News Sparks: Australian Treasurer, who is Jewish, Needs 24/7 Security; Hochul says "Thanks, but no Thanks" to Mayor de Blasio; Flu Spreads among Young People

Australian Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, who is Jewish, Needs 24/7 Security because of Constant Threats 

For the last two years, Australia’s treasurer, Josh Frydenberg (pictured above), who was born in Melbourne to Jewish parents, has needed close, round-the-clock security protection because of the disturbing frequency with which he receives anti-Semitic threats, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison revealed today of the country’s first treasurer to ever need such an extensive security detail.

Frydenberg, who lost great-grandparents and great-aunts in the Holocaust, which one aunt survived, started to receive the violent threats at the beginning of the COVID pandemic when Australian Premier Daniel Andrews enforced extensive lockdowns.

When protestors to the lockdowns photoshopped Nazi uniforms onto Andrews on Twitter, Frydenberg criticized both Andrews’ extensive lockdowns and the depiction of him as a Nazi.

“I don't agree with Daniel Andrews Pandemic Bill,” Frydenberg said. “[The lockdowns] have been rightly been condemned. But placards depicting the Premier in Nazi uniform are offensive and wrong.

“It shows a lack of understanding of history. It fuels hatred. It's dangerous and has no place in public debate.”

“It is a great shame that the treasurer of our country has to be offered close personal protection: not because he's the treasurer, but because he's a Jew,” Morrison told Parliament when introducing his law that protects people who make statements that express religious belief amid what he called a minefield” of new workplace regulations. 

 Gov. Hochul Claps Back at Mayor’s Call for her to Issue MTA Mandate

On Tuesday, when Mayor Bill de Blasio called on Gov. Kathy Hochul to issue a vaccination mandate for the workers of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), the governor was not super enthusiastic about the idea.

“You know what our infection rate is here at the MTA?” asked Gov. Hochul, who is currently leading the field of contenders for the 2022 governor’s race, which the mayor is expected to join. “It's 0.6%: half of what it is for the city of New York.

“I appreciate the advice, but if we have a problem, I’ll address it.”

New Flu Strain Spreads Among 5 to 24-Year-Olds

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a health advisory yesterday saying that in recent weeks, a large number of children and young adults have been coming down with the flu.

While cases of influenza remain low nationally, more than 90% of those currently infected with the most current flu strain are between the ages of 5 to 24, the CDC reported.

Most of the current cases of the flu derive from the H3N2 strain, which is a variant that health experts say mutates quickly and can result in hospitalizations.

Throughout the 2017 to 2018 flu season, for instance, the US recorded that the H3N2 flu strain caused 710,000 hospitalizations and 52,000 deaths, which was the highest number of hospitalizations and deaths from the flu since 2009.

While Iran taunts the world by bragging that it has the ability to build a nuclear weapon in a very short time, the US military was ready to prevent with “other options” than diplomacy, a top US general said yesterday in Time Magazine.

“The diplomats are in the lead on this, but Central Command always has a variety of plans that we could execute if directed,” General Kenneth McKenzie, the commander of US Central Command.

While other US officials have spoken in recent days of the military options that could prevent Iran’s nuclear proliferation, Gen. McKenzie’s latest comments are the strongest and clearest yet to articulate a military option.

Photos by Paul Morigi/ Flicker