Sold on Sound Beach

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27 Sound Beach Avenue, listed at $1.629 million, accepted $1.579, which I think was a smart move. The house had been on the market for 37 days (well, probably a week less, given lag time between accepted off and negotiated and signed contracts), and in this market, that should have been enough time to unearth any full-price buyers. A $50,000 concession is smart, if it accomplishes the sale.

The Innocent's a Broad (Updated)

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One final post on this subject and then I promise to Move On™, but I was reading the actual Vanity Fair profile of Susie Wiles (got through all of Part I, a quarter of the way through Part II) and was struck, again and again, at the horrendous vitriol spewed across its pages. It’s a typical example of how Vanity Fair has treated its political enemies in the past, so again, how could Wiles or the White House ever have considered this a good idea?

I thought I’d post two examples taken from just the first pages of the article because (a) I never could resist a bad pun* and (b) because you can get the full flavor of the entire piece from just these two paragraphs; them, and the picture we’ve thrown in for free.

  • At the same time, Trump has waged war on his political enemies; pardoned the January 6 rioters, firing nearly everyone involved in their investigation and prosecution; sued media companies into multimillion-dollar settlements; indicted multiple government officials he perceives as his foes; and pressured universities to toe his line. He’s redefined the way presidents behave—verbally abusing women, minorities, and almost anyone who offends him. Charlie Kirk’s assassination in September turbocharged Trump’s campaign of revenge and retribution. Critics have compared this moment to a Reichstag fire, a modern version of Hitler’s exploitation of the torching of Berlin’s parliament.

    ……

  • Then Trump issued pardons to almost everyone convicted in the bloody January 6, 2021, assault on the Capitol, in which nine people ultimately died and 150 were injured. Even rioters who’d beaten cops within an inch of their lives were set free. (Fourteen people convicted of seditious conspiracy had their sentences commuted.)

UPDATE:

*It occured to me this morning that not all the readers of this blog, as well-read as they are, might get the reference. Here you are, if there are any such readers out there:

(It’s a fun read, BTW)

The Innocents Abroad, or The New Pilgrims' Progress, is Mark Twain's humorous 1869 travelogue chronicling his 1867 "Great Pleasure Excursion" with a group of American tourists through Europe and the Holy Land on the steamship Quaker City. The book satirizes both American tourism and European culture, contrasting the "New World" and "Old World" with sharp wit, and became one of the best-selling travel books of all time, launching Twain to international fame. 

"The people of those foreign countries are very, very ignorant...in Paris they just simply opened their eyes and stared when we spoke to them in French! We never did succeed in making those idiots understand their own language."

Certainly not a work for those subject to fainting spells:

Debbie Klenzman Carlson

There are moments that I enjoyed Twain's humor and insightful descriptions of his experiences and his shipmates, however, I had a difficulty reading his racist comments about people of color who he continuously referred to as savages. Twain and his companions behave as a children on many excursions, poking fun of their guides, venturing off the ship during curfew, and running about stealing and breaking things with no respect for the property of others. The behavior of some of his shipmates is even worse: breaking off pieces of antiquity as souvenirs, firing guns as if they are vigilantes and pushing their pack animals to death. I have to admit, Twain's journal is long and when you finally reach the end, you feel as if you too have been on board this excursion and are thrilled to finally be home. I learned a lot about what it was like to travel in 1867 and what those countries were like at that time. All in all, I enjoyed the book, however, Mark Twain and I would probably not make good traveling companions.

Or ladies’ tea & book clubs:

ellen dawson

2.0 out of 5 stars Our book club read this and almost unanimously disliked this book

Our book club read this and almost unanimously disliked this book. It was racist and elitist. Unlike some of his other books, this did not withstand the passing of time. So many other books, too little time. Don't waste yours!

Or the products of our modern education system:

2.0 out of 5 stars I didn't care for it.

…. Twain seems to be grouchy and critical about everything, and it gets a bit tiresome. Maybe it's because I'm Catholic and in this book Twain is rabidly anti-Catholic. He makes insults about all of the churches that have relics of the True Cross and then gets to Jerusalem and admits that he's not surprised they don't have the True Cross because he's seen bits and pieces all over Europe. Uh-huh.

He picks on his fellow Protestant travelers for wanting to observe the Lord's Day, making them travel longer on the succeeding days and then admits later how nice it is to get really tired sometimes because the rest that follows is so pleasant. (It even puts him in a temporary good mood.) That's the point. He doesn't complain later when they make equally long trips for other reasons.

He gripes and complains about the monks carrying candles and chanting in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and how that ruins the ambiance for him and then admits later that this church the only place in Jerusalem he never gets tired of. I laughed right along with his sarcasms about guide books, but I felt he didn't add anything more insightful than the books and tourists he criticized. I didn't appreciate the prejudices or the jadedness with which he viewed most of Europe.

Her vanity, their “unfairness”

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(I had put together a draft about this story yesterday when it broke, and stashed it in my draft folder. Since then, better pundits than I have weighed in, so I’m just inserting three paragraphs of my draft before turning it over to the pros.)

Poor Trump — and I mean that, no sarcasm intended. After being betrayed during his entire first administration by his own people; hacks, incompetents and enemies all, he brought in his campaign manager Susie Wiles to serve as his chief of staff, a move that even Politico thought was going to be a sure winner, filling an article about the appointment with quotes from people touting her toughness, her shrewd tactical reasoning and, ironically, her modesty: “Wiles prefers to avoid the spotlight”.

As it turns out, the lady did not prefer to avoid the spotlight, thank you very much, and spent eleven hours over this past year with a reporter from a left wing magazine, dishing dirt on everyone around her boss, including his vice president, and now expresses shock that her words were, as they always say, “taken out of context”. Uh huh.

The point is, there was no possible benefit that could have accrued to Trump from this interview — none. It was all about and for Susie herself, and her pathetic need for attention. How fitting that she chose a publication called Vanity Fair as the outlet for her ambition.

Scott Pinsker:

What the Hell Was Susie Wiles Thinking?

It was the political equivalent of Bill Belichick’s teenybopper girlfriend — a moment so utterly incomprehensible, all you could do was shake your head in disbelief when you heard the news. “Wait… WHAT happened?!”

Only this time, it wasn’t an old man in his 70s lusting after a babe in her 20s (which, if we’re being honest, is at least straightforwardly explainable).

It was a woman in her late 60s with a well-earned reputation as a shrewd, disciplined taskmaster getting bamboozled by the mainstream media. Susie Wiles was supposed to be every bit the super-genius strategist, game-manager, and cat-herder as Bill Belichick was a football savant.

But after her selfish unforced error with Vanity Fair, of all publications — in which she roped in every single top White House official, other than Donald Trump! — I’m wondering if her similarities to Belichick should be expanded.

Because it turns out that Bill Belichick looks a helluva lot smarter when Tom Brady is his quarterback. Without TB12, Belichick went from a football savant to a twice-fired ex-NFL coach (who just went 4-8 at the University of North Carolina).

And without Trump, I suspect Susie Wiles would look just as ordinary.

If you haven’t heard, Wiles agreed to ELEVEN separate interviews with Vanity Fair over the course of the year, culminating in yesterday’s hatchet piece (and all those absurdly unflattering close-up portraits). Which meant she invested a whole lot of time and energy to help the mainstream media lambast the Trump administration.

To paraphrase Jay Leno’s 1995 opening question to Hugh Grant: What the hell was she thinking?!

…. the overwhelming majority of the time, the source is the vulnerable party; the journalist has all the leverage. The media gets the last word 100% of the time, because they’re the media. 

Everyone knows this!

Yet Susie Wiles trusted Vanity Fair so thoroughly, she gave the journalist such mic-dropping material as:

Trump, she told me, “has an alcoholic’s personality.” Vance’s conversion from Never Trumper to MAGA acolyte, she said, has been “sort of political.” The vice president, she added, has been “a conspiracy theorist for a decade.” Russell Vought, architect of the notorious Project 2025 and head of the Office of Management and Budget, is “a right-wing absolute zealot.” When I asked her what she thought of Musk reposting a tweet about public sector workers killing millions under Hitler, Stalin, and Mao, she replied: “I think that’s when he’s microdosing.”

And that was just in the first four paragraphs. (Hooray, another 140 to go.) In the article, she treated the journalist like he was her personal confidant, gossiping about Elon Musk’s (alleged) drug use, bashing cabinet members, critiquing Trump policy, and directly undermining ongoing criminal investigations.

That last one was a biggie.

This ran today on Zeteo, a leftist site:

Yesterday, after Vanity Fair published parts of its series of interviews with Donald Trump’s White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, my phone lit up with messages and calls from people working to impede the president’s authoritarian crusade to imprison a Who’s Who of his lengthy ‘enemies list.’ Some couldn’t believe their luck. “Thank God they’re this dumb,” one of these sources tells me.

Wiles told the magazine that Trump’s mission to prosecute New York Attorney General Letitia James “might be the one retribution.” When asked about Trump and his administration’s push to jail former FBI director James Comey, Wiles conceded: “I mean, people could think it does look vindictive. I can’t tell you why you shouldn’t think that.” She added that “when there’s an opportunity [for retribution], he will go for it.” Trump’s chief of staff told Vanity Fair that she and the president had “a loose agreement that the score settling will end before the first 90 days are over.” (Wiles, of course, failed to stop him.)

According to sources with direct knowledge of the matter, multiple attorneys working on the legal defenses for different high-profile political targets of the Trump Justice Department immediately started strategizing over a key portion of the Wiles interviews — for which the writer, Chris Whipple, says there are audio recordings.

By Tuesday afternoon, the sources tell me, lawyers for a variety of Trump targets — those facing prosecution, those likely in-between criminal charges, those who aren’t charged yet but are getting their lives turned inside out by the feds — saw the Wiles tapes as a welcome opportunity.

What the hell was she thinking?!

All interviews require trust. And it’s certainly possible in PR for the source and the journalist to be great friends. …. But the fundamental goal of a journalist is to tell the most exciting, newsworthy, and click-worthy story possible. Helping you look good is secondary.

If you straight-up tell a journalist that the president has an alcoholic’s personality, Musk is a “jacked-up Nosferatu” on ketamine, Trump and Epstein were “young single playboys together,” and Attorney General Pam Bondi “completely whiffed” in her investigations, you can’t complain when the journalist uses it.

That’s their job!

Given that Wiles is a divorced woman in her 60s, I imagine Vanity Fair held a special place in her heart. (Which I totally get: I grew up on Sports Illustrated, so if SI offered to do a big profile on me, I’d probably take it… because I’m now in my 50s and running out of time for my SI cover.) Not to be unkind to Wiles, but she’s not the sort of woman that a brand like Vanity Fair normally celebrates, so it’s reasonable to assume that she delighted in their interest.

It probably felt validating. Maybe, if she also has an alcoholic’s personality, even intoxicating.

But you can’t put your ego ahead of the team like that!

…. Don’t get me wrong: I’m sure her words were taken out of context. And I’m just as sure the journalist went out of his way to make her feel comfortable and at ease — which meant he probably pretended to be her friend.

(Welcome to political journalism, Susie.)

Bottom line? When you give a journalist juicy quotes like that, the [foul]-up is ALL on you. With her mouth, she handed Vanity Fair a loaded gun.

And then they used that gun to take shots at the Trump administration.

There’s more over on InstaPundit:

GOSH, LUCY PULLED THE FOOTBALL OUT FROM CHARLIE BROWN YET AGAIN: White House Does Damage Control After Susie Wiles Criticizes Trump, Top Officials in Candid Interviews.

But will there be room enough in Florida for their taxpayers once Mamdani refugees flood in from New York?

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Maryland to study slavery reparations after lawmakers override Dem governor's veto

With the veto override, SB 587 will now establish a commission to weigh possible forms of reparations, including official statements of apology, monetary compensation, property tax rebates, child-care support, debt forgiveness and higher education tuition waivers and reimbursements.

Presumably, the grifters pushing for this commission expect to receive great riches and, this being Maryland, they’ll probably get it. But the bill does allow for the legislature to simply mail out a polite letter of apology to all who might feel that their great-great-great-great-great-grandmothers were treated shabbily, and call it a day.

Or, and this would be my preference, they could go all out, and display their deep, deep contrition by gruntling the disgruntled with a firm, hearty handclasp. The oppressed deserve no less.

Peace, love, and fraud in Somaliland East

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who will empty our bed pans? apply our fixodent?

No word whether John Cooper or any of the other Greenwich Invisibles were wheeled up for the event, but a large contingent of the elderly from various diverse locations came into Lewiston, Maine yesterday to show their support for the Bantus. Billed as a public event, open to all, the reporter for Maine’s sole conservative news service discovered that he was not among the “all”. Wonder what they’re hiding, besides food stamps?

A Rally for Dignity—Until the Maine Wire Arrived

…. As I entered the public park, I was stopped by a person in a yellow vest—”security”—who asked, “Who are you with?” I joked that I came by myself. “No, you are the media. Who are you with?” I answered plainly and proudly: The Maine Wire. As I walked on, I heard the radio call behind me: “A guy from The Maine Wire is here.”

Near the gazebo, another man stepped in front of me and again demanded to know who I was with. He grabbed my press credential, which was hanging from a lanyard around my neck. “Stay here,” he said.

Standing next to Mayor Carl Sheline, I asked a basic question: Was there a permit for the event? “It’s a public park,” the man replied. I agreed. “So, no permit?” I excused myself and walked toward the gazebo.

That’s when a masked man grabbed my arm and told me I couldn’t be there. I explained I was taking photos in a public park and would be done in a moment. He pushed me toward the exit. I moved to the front of the park, spoke with attendees, and continued photographing.

…. After a beautiful rendition of the national anthem was sung by all in attendance, attendees were invited to walk across the street to the former church, now the Agora Grand Event Center, for Somali dance performances, tea, and snacks, a welcome warmth on a cold day.

…. At the door, a smiling volunteer told me, “No press.” I stayed outside, speaking with people in the parking lot, petting dogs, and interviewing Dr. Nirav Shah, the Democratic frontrunner for governor. …. When other media outlets arrived to interview him, I was told press was now being allowed inside.

Escorted Out

I entered with three other news organizations and set up for the speeches. U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner spoke first, delivering the same campaign speech I’ve covered before. As he wrapped up, a hand came down on my shoulder.

“You need to leave.”

Startled, I asked why. “You have to go.” I asked whether all media were being asked to leave or just me. “Just you.”

As I was escorted out, I asked who had made the decision and whether I could speak with them. “Nope. Private event. Get out.” Meanwhile, the other outlets remained.

Speaking of tax dollars

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If it saves the life of just one polar bear …

The RTM — “Go Net Zero!” — has approved a heating-cooling system that will end up costing twice what our local global warmists predict, break down consistently, and, when it fails, will collectively their hands up in the air and bewail the “bad luck” that ruined their dreams. “Who would ever have predicted this? Who could have?”

GREENWICH — Hamilton Avenue School is set to get a new geothermal HVAC system next September, after more than two years of political infighting over the project.

That’s thanks in part to the Representative Town Meeting, which overwhelmingly approved a $5.3 million bond to fund the replacement system at its meeting last week at Central Middle School.

The 142-18 vote to approve the project (and subsequent 149-2 vote to issue a bond to fund it) was achieved with very little dissent among the body, belying the months of partisan conflict in the town surrounding the project.

“Those voting yes felt it was time, after two years of discussion on this topic, to put this issue behind us,” said James Waters, the chairman of the RTM’s Budget Oversight Committee. “They felt it would be even more costly not to approve, in the interim, due to the ongoing monthly cost for the chillers.”

The school’s heating and cooling system failed in the summer of 2023, with Greenwich Public Schools facilities director Dan Watson saying at the time that it had been plagued by issues since at least 2009, and that it “wasn’t installed right, it wasn’t operated right, it wasn’t probably designed right.”

Initially, school district officials requested $3.2 million to replace the broken climate control system with a conventional, gas-burning replacement, but that was blocked by the RTM in December 2023. In the interim, the building has been renting cooling units and using its built-in boiler for heat.

In February of this year, the Board of Education reversed course, approving a $5.25 million geothermal system. But that funding did not make it into the town’s capital budget, after a portion was cut by Republicans on the Board of Estimation and Taxation in April in favor of a gas-burning system, over the vociferous objections of the board’s Democrats. 

But the RTM cut the remaining funding for the system in May, on the grounds that it wanted to follow the BOE’s recommendation for a geothermal system.

Now, they have their wish.

At last week’s meeting, the vast majority of RTM members backed the new solution for the school, which was recommended out of several of the body’s committees with virtually no dissent.

“The vote for (the RTM) Public Works (Committee) was 9-0-0, by unanimous consent, and comments were 'about time, let’s get it done,'” Chairman Cheryl Moss said.

The plans for the new geothermal system, as well as its cost estimates, were drawn up by consulting firm AECOM.

(Only) one voice in the wilderness

One RTM member, Mark Fichtel, District 4, did speak up about the concerns of those opposed to the project, including that there was not a sufficient explanation for the failure of the current geothermal system and that he thought the difference in savings — estimated to be approximately $158,000 over 25 years for geothermal over conventional — were not large enough to justify the risks of a new geothermal system breaking.

“I feel a little bit like Cassandra, who begged the Trojans not to bring the wooden horse into the walls,” Fichtel said. “We’re facing a situation where we’re subject to the sunk cost fallacy, which says that because we’ve invested so much time (in a geothermal system), we have to go forward, regardless of any risks.”

According to the timeline approved by the RTM, the school district will attempt to fill a bid for the contract by February, have work start in April and install the new system by the next school year in September 2026.

From Greenwich Time November 19, 2023:

This geothermal HVAC system is the only one of its kind among all the Greenwich Public School buildings. It was installed during a major renovation of the school following the discovery of mold in the early 2000s. Hamilton Avenue reopened in 2009 after years of repair work.

Geothermal systems move heat from one place to another using electricity, according to the Department of Energy. These systems are more energy efficient than traditional HVAC systems because they move existing heat around as opposed to burning fuel to create it. As a result, these systems are cheaper to operate and they produce fewer carbon emissions.

Watson said he is not opposed to geothermal technology in general during the BET meeting on Nov. 14, but that he is “dead set” against using it at Hamilton Avenue, because the district is not equipped to handle the system.

“Geothermal systems are not easy to properly maintain and operate. In our current staffing configuration and model, we do not have the capacity to provide the oversight and the hands-on needs for a system of this complexity,” Watson wrote in a memo to the BET.

The BET approved the BOE’s $3.2 million request on Monday, and it now heads to the Representative Town Meeting for approval at its Dec. 11 meeting. If approved, GPS would be on schedule to replace the Hamilton Avenue system in summer 2024.

Original estimate was $2.5 million, $3.2 by 2023, and, as of today, $5.25; I detect a trend.

Bonus reading material:

While searching for information on the history of the decision to use a geothermal HVAC system in Hamilton Avenue back in 2004 — I couldn’t find anything — I ran across this fun synopses of the Schools rebuilding odyssey, from the 2003 decision to fund it, to the start of construction, with an expected completion date the beginning of the 2007 school year, to the actual reopening date of February 18, 2009. Spoiler alert: things didn’t go as planned.