‘Trump’s bad qualities make him good at handling the Middle East’

‘Too much idealism has arguably been our problem in the Middle East’

Richard Hanania at The Boston Globe

President Donald Trump has been “disastrous for America’s relationships with many of its allies,” says Richard Hanania. “Yet he has been successful in the area of the world that most befuddled previous presidents: the Middle East.” A “zero-sum worldview” in which “deals are possible” and “relationships between nations depend on the relationships between individual leaders” makes a “lot more sense” for countries that are “hostile toward America and best dealt with through force or the threat of it.”

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‘A new generation of stars is overthrowing the old Hollywood system’

Priya Elan at The Guardian

“There’s an old assumption within celebrity culture that, when you become famous, you ‘sign up’ to a set of rules,” says Priya Elan. But “younger celebrities are putting their foot down, something their older co-stars did not think was possible.” Actors like Millie Bobby Brown and Jenna Ortega are “saying no,” speaking back to photographers on the red carpet and refusing their demands. Stars now can “do a podcast or post on their Instagram, ensuring they have total control over a narrative.”

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‘The FDA finally corrects its error on menopause hormone therapy’

Leana S. Wen at The Washington Post

The Food and Drug Administration is removing a “‘black box warning’ label required on the packaging of most types of menopause hormone therapies,” a decision that will “finally bring regulation in line with science,” says Leana S. Wen. “The agency’s action corrects a wrong that has frightened generations of women away from these medications.” Still, “regulators must guard against opportunistic companies attempting to portray hormone therapy as a cure-all for aging.”

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‘By many accounts, Las Vegas is dying’

Luke Winkie at Slate

Vegas is “facing the worst dip in traffic since the Covid-19 pandemic,” says Luke Winkie. Some have “attempted to document the deterioration by posting ominous images of barren casinos, conjuring the perception of a place hollowed out by economic armageddon.” But “what’s ailing Vegas might be harder to quantify than any material factor — closer to spiritual rot than pure economic tumult.” People have seemingly determined “Vegas has become corroded — its joys less accessible, its humiliations too dire.”

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