The Daily Valet. - 10/31/19, Thursday

✔️ Will This Make Social Media Less Stressful?

October 31, 2019

Thursday, October 31st Edition

Cory Ohlendorf, Editor in Chief of Valet.

Happy Halloween ... who’s buying discounted candy with me tomorrow morning?

Cory Ohlendorf , Editor ⋯ @coryohlendorf

Today’s Big Story

Twitter Bans All Politcal Ads

It’s the opposite of how Facebook is handling the material

On Wednesday, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey tweeted out a statement that the social media platform will stop accepting all political advertising on it's network globally. "We believe political message reach should be earned, not bought," he said. "While internet advertising is incredibly powerful and very effective for commercial advertisers, that power brings significant risks to politics, where it can be used to influence votes to affect the lives of millions."

The move could definitely been seen as a shot across the bow of Facebook. Social media companies, including Twitter rival Facebook are facing growing pressure to stop carrying ads that spread false information.

Despite Facebook's earlier pledge to deal with misinformation after Russian propaganda on the platform was seen to affect the outcome of the 2016 presidential election, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that he would allow politicians to run any claims—even false ones—in ads on the social network. He said his company stood for free expression and political ads, no matter how untrue, were newsworthy.

That's definitely not a good look for Facebook, which should be painfully aware of how desperately they need to rehabilitate their image. I guess the money for those ads is worth it. After all, way more political ad dollars are spent on Facebook than Twitter, according to the Washington Post.

For example, President Trump has not run a single ad on Twitter over the week, but he’s spent nearly a quarter of a million dollars on Facebook over the same period. But don't tell that to his campaign manager, Brad Parscale, who still blasted Twitter for the ban. "Twitter just walked away from hundreds of millions of dollars of potential revenue," he said in a statement. "This is yet another attempt to silence conservatives, since Twitter knows President Trump has the most sophisticated online program ever known."

Of course, just because the ads are going away, I doubt that will eliminate entirely the toxicity that often surrounds political opinions online. So be kind out there, guys. Or, at the very least, make sure to know where your information is coming from.

↦ Wanna buy an ad? Google now requires that someone who wants to buy a political advertisement must verify their eligibility to do so in the United States.

New Health Report Doesn’t Look So Good

Life expectancy is down and obesity is up

The United States just received its annual checkup ... and if this were at the doctor's office, we'd be getting the gentle call to come into that little room where they give you the unpleasant news.

Or as Bloomberg bleakly puts it: "Signs of declining health for American men abound in the National Center for Health Statistics latest annual report."

Life expectancy for males has declined over the past three years, driven down by increasing rates of suicides and drug overdoses. Obesity among all adults aged 20 and over continues to steadily rise. And electronic cigarette use among teens nearly doubled in the last year, increasing the risk of nicotine addiction for an entire generation of Americans.

But it's not all bad news. Though heart disease remains the most common killer, death rates from heart disease and cancer have dropped by about 15% between 2007 to 2017—mainly due to better prevention, diagnosis and treatment, according to the report.

↦ Deep breaths: The simplest way to be healthier right now.

Is the New “Lyft Pink” Membership Worth It?

The priority airport pickups definitely got my attention

If you hate waiting forever for your Lyft ride after a long flight as much as I do ... or if you like the idea of taking out a bike or a scooter for free, Lyft’s new $20-a-month membership service might be worth looking into.

Dubbed "Lyft Pink," it offers riders 15% savings on all car rides, priority airport pickups, relaxed cancellations, complimentary bike and scooter rides, as well as several yet to be announced surprise offers and upgrades.

Lyft says its membership service is a “no brainer” for customers who take two to three trips a week. It seems like if you typically spend around $100 a month, you'll easily recoup the membership costs while utilizing all the benefits. And it seems like you get more than Uber's comparative $25-a-month subscription plan.

↦ Interested? Signup via a waitlist before it rolls out worldwide later this year.

The Fed Cuts Interest Rates Again

And how the move actually affects your day-to-day finances

The Federal Reserve just cut interest rates again. Why does this have people talking? Because the Fed lowers interest rates in order to stimulate economic growth. And because this was the third time they've done it this year.

As was expected on Wednesday, the central bank’s Federal Open Market Committee lowered the federal-funds rate to a range between 1.50% and 1.75%. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell called it a “midcycle adjustment” in a maturing economic expansion while global trade disputes continue, reports CNBC.

Trade uncertainty and fear of slowing global growth likely prompted yesterday's decision. But what does it mean for our day-to-day lives? According to the Wall Street Journal, interest rates affect the cost of borrowing, so falling interest rates can ripple through the cost of mortgages, the interest earned on savings accounts and more.

↦ Want to Dig Deeper? This explainer breaks down the structure of the Federal Reserve System.

Other Things We’re Talking About Today

The Nationals’ first World Series title

How airplane food is made

The new semi-permanent tattoos

South Park Is Worth a Half a Billion Dollars

HBO Max wins the bidding war for the streaming rights to the long-running animated satire

It seems like every streaming service needs an old, reliable standby show, right? One that you just put on before bed or in those times where you just want to relax and not focus on a fresh plot. Well HBO Max, one of the many streaming services coming soon, just scored theirs.

After a bidding war, they secured the rights to stream South Park in the US, for a reported $500 million to $550 million. The package includes all 23 current seasons of the animated satire, plus three more that are yet to be produced. New episodes will air first on Comedy Central, and then begin streaming on HBO Max 24 hours later.

Currently, South Park streams on Disney-owned Hulu, but it will move over next summer when HBO Max launches in May of 2020. According to Variety, Netflix was tying to buy it, but wanted the rights to stream the show globally, not just in America.