Silver lining in US college presidents’testimony
- analysis
Posted By: Pete Stone, 12/11/2023 2:58:28 PM
Call it a sign of the times. On December 8, two days after the presidents of three prestigious East Coast US universities were unable to tell a Congressional committee that calling for the genocide of Jews on campus violates their schools’ codes of conduct, Stanford University — another elite US school, but this one on the West Coast — issued this statement: “In the context of the national discourse, Stanford unequivocally condemns calls for the genocide of Jews or any peoples. That statement would clearly violate Stanford’s Fundamental Standard, the code of conduct for all students at the university.”'
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Call it a sign of the times.
On December 8, two days after the presidents of three prestigious East Coast US universities were unable to tell a Congressional committee that calling for the genocide of Jews on campus violates their schools’ codes of conduct, Stanford University — another elite US school, but this one on the West Coast — issued this statement:
“In the context of the national discourse, Stanford unequivocally condemns calls for the genocide of Jews or any peoples. That statement would clearly violate Stanford’s Fundamental Standard, the code of conduct for all students at the university.”'
Israeli security forces delivered 300 liters of diesel fuel to Shifa Hospital in Gaza early Sunday morning and later received intelligence indicating that Hamas had intercepted the delivery, according to a Sunday night IDF statement.
The IDF released three separate recordings of the event. The first was an audio recording of an exchange between a representative of the Coordination and Liaison Administration (CLA), which implements civilian policy regarding the Israeli government's activity in the Gaza Strip, and an official from Shifa Hospital.
The two discussed the delivery logistics, explaining where to go and how it would be conducted.
A swarm of local residents in Makhachkala in the Russian Republic of Dagestan stormed an airport in the city in an attempt to attack any Jews and Israelis set to arrive on a "Red Wings" flight from Tel Aviv on Sunday, according to local media reports.
According to N12, the pilots were warned of the mob and rerouted the plane to land at a nearby airport. The rioters reached that one as well. The flight staff ordered the locking of all aircraft exits, while security forces closed the area off. Russian aviation authority Rosaviatsia said all aircraft were diverted to other
Israel will have partial laser defenses by this time next year, Rafael Advanced Defense Systems chairman Yuval Steinitz told Army Radio on Sunday.
"One year from now – Israel will be the first country to have partial laser protection. In two years there may be complete protection – against missiles, shells, rockets, or anything else. This will protect us both in the South and in the North," said Steinitz.
Israel's push for laser air defenses
This past February, senior Defense Ministry official Brig.-Gen. (res.) Danny Gold said Israel’s air-defense lasers,
The FBI recently warned consumers against using free public charging stations, saying crooks have managed to hijack public chargers that can infect devices with malware, or software that can give hackers access to your phone, tablet or computer.
“Avoid using free charging stations in airports, hotels or shopping centers,” a tweet from the FBI’s Denver field office said. “Bad actors have figured out ways to use public USB ports to introduce malware and monitoring software onto devices. Carry your own charger and USB cord and use an electrical outlet instead.”
The FBI offers similar guidance on its website to avoid
Silvergate Capital
announced on Wednesday that it will wind down operations and liquidate Silvergate Bank. The company’s stock is down more than 25% in after-hours trading.
Silvergate is one of the two main crypto banking giants. The other is the New York-based Signature Bank which has more than $114 billion dollars in total assets. Silvergate has just over $11 billion.
“In light of recent industry and regulatory developments, Silvergate believes that an orderly wind down of Bank operations and a voluntary liquidation of the Bank is the best path forward,” the company said in a statement.
A Chinese state-run newspaper issued a warning to Tesla CEO Elon Musk after he shared reporting on the U.S. Department of Energy’s “low confidence” assessment that the global Covid pandemic originated in a Wuhan laboratory.
CNBC’s Eunice Yoon reported Tuesday morning on the warning from the social media pages of the Global Times, the English-language subsidiary of the government-controlled People’s Daily. The Global Times warned Musk that he could be “breaking the pot of China” after the Tesla and Twitter CEO responded to tweets that asserted that the Covid pandemic originated in a Wuhan research laboratory.
Exposure to SARS-CoV-2 vaccination and
infection may provide more durable immunity:
Canadian study 13 replies
infection may provide more durable immunity:
Canadian study 13 replies
A study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) on Monday points to a significant change in the proportion of the Canadian population with SARS-CoV-2 antibodies over the first two and a half years of the pandemic and the probability that exposure to both vaccination and infection provides the most durable immunity.
The study, conducted by the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) and involving almost 14,000 people, provides a clear view of the changing antibody landscape during the pandemic, and its findings hold implications for pandemic risk assessment and response, according to the authors.
U.S. lawmakers have been under the microscope lately for trading stocks in companies where they or their staff members might have some inside knowledge.
The rules for buying and selling stocks were strengthened for Congress in 2012 by the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act.
Developing rules about Congress members trading stocks is an ongoing process. The Bipartisan Ban on Congressional Stock Ownership Act of 2022 was introduced in February by Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Steve Daines (R-Mont.), as well as Representatives Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) and Matt Rosendale (R-Mont.).
What’s Biden’s Problem With Black Staffers?
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Joe Biden took office promising the most diverse presidential administration in history. Not cohesive, not experienced, and certainly not competent, but definitely diverse.
We’re all familiar with Biden’s biggest hits in the diversity game, starting with his vice president, Kamala Harris. The former California senator couldn’t get her own presidential campaign off the ground in 2019, even after she attacked her future boss for being a segregationist at heart. But Biden was determined to make a woman of color the next vice president of the United States, and lucky Kamala was in the right place at the right time.
There’s also
Russian President Vladimir Putin has “rapidly progressing cancer”, is losing his sight and has been given three years to live by doctors, according to a Russian intelligence officer.
An FSB (Russian Federal Security Service) officer said Mr Putin, 69, was very ill with “a severe form of rapidly progressing cancer”.
“He has no more than two to three years to stay alive,” the source said, as reported by the Mirror.
“We are told he is suffering from headaches and when he appears on TV he needs pieces of paper with everything written in huge letters to read what he’s going
Twitter accepts Elon Musk’s buyout deal
11 replies
Twitter’s board has accepted an offer from billionaire Elon Musk to buy the social media company and take it private, the company announced Monday.
The cash deal at $54.20 per share is valued around $44 billion, according to the press release. Twitter will become a private company once the deal is complete.
The announcement ends a weeks-long saga Musk kicked off when he disclosed a large stake in the company. Soon after, the company said he would join the board, only for Musk to reverse course on that plan several days later. Then, he offered to buy the company
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Claudine Gay will remain as Harvard president with the full support of the Ivy League college's governing body, the university's board announced in a statement on Tuesday.
The board wrote: 'As members of the Harvard Corporation, we today reaffirm our support for President Gay’s continued leadership of Harvard University. Our extensive deliberations affirm our confidence that President Gay is the right leader to help our community heal and to address the very serious societal issues we are facing.
The board acknowledged Gay's mistakes in handling anti-Semitism on campus, adding:
At Cop28 it feels as if humanity’s shared
lifeboat is sinking. There are only hours
left to act 27 replies
lifeboat is sinking. There are only hours
left to act 27 replies
As Cop28 in Dubai enters its final hours, the emotional weight of the moment is hard to bear. I find myself thinking of a six-year-old boy called Desmond I met in Turkana county, Kenya, who died from severe acute malnutrition on the same day. His death was the result of a climate-induced drought that has left millions of people on the brink of starvation in the Horn of Africa.
I want the negotiators deciding the outcome of Cop28 to know Desmond’s story. Because in the end, the climate crisis is not about pledges, statistics, reports or activists. It’s about human suffering and ruined lives. It’s about death.
A year after leaving the White House, Barack and Michelle Obama created a production company called Higher Ground Productions that would produce documentaries and high-end movies. Their most recent movie, though, seemingly seeks the lowest ground possible, for it appears to stoke racial hatred in the context of an apocalypse.
According to the Higher Ground website, Leave the World Behind throws a white and black couple together during a massive cyberattack: A family’s (Julia Roberts and Ethan Hawke) vacation is upended when two strangers (Mahershala Ali and Myha’la) arrive at night, seeking refuge from a cyberattack that grows more terrifying
A Turkish member of parliament collapsed on Tuesday with an apparent heart attack amid discussing godly punishments for the Israeli people.
Felicity (Saadet) Party Member Hasan Bitmez fell beside a podium while addressing the Grand Assembly of the Turkish National Assembly during a reported budgetary discussion.
"You will not escape the wrath of Allah," Bitmez, 54, said moments before he fainted and seemingly hit his head on the floor, immediately drawing a swarm of onlookers to intervene and provide medical attention. He reportedly has diabetes. (X) Multiple reports indicate that some type of cardiac event occurred requiring life-saving measures,
What Happened to Ron DeSantis?
19 replies
Ron DeSantis is running as the true-blue conservative in the race for the Republican presidential nomination.
And he's learning the hard way that Republicans don't nominate true-blue conservatives.
As Donald Trump leads every poll by double-digits, the Florida governor who seemed such a promising prospect just a year ago is now at risk of falling to third place.
If Nikki Haley bests DeSantis in Iowa, his 2024 campaign won't be the only casualty; his hopes of ever becoming president will dim, and rivals won't fear him as they look to '28 or '32. How did DeSantis go from a 19-point reelection only a year ago to a fight for his political life today?
Ahem. Later today, Beege will explore the question of what exactly it takes to get fired from Harvard. For now, let’s just marvel at the intellectual gymnastics of Harvard’s corporate board, which issued a statement just an hour ago or so expressing unanimous support for Claudine Gay … while tacitly admitting her plagiarism issues.
Here’s the Harvard Crimson report passing along their enthusiastic vote-of-confidence in the integrity of Gay’s leadership:
“As members of the Harvard Corporation, we today reaffirm our support for President Gay’s continued leadership of Harvard University,” the board wrote in a University-wide statement on Tuesday. “In this tumultuous and difficult time, we unanimously stand in support of President Gay.”
Aaaaaand
Biden Puts Us On A Fast Train To Nowhere
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"At long last, we’re building the first high-speed rail project in our nation’s history. And it’s starting here.”
That was President Joe Biden announcing last week that us taxpayers will be ponying up $3 billion to help a private company build a bullet train from Los Angeles to Las Vegas so gambleholics can start losing money more quickly.
The L.A. to Vegas train will supposedly be finished in time for the Los Angeles Summer Olympics in 2028 — just four and half years from now.
Well, anything is possible. A private company is planning to build the thing and claims to have the route and rights-of-way all figured out. But
John Kerry’s call to end all coal-powered electricity generation is “silly” and “self-destructive,” writes former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, and “makes the United States look delusional.”
In his punchy essay, Gingrich insists that it is “not hyperbole or exaggeration” to call John Kerry “crazy,” since the word crazy means “marked by thought or action that lacks reason.”
Mr. Kerry’s failing mental state was on full display during his recent “emotional speech” to the United Nations Climate Change Conference, where he made a plea to “end all coal burning power plant construction in the entire world.”
Biden goes into 2024 with the economy
getting stronger, but voters feel horrible
about it 17 replies
getting stronger, but voters feel horrible
about it 17 replies
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden goes into next year’s election with a vexing challenge: Just as the U.S. economy is getting stronger, people are still feeling horrible about it. Pollsters and economists say there has never been as wide a gap between the underlying health of the economy and public perception. The divergence could be a decisive factor in whether the Democrat secures a second term next year. Republicans are seizing on the dissatisfaction to skewer Biden, while the White House is finding less success as it tries to highlight economic progress.
These referees need to be hit with technical fouls. Three refs at a Colorado youth basketball game threw punches and tackled each other in the middle of a court surrounded by horrified onlookers, shocking video shows. The brawl broke out during the fourth quarter of a fourth-grade boys’ game between Cherry Creek and Legend Blue on Saturday morning at the Gold Crown Field House in Lakewood, according to a clip of the live-streamed game posted online. Two of the refs walk toward each other aggressively as one of them takes a swing before a third runs over and tackles one of the pair to the ground
Will Mitt Romney Back Biden?
16 replies
Mitt may be moot when it comes to representing the people of Utah in the U.S. Senate, but something tells me that he isn't quite finished yet in the political arena. At least, he probably does not think so.
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During Mitt's career as a senator, I, and doubtless, countless other Utah Republicans, quietly seethed when some wonk or pundit opined that the people of Utah adored Romney. I'm sure there are some older folks in Utah, who look at his LDS background and who would vote a straight "R" ticket no matter what, who may have his back.
The progressive president of the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) owes thousands in unpaid utility bills despite making an eye-popping salary, the Illinois Policy Institute (IPI) has found.
According to the non-profit group, Stacy Davis Gates owes the city of Chicago $5,579 in unpaid water, sewer and trash bills as of Nov. 7, 2023, despite bringing home "at least" $289,000 a year.
(snip) Last month she was billed for back taxes due to an "unlawful deduction" she took on a home in Indiana. (snip) In September, Davis Gates defended sending her son to a private school despite being an outspoken critic of them.