What I Heard This Week! 11-07-2019
November the 11th marks the 100th anniversary of Veterans Day. This occasion was originally known as Armistice Day, was first observed in 1919 to mark the one-year anniversary of the end of WWI. Major hostilities of World War I formally ended at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, when the Armistice with Germany went into effect. The Source Weekly would like to thank each and every one of those who have served our country as a member of the United States Armed Forces. You made sacrifices and gave it your all, in order to secure the freedoms that we all take for granted. Thank you. You are so deserving of our gratitude.
ALDI has a Turkey Cranberry Ravioli, limited edition, that combines turkey, cranberries, stuffing and cheese. Better yet, Bourbon Sweet Potato Ravioli with suggested Orange Whiskey Glaze. I bought both.
Google is buying wearable device maker Fitbit for $2.1 billion which puts them in direct competition with Apple, Samsung and Amazon. Google says Fitbit health and wellness data will not be used for Google ads BUT the personal data of more than 25 million users is now in the hands of one of the world’s largest and most powerful tech companies. “This absolutely strengthens the idea that Google is using its dominant position to make its way into every possible industry that relates to data and newer methods for pushing advertising,” said Daniel Hanley, a policy analyst with the Open Markets Institute. “The biggest problem would be to understand and know the extent to which they use the data gathered from Fitbit and how they will integrate that into other existing Google services.”
Abigail Arias of Angleton, 7, was diagnosed with a Wilms tumor in her kidney when she was 4. Her dream was to be a police officer, so the Freeport Police Department swore her in as honorary officer No. 758 in February. A week later she was surprised with a helicopter ride with her fellow police officers. Last month she was able to meet one of her heroes, Astros star Jose Altuve, before Game 1 of the World Series where Altuve wore a bracelet that Abigail had given him. She lost her battle this week. “It is with heavy hearts that we announce the passing of Abigail Arias, the child who became an officer, a change agent for good and today, an Angel,” Freeport Police Chief Raymond Garivey wrote on Facebook. “Her love, compassion, and most importantly, her magnanimous spirit, will live on for generations to come. It’s both our duty and privilege to embody what Abigail taught us: to live life to the fullest, to never give up hope no matter the odds, to fight “the bad guys” passionately, and most importantly, to love one another – and always Stay Relentless!” I just watched the live video of the funeral procession and got pretty choked up. No one should have to lose a child.
Today while working on this column, my cell phone rang with an 888-number listed as unknown. Hmmm. I answered it in case it was a child of mine. It was a recording saying that because of suspicious activity the social security office will now be ‘suspending my social security number’ and that I needed to stay on the line for further information. I hung up, Googled the number, then reported the incident to the Federal Trade Commission. They say, “Social Security numbers do not get suspended. This is just a variation of a government imposter scam that’s after your SSN, bank account number, or other personal information. In this variation of the scheme, the caller pretends to be protecting you from a scam while he’s trying to lure you into one.” Always report it to the FTC.
Former President Jimmy Carter, 95, returned to his Sunday School class less than two weeks after fracturing his pelvis in a fall, his third mishap in recent months. Carter was diagnosed with brain cancer in 2015 and received immunotherapy that destroyed the four tumors. Now he’s like an energizer bunny. New batteries and he’s good to go again.
RECENT BIRTHDAYS: Musician Delbert McClinton is 79. His highest-charting single was “Tell Me About It”, a 1992 duet with Tanya Tucker, which reached number 4 on the Country chart. Actress Loretta Swit is 82. Hot Lips Houlihan on M*A*S*H. Singer LuLu is 71. To Sir with Love from the 1967 film and the title song to the 1974 James Bond film, The Man with the Golden Gun. Vogue Editor in chief Anna Wintour is 70. Rapper producer Sean “Puffy” Combs is 50. Born Sean John Combs, he performed as Puff Daddy, then P. Diddy and then just Diddy. Sigh. Now he’s filed papers to change his middle name, so he’ll be Sean Love Combs. Hmmm. Someone needs to give that guy some attention.
Sesame Street is 50 YEARS OLD. Their mission was to bring together a colorful community of puppets and people to help kids everywhere grow smarter, stronger and kinder. I personally have many fond memories of the joy that Sesame Street brought my own children. Because of a Sesame Street Muppets music CD about food that we listened to, my young son thought that when Madonna sang Material Girl she was saying, “I am a cereal girl.” He would just belt it out while the song was playing.
The accused Santa Fe High School shooter has been declared incompetent to stand trial by three separate psychiatric experts.
Former McDonald’s CEO Steve Easterbrook, who was fired for having a consensual relationship with another employee, could pocket $70-plus million worth of stock and options in compensation. This sum is in addition to the nearly $16 million in McDonald’s shares that Easterbrook has already been paid during his nearly five years at the company, and another $20 million in salary and cash bonuses he has received in the past three years. Easterbrook is also getting a cash severance of six month’s pay, nearly $700,000. His exit comes as McDonald’s faces claims of sexual harassment in its restaurant workplaces. During the past three years at least 50 women have sued the company or filed complaints with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, saying they were abused by store managers or employees. The incidents allegedly occurred in both corporate-owned and franchised restaurants. Last year, former Intel CEO Brian Krzanich was forced to resign after revelations that he had a past consensual relationship with a fellow employee. He left with stock and cash worth $45 million.
AT&T will pay $60 million to settle a federal complaint that accused the telecommunications company of misleading millions of customers by charging them for unlimited data plans while slowing down their data transmission speeds (called throttling) in order to get them to move to more expensive plans. Throttling data means it takes a user longer to check emails, stream a video or browse the web.
A 3.7-ton delivery from a cargo ship to the International Space Station included 1,500 pounds of crew supplies, 4,370 pounds of science gear and experiment samples. Enough about that. Included was a compact oven, the first ever launched to the space station, that will be used to bake DoubleTree chocolate chip cookies, one at a time, to find out how the absence of gravity affects cooking in orbit. Quit it. Have you ever had a DoubleTree chocolate chip cookie fresh out of the oven! I promise you that each one will be snatched up before anyone can even think or say absence of gravity. Now, everyone will want to be an astronaut.
Chinese regulators approved an Alzheimer’s drug derived from seaweed, the world’s first Alzheimer’s drug in decades. The news was met with cautious optimism by experts, who warned that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has a far more rigorous drugs testing and approval protocol than China. I am thankful that someone…anyone is working on this tragedy that affects so many. What was I saying?!? Thanks for reading this column. We appreciate you. Lisa
