Daily Discussion - March 28, 2024

Texas Governor Issues Executive Order To Fight Antisemitism At Universities

Gov. Greg Abbott on Wednesday issued an executive order to combat what he calls acts of antisemitism at Texas universities and colleges.

The executive order requires that colleges and universities review and update their free speech policies to include the definition of antisemitism and to establish "appropriate punishments" for antisemitic speech and acts on campuses. Those punishments may include expulsion, according to the order.

The order also says colleges and universities should ensure their free speech policies are being enforced on campuses, including, specifically, that…   "groups such as the Palestine Solidarity Committee and Students for Justice in Palestine are disciplined for violating these policies." The order lists such phrases as "from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free" as examples of antisemitism.

"Antisemitism is never acceptable in Texas, and we will do everything we can to fight it," Abbott said in a press release. "The State of Texas stands with Israel and the Jewish community, and we must escalate our efforts to protect against antisemitism at Texas colleges and universities and across our state."

Russia Publishes Evidence Linking Moscow Terrorists To Ukrainian Nationalists

The suspects in last week’s Moscow terrorist attack were linked to Ukrainian nationalists, the Russian Investigative Committee stated on Thursday, citing preliminary findings. The perpetrators had received “significant sums of money” from Ukraine, the law enforcement agency said.

The investigators have obtained “substantiated evidence” that the suspected assailants received funding from Ukraine in the form of cryptocurrency, which was then used to prepare the terrorist attack, the statement read.

Law enforcement officers also identified and detained another suspect who was allegedly involved in financing the attack, the Investigative Committee said, without identifying the individual.

Trump Attends Funeral Of Slain NYC Police Officer

Former President Donald Trump on Thursday will join grieving relatives and thousands of uniformed officers at the wake for slain NYPD cop Jonathan Diller — as he continues to harp on rampant urban crime during his bid to reclaim the White House.

Trump touched down at a rainy MacArthur Airport on Long Island shortly before 2 p.m.

Trump’s presence at the Massapequa funeral home promises to shine a spotlight on Diller’s senseless death during a traffic stop in Queens on Monday, with the slain cop serving as another tragic example.

It is unclear what led to Trump’s expected…   attendance at the wake.

“The county executive discussed this with the president on Tuesday,” Chris Boyle, a spokesman for Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, told The Post.

But Boyle would not say if that conversation included an invitation.

Trump’s presidential campaign announced Wednesday that he would join Diller’s family and thousands of police officers from New York City and the region at the Massapequa wake.

“President Trump is moved by the invitation to join NYPD Officer Jonathan Diller’s family and colleagues as they deal with his senseless and tragic death,” said Karoline Leavitt, the former commander-in-chief’s campaign spokesperson.

Trump has been persistently critical of City Hall and President Joe Biden over their presumed failure to curb rampant crime in the Big Apple.

RFK Jr.'s VP Calls IVF ‘one of the biggest lies being told about women’s health’

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s running mate has been a harsh critic of in vitro fertilization, while funding alternative research on extending women’s reproductive years.

Nicole Shanahan has for years denounced IVF — calling it “one of the biggest lies that’s being told about women’s health today.”

At the same time, she has also been a vocal proponent of and financial backer for unconventional research into the possibility of helping women having children into their 50s and exploring no-cost interventions to help women conceive, such as exposure to sunlight.

“I’m not sure that…   there has been a really thorough mitochondrial respiration study on the effects of two hours of morning sunlight on reproductive health. I would love to fund something like that,” Shanahan said to a 2023 panel with the National Academy of Medicine, a group to which she had previously donated $100 million.The statement was met with chuckles, “Yeah, let’s do it,” she added. “I just have an intuition that could be interesting and maybe work.”

As a candidate, her criticisms of IVF have taken on heightened importance following an Alabama Supreme Court’s ruling that embryos are children, which briefly forced clinics in the states to pause operations. Republicans and Democrats — including both President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump — rushed to defend the procedure, which is broadly popular.

The 38-year-old’s opposition to IVF and skepticism of the fertility industry makes her an outlier in the presidential field — though she has not called for banning the procedure.

Kennedy has not weighed in on IVF access, and has made conflicting comments about abortion access. At the Iowa State Fair, Kennedy, 70, said he supported a ban on abortion after 15 or 21 weeks of pregnancy, but then his campaign said he misunderstood the question and does not support such a ban.

South Korean Companies Offer Workers $75K To Have Babies

Korean construction group Booyoung is offering workers a $75,000 bonus for each baby they produce, one of many eye-catching incentives on offer as politicians and companies grapple with the country’s demographic crisis.

“If Korea’s birth rate remains low, the country will face extinction,” Booyoung chair Lee Joong-keun told employees last month.

South Korea’s total fertility rate — the average number of children a woman is expected to give birth to in her lifetime — fell from 0.78 in 2022 to 0.72 in 2023, according to government figures. It is projected to fall to 0.68 this year…  , far below the 2.1 the OECD says is necessary to ensure a broadly stable population.

Political leaders have increased promises of financial incentives for prospective parents ahead of parliamentary elections next month, with parties from across the political spectrum announcing proposals ranging from more generous housing allowances and tax breaks to compulsory paternity leave for fathers and extended subsidies for egg-freezing programmes.“Time is running short, I hope every government agency approaches the issues of low birth rates with extraordinary determination,” President Yoon Suk Yeol told ministers in December.

“This is a matter of the country’s survival,” said opposition leader Lee Jae-myung as he announced his party’s programme in January. “It is an imminent challenge right at our doorstep, not a concern in the distant future.”

The effects of the crisis are already being felt. In 2022, the number of South Korean military personnel fell below 500,000 for the first time, while universities and schools reported dwindling student numbers and kindergartens have been converted into nursing homes. Last year, more prams were sold in South Korea for pets than for babies.

South Korean Companies Offer Workers $75K To Have Babies

Chris Christie decides against No Labels presidential run

Chris Christie has decided against running for president with No Labels, depriving the centrist group of yet another big-name candidate for its proposed third-party ticket.

The former New Jersey governor, who ended his second Republican presidential campaign before voting began in this year’s primaries, said he had received “encouragement” to pursue a third-party run but has chosen not to.

“I believe we need a country that once again feels like everyone has a stake in what we’re doing and leadership that strives to bring people together, instead of using anger to divide us,” Chr…  istie said in a statement. “While I believe this is a conversation that needs to be had with the American people, I also believe that if there is not a pathway to win and if my candidacy in any way, shape or form would help Donald Trump become president again, then it is not the way forward.”

Christie, a vocal critic of Trump, had dismissed the notion of a third-party run while still competing directly against the former president in the primary. But he opened the door to the possibility after ending his Republican bid.

When Christie exited the race in January, he said, “I am going to make sure that in no way do I enable Donald Trump to ever be president of the United States again. And that’s more important than my own personal ambition.”

Russia Will Shoot Down F-16s In Ukraine

Russia has no designs on any NATO country and will not attack Poland, the Baltic states or the Czech Republic but if the West supplies F-16 fighters to Ukraine then they will be shot down by Russian forces, President Vladimir Putin said late on Wednesday.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has triggered the deepest crisis in Russia's relations with the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.

Speaking to Russian air force pilots, Putin said the U.S.-led military alliance had expanded eastwards towards Russia since the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union but that Moscow had…   no plans to attack a NATO state.

"We have no aggressive intentions towards these states," Putin said, according to a Kremlin transcript released on Thursday.

"The idea that we will attack some other country - Poland, the Baltic States, and the Czechs are also being scared - is complete nonsense. It's just drivel."

The Kremlin, which accuses the U.S. of fighting against Russia by supporting Ukraine with money, weapons and intelligence, says relations with Washington have probably never been worse.

Asked about F-16 fighters which the West has promised to send to Ukraine, Putin said such aircraft would not change the situation in Ukraine.

Gaza starvation could amount to war crime

After months of warnings, a recent UN-backed report offered hard statistical evidence that the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza is turning into a man-made famine.

It has increased the pressure on Israel to fulfil its legal responsibilities to protect Palestinian civilians, and to allow adequate supplies of humanitarian aid to reach the people who need it.

The UN's most senior human rights official, Volker Türk, said in a BBC interview that Israel bore significant blame, and that there was a "plausible" case that Israel was using starvation as a weapon of war in Gaza.

Mr…   Türk, who is the UN high commissioner for human rights, said that if intent was proven, that would amount to a war crime.

Israel's economy minister, Nir Barkat, a senior politician in Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party, dismissed Mr Türk's warnings as "total nonsense - a totally irresponsible thing to say".