Spending Bills Become Law

President Trump signed two separate spending bills totaling $1.4 trillion into law Friday night, averting a government shutdown. The legislation is split into a $738 billion military spending bill and a $632 billion non-military bill.

Australian Wildfires

As of Sunday night, 98 separate bush and grass fires were alight in New South Wales, Australia, with 50 of them still yet to be contained. Two firefighters were killed and three were injured over the weekend, while officials estimated that 100 buildings burned down across the state over a 24-hour period.

Also, ToTok on the Clock

Per the New York Times, popular video and text messaging app ToTok is actually a spying tool used by the government of the United Arab Emirates to track the exhaustive amounts of data collected from the app. ToTok is among the top 50 free apps in Saudi Arabia, Britain, India, Sweden, and other countries, though Google and Apple both removed the app from their respective stores last week.

Space-Time Continuum

Boeing’s Starliner space capsule - one of the first new human-rated spacecraft to carry U.S. astronauts to space - successfully landed its unmanned test flight into space yesterday morning after failing to dock with the International Space Station. Starliner was forced to turn around after an internal clock error caused the capsule to fire its thrusters at the wrong time, burning too much fuel for the craft to be able to dock at the ISS.

Rise and Fall

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker grossed an estimated ~$176 million at the box office in the U.S. and Canada over the weekend, the lowest opening of Disney’s new trilogy. Following The Rise of Skywalker - which made an additional $198 million overseas - Disney is not scheduled to produce another Star Wars film until December 2022.

Sell, Sell, Sell

Uber co-founder and ex-CEO Travis Kalanick sold another $383 million in shares of the company last week, leaving a remaining stake worth about $250 million. Kalanick has been systematically selling shares since Nov. 6 and has amassed more than $2.5 billion over that time period.

Bird’s the Word

NBCUniversal’s Peacock streaming service - set to launch in April 2020 - will reportedly feature three different tiers of pricing and advertisements. NBC will offer a free, ad-supported version, a limited-advertising version for $5 per month (offered free to Comcast subscribers and other pay-TV subscribers), and an ad-free version for $10 per month.

A Match Made in (Doggy) Heaven

Everyone deserves to be safe, warm, and loved, especially as they live out their final years. U.S. Navy veteran Joel Rockey was inspired to create dozens of such environments after he returned home from deployment and met a new best friend, who happened to be a little past his prime.

Joel was looking for a sense of purpose after coming home from serving overseas, but it found him instead. He stumbled upon an old, blind, and deaf dog while in a freezing snowstorm, and knew he’d found his calling. Joel took his new pooch home and nursed him back to health, then contacted his veteran buddies and started the Vet Friends Foundation, a group that gives elderly pets the opportunity to be adopted into loving homes by veterans in need of companionship.

It turned out to be a perfect combo - elderly dogs are often overlooked for adoption but demonstrate the kind of calm, relaxed attitude that can be helpful to those recovering from trauma or experiencing PTSD. Since 2016, the organization has found more than 130 dogs loving homes, giving the world one more reason to believe that there really is someone for everyone who wants to be loved.

Hero for the Ages

Little Isla Glaser isn’t your typical superhero - she stands only a few feet tall and enjoys playing with her two-year-old sister and baby twin siblings. But this brave 4-year-old girl’s quick thinking and courage helped save her mom’s life in a terrifying situation.

When Isla’s mom Haley collapsed at home due to a bacterial infection, her daughter knew just what to do. With her mother rendered unconscious and unresponsive, Isla called emergency dispatch and was able to describe the situation and give the police her correct address - she even calmed the family dogs to let the first responders inside the home.

Isla showed a level of bravery and poise that is rare even for most adults confronted by such a situation. Isla’s story of success goes to show that anyone - young or old, big or small - can be a hero.

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