The Daily Valet. - 4/8/22, Friday

✔️ Did You Luck Out, Like Me?

April 08, 2022

Friday, April 8th Edition

Cory Ohlendorf, Editor in Chief of Valet.

I wonder how long it takes to charge an electric Hummer?

Cory Ohlendorf , Editor ⋯ @coryohlendorf

Today’s edition is presented by

Today’s Big Story

Why Some Remain COVID-Free

If you’ve made it through the last two years without getting sick from the virus, here are a few theories why

A fresh wave of COVID cases swept through the nation’s capital this week, striking several high-profile officials just as President Biden and other political leaders are urging a return to normalcy.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said that he thinks there will be an uptick in cases over the next few weeks and that it is likely that there could be a surge in the fall.

Of course, if you’re vaxxed and boosted, you likely won’t develop any serious symptoms. Or you might not contract it at all. I have not tested positive for COVID yet (despite several close calls and taking multiple tests throughout the pandemic). Am I just lucky? After the omicron wave spread like wildfire, estimates compiled by the CDC show that about 43% of the country has been infected by the virus at one time.

What does that mean for the rest of the population that has not contracted the virus yet? According to ABC News, catching COVID is not inevitable. “There are several reasons people have been able to avoid infection so far, including certain behaviors such as being serious about masking, vaccination rates and maybe even genetics.”

You see, COVID has figured out how to sneak inside the cells of our respiratory tract quite easily. But a special immune response in our cells (called the RIG-I pathway) works as an early-warning system that not only destroys the virus inside the cell but also prevents the virus from spreading to surrounding cells. According to NPR, some people have more RIG-I receptors than others. And children always have more inside their nasal cells than adults, explaining why more children were able to evade the virus without a vaccine for so long.

Another option? Exposure to another coronavirus could be protecting you from COVID-19. Several studies have now found evidence that immune cells originally made to fight another coronavirus —there are four out there, known to cause seasonal colds—can actually prepare your body to fight off COVID. Even though these seasonal coronaviruses typically don’t cause more than a runny nose or cough, the body still has to clear out the virus. To do that, the immune system makes antibodies and T cells. Some of these T cells stick around and watch out for the virus—or a similar one—to return again.

↦ Ouch: A doctor (and VP of the Korean Vaccine Society) made headlines last week by saying that people who haven't caught COVID yet “have no friends.”

Senate Confirms Ketanji Brown Jackson

The first Black female Supreme Court Justice will be sworn in this summer

Cheers rang out in the Senate chamber Thursday as Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, a 51 year-old appeals court judge with nine years experience on the federal bench, was confirmed 53-47, mostly along party lines but with three Republican votes.

Vice President Kamala Harris, the first Black woman to hold the position and one of just 11 Black senators in American history, presided over the vote—one historic figure presiding over the elevation of another.

Despite her relative youth, in addition to service as a public defender and as an officer of the U.S. Sentencing Commission, Jackson has “more judicial experience than 43 of the last 58 justices to take the bench, and more than current Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Clarence Thomas, Elena Kagan, and Amy Coney Barrett had, combined, when they were confirmed,” notes CNN Supreme Court analyst Steve Vladeck.

According to the Washington Post, she will replace Associate Justice Stephen G. Breyer after the Supreme Court's term ends in late June or early July. When Jackson is sworn in, the nine-member Supreme Court for the first time will have four women.

Partner

Do you know about Delta-8? If you don't, then you're gonna want to find out.

The Buzz About the New Hummer EV

A “brilliant execution of a terrible idea”?

It seems that GMC's new Hummer EV SUT—the oversized supertruck of the future—is an embarrassment of riches. It's being called “audacious” and “wonderfully ridiculous.”

Which seems fitting, right? For the uninitiated, the Hummer's whole brand was essentially a rolling example of American pre-Great Recession excess. They were big gas-guzzlers that seemed, well, unnecessary. But then GM decided to bring the Hummer back as a 1,000-horsepower electric beast to take on anything combustion-powered and let the price tag soar into the six figures.

Reporters got a chance to drive the EV pickup and it sounds like everyone had a blast. MotorTrend says it's “the quickest, silliest, most ridiculously awesome truck we've ever tested.” Car and Driver gave it a rave, so did Gear Patrol, who crab-walked in the oversized truck, sampled launch control mode (“it can accelerate like a Porsche sports car off the line”) and even popped the top off like a convertible.

In short, it appears the old school American automaker revived a long-dormant brand in spectacular fashion.

↦ Dig Deeper: From trolling Tesla to ‘WTF mode’: Here’s why GM insiders say the Hummer EV marks a change for the automaker.

A Weekend Pairing

‘Ambulance’ + Whoppers

One of the greatest qualities about a big, blockbuster-style movie is its ability to let you get completely lost in the spectacle. A quiet indie film will make you think, but a “popcorn movie” simply promises a good time. Which is what Michael Bay specializes in. And his latest, Ambulance (out now in theaters), is being called “his best in decades.”

Bay's first theatrical release since 2017 features Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Jake Gyllenhaal as adopted brothers, who have hijacked an ambulance after a bank robbery gone wrong. The New York Times calls it “a return to form for this auteur of vehicular mayhem and muscular bombast.” And while other reviews were less enthusiastic, most agree that the movie makes for an adrenaline-surging good time. Or as the Globe & Mail put it, “Michael Bay's eye-popping film makes Marvel movies look like dumpster juice.”

↦ Your Pairing:Like the film, this pairing is going back to old school movie theater fare. Whoppers, in my opinion, are one of the best concession candies. You rarely get them outside of the dark confines of a theater and they're chocolatey, crunchy and pair well with popcorn. Did you know the nugget of malted milk in the center was originally developed as a baby formula in the 1870s?

In Other News

↦ What an Exodus of 11.4 Million People Looks Like

↦ Social Security’s Retirement Age Is Moving to 67. Some Experts Say That Could Go Even Higher.

↦ What Happens After a Superyacht Is Seized? It’s Uncharted Territory.

Other Things We’re Talking About Today

A real invisibility shield

Spotify’s ‘Car Thing’

The weird computers on ‘Severance’

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The Better CBD Buzz

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