Today I learned

Did you know that the United States spends more on its military than nearly all of the other nations on Earth combined?

Additionally, did you know that the 2017 $80 billion annual increase in military spending would be enough to make public college and university tuition completely free for every American who wanted to attend?

Our Poor, Defenseless Military Industrial Complex [FAIR]

In-N-Out, the company that prints Christian bible verses on their product packaging, is owned by a person who does not follow the teachings of that bible they quote. Lynsi Snyder, the 36-year old billionaire heir to the In-N-Out empire, was recently given a score of 1 out of 5 for philanthropy by the Forbes 400 list. That’s the lowest score Forbes gives to the people they rank.

What people do with their money is up to them. However, when you claim to be such a strong follower of a religion that you print that religion’s beliefs on your company’s products, the stench of hypocrisy is impossible to overlook when you ignore one of the central tenants of that religion.

Lynsi Snyder – Forbes 400 [Forbes]

You may see the number 8645 or 86/45 around for another couple years and I’m here to tell you what it means.

Well before Trump became a household name, an American slang term existed called “86” or “eighty-sixing”. When used as a verb, 86 means getting rid of something, ejecting someone, or refusing service. While no definitive origin for the term is known, there are several possible origins.

When paired with 45, the number of Donald Trump’s presidency, 8645 or 86/45 indicates support for getting rid of President Trump.

Today I learned that a river does not wind its way through the countryside, it wends its way through the countryside. I also learned that a journalist does not pour over the historical records, they pore over the historical records.

It is remarkable how I can go through life with these misunderstandings when I learn a word or phrase through speech instead of through reading.

Apparently this is old news, but today I learned that the entire coal industry employs fewer people (~76,000 in 2017) than Arby’s (~80,000 in 2017). As of today, August 26th, 2018, an additional 40 coal power plants have closed this year, further lowering coal industry employment numbers. As far as I’m aware, Arby’s continues to do good business.

Can you imagine if the employees of Arby’s had as much political influence as the coal industry currently does? The Trump administration would be bending over backwards to support the sale of Arby’s delicious meats. Instead of supporting coal, the country would gain much more by supporting teachers (~3.6 million), nurses (~2.9 million), or home care workers (elderly care).

The entire coal industry employs fewer people than Arby’s [The Washington Post]

Related to the factoid above, the Trump Administration recently released its proposal to replace the Clean Power Plan. This new plan, called the Affordable Clean Energy Proposal, is designed to significantly ease regulations on greenhouse gas emissions. If implemented, the EPA’s own calculations state that the change to regulations will lead to the premature deaths of up to 1,400 people and 48,000 new cases of asthma every year. Not total. Each and every year.

EPA analysis of its own new climate proposal: thousands of people will die [Vox]

I have never wanted to be involved in the coal industry, but it sure must feel nice to have the amount of support shown by the Trump administration