Trump’s Secret Saudi Nuclear Tech Transfer

Secretary of Energy Rick “Oops” Perry secretly authorized seven U.S. companies to export nuclear energy technology and services to Saudi Arabia. This came to light last week when Mr. Perry testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee. The Trump Adminstration has been working on these deals in secret for over a year, without consulting Congress, which is not pleased.

Hey, what could possibly go wrong?

More:

“Trump administration authorized nuclear energy companies to share technological information with Saudi Arabia,” Steven Mufson, Washington Post

“If You Cannot Trust Saudis With Bone Saw, Says US Lawmaker, ‘You Should Not Trust Them With Nuclear Weapons,'” Jessica Corbett, Common Dreams

“A Saudi nuclear deal is causing lawmakers from both parties to worry,” Rachel Oswald, Roll Call

Updates:

“Report: Saudi Arabia Making Brisk Progress on Experimental Nuclear Reactor,” Tom McKay, Gizmodo

“Why Is President Trump Attempting to Build Saudi Arabia’s Nuclear Energy Program?” Kate Wheeling, Pacific Standard

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America’s Big Fat Gift To The Middle East: Fast Food

“Adult obesity rates in the US top 35% in some states. Meanwhile, the rate of obesity is 40% in Kuwait, 42% in Qatar, and 37% in the UAE, according to a 2016 report by The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).”

” … one study cited by the EIU found Saudis aged 20–30 ate fast food on average three times or more per week. (Saudi Arabia took the 21st spot for the world’s highest BMI.) Saudis also get more than 30% of their sugar intake from soda, and in the UAE fast-food spending rose more than any other country in the world between 2000 and 2015, according to Euromonitor International.”

— “America’s obesity problem has spread to the Middle East,” Adam Rasmi, Quartz

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Image (“Eastern Delights, after Ludwig Deutsch”) by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

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Syria: Who is Fighting, and Why?

“After four-plus years of fighting, Syria’s war has killed at least hundreds of thousands of people and displaced millions. And, though it started as a civil war, it’s become much more than that. It’s a proxy war that has divided much of the Middle East, and has drawn in both Russia and the United States. To understand how Syria got to this place, it helps to start at the beginning and watch it unfold.”

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Ya Tira Tiri Ya Hamama

“Ya Tira Tiri Ya Hamama,” sung by Rouwaida Attieh.

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Dubai Fights Obesity With Mineral Supplement

These are fat times in the Emirates of the Persian Gulf. Rising rates of obesity are blamed on fast food and sedentary lifestyles. Dubai is using the very prosperity that caused the problem to solve it, rewarding successful dieters with gold. During the next month the ‘Your Weight in Gold’ initiative will give registered dieters a gram of gold for each kilogram they lose, and the top 3 losers get a gold coin apiece.

This is the month of Ramadan in the UAE and the rest of the Muslim world, a month of fasting, so you might think that dieting would be no big deal. You would be wrong. The ritual fast is confined to daylight, and the nights are marked by Iftar, the communal feast.

Good luck, Dubai dieters. Go for the gold!

More:

“Dubai paying citizens gold to lose weight in fight against obesity,” Rheana Murray, New York Daily News

“Reduce weight and win gold in Dubai,” Emirates 24/7

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Syria Shuts Off the Internet

“Syria: Internet and mobile communication ‘cut off,'” BBC News

“Syria Has Disappeared From the Internet,” Arik Hesseldahl, AllThingsD

“Internet down nationwide in Syria,” AP via USA Today

UPDATE:

“How Syria Shut Down the Internet,” Ben Weitzenkorn, TechNewsDaily via Discovery News

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‘He Started!’ ‘Did Not!’ ‘Did Too!’

Tragically relevant animation by Nina Paley. You probably won’t need it, but her Reader’s Guide is here (scroll down).

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The Revolution Was Televised — by Al Jazeera

Political change in Egypt was admirably chronicled — and made possible — by the journalism of Al Jazeera, the TV news operation based in Qatar. Egyptian authorities shut down the network’s Cairo bureau in a futile attempt to forestall the inevitable, but the Arabic-language broadcaster kept delivering detailed news about the popular uprising to people across the Middle East and North Africa, where it really counted.