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University’s Center for Social Justice and Inclusion Hosts Race-Segregated Virtual Events

The University of Michigan-Dearborn’s Center for Social Justice and Inclusion states that its mission is to “celebrate the uniqueness” of each student and “remove barriers” to full participation in campus life. But this laudable goal would appear to be at odds with the actual practices of the center, which include hosting race-segregated virtual events.

This week, the center advertised an online discussion session for “students that do not identify as people of color”—white students, in other words. A separate event—for students who are black, indigenous, or people of color (BIPOC)—is also on the calendar.

The non-POC event is billed as “a space for students that do not identify as persons of color to gather and to discuss their experience as students on campus and as non-POC in the world.”

“Feel free to drop in and discuss your experiences as non-persons of color and hopefully brainstorm solutions to common issues within the non-POC community,” wrote the organizers. “The Cafe will be facilitated by a non-POC faculty/staff member to ensure that discussions are kept safe and respectful.”

Presumably, the BIPOC event is described similarly, but with a BIPOC moderator instead. (I can’t access the web page for this event: It’s as if UM-Dearborn’s website somehow knows I’m a white person.)

Update! Seems like @UM_Dearborn has two cafes. Competing cafes. I get the intention but this was not thought out and very lazy. pic.twitter.com/BqTFy8rXN6

— Abed A. Ayoub (@aayoub) September 9, 2020

Public university events that are specifically tailored to students of a specific race or gender sometimes draw legal challenges, since federal law generally prohibits discrimination in schools. The American Enterprise Institute’s Mark Perry, a professor at the University of Michigan’s Flint campus, filed a civil rights complaint against Michigan State University’s women-only study lounge, for instance, which prompted the university to open the space to all. Perhaps someone at Dearborn thought the solution to the potential legal problem of POC-only events was to also have whites-only events. I emailed the center to ask whether they had inadvertently reinstated the separate-but-equal doctrine, and will update this article if I hear back.

In any case, if students wish to freely associate into identity-based groups, that is their right. University administrators, though, should host discussions on issues of identity that are open to all students, regardless of their ethnicity. This is the best way to foster racial harmony on campus, and it’s consistent with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.

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Quebec City Says It Will Isolate “Uncooperative” Citizens In Secret Corona Facility

Quebec City Says It Will Isolate “Uncooperative” Citizens In Secret Corona Facility

Tyler Durden

Wed, 09/09/2020 – 14:21

Authored by Paul Joseph Watson via Summit News,

Authorities in Quebec City, Canada have announced they will isolate “uncooperative” citizens in a coronavirus facility, the location of which remains a secret.

During a press conference, Dr. Jacques Girard, who heads the Quebec City public health authority, drew attention to a case where patrons at a bar were ordered to wait until their COVID-19 tests came back, but disregarded the command and left the premises before the results came back positive.

This led to them being deemed “uncooperative” and forcibly interned in a quarantine facility.

“[W]e may isolate someone for 14 days,” Girard said during the press conference. “And it is what we did this morning…forced a person to cooperate with the investigation…and police cooperation was exceptional.”

The health official then outlined how the state is also tracking down people for violating their home quarantine and forcibly removing them to the secret facility.

“Because we have had people isolated at home. And then, we saw the person was not at home. So, we went to their home, and then told them, we are isolating you where we want you to be,” said Girard.

“Six other Quebec City bars “known to have been frequented by Kirouac regulars” are now being examined by public health officials,” reports the RAIR Foundation.

“It should be noted that it is not being claimed that anyone is actually sick from the coronavirus. But the state has the power to force a citizen into isolation anyway.”

As we previously highlighted, the government of New Zealand announced similar measures, saying that they will put all new coronavirus infectees and their close family members in “quarantine facilities.”

* * *

In the age of mass Silicon Valley censorship It is crucial that we stay in touch. I need you to sign up for my free newsletter here. Also, I urgently need your financial support here.

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Goldman Prime: Hedge Funds Bought The Dip After The Market Rout

Goldman Prime: Hedge Funds Bought The Dip After The Market Rout

Tyler Durden

Wed, 09/09/2020 – 13:59

Back in early June, well before we unveiled the SoftBank “gamma gamble” drama, and just as the retail daytrading euphoria peaked manifesting itself in both a record surge in small trader call buying…

… and the stock of bankrupt Hertz soaring so much it prompted the company to try to and issue as much as $1 billion of worthless stock to Robinhood investors and a since-scuttled plan, we pointed out that it wasn’t just retail investors flooding the market, but according to Goldman’s Prime Broker desk, after holding out for months hedge funds finally capitulated and are were also flooding into stocks.

A little later, in one of Goldman’s weekly hedge fund exposure reports, the bank’s prime desk confirmed that this panicked buying across hedge funds had accelerated and gross leverage of the overall book rose another +4.4% to 246.6% (93rd percentile) while Net leverage rose further +1.6 pts to 75.1%, putting it in the 99th percentile, effectively the highest ever as hedge funds went “all in” alongside retail traders (and Japanese VC conglomerates) in chasing beta with leverage.

Why this frenzied chase of what was effectively the simplest daytrading strategy popularized by retail day traders on Robinhood (and one which SoftBank ultimately capitalized handsomely on)? Because as the following chart shows, in 2020 the blistering performance by “retail investors crushed both the HFR hedge fund index, and the S&P500.

In short, in their scramble to generate alpha, “sophisticated” hedge funds were forced to use “strategies” popularized by Dave Portnoy and his merry Gen-Z merry men (on Robinhood): buying high beta stocks and doing so with as much leverage as possible.

And since the two most popular (and only) “strategies” observed on Robinhood have been to either ball calls on winning momentum stocks (a strategy that was taken to its logical extreme by SoftBank as we explained over the weekend), or Buying The F**king Dip out of losers (such as Hertz), it comes as no surprise at all that as Goldman writes this morning, there has been “no sign of de-risking as hedge funds bought the dip in US equities amid the recent market rout.”

As Goldman details further, hedge funds bought the dip “as the GS Prime book was net bought in each of the past two days (Friday and Tuesday) led by US TMT stocks.

In cumulative $ terms, “the net buying in US TMT stocks over the past two days is the largest in five months.”

This buying was in contrast to recent trends – where US TMT stocks recently saw the largest 5-day net selling on the Prime book in more than four months – and suggests a change in posture amid the sharp price declines.

Goldman Prime also reveals that the recent net buying in US equities was broad-based as both Single Names and Macro Products were net bought led by long buying; in total, 8 of 11 US sectors were net bought over Friday-Tuesday led by Info Tech, Consumer Discretionary, Comm Svcs, and Health Care, while Consumer Staples, Financials, and Materials were the only net sold sectors.

And in a world where hedge funds and retail investors have only one trade left – i.e., BTFD, ideally with lots of leverage – The Big 5 (FAAMG) as a group was net bought for two straight days driven by long buys after being net sold in eight of the previous nine days.

Meanwhile, the near record hedge fund gross and net leverage ratios remained largely unchanged MTD as the effect of price declines was offset by net buying.

As shown in the table below, net leverage and L/S ratio increased MTD for both the overall book and Equity Fundamental LS managers, while gross leverage for the overall book rose +1.8 pts week/week (+3.0 pts ex mark-to-market)…

… “suggesting little to no de-risking seen amid the recent market rout”, according to Goldman.

Finally, it will also not come as a surprise that in a world where alpha is dead and everyone is scrambling to lever beta up as much as possible, that “fundamental” hedge fund long/short returns were down 2% MTD driven by negative beta (-1.5%):

Fundamental LS – down -2.0% MTD driven mainly by negative beta (-1.5%). Negative alpha MTD (-0.5%) driven by losses in momentum factors, Info Tech exposure, and growth. Fundamental LS performance is now up +10.3% YTD due to positive alpha (+5.9%) and to a lesser extent positive beta.
Systematic LS – down -0.7% MTD driven by negative alpha (-1.0%). Negative alpha MTD driven by losses in crowded shorts, medium-term momentum, growth, and Consumer Discretionary exposure. Systematic LS performance is now up +2.4% YTD due to positive alpha (+4.8%) partially offset by negative beta.

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While Fauci, WHO And Pelosi Downplayed COVID, Trump Knew It Was ‘Deadly’ Before Restricting China Travel: Woodward Tapes

While Fauci, WHO And Pelosi Downplayed COVID, Trump Knew It Was ‘Deadly’ Before Restricting China Travel: Woodward Tapes

Tyler Durden

Wed, 09/09/2020 – 13:41

On February 7, two days after President Trump was acquitted by the Senate of impeachment charges, he gave a lengthy interview to veteran journalist Bob Woodward which he allowed to be taped.

Instead of talking about the impeachment, however, Woodward was ‘surprised’ that Trump was focused on COVID-19, the deadly virus gripping Wuhan, China while Dr. Anthony Fauci and the World Health Organization downplayed the risks.

“This is deadly stuff,” Trump told Woodward, adding that the virus was possibly five times “more deadly” than the flu. Trump also told Woodward that the virus was airborne (while the World Health Organization explicitly said it was not, and maintained in January there was no human-to-human transmission).

This is the tape: 🔊pic.twitter.com/ozX8O8fVKm

— Frank Luntz (@FrankLuntz) September 9, 2020

Fauci, on the other hand, told Newsmax TV on January 21 it was no big deal:

“Obviously, you need to take it seriously and do the kind of things the (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) and the Department of Homeland Security is doing. But this is not a major threat to the people of the United States and this is not something that the citizens of the United States right now should be worried about.” -Dr Anthony Fauci, January 21

On February 17, Fauci continued to downplay the virus – saying that the risk to the US is “minuscule,” and that people shouldn’t wear masks.

In other words, Trump was doing what Biden claims he’ll do; listen to the scientists.

Yet, days before Trump’s February 7 interview with Woodward, he restricted travel from China on the advice of his National Security team – for which he was called a ‘xenophobe’ by Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi. Three weeks later, Pelosi invited people to come to Chinatown, without masks, to “say everything is fine here.”

Pelosi, touring San Fran’s Chinatown Feb. 24: “We do want to say to people, come to Chinatown, here we are … come join us” pic.twitter.com/0FEOq9t4VM

— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) March 29, 2020

Now, Pelosi is on MSNBC claiming that Trump’s “delay, distortion and denial is responsible for many of the deaths we have today.”

Meanwhile, the WHO waited until March 11 to declare a pandemic.

And so, CNN‘s ‘gotcha’ is this: Trump also admitted to Woodward in a follow-up interview on March 19 that he purposefully downplayed the virus in order to avoid panic.

“I wanted to always play it down,” he said, adding “I still like playing it down, because I don’t want to create a panic.”

CNN somehow overlooks Fauci, Pelosi and Biden downplaying the virus themselves – with the latter two calling Trump a xenophobe for his China travel restrictions. Three days later, Trump announced restrictions on travel from China, a move suggested by his national security team — despite Trump’s later claims that he alone backed the travel limitations.

Nevertheless, Trump continued to publicly downplay the danger of the virus. February was a lost month. Woodward views this as a damning missed opportunity for Trump to reset “the leadership clock” after he was told this was a “once-in-a-lifetime health emergency.” –CNN

In other words – Trump took the virus seriously, restricted travel, was called a ‘xenophobe’ for it, and is now under attack for downplaying it in the same way his advisers, Pelosi, the WHO and others were in order to avoid public panic.

Let’s see if the left’s latest ‘bombshell‘ gains traction.

via ZeroHedge News https://ift.tt/2FgxgRY Tyler Durden

University’s Center for Social Justice and Inclusion Hosts Race-Segregated Virtual Events

The non-POC event is billed as “a space for students that do not identify as persons of color to gather and to discuss their experience as students on campus and as non-POC in the world.”

Update! Seems like @UM_Dearborn has two cafes. Competing cafes. I get the intention but this was not thought out and very lazy. pic.twitter.com/BqTFy8rXN6

— Abed A. Ayoub (@aayoub) September 9, 2020

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Disney’s Mulan Is an Extravagant Mediocrity

As a movie, at least, there is nothing particularly wrong with Mulan, Disney’s latest and most explicit play for Chinese moviegoers, but there is nothing particularly right about it either. It’s skillfully crafted, as high-gloss modern blockbusters tend to be, and it moves efficiently through an entirely predictable set of narrative beats. But there are no surprises, no moments of real awe or wonder, no scenes or ideas that stand out; even the genuinely extravagant production work seems designed less to wow and more to hit a particular focus-grouped spec. The movie’s most notable trait is its bland consistency. It is lavishly perfunctory, spectacularly just fine. Mulan takes “pretty good” to a whole new level.

That’s par for the course for Disney, which has recently specialized in paint-by-numbers luxury epics constructed out of recognizable intellectual property, whether in the form of purchased brands like Marvel or Star Wars or in live-action remakes of animated classics from the studio’s vault. Like recent adaptations of The Jungle Book, The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, and Aladdin, Mulan falls into the last category: It’s based on the studio’s 1998 animated hit, which was itself a retelling of a centuries-old Chinese legend about a young woman who disguises herself as a man to take her father’s place as a warrior.

But this version has not only been remade in the image of its predecessor; it has been refashioned in the image of Disney’s other contemporary properties, most notably the recent entries in the Star Wars franchise. While the animated original was a G-rated family film with a wisecracking dragon sidekick played by Eddie Murphy, the live-action reboot is a dutiful PG-13 action spectacle built around a powerful female hero.

Mulan isn’t the disaster that Disney’s most recent Star Wars entry, The Rise of Skywalker, turned out to be. In both story and character terms, it’s a more polished final product, which is to say that it basically makes sense and does not make a mockery of its source material.

But it clearly draws from the same well as the J.J. Abrams–era Star Wars films. There are no lightsabers to be found, but there’s a family sword, an imperial power struggle, a band of raiders led by a man in black, and a mystical energy source that gives the movie’s titular heroine great power and special aptitude as a warrior. Disney was apparently hoping that a box-office force would once again awaken.

Alas, just weeks before Mulan was set to be released, the COVID-19 pandemic shut down theaters in the United States, putting the film’s theatrical release on hold. Instead, nearly six months later, it has been released to much of the world as a premium add-on to its parent company’s streaming service, Disney+.

For about $30, you can finally have the theatrical experience at home. The problem is that it is not the theatrical experience. Even with a big-screen television and surround sound, you’re still watching in your living room, with your dog snoring nearby and the delivery guy ringing your doorbell. The experience is less summer blockbuster and more Blockbuster Video.

Mulan also shares with the Abrams-verse a timid and studied thematic emptiness, an avoidance of any specific ideas or questions that might upset anyone, anywhere, at all. Mulan fights for honor, for family, for finding herself and owning her power, which is to say she fights for vague and inoffensive banalities that could not possibly stir up any political or cultural controversy. The movie reads as an extended attempt to dodge saying anything about anything in any way, except that nice things are nice and good things are good. Who could argue with that?

The real world, however, did not cooperate with Disney’s plan to avoid ruffling feathers: Parts of the movie were shot near China’s Uighur concentration camps, and the credits thank Chinese authorities who help administer those brutal facilities, where as many as three million people are reportedly held against their will in buildings ringed with razor wire, patrolled by guards armed with cattle prods.

The expansion of global trade has greatly benefited both American and Chinese citizens, and large corporations can sometimes serve as cultural ambassadors, even in countries with repressive governments. But Disney increasingly relies on the box office power of Chinese audiences. Its cooperation with China’s Communist Party regime, which restricts the number of foreign films that can be shown each year and implicitly censors American studio content, is one reason for the careful blandness that permeates so many Disney products.

What this means, however, is that a film like Mulan is inherently tied up in the ugliness of governments and politics—indeed, in some of the ugliest political repression on the planet. Judged strictly as a film, Mulan is merely an extravagant mediocrity. But as a cultural proposition, it embodies something far, far darker.

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The new puritans are on the prowl

In the spring of 1692, Giles Corey was 80 years old when his wife was accused of witchcraft.

The entire town was in such a frenzy that even Giles started to believe that his wife might be a witch.

Soon after, another person in the town was accused of witchcraft. Then another. And another. And another.

It wasn’t until Giles Corey himself was accused of being a wizard that he realized the whole thing was a scam.

But it didn’t matter. The Puritan preachers in this small New England town (Salem, Massachusetts) took every accusation seriously.

They felt it was their duty to protect the townsfolk from the systemic witchcraft that was so pervasive in Salem. So everyone who was accused of witchcraft was quickly punished.

That included Giles Gorey, who, at the age of 81, was tortured for three days in September of 1692, in an attempt to extract a plea.

He had been accused, therefore he must be guilty. And Corey was laid in a field with boards placed on top of him, and large rocks piled on top of the boards to slowly crush him to death.

Rumour has it the only words he spoke during the torture were, “More weight.”

These days we have a new breed of Puritans. Their religion is wokeness, and they too see witches everywhere.

What’s really incredible is that these Puritan witch hunters are really just a small percentage of the population.

Most people are completely sane and normal. But this tiny group happens to be the loudest.

And because of that, they’ve completely upended everything– culture, business, politics, and even science.

They tell us what words we can/cannot use. Some of the largest corporations in the world have already bent the knee, cancelling movies, music, and even food, because it offends the mob.

Disney cancelled the song “Zip-a-dee-doo-dah” because it’s offensive. Yet they graciously thanked the Chinese Communist Party in their recent release of Mulan!

And the same doctors and public health officials who tell us that we have to wear masks tell us that it’s OK to not wear a mask when rioting, because hate is a much bigger public health crisis.

Wokeness is such bizarre logic. But it never stops.

Just this morning I saw articles lamenting the lack of diversity in the wine industry; and another claiming that National Parks aren’t welcoming enough to certain minorities.

Even 2+2=4 is now a controversial statement to some mathematics educators, who find the expression grounded in imperialistic, heteronormative toxic masculinity.

But it’s not enough to simply bow out and avoid their intolerance. That makes YOU a target.

You have to denounce family members, grovel to the Twitter mob, raise a fist in solidarity, participate in the chants and rituals… otherwise you put yourself and your family at risk.

They’ll come for your job, your business, and your dignity.

I have no idea how far this will go, or how much more ridiculous it will become.

This is clearly not the first time in history that a small number of crazy people end up causing havoc and devastation to an entire society.

Now, I still believe that, even in the midst of such mindless chaos, the world is still abundant with opportunity.

I’ve just always felt that it’s best to tackle those opportunities… and face obvious risks… from a position of strength.

This is the core idea behind having a ‘Plan B’– to put yourself in a position of strength, regardless of whatever happens (or doesn’t happen) next.

This includes things like expanding your network and meeting like-minded people– which is more important than ever.

It means taking care of your finances– protecting your assets, avoiding roller coaster rides in markets and currency devaluations, legally cutting your taxes, and expanding your income.

It also means having a place to go, just in case you might ever need to hit the eject button.

This doesn’t mean having a doom-and-gloom mentality. It’s a sensible, rational precaution in light of such clear risk.

And it’s not a decision you’ll be in the mental state to think through when the mob is at your doorstep.

This is really the most important part of a Plan B: thinking through what’s important to you, and what you *might* need to do… now– while you’re in a rational state.

Waiting until panic sets in means making emotional decisions later… and emotional decisions tend to be very bad decisions.

So take advantage of the relative calm, and make some key decisions now.

Source

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Disney’s Mulan Is an Extravagant Mediocrity

The expansion of global trade has greatly benefited both Americans and Chinese citizens, and large corporations can sometimes serve as cultural ambassadors, even in countries with repressive governments. But Disney’s increasingly relies on Chinese audiences, and its concurrent cooperation with China’s Communist Party regime, which restricts the number of foreign films that can be shown each year and implicitly censors their content, which is one reason for the careful blandness that permeates so many Disney products.

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New York Indoor-Dining To Resume Sept 30th, Cuomo Urges Citizens To Snitch On Violators

New York Indoor-Dining To Resume Sept 30th, Cuomo Urges Citizens To Snitch On Violators

Tyler Durden

Wed, 09/09/2020 – 13:24

Just days after a large group on New York restaurateurs filed a lawsuit against Cuomo and De Blasio over the ongoing COVID lockdowns, the Governor just announced that indoor-dining will be allowed (at 25% capacity) starting on September 30th.

The restaurant owners exclaimed:

“We’ve been patient, the numbers are fantastic, the COVID statistics, we don’t know what more we could do,” said one business owner.

“This is a lawsuit. We don’t wanna do this. This is not us, we are workers. We work 100 hours a week. It’s not a luxurious lifestyle. I have waiters; none of them drove here in a Ferrari today.”

And now they can open – but who decided that 25% capacity was the right number? why not 30% or 50%?

“Because compliance is better, we can now take the next step,” the governor said.

Additional restrictions would also be placed on restaurants and their patrons, including a requirement to wear face coverings when not seated.

Still, as The NYTimes reports, even with the Sept. 30 reopening plan, the restrictions in New York City will still be more stringent than other parts of the state, where restaurants are operating with half their indoor tables in use.

Cuomo also claimed that if the infection rate remains low, the capacity limit could increase to 50% and in addition to 400 inspectors (who will police the new policy) urged citizens to report any violations of this new policy.

via ZeroHedge News https://ift.tt/3iie2da Tyler Durden

Ugly, Tailing 10Y Auction Sees Slumping Foreign Demand

Ugly, Tailing 10Y Auction Sees Slumping Foreign Demand

Tyler Durden

Wed, 09/09/2020 – 13:17

After yesterday’s strong 3Y auction, moments ago the Treasury sold 10 Year paper in a 9-Year 11-Month reopening of Cusip AE1, which unlike most recent sales was not the biggest amount offered on record, and instead at $35 billion was down $3 billion from last month’s $38 billion.

That’s not the only difference from yesterday’s record 3Y auction, because while demand for Tuesday’s sale was superb, today’s auction was mediocre at best. Pricing at a high yield of 0.704%, this was not only well above last month’s 0.677% (and a ways away from the 0.6530% in July), but also tailed the When Issued 0.696% by 0.8bps.

Continuing the ugly metrics, the bid to cover slumped from 2.41 to to 2.30, the lowest since June and below the 6-auction average of 2.41.

The internals were just as ugly, with Indirects sliding from 65.4% to 58.3%, yet Direct demand jumped from 19.8% to 27.1%, the highest since June, leaving Dealers holdings14.6% of the auction, the lowest since June.