Vancouver B.C.s limitless luxury not so limitless for now.
For now, Vancouver B.C.’s limitless luxury is not so limitless. Charles Mudede

Foreign Buyer Tax In Vancouver B.C. Appears to Have Worked a Little Too Well: Though British Columbia’s finance ministry still claims that foreign capital plays a very small role in Vancouver’s property market, the high tax on foreign home buyers (15 percent on a purchase), which was imposed earlier this month, has “frozen” a market that was “ultrahot.” The Vancouver Sun: “[An] indication of just how powerful a force offshore buying had become in the Lower Mainland, [Multiple Listing Service] figures shows that the high-priced areas with the highest percentages of foreign buyers — according to government statistics and real estate agents — are now suffering the steepest drop-offs.”

The ugly numbers are freaking out realtors. Will this be the end of a dream? Will the tax really cut down for good the giant beanstalk that rises to the golden eggs? Will prices fall and fall? As for the claim in the Seattle Times that the market was already cooling, it’s only saying this: The market and not government action has caused the sudden freeze. The market is, according to this old reading of all things economical, always one or two steps ahead of the government.

Sound Transit’s Angle Lake Station to Open on September 24: The sad thing is that much of the talk about this new station, which extends south from the SeaTac/Airport Station and is expected to add 5,400 boardings a day during the working week, is not that it will help in the fight against global warming or improve the lives (physically and mentally) of thousands of people who have been stressed to their very bones by bad traffic but that it came $40 million under budget. But the truth of the matter is we shouldn’t care so much about the cost of building this and future stations. In the long run, the benefits of this system will far surpass the value of the money we put into it.

Fire In Puyallup Destroys Dozens of School Buses: It is not known what caused the fire, but it burned 10 buses to their frames, damaged 26 other buses, exploded tires, and miraculously injured no one. The thick black smoke from the fires, which raged at a maintenance barn for the school district’s buses, rose high into the afternoon sky.

Is Portland Public School Ban on Rap Music on School Buses Racist? This March, Portland Public Schools officials banned stations that play religious music, rap music, and talk shows. Not banned are stations that play pop, country, and jazz. The reason for banning rap is because of “profanity and violent lyrics.” Yesterday, The Oregonian reported that some feel the ban is racist and that country music is no better than rap when it comes to decency. “Country music is offensive. It’s about date rape, liquor and drugs—all kinds of things,” said Ryan-Onken, a senior at Roosevelt High School. The Oregonian also pointed out that in 2012, Foster the People’s “Pumped Up Kicks” was popular with teens, but “beneath the veneer of bubblegum pop are unmistakably dark lyrics about a school shooting.” The only thing I can agree with (and is uncomplicated in this complicated matter) is the ban on religious music and the promotion of jazz.

Advocates Propose Major Changes to Encampment Sweeps, New Protections for Homeless People: Heidi Groover reports that “several high-profile advocacy groups soundly rejected Murray’s task force idea,” chastised him “for the ongoing sweeps,” and proposed “a more direct alternative” to the problem. That alternative consists of rules that would place restrictions on how the city sweeps homeless humans from its streets.

Death Toll From Earthquake in Italy Nearing 250: The earthquake occurred on Wednesday, had a magnitude of 6.2, rocked Rome, and devastated several towns. Many of the dead were asleep when their homes were reduced to rubble.

Blabbermouth Podcast Asks: WTF Is a “Neoliberal”? This is a very good question. Well, Hillary Clinton is one. So is Obama. And so was Jimmy Carter. Weirdly enough, Nixon wasn’t a neoliberal. He was instead the last of the great New Deal presidents, which is why Bernie Sanders is in fact closer to him than to Hillary. Sanders is not a neoliberal. As for Trump, he is neoliberalism on crack.

University of Texas Students Wave Sex Toys at Rally Against State Law That Permits Concealed Guns On Campuses: Why? Because the law is obscene.

Miami Graffiti Artist to Rich Property Owners: “YOUR MILLION DOLLAR HOUSES WILL SOON BE UNDERWATER.” The Miami Herald, an excellent paper when it comes to covering Miami’s overpriced property market and the realities of global warming, called it “a grim prediction.”

Humans Still Dreaming of Another Earth When They Are Already On as Good an Earth as Any: Believe me, we will not change our planet like we change our cars.

Charles Mudede—who writes about film, books, music, and his life in Rhodesia, Zimbabwe, the USA, and the UK for The Stranger—was born near a steel plant in Kwe Kwe, Zimbabwe. He has no memory...