It fared better this time

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20 Dingletown Road, asking $4.8 million, is under contract after just 5 days. Allowing for the time expended drawing up contracts, that’s pretty much overnight.

The soon-to-be former owners are the beneficiary of the original builders’ “bad luck”: they paid $3.6 million in 2010 after those builders — real estate agents in their other lives — had paid $1.420 for the land in 2004 and attempted to get $5.395 million ($8,459,000 in current dollars) for their completed project, beginning in July 2006 and ending when theyt finally tired of the game and sold it for that $3.6 in 2010.

Different times, different market.

The rule of law, Connecticut style

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Stop!

“Mistreatment” is the pretext, thwarting the deportation of illegal aliens is the goal

NEW HAVEN — Connecticut Attorney General William Tong sent a strongly worded letter to Avelo Airlines founder and CEO Andrew Levy Tuesday, seeking assurances that deportation charter flights Avelo plans to run from Arizona won't violate the rights of immigrants.

Tong's letter seeks assurances that Avelo won't shackle deportees — particularly children — and that the flights will not be used to separate children from their parents or to deport immigrants without a valid deportation order, among other issues.

It threatens to "rescind (state) support for and partnership with Avelo ... absent clear, public commitments to safety and the rule of law."
 
….

"Let’s be clear what these flights are doing. These are flights separating parents from their children. These are flights where people—men, women and children — are shackled in handcuffs, waist chains and leg irons, where flight attendants have said there is no safe plan to evacuate people in an emergency," the letter states.

"No one is forcing Avelo to operate these flights. If reporting is accurate, Avelo has freely chosen to profit from and facilitate these atrocities," Tong said. "The State of Connecticut has an obligation now to review this business decision and to consider the viability of our choice to support Avelo."

Tong said "it is the policy of the State of Connecticut to support, honor and protect families, to uphold public safety and to defend the rule of law. Connecticut taxpayers have supported Avelo’s growth in our state by exempting state taxes on aviation fuel. Connecticut public officials have joined Avelo in celebrating and promoting new routes and expanded business in our state. Such support is a policy choice that may be revisited should Avelo’s business practices conflict with Connecticut priorities and policies.," he wrote.

Tong requested a copy of Avelo's contract with DHS or its agent and asked whether Avelo can confirm that it will not operate deportation flights from any Connecticut airport. He also asked it to confirm that it will not operate flights while non-violent passengers are in shackles, handcuffs, waist chains or leg irons "and unable to safely evacuate in the event of an emergency."

Tong also asked Avelo to confirm that it will never operate a flight without a safe and timely evacuation strategy for all passengers "should restraint be necessary," that "it will never operate flights with shackled children," and that it will never operate deportation flights in defiance of a court order, or one involving passengers for whom there is no valid order of removal.

"Can Avelo confirm that it will never operate a flight to deport a child born on American soil?" he asked.

Tong’s demand is merely one part of a determined effort by the state to resist enforcement of federal immigration laws:

Tong's letter went out as Tong and the state consider whether to revoke already-awarded state support for Avelo,  including a $2 million revenue guarantee and a two-year freeze on aviation fuel tax, in response to news that Avelo plans to begin flight deportation charter flights under contract to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, or DHS.

A few billion dollars and ten years late, but that's defense spending for you

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New Navy chief 'regrets' costly missile interceptors against Houthis, pushes for cheaper Red Sea defense

'I had not been thoughtful enough to think about the UAV threat where I think a much lesser-powered weapon would have done what we needed it to do,' says Adm James Kilby

“UAV” — that’s military speak for “Unmanned Aerial Vehicle” — a drone, to you and me; you know, the ones you can buy from Amazon?

New acting Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Adm. James Kilby said he regrets the Navy’s reliance on expensive, high-powered missile interceptors to counter the Houthi threat in the Red Sea and pledged to push for cheaper, more efficient solutions.

Speaking to reporters at the Sea Air Space conference in National Harbor, Maryland, Kilby said he was "not concerned" about the Navy’s ability to protect its people – such as the 350 sailors aboard the USS Carney missile destroyer – or its ability to safeguard commercial shipping.

He is concerned, however, about "not having better ways to more economically attrit the threat." 

In his former role as deputy commander of Fleet Forces Command, Kilby said he was "focused on a high-end laser – 500kW to one megawatt – and I have regret for that."

"I had not been thoughtful enough to think about the UAV threat, where I think a much lesser-powered weapon would have done what we needed it to do," Kilby said.

He promised the Navy was now working to overhaul its costly defense tactics with "much more cost-effective" technologies to counter autonomous vehicles in the Red Sea, as he called on the defense industry to more quickly produce munitions for the mission.

"We have to get after our industrial base or munitions industrial base the same way we have to get after our shipbuilding industrial base," said Kilby. 

Onlookers have long decried the disproportionate cost of taking on the Yemeni rebels. Naval missiles that run around $2 million a shot have been used to take out drones that cost the Houthis no more than $2,000. Since the March 15 offensive began, the Houthis have also downed three MQ-9 Reaper drones — each worth about $30 million.

The Ukrainian war exercises have shown what cheap, disposable drones can do against Russian tanks and ships; we shouldn’t have needed the primitive Houthis to drive the lesson home.

What's a hard working media to do? Will nothing stop this man?

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Not the Bee has the story

From The Hill:

Washington City Paper first reported on the parade, noting it will stretch almost 4 miles from the Pentagon in Arlington, Va., to the White House.

An Army official confirmed the parade's length to The Hill, and said that 'there are plans for a parade that will involve the Army,' adding that nothing is yet solidified.

As the report made the rounds online on Monday, liberals came out of the woodwork to criticize the proposed event:

Here's the problem:

Yes, the June 14th parade would be on Trump's birthday, but that just so happens to be the birthday of the United States Army as well. It's also Flag Day.

Signal-Gate has come and gone, and so, too has Black Monday Tariff Doom, and Trump’s approval rate is higher than it’s ever been. I feel their pain.

The flight to Florida continues (Updated)

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Two more Conyers Farm mansions have hit the market and are both conducting broker open houses for the great unwashed today.

11 Conyers Farm is asking $19.995 million. Custom built for these owners in 1996, buyers will be able to enjoy 16,4597 sq. ft. of luxury set on 19.69 acres.

For those looking for less house but more land and a larger price tag, 24 Conyers Farm: 12,312 sq.ft., 25 acres, is priced at $25 million and is also available. Or buy both — there might be a discount for a combo sale, but you won’t know if you don’t ask.

UPDATE: A reader supplies further details

FYI- they may not have fled to Florida- The owners purchased 130 Field Point Circle. Razed “The Pryory”, and built a massive modern glass box that belongs in Malibu.

11 Conyers hosted numerous swanky fundraisers for Obama https://pagesix.com/2014/10/08/obama-slams-republicans-as-party-of-billionaires/

A follow-on to yesterday's post about normalizing deviant behavior

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“well only those who deserve to die”

Full post:

Assassination culture is spreading on the left. Forty-eight percent of liberals say it would be at least somewhat justified to murder Elon Musk. Fifty-five percent said the same about Donald Trump. In California, activists are naming ballot measures after Luigi Mangione. The left is being whipped into a violent frenzy. Any setback, whether losing an election or losing a court case, justifies a maximally violent response. This is the natural outgrowth of left-wing protest culture tolerating violence and mayhem for years on end. The cowardice of local prosecutors and school officials have turned the left into a ticking time bomb.

UPDATE: PowerLine’s John Hinderaker has seen the same polls, and has some pessimistic views on the subject.

Let’s Kill the Republicans

It has been a while since Democrats have assassinated a Republican president, but that peaceful interlude may be ending soon. You likely have heard about a survey report by the Network Contagion Research Institute and Rutgers University’s Social Perception Lab, which examines the growing tolerance for violence in American society. Or, rather, on America’s Left:

Political violence targeting Donald Trump and Elon Musk is becoming increasingly normalized. Following the July 13, 2024 attempted assassination of President Trump, tolerance – and even advocacy – for political violence appears to have surged, especially among politically left-leaning segments of the population. This pattern builds on a broader trend NCRI identified in two December 2024 reports which analyzed how viral social media narratives were legitimizing political violence, particularly in the aftermath of the UnitedHealthcare CEO’s assassination. The reports found widespread justification for lethal violence – including assassination – among younger, highly online, and ideologically left-aligned users. A spillover effect into offline domains is already occurring, as illustrated by a ballot measure recently submitted in California that is macabrely named “the Luigi Mangione Access to Health Care Act.”

How partial to violence are liberals? These charts indicate that around half of those who describe themselves as left of center (from “slightly liberal” on over) say that assassinating Donald Trump or Elon Musk is at least somewhat justified:

…..

This chart is perhaps more informative. It breaks down responses of those considered left of center–“Far Left, Liberal, or Slightly Liberal”–to questions about assassinating Donald Trump and Elon Musk:

So, among those who say they are “slightly liberal” or farther to the left, 9% think the murder of Elon Musk would be “completely justified,” and 13% say the murder of Donald Trump would be “completely justified.” Which suggests that there are a lot of potential assassins out there.

If we take a score of 4 on this chart–midway between “Not at all justified” and “Completely justified”–29% of those who say they are liberals are pretty much OK with murdering Elon Musk, and 41% are OK with murdering President Trump.

We are in uncharted territory. Not many years ago, it would have been inconceivable that a large number of members of either party would tolerate assassinations of their opponents (or firebombing of businesses owned by a political opponent, which is even more broadly supported by liberals). And it is still inconceivable on the right–no significant number of conservatives are calling for the murder of Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, or whoever.

Data like these raise, I think, the question whether the United States has a future as a united country. Our schools are so terrible, our culture is so depraved, our “news” media are so pathetic, that what the linked report describes as an “assassination culture” has taken hold of one our major parties. Is there, any longer, a basis on which liberals and conservatives can collaborate, in good faith, in governing a democracy?

I am not at all sure the answer to that question is Yes.

Old house, old listing; they often go together

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After lingering on the market since August, 14 Meadow Drive, Greenwich, has dropped its price 3% from $9.750 million to $9.450. It looks like a nice, grand old house, but maintaining 10,000 sq.ft of structure built in 1909 is a daunting prospect, and the pool of buyers willing to take on the challenge is shallow. I might have been tempted to move more aggressively, and sooner on this price "adjustment” than has been done here, but it’s not my house, nor my listing.

And there will be a great wailing and gnashing of teeth — in Riverside, although not necessarily up here

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Makers of luxury goods suspend shipments of product to U.S. Jaguar, Rolex owners hardest hit.

The supply of many foreign-made goods into the US is likely to come to a grinding halt as a result of President Donald Trump’s tariffs, sources told The Post Monday.

A baseline tariff of 10% was applied to many countries Saturday, with heftier percentages applied to the “worst offenders,” who levy high tariffs on US goods coming into them, in two days.

Companies producing everything from toys to luxury wristwatches said they are now holding off shipping goods – risking America going from the land of plenty to the land of plenty unavailable.

The first luxury items to leave circulation: Jaguar, Range Rover and Land Rover vehicles, all manufactured in the UK.

You want more of this? Don't enforce the law. Clearly, just like our universities, blue state cities do want more of it

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Pro-Palestine Protest Shuts Down Grand Central Terminal

On the evening of April 7, 2025, hundreds of pro-Palestine protesters occupied Grand Central Terminal in New York City, demanding a ceasefire in Gaza. The protesters chanted slogans such as 'Let Gaza live' and some scaled walls to hang banners. As a result of the protest, all entrances to the terminal were closed, and the New York Police Department was present at the scene, equipped with zip ties but no clashes were reported.