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Skimm for December 29th

Skimm’d in new PJs

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Yeast Infection” — The name of Kesha’s new band. Doctors suggest listening with some yogurt.

NO CHARGES

THE STORY

Yesterday, a grand jury said ‘nah’ to bringing charges against two police officers involved in the shooting death of 12-year-old Tamir Rice.

REMIND ME.

Last year, Rice, who is black, was shot and killed by a white police officer in Cleveland, OH. This happened after two officers responded to a 911 call about a man holding what appeared to be a gun. Turns out, Rice was actually a 12-year-old boy holding a pellet gun. The officers mistook the pellet gun for the real thing, and one of them shot Rice.

SO WHY NO CHARGES?

The grand jury says it decided not to indict the officers partly because they had no way of knowing the gun was a fake. It was missing an orange tip that was supposed to indicate that it wasn’t an actual gun and the 911 dispatcher never gave the officers a heads up that the gun could be fake. Yesterday, Rice’s family condemned the decision, but asked people to express themselves “peacefully and democratically.” That might be because massive protests broke out after the decisions not to indict officers in the shooting deaths of Michael Brown in Ferguson, MO and Eric Garner in NYC.

theSKIMM

Yesterday’s decision closes a chapter on a case that added to national uproar over racial discrimination and excessive use of force in local PDs.

REPEAT AFTER ME...

WHAT TO SAY WHEN YOU FINALLY CATCH YOUR ROOMMATE EATING YOUR LEFTOVERS...

Gotcha. Last night, the so-called ‘affluenza teen’ Ethan Couch and his mom were arrested in Mexico . Two years ago, the Texas teenager killed four people in a drunk driving crash. His lawyers used “affluenza” as a defense, saying the 16-year-old was a rich kid who never had limits set for him. Everyone said ‘really??’ and he was sentenced to probation. Couch and his mom went missing earlier this month, and then last night, police found them near a Mexican resort. No word on why they were fleeing, but Couch could now face up to 10 years in prison for violating his probation.

WHAT TO SAY WHEN YOUR EX APOLOGIZES TWO YEARS AFTER YOU BREAK UP…

Overdue, but thanks. Yesterday, Japan and South Korea played nice and reached a deal on their decades-long dispute about “comfort women .” Comfort women: tens of thousands of mostly Korean women who served as sex slaves for Japanese troops before and during WWII. South Korea has always asked Japan for an apology and compensation for the not-so-comforting practice, but the two countries have never been able to agree on anything. Until yesterday, when the Japanese government said it would give $8.3 million to a foundation that will offer things like medical care to surviving comfort women. But a lot of South Koreans are saying ‘too little too late,’ and that these women deserve more. The agreement is a big deal for the US, who’s hoping a closer friendship between South Korea and Japan means a stronger group of allies for the US in Asia.

WHAT TO SAY WHEN YOUR BOSS ASKS YOU TO LEAD THE MONTHLY TEAM BRAINSTORM…

Go time. Yesterday, Iran decided it was go time to put tons of enriched uranium on a ship and send it off to Russia. Enriched uranium is a key ingredient in the recipe to create a nuclear weapon. You might remember that time last summer when Iran and a group of world powers reached a deal to limit Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for lifting harsh economic sanctions on the country. Part of the deal meant Iran had to get rid of this enriched uranium. So yesterday’s shipment means a global dream is becoming a reality. Which also means President Obama - who wanted to get the deal implemented before he leaves office - can check something off his New Year’s Resolution list.

WHAT TO SAY AT THE LAST FAMILY DINNER OF VACAY…

Did you hear about Meadowlark Lemon? The former star of the Harlem Globetrotters - the touring basketball team known for it’s ball-handling tricks - died over the weekend at the age of 83. Lemon played more than 7,500 consecutive games with the Globetrotters and became one of the team’s most popular ballers.

THING TO KNOW

Steven Avery: The subject of a new Netflix documentary series that your friends are binging, called ‘Making a Murderer.’ He was wrongfully convicted for sexual assault and served 18 years in prison. Then he was convicted of murder in a different case and sent back to prison. Spoiler: there are questions over whether or not he actually did it.

SKIMM GIFT

Oh the weather outside is blah. How does a trip to Costa Rica sound? Five nights, dinner, massage, and shopping spree included. Yes please.

SKIMM BIRTHDAYS

*indicates Skimm’bassador. Get it.

*Henry Frank Kelrick (Los Angeles, CA); *Amye Lee Rheault (Washington, DC); *Lauren Eggbeer (Hanover, NH); *Victoria Coons (Athens, GA); *Courtney Crossland (Boise, ID); *Jorie Moss (Princeton, NJ); *Amanda Damon (Newport, RI); *Beth Hamstra (Crown Point, IN); *Lauren Jackson (Blacksburg, VA); *Erin Shafter (New Orleans, LA); *Sydney Carey (Moorhead, MN); *Katrina Power (Houston, TX); *Lauren Allison (Arlington, VA); *Kristi Sundquist (Seattle, WA); *Leah Stortz (Chicago, IL); *Jess Losier (Denver, CO); *Lauren Lane (New York, NY); *Becky Chaffee (Minneapolis, MN); Wes Graf (New York, NY); *Rachael Palmer (Salisbury, MD); *Shannon Moshofsky (Portland, OR); *Rachel Travers (Blakeslee, PA); *Caroline Liu (Phoenix, AZ); *Tobi Glazer (New York, NY); *Kyle Koffman (Los Angeles, CA); *Sarah Pitzer (West Chester, OH); *Abby Eurich (Englewood, CO); Allison Esposito (New York, NY); Linkon Altman (Chicago, IL); Faith Gaskins (New York, NY); Michelle Trame (Rochester Hills, MI); Zach Frankel (New York, NY); Emily Simmons (New York, NY); Hannah McLaughlin; Erica Baumann (Saint Louis Park, MN); Katie Mandel (New York, NY); Bonnie Fearer (Santa Barbara, CA); Keishanna James (Richmond, VA); Adria Simon (New York, NY); Robin Donnenfeld (East Hills, NY); Anne McKee (Chapel Hill, NC); Becca Carlson (San Francisco, CA); Maggie Landon (New York, NY); Sarah Harano (San Clemente, CA); Shailaja Parekh (Charlottesville, VA); Sydney Krelstein (Beverly Hills, CA); Tracy Houdmann (La Jolla, CA); Alyssa Schor; Jackie Bolno (New York, NY); Alice Kopunovitz (Kent, OH); Micha Thompson (New York, NY); Samantha Yi (Brooklyn, NY)