Home > News > Post Content

Mic Check: U S Steps Up & Increases Refugee Count (Uh Oh Texas!!) (967 hits)

SEPTEMBER 21, 2015

TODAY'S TALKING POINTS

The U.S. just majorly stepped up to help refugees. The Obama administration had previously said the country would take in at least 10,000 more refugees in the next fiscal year, but many critics said that wasn’t enough. Now, 10 times that number will be welcomed in the next two years. Secretary of State John Kerry said the U.S. will accept 85,000 refugeesbeginning in October, up from 70,000, raising the annual total to 100,000 by fiscal year 2017.

Syria’s four-and-a-half-year-long civil war lands the country at the top of the list of places you don’t want to live. The refugee crisis is being fueled by 4 million peoplewho have fled the country to find new (read: safer) homes, but still others have stayed, and more than 200,000 Syrians have died during the ongoing conflict (paywall).

Obama made history by nominating the first openly gay man to lead the Army. With the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell only a few years removed, the president’s nomination of Eric Fanning as the secretary of the Army is huge. Fanning, 47, has served as Air Force under secretary and deputy under secretary of the Navy. He’s been the Army's acting under secretary since June.

Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee didn’t wait a beat beforeslamming the nomination, saying “Obama is more interested in appeasing America’s homos*xuals than honoring America’s heroes.”

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras took back the reins. Greece’s fierce financial crisis and polarizing bailout agreement caused the far left Syriza party to lose its majority, triggering Tsipras’ resignation and a snap election. Greek voters with serious ballot fatigue put him back in power Sunday, and now he’ll have a rough road to navigate between harsh austerity measures and refugees passing through the country.

U.S. soldiers were told to ignore s*x abuse of boys in Afghanistan. A New York Times report revealed that troops were told to look the other way to "maintain good standing with the U.S.-trained Afghan police" since the practice is reportedly common. But it meant that American troops werepotentially arming some pedophiles — something quite unsettling for many soldiers.

The Kardashians’ websites may have exposed a ton of data. Hope you’re keeping up with more than just the Kardashians — their new sites potentially exposed the names and email addresses of nearly 1 million people who signed up. Between this, the Ashley Madison and Target hacks, throwing away the Internet and moving to the woods has never looked more tempting.

IN ONE PHOTO

Viola Davis made history at the 2015 Emmy Awards, becoming the first African-American woman to win Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series. Her inspiring speech was just one of the many moments that made us proud of our television stars last night: host Andy Samberg called outHollywood’s huge diversity problems in a couple of hilarious moments during his opening monologue, the groundbreaking series Transparent got the moment in the spotlight it so richly deserved, and the most ubiquitous fashion accessory was a green ribboncalling attention to climate change.

CONVERSATION STARTERS

Here’s the truth about what it’s really like to get an IUD. Mic

Who does your cat think you are? The Awl

Can basic income bring about the nextcreative renaissance? Mic

How anti-vaxxers promote bigotry toward people with autism. Vox

Here’s everything we know about Apple’s rumored, futuristic self-driving car. Mic

The personal essay economy offers fewer rewards for black women. The New Republic

The NFL owes its success to Native Americans — so why does it still mock them? Mic

If you’re reading this at work, you know we’re building a toxic work world. The New York Times (paywall)

THE LAST WORD

“Hi, Mic’s Greg Krieg here. Like just about everyone else who follows politics, I've been wondering when (and if) Trump Fever would break. And though he's been written off before, this incident last Thursday — Trump failing to interrupt or correct a supporter who rambled on about Muslims being dangerous, then said President Barack Obama was not an American citizen — felt different. Perhaps it was the questioner’s angry tone; maybe it was Donald Trump's lame indifference, but I felt the dynamic of the moment would be especially damaging. Lots of people might enjoy Trump's act and even agree with some of his politics, but very few have a stomach for that kind of visceral, ugly scene. For me, this is the moment we'll look back on and say, ‘It was the beginning of the end.’”

Editor’s Note: Since the incident referenced above, Trump fell 8 percentage points in the polls (from 32% to 24%). He's still ahead of his fellow contenders, including Ben Carson, who recently explained why he thinks the U.S. shouldn't elect a Muslim as president.

We woke up like this. Did we miss something you wanted to read about? Want to see us focus on an under-covered issue? Have a tip for the next edition? Emailjoel@mic.com.

Did a friend forward you this email? Subscribe to get MicCheck in your inbox..

Unsubscribe from MicCheck

Posted By: Jeni Fa
Monday, September 21st 2015 at 11:44AM
You can also click here to view all posts by this author...

Report obscenity | post comment

Share |