What Episode Are You On?

National Obsession, A Biden Doctrine?

There was a time, not so long ago, when every dinner party conversation returned to the same, tired, depressing, bigly, orange subject. More recently, I notice that social gatherings circle back to another topic: TV. What are you watching? Have you seen this or that? Are you totally caught up on the season so I can speak freely? This is not new for me. I'm a TV addict. The Internet is my hobby. Lying down and watching television is my passion. When I walk into the house, my beagles immediately run to the couch. They know where I'm headed. While you're reading a newsletter about news, I'm reading a few about what's on TV tonight. But this TV obsession has crossed over to my normal friends who have varied interests and passions. Even the smarter, literary, intellectual types can't hide their enthusiasm for the latest season of whatever. It make sense. The world seems bleak. Politics is depressing. The other side is hard to understand and therefore frustrating to think about. So we're looking for an escape. Maybe we're looking for something more, because we're not just going for the Emmy-winning stuff like The Bear and Succession. More people than ever are turning off their life and turning on The Hallmark Channel. And it's informative to examine what networks the rom coms are beating. NYT Mag (Gift Article): The World Needs Love. Hallmark Is Cashing in. "When more people are watching the Hallmark Channel than CNN, you know we’ve reached a new level of interpersonal isolation." (Funny, I watch TV to achieve a new level of interpersonal isolation.)

2

What's Up, Doctrine?

The US has approved plans to strike Iranian targets in Syria and Iraq. And in what feels like a turning point, Biden is getting tougher with some Israeli settlers. He "plans to issue an executive order targeting violent Israeli settlers in the West Bank whom he has said have undermined stability in the area." Are these things connected? Thomas Friedman thinks a new, broad plan is taking shape. NYT (Gift Article): A Biden Doctrine for the Middle East Is Forming. And It’s Big. "The rethinking underway signals an awareness that we can no longer allow Iran to try to drive us out of the region, Israel into extinction and our Arab allies into intimidation by acting through proxies — Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis and Shiite militias in Iraq — while Tehran blithely sits back and pays no price. And, simultaneously, it signals an awareness that the U.S. will never have the global legitimacy, the NATO allies and the Arab and Muslim allies it needs to take on Iran in a more aggressive manner unless we stop letting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hold our policy hostage and we start building a credible, legitimate Palestinian Authority that can one day govern Gaza and the West Bank effectively and as a good neighbor to Israel along final borders they would negotiate together." (This might sound overly optimistic. But what can I say. You watch Hallmark movies. I read Tom Friedman.)

3

Empty Space, The Final Frontier

"New York Community Bancorp’s decisions to slash its dividend and stockpile reserves sent its stock down a record 38% on Wednesday, with the fallout dragging the shares to a 23-year low on Thursday. The selling bled overnight into Europe and Asia." Why is a bank cutting dividends a top story? Because the underlying reason is a bad debt problem that could crater parts of the global economy. In short: You don't want to go back to the office and the office building owners can't pay off their loans. Bloomberg (Gift Article): A $560 Billion Property Warning Hits Banks From NY to Tokyo.

4

Cook in the Kitchen

"He’s sitting right there. On the f-cking moon! With Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong of Apollo 11, he looks around and there’s the ghostly luminescence of ancient dust under a black, star-studded sky. It’s magnificent. It’s amazing. There, in the distance, is the earth. The blue dot. Where all of this magic is happening. But Cook’s not just on the moon. He’s also in that secret room. In that secret building. And he can see Rockwell and other Apple employees, and he can see his own hands. And he knows right then and there what this all means. Like the universe is telling him something. He knows that this is the future of computing and entertainment and apps and memories, and that this crude apparatus wrapped around his head will change everything. He knows Apple has to make this thing its next product category." In Vanity Fair, Nick Bilton tells the origin story of the product that has divided opinions, even among Apple's most avid fans. Why Tim Cook Is Going All In on the Apple Vision Pro. (Hey, I was pretty certain no one would want to mix music listening and phone calling on the same device. So don't ask me.)

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Extra, Extra

Intractorable: "Farmers protesting across Europe have won their first concession from Brussels, with the EU announcing a delay in rules that would have forced them to set aside land to encourage biodiversity and soil health." A massive protest featuring tractor roadblocks has shaken Europe. The Guardian: EU to delay new green rule in bid to appease protesting farmers. Go a little deeper with Reuters: French farmers' union call for end of blockades as anger spreads in Europe.

+ Union Square Up: European Union approves $54 billion aid for Ukraine as Hungary drops opposition. (Viktor Orbán came around faster than the House GOP...)

+ Theater of the Absurd: Ignorance of the law is no excuse. Especially when you created the law. NPR: A Tennessee lawmaker helped pass a strict abortion law. He's now trying to loosen it. "Five years ago, when state Sen. Richard Briggs co-sponsored legislation that would codify some of the country's most austere abortion restrictions in Tennessee – it seemed to him like little more than political theater. 'The truth was I thought it would never come to be,' he says." It came to be. And it's having a big impact on women. And it will have a big impact in November. ‘I wasn’t allowed to get the healthcare I needed’: the women suing Tennessee for being denied abortion.

+ Wait, You Did What?! "The House accomplished something unusual Wednesday in passing with broad, bipartisan support a roughly $79 billion tax cut package that would enhance the child tax credit for millions of lower-income families and boost three tax breaks for businesses."

+ When There's a Willis There's a Way: "Willis has faced immense public scrutiny since allegations first surfaced that she has benefitted financially from a romantic relationship with lead prosecutor Nathan Wade. Despite calls by some legal experts to recuse herself from the case to protect its integrity, she is not expected to do so, the sources told CNN."

+ Pro Tip: Trump campaign donors footed the bill for more than $50M in legal fees last year. Every con man needs a mark.

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Bottom of the News

"Jerry Bellino became anxious soon after boarding her overnight flight home to Detroit last summer. The plane’s Wi-Fi wasn’t working, which meant she wouldn’t be able to use the final hours of her trip to maintain her longest streak yet." A teen trying to keep a Snap addiction alive? Nope, an adult playing Wordle. WSJ (Gift Article): Inside the High-Stakes World of Keeping Wordle Streaks Alive.