Good morning and welcome to actual Friday. Here’s to the freakin’ weekend.🍻🧗‍♀️😎

On today's docket:

• We're tackling mandated parental leave
• Stranger Things is coming to an end
• And good luck finding Point Nemo

P.S. We’re taking Presidents’ Day off. See you back here Tuesday.

🚀⏰ Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news takes 4.27 minutes to read. After that? Words and numbers and trivia, oh my.

"However difficult life may seem, there is always something you can do and succeed at."

–Stephen Hawking (1942-2018)

A record 7.1% of US adults now identify as LGBTQ+, according to an annual poll from Gallup, which surveyed 12,000+ Americans above the age of 18.

🔢 By the numbers: That marks a ~27% increase from 2020, when 5.6% of Americans identified as LGBTQ+. The rise is almost entirely attributed to the higher prevalence of such identities among young adults when compared with the older generations they’re replacing (check out the graphic☝️).

• Among Gen Z, women are roughly three times more likely to identify as LGBTQ+ than men. Millennial women are about twice as likely to do so.
• ​​More than half of LGBTQ+ Americans (57%) indicate they’re bisexual, which translates to 4% of the entire US adult population.

🇺🇸 The big picture: Over the past decade, the number of US adults identifying as LGBTQ+ has more than doubled. And Jeff Jones, the author of the Gallup study, told Axios that number could increase even further to 10%–15% of the adult population "in the not-too-distant future."

+Dig deeper: From the Left | From the Right

💰🏘️ Easy-peasy… just buy a house. Homes valued at $1 million or higher are now the norm in 481 US cities, according to Zillow data published Wednesday, more than double the number from five years ago.

• ~145 cities reached the $1 million average home mark last year, an annual record. To give you some context, only 126 towns period had seven-figure average home values a decade ago.
• Nearly half of all million-dollar cities are clustered within four large coastal regions: San Francisco (76), NYC, (76), LA (57), and San Jose (22). 44% of the overall list is located in California.
• The most expensive US city is Indian Creek, FL, which only has 88 residents… but those include people like Tom Brady and Enrique Iglesias. The city’s average home value is a staggering $28.3 million, nearly four times as high as second place (Atherton, CA; $7.7 million).

🇺🇸📈 The big picture: The average US home gained 19.6% in value last year, according to Bloomberg.

More than six million existing homes were sold in 2021, the highest number since 2006, with properties staying on the market for an average of ~19 days.

🦠 An estimated 73% of Americans now have some immunity to omicron, according to a new model from the University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, which said that number could rise to 80% by mid-March.

• “I am optimistic even if we have a surge in summer, cases will go up, but hospitalizations and deaths will not,” Ali Mokdad, a UDub professor who works on the model, told the AP.
• Nationwide, the US is averaging ~120,000 new cases per day, a 68% drop over the past two weeks (graphic above☝️).
• ​​The daily death rate has fallen 14.5% over the past week, per CDC data, though it still remains above Delta peaks at ~2,000 deaths per day.
• Over the past week, governors in 11 states plus DC announced the end of statewide masking policies and other Covid restrictions.
• Texas’ attorney general sued the CDC on Wednesday over its mask mandate for US airports, airplanes, and other transit modes; the agency’s order is set to expire March 18, but has been previously extended multiple times.

If we're forced into a look that just isn’t us, it can have disastrous results. It's uncomfortable, people snicker, and mobility can be hindered.

And worst of all, we can’t truly express ourselves.💔

If you’re the type to go against the grain and inject a bit of humor and attitude into every situation, even when it’s not completely appropriate, then Sub_Urban Riot has what you need to express your awesomeness.

🤔 Sub_Urban quiet?... No, far from it actually. Sub_Urban Riot was started at the beginning of the financial crisis by two friends who refused to settle for corporate life. Sub_Urban Riot offers affordable – yet sustainable – clothing with some attitude.

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Align your wardrobe with your personality at Sub_Urban Riot.

🚘👍👎 The ride-sharing company just unveiled a way to check out how many glowing five-star reviews – or regrettable one-star ratings – you’ve received. Uber said the move is meant to encourage people to be more thoughtful about their interactions with drivers.

• The company's system tracks the 500 most recent rides, averaging the scores to produce a final rating.
• On the whole, US riders receive an average of 4.89 stars out of 5. Uber said drivers consistently cited car door slams as the reason for deducting stars from passengers.
• A detailed breakdown is available on the latest version of Uber’s app in the new Privacy Center, which can be accessed through the settings menu under the user profile in the top right. (Just tap ‘privacy’ → ‘Privacy Center’; here’s a GIF to walk you through it after that.)

🇺🇸 Zoom out: The company also shared which cities had the best and worst riders. 

💬 Quoted… “Every indication we have is they’re prepared to go into Ukraine… My sense is it will happen within the next several days.”

President Biden and NATO allies officially rejected Moscow’s claims of drawing back troops from positions surrounding Ukraine, where an estimated ~150,000 Russian soldiers are now gathered (including ~60% of its overall ground forces).

• Separately, the Kremlin expelled the No. 2 US diplomat at the embassy in Moscow yesterday, with the State Department describing the move as “unprovoked”.
• Ukraine and pro-Russian separatists also accused each other of breaking a ceasefire near the eastern border.

🔢 Stat of the day: 72% of CEOs worry their jobs aren't going to survive the challenges ahead, according to a survey by AlixPartners released at the end of 2021. That’s up from 52% the year before.

🤯 Did you know?… Point Nemo, in the south Pacific Ocean, is the least accessible place in the world. Put another way, it's the furthest point from land on Earth.

• It’s also where many spaceships and satellites are programmed to crash land should they fall out of orbit, since there’s basically no chance of hitting anything besides water.
• +Fun fact: If you sail through Point Nemo at the right time, you’d be physically closer to the astronauts on the ISS than any other human on Earth.

📖 Worth a read… Why Friendships Feel Weird Right Now → (WSJ)

• 👆 Disney unveiled plans to develop new residential communities, starting with one in Rancho Mirage, CA, featuring 1,900 housing units and a 24-acre lagoon.

BUSINESS, TECH & MARKETS

• 📈 New weekly jobless claims rose for the first time in a month, reaching 248,000.
• 🪙 The FBI is forming a new team dedicated to crypto called the Virtual Asset Exploitation Unit.
• 🎮 Peloton rolled out a new mode called Lanebreak that turns your bike into a virtual video game.
• ✈️ Delta Airlines is partnering with AmEx to offer a new buy now, pay later feature for flights, with no extra interest or fees.

SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

• 🍿 Netflix announced that Season 5 of Stranger Things will be its last; Season 4 will be split into two parts coming this spring (May 27) and summer (July 1).
• 💰 Spotify paid Joe Rogan at least $200 million for three-and-a-half years of exclusive rights to his podcast, according to the NYT, double what was previously reported.
• ⛸️ 15-year-old Russian Kamila Valieva placed fourth in the women’s individual figure skating competition yesterday, eliminating any medal ceremony controversy. (Read more | Background from the DONUT)

SCIENCE & SPACE

• 🛸 Happy Mars-iversary: One year ago today, the Perseverance rover touched down on Mars.
• 👻🦈 Researchers discovered a rare, newly-hatched ‘ghost shark’ 4,000 feet below sea level off the coast of New Zealand.

BEST OF THE REST

• 🎓 The Department of Education will cancel $415 million worth of student loans for nearly 16,000 borrowers who say they were defrauded by certain for-profit schools, including DeVry University and ITT Tech.
• ⚖️ A NY judge ruled that Donald Trump and two of his adult children must testify under oath as part of the state AG's investigation into the former president and his company. (From the Left | From the Right)
• 🏛️ The Senate passed a spending bill to avoid a government shutdown yesterday evening, sending it to Biden’s desk ahead of tonight’s deadline. (From the Left | From the Right)

DONUT HQ is located in the city of Austin, which has a motto: “Keep Austin Weird.” In celebration of that sentiment, we bring you the most unusual, off-the-wall, and occasionally laugh-out-loud stories from this week…

Four Workers Fired After Thousands of Massachusetts Drivers Got Licenses Without Road Tests → (The Hill)

Drunken Woman on Motorized Suitcase Leads Police Chase Through Orlando Airport → (News6/ClickOrlando)

Woman Held Hostage by Naked Intruder Is Rescued After Failing to Send Daughter Her Daily Wordle Score: Police → (BBC)

Hudson Mayor Suggests Ice Fishing Could Lead to Prostitution in Ice Shanties → (Cleveland.com)

At a company all-hands meeting last week, Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal announced plans to take “a few weeks” of paid paternity leave for the birth of his second child, though it’ll reportedly be less than the full 20 weeks that Twitter provides.

The social media giant isn’t the only one to provide some sort of parental leave – though not every company does. The benefit isn’t federally mandated, but a proposal to extend four weeks of paid parental leave to all Americans was included in President Biden's proposed Build Back Better plan, which is pretty much dead in the water.

• Some Democrats have played with the idea of a standalone bill focused on paid parental leave, but it would have to garner the support of at least 10 Senate Republicans.

All that to say: The topic we’re tackling today is paid parental leave in America. What’s the right move?

🔢 By the numbers… As it currently sits, companies with 50+ employees are required under federal law to provide unpaid leave. This applies to 89% of workers.

• Among Fortune 500 companies – which typically offer the best benefits – 72% offer some sort of paid parental leave. 33% of those companies offer twice as much leave to mothers as to fathers.
• A handful of firms opt instead for the genderless ‘primary caregiver’ and ‘secondary caregiver’ to determine who gets more time off.
• On the whole, 23% of U.S. workers have access to paid family leave. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports eight in ten workers (79%) had access to paid sick leave – which is generally less time off – through their employer in 2021, but workers in certain occupations, part-time workers, and lower-wage workers are less likely to have access paid sick leave.

🌎 Zoom out: The US is the only developed nation without federally mandated paid parental leave – though nine states + DC have measures in place. The average paid maternity leave worldwide is 29 weeks, while the average paid paternity leave is 16 weeks.

🤔 Out-the-door poll… Do you think US employers should be federally required to offer workers paid parental leave?

Yes

No

Unsure/Other

📋 Broad public opinion: Nearly 6 in 10 Americans think US employers should be required to offer employees paid parental leave (59%), according to a recent YouGov poll.

When Japanese railroad enthusiast Naoki Teraoka opened Cafe Diorama, he had the simple dream of showcasing his impressive model trains and serving delicious food – but things didn't quite work out as planned. 

📖 The story... It was June 2020, at the height of the pandemic, when Naoki noticed a stray kitten outside of his struggling restaurant. 

• He brought the kitten inside, and, soon after, the little one was joined by Momma and his litter mates. 
• They were setting up camp... purrmanently. 😉 

🚂🐱 Feline frenzy: Naoki ended up completely reimagining the concept behind the restaurant, turning Diorama into an official cat and railroad cafe. He's already helped rescue ~100 animals. "Yes, we thought we were helping them, but they were the ones who helped us,” said Naoki.

🔢 Numbers game: Obtain the desired result by adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing the numbers provided below. Each provided number can be used only once, and you don’t necessarily have to use each one.

Numbers: 2, 4, 5, 20, 25, 100

Result: 990

🔠 Word game: Out of the following eight letters, find one six-letter word, three five-letter words, and five four-letter words.

DRSEOAIT

🤔 Trivia: An egg’s shell is roughly what percentage of its total weight?

A) 10%

B) 25%

C) 50%

D) 75%

(keep scrolling for the answer)

Check out our referral prizes you can get just for introducing people you know to this newsletter. 👇

Here’s your unique link to copy & send to anyone you think would like the DONUT:

Numbers: 4 + 100 = 104; 104 - 5 = 99; 20/2 = 10; 99 x 10 = 990; there are other solutions, too, this is just the simplest one we came up with

Word game:

Four letters: AIDE, DATE, DART, EAST, TEAS, SEAT, REST, IDEA, EDIT, DOTS, DOSE, DOES, DOER, REDO, RIDE

Five letters: ADORE, ASIDE, DARES, DARTS, AIDES, DOSER, DRATS, DRIES, EDITS, OARED, RATED, READS, IDEAS, RIDES, DOERS

Six letters: ADORES, DATERS, EDITOR, RAISED, RADIOS, RESAID, ROADIE, SOARED, SORTED, STARED

Trivia: A) 10%