Skimm'd while keeping our finances afloat…

"It was liberating" – A woman had a divorce party and blew up her wedding dress. Freedom never tasted so good.

THINGS WITH BIG UPDATES

Amazon

The Story

Amazon's HQ2 is saying 'homes sweet homes' to New York and Virginia.

Why two cities?

The company said it all came down to getting top talent. And a lot of it. Each site will host 25,000 employees with highly skilled jobs (think: an average salary of around $150K). In return, Amazon gets about $2 billion in incentives from the two cities as a 'thank you' for the job creation. It's also adding a smaller Nashville hub for things like operations and logistics.

What does it mean for both spots?

Depends on who you ask. The local govs in NY and VA are giving themselves high fives for landing the deal – which comes with $5 billion in investments from Amazon. But local residents are saying 'hmm, how is this not going to up our rent, push us out of our neighborhoods, and make traffic more of a living hell?'

theSkimm

The search for Amazon HQ2 started out as a competition and opportunity for economic growth for cities around the country. Now more than a year and 238 city bids later, the world's largest online retailer has chosen its winners – and pocketed info on major US cities' infrastructure and job market in the process. Bezos strikes again.

Brexit

The Story

The UK and EU are one step closer to finalizing their divorce.

Fill me in.

Yesterday, after months and months of failed negotiations, the UK and EU agreed on a draft deal. There aren't a ton of details yet, but UK PM Theresa May is meeting with her cabinet today to give them the pitch. What we know: the plan doesn't include a hard border between Northern Ireland (part of the UK) and Ireland (part of the EU). This has been one of the most complicated issues in the negotiating process because of a peace deal from the '90s that got rid of the border there.

theSkimm

Here's who still needs to give the plan the thumbs up: May's cabinet, UK parliament, European Parliament, and every EU country. But May's gov is divided on this, so it's unclear if she'll even get support at home. And don't forget they're working on a time crunch – Brexit officially goes into effect in March, with or without a deal in place. No pressure.

REPEAT AFTER ME...

What to say when you have back-to-back meetings all day...

Busy, busy. Yesterday, CNN sued President Trump and some of his top aides for suspending reporter Jim Acosta's press pass for allegedly "placing his hands" on a White House intern. CNN says Trump and co violated Acosta's First and Fifth Amendment rights. The White House says 'bring it.' Meanwhile, First Lady Melania Trump is publicly calling for Mira Ricardel – deputy national security adviser – to get the boot. The beef has to do with who got to sit on the first lady's plane during her Africa trip last month. If Ricardel gets fired, she wouldn't be the only one on the chopping block. The president is expected to fire Sec of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen...and also push out WH Chief of Staff John Kelly. Oh, and Maryland isn't down with Trump's acting AG pick Matthew Whitaker. Drama? In DC? Groundbreaking.

What people are worried about...

Hate crimes. Yesterday, the FBI dropped data that shows reported hate crimes in the US went up last year for a third year in a row. Part of this could be because more local and state law enforcement agencies are giving that kind of info to the FBI. And the FBI is reportedly planning to train officers on how to better identify and report these kinds of crimes. The report says that a majority of hate crimes committed were motivated by race or ethnicity – of which nearly half of the victims were black. There was also a spike in anti-Semitic attacks. Acting AG Matthew Whitaker said reducing violent crimes is the DOJ's top priority and that hate crimes are violent crimes as well as "despicable violations of our core values as Americans."

What to say when you hear there's a new Keurig pod machine for cocktails…

Shaking things up. Just like Juul. The company is pulling most of its flavored e-cigarettes from stores and will shut down some of its social media accounts. This is to get on the FDA's good side, after the agency said earlier this year that e-cig use in teens had reached "an epidemic proportion." And gave some companies (cough, Juul, cough) 60 days to prove they can keep e-cigs away from minors. Subtle.

What to say when you're experiencing election withdrawal...

We don't blame you.

What to say when you're already over the cold weather…

April is coming.

THING TO KNOW

MMF

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SKIMM PICKS

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For when you hear November is Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month…

Skimm'r of the Week Cassadie Moravek knows what you should do to help. She's the associate director of clinical initiatives for PanCAN – an org dedicated to fighting the deadly cancer. The org is trying to improve patient outcomes and double survival rates by 2020. Learn more and donate here.

SKIMM BIRTHDAYS

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