Trump Wants a Nobel Peace Prize & Pentagon Says Bombing Iran Accomplished Very Little
June 27, 2025
What I’m Discussing Today:
Kareem’s Daily Quote: Acknowledging our darker side is important to better understand ourselves.
Pakistan's politicians ask govt to withdraw Donald Trump's Nobel Peace Prize nomination: Trump has been campaigning for a Nobel Peace Prize for years. I’m not sure he knows what it represents.
Uncertain Peace: A clear assessment of the results of bombing Iran.
“‘These deaths are not inevitable’: state gun control laws reduce children’s firearm deaths, study shows”: Guns have been the leading cause of death among U.S. children since 2020. This reports offers some remedies.
Climate misinformation turning crisis into catastrophe, report says: It’s getting worse every year, and that’s okay with MAGA.
Los Angeles Dodgers donate $1m to families affected by Ice raids: I’ve always been a fan of the Dodgers—now I’m a bigger fan.
Kareem the Science Guy: Doctor uses robot to remotely perform surgery on patient thousands of miles away. This will revolutionize medicine across the world.
Kareem’s Video Break: This is what happens when you experience the pure joy of abandonment.
Kareem’s Magical Moments in Sports: Sportsmanship like this elevates us all.
Lou Christie Sings “Lightning Strikes”: Christie died last week but we remember his unique voice in this major hit record.
Kareem’s Daily Quote
Women say they have sexual thoughts too. They have no idea.
It's the difference between shooting a bullet and throwing it.
If they knew what we were really thinking, they'd never stop
slapping us.
Larry Miller, comedian and actor
I was watching Top Chef when one of the chefs described the polenta she was making as “sexy.” Sexy polenta? We use the word sexy to describe a lot of inanimate objects because sexy is one of culture’s highest compliments. The pursuit of Sexy has caused massive unnecessary damage to society. Women are getting plastic surgery at younger ages, Botox injections are rampant. Women also spend considerable money on makeup, hair, and clothing which means that even if they get paid the same as a man, they end up with less discretionary income. The emphasis on what is sexy has resulted in poor body image and eating disorders, especially among girls.
Ironically, if women cut their hair short (which would be more convenient and cheaper), didn’t shave their bodies, and wore bib overalls every day, people would still be having sex, getting married, and raising children. But then all these clothing, makeup, and surgery industries wouldn’t be making billions off our insecurities. Our polenta wouldn’t be sexy, just tasty.
Our culture portrays the way men and women think about sex differently. How accurate those portrayals are isn’t empirically clear. One study said that men think about sex about 19 times a day while women think about sex 10 times a day. Even if that’s true, it’s probable that the specific thoughts of men and women are different. Based on how men and women are portrayed in popular culture, the thoughts of men are much more visceral and aggressive, while the thoughts of women may be more romantic. I’m not saying this portrayal is true or untrue, only that is our typical portrayal.
Part of the reason for this is hormones. Testosterone is responsible for facial and body hair, muscle mass, and the sex drive. That powerful hormone forces all sorts of unwanted thoughts into the male brain that make some men act like jerks and others just feel shame.
The brain is basically a “what if” generator, constantly throwing out possible paths, whether or not you want them. What if you had sex with that person serving you lunch? What if you killed that annoying driver who just cut you off on the freeway? What if you emptied your bank account, went to Vegas, and bet everything on black? That may be why we like multiverse stories so much. They allow us to experience the many paths we never took, especially the dark ones.
Civilization is built not on the notion of scrubbing shameful thoughts from our brains, but on acknowledging they exist yet not acting on them. Most of us have unwanted thoughts of doing horrendous things, but we never act on them. Larry Miller may be right about men’s thoughts about sex—thoughts that our society both condemns and exploits. But we use shame to control our actions and we also have the capacity to generate thoughts about compassion, empathy, and helping others. And to act generously on those thoughts.
We shouldn’t pretend that we don’t have dark thoughts that disgust us. It’s a testament to our shared humanity that we don’t act on those thoughts more often. It’s like the old id versus superego parable of the two wolves: A man tells his grandson about the two wolves fighting inside people. One wolf is evil, filled with hate, anger, and envy. The other is good, filled with love, kindness, and humility. When the grandson asks him which will win, he replies, “The one you feed.