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PNUT GALLERY
“Well the thing about branding is, you don’t have to be — you can be fact-free.” -President Clinton on Donald Trump’s campaign-lite style
IN A NUTSHELL: MUST READ
US Government Will Not Shutdown, Congress Carries On
Millions of government employees will have to trudge to work thursday after the Senate passed a funding bill to keep the government open at least through December. In what turned out to be mildly interesting legislative drama, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell outwitted Senator and presidential hopeful Ted Cruz in the battle to avoid a shutdown. He used procedural tricks to limit how long Cruz could speak and block him from holding certain votes. Congress is expected to pass the bill today. The end result? Government shutdown averted and a confused Cruz. Why was there even going to be a shutdown?
After a number of videos surfaced that alleged that Planned Parenthood was harvesting aborted fetuses for sale some Republican senators, headed by Ted Cruz, wanted to defund Planned Parenthood or else shut down the government. The political theater was shut down quickly by Republican leaders.
God Save The Cable Knits
The quintessential American fashion designer and just generally speaking divine creator of American style, Ralph Lauren, is stepping down as CEO of the fashion house he founded in 1967. Stefan Larsson, former president of Old Navy and executive at H&M, will take the reigns as the new CEO of the preppy chic, polo-playing, American western inspired iconic brand (you can tell we don’t like Ralph Lauren at all).
With declining revenue and share price, Larsson could help get the company back on track. Critics fear the direction of the luxury brand under new direction, but the 75-year-old legend maintains that he will remain an integral part of the company as executive chairman and chief creative officer. Rest assured, the cable knits and polo horses are here to stay.
NUTS AND BOLTS: SHOULD READ
Confused Coalition To Fight ISIS
After two days of lofty speeches at the UN about fighting ISIS, it is clear that everyone wants to fight ISIS, but less clear how they will do so. Putin is emerging as the new leader in the anti-ISIS fight, despite not doing any of the fighting. Obama urged the UN to fight ISIS with “ideas” but didn’t seem to have any ideas on how to do that. After a year of “fighting ISIS,” the group just keeps getting stronger and stronger.
Snowden: ‘Can You Hear Me Now?’
NSA whistleblower and Russian “guest” Edward Snowden joined Twitter yesterday using the handle @snowden (amazing that it was available). Snowden is only following one person, his nemesis and former client, the NSA, which he accused of illegally eavesdropping on millions of people’s digital records around the world. Russian exile hasn’t seemed to dampen his sense of humor, as he joked with astrophysicist Neil Tyson and commented on a spike in Twitter activity at Fort Meade (NSA headquarters).
Afghanistan: That Place Everyone Wants To Forget
Afghan government forces fought to retake the the northern city of Kunduz yesterday after the Taliban captured it in a pre-dawn raid on Monday. The city is the biggest victory for the Taliban under their new leader, Mullah Mansoor. Despite having more men, materiel and being trained for about 10 years by NATO/US, the situation wasn’t going well for government troops.
Keeping Our Eye On…
- Emissions Scandals: Turns out a lot more Volkswagen cars might have had the cheating software installed in them in a scandal that a board member called “criminal.”
- Mummies: Egypt confirmed that there are two hidden rooms in King Tut’s tomb. Archeologists believe it could be Nefertiti’s tomb. Hopefully there will be tons of cool stuff in it.
- Not iPhones: With all the noise around the new iPhone it’s easy to forget that Google also just released their new Android 6.0 Marshmallow. One benefit? It is much cheaper than the iPhone.
LOOSE NUTS: FOR YOUR ENJOYMENT
Ikea, Morocco And The Western Sahara Walk Into A Bar
Millions of Moroccans will be spared the frustration of building an ikea Malm bed after the Moroccan government issued a last minute order to stop the country’s first Ikea store from opening. A Moroccan newspaper reported that the last minute stay was due to a diplomatic tiff between Morocco and Sweden (where Ikea is originally from) over Sweden’s support for independence movement in the Western Sahara, a sandy former Spanish colony with a population of ~500,000. We guess Spotify (also Swedish) won’t be opening in Casablanca anytime soon.
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Trevor Noah popped his Daily Show cherry, and he’s not bad… not bad at all.
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Today’s Pnut is sponsored by Hello Alfred!
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H/T to Antoine for one of today’s Weekend Reads
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