The Presidential Daily Brief - 08/22/2015

August 22, 2015   Follow:     Important     French investigators comb the inside of a high-speed train where three Americans thwarted a terror attack Friday night. One of them was a U.S. airman who had recently returned from Afghanistan. Source: Getty Coming Up Ex-Presidents, Obama to Mark Katrina Anniversary It promises to be bittersweet. Ten years after Hurricane Katrina ravaged New Orleans, killing 1,800 and displacing a million residents, President Obama and former presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush will visit the city next week to observe the anniversary. Sweet, because of the “remarkable recovery and resilience” engendered by the disaster, as the White House put it. Bitter, because parts of the region — like the all-Black Lower Ninth Ward — remain abandoned, giving those who never left another chance to hear visiting officials promise to make the city whole.  CNN, New Yorker, Times-Picayune Share With Friends: Story of the Week Bangkok: World's Newest Terror Target It was the Land of Smiles, until last Monday. Now Thailand’s tourism officials are fretting as police continue to piece together evidence from the bomb blast outside the Erawan shrine that killed 20 people and injured more than 100. On Friday, they tripled the reward to $84,000 for information leading to the perpetrators, in particular the “man in yellow” whose face in a composite rendering is being broadcast worldwide. Police say he’s part of a dangerous network, which can only hamper efforts to lure back some of the 26.5 million tourists who visited in 2013. Globe and Mail, BBC, Reuters Share With Friends: Call of Duty Americans Thwart Terror on French Train Hearing a shot and seeing a man running down the aisle with an AK-47, three young Americans — including two U.S. military personnel — sprang into action yesterday. They beat a reportedly Islamist Moroccan attacker unconscious on their high-speed train in northern France. The trio “showed great bravery,” France’s interior minister said, and one, U.S. airman Spencer Stone, was hospitalized with lacerations. Two others were reportedly injured. Without their help, it could’ve been a “terrible drama,” the minister added. The incident, just months after the Charlie Hebdo massacre, is bound to prompt calls for increased railway security.  AP, BBC, CNN Share With Friends: Beware the Bear Market Plummets Over Oil Drop, China Crisis The Dow Jones plunged 531 points yesterday — its biggest drop since 2011 — punctuating a week in which it fell 10.1 percent. The immediate blame was pinned on oil, which hit a 6-year low of $40 per barrel. But global markets have also been feeling the heat from China’s recent free-fall and the Fed’s possible interest rate hike. The S&P 500 fell across all 10 sectors, especially tech  and energy, leaving many to wonder whether this is a pause in the six-year bull market, or the shape of things to come. WSJ (sub), NYT, USA Today, Dallas Morning News Share With Friends:     BRIEFLY     Rival Koreas agree to discuss clashes over border broadcasts. (AP)  New York federal building shooting claims guard, gunman. (USA Today)  Israeli leaders reportedly backed off plans to attack Iran. (CNN)  Turkey’s Erdogan to call for election after failing to form coalition. (WSJ) sub  Jury forces grocery chain to pay $8.9 million for using ‘Michael Jordan.’ (ESPN)      INTRIGUING     Hydrogen Paradise Aloha Means Good-Bye to Dirty Energy Most people go there to unplug, but now Hawaii itself wants to unplug — from the grid — by betting big on hydrogen power. And who could blame them? In recent years, Hawaiians have had to import all but 7 percent of their energy and have been stuck with the country’s highest electricity rates. With a new bill committing the state to 100-percent renewable usage by 2045 and a bona fide “hydrogen czar” to lead the well-funded research campaign, Hawaii might just have the juice to make it work.  OZY Share With Friends: Grieving Parents Mothers of ISIS Soldiers Lean on Each Other It’s an unimaginable burden. But thousands of women have seen their children leave home to fight for ISIS — leaving them to deal not only with feelings of shame but also with the loss of their adolescent kids. Many of these mothers, fearing that others will be similarly radicalized, have banded together to confront a grief that’s difficult for others to grasp. Some are trying to use what they’ve learned to keep other children from the same outcome — though by doing so, they will risk encountering even more friction close to home. Huffington Post Share With Friends: Buzz Kill What's the EPA Doing to Save the Bees? Jim Doan is a beekeeper on the run. He’s stashing his hives in Amish country, where nicotine-related pesticides called neonics aren’t being used, and he’s nursed his colonies back from near-extinction. But bees around the world are becoming confused, getting lost and dying, prompting the EU and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to ban globally popular neonics. But the EPA — using industry-financed research — has done little to stem beekeepers’ $2 billion in losses, so Doan’ s hoping a federal lawsuit will sting the agency into action.  Rolling Stone Share With Friends: Born Again Colbert Takes on New 'Late Show' Persona Can he finally be himself? Nine months after wrapping up The Colbert Report, the comedian is nearly set for his new role as David Letterman’s heir. Each of his 200 or so yearly shows will be twice as long as his Comedy Central gig — and no more ball jokes, the 51-year-old laments. He’s involved in every step of preproduction, from HVAC to editing. But asked to explain what it all means, the devout Catholic talks about serving God, “that we might be happy” — in this world and the next.  GQ Share With Friends: High-Strung Hurler Clayton Kershaw, Control Freak Pitcher He’s a disciple of discipline. With one MVP and three Cy Young Awards, Los Angeles Dodgers star left-hander Clayton Kershaw has become one of the most dominant players in the game and, at $31 million a year, the highest-paid hurler in history. But it’s wise to keep your distance from the 27-year-old Texan on days he’s scheduled to pitch. Kershaw may seem easygoing and spend his free time building orphanages, but on game day, the wildly superstitious competitor has each minute mapped out and leaves no room for errors. OZY Share With Friends:     DAILY DOSE     ACUMEN The Truth About What Happens in the Pool Read More »   TRUE STORY New York + London: A Visual Love Letter Read More » Follow us This email was sent to PhillipPhillip787@gmail.com by OZY Media 800 West El Camino Mountain View, CA 94040Manage Subscriptions   |   Update Profile   |   Unsubscribe   |   Privacy Policy