Your Presidential Daily Brief: Trumpsgiving Tips | Trump Appointees Polarize

[The Presidential Daily Brief] [The Presidential Daily Brief] IMPORTANT November 19, 2016 [Members of the liberal People for the American Way protest nomination of Sen. Jeff Sessions as attorney general near the U.S. Capitol. Source: Getty] [Tips for Enjoying Trumpsgiving] Bring America together - just for one day. On Thursday, many U.S. families will face relatives who may be political enemies, with turkey legs and carving knives between them. Rather than revert to pre-election shouting matches, [Thanksgiving] should be a time to appreciate why Aunt Bea or Cousin Ranjit chose to vote against everything you believe in. "Be curious" and genuinely listen to their views, advises seasoned hostage negotiator George Kohlrieser. "Try and understand their alienation." Above all, keep your emotions in check, and when a comment threatens to spoil the meal, "Pass the potatoes." Sources: [Quartz], [Philadelphia Magazine], [NYT] Share: [Facebook] [Twitter] [Facebook] [Twitter] [Trump's Appointments Signal Policy Reversals] Will they make America great? On Friday, the president-elect named Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama, rejected in 1986 for a judgeship by GOP senators over racially charged remarks, to be his attorney general. That's a repudiation of the Voting Rights Act and permissive immigration policies, which Sessions has reportedly opposed. His [appointment] caps a week of similarly striking Republican choices, like Stephen Bannon, linked to white nationalism through his Breitbart website, as chief strategist, and Rep. Mike Pompeo, who backed a Trump rival, as CIA director. And unlike 1986, the Senate appears likely to confirm Sessions. Sources: [Washington Post], [AP], [Politico], [NYT] Share: [Facebook] [Twitter] [Facebook] [Twitter] [Trump Settles University Fraud Cases for $25 Million] It's an art. Donald [Trump] was facing multiple lawsuits alleging that his for-profit university scammed students. Reversing his pledge to fight the allegations, Trump settled the cases just 10 days before one of them was to go before a jury in San Diego. It avoids the awkward spectacle of the president-elect defending his business practices in court. Students had paid up to $35,000 for classes on real estate and investing, hoping to learn The Donald's secrets, but the lawsuits claimed instruction was shoddy and sold using high-pressure tactics. Sources: [NYT] Share: [Facebook] [Twitter] [Facebook] [Twitter] [Brexit Won't Clear Parliament Without a Fight] It means what, exactly? That's now up to the House of Commons, which has to approve British Prime Minister Theresa May's bid to start the process of [withdrawing] from the European Union in March. And it's likely to get messy. May probably has the votes, but with EU and U.K. law heavily intertwined, the complications will arise from parliamentary amendments - including from Euroskeptics - specifying which European laws Britain will keep, and a "sunset clause" that would allow them to expire, forcing a parade of Commons votes on each statute. Sources: [Politico] Share: [Facebook] [Twitter] [Facebook] [Twitter] Briefly Know This: The Obama administration has imposed a [five-year ban on Arctic oil drilling,] but President-Elect Trump could reverse it. Soul and funk singer [Sharon Jones of the Dap-Kings, has died] of pancreatic cancer at age 60. And a [medical transport plane has crashed] in Nevada, killing four people. Stay for This: "We, sir, are the diverse America who are [alarmed and anxious that your new administration will not protect us,] our planet, our children, our parents, or defend us and uphold our inalienable rights." - onstage message from actor Brandon Victor Dixon to Mike Pence as he left a performance of Hamilton on Broadway. He said he hoped the show would inspire the VP-elect to "work on behalf of all of us." Believe This: A Princeton University hackathon claims to have come up with "FiB," [the solution to fake news] - which Mark Zuckerberg has [pledged to fight] - in 36 hours. INTRIGUING [Publicist Who Founded a Micronation Copes With Exile] What good is utopia if you can't visit? Last year, Vit Jedlicka founded Liberland, 2.5 square miles of unclaimed marshland between Serbia and Croatia, as an independent libertarian nation. Liberland's currency is bitcoin, and it levies no taxes. While Jedlicka's signed up half a million would-be residents online and printed passports, Croatia opposes further [Balkanization] - it's arresting and fining anyone trying to enter Liberland, including its founder, who's persona non grata at Croatian passport control. Now he's gone overboard, buying a houseboat to lead a nation afloat. Sources: [BBC Magazine] Share: [Facebook] [Twitter] [Facebook] [Twitter] [Activism, Now Streaming Live] Just press play. Live streaming allows activists to act locally and inform globally. But spreading their message and holding authorities accountable also brings challenges. Many countries don't protect [filming] by law - as the U.S. does - putting streamers at risk. Platforms like Facebook Live are limited by mobile broadband speed, and live streaming can have serious consequences. Witness, an international nonprofit supporting the tool for global action, notes that Spain's enacted laws punishing those who film police, and in Syria, some believe an online feed was used to target a government airstrike that killed the streamer. Sources: [Wired] Share: [Facebook] [Twitter] [Facebook] [Twitter] [Should Our Body Parts Belong to Science?] Their hearts will go on - not necessarily by choice. We're sometimes allowed to keep our surgically excised body parts, like the ballerina who kept hip bone pieces as souvenirs of her dance career. But we're confronted with ethical cases like that of Charles Byrne, an 18th century "giant" whose skeleton is displayed at a  [London] museum against his wishes, and the Philadelphia exhibit featuring the conjoined livers of "Siamese" twins. As our ideas of bodily autonomy change, we're starting to question medical consent forms' fine print removing our rights along with our parts. Sources: [Aeon] Share: [Facebook] [Twitter] [Facebook] [Twitter] ['Lolita Fashion' Is Raising Eyebrows] Innocent is in. From its Japanese birthplace to Disneyland, women are spending generously on "Lolita" style, featuring Victorian petticoats, bodices and ruffles. It's a playful dress-up style, but its name evokes the underage love interest in Vladimir Nabokov's eponymous novel. Companies like Hello Kitty maker Sanrio  are cashing in on Japanese fashion exports expected to rise from $595 billion last year to $625 billion in 2025, and early adopters are thrilled to see the trend captured on New York Fashion Week runways. Still, they must deflect sneers that they're guilty of capitalizing on pedophilic fantasy. Sources: [OZY] Share: [Facebook] [Twitter] [Facebook] [Twitter] [Men's Tennis Suffers From Lack of Youth Movement] It's no country for young men. Only five men younger than 21 are ranked in the top 100 of the ATP World Tour, a far cry from the old days when John McEnroe and Boris Becker showed championship form as teenagers. In today's power [game], youngsters tend to toil in obscurity until they can build the strength and stamina to reach the top - as fans are starved for new talent. A big-money under-21 tournament next year hopes to showcase up-and-comers, with Americans, Russians and South Koreans leading the pack. Sources: [New Yorker] Share: [Facebook] [Twitter] [Facebook] [Twitter] Your 8 must reads to get you ahead of the curve RISING STARS [The Woman Bringing You Sex 52 Weeks a Year] [Read In Full] WILDCARD [How Shonda Rhimes Got Her Joy Back] [Read In Full] ACUMEN [The New Feminism: A Home of One's Own] [Read In Full] 20M people love reading OZY every month. Be part of the revolution. [Facebook] [Twitter] [Instagram] [Vimeo] [Youtube] Add us to your Address Book | Having trouble viewing this email? 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