The Daily Valet. - 2/24/23, Friday
✔️ One Year Later
A programming note ... no newsletters next week, as I'm relocating to Tokyo, Japan. If you have any recommendations on places I should check out, hit reply and drop me a line. And don't worry. We'll be back on Monday, March 6th at the usual time.
Friday, February 24th Edition
By Cory Ohlendorf, Valet. Editor
Gotta love that Friday feeling, right?
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Today’s Big Story
Ukraine, One Year Later
The U.N. Calls for Lasting Peace Deal in Ukraine on the anniversary of the invasion
Well, here we are. It's been exactly one year to the day that Russia launched Europe's biggest war since WWII. Tanks began rolling into Ukraine, sending civilians fleeing for basement bunkers and their country's borders. Many assumed Russia would quickly win against a cowed Ukraine and its allies. But that wasn't the case.Now, Ukraine is bracing for potential Russian attacks timed to the anniversary today. President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine has warned of a symbolic “revenge” assault—so schools across Ukraine are holding classes remotely, people have been advised to avoid large gatherings and additional security measures are being put in place.Governments around the world imposed stringent sanctions on Russia in an attempt— so far unsuccessful—to pressure Vladimir Putin to abandon the war. Against the odds, Ukraine's military has held its ground, reclaiming control of occupied territory and fending off Russian attempts to advance in the east where fierce battles are continuing. The toll of the human suffering has been staggering. Neither Russia nor Ukraine has officially released casualty figures, but both countries are believed to have suffered huge losses on the battlefield and more than 8 million Ukrainians fled abroad. The economic consequences also continue to reverberate around the world, from the scramble for new energy sources in Europe to higher grain prices in Africa. How and when will this conflict end? For a war that has continually defied expectations, those questions might seem impossible to answer. Yet The Atlantic recently posed them to several top historians, political scientists, geopolitical forecasters, and former officials to try and get a sense of what's to come.Meanwhile, the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday adopted a resolution calling for a lasting peace in Ukraine and the withdrawal of Russia's troops. It passed with a two-thirds majority of member states present and voting. Among Russia's allies, China, Iran and India abstained from the vote. But later, China (a firm Russian ally), called for a cease-fire and the opening of peace talks.
FYI:
Ukraine's central bank just unveiled a special banknote to commemorate the anniversary.
Train Derailment Tied to Overheated Wheel Bearing
The crew tried to slow down, but 38 cars still ended up leaving the tracks
The crew of the Norfolk Southern train that derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, attempted to stop it after receiving a “critical” alert about an overheating wheel bearing just before the crash, the National Transportation Safety Board said Thursday. But they stopped short of declaring a conclusive cause of the derailment. The preliminary findings came as residents push for answers from officials over the potential health dangers of exposure to the toxic chemicals released in the wake of the crash. According to Axios, Norfolk Southern executives admitted to shareholders—just weeks before the East Palestine derailment—that the rate of accidents on its railways had increased in each of the last four years.Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg also visited the site on Thursday to view the wreckage and pledge ongoing support to the community. Buttigieg and the Biden administration has faced accusations from some Republicans of moving too slowly and not doing enough in response to the wreck. Buttigieg himself acknowledged that he should have spoken out sooner.
Meanwhile:
The estimated animal death toll from the derailment tops 43,700 as the time frame for environmental recovery remains uncertain.
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This Basketball Is Full of Holes
But Wilson’s new 3D-Printed Ball Never Goes Flat
When it comes to sporting equipment, there hasn't been a whole lot of change around the basics, and it's hard to top the rubber bladder full of pressurized air used in sports from basketball to football to volleyball. But that doesn't mean the ball can't be innovated. Just ask Wilson, one of the leading manufacturers of sporting equipment in the world.They've been working to redesign the basketball with a prototype that's covered in an intricate pattern of holes but never goes flat. And the 3D-printed “basketball of the future” was just revealed to the world during the NBA's Slam Dunk Contest.Wilson partnered with a company called EOS which specializes in the use of 3D printing for industrial uses including medical and aerospace applications, to manufacture the unorthodox ball design that's covered in a pattern of open hexagons instead of sealed leather panels. The benefits are fairly clear; as with airless tires, you'll never have to pump these things up, and no puncture is going to put an end to your session. On the other hand, they'll probably start to pick up the odd bit of debris, which'll rattle around in there.
Dig Deeper:
Watch how Wilson makes the Airless prototype in their R&D lab.
A Weekend Pairing
‘Cocaine Bear’ + a Cuba Libre Cocktail
The time has finally come. We’ve been hearing about Cocaine Bear for a while—the film loosely based on a wildly bizarre true story—and today it’s finally out in theaters. Like Snakes on a Plane and Sharknado, this film seeks to entice an audience with an amusingly trashy title. But it seems like people are actually enjoying it. Actress and director Elizabeth Banks has promised us no more than a bear on drugs, and a bear on drugs is what we get.Deadline says Banks is “smart enough to give audiences hungry for a Jaws in the wilderness some nice scares mixed in with the laughs plus a bit more bang for their buck than just a marketable title.” The Hollywood Reporter says this is a movie that aims for maximum entertainment, “reveling in farce and gnarly killings to create an experience that keeps you on your toes even if the details get murky upon further reflection.” In other words, you’re in on the joke. Sit back, relax and watch a varied group of unsuspecting characters encounter a coked up, angry bear in the woods.
Pair It With
You know I had to include a Coke cocktail, right? The Cuba Libre is an easy and refreshing (whether you’re mixing it up at home or pouring it into a flask to take to the theater). It’s rum and Coke with lime, but it’s more complex and beguiling than its simple formula suggests.
Also Worth a Watch:
‘Formula 1: Drive to Survive,’ season 5 on Netflix, ‘Bruiser’ on Hulu, and ‘Voices Rising: The Music of Wakanda Forever’ on Disney+
In Other News
They’ll include fabrication facilities, research labs, and chip assembly plants.
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Shopping
What We’re Buying
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