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Good morning. Welcome one, welcome all to the start of a new week – and a special welcome to everyone joining us for the first time.
⏰🚀 Ready, Set, Go: Today's newsletter takes 3.68 minutes to read.
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🍩 Daily Sprinkle
“Just do the best you can. No one can do more than that.”
–John Wooden
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🗣👂 Dose of Discussion
📝 The Great Infrastructure Debate
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Senate Republicans unveiled a five-year, $568B infrastructure plan last Thursday, countering President Biden’s eight-year, $2T+ American Jobs Plan proposed last month.
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The GOP’s bill focuses solely on transportation projects, broadband infrastructure, and water pipes, forgoing funding for other priorities laid out in the White House package (elderly & disabled care, nationwide EV stations, manufacturing, and more. See a full breakdown.).
🤿 A deeper dive…
Image: Twitter
The Republican proposal also represents a departure from Biden’s plan in terms of paying for the legislation.
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The GOP’s bill calls for collecting user fees on electric vehicles and repurposing existing funds that Congress has already approved to fund the plan.
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The White House’s bill proposes a corporate tax increase to 28% from 21%. It was 35% prior to the 2017 tax cuts passed under former President Trump.
The White House last week characterized the bill as a “good faith effort” and legitimate starting point for negotiations.
⏭️ What’s Next?
Biden will invite leading Republican lawmakers to the White House to discuss infrastructure after addressing a joint session of Congress on Wednesday, where he will formally introduce the American Jobs Plan.
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Any potential legislation would need 60 votes in the evenly-divided Senate to overcome a filibuster, though some portions could potentially be passed through budget reconciliation (which requires 51 votes, but is limited to measures with a direct budget impact).
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👇📰 Quick Bits
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🇦🇲 Biden Recognizes Armenian Genocide
President Biden on Saturday declared the systematic killing and deportation of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire in the early 20th century a “genocide.”
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The White House: "Beginning on April 24, 1915, with the arrest of Armenian intellectuals and community leaders in Constantinople by Ottoman authorities, one and a half million Armenians were deported, massacred, or marched to their deaths in a campaign of extermination."
More: What was the Armenian genocide?
Even More: The announcement is the first such formal statement by a sitting U.S. president. Turkish officials effectively say the killings were not systematic, and, in a statement, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said they “reject and denounce in the strongest terms the statement of the President of the US regarding the events of 1915.”
From the Right: WSJ
From the Left: CBS News
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🇺🇸 J&J Vaccine Update
The CDC and FDA lifted a recommended pause on the use of Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine after an 11-day suspension due to concerns of rare, but severe blood clots.
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The joint announcement came after a CDC advisory committee voted to recommend lifting the pause after a safety review, but also advised adding a warning about the increased risk of blood clots.
More: The CDC has confirmed 15 total cases of rare blood clot conditions, all in women, out of nearly 8M doses administered. Three women have died, while seven remain hospitalized.
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🦠 MIT COVID Study
A peer-reviewed study published earlier this month by researchers at MIT found the risk of contracting COVID-19 indoors in “closed, well-mixed spaces” is the same when socially distanced 6 feet apart and 60 feet apart.
“We argue there really isn’t much of a benefit to the 6-foot rule, especially when people are wearing masks. It really has no physical basis because the air a person is breathing while wearing a mask tends to rise and comes down elsewhere in the room so you’re more exposed to the average background than you are to a person at a distance.” –MIT professor Martin Bazant, in an interview with CNBC.
The researchers claim an important variable overlooked in CDC and WHO guidelines is the amount of time spent indoors.
More: Some researchers are claiming headlines from CNBC and other media outlets do not accurately reflect what the study indicates. Dig deeper.
From the Right: Fox News
From the Left: CNBC
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DONUT Holes...
🇮🇩 Indonesia’s military located a lost submarine that sunk during a training exercise last week, killing all 53 crew members. It was previously speculated the sub may have been intact and stranded at more shallow depths.
🇮🇶 At least 82 people died and 110 were injured after oxygen tanks exploded at a Baghdad hospital, causing a massive fire.
🇷🇺 Imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny ended his hunger strike on the 24th day after being examined by non-prison doctors.
🏛️ Caitlyn Jenner is running for governor of California. (From the Left | From the Right)
🥇 Olympic gold medalist and five-time world champion Simone Biles announced she is leaving Nike to partner with Gap-owned Athleta. Financial terms of the deal weren't disclosed.
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📸 The Weekend in Pics...
Image: Screenshots, University of Arizona
Tampa Bay Buccaneers TE Rob Gronkowski set a Guinness World Record by successfully catching a pass dropped from a helicopter 600 feet in the air.
Image: ABC
Chloé Zhao became the second woman ever – and the first Asian woman – to take home an Oscar for Best Director last night. See the full list of winners.
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What everyone's talking about: Anthony Hopkins won Best Actor for his role in "The Father" in the biggest surprise of last night.
Image: Heritage Auctions; A prototype of the first official dollar coin minted in the U.S., the only one of its kind
Per the AP: “Heritage auctions spokesman Eric Bradley said the ‘No Stars Flowing Hair Dollar’ opened at $312,000 when it was put up Friday evening but ‘in less than a minute, intense bidding quickly pushed the coin to its final auction price of $840,000.’”
🔭 The Week Ahead...
Monday: National Kids & Pets Day
Tuesday: Alphabet, Microsoft report earnings
Wednesday: Biden to address a joint session of Congress
Thursday: FDA’s deadline to decide on menthol cigarette ban; Day 1 of NFL Draft
Friday: Biden’s 100th day in office
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🤗 Daily Dose of Positive
👑⚔️The Ultimate Josh
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Images: Twitter
A 4-year-old has been crowned the “Josh of all Joshes” after a viral event called the #JoshFight took place on Friday.
Hundreds of people bearing the popular name met in a field in Nebraska to duke it out for the crown of “The Ultimate Josh.”
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The battle has been in the works for over a year thanks to a group chat jokingly started by Josh Swain from Arizona.
Watch a recap.
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🛸🌄📲 Calling from the Future…
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🤖 I, Groot
For decades, researchers at Walt Disney Imagineering in Southern California have dreamed of developing fully mobile, bipedal robots precisely matching the appearances and personalities of beloved Disney characters.
And now...
Although Imagineers have more work to complete on Groot before he meets the public, the lifelike automaton will someday roam freely around Disney parks and interact with guests.
Read more.
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💡 Dose of Knowledge
✅ Spell Check
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Which one of these words is spelled correctly?
A) Wierd
B) Foriegn
C) Hygiene
D) Decieve
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(keep scrolling for the answer) |
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💡 Dose of Knowledge Answer
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