Netanyahu’s Speech, Trash Balloons (Yes, Again), & Video Game Olympics

July 25, 2024

Hello, readers – happy Thursday! Today, we’ll be talking about Netanyahu’s speech in Congress, Ukraine hitting up China for support, trash balloons yet again, a typhoon, wildfire-induced weather, new voter registrations, and video game Olympics.

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“We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures that we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open.” – Jawaharlal Nehru

Bibi Woke Up On The Wrong Side Of The Bed

(Netanyahu by Allison Bailey via Getty Images

As Israel accelerates its offensive in Gaza, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu came to America to deliver his long-awaited speech before Congress. The address was boycotted by over 60 Democrats.

In his speech, Netanyahu thanked the Biden administration for its continued military and economic support for Israel’s war in Gaza, emphasizing the close ties between the two countries. However, he had a few bones to pick. As anti-Israel protesters gathered outside the Capitol, he described anyone publicly expressing dissatisfaction with Israel’s conduct in the war as “Iran’s useful idiots.” Netanyahu added that “the outrageous slanders that paint Israel as racist and genocidal are meant to delegitimize Israel, to demonize the Jewish state and to demonize Jews everywhere,” painting criticism of Israel’s policies as antisemitism.

There were a couple of side quests to Netanyahu’s speech. Hundreds of mealworms, maggots, and crickets were apparently released into the Watergate Hotel where the prime minister was staying during his time in Washington, which might explain his heightened frustration with those useful idiots. Elon Musk also graced the halls of the Capitol with his presence as Netanyahu’s guest during the speech – the billionaire’s appearance coincided with an announcement earlier this week that his Starlink internet service had been deployed in a Gaza hospital with help from Israel and the United Arab Emirates.

Kyiv Makes An Interesting Call

Ukraine is testing China’s attempt to position itself as a global diplomatic power. Following a meeting between Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing, Kyiv has publicly asked China, a close ally of Russia’s, for help in finding a diplomatic end to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Kuleba clarified that his country would only come to the negotiating table if Russia appears “ready to negotiate in good faith,” adding that “no such readiness is currently observed on the Russian side.”

The talks between Beijing and Kyiv took place during the first Ukrainian diplomatic mission to China since Russia’s invasion began two years ago. China actually attempted to broker a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia in 2023, but the 12-point plan it published was quickly shut down by Western leaders. “The Chinese wanted to play the role of a peacemaker and they weren’t able to before because the timing was not mature, in that Ukraine still believed that it could prevail in winning the war on its own terms,” said the director of the China program at a Washington-based think tank. Apparently, Kyiv increasingly thinks peace talks “will not be meaningful” without China’s mediation, according to a Ukraine expert.

Bullseye With A Balloon

(Trash from balloons by Anthony Wallace via Getty Images)

In the words of LeBron James, “2 points is not 2 points. I’ll explain it to you later.” Similarly, a balloon carrying bags of trash sent into Seoul from North Korea is more than just a balloon filled with garbage – especially when that balloon touches down inside South Korea’s presidential compound, spilling its polluted payload into the country’s political center.
The balloon that made it all the way into South Korea’s seat of government is part of a renewed trash-balloon campaign by Pyongyang. North Korea’s government says that the latest wave of garbage-carrying balloons is a response to years’ worth of propaganda-carrying balloons sent from South Korea into its northern neighbor. Seoul has apparently continued the tit-for-tat by “broadcasting K-Pop, happy lifestyle [in South Korea], the development of South Korea and so on through the loudspeaker to North Korea,” according to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Get Out Of Gaemi’s Way

While tensions might be high off the coast of China, at least the country and its neighbors can complain about the weather together. Typhoon Gaemi, a particularly strong storm system, struck the Philippines yesterday before wreaking havoc in Taiwan soon after – it’s expected to make landfall in China later today as a low-end Category 2 hurricane.
In the Philippines, the storm is estimated to have affected over 770,000 people, flooding streets and forcing schools to close. Hualien, a city in eastern Taiwan, saw winds of over 100 mph and rainfall of over a foot in some locations, while schools and some rail lines across the country were forced to close by the weather. Meanwhile, China is expected to face a weakened version of the typhoon after heavy rains over the past two weeks have already caused floods and landslides in multiple provinces. When it rains, you could say, it pours.

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The Calm Before The Wildfire-Induced Storm

The Pacific Northwest is experiencing a pretty devastating wildfire season so far, and it’s leading to some interesting phenomena. The Durkee wildfire that’s blazing across about 245,000 acres in Oregon right now has grown so large, it’s created its own weather system. Fire crews and equipment from 22 states are working to battle the fire.
Stephen Parker, a meteorologist with Idaho’s National Weather Service, said the fire became “plume-dominated” and began creating its own weather system with a “pyrocumulus cloud.” “It’s like a thunderstorm on top of the fire, generated by the heat of the fire,” he explained.

Brat Summer Or Enfranchisement Summer?

The decision to (likely) replace President Biden with Vice President Harris on the Democratic ticket for this year’s election seems to have electrified voters. Vote.org said 38,500 new voters registered to vote in the 48 hours after Biden announced he was suspending his campaign.
The website says this marked the largest number of registrations in a 48-hour period this election cycle. 83% of those new voters were between 18-34 years old. Also, Kamala can now claim she’s better than Taylor Swift at something – the popstar managed a mere 34,000 registrations back in September.

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Do We Still Get Overly Patriotic For These Games?

The future is now – video games are set to be a part of the Olympic Games (kind of). A decision was made by the International Olympics Committee earlier this week that will see Saudi Arabia host the first-ever Olympic Esports Games sometime in 2025. Details such as venues, dates, and even the games involved are still up in the air.
“This is truly a new era for the IOC. With the confirmation by the IOC Session of the creation of the Olympic Esports Games, we are keeping up with the pace of the digital revolution. The esports community, represented in our Esports Commission, has enthusiastically engaged with this initiative. This is further proof of the attractivity of the Olympic brand and the values it stands for among young people,” said IOC President Thomas Bach.
Both the IOC and Saudis have been looking to tap into the esports sphere for years. Saudi Arabia is currently running the first-ever Esports World Cup in Riyadh, with teams from around the globe participating in games including League of Legends, Fortnite, and Call of Duty. While the Saudi endeavor has leveraged existing (non-national) esports teams playing, well, normal games, the IOC’s 2023 Olympic Esports Week in Singapore had national teams of gamers compete in lesser-known sports simulators such as Virtual Regatta (a sailing simulator) and Virtual Taekwondo (which is exactly what it sounds like).

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