This Week in Words: August 18 - 24, 2018

Developments this week suggest that the $380 million the federal government is spending to help secure the upcoming elections may be money well spent. Microsoft revealed this week that a new round of Russian cyber hacking has targeted Republican organizations which have been critical of President Trump. These hackers set up websites that looked like extensions of the websites of Republican thinktanks but were actually designed to steal passwords and other sensitive information.

PepsiCo bought SodaStream this week for 3.2 Billion dollars. SodaStream is a system that can carbonate and flavor water to make soda at home. This move and the company’s recent release of a line of carbonated water, Bubly, suggest that Pepsico is taking alternatives to traditional cola seriously in order to diversify its sources of revenue.

The animals in Animal Crackers boxes have been freed from their cages. The creatures, whether in illustrated form on the box or in cookie form, will no longer be depicted as living in circus cages. This move comes after the folding of Barnum and Bailey circus and pressure from PETA, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, to show the animals in a more natural state.

NYU Medical School has taken the extraordinary step of paying the tuition of all its admitted students. The measure is designed to enable students to get through medical school without student loan debt, so they will be more inclined to specialize in fields where doctors are desperately needed. Many of these fields are less lucrative for the doctors and therefore underserved.

Paul Manafort, President Trump’s former campaign chairman, was convicted of eight counts of tax and bank fraud this week. These charges did not directly involve the President or Manafort’s role with the campaign, but the charges resulted from the Mueller investigation into Russian interference with the election. Manafort will probably be sentenced to between 8 and 10 years in prison as a result of these convictions.

Evidence that the world is becoming more and more like The Simpsons emerged this week as the first real world Kwik-E-Mart opened in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Customers can buy Squishees and Lard Lad Donuts at the store, which is filled with Simpsons memorabilia and references to the long-running series.

Former Secretary General of the United Nations Kofi Annan died this week at the age of 80. Annan had a tumultuous tenure as Secretary General, a term which included several international humanitarian crises and the US-led war in Iraq. Like many at the U.N., Kofi Annan was caught between whether or not to intervene to stop the suffering of innocent people.

The maker of Cheetos snacks is locked in an intellectual property dispute with the manufacturer of Peatos, an alternative, health-conscious snack food made from peas and lentils. Cheetos is claiming that Peatos is promoting the confusion of the two products — they are both orange in color and Peatos packaging features a tiger, which resembles the Cheetos mascot, Chester Cheetah. The Peatos bag also references the diffferences between tigers and cheetahs.

The federal government is spending $380 Million in an effort to prevent and combat interference in the upcoming midterm elections. The ongoing Russian investigation into campaign meddling has highlighted this problem and now the money given to the states will go toward making sure that the elections are secure and free of foreign influence. Recently, Facebook has also taken some action in this area, banning some accounts they found were spreading misinformation about candidates.

Apple continues to navigate the choppy waters of international business. The iPhone manufacturer removed some gambling apps, which are illegal in China, from the Chinese version of the App Store. The Chinese state-run media has been very critical of Apple, characterizing then as slow to act to crack down on the illegal activity. Some of these illegal apps were masquerading as state lottery apps, and that may have slowed down Apple’s response.