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More than 90 House lawmakers call on Mayorkas for ‘urgent action to combat antisemitism’

More than 90 House lawmakers are calling on Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to take “additional and urgent action to combat antisemitism and prosecute antisemitic hate crimes” after antisemitic incidents in the U.S. reached an all-time high last year.

The letter — led by Reps. Brad Schneider (D-Ill.), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.), Ted Deutch (D-Fla.) and Andrew Garbarino (R-N.Y.) — specifically asks that Mayorkas encourage President Biden to prioritize the establishment of “an inter-agency strategy to overcome the threat of antisemitism.”

That strategy, the group later writes, should be comprehensive, whole-of-government and aim to “address the growing problem of domestic antisemitism.”

“We must ensure our federal, state, and local agencies are communicating with one another and have the necessary education, training, and resources to confront this threat,” the lawmakers wrote.

“We must ensure every facet of our government is engaging with local community partners on the front lines. And we must ensure DHS and all its inter-agency partners are prioritizing this issue and tackling it with the urgency and coordination it warrants,” they added.

The letter comes roughly two months after the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) released its annual audit, which included more than 2,700 reports of assault, vandalism and harassment against Jewish individuals in the U.S. throughout 2021.

That statistic marked a 34 percent increase from 2020, and the highest number reported in one year since 1979, when the ADL started tracking antisemitic incidents.

Last month, the House passed a resolution condemning the rise of antisemitism in a 420-1 vote. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) was the only lawmaker to vote against the measure. In a tweet, he said it “promoted internet censorship and violations of the 1st amendment.”

In their letter to Mayorkas, the lawmakers also requested that “appropriate representatives” from other departments within the U.S. government — including Justice, State, Education, Labor and Defense — the are “involved in this effort be included in the discussion.”

“Only by working together, across all branches and levels of government, across our country and throughout our society, can we address the many facets of antisemitism and ensure the safety and security of the American Jewish community,” they said.

“Hate in all its forms is destructive and, unaddressed, risks fraying the fabric of our nation. We must continue to speak up and confront antisemitism head-on, whenever and wherever it arises,” they added.

The Hill reached out to Mayorkas for comment.

Source: TEST FEED1

Senate panel seeking information on MLB's antitrust exemption

The Senate Judiciary Committee has sent a letter to the MLB requesting more information about the league’s antitrust exemption on its minor league players and teams.

In a letter sent on Tuesday, the panel asked Advocates for Minor Leaguers executive director Harry Marino about how the league’s antitrust exemption is affecting minor league athletes and the operations of minor league baseball teams. 

Advocates for Minor Leaguers is a nonprofit organization that seeks to better working conditions for minor league baseball players.

The letter was signed by Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah.) 

“May 29, 2022 marked the 100-year anniversary of the Supreme Court’s unilateral creation of Major League Baseball’s (MLB) antitrust exemption in the case Federal Baseball Club v. National League,” the senators wrote in the letter. “As we mark this anniversary, we write to seek information about how baseball’s antitrust exemption is impacting competition in the labor market for minor league ballplayers as well as the operations of minor league teams.” 

The Supreme Court ruled in that 1922 case that the MLB did not meet the criteria of “interstate commerce,” resulting in the court deciding that the league didn’t fall under the Sherman Act, which prohibits businesses from engaging in acts that suppress competition — hence the antitrust exemption. 

In a series of questions, the senators asked Marino if the antitrust exemption has an effect on MLB lockouts and work stoppages and what role it plays when a minor league player signs a “Minor League Uniform Player Contract,” among other queries. 

The panel also noted an Athletic article published in January that detailed a corrupt system within the international player market, including performance-enhancing drug use and shady deals between local scouts and trainers. 

“We appreciate your attention to this timely issue and look forward to working with you to ensure that players, communities, and fans can continue to enjoy America’s pastime,” the senators concluded their letter. 

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) introduced a bill in March that targeted the league’s antitrust exemption following the MLB lockout, which ended earlier that month. 

Sanders said in his statement at the time that the Senate Judiciary Committee should look into the matter as well. 

Earlier this month, the Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a statement of interest on the minor league contraction antitrust case Nostalgic Partners, LLC v. The Office of the Commissioner of Baseball, referring to the league’s antitrust exemption as an “aberration” that “does not rest on any substantive policy interests that justify players and fans losing out on the benefits of competition,” a press release from the committee noted.

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Texas AG says he would back law banning sodomy if Supreme Court reconsiders landmark case

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) said last week he would back a law banning the act of sodomy if the U.S. Supreme Court were to overrule a case deeming it unconstitutional.

Paxton said during a Friday interview with NewsNation he would defend the law banning sodomy because the Supreme Court in the past has “stepped into issues that I don’t think there was any constitutional provision dealing with.”

“They were legislative issues,” Paxton said. “This was one of those issues, and there may be more. It would depend on the issue and it would depend on the state law.”

When asked if he would have a personal issue with defending a law banning sodomy, Paxton said he would not.

“My job is to defend state law and I’ll continue to do that, that is my job,” the Texas attorney general said.

The Supreme Court ruled a Texas law banning two persons of the same sex from having sexual intercourse was unconstitutional in Lawrence v. Texas (2003).

The justices said the law violated the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, which protects an individual’s right to life and liberty without interference from the government.

The 2003 ruling overturned Bowers v. Hardwick (1986), which allowed a similar Georgia statue banning sodomy to stay in effect. The landmark Lawrence v. Texas case eventually paved the way for Obergefell v. Hodges (2015), which legalized same-sex marriage.

Last week, the Supreme Court’s conservative majority overturned Roe v. Wade (1971), which ruled that abortion was a constitutional right based on the Due Process Clause.

In his concurring opinion, conservative Justice Clarence Thomas drew national headlines when he suggested the court reconsider other cases based on the Due Process Clause, including Lawrence v. Texas and Obergefell v. Hodges.

Paxton on Friday said he would have to “take a look” at any statute Texas were to pass if the high court overturned Lawrence v. Texas.

“This is all new territory for us. I’d have to see how the legislation was laid out and if we thought we could defend it,” Paxton said. “If it’s constitutional, we’re going to defend it.”

Source: TEST FEED1

Ocasio-Cortez backs Fetterman, Barnes and Ryan for Senate

Progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) endorsed Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio), Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman (D) and Wisconsin Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes (D) in their respective battleground Senate races on Wednesday.

Ocasio-Cortez made the endorsement in an Instagram post caption under a video clip of her appearance on the “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” on Tuesday. In the clip, Colbert asks Ocasio-Cortez what she would like to see from her fellow lawmakers in the wake of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade.

“We CAN do more to pursue these items more aggressively. And THEN once we do, we can secure the W and turnout the vote for [Fetterman] in PA, [Barnes] in WI, and [Ryan] in OH this November,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote.

She then went on to list expanding the Supreme Court, ending the filibuster, repealing the Hyde Amendment and codifying Roe, same-sex marriage, right to contraception and interracial marriage. 

Fetterman and Ryan have not publicly acknowledged the endorsement, but Barnes acknowledged Ocasio-Cortez’s backing on his Instagram story, writing, “let’s get this done AOC.”

Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Ohio are expected to be three of the most competitive Senate races this midterm cycle. Fetterman and Ryan won their respective Democratic primaries, while Barnes faces a crowded field of Democratic contenders in Wisconsin’s Democratic primary in August.

While popular among the progressive flank of the party and a successful fundraiser, some Democrats have questioned how well Ocasio-Cortez plays in swing districts with more moderate voters. Republicans have also repeatedly attacked vulnerable Democrats for accepting campaign contributions from Ocasio-Cortez. Last year four vulnerable House Democrats did not accept or returned donations from the progressive congresswoman’s PAC.

Source: TEST FEED1

FBI opens sweeping probe of clergy sex abuse in New Orleans

The FBI has opened a widening investigation into sex abuse in the Roman Catholic Church in New Orleans, looking specifically at whether priests took children across state lines to molest them.

That’s according to law enforcement officials and others familiar with the inquiry who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

More than a dozen alleged abuse victims have so far been interviewed as part of the probe that comes as the Archdiocese of New Orleans reels from a bankruptcy brought on by a flood of sex abuse lawsuits and allegations church leaders turned a blind eye to generations of predator priests.

Source: TEST FEED1

A disaster of our own making with antimicrobial resistance

Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR), the calamitous health crisis responsible for plaguing Americans at the rate of 2.8 million cases of infection annually, sparked bipartisan congressional discussion as lawmakers revisited the 2021 PASTEUR and DISARM Acts to confront the AMR crisis. This is not enough. No matter how many new drugs we introduce, AMR will remain a global health crisis given that antibiotics are administered inefficiently. While renewed investment in the development of antibiotics is critical, AMR rates will persist so long as systemic drug administration remains medicine’s preferred option.

Antibiotics are essential in preventing bacterial infection, but as antimicrobial resistance rises, we risk being left defenseless. Recent studies have found it is often not antibiotics themselves, but how they are administered that undermine their effectiveness and promote resistance. Focusing our attention solely on creating next-generation antimicrobials steals focus from the equally important task of addressing the antibiotic misuse that continues to plague the U.S. health care system.

Otherwise, we are headed toward a microbial apocalypse. The World Health Organization estimates see 10 million annual AMR-related deaths globally by 2050. In 2016, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimated that, despite antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) measures to reduce the impact of antibiotic misuse, an average of one-in-three antibiotic prescriptions were unnecessary, directly leading to increased risks of toxicity and AMR. COVID-19 undoubtedly made these numbers soar as clinicians were forced to skip AMS measures to keep patients out of hospitals.

On March 28, 2022, the Biden administration announced a historic investment in pandemic preparedness and biodefence with the FY23 President’s Budget proposal allocating $88.2 billion across Health and Human Services (HHS) departments. While bills such as PASTEUR and DISARM encourage the development of new antibiotics, it is incumbent upon policymakers to maximize the amount of these funds intended to advance drug administration technologies that use existing antibiotics more effectively via innovative methods. 

If It’s Broken…

AMR has been a problem for more than 80 years. Penicillin (PCN) resistance in E. coli was first reported in 1940 and led to the introduction of PCN-G; two short years later PCN-G resistant Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) emerged. This pattern became predictable. Methicillin, introduced in 1959, subsequently produced methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) in 1961. The introduction of carbenicillin in 1967 preceded carbenicillin-resistant Pseudomonas in 1969. This steady recurrence of new drug introduction followed by new resistant bacteria ultimately prompted the UN’s 2021 call to action referring to AMR as a “silent tsunami.”

A critical assessment of proposed measures to stop AMR show how we might turn the tables on drug resistance. Narrowing the scope of fighting AMR to focus on preventing surgical site infections (SSI) serves as a fundamental starting point to address the greater issue.

Current SSI prevention practices in operating rooms across the U.S. contribute to drug resistance. Prophylactic administration of intravenous antibiotics preoperatively delivers a high systemic dose to penetrate the affected area. But this approach has a reproducible failure rate and may pose an increased risk to the patient for toxicity, infection by resistant organisms, and alterations in the patient’s microbiome, often leading to hospital readmission. The failure of this approach is clear: SSIs make up 40 percent of hospital acquired infections.

… Fix it!

Alternative solutions — including bacteriophage therapy, predatory bacteria, and direct application approaches — are in development. These methods are poised to revolutionize recovery, allowing patients to spend less time in the hospital, decreasing risk for nosocomial infections, and optimizing clinical outcomes. However, each method requires further study due to existing high-risk profiles such as toxicity, autoimmune response, and potential for tissue damage. Local drug administration is clearly the future of infection prevention.

Delivering lower dose extended-release antibiotics, local drug administration enables direct antibiotic application to the surgical wound without exposing patients to unnecessary risks. However, these innovations are still in development and require further scientific validation and resources to bring them forward into practical use. Policymakers must meet the immediate emergency of AMR while setting the stage for the next generation of antibiotics to remain effective after they are introduced.

Clawing our way out of the pandemic starkly illustrated the need to focus funding where it will do the most good. Lawmakers who set policies and in the fight against AMR must remember that only by funding innovation can they turn the tables on AMR. Time is of the essence, and the solutions are within reach.

Ori Warshavsky is Chief Operating Officer of US, PolyPid, a bio-pharmaceutical company that seeks on develop, manufacture and commercialize novel therapies to improve surgical outcomes.

Source: TEST FEED1

Trump to rally in Alaska to boost Palin and Murkowski challenger

Former President Trump will travel to Alaska this weekend to stump for former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s congressional bid and a GOP challenger to Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska).

The rally is set for Saturday afternoon. Trump will rally for Palin, Governor Mike Dunleavy and Kelly Tshibaka, who is looking to oust Murkowski.

Earlier this month, Palin advanced in the special election to replace the late Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska). She is among four candidates who will go on to a ranked-choice election on Aug. 16. 

Tshlibaka is facing off against Murkowski, the Alaska senator who has drawn Trump’s anger for voting to impeach him after the Capitol attack on Jan. 6, 2021.

“Kelly Tshibaka is the candidate who can beat Murkowski — and she will,” Trump wrote last year when he endorsed Tshibaka. “Murkowski has got to go!” 

Murkowski previously called Tshibaka a “rubber-stamp Republican.”

“I may be the last man standing. I may not be re-elected,” the senator said. “It may be that Alaskans say, ‘Nope, we want to go with an absolute, down-the-line, always, always, 100-percent, never-question, rubber-stamp Republican.”

Murkowski and Tshibaka will compete in a “jungle primary” on August 16, with the top four candidates, irrespective of party, advancing to November’s general election.

The rally comes amid public hearings on the Jan. 6 riot, with the House select committee seeking to place Trump at the center of efforts to overturn President Biden’s election victory.

On Tuesday, Cassidy Hutchinson, formerly the executive assistant to Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows, testified at a public House Jan. 6 committee meeting about Trump’s behavior during the Capitol riot. 

She said under oath Trump knew members of the crowd at his rally had weapons when he told them to march to the Capitol, and that he lunged at a secret service agent to take the wheel of a car in an attempt to join the mob.

Trump has denied the allegations and the Secret Service agents present at the time are reportedly willing to testify that some elements of Hutchinson’s testimony are false.

Source: TEST FEED1

Repair the damage done by DOJ wrongly targeting Chinese scientists

The Department of Justice’s “China Initiative” — now formally canceled – was a wrong-headed response to a real issue. To begin repairing the damage done, the United States government and U.S. research universities should actively promote open scientific collaboration with scientists and students in and from China, and from around the world. This is essential not only to justify our self-image as the land of opportunity, but also because U.S. international leadership in science and technology relies on these talented immigrants.

The initiative ostensibly aimed to protect U.S. businesses and laboratories from intellectual property theft and economic espionage, but it was heavily criticized for possible racial profiling and anti-Asian and Chinese bias.

Theft of information essential to our national security is very much on the minds of U.S. legislators and the executive branch. Some countries — China and Russia being examples — do not adhere to the codes of conduct that we espouse. (As an aside, one can wonder whether our country is as deferential to the dictates of international law as we should be.) But an effective response to this challenge is not to curtail scientific exchanges between the United States and the rest of world — most especially not between the U.S. and China.

The vast majority of scientists — especially those in academia engaged in fundamental research — are much alike, around the world, in their dedicated pursuit of new knowledge. The results of research carried out by academic scientists are disseminated in openly published papers. A university-based scientist garners prestige and advancement by publishing in high-impact journals. Publications are increasingly internationally co-authored, with scientists in China now the largest group of international collaborators working with U.S. scientists. Indeed, it is forbidden by most U.S. universities for faculty to engage in classified research on campus. Even proprietary research is highly constrained and relatively rare. Important national or industrial secrets cannot be stolen by foreign agents infiltrating U.S. universities for the simple reason that such secrets are, by design, not to be found there.

Great universities, both here and abroad, produce highly trained science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) graduates. The positive impact of scientists and engineers on the well-being of our country is well established. We have led the world for decades in the creativity and effectiveness of our scientific and engineering enterprises, powered not only by our home-grown workforce, but also by our ability to attract the most talented graduates of premier universities from around the world.

Our World War II victory and success in the Cold War that followed, were significantly assisted by the brilliant scientific establishment that we inherited — almost overnight — from the German diaspora fleeing nascent Nazi Germany to positions in universities and government laboratories in the United States. The paranoid attacks carried out by Nazi authorities on their own citizens was not only one of the most reprehensible aspects of their regime, but it was also incredibly self-destructive. It drove multitudes of brilliant people into the welcoming arms of their enemies.

Our science and engineering strength has relied on immigrants from around the world, but particularly from China, India and several other countries. China has been the principal source of international students enrolled in the U.S. higher education system; in recent years its nationals have received the second largest number of employer-sponsored H-1B temporary visas, after India. Welcoming these immigrants to our universities and industries is not only the principled thing to do to uphold our country’s best traditions but also, from a practical perspective, it is essential to the future of our nation. Immigrants constitute 45 percent of the U.S. STEM workforce with Ph.D. degrees.

Some foreign students who study at our universities may choose to return to their home countries. However, even if those countries may be our adversaries in certain realms of international competition, it is still in our best interest to welcome these students. The serious problems facing our country sometimes makes us lose sight of the great virtues inherent within our system. But these virtues are not lost on students who spend time at our great universities. They return home with considerable admiration for the dynamism and inclusiveness of our society and our democracy. In a small but tangible way, this brings salutary pressure to otherwise inward-looking institutions to participate openly in the international community.

On a personal level, we have experienced the lingering negative effects of the China Initiative within our immediate community. The contributions of brilliant colleagues of Chinese origin in both teaching and research are an important element of what makes our home, Stanford University, so renowned. Distressingly, many of these colleagues have recently begun to feel unwelcomed in our country. For many years, we have read applications to the graduate class in our department from astounding young Chinese scholars who are notable not only for their educational achievements, but also for their idealism. Sadly, we have noticed a precipitous decline in these applications in the last couple of years. We attribute this, at least in part, to the chilling effect of the China Initiative.

What is needed is a new initiative. We should expand collaboration, particularly academic exchanges and research collaborations, between the United States and China. Interactions among scientists at higher education institutions not only directly benefit the U.S. but are also important channels for informal dialogues. If the United States is to remain a global leader in science and technological innovation, it is of paramount importance to recognize that leadership can only be maintained by encouraging open exchanges and collaborations.

Steven A. Kivelson is the Prabhu Goel Family professor in the Department of Physics at Stanford University. He is a co-editor in chief of Nature Partner Journal Quantum Materials, published by Springer Nature in partnership with Nanjing University

Peter F. Michelson is the Luke Blossom professor in the School of Humanities and Sciences in the Department of Physics at Stanford University and currently also serving as senior associate dean for the natural sciences. He leads a 15-year international collaboration of more than 150 scientists, as well as international student contributors, who designed and built the Large Area Telescope on the NASA Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, and its resulting data is in the public domain.

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Ketanji Brown Jackson to be formally sworn-in as Supreme Court justice Thursday

Ketanji Brown Jackson will be sworn-in Thursday to formally become a Supreme Court justice, officially making her the nation’s first Black woman to serve in the role.

She will fill the seat being vacated by the retiring Justice Stephen Breyer, 83, whose previously announced departure after nearly 28 years on the bench will take effect Thursday at noon.

Jackson is expected to join Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan in forming a three-member liberal minority on the court, a role previously filled by Breyer, for whom Jackson once clerked.

Developing

Updated 3:57 p.m.

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