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Good morning. Today’s newsletter starts with a big thank you to all who participated in the Dollars for DONUTs Weekend celebrating our birthday. It was a resounding success.
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Quick note: We flubbed the logistics of announcing the cash prize winners – the contest closed at midnight last night and we still need to get our ducks in a row (notify and hear back from winners, get first names/location, etc.). We’ll be reaching out to the winners today and announcing them in the newsletter tomorrow.
But what we are announcing today is, thanks to your outpouring of support, a $453 donation to the Crisis Text Line, which provides free 24/7 support to individuals in crisis. We’ll be posting a pic of the donation on our Instagram later today.
⏰🚀 Ready, Set, Go: Today’s newsletter takes 3.29 minutes to read. (With the 360 view: 5.99 minutes.)
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🍩 Daily Sprinkle
“Absorb what is useful, reject what is useless and add what is essentially your own.”
–Bruce Lee (1940-1973), Chinese-American martial artist, actor, director, martial arts instructor, and philosopher.
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🗣👂 Dose of Discussion
📵 Politicians & Social Media: What’s the Move?
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On Friday, Facebook announced former President Trump will remain suspended from its platforms until at least January 2023 “following his praise for people engaged in violence at the Capitol on January 6.”
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After two years, the social media giant “will look to experts to assess whether [Trump’s] risk to public safety has receded.”
The news of Trump’s suspension was announced alongside Facebook’s new policy on penalties for public figures.
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From the AP: “Facebook also announced that it would end a contentious policy that automatically exempted politicians from rules banning hate speech and abuse, and that it would stiffen penalties for public figures during times of civil unrest and violence.”
🇺🇸 Elsewhere in the U.S.
Last month, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill that penalizes tech companies for deplatforming politicians, though the legislation is currently facing a lawsuit backed by Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, Google, and other tech companies.
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👇📰 Quick Bits
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⚖️ Judge Overturns CA Assault Weapons Ban
A federal judge on Saturday overturned California’s 1989 ban on "assault weapons," ruling it violates the constitutional right to bear arms.
Relevant Quote
“It is a continuing failed experiment which does not achieve its objectives of preventing mass shootings or attacks on law enforcement officers. The evidence suggests it has made no difference at all. Where it has made a large difference is on the lives of numerous law-abiding citizens who would make, buy, and use these prohibited weapons for home defense and militia readiness, but for the threat of severe criminal punishments.” –Judge Roger T. Benitez, in his 94-page decision.
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More: California Attorney General Rob Bonta plans to appeal the decision.
From the Left: NBC News
From the Right: WSJ
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🚗 Traffic Deaths Up
Image: Axios Visuals
Preliminary data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration revealed 2020 was the worst year for crash fatalities involving motor vehicle occupants, motorcyclists, and people walking and biking since 2007.
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The recent high occurred despite COVID-19 lockdowns contributing to a 13.2% annual decrease in total vehicle miles traveled.
More: Deaths among 16 to 24 year-olds rose 15%, while deaths among those aged 65+ decreased by 9%.
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🪙 Bitcoin Bonanza
Image: Twitter
The price of bitcoin dropped as much as 6.3% overnight Thursday, according to Bloomberg (from ~$39K to ~$37K). The move came after an Elon Musk tweet hinted at a potential Tesla split with the world’s largest cryptocurrency by market cap.
📰 In Other News:
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Nayib Bukele, the President of El Salvador, announced plans to make the country the world's first to adopt bitcoin as legal tender.
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The announcement came as part of Bitcoin 2021, an event held in Miami over the weekend that was billed as ‘the largest crypto event in history.’ Learn more.
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DONUT Holes…
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👽 The U.S. government’s report on unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP) found no extraterrestrial link to the sightings reported and captured on video, and did not rule out a link to a foreign country, sources told the AP.
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🇳🇬 Nigeria's government indefinitely suspended Twitter on Friday after the social media platform removed a tweet and temporarily froze the president’s account for violating its “abusive behavior” policy.
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💰 The G7 countries - the U.S., UK, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, & Japan - agreed to back a global minimum corporate tax rate of at least 15%. (From the Left | From the Right)
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⚽ Manchester United's owners announced they will allow fans to purchase shares in the club.
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🛢️ Oil prices hit a two-year high on Friday.
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👶 Prince Harry & Meghan Markle announced the birth of their second child, a baby girl named Lilibet “Lili” Diana Mountbatten-Windsor. (Lilibet is the longtime nickname of Queen Elizabeth II.)
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🤸♀️ Simone Biles, the reigning world and Olympic champion gymnast, claimed a record seventh national title at the U.S. championships on Sunday.
*Correction: In Friday’s story regarding the breast cancer drug Lynparza, we wrote "the disease-free survival rate of patients given Lynparza was 8.8 percentage points higher than a placebo group (85.9% vs. 77.1%; 95% confidence interval)." What we meant to say was "85.9% vs. 77.1%; 95% confidence interval, 4.5 to 13.0." Shoutout to Jace, who first brought this to our attention.
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📸 Pic of the Weekend
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Image: Lynne Stadsky/AP |
The Floyd Mayweather vs. Logan Paul exhibition fight in Miami Gardens last night ended in a draw.
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The match went the full eight rounds, and due to its exhibitionary nature there were no judges or planned decision without a knockout.
View the full results and a recap of the night.
+More Sports: Golfer Jon Rahm Was Cruising Toward a $1.7 Million Win This Weekend—Until His Positive Covid Test.
🔭 The Week Ahead...
Sunday: The 77th anniversary of D-Day
Monday: The FDA has until today to make a decision on what would be the first new Alzheimer's drug in nearly two decades.
Tuesday: Day 2 of Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference (ends Friday)
Wednesday: GameStop reports earnings, hosts annual shareholders meeting
Thursday: Labor Department publishes consumer price data (an indicator of inflation)
Friday: Pulitzer Prize winners announced; UEFA European Football Championship begins
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💸 Sponsored 🍷
Wanderlust or WINEderlust?
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Bit by the travel bug now that things are starting to go back to normal? ✈️
Us too, but ugh... people. If you’re feeling anti-social, go on your own adventure.
No, we’re not talking about all the video games you’ve been playing. We’re talking about Wine Awesomeness.
Picture this: you’re sipping wine in the South of France, the weather is perfect, you hit the lottery and never need to work again.
That’s how zen you’ll feel when you sign up for a monthly subscription with Wine Awesomeness. Or maybe you’ve just had too much wine, whatever, who can tell?!
Here’s what you’ll get:
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Carefully curated, customized wines from around the world
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The stories behind the bottles and wine tasting notes
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Delicious recipes to pair with your wines
Better yet, when you sign up for a wine subscription through The DONUT, you’ll receive $45 off list price + free shipping on a 6-bottle membership box.
WINEderlust with us today.
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🤗 Daily Dose of Positive
🎓 ‘Til Debt Do Us Part
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Image via Wilberforce University
One graduating class received more than just a diploma at their commencement ceremony last month.
President Elfred Anthony Pinkard of Wilberforce University announced at the end of the ceremony that all outstanding debt would be cleared. Not for a lucky winner, not for a select few… but for every. single. graduating. student from 2020 and 2021.
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The total amount forgiven exceeded $375,000. 🤯.
Image: Twitter
“Because you have shown that you are capable of doing work under difficult circumstances. Because you represent the best of your generation, we wish to give you a fresh start...”
Watch the announcement.
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🛸🌄📲 Calling from the Future…
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🚀 One Small Step For Squid…
Image: Jamie S. Foster, University of Florida
On Thursday, 128 baby bobtail squid and ~5,000 microscopic tardigrades, or water bears, hitched a ride to the International Space Station as part of a NASA experiment.
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The squids, which have an immune system similar to that of humans, will be studied to investigate the effects of spaceflight on the interactions between microbes and animals.
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Scientists aboard the ISS will study the water bears - often referred to as the most resilient life forms on Earth - to observe what tactics the micro-animals employ to respond to the demanding conditions of spaceflight.
Keep reading.
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💡 Dose of Knowledge
📬 ZIP Zone
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Who is the only fictional character to have their own real-life ZIP code?
A) Smokey Bear
B) The Tooth Fairy
C) Santa Claus
D) Homer Simpson
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(keep scrolling for the answer) |
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🍩 Share the DONUT
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Our mission is to positively transform culture & conversation by making impartial, trustworthy news easy & fun to consume.
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In other words, understanding where a person is coming from is crucial to acceptance – not of their perspective, necessarily, but of their humanity. And to connect with each other, we all need to start with the same information.
Every time you share The DONUT, you bring this dream closer to reality.
And did you know...
You can unlock merch, exclusive rewards, and even an all-expenses-paid round trip to Austin, TX, just for sharing this newsletter?
Simply:
1. Copy your unique referral link.👇
2. Post said link in the roommate group chat, DM it to a family member or two, create an elaborate ruse to slip it into an episode of KUWTK before it’s over for good, etc.
3. Watch the rewards roll in.
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Ambassador Rewards and Progress → |
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💡 Dose of Knowledge Answer
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A) Smokey Bear
In 1964, Smokey Bear was receiving so many letters from children that the U.S. Postal Service awarded the fictional character his own ZIP code. You can now write him simply by addressing the envelope to Smokey Bear, Washington, DC, 20252.
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