Extra, Extra
From Mad About Vlad to Mad at Vlad: “Trump did not develop a new fondness for Ukraine or its president, Volodymyr Zelensky. He did not abruptly become a believer in the traditional transatlantic alliances prized by his predecessors as a counterweight to Moscow. Rather, Trump got insulted.” How Putin Humiliated Trump. According to Reuters, Putin is unfazed by Trump, will fight on and could take more of Ukraine. The threat of tariffs 50 days from now probably read more like a reprieve than an escalation. On Tuesday, The Financial Times reported that Trump, in a July 4 phone call, asked Zelensky, “Volodymyr, can you hit Moscow?” David Ignatius in WaPo: In squeezing Putin, Trump ‘escalates to de-escalate.’ (Sometimes, I’m not sure if these articles are intended to reflect Trump’s thinking or to influence it.)
+ Developing Story: “Having grown up in a Zionist home, lived the first half of my life in Israel, served in the I.D.F. as a soldier and officer and spent most of my career researching and writing on war crimes and the Holocaust, this was a painful conclusion to reach, and one that I resisted as long as I could.” Omer Bartov in the NYT (Gift Article): I’m a Genocide Scholar. I Know It When I See It. (This is a painful read, and you can choose to agree or disagree. What’s clear from an American perspective is that Bibi used to have to balance the pressure between his right wing and the Biden administration. Then one of those pressures got removed and replaced with the idea that maybe we could redevelop Gaza into the “Riviera of the Middle East.”)
+ Nicotine Age Wasteland: “It’s nicotine pouches, like the wildly popular Zyn, that are behind the most significant rise in accidental nicotine poisonings among young kids.” Nicotine poisonings soar in babies and toddlers. This mostly points to the massively increasing popularity of new nicotine delivery products. WaPo (Gift Article): The new nicotine product replacing e-cigarettes to addict teens.
+ Watch Party: “‘Severance’ Leads All Shows With 27 Nods, ‘The Penguin,’ ‘The Studio’ and ‘White Lotus’ Close Behind.” Here’s a look at this year’s emmy nominations. (As per usual, the nominations are limited to a relatively small number of shows and many great performances are left out. I can say that authoritatively since I use TV as my escape from 2025 news and thus, I’ve literally watched everything.)
+ Throw the Bum In: With his dad pitching and his brother catching, Cal Raleigh capped off his amazing first half by winning the MLB Home Run Derby. (For those non baseball fans. Raleigh is a switch-hitting catcher nicknamed the Big Dumper because of his formidable glutes.)
+ Unhappy Returns: “For reasons Holton doesn’t understand, the seller, called ‘Liusandedian,’ put her home address on its return labels … Customers dissatisfied with the car seat covers — judging by the company’s Amazon review page, there are many — shipped the products to an address that they thought was Liusandedian’s ‘return center.’ In reality, it was Holton’s home.” Amazon issue sends hundreds of packages to Bay Area woman’s home. (Same.)
