THE SHOW NOTES: When Is a Ceasefire Not a Ceasefire?
Welcome! Vladimir Putin was sworn in for a fifth consecutive term… but did Putin steal Robert Kraft’s Super Bowl ring?
WATCH: Kristi Noem is defending a conversation with Kim Jong Un that she previously claimed never happened.
NEW: Marjorie Tayloe Greene may be backing off her threats to oust Speaker Johnson.
HEADLINE: The Trump campaign contemplates a jail sentence - SEMAFOR
APPLE: New iPad Air and iPad Pro tablets are coming next week. - CNBC
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Israel
The Israeli military sent troops into Rafah late Monday night and secured the main border crossing between Gaza and Egypt. The “precise and limited” military operation primarily focused on Hamas targets in Eastern Rafah where 140,000 Palestinians were encouraged to evacuate.
Details: Hamas attempted a last-minute pause in the invasion by claiming to have accepted a brokered peace agreement in Cairo which later turned out to be false. A new proposal by Hamas includes a unilateral pause in fighting in return for 33 Israeli hostages that are alive or dead.
Biden: Israeli officials are furious with the Biden administration claiming the White House’s team did not brief the Israelis that Hamas had accepted an amended peace agreement catching Israel off guard.
Polling: As war rages in Gaza, a new poll from Axios says a significant majority of college students favor Israel. 67% say it is “unacceptable” for protestors to occupy campus buildings while 90% say blocking or intimidating Jewish students is wrong. Students overwhelmingly claimed the war in Gaza was the least important issue facing them out of nine options. While most students are generally against the protests, parents are furious. This is from The Wall Street Journal (free):
Colleges already have a student revolt on their hands. Now their parents are rebelling, too.
Parents paying as much as $90,000 for their sons and daughters to attend elite universities are angry and frustrated with colleges’ responses to the Gaza protests—on both sides of the political divide. Whether their kids are protesting, counterprotesting or trying to stay out of it, parents are demanding that schools do more to keep them safe and learning.
Gen Z Sinks Deeper Into Debt
Young Americans are starting out with more credit-card debt than generations before them. That financial burden can have long-lasting effects.
The rising debt load largely reflects a surge in prices for food and shelter at the start of their careers, coupled with a larger percentage of Gen Z who graduated with student loans. The average credit-card balance for 22- to 24-year-olds was $2,834 in the last quarter of 2023, compared with an average inflation-adjusted balance of $2,248 in the same period in 2013, according to new data from credit-reporting agency TransUnion.
Younger people with higher debt are more delinquent on credit-card payments and need to rely on family for help if they lose their job, say economists and financial advisers. They also often delay life milestones, including homeownership and marriage, say the economists.
Full story at The Wall Street Journal (free).
Colleges Ripped for Agreeing to Hear Israel Divestment Demands
Northwestern University and Brown University headed off the police crackdowns that hit campuses from New York to California last week by making concessions to pro-Palestinian protesters. Now they’re being slammed by critics who say they capitulated to an angry mob.
Three Jewish students filed a lawsuit against Northwestern, accusing the school of allowing a “dystopic cesspool of hate.” At Brown, billionaire real estate investor Barry Sternlicht said he would pause donations, according to the New York Times, after administrators said they would let five students present arguments in favor of divestment to members of the school’s governing body.
Full story at Bloomberg (paywall).
Trending news:
Kristi Noem’s Team Told Her to Nix the Dog Story 2 Years Ago - Politico
Biden to call for a fight against antisemitism at a precarious moment in Israel’s war in Gaza and amid protests on campus - CNN
The FAA investigates after Boeing says workers in South Carolina falsified 787 inspection records - AP
Ukraine arrests two officials for treason over alleged Russian plot to kill Zelensky - CNN
More women are working now than at any time in U.S. history - Axios
Fender benders mean serious high-tech repairs now - CNN
As China and Iran hunt for dissidents in the US, the FBI is racing to counter the threat - AP
US Government Struggles with Staggering $2 Million Interest Expenditure Every Minute Amid Lingering High Interest Rates - MSN
Deadly Pacific ‘blobs’ tied to emission cuts in China - Science
Biden’s final EV rules make it easier for China to get billions in Biden’s EV tax credits - X
U.S. soldier detained in Russia and accused of stealing, officials say - NBC
The Newest Rookie in Pro Soccer Is a 45-Year-Old Finance Bro - WSJ (free)
The Uglification of Everything - WSJ (paywall)
Market snapshot:
The threat posed to the Speaker by the idiot congresswoman from NW Georgia is only valuable to her until she tries and it fails.
The gov doesn't need to step in on these campuses, but they should at the very least have a resolution to condemn it. The most recent AntiSemetic bill was bad and thankfully died in the senate. However, that should not have been the goal. Just right up a bill for official condemning of the protests while respecting their right to free speech. That will put Democrats on record.
The lawfare is exposing the left but it also emphasizes the point that Trump should not have been the nominee and Republicans should have prevented that in some way. This is way to much trouble for it to be worth it. But I will absolutely vote for Trump regardless. 4 more years of Biden or any democrat would be the absolute end of our nation as a democracy, and possibly the end of the world as we know it.