Presented by Cornell University’s Skimm’bassador Erica Baevsky
SPORTS NEWS (4/17, 4/16)
WHAT TO SAY TO YOUR FRIEND WHO’S ALREADY TALKING ABOUT THE NFL DRAFT…
Adrian Peterson’s back in the game. On Wednesday, the NFL announced that it will reinstate the Minnesota Vikings star running back. This case has been one of the NFL’s biggest headaches, in a year that used up a lot of Advil. Last September, Peterson was charged with child abuse. He avoided jail time. The NFL still benched him. Then, a judge overturned the NFL’s suspension. And then Peterson started thinking about getting back in the game. The Minnesota Vikings say they look forward to having him back, even though it’s unclear if he’s going to return to the team.
WHAT PEOPLE ARE TALKING ABOUT
Former New England Patriots star Aaron Hernandez. He is now a convicted murderer. Officially, and not just in the court of public opinion. On Thursday, a jury found him guilty of murdering his fiancee’s sister’s boyfriend in 2013. Hernandez, who is 25, will spend life behind bars with no chance for parole. PS: Hernandez also faces a double murder charge for a separate 2012 shooting. So there’s that.
GLOBAL WARMING (4/17)
WHAT TO SAY WHEN YOU ALWAYS LEAVE YOUR REUSABLE GROCERY BAGS AT HOME…
Francis would not approve. Earlier this week, the Vatican announced that it’s hosting a summit on climate change this month. Pope Francis has made a point of focusing on global warming, and this summit is a part of his effort to pressure world leaders to do more. This doesn’t always sit well with some conservatives and Catholics, who think climate change is NBD or that stepping in might do more harm than good. But others see this as another example of how Francis is helping modernize the Catholic Church.
FINANCIAL NEWS (4/16, 4/15)
WHAT TO SAY WHEN YOU REALIZE HOW MUCH OF YOUR PAYCHECK WENT TO TAXES LAST YEAR…
You want a side of french fries with that frown? On Tuesday, low-wage workers in hundreds of US cities marked Tax Day by protesting for higher pay. They say $7.25 an hour (the federal minimum wage) isn’t enough to live on, and definitely not enough to support a family. And the workers point out that taxpayers are footing a lot of the bill, since many of them depend on public programs. For more than two years, they’ve been pushing their employers to supersize their wages to $15 an hour. Many of these companies – think: McDonald’s,Walmart, Target — have raised their hourly wages in the last year, but not at the rate these protesters want.
WHAT TO SAY WHEN YOU’RE STILL FILING YOUR TAXES…
These people are about to move into the next bracket. On Wednesday, the CEO of credit-card processing company Gravity Payments announced that he’s cutting his salary big time and going to dip into company profits to give over half the company a raise. By 2017, they’ll all be making at least $70k – or “minimum wage” for the company. This is huge since the average salary has been $48k. It’s also no coincidence that this is coming at a time when there’s been so much talk of raising the real minimum wage, and equal pay for women in the US. This is one boss’s way of sending a memo to the rest of the country that sometimes it pays to pay.
MEDICAL NEWS (4/16)
WHAT TO SAY WHEN YOUR MORNING COFFEE ISN’T ENOUGH…
Here’s a pick-me-up. Wednesday was the first day back to school for Sierra Leone’s 1.8 million kids, after Ebola forced them to take a nine month break. More than 10,500 people have died since the epidemic hit West Africa, but it looks like the region is finally out of the woods. Last week, Sierra Leone reported just nine new cases, down from 500 a week in December. But the classrooms aren’t exactly packed – a lot of students are still afraid to go back to school. So, it may take a while for things to feel normal again, but this is a start.
TECH NEWS (4/16)
WHAT TO SAY TO YOUR TECHIE FRIEND…
When’s the last time you “checked in”? Yahoo reportedly wants to be Mayor of Foursquare – meaning, potentially buy it for $900 million. Lately, Foursquare has been struggling to keep users checked in, and Yahoo has been looking to step into the mobile game. Speaking of services you actually use, Netflix is growing in a big way. There are now more than 62 million users worldwide who like binge-watching as much as you do. While investors celebrated, Netflix also mumbled something about missing its earnings numbers. NBD.
HEALTH NEWS (4/15)
WHAT TO SAY WHEN YOUR FRIEND SAYS SHE’S’ EATING KALTEEN BARS…
Careful with that label. On Tuesday, the FDA said the ‘healthy’ label on some KIND bars should be removed. Why? Because these bars apparently aren’t exactly healthy. The FDA said they have too much saturated fat (looking at you, Peanut Butter Dark Chocolate). KIND responded by saying ‘get off our nuts.’ Actually though. It said that nuts in the bars are what’s causing the FDA to cry saturated fat, and that’s not right because nuts are good for you. KIND’s seen a huge surge in sales in recent years, ever since the Kale Revolution.
CELEBRITY NEWS (4/15)
WHAT TO SAY TO YOUR FRIEND WHO WANTS TO JOIN A STARTUP…
So does Snoop Dogg. He’s investing in a pot delivery company called Eaze. Investors see this as good news for Seamless.
U.S. NEWS (4/13)
WHAT TO SAY THE MORNING AFTER…
Will he call? Last weekend, President Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro had relations at the Summit of the Americas. This comes just a few months after the US and Cuba announced they were ready to start talking again, after ignoring each other for more than 50 years. And now Obama and Castro have this awkward photo as a souvenir. Still, the meeting only lasted about an hour and both leaders admitted there will be roadblocks as they move forward. Adding to the relationship drama is whether or not President Obama will remove Cuba from the State Department’s terror list.
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