Trump's Military Storm | How to Get White Privilege Cards

1. Story of the Week: Storm From ‘The Atlantic’

“Nobody wants to see that.” That quote attributed to President Donald Trump, referring to amputee veterans he sought to exclude from a military parade, was among many remarks disparaging to soldiers published by The Atlantic magazine Thursday. But the tempest arising from the report, which Trump has labeled “fake news,” was from his calling World War I troops buried in France “losers” and “suckers.” The AP and Fox News have corroborated some of The Atlantic’s accounts, which may further erode his already flagging electoral support among service members — going from 20 points ahead in 2016 to four points behind today.

Sources: The Atlantic, BBC, AP, Fox News, Time

2. Coming Up: A New Kind of Memorial Day?

The memorial might be for a vulnerable loved one. That’s what experts fear as Americans choose how to mark the end of summer. A fervor for reopening means many will likely host traditional cookouts or arrange beach outings that could become a crucible for contagion. It’s a “critical point,” warns the nation’s top pandemic expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, who wonders if the country will “start another surge.” And this as many school districts are reopening, offering a double threat just as a second wave of infections is starting to recede.

Sources: NYT, Texas Tribune, AP

3. Navalny May Be Stricken, but Toxins Surround Putin

While Russian President Vladimir Putin faces Western demands that Russia explain how popular dissident Alexei Navalny ingested a Soviet-developed poison, those are the least of his concerns. OZY columnist and former CIA Deputy Director John McLaughlin writes that the alleged assassination attempt may have grown out of events next door in Belarus, where fellow autocrat Alexander Lukashenko is facing widespread protests. Putin’s approval rating has dropped 24 points in five years, and Russians seeing their cultural cousins rising up could encourage budding Navalnys to speak out, meaning Putin may sacrifice Lukashenko to quiet his noisy neighbors.

Sources: BBC, OZY

4. Vaccine Developers Drafting Joint Safety Pledge

If you can’t trust them, trust us. That’s the implication of an agreement several coronavirus vaccine developers, including Pfizer and Moderna, are reportedly working on. Three of the firms told the New York Times that despite pressure to produce a vaccine before the Nov. 3 presidential election, they’ll promise not to release immunizations before they’re proven safe and effective. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention this week notified states to plan for vaccine distribution as early as late October, sparking concern from experts that political considerations would result in a premature approval of an unproven inoculation.

Sources: NYT, WSJ (sub)

5. Also Important …

The Trump administration has directed federal agencies to end racial sensitivity training involving “white privilege” or other concepts it says amount to “un-American propaganda.” The Lancet medical journal has published Russian research saying the country’s coronavirus vaccine has triggered the creation of antibodies without causing serious side effects. And in the wake of police in Portland, Oregon, fatally shooting the left-wing suspect in the killing of a Trump-supporting right-wing activist, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has accused his opponent of “fomenting violence.”

In the week ahead: The pandemic-delayed Kentucky Derby will be run today. President Trump’s former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, is scheduled to release his tell-all book, Disloyal, on Tuesday. And Iran has set its runoff parliamentary elections for Friday, the 19th anniversary of 9/11.

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1. The Other Side of BLM: White Privilege Cards

Don’t leave home without one. Disproportionately distributed by white police officers, police union cards can get holders out of low-level legal jams. But they don’t tend to circulate among people of color. Philando Castile, for instance, was fatally shot after being stopped for a broken taillight. That’s just the sort of situation that a Policemen’s Benevolent Association card, distributed freely in New York City, or similar union cards elsewhere, could have defused for a friend or relative of a local officer. Experts say the practice is one facet of a larger problem: wide police discretion that fosters discrimination.

Sources: Vice

2. Lockdowns Have Juiced Cameo’s Celeb Roster

There’s undeniable appeal to getting actor Elijah Wood to announce to your beloved that he has found her engagement ring, or getting Tom “Draco Malfoy” Felton to tell off your bratty sibling. That’s become even more possible since celebrities had to sit home during lockdowns. The Cameo app, which allows users to hire celebs at often reasonable prices (Wood costs about $250), has seen its stable of talent grow 77 percent to 30,000 voices amid the pandemic. While some claim the app and its competitors encourage performers and social influencers to prostitute their fame, others have been attracted by the idea of donating proceeds to charity.

Sources: Wired

3. The Researcher Who’s Mindful of Your Unhappiness

Is self-esteem the new opiate of the masses? That’s a big part of researcher Asley Frawley’s take on modern society’s answer to discontent, OZY reports. The Canadian Ojibwe lecturer at Swansea University in Wales rejects the popular notion that mindfulness and self-appreciation are all you need to be happy. In a stance that other experts say borrows from Karl Marx, Frawley sees these movements as fads that keep people from challenging the society that’s making them unhappy. Despite the socialist baggage, Frawley’s fellow travelers tilt to the right, even to the point of advising U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

Sources: OZY

4. The Great Book Theft of Pittsburgh

They didn’t throw the book at him. A Pennsylvania judge sentenced Greg Priore to three years’ house arrest in June for an otherwise petty crime: pilfering library books. But the Pittsburgh native had violated his duty to safeguard rare books at the Carnegie Library, instead stealing some of the earliest works printed with movable type, like a 1615 Bible, while ripping irreplaceable lithographs from bindings over the course of three decades. Auditors estimated the loss at $8 million. Still, Priore and his antiquarian-bookseller accomplice got off light, leaving the library with little hope of assuring donors that new acquisitions would remain safe for posterity.

Sources: Smithsonian

5. Is the NCAA Gone With the Viral Wind?

It takes in $1.1 billion, paying hefty salaries to its execs making up to $3.9 million. Among untaxed nonprofits, the NCAA is unusual : It makes bank off poor, unpaid Black teens, not rich donors, posits sports writer Julie DiCaro. But amid the pandemic, with no March Madness to make most of its money, its leaders have taken pay cuts of 10 to 20 percent, while furloughing 600 lesser employees. This would be a good time, DiCarlo argues, to reform a system where the same people who enrich themselves from players’ servitude make the rules that “protect” them from exploitation.

Source: Deadspin