November 18, 2016

Obama Winds Down, Trump Gets Serious And Belgium Gets Musical

PNUT GALLERY

In 2016, we saw a bunch of ultra-rightwing parties enter mainstream political arenas. We looked at the millennials behind the movement in Germany.

IN A NUTSHELL: MUST READ

Obama Winds Down And Trump Gets Serious

President Obama hugged it out with his long time ally Chancellor Angela Merkel during a brief stop over in Berlin on Thursday. After meeting Angela to assuage her fears of a Trump Presidency, he spoke to reporters and offered Trump a few words of advice regarding dealing with Europe and Russia. Obama expressed hope that Trump would stand up to Russia when it deviated from American “values” and wouldn’t just approach Russia from a “real politik” perspective that risks leaving allies, like Europe, out in the cold. Don’t hold your breath though, as Trump has found all this talk of American values hypocritical and unconvincing.

Meanwhile, Trump’s team tried to get back on track with the transition process following a purge of Christie loyalists earlier this week. They spent most of Thursday putting on a good show, reaching out to prominent Republicans like Mitt Romney and showing off a list of people who Trump was meeting with that might be good fits for the incoming cabinet. Kellyanne Conway said that they were on schedule, especially when compared to the year 2000. Back then, Florida was still counting votes. The issue, of course, is that 2000 is a terrible benchmark and the Bush family had a lot of establishment experience to draw from.

Much of the transition talk centered on exactly how much Trump would be able to “drain the swamp.” A proposed five-year ban on lobbyists was already experiencing push-back. Some Republicans contemplated less “wall-ish” border security measures. And then of course, Wall Street applauded a few early signals by the Trump administration, giddy at the prospect that regulation enacted after the financial crisis would be stripped and they would be able to return to the good old days of the early 2000’s. Meanwhile, speculation centered on whether Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, would get a White House job or whether anti-nepotism laws would preclude him from that.

NUTS AND BOLTS: SHOULD READ

United States Regulators Take JP Morgan’s Lunch Money

JP Morgan Chase paid the US federal government $264 million to settle a case involving bribery of Chinese officials. It was alleged that JP Morgan hired people referred by the Chinese government in exchange for favorable treatment. They didn’t bother to hide it either, given that investigators found a spreadsheet that tracked how much revenue these underqualified, referred employees were bringing in. While the fine was a drop in the bucket for JP Morgan and their stock remained up today, somewhere Elizabeth Warren is celebrating this small regulatory victory.

The Mediterranean Gives Us Another Deadly Week

Doctors Without Borders confirmed that six migrants died and 100 more are missing and feared dead after a rubber boat sank in the Mediterranean yesterday. A British navy ship was able to rescue 27 of the people that were on board but most, along with information on the ship, are missing. Officials aren’t even sure of the travelers’ nationalities or their point of departure. Before this disaster, there had already been an estimated 240 deaths in the Mediterranean between Monday and Wednesday of this week. But it’s not like anyone is looking forward to the weekend, either. The number of migrants arriving in Italy this month is already more than double what it was during November of last year.

Italian PM Is Putting His Job On The Line For A Referendum

As we’ve seen in the case of former UK Prime Minister David Cameron and the Brexit call, putting your job on the line for a referendum is risky. But Italian PM Matteo Renzi is just that serious about constitutional reforms. Renzi promised to resign if he loses, saying that someone else would have to take care of the “decrepit system” left behind, because what’s a political promise without bitterness and a few veiled threats? But it doesn’t look like voters are all that interested in Renzi’s reforms. Polls are predicting a defeat for the center-left leader at the December 4 referendum, meaning this do-or-die strategy was probably ill-advised.

KEEPING OUR EYE ON

Mozambique: At least 73 people were killed and 100 more were injured from a fuel truck explosion in the Tete province. The cause is still unclear. Information Ministry Director Joao Manasses suggested the truck was ambushed, but other reports said the truck had crashed and people were trying to siphon off fuel.

Argentina: An alleged Colombian drug kingpin was extradited to the United States yesterday. Argentinian police captured Henry de Jesus López – also known as “Mi Sangre” or “My Blood” in English – back in 2012, and he will now face charges of organizing cocaine shipments.

Texas: An estimated 20 billion barrels of untapped oil were discovered in a deposit in west Texas. The US Geological Survey discovered what is possible the largest oil deposit found in the United States, and it’s estimated to be worth about $900 billion.

PNUTTY VIDEOS

One surrogate said Trump uses his Twitter account to relax. Stephen Colbert called BS.

LOOSE NUTS: FOR YOUR ENJOYMENT

Ex-Prime Minister Guest Stars On A New Hit Ballad

Retirement is hard for some politicians. But former Belgian Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy found a creative outlet by recording a song about the power of love over hate. Van Rompuy, who was also the former European council president, guest stars on a track by the Flemish artist Dana Winner titled “Liefde wint altijd” or “Love always wins.” The former leader recites some of his poetry at the end of the anti-terrorism song that was released to commemorate the victims of the Brussels attacks. Van Rompuy croons:

“You asked me: ‘Where are the flowers.’

But you did not wait for an answer.

Because now you know there is only one thing,

which is stronger than hatred and all things bad.

PNUT PATRONS

The Daily Pnut will never pass along fake news. Help us spread more snarky, honest world news.

WEEKEND READS

16 Stories To Get You Through The Weekend

On the election and president-elect Trump: