August 26, 2015

Market Tremors, Turkish Elections, European Refugees Crisis, Planned Parenthood and Whiskey in Space

PNUT GALLERY

“Stewart asked for it” – WWE commentators reacting after former Daily Show host Jon Stewart gets an “attitude adjustment” from wrestler John Cena. We miss him….

IN A NUTSHELL: MUST READ

China To World: CALM DOWN

China took bold action to calm markets after the Shanghai exchange dropped 7.6% on Tuesday. The People’s Bank of China (PBOC aka China’s Fed) cut interest rates 0.25% to 4.6% and lowered reserve requirements in order to flood the financial system with money. The moves didn’t seemed to pay off as the Dow Jones and the Shanghai market ended down 1.3% despite earlier rebounds in both. What market crash? China has been experiencing an economic slowdown for the past few months. The news reached a tipping point over the weekend causing markets to crash on Monday and traders to make all sorts of facial expressions (photos). Markets are also terrified that the Fed will raise interest rates for the first time since the 2009 financial crisis…see these helpful sketches explaining the China crisis.

Pnut’s Nutshell on China

Turkey: If You Don’t Get Elected…Call Another Election

Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan (lives in a modest 1,150 room palace) called snap elections after his ruling party, AKP didn’t win a majority in elections earlier this year and couldn’t (or didn’t want to) form a coalition government. Here are some of the things that make this confusing:

Erdogan wants to change the constitution to a presidential system to give himself more powers. He couldn’t because he didn’t win a majority.
There are lingering corruption allegations against Erdogan and his close circle.
Turkey is fighting a “war on terror” against both ISIS and the Kurdish PKK (different to the Kurdish HDP).
There is a civil war in neighboring Syria that occasionally spills over into Turkey.

Turkey is a major US ally and Erdogan seems intent on creating one-man rule for himself in Turkey. With the economy weakening the risk of economic and political turmoil only rises.

NUTS AND BOLTS: SHOULD READ

Xenophobia Reigns As European Refugee Crisis Escalates

An arson attack on a German asylum centre left the country on edge this week as Europe struggled to come up with a coherent policy on its refugee crisis. The attack was part of a wave of attacks by the Far-Right against asylum centers in the country. The Far-Right across Europe has capitalized on xenophobia in the midst of the refugee crisis. Angela Merkel, to her credit, has not been shy about calling out their racism.

Russia: Freedom Of Speech Nyet Here

Russia burnished its credentials as a bastion of unfree speech when it jailed and sentenced Oleg Sentsov, a Ukrainian film-maker to 20 years hard labour. The film-maker had been a leading voice in Ukrainian protests against Russia’s annexation of Crimea. He claimed he had been tortured but Russian authorities blamed his penchant for “sado-masochistic” tendencies for his injuries… that’s an imaginative excuse…

Planned Parenthood Spirals Out Of Control

Republican leaders tried to contain a rebellion in their own party as a Planned Parenthood controversy risks shutting down the federal government… again. John Boehner (R-Ohio) prefers a “gentler” approach to shutting down Planned Parenthood by using consensus with the Democrats (imagine that) while conservatives prefer playing hardball… They have until Sept. 30 to agree on how to disagree…

#pnut4prez: Kasich Actually Popular Among People He Governs

Every four years the crucial swing state of Ohio gets to decide the future US President, and this time the Republicans might have an edge. Ohio Governor and Republican Nominee contender John Kasich turns out to be very popular in his home state. Kasich has an all time high approval rating of 61% to 28% which could prove useful in a general election. Too bad Trump still reigns in the polls…

TRUMP VIDEO: Trump Throwing Journalists Out Of Press Conferences

Keeping Our Eye On…

Adnan Syed: The possibility of the use of faulty phone records evidence now shines doubt onto Adnan Syed’s case, popularized by the podcast Serial. The location of the calls made by Syed on the day of his ex-girlfriend’s murder heavily influenced the jury’s decision. Serial season 2 coming soon?
Prep schools: There are now conflicting stories in Labrie’s rape case yesterday when some of his classmates testified that he spoke openly about having sex with the accusing then-freshman girl. The defense previously stated that Owen Labrie had a “divine intervention” that stopped him from engaging in sexual relations. Someone is lying…
Duty-Free Drunk: When a Chinese woman couldn’t bear to part with her $190 bottle of cognac at the airport security check, she took the high road and chugged all 700ml. As an expected result, she lost consciousness for seven hours and didn’t make her flight.

LOOSE NUTS: FOR YOUR ENJOYMENT

Is it a Bird? Is It A Space Shuttle? No, it’s Whiskey!

Japan sent a shuttle to the International Space Station with the most essential life-sustaining substance in the universe…whiskey. You would think that getting drunk might be the fastest way to a space disaster and you’d be right. Astronauts won’t be able to drink the finest malt, because instead it is part of an experiment into how alcohol behaves in space. This comes after astronauts last week ate “Outredgeous” roman lettuce for the first time which they had grown in space. Shake Shack coming to a space station near you soon…..

The Moment A 12-Year-Old Taiwanese Boy Accidentally Punches A $1.5M Painting…Oh Dear.

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Correction to yesterday’s edition: Two South Korean soldiers were injured (not killed) by a land mine last week. Receive this email from a friend? Get The Daily Pnut every day â€“ subscribe here.
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