THAT'S ALL FOLKS

THE STORY

Yesterday, Puerto Rico told Congress that it’s very, very broke after almost overdrawing its bank account to pay off creditors.

WAIT...BACK UP.

Puerto Rico’s economy has been in shambles for years (here’s your Skimm). It’s gotten so bad that, a few months ago, Puerto Rico’s gov. said ‘by the way’ the island has more than $70 billion in debt that is ‘not payable.‘ But, because Puerto Rico is a US commonwealth and not a state, it can’t declare bankruptcy to help it get back in the green.

SO WHAT NOW?

Puerto Rico managed to avoid default this time by scraping together more than $350 million to pay back its creditors. But the island has hundreds of millions more to pay back by Jan. 1, which it definitely doesn’t have. Happy New Year. So yesterday, Puerto Rico’s governor asked Congress to please change the law and let the island seek bankruptcy protection.

theSKIMM

Right now, Puerto Rico needs Congress to agree to help pull it out of this $70 billion hole. Good luck.

REPEAT AFTER ME...

WHAT TO SAY WHEN YOU’RE FEELING REALLY GOOD ABOUT DONATING ON GIVING TUESDAY…

There’s that. And then there’s this. Yesterday, Mark Zuckerberg and his wife announced they’re planning on giving away 99% of their shares in Facebook to charity at some point. Oh, and they also had a baby girl.

WHAT TO SAY WHEN YOUR FRIEND WHO LIVES IN SWEATPANTS GETS A CORPORATE JOB…

Time to up your game. Yesterday, the US Defense Secretary said the US is sending a special ops force to ramp up the fight against ISIS in Iraq and potentially in Syria. The force will work with Iraq’s government (if it’s cool with that to gather intel, free hostages, and capture ISIS leaders. This comes after last month’s terror attacks in Paris have everyone thinking it might be time to step up the fight against the group on its home turf in the Mideast. Meanwhile, yesterday, Iraq’s government reportedly said it’s not so into this idea. Awkward.

WHAT PEOPLE ARE TALKING ABOUT…

Chicago. The city has recently seen protests over the death of Laquan McDonald — a black 17-year-old — who was shot and killed by a white police officer last year. The police officer involved was charged with first-degree murder — more than a year after the shooting and just before police released a video of it. The video shows McDonald jogging away from police cars while holding what looks like a small knife, and then shows the officer shooting him 16 times. Demonstrators have demanded to know why it took so long for the officer to be charged and the video to be released. Yesterday, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel told the city’s police chief to step down. He also announced he’s creating a task force to look into how the city’s police department is run. And now it looks like the Justice Department might get involved. Chicago is the latest in a string of cities (think: New York City, Ferguson, Baltimore) to face criticism for police brutality and discrimination against black people.

WHAT TO SAY WHEN YOU KEEP GETTING LINKEDIN MESSAGES FROM RECRUITERS...

Time for a change? That’s what Yahoo’s board might be thinking. This week, it will reportedly consider things like: should it sell the company’s core Internet business? Should it stop a planned spin-off of its hugely valuable stake in Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba? And, should it keep CEO Marissa Mayer? The ‘Hoo has been on the struggle bus for years, falling behind Silicon Valley competition like Google and Facebook. Mayer was brought on in 2012 to turn things around. Fast forward to today, and Yahoo’s core online biz – including Yahoo Mail, news, and sports – still has meh user growth and revenue. And, earlier this year, the planned Alibaba spin-off company hit a major snag when the IRS said the move wouldn’t be tax-free like everyone thought. The board will reportedly chat about all this at a regular annual meeting that starts today and goes through Friday. Stay tuned.

WHAT TO SAY TO YOUR ANIMAL-LOVER FRIEND WHO’S ALWAYS POSTING ON FACEBOOK…

This might ruin your day. Yesterday, Japan sent a fleet of ships to kill more than 300 whales. And everyone else isn’t taking it well. Last year, the International Court said this practice is so not legal. Prompting Japan to do the mature thing and simply rename the program. Japan says the whaling is for “scientific research,” but critics think it’s just code for ‘illegal hunting.’ TBD on whether the court – or anyone else – can really do anything to stop this. And in other ‘WTF Japan?’ news, ships with dead bodies have been washing up on Japan’s shores recently. It’s happened at least 12 times in two months. Officials think they’re from North Korea, and that they’re either fishing boats that strayed off course or boats filled with people trying to escape Lil’ Kim.

THING TO KNOW

The Founders: MTV’s new name for the post-millennial generation that got iPhones in elementary school and has no idea what TRL is.

12 DAYS OF SKIMM'NESS

On the second day of Skimm’ness…you still don’t have a good idea for your mom.

Buy her a cutting board with a built-in iPad holder to give her easy access to all her recipes.
PS: this is an affiliate partner, which means if you buy it, theSkimm gets some cash money. Thanks.

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