Dose Of News Useful Today

Friday, May 1st

Mayday, It’s May Day

Good morning. Today marks the first day of May, and along with it - the proverbial flowers. We’re taking it as a sign of better times ahead. Are you feeling half-full or half-empty? Let us know here.

Daily Sprinkle

"No matter what people tell you, words and ideas can change the world."

- Robin Williams

Staying In Contact

As states begin to reopen across the U.S., health experts have called for widespread implementation of contact tracing - the process of identifying and notifying people who have come in contact with a COVID-positive individual. Two main schools of thought have emerged:

Work For Hire
Former CDC Director Tom Frieden estimated that 300,000 public health workers will be needed to interview all individuals with confirmed cases, then notify everyone they’ve interacted with while contagious. Currently, the U.S. has fewer than 8,000 of these workers, though New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo yesterday said the state plans to hire up to 17,000 contact tracers.

Nine Democratic senators last week introduced legislation that would expand the national community service program and fund allowances for 750,000 citizen-volunteer positions over the next three years.
A separate bill proposes allocating $55 billion to form a “Health Force” that would carry out testing, contact tracing, and eventually, vaccine deployment.

Technology To The Rescue?
Apple and Google have teamed up to create an alternative to the manually-intensive system of contact tracing that has been floated in Congress.

The two companies worked together to create an opt-in system (pictured here) that uses a phone’s Bluetooth signal to figure out when two phones (and thus, two people) are near each other.
Only public health authorities will be allowed to build apps that utilize this system. These apps will provide notifications to users that they may have been exposed to someone infected with the virus.

Private First Class
Some lawmakers have questioned the implications for consumer privacy if such a system is implemented, though Apple and Google have provided extensive details on their efforts to retain user privacy.

Four Republican senators on Thursday introduced legislation that would hold businesses accountable for misusing personal data gathered from their contact tracing systems.

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Coronavirus Updates

Global cases rose above 3.30 million yesterday with more than 233,800 deaths. The number of confirmed U.S. cases rose to nearly 1.1 million with 63,856 confirmed deaths.

Georgia lifted its shelter-in-place order at midnight last night for all except the elderly and “medically fragile.” The state will also allow new drivers to obtain their license without undergoing an on-the-road test until May 13.
Los Angeles on Wednesday became the first major U.S. city to offer free coronavirus tests to all residents, including those without symptoms.
South Korea on Thursday reported no new domestic cases for the first time in ten weeks.
Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin on Thursday tested positive for coronavirus, leaving the First Deputy Prime Minister to temporarily perform his duties.
New York City’s 24/7 subway system will close for coronavirus cleaning from 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. each day, beginning May 6.

The Race To The White House: Poll Edition

Recent 2020 election polls show:

Joe Biden is currently ahead of President Trump in national general election polling by ~6 points. On Jan 1, 2020, Biden also led Trump by ~6 points.
Sportsbooks have Trump pulling out a victory in November by an average of 7 points.
President Trump’s average approval rating decreased from 52% to 45% over the past three months.

Sexual assault claims against Biden make me skeptical: Ex-prosecutor → USA Today (OPINION)	America deserves to see Biden's Supreme Court short list → New York Post (OPINION)

Canada Set To Announce Weapons Ban

Canada will reportedly ban eleven categories of assault-style weapons, including the AR-15 and Ruger Mini-14, in an announcement later this week. The ban also outlaws all weapons that have been previously used in mass shootings.

More: On April 19, a gunman in Nova Scotia killed at least 22 people - and then himself - in the country’s deadliest shooting ever.

LEFT CENTER → U.S. News & World Report	RIGHT CENTER → The Globe and Mail

The Coronavirus Effect

The Federal Reserve expanded its $600 billion lending program to include more large and small businesses.
Jobless claims increased by 3.8 million last week, bringing the total to 30.3 million Americans over the past six weeks.
The S&P 500 closed the month of April up more than 12%, its best mark since 1987.
American Airlines, Delta, & United joined JetBlue in requiring passengers and crew to wear masks.
Zoom recanted its claim of 300 million daily users, saying instead that it had 300 million daily meeting participants, who can be counted more than once.
Boeing said it will not seek federal aid after the company secured $25 billion in a bond offering, the company’s biggest debt sale ever.

Fly Me To The Moon

NASA on Thursday awarded contracts to three companies to begin work on lunar landers, as the agency moves towards its goal of returning to the Moon by 2024. Blue Origin was awarded $579 million, Dynetics was given $253 million, and SpaceX received $153 million.

More: Here’s how Blue Origin’s human lander system plans to carry astronauts to the Moon’s surface.

Jukebox Hero

OpenAI (whose founders include Elon Musk and Sam Altman) published its new music-generating system - Jukebox - yesterday. When provided with a genre, artist, and lyrics, the AI-powered system is capable of generating new music from scratch using the voice and style of Elvis, Tupac, Katy Perry, and others.

More: Check out 13 famous people brought back to life as holograms, with performances from Ronald Reagan, Buddy Holly, Michael Jackson, Tupac, and more.

One For The Road

The senior class of Wylie High School in Wylie, Texas was dismayed to find out their graduation had been canceled due to COVID-19. Little did they know - their principal, Virdie Montgomery, had devised a plan to honor their achievement.

Virdie and his wife drove more than 800 miles tracking down and congratulating all 612 graduating seniors, presenting each and every one of them with a note and an attempt at a “dad joke.”

Forget About The Price Tag

California native Mike Lyndall’s restaurant, Lyndall’s Sports Shop Grill, has recently fallen on hard times due to coronavirus. Mike readily admits they may be losing money, but, as he told KBO-TV, “Sometimes it isn’t about money. It’s about doing the right thing.”

Three times a week, Mike and his crew begin working at 5 a.m. to fill a special 100-person lunch takeout order, which he then delivers to the staff at a local hospital free of charge.

Tom Terrific (Pt. 3)

Last week, we updated you on 99-year-old Captain Tom Moore, the UK WWII veteran who - at the time - had raised $33.7 million for his country’s health service by pledging to walk 100 laps in his backyard garden before he turns 100.

Yesterday, Tom celebrated his 100th birthday (two weeks after completing his 100th lap) and received more than 125,000 birthday cards from well-wishers around the globe. His total funds raised thus far has now climbed above $41 million.

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📰 News Flash… travel back to the fateful day CNN decided to cover a ho-hum press briefing - and accidentally stumbled upon a presidential assassination attempt, triggering the dawn of the 24-hour news cycle.

🚲 Stay In Your Lane… take a trip alongside a thrill-seeking mountain biker who travels down a narrow path on the side of a mountain. Bumpers not included (video).

📱 Call of Duty… the Sumida Aquarium in Tokyo, Japan is asking volunteers to video call its lonely eels in an attempt to re-familiarize them with human faces.

💒 Un-Tying The Knot… according to the National Center for Health Statistics, the U.S. marriage rate fell 6% in 2018, reaching its lowest level since the federal government began collecting data in 1867.