Month: December 2018

The 5 Most Insane Campus Free Speech Controversies Of 2018

Authored by Grace Gottschling via Campus Reform,

This year was full of liberal elites on college campuses doing their darnedest to try to silence conservatives. The list made coming up with just five quite the tall task. But, as with anything else, Campus Reform is always up for a challenge.

That said, here are the five most insane college campus free speech controversies of 2018. 

1. Gonzaga cites Christian mission in rejecting Ben Shapiro event

In November, Gonzaga University, a Christian college, refused to allow conservative pundit Ben Shapiro from speaking at the college. 

Shapiro had been invited by Gonzaga’s College Republicans chapter, but was ultimately rejected from being able to speak because of the perceived likelihood of protests. The college also argued that Shapiro’s speech would go against the university’s mission statement.

“Mr. Shapiro’s appearances routinely draw protests that include extremely divisive and hateful speech and behavior, which is offensive to many people, regardless of their age, politics or beliefs,” vice president of student development, Judi Biggs Garbuio told the College Republicans.

2. Leftists call cops to report conservative free speech event

During a “Change My Mind” event in May, hosted by the Young  Americans for Freedom chapter at the University of Texas at San Antonio, liberal students protested and called campus security multiple times.

Campus Reform correspondent Peyton Dillberg who attends the University of  Texas at San Antonio wrote an op-ed on the campus culture and what took place at the “Change My Mind” table. Check out his op-ed here.

3. Students ask Oklahoma State to punish ‘insensitive’ speech

In January, a student group at Oklahoma State University, called “The Four Percent,” sent a list of demands to the college, which include mandatory diversity training and punishments for certain speech that may be viewed as “racially insensitive.” The group also specified that students who violate the proposed rules “would be subject to sanctions.”

OSU President Burns Hargis responded to the demands, stating “we will review the ideas presented by the students as we continue to look for ways to improve. We remain committed to working with all Oklahoma State students to create a culture and environment that are welcoming to all and a model for others.”

4. Lawsuit claims U of Illinois muzzled student journalists

Back in April, three University of Illinois students filed a lawsuit accusing the university of violating their First Amendment rights to free speech and freedom of the press.

The students, who were journalists reporting for Campus Reform on campus issues, claim to have been punished for reporting on an anti-Trump rally, where two of the journalists were allegedly assaulted by a university employee. 

One student in the lawsuit claims that a university administrator directly told him to stop reporting for Campus Reform if he wanted the situation to improve. The lawsuit is currently ongoing.

5. Entire class punished for ‘microaggressive’ comments

At  Columbia University, a professor disciplined an entire class for using “racially microaggressive” language in a course-related online discussion board. Students were given extra reading assignments focused on “white identity” and “microaggressions”  as a punishment.

The professor, who described the incident in an academic journal article, reported the microaggressions to Columbia administration and during the next class period, racially segregated the students into “affinity groups.” One group was comprised of white students and  another group was comprised of “People of the Global Majority.”

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“I Had To Quit For My Sanity”: Teachers Resigning At Highest Rate Ever Recorded

Teachers and other public education employees are quitting their jobs at the fastest pace on record after roughly 10% of the industry quit over a 12 month period ending in October, according to data from the Labor Department.

While US workers overall at the highest rate since 2001 amid a tight labor market and historically low unemployment, quitting a job in education is notable since the field is known for stability and rewarding longevity, reports the Wall Street Journal‘s Michelle Hackman and Eric Morath. 

The educators may be finding new jobs at other schools, or leaving education altogether: The departures come alongside protests this year in six states where teachers in some cases shut down schools over tight budgets, small raises and poor conditions.

In the first 10 months of 2018, public educators quit at an average rate of 83 per 10,000 a month, according to the Labor Department. While that is still well below the rate for American workers overall—231 voluntary departures per 10,000 workers in 2018—it is the highest rate for public educators since such records began in 2001. –WSJ

Sara Jorve, a 43-year-old fifth-grade math and science teacher from Oklahoma, protested alongside other teachers last spring for better pay and classroom conditions – eventually quitting in May after a dozen years as an educator. Jorve, a single mother, said she had to rely on her parents for financial assistance due to the meager pay – though she returned during the summer to become a cardiovascular ultrasound technician. 

“I had to quit for my sanity,” said Jorve.

The rising number of departures among public education workers is in contrast with 2009, when the economy was first emerging from a deep recession. Then, the rate was just 48 per 10,000 public education workers, a record low.

“During the recession, education was a safe place to be,” said Julia Pollak, labor economist at ZipRecruiter.

That year, the unemployment rate touched 10%, the highest since the 1980s. This year, the jobless rate fell to 3.7%, the lowest reading since 1969. That has created very different incentives for teachers and their public education colleagues.

“It’s a more boring place now, and they see their friends finding exciting opportunities,” Ms. Pollak said. –WSJ

Since 2015 school districts have reported a shortage of qualified teachers to fill open slots, which resulted in more states opening temporary teaching jobs to underqualified applicants, according to the Learning Policy Institute. Qualified teachers leaving the field at a record pace will likely exacerbate that trend, according to the Journal. 

In the 12 month period ending in October, one million people quit the public education sector according to the most recent Labor Department data, out of more than 10 million Americans in the field. 

Compounding the situation is the fact that while the private-sector largely recovered from the recession years ago, education workers are still feeling the effects – as funding for public education across several states still hasn’t recovered from cuts made during the downturn. 

Public education budgets are down at least 7% from 2009 levels in at least 12 states, adjusting for inflation, according to the left-leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities – which analyzed census data. Meanwhile, teacher pay is now 5% lower than it was in 2009 according to data from the National Education Association – the largest teachers union in the country. 

Wages and salaries for public-education workers rose 2.2% in the third quarter from a year earlier, not adjusting for inflation. That matched the largest annual raise in nearly a decade, but was still well below the 3.1% annual increase in pay private-sector workers received in the third quarter, according to the Labor Department. –WSJ

Also putting the squeeze on teachers are those who took out expensive student loans to get master’s degrees. 

Teachers have been striking across the country over low pay and per-pupil funding levels – in some cases resulting in classroom shutdowns for as many as nine school days. The result? Some teachers achieved moderate gains in the states where the strikes occurred; with teachers in West Virginia, Oklahoma and Arizona all receiving raises. 

The protests also spotlighted the dismal state of the educational system. 

“Part of it was compensation,” said Alice Cain EVP of Teach Plus – a policy organization that works with a network of 26,000 teachers. “But part of this was that their students weren’t valued, and that the public education system in our country isn’t a priority in so many places.”

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House Democrats Settle On Strategy To Reopen Government, Deny Funding For Wall

House Democrats have decided how they are going to proceed in their attempts to reopen the government when they take control of the House Thursday, according to the Washington Post. 

Democrats plan to pass a stopgap spending bill to fund the Homeland Security Department through Feb. 8. The legislation would continue existing levels of border funding without giving President Trump the new wall money he is seeking.

It is the same bill that the Senate passed unanimously the week before Christmas — before Trump decided he wasn’t going to support it, leading to the partial government shutdown that began Dec. 22. –WaPo

Six additional bills will also be rolled out to reopen federal agencies which have been closed for more than a week, resulting in the furlough of hundreds of thousands of federal employees. 

The House Democrats’ plan would fully fund the agencies in question until September 30. 

As the Post notes, it is unknown how the Senate – which remains under Republican control – will respond, however we’re fairly certain it’s DOA per President Trump’s promise to veto any legislation that does not contain the $5 billion he seeks in funding for a wall on the southern US border. 

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Tesla Slides on Report of Over 3,300 Model 3s in Inventory

The end of the year push to try and sell vehicles using a $7,500 Federal tax credit as a bargaining chip appears to be falling flat on its face for Tesla. A new report by electrek published on New Year’s Eve says that Tesla still has over 3,300 Model 3 vehicles in its U.S. inventory, which sent the stock sliding lower by about 2% in morning trading.

The inventory is despite Elon Musk pumping that deliveries were available on Twitter – and the company even trying to get its own employees to purchase a vehicle in order to move inventory.

At one point, Musk even told Tesla employees that they could apply their accrued time off toward the purchase of a vehicle. 

The Federal tax incentive dropping to $3,750 at the beginning of 2019 was supposed to be a huge end-of-year demand driver for the company, who reportedly had the goal of liquidating every car it had in inventory in the United States as it closes out a crucial fourth quarter. Now, not only does it look like this isn’t going to happen, but according to the electrek report, Tesla actually “managed to build some inventory” instead. 

The consensus from Tesla supporters was that the phaseout of the tax credit would easily push the company past its goal for the quarter. Despite the fact that 3,300 vehicles isn’t a significant sum of inventory, the notion that inventory is reportedly building, instead of being drawn upon, may be a red flag.

This, again, comes on top of recent news that Tesla is now has offered to shell out cash for those who have who will miss the full tax credit benefit due to delivery problems – and that Tesla had again lowered its prices in China, where work on its new Gigafactory 3 appears to be on hold.

For now, we’ll leave you with the analysis of the pro-Tesla bloggers over at electrek, who stated…

Tesla might be seeing peak demand for the current Model 3 configurations in the US.

…and then added:

But in the US, I think most potential buyers are now waiting for the cheaper version of the Model 3.

Which raises a good question: where is that $35,000 Model 3 anyway?

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US Stocks Tumble Into Red As Europe Ends Worst Year In A Decade

Having hovered higher overnight, US stock markets slid from their open and dropped into the red for the day as European markets closed their worst year since 2008…

 

Europe was a bloodbath with the Stoxx 600 down 13% in 2018, its biggest loss since 2008…

 

And as Project Fear kicked in, The FTSE 100 ended 2018 down 12% – also its worst year since 2008…but Germany’s DAX was worst

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Trump Taunts Hypocritical Democrats Over Border Security Flip-Flop

As the partial government shutdown approaches its tenth day, President Trump fired off a few Monday morning tweets from the Oval Office, calling out Democrats for their changing stance on border security over the last decade. 

“I’m in the Oval Office. Democrats, come back from vacation now and give us the votes necessary for Border Security, including the Wall,” Trump tweeted, adding “You voted yes in 2006 and 2013. One more yes, but with me in office, I’ll get it built, and Fast!”

Exhibit A: 

Trump continued: “It’s incredible how Democrats can all use their ridiculous sound bite and say that a Wall doesn’t work. It does, and properly built, almost 100%! They say it’s old technology – but so is the wheel. They now say it is immoral- but it is far more immoral for people to be dying!”

Earlier Monday President Trump responded to a LA Times interview of outgoing Chief of Staff, John Kelly, in which he says that plans for a concrete wall are out the window. 

“To be honest, it’s not a wall,” said Kelly – who embarked in early 2017 on seeking advice from those who “actually secure the border,” on what to do. Speaking with Customs and Border Protection agents – referred to by Kelly as “salt-of-the-earth, Joe-Six-Pack folks,” the outgoing Chief of Staff recounts “They said, ‘Well we need a physical barrier in certain places, we need technology across the board, and we need more people’.” 

“The president still says ‘wall’ — oftentimes frankly he’ll say ‘barrier’ or ‘fencing,’ now he’s tended toward steel slats. But we left a solid concrete wall early on in the administration, when we asked people what they needed and where they needed it.” 

Trump fired back, tweeting “An all concrete Wall was NEVER ABANDONED, as has been reported by the media. Some areas will be all concrete but the experts at Border Patrol prefer a Wall that is see through (thereby making it possible to see what is happening on both sides). Makes sense to me!”

Is it possible that alleged election meddler Vladimir V. Putin has convinced Chuck Schumer to fight against US border security?

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Trump ‘Bump’ Dumped – Dallas Fed Survey Collapses Most Since 2008 As ‘Hope’ Crashes

The last time The Dallas Fed’s business survey collapsed at this pace, the US economy was in the heart of its last recessionary contraction…

Against expectations of a modest drop from 17.6 last month to 15.0 in December, the Dallas Fed Manufacturing survey collapsed to a stunning -5.1 – dramatically below the lowest analyst eastinate of +13.0.

 

Current new orders increased as did wages and benefits but the headline index was crushed by a plunge in hope – as future expectations crashed from 38.0 to 35.6 to 25.7 to 3.2!! in the last few months…

Erasing all the post Trump bump.

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A Debt Based System Can’t Succeed Without Population Growth

Authored by Chris Hamilton via Econimica blog,

Last week, I highlighted that since ’00, when the Federal Reserve has ceased adding to its balance sheet or begun “normalizing” (via rolling off assets), equity markets have swooned (detailed HERE).

A simple idea today… that the end of population growth (where it matters) has long been upon us (detailed below).  Absent population growth among the nations that do nearly all the consuming, a debt based economic and financial system (to coerce ever higher levels of debt fueled consumption) can’t ultimately succeed.  That is, without population growth, assets generally don’t appreciate, homes are just shelter rather than “investments”, and debt is generally only a drag on future spending.  Likewise, without population growth, total global energy consumption is on the precipice of secular decline (detailed HERE).

In this reality, the only means of maintaining or lifting asset prices further is ever more central bank monetization (aka, centrally planned and executed counterfeiting).  Of course, this monetization scheme is doomed to fail but while it continues, the gains are privatized while the losses are socialized.  But ultimately markets (and economies, as a means of honest exchange), will get cleared.  So, without further ado, I detail the end of population growth (particularly where it matters):

1- Simply put, topline global population growth (births) ceased increasing almost 30 years ago!  Looking solely at the top-line (dashed black line, chart below), note that from 1950 to 1989, annual global births increased 73% (+57 million).  Conversely, from 1989 to 2018, annual global births have risen just 1% (+1 million).  Based on UN data and UN median (overly optimistic) future estimates.

However, the distribution of those births among the differing groupings of nations (by income) has dramatically changed from 1950 to present…and will shift further by 2050.  The chart below shows both total births but also the proportion of births among the high income, upper middle income nations, and China have nearly fallen in half since 1950…while the proportion of births among the lower middle and low income nations have soared.  More simply put, births among those that consume heavily (about 90% of total global energy) have long since collapsed while births among those who consume relatively little (just over 10%) have soared.

But now, lets look at the sources and timing of those changing births and the implications for consumption.

High income nations births (blue line) and year over year change (red columns).  Incomes range from $90k to $12k, per capita, and these nations (US/Can, EU, Japan/S. Korea, Aus/NZ, etc.) consume 47% of total global energy.  Births have fallen <19%> since the 1961 peak but are anticipated to remain about here indefinitely (little to no growth) thanks to anticipated immigration making up for the negative birth rates.

Upper middle income nations annual births (blue line) and year over year change (red column).  Incomes range from $12k to $4k, per capita, and these nations including Russia, Brazil, Mexico, etc. consume 18% of total global energy.  Cumulative births among these nations have fallen <12%> since the 1987 peak and only expected to continue declining.

China annual births before (blue line) and since the late 2015 revision to the 2 child policy (green dashed line), plus year over year change (red columns, chart below).  China has ramped is consumption of global energy to 24% while births have fallen <46%> since the 1989 peak?!?  Of course, the collapse in Chinese births almost 25 years ago means a like collapse in demand is now taking hold as this significantly smaller “new normal” population enters adulthood.  Economically, watch out below as domestic demand falls away.

Lower middle income nations annual births (blue line) and year over year change (red columns).  These nations have incomes of $4k to $1k, per capita, including India, Pakistan, Nigeria, Vietnam, etc. and represent about 3.1 billion persons.  While births are still increasing, the year over year growth in births has decelerated over 90% and expected to flat line indefinitely from here among these nations that consume about 11% of global energy.

Low income nations annual births (blue line) and year over year change (red columns).  These nations, representing about 700 million persons including most of Sub-Saharan Africa, have incomes under $1k, per capita, and consume less than 1% of global energy.  While births are still growing, year over year growth has been flat since 2000 and decelerating growth is anticipated from here on.

2- China is the epic-center of population decline.  The chart below shows China’s 15 to 44 year old female childbearing population versus Chinese births.  Not only have births fallen <46%> but this decline has worked its way in those of childbearing age.  The 15 to 44 year old Chinese female population is not only about 25 million fewer than the same male population in China, it is also down <14%> (-47 million) from the 2007 peak.  By 2035, the same group will be <30%> smaller (-101 million).  A collapsing childbearing population with negative birthrates has the potential for significantly lower births than shown below.

Widening out to view the childbearing population versus births of the high and upper middle income nations (including China), we can see in the chart below that births (blue columns) peaked almost fifty years ago and only continue falling.  Logically, it follows that eventually the childbearing population (red line) would likewise peak, as it did around 2010, and begin its indefinite decline.  The economic, financial, and even environmental impacts of a self-reinforcing decline of the childbearing populace with negative birthrates among them should be pretty obvious.

3- Global births versus the 75+ year old global population.  As of 1950, there were two births for every 75+ year old person.  As of 2018, the inverse is nearly true…as there are nearly two 75+ year olds for every birth.  Because the global 15 to 44 year old population will remain essentially unchanged going forward, births will continue to be flat to lower while all population growth is among the 45+ year old population…most notably, the 75+ year olds.  By 2050, there will be over five 75+ year olds per birth…and by 2100 and outlandish eleven 75+yr/olds per birth.

Conclusion:

Clearly, the time of population growth and the growth of the global consumer base has run its course.  A system based on the growth of elderly, siphoning off the benefits of society, at the expense of the young is madness.  On average, less than 10% of 75+yr/olds work, and they earn / spend about half of what they did in peak earning years.

Yet, there is still unending talk of economic and financial asset growth and a seeming never ending willingness to offer the monetary and fiscal support to that end.  Perhaps it’s time we reconsider our notions that central bankers can conjure infinite economic and financial growth.  It’s time we reconsider where this is taking us, who this serves, and at what cost?  It is time we seriously consider the alternatives!

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Goodbye 2018

2018 was a slog, and the more I mention this to friends, the more I realize a lot of other people feel the same way. It wasn’t a bad or terrible year for us, but at the same time nothing came easy. Anything we tried to accomplish came with all sorts of unexpected pitfalls and hurdles, and in many cases success seemed hopeless until the very last moment when things finally came together reasonably well. Stuff that had to get done got done, but not without struggle and headache.

The highlight of the year was the birth of our third child, something that will forever color 2018 positively despite other challenges. Although I knew three kids in three years would be tough, the reality of the situation has been more difficult than I imagined.I forgot just how constantly attached to a newborn a mother is, a reality that’s left me largely in charge of the toddlers.

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Franklin Graham: Facebook Ban Felt Like A “Personal Attack”

Evangelist Franklin Graham on Sunday accused Facebook of issuing a “personal attack” against him by banning his account for 24 hours last week over the contents of a 2016 post, according to the Hill.

“Why are they going back to 2016,” Graham, the son of evangelical pastor Billy Graham and president of the evangelism organization Samaritan’s Purse and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, said during an interview on Fox News. “I think it was just really a personal attack toward me.”

Graham appeared on Fox and Friends to discuss the ban, where he said that the “problem with Facebook is that…if you disagree with their position on sexual orientation you can be classified as hate speech.”

The post in question referenced Bruce Springsteen’s decision to skip a concert in North Carolina to protest the state’s now-infamous “bathroom bill”.

Read the text of the post below:

“He says the NC law #HB2 to prevent men from being able to use women’s restrooms and locker rooms is going ‘backwards instead of forwards,'” Graham said in reference to the singer in the post. “Well, to be honest, we need to go back! Back to God. Back to respecting and honoring His commands.”

“The Bible is truth and I would hope [Facebook] would look to the Bible and get some instruction from God’s word.”

Facebook has apologized to Graham and explained that he was mistakenly banned after the post was flagged by another user, citing a policy against using “dehumanizing language” and discrimination based on sexual orientation or race. 

Graham thanked Facebook for its apology and for its decision to admit that his post didn’t actually violate their community standards.

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