Daily Skimm: Long weekend inside

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Skimm for January 15th

Skimm’d over pizza, white wine, and politics.

QUOTE OF THE DAY “None” – What Florida police initially listed as Nick Carter’s occupation. The Backstreet Boy was arrested in Key West after a bar fight. Guess we know who does not sing “Larger Than Life” at karaoke. Skimm This

SEEING RED

THE STORY Last night, the GOP candidates went on “Maury” – aka their sixth debate — and said ‘President Obama is NOT the (founding) father.’ WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? Things got feisty. The Fox Business moderators used their indoor voices. The candidates did not. What was on their minds? The economy, and why Obama’s wrong to say the US has the ‘strongest in the world.’ Gun control, and why Obama’s recent executive actions are horrible, no good, very bad. ISIS , and why the US needs a new strategy stat. Hillz, and why she’d be going ‘back and forth between the courthouse and the White House’ if elected. Ouch. WHO SAID WHAT? Gov. John Kasich (OH)…as in Karate Kid Kasich is still talking with his hands. He thinks Americans should eat a balanced budget for breakfast, and he wants to be the one to serve it to them. Which, conveniently, he’s already done before. Gov. Chris Christie (NJ)…as in Mr. Tough Love Gov. He responded to criticism that he’s been flip-flopping on issues like education by huffing, puffing, and reminding everyone that governors are held accountable for everything they do — unlike others. Lookin’ at you, Marco Rubio. “You blew it.” Sen. Marco Rubio (FL)...as in the one who’s convinced Obama wants to take away your guns. He says the Second Amendment is a right, not an option, and terrorist groups like ISIS are buying guns on the black market — not at gun shows. Cue the applause. Donald Trump…as in the one who has lots of Muslim friends. Canadian friends, not so much. He “didn’t care” about Ted Cruz before he started gaining in the polls . Now, Trump’s got some serious questions about whether Canada-born Cruz can even run for prez. PS, don’t mess with Trump’s NYC values. Sen. Ted Cruz (TX)…as in the one who consciously uncoupled from the Donald last night. He studied his flash cards HARD on questions about loans from big banks, and shade from the Donald about where he was born, eh. Btw, you won’t see him wearing an ‘I <3 NY’ shirt anytime soon. Ben Carson...as in the one who power napped in between questions. In response to how he’d deal with threats to the US, he said something about “dirty bombs” the electrical grid, and the “exo-atmosphere.” The name’s Carson, Ben Carson. Former Gov. Jeb Bush (FL)...as in the one whose smile says ‘halp.’ He says mental health needs to be the focus when dealing with gun violence. And he thinks Trump’s comments on banning Muslims are “unhinged” — especially since the Kurds are our BFFs in the fight against ISIS. theSKIMM T-17 days until the Iowa caucuses (first big 2016 event). There are still seven candidates on the main stage, but it’s looking more and more like this is the Trump vs. Cruz show. THE *: In case you missed it — and you probably did — the Dems are debating on Sunday. On a long weekend. Since they haven’t been doing much talking, we’re letting you do it for them with Skimm Libs. Have at it. Skimm This

REPEAT AFTER ME...

WHAT TO SAY WHEN YOU HEAR CHATTER ABOUT FOURSQUARE... Here’s who will be checking in at the Oscars. The noms were announced yesterday. Time to drag yourself to “The Revenant.” Leo’s wilderness survival movie got 12 noms, and might finally (finally) land him a statue. “Mad Max: Fury Road,” the post-apocalyptic movie starring Charlize is apparently more than a two-hour video game. It got 10 noms including Best Pic. Lesbian lovers Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara picked up noms for “Carol.” J.Law is on the ballot. Again. Who won’t have to prep acceptance speeches? Aaron Sorkin and Quentin Tarantino. They got shut out for their “Steve Jobs” and “Hateful Eight” screenplays. Ridley Scott. The Academy dropped a bunch of noms on “The Martian,” but said ‘pass’ to giving him a shot at Best Director. And any actor who isn’t white. For the second year, there is basically zero diversity on the ballot. Which should at least give host Chris Rock some material to work with. Skimm This

WHAT TO SAY TO YOUR FRIEND WHO SAYS ‘WINGARDIUM LEVIOSA’ WHILE TRYING TO LIFT A HEAVY BAG… Sorry for your loss. Yesterday, 69-year-old actor Alan Rickman died after a battle with cancer. You know him as Severus Snape in the “Harry Potter” movies, Hans Gruber in “Die Hard,” Colonel Brandon in “Sense and Sensibility,” and the guy who bought the necklace in “Love Actually.” He started his career with the Royal Shakespeare Company, and later performed on Broadway. Yesterday, JK Rowling tweeted  to Rickman’s family, saying “We have all lost a great talent. They have lost part of their hearts.” And then The New Yorker made everyone tear up with this cartoon. Skimm This

WHAT TO SAY TO YOUR FRIEND WHO’S SEEN CELINE IN CONCERT FIVE TIMES… She could use some love. Yesterday, the singer’s 73-year-old husband Rene Angelil passed away from cancer. Angelil discovered Dion and was her longtime manager, and the couple had three young kids together. In a recent interview, Dion said her husband wanted to die in her arms. All the feels.

WHAT TO SAY TO YOUR FRIEND WHO JUST SIGNED UP FOR A MARATHON... You planning on going all natural? Yesterday, an anti-doping commission reported that – not only is there a “culture of cheating” in Russian track and field – but the people in charge of policing the athletes are cheating too. The report accuses the international governing body of track and field of knowing that Russian athletes were doping, and doing basically nothing to stop it. On top of that, these officials were apparently blackmailing athletes and taking bribes in exchange for covering up drug test results. Cute. This comes after Russian track and field athletes were banned from international competition last year. PS – if all of this isn’t cleared up by summer, these athletes could be shut out of the Rio Olympics.  Skimm This

WHAT TO SAY TO YOUR FRIEND WHO WANTS TO GO TO A HACKATHON… Broadway is for nerds too. Skimm This

THING TO KNOW 401k: Tax code speak for the money you’re saving for retirement. Short term buzzkill, long-term buzz. After you set up your 401k, you can set it up so that cash money gets automatically added from every paycheck. Congrats, this is usually tax-free until you retire. And bonus: lots of companies “match” (up to a certain percentage) what their employees put into their 401ks. So the more you set aside now, the more you’ll be able to go big later on.

SKIMM READS “The Longest Night” by Andria Williams Think “Army Wives” meets “Serial” meets your perfect long weekend read. About an army base with a lot of love triangles, and a cover-up. Skimm This

SKIMM WINE Skimm’ologist says: this rose has a little watermelon, a little cherry, and a lot of good vibes to go with your read.

PROGRAMMING NOTE There will be no Skimm on Monday because of MLK Jr. Day. See you back here on Tuesday.

SKIMM SHARE Long weekend ahead. Make it even better by sharing theSkimm.

SKIMM BIRTHDAYS *indicates Skimm’bassador. Treat yo’self. *Jackie Millstein (New York, NY); *Leigh Barrow (Charleston, SC); *Shonali Burke (Silver Spring, MD); *Jaime Brosnan (Pearl River, NY); *Terri Schlather (Houston, TX); *Allie O’Neill (Haddon Heights, NJ); *Kara Samuels (Santa Barbara, CA); *Hayden Roberts (Henrico, VA); *Amanda Mueller (Santa Rosa, CA); *Eric Johnson (Bloomington, IN); *Jacquelyn Brummond (Sioux City, IA); *Jolene Meunier (Milwaukee, WI); *KatieAnne Head (Dallas, TX); *Rayna Lew (Edmonton, Canada); *Danielle Andreani (New York, NY); *Kate Rinehart (Cape Town, South Africa); *Jade Kirstein (Winnipeg, Canada); *Pavitra Pothpan (San Francisco, CA); *Sarah Petrosky (Louisville, KY); *Renee Stein (Saint Louis, MO); *Ashley Laflin (Minneapolis, MN); *Olivia Duke (Silver Spring, MD); *Grace Sica (Philadelphia, PA); *Brittney Stephens (Grays Harbor, Washington); *Elena Rand (Kenilworth, IL); *Ali Nageotte (Cleveland, OH); *Rachel Rodesney (Oklahoma City, OK); *Stevy Olive (Dallas, TX); *Steven Newhouse (Boone, NC); Mike Rothman (New York, NY); Caitlin Salata (Santa Monica, CA); Taryn Petrelli (New York, NY); Anna Stone (Tel Aviv, Israel); Ashley Moeller (San Diego); Aerin Kristian (New York, NY); Cheryl Chapman (Baton Rouge, LA); Clark Winter (New York, NY); Amy Hoover Jones (Bettendorf, IA); Dan Hillman (London, England); Doris Pieslak (Setauket, NY); Lindsay Ruhling (Chicago, IL); Samantha Burgoon (Columbus, OH); Paige Day (Forest Hill, MD); Leah Carlisle (New York, NY); Gabby Truitt (Cincinnati, OH); Jena Hippensteel Henderson (Birmingham, AL); Mirlande Martin (New York, NY); Emily Seltzer (Livingston, NJ); Eli Joyce (Brooklyn, NY); Hilary Segar (Boston, MA); Johanna Boyce (San Francisco, CA); John Malone (Downingtown, PA); Meaghan Savoy (New Orleans, LA); Samantha Fien-Helfman (Washington, DC); Jeff Rosenberg (New York, NY); Terri Yamauchi (Lake Forest, IL); Katie Lelinski (Philadelphia, PA); Katie Zubrow (New York, NY); Mackenzie Regan (Middletown, MD); Mona Goodman (Madison, CT); Pat DiPinto (Wilmington, DE); Tori Jasuta (Manhattan Beach, CA); Emma Gardephe (New Rochelle, NY); Tricia Downey (Solana Beach, CA); Bob Fitzpatrick (San Clemente, CA); Bob Fried (Roslyn, NY); Caitlin Hilligas (Orlando, FL); Ankita Nayak (Austin, TX); Courtney Khail (Denver, CO); Dara-Ann Bauman (New York, NY); Catherine Niech (Boston, MA); Shawn Ryan (Los Angeles, CA); Tim Pinkham (Rollinsford, NH); Audrey Fancher (Medford, OR); Frances Hartnett (Chicago, IL); Alison Bianco (New York, NY); Karly Mitchell (Chicago, IL); Caren Greenhouse (Manhattan Beach, CA); Logan Brown (Gainesville, GA); Lanier Clark (Jackson, MS); Carly Spindel (New York, NY); Maggi Sagnibene (Carrollton, TX); Lindsay Dietrich (Atlanta, GA); Pam Rodriguez (Coconut Grove, FL); Nupur Moondra (Arlington, VA); Deborah Brosowsky (Albertson, NY); Leslie Maguire (Winnetka, IL); Sara Crow (New York, NY); Tina Guillen (Tracy, CA); Eden Hoffman (New York, NY); Stephen Barkan (New Orleans, LA); Sherri Liebowitz (Rydal, PA); Margarit Stepanian (Fort Lee, NJ); Trixie Bluvstein (Milwaukee, WI); Tessa Warner (Lincoln, NE); Mark Capozzola (Huntington, NY); Rebecca Dew (Charleston, SC)

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[New post] IPA’s weekly links

Jeff Mosenkis (IPA) posted: "Guest post by Jeff Mosenkis of Innovations for Poverty Action. Harold Pollack writes in Vox about a paper (here) analyzing credit card reform. The CARD credit card act included both hard regulation (elimination of fees) and a nudge (providing informatio" New post on Chris Blattman IPA’s weekly links by Jeff Mosenkis (IPA) Guest post by Jeff Mosenkis of Innovations for Poverty Action. Harold Pollack writes in Vox about a paper (here) analyzing credit card reform. The CARD credit card act included both hard regulation (elimination of fees) and a nudge (providing information about timely payments on statements). The nudge did relatively little, but the fee reform saved credit card customers billions. Card issuers made the most from those with the lowest credit scores, with the increased fees more than offsetting the risk of default: "Fees exceed 30 percent of ADB [average daily balance] for every FICO category below 560, compared with about 3 percent for accounts with FICO scores above 700 — roughly the top half of the distribution." The youngest owner of a private Gulfstream jet is Malawian, the pastor Prophet Shepherd Bushiri (the $37m Gulfstream III is his third private jet), who announced it on Facebook. Sociologist Ebenezer Obadare writes about the political power of wealthy Pentecostal ministers in Nigeria on the LSE blog here. A new Medium publication, The Development Set, looks critically at the world of development. This article cautions against the "seduction of other people's problems," and imagines a Ugandan idealist who wants to help the problems of gun violence in the U.S. She moves to America to set up an NGO or social enterprise to help, only to find the roots of the problem complex and tied up with intractable politics. (h/t Kim Yi Dionne) A working paper looks at the effects of an aid program during conflict in the Philippines. The program worked, though mostly through better governance rather than aid spending, but the effects were ultimately offset because rebels relocated to other communities, lowering welfare there. (h/t Justin Sandefur) FiveThirtyEight is starting an econ column, for the next 24 hours you can vote for the name here. Jeff Mosenkis (IPA) | January 14, 2016 at 2:23 pm | Tags: Credit cards, Fivethirtyeight, Malawi, Philippines | Categories: development, economics, miscellany, violence | URL: http://chrisblattman.com/?p=13396 Comment    See all comments Unsubscribe to no longer receive posts from Chris Blattman. Change your email settings at Manage Subscriptions. Trouble clicking? Copy and paste this URL into your browser: http://chrisblattman.com/2016/01/14/ipas-weekly-links-44/

[New post] “What the left and right got wrong about crime in 2015.”

Chris Blattman posted: "That is the title of an op-ed on US crime by Thomas Abt. To summarize, the increase in homicides appears real, but there is no broader national crime wave. It is unclear what is driving the problem, but my own hunch – and it is still just a hunch at this " New post on Chris Blattman “What the left and right got wrong about crime in 2015.” by Chris Blattman That is the title of an op-ed on US crime by Thomas Abt. To summarize, the increase in homicides appears real, but there is no broader national crime wave. It is unclear what is driving the problem, but my own hunch – and it is still just a hunch at this point – involves a criminological phenomenon called legal cynicism. Multiple studies have demonstrated that, controlling for other factors, when communities view the police and criminal justice system as illegitimate, they become more violent. When people believe the system is unwilling or unable to help them, they are more likely to take the law into their own hands, creating the cycles of violent retribution that were chronicled so vividly last year in Jill Leovy's Ghettoside.   Chris Blattman | January 14, 2016 at 9:43 am | Tags: homicide, United States | Categories: crime | URL: http://chrisblattman.com/?p=13374 Comment    See all comments Unsubscribe to no longer receive posts from Chris Blattman. Change your email settings at Manage Subscriptions. Trouble clicking? Copy and paste this URL into your browser: http://chrisblattman.com/2016/01/14/what-the-left-and-right-got-wrong-about-crime-in-2015/

Canada's Adventure Couple

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#OMGB – Our best Moments from Wales in Photos Posted: 14 Jan 2016 02:00 AM PST Have you ever had an OMG Moment? While visiting Wales last autumn, we had many. It makes sense that Great Britain has taken the abbreviation OMG to the next level and it’s now #OMGB. (Oh My Great Britain!) While visiting Wales, we said “Oh my” so many times and to celebrate the launch of #OMGB Home of Amazing moments, we thought we’d share our favourite OMGB moments from Wales in photos. Looking over Snowdonia #OMGB You’ll love the new website OMGB.com, it’s filled with amazing moments from all around Great Britain including a few from yours truly. It’s an inspiring way to explore a country. A picture says a thousand words and these moments truly capture experiences all around England, Scotland and Wales.  So, I really don’t need to write much more to showcase the amazing time we had in Wales, I can just show your pictures!  But before we go on, we want you to have your own OMGB moment with a vacation in Britain! Read on….. Deb hiking in Snowdonia Win a Trip to Great Britain Oh My Great Britain! #OMGB We are very excited to announce that Visit Britain is giving one lucky winner a trip for two to Bath and Edinburgh to enjoy their very own #OMGB moments. All you have to do is visit OMGB.com and complete the entry form either with your email address or your Twitter or Facebook accounts. You can gain additional entries by sharing your entry via Twitter with the hashtage #OMGB. See full terms and conditions here.    Need inspiration to enter? Enjoy our favourite moments from Wales in photos. Exploring Carreg Cennen Castle Carreg Cennen Castle Wales is filled with Castles and having Carreg Cennen Castle all to ourselves on our way to Llandeilo was a highlight. A wedding was going on that day and as we were walking down, the bride and groom were walking up. Priceless. Coasteering in Pembrokeshire Coasteering: A Major #OMGB moment Coasteering was invented in Wales and one of the first operations was Preseliventure. They are still going strong and if you want to explore the coast by traversing along the sea, jumping into the water and swimming into caves and waves, this is for you. See: Coasteering in Wales, it’s not as scary as you think! Seeing Snowdonia Taking the train to spectacular Snowdon Mountain Snowdon Mountain in Northern Wales is the highest mountain in Wales. You can hike up to the top in a few hours, but if you have limited time you can take the train. When you reach the top, you have the option to look around for about an hour, or you can take your time and hike down at your own pace. Bouncing Around at Bounce Below Bounce Below One of the most unique tourist attractions we’ve ever been to was Bounce Below in Blaenau Ffestiniog. It is a giant underground cavern filled with trampolines, ziplines and a via feratta. This part of Wales is fast becoming the adventure capital of the country. See our video and read about Bounce Below at our post: The Ultimate Playground for the Kid in You! Discovering Portmeiron Walking around Portmeiron Portmeiron is a cute little village modelled after Riomaggiore in the Five Villages of Italy. There are hotels, shops and artists studios in the village located on a picturesque lake. We stayed at the Portmeiron Hotel which was like stepping back in time. Lobster Safari A unique safari experience is going out to catch lobster with North Wales Sea Fishing Trips. Read all about our Lobster Safari at Catch of the Day, A Lobster Safari in Wales Admire the Coast Wales Coast line Wales has a beautiful coast and you must hike along the many coastal trails, get out on the water either kayaking or on a boat tour and admire its beauty. Serene Moments When travelling it’s easy to get caught up in running from place to place, but taking the time to enjoy the stillness at sunrise or sunset can help to put your travels into perspective. When we sit quietly on the beach, we realize just how beautiful this world is and how lucky we are to be able to explore it. Go for a Walk Going for a walk through any village in Wales will probably lead you to a castle somewhere. If you want your fill of castles, Wales is the place to be! Quiet Moments How could we not end with a sunset? One of the glorious things about travel is the opportunity to see the sun set from a different part of the world. The skies were on fire during our time in Wales and this evening was a beautiful moment snapped from our hotel room window. One of our favourite parts of travelling is remembering moments. It’s the little moments that often stand out. Sure the adventures make for great stories, but it’s often the quiet moments that we remember most. Travel lets you connect to each other, make new friends and find peace and stillness within yourself. It’s about finding moments that will occupy your memory forever and that is what Wales will do for us. We’ll remember each moment there for the rest of our lives. Our trip to Wales was in partnership with VisitWales and Visit Britain. For more information on #OMGB and how you could win a trip to Britain visit the OMGB Website.  Read Next: The Best Things to do in Northern Ireland Read the original post #OMGB – Our best Moments from Wales in Photos on The Planet D: Adventure Travel Blog.

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