The Daily Valet. - 3/7/22, Monday

✔️ A New Wave

Monday, March 7th Edition

Cory Ohlendorf, Editor in Chief of Valet.

Feeling tired? We’ll talk about it down below.

Cory Ohlendorf , Editor ⋯ @coryohlendorf

Today’s edition is presented by

Today’s Big Story

A New Wave of Russian Attacks

Defiance is growing in Russia and abroad, while the invasion is taking an increasing toll on Ukrainian civilians

Russian forces launched a heavy artillery barrage on the eastern outskirts of the strategic Ukrainian port city of Mykolaiv early Monday morning, a day after Ukrainian troops pushed them from the city limits.

For the second consecutive day, Russian shelling ruptured a temporary cease-fire in Mariupol—blocking efforts to evacuate civilians where more than 200,000 residents remained trapped. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy vowed to fight on, urging his people in a weekend TV address to take to the streets to “drive this evil out of our cities, from our land.” On Sunday, he said, “Instead of humanitarian corridors, they can only make bloody ones,” referring to the halted evacuations.

A total of 364 civilians have been killed and nearly 800 injured since fighting began on Feb. 24, according to the United Nations’ human rights office. “We’ve seen very credible reports of deliberate attacks on civilians, which would constitute a war crime,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken told CNN yesterday.

Meanwhile, thousands have been detained in anti-war protests across Russia. And all around the world—from Europe to Asia, Africa to North America—people took to the streets this weekend to protest and condemn Putin’s actions.

Congress plans to act this week on the $10 billion in emergency funding requested by President Biden for humanitarian aid and military aircraft in Ukraine. Under a potenital deal with Poland, Ukraine could receive Russian-made MiG fighter jets that were inherited after the Cold War ended and be repaid with U.S. American F-16s.

Why not just give the Ukrainian our F-16s? Why do they need to be Russian-made, you might be wondering. Ukraine’s military pilots aren’t trained to fly U.S. jet fighters and are far more equipped to handle MiGs that are currently used by former Soviet-bloc NATO members Poland, Bulgaria and Slovakia.

↦ DIg Deeper: Vox explains Germany’s dramatic reversal on defense, calling it a turning point in how Berlin sees itself in the world.

We Can’t Seem to Get Enough Sleep

Being tired isn’t heroic. In fact, it’s wreaking havoc on our brains.

In news that will shock no one, more than a third of all Americans are officially sleep-deprived. And the pandemic hasn't made it any easier to catch up on much-needed rest.

According to Salon, a big part of the reason is cultural. One doctor put it like this, “Prolonged wakefulness is often championed by leaders, like they are deserving of accolades for not sleeping, whether it's because they were doing work or up late socializing or doing some recreational activity.” Sleep is seen by a lot of people as a waste of time in circles that use phrases like rise and grind.

But that completely ignores all the work our bodies do when we're actually asleep. The immune system releases proteins called cytokines that help your body fight infections and inflammation. Muscles use the opportunity to heal. Your brain sorts through information to find patterns and help you cognitively as you proceed with your day. According to Harvard Medical School, when your brain is in deep sleep, a series of tubes called the glymphatic system literally flushes waste-filled fluid from the brain.

Of course, some of us want to sleep, but can't. That might have to do with all the lights we're exposed to leading up to bedtime. Or it could be an onset of a condition like sleep apnea, which now affects more than 18 million Americans.

↦ Meanwhile: Google CEO Sundar Pichai says he uses “non-sleep deep rest,” to unwind. Here's how it works.

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Press 3 for a Pep Talk

A charming goodwill school project goes viral

The kids are alright. Or rather, they'll make sure that we're alright. Here's a little good news to kick off the week: A new hotline, voiced by young kids, is offering options for joy, encouragement and relief from stress.

Dubbed the “Peptoc Hotline,” it's actually a public art project from students at an elementary school in Healdsburg, California. They designed it specifically to help everyone through the raging dumpster fire we all seem to be living through. The number to call: 707-998-8410.

I called it last night to test it, and can assure you, it delivers. “Duuuude, you got this!” said one precocious tyke. “I trust that you'll see your way through this,” said another one, more earnestly.

The effort was the brainchild of Jessica Martin, a local artist who doubles as the art teacher for the small school. Martin expected the effort to produce some smiles and maybe lift a few hundred spirits in the surrounding community. In less than a week, the project has gone viral. According to CNN, it's already getting between 300 and 500 calls an hour, and up to as many as 5,000 calls a day. I guess we really needed this, huh?

↦ Like what you hear? You can donate to help support the program's hotline fees.

Book Your Summer Trip Right Now

Plan on traveling in 2022? Buy sooner rather than later.

Expedia's CEO Peter Kern has told several media outlets that “summer 2022 will be the busiest travel season ... ever.” And he's not the only one. Last month, the World Travel & Tourism Council updated its economic modeling with predictions that U.S. travel and tourism would exceed pre-pandemic levels by 6.2%.

“We've been talking about pent-up demand for a long time, but until now there have been too many restrictions in place for people to do too much with it,” Kern told Bloomberg.

Scott Keyes, the man behind the very popular travel resource Scott's Cheap Flights, says that since we've stayed home for so long, we've underestimated how exciting and fun it is to have a trip to look forward to. I completely agree. Last mintute getaways are great, but there's a special kind of joy that comes with knowing you've got a trip on the horizon.

Several studies have shown that the anticipation of travel can actually boost our happiness in the meantime. Planning and looking forward to your trip can almost be as enjoyable as going on the travel itself. Which is why now is the perfect time to book your summer getaway. We crunched the data and compiled some solid reasons why it would benefit you to book now.

↦ Read: Why you should consider securing summer travel this week.

In Other News

↦ What to Expect From Apple’s ‘Peek Performance’ Event Tomorrow

↦ The Intriguing Link Between Depression and Misinformation

↦ 10 Red Flags That Could Trigger an IRS Tax Audit in 2022

Other Things We’re Talking About Today

Lego ‘The Batman’ Batmobile

The best Trader Joe’s cookies

The Razor scooter is back

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What We’re Eyeing

Does this chair look familiar? If we had the money, we'd splurge on one of ICON's meticulously cool resto-mod Broncos. But in the meantime, we're considering one of these chairs ($1,700), designed by ICON founder Jonathan Ward, commissioned by Autotype. Crafted by California-based furniture makers One For Victory, it's inspired by the timeless lines of the first generation Bronco backbench seat. It's a stylish chair that makes a statement in any room, and only you (and your car-loving guests) will know its origin story.

↦ Want more? 5 stylish items to buy this week