This isn’t Moscow or Beijing. It’s Chicago. Masked federal agents grabbed U.S. citizens protesting ICE and threw them into an unmarked van. “Who are you? Where are you taking them?” people shouted. “You are kidnapping them!” What has America become?

Thank you to @RossBarkan and the @the_met_review for publishing an essay I wrote on Trump, Faust and @_aliabbasi_ The Apprentice film! It’s an original take on a timeless legend and the man who has dominated our public life for the last decade: metropolitanreview.org/p/ame…

Abrego Garcia's wife: "I will not stop fighting until I see my husband alive. Kilmar, if you can hear me, stay strong. God hasn't forgotten about you. Our children are asking when you will come home ... they miss their dad so much."

If you only watch one thing today, make it this:

The 4 gas giants captured by the James Webb Telescope

In 1977, Jorge Luis Borges, one of the most influential 20th c. Spanish-language writers, told William F. Buckley (whose first language was Spanish) his reasons for feeling, age 78, that English was 'far finer' than his native tongue. Right or wrong, I love his savor for language

How GenAI Threatens the Use of Office Space in the U.S. — @commobserver // @brianpascus // #CRE commercialobserver.com/2024/…

You already made your statement, Donald.

Shawn Fain 2028. There’s no better alternative and there will be no better alternative between now and then. There should be a prominent campaign from a labor-left figure in every election after that too.

How many years till Sports Gambling addiction becomes a massive problem in the USA. The number of college aged (and younger) kids obsessed with gambling is way too high, and nearly every platform and league are promoting the *f* out of gambling to their fans.

Here lies the internet, murdered by generative AI, by @erikphoel open.substack.com/pub/erikho…

If you’re curious about real estate distress and what happens when borrowers default on their loans, check out @commobserver new feature on “Handing Back the Keys”: commercialobserver.com/2023/…

Short story long: You don’t just “give back the keys. Thank you @brianpascus at the @commobserver for including my thoughts!! “There’s a high level of tribalism,” said Shlomo Chopp, managing partner at Terra Strategies, a real estate advisory firm that specializes in distress. “Usually when a borrower gets involved, it gets contentious.”  “You can’t not operate the property, or you’d violate some recourse carve-out triggers … then tenants put you in default and the lender doesn’t have cash flow,” explained Chopp. “Borrowers think they can do that, but you can’t tell a lender, ‘I’m leaving.’ You can’t just send back the keys and say, ‘Take it,’ because there’s no clause for that in loan documents.”  While every nonrecourse loan document carries language specifying that the lender won’t pursue money judgments against the borrower, but rather only a judgment to foreclose on the property, there are two exceptions: above-the-line recourse items and below-the-line recourse items, both of which allow the lender to go after the borrower personally, according to Chopp.  Above-the-line items include allegations that the borrower committed fraud, failed to cover insurance payments, or committed waste or damage to the building, and the lender needs to prove this before submitting a money judgment for the damages. Below-the-line judgments occur mainly when the borrower declares bankruptcy, which triggers full recourse against the borrower, even beyond the damages.   Between January and March 2023, there have been roughly $3.7 billion in new maturity defaults with CMBS unable to be paid off on time, while the aggregate amount of CMBS debt in maturity default has increased 28 percent over the past 12 months, according to CRED iQ, a national data analytics firm.  “Oh, my gosh, there’s a problem here,” said Chopp. “I would liken what’s happening now to if we had a downturn just as Henry Ford came out with the car and we had a lot of horse and buggy loans due.  “It’s not what it used to be. A lot of office just isn’t viable in its current form.”  commercialobserver.com/2023/…

This @commobserver piece by @brianpascus about our Q2 2023 Cap Rate Report is super informative about why cap rates matter in CRE investment, as well as what they are telling us about public and private valuations at this point in the macroeconomic cycle. tinyurl.com/5b95hetp

ESA's Mars Express orbiter has dropped a new image of the red planet

"It's a big problem," Commercial Observer Reporter @brianpascus says on the changing conditions for loan borrowers within commercial real estate. "What we've seen is the highest interest rate increase in 40 years, engineered by the Federal Reserve."

There’s Blood in the Water and the sharks are circling: Private Equity is prepared to pounce on the generational distress unfolding in commercial real estate capital markets right now. Read about it here by @commobserver : commercialobserver.com/2023/…

Many economists believe more regional banking consolidation is ahead as the credit crisis continues. Read our feature on the state of banking in @commobserver : commercialobserver.com/2023/…

If you’re interested in understanding the debt ceiling fight—and the consequences on commercial real estate capital markets—read our new feature from @commobserver on the implications of default: commercialobserver.com/2023/…

I spoke with multiple economists who believe the failure of #FirstRepublicBank could indicate the beginnings of a financial crisis similar to what happened in the late 1980s and early 1990s with S&Ls. Check it out on @commobserver : commercialobserver.com/2023/…