The Daily Valet. - 9/2/20, Wednesday

✔️ Let's Fly

September 02, 2020

Wednesday, September 2nd Edition

Cory Ohlendorf, Editor in Chief of Valet.

Would you try to fly a jetpack?

Cory Ohlendorf , Editor ⋯ @coryohlendorf

Today's edition is presented by

Today’s Big Story

Who’s Flying Around in a Jetpack ?

Pilots report a mysterious person flying near planes at 3,000 feet

Yeah ... you read that right. Apparently a man on a jetpack was spotted flying around Los Angeles International airport. ABC7 reported on the story, in which not one, but two different pilots from two different airlines saw the mystery man buzzing around.

The air-traffic controller responded, “Only in L.A.”

While it seems unwise for a human to go airborne right alongside some airplanes, it’s not impossible. There's even a local company, JetPack Aviation, that rents jetpacks—one that's capable of reaching 15,000 feet. (Note to self: rent jetpack ASAP.)

Mashable reached out to JetPack Aviation's CEO David Mayman, but he said it wasn’t them or any of their jetpacks. In fact, he has doubts that it was a jetpack at all.

It could’ve been a drone-type machine. Or perhaps a wing suit, which according to Vice, can fly at an altitude of 6,000 feet, and achieving speeds as high as 248 miles per hour. Or maybe it was Elon Musk. SpaceX is based just South of LAX. And while it doesn’t have a jetpack (that we know of), who’d really be surprised if Musk just announced one out of the blue?

Either way, this is the kind of distraction we need right now and is the the kind of conspiracy theory I’m interested in at the moment.

↦ FYI: Currently, jetpacks can be flown as ultralight aircraft under FAA guidelines.

U.S. Won’t Join Global COVID Vaccine Effort

Because it's being lead by the World Health Organization

The Trump administration said Tuesday that it wouldn't work with an international cooperative effort to develop and distribute a COVID-19 vaccine because it didn't want to be constrained by groups like the World Health Organization, reports ABC News.

The WHO announced last week that it plans to work with vaccine manufacturers to provide countries worldwide equitable access to safe and effective vaccines, once they are licensed and approved, and that 172 countries are engaged in discussions to potentially participate.

"The United States will continue to engage our international partners to ensure we defeat this virus, but we will not be constrained by multilateral organizations influenced by the corrupt World Health Organization and China," Judd Deere, a White House spokesman told the Washington Post.

So far, a handful of the dozens of experimental COVID-19 vaccines in human testing have reached the last and biggest hurdle—looking for the needed proof that they really work.

↦ FYI: Apple and Google will provide coronavirus exposure notifications on phones without needing a separate app.

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USPS's Internal Watchdog Raises Election Concerns

The Postal Service has a number of hurdles to overcome

An audit of the US Postal Service by its watchdog agency flagged several serious concerns ahead of the November election, reports CNN.

Among the concerns? Thousands of unprocessed ballots found in mail-processing facilities and millions of ballots and other political mail not delivered on time.

According to the New York Times, the findings underscore deep concerns about whether the agency will be able to process what is expected to be a significant increase in mail-in votes for the presidential election. With at least three-quarters of American voters eligible to receive a ballot in the mail in 2020—the most in history—about 80 million mail ballots are expected to flood election offices this fall.

The watchdog recommended a number of steps to improve processes, reports NPR, including working more closely with state and election officials and to "continue educating election officials on identified best practices to increase nationwide election and political mail readiness."

A ‘Fresh Prince’ Reunion Special?

The cast will reunite for a 30th anniversary special on HBO Max

Now, this is a story all about how ... Will Smith and other cast members from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air will reunite this fall for a special to mark the 30th anniversary of the beloved series.

The unscripted special is set to tape on September 10th, the date the show first premiered in 1990, and will air on HBO Max around Thanksgiving, according to Variety.

Most of the legendary Banks family will come together for the special. Smith's on-screen cousins, Alfonso Ribeiro (Carlton Banks), Tatyana Ali (Ashley Banks) and Karyn Parsons (Hilary Banks) have all signed on.

Meanwhile, that fan-created Fresh Prince of Bel-Air reboot trailer that re-imagined the popular ’90s sitcom as a drama? It caught Smith’s attention—and now he and the super-fan who created the trailer have teamed up to bring the show to life.

↦ FYI: The show ran for six seasons and totaled 148 episodes.

In Other News

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