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PNUT GALLERY
We’re sorry it’s only Monday, but you can cheer yourself up by either reading this or by forwarding this email to at least five friends you know who’d love the Pnut!
IN A NUTSHELL: MUST READ
Revenge Of The Kurds
Turkey’s war with the Kurdish PKK escalated over the weekend with air strikes targeting the PKK in Iraq and inside Turkey. The PKK struck back, killing two Turkish soldiers in a suicide attack, as well as conducting several other attacks over the weekend. Turkey seems to have abandoned any pretense that it is still fighting ISIS, as all efforts are now focused on its battle with the PKK.
Optional background: Turkey has repeatedly been accused of supporting extremist Islamist groups (including Al-Qaeda) in the Syrian Civil War. It harbors open hostility toward Kurdish attempts for independence and is paranoid when it comes to the PKK, with whom it has been fighting a war since 1974.
Malaysian Airlines… Can’t Get Enough
In case you missed CNN’s never ending coverage of missing Malaysian Airlines flight 370, then fear not… it’s back. More and more debris landing on the tiny island of Reunion seems to have come from the plane which inexplicably vanished last year over the Indian Ocean on its way from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. The mystery was so extensively covered that even CNN began wondering if it was talking about it too much… The disappearance of the flight has prompted conspiracy theorists to accuse everyone from North Korea to aliens of being involved.
NUTS AND BOLTS: SHOULD READ
Puerto Rico To Pull A Greece
Puerto Rico missed a bond payment on Saturday that will push the Commonwealth officially into default today. The move shouldn’t surprise anyone as Puerto Rico’s Governor Alejandro Padilla has been warning that they couldn’t pay their debts now for a few months. Oppenheimer, a US hedge fund, insists that the island can repay its debt. It is unclear how this one will play out, but given our love affairs with beautiful places that are defaulting (yes, Greece), we will be watching it very closely.
Obama To Take On The Climate
We can’t tell if it is the hubris of success or perhaps the near lame-duck status that is making President Obama feel bold, but he is about to take on another big battle this week. Yesterday the White House released a video memo outlining Obama’s plan to impose federal limits on the amount of carbon power plants can release. He said it was the “biggest, most important step, we’ve ever taken to combat climate change.” Meanwhile, the Republicans are still reeling from Obamacare, gay marriage, the Iran Deal… and the Donald.
CEO Tries to Be Nice… Bad Idea
Three months ago, CEO of Seattle-based Gravity Payments, Dan Price, became an overnight legend by paying every member of his company $70,000 and slashing his own pay. Cue awards, accolades and Rush Limbaugh calling him a socialist (big win). He’s now in a bit of trouble. Two valued employees quit as they were being paid the same as the others, his brother and co-founder sued him and he’s now having to rent out his house. CEOs across America (currently paid on average of 300 times more than their average employee’s salary) can breathe a sigh of relief… they won’t be needing to do this anytime soon.
#Pnut4Prez: Biden Ponders Presidential Bid
Vice President Joe Biden is said to be discussing a possible run for the White House. While Biden is currently experiencing his highest favorability rating in seven years (whopping 49 percent), he’s nonetheless known to be a bit of a loose cannon (recall when he called Obama in 2008 “the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy”). Also recall his first disastrous presidential bid in 1988 when he was forced to drop out due to news of reported plagiarism in a speech and an “exaggerated” account of his academic history. Clinton’s Communications Director Jennifer Palmieri welcomed the challenge…
Keeping Our Eye On…
- Egypt: Partying like its 1869. The country will be opening a “new Suez Canal” this week.
- Greece: Stock market is down 23 percent after opening for the first time in five weeks.
- China: The country’s manufacturing index (PMI) hit a two year low over the weekend, compounding bad economic news coming out of the country for the past few weeks.
- The weather: India and Myanmar are flooding due to a particularly bad monsoon season. Dozens already feared dead with bad weather still to come for this region.
LOOSE NUTS: FOR YOUR ENJOYMENT
Beijing Wins Winter Olympics Bid Promising To Look For Snow
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Rick Perry challenges Donald Trump to a pull-up competition.
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Today’s Pnut is sponsored by HourlyNerd!
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