Donald Trump Has Some Thoughts About the ‘Resistance’ - New York Magazine

FEBRUARY 2, 2018

Donald Trump Has Some Thoughts About the ‘Resistance’

By

Lisa Ryan

@lisarya

President Donald Trump. Photo: Pool/Getty Images

Over the weekend, President Donald Trump confirmed that he isn’t a feminist (to the surprise of absolutely no one). And on Thursday, the McDonald’s lover also made it clear that, shocker, he isn’t a member of the “resistance” movement, either.

At the Republican National Committee’s winter meeting in Washington on Thursday night, the thirsty boy shared his thoughts about Democrats who have mobilized against (or “resisted”) many of the policies he’s been trying to push forward (his indefensible DACA policy, stance on abortion, his immigration ban, and so on).

“You know, the name is resist,” Trump said in remarks aired by Fox News. “That’s the name of their movement. ‘Resist.’ That’s all they do is resist. I don’t know if they’re good at it; they can’t be too good at it because we’re passing a lot of things.”

@FoxNews

Moments ago, @POTUS addressed the RNC.

12:35 PM - Feb 2, 2018

Shortly after making the comment, according to The Hill, Trump then kicked the reporters out of the meeting. So we guess we’ll never know if the president also talked about his true enemies: sharks.

This is why the Dow is plunging - CNN Money

This is why the Dow is plunging

by David Goldman @DavidGoldmanCNN

February 2, 2018: 4:35 PM ET

The Dow had its worst week in two years. Why?

Stocks were pummeled on Friday, capping the worst week in two years. Here's what's going on.

1. Concerns that the Fed will raise rates

Stocks have been rising steadily since the election in part because the economy is so strong. Unemployment is historically low, and there are more open jobs than people to fill them.

Companies are starting to pay workers more to retain existing employees and attract new hires. Businesses will eventually have to raise prices on the stuff they sell to afford their growing payrolls. In economics, that's called inflation.

Though the economy has been growing steadily for almost nine years, inflation has remained stubbornly and mysteriously low. The Federal Reserve combats inflation by raising its interest rates. The central bank has been unable to significantly raise its interest rates over the past decade, fearing it could stymie the economic recovery and perhaps cause prices to fall.

The Fed planned on raising interest rates slowly this year -- just three times in 2018. But if inflation picks up, the Fed could raise rates more often and more steeply than it had planned.

2. Rising interest rates

When the Fed raises rates, the cost of borrowing money increases. That means companies have to pay more for their loans, which cuts into corporate profits. It also means Americans will pay more for mortgages and loans.

Another reason the stock market has risen so much over the past year has been the steady growth in corporate profits. Companies are healthy, and investors have rewarded them by pushing up their stock prices.

When interest rates rise sharply, stocks often fall. Investors worry that businesses' profit parade will slow down.

3. Worries about the bond market

Stocks have also been on a tear because they have been one of the only investments with a decent return. U.S. Treasury bond yields have been so low that many stock dividends are paying better.

But stocks are a higher-risk investment than bonds, which are backed by the United States Treasury. If bond yields start to rise, investors will want to take some of their money out of stocks and put it into safer bonds.

Sure enough, bond yields hit a four-year high Friday. The recent tax bill has forced the Treasury to borrow more money, which will put more bonds into play. A supply glut could devalue bonds. Prices and yields move in opposite directions, and bond buyers will want a higher yield (and lower price) to make it worth their investment.

Inflation is bad for bonds, too. If borrowing costs increase, bond investors will want more return -- a higher yield.

Attractive yields on a safer investment have made stocks suddenly less attractive.

4. Ugly politics

Politics has played a part in stocks' steady march higher, too. The Republican tax cut is great for corporate profits. Investors have rewarded companies' promises of bigger stock buybacks and dividends by raising their stock prices. Business confidence is on the rise, in part thanks to the Trump administration's push to cut regulation.

On Friday, the controversial release of a once-classified memo about the Russia investigation gave investors pause. Turmoil in Washington could be bad for business. It could create a logjam in Congress.

It's not top of mind for investors, but it's adding to their concerns.

5. Too far, too fast

Stocks have been rising pretty much in a straight line since November 2016, and that's not exactly healthy. Stock market analysts believe the stock market is long overdue for a 5% pullback or even a 10% correction.

A cooling-off period would be a good thing. It would make stocks cheaper and more attractive to investors, especially if the underlying companies are healthy, cranking out strong sales and profits.

The market finally began to come down to earth -- just a bit -- this week, and investors wonder whether this is the beginning of a correction. There could be a little groupthink taking place in the downturn.

CNNMoney (New York)

First published February 2, 2018: 4:28 PM ET

University of Pennsylvania Is Rescinding Honorary Degrees for Steve Wynn and Bill Cosby - TIME

University of Pennsylvania Is Rescinding Honorary Degrees for Steve Wynn and Bill Cosby

Posted: 01 Feb 2018 02:39 PM PST

The University of Pennsylvania is removing casino mogul Steve Wynn’s name from a commons and a scholarship and rescinding his honorary degree following allegations of sexual harassment.
The decision comes nearly a week after The Wall Street Journal’s report containing multiple allegations of sexual misconduct against the casino mogul. Among the claims is a $7.5 million payout he allegedly made to a manicurist who alleged he had sex with her despite her protests. Wynn has denied the allegations. He has since stepped down from his position as finance chairman at the Republican National Committee.
“Late last week, multiple credible reports emerged in the national press detailing pervasive and decades-long acts of sexual harassment and intimidation by Steve Wynn, former Penn Trustee and College alumnus,” David Cohen, chair of Penn’s Board of Trustees and Penn President Amy Gutmann said in an emailed statement, reprinted in full by The Daily Pennsylvanian. “The nature, severity, and extent of these allegations, and the patterns of abusive behavior they describe, involve acts and conduct that are inimical to the core values of our University.”

Wynn’s name will be removed from “Wynn Commons,” an outdoor plaza between several college halls and an auditorium. According to The Daily Pennsylvanian, a metal rectangle has already been placed over his name on a seal outside of one of the halls. The scholarship created from Wynn’s donation will no longer bear his name, though it will still be awarded.
Along with the decision regarding Wynn, the Ivy League university said it would also be stripping Bill Cosby, who has been accused of multiple accounts sexual assault and misconduct, of his honorary degree. This is a reversal from their decision in 2015, when a spokesperson for Penn stated, “While the allegations against Mr. Cosby are deeply troubling, it is not our practice to rescind honorary degrees.”
Cosby has denied the allegations. A criminal case against him last year ended in a mistrial; a retrial is scheduled for this year.
Penn’s decision was made after recommendations to the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees; it has been a century since Penn rescinded an honorary degree, according to the statement.
On Wednesday, a similar decision was made at University of Iowa. University leadership announced that school will be removing Wynn’s name from the Institute for Vision Research, the first time it has stripped a donor’s name from a building.

Sony CEO Kazuo Hirai Is Handing the Reins Over to CFO Kenichiro Yoshida - TIME Business

Sony CEO Kazuo Hirai Is Handing the Reins Over to CFO Kenichiro Yoshida Posted: 02 Feb 2018 01:37 AM PST (TOKYO) — Sony Corp. named Chief Financial Officer Kenichiro Yoshida as its new president and CEO on Friday, replacing Kazuo Hirai, who led a turnaround at the Japanese electronics and entertainment company and will stay on as chairman. Yoshida has experience in Sony’s U.S. operations, as well as its network, financial and investor relations businesses. Yoshida and Hirai were to talk to reporters later Friday. Sony’s board members said they were surprised Hirai wanted to step down. But Hirai said in a statement the timing was right to “pass the baton” to the next leadership. Hirai became president and CEO in 2012, taking over from Howard Stringer, an American. He turned around an embattled Tokyo-based Sony, which had sunk into losses as its once prized TV business lost out to rivals such as Samsung Electronics Co. of South Korea. Sony is now headed to booming profits because of its successful chips business, outpacing company targets. “It excites me to hear more and more people enthuse that Sony is back again. As the company approaches a crucial juncture, when we will embark on a new mid-range plan, I consider this to be the ideal time to pass the baton of leadership to new management, for the future of Sony and also for myself to embark on a new chapter in my life,” he said. Yoshida, who now also serves as executive deputy president, promised to forge ahead with the changes Hirai had led to realize sold profits and growth to stay globally competitive. As Sony moves into a new mid-range plan from April, Hirai felt Yoshida was the right person to lead the company, he said. Yoshida had shown “relentless determination to achieve defined targets,” and he had worked by his side and could be trusted, he added. Hirai has had a difficult task of juggling the widespread operations of Sony, including household appliances, medical equipment and video game machines, as well as movies, financial services and music. It was hard to make sure every sector was profitable. But Hirai always stressed the importance of Sony’s roots, pointing to how Sony brought the world portable music players like the Walkman, the reel-to-reel tape recorder and other gadgets that went on to pioneer entire sectors because of what he described as an exciting emotional appeal. Sony was founded in 1946 by Akio Morita and Masaru Ibuka as Japan was reconstructing from the destruction of World War II. Their dream had always been to climb to global success. Also Friday, Sony reported fiscal third quarter profit of 296 billion yen ($2.7 billion), up dramatically from 19.6 billion yen the same period a year ago. Quarterly sales rose nearly 12 percent to 2.67 trillion yen. Sony said it fared better in semiconductors, games and network services, imaging products and home entertainment systems. In its pictures division, global reception was favorable to Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, as well as on-demand TV sales for “The Crown,” according to Sony. Also helping lift results were the absence of losses that had hurt results before, such as the damage from an earthquake in Kumamoto, southwestern Japan in 2016. A favorable exchange rate also helped. A weak yen is a boon to Japanese exporters like Sony. The dollar cost about 113 yen for the quarter just ended, up from 109 yen the same period a year ago.

What Happens When Amazon Takes on Health Care - TIME Business

What Happens When Amazon Takes on Health Care

Posted:

What happens when a company defined by utterly ruthless efficiency sets its sights on the flabbiest part of the U.S. economy? We shall see, now that Amazon has announced that it–along with Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway and the banking behemoth JPMorgan Chase–will be entering the dominion of health care.
“The three of our companies have extraordinary resources, and our goal is to create solutions that benefit our U.S. employees, their families and, potentially, all Americans,” said JPMorgan chairman Jamie Dimon on Jan. 30, treading lightly (“potentially”) on the enormous implications (“all Americans”) that were apparent. As it takes shape, the as-yet-unnamed joint enterprise will nominally serve, without seeking profit, only the 1.2 million people who work for the three companies.

But the clear and worthy goal is to confront the Gorgon that has stymied politicians for decades.
The triumvirate combines the savvy integrity of the Oracle of Omaha, as America’s most admired investor is known; the leadership status and financial muscle of the country’s largest bank; and, crucially, Amazon. The retail and tech giant has flourished by innovating relentlessly and expanding omnivorously. Word that Amazon was entering health care immediately depressed the value of old-school health-insurance companies. Anyone who has been a customer of either knows why.
The U.S. health care system is the antithesis of Silicon Valley. Grossly inefficient and user-unfriendly, it may be the least transparent enterprise outside the Kremlin–and just as awash in money. The $3.3 trillion that Americans spent on health care in 2016 was close to Germany’s entire GDP that year. It accounted for an astounding 18% of the U.S. gross domestic product–twice the share other developed countries typically spend on health–and produced a return on investment that would get any CEO fired. Life expectancy in the U.S. is actually going down.
“The ballooning costs of health care act as a hungry tapeworm on the American economy” is how Buffett put it in the six-paragraph news release that offered no blueprint but what Amazon founder Jeff Bezos called “talented experts, a beginner’s mind and a long-term orientation.”
You can see where this is going. Shop for a piece of furniture online and the seller explains why it can offer a quality sofa at a reasonable price by listing the half-dozen middlemen it’s cutting out: retail warehouse, retail store, wholesaler warehouse, wholesaler showroom, export agent. It may not be possible to list the intermediaries milling about between a patient and a healer, but David Cutler, a health economist at Harvard, made the striking calculation that administration accounts for about a quarter of the cost of health care in the U.S.–perhaps double the rate in the next-most-benighted system. He once pointed out that Duke University Hospital had 900 beds and 1,300 billing clerks.
None of this qualifies as news. What does is the prospect of a new sensibility addressing the mess. Bezos became the richest man in the world in no small part by exploiting and inventing technology, like “one click.” His approach is to undercut the competition at every turn–cutting prices so low that customers were reliably pleased, and vendors had no choice but to stock his shelves. Many of the company’s half-million employees work among those shelves, at the “fulfillment centers” all across the U.S. where boxes are packed and shipped. A warehouse worker might make $15 an hour, better than retail but not enough to make anyone rich, especially after taxes and health-insurance premiums, which have been rising faster than wages.
If the triad of Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan Chase can find a way to bring sense to health care, the savings will accrue first for those three companies, which are not acting out of altruism. But sometimes business interests align with human ones. Every dollar matters to an hourly worker, and when the savings from a better health care system reach the worker–and when the worker reaches a doctor without having to run a gauntlet–the vaunted, disruptive efficiency of tech will have produced a common good.
For more on these stories, visit time.com/ideas

This appears in the February 12, 2018 issue of TIME.

Trump Russia: Democrats say firing special counsel could cause crisis - BBC News

3/2/2018

Trump Russia: Democrats say firing special counsel could cause crisis

President Trump says he is the victim of a "witch hunt"

Senior Democrats have warned President Donald Trump not to use a controversial memo as a "pretext" to fire the special counsel investigating alleged Russian involvement in the US election.

They warned that such action could trigger a constitutional crisis not seen since the Nixon era.

The memo, written by Republicans, accuses the FBI of abusing its powers.

President Trump approved the declassification of the memo and said it revealed a disgraceful story.

It accuses the FBI and the justice department of using an unsubstantiated and Democratic-funded report to obtain the warrant that gave permission to spy on an aide to Mr Trump.

Democrats said the release of the memo was aimed at disrupting investigations into alleged links between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin. President Trump has consistently denied any such collusion.

The FBI had warned against the memo's release and said key facts had been omitted.

What have Democrats said?

Democrats say the memo, released on Friday, is a "shameful effort to discredit" the FBI and inquiries into Russian meddling.

In a statement, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, House Minority Nancy Pelosi and eight other senior Democrats warned Mr Trump against trying to sack special counsel Robert Mueller or the deputy attorney general, Rod Rosenstein.

Key parts of memo - and what it means

"We write to inform you that we would consider such an unwarranted action as an attempt to obstruct justice in the Russia investigation," the statement said.

They said such action could result in a constitutional crisis not seen since the 1970s when then President Richard Nixon gave orders to fire justice officials involved in the Watergate scandal.

The White House later said "no changes" would be made at the Department of Justice and Mr Rosenstein was fully expected to continue in his job.

What is in the memo?

It focuses on the court-approved wiretapping of Carter Page, a foreign policy adviser to the Trump campaign who was put under electronic surveillance by the FBI.

But the memo accuses the FBI and the justice department of using unsubstantiated evidence to obtain the October 2016 warrant.

Special Counsel Robert Mueller is leading the inquiry into alleged Russian interference in the US election

It says that they did not tell the authorities their claim to the warrant was partially based on a dossier funded in part by the rival campaign of Hillary Clinton.

It also says that the author of that dossier, a former British intelligence agent called Christopher Steele, told a senior justice department official that he was "desperate" that Donald Trump not win the vote.

What have Republicans said?

Republicans who support the release of the memo say it exposes malpractice and political bias within the FBI and justice department.

Asked about the contents of the memo, Mr Trump said a lot of people should be "ashamed of themselves".

"I think it's terrible...I think it's a disgrace", Trump said of the controversial memo

"I think it's terrible...I think it's a disgrace", Trump said of the controversial memo

Earlier on Friday the president accused top officials of politicising FBI and justice department investigations to damage his Republican party.

Devin Nunes, who commissioned the memo, has said it shows "serious violations" of public trust and he hopes it will trigger reforms.

Mr Page said he would use the memo in upcoming legal action against the justice department.

All you need to know about Trump Russia story

Meet the cast in the drama to end all dramas

But not all Republicans supported the release of the memo.

Senator John McCain accused his party colleagues, and Mr Trump, of playing into the hands of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"Our nation's elected officials, including the president, must stop looking at this investigation through the warped lens of politics and manufacturing partisan sideshows," he said in a statement.

"If we continue to undermine our own rule of law, we are doing Putin's job for him."

What other reaction has there been?

Former FBI Director James Comey, who was fired by President Trump in May, tweeted that the memo was "dishonest and misleading".

Twitter post by @Comey: That’s it? Dishonest and misleading memo wrecked the House intel committee, destroyed trust with Intelligence Community, damaged relationship with FISA court, and inexcusably exposed classified investigation of an American citizen. For what? DOJ & FBI must keep doing their jobs.I

The current Director, Christopher Wray, in an email to staff, said: "Talk is cheap; the work you do is what will endure.

"I stand by our shared determination to do our work independently and by the book. I stand with you," he said.

Analysis: Bomb or dud?

By the BBC's North America reporter Anthony Zurcher

The mystery is over, the memo is out, and the results are… pretty much what everyone expected.

Whether the Republican-generated document is as explosive as it had been made out to be depends on how one views the now-infamous Christopher Steele dossier and whether one believes the memo's assertion that it was an "essential part" of the Carter Page Fisa warrant's approval - or if there was other pertinent information the Republican memo-writers omitted.

The memo makes the case that the Fisa judge should have been told about information about Steele that could call his objectivity into question - including his expressed views about Donald Trump, his contacts with the press and the fact that his investigation was funded, in part, by Democratic Party interests.

Would such a disclosure have been enough to make the Page warrant request one of only a handful of the tens of thousands of Fisa applications that have been rejected by judges since the system was set up in 1978? And is the surveillance of Page - who had drawn the attention of US intelligence services as far back as 2013 - enough to call into question the entire Russia investigation, which had been initiated months before the warrant was approved?

The answers to those questions will determine whether the memo was a bomb or a dud.

North Korea made $200m flouting sanctions, UN told - BBC News

3/2/2018

North Korea made $200m flouting sanctions, UN told

Inspections of ships have been stepped up, but the UN says more must be done

North Korea earned nearly $200m (£141m) last year by exporting banned commodities in breach of international sanctions, a UN report says.

The report by a panel of experts said several countries including China, Russia and Malaysia had failed to stop the illegal exports.

It said there was evidence of military co-operation with Syria and Myanmar.

Pyongyang is subject to sanctions from the US, UN and EU over its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes.

But the report, which was submitted to the UN Security Council, said the North "continued to export almost all the commodities prohibited in the resolutions... between January and September 2017".

The report said several unnamed multinational oil companies were being investigated for their alleged role in supplying petroleum products to North Korea.

It said shipments of coal had been delivered to China, Malaysia, South Korea, Russia and Vietnam in breach of sanctions using "a combination of multiple evasion techniques, routes and deceptive tactics".

How does North Korea do business under sanctions?

North Korea crisis in 300 words

All you need to know about the NK missile programme

How would war with North Korea unfold?

Monitors found that Myanmar and Syria continued to co-operate with North Korea's main arms exporter, Komid, despite it being on a UN sanctions blacklist.

The report said there was evidence that the North was helping Syria to develop chemical weapons and providing ballistic missiles to Myanmar.

Syrian officials had told the monitors that the only North Korean experts on its territory were involved in sports.

Myanmar's ambassador to the UN said the country had no arms relationship with North Korea.

Michelle Obama has finally revealed Melania Trump's gift and everyone is making the same joke- Independent

Michelle Obama has finally revealed Melania Trump's gift and everyone is making the same joke

Posted 1/2/2018 by Mimi Launder in offbeat

UPVOTE

It's basically the Pandora's Box of the 21st century, with social media philosophers plagued with intrigue as to its contents since Donald Trump's inauguration.

Yep, it's the mystery of what's in the pale blue Tiffany-branded gift that Melania Trump slipped into Michelle Obama's hands a year ago.

It was clear at the time that Obama had no idea what to do with it, awkwardly looking around for a place to put it.

Now, she has finally broken her silence, revealing that the gift was in fact a picture frame in an interview on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.

The former First Lady said in the interview:

It was a lovely frame.

She added:

There’s all this protocol. This is like a state visit. They tell you you’re going to do this, you’re going to stand here.

Never before do you get this gift, so I’m sort of like, ‘OK, what am I supposed to do with this gift?'

She continued:

Everyone cleared out and no one would come and take the box. I’m thinking, do we take the picture with [it]? Then my husband saved the day. He grabbed the box and took it back inside.

So, thankfully, it seems the box does not in fact contain the world's evils, unlike the Greek myth equivalent – though some people on Twitter remain unconvinced.

People have theories on their own on what's inside the box.

audrey honeydrone

@audstronaut

michelle obama finally reveals what's in the box melania gave her. it's something similar to the ending scene from se7en

8:40 AM - Feb 1, 2018

1 Feb

@blackvoices

Michelle Obama dishes to Ellen about Melania Trump's inauguration gift http://huffp.st/BPZwY4O pic.twitter.com/sUyhsFvZb2

Fishconservation105

@Davidbhoyle2

She wanted her to have a frame to put her picture of her husband in so Michelle could remember her husband. Cause no one's going to remember anything he actually did by 2024. Boom. That's what you do with it.

9:33 AM - Feb 1, 2018

Lin Huai Min

@kaediriver

Replying to @tara_mulholland

Yes it was a frame inside the Tiffany box. But was there an 8x10 glossy of Donald's picture inside?

8:52 AM - Feb 1, 2018

Rob Woodyard

@robwoodyard1

Turns out the gift Michelle Obama gave Melania was a box containing a rope ladder, Groucho glasses, a fake passport, and $10,000 in cash.

2:37 PM - Feb 1, 2018