Monday, March 13, 2023

S&P 500 Edges Lower as Investors Rethink Fed’s Rate Path

 S&P 500 Edges Lower as Investors Rethink Fed’s Rate Path - WSJ   Major U.S. stock indexes held relatively steady Monday while investors attempted to assess what newfound stress in the banking system would mean for Federal Reserve policy.

Regional bank stocks plunged, and investors piled into government bonds to seek safety after regulators took extraordinary measures over the weekend to limit the impact of the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank

The Treasury Department, the Fed and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. guaranteed the deposits of SVB, which collapsed after an attempt to raise capital led to a bank run. Regulators also said they had taken control of Signature Bank, which serves many cryptocurrency companies.

Yet stock investors found a possible silver lining in the tumult: The rescue plan appeared to shift—at least temporarily—the calculus on the path of the Fed’s interest-rate increases.

The S&P 500 closed down 5.83 points, or 0.2%, at 3855.76, for its third straight day of losses. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 90.50 points, or 0.3%, to 31819.14. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite added 49.96 points, or 0.4%, to 11188.84. 

Investors in interest-rate futures markets now see a greater than one-in-three chance that the Fed will hold rates steady at its meeting next week, according to CME Group. Last week, they were positioning for the central bank to either raise rates by a quarter-percentage point, as it did last month, or by a half-point, as it did in December. 

Some investors are even again hoping the Fed will cut interest rates this year, a sharp shift in policy that would likely propel a rally in stocks. Technology shares, which are typically most sensitive to higher interest rates, advanced Monday.

Former Goldman Sachs Group Chief Executive Lloyd Blankfein said on Twitter that he sees a potential slowdown in Fed increases as a tailwind for markets.. . .

Employers Shouldn't Have to Hire 'Nonbinary' People

 Employers Shouldn't Have to Hire 'Nonbinary' People - Intellectual Takeout

If people are suffering from gender confusion, then we should pray for them. And as far as I’m concerned, whom a business hires isn’t the government’s concern. Businesses shouldn’t be forced to hire someone confused about their gender, especially given business owners’ concerns about the potential drama these individuals bring.

"Unless you live under a rock, odds are you’ve heard the left claim that nonbinary people—that is, those who neither identify as male or female—face discrimination in employment. A newly published study sought to determine the accuracy of this claim. And as a consequence, it shows how a more radical application of civil rights law to the private sector is bound to create more problems than it solves.

"The three-phase study, published last month by business.com, sought to examine “bias against nonbinary people, both in the workplace and during the job search process.” It found evidence of both.

"In the first part of the study, researchers polled 409 U.S. nonbinary adults. 83 percent of respondents felt that identifying as nonbinary would negatively affect their job search.

"Interestingly, some respondents believed that by being upfront with their nonbinary identities, they would be able to more quickly find employers with whom their views align. “I am currently a student on a very accepting campus, so my on-campus jobs have not been affected by my gender identity,” said a 20-year-old student. “After I graduate, I think I should include my pronouns as early as possible so that I can see how potential employers react.”. . .

Updated 3/14: Stanford Law Students, With Support From Diversity Dean, Shout Down Visiting Appeals Court Judge Because He’s Conservative

 Stanford Law Students, With Support From Diversity Dean, Shout Down Visiting Appeals Court Judge Because He’s Conservative (legalinsurrection.com)

Non-stop hecking ended event, and when 5th Circuit Judge Stuart Kyle Duncan asked for an administrator to help the situation, Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Tirien Steinbach took the stage and berated the Judge.

"It’s all too common for intolerant intellectually-closed-minded and emotionally insecure students to shout down speakers. It’s practically an art form at this point.

Increasingly, it’s happening at law schools, such as when Yale law students went bezerk to stop a visiting conservative lawyer from Alliance Defending Freedom from participating in a debate.

I can’t recall a visiting Judge being shouted down at a law school.


 Firing Diversity Dean Over Judge Shout-Down May Help Stanford Law School Escape Consequences Of Its Toxic DEI Culture (legalinsurrection.com)

"The Stanford Law School student shout-down of Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Stuart Kyle Duncan was disgusting, and the conduct of Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity, And Inclusion Tirien Steinbach in berating the Judge for showing up was atrocious. See this post for the gory details, Stanford Law Students, With Support From Diversity Dean, Shout Down Visiting Appeals Court Judge Because He’s Conservative.

"But it’s worse than it appears. The abuse hurled at Judge Duncan is a direct outgrowth of the abuse hurled at conservative Supreme Court Justices, as I documented in Stanford Law Student Shout-Down Reflects Normalization Of Intimidation Of Conservative Judges.". . .

UPDATE 3/14: Stanford Students Rip Woke Dean Who Led Heckling of a Federal Judge, Demand Ouster – RedState

. . ."Stanford Law School students savagely criticized the school and one of its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion deans in a piece in the school’s publication, “Stanford Review,” with this simple but powerful headline atop its front page: “Fire Tirien Steinbach.”

"As RedState’s Jim Thompson reported, Steinbach, Stanford Law’s Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, joined students in heckling and screaming at Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals judge Kyle Duncan who was attempting to deliver a speech. When the judge asked for an administrator to intervene, Steinbach instead piled on and launched into a six-minute tirade claiming Duncan was “literally denying the humanity of people.”

"His crime? He refused to retroactively change court records to reflect that child porn enthusiast and repeated sex offender Norman Varner decided after his trial to identify as female and demanded to be referred to as “Kathy Jett.”

"Although the university belatedly delivered a written apology to the jurist, many felt that it was a weak one at best, and there seem to have been very few consequences for Steinbach for her outrageous behavior. As Sister Toldjah reported, the university then compounded its mistakes by issuing a letter to students who were upset about the interruptions to seek mental health help…from Tirien Steinbach.

"After all was said and done, Duncan had to be escorted out by armed marshalls to ensure his protection. At a “top” university."

American Universities Have Lost Their Prestige | National Review "Nothing is stranger than the contemporary American university.

"Not long ago, Americans used to idolize their universities. Indeed, in science, math, engineering, medicine, and business, many of these meritocratic departments and schools remain among the top-ranked in the world.". . .

. . ."But once they began to charge exorbitantly, educate poorly, politick continuously, indebt millions of people, and act hypocritically, universities turned off Americans.

"Just as a sermonizing Hollywood grates when it no longer can make good movies, a once-hallowed but now self-righteous university seems hollow when it charges so much for so little."

 

Ex-Clinton Advisor APOLOGIZES to Conservatives Over Jan 6; Video


 Patriot News Network   "Liberal feminist author and former Bill Clinton advisor Naomi Wolf has issued an apology to conservatives after reviewing the newly released footage from Jan. 6.

"Wolf, who served as a political advisor to the presidential campaigns of Democrats Bill Clinton and Al Gore, offered a formal apology to conservatives who “put America first” on January 6, 2021.

"In a lengthy post on Substack, Wolf responded to the explosive footage that has emerged from the Capitol that proves the Democrats’ anti-Trump “violent insurrection” narrative was a lie.

“ 'Peaceful Republicans and conservatives as a whole have been demonized by the story told by Democrats in leadership of what happened that day,” Wolf said Thursday.

“Republicans, conservatives, I am sorry.

“I also believed wholesale so much else that has since turned out not to be as I was told it was by NPR, MSNBC, and the New York Times,” Wolf also said.

“Anyone in leadership who misrepresented to the public the events of the day so as to distort the complexity of its actual history — must also be held accountable,” she added.

"Wolf compared the release of the new Jan. 6 footage to Daniel Ellsberg’s release of the Pentagon Papers.

"She noted that Leftists lionized the latter while condemning the former.". . .

I'm sure the "View" ladies will speak well of you. TD

Tucker: This video shatters the left’s narrative about January 6 - YouTube

10 Lies the Nets Are Letting Biden Get Away With

  Newsbusters


"It’s not just the gaffes. President Joe Biden has a serious and welldocumented problem when it comes to repeatedly telling outright lies.

"We at NewsBusters wanted to look at some of the most egregious fibs Biden has made just during his administration and how much time (if any) the broadcast networks devoted to knocking them down. 

"Of the ten lies MRC analysts looked into, not one was covered by the Big Three (ABC, CBS, NBC) evening and morning shows. 

"We also wanted to see how two of the liberal media’s fact-checking outlets (The Washington Post Fact Checker and PolitiFact) rated the Biden lies. If both rated Biden poorly it makes it even more egregious that the networks refused to report on the lie. 

"Here’s a quick montage of some of the lies by NewsBusters Media Editor Bill D’Agostino:

More questions than answers in the wake of Tucker Carlson's January 6 exposé

  American Thinker

Tucker Carlson can only expose the truth.  It will require some spines in Congress and/or law enforcement (or the military) to right the wrongs that were perpetrated against patriots two-plus years ago.  The tyranny against good people cannot stand. 

John Dale Dunn's blog piece from March 11 titled "Tucker Carlson pulled his punches" was a little bit harsh.  A little bit.

"While I agree that it appeared that Tucker Carlson shifted from a fairly assertive open (on Monday) to a significantly less assertive set of shows throughout the balance of the week, he did hit a few nerves and caused an apoplectic response from the January 6 committee members, the Democrats, a handful of weak-kneed Republicans, and the plurality media.

"In his Monday open, Carlson expressed that neither the Capitol Hill Police nor Fox News executives or producers set any limits on his content.  After Monday's show, with Chuck Schumer demanding that Tucker's show be censored, it sure looked as though any further video was squelched in the crib.  Tucker Carlson should answer whether his producers demanded that he not air further content.

"Mr. Dunn's anger, though, is partially misdirected.  We all knew that January 6 was not an insurrection.  The J6 committee (without further evidence) didn't establish any coordinated effort to overthrow the government.

"On three important fronts, Carlson contradicted the bogus narratives (established by the J6 committee) around Jacob Chansley (the QAnon Shaman), the death (reported murder) of Officer Brian Sicknick, and the false testimony from Ray Epps.  "They lied!' ". . .


Turning A Blind Eye To Inconvenient Truths About Jan. 6 – Issues & Insights (issuesinsights.com)


. . .Shortly after Republicans took control of the House, Speaker Kevin McCarthy decided to make the complete set of surveillance videos available to Fox News’ Tucker Carlson. You can debate McCarthy’s choice of who got access all you want. But the result is that the public has, for the first time, seen surveillance footage Democrats didn’t want Americans to see. Such as evidence of Capitol Police officers politely escorting peaceful demonstrators around the building.

"The newly available footage also made it clear that the police officer who the Trump mob supposedly killed, Brian Sicknick, was walking around unharmed after the “deadly” attack occurred. Other narratives are failing to hold up.

"Not surprisingly, Democrats are blasting Carlson, denouncing Fox News, and demanding that the videos remain a state secret.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a primetime cable news anchor manipulate his viewers the way Mr. Carlson did last night,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer claimed.

"That’s rich, considering that Democrats spent the past two years doing exactly that.

"Schumer went on to say: “When people don’t believe elections are on the level, that’s the beginning of the end of this bold experiment in democracy that has gone on for more than 200 years.”

"That’s also rich, given that Democrats spent four years claiming that the 2016 election had been stolen. Hillary Clinton still refuses to admit that she lost honestly and fairly.

"That wasn’t the first time Democrats challenged the integrity of presidential elections.

"As the Daily Caller helpfully reminds us:. . ."

Jan. 6 Footage Shows Officer Brian Sicknick Walking Uninjured in Capitol Around the Time Rioters ‘Killed’ Him Outside (legalinsurrection.com)  "Tucker Carlson blew up so many narratives tonight with the unaired footage of the so-called January 6th insurrection.

"The biggest one is the left’s narrative that insurrectionists killed officer Brian Sicknick:". . .



And the award for most woke goes to....


Woke Oscars 'Saved' By Award-Winning Meltdown - Hollywood in Toto

Rob Schneider Blasts Democrats' '1950s McCarthyism' - Hollywood in Toto  

'SNL' alum cites attacks on award-winning journalists who exposed censorship. Yet Hollywood, Inc. has stayed silent as a similar sentiment swamps western culture today. Government-fueled censorship is the new normal, as exposed by The Twitter Files. Cancel Culture runs amok, forcing comedians to self-censor or else.

"A-listers like Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, George Clooney and Michael B. Jordan have nothing to say on the matter.

"It’s why Rob Schneider is such a refreshing exception.

"The “Deuce Bigalow” star is on the front lines of the free speech fight, ignoring how his Hollywood peers refuse to defend the First Amendment. He stands up for artistic freedom in media appearances and via social media.

"This week, Schneider excoriated Democrats for their shocking, fact-free attacks on journalists who helped expose the government’s attempts to silence speech – Matt Taibbi and Michael Shellenberger.". . .

Whoopi's Decree Would Mean the End of 'The View' -

 Hollywood in Toto

“The View” should be grateful that the First Amendment allows a show brimming with hate, misinformation and more to line their pockets week after week.

"The media war on Tucker Carlson for showing Jan. 6 footage shows little sign of stopping.

"Journalists who once cried, “Democracy dies in darkness!” can’t believe a fellow reporter would share information on the most contentious day in recent American history.

"Shut. It. Down.

" 'The View” is part of that media cacophony. The far-Left showcase has been railing against both Carlson and Fox News all week, and it culminated with a curious rant from head “View” master Whoopi Goldberg.

"The “Sister Act” alum attacked Carlson anew, but she brought up a curious argument to do so. Goldberg said Carlson shouldn’t be legally allowed to opine about Jan. 6.

“ 'This should be against the law. You should you should not be able to lie, knowingly,” Goldberg said. “What do we do as Americans to say, ‘this is not OK’ … the first Amendment doesn’t allow you to willingly lie.”

And that’s the second problem. “The View” lies … and lies … and lies. The show’s track record on truth-telling is abysmal, and that’s when it’s not fomenting hate across the country with its unhinged, fact-free attacks on half the country.

. . . 

Sunday, March 12, 2023

U.S. Army may be ditching its ‘woke’ image as it faces historic recruiting problems

 U.S. Army may be ditching its ‘woke’ image as it faces historic recruiting problems  CauseACTION Clarion

  • The U.S. Army’s new brand and ad campaign largely omit reference to woke identity politics and could be just what the service needs to overcome historic recruiting obstacles, experts told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
  • Prior advertising efforts alienated conservative families that once served as the Army’s primary recruiting base, according to experts.
  • They “forgot that the primary market for Army recruiting is young men from traditional families, looking for a challenge,” Elaine Donnelly, president of the Center for Military Readiness, told the DCNF.

The Army’s new branding campaign, unveiled Wednesday, shied away from social justice and diversity themes as it seeks to overcome a historic drop in recruiting, military experts told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

TRENDING: Despite Supreme rulings, satanists and atheists ferociously pounce on Ten Commandments

The service’s buy-in on identity politics could turn off conservative families, which have traditionally served as the military’s largest recruiting base, and exacerbated the service’s recruiting woes in fiscal year 2022, experts and lawmakers warn. But, the years-in-the-making rebrand, with a goal of showcasing the Army’s role in defense and innovation throughout American history and encouraging soldiers to push their limits, could help the Army meet its ambitious recruiting goals for 2023, experts in military readiness told the DCNF.

" 'I think the new brand and commercial better appeal to young people’s desire to be part of a big, important effort larger than themselves,” Thomas Spoehr, director of the Heritage Foundation’s Center for National Defense, told the DCNF. “I think that is the right approach to take.”

"The Army has come under fire for embracing perceived left-wing values in branding, according to Task and Purpose. One example is a 2021 advertising scheme that emphasized the different kinds of people who could join the service, highlighting a same-sex family.

"Left-wing trends in the military’s education and personnel policies — including emphasizing inclusion of LGBTQ+ servicemembers, doubling down on outreach to minority communities, and teaching CRT and giving pronoun advice at the military academies — to support “diversity as a strategic imperative” could cause conservative, often white families to believe they “are not welcome or appreciated in the military,” Elaine Donnelly, president of the Center for Military Readiness, told the DCNF in June.". . .

Public School Board Axes Christian Student Teachers

Board member Tamillia Valenzuela (below), a self-described “bilingual, disabled, neurodivergent Queer Black Latina” who frequently wears, including to board meetings, cat ears, was bothered by the content of ACU’s website...

 The American Spectator "Let’s try a thought experiment: A public school board votes for a policy that bans a certain group of people — say, teachers who are LGBTQ+ — from teaching in its school system because, it fears, one or more of those teachers might make students feel uncomfortable.

"The odds of that happening are slim. But if it did occur, the media hordes would descend on offending board members with the fury and moral righteousness of a thousand “Woodsteins.”

But the hypothetical that Arizona Republic columnist Laurie Roberts proffered last week actually happened.

"In reverse.

"The Washington Elementary School District, encompassing parts of Phoenix and Glendale, Arizona, the largest school district in the state, voted unanimously to dissolve a longtime partnership with nearby Arizona Christian University (ACU) because student teachers from that school, Christians who believe historically vetted Christian doctrine about sex and marriage, might traumatize LGBTQ students.". . .

"At a Feb. 23 board meeting, three of the five board members, all LGBTQ, were outspoken in their fear that students from a school that holds to traditional biblical sexual mores and marriage tenets would pose too great a threat to the district’s queer students.". . .

Cable News Is Riddled With War Profiteers

 Cable News Is Riddled With War Profiteers – PJ Media


"The problem with cable news is that — outside of perhaps Tucker Carlson, who seems genuinely committed to exposing truths and has paid the price for it in the form of the Majority Leader calling for his censorship from the Senate floor — it’s not news.

"It’s state propaganda, by and for the special interests that have purchased the state.

These special interests include big agriculture, big pharma, and, of course, the private weapons manufacturers that comprise the military-industrial complex.

"Lever News explains:

Since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, cable news networks have routinely called on defense officials-turned-consultants to offer analysis and help the American public make sense of the crisis. Often, these analysts have used their TV time to call for greater U.S. involvement and bolder moves that could ratchet up tensions between two nuclear-armed superpowers.

The networks have consistently failed to disclose these analysts’ day jobs, [emphasis added] describing them instead by only their former high-ranking military or government roles — leaving viewers in the dark about the analysts’ financial ties to defense contractors that stand to profit from increased or prolonged conflict.

During its Ukraine coverage, MSNBC even failed to include disclosures when the network invited on former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson, who serves on the board of directors at Lockheed Martin, the world’s biggest defense contractor.

"In addition to blacklisting voices critical of the war du jour, the corporate media’s biggest crime in this regard is its refusal to identify war profiteers that it presents as straight news analysts. There is an obvious conflict of interest that informs the pundit’s worldview, but the viewer is kept in the dark. The only way for the viewer to discover said conflicts of interest is to do their own research — an activity that, not coincidentally, the corporate media constantly discourages its viewers and readers from doing.". . .

Some Joke: Insufferable Jane Fonda Really Did Call for the Murder of Pro-Lifers

I'm quite sure she called for the murder of American pilots as well as infants. TD

PJ Media


"It was all a joke, she says. After igniting a firestorm by calling for the murder of pro-lifers on The View Friday, Hanoi Jane Fonda issued a statement: “While women’s reproductive rights are a very serious issue and extremely important to me, my comment on The View was obviously made in jest. My body language and tone made it clear to those in the room – and to anyone watching – that I was using hyperbole to make a point.” Except that it obviously wasn’t clear to anyone present. Fonda was speaking seriously; her declaration only became a joke when it became clear to her that she had crossed a red line.

"Video of Fonda’s appearance on The View shows that she made even the Leftist hysterics of The View uncomfortable, and they immediately began trying to explain her remarks away, which no one would have done if Fonda’s “jest” had been obvious. What Fonda was actually doing, albeit unwittingly, was revealing (as if we needed more confirmation of it) the dark heart of the pro-abortion Left.". . .

Things Get WORSE For Jane Fonda After INSANE BACKLASH - Hollywood PANICS!