Well, friends, you’ve made once again proved that no week of work is too trying for a person of your stature and work-ethic. Nevertheless, scientists and experts of all fields know that the key to a productive week is a brief recap of what happened over the course of the last week. As we know, the past informs the present, and with that knowledge comes a better understanding for the future. For your viewing pleasure, welcome back to the “Weekly Recap.”
Tis’ The Season For New Headquarters, Fa La La La
It seems like only yesterday that Amazon had the world hyperventilating with anticipation in regards to where they planned on building their two new campuses. The online marketplace, which sells quite literally everything you could dream of, chose Queens, NY and Arlington, Virginia for its new homes, but you already knew that!
Less than a week after Apple’s announcement to build out their new home in the Lone Star State, Google announced plans to invest $1 billion for a project to develop a new campus at Hudson Square in New York on Monday. The global search engine already employs 7,000 Googlers in New York, and the new campus will hopefully double that number over the course of the next ten years.
“Today we’re taking the next step in our commitment to our New York City presence by investing over $1 billion in capital improvements to establish a new campus, Google Hudson Square. When we came to New York City almost two decades ago, it was our first office outside of California. It’s now home to more than 7,000 employees, speaking 50 languages, working on a broad range of teams including Search, Ads, Maps, YouTube, Cloud, Technical Infrastructure, Sales, Partnerships, and Research.”
–Ruth Porat, Senior Vice President & Chief Financial Officer, Alphabet
The Saga Continues
The investigation into Russian collusion with Trump administration officials has gone on for what seems like years at this point. In my opinion, we either need to send everyone to prison or move on and start solving real-world issues like the fact that the US may be headed into yet another recession. But I digress, on Tuesday a federal judged delayed sentencing yet again for former national security adviser Michael Flynn — a move that surprised media junkets, political analysts, and Flynn himself.
U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan reamed out Flynn for his alleged “serious offense,” and yet, he withheld his sentencing.
“Judge Sullivan usually gives prosecutors a hard time, not because they’ve necessarily done anything wrong, but because he holds the government to a very high standard. But today, it played out to the disadvantage of the defendant. And why? The defendant was a high-ranking government official who engaged in egregious conduct. And Judge Sullivan turned his wrath on the defendant.”
–Glenn Kirschner, Former Federal Prosecutor
Google Maps To-Go!
Google has expanded its Street View program from streets around the world to virtually every reachable piece of land on the planet because of the Google Trekker program. The purpose of the program, which first began in 2011, was to allow everyday travelers to strap on the 44-pound device to their backpacks and carry the camera pack to places that Google Maps cars would have a difficult time reaching. According to Google Trekker testimonials, people and organizations have taken the backpack-sized mapping system everywhere from 3,000 feet up El Capitan in Yosemite to floating the canals of Venice to exploring the ancient city of Petra.
On Tuesday, after nearly eight years of travelers carrying around the 44-pound piece of tech, Google announced changes to the Google Trekker camera in a blog post:
“Over the years, we’ve gathered feedback from people and our partners who have used the Trekker around the world. Today, we’re upgrading the Trekker so that our partners — like tourism boards, airports, and transit operations — can better capture places and their stories. The new Trekker has a sleeker design and is lighter in weight, making it easier to carry. The camera has also been updated with increased aperture and higher resolution sensors that will capture sharper imagery.”
–Danny Cheung, Technical Program Manager, Google Street View
Bring Our Troops Home, Wait, Maybe Don’t?
No parent wants to see their child dress in army uniforms and leave home to defend their country, but there is an element pride associated with joining the military. I can imagine that soldiers are even more prideful when they feel as if they are doing what is just for their homeland. From a bipartisan perspective, the United States has supported our country’s military presence in Syria because we have, reportedly, been fighting ISIS. Be that as it may, in a move that some journalists have referred to as divisive and harmful to growing tensions in region, President Trump ordered a rapid withdrawal of some two-thousands United States armed forces members from Syria, to be completed within thirty days. Remaining true to his absence of subtlety in the slightest, President Trump declared that his removal of said troops was due to the celebratory notion that after four, hard-fought years against the Islamic State, (ISIS) the US has emerged largely victorious.
“We have defeated ISIS in Syria, my only reason for being there during the Trump Presidency.”
–President Donald Trump on Twitter
Aside from several concerns relating to the president’s third-person reference to his own administration, many members of the US government, including Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, attacked President Trump’s decision to withdraw troops from Syria. When former president Barack Obama decided to withdraw American troops from Iraq in 2011, people were furious. Mr. Graham expressed similar frustrations regarding Trump’s similar course of action on Wednesday. Mr. Graham claimed that “if Obama had done this, all of would be furious. If Obama had done this, we’d be going nuts right now: How weak, how dangerous.” Somewhere, in an undisclosed location, Barack Obama felt a tinge in his side, as if someone had unsullied his name. Ignoring it, Obama returned to whatever he was doing prior, which, I assume, was enjoying time with his wife and family.
Cigarettes Are Bad, Mmmkay!
As the traditional act of smoking cigarettes has fallen drastically behind e-cigarettes and vapes, Altria Group (MO), in an effort to remain both relevant and profitable, announced on Wednesday morning that it was buying a 35% stake in Juul Labs Inc. for $12.8 billion. Juul Labs has recently come under mass scrutiny for the number of underage users of its products, and, in their announcement of the Altria (MO) deal, they explained that their “intent was never to have youth use JUUL products. Nevertheless, the company agreed to a minority investment with Altria, a company belonging to an industry notorious for corrupting youths with habitual cigarette smoking.
“Altria today announced a minority investment of $12.8 billion into JUUL for a 45% ownership in the company along with services to accelerate our mission. We understand the controversy and skepticism that comes with affiliation and partnership with the largest tobacco company in the US. We were skeptical as well. But over the course of the last several months, we were convinced by actions, not words, that in fact, this partnership could help accelerate our success switching adult smokers.”
–Kevin Burns, Chief Executive Officer, JUUL Labs
Another Administration Member Bites The Dust
Yes, you heard it hear folks, another member of the Trump administration is calling it quits. President Trump announced on Thursday evening that Defense Secretary James Mattis will be retiring in February, stepping down “with distinction” after two years in the position.
“During Jim’s tenure, tremendous progress has been made, especially with respect to the purchase of new fighting equipment. General Mattis was a great help to me in getting allies and other countries to pay their share of military obligations. A new Secretary of Defense will be named shortly. I greatly thank Jim for his service!
–President Donald Trump on Twitter
Looking Forward
As we venture, head first, into the new week, following a nice little break for the holidays, the headline on everyone’s mind is the partial shutdown of the US government at the behest of President Donald Trump. For those unfamiliar with the situation, Trump was displeased with the fact that Democratic representatives refused to approve his $5 billion budget request to construct a wall along the Us-Mexico border and in retaliation of the rejection, Trump threatened to, and subsequently acted on shutting down parts of the government. In order for the shutdown to end, Republican leaders and sources close to the president have said that serious negotiations will need to take place between President Trump and the Democrats. Even though some parts of the federal government will be shutdown until further notice, Social Security offices, USPS, hospitals, and Border Patrol will remain active.
