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Good morning and welcome to Monday.
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⏰🚀 Ready, Set, Go: Today’s newsletter takes 4.47 minutes to read. (With the 360° view: +3.59 minutes.)
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🍩 Daily Sprinkle
"In matters of principle, stand like a rock; in matters of taste, swim with the current.”
–Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)
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❌ Correction
For transparency's sake, we've started to place corrections front-and-center instead of within the section where we messed up.
In Friday's Calling From the Future section, we mistakenly wrote "Kennerer, WI," in the image description, but the picture shows a location in Kennerer, WY. Thanks to everyone who brought this to our attention, especially Jace N. and Dan W., who were the first to catch the error.
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👇📰 Quick Bit
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Boosters Approved For All Adults
 Image: Robyn Beck/AFP
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🎁 COVID booster shots from Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna are now available to all Americans after the CDC and FDA officially endorsed the extra doses late Friday.
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💉 Here’s the deal: The new guidance recommends all Americans ages 18 and up who were initially vaccinated with Pfizer or Moderna receive a booster dose at least six months after their second shot. It also says you can mix-and-match booster shots.
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Both agencies last month recommended a booster shot for all adults who received Johnson & Johnson’s one-dose regimen to be received at least two months after the initial dose.
🤔 Why the change in behavior?... Until now, U.S. health authorities have questioned the need for booster shots for all adults since, even though protection against infection wanes over time, protection against severe outcomes appears to persist. Instead, they endorsed boosters for vulnerable groups such as older Americans.
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This time around, experts agreed the additional protection provided by another vaccine dose outweighs the risks of rare side effects such as myocarditis (seen mostly in young men).
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Clinical studies have shown booster shots restore protection against symptomatic infection up to 95%, even against the delta variant.
👁 Looking ahead... The move signals a strong possibility that the COVID vaccine could become similar to the flu shot – administered once or even twice per year – but nobody knows for sure.
+While we’re here: U.S. COVID deaths in 2021 have now surpassed last year’s toll, according to federal data and Johns Hopkins University. (385,343 deaths last year; now 771,000+ total.)
From the Left: ABC News
From the Right: WSJ
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🗣👂 Dose of Discussion
The Rittenhouse Verdict
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🎁 On Friday, Kyle Rittenhouse was cleared of all charges related to the shooting death of two men and the wounding of a third during unrest in Kenosha, WI, last August following the police shooting of Jacob Blake.
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🤿 A deeper dive… Rittenhouse, who was 17 at the time, said he traveled ~20 minutes from his home in Antioch, IL, to Kenosha – where his father lived and he worked as a lifeguard – to protect private property from rioters.
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On the way, he picked up an AR-15-style rifle that was purchased and stored for him by an 18-year-old friend who lived in Wisconsin. Rittenhouse’s possession of the firearm at the time was technically legal; his friend is currently under prosecution for an illegal straw purchase.
⚖️ Trial recap: Prosecutors claimed Rittenhouse was the aggressor and provoked the “entire incident” that led to the shooting. But Rittenhouse’s lawyers argued that he acted in self-defense after the three men attacked him.
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The jury, after hearing witness testimony and viewing drone footage of the incident, unanimously agreed with Rittenhouse’s lawyers’ assessment.
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Experts say the acquittal wasn’t a surprise since the prosecution bears a heavy burden of proof when it comes to defendants acting out of “reasonable fear,” even if others around them are also afraid.
👁️ Looking ahead… Rittenhouse's first post-trial interview is set to air tonight on Fox News with Tucker Carlson (and excerpts have already leaked).
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🔥💸 Sponsored by Matcha.com 🍵🔥
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Spilling the Tea...
For those expecting some hot gossip, we’re actually talking about tea… matcha green tea, to be exact.
🍵 What is matcha ?... Put simply, it’s the ultimate form of green tea – with some crazy health benefits. In fact, the DONUT team has replaced our ‘ole morning cup of joe with matcha from Matcha.com because:
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We don’t get jitters or caffeine-induced anxiety. Matcha has caffeine, like coffee, but your body processes it slowly for longer lasting energy. #ThankYouScience.
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Matcha has 137x more antioxidants than normal green tea.
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It offers stress relief that hits different. Matcha has the highest natural concentration of the scientifically acclaimed “L-theanine,” a special amino acid.
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Matcha's cheaper than coffee! Everyone knows coffee prices are surging. It just takes a dash of matcha to replace your daily coffee.
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🗓 This Weekend in Sports & Entertainment
🎾 Chinese Tennis Star Resurfaces?... Chinese doubles champion Peng Shuai, who had been missing since she accused a government official of sexual assault earlier this month, resurfaced over the weekend… but not everyone is buying it. The World Tennis Association had previously said it would pull events out of China unless the country proved she was safe, and per Chairman & CEO Steve Simon, the organization's relationship with China "is at a crossroads."
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“While it is positive to see her, it remains unclear if she is free and able to make decisions and take actions on her own, without coercion or external interference… [It] does not change our call for a full, fair and transparent investigation, without censorship, into her allegation of sexual assault, which is the issue that gave rise to our initial concern.”
⚽️ An Ending Fit For A Movie... The Washington Spirit beat the Chicago Red Stars to win the National Women's Soccer League championship yesterday – and the season definitely wasn’t smooth sailing.
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Earlier in the year, the NWSL was forced to step in and ban their coach after player allegations of abuse failed to prompt the team's owner to act; a power struggle between that owner and another investor followed, with the players publicly demanding the team be sold.
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Across the pond: Manchester United fired its manager, Ole Gunnar Solskjær.
⚾️ MVPs: Los Angeles Angels pitcher and designated hitter Shohei Ohtani was named the American League's Most Valuable Player in a unanimous vote. Bryce Harper took home the trophy for the National League. See the full results.
👻 Who Ya Gonna Call?... Ghostbusters: Afterlife was the #1 film in North America this past weekend, collecting $44 million at the box office.
🏈 Scoreboard: No. 4 Ohio State crushed No. 7 Michigan State 56-7 – here's what else happened this weekend in college football. | If the NFL is more your speed, catch up on what happened this weekend.
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🔥 The Hot Corner
💬 Heard Through the Grapevine… The following are excerpts from a pair of internal Tesla emails from CEO Elon Musk to all employees (obtained by CNBC):
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“Just wanted to say that I very much support music in the factory, as well as any little touches that make work more enjoyable… If there are other things that you think would improve your day, please let me know. I care very much that you look forward to coming to work every day!”
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“If an email is sent from me with explicit directions, there are only three actions allowed by managers… If none of the above are done, that manager will be asked to resign immediately.”
🔢 Stat of the Day: Nebraska’s unemployment rate fell to 1.9% last month — the lowest mark of any state since data collection began in 1976, per the AP.
📖 Worth a Read… The Incredible Link Between Nature and Your Emotions
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🍩 DONUT Holes…
 Image: AP/Lisa Leutner
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☝️ Protests against COVID restrictions happened in Austria, Switzerland, Croatia, Italy, Northern Ireland, and the Netherlands over the weekend.
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🚫🚘 Ford and Rivian canceled plans to develop EVs together.
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📜 Ken Griffin, the CEO of hedge fund Citadel, was the one who outbid ConstitutionDAO for the first edition copy of the U.S. Constitution last week; his firm has been a target of retail traders (namely GameStop), so some are billing the $43.2 million purchase as a troll move; the copy will reportedly be on display at a free museum in Arkansas.
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🪙 El Salvador plans to build a Bitcoin City.
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🏛️ President Biden temporarily transferred presidential powers to VP Kamala Harris on Friday as he underwent a colonoscopy; Harris became the first woman to hold presidential power, though it was only for 85 minutes as Biden resumed his role following his procedure.
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🇮🇳 Indian Prime Minister Narenda Modi, in a surprise announcement on Friday, said he would repeal agriculture laws that farmers have been protesting against for more than a year. (See the 360° View)
+How long is the perfect hug?: Between five and ten seconds, according to a recent report.
+One more for the road: All public restrooms in Ann Arbor, Michigan, will be mandated to offer menstrual products such as pads, as well as toilet paper and soap, for free starting in January.
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🔭 The Week Ahead
Monday: Closing arguments begin in the Ahmaud Arbery trial
Tuesday: Elizabeth Holmes set to conclude testimony in Theranos trial
Wednesday: Traditionally the busiest bar night of the year; Ridley Scott’s House of Gucci hits theaters
Thursday: Thanksgiving Day 🦃
Friday: Black Friday (or alternatively, Buy Nothing Day)
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🛸🌄📲 Calling from the Future…
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Remember the Titan?
 The interior of the Canoo Lifestyle Vehicle, which Apple is reportedly modeling its EV after; Image: Canoo
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🎁 For those of you who forgot, Apple is working on a secretive autonomous EV project known as Titan and has reportedly accelerated its timeline after completing “much of the core work” on a new processor, Bloomberg reports.
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Project Titan, headed by Apple Watch software executive Kevin Lynch, has reportedly chosen to focus on developing a fully-autonomous EV that has a spacious interior without a steering wheel.
👁️ Looking ahead… Apple is now internally targeting a launch of its self-driving car in 2025 – faster than the five- to seven-year timeline engineers were planning on earlier this year. But many hurdles still remain, including much of the legwork behind the self-driving AI system.
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🤗 Daily Dose of Positve
The Wilderness Must Be Explored!
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 Images CNN
Twelve year old Boyscout David King was rounding out a 15-mile hike with his mom in Hawaii when they came across a couple and their injured dog.
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Out of water and unable to get to the end of the trail due to the dog’s scratched up paws, David used his Boy Scout training to get creative.
⚜️ Be prepared… David crafted a makeshift stretcher for the 100-pound pup out of two fallen branches tied together with t-shirts – something he learned while working towards his First Aid Merit Badge. Thanks to his quick thinking, everyone safely completed the trail before sundown.
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💡 Dose of Knowledge
🍿 Monday at the Movies
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Below you’ll find four different quotes from four iconic movies. Your task? Match each quote with the famous movie it’s from (bonus points if you can name the actor/actress delivering the line).
A) “You're gonna need a bigger boat."
B) “You should have gone for the head.”
C) "There's no crying in baseball!"
D) "Toto, I have a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore."
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(keep scrolling for the answer) |
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💡 Dose of Knowledge Answer
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