Get In The Game

U.S. Defense Secretary Fired

President Trump fired Defense Secretary Mark Esper on Monday, saying in a tweet that Esper had been “terminated” and would be replaced in an acting capacity by Christopher Miller. Trump did not elaborate on his reasoning for the decision. Miller became the director of the National Counterterrorism Center in August after being confirmed by the Senate.

More: Read Esper’s farewell letter to the president.

EU Imposes Retaliatory U.S. Tariffs

The EU announced tariffs on $4B worth of U.S. goods on Monday, continuing an international dispute over airline subsidies.

1. The World Trade Organization (WTO) agreed last year that the EU did not follow best trade practices when granting aid to Airbus, causing the U.S. to impose tariffs on $7.5B worth of EU goods.
2. Last month, the WTO announced a similar decision regarding the U.S. and Boeing, leading to Monday’s retaliatory tariff from the EU, which has said it hopes to negotiate a settlement with the U.S.

More: The EU tariffs apply to Boeing jets and other U.S. goods, while the U.S. tariffs apply to Airbus jets and other imported European products.

Armenia & Azerbaijan Halt Fighting

Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Russia signed an agreement on Monday to end six weeks of military conflict over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region. The deal comes on the heels of a number of previous peace accords that fell apart almost immediately. Russian President Vladimir Putin said nearly 2k Russian peacekeepers would be deployed along the frontline of the conflict.

More: Armenia & Azerbaijan: What's Going On?

🧗‍♀️ Rock climber Emily Harrington became the first woman (and fourth person) to free-climb El Capitan’s Golden Gate route - a 3,000-foot granite wall - in under 24 hours.

📝 A Quick Note: Yesterday’s subject line contained “U.S. Election Called For Biden.” While we highlighted it explicitly in the Dose of Discussion, this was in reference to every major media organization, not the Electoral College, which officially decides the president. We will pay attention to the legal challenges and keep you abreast of developments as they unfold.

👕 VF Becomes Supreme Leader

VF Corp., the parent company of Vans and Timberland, agreed to buy streetwear brand Supreme in a deal valuing the company at ~$2.1B including debt. Supreme was founded in NYC in 1994 and has just 12 stores nationwide, but maintains a cult-like following that relies on scarcity and word-of-mouth to generate hype. The company’s T-shirts and hoodies often sell out immediately, and can be found listed on third-party sellers for more than $1k.

🍔 McPlant The Flag

McDonald’s debuted ‘McPlant’ yesterday, an array of plant-based menu items that will be available in 2021. The featured plant-based patty is co-created with meat-substitute company Beyond Meat. McDonald’s said its McPlant line could eventually offer products including burgers, chicken substitutes, and breakfast sandwiches.

⚙️ Work To Do

General Motors announced plans to hire 3,000 new workers in the first quarter of 2021 yesterday. GM President Mark Reuss said the new jobs will focus on the fields of software development and engineering as part of the company’s effort to “become a software expertise-driven workforce.”

🏃 A Better Tomorrow

Chris Nikic of Maitland, FL, has spent his whole life overcoming physical obstacles. After undergoing open-heart surgery at just five months old, Chris – who has Down syndrome – could not walk until the age of four and later endured four different ear operations in high school. Now 21-years-old, the young man still struggles with his balance and slow reaction time but continues to pursue growth each day by following his stirring motto:

Just get 1 percent better every day.

This past Saturday, the courageous Chris demonstrated the power of this mindset by becoming the first person with Down syndrome to complete an Ironman Triathlon. This brutal athletic competition consists of a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bike ride, and a full marathon. Chris, who began training for the event last October while also juggling his schoolwork, completed the race over 17 grueling hours of continuous effort.

🐳 Whale Of A Time

Earlier this week, a school of 120 short-finned pilot whales was stranded along the coast of Panadura, Sri Lanka, in what the South Asian country’s Marine Environment Protection Authority confirmed was the region’s worst mass-beaching in history.

In response, Sri Lanka’s navy, police, and environmental protection officers banded together to carry out a rescue operation to save the stranded mammals. Joined by hundreds of residents from Panadura, who broke the region’s COVID-19 curfew to offer their support, the rescue workers successfully returned all but four marooned whales to the sea.

Although the phenomenon of whale beaching is not uncommon, scientists remain unclear as to why such events occur, but note that the creatures are highly social and travel in close-knit communities.

👶 Keep Me In Mind

Luz Rueda of Waco, TX, was a 21-year-old single mother in 2013 when she found herself frantically searching for diapers in a local grocery store while holding her screaming infant son. Frazzled by her baby’s outburst and determined to get home quickly, Luz did not notice as the woman in front of her in the checkout line paid for the young mother’s box of diapers. Luz did not get a chance to thank the kind stranger that day, but she never forgot her.

Last week, seven years after the encounter, Luz posted a message on the “Waco Moms in the Know” Facebook page alerting other mothers of the stranger’s kind actions and announcing that she was giving away free boxes of diapers to four single parents in need. Although Luz did not have the chance to show her appreciation to the stranger all those years ago, she hopes that the moms who benefitted from the new diapers will continue to pay the kindness forward.

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