A Plane Crash, A Silenced Senator, & Mr. Worldwide Goes Worldwide
June 13, 2025
Hello, readers – happy Friday! Today, we’ll be talking about a war a-brewin’, a plane crash survivor, a submarine deal, Northern Ireland riots, a senator being detained, electric vehicles, and Mr. Worldwide.
Based on reader feedback, Marcus will continue sending Daily Pnut on Tuesdays and Thursdays. We really appreciate all of our devoted readers and those who gave us feedback on how indispensable Daily Pnut was to their news and information diet. We apologize for the last-minute decision.
“You build on failure. You use it as a stepping stone. Close the door on the past. You don’t try to forget the mistakes, but you don’t dwell on it. You don’t let it have any of your energy, or any of your time, or any of your space.” – Johnny Cash
Iran In The Crosshairs
Yesterday, the U.S. ordered a partial evacuation of its embassy in Iraq as tensions rose with neighboring Iran, and the U.K. warned commercial vessels in the Middle East that the region could soon see a spike in violence. According to various sources, it appears that Israel is the one that will kick off the hostilities by sending missile strikes at Iran. Why, though? Apparently Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu senses some sort of weakness in Iran after its nuclear deal talks with the U.S. have stalled.
Israel has been chomping at the bit to launch missiles at Iran for months at this point. However, the Trump administration has put its closest international ally on a leash for a while as the White House has tried negotiating a new nuclear deal with Iran. Now that those nuclear talks seem to have fallen through – the International Atomic Energy Agency recently found that Iran was not in compliance with its nuclear regulations – it seems that Trump has given Netanyahu the green light to start a wider conflict across the Middle East.
According to multiple sources with knowledge of Israel’s plans, the country is building up a “unilateral” missile strike on multiple Iranian targets. We put the “unilateral” in quotes because the strikes will likely be guided by American intelligence provided to Israel. Iran has promised to launch a wave of ballistic missile strikes against Israel in response, and has also threatened U.S. bases in the Middle East. “America will have to leave the region because all its military bases are within our reach and we will, without any consideration, target them in the host countries,” said Iran’s defense minister.
A Nightmare End For A Dreamliner
A deadly plane crash killed at least 290 people in Ahmedabad, India, yesterday. A total of 242 people (230 passengers and 12 crewmembers) were aboard the plane when it crashed, and just one passenger, a British national, miraculously survived the accident. As it went down, the plane crashed into a hostel at a medical college, adding more casualties to the death toll.
The plane was a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner operated by Air India and was headed from Ahmedabad to London. Footage taken of the incident shows the plane taking off without issue before slowly drifting to the ground with its nose still pointed slightly upwards. “It just appears to me that the airplane is unable to climb,” said former National Transportation Safety Board investigator Jeff Guzzetti after reviewing the footage. “It was able to take off from the runway and get up to 500 feet, but it just wasn’t able to climb after that.”
The plane had racked up roughly 41,000 hours of flying time and 8,000 takeoffs – both average numbers for a plane of its age – and had completed 11 international flights over the course of the last week. It’s likely that we won’t get to know the exact cause of the crash for months or years.
Sinking A Submarine Deal
- Americans apparently don’t want to spend money on subs anymore. You might be wondering what kind of red-blooded American would turn down a good Italian sub layered with cured meats, fresh veggies, and a mouthwatering mix of sauces, but we’re not talking about that kind of sub, unfortunately. Instead, the U.S. is reviewing its participation in a deal (named Aukus) with the U.K. and Australia to provide the latter country with nuclear submarines.
- The Aukus deal was hammered out in 2021 by Joe Biden, and would equip Australia with U.S. nuclear submarines to counter China’s influence in the South Pacific. Now, though, the Trump administration is reportedly reviewing the deal to make sure that it’s “aligned with the president’s America First agenda.” The main hanging point is the Trump White House’s global demand for its partners to bring defense spending up to 3.5% of their GDP.
A Different Kind Of Troubles
- A small Northern Irish town named Ballymena faced a third day of race riots in a row yesterday. While you might expect the violence to be closer to what Northern Ireland experienced during “the Troubles” – when the British region tried to break away from the U.K. and join the Republic of Ireland – the violence was instead directed at ethnic minorities.
- “This violence was clearly racially motivated and targeted at our minority ethnic community and police,” said a representative of the Police Service of Northern Ireland. “It was racist thuggery pure and simple and any attempt to justify and explain it as something else is misplaced.” Masked rioters have burned down multiple houses and clashed with police, prompting locals who belong to ethnic minority groups to begin packing up their lives in fear that they’ll be targeted next.
More Mixed Nuts
Cuba’s students call for resignations and strikes after brutal internet price hike (Guardian)
The Federal Bureau Of Intimidation
- Yesterday, Sen. Alex Padilla (D, CA) was forcibly removed from a news conference and briefly detained by several men in plain clothes (it’s unclear who they were) after trying to question Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. What did Padilla say to get him kicked out, you ask? “I am Sen. Alex Padilla. I have questions for the secretary.”
- Padilla was then pushed to the ground as officers with FBI vests told the senator to put his hands behind his back. Noem was in L.A. to address the ongoing demonstrations protesting President Donald Trump’s immigration policies. DHS later said on X that Padilla “chose disrespectful political theatre” and didn’t identify himself properly.
So Much For States’ Rights
- Yesterday, President Trump signed three Congressional Review Act resolutions rolling back California’s nation-leading vehicle emissions standards. California no longer has permission to exceed federal vehicle pollution standards – a dozen other Democrat-led states have opted to follow California’s rules, representing one-third of the U.S. auto market.
- California’s regulations aim to require automakers to sell increasing percentages of zero-emission vehicles, with a 2035 target of all new-car sales being EVs. Trump wasn’t alone in his opposition – auto and fossil fuel leaders were nervous, too. “Worse than unachievable, these EV mandates were going to be harmful,” said John Bozzella, president and CEO of the Alliance for Automotive Innovation. “Harmful to auto affordability, to consumer choice, to industry competitiveness and to economic activity.”
More Nuts In America
- House will vote on Trump’s request to cut funding for NPR, PBS, foreign aid (AP)
- RFK Jr appoints new US vaccine advisers after sacking committee (BBC)
- Democratic governors Pritzker, Walz, Hochul face contentious House hearing over ‘sanctuary states’ policies (ABC)
- Trump extends picnic invite to Rand Paul after senator said “petty” White House rescinded offer (CBS)
- Hegseth won’t commit to obeying courts on Marines in Los Angeles (Politico)
- Megabill would cost poorest households $1,600 a year, boost richest by $12K, CBO predicts (Politico)
- Senate GOP plan would sell millions of acres of Western public land (WaPo, $)
- EPA moves to repeal limits on greenhouse gas emissions by power plants (WaPo, $)
You Can Bring Your Bald Caps And Meet Me At The Hotel Room
- Mr. Worldwide is making headlines, well, worldwide, as his “Party After Dark” world tour has inspired a new social media trend. Fans of the Miami-native pop star have begun turning up to his tour dressed up as Mr. 305 themselves – if you know anything about Pitbull, you know what the uniform looks like: mustache, goatee, a bald cap, a crisp white shirt, a black tie, and mirrored aviators.
- Pitbull lookalikes have been around for years, said the singer. “Maybe out of 20,000 people coming to the show, 30,000 coming to show, you’ll see a thousand,” he recalled, but things changed when his tour hit the U.K. “We jumped the pond and we ended up in London and it was just something else. It was definitely a whole new movement, took it to a whole new level,” he said.
- “If you’re going to go to a Pitbull concert you need to really feel his energy and you can’t do that without a bald cap and a suit,” said one concertgoer. “As adults, you don’t really have the chance to be silly and dress up as something ridiculous,” said another. “We have adult money, and this is what this generation is choosing to spend it on,” her friend chimed in.
More Loose Nuts
- Robert F. Kennedy met with the CIA after a trip to the Soviet Union, newly declassified files show (AP)
- Female athletes appeal landmark NCAA settlement, saying it violates federal antidiscrimination law (AP)
- Disney, NBCU sue Midjourney over copyright infringement (Axios)
Researchers create AI-based tool that restores age-damaged artworks in hours (Guardian) - Snapchat rolls out a new $8.99 Lens+ subscription tier (TechCrunch)
