The Daily Valet. - 1/3/20, Friday
✔️ A Good News, Bad News Kind of Day
Friday, January 3rd Edition
Sorry Dry January, I’m gonna need one of the bourbon cocktails featured below.
Cory Ohlendorf , Editor ⋯ @coryohlendorf
Today's edition is presented by
Today’s Big Story
US Kills Top Iranian General
Qassim Suleimani, a hard-line military leader, was seen as a potential future leader of Iran
The United States killed a powerful commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps, Maj. Gen. Qassim Suleimani, in a drone strike on the Baghdad International Airport early Friday.
"At the direction of the President, the US military has taken decisive defensive action to protect US personnel abroad by killing Soleimani," the Department of Defense said in a statement. "This strike was aimed at deterring future Iranian attack plans." It also accused Soleimani of approving the attacks on the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad earlier this week.
According to the Associated Press, the drone strike is expected to draw severe Iranian retaliation against Israel and American interests.
The strikes followed a warning on Thursday afternoon from Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper, who said the United States military would pre-emptively strike Iranian-backed forces in Iraq and Syria if there were signs the paramilitary groups were planning more attacks against American bases and personnel in the region.
Suleimani's death is a major blow for Iran and an escalation of President Trump’s "maximum pressure" campaign against Iran, which began with economic sanctions but has steadily moved into the military arena.
↦ FYI: According to the Wall Street Journal, oil prices surged following news of the attack, rising 3.5% to $68.58 a barrel after futures trading opened late Thursday.
Amazon Is Opening a Homeless Shelter
And it’s inside the company’s Seattle headquarters
In 2018, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos pledged $2 billion to combat homelessness. Now, Amazon is tackling the problem head on by opening a shelter inside its Seattle headquarters.
The space will be the largest family shelter in Washington state, housing nearly 300 people per night, reports Business Insider. The shelter will include individual and private rooms for families, as well as an industrial kitchen that is expected to produce 600,000 meals each year. The space will be outfitted with enough beds and blankets to serve more than 400 families a year.
Scheduled to open in the first quarter, the facility is a partnership with Mary’s Place, a nonprofit that opened a shelter at a Travelodge hotel on Amazon’s campus in 2016.
Mary's Place plans to operate health and legal clinics, where Amazon has offered to provide free counseling as well as paying for the nonprofit’s utilities, maintenance and security for the next decade.
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The US Military Bans Soldiers From TikTok
“It is considered a cyber threat”
The Navy isn't the only American military branch clamping down on TikTok. The Army has become the latest branch to prohibit the use of the app on government-issued phones. Army spokeswoman Lt. Col. Robin Ochoa told Military.com that it's "considered a cyber threat."
US government scrutiny of the Chinese app has been building for months. In October, Senators Chuck Schumer and Tom Cotton called on the US intelligence community to assess TikTok's national security risks. While there's been no evidence of suspicious activity taking place, the company that owns the app, ByteDance, could theoretically be compelled to forward soldiers' sensitive info to the Chinese government or to recruit soldiers as spies, reports Engadget.
Still, the platform was so popular within the US military that the Army was using the app as a recruitment tool as recently as November.
↦ FYI: TikTok has 500 million active users worldwide and was the third most downloaded app in 2019.
Using Dry Cleaners the 2020 Way
Trust me, their services are still essential
For better or worse, we're all dressing more comfortably—even at work. The days of dropping off stacks of shirts and suits at the cleaners are pretty much long gone. But in today's "31 Days" feature, we make the case for dry cleaning.
Why? Because while that particualar routine might've changed, it doesn't mean the next generation is immune to spills or the desire to keep their clothes looking fresh.
After all, when you invest in something, you want it to last, right? Your local dry cleaner can bail you out of a disaster by tackling stains that would otherwise ruin an item. And, it turns out, they can clean just about anything from sneakers and sweatshirts to your favorite ball cap.
↦ Read: What to take to the cleaners along with the best time to take it.
Other Things We’re Talking About Today
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You spent on others all season. Now treat yourself.
React Element 87, $160 / $112 by Nike
There aren’t a lot of sales over at MR PORTER. So when they launch one, you want to pay attention. Why? Because the items are high quality and the discounts are deep. Right now during their epic Winter Sale, which just kicked off, you can get a wide range of garments, shoes and accessories for up to 50% off. But our first stop is always the shoe section—specifically, the sneakers. Here are six of our favorites from the sale, all with plenty of sizes … for now.
Triple S sneaker, $950 / $665 by Balenciaga
Air Max Tailwind IV sneaker, $160 / $112 by Nike
SolarHu PRD Glide sneaker, $150 / $90 by Adidas + Pharrell Williams
SFB Mountain sneaker, $350 / $210 by Nike + Undercover
Leather and rubber slide, $375 / $187.50 by Givenchy
↦ Shop: the full MR PORTER Sale
Weekend Pairing
The Order of Time + a Bourbon Thyme Cocktail
The Order of Time, by Carlo Rovelli, might look or sound familiar. It’s been on countless "best books of the year" lists and the author has been called the new Stephen Hawking. Originally released last spring, the paperback just hit bookstores and, at just over 250 pages, it’s an easy read that will change the way you think about time.
Rovelli is an Italian theoretical physicist who writes about scientific phenomenon in charming, relatable prose that at times is almost poetic. The book is fortified with quotations from Proust, Anaximander and the Grateful Dead—apparently Rovelli has something of a hippyish past. And he somehow provides enlightening, jargon-free scientific explanations of physics and energy while marveling at the mystery of existence. The riddle of time may ultimately be beyond our "blurred", Earth-bound comprehension, he says. But it’s still pretty cool to think about.
↦ Your Pairing:The perfect cocktail to sip while reading about time? Something with thyme in it … see what I did there? This easy-to-make drink offers an herbaceous twist on an Old Fashioned. The recipe, from Salted Plains, uses a honey simple syrup infused with fresh thyme, making for a potent and warming winter sip.
What We’re Buying
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↦ Get It $180 / $105.89 at Amazon
Today’s Deals
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Morning Motto
What are you focusing on this year?
↦ Follow: @thegoodquote
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