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Skimm for January 20th

Skimm’d with hot chocolate and a blanket.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Judge Judy” – As in almost 10% of college grads think she is on the Supreme Court according to a new poll. To clarify, she is on television. Well done, America.

SHOULD I STAY OR SHOULD I GO

THE STORY

Yesterday, the Supreme Court picked up the folder marked ‘immigration’ and said ‘let’s do this.’

BACK UP.

Over the past few decades, millions of undocumented immigrants have made their way to the US – and there’s been a big debate about how to deal with them. When President Obama moved into the White House, overhauling the US immigration policy was at the top of his to-do list. C ongress, not so much. So more than a year ago, Obama said, ‘Imma go it alone,’ and took executive actions to delay the deportation of more than four million undocumented immigrants. To which Texas and 25 other states said ‘pretty sure that’s not within your powers’ and sued. Lower courts ruled in favor of the states . And the people who would qualify for the program have been in limbo ever since.

SO NOW WHAT?

Obama’s hoping the Court will rescue his executive actions, and that a Dem prez will get elected in 2016 to keep the program going. Meanwhile, GOP candidates on the campaign trail say even if the Court upholds Obama’s actions, a Republican would get rid of them upon taking office.

theSKIMM

The Court will most likely rule in June, which means it’ll be making a big decision about presidential power in the same year America hires a new president. Good timing.

REPEAT AFTER ME...

WHAT PEOPLE ARE WATCHING...

Pakistan. Today, gunmen attacked a university there, killing at least 19 people and wounding dozens more. Four of the attackers were reportedly killed, and the Taliban took responsibility for the attack. The university is just outside the city of Peshawar and close to the military-run school where the Taliban killed more than 150 people a little over a year ago, most of them children. That attack was the deadliest in Pakistan’s history and prompted a crackdown on militants in the area. And the Taliban said today’s violence was in retaliation for crackdowns like that one. Pakistan’s PM reportedly said those responsible for today’s attack have “no faith and religion.”

WHAT TO SAY WHEN YOUR CO-WORKER ISN’T RESPONDING TO EMAILS ABOUT THE GROUP PRESENTATION...

Step up your game. That’s what citizens of Flint, MI are telling Gov. Rick Snyder. Yesterday, hundreds of the city’s residents filed a class-action lawsuit against the governor and state officials over a months-long water crisis. Back in 2014, Flint left Detroit’s water system to save some cash. The city started taking water from the Flint River in what was supposed to be a temporary move. Cue people noticing that their water looked and smelled funny. And children’s blood tests showing higher levels of lead. PSA: lead can affect brain development and cause behavioral changes in kids. It’s unclear how long it could take to fix the city’s water system. In the meantime, everybody’s relying on water filters and bottled water. This and other lawsuits are alleging that the state govt. knew the water was contaminated for almost a year, while telling people it was A-OK. Yesterday, Snyder apologized, telling people, “you deserve better.” Paging Erin Brockovich. No, really.

WHAT TO SAY WHEN SOMEONE ASKS WHAT NEWSPAPERS YOU READ...

All of them. Yesterday, Sarah Palin endorsed Donald Trump for president at a campaign rally in Iowa. The former Alaska gov. and 2008 VP candidate’s stamp of Tea Party approval is a big win for Trump, who’s looking for an edge over Tea Party bad boy Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) in Iowa. Palin says she’s “proud” to endorse Trump, and BTW, she’d make a great Energy Secretary. Psst...T-12 days until Iowa votes ( here’s your Skimm of 2016). Meanwhile, Dr. Ben Carson has temporarily suspended his campaign. Yesterday, a volunteer died and others on Team Carson were injured after a bad car accident. Carson released a statement, saying, “One of the precious few joys of campaigning is the privilege of meeting bright young men and women who...freely give their time and energy....America lost one of those bright young men today.”

WHAT TO SAY WHEN YOUR BF FORGETS TO BUY MORE PAPER TOWELS ON HIS WAY HOME...

Not gonna complain. Earlier this week in northern Afghanistan, a woman was hospitalized after her husband cut off her nose. 20-year-old Reza Gul said it happened after she said ‘I object’ to her husband’s decision to take a seven-year-old relative as his second wife. Now, she’s trying to get to Turkey for reconstructive surgery. News of the attack angered a lot of people in the village. This might be why the local Taliban is looking for the husband even though violence against women is common. He’s been on the run for days. Bye Felicia. Meanwhile, in other super uplifting gender violence news, yesterday the UN released a report on human rights in Iraq. Since ISIS took over, almost 3,500 women and children have been forced into sexual slavery. Many of them are thought to be Yazidis - a small religious minority in Iraq that ISIS has been targeting since 2014. The good-ish news? The report also says Iraqi troops and the US-led coalition have managed to take back almost a third of ISIS’s territory in Iraq and Syria.

WHAT TO SAY TO YOUR FRIEND WHO IS FANTASIZING ABOUT THE PLAYOFFS...

Take it up with Texas. Yesterday, the Lone Star state’s attorney general said that daily fantasy sports equals illegal gambling . Bad news for DraftKings and FanDuel — two hugely popular daily fantasy sports companies that award cash money to winners. Texas’s AG says the state’s laws ban sporting bets where “the house takes a cut.” Which both companies do. The ruling doesn’t say anything about shutting down either site just yet. This comes as DraftKings and FanDuel are dealing with similar fights in New York and Illinois. Both companies have said that fantasy sports are more about skill than luck, which makes them totally fine under these state laws. TBD on where the chips will fall.

THING TO KNOW

Davos: A ski town in the Swiss Alps. Also where CEOs, startup execs, and world leaders get together every year for the World Economic Forum. It starts today. On the agenda? Economic inequality. Over fondue and Toblerone.

SKIMM'R OF THE WEEK

Skimm’bassador Genevieve Piturro (New York, NY): ‘Tis the season to crank up the heat and slip into some warm PJs. Which, reminder, a lot of people go without. Enter: Genevieve, who started Pajama Program. It donates PJs and bedtime stories to kids in shelters and foster care. Learn more here.

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SKIMM BIRTHDAYS

* indicates Skimm’bassador. Cake cake cake cake.

*Catie Smith (Ithaca, NY); * Katie Love (Lewes, DE); *Anne Marie Giammarino-Bolduc (Lambton, Canada); *Wendy Mitchell (Pittsburgh, PA); *Christina Guanciale (Cincinnati, OH); *Marie Whitlow (San Ramon, CA); *Mary Crum (Nashville, TN); *Sasha Maslanka (Kansas City, MO); *Grace Jemison (Philadelphia, PA); *Kayla Vise (Austin, TX); *Laura Richardson (Fort Myers, FL); Catherine Levene (New York, NY); Tony DiPinto (Wilmington, DE); Daniel Hong (Pasadena, CA); Agata Aiello (West Orange, NJ); Jeremiah Dwight (Mesa, AZ); Courtney Capretz Dawso (Broussard, LA); Alyssa Sacco (San Francisco, CA); Kelly Tagliaferro (N Padre Island, TX); Anne Heaner (San Antonio, TX); Dori Desotell (Kenosha, WI); Sherry Wanner (Cary, NC); Andrew Myers (Toronto, Canada); Laura Chang (Raleigh, NC); Erin McNeal (Scottsdale, AZ); Kristin Lampe (Hickory, NC); Haley Rosenberg (Ann Arbor, MI); Morgan-Taylor Miller (Richmond, VA); Kim Drew (Ankeny, IA); Ann Cleveland Chandler (Greenville, SC); Heidi Skvarna (Walnut Creek, CA); Anne Parker (Columbus, GA); Ashley Burke (Austin, TX); Emily Gober (Atlanta, GA); Janine Muller (Philadelphia, PA); Holly Boggs (Athens, GA); Kim Campo (Tallahassee, FL); Lainie Kray (Buffalo Grove, IL); Malerie Anderson (Amarillo, TX); Lara McCauley (Santa Monica, CA); Rhonda Nelson (Cedar Knolls, NJ); Linda Schulte (St. Louis, MO); Patty Mapes (Atlanta, GA); Sheri Bartyzel (Charlotte, NC); Lori Cobe (Long Beach,CA); Jonathan Moore (New York, NY); Yosef Gillers (Englewood, NJ)