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Good morning. We've got a doozy for ya today – let's get right to it.
⏰🚀 Ready, Set, Go: Today’s newsletter takes 3.91 minutes to read. With the 360° view: 8.51 minutes.
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🍩 Daily Sprinkle
“Dream big and dare to fail.”
–Norman Vaughn
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🗣👂 Dose of Discussion
🇮🇱🇵🇸 Israel-Palestine Update
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The conflict between Israel and Hamas continued for an eighth straight day yesterday.
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At least 200 Palestinians have been killed and 1,300 wounded, while ten people in Israel have been killed and hundreds wounded.
📜 Background: What's happening and why are they fighting?
On Monday…
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Israel’s military said it destroyed nine miles of Hamas-controlled tunnels and the homes of nine militant commanders in a series of airstrikes.
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Hamas continued to launch hundreds of rockets from Gaza into Israel (totaling more than 3,200 fired since May 10). Roughly 90% of the missiles have been intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system, per Israeli officials.
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The U.S. blocked what would have been a unanimous statement by the 15-member UN Security Council expressing “grave concern” over the intensifying conflict and loss of civilian lives.
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“Any diplomatic initiative that advances that prospect is something that we’ll support. And we are again willing and ready to do that. But ultimately it is up to the parties to make clear that they want to pursue a cease-fire.”
–U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, talking to reporters in Denmark yesterday.
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President Biden expressed support for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in a call on Thursday evening with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the White House said in a statement released yesterday.
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👇📰 Quick Bits
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⚖️ SCOTUS Agrees to Hear Abortion Case
The Supreme Court published a one-line order on Monday agreeing to consider the legality of a Mississippi abortion law that would ban the procedure after 15 weeks of pregnancy.
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📜 Background: The law was blocked from taking effect in 2018 after two lower courts upheld a legal challenge from Mississippi’s only abortion clinic, prompting state officials to file an appeal with the Supreme Court.
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From the AP: “A decision favorable to the state could lay the groundwork for allowing even more restrictions on abortion, including state bans on abortion once a fetal heartbeat is detected, as early as six weeks.”
More: The case will likely be argued in the fall, with the court’s decision expected by spring 2022.
From the Left: NPR
From the Right: WSJ
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📺 Media Maneuvers
AT&T announced plans to spin off WarnerMedia - formerly Time Warner - and merge it with Discovery, creating a new standalone media company that could be worth well over $100B.
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In conjunction with the WarnerMedia spinoff, which includes HBO, CNN, & Warner Bros., AT&T will receive $43B in a combination of cash, debt securities, and WarnerMedia’s retention of certain debts.
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The communications giant will retain ownership of 71% of the unnamed joint venture. Discovery will control the remaining 29%.
More: Executives said the two companies already spend a combined $20B per year on content, including programming for their traditional TV networks, which they compared to Netflix’s projected estimate of $17B spent this year.
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🚘🧊 Burrrrrr - y
A firm led by investor Michael Burry - featured in The Big Short for his successful bet against the U.S. housing market prior to 2008 - held a short position against 800,100 shares of Tesla at the end of Q1, according to a filing with the SEC.
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From Markets Insider: “Burry's puts give him the right to sell those shares - worth $534 million at the end of March - at a specified "strike price" before a certain expiration date. If Tesla's stock price falls below the strike price before the options expire, Burry can sell his shares for a profit.”
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DONUT Holes...
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🎵🎧 Apple will begin to offer lossless audio to its subscribers for free starting next month. | Hours later, Amazon said its high-quality streaming tier (including lossless audio) will be available to all Amazon Music Unlimited subscribers at no additional cost going forward. | Spotify announced HiFi – i.e, lossless, CD-quality audio – in February; no word on a launch date or price (or lack thereof).
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😷 Target, Chipotle, CVS Health, and others announced updated customer mask guidance to align with new CDC guidelines published last week – see the list or read the 360° view.
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📱 Parler is back on the App Store (and also named a new CEO). (From the Left | From the Right)
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🏇 Trainer Bob Baffert was temporarily suspended by New York racing officials from entering horses in any race – including Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit; ban extends to next month’s Belmont Stakes.
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⚖️ An associate of Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) pled guilty yesterday to charges that include sex trafficking of a minor and agreed to cooperate with federal investigators; Gaetz, who is reportedly ($) the subject of a sex trafficking investigation involving said associate, was not mentioned in documents or during court on Monday. (From the Left | From the Right)
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📸 Pic of the Day
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Image: YouGov |
Who would win in a fight: elephant or gorilla? Grizzly or tiger? Croc or hippo? King cobra or honey badger? (Trick question: we already know that answer.)
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Peruse this recent YouGov poll and geek out to your hypothetical heart’s content.
+Interesting Stat: Eight percent of human respondents said they could beat a lion in a fight if they were unarmed.
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🔢 By the Numbers
$1.9M - The net worth most Americans say you need to be considered wealthy, according to Schwab’s 2021 Modern Wealth Survey.
745,194 – The amount of people killed in 2016 from overwork, per a WHO study published Monday in Environmental International.
12.6M - The approximate number of U.S. households that got a new pet last year after the pandemic was declared in March.
$52,500 - The largest FAA fine this year, handed down to an airline passenger who tried to open the cockpit door and hit a flight attendant in the face twice during a flight last December.
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🤗 Daily Dose of Positive
👶🚊 The Subway Baby
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Image: Peter Mercurio
🎬 The Scene: It’s dusk on a sweltering August day in the year 2000. Our protagonist is walking into a subway station in NYC…
Social worker Danny Stewart was headed to meet boyfriend Peter Mercurio for dinner when he stumbled upon an unusual surprise – an abandoned newborn baby. He immediately called the police.
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When they arrived to take the newborn away, the couple believed it was the last time they would see the little one.
⏩ Fast-Forward Four Months: Danny and Peter are asked to testify in a family court hearing for the subway baby. It was there the judge would ask the question that would change their lives forever: “Would you be interested in adopting this baby?”
⏩ Fast-Forward to Present Day: Kevin is a thriving, almost-21-year-old college student studying Mathematics and Computer Science.
Read more.
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🛸🌄📲 Calling from the Future…
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🎮 Fear Factor…
A volunteer faces virtual cockroaches in a simulated VR therapy session (ABC Radio National: James Bullen)
Exposure therapy, a traditional method for treating anxiety disorders and phobias, has some limitations – one being, it’s not always feasible to gradually and repeatedly present a patient with the source of their fears.
Australian clinical psychologist Corrie Ackland has turned to virtual reality goggles to advance her exposure therapy practices, immersing her patients in 360-degree videos to confront their greatest fears in a safe and controlled way.
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A 2018 review of virtual reality exposure therapy found the technique to be just as effective as its traditional counterpart.
Keep reading.
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💡 Dose of Knowledge
👪 All in the Family
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What is the Guinness World Record for most generations alive in a single family?
Hint: It’s a prime number.
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(keep scrolling for the answer) |
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🍩 Share the DONUT
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Ambassador Rewards and Progress → |
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💡 Dose of Knowledge Answer
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Answer: 7
From Guinness: “The youngest great-great-great-great-grandparent being Augusta Bunge (USA) aged 109 years 97 days, followed by her daughter aged 89, her grand-daughter aged 70, her great-grand-daughter aged 52, her great-great grand-daughter aged 33 and her great-great-great grand-daughter aged 15 on the birth of her great-great-great-great grandson on 21 January 1989.”
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