The Daily Valet. - 2/28/20, Friday
✔️ It Gets Worse Before It Gets Better
Friday, February 28th Edition
Are you brave enough to drink a charcoal cocktail?
Cory Ohlendorf , Editor ⋯ @coryohlendorf
Today’s Big Story
Stocks Keep Sliding Due to Virus Fears
Dow, S&P, Nasdaq all fall more than 4% in largest one-day drop in history
The Dow Jones industrial average plunged nearly 1,200 points on Thursday, capping its worst four days since the 2008 financial crisis. This is due mostly to investors’ fears that global efforts to contain the spread of the coronavirus were failing, reports the Washington Post.
The S&P 500—which just last Wednesday reached a record high—slid 4.4 percent, its worst day since August 2011. The index is down 12 percent since that peak, entering what is known as a correction—a drop of at least 10 percent that signals a more significant sell-off than a few days of pessimistic trading.
Investors have grown increasingly pessimistic that efforts to stop the spread of the virus will be effective fast enough before significant damage happens to the global economy. Some American companies say they could lose as much as half their annual revenue from China if the epidemic extends through the summer.
Over the past few days, corporations as varied as United Airlines, Mastercard and Pfizer have communicated that the outbreak poses a threat to their 2020 earnings.
“Every day we think we could be near a bottom, and every day we are not,” Helane Becker, an analyst at the financial services firm Cowen, told the Post.
Wall Street’s free-fall this week erased more than a third of the stock market gains since President Trump’s November 2016 election.
↦ FYI: Over the past six days, the US markets lost $4 trillion in wealth. That's nearly equal to the entire 2019 United States federal operating budget.
There’s an Overturned Cargo Ship Off the Coast of Georgia
The capsized vessel is full of new cars and now has to be sliced up
I could be crazy, but I've not heard about this until now. The Golden Ray, a 656-foot cargo ship carrying more than 4,200 brand new cars, ran aground in early September after leaving the Port of Brunswick in Georgia. All crew members were rescued, and a group of agencies began the long process of racing to protect the environment while also making plans to move the ship out of the water.
Of course, this is a big job that requires a lot of engineering and ingenuity—it's not just getting the ship itself out of the water, it's also all the cars, with their fuel and batteries and oil.
Thankfully, they now have a plan to dismantle the wreck by using a giant chain to slice the cargo ship into eight segments, lifting those giant pieces up out of the water and then taking them away on a barge, reports NPR.
This wreck is unprecedented in the United States, according to the US Coast Guard, which is coordinating the recovery. And as wild as the plan may sound to slice the vessel up like a gigantic loaf of bread, apparently it's been done before.
↦ FYI: The goal is to have the ship out of the St. Simons Sound before peak hurricane season this summer.
America’s Obesity Rates Are Still on the Rise
Roughly 40% of US adults are now obese, and 10% severely so
About four in 10 American adults are obese, nearly one in 10 severely so, government researchers said Thursday. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention findings come from a 2017-18 health survey that measures height and weight, reports the Associated Press.
A half-century ago, about one in 100 American adults were severely obese. Now it’s 10 times more common. The findings suggest that more Americans will get diabetes, heart disease and cancer, said Dr. William Dietz, a George Washington University obesity expert.
Obesity is already responsible for one in five deaths in the US each year—that's nearly as many as smoking.
What's more, health officials aren't sure how to stop it. New research shows there's little proof that so-called "sin taxes" on food or drinks change behavior. In spite of taxes and warnings about the health effects of drinking sugary beverages, 80% of American households buy sodas and other sugary drinks every week.
↦ Sweet But Deadly: Here are some simple ways to cut unnecessary sugar from your diet.
What’s the Future for Apu?
South Asian creatives are hoping for an authentic revival
It's been over two years since anyone has heard a word from The Simpsons' Kwik-E-Mart clerk Apu, reports The Hollywood Reporter. Apu's last notable speaking scene was in October 2017.
And the silence appears to be indefinite following Hank Azaria's confirmation to the New York Times this week that he will no longer voice the character. "Once I realized that that was the way this character was thought of, I just didn't want to participate in it anymore," he said.
After all, the show has done a less than admirable job in acknowledging or even respecting the problems that both critics and fans of the character have with his portrayal.
But several South Asian creators in Hollywood don't want Apu to disappear—rather, they'd like him revived in a more authentic way. They offer up a few suggestions, including his own spinoff.
↦ GO Deeper: Check out comedian Hari Kondabolu's 2017 documentary, The Problem With Apu.
Other Things We’re Talking About Today
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Weekend Pairing
Altered Carbon + a Fade to Black Cocktail
Two years ago, Altered Carbon made a splashy debut on Netflix and then went dark. The first season of the sci-fi thriller—based on the book series about a future where you consciousness can live forever within disposable bodies called sleeves—ended in a bloody showdown between Takeshi Kovacs (played by Joel Kinnaman) and his sister Reileen (Dichen Lachman). Forced to kill his own sibling, Kovacs ended the season by tossing away his current sleeve and moving forward into a mysterious future.
Season two just started streaming and takes us a few decades further into the timeline (the year 2384 to be exact), as Kovacs dons a sleeve played by Marvel Cinematic Universe veteran Anthony Mackie. And according to Nerdist, his journey takes him down a whole new, far more personal road. And the result is an even more compelling and mysterious storyline. The only downside? This season is only eight episodes.
↦ Your Pairing:What do you pair with a high-stakes, slightly dystopian hero's journey through a dark future? I'd suggest the Fade to Black cocktail from Liquor.com, a playfully dark spin on a Rum Sour, made with activated charcoal and seasonal berries. I'll bet you've never had a charcoal cocktail before. But the powdered supplement has actually been proven to lower cholesterol, reduce gas and promote kidney function—everything that could come in handy over a weekend of indulgence, right?
What We’re Buying
While the weather might say otherwise, it's actually the perfect time to refresh your spring footwear. White sneakers are always great shoes to have on hand, but consider switching things up this year. These white sneakers made by ASOS feature a modern chunky sole and a contrast print that stands out just enough to stand apart from everyone else's plain white kicks. Oh, and they're only forty bucks.
↦ Get It $40 at ASOS
Today’s Deals
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↦ Want More? See all 52 sales
Morning Motto
There’s something good at the end of the struggle.
↦ Follow: @jmstormquotes
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