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Trump Taps WWE Mogul To Lead Small Business Administration

The first family of wrestling may be joining the White House

 Tosten Burks
12.07.16

Linda McMahon (Image via Flickr user Michael Vadon)

President-elect Trump will nominate Linda McMahon, the co-founder and former CEO of multinational corporation World Wrestling Entertainment, to head the Small Business Administration, according to Reuters. McMahon, whose net worth is estimated around $850 million, would be responsible for awarding federal contracts to small businesses, providing counseling services to small business owners, and managing loan repayment policy.

McMahon, 68, has been trying to get into politics for years. She spent almost $100 million of her own money during two unsuccessful campaigns for United States Senate in 2010 and 2012—at the time, the most anyone had ever spent of their own money to run for a seat in Congress. Now she has the opportunity to advocate for entrepreneurs who need capital, rather than bleed it herself.

Trump has a long relationship with WWE, starting in 1988 when the newly opened Trump Plaza in Atlantic City hosted WrestleMania IV. The President-elect became a frequent attendee of WrestleMania events, which culminated with an absurd 2007 storyline known as the Battle of the Billionaires, featuring Trump feuding with WWE co-founder Vince McMahon (Linda’s husband). The feud ended with Trump forcefully shaving Vince’s head. WWE inducted Trump into its Hall of Fame in 2013.

You can watch that fateful haircut below. Vince’s reaction is not dissimilar to our current feelings about the world.

Sports

The women who inspired 'Hidden Figures' will now be honored with Congressional Medals

NASA

Four black women, Engineers Christine Darden and Mary Jackson, mathematician Katherine Johnson, and computer programmer Dorothy Vaughan, worked as "human computers" at NASA during the Space Race, making space travel possible through their complex calculations. Jackson, Johnson, and Vaughn all played a vital role in helping John Glenn become the first American to orbit the Earth.

They worked behind the scenes, but now they're getting the credit they deserve as their accomplishments are brought to the forefront. Their amazing stories were detailed in the book "Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race" by Margot Lee Shetterly, which was later turned into a movie. (Darden was not featured in the movie, but was in the book). Johnson has a building at NASA named after her, and a street in front of NASA's Washington D.C. headquarters was renamed "Hidden Figures Way."

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Science

A new form of sound-based AI is being deployed to protect endangered African elephants

Between Alexa, Siri, and Google, artificial intelligence is quickly changing us and the way we live. We no longer have to get up to turn on the lights or set the thermostat, we can find the fastest route to work with a click, and, most importantly, tag our friends in pictures. But interacting with the world isn't the only thing AI is making easier – now we can use it save the world, too.

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Good News

Scientists finally know what screen time does to your toddler's brain

Courtesy of John S. Hutton, MD

A report from Common Sense Media found the average child between the ages of 0 and 8 has 2 hours and 19 minutes of screen time a day, and 35% of their screen time is on a mobile device. A new study conducted by the Cincinnati Children's Hospital published in the journal, JAMA Pediatrics, found exactly what all that screen time is doing to your kid, or more specifically, your kid's developing brain. It turns out, more screen time contributes to slower brain development.

First, researchers gave the kids a test to determine how much and what kind of screen time they were getting. Were they watching fighting or educational content? Were they using it alone or with parents? Then, researchers examined the brains of children aged 3 to 5 year olds by using MRI scans. Forty seven brain-healthy children who hadn't started kindergarten yet were used for the study.

They found that kids who had more than one hour of screen time a day without parental supervision had lower levels of development in their brain's white matter, which is important when it comes to developing cognitive skills, language, and literacy.

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Health

Video of an Oakland train employee saving a man's life is so insane, it looks like CGI

via KTVU / YouTube

The 63-year-old Oakland-Alameda Coliseum, currently branded the RingCentral Coliseum, is one of the most decrepit sports venues in America.

The home to the the NFL's Oakland Raiders (until they move to Las Vegas next season) and MLB's A's, is notoriously known as the Black Hole and has made headlines for its frequent flooding and sewage issues.

One of the stadium's few positive aspects is its connection to public transportation.

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Hero Video

Microsoft switched to a 4-day-work-week and the results were eye-opening

via Anadirc / Flickr

We spend roughly one-third of our life asleep, another third at work and the final third trying our best to have a little fun.

But is that the correct balance? Should we spend as much time at the office as we do with our friends and family? One of the greatest regrets people have on their deathbeds is that they spent too much of their time instead of enjoying quality time with friends and family.

Lawmakers in the United Kingdom have made a significant pledge to reevaluate the work-life balance in their country.

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Lifestyle