Life is full of surprises, secrets, and amazing experiences to be had, but these will only come to be if you have the basic content knowledge to live it up. Let’s call these “street smarts,” for the time being. The meat, the real nitty-gritty of how to enjoy life and stay out of harmful trouble, that all comes from being street smart. From a very early age, I was taught to always walk with my head held high. Not only does this reflect a confident person, but it allows you to know what’s going on around you. Perception and swagger in tandem is a beautifully dangerous combination for success. One of the most important street skills I came to know was the fact that if you act as you belong everywhere you go, you’ll be able to visit places you wouldn’t otherwise have easy access to.
Keep working on your street smarts, and while you do that, here’s what you missed in the news yesterday.
The Wrong Kind Of Shots
The “country-night” themed evening held by Borderline Bar and Grill in Thousand Oaks, California was the setting for yet another shooting attack on Wednesday night. According to reports, without saying a single word, a man wearing all-black clothing, carrying a semi-automatic pistol opened fire on hundreds of the bar’s patrons, many of which included students from California Lutheran University, Pepperdine University, and California State University Channel Islands.
The horrific events left 12 dead, including Sheriff’s Sgt. Ron Helus from the Ventura County Police Department. When shots were heard in the Thousand Oaks neighborhood, deputies and highway patrolmen arrived at the bar within minutes of receiving 911 calls, according to Fox News.
Pink Tax Be Gone!
For those of us who have never experienced the pure joy of the female menstruation cycle, nor have we gazed in wonder at the cost of feminine hygiene products, this news will seem somewhat underwhelming. But, whether you use these products or know someone who does, you should know that many states in the US have a “pink tax” in effect that requires purchasers to pay sales tax on products like sanitary napkins and tampons. While paying taxes on purchases may seem like common knowledge, opponents of the tax argue that these items are a necessity, not a luxury, and removing the tax will help to increase access for women of all socioeconomic backgrounds.
On Tuesday, voters in the state of Nevada amended a tax act enacted in 1955 and removed the sales and storage tax on tampons on sanitary pads, according to CNN. The ballot measure, known as Senate Bill 415, was approved in 2017, but couldn’t go into effect until voters determined the bill’s fate in the US midterm elections on Tuesday.
Ford (F) Takes Scooters for A Spin
If you’ve traveled to any major metropolitan city in the last year or so, you might have seen people of all shapes, sizes, and colors flying around city streets on electric scooters. Maybe you thought to yourself, “wow, I guess everyone sold their cars for scooter money.” Oh, friend, you couldn’t be further from reality on this one. Scooter-sharing companies like Lime, Bird, and countless others started leaving their Lil’ vehicles all over in an attempt to cut down on carbon emissions, improve commute times, and run over the shoes of innocent suit-clad business people.
On Thursday, Ford Motor (F) announced its acquisition of one of the scooter-sharing companies, Spin, in an effort to develop new mobility services for its “Ford X” division.
“We’re finding a really compelling need. The struggle is real as urban populations grow.”
–Marci Klevorn, President of Mobility, Ford Motor Company
