The Daily Valet. - 10/2/19, Wednesday
✔️ A Messy Day for Facebook
Wednesday, October 2nd Edition
I’m more than happy to tip. But an erroneously high delivery fee really pisses me off.
Cory Ohlendorf , Editor ⋯ @coryohlendorf
Today’s Big Story
Facebook’s “Existential Threat” Leaked
Mark Zuckerberg blasts Elizabeth Warren’s plan to break up Facebook
The beef between Senator Elizabeth Warren and Mark Zuckerberg intensified Tuesday after audio surfaced of the Facebook CEO saying a Warren presidency would “suck” because her pledge to break up tech giants likely would lead to an unwanted legal battle that she would lose.
In case you missed it, Warren rolled out a proposal back in March to break up Facebook, Amazon and other tech giants. Her campaign even paid for a billboard in San Francisco that read “Break Up Big Tech.” The Verge published two Q&A meetings with Facebook employees back in July that provides a glimpse into Zuckerberg’s thoughts.
“I mean, I don’t want to have a major lawsuit against our own government,” he said on the recording. “But look, at the end of the day, if someone’s going to try to threaten something that existential, you go to the mat and you fight.” Over the past year and a half since the Cambridge Analytica scandal, Facebook has been in a state of damage control.
Shortly after the audio was published Warren responded, doubling down on her criticism of Facebook. “What would really ‘suck,’” she said, mimicking Mr. Zuckerberg’s language, in a Tweet “is if we don’t fix a corrupt system that lets giant companies like Facebook engage in illegal anticompetitive practices, stomp on consumer privacy rights, and repeatedly fumble their responsibility to protect our democracy.”
↦ Read the full transcript of the Facebook recordings on The Verge.
Dallas Officer Found Guilty of Murder
The verdict is being heralded by civil rights activists as a victory for police accountability
Yesterday, a Dallas jury found former police Officer Amber Guyger guilty of murder for fatally shooting Botham Shem Jean, her 26-year-old black neighbor who lived in the apartment directly above hers last year. Guyger, who is white, claimed she thought she was entering her own apartment and acting in self-defense against an intruder. She faces up to 99 years in prison and is the first Dallas police officer to be convicted of murder since the early 1970s.
The jury took five hours to decide Guyger had committed murder, rather than a lesser charge of manslaughter. They’ll reconvene tomorrow to decide the length of punishment. At a time when other police officers have often been cleared of wrongdoing in the deaths of unarmed black men, Jean’s family had braced themselves for the possibility that the jury would return with a lesser charge or none at all.
↦ Go Deeper: John Oliver discusses the systems in place to investigate and hold police officers accountable for misconduct in his signature style.
China Boasts Military Might Amid Protests
Mayhem in Hong Kong results in the first police shooting of a protester
It was a split-screen contrast of tightly choreographed goose-stepping military formations in Beijing to celebrate National Day versus the chaos of firebombs and rubber bullets in Hong Kong that resulted in some jarring dualities that almost certainly infuriated Chinese President Xi Jinping, reports the New York Times.
“No force can stop the progress of the Chinese people,” Xi said in a nationally televised speech, according to the Associated Press. The parade featured the People’s Liberation Army, the largest military in the world, with two million men and women in uniform. Also paraded was the world's longest-range missile that analysts predict might be capable of reaching the US mainland in as little as 30 minutes (which is over 6,000 miles away).
In Hong Kong, pro-democracy protesters who wanted to embarrass the party during this year’s highest-profile political event fought with police as tens of thousands of people demonstrated. One man was shot in the shoulder by a police officer, the first time a protester is known to have taken a live bullet. Video that spread quickly on social media appeared to show the officer opening fire as the protester came at him with a baton, striking the officer’s shooting arm.
↦ See More: The BBC has some impressive, if slightly unnerving, photos from the parade.
Are Men Singing Higher Today?
Measuring pop music’s current falsetto obsession
Put your headphones in and check out this interesting story from The Pudding, a cultural news site that examines ideas in creative, visual ways. Today, they’re looking into whether our current male singers are crooning at a higher vocal range.
Why? Because so many of the top 10 songs in 2019 feature a male singer showcasing his falsetto. From Shawn Mendes and the Jonas Brothers to Khalid.
It seems that male voices peaked in the late 70s and early ‘80s and slowly started to fade, dropping to a level today that looks more like what you would have heard on the radio in the early 1960s. Do you think the drop in deep voices has anything to do with the macho mustaches of the ’70s/‘80s going out of fashion? Well that and all the hair bands no longer screaming at the top of their lungs—anyone ever try Aerosmith karaoke?
↦ By the Numbers: Ginuwine’s “Pony” registers very high, a 10 out 10 in their data. To contrast, most Barry White songs are a 2.
Other Things We’re Talking About Today
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Who Makes the Best Affordable Boots?
We found a dozen well made options, all under $200
“Just because summer’s over doesn’t mean you’re going to give up your sneakers. But if ever there was a time to lace up a pair of boots, it’s autumn.” So begins our piece today on the best affordable boots for fall. But we weren’t looking for just a low price tag. As a cobbler once told us, cheap shoes are an empty victory—they’re rarely comfortable and always break down prematurely.
We were looking for well made and reliable boots with a reasonable price tag. Nothing over $200. Thankfully, there are a handful of well priced options from respectable brands. Better yet, they’re available in a range of styles and colors to suit any man’s tastes.
↦ Boot Construction: Gear Patrol took some really nice boots and sawed them in half in order to get a better look at how a quality pair is made.
What We’re Buying
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Moral Code’s Excursion weekender is the gentleman’s choice for luggage. The classically styled duffel is cut from full-grain leather in three shades. Designed to accommodate all of your gear for work and play, clever interior pockets allow for plenty of organized storage. The question is, where will you take it?
↦ Get It $428 by Moral Code
This well-reviewed, one-touch eight-cup Bonavita coffee maker is known as one of the best drip brewers in the world. Certified by the Specialty Coffee Association, it has a powerful and precise 1500-watt heater to maintain optimal brewing temperature and pre-infusion mode wets freshly roasted ground coffee to allow degassing before brewing. And now it's on sale for the cheapest price we've ever seen it offered.
↦ Get It $189.99 / $92.99 at Amazon
Morning Motto
Some days just call for dancing.
↦ Follow: @thegoodquote
That’s all for today...
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