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Los Angeles megamansion glut signals continued softening of US real estate market

Tyler Durden
ZeroHedge
Sat, 01 Jun 2019 21:40 UTC
Los Angeles Mega mansion

Troubling new trend on the West Coast: A foreboding glut of luxury spec homes in Los Angeles creating serious headaches for developers and lenders alike.
Across the US - particularly in crowded urban markets like New York City - a shortage of new, affordable housing has helped home prices eclipse their highs from the pre-crisis years, leaving the dream of homeownership hopelessly out of reach for millions of heavily indebted millennials.

With homes so unaffordable, it's hardly surprising that existing home sales are mired in a 14-month-long slump - though the return of mortgage rates to multi-year lows in May is certainly cause for cautious optimism among real-estate brokers.

But there's one segment of the housing market that, judging by all available anecdotal evidence and the data, has continued to soften after posting its worst quarterly slump in years during the opening months of 2019.

From Greenwich to the Hamptons to Billionaires' Row, sellers of luxury homes have struggled to find buyers amid a glut of oversupply and the disappearance of the marginal bid from wealthy Chinese buyers, who were once willing to pay a premium for real-estate in places like NYC.

And in the latest indication that the American real estate market has finally topped out, WSJ reports on a troubling new trend on the West Coast: A foreboding glut of luxury spec homes in Los Angeles that is creating serious headaches for developers and lenders alike.

Comment: The US economy is falling apart: 18 big signs:
#12 In January, sales of existing homes fell 8.9 percent from a year earlier. That was the third month in a row that we have seen a decline of at least 8 percent. This is an absolutely catastrophic trend for the real estate industry.

#13 U.S. housing starts were down 11.2 percent in December compared to the previous month.

#14 Compared to a year earlier, home sales in southern California were down 17 percent in January.

#15 In December, home sales in Sacramento County fell a whopping 22.5 percent compared to a year earlier.

#16 Pending home sales in the United States have now fallen on a year over year basis for 13 months in a row.


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Fire

US Embassy in Honduras set ablaze amid massive protests against education and healthcare privatization


RT
Sat, 01 Jun 2019 10:27 UTC
Protests US Embassy Honduras
© Reuters / Jorge Cabrera
The torching came just after news emerged that before his rise to power, Hernandez, an ally of the US government, had been the target of the a DEA probe for alleged “large-scale drug-trafficking and money laundering activities” related to cocaine smuggling into the US.
Several hooded demonstrators have set fire to the US Embassy in the capital of Honduras, as massive protests against education and healthcare privatization grip the Central American country.

Footage from the scene in Tegucigalpa showed pillars of thick black smoke rising above the American diplomatic mission, after several tires were set ablaze right in front of the embassy's doors. The protesters chanted "American trash, American trash" as the entrance burned.

Firefighters were immediately dispatched to the scene. Riots against government reforms seeking to privatize health and education services continued in the vicinity. The blaze has practically destroyed the entrance, without causing much damage to the solid concrete structure of the building.


Comment: See also:

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Cow

Parent outrage at school's 'ploy' to convert children to veganism and vegetarianism

Gary Carter
Mirror
Fri, 31 May 2019 11:49 UTC
Cluny School in Aberdeenshire

A mum has claimed Cluny School in Aberdeenshire is using a 'ploy' to try and convert children to veganism and vegetarianism.
Julie Cheesman, from Aberdeenshire, said she was left "incensed" when her children were given cooking demonstrations by meat substitute maker Quorn

A mum has been left "incensed" by what she claims is a ploy to convert her children to veganism and vegetarianism.

Pupils have been given cooking demonstrations by meat substitute maker Quorn this week and it is understood other schools will follow suit.

But Julie Cheesman said "commercially-motivated" firms should not be allowed access to "impressionable" kids after the sessions at Cluny School, near the village of Sauchen in Aberdeenshire.

Comment: Even taking the vegan aspect out of this, the idea of bringing corporate entities into the classroom to 'teach' kids is problematic. It happens all the time, but it's problematic.

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Alarm Clock

"Absolute no go": German police officers injured in clashes with bicycle-throwing asylum seekers


RT
Sat, 01 Jun 2019 20:17 UTC
polizei
© Global Look Press / Armin Weigel
FILE PHOTO: Police officers walk on the premises of the Stephansposching refugee shelter, Germany, October 24, 2018.
Five police officers have been injured in violent clashes with asylum seekers, who have staged a riot in a shelter in the state of Bavaria, Germany. German crime statistics also show that migrant violence is becoming a new trend.

Police were deployed to a large refugee shelter located in the small Bavarian community of Stephansposching on Friday evening following reports of asylum seekers going on a rampage. When the officers arrived at the scene, they were confronted by a group of some 30 aggressive refugees and migrants, Bavarian Radio reports, citing police.

The officers were harassed and even spit at in the face from the very start. The situation then dramatically escalated when they attempted to detain the alleged ringleader. In response, the group assaulted the officers and started beating them. Some asylum seekers even threw bicycles at them.

Comment: See also: And check out SOTT radio's: The Truth Perspective: Weapons of Mass Migration: Interview with Michael Springmann on Europe's Migrant Crisis



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Attention

Former Congressman Ron Paul speculates US and UK authorities 'could be trying to kill Julian Assange'

Chantalle Edmunds
Daily Mail
Fri, 31 May 2019 15:31 UTC
Ron Paul
© Ron Paul Liberty Report
Ron Paul asks what the ramifications would be if Assange is much sicker than is being revealed and dies in prison as the result of how his case has been handled by the U.S. and British governments.
Former Congressman and presidential candidate Ron Paul says Julian Assange could die in prison and blames the apparent deterioration in the WikiLeaks founder's heath on how he is being treated by the US and UK governments.

Speaking on 'Ron Paul Liberty Report, the 83-year-old accuses the US government of pursuing Assange and says they would like to either challenge him with a death penalty or a life time in prison 'for being a journalist.'

The Libertarian calls Assange's a 'tragic story' and describes his health as 'very very bad,' commenting that friends of the whistleblower are worried that his health may not hold up.

Comment: See also:

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Cow

Butchers and shoppers turn on vegan protestors, vegans make a stink out of blind activist falling over

Darren Boyle
Daily Mail
Fri, 31 May 2019 12:43 UTC
blind vegan protester falls
© DxE Yorkshire/Triangle News
This is the moment a blind vegan activist falls to the floor amid a demonstration outside a butcher shop in a Sheffield shopping centre.
This is the moment a group of angry vegan protestors clashed with butchers as they demonstrated at a shopping centre.

The animal rights campaigners staged a sit in outside the meat stalls - even setting up police-style tape around themselves.

The group - known as Direct Action Yorkshire - are an offshoot of an international campaign to promote veganism.

Comment: Must have been a slow news day. We guess the headline "Blind Vegan Activist Falls Over During Otherwise Tame Protest" wouldn't have attracted many clicks.

Here's more on the protest group Direct Action Everywhere:

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Fire

We shouldn't be surprised renewables make energy expensive since that's always been the Greens' goal

Michael Shellenberger
Forbes
Tue, 28 May 2019 11:35 UTC
Ska Keller

Germany's Ska Keller of the European Green Party, May 15, 2019.
The Green Party's success in last weekend's European elections will likely result in demands to expand and extend decades-old subsidies to renewables.

Like a lot of people, I used to think that subsidies to promote the switch from fossil fuels to solar and wind would be a one-time thing.

Once a solar or wind farm was built, I thought, it would produce electricity forever, without further subsidy, because sunlight and wind are free.

Renewables would thus allow a "sustainable" and even "circular" economy without waste or mining because everything would be recycled.

Comment: See also:

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Question

The Internet's most famous pickup artist forum just banned talk of pickup artistry?

Brian Feldman
New York Magazine
Thu, 23 May 2019 21:02 UTC
RooshV. Roosh
© Roosh V via YouTube
RooshV. Roosh (real name: Daryush Valizadeh)
In terms of well-known pickup artists, there are few people more infamous on the web than RooshV. Roosh, as he's known to his followers. RooshV. Roosh has spent years extolling the virtues of pickup artistry and treating women like crap, preaching a philosophy he calls "neomasculinity." It's kind of like scientific misogyny with a dash of libertarianism. He has often been a proponent of red-pilling.

Roosh (real name: Daryush Valizadeh) is a popular figure within incel culture, and he has often been accurately described as a rape apologist. He has written and self-published many books on pickup artistry, including Game, Day Bang, and Poosy Paradise, as well as geographically focused advice books like Bang Iceland. In 2016, after his multicity speaking tour was torpedoed owing to the outcry over his comments about rape, the Daily Mail found him living in his mom's basement in Maryland. Last year, his books were delisted from Amazon, turning him into a cause célèbre on far-right corners of the internet.
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Bullseye

Head of Russia Today on why Julian Assange is the greatest journalist of our time


Russia Insider
Wed, 29 May 2019 20:14 UTC
Putin Margarita Simonyan award
© ITAR-TASS
Russian President Vladimir Putin awards Margarita Simonyan, the head of the Russian television channel RT with the Order of Alexander Nevsky during an awarding ceremony in the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, May 23, 2019.
RT English Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan received a state award from President Putin. In the interview below, she praises Wikileaks founder Julian Assange as the greatest journalist of our time, and trashes former US Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul.
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Pistol

12 dead, 4 injured by gunman at Virginia Beach Municipal Center - Deadliest mass shooting in US so far this year

Justin Carissimo
CBS News
Fri, 31 May 2019 23:45 UTC
virginia beach shooting
What we know so far:
  • 12 people are dead, plus the gunman, who was killed in an exchange of gunfire with the police.
  • The victims were found on three floors of the municipal building and one victim was found shot in car outside building.
  • Four people were transported to local hospitals, more may have self-transported.
  • The suspect, who has not yet been named, was a city employee.
At least 12 people are dead, plus the gunman, and four injured in a shooting at a Virginia Beach municipal building, authorities said. The gunman died in an exchange of gunfire with police, who rushed to the scene shortly after 4 p.m. local time.

A local police officer was wounded while confronting the gunman. Chief James Cervera said in a news conference Friday that the officer was saved by his bullet-proof vest. Cervera pledged to visit the wounded officer by the end of the night.

Comment: So, which was it: Was he taken into custody, or killed on scene?

He may have died after being taken into custody.

UPDATE 14:00 UTC

Authorities have named the gunman as DeWayne Craddock, who worked as an engineer for Virginia Beach in its Public Utilities Department.

Bizarrely, or not, the VB PD planned to hold 'active shooter training' nearby, the next day:
The Virginia Beach Police Department had planned to hold an active shooter training on Saturday, City Councilman Michael Berlucchi confirmed to CNN's Don Lemon.

The Police Department had announced the "Active Threat Citizens Defense" event on Facebook. It aimed to "enhance preparedness for citizens to 'rise to the occasion' instead of 'settle to the level of their training,'" according to the Facebook page.
virginian beach active shooter drill
In the 'about', it says:
"You can't stop evil, you can only respond to it."
Update 22:00 UTC

They're now saying he also had a rifle on him, and that more guns were found at his home.

There's also this description of his behavior just before the shooting:
Joseph Scott, who said he worked with Craddock for several years, saw him in a bathroom at work Friday.

"He was at the sink, brushing his teeth like he always did," Scott told CNN. "I used the bathroom and walked up and was washing my hands, and I said, 'How are you doing?' He said he was doing OK. "I asked, 'Any plans for the weekend?' And he said, 'No.' And I said, 'Well, have a good day,' and he said the same to me. And it was no more than that."

Scott said Craddock was "what I thought was a good person," and described him as generally quiet.

"When we were together, we would talk about family, friends, things that we were going to do, trips we were going to take and things like that," Scott said.

Craddock's parents, reached Friday night, told CNN they weren't aware of any trouble that he was having with his employer
Another eyewitness reported:
Edward Weeden, who works in the building, told CNN affiliate WAVY that people heard someone falling in a stairwell and went to investigate. He and his coworkers saw a woman who was down, blood all over her face.
This suggests they did not hear any gunfire inside the building, indicating that the gunman used the suppressor the police found on a .45.

But then, how did the police locate him by following the sound of gunfire?

The local police chief Cervera has in fact "confirmed the suspect used a .45-caliber handgun with a sound suppressor..."

Here's another eyewitness report, in yesterday's NYT:
Zand Bakhtiari, 28, who works on the first floor of the city building where the shooting happened, looked out his window about 4 p.m. and saw people screaming and running. "I thought they were running to the scene of a bad car accident," he said in a telephone interview late Friday.

At that point, he had not heard any gunfire. But right after that, his boss, who had just left, called in an order to shelter in place: There was an active shooter. Mr. Bakhtiari and others in his office shut the door and got down.

He then heard 50 to 60 gunshots. "It was a lot of shots," he said. Five or 10 minutes later, a police SWAT team came and led them out. [emphasis Sott.net]
So yes, there was audible gunfire during the shoot-out - subsequent to the slaying of city employees, presumably - between the gunman and police. But until then, people inside the building had apparently not heard gunfire.

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