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Tue

February

Dose Of News Useful Today

Tuesday, February 9th

📅 NewsDay

Welcome to Tuesday. On the docket today: DoorDash bought a robotics startup, the U.S. sees a yearly low in COVID cases, and impeachment. 🗞👇

⏰🚀 Ready, Set, Go: Today’s newsletter takes 4.14 minutes to read.

Daily Sprinkle

“It is not the answer that enlightens, but the question.”

–Eugene Ionesco Decouvertes

🏛️ Senate Begins Impeachment Trial

Opening arguments in the Senate impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump are scheduled to begin later today. The House voted 232-197 to impeach Trump for his role in inciting the January 6 Capitol riot (all 222 D were joined by 10 R).

Last Tuesday, House impeachment managers submitted an 80-page trial brief arguing their case for convicting Trump in the Senate and barring him from ever again holding federal office.
On Monday, Trump’s lawyers published a 78-page brief calling on the Senate to dismiss the House’s article of impeachment or vote to acquit the former president. This was in addition to a separate 14-page brief filed last week.

The DONUT’s in-depth breakdown of the arguments on both sides can be found here.

What to Expect
Senate leaders reached an agreement yesterday on the rules for the impeachment trial. The proceedings will kick off today with a brief debate and vote on the constitutionality of the trial, followed by several days of presentations that could include a vote to call witnesses.

In a procedural vote late last month, all but five Senate Republicans sided with a proposal from Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) that would have declared the impeachment trial unconstitutional since Trump is no longer in office (the proposal was defeated by a 55-45 vote).
The Senate impeachment trial requires a two-thirds majority to convict Trump (at least 67 senators). Given last month’s procedural vote, it appears unlikely that 17 Republican senators will side with all 50 Democratic senators expected to vote in favor of conviction.

If Trump is convicted, the Senate could immediately hold a follow-up vote, dictated by a simple majority, that would ban Trump from ever seeking federal office again.

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🇺🇸 COVID + Vaccine Update

Image via the CDC.

The U.S. reported less than 100k COVID-19 cases on Sunday for the first time this year.

Image via the Bloomberg.

At the U.S.’ current rate of vaccination, Bloomberg estimates ($) it will take 10 months to cover 75% of America’s population with a two-dose vaccine.

⚖️ Netanyahu Trial Resumes

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu formally pleaded not guilty to corruption charges yesterday as his trial resumed after a nearly half-year pandemic-induced delay. Netanyahu was indicted in 2019 on charges of fraud, breach of trust, and accepting bribes. He is also seeking re-election in Israel’s March 23 national elections.

LEFT CENTER → The Guardian	RIGHT CENTER → Jerusalem Post

🏛️ GOP Representative Passes Away

Rep. Ron Wright (R-TX) died on Sunday at the age of 67 after having tested positive for COVID-19, his campaign announced yesterday. Wright, who had also undergone treatment for lung cancer after being diagnosed in 2018, is the first sitting member of Congress to pass away after contracting COVID-19.

LEFT CENTER → NPR	RIGHT CENTER → NY Post

In Other News…

🇩🇪🇵🇱🇸🇪 → 🇷🇺 Germany, Poland, & Sweden each expelled a Russian diplomat yesterday in a coordinated act of retaliation for the expulsion of three EU officials by Moscow last week.

🚘 Tesla’s Coin Flip

Tesla announced in an SEC filing yesterday that it purchased $1.5B worth of bitcoin and soon expects to begin accepting the cryptocurrency as a payment method for its products.

Image via the WSJ.

Bitcoin prices jumped ~10% immediately after the announcement and continued to rise throughout the day, reaching nearly $47K late Monday. Data reportedly showed the majority of other cryptocurrencies also experienced double digit gains yesterday.

More: Tesla’s announcement comes as tweets from CEO Elon Musk and other celebrities sent the price of ‘meme cryptocurrency’ Dogecoin surging 37% over a 24-hour period ending Monday. (Bonus: Mark Cuban explains the ‘fun’ of Dogecoin.)

💰 Acquired Taste

DoorDash announced the acquisition of robotics startup Chowbotics yesterday. Chowbotics, which was valued at $46M when it last raised money in 2018, is best known for its salad-making robot called ‘Sally.’ The terms of the deal have not been disclosed. (Bonus: Watch Sally in action.)
WordPress VIP (WPVIP), a platform used by companies to publish and manage content online, announced the acquisition of content analytics platform Parse.ly. WPVIP, which is owned by Automattic Inc., didn’t disclose the terms of the deal, which Automattic’s CEO said was its largest by cost and revenue.

📈 Making Bank

SoftBank reported quarterly earnings yesterday, posting a $11.1B net profit on the back of a strong performance from the company’s Vision Fund, which posted a record $8B net profit. The Vision Fund was mainly buoyed by its stakes in Uber, which rose 45% on the year, and DoorDash, which IPO’d in December (turning SoftBank’s $680M stake into ~$9B).

In Other News…

📱 Audio drop-in startup Clubhouse’s app has been banned in China – as confirmed by TechCrunch – though the company’s website remains unblocked.

💉 Facebook, following consultation with the WHO, said it will take tougher action during the pandemic against vaccine misinformation.

🛑 Stop. Drop. Open Up Shop.

Image via Twitter.

When the line at a drive-through COVID-19 vaccination site in Mount Pleasant, SC, became backed up for miles, the local mayor called in Chick-fil-A manager Jerry Walkowiak to lend a hand.

With the help of local volunteers and Chick-fil-A team members, Jerry reduced the wait time from 3-4 hours to just 15 minutes, helping over 1,000 people get vaccinated that day.

Some other stories that make us go 🥰…

Crochet artist Tobey King created a doll based on a viral meme that ended up selling for an astounding $20,300 – far beyond the initial asking price of $5.50. Tobey donated all of the proceeds to Meals on Wheels.
New Hampshire collegiate athlete Cameron Lyle discovered that he was a 1-in-5-million bone marrow match for a young man fighting leukemia, handing him a difficult decision to either end his athletic career or go through with the donation. Cameron donated his bone marrow in April, providing the gift of life to a complete stranger.

TOGETHER WITH

Hard Water vs. Soft Water, Explained

Water is the most abundant element we have – but also one of the least understood. Especially when it comes to your home.

You always hear about “soft water” and “hard water”… what does it all mean?

Soft water is treated water in which the only ion is sodium (or salt).
Hard water is determined primarily by the amount of calcium, magnesium, and other materials it contains.

In other words, if your washing machine leaves clothes looking a little dingy, your dishes have spots and residue, your hands feel like a film is on them after washing, or your bathtub contains lots of soap scum – you probably have hard water.

But… I thought minerals were good for you?
Hard water can contain things like chlorine, which leads to the calcification of pipes (like a heart attack: the buildup restricts the pathway for water to travel).

It also eats into rubber components, among other things. Over time, this can lead to costly and unexpected repairs.
For example: You know that little rubber flap in the toilet? The one that keeps it from overflowing? It costs a few hundred dollars to fix (plus another couple hundred on your next water bill). And it’s totally preventable.

It’s always cheaper to be pro-active instead of re-active: Get in touch today for a free consultation, and ensure your home is protected for the long run.*

Learn More →

* For now, we can only serve the greater Austin & San Antonio metro areas.

📻 Talk a Blue Streak… a streaker ran onto the field during Sunday’s Super Bowl contest, leading to this unique radio play-by-play.

🔊〰️ The First Sense… U.S. Army researchers built the first quantum sensor that can analyze the full spectrum of radio frequency (from zero up to 20 GHz) and real-world signals (AM/FM radio, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, etc.)

👩‍🚀 Space Race… for the first time in 11 years, the European Space Agency is looking for new astronauts (and “strongly encouraging women to apply”). The ESA will begin accepting applications on March 31.

💻 Take a Leak… more than 3.2B unique pairs of emails and passwords were recently leaked on a public hacking forum, exposing credentials from Netflix, LinkedIn, Bitcoin, and more.

🧍 Human Resources

Water is the most widely consumed natural resource on Earth. What is the second?

A) Sand
B) Oil
C) Wood
D) Soil

(keep scrolling for the answer)

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Dose of Knowledge Answer

A) Sand

Humans use more than 55B tons of “aggregate” – the industry term for sand and gravel – every year, more than enough to blanket the entire United Kingdom.