Some Gold Medal Moments And Turkey’s Ongoing Coup Fallout

PNUT GALLERY

How many of your friends feel the same way about you? Well, according to the New York Times, no more than 50%… so ya, bring up that fun fact at your next friend/#fam reunion!

 IN A NUTSHELL: MUST READ

 #BrazilNuts: Gold Medal Moments

Remember That Coup In Turkey? It’s Not Over

Just because last month’s Turkish coup attempt disappeared from our front pages doesn’t mean that the Turks have forgotten about it. Yesterday, hundreds of thousands of Turks rallied against the coup and for “Democracy and Martyrs” in Istanbul and other major cities. The rally was the culmination of three weeks of nightly protests by supporters of President Tayyip Erdogan. The coup attempt has put strain on Turkey’s democracy as conspiracy theories spread faster than Olympic sprinters. Pro-government media are blaming the coup on Fethullah Gulen, who lives in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania, leading his followers and selling organic meat on the side. His presence in the US has led some Turkish commentators to blame the CIA for the coup (classic), stoking fears that the US might try the coup again, even leading to a temporary shut down of a US-NATO base as a precaution. Turkey has asked for Gulen to be extradited but, so far, the US isn’t convinced that they should do it. Meanwhile, the two countries are working together in a NATO campaign against ISIS… making things a little bit awkward for everyone involved.

NUTS AND BOLTS: SHOULD READ

Panama Transparency Probe Not So Transparent

Following the leak, earlier this year, of 11.5 million documents from Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca that detailed how the world’s wealthy and/or corrupt use offshore companies to funnel money around stodgy tax collectors, inquisitive ex-wives and sanctions lists, the Panamanian government set up a commission to look into how its corporate governance code can be more transparent. Only problem was that they weren’t willing to be too transparent about the commission’s findings. Nobel Prize winner Joseph Stiglitz and anti-corruption ninja Mark Pieth resigned because the government wasn’t committed to publishing their findings. Offshore companies aren’t illegal, and the vast majority of them are used for perfectly normal business dealings. But the leak exposed how Panama’s tight secrecy laws and lax oversight made it the perfect place for people to conduct illicit dealings, from dictators like Bashar al-Assad of Syria and Muammar Qaddafi of Libya to boring but routinely-caught-in-corruption-scandal companies like Siemens.

Fun Read: Four Fun Places To Hide Your Money After Panama

Syria: Siege Is Lifted… Sorta

Syrian rebels announced that they broke through a government siege of the city of Aleppo aiming to provide some reprieve to the ~250,000 residents stranded in the city. The government simultaneously denied that the rebels broke through while promising to crush them for doing so. The victory is largely illusive though, as neither civilians nor rebel fighters can safely move in and out of the city and the government, backed by Russia, has intensified its bombing campaign. The victory also risks strengthening extremist movements within the rebel forces even further, particularly the Jabhat al-Nusra, which used to be part of al-Qaeda before undergoing a rebranding effort. The five year conflict has claimed almost 500,000 lives, produced four million refugees and created an incredibly complex, overlapping web of proxy wars.

Pnut Analysis: Our Summary Of The Syrian Civil War

When Confronted With Military Or Military, Thais Choose Military

Like airline passengers asked to pick between two equally unappetizing dishes loosely defined as “dinner” Thai voters went to the polls this weekend in a referendum to pick a new constitution. Voters were asked to accept a military drafted constitution that will strengthen the role of the military in the state or have the military write a new constitution anyway. Unsurprisingly, they opted to accept this constitution by 60% because, at least they knew what they would be getting. The country has been ruled by a military junta since a coup in 2014 and the hope is that this new constitution will pave the way for civilian rule soon. The problem is that whatever new government comes will have to play by the military’s rules… sounds like a recipe for disaster.

KEEPING OUR EYE ON 

Floods: Deadly storms in Mexico and Macedonia killed 38 and 21 people respectively. Flash floods in Macedonia were so sudden that some victims were literally swept away in their cars while trying to drive home.

Belgium: ISIS claimed a machete attack against two policewomen in Belgium. The two women were injured but survived the attack. Belgium is still reeling from an attack against Brussels airport earlier this year and the discovery that most of the Paris Attackers used it as a staging ground.

Economy: The US economy posted strong job growth for the second month in a row, keeping unemployment below 5%. The news complicates things for Donald Trump who is running on an “America is burning to the ground” political platform.

 LOOSE NUTS: FOR YOUR ENJOYMENT

KKK Leader More Favorable To Black Voters Than Trump

Exactly how unpopular is Donald Trump with black voters? Enough that former Ku Klux Klan grand wizard David Duke is polling at more favorable numbers. Duke is running for the US Senate from Louisiana, and despite his massively controversial history as a KKK leader – one that made the Republican Party denounce his candidacy – he’ll be on the ballot this November. But here’s the crazy part: Duke gets support from 14% of black voters in the state. That eclipses Trump’s fan base by a lot. In three national polls released this week, Trump averages 2.3% from black voters. In nearby Georgia, he got 5% while he amassed a whopping 0% in Ohio and Pennsylvania. David Duke frequently defends Trump against people that call him a bigot, because obviously a grand wizard would know a bigot when he sees one.