Mic drop

WSJ Agrees With Trump: Fed Should Stop Hiking

When President Trump proclaimed that "The Fed has gone crazy," the elites were stunned. When President Trump exclaimed, The Fed "is making a big mistake with ridiculous rate-hikes," the establishment was dumbfounded. And when President claimed that The Fed was his "biggest threat, because rates were rising too fast," the deep state lashed out with 25th Amendment headlines and "Democracy and independence under threat" byelines.

So isn't it just a little ironic that The Wall Street Journal - that bastion of free market capitalism and oracle of financial opinion should admit in its Editorial Board's latest opinion that Trump is right and The Fed needs to slow down on the rate-hikes.

America Is Not An Island

As the world economy slows, Trump and the Fed need to adapt.

President Trump’s biggest achievement has been the revival of faster U.S. economic growth, but past performance is no guarantee of future results. The White House should be worried about growing economic strains in the rest of the world, and policy makers need to prepare. The U.S. is not an island.

For now the American economy and especially the labor market seem strong as tax reform and deregulation unleash animal spirits. But the German economy shrank 0.2% in the latest quarter, the first contraction since 2015. Europe's largest economy will still grow this year, but a trade surplus and negative interest rates aren’t a growth tonic. Europe in general seems to be reverting back to its post-crisis mean of meager growth.

Japan contracted 0.3% in the last quarter, perhaps ending its modest growth spurt. Beijing last month said China’s economy grew a surprisingly slow 6.5% year-on-year in its latest quarter, and that official figure is usually an overstatement.

Some of this is due to such one-time factors as bad weather, but anxious markets are signaling larger concern. German auto exports are weak, and China is trying to sustain growth without adding to its debt overhang. The high-yield bond market has the jimmy legs, and oil prices are down on weaker demand. Even Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, the insouciant one, on Wednesday called events “concerning.”

Add currency shifts to those worry beads, as the U.S. dollar soars. Beijing is trying to stem flight from the yuan, and the pound fell another 1.5% against the dollar on Thursday on Brexit woes. The euro’s decline against the dollar needs particular watching because it’s the world’s most important price and contributes to investment uncertainty. Sharp changes in the euro-dollar rate contributed to the global financial panic in 2008.

European political risks may increase, as Germany could soon gain a new leader and the European Union tries to bludgeon Italy into an anti-growth budget. Prime Minister Theresa May’s government in London is hanging by a thread as she struggles to sell a European Union divorce deal to Parliament.

The world’s fifth-largest economy could crash out of its most important trading relationship with no alternative in place. A disorderly Brexit could also usher in a socialist Labour government led by Jeremy Corbyn, and watch the pound fall if that happens.

All of this is a warning for Mr. Trump and others in Washington: No moat can protect the U.S. economy, and they need to adapt.

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-11-16/wsj-agrees-trump-fed-should-stop-hiking

Baker Urges Brexiteers to Get Letters in: ‘You Must Act Now’

Former Brexit minister Steve Baker has urged colleagues wavering on whether to write to the 1922 Committee to call for a vote of no confidence in Prime Minister Theresa May to “act now. Time is short.”

Speaking to a media scrum in Westminster Friday, Mr Baker said: “If colleagues have agreed with me that we cannot tolerate this policy and that if we cannot tolerate this policy that it is time to recognise it is connected with Theresa May as Prime Minister, it is my sorry duty to say that it is time to put the letters in and to have the vote and test the will of the Conservative Party to continue.”

“You must act now. Time is short,” he added.

Speaking afterwards to Sky News’s Beth Rigby, the former junior minister, who resigned from the Cabinet in July over the prime minister’s soft Brexit Chequers plan, said: “I certainly can’t live with this deal and I will vote against it.

Asked who he thought should be lined up to replace May, should there be a vote and if she loses it, he said: “We need someone who is charismatic and determined, who believes in leaving the European Union, who can carry this country through it.”

https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2018/11/16/you-must-act-now-baker-urges-brexiteers-call-no-confidence-vote-in-may/

Amazon HQ2: Magnet for Corruption, Creative Destruction

The Amazon HQ2 sweepstakes is over and the winner is Queens, New York. And some place in Virginia called National Landing. And Nashville, Tennessee.

New York and Virginia will split Amazon’s second headquarters, while Nashville gets a consolation prize operations center. The Amazon move cements Queens’ status as an icon of the new New York — dynamic, diverse, economically upward, technologically savvy, and largely low-crime. Forget about Brooklyn. The future is Queens.

But that future is about to get a massive stress test.

Deals like HQ2 are a magnet for corruption. Amazon claims the new Long Island City site will create 25,000 jobs with an average wage of more than $150,000 per year. Ditto Virginia. In exchange for this fairy tale, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio ponied up more than $1.5 billion in tax breaks and grants to be overseen by Albany’s famously corrupt political culture. The state will seize control of the land. Amazon’s construction costs will be reimbursed. Jeff Bezos gets federal tax breaks for “distressed” property, a helipad, and a partridge in a pear tree. Instead of property taxes paid to the city, Amazon says it will contribute to an “Infrastructure Fund” for local improvements “developed through input from residents during the planning process.” Watch for Amazon-aligned groups to magically appear to game this process. Watch for Albany-aligned special interests to start putting their hands in the pie.

As for oversight, forget about it. The governor and mayor agreed on a plan to cut out the New York City Council, which is specifically tasked to examine large land-use projects. City Council Speaker Corey Johnson is apoplectic, excoriating the deal as “extremely troubling” and “done behind closed doors, with zero community input.” Freedom of information requests about the project have been stonewalled and denied.

Now, there’s no doubt that HQ2 offers lots of good jobs — though I’ll believe 25,000 for New York at $150k when I see it — but it’s also true that Queens is about to get a lesson in Schumpeter’s law of creative destruction. The gale force wind of capitalism, Schumpeter wrote, “incessantly revolutionizes the economic structure from within, incessantly destroying the old one, incessantly creating the new one.” The Internet, digitalization, and smart phones are all part of the wave of job-creating creative destruction reshaping the world economy. Amazon is part of it. So is Google, which just announced its own New York deal.

It’s best to be on board for that ride. But the toll will be steep. Amazon continues to decimate retailers in New York and around the country. Johnson and other community leaders have raised concerns about the impact of HQ2 on local streets, sewers, subways, and schools. Housing prices took off on news of the deal — a harbinger of things to come, threatening to drive longtime residents from the area.

“I seen my opportunities and I took ’em,” the corrupt Tammany Hall politician George Washington Plunkett declared in 1905. Plunkitt was a practitioner of what he called “honest graft” — essentially, gaming the system to benefit the powerful and well-connected. Times have changed, but they haven’t changed that much: honest graft — better known these days as crony capitalism — is still with us, as well as outright crime. HQ2 presents a wealth of opportunities for New York and Virginia, but there is little accountability, transparency, and oversight built into the deals. That’s a sign of trouble ahead.

https://www.judicialwatch.org/bulletins/amazon-hq2-magnet-for-corruption-creative-destruction/

Clapper Admits Gross Intelligence Failure on Iraq WMDs But Still Escapes Justice

Former National Intelligence Director James Clapper’s key role in helping the Cheney/Bush administration “justify” war on Iraq with fraudulent intelligence was exposed on Tuesday at the Carnegie Endowment in Washington. His own words were quoted back to him from his memoir “Facts and Fears: Hard Truths From a Life in Intelligence.” Hard truths, indeed.

Clapper was appointed Director of National Intelligence by President Barack Obama in June 2010, almost certainly at the prompting of Obama’s intelligence confidant and Clapper friend John Brennan, later director of the CIA. Despite Clapper’s performance on Iraq, he was confirmed unanimously by the Senate. Obama even allowed Clapper to keep his job for three and a half more years after he admitted that he had lied under oath to that same Senate about the extent of eavesdropping on Americans by the National Security Agency (NSA). He is now a security analyst for CNN.

In his book, Clapper finally places the blame for the consequential fraud (he calls it “the failure”) to find the (non-existent) WMD “where it belongs — squarely on the shoulders of the administration members who were pushing a narrative of a rogue WMD program in Iraq and on the intelligence officers, including me, who were so eager to help that we found what wasn’t really there.” (emphasis added) .

So at the event on Tuesday I stood up and asked him about that. It was easy, given the background Clapper himself provides in his book, such as:

“The White House aimed to justify why an invasion of and regime change in Iraq were necessary, with a public narrative that condemned its continued development of weapons of mass destruction [and] its support to al-Qaida (for which the Intelligence Community had no evidence).”

What Clapper chokes on — and avoids saying — is that U.S. intelligence had no evidence of WMD either. Indeed, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld had put him in charge of the agency responsible for analyzing imagery of all kinds — photographic, radar, infrared, and multispectral — precisely so that the absence of evidence from our multi-billion-dollar intelligence collection satellites could be hidden, in order not to impede the planned attack on Iraq. That’s why, as Clapper now admits, he had to find “what wasn’t really there.”

https://consortiumnews.com/2018/11/14/clappers-credibility-collapses/

Broward County Starts Manual Recount One Hour Late

Broward County on Friday began its manual recount one hour later than originally scheduled for in the state’s U.S. Senate race between incumbent Sen. Bill Nelson (D)-FL) and Gov. Rick Scott (R-FL).

The Miami Herald‘s Alex Harris reported Broward County’s election office, overseen by embattled Supervisor of Elections official Brenda Snipes, only began training voter counters at 7:40 a.m., though the manual recount was scheduled to begin at 7:00 a.m. Harris shared a photo to Twitter of the scene inside the office with vote counters sitting in pairs equipped with color-marked bins to separate votes.

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2018/11/16/broward-county-starts-manual-recount-one-hour-late/

Walker was unmoved be the excuse.

The election will be certified November 20 at 9 a.m.

Zuckerberg Clings To Power While Sandberg Claims Ignorance After Damaging NYT Report

Facebook executives Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg are battling backlash over an explosive investigation by the New York Times into Facebook's mercenary damage control tactics in the wake of several major scandals.

Despite fresh calls from investors for Zuckerberg to step down in his dual role as CEO and chairman and appoint an independent director to oversee the board, the 34-year-old tech titan brushed off the suggestion during a Thursday call with journalists.

“A company with Facebook’s massive reach and influence requires robust oversight and that can only be achieved through an independent chair who is empowered to provide critical checks on company leadership,” said New York City comptroller, Scott Stringer.

Zuckerberg disagrees. "I don’t think that that specific proposal is the right way to go," said the Facebook CEO when asked if he would consider stepping down, adding that other initiatives had been launched to "get more independence into our systems."

The measures include creating an independent body to advise the company on decisions over whether controversial content should remain on the site.

Ultimately, he said Facebook is never going to eradicate mistakes. “We’re never going to get to the point where there are no errors,” he told reporters. “I’m trying to set up the company so that way we have our board, and we report on our financial results and do a call every quarter, but that also we have this independent oversight that is just focused on the community.” -Business Insider

Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, meanwhile, is claiming ignorance - telling CBS This Morning co-host Norah O'Donnell "we absolutely did not pay anyone to create fake news - that they have assured me was not happening."

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-11-16/zuckerberg-clings-power-while-sandberg-claims-ignorance-after-damaging-nyt-report

Parents Furious after School shows Planned Parenthood video on Sexual Touching, same-sex kissing

A Florida high school is under fire after its administrators permitted the screening of a graphic Planned Parenthood video about consent.

What are the details?

The video, which was produced by the Planned Parenthood and presented by the Safe Place and Rape Crisis Center, targeted students in Sarasota County high schools in order to teach them what “consent” means.

According to WTVT-TV, the video features several same-sex couples engaging in kissing and sexual touching and also features graphic discussions about sex.

“Asking for consent doesn’t have to be awkward,” the video — reportedly geared toward teens — says. “Asking for consent can be kind of sexy.”

Sarasota County School Board member Eric Robinson told the station that complaints over the graphic video piled up quickly.

“As an adult, it can be hard to watch without being uncomfortable; I can imagine how a teenager would watch,” Robinson said. “The giggles and the gasps.”

What else?

A spokesperson for the Safe Place and Rape Crisis Center issued an apology, according to WTVT.

A statement from the organization said, “We sincerely apologize for the incident last Wednesday at Pine View [School]. The staff member did not follow established protocol regarding the programming presented, and the organization has acted to ensure that this does not happen again.”

“SPARCC has had a positive relationship with Sarasota County Schools that has spanned more than 15 years and we take the trust placed in our organization very seriously. Preventing domestic/dating violence and sexual assault is central to our mission and SPARCC aims to be a trusted resource for our community,” the statement added.

Pine View Principal Stephen Covert also issued a statement on the matter.

“We appreciate SPARCC’s shared concerns regarding this incident,” Covert in a statement obtained by WFLA-TV. “I am thankful for their swift review of the events and apology to our students, staff, school leaders and families. Until now, SPARCC has been a trusted resource for our students and school community, however, I am disappointed that the action of one resulted in an unacceptable situation for our students.”

The statement added, “I want to assure our school community that we will follow district guidelines and will take extra precautions in the future to ensure only pre-approved materials are used in the classroom.”

What did Planned Parenthood say?

A spokesperson for Planned Parenthood told WFLA that the videos are for older teens and young adults.

“The ‘Consent 101’ series of online videos are geared for older teens and young adults,” the organization’s statement read. “The videos explain and model what consent is and what it looks like in different situations, and is inclusive of diverse sexual orientations and race/ethnicities. This award-winning video series is designed to help young people understand consent in a relatable, as well as educational, way.

“Planned Parenthood Federation of America has placed these videos online for free so that any community across the country can utilize them just by going to Planned Parenthood’s website. We hope these videos help young people better understand that consent is part of healthy communication in relationships and encourage them to have open, honest conversations with their partners,” the statement concluded.

http://www.hideoutnow.com/2018/11/parents-furious-after-school-shows.html

Sarah Sanders Responds To Acosta Ruling

Sarah Sanders announced that the White House will restore CNN correspondent Jim Acosta's hard press pass following a federal judge's ruling on Friday that asserted that Acosta's Fifth Amendment right to due process was violated when the White House pulled the pass.

"Today, the court made clear that there is no absolute First Amendment right to access the White House," Sanders said in a statement. "In response to the court, we will temporarily reinstate the reporter’s hard pass. We will also further develop rules and processes to ensure fair and orderly press conferences in the future."

"There must be decorum at the White House," she added.

SARAH SANDERS: "The court made clear that there is no absolute First Amendment right to access the White House. In response to the court, we will temporarily reinstate the reporter’s hard pass. We will also further develop rules and processes." pic.twitter.com/8kAJy5n6YQ

— Saagar Enjeti (@esaagar) November 16, 2018

As noted by Sanders, U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly (a Trump appointee) did not rule on Friday that Acosta had his First Amendment rights violated when the White House revoked his press pass; he asserted that the White House indeed has the right to revoke such a privilege, but only after a fair process in which the facts are fully weighed before a final ruling. The equivalent would be a wrongful termination suit where an employer fired an employee without presenting a case against them.

"If at some point after restoring the hard pass the government would like to move to vacate the restraining order on the grounds that it has fulfilled its due process obligations then it may, of course, do so and I will promptly address that and then the remaining basis of the (temporary restraining order)," U.S. District Judge Timothy J. Kelly said.

Last week, Jim Acosta got into a heated exchange with President Trump that became so explosive the president ordered him to sit down. When the White House intern came by to do her job by retrieving the mic, Acosta refused to give it up and lightly pushed her arm down. Later, the White House pulled his hard press credentials.

CNN immediately filed a lawsuit against the administration asserting that his First and Fifth Amendment rights were violated. CNN stated, "The wrongful revocation of these credentials violates CNN and Acosta’s First Amendment rights of freedom of the press, and their Fifth Amendment rights to due process. We have asked the court for an immediate restraining order requiring the pass to be returned to Jim, and will seek permanent relief as part of this process."

On Wednesday, during an emergency court hearing, the Trump administration argued that the president has the right to decide which reporters enter the physical White House and how they will conduct themselves.

"If the president wants to exclude all reporters from White House grounds he clearly has the authority to do that," said James Burnham, deputy assistant attorney general. "We’re talking about the physical White House, I mean the one building in which the president’s authority over how people act, where they go, should be at his apex."

While Judge Kelly only ruled that Acosta's Fifth Amendment right to due process was violated, CNN and the ACLU are declaring it a First Amendment victory.

"The White House surely hoped that expelling a reporter would deter forceful questioning, but the court's ruling will have the opposite effect," Ben Wizner, the ACLU's director of speech, privacy and technology project wrote in a statement. "The freedom of the press is a bedrock principle, and our democracy is strengthened when journalists challenge our leaders rather than defer to them."

Ted Boutros, an attorney for CNN, said the news organization is "extremely pleased with the ruling today."

"A great day for the First Amendment and journalism," he said. "We're very excited to have Mr. Acosta be able to go back and get his hard pass and report the news about the White House."

https://www.dailywire.com/news/38441/sarah-sanders-responds-acosta-ruling-paul-bois

FYI, saying ‘men aren’t women’ now qualifies as ‘hateful conduct’ on Twitter

Twitter’s crusade against “hate speech” has vanquished yet another meany face. A prominent Canadian feminist says that the company flagged a tweet she wrote which meekly suggested that men aren’t women. Isn’t Twitter fun?

Meghan Murphy, editor of Canada’s leading feminist news portal, Feminist Current, was recently informed by Twitter that two of her tweets had violated the platform’s rules against “hateful conduct.”

One of the offending tweets stated that “men aren’t women,” while the other asked: “How are transwomen not men?”

More:

https://www.rt.com/news/444189-twitter-man-woman-ban-pc/

‘GRIEVOUS WOUNDS’ Furious dad hacks off priest’s penis after he was accused of sexually abusing his nine-year-old daughter

The defendant was told by his ex-wife that his daughter was raped by the local preacher, and reportedly took the law into his own hands

More:

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/7746910/dad-hacks-off-priest-penis-sexual-abuse-daughter-accusations/

>>3928111

Nice trips.

He would be losing his absolute shit if they did that. It'd be awesome

Rutgers clears professor who said he hates white people, reverses charge of racial discrimination

Professor James Livingston will get to keep his job at Rutgers University, and will not be disciplined for racial discrimination.

Livingston embarked on a viral racist Facebook rant in June against white children and their parents after visiting New York City’s Harlem Shake on May 31.

What’s the history?

After Livington’s remarks were read across the web, the university announced it would launch an investigation into the professor and his inflammatory commentary.

In August, Rutgers found Livingston guilty of violating the university’s Policy Prohibiting Discrimination and Harassment with his Facebook remarks.

Livingston appealed the finding, but the university initially rejected the professor’s appeal and charged him with racial discrimination.

A Thursday news release from FIRE — the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education — revealed that the university does not believe that Livingston’s remarks were racist and reversed the charge of racial discrimination.

After Livingston appealed the university’s decision, FIRE wrote a letter to the school’s president, who called for review of the school’s findings.

So what’s being said now?

Marieke Tuthill Beck-Coon, FIRE’s director of litigation, told TheBlaze, “FIRE is pleased that Rutgers did the right thing and reversed the charge of racial discrimination against Professor Livingston. Any other result would have undermined the free speech and academic freedom rights of all Rutgers faculty members.”

In a statement, Livingston expressed his gratitude for the university’s reversal.

“I’m relieved that my right to free speech and my academic freedom have been validated by this retraction, thanks to FIRE, the AAUP, and colleagues, who made this strange episode an issue to be debated and decided in public,” Livingston’s statement read. “But if I may use the occasion to preach … As a tenured professor, I have resources and protections that are unavailable to most employees. That is not just unfortunate, it is simply wrong, and needs redressing. Would [sic] that FIRE could represent all of us on the job.”

According to the organization’s website, FIRE is a “nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to defending and sustaining the individual rights of students and faculty members at America’s colleges and universities.”

https://www.theblaze.com/news/2018/11/16/rutgers-clears-professor-who-said-he-hates-white-people-reverses-charge-of-racial-discrimination

DESPERATION

Finland Summons Russian Envoy Over GPS Glitches During NATO Drills - Reports

Previously, Finnish Prime Minister Juha Sipila stated that the several instances in which pilots reported losing GPS signals during the Trident Juncture exercises had been investigated as possible jamming by Russia.

The Finnish Foreign Ministry has summoned the Russian ambassador to discuss GPS glitches during the NATO two-week Trident Juncture drills, allegedly caused by Russia's jamming, STT news agency reported.

"Foreign Minister Soini announced the invitation to the Foreign Ministry of Russian ambassador Pavel Kuznetsov on Monday morning because of the GPS scandal," the statement quoted by the media says.

Earlier in the day, Finnish Foreign Minister Timo Soini vowed to present a report on the alleged Russian involvement in GPS glitches, addressing the parliament's foreign affairs committee.

"The foreign affairs committee will receive additional information on how the Foreign Ministry will be interacting with Russia [on the issue] when Foreign Minister Timo Soini addresses the committee next Thursday. Soini said that the issue is being discussed through diplomatic channels. I think this is the right way. It is important to show that we believe this is inappropriate, and it should not happen in the future," Matti Vanhanen, the head of parliament's foreign affairs committee stated in an interview with the Yle broadcaster.

The move came on Thursday after the Finnish Foreign Ministry announced that Russia was to blame for the interference with GPS operations during NATO exercises. At the same time, Finnish Interior Minister Kai Mükkanen, in an interview with Sputnik noted that this case would not have any further impact on the cooperation between Russia and Finland, expressing hope that such negative situations will not become common practice in the region.

On the same day, the Finnish Foreign Ministry announced that it was discussing the issue with Moscow through diplomatic channels.

Commenting on the claims on Monday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said he had no knowledge of the country's alleged role in the glitches, noting that "there is an obvious trend to blame Russia for everything," often without providing any proof.

https://sputniknews.com/europe/201811161069879700-finland-russian-ambassador-summoning-gps-glitches-nato-drills/