Notations From the Grid (Special Weekly Edition): Out & About in our World

 

WHAT ARE ALL THESE SCENTS IN MY PRODUCTS, AND ARE THEY EVEN REAL THINGS?

BY ROB BRICKEN

More like ‘berga-what’ and ‘patch-who-li’, amiright??

It can be tough to decipher the scent descriptions on colognes, soaps, body washes and the rest, because most of the ingredients aren’t things we encounter on a daily basis. Luckily, we have a cheat sheet for that! Amber Remember how people found dinosaur DNA in Jurassic Park? It was stuck in amber, a.k.a. fossilized tree resin. Known for its woodsy pine scent, true amber is hard to find, but scientists have figured out ways to synthesize its aroma. Bergamot Ever had a cup of Earl Grey tea? You’ve drunk bergamot, a Mediterranean citrus fruit. It’s orange-sized but green or yellow, and is incredibly sour to eat, so don’t. But the oil pressed from its rind makes your tea tasty and you smell good. Cedarwood You know there are cedar trees, right? Well, cedarwood doesn’t actually come from them — it’s mainly made by distilling or pressing juniper and cypress trees. But it produces the authentic, slightly citrusy odor of genuine cedar. Patchouli The unmistakable scent of patchouli comes from the flower of the same name. It’s a member of the mint family, which gives patchouli that distinct spicy-sweet smell amidst all the muskiness. Some people even use it as a natural insect repellent!

Cedarwood doesn’t come from cedar trees, it’s made by distilling or pressing juniper and cypress trees.

Sandalwood Sandalwood makes up an entire class of trees found in India, Australia and Southeast Asia. The oil is released by steaming the heartwood (a.k.a. the inside part). It’s been used in religious ceremonies and as medicine throughout human history. Wintergreen While there are shrubs called wintergreens, the name was traditionally used to describe all plants that stayed green through winter — what we now call “evergreens.” Despite its minty scent, wintergreens are not part of the mint family, which is why the aroma is milder.

A Daily Outsider Special: #GlobalCitizenLive | Official 24-Hour Livestream

Today is #GlobalCitizenLive. It is our honor to feature the live stream on all our properties:

Notations On Our World (Weekly Edition)_: On Our World

We present the following courtesy to the team at the Visual Capitalist as our home state of California continues to grapple with drought, extreme heat, and fires that are threatening to devastate the Giant Sequoia's:

 

Notations From the Grid (Weekly Edition): On the Prowl w/the Team at the Visual Capitalist

 

Please Enjoy!!!

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Notations On Our World (Weekly Edition): On #COVID19

 

We present the following on the State of #COVID19 courtesy of the team at USAFACTS as we urge all to get vaccinated: 

Six new charts on COVID-19 this summer

The Delta variant has upended some summer plans and impacted back-to-school plans for millions of students, parents, and teachers. It's also altered the state of coronavirus deaths from just a month and a half ago. Here are new charts from USAFacts to make sense of the state of the pandemic at the end of summer 2021. The daily COVID-19 death rate in the US has been six deaths per 100,000 people since July 1. Seventeen states have death rates above the national average, with Arkansas topping the list at 21 deaths per 100,000 people daily. See coronavirus deaths by state from the start of Q3 through August 18 below.

The deadliest wave of the pandemic was in December and January, when weekly death rates peaked for all racial and ethnic groups except for the non-Hispanic Black population. In December, non-Hispanic American Indians and Alaska Natives had the highest weekly death rate: 13 deaths per 100,000.

Older Americans comprise most COVID-19 deaths, but it's a smaller share than earlier in the pandemic. In the first quarter of 2021, people 65 and older accounted for 79% of the 191,232 COVID-19 deaths. That fell to 67% of deaths in the second quarter. During the same period, the share of COVID-19 deaths among 45- to 64-year-olds increased from 18% to 28%. See the four other charts and more metrics on COVID-19 at USAFacts. Pandemic rental assistance isn't getting to people who need it  Congress sent $25 billion to state and local governments in emergency rental assistance, but less than 13% of the money had made it to renters by the end of June. As the Supreme Court strikes down the federal eviction moratorium, what is the state of emergency assistance for renters nationwide?  Large governments like New York City and Los Angeles County redirected funds to the state for distribution. Texas and Virginia spent more than a third of their assistance funds by June's end. New York state distributed less than 1% of assistance, the lowest in the nation.

Households receiving assistance almost doubled in June. Over 25% of those were in Texas, with nearly 70,000 households approved that month.   According to the Census Bureau's Household Pulse Survey, about 15% of renters were behind on rent at the end of July. Out of that group, 29% lost employment income in the previous four weeks. About a third of that 15% of renters are one month behind. Sixty-seven percent who can't make rent are two or more months behind. Learn more, including the demographics of Americans behind on rent, in this report. Background check laws, explained  Firearm background checks are designed to stop people who aren't legally allowed to purchase a gun from buying one. However, several states have enacted laws to fill what they see as gaps in the federal restrictions. USAFacts has a primer on these laws and gaps, including:

Gun buyers must submit to a background check via the National Instant Criminal Background Check System. The system has conducted more than 300 million checks since launching in 1998, leading to more than 3 million denials.   Federal law prohibits people convicted of felony stalking offenses from accessing guns, but people convicted of misdemeanor stalking offenses (e.g., stalking outside of a domestic relationship) can still buy firearms. This is sometimes called the "misdemeanor stalking gap." Several states have passed laws to address this. What two other firearm ownership gaps do state laws try to fill? Read about them in this explainer. One last fact

The information industry had the second-lowest quit rate at 1.4% and average earnings of $44.33 an hour in May. Financial activities reported the same quit rate and $40 hourly earnings. The government had the lowest quit rate, but average earnings are not available. For more on the great resignation, click here.

#OutsiderVibes (Special Edition): Emperor