Is the Word ‘Marijuana’ Racist?

A candidate for attorney general in Rhode Island flew off the handle yesterday after his opponent refused to stop using the word marijuana. Alan Gordon’s outburst, which took place at a local high school, culminated in him comparing the use of the term to a racial epithet after which he stormed off the stage.

“That’s like saying N-I-G-G-E-R,” Gordon told Democratic candidate Peter Neronha, making emphatic hand gestures as he spelled out the insulting term. Shockingly, the crowd of high school students erupted into wild cheers in response.

Gordon also blasted the word marijuana as “a curse to my people.”

“You will not say it in this school again, today or in lessons. Knock it off!” he said. Then, Gordon walked off the stage. According to TMZ, he did not return.

A bit of background: Gordon, a member of the Compassion Party, has no problem with weed itself. In fact, he was arrested earlier this month after police found 48 pounds of marijuana in the home he shares with Anne Armstrong, who’s running for governor on the Compassion Party ticket. The candidates have said they think their arrests were politically motivated.

What Gordon does not like is the term marijuana. And last night at North Kingstown High School, where the attorney general candidates took questions from students, he made sure everyone knew.

Armstrong told TMZ Gordon was promised beforehand that Neronha would not use the term. Neronha apparently did anyway—twice.

Gordon’s issue with the term stems from his belief that it’s rooted in racism. It’s not a completely outlandish idea. In fact, one of the leaders of the movement to make weed illegal has been accused of using blatant racism to argue for prohibition. “There are 100,000 total marijuana smokers in the US, and most are Negroes, Hispanics, Filipinos and entertainers. Their Satanic music, jazz and swing result from marijuana use. This marijuana causes white women to seek sexual relations with Negroes, entertainers and any others,” Harry J. Anslinger, who led the Federal Bureau of Narcotics from 1930 to 1962, reportedly once said.

Reason‘s Jacob Sullum has noted that the origin of the term marijuana is unclear. But a 1925 headline from The New York Times—“Mexican, Crazed by Marihuana, Runs Amuck With Butcher Knife”—is probably one of the reasons some people feel like the word has a racist connotation.

Neronha, for his part, doesn’t plan to stop saying marijuana any time soon. In an interview this morning with Dan Paquet, a local radio host for WPRO, Neronha said he’s “comfortable using the word” because it’s what everyone uses.

Neronha called Gordon’s behavior “unconventional” and “not something that I would ever engage in.” Still, he emphasized that he has no problem with Gordon himself, and would not be opposed to facing him again in a similar setting.

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Investors Redeem $15BN From Hedge Funds In September As Outflows Accelerate

With hedge fund redemption pressures – as a result of what has been largely abysmal performance by the 2 and 20 crowd in both Q3 and 2018 – frequently cited as one of the potential culprits for the recent swoon in markets…

… today we got confirmation of just that, when the latest eVestment Hedge Fund Asset Flow report indicated that investors had removed an estimated $14.72 billion from hedge funds in September pushing Q3 net flows into negative territory with an estimated $5.71 billion leaving the industry in Q3. As a result of September’s spike in outflows, year-to-date net flows are now flat after being stubbornly in the green for much of the year despite what has been another deplorable performance year for hedge funds. As as result, on September 30, total industry assets sit at $3.310 trillion.

And while the overall hedge fund industry is still growing, it’s not growing from new allocations. Over the last three years,  investors have removed over $100 billion from the industry, but performance gains have offset these losses, at least until now: overall asset increases cannot hide the fact that over the last twelve quarters, investors have been net redeemers in eight of them. Growth is stagnant, and returns have not been making an impact on investors to broadly return, especially since they have been largely negative.

Below are the key points from the latest report:

  • September’s redemptions were larger than normal.

According to eVestment, it is has been the norm over the last six quarters for there to be a wave of redemption pressure in the last month of the quarter. In each of the last six, and twelve of the last thirteen, there has been a net outflow in the final month of the quarter. Over those thirteen months, the average net flow (including the one month with net inflow) was an outflow of $11.85 billion. September’s outflows were larger than normal, but the norm has indeed been for there to be quarter-end redemption pressure.

  • Long/short equity redemptions rise, year-end will be interesting.

A volatile start to the year, followed by elevated losses in June appears to be weighing on long/short equity fund flows, which are now firmly negative YTD. Asset-weighted returns have more recently improved, which could go a long way in retaining assets into year-end. While December outflows have been the norm in the industry in recent years, long/short equity funds have been able to buck this trend.

  • Managed futures funds face seventh consecutive month of redemption pressures. 

Managed futures strategies are paying the price for their volatile returns of 2017 and early 2018. If there is a positive theme, it would be that performance has been improving in an increasingly volatile market.

  • Event driven funds had net positive flows for a second consecutive month.

While there were a handful of strategies with solid allocations in September, the more apparent reason for the net inflow in September is the wave of redemption pressures that has been washing over event driven funds for several quarters seems to have abated. With solid returns for most within the group in 2017 and 2018, the recent net inflows more accurately reflect the general sentiment toward the universe of products.

  • Macro funds face uncertain remainder of 2018.

Macro is the leading asset gaining segment of the industry this year, and is the only major strategy for which >50% of products have net inflows in 2018. Returns have recently been volatile including large asset weight declines in August. This is a diverse group, however, and there are large managers outperforming and seeing inflows as a result.

Visual representation of flows:

Finally, here is the latest hedge fund performance table from eVestment:

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Science Wins – Trump Administration Proposes Transgender Policy Based On Biology

Authored by Nancy Pearcey, op-ed via The Daily Caller,

The Trump administration has proposed the idea of recognizing “sex” as “biological sex” for purposes of Title IX, according to a draft memo leaked to the New York Times.

This seemingly innocuous proposal has sparked a firestorm.

First, a brief background.

Title IX prohibits discrimination “on the basis of sex” in federally funded programs. It was passed in 1972 as part of the Education Amendments Act to ensure that women have access to educational programs equivalent to men’s programs.

In 2016, the Obama administration issued a guidance letter reinterpreting “sex” to include sexual orientation and gender identity. The letter required schools to “‘treat a student’s gender identity as the student’s sex for purposes of Title IX.” This drastic reinterpretation was done without an act of Congress or even the normal rule-making process for regulations. It was clearly an act of bureaucratic overreach.

And it spurred a frenzy of disputes over trans students claiming access to spaces restricted to the opposite sex—bathrooms, locker rooms, showers, dormitories, sports teams, and so on.

Then, in 2017, the Trump administration rescinded the Obama guidelines. But it left unclear just what the law does require. Hence the administration’s current effort to provide a clear, uniform definition of the term “sex.”

The memo suggests that “the sex listed on a person’s birth certificate, as originally issued, shall constitute definitive proof of a person’s sex unless rebutted by reliable genetic evidence.” In this way, sex will be determined “on a biological basis that is clear, grounded in science, objective and administrable.”

Who could object to science and objectivity? Lots of people, apparently…

The New York Times reported the story with the overheated headline “Trump Administration Eyes Defining Transgender Out of Existence.”

Actually, no. The administration is merely saying that Title IX does not apply to trans people. No one is being defined “out of existence.” There are lots of laws that do not apply to you or me, and that fact does not deny our existence.

Jonathan Weisman, deputy Washington editor of The NYT, likewise indulged in histrionic overstatement, tweeting, “The Trump Admin has a new definition of sex that would render 1.4 million transgendered people legally nonexistent.”

Not exactly. The administration is saying that discrimination “on the basis of sex” means biological sex, not gender identity. Trans people still enjoy all the ordinary protections of other citizens, including the Bill of Rights and all other constitutional rights.

George Takei, the “Star Trek” actor, tweeted, “The Trump administration is trying to make trans people disappear by defining gender as only male and female, determined by genitalia at birth.”

Come back to earth, Mr. Takei. The administration is not trying to make people “disappear.” The fact is that Title IX was originally intended to apply to biological sex — which, by the way, is established not at birth but long before birth. Most parents use ultrasound to discover their babies’ sex before they are born.

Planned Parenthood panicked, tweeting, “This is horrifying. These inhumane, cruel, and discriminatory policies are dangerous.” (Ironic, considering that words like “inhumane” and “cruel” describe what Planned Parenthood itself does — tearing apart tiny babies.)

In reality, the current administration is seeking to correct the Obama administration’s overreach. The lawmakers who passed Title IX in 1972 did not mean sexual orientation and gender identity. They wanted to protect women’s rights. Period.

Ironically, Obama’s reinterpretation had precisely the opposite outcome. It undercut women’s rights by reducing biological sex to a social construct.

Trans ideologues say what counts are not objective facts but subjective feelings. They insist that people with penises and prostate glands are “women” if they feel like women. Or that people with uteruses are “men” if they feel like men. That’s why we see misleading headlines like “Man Gives Birth to Healthy Baby” (in reality, a woman living as a man whose female biology is still intact).

The problem is that if we can no longer define women by objective, scientific criteria, then we can no longer legally protect women as a class. We cannot legally protect a category of people if we cannot identify that category.

Private feelings are important, but public law must be based on scientific facts.

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This Chart Explains How Badly Trump’s Trade War Is Hurting Soybean Farmers

It’s soybean harvest season, and there may be no better indication of the damage done by the ongoing U.S.-China trade war than the fact that American soybean exports are down a whopping 40 percent from last year.

The sharp dropoff is due in large part to China’s stated policy of cutting back on American soybean purchases as a retaliatory tactic. Shortly after President Donald Trump in July imposed tariffs on about $25 million worth of Chinese goods—a figure that has grown to about $250 million and could go higher after the holiday season passes—China hit back with tariffs on American agricultural products.

Soybeans are particularly vulnerable to Chinese tariffs because America produces far more soybeans than the domestic market demands, with the expectation that about half of all American-grown soybeans will be exported. Farmers planted more than 89 million acres of soybeans across the United States in 2018, narrowly edging out the 88 million acres of corn that were planted, according to an annual survey by the Department of Agriculture. In recent years, nearly 50 percent of the American soybean crop has been exported, with the vast majority of those exports going to China, which is the world’s largest consumer of soybeans.

Here’s a visual representation of how the trade war has changed that mutually beneficial relationship, courtesy of Karen Braun, global agriculture columnist at Reuters:

A 40 percent decline in a single year is stunning. Equally stunning, perhaps, is the fact that the U.S. has shipped a mere 395,000 tons of soybeans to China since July 27, when China’s soybean tariffs took effect. As Braun notes, a typical October week in previous years has seen more than 1 million tons of American soybeans entering Chinese ports.

No wonder, then, that soybean farmers aren’t thrilled about the trade war—despite Trump’s ham-handed attempt at buying their support by covering some of the losses.

Soybeans that aren’t being shipped to China may be getting shipped elsewhere, of course. As China has ramped up purchasing soybeans from Argentina and Brazil, those two countries have sold so many soybeans to China that they’ve had to turn to American suppliers to meet domestic demand—and if that’s not a metaphor for how Trump’s trade war has screwed up global supply chains, I don’t know what is.

Even if demand from other nations can pick up some of the slack, the Chinese market for soybeans is so large that there’s literally no way for American farmers to make up for losing access to China. The result is predictable: excess supply leading to lower prices and economic losses for growers.

While soybeans have been on the front lines of the trade war, farmers have been hit hard across the board. According to the latest projections from the federal Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service, 2018 net farm income will be $9.8 billion (or 13 percent) lower than it was in 2017. That would make 2018 the worst year for American farms since 2002, when the numbers are adjusted for inflation.

The longer the trade war continues, the more likely it becomes that American farmers will be shut out of Chinese markets in 2019 and beyond. Already, China is making plans to further reduce dependence on American soybeans—some Chinese trade analysts tell CNN that the country’s goal is to stop buying American soybeans entirely.

In the short-term, that means China will continue buying mostly from South America. Because the growing season is inverted in the southern hemisphere, that also means that China might have to turn to American suppliers again in a few months, once the Brazilian and Argentinian supplies from the spring growing season are exhausted. In the long term, China could invest in infrastructure to allow for greater production and reduced transportation costs, while continuing with ongoing efforts to reduce consumption of soybeans by livestock.

Whether all those changes work or make economic sense remains to be seen. But the damage done in 2018 to the relationship between the world’s largest soybean producer and largest soybean consumer will not heal on its own—and American farmers will continue to pay the price for the White House’s trade war.

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New California Lawsuit Accuses Electric Scooter Companies of ‘Negligence,’ ‘Abetting Assault,’ and Inciting ‘Civil Unrest’

As dockless, electric scooters rise in popularity across America, the backlash against them has grown increasingly hysterical. Witness a new class action lawsuit accusing Lime, Bird, and other scooter rental companies of “neglect,” “abetting assault,” and inciting “civil unrest” in the greater Los Angeles area.

“While acting under the guise of the commendable goals of furthering personal freedom and mobility and protecting the environment, the defendants…are endangering the health, safety, and welfare of riders, pedestrians, and the general public,” reads the complaint, filed by personal injury law firm McGee, Leher, & Associates last week.

The firm is representing eight plaintiffs, all of whom claim to have been injured in some fashion by electric scooters that first appeared on Los Angeles area streets late last year.

This includes Andrea Rosenthal, an arthritic, who was unable to park in a handicapped spot thanks to someone’s careless placement of an electric scooter.

Worse off still is Tina Ogata who tripped over not one, not two, but three Lime scooters left on the sidewalk, resulting in a broken left wrist and ring finger. (The complaint does not specify if Ogata tripped over all three scooters at once, or rather suffered a series of falls a la Sideshow Bob stepping on rakes.)

Another plaintiff, Natasa Kojic reports being hit from behind by a Bird scooter rider, suffering “injuries to her left big-toe, right wrist, and left knee.”

Then there’s David “Davy Rocks” Petersen. The 62-year-old street performer was reportedly dancing in a gladiator’s outfit near the Santa Monica pier when he was struck from behind by a man riding a Bird scooter, resulting in a broken arm and torn muscle which required surgery.

“My arm is never going to be the same, not to mention the five-inch-long scar it’s got now,” Petersen told the Washington Post. “If Bird is going to profit off the human meat grinder they’ve created in Santa Monica, they should be held responsible for the suffering they’ve caused.”

This all amounts to negligence on behalf of Bird and Lime, according to the complaint, which accuses the companies of offering insufficient safety instruction to riders. The lawsuit also claims Bird and Lime are abetting assault for failing to stop their customers from crashing scooters into pedestrians.

The class action suit also dings the companies for inciting “civil unrest,” noting that some individuals have thrown the scooters into the sea, lit them on fire, or buried them in the sands of California’s beaches.

In return for all the evils dockless scooter companies have wrought, these plaintiffs are demanding a unspecified amount of monetary compensation, and a cessation of the two companies’ scooter operations.

In response to the lawsuit, both Lime and Bird stressed their commitment to safety.

“While we don’t comment on pending litigation, safety has always been at the very core of everything we do at Lime as is our mission of reducing cars from city streets and making them safer and greener for pedestrians, bike and scooter riders alike,” reads a statement from the company.

“Class action attorneys with a real interest in improving transportation safety should be focused on reducing the 40,000 deaths caused by cars every year in the U.S.,” reads a statement from Bird. “Shared e-scooters are already replacing millions of short car trips and the pollution that comes with them.”

It is of course true that auto travel is by far the most dangerous mode of transportation in America today, although that too is mercifully getting safer. There were roughly 37,000 auto fatalities last year. That’s compared to only two reported deaths of scooter riders since the vehicles first started appearing on city streets, one in Washington D.C., the other in Dallas.

The Washington Post‘s write up of D.C.’s first scooter death—the result of a rider being struck an SUV—noted that there had been 25 other transportation fatalities in 2017 in the District, including nine pedestrians, five motorcyclists, three bicyclists, seven motorists or car passengers, and one driver of an ATV.

The fact is that all modes of transportation are going to bring with them some level of risk with them, even something as simple as walking. The more electric scooters are around, the more comfortable riders will get with the vehicles, and the more pedestrians and drivers will learn how to interact with them.

This won’t stop all accidents, injuries, or even deaths, and it goes without saying that scooter pilots who cause harm to pedestrians should be held accountable. But trying to hold the scooter companies themselves responsible for all harmful uses of their vehicles, not to mention trying to get them shut down entirely, is an overreaction and one that would set a dangerous precedent for other transportation services.

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Seventh Child Dies In New Jersey Adenovirus Outbreak

The death toll following a adenovirus outbreak at a New Jersey health facility has risen to seven, while 11 children remain ill, according to NBC News, citing the New Jersey Department of Health. Officials are unclear on how long the outbreak has been going on at the Wanaque Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation, located in Haskell. 

Adenoviruses infect the tissue linings of the respiratory system, eyes, urinary tract and nervous system. They commonly cause bronchitis, pneumonia and even pink eye – especially in young children. The “medically fragile” children at Wanaque are particularly vulnerable to infections due to other medical conditions. 

“Unfortunately, the particular strain of adenovirus (#7) in this outbreak is affecting medically fragile children with severely compromised immune systems,” the department said in a Tuesday statement. “The strain has been particularly associated with disease in communal living arrangements and can be more severe.” 

Over the weekend, the health department discovered “handwashing deficiencies” and “infection control issues” at the facility, which houses senior and pediatric patients, as well as those in rehabilitation. 

In 2016 and 2017, the center was cited for hand washing deficiencies, improper storage of syringes, failure to disinfect surfaces and syringes properly and the unsanitary storage of oxygen tank tubing, all of which prevent the spread of infection. –NBC News

In a Tuesday statement, the Wanaque Rehab center said that it had promptly notified “all appropriate government agencies,” including the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) upon the discovery of the adenovirus cases. 

“The Wanaque Center continues to fully cooperate with these agencies and has sought out their medical guidance with respect to the virus,” reads the statement. 

Children at the center are severely disabled, with some living in comas, and for many, it is their permanent home, the Bergen Record reports. Many will never walk or talk, and some have spent virtually their whole lives there, according to the paper. –CBS

The Adenovirus spreads through close personal contact, such as shaking hands or touching; coughing or sneezing; or touching a contaminated surface or object before touching your mouth, nose, or eyes before handwashing. It can also be spread through contact with the stool of an infected person, including during diaper changes.  

There is currently no adenovirus vaccine. 

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Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Calls Turkey’s President Erdogan

In a sign that the tension between former middle eastern allies turned enemies may be ending, on Wednesday Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman spoke on the phone with Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (after a request by the Saudi) according to statement from Erdogan’s office.

According to Anadolu, the discussion focused on shedding light on killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and steps that should be taken

The phone all took place just one day after Erdogan accused MbS of orchestrating the murder of Khashoggi, and one of Erdogan’s aides said that the Crown Prince has blood on his hands.

It is unclear what was really said on the call, and if the bad blood between the two rulers is now gone, or if Erdogan will keep pushing at a time when his political influence and leverage over his Saudi peer is at an all time high.  According to Bloomberg, the phone call “would suggest a desire on the part of MBS to negotiate Erdogan into a softer position. But we have very few details, including any promises MBS may have put on the table.“

Meanwhile, MbS is about to speak at the Saudi Future Investment Initiative, while earlier in the day Saudi King Salman held a meeting with senior princes and clerics, according to the country’s state-owned news agency. No reason was given for the meeting, which included Prince Miteb Bin Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz, son of late King Abdullah and former head of the powerful National Guard Corps.

Finally, as MBS prepares to speak, Bloomberg notes that the Trump administration has to make a big decision: Does it stick with him or pressure Saudi Arabia’s king to sideline him and give power to someone else? The problem with that approach is that MBS has neutralized so many potential rivals that there aren’t many who could replace him.

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‘Pipe Bomb’ Intercepted En Route To White House

Amid the spate of possible bombs and suspicious packages sent to everybody from the Obamas, to the Clintons to CNN’s New York newsroom, it appears a similar suspicious package was also sent to the White House.

CBS Baltimore reported that the package sent to the White House was intercepted at Joint Base Bolling, and that the “rudimentary but functional” device was similar to the suspected pipe bombs sent to Soros, the Clintons and the Obamas.

A suspicious package containing a pipe bomb that was addressed to the White House was intercepted at Joint Base Bolling in Washington, DC, a law enforcement official told CNN Wednesday, adding that it was similar to the ones sent to the homes of Obama, Clinton and billionaire investor and major Democratic donor George Soros, which was discovered earlier this week.

The devices appear to be rudimentary but functional, the official said. The White House-addressed device also contained projectiles.

The Secret Service is investigating.

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WTI Pops Above $67 Despite Big Crude Draw

After yesterday’s bloodbath in the energy complex (OPEC/Saudi comments), WTI slipped back to a $65 handle after the big API-reported crude build but has recovered to break $67 overnight as stocks recovered and Iran anxiety picked up again.

However, DOE confirmed the major build, though the 6.35mm was bigger than the expectation of a 3/7mm build, it was less than API’s 9.88mm build. WTI rallied on this ‘better’ news, helped by a big draw in Gasoline stocks.

API

  • Crude +9.88mm (+3.7mm exp) – biggest since Feb 2017

  • Cushing +971k (+1.5mm exp)

  • Gasoline -2.8mm

  • Distillates -2.44mm

DOE

  • Crude +6.35mm  (+3.7mm exp)

  • Cushing +1.371mm (+1.5mm exp)

  • Gasoline -4.826mm (-1.75mm exp) – biggest draw since March 2018

  • Distillates -2.262mm

As refineries finish seasonal fall maintenance soon, it’s likely we’ll see smaller crude builds or even declines in the next few weeks, according to Thomas Finlon, director of Energy Analytics Group, but for now, crude continues to build. This week saw the 5th weekly build in Crude and Cushing stocks but Gasoline stocks tumbled most since March and Distillates are down for the 5th week in a row…

As Bloomberg’s Catherine Ngai notes, the crude build was across the board (with the exception of the Rocky Mountain, which slipped ever so slightly). Some hefty builds in the Midwest and Gulf Coast with plants in turnaround mode.

“Sentiment in the crude-oil market has — surprisingly fast — turned from the ‘$95 in a matter of weeks’ on Iran sanctions to long liquidation and despair,” said Ole Hansen, head of commodities strategy at Saxo Bank A/S. “Not helping the fragile sentiment was the weekly oil report from the American Petroleum Institute which showed a near 10 million-barrels jump in crude stocks.”

WTI popped back above $67 on the print (perhaps as algos react to the gasoline draw)…

Just weeks after oil traders were touting $100 a barrel, those predictions seem a distant memory. Oil is trading more than $10 lower than it was earlier this month, and “next year’s oil balance is bearish, let’s face it,” said PVM Oil Associates Ltd.

Notably the Brent Dec.-Jan. spread flipped into contango of as much as -7c for the first time since August

Additionally WTI-Brent spread compressed dramatically this morning…

 

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