Skimm'd from the couch

theSkimm50 West 23rd Street, Suite 5B; New York, NY, 10010, United States Update Profile

AUGUST 30, 2017

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  QUOTE OF THE DAY  

"Justin Bieber's testicles spark lawsuit" – A real headline.

DAY FIVE

The Story

Hurricane Harvey is officially a record-breaking storm.

What's the latest?

Harvey has dumped more than 50 inches of rain on Texas. More than any storm ever in the continental US. Yesterday, officials in a county outside of Houston told people to "get out now" after a levee there failed. Two Houston-area dams overflowed, adding to the city's already-extreme flooding. Houston's mayor imposed a curfew to cut down on looting and keep drivers off the roads. The country's second largest oil refinery was damaged, and others have been forced to temporarily shut down – which could lead to gas shortages across the country. And President Trump visited the area to check in on recovery efforts and lend his support.

What happens next?

Rescue workers are still responding to emergency calls. They've saved more than 13,000 people in the Houston area so far. At least 18 people have been killed, and the death toll is likely to rise. Tens of thousands are expected to need shelter. Now, officials are worried about the impact of all the standing water – which can lead to health issues like E coli and Zika, and safety issues like gators, snakes, and floating fire ants.

theSkimm

Harvey is still not over. Today, it hit again in Louisiana, and is expected to keep heading into the state. Here's how you can help.

REPEAT AFTER ME...

What people are watching…

Syria. US troops recently exchanged fire multiple times with Turkish-backed rebels there. Apparently, no one was killed. But it's another reminder of how complicated the situation in Syria is. The country's six year-long civil war opened up space for ISIS to wiggle its way in and set up shop. The US and its ally Turkey – which shares a border with Syria – are both fighting the terror group. To help do that, they've been giving local Syrian forces an assist with things like tanks, airstrikes, and weapons. In recent months, the US also started arming a group of Kurdish forces on the ground. The Kurds are an ethnic group spread out across Turkey, Syria, Iraq, and Iran. In Turkey, they've long been fighting the Turkish government to carve out their own independent state, but Turkey's never been down with that. So when the US decided to arm the Kurds in Syria, the US-Turkey relationship took a turn for the worse. These latest incidents – which the US military says happened during routine patrols – aren't helping. Now, the US is telling Turkey to get their forces to cut it out so everyone can get back to focusing on the fight against ISIS.


What to say when you hear Tim Cook is now $89 million richer

Here's how Peter Thiel's spending his extra cash. In recent days, it came out that the tech billionaire has reportedly invested in an experimental herpes vaccine test. Thiel is the one who co-founded PayPal and funded the lawsuit that took down Gawker. Now, he's found something new to focus on: herpes. Thiel has reportedly funded a human trial for a herpes vaccine in the Caribbean. Americans with herpes and some extra time off were flown to St. Kitts for a shot of the med in order to get around FDA rules, which have strict safety standards for human trials. Thiel says these regulations are holding back important medical research and development. Critics say 'maybe,' but that it might not be the best idea to run herpes experiments on people. It's still unclear how those trials went.


What to say when your train is delayed on your morning commute...

Need a workaround. Yesterday, the Illinois Attorney General took Chicago to court for its police department's tactics. In recent years, Chicago's law enforcement has gotten a lot of heat for civil rights violations, particularly against minorities. See: the death of Laquan McDonald. Under the Obama administration, a Justice Department investigation found that Chicago officers have not been properly trained, often use excessive force, and the dept. doesn't have solid processes to hold officers accountable. So the Justice Dept. started working with the city to figure out a plan of action to reform the police department. But US Attorney General Jeff Sessions isn't so sure the feds should be involved and has pushed potential reforms to the 'maybe' pile. So Illinois is trying to go around them. The AG is suing Chicago in order to hopefully get a federal judge to monitor and help the department change its ways.

BALLS

Summer's getting ready to say 'bye,' but sports fans are already in a fall state of mind. Here's a thing to know...


Bagel: Not the lox and schmear kind. Talking tennis. A bagel is when someone wins a set 6-0. Psst...the US Open – the year's last Grand Slam tourney – is in full swing. Our app has a sports calendar that clues you in on things like when the final big matches are set to go down.


We're so excited to go balls to the wall that today, we're giving away $1,500 just for getting our app so you can outfit yourself like a pro. Or just pocket the check and feel like one. Congrats to Monday's winner, Ashley Eaves WA. And to today's winner, check your inbox.

*To enter all you have to do is download the app and start a free trial, if you already have it you're entered for a chance to win. Get additional entries by sharing theSkimm App with your friends using your unique link (https://www.theskimm.com/?r=@|referral_code|@). Every person you sign up is an entry for a chance to win.

*Your entries carry over all week to all the other ball-sy prizing we're giving away

Questions? Answers


THING TO KNOW

JOMO

The opposite of FOMO. This is the 'joy of missing out.' It's wishing you could skip out on dinner plans, only to have your friend cancel an hour before. JOMO...all the way back to bed.

SKIMM LIFE

SKIMM FAVES

For Skimm HQ, the #StartupLife doesn't stop. Sometimes not even when we're home at the end of the day. So when we treat ourselves, it's with the little things that give our work and home lives an upgrade. Here are our faves.

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