The Middle East Diplomatic Gamble

Congratulations to Chelsea for being the winner of last week’s Daily Pnut Week in Review! Chelsea S. currently lives in the Washington, DC metro area and works in communications for an environmental non-profit.

“I must study Politics and War that my sons may have liberty to study Mathematics and Philosophy.” – John Adams

“Let us dare to read, think, speak and write.” – Ibid

Diplomacy the Trump Family Way in the Middle East: Ivanka Trump was ethereal, appearing in a soft, cream-colored dress, matching stilettos and diamond earrings Monday as she opened the new American Embassy, ensconced as it is in an upscale Jerusalem neighborhood in Israel. 60 miles away in Gaza, Israeli forces shot and killed 52 Palestinians and wounded at least 1,200 as tens of thousands protested President Trump’s decision to move the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Ivanka’s husband, Jared Kushner, spoke to the American and Israeli VIPs gathered for the opening. In making the only reference to the violence that marked the bloodiest day in Gaza since the 2014 war, Kushner blamed the protesters for being part of the problem and not part of the solution.

Palestinians believe East Jerusalem is the capital of their future state, and disagreement over the holy city has been the major roadblock in peace negotiations. The broad international consensus is that its status should be settled under a peace deal, but Trump decided last December to claim Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, and move the embassy. He now says Jerusalem is “off the table” for any future negotiations. Since his decision, and the Palestinians’ resultant fury and desperation, Israeli snipers have regularly fired on demonstrators. After Monday, the death total stands at close to 100. Israel has portrayed the protests as a terrorist ploy by Hamas, which has in fact encouraged and funded the protests.

Back at the embassy, Ambassador David Friedman stood on a stage painted with the US flag and said: “Today’s historic event is attributed to the vision, courage, and moral clarity of one person to whom we owe an enormous and eternal debt of gratitude: President Donald J. Trump.” The crowd cheered and gave a standing ovation. And the White House issued a statement saying Trump’s Jerusalem move “does not mean the United States has taken a position on final status negotiations.”

– Is it fair to say “Once a spy, always a spy”? Sergei Skripal was a retired Russian intelligence officer who, along with his daughter, was nearly poisoned to death March 4 not far from his home in Salisbury. The British government called the attack the Kremlin’s attempt to eliminate all traitors, and the episode elicited huge back and forth confrontations between Russia and the West. But considering Skripal’s activities in the years before his attack, could his poisoning have been a narrower act of retribution? (NYT)

– The US Supreme Court has refused to hear appeals from former Blackwater security contractors found guilty in 2014 of killing 14 Iraqi civilians and wounding 17 others at a crowded traffic stop in Baghdad in 2007. The men worked for the North Carolina-based private security firm, then called Blackwater Worldwide, which the US government had contracted to provide security to US officials working in Iraq. The firm was founded by former Navy SEAL Erik Prince, brother to Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. (The Guardian)

– Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan spoke at the think tank Chatham House in London Monday and blamed the US for returning the world to the “dark days” leading up to WWII. He criticized President Trump for decisions such as pulling out of the Iran nuclear deal and moving the US embassy to Jerusalem, which “did not abide by international law or UN decisions.” Erdogan said the US had forfeited its role as Middle East mediator and had “chosen to be part of the problem and not the solution.” (The Guardian)

– Since elections last March, Italy’s President, Sergio Mattarella, has been meeting with two populist leaders, Luigi di Maio of the Five Star Movement (a single anti-establishment party) and Matteo Salvini of the League (a center-right coalition). Maio and Matteo have agreed on most of their coalition program, but can’t decide who will become prime minister. Allegedly overheard:  “You do it. No, You do it. I know, let’s get Mikey to try it!” (BBC)

More News Reads:

• Moon of Jupiter prime candidate for alien life after water blast found (The Guardian)
• China Blocks a Memorial Service to Sichuan Earthquake Victims (NYT)
• ‘Google go home’: the Berlin neighbourhood fighting off a tech giant (The Guardian)
• In Ethiopia’s bushlands, promised riches of a railway boom turn to dust (The Guardian)
• AirAsia CEO Says ‘Sorry’ For Endorsing Malaysia’s Ousted Prime Minister(NPR)
• What’s Behind The Alarming Spike In HIV Infections In Panama? (NPR)

The United States of Sports Gambling, Inc.: On Monday, the US Supreme Court overturned a 1992 federal law, known as the Bradley Act, named after its chief promoter, former basketball great Bill Bradley, who served three terms in the US Senate. The law had effectively prevented most states from legalizing sports betting. Bradley said he regretted the ruling, adding: “I think the court ignored the impact of their ruling on sport. I think they’ve turned every baseball player, basketball player, football player into a roulette chip. There’s nothing to prevent betting on high school or even grade-school games with this ruling. The only winner here are casinos, in my opinion… it’s a sad day… the ruling is a lot like the effect on our democracy of Citizens United, the repeal of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act. The result of those two things is politicians spend unlimited amounts of money on politics and states can restrict voting and now states can turn players into roulette chips. To me it’s as simple as that.” Bradley didn’t make a reference to Back to the Future Part 2 but with the possibility of sports gambling everywhere, America seems more and more like Trump’s World, excuse us, Biff’s World. (NPR)

• Pastor who prayed at embassy opening is ‘a religious bigot’, says Mitt Romney(The Guardian)
• Donald Trump and Sean Hannity Like to Talk Before Bedtime (NY Mag)
• ‘Americans are Being Held Hostage and Terrorized by the Fringes.’ An exit interview with the American Enterprise Institute’s Arthur Brooks. (Politico Magazine)
• Sticker Shock Jolts Oklahoma Patient: $15,076 For 4 Tiny Screws (NPR)
• Michael Avenatti Posts Photos Of Cohen With Qatari Investor Accused Of Bribery (The Huffington Post)
• For Amazon HQ2 hopefuls, Seattle serves as a cautionary tale (CNN)

– James Harrison, an 81-year-old Australian, has single-handedly, excuse us, single-armedly, saved two million babies from a potentially fatal disease through his regular blood donations. “Mr. Harrison’s blood contained a rare antibody necessary to make a pioneering medication.” (NYT)

– Mr. Harrison is a real life hero, but another hero of human existence are horseshoe crabs. “Horseshoe crabs are sometimes called ‘living fossils’ because they have been around in some form for more than 450 million years. In this time, the Earth has gone through multiple major ice ages, a Great Dying, the formation and subsequent breaking up of Pangaea, and an asteroid impact that killed the dinosaurs and most of life on Earth yet again … So reliant is the modern biomedical industry on this blood that the disappearance of horseshoe crabs would instantly cripple it. And in recent years, horseshoe crabs, particularly in Asia, have come under a number of threats: habitat loss as seawalls replace the beaches where they spawn, pollution, overfishing for use as food and bait. Horseshoe crabs bled for the biomedical use in the United States are returned to the ocean, but an estimated 50,000 also die in the process every year.” (The Atlantic)

– “Almost everyone wears glasses at some point in their lives. In developed countries, the rule of thumb is that around 70% of adults need corrective lenses to see well.” A fascinating longform read on how “optical retailers learned the strange fact that for something that costs only a few pounds to make (even top-of-the-range frames and lenses cost, combined, no more than about £30 to produce), we are happy, happier in fact, when paying 10 or 20 times that amount.” “The margins,” as one veteran of the sector told me carefully, “are outrageous.” (The Guardian)

– Given the number of people who can’t see, there is “A Simple Way to Improve a Billion Lives: Eyeglasses. It’s the biggest health crisis you’ve never heard of. Doctors, philanthropists and companies are trying to solve it.” (NYT)

– We all want to see better. Even the US Army, which has developed improved night vision devices that cost $23,000 and “allow soldiers to shoot around corners, see through dense vegetation and smoke, plus distinguish friend from foe.” Meanwhile in the United States, the company formerly known as Taser, but now renamed Axon (smart corporate rebranding) “is exploring pairing its cameras with new AI capabilities — including real-time face recognition.”  (USA Today & NPR)

– If only we could see into the future – some companies like Red Lobster are trying to predict or ride the wave of shifting consumer behavior: “In general, casual dining chains like Red Lobster are in trouble. Major franchises like T.G.I. Fridays and Applebee’s have stumbled through a decade of losses, and many chains, including Friendly’s and Bennigan’s, have filed for bankruptcy. Americans have changed their dining habits: The country’s upper class has soured on paying $15 to $20 per meal for bland bar fare, and the chain sustaining middle class can no longer afford it.” (NYT)

“There are two types of education…One should teach us how to make a living, and the other how to live.” – John Adams

Please consider making a one-time donation to Daily Pnut, an independently operated and bootstrapped publication, via PayPal. Many thanks to everyone who already supports us!