Floods Ravage South Asia: Along the southern U.S. coast at least 37 deaths are attributed to Hurricane Harvey so far, but half-way around the world more than 1,000 people have died this summer in floods across South Asia. Over the past few days, Mumbai, India has been relentlessly pummeled by monsoon rains, and it is feared the death toll will rise along with the flood waters. At least 41 million people in Bangladesh, India, and Nepal have been directly affected by flooding and landslides. The International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent said that the flooding in the region is the worst in 40 years.
Texas Chemical Plant Expected to Explode: Crosby, Texas, a town of about 2500 located roughly 30 miles northeast of Houston, is home to a chemical plant owned by Arkema, Inc. which is currently underwater from Tropical Storm Harvey. The company’s CEO believes a fire or explosion is almost certain, but that it would not pose as a “long-term harm”, and that any sustained environmental impact would be “minimal.” For many Texans this is not just an aw-shucks moment, at least for those who remember another chemical disaster just 4 years ago.
In April 2013, a fertilizer plant killed 15 people, injured 200 more, and destroyed 500 homes. For decades in Texas, people have wanted to know what chemical repository companies are storing. But five months after the 2013 explosion, then Attorney General Greg Abbott received a political contribution from the head of Koch Industries’ fertilizer division. Follow the money, follow me? Abbott, who is now governor of Texas, closed those records to public access.
NUTS AND BOLTS: SHOULD READ
North Korea Steps Up Missile Tests: North Korea’s launching of an intermediate-range ballistic missile over Japan Tuesday just before 6 a.m. Japan time (Monday 5 p.m. ET) was “the first step of the military operation of the (North Korean military) in the Pacific and a meaningful prelude to containing Guam,” according to North Korea’s state run news agency. Guam is the closest U.S. territory to North Korea and maintains two important U.S. military installations. The U.S. conducted a test intercept of a medium range ballistic missile off the coast of Hawaii early Wednesday, although an official said the test had been planned for a long time.
The 15 members of the United Nations Security Council met Tuesday for nearly four hours in an emergency session to discuss a response to the North’s latest missile test, the 4th in four days. The members adopted a strong statement condemning the launch but took no further action. In 2017 we have been 2.5 minutes to midnight. At this rate if we get to 2018 we might be half a minute to lights out.
The Enemy Of My Enemy Is…My Enemy, Too: The war in Syria is multifaceted with several sides all vying for victory. Last week’s offensives by separate groups (namely the Lebanese army and the Syrian army with Hezbollah) resulted in Islamic State fighters being pushed back to ISIS-held territory near the border with Iraq. Hezbollah and the Syrian army then arranged for a ceasefire in that area to enable an evacuation for ISIS fighters and their families. Iraq and the US-led coalition took exception to allowing enemy fighters to join the forces with whom the coalition is engaged so used superior air power to halt the evacuation. Hezbollah claims there are over 300 militants and over 300 civilians in the stranded convoy. For US war planes, this is known as “fish in a barrel” so long as the militants can be separated from the civilians. The convoy is now a political pawn as various sides try to broker its safe passage for information or concessions from other armed actors in this chaotic civil war. #pyrrhic-victory
KEEPING OUR EYE ON
The Bizarro World of Venezuelan “Democracy”: US President Trump recently joined the international community in denouncing Venezuelan President Nick Maduro’s “constituent assembly” as unconstitutional. This is an assembly of appointed political allies that Nick is using to usurp the democratically elected parliament since the parliament doesn’t agree with everything he has to say. President Trump went so far as to sign an executive order banning trade in Venezuelan debt or in state oil bonds in a true hit-‘em-where-it-hurts fashion. Some Venezuelan parliament members see goodness in this as it may compel Nick’s administration to make some changes. But here is where it gets weird. The constituent assembly, in a pep rally-like three-hour session, unanimously voted to try opposition leaders, including the sitting head of the opposition-controlled parliament, for treason for not opposing the US sanctions. The former chief prosecutor, who was fired by the constituent assembly earlier this year, is another target of trial for treason. If it looks like a dictator and talks like a dictator…
War
With North Korea going ballistic, China flexing its economic and military muscles, and the US becoming isolationist, is it any surprise that Japan’s post WWII pacifism is starting to wane? (NYT)
Afghanistan, the sarlacc pit of empires: The British Empire, Soviet Russia, and now the United States has tossed its military might against the region. Every empire thinks it is different when it comes to fighting in Afghanistan, but every outcome has been the same: humiliating defeat after years of conflict. (NYT)
Troubling Times in the United States
Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress have an awful relationship that is now bordering on toxic. Is it because the congressional Republicans lied to Trump? (Vox)
There are failed states in the world but do we have failed states in the US? The Guardian explores why Oklahoma could be a failed state that is spiraling out of control and potentially unfixable due to education cuts and record prison rates.
The Italian Job, Paris style: Beneath the City of Lights there is an ancient network of catacombs, estimated to total more than 150 miles of tunnels. Some adventurous and savvy thieves used these bone-lined underground corridors to spirit away over 300 bottles of vintage wine from a choice wine cellar during the night. Having burrowed their way through the limestone and into the pre-identified 6tharrondissement apartment, they left undetected with over 250,000 euros worth of grand cru. This neighborhood lies in the heart of Paris and includes locations such as the French Senate, the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Saint-Germain Abbey, and Luxembourg Gardens. While crime is never cool, this is truly a heist that Sir Michael Caine or Marky Mark Wahlberg could appreciate.
Your Daily Pnut Team: CEO–Tim Hsia. Editor in Chief–Vanessa Wu. Political Junkie at Large–Penelope Lary. Ninth Inning Reliever-Writer: Mike Briggs. Occasional Contributors: April O’Neil, Tintin, Clark Kent, & Peter Parker.
