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Welcome to Wednesday, the island in the middle of the week. There’s no turning back now.
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Speaking of islands… anyone else itching for a tropical paradise? 🏝
⏰🚀 Ready, Set, Go: Today’s newsletter takes 3.99 minutes to read. (With the 360° view: 7.69 minutes.)
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🍩 Daily Sprinkle
“Sometimes I think we’re alone, and sometimes I think we’re not. In either case, the idea is quite staggering.”
–Attributed to Stanley Kubrick (1928-1999), American film director and producer, in reference to extraterrestrial life.
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👇📰 Quick Bits
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💄 “Forever Chemicals” in Cosmetics
A peer-reviewed study published Tuesday in Environmental Science & Technology found unlabeled toxic “forever chemicals,” also called PFAS, are present in products from major cosmetic brands popular in the U.S. and Canada.
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Researchers tested a sample of 231 products from the U.S. and Canada for signs of fluorine, which is an indicator of PFAS.
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The substance was present in 63% of foundations, 55% of lip products, and 82% of waterproof mascaras.
More: The tested cosmetics came from a variety of high-profile brands, including L’Oréal, Mac, Cover Girl, Clinique, Maybelline, Nars, Estée Lauder, and others. The study did not reveal which brands were the ones containing the high levels of the PFAS because the authors did not want to “pick on” the companies involved.
Even More: What are forever chemicals?
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🦠 New Main COVID Symptoms
Researchers in charge of the UK’s Zoe COVID Symptom study revealed the main reported symptoms of COVID-19 in the country are changing, based on data the Zoe team has received from thousands of UK citizens.
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Instead of a cough, fever, and lack of taste or smell, the most commonly reported symptoms across the pond are now a headache, sore throat, and runny nose.
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The researchers said the change appears linked to the rise in the Delta variant, which was first identified in India and now accounts for ~90% of all coronavirus cases in the UK.
More: Yesterday, the CDC revealed the Delta variant accounts for nearly 10% of new cases in the U.S., one day after the agency declared the strain a “variant of concern.”
Even More: A new analysis published Monday found the Pfizer and AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines are highly effective at preventing hospitalization from the Delta variant after two doses.
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⚾ A Sticky Situation
Major League Baseball (MLB) issued new guidance to all 30 teams yesterday outlining its new policy regarding pitchers and foreign substances.
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The MLB acknowledged the use of sticky substances, while technically illegal, “has been widespread and tacitly accepted” within the game for decades, but said it has recently morphed into “an unfair competitive advantage.”
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The major league batting average stood at .236 through May, its lowest level since 1968. There have also been six no-hitters thus far (less than halfway through the year) – and the season record is seven.
The updated guidelines state “any pitcher who possesses or applies foreign substances” will be ejected from the game and automatically suspended for 10 games with pay.
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The new policy takes effect June 21 and applies to all foreign substances, ranging from the widely-used combination of sunscreen and rosin to the extremely sticky Spider Tack.
More: This Is Spider Tack: The Men Who Inadvertently Created MLB’s Stickiest Problem
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DONUT Holes…
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🔓 California & New York lifted nearly all COVID restrictions yesterday.
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✈️ Southwest Airlines canceled 500 flights on Tuesday due to software connectivity issues, one day after a purportedly unrelated technical problem also delayed hundreds of flights; all operations resumed by mid-afternoon.
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🇺🇸 President Biden announced nine ambassador nominations on Tuesday, including his nominees for posts to Mexico, Israel, and NATO. (From the Left | From the Right) | The Senate confirmed Lina Khan, a 32-year-old Columbia law professor, for a seat on the Federal Trade Commission, after which Biden immediately
designated her FTC chairwoman. (From the Left | From the Right)
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💰 MacKenzie Scott, the ex-wife of Jeff Bezos, announced another $2.74B in charitable giving to 286 different organizations.
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📉 Shares of DraftKings Inc. closed down over 4% on Tuesday after short-seller firm Hindenburg Research said SBTech, a company that merged with DraftKings as part of its SPAC deal, generates ~50% of its revenue from countries where gambling is banned.
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🇮🇱 Israel confirmed a Hamas radio broadcast that said the country launched airstrikes on the Gaza Strip early Wednesday, saying it was in response to the militant group sending incendiary balloons into southern Israel. (From the Left | From the Right)
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🇪🇺 The U.S. & EU agreed to suspend a 17-year-long trade dispute over government subsidies to Boeing and Airbus – the longest and most costly dispute in the history of the World Trade Organization. (From the Left | From the Right)
+Follow-Up From Monday's Rumor Mill: Alex Cooper & Call Her Daddy are headed exclusively to Spotify – officially, this time.
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📸 Pic of the Day
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Images: Reuters/Sotheby's |
Sir Tim Berners-Lee, one of the architects of the World Wide Web, is auctioning off the source code to his original web browser as an NFT.
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The auction, run by Sotheby’s, will include the browser source code alongside a letter from Berners-Lee himself, a vector file that could be printed as a poster, and a 30-minute silent video that depicts the code being typed out.
The proceeds from the auction will benefit causes supported by Berners-Lee and his wife. It will run from June 23-30, with an opening bid of $1K.
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🗣👂 Dose of Discussion
🇺🇸 Biden Meets With Putin 🇷🇺
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President Biden will hold a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Geneva, Switzerland, beginning at 7 a.m. ET this morning. The event is expected to run at least four to five hours.
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It is not the first time the two politicians have met, but it will be their first meeting since Biden became president.
🤿 A deeper dive…
Biden will reportedly be carrying a message that the U.S. wants to establish a “stable and predictable” relationship with Russia, sources told the WSJ:
The White House has not published an official agenda for Biden’s meeting with Putin, but did say a main focus of Biden’s will be the recent ransomware attacks originating from Russia.
⏭️ What’s Next?
U.S. officials have downplayed the likelihood of any major policy breakthroughs as a result of the Putin summit, which is the culmination of President Biden’s eight-day trip to Europe.
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📣🗣💬 This Week’s Poll Question
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Background: In Friday's Dose of Discussion, we reported on the recent Consumer Price Index increase (the most widely used measure of inflation).
Our Question to You: Are you worried about inflation?
Yes
No
Unsure
+Note: Poll results and the best comments for each response will be featured in tomorrow’s newsletter.
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🤗 Daily Dose of Positive
💵 Giving in America
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Image: MarketWatch
Charitable giving in the U.S. reached a record-high $471B in 2020, according to the annual Giving USA Foundation report.
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Giving by individuals, which made up a majority of donations last year, rose by 2%, while giving from foundations rose 17%.
Dig in.
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🛸🌄📲 Calling from the Future…
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🤖 A is for Amazon
Amazon is preparing to introduce its warehouse workers to a pair of new colleagues - two robots named Bert and Ernie.
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Ernie helps remove items from a robotic shelf, while Bert is able to navigate independently throughout fulfillment centers to deliver items across the facility.
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The company is testing the automated laborers in their warehouses with the goal of reducing strenuous movements for workers.
Amazon has announced a goal of reducing recordable incident rates 50% by 2025, and revealed plans to invest $300M into safety projects this year.
Read about robots.
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💡 Dose of Knowledge
🏆 And The Nominees Are…
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Which actress has been nominated for an Emmy in six different decades?
A) Lily Tomlin
B) Carol Burnett
C) Betty White
D) Jane Fonda
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(keep scrolling for the answer) |
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🍩 Share the DONUT
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Access 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.👇
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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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C) Betty White
Betty White has received 22 Emmy nominations and 5 Emmy awards dating back to 1951, when she was nominated for “Best Actress” on television. Since then, she has received nominations in the 1970s, 80s, 90s, 2000s, and 2010s.
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