Tag: finance

Former VP Joe Biden: Trump Supporters Are The “Dregs Of Society”

Authored by Mac Slavo via SHTFplan.com,

Former vice president Joe Biden is going on an insult tour, calling supporters of President Donald Trump the “dregs of society.” In a not-so-classy move, Biden used a pro-LGBT Human Rights Campaign annual dinner on Saturday to rip supporters of Trump and the president.

According to the Daily Wire, Biden’s little moment was reminiscent of Hillary Clinton’s when she called Trump supporters a “basket of deplorables.” 

 “To just be grossly generalistic, you can put half of Trump supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables,” Clinton said in September 2016.

“Right? Racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamaphobic, you name it.”

“Despite losing in the courts, and in the court of opinion, these forces of intolerance remain determined to undermine and roll back the progress you all have made,” Biden said.

“This time they – not you – have an ally in the White House. This time they have an ally. They’re a small percentage of the American people – virulent people, some of them the dregs of society.”

“And instead of using the full might of the executive branch to secure justice, dignity, safety for all, the president uses the White House as the literal – literal – bully pulpit, callously – callously – exerting his power over those who have little or none,” Biden continued. 

 “Barack and I agreed to remain silent for a while to give this administration the chance to get up and running in the first year,” Biden said.

“God forgive me,” he added, making the sign of the cross as the audience vehemently applauded.

 “Those who try to excuse this kind of prejudice in the name of culture, I say, ‘Prejudice is prejudice and humanity is humanity — it is a crime,’” Biden said, urging those in the room to continue to oppose Trump.

“Our work is not yet done by any stretch of the imagination. The stakes are much too high.”

Biden and his wife Jill both acted as if the apocalypse was coming thanks to Trump’s supporters. 

“This is deadly earnest, we are in a fight for America’s soul,” Biden said.

Jill accused Trump of being a bully.

 “There is nothing that makes either of us more angry than a bully. There’s nothing that’s more unfair or unjust than people using their power to try to make other people feel small, to tell them who they are or what they are capable of, to say their identity doesn’t belong,” she said.

Of course, let’s not forget that this is creepy uncle Joe speaking here, so take anything this eerie guy says with a grain of salt:

Donald Trump Jr. immediately called out Biden, tweeting Sunday evening that the comments went “too far even for him.”

But Don Jr. was not alone as social media erupted at Biden’s comments…

via RSS https://ift.tt/2OuPSxd Tyler Durden

The Economic ‘Recovery’ Is Leaving More Than 50 Million Americans Behind

For more than half of American communities, the economic “recovery” that has created millions of jobs and pushed GDP growth above 4% during Q2 never happened. Indeed, while urban centers like New York City have created millions of jobs, a study recently highlighted by Axios showed that economic conditions in half of the zip codes in the US have actually worsened since the recovery began.

Among other findings, the Distressed Communities Index highlighted the fact that more than 50 million Americans live in distressed communities, while more than 80 million live in prosperous communities.

The 2017 DCI finds that 52.3 million Americans live in economically distressed communities—the one-fifth of zip codes that score worst on the DCI. That represents one in six Americans, or 17 percent of the U.S. population.

By comparison, 84.8 million Americans live in prosperous communities—the one-fifth of zip codes that score best on the DCI. These top-performing zip codes contain 27 percent of the country’s population, a far greater share than any other tier.

Underlying indicators of well-being vary drastically across the different tiers of U.S. communities.

As a map of the distribution of these communities shows, they’re disbursed across all regions of the US, with the greatest concentration of distressed communities in the southeastern US. Meanwhile, the northeastern US had the lowest concentration. Indeed, more than half of the US’s distressed population residents in the southern US.

Axios

One of the starkest differences between prosperous and distressed communities is the uneven level of economic growth.

According to Labor Department data, 10 million jobs were created in the US between 2011 and 2015, with roughly 85% of these created in prosperous zip codes. Meanwhile, roughly half of American communities have seen zero jobs growth since the crisis. Only two out of every five distressed zip codes recorded growth in employment: the rest saw the number of jobs decline as companies migrated toward more populous areas.

Distressed

Because of this phenomenon, more than half of distressed zip codes (54%) had fewer jobs and business in 2015 than they did in 2000.

The growth gap between prosperous and distressed zip codes may be the starkest feature of the index because of what it implies about their radically different trajectories.

Over the five-year period from 2011 to 2015, the country added 10.7 million jobs and 310,000 business establishments. Yet that growth was concentrated in the top echelon of U.S. places. An impressive 85 percent of prosperous zip codes saw rising numbers of business establishments and 88 percent registered job growth.

[…]

Outside of the upper echelon, however, growth rapidly becomes less pervasive. Only about two out of every five distressed zip codes registered job growth from 2011 to 2015 and only one in five added business establishments.

Unsurprisingly given these patterns, prosperous zip codes dominated the recovery. They contained 29 percent of the nation’s jobs in 2011 but welcomed 52 percent of the new jobs created over the following five years.

Reflecting the disparity in high paying jobs, nearly three out of every five adults in distressed zip codes have no education beyond high school, and only one in seven residents in these struggling communities has completed a four-year degree.

Distressed

Meanwhile, more prosperous communities harbor the lions share of advanced-degree holders. They also are healthier, with distressed counties registering roughly 40% more deaths.

Prosperous communities, on the other hand, are home to a whopping 45 percent of the country’s advanced degree holders and 41 percent of all Americans with a bachelor’s degree. Tellingly, advanced degree holders are more prevalent in prosperous zip codes than college graduates are in distressed ones.

Massive disparities in health outcomes parallel the nation’s economic imbalances. The inhabitants of more prosperous places tend to be healthier than their neighbors in less advantaged communities, where struggles to find work or pay the bills exact heavy physical and psychological tolls.

Americans in prosperous counties live five years longer than their peers in distressed counties on average.

[…]

In a corollary, in 2014 the average distressed county registered over 1,000 deaths for every 100,000 residents—38 percent more than the average prosperous county. Among specific causes, mortality from mental and substance abuse disorders is 64 percent higher in distressed counties than in prosperous ones. Neonatal mortality rates—those for infants before birth—are 86 percent higher in the average distressed county.

Americans in prosperous areas survive, on average, roughly five years longer than their peers in distressed areas. Meanwhile, mortality from mental and substance abuse disorders is 64 percent higher in distressed counties than in prosperous ones. So next time you hear Americans grumbling about the Obama-era economy, remember: For a significant portion of the American public, economic conditions have gotten worse, not better.

via RSS https://ift.tt/2pfqnFb Tyler Durden

“Like Detoxing From An Addiction”: Update On The Fed’s QE Unwinding

Submitted by Convoy Investments

After the global market crash in 2008, the Fed needed to lower interest rates in order to stimulate the economy. However, interest rates were already close to 0% so the Fed resorted to a different form of stimulation – quantitative easing. They directly bought $trillions of bonds in order to directly lower interest rates and increase money supply.

The Fed’s QE over the last decade resuscitated the economy and helped the financial markets go on the longest bull market run in history. However, the Fed now needed to unload the massive bond portfolio on their books and in process mop up the excess money in the financial system. They began the effort to overcome this hangover a few years ago. I believe we are about a third of the way through that process and are now entering the period of the most intense pace of unwinding. The rate of unwinding should start slowing down over the next few years before we finally normalize.

Below I show the portfolio of bonds that the Fed held during the peak of QE at the end of 2014. They held roughly $2.5 trillion with the vast majority in two lumps, about $2 trillion around 5 years in maturity and another $0.5 trillion around 25 years in maturity. This is because starting in 2009, the Fed began to purchase large amounts of 10 year and 30 year bonds and the portfolio aged to this profile 5 years later in 2014.

By the end of 2014, the Fed largely stopped buying new bonds and began to hold this portfolio to maturity. Below I show the same breakdown of bond holdings by maturity year over year in the 4 years since then. As you can see, very few bonds were bought or sold; the Fed has simply let the portfolio age.

In 2014, 5 year maturity was the peak of the $2 trillion lump of bonds. So 5 years later, about right now, we are getting close to the peak rate of bond maturing out of the Fed’s portfolio. Below I show amount of near-term bonds that are maturing in the Fed’s portfolio as of each of the last 5 years. As you can see, 2017 and 2018 are close to the maximum pace of bonds maturing. I believe after the next year, the rate of QE unwinding will begin to slow down and a few years after that, we should see our monetary system largely normalize.

This is reflected in the increasing rate at which excess reserves in our banking system is being mopped up. We are now about 35% off the peak in 2014.

Based on the maturity schedule of the Fed’s current bond portfolio, this is what the reserve balances of our banking system should roughly look like over the next few years all else held equal. I believe we’ll finally see a normalization of our monetary system in a few years.

Decreasing money supply on this scale will continue to be a headwind for assets on average. While US stocks remain an exception, most assets across the world are struggling. Like detoxing from an addiction, this is a period of unpleasant but necessary adjustment.

via RSS https://ift.tt/2pdousu Tyler Durden

Kavanaugh And Accuser Will Both Testify Publicly On Monday

Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and the woman accusing him of sexual crimes will both testify next Monday over her accusation that he sexually assaulted her while they were teenagers in high school.  

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT), a member of the Judiciary Committee, confirmed that the public hearing will happen on Monday, September 24. It is unclear whether the vote to confirm Kavanaugh has been delayed, or if the vote will still occur and the testimony will happen anyway. We assume the former. 

Kavanaugh’s accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, has a hazy recollection of the incident, admitting she doesn’t specifically remember the year it happened, where the incident occurred, whose house it was, how she got there, and whether Kavanaugh and a witness (who denies the account) were already upstairs when she went up, and how she got home that night. 

The announcement of next Monday’s testimonies comes after several closed door meetings by Republican members of the panel, with Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) saying: “As I said earlier, anyone who comes forward as Dr. Ford has done deserves to be heard. My staff has reached out to Dr. Ford to hear her account, and they held a follow-up call with Judge Kavanaugh this afternoon. Unfortunately, committee Democrats have refused to join us in this effort.  However, to provide ample transparency, we will hold a public hearing Monday to give these recent allegations a full airing.” 

As The Hill notes, Monday’s hearing is sure to be a total circus: 

The public hearing will spark a media frenzy around Capitol Hill, where the allegations against have Kavanaugh drawn to the Anita Hill hearings, in which a former colleague of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas testified about allegations of sexual harassment. Thomas was confirmed despite Hill’s testimony, which was carried live on television at the time.

The White House said on Monday that Kavanaugh is ready to testify as soon as Tuesday if the Senate asks him to. –The Hill

“Judge Kavanaugh looks forward to a hearing where he can clear his name of this false allegation. He stands ready to testify tomorrow if the Senate is ready to hear him,” said White House spokesman Raj Shah. 

Earlier Monday President Trump said he is open to hearing Ford’s account, and that if there’s a delay, so be it. 

“I want the American people to be happy because they’re getting somebody that is great. I want him to go in at the absolute highest level. And I think to do that you have to go through this. If it takes a little delay it’ll take a little delay … I’m sure it will work out very well,” said Trump. 

One might want to patronize their local Costco for a joke-sized bag of popcorn. Next Monday is sure to be entertaining to say the least.  

via RSS https://ift.tt/2PLgSZD Tyler Durden

Trump Imposes Tariffs On $200BN In China Imports; Will Add Another $267BN If China Retaliates

With traders waiting with bated breath for hours, moments ago the White House announced that it has imposed tariffs on approximately $200 billion worth of imports from China, effective September 24.

The tariffs will start at 10% until the end of the year, but in an unexpected twist, are set to rise to 25% on January 1, 2019, in what is worse case scenario than what the market had been pricing in, namely a 10% rate indefinitely.

Trump also warns that if China takes any retaliatory action “against US farmers or other industries”, the US will immediately pursue “phase three”, and impose an additional $267 billion in tariffs on Chinese imports.

The statement notes that while the US has given China “every opportunity to treat us more fairly”, so far China “has been unwilling to change its practices.”

Trump concludes by saying that it is his duty “to protect the interests of working men and women, farmers, ranchers, businesses, and our country itself. My Administration will not remain idle when those interests are under attack. China has had many opportunities to fully address our concerns. Once again, I urge China’s leaders to take swift action to end their country’s unfair trade practices.”

Separately, the USTR announced that it has removed about 300 product categories from the tariff list and has cut some subsets of products, but the total value remains “approximately $200 billion”, and – as we showed earlier – a substantial portion of the goods targeted this time are consumer goods, which means that the pain to the US household bottom line is about to get real.

Full statement below:

And text:

Today, following seven weeks of public notice, hearings, and extensive opportunities for comment, I directed the United States Trade Representative (USTR) to proceed with placing additional tariffs on roughly $200 billion of imports from China. The tariffs will take effect on September 24, 2018 and be set at a level of 10 percent until the end of the year. On January 1 the tariffs will rise to 25 percent. Further, if China takes retaliatory action against our fanners or other industries, we will immediately pursue phase three, which is tariffs on approximately $267 billion of additional imports.

We are taking this action today as a result of the Section 301 process that the USTR has been leading for more than 12 months. After a thorough study, the USTR concluded that China is engaged in numerous unfair policies and practices relating to United States technology and intellectual property — such as forcing United States companies to transfer technology to Chinese counterparts. These practices plainly constitute a grave threat to the long-term health and prosperity of the United States economy.

For months, we have urged China to change these unfair practices, and give fair and reciprocal treatment to American companies. We have been very clear about the type of changes that need to be made, and we have given China every opportunity to treat us more fairly. But, so far, China has been unwilling to change its practices. To counter China’s unfair practices, on June 15, I announced that the United States would impose tariffs of 25 percent on $50 billion worth of Chinese imports. China, however, still refuses to change its practices — and indeed recently imposed new tariffs in an effort to hurt the United States economy.

As President, it is my duty to protect the interests of working men and women, farmers, ranchers, businesses, and our country itself. My Administration will not remain idle when those interests are under attack. China has had many opportunities to fully address our concerns. Once again, I urge China’s leaders to take swift action to end their country’s unfair trade practices. Hopefully, this trade situation will be resolved, in the end, by myself and President Xi of China, for whom I have great respect and affection.

In response to the news, US equity futures dropped…

… as did the Chinese yuan.

via RSS https://ift.tt/2PM4sAW Tyler Durden

Jim Kunstler On Mueller, Manafort, & Maidan Monsters All The Way Down

Authored by James Howard Kunstler via Kunstler.com,

Robert Mueller’s fishing crew was out trawling for Manafort, a blubbery swamp mammal valued for its lubricating oil when, by happenstance, a strange breed of porpoise called a Podesta got caught up in the net. Turns out it was a traveling companion of the Manafort. Back in 2014, the pair swam all the way to a little country called Ukraine via the Black Sea where the Podesta used some Manafort SuperLube on then-president of Ukraine, Victor Yanukovych.

The objective was to grease the wheel of NATO and the EU for Ukraine to become a member. But the operation went awry when Yanukovych got a better offer from the Eurasian Customs Union, a Russian-backed trade-and-security org. And the next thing you know, the US State Department and the CIA are all over the situation and, whaddaya know, the Maidan Square in Kiev fills up with screaming neo-Nazis and Mr. Yanukovych gets the bum’s rush – and despite the major screw-up, the Manafort and the Podesta swim off with a cool few million in fees and return to the comforts of the swamp where they finally part ways.

Mr. Mueller is apparently concerned about just what happened with those fees. Possibly the loot ended up getting washed and rinsed through an international banking laundromat, and somehow went unreported to the federal tax authorities. Of course, the charge raises some interesting questions, such as: were Manafort and Podesta over in Ukraine as opportunistic freelancers, or were they part of phase one of a US government effort to get Ukraine to sign up for Team West against its old Uncle Russia, the manager of Team East? Kind of seems like that was exactly what they were doing, so it will be interesting to see whether Mr. Mueller may have stepped into a big pile of dog shit on his way to the Manafort plea session in federal court.

I like the theory that it suits Mr. Mueller’s purpose to land the porpoise in his net of legal entrapment. After all, Tony Podesta of the swamp influence-peddling company called the Podesta Group is brother of John Podesta, once President Bill Clinton’s Chief-of-Staff and more recently chairman of the 2016 Hillary Clinton presidential campaign. So Mr. Mueller can now brag that he is an “equal opportunity” fisherman for both Republican and Democratic species.

The only problem is that the 2014 Ukraine monkey business is basically a sordid tale of the USA meddling in another country’s elective affairs, one which had quite a more severe effect on Ukraine and Russia than a handful of Russian Facebook trolls managed against the USA’s 2016 election. Does anybody think that Manafort and Podesta were over in Ukraine without the knowledge of the US government? If so, we surely have the most incompetent intel community on earth. It will be interesting to see what kind of ‘splainin’ that will lead to in court. If Mr. Mueller’s motive is to embarrass the Deep State, he’s well on his way to mission accomplished.

A few other good-sized fish got trawled up the net along with Manafort and Podesta, namely the spiny bottom-feeders called Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, who live on the K Street reef feeding on debris dropped from the mouths of the bull sharks feeding in the lagoon above. They’re all flopping around on the deck of Mr. Mueller’s trawler and one begins to think that the whole aquatic ecosystem is breaking down. If they’re not careful, they could conjure up something like a red tide that will kill everything in the DC swamp.

One might ask, though: was Mr. Mueller’s ship launched in order to catch blubbery Manaforts, poisonous Podestas, and spiny Skaddan Arps? I was under the impression that they were out for whale. There happens to be one, a rare golden humpback, lurking in the depths under Mr. Mueller’s trawler, waiting, waiting, to sound and bring down his flukes on the scurvy crew. Somewhere close by, a bassoon is playing ominous notes. Other monsters of the deep may be revealed before this is all over. Monsters over monsters, all the way down.

via RSS https://ift.tt/2NmKLma Tyler Durden

“End The Trade War” – American Farmers Beg For Mercy

While a trillion dollar + dose of fiscal stimulus continues to pass through the US economy, providing it with a fake sugar rush, the main risk looming for the US economy is protectionism. The ongoing battle over tariffs between President Trump and China have already seized up some global supply chains and triggered the start of a slowdown in the global growth momentum.

The trade war is expected to deepen as President Trump is set to move forward with tariffs of $200 billion more on Chinese goods as soon as after the close today.

Meanwhile, the existing cost of protectionism is already negatively affecting farmers. “The trade war is having impacts on all agricultural sectors,” Gary Schnitkey, Professor in Farm Management at the University of Illinois, told Yahoo Finance in a phone interview.

The main agricultural commodities, Schnitkey explained, are soybeans and pork. Then, there are corn, fruits, and vegetables. “All of these commodity prices are linked together,” he said. “If soybean prices fall, so do corn and wheat.”

He warned that every kind of farmer experiences a significant loss of income when deflationary price trends hit. Each region in the country specializes in its specific crops. In the Basin and Range, one of the regions being impacted the most from trade wars, it is beef and wheat. In the Heartland, soybeans and corn prices are rapidly declining.

Blake Hurst, a corn and soybean farmer from Missouri, told Yahoo Finance that he has already seen a 15 to 20% collapse in spot prices.

“The only answer is to make progress in negotiations with China since they are the biggest soybean consumers,” he said. “Not more government programs, but to make progress.”

In the Northern Great Plains and the Prairie Gateway, wheat is king, along with corn and soybeans. Schnitkey pointed out, the region is “experiencing drier weather than normal and production issues.”

Crops in the Fruitful Rim consist mainly of fruits, especially citrus, and vegetables. Cotton, soybeans, and corn are in the Mississippi Portal. In the Southern Seaboard, crops such as cotton, peanuts, rice, soybeans, and beef are all being affected.

Hugh Weathers, South Carolina’s commissioner of agriculture, estimates that “the impact of tariffs on our markets to date is at $70 million.” Weathers said the uncertainty surrounding the tariffs have already sparked a slowdown that is starting to hurt local farmers.

While the damage from Hurricane Florence is still unknown , there are expectations that the crops in the Carolinas could be severely affected, on top of the stress from trade disputes. 

Schnitkey describes the crops in the Eastern Uplands as “a mishmash of things.” The East Coast is situated with small farms, which used to be big tobacco producers, but less so now. Cattle is a tremendous source of income for many. Yahoo Finance says the region has been the hardest hit, with a 30% collapse in revenue compared to 2017.

In response to the fallout of President Trump’s widening trade conflicts, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) issued a $12 billion farm bailout to American farmers. The initial $4.7 billion of direct payments will go to corn, cotton, dairy, hog, sorghum, soybean, and wheat producers. Farmers started receiving the bailout earlier this month.

The USDA said most of the bailout would be set aside for farmers who grow soybeans. Spot prices crashed after China imposed a tariff on the legume.

The Trump administration will also intervene in physical markets and purchase $1.2 billion of commodities that have been targeted by retaliatory tariffs; It will buy about $559 million of pork, $93 million of apples, $85 million of dairy products, and $85 million of pistachios.

Some farmers have said the financial assistance is not good enough and many are still worried about the effect the tariffs will have on their bottom lines: “I can take it, sure, but I don’t have to be quiet about it.” Ohio farmer Christopher Gibbs, who voted for Trump, speaks out against the president’s trade policy and says America’s escalating trade war with China is hurting his business and decimating farmers.

“I slept with a billionaire because he said he loved me. I expected to make love, but in the morning I realized I was getting screwed. When I went to tell the world, I was offered cash to keep my mouth shut. Who am I? No, I’m not a model or someone named Stormy. I’m the American farmer,” Gibbs wrote in a guest columnist post via the Sidney Daily News.

As for American farmers, it seems a lot of them are begging for mercy to end the trade war now. Whether it will impact how they vote in November, and 2020, remains to be seen.

via RSS https://ift.tt/2xpQY6j Tyler Durden

As Syracuse Spends Millions On Social Justice Center, There’s Just One Thing…

Syracuse University in New York plans to open a $5 million Social Justice Center within its School of Education on Friday, thanks to an alumni donation.

As Campus Reform’s Abigail Marone reports, The Lender Center for Social Justice “aspires to foster proactive, innovative and interdisciplinary approaches to issues related to justice, equity & inclusion,” according to a university news release, and will provide symposia, student and faculty fellowships, and research aid. 

The social justice center will be directed by faculty members Marcelle Haddix and Kendall Phillips. Haddix, Syracuse’s School of Education chair of Reading and Language Arts and dean’s associate professor, is an active participant in social justice movements like Black Lives Matter.

She has participated in numerous social justice panels, including a Black Lives Matter in Academia webinar, and delivered the keynote address at a Social Justice Teach-In where Black Lives Matter and Planned Parenthood also made presentations.

Phillips, the other faculty co-director and communication and rhetorical studies professor, recently taught a course on President Trump’s “celebrity presidency”. He has told the HuffPo that unlike former president Ronald Reagan, President Donald Trump does not even pretend to play a presidential role. 

“We envision the Center serving as a place for innovative and proactive approaches to social problems and concerns,” Phillips told Campus Reform.

“We want to inspire new ways of thinking about old problems and to create a place where people can rise above old ways of thinking, partisan politics, and disciplinary blinders and, instead, work across different points of view to develop new approaches.”

“I suppose some folks might be concerned that we will be promoting a single point of view or serving a particular set of political values,” he continued, “but, that is exactly the opposite of what we want to accomplish. Real innovation will require real dialogue across multiple points of view. We hope to create just such a dialogue.”

The Lender Center for Social Justice’s launch will feature opening remarks, a keynote address, and panel discussions from multiple speakers. Although some speakers have backgrounds in reproductive justice and the Black Lives Matter movement, no speakers have a background in conservative thought or activism. 

“Syracuse is actually a pretty politically diverse campus. We have a strong chapter of College Republicans as well as College Democrats,” Phillips told Campus Reform, when asked about how the center plans to engage students and speakers from both sides of the aisle. “And, both our Congressional Representative (John Katko) and State Senator (John DeFrancisco) are Republicans.”

He did not detail any specific plans the center has to work with students and speakers from different perspectives besides mentioning that the Center’s objective was to “push us beyond partisanship.”

Kevin Kumashiro, a former education dean at the University of San Francisco and founder of the Center for Anti-Oppressive Education, will deliver the launch’s keynote address. The university describes him as a “recognized expert in educational equity and social justice.” 

Kumashiro has published books and articles including Queering Elementary Education and Against Common Sense: Teaching and Learning Toward Social Justice.

In Against Common Sense, Kumashiro encourages students and teachers to engage in “anti-oppressive education” and to “examine the underlying stories of the curriculum and the ways the stories can both reinforce and challenge oppression.” 

The book also teaches that “queer activism can suggest ways of thinking that go beyond common sense” and that “queer teaching always works through crisis.”

Syracuse University, The Lender Center, and Marcelle Haddix did not respond to request for comments in time for publication.

However, there is just one problem as Syracuse blows millions, Campus Reform’s Masopn McKie reports that a new Baylor University study reveals that there is “no significant statistical evidence” that schools with chief diversity officers have more diverse faculties.

“We are unable to find significant statistical evidence that preexisting growth in diversity for underrepresented racial/ethnic minority groups is affected by the hiring of an executive level diversity officer for new tenure and non-tenure track hires, faculty hired with tenure, or for university administrator hires,” the study, which was published last month, states. The four authors of the study – Steven Bradley, James Garven, Wilson Law, and James West – surveyed 462 U.S. universities with enrollments of at least 4,000 students.

“With faculties less diverse than their student bodies, universities have sought programs and policies designed to better increase faculty diversity. Advocates for greater diversity have argued that a higher-profile executive-level Chief Diversity Officer, preferably one who reports directly to the university president, can more effectively promote and encourage diversity at the highest level of university governance compared with lower level diversity-focused offices and organizations such as multicultural and diversity centers,” the study states. 

The study added that in 2016, “more than two-thirds of the major U.S. universities we study had a CDO in place.” 

However, it continues, “it is not immediately clear how much influence an executive level CDO can exert upon faculty hiring decisions made by individual departments.”

“Importantly, we are unable to find evidence that preexisting patterns in diversity hiring are altered by the hiring of an executive level diversity officer at the faculty or administration hiring level,” it adds. 

When asked by the Chronicle of Higher Education about whether universities have chief diversity officers for optics, West responded, “The figures in the paper tell an interesting story, but I’m not sure what is it.” 

“For instance,” West said, “the proportion of underrepresented faculty hired is actually higher for institutions that have no CDO,” a finding West later described as “not very nice.” “Does that mean that CDOs don’t work, or is this the mathematical compositional effect? The whole lesson of this is complicated,” West added. 

But, West also acknowledged how CDOs could affect faculty diversity as they are generally intended.

“I could see how a diversity officer – if they set a positive tone or a tone that underrepresented-minority faculty members viewed as positive – that could affect attrition,” West told the Chronicle. 

In an article published last summer, Campus Reform highlighted how much some chief diversity officers make. The article explained that “on average, each [diversity-related] administrative position, generally identified as some variation of a chancellor, provost, or dean, earns $175,088—though at least 15 such officials earn well over $200,000 annually, including two administrators who earn more than $300,000 annually.” 

As Campus Reform also reported last year, a community college in New York was in search of a chief diversity officer, ready to pay the right person a 6-figure salary.

“The new recruit, who will earn a starting salary of at least $102,296 and a generous benefits package that includes health coverage and a pension plan, must hold at least a Master’s degree and seven years of related experience in academia,” the job post stated.

The article states, “In total, state flagship universities spend a combined $7,528,821 annually on such administrators, enough to pay the average tuition (based on the combined average for out-of-state tuition) of 257 students.”

via RSS https://ift.tt/2xrD3wr Tyler Durden

Trump Orders Immediate Release Of All Text Messages From Russia Investigation

President Trump has ordered the Department of Justice to release all text messages related to the Russia investigation with no redactions, of former FBI Director James Comey, his deputy Andrew McCabe, now-fired special agent Peter Strzok, former FBI attorney Lisa Page and twice-demoted DOJ official Bruce Ohr.

The statement reads in full: 

“At the request of a number of committees of Congress, and for reasons of transparency, the President has directed the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the Department of Justice (including the FBI) to provide for the immediate declassification of the following materials: (1) pages 10-12 and 17-34 of the June 2017 application to the FISA court in the matter of Caner W. Page; (2) all FBI reports of interviews with Bruce G. Ohr prepared in connection with the Russia investigation; and (3) all FBI reports of interviews prepared in connection with all Caner Page FISA applications.

In addition, President Donald J. Trump has directed the Department of Justice (including the FBI) to publicly release all text messages relating to the Russia investigation, without redaction, of James Comey, Andrew McCabe, Peter Strzok, Lisa Page, and Bruce Ohr.”

Former FBI Director James Comey

Developing… 

via RSS https://ift.tt/2QDv08o Tyler Durden

Massive Sustained Attack On Syria: Russian S-300 Defenses Possibly Active In Huge Escalation

Another attack on Syria has occurred tonight on multiple locations in what is the largest sustained series of what are believed to be Israeli or possibly US air strikes in months. But hugely significant is that early reports suggest Russia’s S-300 anti-missiles engaged the inbound rockets. 

On Monday night Syrian state-run SANA confirmed multiple missiles fired “from the sea into Lattakia city” in “an aggression from unknown source” which state media says involved successful intercepts by Syrian missile defense. British-Syrian journalist Danny Makki, currently reporting from the ground, says the attack “lasted for a total of 1 hour 30 minutes”.

Though it appears another Israeli strike – as it came less than two days following an attack near Damascus – the details are still unknown, and some observers are speculating it could be an American attack, given that at least some of the missiles were fired from the sea. 

SANA reports “an aggression on Lattakia has targeted the Technical Industries’ establishment” adding that “the air defenses intercepted and downed a number of the missiles”.

Multiple journalists in the region further said that Syrian air defenses were activated across four provinces including Latakia and Tartus on the coast, as well as over Homs and Hama which are more inland. 

The initial major strike on Latakia, located on the Syrian coast, was reportedly targeting a Syrian Scientific Research Center (SSRC) facility, and newly published video and images from Syrian sources show massive fireballs lighting up the sky.

But significantly the location of the strike is in the vicinity of Russia’s Hmeymim airbase, and there are early unconfirmed reports that Russia engaged the inbound assault via its advanced S-300 system. 

According to the Middle East Institute’s Charles Lister, “Reports suggest Russia air defenses in Hmeymim participated in attempting to repel tonight’s strikes in Latakia. *IF* that’s true, that’d be a significant development. Some reports also say strikes came from sea; leading to accusations of a U.S naval cruise missile attack.”

Unconfirmed local eyewitness accounts say that two hostile aircraft were shot down during the lengthy assault. 

A number of videos are circulating on Syrian social media which purport to show successful Syria or Russian missile defense intercepts. 

As yet, there’s been no confirmation of who carried out the attack; however, a report early this month cited Tel Aviv sources who confirmed that Israel’s Air Force has conducted 200 attacks on locations inside Syria over the course of the past 2 years alone, according to Reuters.

Developing…

via RSS https://ift.tt/2xuSVyq Tyler Durden