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| Saturday, October 24, 2020 | |
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| | | | 1. Story of the Week: Viral Tsunami II With more than 85,000 new cases reported Friday, the U.S. is seeing its worst coronavirus spread ever, breaking the record set July 16 by more than 10,000 cases. While the death toll has remained flat, this was the deadliest week for some states, like Wisconsin, which set a record Wednesday with 47 fatalities. While this has led to heightened restrictions in many jurisdictions, White House pandemic task force coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx warned that such measures won’t suffice, as much of the spread is from household gatherings — now increasing as the holidays approach. Sources: NYT, Fox News |
| 2. Coming Up: The Election’s Home Stretch Some 50 million Americans have already cast ballots in what may be the highest-turnout election since 1908. Yesterday many were still analyzing Thursday’s surprisingly calm final debate between President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden, at which the favored challenger may have lost some swing-state votes by saying he’d move away from fossil fuels. Trump ridiculed the idea, especially after Biden’s subsequent walk-back saying he meant he’d phase out subsidies for such fuels. On Nov. 3, the final in-person ballots will be cast, but neither candidate is likely to emerge victorious that day as election workers struggle to count unprecedented numbers of mail-in ballots. Sources: The Guardian, Fox News, Politico |
| 3. Sudan to Normalize Israel Relations, Trump Says In another foreign policy breakthrough, President Trump announced Friday that Sudan would become the third Arab nation to recognize Israel under his watch. The move comes on the heels of Washington agreeing to remove Sudan from its list of state sponsors of terrorism — freeing up trade and aid lifelines — once Khartoum paid $335 million into a fund for U.S. terror victims. In a call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump asked if his election rival, “Sleepy Joe,” could have equaled his accomplishment. Meanwhile, Iran said America used “ransom” to secure the deal. Sources: AP, Washington Post, Reuters |
| 4. Attention Shoppers: Costco Has COVID-19 Tests Do try this at home. The retail giant is offering saliva tests for the coronavirus on its website for $129. Customers who spit into a tube, seal it and send off their kit to a lab are told they’ll get results 24 to 72 hours after the lab receives it. Experts say such saliva tests are as accurate as those using a nasal swab, and other stores, such as Albertsons and Safeway, are also selling the kits in some U.S. states. Meanwhile, drugmakers AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson announced Friday they’d be resuming final-stage trials of COVID-19 vaccines. Sources: Fox Business, News and Observer, AP |
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| | | Of course we mean Cariuma — the crazy comfy, stylish sneakers that sell out in the snap of a finger. But specially for our readers, Cariuma’s IBI shoes are available again in their awaited fall colorways (Navy, Stone Black, Stone Grey, and Mineral Blue). Make this the Cariuma conversation that gets you into a pair of IBIs, because if history tells us anything, their 16,000-person waitlist will be back. Get OZY’s favorite shoe for an OZY exclusive $15 off now, with code OZY. Buy Now |
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| | | | 1. Buehler Pitches Dodgers to World Series LeadIt was definitely not Walker Buehler’s day off. The 26-year-old right-handed pitcher threw 10 strikeouts and allowed just three hits and one run to lock down the Tampa Bay Rays and propel his L.A. Dodgers to a 6-2 victory in Game 3 of baseball’s World Series last night. With home runs from Justin Turner and Austin Barnes (uniquely also scoring with a sacrifice bunt) in neutral Arlington, Texas, the Dodgers now lead the series 2-1. The performance left Buehler somewhat chill, like his cinematic namesake, saying, “I think the more you do these things, the calmer you get.” Sources: ESPN, USA Today, MLB |
| 2. How Trees in Chile Could Stop the Pandemic You don’t have to believe this. Lots of miraculous “remedies” have been touted amid the pandemic, so a South American tree extract used to make Slurpees and root beer would appear to follow the pattern. But proponents of saponin, a bubbly brown goo from Chilean soapbark trees, say that it’s an adjuvant (i.e., a catalyst for the body’s immune reaction to vaccines). Refined into FDA-approved QS-21, this inoculation ingredient is worth $100,000 a gram, but it should only add about $5 to the cost of that shot many around the world are hoping to receive. Source: The Atlantic |
| 3. The Facebook Friend Who Wasn’t Dying The circumstances were tragic: an old friend who was entertaining to follow on social media, who maybe shared a bit too much, was stricken with a rare disease whose expensive treatments weren’t covered by her health plan. Friends poured more than $100,000 into a GoFundMe campaign before it abruptly stopped, writes journalist Sarah Treleaven, who knew the “sick” woman from high school. “Cindy” was exposed as a fraud and was prosecuted by Canadian authorities, leaving a collection of distraught and angry donors. But the biggest victims of such scams, Treleaven notes, are those who can't afford legitimate medical care, but are regarded with suspicion. Sources: One Zero |
| 4. Till Death Do They Part With Marital CongressEven in 2020, “going all the way” often involves a narrow path to an altar. That’s what the Pew Research Center discovered in its recent survey of 4,860 Americans. Twenty-five percent felt that sex out of wedlock is unacceptable — no matter how committed participants might be, OZY reports. While that’s far fewer than the 42 percent who objected in 2001, consider this: Extramarital lovemaking was illegal in Virginia until March. A key factor in those views? Religion is huge, with 55 percent of service-attending Americans opposing fornication, a difference likely to become more pronounced as their numbers continue to dwindle. Sources: OZY |
| 5. Will ‘Borat’ Lead Filmmaking Out of the Wilderness?It’s not the mankinis. But there’s something about Borat Subsequent Moviefilm that other filmmakers need to think about, argues Catherine Shoard, the Guardian’s film editor. Released Friday on Amazon, comedian Sacha Baron Cohen’s sequel is replete with stunts that are gold for social media marketing. And its topical relevance, including an already-viral scene with Rudy Giuliani “tucking in [his] shirt,” and launching amid the U.S. presidential election, could be the standard for post-pandemic auteurs. So even if there aren’t enough Borat-loving (or -hating) undecideds to swing the election, it might help the industry decide where it’s headed. Source: The Guardian |
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