Color me skeptical

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The unique charm of rowhouses, Craftsman-style homes, and Victorians is fading beneath a coat of gray in gentrifying neighborhoods across the US.

In some areas, the rapid 'grayification' of homes is dramatically transforming the visual landscape. In Washington, DC, for instance, red-brick rowhouses and colorful murals have steadily been replaced by monochromatic facades.

A Washington Post analysis found that gray homes are increasingly common in gentrifying DC neighborhoods, coinciding with rising home prices, noise complaints, and the displacement of Black residents.

Newly built or renovated homes are replacing vibrant shades of red, yellow, and brown with muted tones like Shark Fin and Deep Space. 

The study, which used Google Street View, grouped exterior colors into broader categories to track the shift.

Academics note that gray, modern homes often signal wealth and luxury. These neutral tones are seen as status symbols, reflecting both meticulous upkeep and an appeal to specific buyers.

'It all comes down to this perception of wealth and luxury, this idea that neutrals indicate status - painted brick takes more to upkeep than regular brick,' Libby Rasmussen, a color enthusiast who lives in DC and owns a home decor company, told the Post.

'If you have a light-gray or white house, it signals you can afford to keep it clean.'

'But when you create an aesthetic that is supposed to be minimalist and monocultural, it extinguishes difference. It doesn't allow different people from different cultures to actually be different.' 

DC's real estate market has embraced the trend, with agents advising sellers to repaint their homes in neutral tones to attract buyers. 

Sales analyses reveal that homes with the updated gray aesthetic often sell for significantly higher prices than those with original colors and designs.

Nationwide, the preference for darker, muted exteriors has been growing, according to surveys from platforms like Zillow. 

This shift accelerated during the pandemic, as buyers increasingly sought homes as retreats. In DC, noise complaints in gentrified neighborhoods highlight a preference for quieter, more controlled environments.

Still and all, if you disregard the social blather, it is true that monochromatic tones are the new black in Greenwich homes, and new and renovated houses generally cost cost more than the old and dilapidated. Cause and effect? No more than wet streets cause rain, I suspect.

Huh — reading this, I may have been wrong about Zelinsky's being a dupe: he may just be desperate, clinging to the only raft left in the water

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In his dreams — in reality, Chris and Chuck will be way behind, toasting him from a cozy K Street bar.

By throwing in with the Democrats last year, even campaigning with them, Zelenski gambled everything on a Democrat win. He lost that bet, but, desperate, he’s listening to their promises that they will control our country’s foreign policy and keep his war going. He’s doubled-down — a sign of desperation — but perhaps the only move he has left.

1) He will lose power. Zelensky cancelled elections in Ukraine and remains in power through martial law. Despite what USAID propaganda polls may claim, Zelensky is unpopular in Ukraine and would likely lose a fair election. That could leave him vulnerable to retaliation from political opponents he has imprisoned or seized assets from. In short, Zelensky needs the war to justify his continued rule.

2) The gravy train will end. Ukraine was widely acknowledged as the most corrupt country in Europe before the war, and there is abundant evidence that Ukrainian elites have been hugely profiting from the billions in Western aid. If the war ends, so does the gravy train. A post-war audit of where the money went would also be disastrous for Zelensky’s supporters.

3) He fears the ultra-nationalists. Most Ukrainians say they want the war to end, but the ultra-nationalist faction (a relative minority but well-armed and willing to use violence to achieve their ends) refuses to accept any territorial concessions to Russia. If Zelensky signs such a deal, he has reason to fear for his safety.

4) He’s psychologically committed. Zelensky’s belief in ultimate victory over Russia has “hardened into a form that worries some of his advisors,” according to a report by TIME Magazine, which described Zelensky’s faith as “immovable, verging on the messianic.” According to one of Zelensky’s aides, “He is delusional. We’re out of options. We’re not winning. But try telling him that.” Zelensky may be in too deep to see the situation objectively.

5) History will judge him harshly. Zelensky could have accepted a draft peace deal signed in the first month of the war, the Istanbul Accords, under which Ukraine would have kept all of its territory in exchange for neutrality. A deal now will likely be modeled on Istanbul but require Ukraine to recognize realities on the ground (ie loss of territory). Acknowledging that hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians have died only to get a worse deal may be too bitter a pill for Zelensky to swallow, now or ever.

In summary, Zelensky has powerful motivations to reject a deal, no matter how bad the battlefield realities get. His incentive is to continue a doomed war even if it leads to the complete destruction of Ukraine.

If he only knew how profoundly stupid Chris Murphy is; stupid, self-serving, and manipulative, Zalensky wouldn't have made this very wrong, doomed move

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Murphy and his crowd of Democrats actively interfered with and sabotaged our foreign policy peace initiative (is that unprecedented? I have a feeling it might be) for their personal and their party’s political advantage, not Ukraine’s. Zelensky’s a chump for not understanding that.

Here’s Michael Goodwin:

Disaster in the Oval Office: Dems lead Zelensky, Ukraine off a cliff with pressure to reject mineral deal

A common criticism of Volodymyr Zelensky’s disastrous Friday performance in the Oval Office is that he failed to read the room.

Actually, the Ukrainian president did read a room — but it was the wrong room.

Before meeting Trump, Zelensky met with anti-Trump Democrats who advised him to reject the terms of the mineral deal the president was offering, according to Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.).

“Just finished a meeting with President Zelensky here in Washington. He confirmed that the Ukrainian people will not support a fake peace agreement where Putin gets everything he wants and there are no security arrangements for Ukraine,” Murphy’s office posted on X at 11:15 a.m. Friday.

He attached a picture of Zelensky at a conference table, with Murphy seated on the opposite side.

Forty minutes later, Zelensky arrived at the White House, where Trump met his car, smiled, shook his hand and walked him into the Oval Office.

Arrogant ingrate

The meeting, as the world now knows, quickly went off the rails and ended with Trump angrily ejecting the arrogant ingrate from the White House.

The earlier meeting with Dems undercuts wild claims that Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance staged an ambush. In fact, it was Zelensky who came with an ulterior motive.

The purpose of the meeting was to sign the mineral agreement he and Trump representatives had negotiated. He had twice refused to sign it after promising to, and thanks to Murphy, we now know he had no intention of signing it Friday.

By listening to the nakedly partisan advice of Dems instead of dealing forthrightly with the current president, Zelensky betrayed his countrymen and, for now at least, leaves them without the military and diplomatic protection that only America can provide.

Good luck counting on Britain, France and the rest of Europe to save Ukraine. Maybe the Germans will send strudel.

In a perverse way, Murphy and other Dems got the outcome they wanted. The fireworks at the White House gave them an excuse to replay their Russia Russia Russia hoax.

Once again, they and their media handmaidens are dishonestly insisting that Trump is in Vladimir Putin’s camp.

Like the original Russia hoax that consumed much of Trump’s first term, Russia 2.0 is born of political desperation. After months of not knowing how to respond to Trump’s fast, populist start to his second term, Dems up and down the food chain decided that the president’s refusal to write a blank check to Zelensky and pledge a military guarantee amounts to a gift to Putin.

Desperate for relevance

The logic is twisted beyond description, but any port in a storm will do. And with Trump off to the fastest start of any president in modern history, Dems are desperate to be relevant.

It’s a mark of their bad judgment that Zelensky is their new hero. He and they have zero chance of persuading tapped-out Americans that an open-ended commitment of their tax dollars and possibly sending troops to Ukraine is sensible.

Certainly Trump supporters didn’t vote for that, and the president himself campaigned on bringing the war to a fast end, not sending our army to fight Russians.

He made it repeatedly clear for three years that he viewed Joe Biden’s strategy of providing just enough support for Ukraine to keep the war going without any plan for victory as a fool’s errand. He has also been consistent about his desire to stop the enormous loss of life on both sides and the destruction of Ukrainian cities and towns.

Pine Tree State Frolics (UPDATED)

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Maine female athletes lead charge at March Against Mills amid opposition to Trump's trans sports order

Julia Dietrich, a junior at Midcoast High School, made headlines earlier this week with a passionate speech at a school board meeting and echoed similar sentiments to a crowd full of supporters.

Speaking in front of signs that said "Save Women's Sports," Dietrich explained that while she does not compete in high school athletics, she is a reporter for the school's newspaper and has seen firsthand the negative effects of biological males competing against the opposite sex.

"We have waited. We have spoken up. We have trusted those in power that they would protect the integrity of women’s sports. But our patience has only been met with inaction, dismissal and policies that continue to erode the opportunities and fairness that female athletes deserve," Dietrich said. 

"This is not just about one team, one game or one season. This is about the future of women’s sports. It’s about every young girl in the state of Maine who laces up her cleats or steps onto the track with a dream of competing on a fair and level playing field. It’s about the generations of women before us who have fought for the right to participate in athletics and the generations after us who deserve the same experience and same fairness and respect we once took for granted.

….

Dietrich then called on female competitors to "refuse to compete" in games. 

"Let the silence of the scoreboards and stillness of the fields send a message louder than words ever could. … We are not just athletes. We are not just students. We are fighters. And we will not stop until fairness is restored and women’s sports remain for biological women."

Her last comments are on target: if the adults won’t act, the students should leave the field to a few lonely boys jogging around an otherwise empty track, enjoying their “triumph”.

You might think that Maine’s governor and her fellow Democrats who run the state might have better things to address concerning Maine’s public educational system; they say that you’re wrong.

Maine’s Schools Collapse as More Migrants Pour In

Notwithstanding that headline writer’s claim, migrants are only part of the problem: addiction is rampant in Maine, especially in the cities and rural areas, and what parenting goes on is conducted from the haze of addiction. Still, the picture is not a pretty one:

The latest numbers from the National Center for Education Statistics finds that Maine public school students are at their lowest test scores in thirty years in both reading and math. The data finds that only 33 percent of children in fourth grade are proficient in math and only 26 percent are fluent in reading. These are also some of the worst scores in the nation. Older children are even worse off, with a mere 25 percent proficient in math and 26 percent in reading. The results placed Maine’s students at 38th in the country.

… Meanwhile, Maine has also seen a tidal wave of migrants — mostly illegal — as the Democrat-dominated state continues to tout its sanctuary policies, according to the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR).

The number of children who cannot speak English fluently has soared in the last decade, FAIR says. For instance, 70 percent of students enrolling in Portland’s schools have limited English skills and require special classes to help bring them up to standards in English before they even learn any other subject. This forces schools to spend budget money hiring teachers and other employees who speak a wide variety of languages to try and communicate with these children. FAIR adds that Portland now counts as many as 57 languages being spoken in its classrooms.

There are two high schools in Portland: one is infested with African gangs who’ve brought their violent tribal hatreds and rivalries to their new country, the other is still viable. And to be fair, there are plenty of African students desperately trying to escape from the first high school to the other, because they want an education and an opportunity to succeed here in America. There’s no room for them; perhaps the Democrats might consider building a new school, or enacting laws that would permit the existing schools to be reclaimed from the gangs.

Nah.

UPDATE: Even Rahm Emanuel, of all people, gets it:

Ex-Chicago mayor rips current city leaders for focus on bathroom and locker room instead of crime, education

'I don't want to hear another word about the bathroom. You better start focusing on the classroom,' Rahm Emanuel told Bill Maher on Friday

How could I have forgotten?

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Just as I carelessly failed to get ready for Ramadan, as urged by Wayne State’s College of Nutrition, I failed, neglected and just plumb forgot to join in yesterday’s effort to topple Trump and destroy capitalism.

Apparently, I wasn’t alone in this omission — unlike the fellow below, I did not patronize Best Buy or McDonalds (and haven’t done so in years), but I did buy gas; groceries and even a pair of blue jeans at Walmarts (Wrangler, $19.95 vs $35 elsewhere, good for 4-5 years, probably); and a Kindle book from Amazon. Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa.

Somehow The Country Kept Shopping While Anti-Trump/Musk Activists Called For ‘Economic Blackout Day’

“I will fill my truck up with gas today, go to Walmart, then to Best Buys and finally stop at McDonalds for lunch. Then go shopping on Amazon when I get home. The woke left is supposed to boycott those places today. “

People vote for Trump because they're too stupid to see that Democrats are their saviors. That same keen insight and analysis is found in blue cities too

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Defund-the-police NYC pol says constituents in high-crime area want more cops because “they don’t know better”

A Defund the Police-pushing Bronx councilwoman who represents one of the most crime-ridden sections of NYC all but accused her constituents this week of being clueless for wanting more cops.

“People in my community ask for more cops because they don’t know other solutions,” Councilwoman Althea Stevens told NYPD brass at Monday’s public safety committee hearing while defending legislation she’s sponsoring to eliminate the Police Department’s gang database.

Stevens and members of the Council’s left-wing Progressive Caucus have long pushed for many non-police responses to crime, including using “violence interrupters” where civilians are trained to deescalate violence.

(The lady’s district has the fourth-highest crime rate in the city, with major crime surging 41% since 2019, records show.)

Here’s more on that proposed gangbangers bill

Mayor Eric Adams and police officials took a swipe at a bill pushed by progressives that would abolish the NYPD’s gang database — saying Monday it’ll make it more difficult for cops to nab violent criminals and prevent shootings.

The mayor, during a press briefing at City Hall, said he didn’t buy left-wing critics’ arguments that the Criminal Group Database amounts to racial profiling since nearly all the gang members ID’d are black and Latino.

“There’s a number they leave out — 96% of the victims of shootings in the city are people of color. Let’s keep them in mind ,.. Many [Just many?] gang members “prey on innocent people in their community,” he noted, adding, “Some of them are extremely dangerous. Some [sic] of them are repeat offenders.”

NYPD officials said 500 groups are identified as gangs, and that 25% of members in the database are convicted felons, 33% are on parole/probation, 45% have been arrested previously — and about one-third have been busted 20 or more times and one-third have been involved in shootings.

Queens Republican Councilwoman JoAnn Ariola called the bill straight out of “La La Land,” saying that she’s never met a constituent who asked for the gang database to be abolished — though they do want more police officers assigned to their neighborhoods.

“These people aren’t members of the community. They prey on the community,” Ariola said of gang members.

Bronx Democratic Councilwoman Althea Stevens, a sponsor of the bill, said, “I’m in La La land.”

“It seems like racial profiling,” Stevens said.

Simple problems call for simple solutions

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(Sigh) The more things change ...

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Ben Bartee, PJ Media: The Absolute State of the New Fourth Estate!

The established fact pattern as of March 1, 2025 vis-à-vis the Epstein files:

  • Attorney General Pam Bondi claims on Feb. 21 that she has the Epstein client list “sitting on her desk right now,” all set to be published.

  • On Thursday, Feb. 27, Bondi hosts over a dozen MAGA “influencers” prominent on X, many of which you might be familiar with, for a grand reveal of the files.

  • The influencers receive binders labeled allegedly containing the promised files labeled "The Epstein Files: Phase 1."

  • Afterward, the influencers pose outside of the White House for the media cameras, holding up the binders as if they are some kind of big game trophy.

  • Said influencers take to X and elsewhere to post selfies of themselves holding said binders for engagement farming. Some describe the scoop as “exclusive.”

  • It turns out, we learn, that the binders contain nothing of news value whatsoever. There is no Epstein client list; there is no information.

  • Bondi releases a letter claiming that, actually, despite claiming that she had the files “on her desk” almost a week earlier, the FBI only gave her 200 documents and was stonewalling the full disclosure — a revelation she had never made publicly while making multiple media appearances to hype the files she had “on her desk” and was ready to distribute to the public.

  • The government’s failure here is clear, even if the details are scant: someone is lying to the public and covering for whatever interests desperately want to keep the Epstein files secret.

    But what about the “influencers” who allowed themselves, wittingly or not, to be used in this weird stunt?

    Via New York Post (emphasis added):

The Justice Department released a handful of files on notorious sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein on Thursday — though there appear to be no new names or details.

The info first went out to a hand-selected crop of right-wing social media influencers Thursday afternoon — and even those recipients were underwhelmed by what the documents revealed….

When the conservative social media personalities began livestreaming footage of the content after The Post’s initial report, they revealed files that were long available in the public record — such as flight logs — and that all of the boldfaced names in the contact list already were known from prior disclosures…

The document appeared to be a copy of Epstein’s “black book” that was first published in 2021 and later put up for auction.

But wait, there’s more!

After the historic summit to reveal what was already known four years ago, these influencers were then seen sharing social media posts with identical talking points, which would presumably indicate some kind of centralized rather than “independent” media operation.