"Millennial homeownership fell from a three-year high of 36 percent in the fourth quarter of last year back to 35.3 percent in the first quarter of this year, according to the U.S. Census."

"Millennials make up the largest share of those seeking starter homes, a portion of the market that saw inventory plummet 14.2 percent and prices leap nearly 10 percent year-over-year in Q1 2017," wrote Cheryl Young, chief economist at Trulia."

"Vacancy rates are down for both owned properties and rentals, meaning there will be no easing in today's high rents, which should be another impetus for renters to become homeowners. But those high rents make it hard for young buyers to save for a down payment.

Could an industrial prehuman civilization have existed on Earth before ours?

Frank was there to discuss the idea of studying global warming from an "astrobiological perspective" -- that is, investigating whether the rise of an alien industrial civilization on an exoplanet might necessarily trigger climate changes similar to those we see during Earth's own Anthropocene. But almost before Frank could describe how one might search for the climatic effects of industrial "exocivilizations" on newly discovered planets, Schmidt caught him up short with a surprising question: "How do you know we're the only time there's been a civilization on our own planet?"

Frank considered a moment before responding with a question of his own: "Could we even tell if there had been an industrial civilization [long before this one]?"

"The jury will decide what consent means to them,"

Los Angeles Times | April 25, 2018
Supreme Court seems headed toward upholding Trump's third try at a travel ban - "The Supreme Court's conservative justices sounded ready Wednesday to uphold President Trump's travel ban as a national security measure. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justice Anthony M. Kennedy said federal law gives the president, not the courts, the power to weigh threats from immigrants."

... I think it's merely a matter of time before the judicial legacy of the Roberts Court is forever soiled by its very own Dred Scott-like decision, particularly when four of the justices appear to have their own agenda, and are resolutely determined to not see the forest for the trees.

Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Shubert announced the arrest of former Auburn, CA police officer Joseph James DeAngelo, 72, after a DNA sample came back as a match to the elusive suspect in at least 12 homicides and 45 rapes throughout California in the 1970s and '80s.

The search for the Golden State Killer recently received renewed public interest thanks to the true-crime book "I'll Be Gone In The Dark" by the late Michelle McNamara, who died suddenly before finishing it. Her widower, comedian Patton Oswalt, took it upon himself to ensure completion of his wife's book, which was finally published in February of this year.

Let's hope that today's news marks the long-waited first step in a much-needed process of healing and closure for the many victims and their families who were terrorized by this serial killer / rapist.

Rudy

If for no other reason that he is making this administration look laughably incompetent and hypocritical.

Day 1)
De hazazy bututterfly assending
Ease a jagagged bananawing
Clambambering intintoo mudrain
Uppsing thee blurrious mounountain

it has been almost 30 years since the release of the seminal film "Paris Is Burning," which documented New York's House and Ball community in the 1980s. Interconnected in the narrative were the triumphs and struggles of the performers who electrified the floor during balls. While they vogued with unparalleled precision and vitality, these mostly low-income LGBTQ people of color also had to reckon with oppression. They were largely marginalized, if not shunned completely, from mainstream society.

But the underground balls were an outlet of reclamation, voguing a medium of communication and agency. "You can have a whole conversation with voguing without even saying a word," prominent ballroom commentator Precious Ebony tells Salon. "It's a form of storytelling."

The powerful story of this subculture created for and by LGBTQ people of color lives on in the new series "My House," which premieres Wednesday night on Viceland. "My House" follows a new generation of ballroom stars who provide an "insider's guide" to New York's current, hyper-competitive scene. Houses, which form the organizational structure of the community, are surrogate families who adopt a house name as their surname. They include a "house mother," "house father" and "children."

Also STONEHURST ASYLUM
I found this on NETFLIX.  Never heard of it.   Really good.  Great cast.

Former Trump campaign manager and administration official Steve Bannon ordered Cambridge Analytica staff to test messaging around Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian expansion in 2014, Cambridge Analytica whisteblower Christopher Wylie told House Democrats this week.

"It was the only foreign issue, or foreign leader, I should say, being tested at the time I was there," Wylie told Democrats from the House judiciary and oversight committees, according to excerpts the lawmakers released today drawn from a Tuesday briefing with Wylie. Under Bannon's instruction, the firm discussed Putin with focus groups and was "also testing images of Vladimir Putin and asking questions about Russian expansion in Eastern Europe," Wylie said.

Impeachment by prior crimes could alternatively be viewed as a practical counterbalance to the fifth amendment, allowing the prosecution minimal latitude in telling the factfinder about the background of a defendant who chooses to step out from behind the shield of the fifth amendment to assert his innocence. The defendant with a criminal record is thereby prevented from presenting himself to the jury as naively innocent. Many courts harbor this view of Rule 609."

he Daily Beast has suspended Joy-Ann Reid's column following allegations that the prominent political commentator made homophobic remarks on her now-defunct blog a decade ago. Reid, who claims the offensive content is the work of hackers, will remain on air as a host of MSNBC's weekend morning program "AM Joy."

Noah Shachtman, executive editor of The Daily Beast, sent a memo to the outlet's staff Wednesday announcing the decision. "We're going to hit pause on Reid's columns," the memo said. The news was first reported by CNN's Oliver Darcy.

I just watched the first episode.  It's very good.
Different and possibly better than the recent film.

There have been five episodes (I think) I'm sure you can stream them from the FX app.

'Trust' Bosses Have Three-Season Plan for FX Getty Drama

Trust is inspired by the actual events surrounding the disappearance of the teen grandson to J. Paul Getty Sr. (played by Donald Sutherland) and heir to the Getty oil fortune, and takes place in 1973. During the course of 10 episodes, the drama will take a deep dive into the complex kidnapping and the reasons why the richest man in the world refused to pay a multimillion-dollar ransom, which he could certainly afford, in order to return his grandson to safety.

Led by Sutherland as the Getty patriarch, the stellar cast includes Hilary Swank, who plays the mother of the missing boy, Gail Getty, and Brendan Fraser, who steps in as Getty's security chief, James Fletcher Chace, also the show's narrator. (Those roles were played by Christopher Plummer, Michelle Williams and Mark Wahlberg, respectively, in Ridley Scott's recent big-screen telling, All the Money in the World.) But Trust also widens out as an ensemble to bring Paul Getty III (Harris Dickinson) and his father J. Paul Getty Jr. (Michael Esper), as well as other members of the Getty family and girlfriends of Getty Sr., into the fold.

The Republican-led House intelligence committee on Friday officially cleared the Trump campaign of colluding with Russia in the 2016 presidential campaign, releasing its final report over Democratic objections and ending its probe.

James Comey was born in Yonkers, NY in 1960 and when he was around 10 his family moved to northern New Jersey where he was bullied as a chubby teenager.  He tells us that he didn't have his growth spurt to his 6'8" until after high school. He decided early that he wanted to fight bullies especially after he participated in a incident, while a freshman at William and Mary, in which the dorm room of an eccentric student was trashed.  He also is very hard on liars so is still apologetic about the years he told associates, when asked, that he played basketball in college in order not have to go into why he didn't.  He received his JD from the University of Chicago but does not discuss his years there in the book.  He is of Irish descent but apparently a Protestant since the non biblical quotes are from MLK, Luther and Martin Niemoller.  Also he majored in Chemistry and Religion as a premed student at William and Mary, a Protestant school.  He tells us he didn't vote in the last presidential election but his wife and daughters voted for Clinton.  He doesn't mention for whom his surviving son Brien voted.  

There is a good account of the headline cases he was involved in in his years as a federal legal official. As an Assistant Federal Prosecutor in NYC, in private practice, Chief Federal Prosecutor of the New York Office, Assistant Attorney General, Director of the FBI, he dealt with Cosa Nostra (bosses there and loyalty pledges were a foreshadow of his later experience with Trump), death of Vince Foster, Martha Stewart, Scooter Libby, argument with Cheney/Addington about surveillance and torture programs (famous incident by Ashcroft's hospital bed; Addington was another example of an extreme bully) and of course the Clinton emails.  

The latter is the most controversial aspect of his career up to now.  I don't find the defense of his actions all that convincing.  He uses the word "transparency" over and over to describe his goal for the FBI during the investigation.  I guess that means clarity.  But what clarity to whom and why?  There are several articles on the Lawfare blog that dissect Comey's statements in this matter.  The basic criticism is that the FBI is an investigative agency and should just deal in the facts.  It was up to his superiors Sally Yates and Loretta Lynch to decide on whether or not there should be a prosecution.  Why the heck was Comey the one in front of Congress and cameras three times to tell the status of the investigation during the election season?  He cites the report on the Michael Brown case in Ferguson Missouri as a precedent.  However, that was issued by the Justice Department, not the FBI, and was a detailed review of the evidence collected by the FBi and why DOJ did not think prosecution of Officer Darren Wilson was warranted.  No such report was issued in the Clinton emails case.

Brokaw is a pompous ass.  His time has passed.  Go into the light.

NBC's Tom Brokaw denies allegation of sexual impropriety in 1990s: reports

   Some have called it rambling, incoherent, and, even, unhinged.  And, it is all of those and more.   The best scenario is that Doc Ronny was providing calmatives to help him with his play date with Macron  And, then, needed something to get him back up, after being let down by Macron's betrayal in his speech to Congress. An unrequited bromance seems to have set off stressors.  But, alas, it is more likely just Trump being Trump after being told to act nice for a while and, later, he can let everything go any way he wants.  All the "adults" seem to have gone out for a pack of cigarettes and never returned. He is on his own.