“Just a fun way to spend a Sunday” - An Australian cyclist who spent eight hours with his friends finishing a bike route shaped like a goat. That’s one way of getting off the bleaten path.

SISTERHOOD OF THE TRAVELING BANS

THE STORY

Yesterday, President Trump’s travel ban was benched. Again.

REMIND ME.

Earlier this year, Trump signed an executive order temporarily banning all refugees, as well as people from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the US. That led to chaos at airports and confusion for people with valid visas and green cards. The Trump administration said the ban was necessary to keep the country safe from terrorist threats. Critics said it was unconstitutional for discriminating based on religion and sued. A federal appeals court put the ban on hold.So Team Trump wrote a new ban that was supposed to stand up in court - saying that it has nothing to do with religion. Version 2.0 temporarily bans refugees and people from six Muslim-majority countries, unless they have valid visas or green cards. But some states and civil liberties groups sued again, saying that 2.0 is still unconstitutional because it still discriminates based on religion.

WHAT’S HAPPENING NOW?

The new ban was supposed to go into effect today. But last night, a federal judge in Hawaii temporarily blocked it nationwide. He said it’s clear that it was “issued with a purpose to disfavor a particular religion.” This means refugees and citizens of those six countries can still travel to the US - for now.

HOW ARE PEOPLE REACTING?

Trump called the decision “unprecedented judicial overreach,” and said he’ll fight it all the way to the Supreme Court. His supporters say it’s within the president’s power to make these sorts of national security decisions. Critics say not only is it still unconstitutional, it actually won’t help prevent terror attacks.

theSKIMM

This is checks and balances at work. If the Trump administration appeals the decision, the case will go back to the same appeals court that struck down the first ban. If that happens again, the case could be headed for the Supremes.

REPEAT AFTER ME...

WHAT TO SAY WHEN SOMEONE’S AT THE DOOR AND YOU’RE NOT EXPECTING GUESTS…

‘Hoo’s there? Yesterday, the US gov pointed its finger at four people - including two Russian spies - for hacking Yahoo. Last year, Yahoo said ‘oops we’ve been hacked.’ Twice. Once in 2013, affecting more than a billion user accounts. Then again in 2014, compromising at least 500 million accounts. These are the largest data breaches in history. Turns out the 2014 hack was carried out by Russians. The Justice Department says they were trying to get info on business execs, gov officials, and journalists. And they also tried to make some cash money by spamming people. It’s unclear if these guys were involved in the 2013 hack too. But the DOJ’s charged them with things like wire fraud and conspiracy, making it the first time the US gov has ever charged Russian spies for cyber snooping. Good news: one of the men, who’s based in Canada, has been arrested. Bad news: it’s unclear what will happen with the others because, surprise, Russia doesn’t typically help the US out with these kinds of things. But the US gov’s still hoping the charges will act as a scare tactic to keep this from happening again. Fool me once, shame on the Russians. Fool me twice…

WHAT TO SAY WHEN THE WEATHER APP PREDICTS THUNDERSTORMS BUT IT’S JUST OVERCAST…

Not today. Yesterday, the Netherlands hit the polls and gave its current more-liberal prime minister a thumbs up over an extreme populist candidate. Note: populism is when a large number of people come together to take the government back from the ‘out-of-touch elites’ in charge. Hint…Brexit, and President Trump’s election. Populism has been on the rise in the EU too, driven in part by anti-immigrant feelings since the squad recently started taking in more than a million migrants and refugees. That includes the Netherlands. For a while it looked like an anti-immigrant, anti-Islam, and anti-EU party was neck-in-neck with the majority party in Parliament. Not anymore. Most of the votes have been counted and the current PM and his party claimed victory. That sound you hear is a sigh of relief from governing parties in France and Germany, who are facing populist candidates later this year. These candidates have promised Brexit-style votes on whether to leave the EU. If that happens, the stability of the whole bloc would be at stake. Sacré bleu.

WHAT TO SAY AFTER A SPA DAY...

I feel relaxed and I’m ready to partaayyyy. Just like the Federal Reserve. Yesterday, the US central bank hiked up interest rates for the third time since the ’08 financial crisis. And, bonus: it thinks the economy can handle two more increases later this year. After the crisis, the Fed kept rates down near zero for years, which is basically the economic version of CPR. When interest rates go low, so does the cost of borrowing money, making it easier for people to do economy-boosting things like buy a house. In 2015, after the economy started waking up on the right side of the bed, the Fed tested the financial waters by pushing rates up by juusssttt a little bit. And then again in 2016. Now, the Fed’s thinking the economy got its groove back so it’s time for another rate boost. Play that funky music.

WHAT TO SAY WHEN YOUR CO-WORKERS START SCREAMING AT THEIR COMPUTER SCREENS...

What’s all the bracket about? March Madness is here. And we Skimm’d it for you.

PS: if you want to stay on top of which March Madness games to watch, we have an app for that. Get it here.

SKIMM SLEEP

Pancaking: This is what happens when you’re still using the pillows you stole from your childhood bed a decade ago. Hint: flat as a flapjack. These pillows are made to always bounce back.

NO EXCUSES: IMMIGRATION

Congrats. This week you ditched the excuses and got read-in on some of the key immigration terms in the Skimm’tionary. Here’s one more for good measure...

Sanctuary cities: Cities where officials say ‘nope’ to handing over undocumented immigrants for deportation. Think: if an immigrant gets arrested for an unrelated offense and officials find out he or she is undocumented…the immigrant is safe. Cities includes NYC, LA, and San Fran.

PS: Can’t get enough immigration information? Here’s all of it in one place. 

SKIMM LIFE

This morning’s your last chance to fine tune your March Madness bracket before the games begin. Fill yours out here for a chance at eternal glory. Or just showing up your co-workers.

SKIMM SHARE

SKIMM BIRTHDAYS

Jason Schulweis (New York, NY); *Claire Boyd (Chapel Hill, NC); *Campbell Howe (New York, NY); *Stephanie McCarthy (Pittsburgh, PA); *Maja Laxdal (Dallas, TX); *Debbie Rood (Okatie, SC); *Yelena Maleyev (Winnipeg, Canada); *Elizabeth Buchanan (Athens, GA); *Mariah Schlossmann (Milwaukee, WI); *Laura Quintero (Silver Spring, MD); *Ali Johnson (Lubbock, TX); *Emma Friday (Indianapolis, IN); *Arpita Parikh (Chicago, IL); *Chelsey Nelson (Seattle, WA); *Claire Spech (Columbus, OH); *Erinn Gloster (Boston, MA); Janelle Pizarro (Sarasota, FL); Lea Smith (Dallas, TX); Kristin Volker (Atlanta, GA); Bobbi Kelly (Lansdale, PA); Michelle Shafer (Chicago, IL); Clare Keating (Boston, MA); Reem Papageorgiou (Needham, MA); Nina Cohen (Chicago, IL); Jill Awbrey (Los Angeles, CA); Lena Ocansey (Middletown, CT); Joan Moore (North Miami Beach, FL); Maria Jakubiak (Durham, NC); Maureen Schulte (Chicago, IL); Danielle Angelo (Orlando, FL); Kevin Moore (Montclair, NJ); Karen Wade (Indianapolis, IN); Chana Stocke (Duluth, MN); Kristal Gerdes (Eau Claire, WI); Virginia Cully (Amston, CT); Renee Gibson (Dallas, TX); Olivia Ruse (Cleveland, OH); Christine Arsnow (Hanover, NH); Lily Lee (Pasadena, CA); Lars Olsen (Chicago, IL); Ashley Adams (Arlington, VA); Vicky Akin (Melissa, TX); Abi Aryan (New Delhi, IN); Jessica Aitken (Harrisburg, PA); Bridget Cavanaugh (Bozeman, MT); Christie Ray Harrison (New York, NY); Holly Keller (Charlotte, NC); Jessica Cute (Murrells Inlet, SC); Kelly Mahaney (Miami, FL); Alix Duchouquette (El Paso, TX); Anne Marie Ristow (Sarasota, FL); Maureen Heston (Ogdensburg, NJ); Alyssa Smith (Omaha, NE); Kate Brown (Washington, DC)