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 "…  Read more;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.

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…  Read more attendance at the wake.

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.…  Read more>

“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.”

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…  Read more to fall to 0.68 this year, far below the 2.1 the OECD says is necessary to ensure a broadly stable population.

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…  Read more divide us,” Christie 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.”

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…  Read more plans to attack a NATO state.

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.