The Daily Valet. - 8/24/20, Monday

✔️ Was This the Right Move?

Monday, August 24th Edition

Cory Ohlendorf, Editor in Chief of Valet.

Feels good to be back ...

Cory Ohlendorf , Editor ⋯ @coryohlendorf

Today’s Big Story

Convalescent Plasma Gets Emergency Authorization

The FDA authorization came after pressure from the Trump administration

The Food and Drug Administration announced Sunday that it had authorized an Emergency Use Authorization for convalescent plasma to treat the coronavirus, reports CBS News.

The announcement came after President Donald Trump publicly pressured the agency to speed the development of drugs and a vaccine. And will, no doubt, be a talking point at tonight's kick off of the Republican National Convention.

In a statement, the FDA said that plasma should not be the new standard of care for COVID-19. However, it could shorten or reduce the severity of the illness in hospitalized patients. “We’re encouraged by the early promising data that we’ve seen,” said commissioner Stephen Hahn.

The FDA had plans to issue an emergency authorization for plasma at the start of August, but the plan was delayed after some health officials raised concerns there wasn't enough data supporting the treatment, according to the New York Times.

And unlike a new drug, plasma cannot be manufactured in millions of doses; its availability is limited by blood donations. The President, on Sunday, urged everyone who has recovered from the virus to donate plasma, saying there is a nationwide campaign to collect it.

While it’s possible that convalescent plasma shows enough promise to warrant the issuance of an emergency declaration, it comes wrapped in questions and risks implying outsize political influence, regardless of what actual trial data eventually shows. “All of this leads to mixed messaging and uncertainty among the population. It’s just another example of the weirdness that’s happening,” Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious disease physician at UC San Francisco, told Wired.

↦ Meanwhile: Trump aides, meeting with lawmakers, reportedly said a vaccine would be approved before the election.

Justin Townes Earle Dies at 38

The Nashville native was known for his mix of old-timey roots music and modern folk-rock

Justin Townes Earle, the award-winning singer-songwriter and son of Steve Earle, has died too soon at 38. A rep confirmed the musician’s death to Rolling Stone, though a cause of death was not immediately revealed.

The Nashville fixture, who was named after his father's friend and beloved songwriter Townes Van Zandt, played in local bands the Distributors and the Swindlers. He released his first EP, titled Yuma, in 2007 and had several albums, including, Kids in the Street and May 2019's The Saint Of Lost Causes.

According to Pitchfork, he didn't mind being compared to his legendary father. “I really do appreciate it,” he said. “There are a lot of sons and daughters out there who want nothing to do with their parents. Get over that ... You think you'd be doing what you're doing with no influence from your mother or father?”

↦ FYI: The singer previously spoke candidly to NPR about his battle with drugs and alcohol, but remained sober in recent years.

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The Weather Is Getting Dangerously Wild

Fires are raging and twin hurricanes?

Three massive wildfires chewed through parched Northern California landscape Sunday. According to the Associated Press, firefighters raced to dig breaks ahead of a frightening weather system packing high winds and more of the lightning that sparked the huge blazes and scores of other fires around the state.

Lightning strikes and strong winds have made the situation even worse. On Friday, Cal Fire Assistant Deputy Director Daniel Berlant said that the fires had scorched more than 771,000 acres, which he said is "roughly the size of the state of Rhode Island."

Meanwhile, thousands are evacuating the Gulf Coast as dueling storms take aim. Tropical storm Marco became a hurricane over the Gulf of Mexico for most of Sunday but weakened back to a tropical storm as it closed in on the Louisiana coast during the night, while Tropical Storm Laura killed at least 11 people in the Dominican Republic and Haiti.

Marco will likely to make landfall later today in Louisiana, and then Laura is expected to reach hurricane status before it roars into the state Wednesday. National Weather Service Meteorologist Benjamin Schott said such a confluence of storms hasn't happened in the Gulf of Mexico in recorded history.

↦ Dig Deeper: See where all the wildfires are burning in California.

A Smart Solution for Public Urination

Sounds like a golden idea

The city of Amsterdam is going green in an attempt to combat an age-old problem—public urination. The local council has installed eight hemp-filled, sustainable urinals in the city's “wild peeing” hotspots, reports Dezeen.

Citizens who get the urge, receive themselves into the openings on the sides of the GreenPee planters, which have an internal tank filled with hemp fibers from the cannabis plant. The tank is emptied when full, and the mix of urine and hemp can be used for organic fertilizer for the city's parks and roof gardens.

According to CNN, the planters have many benefits, from protecting historical buildings from the corrosive effects of urine, to reducing water use compared with traditional toilets. The planters also effectively green the city, attracting bees and other insects.

↦ FYI: The company is hoping to expand to other cities and other countries, should these prove to be successful.

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