I had a meeting early today I could not get out of so today's issue is very quick and dirty. Hoping you all agree something is better than nothing, should be back to better quality Thursday. Thanks for reading.

The Essential Eight

1. Trump Doubles Down On North Korea Threats, Some Chinese Intellectuals Now Mocking Him As Clueless

With Combative Style and Epithets, Trump Takes America First to the U.N. - The New York Times:

The president’s tone carried real-world implications for the future of the United Nations and the escalating confrontations with international outliers. In the space of 42 minutes, he upended decades of rhetorical support by the United States for the collective philosophy of the United Nations as he defended his America First policy. He repeatedly extolled “sovereignty” in a setting where the term traditionally has been brandished by nations like Russia, China, Iran and North Korea to deflect criticism.

Full text: Trump's 2017 U.N. speech transcript - POLITICO Two mentio…