All salute our new President

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San Francisco judge puts temporary pause on Trump's mass layoffs at government agencies

A federal judge on Friday issued a temporary pause on the Trump administration’s plans to restructure various government agencies and cut tens of thousands of federal workers because the government overhaul was not authorized by Congress.

U.S. District Judge Susan Illston put a 14-day pause on the mass layoffs, siding with a group of unions, non-profits and local governments after they filed a lawsuit on April 28.

Illston said Trump may broadly restructure federal agencies, but only in "lawful ways" with approval from Congress.

"The President has the authority to seek changes to executive branch agencies, but he must do so in lawful ways and, in the case of large-scale reorganizations, with the cooperation of the legislative branch," Illston said. "Many presidents have sought this cooperation before; many iterations of Congress have provided it."

She pulled this one out from under the robe she was sitting on: the Executive can impose changes in the Executive Branch only with the permission of the Legislative and Judicial branches? Uh huh. And many iterations of Congress have granted that permission?

Not to worry, we have a Supreme Court to review the decisions of judges who believe they, not the president, have the power and duty to run the country, and rule accordingly. We can relax, knowing that wise Latinos are waiting to preserve and protect the Constitution. Like this:

GREAT MOMENTS IN OBJECTIVITY:

"We have met the enemy, and it is us" Adrian Mardell, Jaguar CEO.

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Okay, he didn’t actually admit that — not publicly, at least — but he should.

Jaguar looks for new ad agency after disastrous woke rebrand

It's almost like the middle-aged male bank managers who buy mid-range luxury cars want power and speed...

Not pretty boys peddling hot air and mascara. Better to focus on transmissions, instead of transvestites? Just a suggestion.

On the other hand, perhaps it’s Jaguar’s decision to go all-EV that’s more responsible for its collapse, and not solely its rebranding its cars as Wokemobiles: maybe, just maybe, the EV has been presented to the public, and the public has declined the opportunity to stop the oceans from rising

As Tesla Sales Decline, Ford’s EV Sales…Fall Off a Cliff

With the EV-loving media having recently refocused its venom on Elon Musk because of his alliance with President Trump, Tesla has become a target for the left. The media has gleefully been reporting any bad news about Musk’s electric car company, celebrating not only falling sales and financial repercussions, but also legitimizing vandalism against Tesla vehicles because of Musk’s politics.

The media has also been desperate to report that competitors are benefiting from Tesla’s woes. If you have the stomach for it, this nasty piece of journalistic bias from the AP dated 4/02/2025 hit all those marks, including the blaming of Musk himself for vandalism against Teslas: ”Tesla sales tumble 13% as Musk backlash, competition and aging lineup turn off buyers”

But something funny is happening. As Tesla sales decline, competing electric vehicle brands are not capturing the lost sales. It’s just the opposite, in fact. Legacy automakers who tried to make a big splash in the EV market are seeing their already nominal EV sales decline precipitously as the electric vehicle fad wanes. Ford had anticipated that by 2025 its electric lineup would be a major component of its product lineup, but now its EV sales are barely an asterisk, with sales plummeting from any already low peak.

“Ford’s EV sales fell by 40% in April and now it’s adjusting plans for another major project” [Elektrek – 5/01/2025]

Despite higher sales of internal combustion (ICE) and hybrid vehicles, Ford sold significantly fewer electric vehicles last month. Ford sold 4,859 fully electric vehicles in April, which is nearly 40% less than the 8,019 sold in April 2024.

(Ace of Spades): ‘Despite'? Is that the correct word to use here? It reminds me of the infamous Fox Butterfield stories from the NY Times, which had comically obtuse headlines along the lines of, “Despite record incarceration, crime rates are down.

Ford’s 4,859 EV sales amounted to just 2.3% of the company’s total sales in April. Yet CEO Jim Farley and nepot destructor Bill Ford remain committed to perpetuating the failed Model E-dsel efforts, despite multi-billion dollar EV losses continuing, with no end in sight.

Aside from its existing – and underutilized - EV manufacturing plants, Ford built a massive new plant (“Blue Oval City”) near Memphis to assemble 500,000 electric pickup trucks per year. The plant was supposed to be open by now, but it has been mothballed until at least 2027. There is little prospect for it ever opening, as Ford’s April electric pickup sales annualize to less than 21,000 units per year, and the sales trajectory is downward from here.

Or perhaps there is no problem at all, and it’s just a matter of perspective.

On the Waterfront

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61 Byram Shore Road has sold for $10.130 million. On and off the market since 2018, it’s pretty special, and true deep-water docks are rare in Greenwich. Reader Hankster commented in an earlier post on this house that he believed it was originally built by one of the Steins, of the Steinway Piano family, which is rather neat. Also neat would be if the listing agent really meant it when she suggested that the house would convey with “a well-stocked wine cellar”; an unusual lagniappe, certainly, but sure to be appreciated by the new owner.

Purchased for $7.240 million ($11,632,217 in current dollars) in 2005.

What have I been saying about the sales power of the Zebra?

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told you so

558 Lake Avenue was purchased out of foreclosure back in 2016 for $4.4 million, and put back on the market, untouched, for $6.5 million in 2017. I expressed doubt about that price at the time, and sure enough, it failed. Even after a renovation, a second attempt in 2023 at $6.350 fared no better, but this third attempt, with a $6.495 price attached and zebras grazing in the backyard, it has succeeded at last, and it’s reported pending after just 7 days on the MLS. As I thought it might.

no zebras back in ‘23

There's usually a bargain to be found in foreclosure actions, especially when $18,000,000 is due: there should be plenty of room to negotiate,

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The saga of the 8 Old Round Hill Lane foreclosure action seems to be drawing to an end, especially now that one of the defendants has filed a “Disclosure of No Defense”.

The court docket can be found here.

A cautionary note: the couple has, I believe, long-since been divorced or at least has been involved in lengthy, adversarial litigation*, and the wife, who has been enjoying sole possession of the premises, seems to have neglected to perform needed maintenance on the structure, so who knows what condition it’s in?

*- Police: Woman drove through garage door

Updated Jan 24, 2012 10:04 p.m.

Sheri G. Lampert, 54, of 21 Meadowcroft Road, was charged Monday with breach of peace and second-degree criminal mischief after she drove a vehicle through the garage door of a Doubling Road residence, police said.

Arriving officers observed a woman standing on the front steps of the residence, screaming at the door, police said. The vehicle had front-end damage, with pieces of wood sticking out of the hood, police said.

The garage door was also damaged, police said. Lampert admitted driving the vehicle through the door, according to police.

Lampert is scheduled to appear in state Superior Court in Stamford on Wednesday.

I wrote on this subject 10 years ago: The Curse of Greyledge Continues

Shari Lampert (not the Sears Lamperts) has had quite of time of things since she and her now former husband Spencer razed Col. Bolling’s estate, “Greyledge”, at 133-137 Doubling Road back in 2007. Her latest bid at notoriety is reported today after being arrested for teeing off on her house keeper with a five iron back in June.

One June 29th, police received a complaint of a physical altercation between an employer and her housekeeper. Police say 56-year-old Shari Gay Lampert had a tumultuous argument with her housekeeper and demanded restitution for the alleged damage the housekeeper had done in Lampert’s home while employed there. During the argument, Lampert wielded a golf club toward the victim before entering the victim’s car to take the victim’s purse and remove all of her cash from it. An investigation determined that there was enough evidence to arrest Lampert for larceny and disorderly conduct, police said. Lampert turned herself into Greenwich police Friday on an arrest warrant and was charged. Lampert was released on $2,000 bond and will appear in court August 1st.

Ms. Lambert seems to have some anger issues – she was arrested in January, 2012 for driving her car through the garage doors of her husband Spencer’s new digs, again in May, 2012 for a “domestic dispute”, and, it appears, a few other times as well.

Like Dunellan Hall (Helmsley’s Folly) up on Rogue’s Hill, which has seen nothing but tragedy since it was constructed in 1918 , the Bolling estate’s streak started with the death during WW 1 of Colonel Bolling himself and now, it seems, extends to it’s latest owner. These days there’s nothing left of that estate, but the land remains and can be yours for $10 million (and my guess is for far less). The question is, who would risk the wrath of the Bollings?

(h/t, Publius)

Relax, fellas: there's only one person in the US who would buy anything as unreliable as a British junker, and his Riverside garage can only accommodate two of them, at most.

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Range Rover and a Jaguar in their natural habitat

Grifters gonna grift

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If it matters, Crockett pocketed $2 million in crypto-currency from two seperate superpacs. Just say’n.

And as long as we’re talking about this rising star of the Democrat Part, I might as well drag this story from the draft folder of a couple of days ago: Except that I'm long past the capacity for outrage by the Congressional Grifters, I’d be more outraged that Hot Wheels Crockett was flying First Class at taxpayer's expense than I am at her displaying the person we already know. As it is, meh – just the usual behavior of our betters and more deserving.

Dem Rep. Jasmine Crockett cuts passengers in wheelchairs as she’s slammed for ‘abusing her power’ at airport

Accompanied by taxpayer provided security guards as well.