A bedrock principle of conservatism is that individuals should be allowed to live as they please free from the overly meddlesome dictates of regulators. Another conservative mainstay is a belief in property rights—the right to do largely what we choose in our homes and on our land. When it comes to zoning issues, however, many conservatives have become “but” heads. They believe in freedom and markets, “but” not in their neighborhoods.
The latest debate centers on efforts by some states to outlaw single-family zoning—a move opponents depict as a nearly totalitarian plot to force everyone out of their picket-fenced homes into “stack-and-pack” subsidized-housing projects. The critiques have gotten overheated after Oregon recently passed a bill to eliminate this type of zoning. Virginia also began considering a similar plan.
“The measure could quickly transform the suburban lifestyle enjoyed by millions, permitting duplexes to be built on suburban lots in neighborhoods previously consisting of quiet streets and open green spaces,” wrote Luke Rosiak, in the Daily Caller. He complains that such changes would undermine efforts by local officials, “who have deliberately created and preserved neighborhoods with particular character…to accommodate people’s various preferences.”
That’s an otherworldly argument in a right-of-center publication. Typically, leftists believe the public good is “deliberately created” by government planning. They argue that markets can’t be trusted and only regulation can assure people’s preferences and lifestyles are respected. Conservatives have generally believed that the private sector, acting with minimal government interference, is the best way to provide things that people want.
Yet if markets work best to provide smartphones, automobiles and furniture, shouldn’t they work best for housing, also? By the way, as someone who has reported on myriad local councils, I find the depiction of local officials as doe-eyed doers of the public good to be astonishingly naïve. Locals can be just as hostile to liberty as state officials and even the feds.
Despite the histrionics, a ban on single-family zoning is not a ban on single-family houses or a ban on anything at all. It is the opposite. These proposals actually would deregulate land-use restrictions. They would limit local governments from dictating what people can do on their own property. They give property owners the right to use their properties in more expansive ways, such as by building an accessory dwelling unit (ADU) in the attic or garage.
Rosiak claims that supporters of these changes are doing so because they view the “suburbs as bastions of segregation and elitism,” but that’s a straw man. Most people advocating for an end to single-family zoning simply argue that it will boost housing supply and allow additional options. (Don’t forget that the current single-family zone is a government restriction on the market that was sometimes used to enforce racial segregation.)
I live in a conservative exurban community that gives homeowners a “by right” approval to build a second unit. I’d love to share the nightmarish stories, except there aren’t any. Mostly, people build a small unit where their elderly parents or adult children can live. It promotes family cohesion and helps people pay the bills by allowing them to rent a second place to those who need it.
This reduces government control and may boost property values as a side benefit, so what’s not to like from a free-market standpoint? Sadly, many conservatives seem more interested in echoing the approach of progressives: using government to impose their preferences by limiting others’ choices.
My fellow Southern California News Group columnist Susan Shelley fears that with a variety of land-use laws signed by the governor, “cities and even homeowner associations are prohibited from imposing bans or tighter limits on ADUs, charging higher fees or requiring parking spaces. Cities can’t require owners to live on-site” and or stop owners from renting their homes on Airbnb. Yep, the state is forbidding governments from telling me how I can use my house and from imposing higher fees. If that’s the case, it’s the best news out of Sacramento in years.
I strongly agree with these conservatives when they oppose government mandates that are designed to limit types of building. California and Oregon have embraced growth boundaries that restrict development outside of an arbitrarily drawn “green line,” thereby mandating construction of high-density housing in urban areas. Those and similar policies, including housing subsidies for particular types of government-preferred projects, are likewise wrong.
But mandates and deregulation are entirely different things. I’m happy to find common ground with YIMBYs (Yes In My Back Yarders) who agree that more supply will lessen the state’s housing crisis, even if their ultimate goal (higher density) is different from mine (more freedom).
I believe in reducing regulations so builders can provide a wide variety of housing products—from duplexes, to apartments to homes with big lawns. That used to be a fundamental conservative principle, but perhaps not so much anymore.
This column was first published in the Orange County Register.
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Dow 29,000 On Deck As Melt-Up Euphoria Pushes Global Stocks To Another Record High
Not even in his wildest dreams did BofA’s chief investment strategist Michael Hartnett expect the meltup to push the S&P500 to 3,333 before March 3. At the rate we are going, that bogey will be hit next week. World stocks set new record highs on Friday, with the world’s most valuable stock Apple leading the furious, euphoria meltup, while safe-haven assets such as gold and TSY dipped again as investors cheered – for a second day – an apparent de-escalation in U.S.-Iran tensions and looked instead to prospects of improved global growth.
Markets reversed the sharp falls seen at the start of the week after the United States killed Iran’s most senior general, believing it would not lead to a full-scale military confrontation that would rock investor confidence. S&P futures are up more than 100 points since then, and the Dow is set to rise above 29,000 for the first time ever.
The MSCI world equity index also quickly resumed its rally and added another 0.1% on Friday to hit a new record high. It is almost 1.5% above the lows seen on Monday. Reassurance from Fed Vice Chairman Richard Clarida that the U.S. economy remains in a “good place” is adding to bullish sentiment after a rocky start to the year.
“Unless we have external shocks such as a resurgence of U.S.-China trade tensions or a war in the Middle East, it is hard to see the U.S. economy falling apart,” said Hiroshi Watanabe, senior economist at Sony Financial Holdings. “There could be a great rotation to stocks from bonds. Emerging markets are likely to benefit from investors’ bullish mood too,” he added, echoing the familiar bullish refrain that has failed to materialize for the past decade.
Unlike the S&P which remains a one-way meltup, European shares showed some hesitation at the open, with pan-European Euro Stoxx 50 dropping as much as 0.2% as banking and retailer shares declined, before rebounding, the German DAX up 0.06% and Britain’s FTSE 0.1% ahead. That followed record levels in the three major share indexes on Wall Street on Thursday. Stock markets have got off to a strong start in 2019 despite U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to kill military commander Qassem Soleimani, the second most powerful figure in Iran, in a missile strike in Baghdad.
“In the space of a few days we appear to have swung full circle; with investors seemingly convinced that the problems in the Middle East appear to have settled down, at least for the time being,” said CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson.
“Investors now have the opportunity to focus on the signing of the new U.S.-China phase one trade deal next week, as well as the health of the U.S. economy today, and in particular the labor market which has continued to look resilient,” he added, referring to today’s market moving payrolls report.
In addition to trade and world war “optimism”, investors also cheered news that sales of Apple’s iPhones in China in December jumped more than 18% on the year.
Investors digested the report as a prelude to the upcoming visit by China’s Vice Premier Liu He, head of the country’s negotiation team in Sino-U.S. trade talks, to Washington next week to sign a trade deal with the United States.
There were other signs of investors’ bullish mood too: MSCI’s emerging market currency index hit a one and a half year high on Thursday in what is likely to be its sixth straight week of gains as it has also benefited from three U.S. rate cuts last year.
“If growth recovers and even if inflation overshoots a little bit, the Fed is probably going to let it run, and that probably goes for other central banks, but if growth weakens they could cut again,” Patrik Schowitz, global strategist at JPMorgan Asset Management told Bloomberg Television. “You have this asymmetric set-up and that’s quite helpful for markets.”
Meanwhile, as noted above, safe haven assets extended their downward move: gold eased 0.1% to $1,550 per ounce from a seven-year high of $1,610.90 hit right after Iran’s missile attack on Wednesday. Against the Japanese yen, which investors often buy in times of uncertainty, the U.S. dollar strengthened to a two-week high of 109.61 yen. The dollar was little changed more broadly and against the euro it stood at $1.1108. The euro fell to $1.1091 on Thursday, its lowest in about two weeks.
In rates, government bond yields, which rose on Thursday as investors’ nerves about the situation in the Middle East eased, edged lower in early trading on Friday. The benchmark 10-year German bond yield fell 1 basis point to -0.236% but for the week remains up almost 5 basis points, in a strong signal of investors’ willingness to pull back from safe-haven government debt for riskier assets. The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield was unchanged at 1.8546% and remains up 7 basis points on the week.
In commodities, oil prices, which spiked earlier this week on worries that tensions with Iran would disrupt global supplies, retreated further. Brent crude fell 0.3% $65.20 a barrel, and was heading for its first decline in six weeks, down almost 5%. WTI crude dropped 0.4% to $59.33 a barrel and was also on track for its first weekly drop in six, falling 6% from last Friday’s close.
Looking at today’s calendar, the final U.S. jobs report for 2019, due later Friday, is forecast to show employers added 160,000 jobs in December. We’ll also get November industrial production releases in France and Italy along with the December Bank of France industrial sentiment reading. Out later today in the US is final November wholesale inventories revisions. Away from the data the BoE’s Tenreyro is scheduled to speak this morning on the labour market.
Market Snapshot
S&P 500 futures up 0.2% to 3,282.00
STOXX Europe 600 up 0.09% to 420.03
MXAP up 0.5% to 172.89
MXAPJ up 0.5% to 563.69
Nikkei up 0.5% to 23,850.57
Topix up 0.4% to 1,735.16
Hang Seng Index up 0.3% to 28,638.20
Shanghai Composite down 0.08% to 3,092.29
Sensex up 0.3% to 41,588.03
Australia S&P/ASX 200 up 0.8% to 6,929.03
Kospi up 0.9% to 2,206.39
German 10Y yield fell 1.5 bps to -0.194%
Euro down 0.1% to $1.1095
Brent Futures down 0.5% to $65.07/bbl
Italian 10Y yield fell 3.5 bps to 1.208%
Spanish 10Y yield fell 1.5 bps to 0.436%
Brent Futures down 0.5% to $65.07/bbl
Gold spot down 0.2% to $1,549.72
U.S. Dollar Index up 0.06% to 97.51
Top Overnight News
Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Brexit legislation cleared its final hurdle in the House of Commons, putting an end to the parliamentary gridlock that cost his predecessor Theresa May her job
The U.K. labor market received an election boost in December, with the number of people placed in permanent jobs rising for the first time in a year and business optimism surging. A survey for KPMG and the Recruitment and Employment Confederation found companies more willing to take on workers after Boris Johnson’s Conservative Party won a commanding parliamentary majority last month
Australians opened their wallets in November to take advantage of Black Friday sales, providing a much-needed boost for retailers that have struggled in an environment of record- high household debt and stagnant real wages
Oil headed for its first weekly loss since November as the prospect of a U.S.- Iranian war receded, easing fears of a potential supply disruption in the Middle East
Spending by Japanese households fell by a smaller amount in November, an indication that consumption is starting to recover from a sharp fall following October’s sale tax hike and a typhoon
Senate Republicans anticipate that President Trump’s impeachment trial will begin sometime next week, after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday she will send the two articles of impeachment “soon,” according to Senator John Thune, the No. 2 GOP leader
The U.S. House of Representatives voted Thursday to limit President Donald Trump’s authority to strike Iran, a mostly symbolic move Democrats say defends Congress’s constitutional powers but Republicans say endangers national security
The prime ministers of Canada, the U.K. and Australia said that a Ukrainian jet that crashed Wednesday near Tehran was probably brought down by an Iranian missile and called for an international probe of the disaster
The final jobs report for 2019 is projected to show payrolls growth capped the year with a gain almost exactly in line with the average of the decade-long economic expansion, and continuing to moderate from the 2018 pace
A day after BOE Governor Mark Carney said policy makers are debating whether to add more stimulus, Silvana Tenreyro said she could be persuaded to join the two officials urging the Monetary Policy Committee to bring down the cost of borrowing
Iran called on Western governments to prove claims the Boeing Co. 737-800 passenger jet that crashed near Tehran on Wednesday was shot down, intensifying a standoff that could complicate an already difficult investigation fraught with geopolitical hurdles
Lawmakers expect House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will soon end her delay of President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial without any notable concessions from Senate Republicans, leaving her allies stumped about her strategy in the three-week standoff
Asia-Pac equities traded cautiously as the region failed to fully follow suit from the positive lead from Wall Street – which saw the tech-giant Apple soar in excess of 2% to a record high, after Chinese government data showed an 18% rise in iPhones sales in December. ASX 200 (+0.8%) was propped up by healthy gains in its financial sector with the “Big Four” Aussie banks all firmly in positive territory. Nikkei 225 (+0.5%) was buoyed by its auto sector alongside other large-cap stocks post-earnings, albeit Fast Retailing shares slumped to the foot of the index after the Co. cut its FY outlook following dismal quarterly results. Elsewhere, Hang Seng (+0.3%) and Shanghai Comp (U/C) were mixed with the former swinging between gains and losses whilst the latter lost momentum and gave up its mild opening gains before trading with little conviction. US President Trump said he thinks the US-China Phase One deal will be signed on January 15th or shortly after. China Global Times tweeted that a Phase Two trade deal after November is too far away and added that China’s willingness to start Phase Two negotiations depends on the implementation of the Phase One deal; citing an expert close to the Chinese Government. Furthermore, China is not in a rush to begin Phase Two talks if US President Trump criticises the country during his election campaign, according to Global Times citing the expert close to the Chinese government.
Top Asian News
Indonesia Hints Currency Intervention Unlikely; Rupiah Jumps
India Court Finds Indefinite Restrictions in Kashmir Illegal
Trump Sent Kim Jong Un a Birthday Greeting, South Korea Says
Prosus Expands Fintech Business in India With $185 Million Deal
European bourses are essentially flat, in what has been a fairly choppy session for the bourses; currently, there is no substantial under/outperformer amongst the European indexes. As newsflow this morning has slowed considerably, particularly on the geopolitical front, ahead of the US jobs report later in the session. In terms of sectors, the complex is mixed; notably, the banking sector is underperforming slightly (-0.4%) weighed on in particular by UK and Italian banks due to lower yields as Gilts and BTPs currently outperform their peers. Elsewhere, this morning other notable movers include Ryanair (+7.8%) after an update which saw them increase FY20 profit guidance; note, this update has bolstered the European travel and leisure sector to the top of the pile, as Ryanair accounts for 6.15% of the index. Just below Ryanair resides RWE (+5.0%) after, since confirmed, pre-market reports that the Co. may receive as much as EUR 2bln in compensation from their mandated exit of the coal-power business. At the other end of the spectrum price action is quieter with the likes of Uniper (-2.0%) and Travis Perkins (-1.7%) afflicted by broker action.
Top European News
Ryanair Raises Profit Guidance After Christmas Travel Boom
Macron Government Seeks to Drive Pension Reform With Fresh Talks
Nordea Markets Chief Dealer FX Forwards Leaves After 25 Years
Northern Ireland May See Power Shared Again as Deal in Sight
In FX, there was more respite for the Aussie amidst the raging fires, as retail sales topped consensus overnight to overshadow a sub-50 AIG services PMI and maintain positive trade surplus momentum from Thursday. Hence, Aud/Usd is establishing a firmer base above 0.6850 and the 50 DMA (0.6860), while Aud/Nzd has rebounded a bit closer towards 1.0400, as the Kiwi struggles to keep hold of the 0.6600 handle vs its US peer.
USD – Aussie outperformance aside, the Greenback is still outpacing the rest of the G10, with the DXY back over 96.500 and yesterday’s 97.562 high at 97.586 heading in to NFP. Note, headline payrolls are forecast to rise 164k compared to the bumper 266k tally last time, but could well surprise to the upside given mostly upbeat jobs proxies and a particularly strong ADP survey, so the Dollar and index may be able to extend their advances if the BLS report is bullish.
GBP – The Pound is holding up relatively well circa 1.3055 and 0.8490 in Cable and Eur/Gbp cross terms in the face of another dovish blast from the BoE, as Tenreyro shows tendencies towards backing a rate cut if the UK economy falters in line with Governor Carney on Thursday, and given downside risks amidst no further tightening in the labour market.
JPY/EUR/CAD/CHF – All on the defensive against the Buck pre-US jobs data, with the Yen slipping closer to December lows through 109.50 and bereft of any real option expiry interest to offer support until 110.20, while the Euro is back below 1.1100 to test the resolve of bids around 1.1090 that saved the single currency from deeper declines yesterday. Like Usd/Jpy, no decent downside expiries into the NY cut, but 1.1 bn in Eur/Gbp at the 0.8500 strike could buffer the Euro. Elsewhere, the Loonie has recovered some poise after sliding under 1.3100 following latest BoC commentary via Governor Poloz who contends that strike action and adverse weather are partly to blame for the recent run of poor data, but the impending labour update will be key in wake of the huge headline drop in November. Meanwhile, the Franc has retreated towards 0.9760, but faring better vs the Euro close to 1.0800.
In commodities, a markedly quieter session in terms of geopolitical developments to end the week, with much of the focus now residing on whether the Boeing 737-800 crashed due to a Iranian missile; a possibility which Iran has firmly pushed back on but a number of nations, including US and Canada, regard this as a potential explanation as the investigation continues. Oil prices this morning are somewhat subdued, as the geo-political premium in the crude complex continues to unwind; overall, the moves are relatively small in magnitude as market focus switches to the US jobs report (full preview available on the Newsquawk research suite). Looking back on the week, WTI has printed a range of around USD 7.0/bbl thus far, with a similar range seen in Brent. PVM posit that yesterday’s price action, where the lack of attempt in oil markets to move higher implies that a ‘new status quo’ has taken over; which does tilts risks for price action to the downside. Turning to metals, where spot gold is down by around USD 4/oz and remains below the USD 1500/oz mark which was briefly reclaimed last night. Middle-East tensions aside, UBS highlight that physical demand for the precious metal is ‘tepid’, particularly from the world’s second largest importer India; although, overall they note the metals outlook is positive with the potential for a test of recent highs shortly.
US Event Calendar
8:30am: Change in Nonfarm Payrolls, est. 160,000, prior 266,000
Change in Private Payrolls, est. 152,500, prior 254,000
Change in Manufact. Payrolls, est. 5,000, prior 54,000
8:30am: Unemployment Rate, est. 3.5%, prior 3.5%
Labor Force Participation Rate, prior 63.2%
Underemployment Rate, prior 6.9%
8:30am: Average Hourly Earnings YoY, est. 3.1%, prior 3.1%
Average Hourly Earnings MoM, est. 0.3%, prior 0.2%
8:30am: Average Weekly Hours All Employees, est. 34.4, prior 34.4
9:45am: Bloomberg Jan. United States Economic Survey
10am: Wholesale Inventories MoM, est. 0.0%, prior 0.0%; Wholesale Trade Sales MoM, est. 0.2%, prior -0.7%
DB’s Jim Reid concludes the overnight wrap
With risk appetite showing little sign of abating following another resurgent 24 hours in markets, the next potential hurdle to jump is the first payrolls Friday of the new decade. Indeed this afternoon we’ve got the December employment report scheduled for release where, on the back of that bumper 266k payrolls print in November, the consensus expects a 160k reading for last month. Our US economists make the point that the November data was boosted by returning GM workers so they also expect some payback and forecast 155k. In light of the strong ADP report this week they also nudged their private payrolls forecast slightly higher, to 145k. As for the other details, our colleagues expect the unemployment rate to hold steady at 3.5%, hours worked to also hold steady at 34.4 and average hourly earnings to rise +0.3% mom – all of which is in line with the wider consensus. The report is due out at 1.30pm GMT/8.30am EST.
In the meantime and as mentioned at the top, with US-Iran re-escalation concerns now seemingly in the rear view mirror for now, the lack of any other headwinds or obstacles helped the S&P 500 (+0.67%), NASDAQ (+0.81%) and DOW (+0.74%) to reach new record highs by the close of play last night. The more cyclical sectors led the charge once more with tech, financials and energy the biggest gainers sector wise for the S&P. In Europe the STOXX 600 also closed +0.31% while oil remained steady, with Brent crude hovering around $65/bbl, still below its pre-Soleimani levels of last week. Gold (-0.26%) also fell for a second consecutive session. Amazingly November 25th was the last time that happened. Over in sovereign bond markets, 10yr Treasury yields closed down -1.9bps, though this was in contrast to Europe, where yields on 10yr bunds (+2.9bps), OATs(+1.6bps) and gilts (+0.3bps) all moved higher.
This morning in Asia we’ve seen further gains for the likes of the Nikkei (+0.38%), Hang Seng (+0.06%) and Kospi (+0.54%). Bourses in China have bucked the trend, however, with both the Shanghai Comp (-0.26%) and CSI 300 (-0.18%) running out of steam somewhat. Meanwhile futures in the US are up around +0.20% and it’s worth noting also that Boeing shares are up +0.30% overnight after closing +1.47% yesterday following comments from Canadian PM Trudeau that intelligence shows the Ukrainian jet that crashed on Wednesday in Iran “was shot down by an Iranian surface-to-air missile”.
Back to yesterday now, and things have been a bit quieter on the trade front lately since the announcement of a Phase One US-China trade deal, which is due to be signed next week, but we did find out from President Trump yesterday that the Phase Two negotiations would begin “right away”. However, he added, “I think, I might want to wait to finish it until after the election because by doing that I think we can actually make a little bit better deal, maybe a lot better deal,” so clearly it could also be some time before we see a full agreement.
Staying with the US, Vice-Chair Clarida’s comments yesterday didn’t end up moving the dial particularly. He said that policy is in a “good place” and will respond to “material changes”. He also said that “global disinflationary forces are powerful” and that policy has to take that into account. As for the rest of the Fedspeak, we also had New York Fed President Williams, who said that “If inflation continues to underrun target levels similar to the past six years, the downward trend in inflation expectations will likely continue”, while Chicago Fed President Evans, though not a voter in 2020, said that “I would like to see inflation go to 2% sustainably and in fact go above 2%”.
In other news, yesterday’s data was a small talking point in the US with continuing claims jumping 75k to 1,803k. That is in fact the highest since April 2018 with the 4.3% jump the highest since November 2012. It’s worth noting, however, that initial claims were a lot steadier at 214k (versus 223k in the week prior) so there wasn’t too much concern with year-end cited as a potential factor. Over in Europe, the Euro Area unemployment rate held steady at 7.5% as expected in November, staying at its joint-lowest since June 2008. Meanwhile in Germany November’s industrial production was slightly stronger than expected at +1.1% mom (vs. +0.8% expected), bringing the yoy decline down to -2.6%, which is actually the smallest yoy contraction since March.
Here in the UK there was some focus on comments from BoE Governor Carney, with sterling weakening back towards $1.30 (though it recovered later in the session slightly) after he said that “there is a debate at the MPC over the relative merits of near-term stimulus to reinforce the expected recovery in UK growth and inflation”. The full speech also saw Mr. Carney say that “evidence is increasing that the entrenched uncertainties in recent years may have weighed more heavily on supply growth than previously anticipated”. A sign perhaps that there is some active debate on the MPC as to whether to cut rates later this month. Also in the UK, the House of Commons gave its final approval to the Withdrawal Agreement Bill yesterday, which is the legislation that implements the Brexit deal into UK law. The bill passed by a decisive 330-231 margin among MPs, showing that with a government majority of 80 seats in the Commons, the days of tight parliamentary votes are behind us for the time being. The bill now moves on to the House of Lords, with the UK due to leave the EU on the 31st January.
To the day ahead now, where the focus is undoubtedly this afternoon with the December employment report in the US. Prior to that, this morning we’ll get November industrial production releases in France and Italy along with the December Bank of France industrial sentiment reading. Out later today in the US is final November wholesale inventories revisions. Away from the data the BoE’s Tenreyro is scheduled to speak this morning on the labour market.
Underwater is an oceangoing take on Alien, and why not? The movie isn’t a rip-off in the traditional sense—director William Eubank (The Signal) makes no attempt to obscure what he’s up to. There’s a deep-sea mining base filled with empty corridors that strongly recall the innards of the old space tug Nostromo. There’s a wise-cracking crew member, played by T.J. Miller, who’s clearly a descendant of the whiny marine played by Bill Paxton (“Game over, man!”) in Aliens. And there’s a no-nonsense neo-Ripley character, played by Kristen Stewart, who runs around in her underwear quite a bit. The movie is an unabashed embrace of a much better film, but it’s not too bad itself.
Eubank gets right down to business. The first thing we see is Stewart’s Norah brushing her teeth in a brightly lit lavatory. She’s mumbling things (“There’s a comfort to cynicism”) that suggest a backstory, but who has time for one of those? The base rumbles and shudders, and great gouts of seawater come crashing through the walls. We’ve previously been informed, during the opening credits, that this command post, situated in the Western Pacific, is located seven miles down in the Mariana Trench, where the water pressure is eight tons per square inch. Chances of survival here would seem iffy.
But a handful of the 316 people on the base do in fact survive, among them Norah, who soon encounters Rodrigo (Mamadou Athie), a black guy who…well, don’t get attached. Together, these two come upon another corporate employee, Paul (Miller), half-buried under some soggy debris. (Opening his eyes and beholding the buzz-cut blonde standing over him, he salutes Norah as “my sweet, flat-chested elven creature.”) Eventually, the group is enlarged by a pair of lovebird techs (Jessica Henwick and John Gallagher Jr.) and the base commanding officer (Vincent Cassell). And one of the first things they realize is that the facility in which they’re currently sloshing around is terminally unstable and will be imploding shortly, and that they are all going to die.
Unless they can somehow make it to a large drilling site not that far away, which may have weathered the recent earthquake, or whatever it was, with less damage. Unfortunately, to get to this haven they’ll have to walk—yes, walk—across the ocean floor. (Once they’ve all donned big bulky white spacesuits and helmets for this trip, the Alien echoes become unmistakable.)
The aqua-monsters that Eubank and his designers have come up with are not as hideous as the Xenomorphs of the Alien franchise, which had an unnerving prosthetic solidity that the digitally confected Underwater creatures can’t match. But they’ve been expensively wrought and are sufficiently nightmarish when we spot them skulking through the murky depths, or chewing on a waterlogged corpse. And in the best 1950s sci-fi tradition, they come bearing a message. As the tech in charge of exposition tells us, they’ve been summoned up from their gruesome realm deep in the Earth by all the drilling the mining company has been doing. They are the envoys of Mother Nature’s wrath. “We took too much,” the tech says, “and now she’s taking back.” Or, as was more concisely said in the ’50s, “We’re not supposed to be here.”
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Who do you invite to see a black comedy about the Third Reich, one that opens with Rebel Wilson and Sam Rockwell teaching prepubescent campers how to burn books and blow stuff up with grenades?
Jewish director Taika Waititi tackles the story of Jojo Betzler, a 10-year-old boy at a Hitler Youth camp, whose invisible friend—Hitler himself—accompanies him everywhere. Jojo’s moral paradigm is complicated when he realizes his mother is hiding a Jewish girl in their house and he develops a crush on the fugitive.
The film is playful and dark, with a well-placed David Bowie dance scene to pull you out of the sinking misery that sets in during the last act. Through an indoctrinated child’s eyes, Waititi reminds viewers that blind allegiance to any regime only makes sense if your worldview is too simple to match reality.
It’s nowhere near as timeless as The Producers when it comes to making workable comedy from hideous evil, but Jojo Rabbit shows that a politically risky premise can pay off if the storyteller is smart and skilled enough. At a time when we cancel artists based on drive-by descriptions of their work (“Nazi satire with Hitler as a little kid’s invisible friend”), this worthwhile film reminds us that doing so means losing our ability to poke fun at history’s worst monsters.
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“This Plane Was Designed By Clowns” – Shocking Boeing Emails Reveal Contempt For Management, FAA
We have never heard a more damning description of the relationship between a corporation and its regulators than a line that has been plucked from a batch of company emails that Boeing has just handed over to the FAA (and which the FAA has, apparently, leaked to the press).
“This airplane is designed by clowns, who are in turn supervised by monkeys…”
In recent weeks, a series of reports claiming Boeing neglected to turn over critical information to the FAA regarding the development of the 737 MAX 8, Boeing’s new “workhorse” model that has been grounded around the world for the last 10 months, after a pair of suspicious crashes raised suspicions of possible flaws in the plane’s anti-stall software.
According to more than 100 pages of internal company communications (which were apparently withheld from the FAA during the certification process for the jet) Boeing employees could be heard mocking federal rules, openly discussing their deception of regulators, and joking about the MAX’s potential flaws.
The most shocking messages were sent by Boeing pilots and other employees who can be seen discussing software issues and problems with the flight simulator software for hte MAX, which is particularly disturbing since it was issues with the plane’s MCAS software that were found to have contributed to two avoidable crashes and the brutal deaths of 346 people.
In one message, one Boeing employee openly admits to deceiving the FAA on behalf of the company.
“I still haven’t been forgiven by God for the covering up I did last year,” one of the employees said in messages from 2018, apparently in reference to interactions with the Federal Aviation Administration.
In another, a group of Boeing test pilots agreed that they wouldn’t want their families flying with pilots trained on the new Boeing 737 MAX 8 flight simulator.
“Would you put your family on a Max simulator trained aircraft? I wouldn’t,” one employee said to a colleague in another exchange from 2018, before the first crash. “No,” the colleague responded.
As the New York Times explains, the release of these communications, both emails and instant messages, is “the latest embarrassing episode for Boeing in a crisis that has cost the company billions of dollars and wreaked havoc on the aviation industry across the globe.”
It should go without saying that these messages “threaten to complicate Boeing’s relationship with the FAA” at a time when it’s still unclear when the MAX might be cleared to fly again.
Yet, as we mentioned above, this is only the latest and perhaps most jarring of a string of revelations citing internal documents and communications. Forget “regulatory capture” – a term that’s often used to criticize the revolving-door nature of Wall Street compliance officials and the regulatory agencies supposed to keep their firms in line – this is regulatory irrelevance.
And any Boeing shareholders who experienced an escalating dread as they read this post – it’s okay, you can relax.
Because once again, the market just doesn’t care. Plane crashes have been normalized in 2020, and so, apparently, has gross incompetence and contempt for both government regulators and the broader public.
Trump Says Trade Deal Might Be Signed Jan. 15 Or “Shortly Thereafter”
Uncertainty is increasing after President Trump said the Phase 1 trade deal might be signed on Jan. 15 but also said it could be signed after, report Reuters.
President Trump stated last month that a trade deal with China would be signed on Jan. 15, but on Thursday evening, he said the agreement might be signed “shortly thereafter.”
In an interview with ABC TV affiliate in Toledo, Ohio, the president said, “We’re going to be signing on Jan. 15 – I think it will be Jan. 15, but shortly thereafter, but I think Jan. 15 – a big deal with China.”
Some confusion is certainly seen with the president’s latest statement, considering China’s Vice Premier Liu He, the country’s top trade negotiator, will visit Washington on Jan. 13-15 to sign the Phase 1 traded deal.
The White House wasn’t open for questions as it appears the signing of the trade deal, announced by the president on Dec. 31 to be precisely on Jan. 15 is now in question. President Trump was hesitant to mention exact dates and was vague, considering several weeks ago, he was confident that a deal would be signed on Jan. 15.
The uncertainty around the timing could suggest trade negotiations could’ve hit a snag. As we’ve mentioned over the last week, Beijing won’t increase its annual import quotas for wheat, corn, and rice.
We’ve also detailed how China might not be able to live up to President Trump’s hard commitments on agriculture purchases.
Underwater is an oceangoing take on Alien, and why not? The movie isn’t a rip-off in the traditional sense—director William Eubank (The Signal) makes no attempt to obscure what he’s up to. There’s a deep-sea mining base filled with empty corridors that strongly recall the innards of the old space tug Nostromo. There’s a wise-cracking crew member, played by T.J. Miller, who’s clearly a descendant of the whiny marine played by Bill Paxton (“Game over, man!”) in Aliens. And there’s a no-nonsense neo-Ripley character, played by Kristen Stewart, who runs around in her underwear quite a bit. The movie is an unabashed embrace of a much better film, but it’s not too bad itself.
Eubank gets right down to business. The first thing we see is Stewart’s Norah brushing her teeth in a brightly lit lavatory. She’s mumbling things (“There’s a comfort to cynicism”) that suggest a backstory, but who has time for one of those? The base rumbles and shudders, and great gouts of seawater come crashing through the walls. We’ve previously been informed, during the opening credits, that this command post, situated in the Western Pacific, is located seven miles down in the Mariana Trench, where the water pressure is eight tons per square inch. Chances of survival here would seem iffy.
But a handful of the 316 people on the base do in fact survive, among them Norah, who soon encounters Rodrigo (Mamadou Athie), a black guy who…well, don’t get attached. Together, these two come upon another corporate employee, Paul (Miller), half-buried under some soggy debris. (Opening his eyes and beholding the buzz-cut blonde standing over him, he salutes Norah as “my sweet, flat-chested elven creature.”) Eventually, the group is enlarged by a pair of lovebird techs (Jessica Henwick and John Gallagher Jr.) and the base commanding officer (Vincent Cassell). And one of the first things they realize is that the facility in which they’re currently sloshing around is terminally unstable and will be imploding shortly, and that they are all going to die.
Unless they can somehow make it to a large drilling site not that far away, which may have weathered the recent earthquake, or whatever it was, with less damage. Unfortunately, to get to this haven they’ll have to walk—yes, walk—across the ocean floor. (Once they’ve all donned big bulky white spacesuits and helmets for this trip, the Alien echoes become unmistakable.)
The aqua-monsters that Eubank and his designers have come up with are not as hideous as the Xenomorphs of the Alien franchise, which had an unnerving prosthetic solidity that the digitally confected Underwater creatures can’t match. But they’ve been expensively wrought and are sufficiently nightmarish when we spot them skulking through the murky depths, or chewing on a waterlogged corpse. And in the best 1950s sci-fi tradition, they come bearing a message. As the tech in charge of exposition tells us, they’ve been summoned up from their gruesome realm deep in the Earth by all the drilling the mining company has been doing. They are the envoys of Mother Nature’s wrath. “We took too much,” the tech says, “and now she’s taking back.” Or, as was more concisely said in the ’50s, “We’re not supposed to be here.”
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Who do you invite to see a black comedy about the Third Reich, one that opens with Rebel Wilson and Sam Rockwell teaching prepubescent campers how to burn books and blow stuff up with grenades?
Jewish director Taika Waititi tackles the story of Jojo Betzler, a 10-year-old boy at a Hitler Youth camp, whose invisible friend—Hitler himself—accompanies him everywhere. Jojo’s moral paradigm is complicated when he realizes his mother is hiding a Jewish girl in their house and he develops a crush on the fugitive.
The film is playful and dark, with a well-placed David Bowie dance scene to pull you out of the sinking misery that sets in during the last act. Through an indoctrinated child’s eyes, Waititi reminds viewers that blind allegiance to any regime only makes sense if your worldview is too simple to match reality.
It’s nowhere near as timeless as The Producers when it comes to making workable comedy from hideous evil, but Jojo Rabbit shows that a politically risky premise can pay off if the storyteller is smart and skilled enough. At a time when we cancel artists based on drive-by descriptions of their work (“Nazi satire with Hitler as a little kid’s invisible friend”), this worthwhile film reminds us that doing so means losing our ability to poke fun at history’s worst monsters.
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