-scn/index.html

  6. 3b says:

    My brother works in mid town and lives on the upper west side. He says the city is filthy, drugs and homeless everywhere and he has seen some defecating on the sidewalks. He said some of his neighbors, foreigners not from out of the country but out of state are terrified, as they came to NYC when the bad days were over. He tells me how before NYC s current decline, how they talked about living the vibe and energy and the edginess and grittiness of the city.

  7. Out of the Ashes goes the Phoenix says:

    All of these ships unable to dock at the ports on both coasts. Excuse: shortage of workers- what a laugh. When there is a shortage you pay more- funny how when there is a shortage of something the corporations have no problem increasing prices, but when there is a shortage of workers there is a problem increasing wages.

    Have the military unload those ships. An economic disaster is still a disaster. They could get the job done.

    There is no reason that corporate America should be able or allowed to control this country like it does. Just the fact that we have to import this much should be a wake up call that this activity needs to be stopped.

    Thanks, Boomer, you have succeeded again. Not.

  8. Out of the Ashes goes the Phoenix says:

    The condition of NYC is tied to the economy. Right now the middle class is being eliminated, so expect to see more of this.

    There won’t be a soft landing. That’s almost a slam dunk.

  9. Out of the Ashes goes the Phoenix says:

    Notice NJ is on the list, you know, with all of these “businessmen” who become governor time and time again.

    The landmark California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), which went into effect in 2020, gave state residents the right to ask companies to not sell their data, to provide a copy of that data or to delete that data. Virginia and Colorado have also passed consumer privacy laws, which go into effect in 2023.

    As more states adopt privacy legislation — Massachusetts, New York, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio and Pennsylvania may be next — more of us will get the right to ask for our data to be deleted.

  10. Out of the Ashes goes the Phoenix says:

    “The debt limit fight is a scam. The GOP counts on voters not knowing that.
    Raising the debt limit means paying America’s bills, not borrowing more money.”

    “The debt limit is a legal formality. It isn’t an economic constraint on the federal government’s ability to borrow. A vote to raise it isn’t a vote for more debt; it’s a vote to fund the debts the government already owes.”

    Have to love the last line. How much did Boomer charge on the Government credit card and now refuses to pay back?

  11. Out of the Ashes goes the Phoenix says:

    Money and debt spent because Boomer thought this was such a great idea. Patriots waving the flag and cheering like it’s the Giants vs the Patriots.

    “Building Afghanistan’s national security forces was one of the most ambitious and expensive aspects of two decades of U.S.-led war.

    It resulted in failure.

    The United States spent billions of dollars training and equipping police, soldiers and special forces. Despite years of warnings from U.S. and Afghan officials, successive U.S. administrations pledged that the Afghan military was capable of defending the country. President Biden said the Afghan military was “as well-equipped as any army in the world” just a month before its collapse.

    Today, not a single unit of the country’s security forces remains intact.”

  12. 3b says:

    If we still manufactured over here, we would not have to worry about bottle necks. Now pled Joe is going to Build It Back Better, when he and all the other bought and paid for politicians allowed it to be dismantled in the first place. The Dems/ Left are just as gullible as the Reps/ Dems.

  13. Bystander says:

    All I know is that we are at peak arrogance, peak faux wealth again. I took a trip to Westport Y and it is 80K car after 80K car. Lots of discussion on great houses for sales, one that Bette Davis owned…how they got 1m for their home and people are trying to flip it already..blah, blah…thanks Oz Powell.

  14. SmallGovConservative says:

    Bystander says:
    September 26, 2021 at 12:07 pm
    “All I know is that we are at peak arrogance, peak faux wealth again.”

    This is completely true, and what’s most pathetic is that it’s only been a bit over a decade since the last bubble created so much fake wealth. At my age, I’ve come to realize that human nature is such that every generation has to learn it’s own lessons and is bound to repeat many of the same mistakes of prior generations. But the fact that there have now been three separate, huge bubbles in just over the past two decades — dotcom bubble in late 90’s, housing bubble in late 00’s, general asset bubble in early 20’s — is a massive indictment of the baby boom generation.

  15. SmallGovConservative says:

    I think it was 3b who pushed back a bit when I said a few days ago that the Biden admin should not be believed when they indicated that they were sending the Haitians who illegally crossed into the US, back to Haiti. Well the numbers are now in, and they simply reinforce what we’ve known all along — as has anyone that lives in a third world dump anywhere in the world — the US southern border is essentially wide open…

    “Of the approximately 15,000 migrants who arrived at the border in recent days, Mayorkas said, 2,000 were returned to Haiti on 17 flights under the policy called Title 42 which was invoked at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic that allows the administration to swiftly expel migrants. An additional 12,400 [83%] will remain in the country…”
    https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/migrants-have-been-cleared-under-del-rio-bridge-mayorkas-says-n1280055

  16. BRT says:

    They are transporting them everywhere free of charge. I know a Mexican American citizen who crossed the Baja border on foot this year. They flew her to Newark free of charge assuming she was an illegal.

  17. Fast Eddie says:

    When will O’Biden stick up for America? He’s allowing thousands of illegal aliens to infiltrate our country, abandoned Americans in Afghanistan, is endorsing segregat1on through vaccination mandates, attempted to bury the Wuhan lab leak and has not mentioned inflation which is a tax on the poor. We already know his presidency is illegitimate by the Arizona audit which revealed that 27,807 ballots were cast from individuals who had moved prior to the election and 284,412 images on the EMS that were corrupted or missing. This administration is a f.ucking train wreck.

  18. Ex says:

    Eyeroll. Yeah Eddie will fit in great around middle Tennessee.

  19. Fast Eddie says:

    Yeah Eddie will fit in great around middle Tennessee.

    You mean living around real Americans? My father’s democrat party no longer exists. The left is a is despicable, mendacious group… I can’t stomach what they represent. They hate America, they hate the American flag and they hate the traditions that made this country great. F.uck Joe O’Biden and f.uck the left1sts sympathizers.

  20. Ex says:

    It’s a tired trope, but I think it’ll fly. Now all you need are some racial / homophobic one-liners and you are Golden. If you can speak in tongues -Let it fly, they’ll love you.

  21. Bystander says:

    Ed,

    Was that pulled straight out of 4chan? I don’t think even Faux News is running that garbage. He lost..big time. Move on.

    “We already know his presidency is illegitimate by the Arizona audit which revealed that 27,807 ballots were cast from individuals who had moved prior to the election and 284,412 images on the EMS that were corrupted or missing.

  22. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Imagine taking investment advice from Robert Kiyosaki

    https://twitter.com/parikpatelcfa/status/1442113763168108545?s=21

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  24. Out of the Ashes goes the Phoenix says:

    Haha. So now the boomers want to rush to retirement cause they don’t like the environment they created for everyone. Bunch of cretins. Made work an inhospitable place to go, and now, just like the debt they left behind, leave this mess for those who are too young and can’t afford to quit.

    “For the Boomers who are still working, you know, let’s think about all the workplace changes that have happened over the last 18 months.

    This generation has really been forced to adapt and adopt new technology like never before. And it might have brought some people and triggered a breaking point for some. Think about, like, a 40-year career, and there might not be that enthusiasm to adopt these new ways of productivity, or connectivity, or new business protocols.”

  25. Out of the Ashes goes the Phoenix says:

    “Actually credited.” That’s funny. You mean credit themselves.

    “So what’s really interesting when we talk about Boomers is that Boomers are actually credited with bucking this traditional retirement trend. And for the last decade or so, we’ve kind of seen Boomers use their retirement to pursue passion projects or even switch careers.

    And it got so popular that it even earned a name for itself called the encore career or the second act. Now, all that’s changed. The generation has changed its tune. And survey data reveals that the majority of Baby Boomers just aren’t interested.”

  26. grim says:

    Will be interesting to see if the boomers crowd into the market attempting to sell at the first sign of real price declines, spiking inventory, tipping the market (during the blowoff top that appears to be starting). Anecdotal, two recent listings in my neighborhood are older boomers that said they’d never move, now moving because of what they can get for their place. We aren’t far enough away from the last crash, memories of price declines WILL drive decisions this cycle. Boomer cashout FOMO.

  27. 3b says:

    Grim: I am seeing a few new price changes in my town, which has not been the case in quite some time.

  28. Juice Bxo says:

    We have a few boomers here in my development with one foot out the door to Florida already, as they own a place there and are spending winters. I expect a few to be gone as soon as FOMO hits. New local listing this month was a record @750k and closed at @815k in a bidding war. Now they all want that price….

    New development in town a few miles away has sold 10 of 12 new homes off the highway by Target with less desirable schools are closing for $912k. They are backed up to 245 new condos being built right on the highway. Traffic pattern will be a wreck once fully sold out.

    Nothing special for $912k.

    https://www.longandfoster.com/homes-for-sale/1-Oxley-Lane-Middletown-NJ-07748-299888629

  29. 3b says:

    Interesting article in the WSJ on high house prices all over the world. Dutch Central bank says high prices not good. Price increases in major cities from 20 percent to over 30 percent. In Sydney prices were increasing $870 a day. All sorts of ideas on how to reign prices in. In the Netherlands certain neighborhoods will be off limits to investor purchases. All this driven my low interest rates and stimulus. It’s a bubble, a massive bubble . The young generation getting screwed again. This will be ugly when it blows. Thanks Boomers!

  30. Hold my beer says:

    Juice

    What a depressing way to become a debt serf. 912k?

  31. 3b says:

    Juice: The outside in my opinion is ugly, like a lot of new construction. Peaks and cuts all over, windows thrown in haphazardly.

  32. BidenIsTheGOAT says:

    All part of the plan Eddie. Saturate the country with third worlders. Increased dependency on public assistance. Blame the miserable conditions on capitalism and systemic racism. Topple everything and implement communism.

  33. BidenIsTheGOAT says:

    Oh I forgot, 10k illiterates who require immediate housing, food and health care welfare are going to make us wealthier. That’s what the George Bush institute told me.

  34. crushednjmillenial says:

    This housing price run-up has been spotty, to my sensibilities. What I mean by that is that in the towns for which I glance at listings, I still see houses that are not priced outrageously. For example, the house I linked below (379 Kinderkamack in Hillsdale – listed at $500k for 3 bed, 2.5 bath). I am surprised that they didn’t list at $550k, because I would have still imagined high interest at that price.

    For the right buyer, this house at $500k could make a lot of sense. At that sales price, the monthly payment is less than $3k if they put 20% down. If a couple makes $150k combined, their monthly gross pay is about $12.5k; net is $8.5k, so this house would be affordable at those wages.

    So, you see houses that are priced and selling at crazy prices, but I also see some prices that don’t feel dramatically different than pre-covid.

    https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/379-Kinderkamack-Rd_Hillsdale_NJ_07642_M67431-25532

  35. crushednjmillenial says:

    Another example . . .

    711 Rivervale Rd., River Vale, NJ
    3 Bed
    1 Bath
    .25 acres
    Listed at $480k
    Busy street and only one bath being the biggest negatives, though

    Assuming this isn’t in a flood zone, I’d need to think hard about when such a house was last reasonably trading below $450k. Maybe 2017? And, here it is listed at under $500k in the midst of the craziest price run-up.

    https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/711-Rivervale-Rd_Rivervale_NJ_07675_M55290-96477

  36. Juice Box says:

    Crushed -Those are very busy main roads, that means discounted unless you like the whoosh of traffic..

    The second listing I don’t even know what to think of that stove, looks to be something that should be in a museum.

    https://ap.rdcpix.com/6984aaa07a7207f344dfa9d2982115e8l-m2353934000od-w1024_h768.webp

  37. No One says:

    Speaking to the original story, having earlier this year bought a home near Sarasota (Asserted to be a top 10 place to both live and to retire in the US by US News) and spending time there I can report that it’s not a place where people from the Northeast can go pick up a large waterfront home on the cheap. The median home in Sarasota is inland, and small. So people thinking they can sell that overpriced tiny split level in Fanwood and use the proceeds to get a nice house just a walk from the bay or beach, forget about it. That Fanwood house will get you a Fanwood-like status house of Sarasota. Partly because you’re competing with people from around the country. You might be able to get a 2br condo near the water in one of the older less desirable buildings with low ceilings.

    The good news about the high prices to afford the most desirable properties is that in my neighborhood my neighbors are either former executives or founders of businesses, or maybe doctors, so I’m not surrounded by a bunch of Northeastern schoolteachers and policemen living off their juicy (but not juicy enough) pensions. I think those are the people buying the newly built homes in the retirement communities carved out of swampland or pastures formerly in the middle of nowhere at least 45 minutes from the ocean.

    Anyway, now I have friends asking about what home deals can be had in towns near me in FL. As far as I can tell, there aren’t deals unless you are willing to live in the undesirable sides of town. Florida towns have their own “Short Hills equivalent” neighborhoods for which you need to pay multi-millions. New 4br waterfront condos are selling for $5m-$7m or more. There are probably some towns where there is better value for money, but then you’re probably away from the more popular cities and don’t have as much choice in restaurants and activities.

    https://www.sarasotamagazine.com/news-and-profiles/2021/07/sarasota-best-place-to-live
    “Sarasota has been named one of the top 10 Best Places to Live in the U.S. for 2021-22, according to U.S. News & World Report. The Sarasota area is No. 9 on the annual list, which ranks metro areas based on job market, housing affordability, quality of life, desirability and net migration ratings. U.S. News & World Report notes that Sarasota “has a distinct vibe that’s different from Florida’s relative coastal cities, with its own vibrant arts scene, beachy atmosphere and burgeoning food culture.” Among the amenities and features recognized as making the region special are St. Armands Circle and the “up-and-coming” Rosemary District neighborhood.

    Sarasota also landed on two other top-10 lists from U.S. News & World Report, ranking No. 2 among Fastest-Growing Places in the U.S. and No. 5 on the list of “Safest Places to Live in the U.S.”

  38. Libturd says:

    This is why I am still triggered by the inane policies of the right in regards to their positions on Covid-19. Not only do masks work in schools, but they work quite well. Meanwhile, the hero of the populist movement the Republicans are embracing is threatening to withhold the budgets of schools that are requiring the use of masks. You all know I am generally sane and have a lot of common sense. DeSantis, should be in prison. I can only imagine how many staff members and students have become unnecessarily sick or died due to his policies that are anti-health.

    https://tinyurl.com/Maskproof1

    https://tinyurl.com/Maskproof2

  39. 3b says:

    Crushed: Kinderkamack Rd I can tell you is a major busy street, it runs from just outside Hackensack all the way to the NYS line. KKR In Hillsdale is hard on KKR good luck backing your car out of the driveway and no side walks , forget about ever letting your kids out in the front of the house. These houses are on busy streets get a discount, but even they are over inflated right now, and when the crash comes they will fall hard. Realtors will market these houses to people from NYC , and tell them it’s a winding country road.

  40. BRT says:

    This is why I am still triggered by the inane policies of the right in regards to their positions on Covid-19. Not only do masks work in schools, but they work quite well.

    I disagree. They worked well when you had 6 to 8 kids in class. With full attendance, it doesn’t work. Case in point, half the school right now has RSV or whatever cough is going around. The masks have done nothing to prevent this.

  41. BRT says:

    Not only that, but Kinderkamack, they drive like absolute nut jobs. I was on there for the first time in 5 years a few weeks back. Light turns red for a half a second and the people behind me are laying on their horns.

  42. BRT says:

    Moreover, it’s important to note, Florida, despite their school mask policy, has had declining cases over basically about 6 weeks, ever since the start of school. This is the exact opposite of what everyone claimed would happen. They will likely go up around December again, not because of lack of masks, but because of seasonality.

  43. leftwing says:

    “All of these ships unable to dock at the ports on both coasts. Excuse: shortage of workers- what a laugh…There is no reason that corporate America should be able or allowed to control this country like it does.”

    Usually on the same page as you but….in this case corporates aren’t “controlling the country” here.

    Of course the ships can be unloaded – CA ports are fully open, they are closed doing zero work on Sundays.

    The issue is costs. Opening the ports (union) for weekends and three shifts can be done as can lining up the trucks to move those goods immediately.

    Problem is, that would cost a fcuk-ton.

    All the corporates are doing is making the assessment that we the consumer – underscore, us – will not be willing to pay the end price required to get those items to us in a timely manner due to the higher costs needed through the logistics chain to actually get them off the boats and moving.

    The corporates in this case are not the problem…they are simply the medium through which the problem is expressed.

    The problem being we literally shut down the world on a moment’s notice for better than a year and want to turn it back on at full throttle plus some on that same short notice with no ramification.

    Doesn’t work that way…at least not without meaningful additional costs which are absorbed by the end user, ie. us.

    End of the day it is our decision….that piece of plastic you really want from China that’s been floating of SX’s house for a few weeks with a pre-covid price of $20?

    You want it for $25…wait six weeks. You willing to pay $40? Yeah, you’ll get in a week. And, yes, the old price of $20 is off the table btw.

    Corporates are simply responding to the facts on the ground and their best assessment of our demand.

  44. leftwing says:

    edit: California ports *aren’t* fully open….

  45. No One says:

    Re: “seasonality”
    Any governor who doesn’t ban Thanksgiving dinner, Christmas, Hanukah and New Years celebrations that are indoors deserves to go to jail, and probably the death penalty. That’s clearly where “seasonal” viruses get spread. Common people must be told that they have no rights and must sacrifice their piddling remaining freedoms to the good of the collective. They should also spend at least 30 minutes a day studying Joe Biden thought – Facebook will administer the daily quiz.
    Kwanza celebrations may proceed as planned, as there’s no evidence that viruses participate.

  46. Bystander says:

    crushed,

    There should be prosecution for that type of photoshopped RE propoganda..I bet house needs alot of work and not as clean as glossy (lying) pictures indicate. Despite what dufus says lumber costs and construction costs in general are way up. Also, getting parts and appliances in no easy task. I would not buy a house that needs alot right now without taking off major money for those items.

  47. Fast Eddie says:

    All part of the plan Eddie.

    It’s beyond despicable. Every generation has patiently gone through the system and taken advantage of the opportunities to work, advance and build a life. It’s the opposite now. Flood the system with ignorance and stup1dity and let the productive fools kill themselves while the bleeding heart elitists consolidate their power. It’s throwing salt into the wound. I’m not defending Republicans by any stretch but the stench of the left is unbearable. Though, the onslaught of illegals is a small slice of the devastation.

    The real blind hatred I have for the leftists are their blatant attempts to destroy the fabric of what made this country great. They have absolutely nothing to defend other than placing duct tape on weak, distant tales of woe, attempting to compare some vague blemish by the right to the sheer destruction on their side. Their arguments are as empty as those ridiculous lawn signs preaching love and acceptance when we know they’d be the first to scream and cry if one of those “outsiders” moved in next store.

    The progressive democrats rally cry is always the same; if you disagree, you’re a rac1sts, b1got and xen0phobe while they are the biggest offenders. There’s so many egregious and glaring faults by this miserable bunch that it makes ones head spin. Climate change? Really? Do you want to compare the tonnage of waste China generates per year to the US? Are they onboard to make dramatic changes? You fools. $3.5 trillion for infrastructure? LOLOL!! Right. As if the Obammy $1 trillion package didn’t teach us anything.

  48. The Great Pumpkin says:

    It’s capitalism. Throughout history, the landowner class was wealthy…and not the poor. Doubt this will ever change.

    3b says:
    September 27, 2021 at 9:09 am
    Interesting article in the WSJ on high house prices all over the world. Dutch Central bank says high prices not good. Price increases in major cities from 20 percent to over 30 percent. In Sydney prices were increasing $870 a day. All sorts of ideas on how to reign prices in. In the Netherlands certain neighborhoods will be off limits to investor purchases. All this driven my low interest rates and stimulus. It’s a bubble, a massive bubble . The young generation getting screwed again. This will be ugly when it blows. Thanks Boomers!

  49. BRT says:

    No one, they shut down my son’s school and the town cancelled all youth sports outdoors this week. But high school sports? Those are too important to cancel. They really do want people to get used to a caste system here, even if it’s not their original intentions. And people have no idea how hypocritical they are. It’s amazing. My son’s friend came over and the mother wants them to play safely meaning, don’t even touch each other outside. Mind you, my son has already had covid. Meanwhile, I know where they were last week…packed shoulder to shoulder with people singing on the shore of Asbury Park. My wife goes to them….”How was Pearl Jam last week?” when they dropped him off. Rofl

  50. leftwing says:

    “Anecdotal, two recent listings in my neighborhood are older boomers that said they’d never move, now moving because of what they can get for their place.”

    Older Gen X too…..if No One swings a tennis racket he is likely playing with a good friend of mine….they had another three or so years up here, his company is still here, but they dumped the main house and bought down in FL. Logic was what they could receive here was just “stupid money” and they might as well hit that bid now and grab their retirement home earlier than they anticipated.

  51. leftwing says:

    “All sorts of ideas on how to reign [housing] prices in internationally.”

    How about this one….stop giving away money and debt for free…..

    “For example, the house I linked below (379 Kinderkamack in Hillsdale – listed at $500k for 3 bed, 2.5 bath).”

    I’m sorry, I could think of so many better ways to drop 500k than that place….and I say that agreeing with you that it is a ‘deal’.

  52. The Great Pumpkin says:

    No One,

    Glad that you highlight what so many people don’t get. The desirable areas of Florida are more expensive than the northeast.

    People don’t know the area, think the house is cheap in comparison to their wealthier neighborhood in the northeast, and end up buying in sh!thole of an area, but hey, it’s cheap.

    There is no desirable area in the USA that is cheap. People need to wake up and smell the coffee.

  53. Libturd says:

    So BRT,

    Both of those studies should be dismissed because? It’s funny. The left says the right does not believe in science. Then you share two very thorough studies and in return you get, a cold is running through our school, so obviously though studies are wrong. Enjoy your politics.

  54. 3b says:

    Pumps: This is not capitalism, it’s clear you don’t understand capitalism. This is madness fueled by stimulus and debt. Keep cheering it on, and the masses will eventually come and take it from you.

  55. leftwing says:

    “You all know I am generally sane and have a lot of common sense. DeSantis, should be in prison.”

    Until you start discussing the politics of the Right… ;)

    As BRT points out – and I to Grim in the past on State stats – this is a geographically rolling pandemic with differing exogenous factors in each region….

    In other words, a comparison of anything in the North and South without taking into account school start states and days in class so far is not valid unless adjusted accordingly.

    I see the criterion of “valid start of July 1 to Sept 4” in the study.

    I have no idea what that means, and not the time or interest to delve into yet another study to try to find out their criterion and discover the authors are again comparing apples and oranges.

  56. grim says:

    Rt back down to 1.01 today in NJ. We saw a little blip up as school started, that is appearing to level off.

  57. Libturd says:

    Also,

    I support your complaint that what they close and leave open are inconsistent and asenine. Though I would argue that masks in schools are working. Too many schools that opened with maskless policies switched after the initial breakout with tremendous success. Perhaps, the easy ones were picked off the first time around. But I doubt that’s the case.

  58. grim says:

    As BRT points out – and I to Grim in the past on State stats – this is a geographically rolling pandemic with differing exogenous factors in each region….

    This is true. Much of the south, when they were lauding their maskless victory last year, confused their inaction with the fact that covid was simply not widespread at the time. You don’t need a mask to prevent covid if there is no covid in your town.

    Delta exposed that for what it was worth.

  59. Libturd says:

    Grim,

    I don’t doubt the seasonality of it. But due to simple exponential math, there are simply not that many carriers yet. Our season (will probably) start soon enough. Perhaps not needing the masks when the seasonality is low might be a fair compromise. But I prefer to play the prevention game as well. As we have witnessed time and time again. Our government is always reactive instead of proactive when it comes to just about everything.

    If you look at the heat map, Kentucky, West Virginia and now Ohio are starting to get decimated. Pennsy is just warming up. The only anomaly appears to be Maryland. Unless the red state/blue state vaccination hesitancy/desire is truly at play. For what it’s worth, it’s been a warm September. When things cool down in October and kids are playing together maskless after school, things will probably rise around here. I hope I’m wrong. This is the truth.

  60. crushednjmillenial says:

    Leftwing, on $500k better spent . . . absolutely there are way better values out there. In particular, to me, a $500k house in the north dallas suburbs (towns that are white and asian with good schools and cleanly, well-kept shops) is one of the better all-in values for people interested in pursuing the suburban family lifestyle.

    3B, BRT, and Bystander on the busy road discount . . . I hear you that Kinderkamack is busy. I further understand that many potential buyers would “auto-nope” these houses for that reason. Do you disagree with my assessement that in 2017, these two houses would trade for about $450k, though? Obviously, from 2009-2012, they would have traded at a 3-handle ($3xx,xxx.xx).

    My point on the $500k starter homes on busy roads is that (a) for people who are “stuck” in NJ (nj public sector employment, well-paid private sector jobs that cannot go remote, or due to family), there are still somewhat attainable suburban homes with good schools; (b) for some individual houses, this price run-up has meant maybe 20% or less price increases from pre-covid pricing and the current listed prices aren’t necessarily eye-popping. On the other hand, though, I could pick out the counter-examples – houses that would have sold for $750k in 2017 that traded for $1m+ and the crazy, outlandish list prices.

  61. JCer says:

    Lib those “studies” on mask effectiveness in school are observational. What does work is both vaccination and natural immunity reducing community spread. I don’t necessarily take issue with school mask mandates but I’m not convinced they actually have an effect. To BRT’s point RSV cuts through the schools like a hot knife through butter, everyone’s kids get it once it comes into the class, why would COVID be any different?

    Bystander on the AZ audit, yes they confirmed the counts done by the county, Biden I think actually received an additional 360 votes. What the media is not reporting on is the nearly 60k irregularities, this is consistent with political operatives, mail in ballots and vote harvesting. The issue is they don’t know how this impacted the count as they were unable to tie the voters to the ballots, for all we know it could have been Trump operatives. When leftwing pointed out a while ago how a little money could move elections he was right, you can bet some of Zuckerbergs 400m was used to “buy” votes. Anyone who has experienced a “Hudson Cunty” election or a “Chicago” election understands the mechanics of machine politics and out and out voter fraud.

    When do the impeachment preceding for Biden start? The fact that the laptop is truth and now we know the story of 10% for the “Big Guy” is true, we cannot have a felonious president can we? Truth be told he should have not been allowed to run, there needed to be an impartial investigation. Criminals all of them.

    Bystander, there are a lot of people in this area who are legitimately wealthy, sure there are some pretenders, but I’ve come to realize there is a lot of money it’s just not from schmucks like us working for the man. You have the banker class, real estate guys(lots of people randomly own commercial property that has great cashflow, NYC market sales per psf is huge, logistics are huge and therefore these buildings are quite lucrative), business owners, etc. Some of course are up to their eyeballs in debt trying to keep up with these people. Others have family money, lots of folks with trust funds up in Westport.

  62. leftwing says:

    “This is true. Much of the south, when they were lauding their maskless victory last year, confused their inaction with the fact that covid was simply not widespread at the time. You don’t need a mask to prevent covid if there is no covid in your town. Delta exposed that for what it was worth.”

    Agree. My sibling in TN was very irate about coverage of her new home state initially….basically boiled down to “the national press is making us out to be a bunch of bubbas here but the fact of the matter is prevalence is low.”

    Regarding Delta and such…as I commented to you on the State data we won’t know until the final score…too many people still trying to call the game at the end of the 3rd quarter for their own politics or other agendas.

  63. The Great Pumpkin says:

    But it is…and if houses were cheaper, the economy would simply be smaller. The economies have evolved since last century. Last century, you had massive new housing being built. You had all this empty land available. Hell, clifton was farm land till the 70’s. Way different world.

    Capitalism is going to work. These houses would never be cheap 50 years ago if they had a supply issue like today. It’s a different housing market than the market you grew up with. It’s only going to become more expensive in desirable locations. There simply is not enough supply in desirable locations.

    3b says:
    September 27, 2021 at 11:01 am
    Pumps: This is not capitalism, it’s clear you don’t understand capitalism. This is madness fueled by stimulus and debt. Keep cheering it on, and the masses will eventually come and take it from you.

  64. 3b says:

    Jcer: There are a lot more pretenders then you might think. The ones with the real wealth are for the most part older boomers. The banker class and I don’t mean those that work for banks, but the actual rain makers the ones who make money for the banks is tiny when compared with the overall population of the tri- State area.

  65. 3b says:

    Pumps: Keep telling yourself that.

  66. crushednjmillenial says:

    The next wave of Haitian migrants is on the way to the border and then coming soon to East Essex County, Spring Valley, and Flatbush, BK . . .

    https://nypost.com/2021/09/27/thousands-of-haitian-migrants-reportedly-heading-to-us-border/

  67. Out of the Ashes goes the Phoenix says:

    “All the corporates are doing is making the assessment that we the consumer – underscore, us – will not be willing to pay the end price required to get those items to us in a timely manner due to the higher costs needed through the logistics chain to actually get them off the boats and moving.”

    So they are actually controlling what we have access to, by making the “assessment” that they think we won’t pay the vig required.

    So in the end, we end up paying even more because the goods are not available at all. Supply and demand, right??

    So would we be better off paying more to have the docks open on Sunday, or paying more because of a shortage?

    Or does it just put the “leverage” on the buyer now vs the seller. Cause if the ships are unloaded at higher cost, the seller has to hope the items sell vs constraining the goods and knowing the buyer will pay because they have to?

    It’s about guaranteeing profit at the risk to the commerce and the individuals of the USA. It’s a big problem.

  68. BRT says:

    crushed, I agree. I saw my two grandparents homes which both became zombies for 10 years flipped for 500 and 650k in Bergenfield.

  69. The Great Pumpkin says:

    3b,

    It’s the truth. You are not going to get desirable housing prices when there is a major supply issue. You have to pay up.

    Just think how expensive it is to build a house today. It’s not cheap like it used to be. You had an army of construction workers when you were young. So many european immigrants to build houses on cheap labor. Those days are gone.

  70. leftwing says:

    Lib, on more tangible topics my portfolio is ripping…airlines again, starting to get nervous at the runs but feel there is more to go…threw on some shorts through options recently, a few more to go….mostly on shares I would like to own cheaper and got them with very low cost positions (ie, good levered returns). Stuff like GE.

    Now looking at some straight up shorts on companies I don’t like….ARKK may be a good way to play a decline or rising rates….it’s at a critical level right now around 116 and if she breaks you have an air pocket down to around 99….looking at 11/15 put spreads, buy the 115P, write something under it to reduce costs, the 105 most likely, 110 if you want to get cute….basically 70% to 175% returns if she hits 110 by November…I’ll be putting some of these on before end of day….

  71. Out of the Ashes goes the Phoenix says:

    The other option would be to declare the issues at the docks a national emergency and use the military to make it happen.

    One step closer to being China at that point.

  72. BRT says:

    Both of those studies should be dismissed because? It’s funny. The left says the right does not believe in science. Then you share two very thorough studies and in return you get, a cold is running through our school, so obviously though studies are wrong. Enjoy your politics.

    Just based on what I’m seeing, my son said 7 kids were coughing in his class. Every teacher in every other school says the same thing. Whatever this is, RSV?, it’s flying through the schools like wildfire. I’m making an observation that masks have done nothing to prevent that. I don’t doubt that the two kids wearing N95s in my class don’t have an elevated level of protection. On mandates, they are useless. They don’t mandate what type of mask, stop people from wearing them improperly, reusing them over and over again, touching them etc… There’s no point.

    On the topic of mandates as well…you’d be hard pressed to find a single state or country where their widespread masking prevented these waves. They didn’t. In fact, there’s really no evidence it tapered them off. People were claiming they did only to see the 2nd waves eclipse the first by orders of magnitude.

    I’m not being political here. I wore a N95 mask which I sterilized daily with peroxide and UV light. Once that got spent, I wore KF94 masks all the way up until I was vaccinated. I know what works and what doesn’t. We are just discriminating against kids while we dine out, go to rock concerts, and amusement parks. It’s all to pretend we still care.

  73. BidenIsTheGOAT says:

    Uncontrolled migration is the existential issue of the century. Some cultures reproduce responsibly and some do not.

    If you continue to bail out the irresponsible cultures by absorbing the populations that they cannot sustain them they will continue overpopulating.

    It’s a lesson that a child can understand.

  74. Out of the Ashes goes the Phoenix says:

    BRT,
    Kids have friends. Kids meet after school. Kids have siblings with friends. Plenty of it being passed around in non-school settings. So it’s not just the schools.

    Peroxide? You cannot spray or soak the N95 with anything or you damage its capabilities.

  75. Out of the Ashes goes the Phoenix says:

    “Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
    With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
    Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
    The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
    Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
    I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

  76. BRT says:

    Spraying it with diluted is ok for a time. But ultimately, everything has a lifespan. Medical facilities were reusing them running peroxide vapor through them.

    Phoenix, I’m well aware. Also a reason why mandates are meaningless. We force them to wear masks all day, then they get in a car with each other at 2:30, and go over each others homes. If anything, it would slow the spread, but I don’t even think it does that. And moreover, I think the whole idea of slowing the spread is completely ludicrous given we have vaccines, medications, and monoclonal antibodies.

  77. Out of the Ashes goes the Phoenix says:

    Watched the last episodes of Goliath on Amazon.

    In the movies, the criminal drug dealing family loses in court.

    In reality, we just saw how the opposite happened in real life.

    True justice is fantasy.

  78. Out of the Ashes goes the Phoenix says:

    BRT,
    It will help to an extent with families that truly isolate. For the majority I agree with you, but for the minority who are careful it’s not the same outcome.

  79. Fast Eddie says:

    The party of “we follow the science” believes you can be a male today, a female tomorrow and a pronoun the following day.

  80. JCer says:

    3b, yes I know there aren’t that many “bankers” but they are concentrated in a few places, westport is one of them. These people have real wealth but there still are others who are doing quite well. The prosperous attorney, the MD’s working in tech or ops at the banks, even VP level tech folks at the banks make 200-275k per year, so for a couple it’s a 500k annual income and there are more of these couples than you’d think. At 400 or 500k a year a 1.5m dollar house and 80k cars are not a big deal, they are all leased anyway what’s a 12k annual car payment. This is who makes up the core wealthy group, really upper middle class but income between 350k-800k, lawyers, doctors, mid level execs, etc.

  81. Bystander says:

    Please JCer..stop the non-sense with audit. Where is the bamboo ballots showing China was involved? This is all about ensuring that people question the election process so that Dumpy can claim he was defrauded. It is sick and perverted that GOP is wasting time on this.

    On other point, I get that many are rich..and Westport is generational but I know enough people moving in that are not. People listing a home 300K more than bought it less than a year ago is not sign of wealth. It is bubble. Rich people stay wealthy by avoiding this kind of poor decision-making. Most people are working schmucks like you and me. They just have two high earning working schmucks unlike me. One missing paycheck from catastrophe. Just met a nice Indian couple, both SEs, and hoping for green card yet they paid cool $800k for dumpy ranch home practically on the Merritt pkwy. No thanks.

  82. 3b says:

    Jcer: I don’t disagree, but even including all of those it is still a small number relative to the population of the NY metro area, and for many, perhaps even most their living large lifestyles are based on two incomes. Take one away and it all collapses. Those that are living large on one and banking the other, that’s wealth away from the generational wealth. What’s going on now is madness.

  83. Libturd says:

    BRT,

    Appreciate the answer as always. Respek, as the brothers like to say.

    Gary,

    “The party of “we follow the science” believes you can be a male today, a female tomorrow and a pronoun the following day.”

    In that case, you can go fuk yourself. Literally.

  84. Ex says:

    Housing prices are insane and getting crazier. Of course those of us that bought are fine with that. Problem being if we do sell and stay in these high cost areas, we will be locked into something smaller and less desirable at the same price we sold the one we just flipped. No, the only true windfall is to sell and change regions.

    Wealthy people? Only know a couple. They pay cash for what they want. They avoid credit and they have jobs that offered lucrative bonus’s and stock options. Everyone else is literally working paycheck to paycheck.

  85. Libturd says:

    Anyone can subscribe to Tangle, and you all should.

    Can we put stolen election bullsh1t to rest already. Everyone on the right is being played as fools.

    Maricopa County. On Friday, Cyber Ninjas, the group that conducted the audit of Arizona’s largest county, released its official results of their hand recount. Arizona Senate President Karen Fann, the Republican who led the charge for the “full forensic audit,” presented the results to the state chamber, conceding that the review actually yielded more votes for Joe Biden and fewer votes for Donald Trump. In sum, Biden picked up 99 votes and Trump received 261 fewer votes.

    “Truth is truth, numbers are numbers,” Fann said at a Senate hearing on the review.

    Ever since Fox News called Arizona for Joe Biden over Donald Trump, the critical swing state has been awash with allegations of widespread election fraud that handed the race to Biden. Key to those allegations have been Maricopa County results, with 2.1 million ballots, which the former president and many of his allies have said was integral to a plot to “steal” the election from him.

    Shortly after the election, the Republican-controlled Maricopa Board of Supervisors affirmed the machine count — which showed a Joe Biden victory — was accurate. Courts dismissed a lawsuit calling those results into question, and then county supervisors authorized a second audit of election machines in January that also showed no irregularities. In sum, before the Cyber Ninjas were even hired, two separate independent firms performed forensic audits of voting equipment, and two hand recounts of a statistically significant number of ballots were conducted immediately after the election, all affirming Biden had won the county with nearly identical vote totals.

    Each review has shown Biden won Arizona by a little more than 10,000 votes, and carried Maricopa County by about 45,000 votes.

    This audit, however, began controversially after Republican state senators sued and brought in their own outside group, funded by a Trump supporter, which had no experience conducting election audits. The audit began on April 23 and was scheduled to be completed by May 14, but repeated missteps, public criticisms, counter-lawsuits and issues with the venue where the recount was taking place resulted in over four months of delays that pushed the report’s release all the way to last week. Outside groups raised nearly $6 million to fund the audit.

    While finding the overall vote tallies largely matched up, the report highlighted a series of alleged problems. One of the most serious they claimed was 10,342 potential voters who voted twice in different counties, which Cyber Ninjas called a “critical finding.” Maricopa County election officials called this finding “laughable,” and in a series of rebuttals on Twitter explained that the Cyber Ninjas team listed over 10,000 people from different counties with the same names and birth years, but not the same birth dates. Maricopa election officials said that in a state with millions of voters it’s plausible, if not likely, that thousands will share names and birth years.

    The group also alleged more than 23,000 people voted by mail in a county after they moved, but tallied that total by matching voters with commercial data — not the data maintained by county elections offices. Many of the voters may have moved since election day or simply moved out of a parent’s home, and the 23,000 voter count is well within the range of the estimated one percent of voters who change residences in a given year. Additionally, Arizona voters can vote for president in Arizona if they move in the 29-day period preceding the election, which is the same time period the Cyber Ninjas analyzed (as their own report noted).

    Fann has said she had passed along the review’s findings to Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich, who said his election integrity unit would look at the evidence presented by Cyber Ninjas to see if there were any further charges or investigations to pursue. Below, we’ll take a look at arguments from the left and right, then my take.

    What the left is saying.
    The left has said the audit was a sham from the beginning, but believes the results should end claims the election was stolen for good.

    In Slate, Jeremy Stahl said Trumpers spent millions on the audit only to find more votes for Biden.

    “The timing of the release hints at the significance of the audit’s findings,” Stahl wrote. “For months, Donald Trump has been billing the investigation as the thing that will provide definitive proof of his victory in Arizona. If the audit was going to show that the election was stolen from Trump by Democratic goons in cactus-covered antifa ski masks, why release it late on a Friday afternoon at a time usually reserved for dumps of information people want to go uncovered? A leaked report on Thursday evening offered an answer. The ballyhooed and controversially conducted hand count of nearly 2.1 million Maricopa County ballots still showed Biden defeating Trump, and though the margin changed by 360 votes it was actually Biden whose margin of victory grew from 45,109 to 45,469.

    “It turns out that not even a partisan-funded and -conducted recount using procedures out of a Pee Wee Herman film could change the outcome,” Stahl added. “You would think that Trump himself would be decrying the audit as the latest fraudulent conspiracy against him by his greatest nemeses: vote counters. Instead, he issued a series of manic (and false) statements complaining that the ‘Fake News is lying about the Arizona audit report’ and claiming that the audit had uncovered tens of thousands of ‘Phantom voters.’ … Again, even a cursory look at the work of the Cyber Ninjas audit team, led by CEO Doug Logan who has been alleging voter fraud since November, disproves Trump’s grand statement and the innuendo of the Cyber Ninjas report.”

    In The New York Times, Reid Epstein and Nick Corasaniti said the Stop the Steal movement is “ignoring the Arizona humiliation.”

    “Any fleeting thought that the failure of the Arizona exercise to unearth some new trove of Trump votes or a smoking gun of election fraud might derail the so-called Stop the Steal movement dissipated abruptly,” they wrote. “As draft copies of the report began to circulate late Thursday, Trump allies ignored the new tally, instead zeroing in on the report’s specious claims of malfeasance, inconsistencies and errors by election officials.

    “Significant parts of the right treated the completion of the Arizona review as a vindication — offering a fresh canard to justify an accelerated push for new voting limits and measures to give Republican state lawmakers greater control over elections,” they wrote. “It also provided additional fuel for the older lie that is now central to Mr. Trump’s political identity: that the 2020 election was stolen from him… Even Republicans who do not subscribe to false claims of election fraud are using investigations to justify more restrictive voting laws. In Michigan, State Senator Ed McBroom, a Republican who leads his chamber’s elections committee and wrote an unsparing report in July debunking an array of Trump-inspired fraud claims, said Friday that the discovery of potential avenues for election fraud — not evidence of fraud itself — was reason enough to pass new voting restrictions.”

    Grant Woods, the former attorney general of Arizona, said the people spreading the lie should be investigated for fraud.

    “Grifters have spent months embarrassing themselves and my home state by conducting the most expensive snipe hunt in history searching for invented fraud,” Woods wrote. “The biased ballot review was the very picture of a circus: searching for delusions as partisans twirled ballots on table-top merry-go-rounds in a never-ending pursuit of anything to spin into a conspiracy. The reviewers have sunk their own case by making a mockery of the process, with observers documenting dozens of security and counting flaws.

    “The best way to close up this circus is to investigate whether laws have been broken and crack down on fundraising appeals that don’t pass muster,” he wrote. “It’s become clear that multiple entities have enriched themselves by spreading the lie that the election was stolen: They have asked Americans to open their wallets to fund the sham review in Arizona based on this lie, and convinced vulnerable individuals that if they send enough money, invented fraud will be uncovered and the election will be decertified. This is false. And, if these entities — from propaganda networks for former President Donald Trump to local political parties — knew that this was a lie, or had no reasonable grounds to believe it was true, they may have committed fraud, an admittedly murky area of the law.”

    What the right is saying.
    The right is split on the report, with some saying it confirms Biden’s win (again) and others saying it raises serious questions about election vulnerabilities.

    In The Federalist, Margot Cleveland said the corporate media was “ignoring” significant findings from the report.

    “As broadly reported, the audit established ‘there were no substantial differences between the hand count of the ballots provided and the official canvass results for the County.’ Left unmentioned, however, were the numerous findings of problems with the election and, most significantly, evidence indicating tens of thousands of ballots were illegally cast or counted,” she wrote. “The audit revealed that 15,035 mail-in votes in Maricopa County were from voters who had moved prior to the registration deadline, another 6,591 mail-in-votes came from voters who had moved out of Arizona prior to the registration deadline, and 1,718 mail-in votes came from voters who moved within Arizona but out of Maricopa prior to the registration deadline.

    “One of three scenarios seems possible here: First, the mail-in ballot was delivered to the old address and then provided to the named voter, who had only temporarily relocated,” Cleveland wrote. “Such votes would be legal and entirely proper. Second, the mail-in ballot was delivered to the old address and then provided to the named voter, who had permanently moved, but failed to timely update his registration record yet signed an affidavit attesting to a false address of residence. Such votes would be illegal. Or third, the mail-in ballot was delivered to the old address, and then someone other than the named voter cast the vote. Such votes would be both illegal and fraudulent. Neither Maricopa County nor the state of Arizona knows how many of these 23,000-plus votes fall within each of these three scenarios. And that’s a problem.”

    The Wall Street Journal editorial board said Trump lost Arizona — again.

    “Former President Trump claims Arizona’s ballot audit found ‘massive fraud,’ yet the new recount says he actually lost the state by 360 more votes than originally reported,” the board wrote. “He is now demanding an audit of the 2020 election in . . . Texas, which he won by nearly six points. When are Republicans going to quit playing this game? Arizona’s official results say President Biden won by 10,457 votes. Mr. Trump never accepted the loss, so the GOP state Senate launched an ‘audit’ by hiring Cyber Ninjas, a company without experience reviewing elections. After repeated delays and various pratfalls, here’s the result: A hand recount of Maricopa County’s 2.1 million ballots says that Mr. Biden won the state by 10,817 votes.

    “There’s no reason to prefer this tally over the certified one, given the audit’s erratic process and lack of transparency,” the board added. “For details, see a June report co-written by Trey Grayson, Kentucky’s former GOP Secretary of State, warning that Cyber Ninjas ‘will not produce findings that should be trusted.’ The good news is they don’t need to be trusted, since the result is the same, except with worse numbers for Mr. Trump… The audit documents exceed 100 pages, and it will take time for local authorities to comb through all the claims. Elections are human endeavors, so it’d hardly be surprising if an outside review found some goofs or ways to improve. But that isn’t Mr. Trump’s aim.”

    In Townhall, Ted Noel said “words matter” about the audit.

    “Both the Arizona auditors and John Solomon committed a cardinal error that has allowed the Left to celebrate victory and ignore the fine print,” Noel wrote. “Both note that Biden got more ‘votes’ than Trump. That conclusion is incorrect, because it ignores the rest of the story. A vote is an indication of preference cast by an eligible, registered voter. It must be cast in the time, place, and manner prescribed by law. Anything else is not a vote. In Arizona, it is cast on paper ballots and read by machines. All the ‘accurate count’ showed was that the machines counted the pieces of paper accurately. That’s all machines do. They do not count ‘ballots.’

    “The canvass did not answer the primary question, ‘How many of the pieces of paper were lawful ballots and how many should have been excluded because they were not lawful votes?’ All the ‘accurate count’ proves is that there was no outside effort to tweak the numbers by changing them by some direct internet chicanery,” he wrote. “But it does not prove that Biden won. Or not. And that is the problem. I won’t repeat all the details the auditors droned on through, but there are several key findings. Over 50,000 ‘ballots’ were unlawfully cast. There were dead people, new addresses without re-registration, double votes, envelopes with no signatures, ballots received that were never sent out, and so on. Every one of those ‘ballots’ were unlawful. They should have been rejected to remove them from the canvass.”

    My take.
    This is an issue where I am fully trusting that readers will make it to “my take,” because some of the comments from “the right” above are so misleading or false. It’s difficult to decide which of these comments to publish, since many are representative of widely held views, they seem prominent enough to reprint here and address now.

    First: the results of this audit are devastating for Trump, but more importantly they are clarifying for people like me who have been chasing down every claim of election fraud and trying to look into their validity. And it’s clarifying because it proves that the decision has been made by many of these actors up front that the election was stolen — and they will contort themselves in any manner necessary to maintain that charade.

    The issue with reporting on these claims of election fraud is that the boring explanation often requires more time to lay out than the explosive (and misleading) allegation itself. This report is jam-packed with a half dozen examples, but let’s take the big one, which is illustrative of all the rest: the idea that 23,344 mail-in ballots were from “phantom voters” who no longer lived at that address they voted from, as former President Trump put it.

    First, Cyber Ninjas arrived at the 23,344 number by comparing voter rolls to a commercial public database called Melissa, which tracks addresses not for issues related to voting but for things like commercial marketing. You can go look at their website for yourself. Naturally, anytime you compare two totally different datasets at two different points in time you are going to run into discrepancies. To their credit, Cyber Ninjas actually points this out in their own report, which of course most of the people blabbing on about this seem not to have actually read. “86,391 individuals were found with no record in the database for either their name, or anyone with the same last name at the address,” the Cyber Ninjas report says. “It is expected that a number of these individuals are in fact real people with a limited public record and commercial presence; but it is unclear how large that number is.” So, to start with, the fundamental data they used to produce their election fraud innuendo is itself corrupted.

    But let’s assume it isn’t, just for fun. What Cyber Ninjas could have done was taken their data and then compared it to data from the Arizona secretary of state’s office. Instead, though, they never even subpoenaed the records they needed in order to do that. They literally didn’t even try to figure out if they had actually uncovered fraud, which — hey — seems like a fairly major oversight.

    Of course, even if they did confirm some 23,000 voters cast mail-in ballots from places they didn’t live, that wouldn’t actually mean the votes were illegal! It is totally possible that legal voters were casting legal ballots and also forwarding their mail to a different address. College students and people living in vacation homes during election season, for instance, could have filed address forwarding (which is how Cyber Ninjas were tracking address changes) in order to cast completely legal ballots. There was also that whole pandemic thing, where people were working remotely in locations that weren’t their permanent addresses. In a county with 2.1 million voters, is it really hard to believe a few thousand fall into that category?

    Even if you take those voters out of it, though, Arizona law says any voter who moves within 29 days of an election can cast a ballot in a presidential election from their preceding address. More than 35 million address changes were submitted to USPS in 2020. It seems totally plausible that a few thousand — maybe even 10 or 15 thousand of those — happened in one of America’s largest counties in the month leading up to the election, especially when you consider (according to the National Association of Realtors) that Arizona had the seventh-highest rate in any state of people moving in and out in 2020. On top of all of that, there’s also this: the voters who moved were split nearly evenly between Democrats and Republicans, meaning even if their votes were fraudulent (which we have no evidence of) they may not have swung the results in a direction that hurt Trump.

    Every explosive claim produced by this report — which can be expressed in a sentence — requires paragraphs like this to explain why it is benign. And ultimately that is the greatest trick of this grift, and why the people who spent months insisting they needed your money to produce an audit that would prove fraud are now saying they need more of your money to get the claims in this audit investigated by the state attorney general. They believe you will take what they say at face value without taking the time necessary to understand how they’re misleading you. You can read The Wall Street Journal or Slate or watch Fox News or find any number of sources with any number of ideological slants to explain it in depth.

    The only people left peddling the idea that there is proof the election was stolen are either running for office, profiting from the claim, or are spectators and voters deeply committed to the idea that their guy lost unfairly. It’s clear to me they will keep going, and keep raising that money, and keep preying on voters’ fears and frustrations until a whole new election rolls around in 2024. All I can say is I hope you can see through it by now.

  86. The Great Pumpkin says:

    At 50, I will be mortgage free and carry zero debt. I guess that’s when I will be considered wealthy to the masses. 9 more years till freedom!!

  87. Libturd says:

    Biden kind of sucks. Yes. But he is far from being the “worst president ever.”

    I swear, this populist bullsh1t is going to take the Republican Party to an early grave. Shame too. Biden/Harris, they are so beatable. Yet all I see is loss after loss after loss. So much for future balance.

    Watch out for the debt ceiling. When the lying populists intentionally tank this economy, it will be the end of them for a LONG time.

  88. The Great Pumpkin says:

    I think too many people want the good life in their 20’s and 30’s. I couldn’t afford my own home in my 20’s, but I was able to afford a rental unit which I took advantage of. That rental was then used to help buy my first personal home to live in at 31. Baby steps…patience, smart decisions, and sacrifice. Key to getting ahead.

    I sacrificed to get where I am, too many people want instant wealth and they want it now. You were never meant to be wealthy at a young age unless you were born into it, or got lucky.

  89. JCer says:

    yes 3b by far most fall into the one spouse makes 150k, the other 75k. This is why the 600k-800k house price range is the most challenging. The 1% in NJ make above 700k per year, that’s 88,000 people, top 5% is 350k which 440,000 people with household income greater than 350k. No doubt people push their finances too far, and no doubt housing is out of whack. What’s interesting is many of the dual income folks we know are far more careful, the single income earners who work for my wife are way more over extended, 900k houses on 175k income dependent on one person. For us we could cover the entirety of our living expenses(which are absolutely dominated by property taxes) without changes on one salary. You are right though people over extend and then when the recession comes they lose it, same as it always was.

    I think rates have exacerbated the issue but the biggest problem was the demand was pushed forward which created shortages and irrational behavior.

    Bystander, Indians are a bad example as they are conditioned from living in India to pay a massive amount for housing compared to their income. I’m sure their income level is around 300k so 800k at 2% seems very affordable and compared to the crowding in Indian cities a suburban property like that is like manna from heaven even if it is on a busy road or adjacent to a highway. As for people listing their homes, hey a quick 250k profit sounds pretty good, I’ve considered but it’s too much of a hassle(where would I go not similarly inflated), if I didn’t have children though yeah never a better time to put the for sale sign up.

    Bystander the fight between the GOP and Democrats is obvious and it’s about “vote by mail”, there is room for abuse and no doubt some did happen no doubt, it’s simply too easy to tamper with for it not to happen. You make people show up and voter fraud becomes much more difficult logistics wise. You allow voting for weeks and mail in/drop box ballots and a small group of people can impact a significant number of votes. No doubt Biden won the democratic strongholds, but the electoral map looks a little funny in the battleground states. There is no good justification for elections to continue as this last one did, that is what the audits are really about. The GOP wants the ammo to kill absentee voting en-masse.

  90. leftwing says:

    I know no one – literally no one – here or among my IRL personal friends and family who ever maintained that Trump won the votes cast in either AZ or GA.

    The issue is different and intentionally obfuscated by the Left, MSM, and their lackeys.

  91. leftwing says:

    I know no one – literally no one – here or among my IRL personal friends and family who ever maintained that Trump won the votes cast in either AZ or GA.

    The issue is different and intentionally obfucsated by the Left, MSM, and their lackeys.

  92. leftwing says:

    Hmmm…so obfu.scate trips moderation…

  93. leftwing says:

    Hmmm…so ob.fu.sca.te trips moderation…

  94. BRT says:

    I would actually automatically nominate him for worst ever. I’ve never seen an elected leader of this country shielded from the public and unable to take questions. At this point, it’s just pure comedy…yet places like SNL refuse to take the low hanging fruit.

  95. Fast Eddie says:

    O’Biden is the worst president ever by virtue of the fact that he vaguely knows what day of the week it is. Or, is it the fact that his approval is in the 30-something percent range. Or, is it the fact that his miscues are epic failures. All this in a matter of months. Yeah, he is the worst in our lifetime.

  96. JCer says:

    BRT add to that his felonious entanglements with his derelict son, Hunter and it really is that bad. I’m thoroughly convinced the old goat ran for president to avoid the prosecution of him and his son. Nixon stepped down for less, this guy had secret business dealings with foreign nationals utilizing his office. Yet the media does not report on it, since CNN doesn’t talk about it, it must be fake news.

  97. chicagofinance says:

    https://www.cnbc.com/2021/09/27/harvard-business-school-temporarily-moves-some-mba-classes-online-to-curb-covid-outbreak.html

    grim says:
    September 27, 2021 at 11:02 am
    Rt back down to 1.01 today in NJ. We saw a little blip up as school started, that is appearing to level off.

  98. Bystander says:

    But don’t kill it for the military or the Orange clown himself who voted by mail..got it.

    JCer,

    900k house with 175K income is exactly my point. I also think claiming that 55% DTI for FHA backed loan is now acceptable ratio is just as dangerous of some of the NINJA stuff from 2007. The rules allow for people to take on way more than they can afford and leverage into the towns that should be unafforable. They see it as ‘investment’ like the Indian couple. If GC does not go through in next two years, sell it. The guys works for my cbank so probably lower his salary analysis..hah.

  99. Out of the Ashes goes the Phoenix says:

    Bush was worse. Started 20 year war.

  100. Bystander says:

    Bush was the worst president..with Dumpy is the worst human to be president but got great economic conditions. Biden is residing over Dow 35K even in face of GOP sponsored debt turmoil. Our economy is the strongest in the history of mankind…deerrr..

  101. JCer says:

    Bystander your bank is really bad, I met a bunch of developers making 90k, they literally were comparing salaries with my Indian BA. Which suffice it to say is less than the starting salary in this area offered to comp sci kids from state schools like NJIT. They’ll probably get the green card unless your firm has them deported…….

    The GOP does not want friction-less voting, the way they see it voters willing to put in some effort to vote are more likely to be their voters. I never said there was not a political motive in all of this but realistically we cannot have another election like 2020, it was chaos, it make 2001 look good.

    Biden 8 months in is doing horrendously bad, he is easily in top 5 worst presidents. How is this for more winning

    https://finance.yahoo.com/news/china-roundup-meng-wanzhous-release-154109145.html

  102. BRT says:

    GWB was awful, and easily has the worst career. But he had 8 years two screw up everything. We are only 9 months into this thing and it’s looking bad. I’d say he’s on pace for taking the gold, especially if we get a financial crisis.

  103. Bystander says:

    Wow, it is starting. I just got phone screen from regional NC bank and they wanted Tech PM with college degree and 6 plus year advanced mgt experience OR HS grad/GED with 10 years exp. Overlay this with IBM announcing 50% of jobs won’t require a college degree and we are now f-ed as a country. This is all about lowering pay expectations. I don’t care as late 40s but this won’t end well for younger kids coming up.

  104. Bystander says:

    JCer,

    The deportation may not even be intentional. They are so f-ing incompent that they intend to keep person but line mgr misses filing dates so they have to go back to India so that visa does not run out. We have one in that situation on another team and in India now. My current resource has 12 months to see if processing completes. He may need to leave..then come back. It is crazy.

  105. 3b says:

    Pumps: You sound like some old ass Boomer. And the fact that you compare yourself to the yong people today is disingenuous. You got your rental at a discount, you got to live in it. You were employed and have no concern of being ever laid off. Your cost of college was far less than 20 odd years ago, and you married up.

  106. 3b says:

    Lib: Biden may not be the worst yet, but he is certainly on the road. I can’t believe people are defending him. Is he better then Trump in that he is not an ignorant buffoon? Yes. Is that all we as Americans are expecting?

  107. leftwing says:

    “But don’t kill it for the military or the Orange clown himself who voted by mail..got it”

    “Biden is residing over Dow 35K even in face of GOP sponsored debt turmoil. Our economy is the strongest in the history of mankind…deerrr..”

    Yeah, I think the “derrrrr-errrrp” is on you brother if you are still using a day in time on the Dow as an analytical framework for Presidential success and can’t see the difference between 2020 mail-ins and what was the current law.

    So which is it, dishonest or derp?

  108. The Great Pumpkin says:

    I also made a lot less money than the people today. I was getting paid min wage in 1996 (5 dollars and change an hour). Started the post office in 1999 (again, it was low wage). Lived at home and saved every penny. Worked massive amount of over time. Instead, you focus on small insignificant discount from my grandmother. How about I put myself in position to purchase her home at a young age through hard work and sacrifice, but you don’t want to hear it. You want to make excuses for my success. I busted my a$$ to get where I am. I didn’t sit around and wait for it to happen, I made it happen.

  109. joyce says:

    Bystander only mentions the DOW because Trump and Gary wouldn’t shut up about it when Trump was in office.

  110. The Great Pumpkin says:

    I did not get a penny from my parents. Not one dollar. How many people can say that? I paid for my own college after purchasing a rental home. I had 3 jobs in college. People need to understand that you have to work hard when you are young and sacrifice to get ahead. It’s not easy, but nothing good comes easy. People like to bi!ch and complain today instead of making it happen.

  111. Hold my beer says:

    crushed

    you mean something like this in Carrollton? Carrollton has an hmart and a 99ranch, both anchoring plazas with dozens of asian stores, restaurants, and services

    https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/1713-W-Point-Dr_Carrollton_TX_75007_M85788-11187

  112. Hold my beer says:

    Pumps

    You should get a side hustle besides ARKK and your rental. Something you can turn into an encore career when you retire.

  113. Fast Eddie says:

    Who’s Gary?

  114. Libturd says:

    Bystander,

    Super smart niece of mine, Rutgers Honors program recent graduate (also was accepted at George Washington), finally was given staff job at J&J after working through agency (limited benefits) for just about two years. You are correct about the reduction in salaries. This next generation is truly screwed.

    As for Pelosi’s (Biden’s) performance, I don’t see it as nearly bad as Trump’s. Outside of his absenteeism, I don’t think any of his policies have been too earth shattering. Sure Afghanistan was a mess, but there really was no way it wasn’t going to be. And the Taliban held up their end of the bargain. That was pretty impressive. Diplomacy occasionally works. As for wasting 2 trillion dollars making believe Afghanistan would survive without us? Heck, we couldn’t even get control over any of the mountainous regions even with out superior firepower. No one ever has and no one ever will.

    The Hunter stuff? Is it pathetic? Sure. But look at the list of Trump pardons. Nothing Hunter did was half as bad as the pardons Trump granted. He put a whole bunch of lying white collar criminals back into position to practice their corruption again. Go look at Obama’s list and then look at Trump’s. It will make you puke. I still think Biden is going to step down at some point. Perhaps, after the upcoming economic collapse, which will make it look like Harris is getting us back up on our feet. That would be my best guess (pure conjecture admittedly). As long as Trump or another populist is running, Harris will win. The truth is, anyone will win against xenophobic, anti-gay, anti-choice, racists. Nothing gets out the vote for the other side like a populist platform. Now embrace the old corrupt platform of neo-cons or good old religious right, family values and conservatism and you’d beat Harris like a pinata. Too bad both parties are clueless. But Biden has been more of an empty suit IMO than a white suit with matching pillowcase with slots cut out so you can see where to light the cross.

  115. Libturd says:

    3b,

    Yes. That’s all we are expecting. Most of em should be in jail. Not defended.

  116. leftwing says:

    My favorite Biden-ism is turning public policy into an episode of the View or Oprah…

    Target for vaccinations? Let’s have “freedom from covid” and do it by July 4th! Yay!

    Target for Afghanistan? Let’s do it by the 20th anniversary of Sept 11th! Yay!

    Target for policing bill? Let’s have it on the anniversary of G Floyd death! Yay!

    WTF is he doing, scheduling a kid’s birthday party or running public policy?

    He’s a life long public officeholding grifter. After six years in two middling universities, and needing to self admittedly cheat his way through one, he graduated and spent two years in the workforce mostly as a public defender.

    Since then – his entire fcuking miserable, lying adult life – he has been a ward of the State. Zero productivity into the workforce.

    He is Clinton but without charisma, street smarts, wily, ambition, or charm.

    Basically, a totally fcuking useless placeholder. The flesh and bones equivalent of a comma in a novel.

    And that’s my positive spin on him.

  117. Fast Eddie says:

    Okay, I’ll throw it in neutral momentarily because I gotta mention that I can’t stop listening to the Phish XM channel every time I get in the car. I knew about Phish but never really “knew” Phish. Wow, their jam sessions are just intoxicating! Whether it’s a concert from 1992 or a week ago, they just put you in another world! They sometimes sound like a cross between Pink Floyd and The Dead and sometimes early Genesis in the Steve Hackett days. Really mesmerizing stuff!!

  118. 3b says:

    Lib: The differences between Trump and Biden, Trump a one off ignorant buffoon. Biden a career politician almost 50 years ! Who know all the corruption he has been involved in. It’s shocking and disgusting that the media is hiding this, or downplaying it. This is a prime example of Dem/ leftist hypocrisy.

  119. Libturd says:

    3b,

    Agreed. On all counts. He’s the worst kind of Democrat. But he doesn’t scapegoat. If he steps down, I’ll be impressed. With that said, he probably won’t.

  120. No One says:

    I just went through a throwback listening session for UK alternative music of the late 80s that I used to listen to.
    The Smiths
    Siouxsie and the Banshees
    The Damned (only Phantasmagoria)
    The Sisters of Mercy
    Bauhaus

    No wonder I was depressed around 1990. I think I heard most of it from my campus radio station, at least heard it there the first time before buying tapes for some of it.

  121. leftwing says:

    Qualified people at the Fed running from the toxic political environment…Two Fed Presidents resign today rather than face a non-scandal, scandal…..

    The same sh1tty environment engendered by your lifers in DC that keep any qualified candidate from running for President now trickles down to the Fed…no problem, your local gender, race, and ethnically correct bank teller will step in seamlessly….think the equivalent Maxine Waters, running our monetary policy. LOLOLOL.

  122. JCer says:

    The hunter stuff is a much bigger deal than you are making it out to be. This is literally the VP of the USA selling access through his crackhead son, it is very blatant and out in the open. Making excuses for it or comparing it to the cast of characters Trump put in positions is dishonest. If any Trump appointee was caught doing this kind blatent self dealing they’d have been arrested.

  123. 3b says:

    Lib: We Agree. And if he does step down we get Harris who was at the bottom of the race in 2020, and did not even make it to Iowa. We as a country are so fkuced!!

  124. 3b says:

    Left: Agree, but Clinton had charisma and legitimate smarts. And Clinton did not lie about his academic success or steal other people’s quotes and claim them as his own.

  125. Libturd says:

    JCer,

    I do not doubt that Biden used his positions to help his crackhead son. Sadly, nearly every single one of them does. This part I agree is scummy. But the unproven conspiracies about the “big man himself” reek of the same style of politicking as the p1ssing dossiers did. I laughed at both claims when I first heard them. You should too. But you know what bothers me even more than using your position to help out your family members? Straight up recorded and proven lying. For example, For much of 2016, McConnell said the Senate should wait for the American people to decide the next president who would choose Scalia’s replacement. This conflicts with his decision to pursue confirmation for a nominee just weeks before the 2020 election. This is the man running the show these days.

    On Trump, it’s simply incredible the volume of lies that he produces. And what’s simply amazing to me is that his supporters actually think he’s the most honest politician ever. He has actually convinced the vast majority of them that everyone of his lies is, “fake news.”

    Check this out.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veracity_of_statements_by_Donald_Trump
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veracity_of_statements_by_Donald_Trump

  126. Hold my beer says:

    Daughter rejected for real estate appraiser license. Mommy is governor and summons head of agency and the underlings. Nothing to see here.

    https://apnews.com/article/business-discrimination-kristi-noem-south-dakota-age-discrimination-7942a78d5545205dff41a696ef9fc251

  127. 3b says:

    Lib: I don’t disagree with any of what you said, except to say again 4 years Trump a non politician vs almost 50 years Biden, a career politician! The same guy who now shouts build it better , and a teacher should not pay more in taxes than a hedge fund manager. Yet he and all the other fecker politicians dem and repub, stood back and watched while America dismantled its manufacturing base, and wrote the tax laws with a the loopholes that allow hedge fund managers to pay less in taxes then a teacher. The Dems are just as delusional as Repubs and Trump supporters who think their side is morally superior and ethically superior . They all blow! I have been saying it for years.

  128. Bystander says:

    Thanks Joyce.

    Left,

    I will go with derp but on you if you #1 can’t see that I just like throwing that sh&t back at red hat dolts and Trump who constantly tweeted his greatness based on Dow. Of course it is meaningless #2 2020 election may have had something different going on than any other year on record. 2020 was not a good year for standard law across the board but it did not invalidte the results. He still got more votes than any R ever. He just also was hated by millions more.

  129. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Def sound advice and something I’m trying to put together. Hopefully get a good idea and can make it happen.

    Hold my beer says:
    September 27, 2021 at 3:38 pm
    Pumps

    You should get a side hustle besides ARKK and your rental. Something you can turn into an encore career when you retire.

  130. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Lmao….true story. Love me some Smiths though.

    “No wonder I was depressed around 1990. I think I heard most of it from my campus radio station, at least heard it there the first time before buying tapes for some of it.”

  131. Bystander says:

    Ed,

    That’s my boy. First rule of phandom is that they suck. They are weird, terrible lyricists and horrible singers – all true. Most people will cringe about 1 minute into song. 1992 – bad year, too much rapid fire guitar. I don’t recommend them.

    4/16/1992
    7/25/1992 w / Santana

  132. grim says:

    Loved Sisters of Mercy – Slight Case of Overbombing album was a favorite – I could listen to Temple of Love over and over.

  133. 3b says:

    The Dems are pulling back on their 600 dollars or more transactions in a bank account must be reported to the IRS! Unbelievable that this was proposed in the first place. Silence from the mainstream press, and probably most Dems supporters did not even know, but yeah the Dems are better than Repubs.

  134. crushednjmillenial says:

    Hilary Clinton heckled as a “war criminal” recently in Northern Ireland. Also, GWB faced a veteran that screamed for him to “apologize”.

    Hilary voted “yes” for Iraq. GWB should have been put on trial in the Hague for Iraq. I am glad that people aren’t letting this go.

  135. Nomad says:

    Lib,

    Not so sure D landslide in ’24. DejaVu maybe. Article long and beyond scary. Economy starting to show cracks. Free links to entire article available if you search.

    WaPo opinion essay by Robert Kagan

    Opinion: Our constitutional crisis is already here

    The United States is heading into its greatest political and constitutional crisis since the Civil War, with a reasonable chance over the next three to four years of incidents of mass violence, a breakdown of federal authority, and the division of the country into warring red and blue enclaves. The warning signs may be obscured by the distractions of politics, the pandemic, the economy and global crises, and by wishful thinking and denial. But about these things there should be no doubt:

    First, Donald Trump will be the Republican candidate for president in 2024. The hope and expectation that he would fade in visibility and influence have been delusional. He enjoys mammoth leads in the polls; he is building a massive campaign war chest; and at this moment the Democratic ticket looks vulnerable. Barring health problems, he is running.

    Second, Trump and his Republican allies are actively preparing to ensure his victory by whatever means necessary. Trump’s charges of fraud in the 2020 election are now primarily aimed at establishing the predicate to challenge future election results that do not go his way. Some Republican candidates have already begun preparing to declare fraud in 2022, just as Larry Elder tried meekly to do in the California recall contest.

    Meanwhile, the amateurish “stop the steal” efforts of 2020 have given way to an organized nationwide campaign to ensure that Trump and his supporters will have the control over state and local election officials that they lacked in 2020. Those recalcitrant Republican state officials who effectively saved the country from calamity by refusing to falsely declare fraud or to “find” more votes for Trump are being systematically removed or hounded from office. Republican legislatures are giving themselves greater control over the election certification process. As of this spring, Republicans have proposed or passed measures in at least 16 states that would shift certain election authorities from the purview of the governor, secretary of state or other executive-branch officers to the legislature. An Arizona bill flatly states that the legislature may “revoke the secretary of state’s issuance or certification of a presidential elector’s certificate of election” by a simple majority vote. Some state legislatures seek to impose criminal penalties on local election officials alleged to have committed “technical infractions,” including obstructing the view of poll watchers.
    The stage is thus being set for chaos. Imagine weeks of competing mass protests across multiple states as lawmakers from both parties claim victory and charge the other with unconstitutional efforts to take power. Partisans on both sides are likely to be better armed and more willing to inflict harm than they were in 2020. Would governors call out the National Guard? Would President Biden nationalize the Guard and place it under his control, invoke the Insurrection Act, and send troops into Pennsylvania or Texas or Wisconsin to quell violent protests? Deploying federal power in the states would be decried as tyranny. Biden would find himself where other presidents have been — where Andrew Jackson was during the nullification crisis, or where Abraham Lincoln was after the South seceded — navigating without rules or precedents, making his own judgments about what constitutional powers he does and doesn’t have.
    Today’s arguments over the filibuster will seem quaint in three years if the American political system enters a crisis for which the Constitution offers no remedy.
    Most Americans — and all but a handful of politicians — have refused to take this possibility seriously enough to try to prevent it. As has so often been the case in other countries where fascist leaders arise, their would-be opponents are paralyzed in confusion and amazement at this charismatic authoritarian. They have followed the standard model of appeasement, which always begins with underestimation. The political and intellectual establishments in both parties have been underestimating Trump since he emerged on the scene in 2015. They underestimated the extent of his popularity and the strength of his hold on his followers; they underestimated his ability to take control of the Republican Party; and then they underestimated how far he was willing to go to retain power. The fact that he failed to overturn the 2020 election has reassured many that the American system remains secure, though it easily could have gone the other way — if Biden had not been safely ahead in all four states where the vote was close; if Trump had been more competent and more in control of the decision-makers in his administration, Congress and the states. As it was, Trump came close to bringing off a coup earlier this year. All that prevented it was a handful of state officials with notable courage and integrity, and the reluctance of two attorneys general and a vice president to obey orders they deemed inappropriate.
    These were not the checks and balances the Framers had in mind when they designed the Constitution, of course, but Trump has exposed the inadequacy of those protections. The Founders did not foresee the Trump phenomenon, in part because they did not foresee national parties. They anticipated the threat of a demagogue, but not of a national cult of personality. They assumed that the new republic’s vast expanse and the historic divisions among the 13 fiercely independent states would pose insuperable barriers to national movements based on party or personality. “Petty” demagogues might sway their own states, where they were known and had influence, but not the whole nation with its diverse populations and divergent interests.

  136. grim says:

    NJ crosses the 100k boosted threshold, rate of boosters accelerating, somewhere near 4-5k a day now.

  137. chicagofinance says:

    You saw this pandering garbage, yes? Stunning in its implications; actually embarrassing. Didn’t know it fell under their mandate.

    Economics
    Powell Laments Racial Gap in Job Market, Fed’s Limited Tools

    By Reade Pickert and Steve Matthews
    September 22, 2021, 4:50 PM EDT

    Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the U.S. central bank is committed to doing its part to eliminate inequality and racial disparities in the labor market, but other levers like fiscal and educational policies are better-suited to the task.

    leftwing says:
    September 27, 2021 at 4:07 pm
    Qualified people at the Fed running from the toxic political environment…Two Fed Presidents resign today rather than face a non-scandal, scandal…..

    The same sh1tty environment engendered by your lifers in DC that keep any qualified candidate from running for President now trickles down to the Fed…no problem, your local gender, race, and ethnically correct bank teller will step in seamlessly….think the equivalent Maxine Waters, running our monetary policy. LOLOLOL.

  138. chicagofinance says:

    Just to be clear and objective….. all the modern era Presidential administrations have been really problematic, but we have never seen anything like Hunter Biden. If it is not clear that Hunter Biden stands out as the most abject scion, then you have inherent bias. However, when it is clear the level of influence peddling that is DOCUMENTED. Then couple it with WHO are the buyers of influence. Trump is morally bankrupt, and a self-dealer. Surely, he was positioning the Presidency for future enrichment (so did Clinton and Obama). Trump is just boorish, sloppy, maverick (but in a heretical sense), and ethically compromised…… but Joe Biden just as corrupt, less talented, and has is personal bag man in his son.

  139. chicagofinance says:

    However, when it is clear the level of influence peddling that is DOCUMENTED. Then couple it with WHO are the buyers of influence.

    -directed at Hunter Biden-

  140. BRT says:

    I actually think Bill and Hillary were worse than Hunter. They appeared to be openly building a war chest of money through donations from corporations and foreign governments for “speeches”. They were really just selling future access/influence for cash up front. Her fee magically dropped from $250k to $25k post election loss and nobody really bothered to have her anymore. Hunter is small potatoes compared to that racket.

  141. Ex says:

    Althea told me upon scrutiny
    That my back might need protection
    I told Althea that treachery
    Was tearing me limb from limb
    Althea told me, now cool down boy
    Settle back easy, Jim

  142. JCer says:

    BRT, people aren’t realizing the magnitude of the Hunter email and now independent confirmation. The presidents son literally setup a corporation with the Chinese and was holding 10% for “the big guy”. We have lots of confirmation that Joe Biden was arranging meetings and working on his sons behalf. Yes the Clintons, Obamas, and Trump were corrupt but is was never quite as brazen, they always maintained “plausible” deniability. None of these other crooks had a sloppy bag man losing laptops, pissing off business partners who would speak against his ploys. The other politicians were better at keeping the dirty laundry in the hamper.

  143. Fast Eddie says:

    Bystander,

    I’m not sure if you’re saying Phish s.ucks or are off the hook good! Everything I’ve heard this past week sounded amazing! That guitarist can jam for hours! Truly interesting misdirection in sound and rhythm!

  144. leftwing says:

    “Mommy is governor and summons head of agency and the underlings.”

    yeah, that’s not good….

    ByStander, good to hear you’re just tweaking someone here. Had me scared you believed that tripe.

    Chi, yeah, Powell wants to be re-elected. So dance puppet, dance.

    I’ll push back on the ills of the Crackhead relative to other first families….show me anything close in the Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Bush2, Obama, Trump?

    Some familial transgressions there, yeah, some. Billy Beer sucked but was just name dropping. Same for the Bushes, name got the second generation elected. But which other family was so corrupted to the core? Which other President was bragging on film about trading US aid for Cabinet changes that benefitted his kid in a foreign sovereign? Who else’s kid is getting hundreds of thousands of dollars anonymously for selling garbage? Who flies on AF2 with the VP and walks out with hundreds of millions of ‘investment funds’?

    No one else is even in the ballpark.

    You guys know me well enough, I think HillBilly are the devil incarnate….for me to put their ethics above the current Admin says something, lol.

  145. Fabius Maximus says:

    “Who’s Gary?”

    He was spotted this week in Staten Island still searching for the greatness
    https://twitter.com/WhiteRabbitNN/status/1441839472904048641

  146. Ex says:

    No, Phish still manage to suck.

  147. Bystander says:

    Ed,

    I’ve been seeing this since 1993. Yes, I love them but they are acquired taste and most people think they suck as really they are bad lyricists and singers (but it fits their weirdness). I have tons of recommendations for shows if you go down the rabbit hole. Trey is outstanding player, his tone if very unique. 1989 – 1994 was balls-out, rock out energy. Somewhere around 1996, they started with siren loop, mixed things up and got funkier. They still rocked though. They had a tough period around 2001-2003 where Trey had drug issues, shows could be sloppy and broke up for 5 years. They came back in 2009 and started a string of mediocre albums that allowed other members to write and share song list. Trey is better at sharing stage now but they are far m0re experimental with long segues between songs. Different band now but still fun. Trey is sounding more like Jerry last few years. Check out Ocelot if like Dead sounding Phish.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cb3lruYkgM

  148. Fast Eddie says:

    Trey is an amazing guitar player, very diverse, changes directions on a dime but so smooth. I may have to take a toke and veg out in the car. lol. Thanks for the lowdown.

  149. Fabius Maximus says:

    If Hunter is trending, its a good indication that the GQP are trying to distract for something. Rudy Colludy can complain that the Feds would not take the disks from him, but the Feds know that the laptop has no provenance. All it is, is a talking point.

    Donnie is the king of Self Dealing. The settlement with the NY AG was small fines and a 10 year ban. Add in Ivankas Chinese Trademarks and Jareds 666 bailout. We still have the Inauguration cash cases coming up as well.

    The losses on Trump DC this year should be epic.

  150. Ex says:

    Note to Republicans: you suck.

  151. Juice Box says:

    Fab – as usual factually incorrect. Delaware prosecutors were investigating long before Rudy got a copy of the hard drive, as they had it from a Grand Jury subpoena to the Delaware Apple repair shop.

    But hey don’t belive me trust CNN right and Jake Tapper right?

    “CNN reported that the investigation into Hunter Biden’s taxes dates back to at least 2018 and was temporarily put on hold during the election because of its politically sensitive nature.

    CNN’s Evan Perez told Jake Tapper that the probe, which has since resumed, is “looking at everything from taxes to potential violations of money laundering laws.”

    “The FBI took possession of the laptop in late 2019, according to a computer repairman in Delaware who showed reporters a copy of a subpoena. The subpoena is real, according to people briefed on the matter, but the FBI and prosecutors in Delaware have refused to confirm the existence of the investigation.”

    https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/09/politics/hunter-biden-tax-investigtation/index.html

    BTW – At a bare minimum a FARA violation.

    “A FARA violation can lead to criminal liability with serious consequences: A willful failure to register, a willfully false statement of a material fact, or a willful omission of a material fact is punishable by up to five (5) years of imprisonment and a fine”

    BUT hey it’s already 2021…So nothing. He will pay back taxes and nothing shall happen…..

  152. Fast Eddie says:

    Bystander,

    I can’t remember which concert was on when I was driving Sunday morning but I went from somewhere around Ho Ho Kus to Sussex County and I don’t remember driving. Lol! I was in a trance!

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  154. Fabius Maximus says:

    The music conversations are fun. For me I seem to be recreating a Vinyl collection from my youth. It doesn’t help that I have a record store a few miles away that are getting estate sales with gems from the 60’s, 70s and 80’s and into the 90s.
    Also one of my kids are into this as well. Last trip, she got Harry Styles, Sinatra, Fall Out Boy, Billy Joel and Bon Jovi. I got Howard Jones, Mellissa Etheridge, U2 Red Rocks and Joni Mitchel Blue.
    I also bought another copy of Willie Nelson Stardust. That is one of the best records ever released. She can have her own copy as she is not getting mine. I had to fight her aunt for that one.

  155. Juice Box says:

    BTW – Hunter is garbage.

    Not for having a relationship with his dead brother’s wife

    Not for the Ukraine Company Gas board seat

    Not for the China deal he cut while flying with daddy on Air Force 2

    Not for latest Libya $$$ nonsense

    He is garbage because he and his people got the press to label his girlfriend a dancer/hooker after she had his love child. The woman was on Rosemont Seneca payroll and health insurance, he denied ever meeting her…That makes him GARBAGE, the worst kind.

    How many Secret Service agents are now watching that love child and when does his latest son Beau get to meet his older sister? Those poor kids are gonna be f-ked for life.

  156. Fabius Maximus says:

    And when he was raided, he still tried to serve it up.

    https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/giuliani-fbi-raid-hunter-biden-b1839979.html

    But hey, her emails!

  157. Fabius Maximus says:

    And Traitor Tot left his wife and 5 kids for Kimberly Guilfoyle and they are living their life of yeyo and conspiracy theory bliss!

    Their personal lives are not relevant

  158. Out of the Ashes goes the Phoenix says:

    Oopsy Teach.

    106k gym teacher. Not good.
    New York Post : NJ teacher charged with using fake doctor’s note to avoid mask mandate.

    https://nypost.com/2021/09/27/nj-teacher-charged-with-using-fake-doctors-note-to-avoid-mask-mandate/

  159. Juice Box says:

    Fab – It’s on the record…. Tweet to Jake Tapper his peeps will verify that it is ON THE RECORD. Rudy did not have the hard drive before the Federal Subpoena, the Apple repair shop owner said so himself to the media (yes CNN video and all), and please this was years ago. The raid of America’s favorite Mayor was recent…

    Yes Hunter is under investigation, and that will be buried, the dust has collected on all the jackets of information the FBI has because well it might as well be as radioactive as Chernobyl. So don’t lose any sleep please. However I worry about you, for a NERD you are a bit well not so much logical or even factual or worse rational…

  160. Juice Box says:

    I will add this too Fab….

    I am sure Don Jr. is garbage, but the stink is different, however it still stinks…. I will leave it be because it will all end up in the dump even with all the money they both have.

    BTW – Don Jr’s wife left him because of an affair with Aubrey O’Day not that skank he is with now…Also with all his money and means he is with a woman a decade older than him and actually older than me…..she must be a Hoover….

    However it seems more like a mommy issue to me..

    Don’t make the same mistakes with your kids..

  161. Fabius Maximus says:

    As I always say in here when you get to this point where you attack me and not the argument, it shows you’ve lost.

    I’ll leave you with this to have a think about and see if you can connect the dots.
    https://securitycurrent.com/hunter-bidens-laptop-part-deux-subpoena-vs-warrant/

  162. Fabius Maximus says:

    So TTs kids are not affected as much as H’s because he had multiple affairs and Aubrey is hot!

    Might want to rethink that one.

  163. Fabius Maximus says:

    And when it comes to Russia, I’ll leave you with this.

    https://twitter.com/lrozen/status/1442672545166241795/photo/1

  164. JCer says:

    Yes Juice I caught that, he managed to knock up an employee and then get the press to label her a stripper and totally defame her while denying paternity.

    Ivanka’s trademarks and Jared’s 666 deal, are literally nothing. Neither was monetarily significant enough, Kushner lost his shirt on the deal and brookfield is not controlled by any sensitive interest. That was purely a business deal but nice try, if anything Jared’s association with Trump cost him money as the VAST majority of their properties are in democrat controlled districts. For the record I think the Kushner’s(Charlie and co) are scum.

    The level of corruption is astounding, between the Ukraine thing, the Libya revelation, and the Chinese deals all literally have direct documented conflicts of interest. The fact that there is a media black out and no semblance of an investigation is beyond suspicious.

  165. JCer says:

    Fab the Russia hoax was invented by team Hillary. Stop contorting yourself into a pretzel, just because Trump was an orange POS and is kids are a train wreck doesn’t excuse Biden’s criminal and unethical behavior(Bidens been doing it for 50 years). Honestly compared to Hunter, Trump JR looks like an upstanding citizen despite being a sleaze-ball. Again laptop of not independent people are corroborating what was on the laptop. Ask yourself this why does a senile 80 year old man run for president? Was it to protect his family from prosecution?

  166. Juice Box says:

    Fab – I’ll give you credit for time served. You and R Kelly are getting pissed on right now in a prison shower and you both still claim you are making a music video….Let me know when it sells platinum…

  167. Fabius Maximus says:

    “Fab the Russia hoax was invented by team Hillary”

    No, it was initiated by the GOP and when they dropped it (As Donnie was in the running), the Dems Picked it up.

    I will repeat this again (ad nauseam) only one small fact in that whole Steele dossier has been disproved (Cohen wont say who had the cell phone), but a lot of the dossier has been proved, and nothing in it has been disproved.

    Why are people like you in here dismissing it so totally? Why can you not concede that maybe it is (or parts of it are) legit.

  168. Fabius Maximus says:

    Again, WTF has RKelly have to do with this?

    But at the end of the day, Donnies kids will probably go away for crimes on their own. At some point we will see what SDNY are holding against all of them. I lay money that H will not be in the doc with them.

    Is Fredo up next? https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/573261-eric-trump-lawyer-in-new-york-attorney-generals-fraud-case-quits

  169. JCer says:

    Dude the Qataris didn’t buy the building, didn’t have any investment discretion over either the loans nor the eventual purchase by brookfield. Kushner had to put 120m in order to get Brookfield to basically assume the some of the debt. It was a business deal, not a quid pro quo, the Quataris made it very clear they didn’t want to deal with Charlie Kushner given his sons ties to the Administration. I have no doubt these crooks tried to use their connections to get financing but in the end what happened did not include politically connect individuals, owning a tiny piece of an entity with no discretion means they did not figure into any of the decision making.

  170. JCer says:

    fab keep dreaming, the people who think they are going to get criminal charges for these accusations have no idea how any of this works, nearly all real estate companies operate this way. This is utilizing the courts for political retribution and it has no place in our democracy.

  171. Juice Box says:

    Where is the Hunter Biden art exhibition in NYC, the one he said was “pretty courageous” of him to do, yeah painting real courageous as opposed to taking responsibility for your child instead of having the courts force you to do it.

    Seems it was supposed to happen last week in NYC and was cancelled. I gather they don’t want the paparazzo snapping pics of the people rushing in with a 1/2 million to buy up his works. Who needs a pardon? Easy way to get one I bet….

  172. BRT says:

    Phoenix, that’s just silly. The gym teachers get to run class outside anyway.

  173. leftwing says:

    Looked at that article on Kuschner…hot mess, starts out slanted so just scanned it.

    A couple items of note it gets correct…Kuschner (and the Trumps) actually had a very substantial businesses in the real world that politics could impact AND going to politics can be adverse to those commercial interests.

    Bidens had none. Nothing. Their entire lives, the entire business plan, was creating familial wealth by using their leveraging their political power.

    That is the difference.

  174. Libturd says:

    I am amazed at the waste of brain cells you guys waste on studying the corruption of our political class. Come 2024, you will again pull the lever and will vote in support for a criminal.

  175. Juice Box says:

    This is bad. Millions of fake prescription drugs being sold online loaded with deadly stuff.

    The vast majority of counterfeit pills brought into the United States are produced in Mexico, and China is supplying chemicals for the manufacturing of fentanyl in Mexico.

    https://www.dea.gov/press-releases/2021/09/27/dea-issues-public-safety-alert

  176. Libturd says:

    106K to watch kids do jelly bellys and Summer’s off.

    NJ really exists for three classes. The ultra rich, the ultra-poor (or those who work off the books), and the public sector worker.

    The rest of us pay for them and our numbers are going to continue to shrink.

  177. BRT says:

    Lib,

    not only that, but the gym teachers got to grade in class with their clipboard. It afforded them the free time to coach 3 sports after school and pick up another 30k. At my last school, the gym teachers had a monopoly on coaching every single sport.

  178. Libturd says:

    On those pills Juice. One in three are fatal. Teach your kids now if you haven’t. And those who think legalizing marijuana doesn’t impact kids drug use? My son tells me the parties are completely out of control. He doesn’t even want to go to them anymore. The craziest part is that the parents are home when these parties are occurring. WTF?

  179. Libturd says:

    BRT,

    Of course they did. That’s how it always was. This state is really done. The next generation will not be able to afford it. All of those condos going up will be section 8 housing in 30 years.

  180. leftwing says:

    Lib, my shorts…

    GE, prints 3x profit to 95, committed to buy at 85 (105 currently)
    HOOD, prints 2x profit to 41, committed to buy at 32 (45 currently)
    ARKK, prints 3x profit to 105, no commitment to buy (117 currently)
    DIS, prints 20x profit to 150, committed to buy at that level (178 currently)

    My spider sense says GE’s run over the last few days is due to impending news at a competitor that may reflect well on them…otherwise, I think they are exposed to supply chain and cost inflation in major businesses more than people think.

    HOOD is a horror show. just a question of when, not if. They derive no benefit from higher rates and are exposed to crypto volume. Management is nearly incompetent in their industry.

    ARKK is a good proxy to play rates (as our own TopTick knows). Rates up ARKK down. Plus I have the free benny of a green management team.

    DIS was just too good to pass up. They got tapped a little on weak Disney+ numbers. More coming…D+ numbers were always overstated, when they rolled it out vast numbers of consumers got it ‘free’ through another entity. D+ counted these as ‘subscribers’ even although the end user wasn’t paying. Those six month freebies are turning to pay and those who don’t care about the channel are cancelling in droves.

    Anyway, that was the last few days….

  181. Libturd says:

    That teacher is another fundamentalist Jesus freak. I just checked out her Twitter feed. She’ll believe anything she reads.

    https://twitter.com/GHadleyPE/status/1429200815680540678?s=20

  182. Chicago says:

    To all: FlabMax is the most intellectually dishonest poster here bar none. He has just been quiescent for an extended period of time. We now have evidence that his latent potential to be a troll and political hack remains robust and intact. Kudos.

  183. Libturd says:

    Left,

    All smart plays, especially the Disney free subscribes turning paid. Though get out before Mando restarts. A lot of streamers today (like me) just turn those channels on and off based on seasons of shows they like. For instance, I only pay for EPIX when The Godfather of Harlem is on (three months a year). ARKK is a no brainer, just be careful of the bias that comes from trying to prove Pumpkin wrong. Even the ugly kids get to go to the prom. Hood will die the moment the market turns. Etrade almost went bankrupt when the tech bubble popped. GE, might just be a flight to safety. A lot of people see them like a P&G. Relatively safe even with increasing interest rates.

    I put another 10% of my non- 401K investments into the safety zone. so I am now 70/30 long to stable. Me thinks this debt ceiling game could pop the market. Will decide what to do with my 401K later today. Will probably go 75/25 there. At least my two homes are safe, right? RIGHT?

  184. leftwing says:

    LOL, real estate, never goes down.

    “ARKK is a no brainer, just be careful of the bias that comes from trying to prove Pumpkin wrong.”

    You know me and my motivations, that had nothing to do with it….it’s just a very efficient vehicle to play the ten year’s effects on equities with the added kicker of the top-iest valuations and potential management issues.

    I wish that were my motivation, if I were doing it to tweak him I would have hopped in short when he went long in the 150s….cha-chiinnng!

  185. Out of the Ashes goes the Phoenix says:

    Juice,
    Which Aubrey O’ Day are we talking about?

    https://www.lifeandstylemag.com/posts/aubrey-o-day-plastic-surgery-140812/

  186. Juice Box says:

    Nothing to see here….- New Jersey federal Judge Brian Martinotti traded Wells Fargo stock while hearing a case in which the bank was the defendant, and he ruled in its favor. Informed of the violations by WSJ, a court clerk notified parties of the conflict.

    https://www.wsj.com/articles/hidden-interest-judges-financial-conflicts-graphic-11632834079?mod=e2tw

  187. Chicago says:

    Regarding the financial markets: all things being equal, note the end of 3Q21 is Thursday. Bear in mind positioning and inherent distortions.

    The move in The Ten sticks out for whatever reason.

  188. The Great Pumpkin says:

    ARKK might be a good short in the short term, but you guys are playing with fire. You really think rates are going to go much higher? Really? I just don’t see it long term. Also, you think innovation is just going to stop over the next 5-10 years? I find that really hard to believe, esp in healthcare with arkg.

  189. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Explain to me how the economy can handle a huge jump in rates that would kill innovation? Why would the fed do it? Why would they try to kill growth in the economy right now with much higher rates? Why?

  190. JCer says:

    left that site is just a distributor of democrat party talking points. Kushner Jr. aka “boy wonder” blundered by buying that property for way more than it was worth, financing it poorly(bad rates and terms lots of different debt products) and did not know how to maximize the rent roll. His sleazy father tried to shake every tree to get credit to make the payments when they came due and restructure to stop the bleeding, that’s the whole story. He made a deal and not a particularly great one to pay hundreds of millions of dollars to own the land in 100 years, brookfield was funded by the Qataris but well in advance of any deals made and it was all done without their knowledge as they are only a capital partner.

    This is all fairly typical in commercial real estate, it happens all the time. A developer overpays something happens and they cannot service the debt or the debt comes due and they need to either restructure or default. The Kushner’s are probably worth a billion and Trump is worth 4-5 billion, so either way before going into public office they were filthy rich.

    Hunter and Joe’s brother had nothing but that didn’t stop them from extracting millions from politically sensitive foreign businesses in exchange for policy favors and having Joe act as a lobbyist to the foreign governments. What they have done should be prosecuted, we simply cannot have a president who is so compromised. Imagine during the Cold War if the president had taken a bunch of money from the Soviets, Biden has taken substantial bribes from Chinese state run businesses, and China is our strategic enemy.

  191. Out of the Ashes goes the Phoenix says:

    China is our strategic enemy? Isn’t corporate America in bed with China? Guess that makes corporate America an enemy of America as well.

  192. Out of the Ashes goes the Phoenix says:

    Thanks, McDonalds for scanning my license plates. Do I really have to opt-in for this or have you been doing it all along? So many liars who knows what to believe.

    https://www.forbes.com/sites/retailwire/2019/11/11/mcdonalds-ai-drive-thrus-may-be-too-smart-for-their-own-good/

  193. leftwing says:

    “Nothing to see here….- New Jersey federal Judge Brian Martinotti…”

    Nice to see some real investigative journalism still coming from the Journal as opposed to the SJW fluff pieces from NYT, WaPo, CBS, etc…

    Phoenix…HOLY FCUKING SH1T…..not putting anything up on a public forum but my jaw slammed the floor reading your link…………………………………………………………………………………………

  194. Out of the Ashes goes the Phoenix says:

    LW,
    I could tell you more but not on here.

  195. leftwing says:

    I think Lib one time texted me your number….I need to find that text…..later today.

  196. BRT says:

    Judges are in pockets as well. My friend left the profession because his idealism was destroyed. He went through cases involving lawsuits that where the truth and evidence so heavily favored his clients, but he was up against a state senator practicing law on the side. It always went the way of political favors.

    I was in municipal court once as a witness in New Brunswick. Judge Gerald Gordon was at the helm. CO jokes, everyone in, Judge Gordon’s here, you’re all goin to jail. He fined everyone the maximum amount for petty things like noise violations ($1500) and told them to get the money by 9 pm or it was $5 a day in jail. He calls up some old Filipino woman who doesn’t speak English. Grandson tells her to get up in Filipino and he immediately makes the grandson get up for “talking out line”. He says “I’m holding you in contempt, how do you plead? I find you guilty, $500 fine, you have til 9 otherwise it’s jail.

    I immediately excuse myself as quick as I can and get out the back. CO was like, what are you doing? I told him, there’s no way I’m staying inside the room with that psycho, he laughed cuz he knew exactly what was happening. Because I was a witness for the prosecution, he took down my cell phone number and said, we’ll call you if we need you. A few months later, judge got disbarred for fixing his own parking tickets…but I’m sure that was just the tip of the iceberg for him.

  197. Libturd says:

    The headwinds are a blowing.
    Can you feel them (Chi’s warning aside)?

    Republicans sinking the economy over the dumb debt ceiling.
    Last time the FED tried to stop purchasing assets the market collapsed. This was before they actually did it. Just the mere mention of it sent the market into a tizzy.
    The FED is going to raise interest rates, significantly (pop goes the housing bubble).
    Hiring issues are not resolving anywhere, anytime soon.
    Price inflation continues.

    Can’t wait for the market to continue to slide so much that the FED can’t do any of the things it planned.

  198. Bystander says:

    Lib,

    Unfortunately we have lots of kids doing combos with weed. Laced stuff is big issue but it always has been (though internet makes it easier to find these things). It is not the weed itself and no one should be in prison for it.

  199. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Why are they going to raise interest rates right now? What good does that do for the economy? What is the benefit?

    I understand to raise rates in the face of an overheated economy to cool it down, but this is simply not the case right now. Bottlenecks are the real driver of inflation right now. Not anything else. Even housing, it’s a bottleneck….not enough supply. Raising rates does nothing to slow down housing price increases and will at the same time, hurt the economy big time. So why do it?

  200. Libturd says:

    “Biden has taken substantial bribes from Chinese state run businesses, and China is our strategic enemy.”

    What a strange enemy we have with China. We are on pace to buy the most products and services on an annual basis with China. Well over half a trillion dollars worth. That’s equal to 1/20th of our GDP.

    For enemy number one, we sure do an awful lot of business with them. As a matter of fact, we purchase more from China than we do from NJ.

  201. Out of the Ashes goes the Phoenix says:

    Lib,
    That’s because Nationalism, Patriotism, and Capitalism are not the same things nor run on the same page.

    Capitalism “Trumps” the other two all day long.

  202. Libturd says:

    Bystander,

    I smoked weed like a chronic when I was in college and quite a bit when I was in high school too. It was definitely my gateway to experiment with other drugs. Hope it’s not the gateway for your children today. A lot more kids are smoking weed these days then in my day. That’s an absolute truth. Less drinking, more drugging. Don’t blame them. But talk to them about pills.

  203. Libturd says:

    Pump,

    They are raising rates so they can try to lower them to get us out of the coming depression. Debt does matter.

  204. Libturd says:

    You know, I don’t think parents talk to kids like they used to in my day. I’ve noticed that very few of my older son’s friends even eat dinner together. It appears the only real time the families spend time together is on vacations. I am not saying this is all of them, but it’s definitely the majority.

  205. Out of the Ashes goes the Phoenix says:

    Raising rates does nothing to slow down housing price increases and will at the same time, hurt the economy big time. So why do it?

    Raise them for a long enough period and you will see what happens. Early eighties almost a nineteen percent rate. That happens you won’t be able to sell a house without a serious price drop.

  206. Bystander says:

    Probably true, Lib but I also went to a Catholic school so less exposed to it except older brothers at friends house. I agree that is more prevalent with vapes and oils. I don’t know how my Mom raised 6 without drug problems. I would never call it a gateway for me. I never really did anything else. I agree, it is a big conversation. I am a firm believer in modertation and not mixing worlds. I knew guys who would smoke before going to work…I can’t think of a less relaxing place.

  207. Out of the Ashes goes the Phoenix says:

    Kids from this high school leaned a life lesson on this day. It’s one thing to watch it in a movie, but this is “keeping it real.”

    https://www.rlsmedia.com/article/update-gunman-shoots-man-dead-while-students-walked-home-school-orange

  208. 3b says:

    Raise rates, flush out all the excess, there will be casualties, and reset. The younger generations should not be screwed because people dont want housing prices to go down. If there is all this wealth and people making scads of money as some seem to think, who cares? You bought for 500k it’s now worth 300k , but your monthly payment is the same. If there is not all this wealth etc, then it is what is , but the madness has to stop.

  209. 3b says:

    As I understand it, apparently the pot today is far more potent and addictive then it was back in the 70s/ 80s.

  210. grim says:

    I was in municipal court once as a witness in New Brunswick. Judge Gerald Gordon was at the helm. CO jokes, everyone in, Judge Gordon’s here, you’re all goin to jail.

    Clifton had a similar notorious judge as well, ran the court like his own personal kingdom. I remember him getting day drunk on the weekends at the local Italian joint I worked at, it was usually the cops who were called to drive him home, I drove him once or twice. “Friends” got the kid gloves, everyone else got the book, the difference was shocking.

  211. Libturd says:

    Yes 3b!

    If the FED and our government won’t stop overspending and overborrowing, then market forced will eventually take care of it for them.

    This really is about trying to orchestrate a soft or hard landing.

    Speaking of orchestrating a soft of hard landing, anyone watch Foundation on Apple+? Holy excellent and thought provoking scifi. I am so sick of the superhero/comic book character genre. I haven’t been this excited about a sci-fi series since I read Hubbard’s Planet Earth as they came out. As a kid, I was a sucker for Bradbury and Asimov.

  212. The Great Pumpkin says:

    There will be nothing left if they did that today. You were dealing with real inflation back then. The world population was rapidly growing. Today, population is close to declining in most advanced countries. The economy is much different today than in 1970’s.

    Out of the Ashes goes the Phoenix says:
    September 28, 2021 at 10:53 am
    Raising rates does nothing to slow down housing price increases and will at the same time, hurt the economy big time. So why do it?

    Raise them for a long enough period and you will see what happens. Early eighties almost a nineteen percent rate. That happens you won’t be able to sell a house without a serious price drop.

  213. Bystander says:

    3b,

    Much more potent…I don’t know about addictive. That is a personality trait. Edibles are also super popular but also much harder to estimate based on weight..plus they last longer.

  214. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Mine as well advocate for anarchy. This is simply not a solution. This provides absolutely zero stability and will destroy more than it helps… aka no way, no how.

    The young generations are doing fine. No one even wants to work in crappy jobs they have it so good…

    3b says:
    September 28, 2021 at 11:00 am
    Raise rates, flush out all the excess, there will be casualties, and reset. The younger generations should not be screwed because people dont want housing prices to go down. If there is all this wealth and people making scads of money as some seem to think, who cares? You bought for 500k it’s now worth 300k , but your monthly payment is the same. If there is not all this wealth etc, then it is what is , but the madness has to stop.

  215. 3b says:

    Pumps: You can’t say you are a capitalist only if the stock and housing markets go in your favor, and then warn that prices can’t go down or bad stuff will happen.

  216. House$ says:

    “Raising rates does nothing to slow down housing price increases and will at the same time, hurt the economy big time.”

    U R Joking, correct?

  217. Libturd says:

    Grim,

    There was a judge like that when I was in college. I know because he nearly made me miss my brother’s funeral. I shared this story here ages ago where I was arrested for criminal trespass for refusing to leave the parking lot at 6th Avenue Electronics in Paramus.

    It was a complete circus. One mom bounced a check multiple times. He asked her if she brought her toothbrush with her. A serial shoplifter was questioned by the judge if he liked the color orange since that’s all he’s going to be wearing for the foreseeable future. The best part of the docket of cases was that nearly every one of being tried was Latino. The first three all asked for a translator and the court couldn’t provide one so they were assigned new dates. When the fourth person asked for a translator, the judge got so pissed, he moved her hearing to the end of the docket and told the accused to watch the rest of the trials and told her that she would learn enough english by then. I also recall another college kid who told the judge that it was mistaken identity, when he was brought up for some auto-theft charge. He came in under a bench warrant on his own. Well the judge said that was the dumbest thing he ever heard and sentenced him to jail time immediately. About an hour later, the prosecutor informs the judge that it was indeed mistaken identity and the kids SSN was off by one digit from the person they were looking to try.

    My advice, don’t do anything stupid in Paramus.

  218. Bystander says:

    Lib,

    I did enjoy Martian Chronicles. I had ex years ago who was complete sci-fi geek. After my divorce and quickly got tired of NYC chicks, she was just cool to hang and very smart ..she was huge Bradbury fan. I had no idea HBO had Ray Bradbury theatre in 80s. Remember watching it with her. We both loved Twilight Zone alot so it was fun to see his stuff. Some good ones – I think the Shatner episode stood out with the whole playground sequence.

  219. leftwing says:

    “Republicans sinking the economy over the dumb debt ceiling…”

    Short term tactical. All smoke, no fire.

    Without the Republicans the processes the Dems need to go through to raise the ceiling by the actual redline date of Oct 18 will tie the Dems up almost completely between now and then.

    Oops, that means no work on Infrastructure and Social bills? Ahhh, sorry, our bad…

    Plus, in addition to jamming up the Social bill with a bank shot the Repubs get to (illegitimately) claim fiscal responsibility.

  220. Libturd says:

    When I said funeral, I meant wedding. Too busy. Sorry all.

  221. The Great Pumpkin says:

    How is raising rates going to address a supply and demand issue? How?!

    There has been plenty of evidence in the past of rising rates coinciding with rising home prices. Did those high rates in the 70’s and 80’s drop housing prices from the enormous demand created from the baby boomers going into the housing market?

    House$ says:
    September 28, 2021 at 11:14 am
    “Raising rates does nothing to slow down housing price increases and will at the same time, hurt the economy big time.”

    U R Joking, correct?

  222. The Great Pumpkin says:

    I understand cycles better than most. What you are advocating for is complete destruction of the economy. Wish you would realize it.

    Think about this long and hard. Do you really want to hit “reset” at your current age? Y0u will be eaten alive by the youth if we hit “reset” in the economy right now.

    3b says:
    September 28, 2021 at 11:14 am
    Pumps: You can’t say you are a capitalist only if the stock and housing markets go in your favor, and then warn that prices can’t go down or bad stuff will happen.

  223. JCer says:

    China is our enemy even if we do not regard them as such. Our naïveté doesn’t make it not so. Our corporations would trade with satan himself if they could bump their profits a little. We trade with China because at this point we have limited options they have cornered the market for manufacturing certain items. They consider us their enemy, just read the people’s daily or any recent state media from over there. They have blamed America for all their ills, economic issues, COVID(apparently we created it an brought it there), etc.

  224. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Yes, at who’s expense will it be taken from if we drop all the asset prices right now? Boomers are retiring. They hold most of the wealth. So go ahead, take it all away from them by hitting reset in the economy. It will end well. You will simply be punishing anyone who worked hard enough to own assets. They will simply give up on working after having it all taken away from them, and not enough time to make it back.

  225. Libturd says:

    Leftwing,

    Both sides always play this game. The infrastructure bill was incredibly reasonable. The human infrastructure/climate change bill is a little oversized, but if they cut that down to say 2 trillion, the Republicans should accept it based on it being fare. People did vote for this.

    My fear is that the Republicans will play hardball until there is no spending on climate change and human rights whatsoever. This will make us look terrible in the world’s eyes. The world believes climate change is an issue. If the US is so dysfunctional that it can’t get its act together, our treasuries are going to have to pay more and our rating goes down. Our position as the reserve currency could be in jeopardy from these shenanigans. Never before has so much been at risk. Remember, Trump said this was the greatest economy ever and squandered a trillion dollars overnight. Now we don’t even have a dollar to save the world? We are going to look very bad. The world will know it’s the populists. All of a sudden being fiscally responsible is back? The world is not as dumb as us. The world didn’t write tens of thousands of dollars of checks for ever member of society regardless of need. We are so doomed.

  226. Bystander says:

    Dufus,

    If it can’t withstand a few rate hikes (ala 2018) then you don’t really have economy. We never even made it back to Fed Funds rate level it was at during Lehman collapse after Bernanke was cutting hard. No president wants it on their watch. It is political death..and Oz Powell has been the worst spinless sort.

  227. Out of the Ashes goes the Phoenix says:

    Anyone watch Squid Games on Netflix?

    Will you go back to your lousy life being chased by your creditors…

  228. Bystander says:

    The Infrastructure bill will do one thing, cause a labor shortage to push wages up. Biden won’t pass needed market regulation, it seems. Sept came and went. I had a flurry of recuiter contacts but most were poorly paid contracts. The few perm jobs were embarrassment salary wise, like they won’t even consider you live in very high cost area. One was much higher pay but you never hear back on those ones. They are people feeling out market, not presenting a real job.

  229. Fast Eddie says:

    My fear is that the Republicans will play hardball until there is no spending on climate change and human rights whatsoever.

    What’s China and India’s stance on climate change and human rights? Asking for a friend.

  230. Libturd says:

    Want to force China and India’s hand? Stop buying their sh1t.

  231. Hold my beer says:

    Phoenix

    Squid Game was great. The lead actor is also in 2 other series on netflix Chief of Staff and Chief of Staff 2 about corruption in Korean politics.

    I used to think The Walking Dead was our future, but now I’m leaning towards Squid Games.

  232. Libturd says:

    If we had the Republican position on climate change during World War II, we would have not entered the war unless Brazil or Australia did first.

  233. 3b says:

    Hold : Squid games was excellent, and they set it up for another season. I was skeptical before watching it, but it was really well done. And something you could certainly see happening in the future.

  234. JCer says:

    The democrat’s “bill” is trash. We cannot justify the spend with the current economic conditions and their tax policy likely triggers a recession. Spending on “real” infrastructure is one thing as it can make us more competitive and relieve some bottlenecks in the economy if done properly. The politicians have no answers for “climate change” nor for “human rights”, as we’ve seen before it is just a slush fund to pay their politically connected friends.

  235. leftwing says:

    “Both sides always play this game. The infrastructure bill was incredibly reasonable.”

    Agree, properly spent. Rural broadband. Jump-starting EV charging infrastructure (not owning it). Bridges and rails of course.

    “The human infrastructure/climate change bill is a little oversized, but if they cut that down to say 2 trillion, the Republicans should accept it based on it being fare. People did vote for this.”

    Totally disagree here. “Little oversized” is huge understatement. Among the many issues I have is that it further saddles those least involved in the process now (20 and 30 somethings) with debt and interest payments they will be making far into the future to the exclusion of needed spending then…Boomers jamming up Gens Y and Z, basically.

    Also, there is no vote for it….with a Senate exactly evenly split and three votes to spare in the House this country is literally split down the middle, ie. nothing near a clear consensus. In addition, the Dems can’t even get anything through this 50.1% majority without bribing their own members to hold together…under that umbrella not even a majority want this monstrosity.

    “My fear is that the Republicans will play hardball until there is no spending on climate change and human rights whatsoever. This will make us look terrible in the world’s eyes.”

    As I’ve said frequently, who cares. I really don’t give a flying fcuk what some Frenchman, German, Greek, or even a Dutch teenage girl thinks of us…and I fervently believe that their perceptions of us should have absolutely zero weight in our decision.

  236. JCer says:

    Lib WWII was a war with fixed enemies. Climate change is quite a bit more complicated, unless what you are doing makes the creation of emissions economically infeasible globally it will not change the outcome, you ban it, the prices drop and someone else will burn it. So much policy in the name of stopping “global warming” has actually been very damaging to our environment.

    The better policy is funding research because our attempts and renewable energy and subsidies for environmentally friendly technology have not been successful. The whole strategy being pursued is untenable and will not work.

  237. 3b says:

    Pumps: Again you are not a proud capitalist as you claim to be. Stop with the tears of hard working people and their assets. When prices fall dramatically , most boomers will be fine. My neighbors have lived in their house 56 years, paid under 20k for the house. If others bought and overextended themselves with Helocs and 100k kitchens that’s their problem. You simply can’t call yourself a capitalist and in the same breath say we can have losses, or bad things will happen. And yes we need a complete reset and that will be painful.

  238. Fast Eddie says:

    The politicians have no answers for “climate change” nor for “human rights”, as we’ve seen before it is just a slush fund to pay their politically connected friends.

    This is the Leftist version of capital1sm. Every time I see and hear a democrat proposal for progressive change, I can visualize the slow and destructive effects of a productive soc1ety. Atlas Shrugged is a perfect narrative that demonstrates it.

  239. grim says:

    We could have been a world leader in renewables manufacturing. Instead, now we have
    every green dollar spent, being a dollar spent in China.

  240. BRT says:

    Yes, at who’s expense will it be taken from if we drop all the asset prices right now?

    Wasn’t this the same justification used in 2008? At what point do we have an agreed upon threshold where markets are allowed to clear? Now we can’t let the Dow drop below 30k?

  241. 3b says:

    BRT: Exactly! Capitalism my ass!!

  242. BRT says:

    Politicians have no answers and no workable solutions. Look no further than Covid-19. Ever shifting goal, ever moving goalposts. Supposedly now we need 98% vaxxed to stop it? Behind the curve the entire time.

    Vaccination rate is meaningless to stop it. You need some sort of threshold that actually acquired the actual virus to make this work. Israel and Singapore have proven that vaccines will not stop waves. For a the lucky individuals, it does prevent transmission.
    For the population at large, they can only prevent hospitalizations and deaths.

  243. Bystander says:

    Both corrupt Fed presidents resigned..I bet trading schemes were much worse than Oz Powell indicated. Audit them, period.

  244. Fast Eddie says:

    I had a hilarious dream last night that we addressed climate change by eliminating cows and airplanes.

  245. Bystander says:

    BRT,

    30K would be a catastrpohe. You have bailed out the market through policy for 12 years. No one even knows what it is like to lose anymore. Really lose – like years of malaise until organic growth occurs. Honestly I don’t even know what organic growth means anymore.

  246. Bystander says:

    Ed,

    Put on Slip, Stich and pass when you get a chance. It is perhaps my favorite live album them – Talking Heads cover Cities, ZZ top cover Jesus Left Chicago, funny teases Floyd’s ‘Careful with Axe, Eugene’, ‘The End’ by the Doors and a really amazing Stones ‘Can’t you Hear me Knockin’ jam. Top of game, for sure

  247. Libturd says:

    I haven’t read the bill. I am sure there’s pork and I agreed it is too large. But you can’t expect the Dems to just roll over and play dead. At 2 trillion, I think it’s fair. You can disagree. That’s cool. But elections have consequences. Next time, there may be no checks remaining.

  248. grim says:

    Boom, Rt down to 0.99 again, been a while since we’ve seen that.

  249. BRT says:

    30K would be a catastrpohe. You have bailed out the market through policy for 12 years. No one even knows what it is like to lose anymore. Really lose – like years of malaise until organic growth occurs. Honestly I don’t even know what organic growth means anymore.

    However, the fed’s goalpost continually shifts as the market moves up. Every 3 months, there’s a new baseline, where if we move below it, it’s Armageddon. This is the way all governments work. As we’ve seen, they love moving the goal posts at all levels of government

  250. BRT says:

    I think we can solve climate change by giving everyone a private jet. I also think we can solve any potential financial crisis by giving everyone their own personal dollar printing press.

  251. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Last time the world dealt with deflationary spiral was the Great Depression. Think about how long that took to fix. Was almost 2 decades of misery and it led to a WWII. There is absolutely zero reason to go down that road again. I rather deal with the troubles in our current economy than deal with what happens in a deflationary spiral. Just keep the game going, no need to hit reset and start the game all over.

    I see almost no chance of high rates for a very long time. Until we see world population growth again, we are battling deflation. Only way to prevent it is to support asset prices or it all goes circling down the drain.

    For example, if you dropped home prices 50% right now, well, you just cut labor by 50% along with everything else. No way can you have a 50% drop in housing, and maintain current pay scales. If pay scales somehow remained where they currently are, and housing drops 50%, within months, the prices would be right back where they currently are. It’s complicated…

    I know you have good intentions, but good intentions do not always result in a favorable outcome.

    3b says:
    September 28, 2021 at 11:52 am
    Pumps: Again you are not a proud capitalist as you claim to be. Stop with the tears of hard working people and their assets. When prices fall dramatically , most boomers will be fine. My neighbors have lived in their house 56 years, paid under 20k for the house. If others bought and overextended themselves with Helocs and 100k kitchens that’s their problem. You simply can’t call yourself a capitalist and in the same breath say we can have losses, or bad things will happen. And yes we need a complete reset and that will be painful.

  252. Bystander says:

    Wow, balls..our former pediatric practive (I call it kids mill due to lack of care/diagnosis) sent a letter that they are now charging $200/ year admin fee for increased form processing costs. Is that even legal?

  253. Bystander says:

    Wow, balls..our former pediatric practice (I call it kids mill due to lack of care/diagnosis) sent a letter that they are now charging $200/ year admin fee for increased school form support/processing costs. Is that even legal?

  254. 3b says:

    Pumps: Again you are not a capitalist. You want the gains , but in the same breath you claim there can’t be losses because bad things will happen. As for current pay scales, companies are not basing their pay scales based on solely housing prices. In fact and as I have been telling you for the last 18 months companies are hiring now in many cases with a geographically agnostic mindset. This has been going before Covid as I also have been telling you. If there is not a major correction in asset prices, it’s going to collapse completely.

  255. grim says:

    I also think we can solve any potential financial crisis by giving everyone their own personal dollar printing press.

    Is that a bitcoin or ether miner you are talking about? Doge?

  256. leftwing says:

    “Both corrupt Fed presidents resigned..I bet trading schemes were much worse than Oz Powell indicated. Audit them, period.”

    Careful, derp sign ahead….

    “I haven’t read the bill…At 2 trillion, I think it’s fair.”

    C’mon dude, you’re better than that…..

  257. grim says:

    https://www.njconsumeraffairs.gov/News/Consumer%20Briefs/state-board-of-medical-examiners.pdf

    The doctor may charge you to copy your records. The cost may not be greater than $1.00 per page or $100.00 for the entire record, whichever is less. If your records are
    no more than 10 pages, the doctor may charge $10.00. A “service fee” may not be charged in addition to the copying fee. Charges for copies of X-rays and other documents which cannot be reproduced by ordinary photocopying machines are to be charged at the actual costs to reproduce them.

    Your doctor has 30 days after he/she receives a written request from you to provide your records. If you have provided a set of records from another physician, you have
    a right to have these included as part of the entire medical record. Physicians may not refuse to release a copy of your medical record if it is needed for ongoing treatment by
    another health care provider even if you owe money for the medical services the physician has provided. Absent these circumstances, the physician has the right to hold the record until you pay for the costs to reproduce the record.

  258. Libturd says:

    Left,

    Am I? I just replaced my furnace, washer, dryer, chest freezer and the bottom two feet of sheet rock in my basement, even though I have nearly 2 HP of pumps down there.

    Anecdotal? Perhaps. Someone has to lead by example. Are we the greatest country in the world or do we just make believe?

    Honestly. After Trump’s waste of 1 trillion, might as well maybe create some green jobs instead of making the rich richer.

  259. BRT says:


    Is that a bitcoin or ether miner you are talking about? Doge?

    No, bitcoin cannot solve our problems because it’s of defined limited quantity. I think even Doge isn’t inflationary enough for Jerome Powell.

  260. BRT says:

    Honestly. After Trump’s waste of 1 trillion, might as well maybe create some green jobs instead of making the rich richer.

    What green jobs are we talking about here?

  261. BRT says:

    Btw, I keep seeing all these “compostable” straws and utensils. They will supposedly biodegrade under landfill conditions. Kinda pointless given that it’s still in the landfill. But out of curiosity last year, I stuck a straw, fork, spoon, and knife into a finished pile of compost. After 6 months, they were still 100% intact. Nothing happened. Probably would have made a great youtube video.

  262. Libturd says:

    You got me. Regular jobs, sold to friends as green jobs.

    Better?

    Did you support Trump’s trillion dollars of tax cuts?

    https://www.forbes.com/sites/christianweller/2020/01/29/trumps-wasteful-tax-cuts-lead-to-continued-trillion-dollar-deficits-in-expanding-economy/?sh=6eacda1466c4

  263. grim says:

    Btw, I keep seeing all these “compostable” straws and utensils. They will supposedly biodegrade under landfill conditions.

    Lots of discussion about whether or not PLA plastics are really biodegradable, or it’s just marketing to sell straws. It’s on the order of 50-100 years.

  264. BRT says:

    I did. I’m of the opinion that they could have eliminated the income tax altogether 10 years ago if they were willing to run these shortfalls.

  265. JCer says:

    BRT, They only biodegrade readily under commercial compost conditions which are considerably warmer . In a landfill it will take years for them to break down, it’s biodegradable but not readily. Early version of the composites broke down too readily in the atmosphere or when exposed to sunlight briefly.

    Lib your flood has everything to do with with an older home and improperly designed and functionally obsolete systems. It sucks but it is the reality old lines don’t have proper check valves to stop a backup, the drainage wasn’t designed correctly 100 years ago, perhaps you live in the flood plain. You can upgrade your infrastructure to be more resilient but is the government really going to upgrade sewer capacities or somehow otherwise prevent this from happening again? Remember the Obama infrastructure spending? Yet somehow are infrastructure is still trash, this is what you get when you pay 10x what something should cost.

  266. BRT says:

    JCer,

    so, it was up at around 150 degrees on warmer days inside the compost bin. Kinda reminds me of the “free range chicken” where they stuff 1000 chickens into a pen with a single door. The chicken is classified as free range because there was a non-zero possibility that it could get out.

  267. Juice Box says:

    re: “bitcoin cannot solve our problems”

    No but space cash can.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtGDhg5Ef-E

  268. Hold my beer says:

    3b

    A lot of korean dramas end that way though. But not many get another season. Korean rom-coms usually have a story wrap up at the end that takes place a few years after the story with one or both leads doing voice overs or talking into the camera about their lives.

    The actor who played the front man is an A lister in Korea. I was surprised to see him in a supporting role. Maybe there will be another season with him having a bigger role.

    The guy the main character meets at the station who plays the game with him and slaps him everytime he loses is one of the biggest stars in Asia.

  269. JCer says:

    That’s within range of a commercial compost operation which runs about 70C, I would have expected some degradation of the material. Seems like a pointless product, it winds up in a landfill but if you compost it, it doesn’t break down at all in a home compost bin, it breaks down in a commercial op by not enough to actually go in the soil, it gets sorted and sent to the land fill.

  270. No One says:

    “Green jobs” mostly mean jobs that the marketplace wouldn’t have chosen freely, but political patronage steers in the direction of friends with connections under the cover of “greenness”. Kind of like Solyndra and Hunter Biden’s fully compostable paintings of green trees and fields.

  271. Bystander says:

    Left,

    Huh? What is controversial about that statement?

  272. Juice Box says:

    The 3.5 Trillion spending bill is an interesting one. It’s over 10 years and the boomers have added in dental and vision care etc to Medicare…There are some child care provisions that are long overdue as well as universal Pre-K…..

  273. BRT says:

    I basically compost a few things. Egg shells, citrus peel, coffee grinds, banana peel, and vegetable trimmings. A lot of time I dry everything out with the ambient leftover heat of the grill/oven and grind it into a powder. When I run an experiment each year on it, I do two adjacent rows of 4 tomato plants. One of them gets supplemented with that and the other gets supplemented with the same mass of municipal leaf compost. I get bigger fruits on the one that I make.

  274. 3b says:

    Hold: You seen knowledgeable in Korean programs. I was skeptical but got hooked after the first episode, and the ending, was just amazing when he uncovered everything. I never saw it coming. I do hope they do a second season.

  275. grim says:

    You can upgrade your infrastructure to be more resilient but is the government really going to upgrade sewer capacities or somehow otherwise prevent this from happening again? Remember the Obama infrastructure spending? Yet somehow are infrastructure is still trash, this is what you get when you pay 10x what something should cost

    Residents all across NJ are screaming for local goverments to “upgrade” sewer lines to be able to manage the additional storm capacities we are seeing.

    Suspect they want that for free too.

    For many towns, it’s not even possible. I’ve seen sewer maps with major arteries criss-crossing neighborhoods, running under buildings, etc etc. We’re talking hundreds of millions of dollars for any reasonably sized municipality to even begin to make a dent, and it’s arguable whether or not an upgraded system can deal with a 100+ year storm. You simply can’t design for outrageous exceptional events.

    The estimates to split Paterson’s combined sewerage system (storm and sewage) were so astronomically high they were almost unfathomable. I’d wager a guess at costing near a billion dollars to do it today, and it would probably take 10 years.

  276. grim says:

    Estimates at just fixing NJ’s combined sewage issues are estimate to be near 10 billion, that doesn’t even include additional stormwater capacities statewide.

    We can’t afford it, plain and simple.

  277. Fast Eddie says:

    We can’t afford it, plain and simple.

    What is O’Biden’s $3.5 trillion plan for?

  278. joyce says:

    What would opening Liberty State Park, the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge, the Pine Barrens, and Island Beach State Park for new housing development mean for stormwater mitigation?

  279. Hold my beer says:

    3b

    If you like mysteries and sci-fi Signal is pretty good. It’s on Netflix too. It’s about a detective who finds an old police radio and he starts communicating with the past with the cop who was assigned that radio 15 or 20 years earlier. They are separated by time and they communicate through the radio to solve cold cases.

    Korea has lots of different stories than Hollywood. I rarely watch Hollywood stuff anymore. Almost always Korean shows.

    The Front man in squid games is the lead in Mr Sunshine also on Netflix

  280. SmallGovConservative says:

    leftwing says:
    September 28, 2021 at 1:13 pm
    “I [Lib] haven’t read the bill…At 2 trillion, I think it’s fair.”
    C’mon dude, you’re better than that…..

    Not sure why the rational guys here even bother to try to engage in a reasoned discussion of policy and governance with Dem dead-enders like Lib. It’s obvious these ‘Baghdad Bobs’ will reflexively excuse each and every example of Dem malfeasance, overlook the catastrophic incompetence of the Biden admin, and desperately try to convince themselves that things aren’t as bad as they actually are.

  281. 3b says:

    Hold: Thanks for the recommendation, will check it out. I have been watching a lot of European productions, Spanish, French, Swedish, Polish etc. very good story lines. What’s interesting is all of these actors/ actresses all look like everyday people, no gorgeous women or buff men, just average and ordinary. So different from Hollywood. And I am sure they don’t get paid like Hollywood actors either.

  282. Hold my beer says:

    3b

    Yes. Most of the korean character actors and even some of the leads look like everyday people. Without the special effects you need a good storyline and good acting.

    Vagabond is another korean action drama on Netflix that’s pretty good. A korean passenger airline plane crashes and the uncle of one of the victims doesn’t believe the government explanation and starts investigating it. The character is also a professional stuntman and the actor who plays him in real life joined the special forces after he was famous so it has great action scenes. And the two leads are both A listers.

  283. 3b says:

    Hold: Will check that one as well. Thanks

  284. The Great Pumpkin says:

    I’m sorry, the Republicans are a joke. Not once did they pull this debt limit bs during Trump’s presidency. They will do anything to hurt the democrats even if it means hurting American citizens with this bs move. Grow up. Please!!

  285. The Great Pumpkin says:

    You have cheap housing, but no one wants to live in these places.

    1. New Ulm, MN
    Median Listing Price: $139,900
    2. Lexington, NE
    Median Listing Price: $145,000
    3. Houghton, MI
    Median Listing Price: $149,500
    4. Spencer, IA
    Median Listing Price: $92,500
    5. Wahpeton, ND
    Median Listing Price: $179,900
    6. Wapakoneta, OH
    Median Listing Price: $145,000
    7. Los Alamos, NM
    Median Listing Price: $307,500
    8. Lincoln, IL
    Median Listing Price: $84,900
    9. Maryville, MO
    Median Listing Price: $150,000
    10. Seneca Falls, NY
    Median Listing Price: $114,900

    https://apple.news/A-pVA6l9ZTa28XO8-Y4dNuw

  286. The Great Pumpkin says:

    No, they want affordable housing in prime locations like north jersey. Comical.

  287. No One says:

    Pumps you’re supposed to be happy to have a chance to buy Cathie’s wunderstocks at lower prices.

  288. The Great Pumpkin says:

    I love these comments about housing on some of these articles on Facebook. People blaming landlords. Wild claims being thrown around like landlords should not be able to profit. These people are lost in the woods. I wonder when they are signing up to work for free?

  289. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Damn right, hope it gets slammed in the short term over irrational reactions to inflation created by bottlenecks in the economy.

    Run!! Inflation is out of control!!

    These people are absolutely crazy.

    No One says:
    September 28, 2021 at 5:57 pm
    Pumps you’re supposed to be happy to have a chance to buy Cathie’s wunderstocks at lower prices.

  290. 3b says:

    Pumps: People claim to be racist they can’t then turnaround and be opposed to low/ moderate income housing. Why should it only be in old blue collar towns that may already be struggling economically. Build it in those towns there may be backlash, and then all those self righteous people in the upscale towns shake their heads and say look at all those racists. If low/ moderate income housing is going to be built, then all towns get it.

  291. 3b says:

    Pumps: No surprise people complaining about landlords and high rents, house prices massively inflated , puts upward pressure on rents, creating anger and resentment. Keep cheering on high prices, and as I have said more and more people will listen to AOC , and her Soci@list agenda.

  292. Ex says:

    5:52 “Prime location” look around at the towns in the area.
    Shabby chic? Outdated shitshacks at premium prices. Yikes.

  293. BRT says:

    lol, Phil Murphy blames nursing home deaths on Trump’s antimasking. Do people actually eat this stuff up?

  294. BRT says:

    btw…there’s no mask mandates in restaurants, food stores, casinos, sporting events, concerts in NJ. Murphy seems like an antimasker based on policy.

  295. Libturd says:

    Most of us don’t pay it any attention, obviously.

  296. Walking says:

    Grim, regarding the $200 fee. have you seen the school forms they give out now for your kid to play sports in High School? It is 10 pages, with every type of medical record needing to be documented on the form and signed. They are a true PIA as each school is different requiring each sections to have documents attached all over the place. Think of it like this: Imagine you have 5000 kids in your practice with each kid showing up with a different state income tax form that you need to figure out and fill. The schools should just pay a local doc office to run the physical on each kid and call it a day.

  297. Fabius Maximus says:

    Aw Chi, are the Entitled Fcuks you work for giving you a hard time?
    So sorry, stay Strong!

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