The Daily Valet. - 8/10/21, Tuesday

✔️ Code Red

Tuesday, August 10th Edition

Cory Ohlendorf, Editor in Chief of Valet.

Is it hot in here, or is it just me?

Cory Ohlendorf, Editor ⋯ @coryohlendorf

Today’s Big Story

‘Code Red’

“There’s no going back” ... and there’s no room for wishful thinking, top climate scientists say

A sobering (if not entirely shocking) landmark report released Monday by the United Nations concluded that it is “unequivocal” that humans have warmed the skies, waters and lands, and that “widespread and rapid changes” have already occurred in every inhabited region across the globe.

The authors—nearly 200 leading climate scientists—hope the report’s findings will be front and center when world leaders meet for a major climate conference in November. The UN chief called the report “a code red for humanity.”

According to Vox, this is the first report of its kind in eight years, and a lot has changed. Scientists have backed away from many of the best-case scenarios. And they’re investigating culprits of climate change that warm the planet even more than carbon dioxide.

The effects of that warming are obvious and deadly around the world. Heat waves, droughts and floods are killing people and disrupting lives around the world this summer in rapid succession. Wildfires are burning with unprecedented frequency and intensity, including in places that used to rarely burn. Smoke and smog are choking people in cities and towns from Asia to the Arctic. Ocean heat waves are threatening entire ecosystems and supercharging hurricanes and typhoons.

The UN’s warnings are clearer and more dire—but there is an important thread of hope running through this report. Scientists are more certain about what will work. This, reports the BBC, allows them to make far more accurate predictions and recommendations to the general public.

Echoing the scientists’ findings, UN Secretary General António Guterres said: “If we combine forces now, we can avert climate catastrophe. But, as today’s report makes clear, there is no time for delay and no room for excuses.”

↦ FYI: Nearly half of Americans say climate change has become a bigger threat and influences where they live, according to a recent National Geographic poll.

Military Will Require Vaccines

Pentagon to seek approval to make them mandatory

Members of the U.S. military will be required to get the COVID-19 vaccine beginning next month under a plan laid out by the Pentagon Monday and endorsed by President Joe Biden.

According to Reuters, the Biden administration deferred a coronavirus vaccine mandate for active duty troops to next month, with the expectation that the Food and Drug Administration will give full approval to the Pfizer vaccine by then.

The decision reflects similar moves by governments and companies around the world—as we continue struggling with the highly contagious Delta variant. The concerns are especially acute in the military, where service members live and work closely together in barracks and on ships, increasing the risks of rapid spreading.

Biden said the country is still on a wartime footing and “being vaccinated will enable our service members to stay healthy, to better protect their families, and to ensure that our force is ready to operate anywhere in the world.”

↦ Meanwhile: More than 95% of U.S. counties are reporting “substantial” or “high” rates of community transmission of COVID-19, according to federal data.

MLB in Talks With Barstool Sports

They could ‘create a new type of broadcast with a focus on in-game gambling’

In a story that is certainly gaining a lot of reaction on social media, Major League Baseball is in talks with Barstool Sports to join forces and feature MLB games on the Barstool platform.

With a focus on national games, “MLB and Barstool potentially could team up to create a new type of broadcast with a focus on in-game gambling,” according to the New York Post, who first reported the news.

The move, if it happens, would absolutely get plenty of attention. Barstool Sports is the outlet that everyone either loves or can't stand. There isn't a lot of in-between whatsoever.

According to InsideHook, a partnership with Barstool would make a lot of sense for MLB, as it would instantly get baseball in front of a younger audience as well as put the game on a viewing platform other than television, an area where baseball is struggling to draw viewers, again.

Are There Too Many Milks?

Oat, potato and nuts of all kinds ...

Once upon a time, in the plant-based milk section of your local grocery store, soy was the only viable alternative to moo juice. But these days? Take your pick.

Your options now include (but are not limited to) milks made from rice, coconut, hemp, flax seeds, potatoes, peas, mushrooms and all manner of nuts. Are you in the mood for milk, malk or mylk?

Big Alternative Milk will stop at nothing to develop a mildly opaque, slightly chalky new drink that you can't help but try and rank among your experiences of alt-milks past. Or is that just me?

Gawker has had enough. They ask why are we so committed to milk—whether animal- or plant-based—in the first place? “Expanding the universe of milk alternatives is not where human innovation should be focused. If anything, it might be time to wean off the stuff altogether.”

↦ FYI: Milk alternatives accounted for 35% of the booming plant-based food market, currently ringing in as a $7 billion industry.

In Other News

↦ Warner Bros., AMC Strike 45-Day Exclusive Theatrical Window Deal for 2022

↦ Why Can’t Anti-Vax Athletes Just Tell the Truth?

↦ Netflix Is Working on a Bunch of New Reality Shows, and You’re Invited

Other Things We’re Talking About Today

Everlane’s upgraded T-shirt

Candy-colored shades

This perfectly Japanese solution

Get Ripped With Just a Ball

And bonus: work out your frustrations, too

There's nothing quite like slamming a medicine ball into the ground. If you haven't yet experienced it, I suggest you remedy that immediately.

It's an easy and effective way to build muscle, rev your metabolism and increase your overall strength. Oh, and because it makes you feel like a badass, it's also a pretty good stress-reliever too.

And right now, couldn't we all use a workout that doesn't require a lot of equipment and squashes our anxiety?

We spoke to a few trainers about these weighted sand-filled balls—called everything from medballs to slam balls—are one of the most versatile tools in the gym. Turns out, this is one of those training tools that the more you use it, the more ways you find to work it into your routine.

↦ Read: Three moves to master and a few trainer-recommended balls to buy.

The New Khaki Canon

There’s really no denying it—khaki pants are essential. The classic style has been the go-to uniform of professionals for decades. And they've been on the mind more as summer begins to wind down. In the past, “khakis” commonly manifested in the form of twill chinos, but the style has slowly been branching out. Taking cues from recent formal dressing and workwear trends alike, the pants have adopted more contemporary fabrics, cuts and hues to adapt to the new rules of dressing. Browse our selections for the best updated khakis below.