'It's Not a Bluff'

Start your day smarter with the most important world news, plus intriguing and offbeat stories. www.ozy.com [OZY]( [OZY]() Your World. Bold & Bright [Presidential Daily Brief]( Start your day smarter with a dossier on the most important world news, rounded off with a shot of intriguing and offbeat stories. Like the president, you deserve no less. Sep 21, 2022 Today Vladimir Putin will call up 300,000 Russians with military experience in the next stage of the Ukraine invasion. Trump’s special master call may not be going the way he hoped it would in the Mar-a-Lago case. A Japanese man attempted to self-immolate in protest over plans for Shinzo Abe to be given a state funeral. And 48 Minnesotans are facing charges for a brazen pandemic-era scheme exploiting a feeding program for children. All this and more in today’s PDB. IMPORTANT Nuclear Retaliation Russian Reservists to Be Called Up to Fight in Ukraine Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced a mobilization to bolster his war efforts in Ukraine, with up to 300,000 men with previous military experience likely to be called up. In a televised address from Moscow, Putin also threatened nuclear escalation saying Russia has “lots of weapons to reply” and that “it’s not a bluff.” This comes just hours after German Chancellor Olaf Scholz warned of the Russian president’s “imperial ambitions” in Europe during his first address to the U.N. General Assembly. Scholz said peace cannot be made on the Kremlin's terms and that “Ukraine must be able to fend off Russia’s attack.” (Sources: [The Guardian](, [Reuters]() Schrödinger’s Documents Special Master, Trump’s Legal Team Butt Heads on Classifications “My view of it is: you can’t have your cake and eat it,” Judge Raymond Dearie said during the first hearing on Tuesday to assess documents seized from former President Donald Trump’s Florida residence. Trump has argued that he had declassified the 100 documents taken from Mar-a-Lago by the FBI while he was still president. But special master Dearie said the Trump legal team has been unable to offer any evidence. Judge Dearie made no definitive ruling during the hearing but did indicate that if no evidence is forthcoming, he will have no choice but to side with prosecutors and agree the documents are still classified. (Sources: [Politico](, [WaPo]() Inflamed Man Attempts Self-Immolation in Suspected Shinzo Abe Protest Police found a note next to the unidentified man, which said he is “strongly opposed” to the notion of a state funeral for the former prime minister. The man, who was conscious when taken to the hospital, isn’t alone in the view. While few Japanese are as committed as he is, polling shows a majority oppose a state funeral. It has hit the government hard with one recent poll showing support down to just 23%. The drop follows revelations linking the ruling Liberal Democrat Party with the controversial Unification Church — the church Abe’s assassin blamed for bankrupting his mother. (Sources: [Kyodo](, [Reuters]() Mouth to Hand Justice Dept Charges 48 in Minnesota Pandemic Aid Gouging The Justice Department said Tuesday that $240 million was stolen in the scheme. Defendants are alleged to have taken advantage of a children’s feeding scheme in Minnesota — expanded during the pandemic with lax oversight — by filing forged receipts for 125 million meals fed to children that didn’t exist. One suspect billed the government for feeding 5,000 children a day from an apartment. Suspects include employees of Feeding Our Future, an organization tapped by the state government to assist in administering meals to Minnesota’s most needy. “They were interested in feeding their own gluttony,” FBI special agent Michael Paul said. (Source: [NYT]() Briefly Here are some things you should know about today: Investigation. The U.N. has called for a probe into the death of Mahsa Amini, after she was arrested by Iran’s morality police last week for not wearing a hijab. Protests have erupted across the country calling for justice. (Source: [DW]() “Completely false.” Venezuelan migrants who were flown from Florida to Martha’s Vineyard are suing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis over the stunt. They say they were told they were headed to Boston or Washington. (Source: [AP]() It’s ours. The Labour-controlled Westminster city council is investigating how it can seize property owned by Russian oligarchs in the area to turn it into affordable housing. (Source: [The Guardian]() INTRIGUING Trending Ditch the Nyquil, FDA Warns Chicken-Cooking TikTokkers “The challenge sounds silly and unappetizing — and it is,” the Food and Drug Administration said in a statement released in response to the #sleepychicken trend. Participants record themselves sauteing chicken in saucepans full of the bright blue over-the-counter cold and flu medication in the hopes of securing some of the tag’s million-plus views. The fleeting fame isn’t worth it, the agency stressed. Heating medication changes its properties and could make it more potent leading to an increased risk of accidental overdose. It doesn’t even need to be eaten — fumes from cooking can be damaging to the lungs. (Source: [USA Today]() Mass Stranding Hundreds of Whales Are Beached in Australia. No One Knows Why. Fourteen young male sperm whales were found dead on an island off the north coast of Tasmania earlier this week. Just days later, hundreds of the animals were discovered along a beach on the west coast of the state — the same spot where Australia’s largest-ever mass stranding event happened in 2020. Why this happens remains a mystery to wildlife investigators but there are some theories. Misadventure is the most likely cause. “They might have been foraging close to shore," wildlife biologist Kris Carlyon said. Local authorities have called for the community to stay away, saying good intentions can become a hindrance. (Sources: [AFP](, [ABC]() Man Up Prosecutors to Review Case in Marilyn Manson Sex Abuse Probe It follows a 19-month investigation by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department into allegations Manson, whose legal name is Brian Warner, sexually and physically abused a string of women, which has been handed off to the District Attorney’s Office. “This review will take some time but rest assured our office takes these allegations very seriously,” the office said, adding that the review they received was “partial” with no known timeline for submission of outstanding documents. Manson has so far remained in favor within the music world — he has collaborated with Kanye West and received a nomination for the 2022 Grammys since the allegations came to light. (Sources: [Buzzfeed](, [Pitchfork](, [AP]() Beyond Belief Beyond Meat COO Suspended for Nose-Biting Beef Doug Ramsey was suspended from the plant-based meat company Tuesday, following a raucous altercation at a college football game in Arkansas that ended in charges of terroristic threats and third-degree battery for Ramsey — and a chunk missing from the alleged victim’s nose. It all came down to a parking lot incident. Court records show that Ramsey’s Bronco was nudged by a driver in a Subaru, after which Ramsey “punched through the back windshield” of the car. When the owner of the Subaru got out of the car, Ramsey punched him and “bit the owner’s nose, ripping the flesh on the tip.” (Source: [Fortune]() Proud Scotland Welcomes First Publicly Gay Senior Male Soccer Player Zander Murray said that he is “blown away” by the response after coming out earlier this week, adding “It feels like the weight of the world is now off my shoulders.” Gala Fairydean Rovers teammates have been supportive and he’s received messages from fans online. Murray decided to go public after attending a pride event while on holiday — something he’d never done at home — and said he wants others to know they’re not alone, “I also want to help other players who are struggling with this as it isn’t easy for men, especially footballers to deal with.” (Sources: [BBC](, [SKYSports]() [OGA Winner Arleen Lopez: Good Communication]( [Coke]( [Coke]( Navigating the world of health care in a non-native language can be a challenge. But Arleen Lopez and her network of translators are hoping to change that. Lopez invented Interlingual, an app that helps patients with limited English proficiency to “communicate better with their provider to ensure good quality diagnosis and further treatment,” said the young entrepreneur. By connecting volunteer translators and interpreters across the world with private health care facilities, the app aims to overcome the language barrier between patients and medics. “By implementing our project, we want patient satisfaction to improve, and we want to see our community feel safer, represented and heard,” said Lopez. Her idea won an OZY Genius Award in 2021, which gave the entrepreneur “reassurance that the problem with the language barrier needs a solution, and that my project could create awareness,” Lopez said. “I gained confidence in the cause; it meant a lot to me that an idea I once had when I needed it was being recognized.” Now Lopez is turning her fledgling idea into an app that has the potential to help millions of patients. She’s in the process of getting 501(c)(3) certified to operate as a nonprofit and is seeking partnerships with health care facilities. “Our priority right now is forming a solid basis to keep improving our project,” Lopez said. “I’m hoping this idea turns into something resourceful for my community.” It’s also been a year of personal growth for this recent graduate of Rutgers University. “I learned to trust myself more and realized that self-love is such an important tool when starting a project on your own,” Lopez said. [Watch Arleen Lopez’s video here.]( Catch the Newest Episodes of The Carlos Watson Show, Season 4! COMMUNITY What else are you curious about? 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