Friday Scoop: Not a Rotten Apple

Welcome to the Morning Scoop for August 3, 2018. You’re probably reading this on your iPhone, and thinking “how did Apple get so much money??” Well, remember when you paid almost $1,000 for that phone? That’s how. 

You know who definitely isn’t a trillionaire company? Us. We need your help now more than ever.  For as little as $2 a month, you can help fund the tiny team (of two) that supports and trains our students. Help us by visiting our Patreon page or donating with Pay Pal.

Apple Becomes First Trillion-Dollar Company

We all know someone who is addicted to this. (image: Pixabay)

s of yesterday, Apple, Inc. became the first publicly-traded company to break a $1 trillion value. The milestone was set after Apple’s stock gained $5.89, closing the market at $207.39. The gain set Apple’s worth at just above the $1 trillion mark, placing them in the leading spot right in front of other tech companies such as Amazon and Google.

The achievement comes at a surprise for a company that almost went bankrupt in 1997, selling its shares then for less than $1. After the company brought back Steve Jobs as CEO, Jobs transformed the iconic brand into a cultural phenomenon.

Apple’s stock has climbed a total of 23% this year, after escalating their profit margins by charging an average of $724 for their most popular product: the iPhone.

Gay Valedictorian Kicked Out by Parents, Now Going to Georgetown Thanks to GoFundMe

After being rejected by his parents due to his sexuality, openly gay 18-year-old Seth Owen was left with a 4.16 GPA, an acceptance to Georgetown University, and the realization that he couldn’t afford to go to college on his own.

Having found out about Owen’s sexuality during his sophomore year of high school, Owen’s parents responded by sending him to a Christian counselor, attempting “conversion therapy.”

What began as a local fundraiser with a goal of $20,000 on June 18 has grown to a national effort to support a young member of the LGBTQ community. As of yesterday, the campaign has raised $119,470 in donations from strangers across the country.

Hailey Nagma has the whole heartwarming story here. 

Activists Rally Against Minneapolis Police Department After Death of Thurman Blevins

On June 23, Minneapolis got a call reporting that an intoxicated black man, Blevins, was firing his gun into the air in a residential area. When they found Blevins, he was sitting on a sidewalk near a woman with a child in a stroller and a dog. They saw that he was holding a bottle of gin and then quickly saw that he had a gun in his possession. Blevins was chased by the police, and was told if he did not stop, he would get shot. Blevins begged the officers not to shoot him, but continued to run away. Blevins pulled out his gun and shot toward Officer Kelly, and the bullet hit the ground, so the officers open fired. Blevins was shot 8 times and killed.

After a thorough analysis of the police officer’s body camera footage, Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman made the decision to free the officers of any criminal charges. In response, the streets of Minneapolis rose in peaceful protest this past week to bring awareness of the police brutality issue in the city.

Read the full story in Courtney Good’s report here. 

Today in a Tweet

Last night, Travis Scott announced the release of his new album “Astroworld,” which became available early this morning on iTunes and Spotify. Twitter is loving it. 

Last But Not Least: Osama Bin Laden’s Mother Speaks to Media for the First Time

Nearly 17 years since 9/11, Osama Bin Laden’s mother opened up to the media in an interview with The Guardian, spilling details about what the notorious leader of terrorism was like in his formative years.

She described him as a “good boy” up until his early twenties, claiming that attending University in Jeddah radicalized him completely. Both Bin Laden’s mother and two brothers, who were present at the interview, explained that his transformation to jihadist was upsetting. And while Bin Laden’s mother remained loving and fond of her son, without placing any blame on him, his brothers are well aware that he is to blame for his own wrongdoings.

Check out the full interview with The Guardian. 

Friday, Friday, gotta get down on Friday…CMN is looking forward to the weekend, and this Morning Scoop brought us one step closer with help from Courtney Good, Hailey Nagma, and the CMN staff. We’re going to see how many songs about Friday we can quote until we finally run out. It’ll be a while.