Skimm'd after seeing "Mean Girls" on Broadway

"We'd never turn our back on pancakes (except for that time we faked it to promote our new burgers)" - IHOP admitting the whole IHOb thing was a lie. Don't trust anyone.

OOH NA NA(TO)

The Story

The NATO summit started today. Get your international hats on.

Give me the deets.

Two days. Brussels. And 29 member countries that look out for each other's geopolitical interests. This year, they'll be tackling issues like the fight against terrorism and burden-sharing. The US and many NATO allies have been on the outs lately - thanks to things like tariffs and the Iran nuclear deal. Also President Trump has a few issues with the group.

Like what?

That many NATO countries aren't pulling their weight when it comes to defense spending. And Trump feels like the US has been carrying the team. He's been very vocal that he'd like to see them step it up. Today, Trump kicked off his day saying 'seriously, step it up.' And added that Germany is "captive to Russia" when it comes to energy.

How's all that gone over?

Eh, not great. European allies are worried about Trump's priorities and are on the edge of their seats for how these next two days go. Meanwhile, former US Sec of State Madeleine Albright and 15 other former foreign ministers sent Trump a letter asking him to play nice with Western allies and to avoid getting cozy with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Wait, why are we talking about Putin?

Because Trump's making a visit to Finland next week to meet with the Russian prez. Unclear what's on the agenda, but Trump says it "may be the easiest" of his overseas meetings. That includes his visit to the UK to catch up with PM Theresa May. She's dealing with some light government turmoil right now after two top Brexit leaders quit on her. So it should be an interesting chat.

Anything else?

Yesterday, Trump announced he was imposing another round of tariffs on China - this time on up to $200 billion of the country's goods. China said 'not cool, man' and will most likely retaliate. Tit for tat.

theSkimm

Trump has shown that he's not afraid to peace out of an international org that he doesn't think supports US interests. And he's had a lot of beef with NATO. All eyes will be on if these countries can work together to keep this decades-old alliance intact.

PS: World organizations like to go by their acronyms (looking at you, NATO) - we Skimm'd them all for you so you never have to miss a beat.

REPEAT AFTER ME...

What to say when your roommate owes you their half of the electric bill...

Show me the money. Yesterday, UK regulators slapped Facebook with a hefty fine. Because of that tiny little Cambridge Analytica scandal. You know, the one where a political consulting firm took tens of millions of Facebook users' data without their permission. And the Book pretty much knew about it but didn't do much to stop it. Everyone and their mother started having trust issues with the co and wasn't sure whether their personal data was safe online. Now the UK's telling the Book to write a $664,000 check for not being transparent and not protecting users. It's the first fine since the scandal went down. Yes, Zuck's wallet is about to get a little lighter. But...barely.

What to say when your sister's SO says something you don't agree with...

Not down with this. Yesterday, the NFL players union said it's challenging the league's national anthem policy. The one that tried to prevent players from taking a knee after Colin Kaepernick did just that to protest police brutality and racism in the US. Earlier this year, the league set some new ground rules around the anthem: players who want to protest during it have to stay in the locker rooms. And if there's any funny business on the field, teams could get fined. The players' union said they were never consulted about any of this. And now is filing a complaint, saying it "infringes on player rights."

What people are keeping an eye on...

Nevada. The state's planning to use fentanyl for the execution of a death row inmate today. If it does, it'll reportedly be the first state to use it. Reminder: fentanyl is a man-made opioid that's super dangerous and people can only legally get it through a prescription. It's also partially responsible for the opioid crisis in the US -which on average kills 115 Americans a day. The state's department of corrections apparently said it had a hard time getting lethal injection drugs because pharma co's don't want to be associated with these executions. But it got fentanyl from one of the US's largest pharma distribution co's. And some people are raising their eyebrows about how they got it. Today's execution would be the first to go down in Nevada in 12 years.

What people are happy about...

The Thailand cave rescue. All 12 boys plus their soccer coach were safely rescued. Hear that? It's the sound of a sigh of relief around the world.

What to say when you hear Cristiano Ronaldo needs to brush up on his Italian...

What's Italian for victory? Yesterday, France beat out Belgium for a spot in the World Cup final. Next up: England v Croatia today. In other news about people who can handle balls better than you, Serena Williams is headed to the Wimbledon semifinals. What, like it's hard?

SKIMM PICKS

For when your friend gets engaged after six months...

Life in the fast lane. Here's another way to get those bells ringing quickly. This company has over 125 free customizable wedding website templates to choose from. They're easy to set up, connect seamlessly to your registry, and will have you saying those three little words in no time: dream wedding website. Go for it.*

For when your summer calendar goes from busy to busy AF...

Get organized. And get your superfoods super fast with this service. It brings real, unprocessed foods right to your door. All you have to do is blend them up and sip them down. PS: Skimm'rs get $25 off their first order. Here you go.*

What to say when you want to help out...

Take a page out of Skimm'r of the Week Cassie Holt's book. She's a certified anti-suicide responder and counselor for IMAlive - the world's first virtual crisis center. The org has helped thousands of people since it launched, and all of its volunteers are trained in crisis intervention. Donate and learn more here.

SKIMM SHARE

Skimm HQ is not into the heat wave. Share theSkimm with your friend who's ready for winter.

SKIMM BIRTHDAYS

* indicates Skimm'bassador. You can cry if you want to

theSkimm's Rosa McGee NY, Bea Mologousis IL, JW Wright NY, *Katie Johnson AL, *Maura Melis FL, *Taylor Bevilacqua NJ, *Lindsay Wood FL, *Carolena Herz FL, *Jess Ercolino NJ, *Robin Stineman CT, *Lisa Wright AL, *Menaka Sachdev MA, *Giselle Girones FL, *Gabriella Sanabria PA, *Sophie Stein IL, *Steph Pappas PA, *Anna Caliandro VT, *Sarah Grames IL, *Nicole Sass MN, *Jen Juul FL, *Jordan Murray UT, *Leah Morgan Harrell, *Hristina Cipitelo IL, *Selah Stivers PA, *Alena Bloom NJ, Theodora Patusco NJ, Rebecca Filgueiras NJ, Jamie Bahoura MI, Emily Armstead CA, Alisha Jolynne Myers, Stephanie Louie NJ, Natasha Maldi NH, Judy Bland KY, Nichole Mannchen WI, Lauren Taft VT, Kendall Burleson TN, Satjot Sawhney CA, Lindsay Yenni LA, Emily Nance NC, Kelly Shedd Geppi SC, Amber Frankhuizen CA, Taylor Hoverman DC, Madeline Barnes KS, Carmen Vishnesky PA, Anne Porch Hines TX, Kathleen MacPherson WA, Marilyn Turner-Evans OH, Kate Piffel MO, Carly Shapiro CT, Erin Crouso OH, Rosa Velez, Carol Weiser NY, Jessica DeMartin GA, Sara Woznicki VA, Greg Kiernan NY, Alyssa Sullivan NY, Vasia Rigou IL, Vicki Rhyne TX, Mary Elizabeth Wilkes LA, Hila DeLong VA, Kellie Skoner MD, Aaron Dunser CA, Jennifer Antelman CA, Nicole Sadowsky CA, Taliah Greenawalt PA, Ginger Dunn CA, Niloufer Khan NY

Skimm'd something we missed?

skimmthis@theSkimm.com

Issues?

help@theSkimm.com

Copyright (c) 2018 theSkimm, All rights reserved.

Our mailing address is:

theSkimm Inc. 50 West 23rd Street, Suite 5B

New York, NY, 10010, United States

Update Profile | Unsubscribe