🌞 Up In Smoke – April 20 2021

In Case You Missed It

credit: NASA

🚁 NASA pulled off another remarkable first yesterday by launching a helicopter on Mars. The Ingenuity chopper successfully completed a test liftoff and landing. It has to survive -130 degree temps at night and an atmosphere of 1% the density of Earth. Bravo NASA! 

🔥 The city of Dallas will stop arresting people for small amounts of marijuana intended for personal use. 

💪🏼 This video is going viral where two kids try to rob a guy at gunpoint and the would-be victim body slams one attacker and turns the gun on him before they both run away. 

🇫🇷 Facebook deleted the page for the Bitche, France because they thought it was a swear word. The page was reinstated with an apology.  

🏛 The Supreme Court will not hear the case challenging the Presidential election in Pennsylvania. It was a unanimous decision by the Justices. 

🇺🇸 Former Vice President Walter Mondale died on Monday at the age of 93. 

👨‍⚖️ Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed an anti-riot bill that increases punishments for violent protests ahead of the verdict in the George Floyd case. Illinois Governor JB Pritzker called in the National Guard in anticipation of the trial verdict.

Coronavirus Update: 🗣 Total confirmed cases as of 1 p.m. ET on Monday: 31,674,388 — Total deaths: 567,279 — Total tests: 417,360,348

• Due to a shortage of doctors, Japan is considering allowing dentists to administer the Covid vaccine. 
• Oregon officials are considering making mask mandates permanent.
• The U.S. added “Do Not Travel” advisories for 80% of countries worldwide due to the pandemic. There were already 34 countries under this warning level. This move adds 130 more. 
• Israel ended its mandatory outdoor mask requirements. 
• One study shows a lower Covid infection rate in women who take vitamins. 
• Medical experts are warning about “re-entry anxiety.” This is the anxiety that some feel about going back out into the world after getting used to being at home. 

Today's Live Show

BITCOIN TO $100,000 SOON? APPLE'S BIG EVENT PREVIEW

Join us on today's live morning show as I'll be looking at Bitcoin's price targets and why it'll likely hit $100,000 by the end of the year. Apple holds their first big event of the year and we'll be looking at what they could announce. Plus President Biden talks stimulus with members of Congress. Be sure to click here and RSVP to hang out in the chat with our audience. I'll see you at 9 AM Eastern live. 

The Lead: Cannabis Gets A Bank Account

credit: ap

The U.S. House of Representatives passed a law that allows cannabis companies to use banks. 

Banks have been largely unwilling to do business with cannabis companies out of concern for the legality of these green operations. With this bill, the government is assuring the banks that the businesses are legitimate and eligible for federal protection under the FDIC.

Cannabis companies have been forced to work around these laws, many resorting to keeping cash on hand at heavily-armed premises. The bill now goes to the Senate where it is expected to pass. 

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Mega Maid

credit: tumblr

Have you ever seen the movie “Spaceballs” where a giant vacuum cleaner sucks the air out of a planet? We are dangerously close to needing something like that for our carbon emergency here on Earth. 

California is working on giant carbon vacuums that would suck emissions from the atmosphere, convert it to liquid form, and store it underground. The carbon could also be diverted to oil refineries or power plants. 

This is a huge project and the state is starting from scratch. It would require pipelines, giant reservoirs, plus the cost of developing and building the vacuums themselves. Similar technology is already in use in Europe through a company called Climeworks. Technology investors are chomping at the bit to fund a company like this in the U.S. 

The storing-the-carbon-away-underground bit has me a bit uneasy. Anyone else? 

News By The Numbers

credit: hitoki

$499. That is how much a Hitoki Trident costs. It is a laser bong that uses the lasers to combust whatever it is you’re smoking. 

44%. That is how many people say that their weekly grocery store trip is the highlight of their week since the pandemic began. Further, 32% said that doing laundry was their weekly excitement and 35% said that filling up their gas tank was their favorite excursion. How depressing is that?

2. That is how many consecutive days the San Francisco Giants pitched a shutout after Monday’s win against the Phillies. One writer of this newsletter is a Giant’s fan and the other is a Phillies fan thus, this is news.

$10,000. That is how much it will cost to repair 200 gravestones that were damaged when an amateur genealogist tried to clean them. 

$16,031. That is how much a Connecticut man owes in taxes after raising $41,000 online to help local families in need during the pandemic. You’ve got to set up a charity for these things, folks! 

Up On Crippled Creek

credit: ap

Water reservoirs in the West are dangerously low to the point that the federal government could soon declare an official shortage and mandate supply cuts to farm-heavy states that need water the most. 

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation released a 2-year projection on water supply and projects that Lake Mead will fall below 1,075 feet for the first time ever by June. Of. This. Year! This is no longer a situation where dire forecasts are in the distant future. It’s now. 

At this level, it will trigger a formal declaration of drought, per the agreement between Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming. If the Level 1 shortage is declared, water supply cuts will be implemented starting January 2022. 

The shortage is attributed to the climate emergency, resulting in less snowpack melting into the river and hotter climates causing thirstier soil and evaporation. 

It Says Here The President Is Gonna Mess With My Smokes

credit: giphy

The Biden administration is considering a rule to require tobacco companies to lower the nicotine level in cigarettes as well as to ban menthol in cigarettes. 

The Food and Drug Administration has until April 29 to respond to a petition to ban menthol. Their response will indicate whether they want to take up the fight against nicotine and menthol, which was proposed in 2017 under the Trump administration but never acted upon. 

Menthol makes cigarettes more palatable and slightly less stinky. Nicotine is an additive that causes addiction. The combination of the two makes it easier for people to kill themselves with smoking-related diseases. The White House has not confirmed that they will get in this fight so the move is pure speculation at this point.

Tobacco stocks took a dive after this news broke on Monday. 

Summer School

credit: giphy

Summer school is not just for goofballs and flunkies. It could help to catch up all the lost time children missed during school closures. 

Schools are pushing for summer school enrollment, using the $122 billion in stimulus money that was approved in President Biden’s covid relief bill in March. One percent of those funds were set aside for summer programs and many districts are allowing students to enroll without cost. In New York City, officials have set aside $120 million to expand summer school to accommodate approximately 200,000 students. 

“In this pandemic, kids have lost out on more than just reading and math,” Louisiana State Superintendent Cade Brumley told the Wall Street Journal. “They’ve lost out in art and music and P.E. and social experiences and field trips.”

Like most parents, we see the merit in this idea. We want them to have relaxing summers and be rejuvenated for the fall but we also want an excuse to get them off of their @#$^ing screens! Amiright!?

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