Last Second Victory

And the Academy Award for Best Picture goes to La La Land. No wait! We meant Moonlight! Seriously. Moonlight won the award after presenters mistakenly announced that La La Land was the winner.

Moonlight was the least watched of the Best Picture nominees, but was also the most inexpensive to produce, with a budget of $1.5 million. Here’s a nifty breakdown of US moviegoers’ preferences based on geography. Apparently, even our cinema watching starkly divides us.

US Resets on Egypt, ISIS, and the Raid in Yemen: The Trump administration will seek a sharp increase the US military budget in the coming years, and this announcement comes at a time when generals are now the stewards of American democracy. While many Americans are focused on Trump’s domestic policies, his most lasting impact might be on how he reconfigures the geopolitical landscape. The top US military commander in the Middle East region signaled his support for a resumption of US-Egyptian military training exercises that were paused during the Obama administration.

In the coming days, Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis will be meeting with President Trump to discuss plans for defeating ISIS. While these plans are being solidified, Iraqi forces are currently heavily supported by US airpower and artillery as they begin their attack on ISIS strongholds in Western Mosul and recaptured Mosul’s airport. More grueling block-to-block fighting awaits Iraqi forces in the coming weeks, when the US’ superior air support will be less of a factor.

Trump’s muscular foreign policy decisions already have their detractors. One of them is the father of the Navy SEAL killed in the Yemen raid that resulted in the death of several civilians and children. He declined to meet with President Trump and questioned why there had to be a “stupid mission when it wasn’t barely a week into [Trump’s] administration.”

North Korea and the US Break Talks: Informal talks between former US officials and a North Korean delegation scheduled for next week were cancelled on Friday, hours after the Malaysian government announced that VX nerve agent was used to kill Kim Jong-nam. Though the scheduled talks were unofficial, some experts thought they could be a test of the willingness of the Trump administration to begin more serious negotiations at a later date, or to send a special American envoy to North Korea, a move that former President Obama refused to make.  

The Trump Administration Talks BS on Sunday: White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer confirmed last week that Chief of Staff Reince Priebus asked the top two FBI officials to publicly deny that there was contact between Trump aides and Russian intelligence during last fall’s campaign. Trump spokesperson Sarah Sanders Huckabee attempted damage control over the controversy when she said yesterday on ABC: “The FBI has already said this story is BS. Those were their words, so I apologize to my mom. But literally those are the words of the FBI, that the story is BS.” Perhaps Sanders’ mother will call her daughter out on BS, as the FBI has made no public comment on its investigation.

Water Supply Cut Off for Millions in Chile: Rainstorms and landslides have contaminated the Maipo river, the main water source for Chileans who live in the capital of Santiago. As a result, the local government has ordered the water supply, which is accessed by millions, to be immediately cut off. There’s no timetable yet for when city officials will allow the river water to be accessed again.

In Greece, “I Won’t Pay” is a Real Movement: Greeks are becoming increasingly frustrated after undergoing years of austerity measures due to the country’s excessive debt. In some cases, Greeks have rallied under the “I Won’t Pay” movement whereby they pack courtrooms and seek to nonviolently but loudly shout down lawyers attempting to foreclose their homes.  This tactic seems to be working in the short term, but many doubt that the banks will give up that easily on collecting these  debts.

Drip, Drip, Drip…The Sound of Leaks of Washington D.C.: White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer is cracking down hard on leaks from his staff, and, as you can see, this story was promptly leaked. Politico broke the news that Spicer called an emergency meeting of his staffers and, with lawyers in the room, asked his aides to dump any devices they had with them (including both work and personal cell phones) on the table for a check.

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• The old POTUS has been laying low but he did drop by NYC last Friday night (CNN)
• Did you get enough sleep last Friday night? If not, did you know that one’s circadian clock is different than one’s sleep clock? (Quanta)
• A Slate author, who is a former Army officer and Pentagon official, on how the Trump administration is looking to dismantle the federal government
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