Not every property is flying off the shelf: this building lot on Taconic Road, for instance

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403 Taconic Road, a 9.39-acre lot with a possibility of a 2-lot subdivision, came on the market last July at $4.4 million, dropped to $3.8 that fall, and was under contract by November. That didn’t work out, and I reported that it was back on the market this January. No other buyer having appeared since, today it dropped to $3.3 million.

Bidding wars

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18 Brookside Park. Listed at $4.250, sold this morning for $4.630 million. Houlihan’s Joy Kim Metalios listing.

Baldwin Farms s

78 Baldwin Farms S. is pending after 8 days on the market. It was priced at $4.595 million, but “pending” — no contingencies, or all contingencies met (usually the former, but not always) — signals multiple bids, with an above-ask winning offer.

lockwood road

86 Lockwood Road, Riverside, priced at $6.3 million, pending after 6 days, and going for far more than was asked. I thought it was dreadfully decorated, and said so, but did concede that there are a lot of buyers with Bloomingdale taste prowling the market, and so didn’t rule out it finding a buyer. Gideon toured it, thought it magnificent, and predicted an immediate, above-ask sale; he was right.

Personally, I think he’s spent too much time with the reconstituted membership of the Riverside Yacht Club, but I suppose some sacrifices must be made to get to know your customer.

this is not your grandfather’s riverside — then again, he died long ago, lucky man.

UPDATE: As an aside, although our zoning regs allow a swimming pool to be secured by placing fencing around the perimeter of a property, I always worry about setups like this — they’re okay if any children with access to it know how to swim, but toddlers belonging to the owners or visitors can escape from the house unnoticed and topple in. Just my two cents.

More about those student loans you're paying off

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By the way, I haven’t seen anything about what happens to the loans of current students, or students to come. Biden is writing-off existing loans, but what about the debts to be incurred by next fall’s social warriors? As unfair as it is to seize the earnings of blue collar workers to pay off debts incurred by dance majors or Marxist poetry experts, won’t it also be unfair to offer no relief to the next crop of scholars? Are they planning a rolling wave of loan forgiveness every four years, or is the ultimate goal to abolish tuition and room and board fees at all colleges and universities?

Asking for a friend.

UPDATE: You can always count on America’s Paper of Record to get to the heart of a matter.

Theater of the Absurd; Day Camp Follies, more like

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Ils ne passeront pas! Uh huh.

UCLA students are taking lessons in self-defense. I’ve known a few cops in my day; some I’ve liked, a few I haven’t, but I’ve never met one who I didn’t think could handle a kick-boxing quiche-eater.

What could possibly go wrong?

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“Dad — put mom on the phone — I killed ten jews!”

Biden White House Considers Bringing Palestinians to United States As 'Refugees'

"The Biden administration is considering bringing certain Palestinians to the U.S. as refugees, a move that would offer a permanent safe haven to some of those fleeing war-torn Gaza, according to internal federal government documents obtained by CBS News," the report began by mentioning, with added emphasis. 

The report mentions further details, including how discussions have been going on for weeks and that these "refugees" could actually receive benefits:

In recent weeks, the documents show, senior officials across several federal U.S. agencies have discussed the practicality of different options to resettle Palestinians from Gaza who have immediate family members who are American citizens or permanent residents.

One of those proposals involves using the decades-old United States Refugee Admissions Program to welcome Palestinians with U.S. ties who have managed to escape Gaza and enter neighboring Egypt, according to the inter-agency planning documents.

Top U.S. officials have also discussed getting additional Palestinians out of Gaza and processing them as refugees if they have American relatives, the documents show. The plans would require coordination with Egypt, which has so far refused to welcome large numbers of people from Gaza.

Those who pass a series of eligibility, medical and security screenings would qualify to fly to the U.S. with refugee status, which offers beneficiaries permanent residency, resettlement benefits like housing assistance and a path to American citizenship.

Town Hall columnist Rebecca Downs sees a problem with this:

That such people would have a connection to "American citizens or permanent residents" is hardly a relief, given that earlier this month activists in Dearborn, Michigan could be heard chanting "death to America," and "death to Israel," as well as genocidal and pro-Hamas phrases such as "from the river to the sea" and "free, free Palestine." 

I’ll add that the majority of Palestinians fully support Hamas and the October 7th massacre.

Despite the devastation, 57% of respondents in Gaza and 82% in the West Bank believe Hamas was correct in launching the October attack, the poll indicated. A large majority believed Hamas’ claims that it acted to defend a major Islamic shrine in Jerusalem against Jewish extremists and win the release of Palestinian prisoners. Only 10% said they believed Hamas has committed war crimes, with a large majority saying they did not see videos showing the militants committing atrocities.

That 57% approval number for residents of Gaza comes after their country has been torn down around their ears in punishment for breaking the ceasefire and starting a war. The number will surely climb to 100% once Biden brings them safely home to the bosom of their Dearborn relatives.

There are deceptive headlines, and then there are facts

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(space limitations prevent me from including a link to this “football star”’s family’s gofund Me page)

The Daily Mail’s headline implies that an unnecessary tragedy has occurred here, but scroll down the story for these buried details:

Authorities later added two of the teens that were killed in SUV were wearing ankle monitors, while three had active warrants, reports WLBT. Some of the occupants also appeared to be wearing ski masks.

The police pursuit began after an SUV was reported to have been stolen out of Gainesville. Only hours after the theft, the car was detected by a license plate reader.

Police were soon on their tail and a Bradford County sheriff's deputy confirmed the SUV was stolen as they followed and called for backup.

Deputies verified there were several people inside the vehicle and attempted to pull it over.

The vehicle appeared to be slowing down but then the driver hit the gas and sped away with the car reaching speeds of 111mph.

Police patrol vehicles were unable to keep up with the car because a device in their car prevents them from accelerating too fast. 

At that point, the Florida Highway Patrol were called and a trooper continued the chase.  

The trooper then rammed the side of the vehicle using  PIT - precision immobilization technique - maneuver. It caused the SUV to roll over and crash into a cement pole.

The controversial maneuver requires police to hit the back of a moving car and spin it around, causing the car to stop while officers surround it.  

The "controversial maneuver." To stop four teens in a stolen SUV who were going 111 miles an hour.

This commenter has it right:

Nice work, if you can get it.

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The owners of 80 Rockwood Lane (that’s the 50s Rockefeller development lying east off Lake Avenue) paid $2.730 million for it in June 2020, gave it a spit and a lick, and put it back up for sale this past March for $3.495. It went on the first day and closed today at $4.2 million. 54% appreciation over four years, which isn’t bad.

Mind you, 2020 was the COVID market, and to duplicate that kind of gain, you’ll probably have to wait until the next panicdemic to buy; the best estimate of when that will occur is sometime before the election, so keep your checkbook handy.

(A video of that 2020 listing can be found here. Compare its (very nice) condition, then to the current pictures, and there’s no noticeable difference.)