The Daily Valet. - 10/6/20, Tuesday

✔️ Be Afraid ...

October 06, 2020

Tuesday, October 6th Edition

Cory Ohlendorf, Editor in Chief of Valet.

Be afraid ... be very afraid.

Cory Ohlendorf , Editor ⋯ @coryohlendorf

Today’s Big Story

Trump Will Finish COVID Treatment at White House

The president downplayed the danger as more top aides test positive

President Trump left the hospital with a cautious prognosis Monday after three days of treatment for COVID-19. He returned to the White House where earlier in the day, his press secretary and two more aides tested positive, making the White House the leading coronavirus hot spot in the nation’s capital.

According to the Wall Street Journal, administration officials were making preparations for the president to isolate in the residence, instead of the West Wing, where many senior aides work.

Trump’s release from Walter Reed came after his physician, Sean Conley, said Monday that the president had met his doctors’ discharge criteria but clarified, he's not “out of the woods yet.” Still, 69% of Americans said they trusted little of what they heard from the White House about the president's health.

Landing on the White House lawn in a dramatic return, Trump immediately ignited a new controversy by removing his face mask and declaring that despite battling COVID himself, the nation shouldn't fear the virus that has killed more than 210,000 Americans.

“We’re going back to work. We’re going to be out front,” Trump said in a video shot from the South Portico. “Now I’m better and maybe I’m immune, I don’t know. But don’t let it dominate your lives.” Then he entered the White House, where aides were visible milling about the Blue Room, without wearing a face covering.

It's clear that the administration is trying to put this all behind him so he can get back on the campaign trail. The Hill reports that the White House Gift Shop started selling a “Trump Defeats COVID” commemorative coin on Monday before the president even left the hospital.

↦ Dig Deeper: Trump's COVID-19 timeline from diagnosis and symptoms to treatment.

Biden Goes Old School at Town Hall

The Democratic nominee faced voters in Miami

Former Vice President Joe Biden said Monday that he “wasn't surprised” that President Donald Trump got the coronavirus during a NBC News town hall hosted by Lester Holt in Miami.

Holt noted that a recent poll found two in three people think the president bears some responsibility for contracting this virus. Biden agreed: “Anybody who contracts the virus by essentially saying, masks don't matter, social distancing doesn't matter, I think is responsible for what happens to them,” Biden said.

In an election season that has shed almost all the rules of the game, tonight's town hall was actually quite a throwback to the more traditional campaigns of simpler times, reports Deadline.

Topics included everything from the pandemic and the economy to racial justice and Biden's history in politics. “With age comes wisdom, hopefully,” the former Vice-President told a Gen Z voter, assuring him that a Biden presidency would work to advance young people. “You're the best educated and least prejudiced generation in American history. The future is yours and I'm counting on you.”

↦ Battleground Tracker: Trump and Biden are even in Ohio, while Biden leads in Pennsylvania and Arizona, reports CBS News.

California’s First Recorded “Gigafire”

Record-setting fires surpass 4 million acres burned

In August, researchers warned we would have to add the term “gigafire” to the lexicon to describe wildfires in California. Now, it's become a part of the history books.

As of Monday morning, the August Complex Fire in the northern part of the state had burned at least 1,002,000 acres and was 54% contained, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. The area that has burned since the fire ignited on August 16 is larger than Rhode Island and spans seven counties.

What exactly makes a gigafire? The term is used by scientists to describe fires that burn more than one million acres. Across the state, fires have scorched a record-shattering four million acres so far in 2020, reports Earther.

And unfortunately, these types of explosive, out-of-control fires are likely to become more common as the world heats up. An analysis by Climate Central found that large wildfires are three times more common across the West since the '70s, while wildfire season is more than three months longer.

↦ FYI: Australia saw a gigafire during its wildfire crisis in January.

Laughing Does a Body Good

Humor is actually more than a distraction

Here's some good news we all need to hear: it's good to laugh. The harder the better, actually. So share all the memes you want and pull up as many YouTube videos that will make you belly laugh. (For me, those news fail videos do it every time.)

Cardiologists are saying it's a winning strategy to stay healthy in the face of our current stress-filled reality, reports the New York Times. But it's got to be real. No polite giggle, but a real laugh out loud that elicits deep breaths and maybe even tears of joy.

Why? According to studies, laughter releases nitric oxide, a chemical that relaxes blood vessels, reduces blood pressure and decreases clotting.

According to NPR, this is because it takes us back to a primal state. So much of our time is modulating how we react. But laughing fully is a purely natural state. So go find something funny today.

In Other News

Other Things We’re Talking About Today

The Starsky & Hutch of menswear

Fall is loafer season

Movies keep getting pushed

The Beer Mascots Time Forgot

‘Hot’ Dogs, Hipster Hillbillies and Bears

Remember the good ol' days when beers were sold by lovable animals? I only have a mild recollection of Spuds MacKenzie, the lothario bull terrier who loved Bud Light.

But VinePair has offered a trip down memory lane to revisit the American beer mascots time forgot.

Apparently they worked. The Bud Light campaign with Spuds was so successful that sales of the beer increased by 20% between 1987 and 1988, according to the New York Times. Unfortunately, by 1990, he retired but not before blazing the trail for other mascots—from the Coors werewolf-like creature to Hamm's beloved bear, Sasha. I'm sure they all went extinct because they're a little too alluring to young kids. But really, why were they ever considered to sell adults alcohol?

Sales We’re Eyeing

Italian 5-pocket pants$148 / $38

Bonobos is making room for new merchandise by clearing out summer and early fall gear, including some of the brand's best-sellers. There are plenty of soft washed chinos, easy stretch jeans and a wide range of shirts, all marked way down. In fact, nearly everything rings in under $50. Herewith, a few solid options.