It started with a little good-natured ribbing, and blossomed into a real friendship.
Like his father before him, former President George W. Bush became close to the person who occupied the White House after his presidency — although unlike his father, who became friends with former President Bill Clinton, Bush 43 has formed a bond with former first lady Michelle Obama. "She kind of likes my sense of humor," he told People. "Anybody who likes my sense of humor, I immediately like."
Bush is making the rounds publicizing his new book and an art exhibit featuring his paintings of veterans, and he opened up about how he became friendly with Obama after sitting next to her at several official events. He said he made "a few wisecracks and she seemed to like it okay. I needle her a bit and around her, I'm fairly lighthearted." The Obamas were "around serious people all the time," he added, "and we just took to each other."
At the opening last year of the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture, Bush and Obama were photographed hugging, and it was "a genuine expression of affection," Bush said. Along with his wife, Laura, he hopes to work with the Obamas to get veterans health and career assistance as they transition back to civilian life. "It's going to take them a while to find their footing and figure out how they're going to do what they want to do," he said. "But if there's a way to be symbiotic, we'll do so." Catherine Garcia
The Department of Education is forgiving about $150 million in student debt belonging to some 15,000 borrowers, around half of them former attendees of the for-profit Corinthian Colleges chain, which went bankrupt in 2015. The agency announced the loan cancellation Thursday in response to a federal court order and began notifying affected students by email Friday.
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos had sought to avoid implementing a set of Obama-era "borrower defense" regulations, among them an option of loan discharges for students whose schools have closed. But a federal judge ruled against her plan in September and also rejected a similar push by for-profit colleges in October.
The loan forgiveness process could take up to three months to complete, but affected borrowers do not have to take any action to benefit. Any payments made on the discharged loans will be applied to other debt on the student's account or returned to the payer, the Education Department announcement notes, and "information related to a discharged loan and its payment history [will be] removed from the borrower's credit report." Bonnie Kristian
Gun deaths in the U.S. reached their highest point in nearly 40 years in 2017, according to a CNN analysis of a report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The CDC's data showed that nearly 40,000 people died by gun last year, CNN reports, which is up from 28,874 in 1999. CNN's analysis also found that more than 23,000 people died from suicide by guns, which is the highest rate in 18 years.
The report found that white men led the gender and racial demographics for gun deaths by suicide, and black men led in homicide deaths.
Former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D), who was nearly killed in 2011 due to a gun wound, released a statement reacting to the CDC's report.
"This data from the CDC reminds us how many lives our gun violence crisis alters every year – and why so many Americans are rising up to demand action," Giffords said. "It's unacceptable that the number of deaths from shootings keeps escalating while Washington, D.C. refuses to even debate policies we know would help save lives." Marianne Dodson
People are using the highest levels of government to come up with the world's lowest security passwords.
More than 5 million passwords were leaked this year, password manager SplashData's analysis of breached data reveals. Your standard "iloveyou" and "qwerty" made the list of the most popular passwords in the world, but so did one newcomer: "donald."
Of all the infinite combinations of letters, numbers, and symbols people could use, nearly 10 percent of internet users secured their accounts with one of the 25 worst passwords out there, per TechCrunch. After "123456" and "password," strings of numbers make up the next five "worst passwords" on SplashData's list. And making its first-ever top-25 appearance, clocking in at No. 23, is "donald."
No, SplashData's CEO assures us "this is not fake news." Hackers find "celebrity names" and other common words are often used as passwords, as are simple keyboard strings. So try passwords of at least 12 characters, and mix in some symbols and numbers, SplashData recommends. And whatever you do, don't use anything on the list below, as compiled by TechCrunch. Kathryn Krawcyzk
A DC comic series has been axed after allegations of sexual abuse emerged against its writer.
The series Border Town will cease production, and the final two issues of the comic will not be published under DC, The Hollywood Reporter wrote on Friday. The announcement comes after toy designer Cynthia Naugle published a statement saying she had been "sexually, mentally, and emotionally abused" by an unnamed person. The figure was later identified on social media as Border Town writer and co-creator Eric M. Esquivel, per the Reporter.
Two artists for the comic have since released statements on Twitter, with color artist Tamra Bonvillain calling Esquivel's actions "disgusting and inexcusable." Esquivel has not yet publicly commented on the allegations.
Border Town opened this year's relaunch of the DV Vertigo line, which publishes more mature content about hot button topics. The comic sold out and was met with critical acclaim, per the Reporter. Marianne Dodson
