Getting A Fix On It

COVID-19 Snapshot

• Check your state’s ICU bed capacity.
• Some virus news: The mayor of San Jose announced a partnership with AT&T to make 11,000 4G hotspots available to students within the city when virtual classes begin this fall.

ISIS Captures (Then Loses) Afghan Prison

Afghan military forces on Monday recaptured a prison in eastern Afghanistan, one day after ISIS militants attacked it. Twenty-nine people reportedly died in the fighting, and another 50 or more were wounded. Afghan authorities said government forces had found about 1,000 prisoners - including hundreds of ISIS members - who had earlier escaped.

Lebanon’s Foreign Minister Resigns

The Lebanese foreign minister tendered his resignation on Monday, citing “the absence of an effective will to achieve structural, comprehensive reform.” Lebanon defaulted on a $1.2B debt payment to the IMF for the first time in March and is currently attempting to negotiate a bailout - though the two sides are reportedly far apart.

Similar news: Per the WSJ, Argentina has finalized an agreement to restructure ~$65B in debt to foreign creditors (led by BlackRock) to resolve the country’s third sovereign default this century.

Worth Noting: Tropical Storm Isaias was upgraded to a Category 1 hurricane Monday night as it made landfall on the eastern Carolinas.

Lord & Tailored

Lord & Taylor and Tailored Brands (parent of Men’s Wearhouse and Jos. A. Banks) both filed for bankruptcy on Monday. Lord & Taylor said it was looking for new owners, while Tailored Brands announced a restructuring plan that would see the company reduce its funded debt by at least $630M and continue to operate its stores. About forty retailers have now filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy this year.

Hey Siri, Hire Lawyers

Shanghai Zhizhen Network Technology filed a patent-infringement lawsuit against Apple on Monday. The Shanghai-based company is seeking an estimated $1.43B in damages over allegations that Apple’s voice assistant, Siri, violates a patent recently granted to Shanghai Zhizhen. If successful, the suit would also force Apple to stop Chinese sales, production, and use of products infringing on the patent - covering virtually all the U.S. company’s devices.

Now I Know My ADTs

Alphabet’s Google announced plans to invest $450M in home security company ADT in exchange for a 6.6% stake. The deal will allow Google to provide service to customers of ADT’s Nest home security devices, such as cameras, thermostats, doorbells, and alarm systems.

More: Google unveiled its latest Pixel phone on Monday. The Pixel 4a ($349) brings most of the key features of the Pixel 4 ($799), and contains an even larger battery than the flagship model.

Worth Noting: Siemens has agreed to buy California-based cancer therapy company Varian Medical Systems for $16.4B cash, in what would be the health care sector’s largest deal this year.

Also Worth Noting: The XFL football league sold to a group of investors that included Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson for $15M.

Bursting Their Bubbles

The reflexes of the penguins at the Newquay Zoo in Cornwall, England, are usually kept sharp by the park’s constant stream of visitors, as the animals regularly react to the attention-grabbing movements and sounds of their human audience. However, when the zoo closed at the beginning of the pandemic, the penguins’ senses were left dramatically under-stimulated.

Eager to keep the penguins active and alert despite their isolation, the zookeeping staff bought their flippered friends a bubble maker to play with during quarantine. In an adorable YouTube video, the playful penguins, which are natural predators in the wild, gleefully chase around the colorful bubbles, enchanted by their dazzling shapes and colors.

The Bear Necessities

Last month, Mara Soriano of Vancouver, Canada, was moving into a new apartment with her fiancé when a satchel filled with her valuable items was stolen. The bag, which Mara had placed momentarily on a street curb while unpacking her U-Haul trailer, held several important documents and expensive electronics. However, the most devastating loss was an irreplaceable item – a stuffed bear containing an audio recording of Mara's late mother.

Last week, following a viral social media campaign that united friends, neighbors, and celebrities, the 28-year-old Mara was reunited with her treasured teddy bear. When hugged, the stuffed animal's voice box emits Mara's mother's sound, who passed away from cancer in June 2019, telling her daughter how much she loves her.

There IS Such Thing As A Free Lunch

In March, when the pandemic shut down the primary school where he teaches in Grimsby, England, Zane Powles worried about his students' wellbeing, many of whom experienced the effects of poverty. Zane, who had previously won his community's Inspirational Primary School Teacher award in 2019, needed to know that his students were safe, healthy, and had enough food to eat.

Thus, every morning for 17 weeks, Zane prepared 85 lunches for his students, walking 7.5 miles to hand-deliver each one. After distributing a total of 7,500 packed lunches – amounting to an estimated four tons of food – the dedicated educator now plans to embark on a 1,500-mile cycling trip around the UK to raise money for children living in poverty.

What is art?

Per Wikipedia, art is “the expression of imaginative, conceptual ideas, or technical skill, intended to be appreciated for their beauty or emotional power.”

And that describes Steve Tate’s work perfectly
Twenty years of experience with paints and applications gives his work a sophistication and elegance that is unparalleled. The end result? A relationship of thoughts, feelings, and emotion on canvas.

Pure and dynamic. Raw and from the heart.
An accidental experiment, tinged with a dash of inspiration, magic, humility, and romance - see what happens when it all comes together.