MbS is Getting Away with Murder | Searching for Change | NATO Prepares Hot War in the Cold

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“The enemy of a good plan is the dream of a perfect plan.”

“Boldness governed by superior intellect is the mark of a hero.”

– Carl von Clausewitz

Cause You’re Hot Then You’re Cold: Some 15,000 American troops, mostly Marines, are participating in NATO’s Trident Juncture exercise on the Norwegian coast. It’s the military alliance’s largest exercise since the end of the Cold War, but ever since Russia seized Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, Western officials have worried NATO states could be next. This is an entirely different experience for these soldiers, whose deployments have been to the much warmer Middle East. Conducting war in Northern Europe means carrying cold-weather lubricant for machine guns, or figuring out how to move thousands of men and women and their heavy machinery and weapons across fields packed with snow, or just remembering to pack woolen long johns.

Overall, 50,000 allied troops, from all 29 member states plus Finland and Sweden are taking part in Trident Juncture. They arrived with 65 ships, 250 warplanes and more than 10,000 vehicles. Officials said that while the war game is “entirely defensive in nature,” the alliance wants to display its ability to mount a full-scale response to an invasion of an ally from multiple locations within 30 days. Russia’s president Vladimir Putin has made clear he wants to destroy NATO; President Trump has also criticized the pact.

Finland and Sweden are not NATO members but are participating in the exercise. There is an archipelago between those countries with islands so small and remote a hostile power could set up a military base without being noticed. In this area in western Finland are 17 properties with links to Russia, including the tiny island of Sakkiluoto, owned by 54-year old Pavel Melnikov from St. Petersburg. The mysterious Melnikov has covered his island with security cameras, motion detectors and fearsome no-trespassing signs. The property also has nine piers, a helipad, a swimming pool covered in camouflage netting, and enough housing equipped with satellite dishes to accommodate a small army. On September 22 more than 400 Finnish police and military raided all 17 properties, ostensibly in a crackdown on money laundering and tax fraud. That explanation convinced very few. Russia’s prime minister Dmitry Medvedev visited Finland’s capital after the raid. When asked if Russia had been preparing landing zones for military helicopters on Finnish islands, Medvedev scoffed and said: “I don’t know in whose sick mind such a thought could be formulated. Such thinking is paranoid.”

Google Employees Are Searching For Change: Google employees world-wide walked out of their offices on Thursday to protest the company’s treatment of women and their handling of sexual assault cases. The walk-out came a week after the New York Times published an extensive report on sexual harassment at the company. Organizer’s want an end to forced arbitration, pay and opportunity inequities, a safe and anonymous process for reporting sexual harassment, and a publicly disclosed sexual harassment transparency report. (NPR)

North Korea’s #MeToo Survivors: Human Rights Watch interviewed 29 women who fled North Korea after Kim Jong-un took power in 2011. Kim eased restrictions on markets, allowing families to make the bulk of their earnings from that economic activity. But the mostly female traders were preyed upon by male officials who extorted bribes and demanded sexual favors. The women who agreed to speak described the abuse they suffered at the hands of the North Korean officials. One trader in her 20s said: “Having sex with men who have power over you …is a necessity to survive. It never occurred to me that I could or would want to do anything about it. It was just how things are.” (NYT)

Peaceful Protest Turned Violent In Nigeria: Amnesty International has collected evidence showing that dozens of Shia Muslims were shot with automatic weapons Saturday and Monday by Nigerian security forces while peacefully protesting the 2015 imprisonment of their leader, Ibrahim Zakzaky. At least 45 members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) were killed in the capital, Abuja, and the neighboring state of Nasarawa. Most of Nigeria’s Muslims are Sunnis but Zakzaky has grown a large following. He was imprisoned after the Nigerian army killed hundreds of his supporters near his home in Zaria. He was charged with murder in April. (Guardian)

– “A 5-Year-Old’s 15-Page Résumé Captivates China: The young applicant is described as confident and courageous. His résumé, at 15 pages, is glittering, complete with performance reviews (“full of energy”), a map of his travels (trips to Tokyo and Bali) and a list of books he has read this year (408 in total).” (NYT)

MbS is Getting Away with Murder: In the month since the brutal murder of Saudi journalist and US resident Jamal Khashoggi, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman may have suffered some inconvenient publicity, but that’s about it—not much else. On the outside, Western governments and financial leaders have determined the kingdom’s extensive political ties and enormous oil wealth override everything else. The Trump administration made that determination and will stand by the prince.

On the inside, MbS’s grip on power is just too, well, powerful. In an absolute monarchy, the monarch rules absolutely. MbS has proven to be ruthless in the past. Most likely Khashoggi’s killing has only strengthened the crown prince’s capacity to threaten or intimidate others inside the kingdom, even in his own family. Ultimately the message that will probably be sent to other Arab strongmen is they can be as brutal as they want, as long as they’re smart about it.

– “Saudi crown prince described journalist as a dangerous Islamist in call with White House, officials say” (WaPo)

Ivory Towers Are Made Of GOP Tusks: The Guardian has performed an exhaustive study of how wealthy people engage in “stealth politics.” We’re not talking about Warren Buffet or Bill Gates or George Soros or the Koch brothers. They’re quite visible and you know what side they’re on. No, it’s the vast majority of the other 100 wealthiest American billionaires, who are much more like the Kochs than Buffet or Soros. They’re extremely conservative on economic issues, obsessed with cutting taxes, opposed to government regulation of the environment or big banks, against government programs to help with jobs, incomes, healthcare, or retirement pensions—all popular with most Americans— and want to cut or privatize guaranteed social security benefits. They pour money into unpopular, ultra conservative policies, but they also stay under the radar and don’t get reported on, so voters don’t know to be mad at them. (Guardian)

Just Keep Swimming, Seriously: Reuters reports on its year-long analysis of decades of maritime temperature readings, fishery records and other obscure data. The goal was to create a portrait of the planet’s hidden climate disruption in the rarely explored depths of the seas that cover more than 70 percent of the Earth. The conclusion is disturbing: Marine life is facing an epic dislocation. In the North Atlantic for example, species are shifting north, or deeper, or both compared to the norm over the past 50 years. Dramatically rising ocean temperatures and other fallout from climate change is disrupting marine species and in turn threatening livelihoods, cultures and the delicate balance of the oceans themselves. (Reuters)

– “‘Enemy of the People’: how Trump makes the media into the opposition:Donald Trump’s media manipulation strategy, explained.” (Vox)

– “How Americans Feel About Affirmative Action In Higher Education: In a court filing, conservative advocates called Harvard’s race-sensitive admissions process ‘racially and ethnically discriminatory.’ But the the school’s new president wrote that the process helps Harvard ‘achieve a diverse student body.’” (NPR)

– “I live among the neo-Nazis in eastern Germany. And it’s terrifying:Chemnitz is the tip of an iceberg. Media equivocation and a failure to prosecute hate crimes has made the far right stronger” (Guardian)

– “Congress Has No Clue What Americans Want: People in the U.S. House and Senate have wildly inaccurate perceptions of our opinions and preferences.” (NYT)

– “How much does a cable box really cost? The industry would prefer you don’t ask” (LA Times)

– “Segway was supposed to change the world. Two decades later, it just might” Looks like Segway came out of nowhere with a non sequitur. (CNN Business)

– “Steph Curry is the ultimate one-off: At age 30, in his 10th season, Stephen Curry is basking in the prime of his career.” We are heavily considering starting a sports newsletter. If you are a big sports fan, witty, and a strong writer and would be interested in being paid to write this newsletter than please contact tim@dailypnut.com. (ESPN)

– “Immigrating To The U.S.? Get Ready For A New Gut Microbiome (And Maybe More Pounds)” (NPR)

– “Merck Pulls Out Of Agreement To Supply Life-Saving Vaccine To Millions Of Kids: At the same time, the company has started sending the vaccine to China, where it will likely be sold for a much higher price.” (NPR)

– “Why the American dream feels further off than ever for millennials: My wife and I grew up believing in this country’s basic bargain: work hard and reach the middle class. In our mid-30s, that bargain feels broken” (Guardian)

– For young Americans the American dream can seem like a nightmare and it’s going to get hotter: “America is warming fast. See how your city’s weather will be different in just one generation.” (Vox)

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