“When I can’t use language that is flowery … I feel like I’ve been disenfranchised” — Dr. Oz telling the Senate why he uses words like ‘miracle’ and ‘magic’ while promoting weight loss products. The Senate is wondering whether that’s false advertising, and prefers words like ‘questionable’ and ‘scam.’ Paging Oprah.
GANG’S ALL HERE
THE STORY
Iraq’s in trouble. A Sunni extremist group called ISIS is in town, and it wants to overthrow Iraq’s government and install its very own Islamic state. This sitch could potentially reshape the balance of power in the Middle East.
THE WHAT
We’re talking about Sunnis and Shiites, two different branches of Islam that have had a rocky history since, well, basically forever. Shiites are a minority but have key pockets of power.
WHY DOES THE US CARE?
This is the government that the US left behind in Iraq, so President Obama would prefer if it didn’t totally implode. He’s even willing to work with IRAN to keep that from happening.
WHY DOES IRAN CARE?
Iran is home base for Shiites in the Middle East. And it’s in Iran’s interest to make sure the neighbors are all one big happy Shiite family. It’s been propping up President Assad in Syria, and now Prime Minister Maliki in Iraq. Both are heads of — yup — Shiite-dominated governments.
WHY DOES SYRIA CARE?
President Assad’s been busy fighting a civil war in Syria against mainly Sunni rebels who’d like to see him and his Shiite-affiliated government gone. One of the groups fighting against him is ISIS and it’s been carving out a nice piece of land that it wants to make a part of its Islamic state.
WHY DOES SAUDI ARABIA CARE?
The Saudis bat for team Sunni. They admit they’ve been funneling cash and weapons to Sunni rebels in Syria, but they say NEVER to ISIS. Iraq is not convinced.
WHAT DOES IRAQ THINK?
Iraq is a mostly Shiite country that just elected a Shiite government. And hasn’t exactly been inclusive to Sunnis, leaving many to feel disenfranchised by the current administration. For them, ISIS is the best bad option. Meanwhile, lots of other Sunni rebel groups have come out of the woodwork too and enjoy hating on the current Iraqi government too.
WAIT…DIDN’T YOU FORGET ONE?
The Kurds. They’re a mostly independent ethnic group in northern Iraq and a wild card in this conflict. They’ve been fighting off ISIS and protecting Iraqi oil fields in the process.
theSKIMM
Syria’s a hot mess. Iraq’s a hot mess. The power struggle between Sunnis and Shiites over these countries is extremely flammable. All ISIS had to do was light a match. In a region where there’s a lot of oil up for grabs.
WORLD CUP: PEOPLE WHO KICK BETTER THAN YOU
BRAZIL AND MEXICO: They tied 0-0, although Mexico’s goalie proved he knows what he’s doing. Caipirinhas AND tequila shots for everyone?
GIVE ME SOMETHING TO SAY: “Yellow card.” When a player gets a penalty for being too aggressive. Brazil’s Neymar was the Yellow King of the opening match.
REPEAT AFTER ME…
WHAT TO SAY WHEN YOUR PHONE SCREEN CRACKS…
Time to bring out the A Game. Not talking about Apple this time. Amazon is reportedly unveiling a new phone today, and it will be exclusively carried by AT&T. iSound familiar? Amazon’s phone will be different though, because it will be able to display 3-D images. The phone could be a win-win for Amazon and AT&T — Amazon wants to expand its devices, and AT&T wants to attract new subscribers. The phones will reportedly begin shipping in September, in time for the holidays. Or your half-birthday.
WHAT TO SAY WHEN YOU CATCH THE FLY THAT’S BEEN BUZZING FOR TOO LONG…
Gotcha. The US government has a much bigger win under its belt, after capturing a militant suspected of leading the terrorists attacks in Benghazi almost two years ago. The attacks left four Americans dead, including US Ambassador Christopher Stevens. It also left a lot of Republicans pointing fingers (including the middle one) at President Obama’s administration, especially at Hillz, saying it failed to respond to warnings about violence there and properly notify Americans about the attacks. The US reportedly did its thing and captured the suspect without giving Libya a heads up. Now, the US is preparing to try him in a US court. You might recognize the suspect’s face if you watch TV news. He had his small screen debut right after the attacks, when he was casually talking to any outlet that would listen about how he was a witness.
WHAT TO SAY WHEN AN ‘SVU’ MARATHON IS ON…
There are tens of thousands of untested rape kits in the US and Congress is reportedly going to approve $41 million to get the backlog cleared up. Backlog as in sometimes decades old. Somewhere Elliot and Olivia are saying ‘about time.’ This means some victims could finally get answers about who raped them. It can cost as much as $1,000 to process a kit. No federal law exists requiring rape kits to be tested or tracked, and lack of funding has contributed to the backlog. The handling of sexual assault cases has been under intense scrutiny recently. This could be a step in the right direction.
WHAT TO SAY WHEN YOUR FRIEND BRAGS ABOUT LIKING TO MIX AND MATCH…
Sometimes being independent comes at a cost. Yesterday, YouTube announced it would ban some independent labels, whose artists include Adele, for not signing up for its new subscription music service. The new service will charge people to listen to music ad-free, and download songs to phones. Sounds like a sweet deal. For everyone but the independent labels, and your friend who wants to watch and listen to Jack White at the same time. The indie labels don’t want to pay up as much as the ‘Tube wants, and say it’s making a “catastrophic error” by excluding them. Cue the battle music.
THING TO KNOW
Capital vs. Capitol
AL: A city that’s the center of govt., cash money and assets, or the way your boss types when she’s MAD AT YOU.
OL: A building. Either the one in DC or where your state government meets.
SKIMM GIFT
We want you to Skimm in the sand. How does Palm Beach sound? Enter here to win a trip on us. Don’t bother packing. We’ve got that covered too.
SKIMM BIRTHDAYS
Sophie Alpert (Los Angeles, CA); Alexis Martinez (New York, NY); James Rosenthal (Philadephia, PA); Anne Heestand (San Francisco, CA); Ali Barash (Los Angeles, CA); Brittany Flynn (Boston, MA); Casey Troccoli (Schaumburg, IL); Ian Miller (Rye, NY); Linda Pucci (Saxapahaw, NC); Sheryl Miller (Rockaway Beach, NY); Marlane Romanelli (Rivervale, NJ); Meg Walker (Rockland County, NY); Piper Kamins; Rachel Fox Weitz (Atlanta, GA); Paige Osborne (New York, NY); Sara Reguilon (London, England); Joshua Newman (New York, NY); Michelle Brown; Hawthorne Hart (London, England); Karen Leigh Miller (New York, NY); Steffani Schwerdt
