Wait And See

Election Update (as of 5:30 am ET)

🇺🇸 Presidential Race
Joe Biden has 264 electoral votes compared to 214 for President Trump according to the Associated Press, with four states left to be called (GA, NV, NC, & PA). President Trump needs to win all four states to surpass the necessary 270 electoral votes, while Biden only needs to win one (Live updates: Left-Center | Right-Center). 

• The Trump campaign filed legal challenges on Wednesday in PA, MI, and GA - joining existing Republican lawsuits in PA & NV - and said it would request a recount in WI once the results were certified by the state (Biden unofficially won by ~20k votes).

🏛️ Senate Races
The Associated Press called 30 of 35 Senate elections. As it stands, Republicans will have at least 48 seats in the new Senate compared to 45 for Democrats, not including the 2 Independents who caucus with Democrats.

• In Georgia, a runoff was called in the special election to replace retired Sen. Johnny Isakson (R) after no candidate received more than 50% of the vote. The runoff will be held between incumbent Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler (who was appointed as Isakson’s replacement) and Democratic challenger Raphael Warnock.

🏠 House Races
The Associated Press called 394 of the 435 House seats up for election. As it stands, Democrats will have at least 204 seats in the new House compared to 190 for Republicans (current ratio: 232 D to 197 R).

• While pre-election polls seemed to point to a Democratic gain in the House, the party actually lost several incumbents and has failed to unseat a single sitting Republican representative thus far.

Also...

🗳️ North Dakota state rep candidate David Andahl (R) was elected on Tuesday despite the fact that he died from COVID-19 last month. State officials said that Andahl was elected legally, and his death creates a vacancy to be filled via an appointment from the state’s Republicans.

And a decidedly NON-election story...

🇩🇰 Denmark announced plans to cull its entire mink population (~16M) yesterday. Twelve Danes were infected with a mutated form of COVID-19 attributed to minks, according to the country’s prime minister, who said that continued spread of the mutated virus could jeopardize vaccine development, as it is more resistant to antibodies. 

More: According to government estimates, the culling could cost the world’s largest mink producer up to $785M.

A Day To Remember

Shares of Biogen rose 42% yesterday after the FDA said it had enough data to support the approval of aducanumab, the company’s experimental drug used to treat Alzheimer’s. If approved, it would be the first drug marketed to treat the mental decline caused by the disease, which is the sixth leading cause of death in the U.S.

More: The FDA will make its decision regarding the drug’s approval by March 2021.

Toss a Coin to Your Hacker

A blockchain analysis firm discovered on Tuesday that ~$950M worth of bitcoin was transferred out of a wallet connected to the Silk Road online black market. The company said 69,369 bitcoins were moved out of a wallet with the fourth-highest balance of any globally, which had previously been dormant since 2015.

A Fine Line

T-Mobile agreed to pay a $200M fine on Wednesday as part of a settlement that resolves an FCC probe into subsidiary Sprint’s alleged abuses of a federal program aimed at low-income subscribers. In an announcement, the FCC said the fine is the largest fixed-amount settlement the agency has ever received to settle an investigation.

Taken by Storm

In mid-August, a cluster of powerful thunderstorms in the Midwest resulted in a phenomenon known as a “derecho,” bringing high-speed winds and intense downpours that felled many of the region’s trees and caused widespread outages. Following the bout of severe weather, 12-year-old Tommy Rhomberg of Mount Vernon, IA, spotted an opportunity amidst the debris.

Using a limb from a tree that had fallen in his yard, Tommy crafted a homemade baseball bat as a birthday gift for a friend, painstakingly whittling and sanding the wooden club for a total of 10 hours. Once word of the handcrafted bat spread on social media, Tommy received a deluge of requests for similar creations. To date, the adolescent artisan has fulfilled more than 100 orders for unique storm crafts – which he calls “Great Derecho bats” – donating $20 from each sale to the Great Cedar Rapids Foundation Disaster Relief Fund.

Behold, a Tall Tail

Shortly before midnight on Sunday, a metro train Spijkenisse, Netherlands, failed to come to a stop as it approached the end of the tracks, barreling through the safety barrier that marked the edge of an elevated platform. With the tracks situated at a perilous 32 feet above a canal, the metro train was at risk of plummeting into the water below.

The runaway vehicle soared off of the tracks, but remained aloft thanks to a nearby sculpture of a whale’s tail -- narrowly avoiding disaster and saving the life of the driver, who was the only one aboard. The statue, which is part of an art installation aptly known as “Saved by the Whale’s Tail,” was designed and installed by Dutch artist Marteen Strujis in 2002. According to Marteen, the nearly two-decade-old plastic of the tail - called a whale’s “fluke” - should not have been strong enough to support the derailed metro train. (Picture)

Bird is the Word

Anton Nguyen of Brisbane, Australia, was jarred awake from his midnight slumber to notice something out of the ordinary: a fire was beginning to engulf his residence. However, it was not the building’s fire alarms that had roused the sleeping homeowner – the devices had not yet detected the flames – but rather his pet parrot.

The parrot, a lime green bird, named Eric, had continuously squawked, “Anton! Anton!” until the man responded. Once aware of the emergency, Anton grabbed his bird, ran out of his house, and waited for firefighters to contain the blaze. Although the fire ultimately gutted his home, Anton says that “Everything’s alright so long as I have myself and the bird.”

Crock-Pot® Seasoning Mixes + Your Slow Cooker: The Perfect Pair

Since 1971, busy households have been able to count on Crock-Pot to help make weeknight dinners a snap and weekend entertaining a breeze. Crock-Pot Seasoning Mixes, made especially for the slow cooker, make it even easier to ensure that every dish is as delicious as it is easy to prepare.

Whether it’s a no-stress family meal, entertaining or even a single-serve lunch, Crock-Pot flavorful seasoning mixes are blended and portioned to give you perfect results.

Sit Back, Relax, & Let Your Crock-Pot Slow Cooker Do the Work.
Choose from comfort food staples like Hearty Beef Stew, delicious tailgate favorites like BBQ Pulled Pork, or restaurant and pub cornerstones like Tavern Wings, and simmer your way to a dinner winner.