The Daily Valet. - 4/28/20, Tuesday
✔️ Generosity, UFOs and Easing Out of Lockdowns
Tuesday, April 28th Edition
My dog is not taking this “social distancing” thing very well.
Cory Ohlendorf , Editor ⋯ @coryohlendorf
Today's edition is presented by
Today’s Big Story
States Ease Out of Lockdowns
Too soon? Perhaps. But can we afford to wait any longer?
Governors across the country forged ahead Monday with plans to reopen their economies, even as the nation hit a grim milestone of one million confirmed cases and 50,000 deaths from the coronavirus.
Texas, Ohio and other states took steps to ease lockdown orders and reopen their battered economies, reports the Wall Street Journal. After weeks of closures and social-distancing orders, states from Mississippi to Tennessee to Colorado began reopening select businesses Monday, welcoming customers back and letting some employees return to work.
According to the New York Times, Texas (with a population of nearly 30 million) made one of the most expansive moves toward reopening when Governor Greg Abbott announced that stores, restaurants, movie theaters and malls would be allowed to reopen with limited capacity on Friday.
Many are watching Texas’s phased reopening as a test. The state has relatively low rates of COVID-19 infections, but among the lowest testing rates, leading critics to say that there is no way to know for sure how prevalent the virus really is.
Meanwhile, Florida and Arizona have stay-at-home orders that are due to expire on Thursday, but the governors of both states have been vague about their plans.
↦ FYI: The White House is finalizing expanded guidelines to allow the phased reopening of schools and camps, child-care programs, certain workplaces, houses of worship, restaurants and mass transit systems.
President’s Daily Briefing Warned of Virus Threat
It was cited a dozen times before the U.S. outbreak occured
President Donald Trump received more than a dozen warnings about the coronavirus outbreak in daily briefings in January and February, but continued to downplay the virus' threat and severity, reports the Washington Post.
The President's Daily Brief—a summary of classified intelligence reports from various U.S. agencies—tracked the virus' proliferation, highlighted China's inaccurate characterization of the disease and death toll, and warned of widespread ramifications related to the pandemic.
Officials told the Post that the president, who frequently forgoes the briefings and has become impatient with the summaries that he now only receives a couple times per week, did not seem to absorb the warnings.
According to Business Insider, Monday's development adds yet another layer to previous media reports that revealed the extent to which intelligence and administration officials sounded the alarm about an impending pandemic, which the president largely dismissed until reported U.S. cases began to surge in March.
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Pandemic Sparks Smart Generosity
The ways companies with purpose are finding ways to stand up
During challenging times, companies with purpose are often better positioned to adapt and endure than peers without a purpose. Why? According to Fast Company, purpose serves as a vision and lens for smart decision-making during both good times and bad.
They identify the phenomenon of “smart generosity”—an innovative application of a company’s resources toward an urgent social issue, putting the needs of those affected before any short-term profits.
Think: Allstate returning $600 million in premiums back to customers who are driving less; Microsoft offering 12 weeks' paid parental leave to any full-time employee juggling homeschool with work; or Dick's Sporting Goods' CEO and president forgoing their salaries for the year.
These are more than well-intentioned PR initiatives. Most were guided by a core purpose or value, and a commitment to do the right thing for all stakeholders—not just shareholders.
↦ FYI: Large charitable gifts from corporations, foundations and individuals, including faith-based and other sources, hit $7.8 billion worldwide last week.
Pentagon Officially Publishes UFO Videos
Navy pilots are shown interacting with what’s being called “unidentified aerial phenomena”
The U.S. Navy has officially released three videos of pilots interacting with “unidentified aerial phenomena.” The videos were previously published by the New York Times and former Blink-182 singer Tom DeLonge's UFO research group, To the Stars Academy.
On Monday, the Pentagon said following a “thorough review,” it had determined that the previously leaked videos do not reveal “any sensitive capabilities or systems” and that their release “does not impinge on any subsequent investigations of military air space incursions.”
The videos are tantalizing evidence that military airmen have seen UFOs before, and that the Pentagon has researched what they are. According to BuzzFeed News, the pilots described seeing an oblong object about 40 feet long hovering about 50 feet above the water before rapidly ascendeding out of sight. “It accelerated like nothing I've ever seen,” one of the pilots said in an interview.
Honestly, I'm all for the government declassifying any interesting dirt they have on the existence of aliens while we're all going a bit stir-crazy. What could shock us at this point? Opening up Area 51?
↦ Dig Deeper: People who witnessed the UFOs told Popular Mechanics that they have seen a higher definition version of the video.
In Other News
Other Things We’re Talking About Today
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Need a Massage?
Of course you do ... We all do these days
Between a global pandemic and economic uncertainty, anxiety is at an all-time high. In fact, calls to the federal mental health crisis hotline are 900% greater than this time last year, according to the National Council for Behavioral Health.
Couple that with the fact that many of us are slumped over laptops most days and trying out new workouts from home—getting a massage sure sounds nice, right?
Unfortunately, going to a massage therapist is pretty much out of the question. But that doesn't mean you can't reap the benefits of a massage while responsibly sheltering in place.
To help you relax and relieve your tension, we pulled together the best massage tools on the market.
↦ Get Relief: Here are the best massage tools at your disposal as recommended by experts.
What We’re Buying
This week, Greats is offering 25% off sitewide with code COLLECTIVE25, meaning you can score a pair of their premium Italian-made sneakers for an incredibly reasonable price. The Court model is one of our favorites, due to its throwback style, inspired from classic basketball heritage—cut from soft Italian leather with suede accents. What's more, $15 from every order is donated to City Harvest, New York's largest food rescue organization.
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Morning Motto
It’s important work ... especially these days.
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