The Daily Valet. - 12/10/20, Thursday

✔️ A Social Media Breakup

December 10, 2020

Thursday, December 10th Edition

Cory Ohlendorf, Editor in Chief of Valet.

Boy, am I glad I worked out this morning.

Cory Ohlendorf , Editor ⋯ @coryohlendorf

Today's edition is presented by

Today’s Big Story

FTC Calls for a Breakup of Facebook

Regulators are accusing the company of being an illegal monopoly

The Federal Trade Commission announced a new antitrust lawsuit against Facebook on Wednesday. The lawsuit alleges that the social network has used monopoly power “with the aim of suppressing, neutralizing and deterring serious competitive threats,” and must be broken up, reports TechCrunch.

Essentially, this is because they believe the tech giant is too big, has too much power and snuffs out too many competitors. The suit centers on Facebook’s acquisitions, particularly its $1 billion purchase of Instagram in 2011.

Attorneys general from 48 states and territories said they were filing their own lawsuit against Facebook. And the fact that nearly every state is involved, says NBC News, “reflects the broad and bipartisan concern about how much power Facebook and its CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, have accumulated on the internet.” So the government is asking a federal court to force the sell-off of assets such as Instagram and WhatsApp as independent businesses.

“Our aim is to roll back Facebook’s anticompetitive conduct and restore competition so that innovation and free competition can thrive,” said Ian Conner, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Competition, in a statement.

According to the Washington Post, these lawsuits represent the most significant political and legal threats to Facebook in its nearly two decade history—setting up a high-profile clash between regulators and one of Silicon Valley’s most profitable firms.

But don’t expect anything to change in your apps anytime soon. The filings are just the first step in what is likely to be a drawn-out, expensive legal battle with an unknown outcome that could take years.

↦ Dig Deeper: Here are five key points to understand about the Facebook lawsuits.

The Worst Case Scenario

More Americans died from coronavirus Wednesday than died on 9/11

I can't write the term “grim milestone” again this week, so let's think of it this way: Imagine a dozen Boeing 767 jets full of Americans crashed Wednesday, killing everyone on board. Because that's the equivalent of what happened yesterday.

More than 3,034 deaths from coronavirus were reported across the U.S. on Wednesday. By comparison, 2,977 people died in the Sept. 11th terrorist attacks. But we've become somewhat desensitized. We won't remember where we were on that day. Every day brings a slew of new numbers and another broken record.

Alexis Madrigal, the co-founder of the COVID Tracking Project, says that we're living through the worst-case scenario for this pandemic. “And we probably still do not know how bad it actually has been over the past couple weeks,” he tweeted, noting that cases continue to rise and “hospitalizations remain extremely high.”

According to NPR, the staggering spike in fatalities and infections has overwhelmed hospitals and intensive care units across the nation, an increase attributed by many experts to people relaxing their precautions at Thanksgiving. Something to think about if you're considering holiday travel.

↦ Meanwhile: Later today, the FDA's advisory panel will review (and hopefully approve) Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine.

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NASA Picks Astronauts for Moon Mission

Among the 18 training could be the first woman on the moon

It could be because I'm anxiously awaiting the next season of For All Mankind, but this is pretty exciting news. NASA on Wednesday introduced the group of astronauts it has chosen for upcoming missions to the moon.

The program, called Artemis, aims to send people back to the moon for the first time since the end of NASA’s Apollo program in 1972. This time, though, it won’t be only men making the journey: NASA promises that the first woman to step on the lunar surface will be on the inaugural flight to the moon.

“Our goal is to go to the moon sustainably, to learn how to live and work on another world,” NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said during a meeting of the National Space Council, announcing the names of the 18 astronauts selected for training.

NASA hopes to launch its first Artemis mission next year, but that will be a crewless flight designed to test a giant rocket. The first flight with astronauts is scheduled for 2023 and they're aiming to actually be on the moon within the decade.

↦ FYI: SpaceX's new Starship prototype exploded on landing after a test launch on Wednesday.

Let's Talk About Exercise

Sounds like now's the time get moving

It seems like there's a lot of news coming out of the world of working out this week. Just in time too. As the holiday season ramps up, it's easy to slack on exercise while you focus on wrapping gifts, watching movies and eating cookies.

But you should definitely stay active. According to a recent study, vigorous exercise could add years of quality living to your life. Not to mention, researchers at the University of Virginia found that exercise can largely prevent or at least reduce the severity of the respiratory complications from COVID-19.

Exercise can even block pain, reports Outside, but only for true believers. They explore a phenomenon called "exercise-induced analgesia," which is simply the reduction in pain sensation commonly observed following exercise. There are a couple of theories for why this happens. One is the release of pain-blocking brain chemicals such as endorphins. Or it may simply be that the discomfort of exercise desensitizes us to subsequent discomfort.

But if you're looking to lose a little weight, make sure you're devoting enough time to fitness. The New York Times reports on an interesting new study involving weight-loss and working out. It suggests you burn at least 3,000 calories a week in order to drop pounds. That means working out six days a week for up to an hour, or around 300 minutes a week.

In Other News

Other Things We’re Talking About Today

The best albums of 2020

This portable Christmas tree

Holiday traditions

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Power Up Your Immune System

Protein has been proven to seriously boost your immunity

We’re all focused on staying healthy these days. Between COVID-19 and the standard cold and flu season, it’s important you take good care of yourself. Of course, the best defense for anytime you don't wish to get sick is to wash your hands as often as possible. But you can also kick your immune system into high gear, raising your defenses even further, by increasing the amount of protein you consume. While protein is widely known to help you build and repair muscles, it also provides vital support to your immune system. That’s because when you eat protein, your digestive system breaks it down into smaller amino acids.

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According to the British Journal of Nutrition, these amino acids activate natural killer cells that limit the spread of microbial infections while regulating your antioxidant response to oxidative stress, which in turn prevents the kind of chronic inflammation that encourages disease to flourish. These essential amino acids (that your body cannot produce on its own) are found in foods that offer complete protein. Which is why supplementing with grass-fed whey isolate or plant-based protein is a smart, efficient way to get enough protein in your body and get those amino acids working for you. The Endurance Recovery protein from Momentous is an ideal powder to utilize since it’s formulated to help those vital amino acids get absorbed into the bloodstream quickly. The fact that it’s formulated to help muscles recover and give you energy after a workout? That’s an added bonus.

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Give Some Sparkle This Year

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The Best Tech Giftsfor Everyone on Your List

It can be hard to shop for the people on your list who are gadget and tech-inclined. They know the latest and greatest stuff on the market, so you don’t want to give them something they’d think is outdated. But there are also so many amazing products on offer that will all but guarantee a pleased early adopter on your gift list. And right now, Dell is currently offering deals on a wide range of the latest technology and brands. But stock and prices are changing quickly, so click through today and grab that deal now.

Our Gaming Picks ...