The Daily Valet. - 6/3/22, Friday
✔️ A Bold Call to Action
Friday, June 3rd Edition
Get ready for your tongue to feel dirty ...
Cory Ohlendorf , Editor ⋯ @coryohlendorf
Today’s edition is presented by
Today’s Big Story
Biden Calls for Tougher Gun Laws
‘Enough, enough,’ he says, urging Congress to take action against assault weapons
President Joe Biden, in a rare prime-time address Thursday, called on Congress to take immediate action on gun control, seeking to transform emotion and anger into change as the nation reeled from a spate of horrific mass shootings from New York to Texas to Oklahoma.
“Enough, enough,” Biden said over and over. If legislators fail to act, he warned, voters should use their “outrage” to turn it into a central issue in November’s midterm elections. While acknowledging the stiff political headwinds, he hopes to drive up pressure on Congress to pass stricter gun limits after such efforts failed following past attacks.
The president said lawmakers should reinstate the ban on assault weapons, like AR-15s, and ban high-capacity magazines. If those weapons aren’t banned, the age to purchase them should be raised to 21 from 18. He also said Congress should strengthen background checks (including at gun shows and in online sales); enact safe storage and red flag laws; and repeal the immunity that protects gun manufacturers from liability.
He also called for action addressing mental health. “Let’s hear the call and the cry,” he said, almost pleading with his fellow politicians in Washington. “Let’s meet the moment. Let us finally do something.”
Whether that will happen remains unclear, reports the New York Times. Despite his forceful tone, Biden all but acknowledged in his speech the political realities that could make him just another in a long line of presidents to have demanded action on guns ... only to fail.
But this speech came at a delicate—and perhaps opportune moment. A small bipartisan group of senators is working on a package of potential gun restrictions that they hoped would pass conservative muster. And even modest steps would mark a notable shift from recent years.
↦ DIg Deeper: Past research has found that states with lax gun laws tend to have higher rates of violence and deaths related to firearms.
LeBron Is Officially a Billionaire
The NBA superstar and investor has a net worth of $1.2 billion
LeBron James has become the first active NBA player to have a net worth of $1 billion, according to Forbes who crunched all the necessary numbers.
The 37-year-old athlete, who just completed his 19th season in the NBA, built his fortune with an impressive list of blue chip endorsements and business ventures, along with a hoard of cash and investments.
According to ESPN, the league's No. 2 career scorer made $121.2 million from May 2021 to May 2022 in on-court salary and off-court earnings. And you might recall that James has a lifetime endorsement deal with Nike.
Michael Jordan, the only other basketball billionaire, didn't hit ten figures until 2014—more than a decade after he retired, thanks to a well-timed investment in the Charlotte Hornets basketball team. LeBron has one year left on his contract with the Lakers, but has said he wants to stay in the NBA long enough to play with his son Bronny James, who will be a high-school senior in the fall.
↦ FYI: In a prophetic 2014 interview with GQ, LeBron James said he wanted to maximize his business acumen in order to one day become a billionaire.
Partner
Is your dad hard to shop for? Of course he is. But we called in the experts.
Are You Scraping Your Tongue?
Because everyone else seems to be now
You brush, you floss (right?!), but do you scrape your tongue? Because a dirty tongue is no longer acceptable, according to social media—where the hygienic practice is getting its minty fresh 15 minutes of fame.
Tap over to TikTok and #tonguescraping has an endless list of videos with over 3.4 million views. Or you could check out Tend, the trendy new dental offices geared toward millennials, where a $9 tongue scraper sells right alongside a $100 sonic toothbrush.
According to a paper published by the Journal of the American Dental Association, tongue scraping has been practiced for centuries in places like India and South America (using tools crafted from materials including wood, whalebone and tortoiseshell), but it's only comparatively recently that Westerners became hip to practice.
And it's basically exactly what it sounds like: You use a curved tool to get rid of that gross, smelly buildup on your tongue. The benefits include everything from freshening bad breath, removing bacteria and even improving your sense of taste.
↦ Buy: If you're looking for an easy scraper to try, this stainless steel model works more like a toothbrush and features a simple one-handed design.
A Weekend Pairing
‘Physical’ + a Leisure Soda
Did you see the first season of Physical on Apple TV+? It was, perhaps, the most surprising and enjoyable series I've seen in the last year. Antiheros are a dime a dozen on TV these days, but Rose Byrne's excellent performance as housewife-turned-aerobics maven Sheila Rubin brings a whole new (and dark) dimension to the 'difficult woman' archetype. In the second season, out today, Sheila continues to be at war with herself and everyone who threatens her future exercise empire. As she edges closer to this dream, Sheila must overcome new and old obstacles that line the path to lifestyle guru success.
Set in the 1980s, the show lays bare the contradiction at the heart of exercise as a commodity—then and now. As The Ringer points out, weight loss has become “wellness” and crash diets are now “cleanses.” But the tension is the same. What's supposed to make you healthier can actually keep you prisoner to your unhealthiest habits. And the show personifies this perfectly with a heavy dose of humor to make the uncomfortable truths go down as smoothly as a protein shake.
↦ Your Pairing:Despite our protagonist's self-destructive behavior, this week's pairing is a grown-up soda without any alcohol. Casamara Club's sparkling beverages are inspired by bitter Italian liqueurs. The Alta flavor is intended to evoke the bitter citrus flavor profile of a classic Negroni without the booze. Plus, the retro packaging pairs perfectly with the show.
In Other News
Other Things We’re Talking About Today
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Partner
MR PORTER’s Father’s Day Wish List
Perfect presents for hard-to-shop-for guys
Wireless leather headphones, $500 by Master & Dynamic
Do you know what you want to get your dad for Father's Day? If you're having a little trouble deciding or if he's one of those notoriously hard-to-shop-for guys, allow us to help. We asked the dapper gents at MR PORTER to offer up the ultimate list of perfect presents. Here are more than two dozen options, in a range of prices, that they'll be giving (and hoping to receive themselves) on June 19th. And to make it even easier for you, they're offering free standard delivery. Which means you can get it to your father in about three to four business days.
Kinney tortoise shell sunglasses, $360 by Garrett Leight
Ballon Bleu de Cartier automatic watch, $6,600 by Cartier
Marble ice bucket, $145 by Soho Home
Leather billfold wallet, $295 by Mulberry
It’s Time to Buy New Swim Shorts
Nomadic volley trunk, $78 by Outerknown
We still have a few weeks to go before the first official day of summer, but most pools have just opened and that's enough for us to start embracing warm-weather style. Now's the time to get your swim trunks out of cold-weather hibernation and into warm-weather weekend rotation. Whether you're wearing swim shorts to the beach or the bar, there's no need to tread lightly when you look this cool and feel comfortable.
Schooner swim short, $59 by Satin
Solid swim trunk, $110 by Meriggi
↦ Want more? 20 of the best swim trunks in 2022
Partner
Strengthen Your Dad’s Essentials
With Father's Day around the corner, get dad a unique gift that he'll use everyday—not another tie or novelty mug. The Ridge Wallet is ultra slim, RFID-blocking and has been called “the closest to perfection wallets are ever going to get.” And the Ridge KeyCase takes the best design qualities of the wallet and applies them to your next most-used everyday items. Both products come in innovative materials, from titanium and raw aluminum to carbon fiber. Will your dad like them? It's a safe bet. Over 2 million customers have given the products 50,000 5-star reviews. Plus, every product comes with a lifetime warranty for when he loves it and 60 day free returns if he doesn't.
↦ Reader Discount: Get 15% off sitewide w/code DAD15
Morning Motto
Take care of yourself this weekend.
↦ Follow: @annaliehowling
That’s all for today...
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