Your Dose Of News Useful Today awaits…
|
| SPONSORED BY |
 |
| View in browser |
|
|
Dose Of News Useful Today
Friday, April 2nd
|
|
|
|
📅 And Now Your Week Is Ended
|
Welcome to Friday. Up next: the FBI sets a firearm background check record, Paul Simon sells his entire catalog, and the world’s biggest video game cheating operation gets busted.
P.S. Happy Easter – we’ll be back in your inbox on Tuesday. 🐰 Learn about the holiday’s origins, meanings, and celebrations.
⏰🚀 Ready, Set, Go: Today’s newsletter takes 4.31 minutes to read. First time reading? Sign up here.
|
|
|
Daily Sprinkle |
“Everything is hard before it is easy”
–Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.
|
|
|
 |
🏢 Corporate America vs. GA Voting Law 🍑
|
A number of major U.S. corporations have released statements criticizing SB 202 – a recent law passed in Georgia making changes to the state’s election process. (The full list.)
-
Many companies expressed concern the laws would disproportionately affect underrepresented voters, including communities of color.
In a full-page NYT ad on Wednesday, 72 Black executives called on corporate America to publicly and directly oppose the new voting laws in Georgia (and other states considering similar legislation).
🤿 A deeper dive…
The Georgia bill contains a number of changes to the state election process, including:
-
Replacing signature matching on absentee ballots with a procedure requiring voters to write their driver’s license or state ID card number down on the ballot and envelope.
-
Requiring every county have a secure drop box for absentee ballots, and limiting them to one per 100,000 registered voters.
-
Narrowing the window to request an absentee ballot from six months before an election to 11 weeks (with a deadline of 11 days before the election).
-
Mandating state election officials work in shifts to count ballots until they are done, rather than taking breaks as they did in 2020, and shortening the certification deadline to six days from ten.
-
Removing the secretary of state as the chair of the state election board, a position that will now be elected by the state legislature. It also gives the election board the power to suspend and replace county election officials with an individual of its choosing.
Another part of the bill attracting headlines is that it makes it a misdemeanor for anyone to hand out food or drink to people waiting in line to vote, though poll workers are allowed to set up self-serve water stations.
⏭️ What’s Next?
A number of civil rights groups have already sued Georgia over the law, including the ACLU, NAACP, and Southern Poverty Law Center. Those suits will play out over the next months or years.
-
Since late February, other state legislatures have introduced more than 100 bills proposing similar changes to their election processes, according to the Brennan Center for Justice (which supports expanded voter access). Those measures are expected to be voted on in the coming months.
|
|
|
|
Questions about the rating system we use?
Learn more |
|
Share Today’s Dose of Discussion |
|
|
 |
|
🔫 FBI Gun Background Checks
The FBI conducted nearly 4.7M background checks in March, a 36% increase from the month before. The number of background checks does not equal the number of guns sold, but it does tend to correlate with the volume of sales.
-
Last month’s number breaks the previous all-time high set in January, and is 1M more than March 2020.
|
|
✅ FDA OKs Repeatable At-Home Tests
The FDA authorized the first three COVID-19 serial tests designed for repeat, frequent at-home use by consumers to screen for infections even without symptoms.
-
Two of the serial tests will be available over the counter, while the other, designed for use in places like schools and doctors’ offices, requires a prescription.
More: The FDA previously authorized the tests on a prescription basis for those with COVID-19 symptoms.
|
|
💉 COVID Vaccine Update
Image: Bloomberg
|
At the U.S.’ current pace, Bloomberg estimates it will take another four months to cover 75% of the population.
-
Pfizer & BioNTech’s vaccine is over 91% effective at preventing the disease, according to data from a 44k-person trial that included 12k people fully inoculated for at least six months.
|
|
🧠 In the Know…
⚖️ Stay up to date on the Chauvin trial. (From the Left | From the Right)
🇭🇰 Seven of Hong Kong’s leading pro-democracy activists were convicted yesterday for organizing and participating in a 2019 protest. They face up to five years in prison.
🚨 Breaking: At least 48 are dead and 66 people injured after a train in Taiwan collided with a runaway truck Friday morning. This is a developing story.
|
|
|
| |
|
 |
📈 Market Mania
The S&P 500 crossed – and closed above – the 4,000 mark yesterday for the first time in history (+1.2% | Dow +0.5% | Nasdaq +1.8%).
-
The milestone represents a near doubling of the S&P 500 since its lowest point at the start of the pandemic last year (2,192). The index reached 3,000 for the first time ever in July 2019.
More: At its lowest point this century, the S&P 500 was as low as 667 (March 9, 2009).
|
📱 The ‘Appening
Data intelligence firm SensorTower predicts annual consumer app spend will reach $180 this year (up from $130 in 2020).
-
Separately, analytics firm App Annie found worldwide app spending grew 40% year-over-year to $32B in Q1 2021 – the biggest quarter since records began.
|
|
| |
|
 |
🐶🎾🐙 Furry Friends Friday: Having a Ball
Meet Lucy, a fun-loving pup who loves playing on the beach with her beloved tennis ball.
Images: Riette Creighton
|
On one such outing a few weeks ago, a new friend popped up in the water to play – a wild octopus with a shared affinity for playing ball.
“High tide was coming in, and all of a sudden this octopus swam across in the shallow water.”
The dog was so shocked when the octopus swam up that she dropped the ball and stood frozen, observing her new friend.
-
Taking that as its cue, the eight-legged sea creature quickly grabbed the tennis ball with its tentacle, playing with it at the surface for a few moments before pulling it under the water and disappearing into the depths below.
Lucy’s mom Riette caught the whole thing on video.
-
The duo waited for 20 minutes to see if the buoyant ball would resurface nearby, but it was nowhere to be found.
“I think my reaction was the same as Lucy’s! I’ve never experienced anything like it. This was just next level!”
|
|
|
| |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
-
🐸 Living Robots… after biologists extracted small clumps of skin stem cells from frog embryos, the cells organized themselves into clusters called “xenobots” that were able to swim, navigate, and organize small particles of iron oxide – even without nerve cells or brains.
|
|
| |
|
 |
🌎 Country Club
|
Russia is the largest country in the world by area. Which nation ranks second?
A) China
B) United States
C) Canada
D) Australia
|
(keep scrolling for the answer) |
|
| |
|
 |
Get Your FREE Stuff |
Step 1. Use the button below or copy your unique referral link |
Step 2. Share the DONUT with friends |
Step 3. Cash in on tons of rewards |
|
 |
|
Or share your unique referral link with others: |
Oops, we couldn’t find your link, click here to get it
|
| |
|
|
Dose of Knowledge Answer |
C) Canada
Canada is the second-largest country in the world, covering 3,855,100 square miles. The U.S. either ranks third or fourth behind China, depending on whether its coastal and territorial waters are counted.
|
|
What do you think of today’s email? |
   |
|
|
