I do not see anything on the horizon that will stop this continued dropping in existing home sales.  Financial analysts keep expected a month-over-month uptick, which would indicate the floor of the housing market has been reached.  However, that ‘uptick’ never happens, and each report shows the month-over-month number continuing negative, meaning the slope of the decline is continuing and no bottom is visible.

The gaslighting financial media keep using terms like “the pace of the decline is slowing” in an effort to continue supporting the policies that are ultimately contracting the entire economy.  The reality is behind the phrase “transitioning to the new economy,” which, by the very nature of the approach, means this is a managed decline in overall economic activity.

The temperature on Fed stove is slowly being raised, so the frogs in the economic pot don’t notice it.

(Reuters) -U.S. existing home sales dropped to the lowest level in more than 12 years in January, but the pace of decline slowed, raising cautious optimism that the housing market slump could be close to reaching a bottom.

[…] Existing home sales fell 0.7% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.00 million units last month, the lowest level since October 2010, when the nation was grappling with the foreclosure crisis. That marked the 12th straight monthly decline in sales, the longest such stretch since 1999.

(more…)

Today is Fat Tuesday, the culmination of the famous season of Mardi Gras.

Debauchery. Bacchanalia. Floats, costumes, beads and masks, and lots of drinking and partying. That’s what we think of when we hear the term Mardi Gras, or Fat Tuesday.

There is a lot more behind it. Also called Shrove Tuesday, it marks the last day of the liturgical calendar before Lent begins.

After Catholicism spread throughout Europe, many cultures celebrated the final day before Lent began in ways unique to that individual  culture. Eggs, and milk were finished off in one day, giving rise to the term Fat Tuesday. In Poland, such things as lard, sugar, eggs, and fruit were forbidden during Lent, and the beloved  pączki became a special treat for Fat Tuesday. In Detroit they still sell many thousands of them to long lines of people. (more…)

In an effort to keep the Daily Open Thread a little more open topic we are going to start a new daily thread for “Presidential Politics”. Please use this thread to post anything relating to the JoeBama Administration and Presidency.

“This is no small thing, to restore a republic after it has fallen into corruption. I have studied history for years and I cannot recall it ever happening. It may be that our task is impossible. Yet, if we do not try then how will we know it can’t be done? And if we do not try, it most certainly won’t be done. The Founders’ Republic, and the larger war for western civilization, will be lost.”

“But I tell you this: We will not go gently into that bloody collectivist good night. Indeed, we will make with our defiance such a sound as ALL history from that day forward will be forced to note, even if they despise us in the writing of it.”

~ Mike Vanderboegh

This thread will refresh daily and appear above the Open Discussion Thread.

(more…)

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name. Thy kingdom come. THY WILL BE DONE, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but DELIVER US FROM EVIL.

For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen †

.

(more…)

In his opening monologue Monday night, Fox News host Tucker Carlson outlined the insufferable Ukraine narrative and the geopolitical consequences that will flow from the outcome of foreign policy.

Additionally, Carlson contrasts the difference in DC priority for financially assisting Ukraine while places like East Palestine, Ohio, suffer a catastrophic toxic chemical disaster.  WATCH:

.

(more…)

Matt Taibbi is a smart guy, he’ll get there.  I’m not sure why my gut says to trust him, but it does – and I do. Recently he’s been getting hit by the leftists who are asking why Taibbi is not looking at the Trump administration pressure on social media to control and manipulate public information [Twitter Here].

Taibbi has been hitting back against his detractors by saying, there’s no evidence of Trump doing that; yet there is massive evidence of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI), and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) contacting Twitter to do exactly that.

This is interesting to me and CTH readers because we outlined in real time what the SSCI and HPSCI were doing in order to promote the Trump-Russia conspiracy before and after the 2016 election.

What’s fascinating about this… is that the same people who are attacking Taibbi right now, are the same people who received and promoted the propaganda from the SSCI (Burr and Warner) in addition to the HPSCI (Schiff and Swalwell).

In essence, the ancillary media attack hounds are attacking Taibbi because at the end of the research trail Taibbi is following he will find the same names of the ancillary media who are attacking him.

[SEE SHORT THREAD HERE]

In my opinion, Taibbi is on the right trail in following the SSCI and HPSCI manipulation of the social media platforms, specifically Twitter.  In addition to the SSCI creating the structure that supports the intelligence weaponization by DHS and FBI, Senate Intel Chair Richard Burr and then Senate Intel Vice-Chair Mark Warner are at the epicenter of it.

(more…)

Yikes, this place was a foundry so you can imagine flying molten metals and debris. Scary stuff.

According to News5 Cleveland, one person was killed, and more than a dozen injured when the I. Schumann & Co, brass and alloy manufacturer plant exploded.  Video footage shows the aftermath {Direct Rumble Link}

News5 – Authorities responded to a manufacturing business near Bedford Monday afternoon after a massive explosion caused fires and blew debris over neighboring businesses, streets and cars. Multiple injuries have been reported.

It happened at I. Schumann & Co., located in the 22500 block of Alexander Road in Oakwood. The business is a brass and bronze alloy manufacturer.

The company released the following statement about the explosion:

(more…)

I’m not going to re-write anything. [SEE HERE]  Instead, I’m just dropping this little video snippet into the discussion as a confirmational datapoint.

CNN journalist Alex Marquardt: “I’ve been here for the past five days. I have not heard any explosions. I have not heard any air sirens, until about half an hour ago, right when President Biden was in the center of Kyiv.“

(more…)

At this point it’s a little humorous to read the DC inside Republican narrative as they produce their DeSantis messaging.  The Hill has an article {SEE HERE} titled “GOP Impatience Grows for DeSantis to Make Move on Trump.”

However, political followers will notice the tell behind the story in the first few sentences:

(WASHINGTON DC) – Senate Republicans nervous about former President Trump’s lead in presidential primary polls are impatiently awaiting Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to jump into the race.  

GOP lawmakers don’t expect DeSantis to make his move until after the Florida legislative session ends in early May, but the waiting game is playing on nerves, with some thinking DeSantis has lost political momentum since his big reelection win in November. (link)

Setting aside the reality that Ron DeSantis cannot run for office without first legally abdicating his role as governor, as required by Florida law, the “Senate Republicans” are “nervous.”  Gee, I wonder who those Senate Republicans might be.

(more…)

According to Axios, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has given Fox News (Paul Ryan) and Tucker Carlson access to the 41,000 hours of CCTV footage.

Presumably Speaker McCarthy figures this approach will support his previous promise to release and “make public” the full unedited House footage.  I’m not sure I would qualify this as fulfilling the pledge.  Why is an intermediary needed?  Why not just release the footage and let people review it raw and unfiltered?

Via Axios – House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has given Fox News’ Tucker Carlson exclusive access to 41,000 hours of Capitol surveillance footage from the Jan. 6 riot, McCarthy sources tell me.

• • Carlson TV producers were on Capitol Hill last week to begin digging through the trove, which includes multiple camera angles from all over Capitol grounds. Excerpts will begin airing in the coming weeks.

Why it matters: Carlson has repeatedly questioned official accounts of 1/6, downplaying the insurrection as “vandalism.”

(more…)