| Raise your hand if you have a health care headache | | Senate Republican leaders released their rewrite of the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare) Thursday after weeks of working behind closed doors. Their goal? To improve the House's much-maligned and eventually abandoned version that President Trump once supported but now calls "mean," The Senate bill would heavily cut Medicaid spending, eliminate the mandate that everyone buys insurance, repeal taxes on wealthy Americans and insurance companies, and strip funding from Planned Parenthood for a year, among other things. The vote on this bill is slated for next week after just 20 hours of debate time — an extremely quick turnaround for a major piece of legislation. Democrats plan to give it a resounding nope, which means Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell can afford to lose only two Republican votes (and he's already got his work cut out for him). Meanwhile, President Trump — ever the businessman — says there's room for negotiation. Have questions? Us, too. Wondering how this bill could affect you? Read this. | | So much for those Comey tapes | | Mystery solved: No, President Trump didn't record his conversations with former FBI director James Comey. The president tweeted Thursday, "I have no idea ... whether there are 'tapes' or recordings of my conversations with James Comey, but I did not make, and do not have, any such recordings." Just a refresher: This whole tape controversy started when, shortly after firing Comey in May, the president tweeted that "James Comey better hope that there are no 'tapes' of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press!" The implied threat prompted Comey to share a series of detailed memos about his talks with Trump. Then, for good measure, Comey called Trump's bluff in a congressional hearing, asking the president to release the alleged "tapes" (and Lordy, we hoped he would). Now, the question remains: Why did Trump suggest these tapes even existed? | | School's out! Let's learn how to avoid sexual assault accusations? | | Would you send your teenager to a public lecture by Bill Cosby about sexual assault and how to avoid being accused? That could be on the horizon this summer when Cosby — still facing criminal counts of sexual assault himself — launches a series of town halls for young people, his publicist Andrew Wyatt says. The series of town halls aim to warn teens, especially athletes, of the dangers of "hanging out and partying, when they're doing certain things they shouldn't be doing." The Hollywood icon once known as "America's Dad" is no stranger to lecturing kids, but in recent years he's been accused by five dozen women of being a serial sex offender. Cosby's currently facing three counts of aggravated indecent sexual assault stemming from a 2004 encounter with accuser Andrea Constand, who says he drugged and molested her (he says the encounter was consensual). His 11-day trial ended Saturday in a mistrial, and his reps say he's ready to "get back to work" with this speaking tour. | | You go, Girl (Scouts) | | Need a cybersecurity expert? Never fear, qualified Girl Scouts are here. The same girls who satisfy your annual Thin Mints craving are poised to become hackers' worst nightmare. Girl Scouts of the USA and cybersecurity company Palo Alto Networks announced Thursday that they're teaming up to introduce 18 cybersecurity badges for the 1.8 million girls, K-12, who participate in the program. The badges, which will be offered starting in September 2018, aim to help Scouts explore opportunities in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) while building leadership skills. And, let's be real, they'll look perfect next to the philanthropist and business owner badges. |  | | CSI: Nikumaroro | | What you're about to read is not a 'TV Guide' description of a 'CSI' episode. It's real life. Bone-sniffing dogs (these exist?!) will try to track down the remains of famous and famously missing pilot Amelia Earhart. Researchers believe Earhart, the trail-blazer who disappeared without a trace in 1937 during an around-the-world flight, may have landed on the remote, uninhabited Pacific island of Nikumaroro, where she lived the rest of her days as a castaway. Worth noting: Three years after her disappearance, 13 human bones were found on Nikumaroro. But they were later lost, so they were never tested. Researchers hope more bones exist and that the dogs can sniff out the truth. There are plenty of conspiracy theories about Earhart's death, so the DNA from any remaining bones could set the record straight. | |
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