90 Miles From Tyranny

Saturday, October 19, 2019

Office Vacancies In China Hit Decade High Amid Economic Turmoil

A darkening outlook for China's economy continues to materialize week by week.

New data from commercial property group CBRE warns the country's office vacancy rate has just surged to the highest since the financial crisis of 2007–2008, first reported by Bloomberg.

CBRE said the vacancy rate for commercial office space in 17 major cities rose to 21.5% in 3Q19, a level not seen since the global economy was melting down in 2008.

Sam Xie, CBRE's head of research in China, said the recent "spike" in vacancies is one of the worst since the last financial crisis.

Catherine Chen, Cushman & Wakefield's head of research for Greater China, told Financial Times that soaring commercial office vacancies in China was mainly due to dwindling demand, but not oversupplied conditions.

"Contributing factors included slower expansion of co-working operators and financial services companies, and a general cost-saving strategy adopted by most tenants given ongoing trade tensions and economic growth slowdown," she added.

Henry Chin, head of research for Asia Pacific at CBRE, told Financial Times that macroeconomic headwinds relating to the trade war between the US and China were also a significant factor in rising office vacancies.

As shown in the Bloomberg chart below, using CBRE data, Shanghai and Shenzhen had the highest office vacancies than any other city, and both had around 20% of office spaces dormant.

"Contributing factors included slower expansion of co-working operators and financial services companies, and a general cost-saving strategy adopted by most tenants given ongoing trade tensions and economic growth slowdown," she added.Henry Chin, head of research for Asia Pacific at CBRE, told Financial Times that macroeconomic headwinds relating to the trade war between the US and China were also a significant factor in rising office vacancies.

As shown in the Bloomberg chart below, using CBRE data, Shanghai and Shenzhen had the highest office vacancies than any other city, and both had around 20% of office spaces dormant.

And with the global economy in a synchronized slowdown, global growth estimates are now printing at 3%, the slowest pace since the financial crisis. The Chinese economy will likely continue to slow, and could see domestic growth under 6% this year. This suggests that China's office space vacancies will continue to rise through year-end.Office Vacancies In China Hit Decade High Amid...

Hillary Clinton Asked To Leave Costco After Repeatedly Accusing Sample Lady Of Being A Russian Asset

WASHINGTON, D.C.—According to sources at a DC-area Costco, failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton was asked to leave Costco again after repeatedly accusing a lady handing out food samples of being a Russian asset.

It wasn't clear how Clinton had ended up in the Costco, as she usually has her servants' servants go to the market for her. Some suggested she wanted to disguise herself and go be among her subjects to see how the other 99% lives.

Whatever the case, the sample lady had apparently offered the failed presidential candidate a small paper cup of orange juice and told her the packs were on sale for $9.49 when the incident occurred.

"Orange... orange like Trump!" Clinton screamed suddenly, frightening the poor food demonstration worker. "You're in league with him, aren't you!?" The failed presidential candidate lunged across the cart and attempted to pull off her face mask, certain the lady was actually Vladimir Putin in a skin suit.

When that failed and the woman shooed her off with a plastic glove, Clinton turned for help and began screaming, "Security! Margaret in the frozen foods aisle is a Russian asset! Help, help, our elections are being meddled with!"

Guards arrived but relaxed when they saw it was just Hillary Clinton. "OK, lady, let's go," they said, grabbing her by each arm.

"Thank goodness you're here!" Clinton cried. "Arrest that woman! Can't someone help me out!?"

"Oh yeah, sure, lady, we'll help you out," the guards said, snickering as they dragged her toward the...

Poor Joe, He Just Wants To Set A Flame In Baracks' Heart....

I don't want to set the world on fire

I just want to start a flame in your heart

In my heart I have but one desire

And that one is you No other will do

I've lost all ambition for worldly acclaim

I just want to be the one you love

And with your admission that you feel the same

I'll have reached the goal I'm dreaming of Believe me

I don't want to set the world on fire
I just want to start a flame in your heart

10 Reasons Democrats Shouldn’t Want Joseph Biden Nominated

Even before he announced he was running for president, Joseph Biden was the frontrunner[1] to receive the Democratic National Convention’s nomination for president. If he is successful in this effort that will do away with many worries about the 2020 election. However, only the formerly worried Republicans will be correct to be relieved. Biden’s career and current positions not only put him out of step with the American left wing, but with America in general in ways that will ensure the White House and many offices down ballot remain under Republican control. Moving the party to the left or moving to the center are both tough pills to swallow for the voters and leadership, but choosing Biden is a cyanide tablet.

10Vote for Disastrous War

When Biden voted on October 2, 2002[2] in favor of the resolution to invade Iraq, no one could have known it was committing the US to a military conflict that would stretch out over seventeen years so far and would leave more than four thousand American soldiers and by some estimates more than a million Iraqi civilians dead. What is known is that his claim of immediately regretting his vote in favor of the resolution does not match his public statements around that time at all. In an interview with CNN[3] on March 19, 2003, he said that everyone in congress should be resolute in their support of the president and the troops, which he considered a single entity. As Politifact[4] reported, nine months after his vote he said “I would vote that way again today.” Whatever your opinion on the cost benefit of the War in Iraq, a 2019 Pew Research Poll[5] found that 62% of civilians felt the war was not worth fighting. The veterans were actually slightly more opposed to it, with 64% feeling it was a mistake. President Trump certainly wasn’t timid in attacking the decision on the campaign trail, calling it the “worst mistake in US history”[6] and calling out Hillary Clinton for also voting in favor of it. It could be Biden’s Achilles heel, except said heel would be the size of Biden’s entire body.

9Sentencing Discrepancy

Much has been made of Biden writing the 1994 crime bill[7] that was a major factor in American mass incarceration through providing grant money to states that had prisoners serve out more of their sentences. Additionally there was his hardline opposition to desegregation bussing, as fellow candidate Kamala Harris pointed out at length. Neither of those were anywhere near as damning as actions he took during the crack epidemic of the 1980s. In 1986, Biden crafted the Anti-Drug Abuse Act[8] which passed with bipartisan approval. The bill was apparently insufficiently reviewed as many were surprised that it included a provision that powder cocaine carried less of a sentence than crack cocaine, and since crack was m uch more prevalent in poor African American communities that led to disproportionate sentences. It was so harmful that in 2002 Biden denounced his own bill and in 2019 his campaign released a plan to belatedly undo some of the stipulations of the Act. As candidate Cory Booker explained during a debate, there are many black communities that are vividly aware of what his bill inflicted on them.

8Defense of Marriage Act Vote

Today gay marriages enjoy sufficient mainstream support that a 2019 Gallup poll[9] said roughly 63% of Americans are fine with them being legal, including 79% of Democrat and 44% of Republican party members. Yet Biden has a very glaring blemish on his voting record regarding LGBT marriage rights. He stood by the problematic vote for more than a decade. On September 21, 1996, the Defense of Marriage Act[10] which had been sponsored by Republican representative Bob Barr went into effect. It banned all same-sex marriage partners from receiving federal benefits. Joe Biden voted for it. Granted, at the time, banning same-sex marriage was popular enough the bill passed the House and the Senate with veto-proof majorities. Still, considering the extent to which his campaign is depending on good will towards the Obama Administration for such measures as the federal legalization of gay marriage, this significantly works against his claims of being a LGBT ally.

7Limited Exposure/Small Crowds

The beginning of several Democratic presidential campaigns in 2019 were marked by large crowds. Kamala Harris had roughly 30,000[11] at her first rally in Oakland, California. Bernie Sanders had 13,000 at a Brooklyn rally in winter weather. Joe Biden’s largest rally was in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and it numbered about 6,000. Maximum. Crowds of grassroots supporters are the lifeblood of any major campaign. By May 2019 it was reported that Biden switched from addressing relatively small public crowds to primarily attending big donor fundraising events in what was dubbed a “campaign of limited exposure.”[12] Even before that, in a four week period he only held eleven events, about as many as former candidate Kristen Gillibrand held over a weekend. Hillary Clinton’s[13] 2016 campaign had a similar problem.

6Clarence Thomas Hearings

1991 feels like a lifetime ago. Still it was only in March 2019 that Biden took steps to apologize for something he did at the time. Biden oversaw the hearings for the appointment of Clarence Thomas[14] to the Supreme Court, an event that is largely remembered today for the accusations of sexual harassment against Thomas by Anita Hill. Joseph Biden denied three witnesses corroborating Hill’s testimony time to testify. He was noted for being particularly harsh with Hill, which no doubt helped the extremely conservative judge onto the Supreme Court. Consequently when Biden’s campaign reached out to her when he began his campaign for the presidency, Hill did not accept his apology. If you’re unfamiliar with Clarence Thomas’s rulings and don’t understand why that would be such a big deal for voters today, a single ruling paints a grim picture. For the 2013 case of Shelby County V Holder,[15] the court ruled in a 5-to-4 decision that states and local offices did not need federal approval for changes in voting practices. That meant many districts cut down early voting days, closed hundreds of polling places, and purged many people from voting rolls, a disproportionate number of them minorities. In short, Biden was a significant factor in taking functional voting rights away from countless black people throughout the South. That’s not something those voters are any more likely to forget than they forgot Hillary Clinton’s use of the word “superpredator.”