# Top 5 [ Oct 13, 2020 ]
*INTRO*
What’s up everybody! Welcome to another episode of the Top 5 @ 5 with your host Jonni Kuest. Today is [ Tuesday Oct 13, 2020 ]. Here’s what you missed while you were stuck waiting in a 10 hour line to get your early vote in. Merica:


1. Texas and California
	1. So check this out. I keep talking about the power of voting right. Well in two states, that power is being challenged. Obviously we know this year will have a much larger group of people voting by absentee ballot, and in Texas, Governor abbot is tryna make that more difficult. Of course, you can still drop your ballot in the mail, after you’ve followed all the instructions meticulously, but if you typically use an official drop box, or have already used one, well The Guvna said that’s not secure enough. He made a proclamation recently that says, only one drop-off box per county. ONE. Some counties in Texas are the size of other states. And they get one drop box, that some people would have to drive 30 miles to get to. There was originally an injunction granted by US District court Judge, but that was then overturned but the state AG’s appeal and so the proclamation was given a stay. All this while people are already voting in Texas, adding to more confusion. What if you already dropped off your ballot at what is now an unofficial ballot drop off? If you’re in Texas i’d suggest contacting your county election officials to confirm receipt of your ballot. Link in the show notes. But what about california? And their official ballot boxes. See the thing is, california has this law that allows for groups to gather and have ballot parties. Where everyone submits their ballots together. Really any third party can volunteer to help collect ballots. This has been a long time practice in Cali and was codified into law in 2016 under Governor Jerry brown. But what republicans are tryna do here, is undermine the spirit of this law. They’ve decided to just post boxes outside bars, gun stores, churches and other public areas with signs reading, Official ballot boxes. Even though these were not official, for a number of reasons. One, you have to designate who will turn in your ballot, and with these boxes, they advertise themselves as just a drop-off point. The boxes need to be secured, not sitting on the doorstep of Our lady of perpetual sorrow. Quote “The problem here is with voters unknowingly delivering their ballots to an unofficial drop box mislabeled and misrepresented as an official drop box, they do not know who it is they’re surrendering their ballot to” The impression [voters] have with the words ‘official drop box’ is that they’re surrendering it to a county official. And that’s not the case.” End quote. Maybe the early voting in person with proper social distancing is the best case scenario. Early voting started in Georgia today and there were really 10 hour lines, with most people saying, they no longer trust the mail in process. Probably becuase of a certain national leader that keeps undermining the process. 
2. I thought Virginia was for Lovers?
	1. Remember that story about a group of crazy militia dudes that wanted to overthrow the Michigan state governorship and put Governor Whitmer on trial for treason, I’m guessing because she had some strict lockdown orders early on in the year? Turns out, she wasnt the only target. Yea, these real smarty pants also spoke about taking out Virginia Governor Ralph Northam, for the same reasons. The lockdowns. Mind you, both of these governors just happen to be democrats. We found this little tidbit out during a preliminary hearing via FBI agent testimony.  He went on to say that quote the suspects at one point discussed disguising someone as a delivery person and going to Whitmer's door carrying a gun. Encrypted text messages from a group chat were also displayed in court and showed that one of the suspects, Daniel Harris texted: "Just mug the pizza guy and take his shirt," and "just take a pistol and like 3 rounds." end quote. What’s also funny is another way they got caught. These brilliant minds would have meetups, in a basement, and thought it was a smart idea to take everyone’s cell phone, to prevent monitoring. The undercover was wearing a wire though and captured the whole thing. They didnt bother to check. They would make improvised explosives that failed, and would post the videos to facebook. I mean they gave the new guy ALL the info, and told him to take notes. Brilliant minds at work here. Remember. There’s so many more like this. And they also vote. In every election, not just this one. Take your vote seriously. 
3. CRoVID-19
	1. So the top story in the world right now, despite what my next story is about, concerns one of the biggest athletes on the planet. MR cristiano ronaldo. Why? This fool got the vid. Thats right. He’s off playing in the nations league representing portugal as teams start international breaks. Even though most European clubs were protesting this, for this exact same reason. Especially for teams playing qualifiers for world cup 2022 in south America. He’s not the first athlete to catch the vid, nor the first major soccer star to catch it. Shoot Neymar caught it this past summer and Pogba caught it in August. Liverpool, the reigning champion of England’s Premier League, has had several players test positive in recent weeks. I mean most sports have this problem, because, well they really shouldn’t galavanting all over the continent, day in and day out, fraternizing with god knows who on multiple teams and supporting roles. I mean, we appreciate the sacrifice in the name of our entertainment, but damn would I be upset if one of them gets seriously injured from the results of this. The NBA bubble did it correctly, Not a single infection, because the bubble worked. No traveling. No visitors. Just enjoy your time w Mickey and play the damn game so you can all be safe. Ahh well. At least CR is currently not showing any symptoms. Hey, maybe he got the Trump Cure cocktail
4. iPhone Day
	1. Alright lets get into this Apple iPhone Event. Cuz there were some good stuff. If you’ve been waiting for an upgrade, or are like me and get the new one every year with the upgrade program, then you’re in for a treat. First up, They announced the HomePod Mini. Now they spent a lot of time talking about this device, and it’s role in the overall Smart Home. heck they seemed to have built an entire studio set of a house just for this presentation. But the HomePod mini, is just what it says it is. A smaller version of the HomePod, with not quite as many speakers or microphones, but still most of the same capabilities. The only difference is the HomePod can be set as a default speaker to AppleTV, and the HomePod has the spatial awareness feature. The HomePod mini can do all the other things, plus it’s only $99. I feel I hear the sounds of Amazon Echo’s and Google Homes getting evicted all over the place. They also introduced something called Intercom, so you can talk through siri to speakers in the house, even from a CarPlay enabled car. Ok that’s dope and all but what we really came for, is the iPhone. And there really are 4 new ones this year. Let’s start with, the iPhone 12. Major Feature? 5G. Both of them. The good and the regular one. And it’ll switch automatically to using the data you need for the service you’re requesting. So if you’re watching an hd movie, it’ll use 5G, but if you’re just reading a news article, it’ll probably use LTE and save battery. They made the screen larger, but kept the body the same. They also use an OLED screen now, the same one from the Pro series last year. They come in 5 aluminum colors, deep blue, red, white, black and mint green. They have a new glass called Ceramic Shield that they say has 4x better protection against drops. An improved dual camera system, with Night Mode capabilities on all 3 cameras, including the selfie camera, and of course, the best video phone on the planet gets even better with HDR and Dolby Vision video recording support. Theres a new wireless charging capability with MagSafe. A magnetically attached wireless adapter that ensures you get the right charge without plugging in, AND you get a faster 15W charge, vs the 7.5 with regular Qi chargers. Plus a bunch of other MagSafe accessories you can attach like a wallet thingy. Then they introduced something new…something no one seems to be doing lately, and thats, a smaller version of that same phone. no differences, just smaller. the iPhone 12 mini. It’s about the same size as the iPhone 8, but with a bigger screen and face ID. the mini is 700, the regular 12 is 800. These are easily going to be the most popular models. But then there’s also the iPhone 12 Pro and Pro Max. And just like before, the Pro models focus mostly on photographers. You get the 3rd telephoto lens. Plus a new LiDAR sensor, for better Augemented reality experiences. Even Better low light photos with autofocus in lowlight, and night mode portrait mode. The pro model uses a stainless steel body, and is available in silver, gold, graphite and a new pacific blue. Preorder for the 12 and 12 Pro only start this friday at 5am Pacific. Pre-Orders for the Pro Max and 12 mini start on November 6th.  They start at 999 and 1099. I’m thinking I might go 12 Blue, or 12 Pro blue. I dont think I  wanna lose that third telephoto camera. And that matte black looks sick as hell toooooo, 
5. Tell that puppy you wuv them
	1. So real quick, this ones for my doggy lovers out there. I dont usually report on studies, especially ones that only lasted 7 days and aren’t peer reviewed, but this one was too cute. I mean, if you’re a dog lover, then you know the joyous feeling of that big baby coming over and showering you with love either by jumping in your lap, licking your face or just cuddling hard on the sofa, but apparently, their heartbeat also soars when you tell them the 3 magic words, dont do that, I mean, I love you. Quote After equipping a quartet of test pups with heart rate monitors, the dogs were guided through a series of scenarios over the course of seven days to see how they’d react to a variety of stimuli.The tracking data revealed the four dogs averaged a resting heart rate of 67 beats per minute. When owners said, “I love you” to their pets, the doggos’ heart rates shot to 98 beats per minute—a 46.2% increase. end quote. so there you have it. unsibstantieated yet empirical proof that doggies love you right back every time you show em and tell em. And toss them a treat too cuz hey. they’re beautiful, and they deserve it. 


*OUTRO*
Well my beautiful people, those are my Top 5 news stories of the day.  *BANTER*. Thanks once again to my regular listeners that are always telling their friends where to get their daily news updates, top5at5.com. If you’re new here, welcome, and why not consider subscribing and adding me to your list of podcasts. If you don’t really listen to podcasts, welcome to the life. And as always, remember to stay focused, proud, and dedicated. I got you with the news.