| The Trump administration's Class of 2017 alumni club welcomes newest member |
| It took Anthony Scaramucci 11 days to become the 10th member of the Trump administration's alumni club. Immediately rubbing West Wing officials the wrong way, Anthony Scaramucci stepped down Monday as White House communications director. Let's take a look back at his years days on the job: |
| |
| And just for perspective, here are three short-lived events that lasted longer than Scaramucci's 11-day tenure: |
| • | Kim Kardashian's marriage to Kris Humphries (72 days) | | • | The Chile miners trapped underground (successfully rescued after 69 days) | | • | Michael Flynn, President Trump's former national security adviser (24 days) | |
| The 'incredible shrinking airline seat' is not just your imagination |
| Fact: Airline seats in the economy cabin have shrunk. Also fact: The FAA is now in the hot seat. A three-judge panel gave the Federal Aviation Administration six months to provide documentation to back up its argument it shouldn't regulate seat size. The FAA has 60 days to appeal. The kerfuffle over "the case of the incredible shrinking airline seat," as U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Patricia Millett wrote Friday, began with a consumer group called FlyersRights.org. Citing possible safety hazards, the group wants the FAA to prevent airline seats from getting any more cramped. We've got our seat belts and tray tables securely fastened waiting for this one to play out. |
| Hurricane season: It can only get worse from here |
| Tropical Storm Emily weakened to a depression Monday, and we can almost hear Floridians' collective sigh of relief. But we're not in the clear just yet. August and September typically have the most storms, and federal experts forecast an unusually active hurricane season this year. Emily was the second tropical system to make landfall in the U.S. this summer, following Tropical Storm Cindy's hit on Louisiana in June. Emily brought strong winds and driving rain Monday all the way from Tampa to Key West. Worried about your flight? The most epic flight delay in the news right now has nothing to do with the tropical storm. |
| That thing when you are an outspoken critic of Obamacare, but benefit from Obamacare. |
| Twitter hath no mercy for hypocrisy. This time, it's aimed at outspoken conservative commentator Tomi Lahren. While Lahren railed on the Affordable Care Act in a debate against comedian Chelsea Handler, she admitted that she doesn't have her own insurance plan . "Well luckily, I'm 24, so I am still on my parents'," Lahren said. Let's pause to remember that a key component of the Affordable Care Act is that dependent children can stay on a parent's insurance plan until age 26. Thanks, Obama. |
 |
| What's the deal with legal pot? |
| It's too soon to tell. Information about how legalized marijuana is affecting our society is all over the map. If you lost count, 30 states allow some type of medical use of marijuana. Eight states and the District of Columbia permit adults to use recreational marijuana. Studies show both increases and decreases in youth and adult use, unreliable law-enforcement data about vehicle crashes and uncertainty about the effectiveness of medical marijuana. And a black market still exists. But we've also heard heartwarming stories of parents who credit cannabis with helping their children overcome chronic illness, of towns seeing their tax bases rise and entrepreneurs forging new identities in an American-made green rush. Here's the USA TODAY Network's investigation into legalized pot. |
