The Daily Valet. - 9/1/22, Thursday

✔️ That Escalated Quickly

Thursday, September 1st Edition

Cory Ohlendorf, Editor in Chief of Valet.

I love ordering groceries online, but do you all get bizarre swaps as I do?

Cory Ohlendorf , Editor ⋯ @coryohlendorf

Today’s edition is presented by

Today’s Big Story

Trump Fires Back

But there may be new legal trouble as obstruction becomes a major focus in the documents probe

The investigation into top-secret government files uncovered at Mar-a-Lago is zeroing in on the question of whether former President Donald Trump’s team criminally obstructed the probe. Newly public details from the Justice Department suggest “enormous legal peril for two of Donald Trump’s attorneys—and considerable uncertainty for Trump himself,” intelligence and legal experts said.

At this point, there’s no way to predict whether the Justice Department will ultimately pursue charges against the former president or his associates. And according to Bloomberg, federal prosecutors will likely wait until after the November election to announce any charges—if they determine anyone broke the law. “Prosecutors are barred from taking investigative steps or filing charges for the purpose of affecting an election or helping a candidate or party, traditionally 60 days before an election.”

The unprecedented prospect of bringing charges against a former American president is creating intense scrutiny of the Justice Department. And, don’t forget, there’s still the separate DOJ probe focused on Trump’s effort to overturn the 2020 election, after losing to Joe Biden.

One Wednesday evening, Trump issued a defiant response, accusing the government of twisting the framework of his request for a “special master” to review the evidenc e the FBI seized from his home, after the DOJ cited “national security interests” to the court as it outlined its opposition to such an appointment.

Trump’s attorneys downplayed concerns about the classified material saying that there was no “cause for alarm.” And, they added, that without a special master, prosecutors will “impugn, leak and publicize” details of its investigation. (Trump is claiming the seized documents are protected by attorney-client and executive privileges.)

Axios points out that it’s worth noting that Trump’s legal team did not address the DOJ’s submission that it has “evidence that government records were likely concealed and removed from the Storage Room and that efforts were likely taken to obstruct the government’s investigation.” Now, a federal judge will decide this afternoon whether to appoint a special master in the case. She has previously said she is inclined to do so.

↦ FYI: Trump has hired a former Florida solicitor general to represent him. Chris Kise has a tough reputation and a winning record in the U.S. Supreme Court.

U.S. Life Expectancy Falls ... Again

The decline is being called a historic setback

After a historic drop in 2020, life expectancy in the United States took another significant hit in 2021. According to provisional data published Wednesday by the CDC, life expectancy dropped by nearly a year between 2020 and 2021 [PDF]. And by more than two and a half years overall since the start of the pandemic.

Life expectancy at birth fell to 76.1 years, the lowest it has been in America since 1996, and the biggest two-year decline in a century, reports NPR.

The death rate from COVID was higher in 2021 than it was in 2020, so it wasn't particularly surprising that life expectancy would fall again, Bob Anderson, chief mortality statistician for the CDC, told CNN. But while other wealthy countries were also hard hit in the first year of the pandemic, most had begun to recover by last year. None of them experienced a continuing fall in life expectancy like the U.S. did.

According to data from the National Center for Health Statistics, Native American and Alaska Native populations saw the largest decline in life expectancy, from 67.1 in 2020 to 65.2 in 2021. (This mirrors what the general life expectancy was for people in the U.S. in 1944.) And the report noted that last year, the shortening of life span was more pronounced among white Americans than among Black Americans, who saw greater reductions in the first year of the pandemic.

↦ Dig Deeper: These parts of the U.S. are where Americans live longest and shortest.

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We’re Hooked on Online Groceries

Shoppers are willing to pay for the convenience, even amid high inflation

I've been buying groceries online for so long now that when I'm in an actual supermarket, I get embarrassingly confused. I just want a search bar that I can type in “sesame oil”, because I have no idea where to find things, so I wander the aisles and end up with way too many unhealthy snacks or cereals from my childhood.

And I'm not alone. Online grocery shopping looks like it will be one of the few pandemic behaviors that really does stick. Even as Americans list their Peloton bikes on Craigslist and cancel their Netflix accounts, they refuse to give up the convenience of online grocery shopping.

According to the New Consumer, Thrive Market, the Whole Foods of e-commerce, now has more than 1.2 million members. Great Jones, makers of influencer-favorite cookware, recently launched Pantry Pals, offering up niche, independent and decidedly cool ingredients.

It's not just the higher end of the market that is bucking expectations, reports Bloomberg. Standard supermarkets (via Instacart and their own delivery services) have seen a surge and discount grocers like Misfits Market have also generated significant growth. Of course, despite this latest uptick, in-person shopping remains the dominant way most Americans get their groceries. A recent Gallup poll found that a whopping 97% of U.S. adults say they grocery shop in a store at least once a month.

↦ Save: Here are seven ways your online grocery shopping can be more cost efficient.

Is a Bendable Screen the Future?

New tech from several brands suggests that flexible screens are having their moment

Even if you're not a gamer, you've likely seen how popular curved displays are getting. But they're not just for video games, I'm told. The biggest reason curved displays are popular is that they fill up more of your peripheral vision, which allows you to focus (on your work, your video editing, etc.) instead of being distracted by what's happening around you.

And, it seems, they're going to become much more common. In fact, LG just made a clever innovation, introducing a 42-inch OLED display that works in both a flat and curved position. It automatically curls toward you with the press of a button. (A similar bendable monitor was just introduced by Corsair, but it appears to require a manual bend.) There's even an Asus Zenbook laptop with a bendable 17.3-inch display on its way.

I'm not a gamer, but I could definitely get into the immersive experience of a curved display. It'd bring a whole new dimension to the cooking shows and K-pop dance videos I watch repeatedly on YouTube. According to InsideHook, the only downside to all this innovation is the price. “Much like the beginning of 4K (and 8K), expect prices in the several thousands of dollars range until the technology is adopted by more tech brands and its popularity increases.”

You know what could really help this tech go from niche to mainstream? If Apple takes interest. And based on news from earlier this year, a bendable screen or two seems like part of the brand's roadmap.

↦ Throwback: Digg revisits the launch days of the most popular video game consoles from the last few decades.

In Other News

↦ The United Nations Says Crimes Against Humanity May Have Happened in China’s Xinjiang

↦ Serena Williams Works Magic Again at U.S. Open, Advances to Third Round

↦ Airbnb’s List of Most Booked Cities This Fall is Really Weird

Other Things We’re Talking About Today

Restaurant bathrooms

Ranked choice voting

Doggy Parton

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