Mic Check Talking Points: China and the Yen (700 hits)
AUGUST 25, 2015
TODAY'S TALKING POINTS
The Dow Jones Industrial Average experienced one of its biggest intraday swings ever. After plummeting a record 1,089 points just after Monday’s opening bell, the U.S. market started to rebound by early afternoon but still closed with a loss of588 points. The sharp dip, likely sparked by fears around China’s market meltdown, was the largest upset since 2008.
While global markets recovered, China's stocksweren't looking so greatTuesday, and the country made a move to cut the interest rate for the fifth time since November to boost the economy.
North and South Korea cooled it on the war threats.The two countriesagreed to de-escalate after North Korea said it “regrets” that the South’s soldiers were injured by their land mines; in return, South Korea stopped blaring propaganda broadcasts.
A Ferguson, Missouri, judge is withdrawing all arrest warrants before 2015. In a move that Judge Donald McCullin said was “aimed at restoring confidence in the system,”close to 10,000 old arrest warrants will be withdrawn and defendants will be given new court dates and the opportunity to pay fines or complete community service. The sweeping changes come after a U.S. Justice Department investigation cited racial profiling by local police as an issue that needs serious fixing.
Turns out Jared Fogle’s charity didn’t issue a single grant. A USA Today investigation found that the former Subway spokesman, instead of distributing $2 million to fight childhood obesity in schools as promised, spent an average of $73,000 annually over a four-year period beginning in 2009. The foundation’s executive director, Russ Taylor, reportedly received about $44,000 per year, and the rest of the money is unaccounted for.
IN ONE PHOTO
As recently as 2011, there were more arrests for marijuana-related offenses than all other violent crime combined, and prohibition of recreational pot still had a stronghold over most of the country. But marijuana reform activists ensured that legal weed swept through Colorado, Oregon, Washington, Alaska and the District of Columbia, and nowthese 11 states will likely be next.
Take a virtual walk through devastated Israel and Gaza, one year after last summer’s war. The New York Times(paywall)
THE LAST WORD
This week marks 10 years since Hurricane Katrina swept through New Orleans and took houses and lives with it. Many who watched the relief efforts from high ground surely remember the physical destruction and human sorrow that seemed to be a direct result of the devastating storm, but, as Mic’s Darnell Moore and Jamilah King point out, it’s now clear that the problems plaguing Louisiana’s city are not all solely due to the natural disaster. New Orleans was already facing a stagnant economy, poor housing and health care and an education system so faulty that 40% of adults were functionally illiterate. Rebuilding in the wake of the storm resulted in gentrification that may have deepened existing inequality and created a rift that can’t be repaired with new buildings and an uptick in tourism.
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