The Daily Valet. - 1/26/21, Tuesday

✔️ This Drop Is a Good One

Tuesday, January 26th Edition

Cory Ohlendorf, Editor in Chief of Valet.

I’m not one to turn down ice cream, but I now know some just ins’t for me.

Cory Ohlendorf , Editor ⋯ @coryohlendorf

Today's edition is presented by

Today’s Big Story

U.S. Virus Numbers Drop

But the race against new strains and vaccine goals heats up

Coronavirus deaths and cases per day in the U.S. have seen a noticeable drop over the past couple of weeks but are still running at alarmingly high levels, and the effort to snuff out COVID-19 is becoming an ever more urgent race between the vaccine and the mutating virus.

According to the Associated Press, the U.S. is recording just under 3,100 deaths a day on average (down from more than 3,350 less than two weeks ago). New cases have fallen to about 170,000 a day after peaking at almost 250,000 two weeks ago. The number of hospitalizations has dropped as well.

The government’s top infectious-disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, said the improvement in numbers around the country appears to reflect a “natural peaking and then plateauing” after a holiday surge, rather than the arrival of the vaccine in mid-December. An epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security agreed, saying too few people have been vaccinated so far for that to have had a significant impact on virus trends.

Scientists have warned that another wave of contagion could loom on the horizon with the emergence of several coronavirus variants found to be more transmissible than the original. One such variant first detected in Britain, and associated with higher mortality, has been documented in at least 20 states in recent weeks. On Monday, the first case of a variant from Brazil was confirmed in Minnesota.

Unfortunately, the more the virus spreads, the more opportunities it has to mutate. The fear is that it will ultimately render the vaccines ineffective. President Biden, under pressure from an anxious public to speed up the pace of vaccinations, said Monday that he is now aiming for America to administer 1.5 million doses a day—a goal that the nation already appears on track to meet.

Both Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech said that their vaccines were effective against new variants of the coronavirus discovered in Britain and South Africa, reports the New York Times. But they are slightly less protective against the variant in South Africa, which may be more adept at dodging antibodies in the bloodstream. As a precaution, Moderna said it’s begun developing a new form of the vaccine that could be used as a booster which will help fend off newly emerging forms of the virus.

↦ FYI: Are two face masks better than one? An infectious disease expert weighs in on the trend of doubling up.

Twitter Launches New Fact-Checking Portal

The platform is betting on crowdsourcing to help combat misinformation

Twitter unveiled a feature Monday meant to bolster its efforts to combat misinformation and disinformation by tapping users in a fashion similar to Wikipedia to flag potentially misleading tweets.

The new fact-checking initiative is called “Birdwatch.” The company said in a blog post that it wants to expand fact-checking beyond content that explicitly breaks its rules, and allow the community to provide more nuance than labels that deem something “true” or “false.”

Twitter says it has interviewed more than 100 people across the political spectrum, who told the company that the Birdwatch notes provided useful context to better understand the tweets, reports The Verge. Twitter did not say, however, whether tweets that receive notes may lead to removal; the intent behind the tool is for users to be able to respond quickly to a fast-spreading claim.

While Birdwatch will initially be cordoned off to a separate section of Twitter, the company told NBC News “eventually we aim to make notes visible directly on Tweets for the global Twitter audience, when there is consensus from a broad and diverse set of contributors.”

↦ Interested? Anyone with a verified phone and email linked to their account (who hasn't violated Twitter's rules), can apply to become a Birdwatcher.

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Thinking about proposing? This is how modern men are doing it these days.

Everything Bagel Spice Is Everywhere

Even ice cream, which further divides the country

Everything bagel spice has slowly but surely become the savory version of pumpkin spice. It's seemingly everywhere now, being applied to some truly unpredictable products.

Last week, Trader Joe’s took its beloved Everything But the Bagel Sesame Seasoning—a mixture of salt, black sesame, onion, garlic, and other seeds—and used it to flavor a new bag of kettle-cooked potato chips.

Then I saw it blended into a nut butter with roasted almonds, cashews and hazelnuts on Cool Material. And getting spiced up at Uncommon Goods.

But on Monday, things took a turn for the scandalous as the salty, garlicky and nutty seasoning made its way into a new Jeni's ice cream flavor. While Jeni's has a history of "weird" flavors, combining dried garlic and ice cream threw Eater staffers for a loop. Some immediately hated it. Others, desperate for a new feeling after months in relative isolation, were ready. But honestly, in this political climate? It seems downright dangerous.

↦ Buy It: Get a pint yourself at Jeni's, before they sell out.

Do Memes Need to Be Turned Into Merch?

Also ... how to know when meme is dead

On Inauguration Day, a photojournalist named Brendan Smialowski snapped a picture of Bernie Sanders staying warm and looking uninterested before the festivities started. And the rest, you might say, is now internet history.

You can't really know what will take hold and become a meme. But you can control how you respond to it. The Sanders team rather savvily turned the picture into merch—a tee and a sweatshirt to benefit charity—which promptly sold out.

But Highsnobiety makes an interesting point: Political memes are not the problem, if anything they're an extremely welcome relief from doomscrolling. But why do they need to be made into merch?

The fashion industry is finally owning up to the huge amount of waste it causes, and thankfully so are consumers. People are attempting to step away from fast fashion and "buy less, but buy better." Meme culture is designed to be ephemeral. By the time you get your merch, won't the joke be tired? No one is going to be sharing the Sanders meme in two months, so why do we think we'll want to wear it?

↦ Dig Deeper: How to know when a meme is dead.

In Other News

Other Things We’re Talking About Today

Japan’s history of tidying up

The original boutique hotel

This winter skin saver

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The New Way of Buying an Engagement Ring

Couple knows the perfect ring is the one that you've helped design

Popping the question comes with enough high-stakes and anxiety. You don’t want to have to stress about the ring too, with countless designs and diamond options out there. Couple, the first luxury brand selling lab-grown diamonds, can help to make the process easy and efficient while offering you more shine for your money.

Couple has effectively reimagined the entire process of shopping for an engagement ring. They only source conflict-free, lab-grown diamonds, so you get a stunning high quality, ethically made diamond that is atomically identical to a mined diamond, and also 35% larger for your money. And you can do it all from the comfort (and safety) of your home, as they offer complimentary virtual consultations.

Couple's premium proposal kit

But what really sets them apart is the brand’s five star diamond concierge, who offers you expert guidance throughout the process seamlessly—from learning about the 4C’s (color, cut, clarity and carat) for diamonds to the intricacies of the design process. You’ll receive a uniquely customized design with 3D renderings that all but ensures you will love the ring before proposing, along with complimentary resizing and returns. And every ring comes with a premium proposal kit that includes a polished brass box and tray—adding a shot of style and glamour that your partner will definitely appreciate—in addition to a gem cleaning pen.

↦ Ready? Book a free virtual consultation and save 10% off your first order w/code VALETMAG10

Don’t Stress Over Expiration Dates

They’re not bogus, but they’re not that important

Despite knowing that life is composed almost entirely of gray areas, humans naturally desire the clarity of black and white. The binary is just simpler, right? Good and bad; right and wrong; safe and unsafe. Which is how we got so invested in expiration dates.

But there's an important distinction we have to address before we go any further: Expiration dates are not expiration dates. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, “food product dating” is completely voluntary for all products (with the exception of baby food, but we won't go into that).

Not only that, but it really has nothing to do with safety. That date is there solely as the manufacturer's best guess as to when its product will no longer be at “peak quality,” and even that is up for interpretation.

Of course, there's nothing particularly wrong with following the dates if you're unsure. But according to the Natural Resources Defense Council, 40% of food in America goes to waste, and the biggest reason why is most people are throwing out food that's still good. To help you out, we've distinguished the sell-by dates you should and shouldn't pay attention to.

↦ Read: When to pay attention to (and when to ignore) expiration dates.

Sales We’re Eyeing

beardedgoat Northwest fleece$128 / $82.98

Huckberry stocks some of our favorite brands—from the big guys to smaller, under-the-radar labels that are harder to find online. And right now, they've slashed the prices on a wide range of outerwear. Which means it's the perfect time to pick up a new jacket, coat or performance pullover for up to 45% off.