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790 lines
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<meta content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0, user-scalable=yes" name="viewport"/>
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<title>29 April, 2021</title>
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<title>Daily-Dose</title><meta content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" name="viewport"/><link href="styles/simple.css" rel="stylesheet"/><link href="../styles/simple.css" rel="stylesheet"/><style>*{overflow-x:hidden;}</style><link href="https://unpkg.com/aos@2.3.1/dist/aos.css" rel="stylesheet"/><script src="https://unpkg.com/aos@2.3.1/dist/aos.js"></script></head>
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<body>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-down" id="daily-dose">Daily-Dose</h1>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-right" data-aos-anchor-placement="top-bottom" id="contents">Contents</h1>
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<ul>
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<li><a href="#from-new-yorker">From New Yorker</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-vox">From Vox</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-the-hindu-sports">From The Hindu: Sports</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-the-hindu-national-news">From The Hindu: National News</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-bbc-europe">From BBC: Europe</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-ars-technica">From Ars Technica</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-jokes-subreddit">From Jokes Subreddit</a></li>
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</ul>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-new-yorker">From New Yorker</h1>
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<ul>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Cuba After the Castros</strong> - Sixty years after the Bay of Pigs, the Castro brothers are gone from the main stage, and Cuba is a threadbare place facing an uncertain future. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/cuba-after-the-castros">link</a></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Bridging the Divide Between the Police and the Policed</strong> - In New York, the Mayor and police leadership have repeatedly voiced commitments to “create a bond” between cops and communities of color. The problem, according to high-level officials, is that the city chose the wrong people for the right job. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-local-correspondents/bridging-the-divide-between-the-police-and-the-policed">link</a></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Secret Footage of the N.R.A. Chief’s Botched Elephant Hunt</strong> - Wayne LaPierre has cultivated his image as an exemplar of American gun culture, but video of his clumsy marksmanship—and details regarding his Rodeo Drive shopping trips—tells another story. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/the-secret-footage-of-nra-chief-wayne-lapierres-botched-elephant-hunt">link</a></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Renewable Energy Is Suddenly Startlingly Cheap</strong> - Now the biggest barrier to change is the will of our politicians to take serious climate action. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/annals-of-a-warming-planet/renewable-energy-is-suddenly-startlingly-cheap">link</a></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>India’s Uncounted COVID-19 Deaths</strong> - Rukmini S, a data journalist in Chennai, speaks about the coronavirus cases and death toll in India, and why unofficial statistics suggest that the true numbers are likely far greater than reported. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/indias-uncounted-covid-19-deaths">link</a></p></li>
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</ul>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-vox">From Vox</h1>
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<ul>
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<li><strong>The sleazy thrills of Temptation Island</strong> -
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<figure>
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<img alt="A group of contestants on “Temptation Island” wear skimpy costumes for a party and toast each other with drinks." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/c_kwHektYbaxdBONYx8zoI0dhDo=/118x0:869x563/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/69204224/NUP_193283_0002.0.jpg"/>
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<figcaption>
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USA Network
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</figcaption>
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</figure>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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The reality series is an appalling, appealing blend of barely ethical chaos, psychological warfare, and irresistible TV.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="DgtNbw">
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The premise of <em>Temptation Island, </em>a reality show that airs on USA Network, is simple enough: Troubled couples are flown to Hawaii, separated, and surrounded by hot singles to test their commitment to their relationships. Frankly, it’s a foolish endeavor.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="IZhSgI">
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If the contending pairs were meant to stay together, they likely would not go on the show at all. There’s no prize money at stake, just the opportunity to cheat while on a free vacation, the possibility of social media fame, and a chance to prove a convoluted point to their partners and to themselves. It’s a dizzying routine of mental gymnastics, and while the contestants often seem clout-crazed and possess the enviable trait of pure confidence, it is their self-assuredness that usually leads to their eventual downfall.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Rjvffy">
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Like so many reality shows, <em>Temptation Island</em> reframes emotional volatility as entertainment. It promises a train wreck that viewers can’t look away from, and it delivers in every episode. The result is a bizarre TV series that operates under the guise of “the process” — the process being the implication that the mess it creates could possibly be a therapeutic one.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="e1KMSl">
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Alcohol and partying are the crux of the show. Almost every night, participants drink and devolve into scandal after scandal. It is during the party scenes, of course, that most of the tempting and cheating occurs, between slurred words and sultry pool party madness. The atmosphere frequently teeters into spring break territory — nothing matters but feeling good, and decisions are fueled by hours in the hot sun, booze, and an array of sweaty, Instagram-perfect bodies. An intentional blurring of boundaries works to erase any feelings of possible consequences. It’s a fantasy, for both the participants and the viewers to indulge in.
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</p>
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<div class="c-float-right">
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<aside id="6RPDot">
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<q>“I feel so bad for these people, but I can’t stop watching”</q>
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</aside>
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</div>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="RTVfzM">
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Then come the bonfire scenes — <em>Temptation Island</em>’s signature “event” — at the end of each episode, à la <em>Survivor</em>’s tribal council or <em>The Bachelor</em>’s rose ceremony. They create for the camera an intimate portrait of people in true distress, as contestants watch out-of-context clips of their partner’s personal conduct on the island. Located most recently at the Andaz Maui at Wailea Resort, the entire set is a panopticon of chaos and confusion. Contestants know that their partners will see footage of what they’ve been up to, but they have no idea what exactly will be shown.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="rwDeGa">
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The bonfires are what makes bad behavior on <em>Temptation Island</em> that much more egregious. Lots of participants simply want an excuse to cheat, and they know they might be seen doing so. While many cast members enter the “journey” with a strong belief in their ability to outsmart the show (and, in some cases, their significant others), they severely underestimate the psychological element of the situation. Isolation, inadequate mental health resources, and a seemingly endless amount of alcohol make for a series that fails the cast members who actually want to fix their love lives, and rewards those who couldn’t care less about their relationships or their significant others. All in all, it’s hypnotizing to the viewer. One fan summed it up clearly to me: “I feel so bad for these people, but I can’t stop watching.”
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ecTWeM">
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The current iteration of <em>Temptation Island</em>, which just wrapped up its third season, is a revival of the series of the same name that ran on Fox from 2001 to 2003. Not much has changed about the basic premise; it feels like a relic, in that it’s primarily focused on shock value. Like early 2000s reality TV hits like <em>Fear Factor </em>or <em>What Would You Do?</em>, or modern relationship-based favorites like <em>Married at First Sight </em>and <em>Love Is Blind, Temptation Island</em> has a social experiment element to it that makes viewers wonder how they might fare in a similar situation. The original series was <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/story?id=111201&page=1">controversial</a>, as was the way of early 2000s reality TV, and its function as a morality play about fidelity is undoubtedly part of its appeal.
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</p>
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<figure class="e-image">
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<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/pNpM4XB4BI0vAOaweLbJ0yVcfnc=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22476401/NUP_193283_0004.jpg"/> <cite>USA Network</cite>
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<figcaption>
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<em>Temptation Island</em> host Mark L. Walberg.
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</figcaption>
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</figure>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="vPtaeU">
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The host of <em>Temptation Island</em>, Mark L. Walberg (not to be confused with <em>that </em><a href="https://www.vox.com/22380368/wahl-street-mark-wahlberg-hbo-review">Mark Wahlberg</a>), has been at it since the early 2000s series. His job on <em>Temptation Island</em> is more involved than, say, Chris Harrison’s is on <em>The Bachelor,</em> and he manages to stay out of <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/3/12/22308108/the-bachelor-racism-chris-harrison-rachael-kirkconnell-matt-james">controversies</a> too. While he tries his best to role-play a therapist of sorts and is a genuinely delightful host, his guidance isn’t nearly enough for people so in need of actual healing and advice. For example, one season three cast member broke down after revealing her brother had overdosed some time ago, and how it had strained her relationship. How can Walberg, the singles, or any of the contestants be expected to properly help manage those serious emotions when they come up?
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="3DLiOv">
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“When I’m sitting across this bonfire with these young people grappling with all these questions and problems, I can’t help but coach them through things based on what I know from my own life,” Walberg said in a <a href="https://www.tvinsider.com/987006/temptation-island-season-3-mark-walberg-couples-covid/">February interview</a> with TV Insider. “I tell them the advice I give is exactly what they paid for it. I’m a game show host. I’m not a therapist.” Perhaps predictably, <em>Temptation Island</em> attracts couples who appear to need the counsel of an actual therapist, but for some reason or another have arrived before America to embarrass themselves.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Oeypwf">
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The series’ shortcomings are exactly what make it a delicious watch. When the absurdity reaches its boiling point, contestants typically experience a revelation that is both horrifying and hilarious, especially if they aren’t great people to begin with. Take, for example, a sullen quote from season three contestant Tom Gipson, watching his girlfriend kiss another guy after seeing clips of Gipson’s constant, handsy flirtations with other women: “Congratulations, I played myself.”
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="gdWbVR">
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Isolation plays a huge factor in the way the show is able to guide, and often confuse, participants’ emotions. At bonfires, the videos shown are often incriminating, and clearly selected not to achieve a guaranteed outcome, but to sow doubt about the future of each couple. There is no way for contestants to fact-check or know the exact context of the flirtatious conversations they see. Other clips are straight-up humiliating.
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</p>
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<figure class="e-image">
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<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/tsCKvj5309JjEuZURcwBCPshGvg=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22476428/NUP_193396_0004.jpg"/> <cite>USA Network</cite>
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<figcaption>
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Chelsea Orcutt and Erica Washington on <em>Temptation Island</em>.
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</figcaption>
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</figure>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="cZsQ95">
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Early in season three, contestant Erica Washington was made to watch her boyfriend, Kendal Kirkland, take two other women to bed with him. While many fans have speculated that Washington and Kirkland may have <a href="https://screenrant.com/temptation-island-kendal-eric-not-dating-rumor-cheating/">never really been together</a> in the first place, the pain she obviously felt, and the disregard Kirkland had for her on the show, seemed all too real. It would be traumatizing to be subjected to such lack of care in the real world, but having it unfold on television makes it even more disturbing. “I have never been surrounded by so many people, and still felt like I was all by myself,” Washington tearfully remarked at one point.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="XV0hSP">
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Contestants are constantly surrounded by strangers — not only the film crew, but <em>Temptation Island</em>’s swarms of eager singles. Quickly, they form attachments with a single or two and tend to stick with them until the end of the season. Attraction and producer prodding surely play a role, but friendships and romances are crucial for emotional survival on the show. The singles try to comfort the contestants but are naturally selfish in their intentions. After all, the main reason singles are present is to have fun and hook up, although some claim they are there to find true love. Overall, they’re waiting for an opening, whether emotional or physical.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ORTrJR">
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In the finale, contestants can choose to leave the island with their significant other, with a new flame they met on the show, or to go home solo. It’s the first chance contestants have to confront their partners after a full season of flirting, partying, and bonfires full of maddening footage. And who among us can make a rational decision or adequately express our feelings in so little time, with so many lights and cameras around?
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="XTrISI">
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In season three, a handful of couples left together. Kristen Ramos and Julian Allen actually got engaged on the show. And while it appears that they have come to learn more about themselves, their results are outliers. In past seasons, most of <em>Temptation Island</em>’s couples have broken up, whether on the show or shortly afterward in the real world. Those who stay together likely still need to put in effort to make their commitments last, especially after such an intense and bewildering experience.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="BmLPAL">
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Cali Estes, a life and addictions coach with a doctorate in clinical psychology who has actually had a <em>Temptation Island</em> contestant as a client in the past, says that all reality shows would benefit from having on-site, ongoing therapy services. However, most lack such a system, and often wreak havoc on the mental health of their participants. Shows like <em>Temptation Island </em>want to capture tears and turmoil, and build an environment that lends itself to that. Sometimes the results play like borderline psychological warfare.
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</p>
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<div class="c-float-right">
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<aside id="5XTRnJ">
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<q>“[Temptation Island] put her in a position where she’s afraid to date. She can’t move on. She’s terrified that every guy is going to cheat on her.” </q>
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</aside>
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</div>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="xpOgWN">
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“There needs to be some sort of de-escalation from being on the show, and there’s not,” Estes said. “I think they should have a real therapist or psychologist on there, but I don’t know if it would have the same amount of ratings.”
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="WKiEBg">
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Estes told me that her client who appeared on <em>Temptation Island</em> experienced real, lasting trauma.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="07gokJ">
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“She didn’t go on there because she wanted to be an actress. She actually thought it would help. And it did the complete opposite,” Estes said. “She now has anxiety and PTSD from what happened on the show. Now I’m seeing her for all this other stuff that it brought out. [<em>Temptation Island</em>] put her in a position where she’s afraid to date. She can’t move on. She’s terrified that every guy is going to cheat on her.”
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="tJrpMh">
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Originally, the client sought help from Estes because her partner seemed to have an alcohol problem, and it was taking a toll on their relationship. They have since broken up, and she regrets their involvement with the show. While I did not get to talk to the client directly due to worries about violating her nondisclosure agreement with the show, Estes told me the client wants to cut ties with <em>Temptation Island</em>. However, her contract compels her to fulfill certain press requirements, so she’s still attached.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="INvnvB">
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“I also have clients that are on the [Bravo <em>Real</em>] <em>Housewives</em> shows. On reality TV, they have a green room that has an open bar specifically for this type of stuff. When you see them on the show, they’d been drinking before filming, during filming, and after filming. If there’s other items you would like, it can be arranged, let me just put it that way,” Estes said.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="nocBCc">
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The <a href="https://ticouples.castingcrane.com/">casting site</a> for <em>Temptation Island</em> boasts of a “safe, supportive, and fun environment,” and mostly delivers on the fun, but that’s about it. While the show doesn’t claim to be a heal-all for relationship issues, its narrative does imply that contestants might be able to fix their problems by participating.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="dgstvI">
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Estes challenged this implication: “There’s no way you can do any kind of conducive therapy if someone’s under the influence. It’s just not even possible,” she said.
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</p>
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<figure class="e-image">
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<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/YHqRqrO5PpGvhhqhnBVp9te-9rI=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22476444/NUP_193346_0009.jpg"/> <cite>USA Network</cite>
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<figcaption>
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<em>Temptation Island</em>’s season three cast kicks off a round of drinks.
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</figcaption>
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</figure>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="sNFNy9">
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And under the influence they are. In season three, Blake Eyres, a dentist from Missouri, spent almost all his time with contestant Chelsea Orcutt, and their courtship escalated to an odd pool hookup scene where she looked almost too inebriated to be an active participant. Like the <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/2017/6/19/15812238/bachelor-in-paradise-sexual-assault-allegations">consent fiasco</a> that happened on <em>Bachelor in Paradise</em> in 2017,<em> </em>in which one cast member was allegedly too drunk to consent to sex, the antics on <em>Temptation Island</em> often feel like a lawsuit waiting to happen.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="fxhQXH">
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<em>Temptation Island</em> appeals to its mind-boggled audience in spite of, and because of, its ridiculous and often unsettling premise. Jennifer Moore, a 47-year-old fan in Georgia, watched the original early-2000s version of <em>Temptation Island</em> when she was 27 years old. “At the time, I was going through a bad breakup, and it just seemed like the perfect trashy reality TV show. It was just an absolute train wreck, and I couldn’t stop watching it,” she said. “I saw USA was bringing it back, and I was like, ‘Oh, I remember this awfulness. I have to watch this.’”
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</p>
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As far as Moore remembers, there’s not much difference between the original series and the current iteration. However, she does recall that in the original series, one couple was <a href="https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-mar-29-fi-44139-story.html">kicked off the show</a> when it came out that they had a child together. Producers did not want to play a part in breaking up a family; that’s where they drew the line.
|
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="l5pAo9">
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|
Still, <em>Temptation Island</em> readily ignores plenty of other glaring issues with its concept. “‘I’m not a huge fan of reality TV, but something about <em>Temptation Island</em> just grabs my attention,” Moore said. “Who would do this to their relationship? You’re having problems, so ‘let’s go on TV and do body shots off other people’? There’s nothing healthy about it.”
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="1dSZX6">
|
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|
And yet that is part of the appeal. If viewers have even an ounce of responsibility in their own lives, the show manages to make them feel like saints by comparison. In the lawless land of <em>Temptation Island, </em>anything goes, and viewers can easily judge the actions of the cast, strategize how they would have done better in the same shoes, and debate the right and wrong of it all without involving themselves in anything even remotely as risky in their own lives. Contestants play with fire, and the audience is dazzled by what catches.
|
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</p>
|
|||
|
|
<figure class="e-image">
|
|||
|
|
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ZJ53o1PLR9QOoT2fyyu71NK7wrE=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22476436/NUP_193969_0002.jpg"/> <cite>USA Network</cite>
|
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<figcaption>
|
|||
|
|
Thomas Gipson and Chelsea Orcutt on <em>Temptation Island</em>.
|
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</figcaption>
|
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</figure>
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="X1OegV">
|
|||
|
|
That’s not to say <em>Temptation Island </em>fans are unaware of the complicated nature of their viewership. Brianna Vega, a 24-year-old fan living in Boston, says she feels the show does prey on people who are in bad relationships. “That’s the biggest issue for me. Not only are you in this toxic relationship, but now it’s being exploited for the whole country to watch,” Vega said. “Like in season one [of the reboot] with Kaci and Evan? Her whole life fell apart on national television, and we had to watch her beg for him to take her back.”
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="wwsWI0">
|
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|
The relationship Vega is referring to was between contestant Evan Smith and his girlfriend of a decade, Kaci Campbell. Early on, Smith mentioned that his father had been <a href="https://people.com/crime/evan-smith-temptation-island-opens-up-fathers-murder/">murdered due to infidelity</a>, and it contributed to his hesitation to marry Campbell. However, he immediately became smitten with a single, Morgan Lolar, and left Campbell at the end of the season. He proposed to Lolar a few months after, but later the relationship fizzled due to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1_h5y0STI0">his alleged abusive behavior</a>.
|
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</p>
|
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<div id="f2fxNC">
|
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|
|
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" dir="ltr" lang="en">
|
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Is it ever okay for an ENGAGED man to leave his fiancé across the country to “work” but actually has nightly sleepovers with 21yo Instagram models? Oh, and his phone happens to “die” every night at the same time. I know, I’m a dumb ass and everyone saw it coming, but me <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/played?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#played</a>
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
— Morgan Lolar (<span class="citation" data-cites="morganlolar">@morganlolar</span>) <a href="https://twitter.com/morganlolar/status/1215882863389876224?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 11, 2020</a>
|
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</blockquote></div></li>
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</ul>
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="OArFdJ">
|
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|
Lolar has <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gEs5lQqtBQ">since bonded</a> with Campbell over Smith’s toxic patterns, but at the end of Campbell’s time on <em>Temptation Island</em>, she had a breakdown that I have never forgotten. She screamed, cried, and hyperventilated, addressing the cameraman directly to ask if what she was experiencing was real — could this nightmare actually be happening to her?
|
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="T7ZxNo">
|
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|
“I don’t even remember a lot of it. I feel like I kind of blacked out,” Campbell said in a <a href="https://people.com/tv/temptation-island-finale-kaci-campbell-interview-evan-smith/">2019 interview</a> with People. “I was in complete and total shock and panic mode.”
|
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</p>
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Kcqxne">
|
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|
While the entire drama between Campbell and Smith was disturbing to watch, it also spoke to the extremeness of <em>Temptation Island</em>, and it stands as a classic example of the dynamics that might fuel a holier-than-thou feeling among viewers. Most people probably think they wouldn’t leave a significant other sobbing on television, much less after 10 years together. Watching couples like those on <em>Temptation Island </em>helps smooth any cracks in our own relationship histories, because hey, at least things never got <em>that</em> bad.
|
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</p>
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="MRUB5n">
|
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|
“I had a toxic and abusive ex-boyfriend,” Vega told me. “If the end of our relationship played on national TV, I don’t know how I would have lived through that,” she said. “For me, watching from that perspective, it’s kind of horrifying.”
|
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</p>
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="wdmdBc">
|
|||
|
|
Ethics are not typically reality television’s forte, but <em>Temptation Island</em> consistently wades into murky waters. Yet, I’m an avid viewer because, despite the series’ inherent problems, it is deeply fascinating. Like TLC’s popular <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/15/arts/television/90-day-fiance-immigration.html">reality franchise</a> <em>90-Day Fiancé</em>, <em>Temptation Island</em> at times feels obscene. Many of the couples on the show seem like they would benefit from professional guidance, but a reality show<em> </em>is a shoddy replacement for therapy.
|
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</p>
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="YMnoCA">
|
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|
It is easy to imagine that we would never let such misguided disaster strike our own lives. It is even easier to imagine that we would be faithful to our partners if we were to appear on the show<em> </em>ourselves, despite never having experienced the engineered, alcohol-soaked complexities of <em>Temptation Island</em>’s bubble world. The concept is so unbelievable, so unsound, and so, so bad that it’s difficult to ignore the pull.
|
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</p>
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="BxpKDx">
|
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|
The fact is, participants on the show get reduced to caricatures of modern relationships. There’s the manipulative cheater, the ladykiller, the devoted girlfriend, the “crazy” (soon-to-be) ex. It’s a soap opera of epic proportions.
|
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</p>
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="DPIWmt">
|
|||
|
|
Vega tells me she’s converted plenty of people into fans. “Coworkers, ex-boyfriends, old roommates, my best friend, and even my current boyfriend. He hates reality TV, but literally can’t look away after watching just a handful of episodes,” she said. “Watching <em>Temptation Island </em>will make you feel better about your own life decisions. That’s how I always hook people.”
|
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|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<ul>
|
|||
|
|
<li><strong>Poorer countries might not get Covid-19 vaccinated until 2023</strong> -
|
|||
|
|
<figure>
|
|||
|
|
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/QD93wnbpE7euE5LSBKMNoeotDcg=/253x0:4284x3023/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/69199363/1232574406.0.jpg"/>
|
|||
|
|
<figcaption>
|
|||
|
|
Relatives, friends, and graveyard workers prepare to lower the body of a Covid-19 coronavirus victim during the burial at a graveyard in New Delhi on April 28, 2021. | Sajjad Hussain/AFP via Getty Images
|
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|
|
</figcaption>
|
|||
|
|
</figure>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
This inequality is baked into every step of the vaccine manufacturing process.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="72V6LL">
|
|||
|
|
High-income countries have purchased more than half of the Covid-19 vaccine supply to date, and low-income countries, just 9 percent, according to Duke University’s Global Health Innovation Center. This is why a country like the <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/covid-vaccinations">US is close to vaccinating half its population</a> with one dose while the rate in a place like <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/covid-vaccinations">Guinea is less than 1 percent</a> and not budging.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<figure class="e-image">
|
|||
|
|
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Ei3449j4NtiLDmOTXCjyeHC0Na4=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22475295/coronavirus_data_explorer.png"/> <cite>Our World In Data</cite>
|
|||
|
|
</figure>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="uA235G">
|
|||
|
|
If these glaring inequities in vaccine access continue, it will take at least two years for the world’s poorest countries, which couldn’t afford to compete for early doses of vaccines, to immunize <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/interactive/2021/coronavirus-vaccine-inequality-global/">the majority of their populations</a>. And we’re on track for a long period where people in rich countries enjoy the benefits and safety of being fully immunized, while people in poorer countries continue to get sick and die from the coronavirus.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="OIGx85">
|
|||
|
|
“That’s not just unconscionable, but it also is very much against the interests of high-income countries,” Georgetown global health law professor Lawrence Gostin told <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/1/29/22253908/rich-countries-hoarding-covid-19-vaccines">Vox in January</a>. With the virus continuing to circulate, and variants picking up pace around the globe, outbreaks in the poorest countries will pose a threat to the world.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="0oqsdI">
|
|||
|
|
To learn more about the root causes of the problem, and how inequalities are baked into the vaccine manufacturing system, check out our new Vox video and read on.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<div id="wxeiXP">
|
|||
|
|
<div class="volume-video" id="volume-placement-369">
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
</div></div></li>
|
|||
|
|
</ul>
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
<h3 id="bC8eCj">
|
|||
|
|
Wealthier countries had a home-court advantage to<strong> </strong>develop vaccines
|
|||
|
|
</h3>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="gmail-RBJueu">
|
|||
|
|
It’s not an accident that many of the world’s first-approved Covid-19 vaccines — from companies like Pfizer, AstraZeneca, and Moderna — were developed and rolled out in high-income countries. As the pandemic took hold last year, wealthier nations — including the US, UK, and EU block — began making deals with the pharmaceutical companies that were developing Covid-19 vaccines, which also happened to be headquartered within their borders.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="JRzV5H">
|
|||
|
|
These bilateral deals involved governments essentially giving the companies billions of dollars to speed up research and development in exchange for priority access to vaccines, should they prove to be effective. But the deals also pushed poorer countries, which didn’t have the resources to pre-purchases millions of doses of vaccines that might not even get approved for market, further down the access line.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="gmail-r2Img8">
|
|||
|
|
In May 2020, for example, the US government gave <a href="https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2020/05/21/trump-administration-accelerates-astrazeneca-covid-19-vaccine-to-be-available-beginning-in-october.html">AstraZeneca $1.2 billion for 300 million</a> doses — a Covid-19 vaccine that still hasn’t even been approved in the US. That was just one deal of many. By January 2021, rich countries had already pre-purchased <a href="https://www.bmj.com/content/371/bmj.m4809">96 percent</a> of the doses BioNTech/Pfizer was scheduled to make for the year, while <a href="https://www.bmj.com/content/371/bmj.m4809">100 percent of Moderna’s</a> supply was spoken for. And the EU now appears ready to finalize a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/28/world/europe/european-union-pfizer-von-der-leyen-coronavirus-vaccine.html">1.8 billion-dose deal</a> with Pfizer.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="eFvkY3">
|
|||
|
|
Together, the early agreements covered the populations of rich countries many times over in the event that some of the vaccines failed. By March, Canada had secured enough vaccine for<a href="https://launchandscalefaster.org/covid-19/vaccineprocurement"> five times its population</a>, and the US bought <a href="https://launchandscalefaster.org/covid-19/vaccineprocurement">at least double</a> the amount of vaccine it’d need. In terms of doses administered, while high-income countries are home to 16 percent of the world’s population, they’ve doled out 46 percent of the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/world/covid-vaccinations-tracker.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage">one billion Covid-19 vaccine doses</a> already administered. The poorest countries, home to 10 percent of the world’s population, have given out just 0.4 percent of doses, according to <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/covid-vaccinations">Our World In Data</a>, and lower-middle income countries, with 40 percent of the world population, 19 percent of doses.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="U04qAt">
|
|||
|
|
“[Since] vaccine makers are headquartered in high-income countries, and [vaccines are] developed there for the most part, many of the ones that made it across the finish line first were from high-income countries, and because of that, they had a home-court advantage,” said <a href="https://globalhealth.duke.edu/people/taylor-andrea">Andrea Taylor</a>, a researcher with <a href="https://globalhealth.duke.edu">Duke Global Health Institute</a> who has been analyzing the deals.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<h3 id="yeETN1">
|
|||
|
|
Vaccine-producing nations have used export controls to hoard supplies
|
|||
|
|
</h3>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="yBGTXv">
|
|||
|
|
Through this home-court advantage, wealthier countries not only ensured first dibs — they’ve also used export restrictions to control vaccine supplies and doses leaving their borders.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="NxQMYb">
|
|||
|
|
On April 16, for example, the head of the Serum Institute of India — the world’s biggest producer — <a href="https://twitter.com/adarpoonawalla/status/1382978713302683653">took to Twitter</a> to ask President Joe Biden to lift embargoes on raw material exports that were hampering vaccine production there:
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<div id="lKFShr">
|
|||
|
|
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" dir="ltr" lang="en">
|
|||
|
|
Respected <a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"><span class="citation" data-cites="POTUS">@POTUS</span></a>, if we are to truly unite in beating this virus, on behalf of the vaccine industry outside the U.S., I humbly request you to lift the embargo of raw material exports out of the U.S. so that vaccine production can ramp up. Your administration has the details.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
— Adar Poonawalla (<span class="citation" data-cites="adarpoonawalla">@adarpoonawalla</span>) <a href="https://twitter.com/adarpoonawalla/status/1382978713302683653?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 16, 2021</a>
|
|||
|
|
</blockquote>
|
|||
|
|
</div>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="8ZTxFc">
|
|||
|
|
The result of the pressure: The <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/24/climate/inda-covid-vaccines.html">US lifted the restrictions</a> to help speed production overseas, and President Biden vowed to share <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/db461dd7-b132-4f08-a94e-b23a6764bdb3">60 million doses of the AstraZeneca</a> vaccine. <a href="https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2021/04/22/american-export-controls-threaten-to-hinder-global-vaccine-production">India</a> — currently battling a <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/4/24/22400986/india-coronavirus-surge-hospitals-deaths">devastating Covid-19 outbreak</a> — is also now using export restrictions to hang on to Covid-19 doses produced there.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="uIevRQ">
|
|||
|
|
<a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-eu-vonderleyen-idUSKBN2AP2RS">American and British vaccine export bans</a>, meanwhile, have been a source of diplomatic tensions with the EU, which put in <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/23/world/europe/eu-curbs-vaccine-exports.html">place its own export restrictions</a> in March to alleviate supply shortages.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<h3 id="nrrWwA">
|
|||
|
|
Rich countries undermined Covax, the global group set up to deliver vaccines to the world’s poor
|
|||
|
|
</h3>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="uu1klk">
|
|||
|
|
The vaccine hoarding has happened in parallel with an unprecedented multilateral effort to support the development and equitable distribution of 2 billion doses of Covid-19 vaccines to the world’s poorest countries before the end of 2021, called Covax.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="LtKJyM">
|
|||
|
|
The initiative has two parts: a purchasing pool for higher-income countries, and a fundraising effort for poorer countries. By promising to buy a certain number of vaccine doses from manufacturers, countries that join get access to any <a href="https://www.gavi.org/vaccineswork/covid-19-vaccine-race">vaccines that are approved</a> in Covax’s portfolio, while also creating a global market for the shots and driving prices down.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<div class="c-float-right">
|
|||
|
|
<aside id="iICKzj">
|
|||
|
|
<q>Covax has only delivered about one in five of the doses that were expected by the end of May</q>
|
|||
|
|
</aside>
|
|||
|
|
</div>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="UdNnb8">
|
|||
|
|
More than <a href="https://www.gavi.org/sites/default/files/covid/pr/COVAX_CA_COIP_List_COVAX_PR_15-12.pdf">190 countries signed on</a> — including rich ones. “Covax was trying to create a reality — they appealed to the better angels of all countries,” said Saad Omer, director of the Yale Institute for Global Health.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="AiGzSt">
|
|||
|
|
But the bilateral deals took a lot of power away from Covax. Rich countries “want to have it both ways,” Gostin said. “They join Covax so they could proclaim to be good global citizens, and at the same time rob Covax of its lifeblood, which is vaccine doses.”
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="dBLsCf">
|
|||
|
|
Rich countries also <a href="https://www.devex.com/news/covax-facility-seeks-an-additional-2b-for-covid-19-vaccines-99671">didn’t fund Covax’s</a> purchasing pool to the levels the group called for. And <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/indias-covid-19-agonies-highlight-growing-rich-poor-gap-in-vaccinations-11619542171">for the majority of its supply,</a> Covax also relies on India, which, again, is currently restricting exports.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="8IkYfH">
|
|||
|
|
The result: Covax, according to Duke, has only delivered about one in five of the doses that were expected by the end of May.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<h3 id="IN59vl">
|
|||
|
|
There are other bottlenecks even waiving patents can’t fix
|
|||
|
|
</h3>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="42B7KK">
|
|||
|
|
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/apr/02/india-in-charge-of-developing-world-covid-vaccine-supply-unsustainable">Some have suggested</a> Covid-19 vaccine-makers should <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us/white-house-says-its-considering-intellectual-property-waiver-covid-19-vaccines-2021-04-27/">waive their patents</a>, making it possible for more manufacturers to come online and produce vaccines. But that’s only part of the solution to vaccine inequality, Taylor said. “We know there is manufacturing capacity that isn’t being used.”
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="3a68q3">
|
|||
|
|
That’s because of another bottleneck that’s emerged in recent months. Vaccine makers have been reporting that they’re struggling to access basic supplies needed to safely manufacture vaccines. For example, there have been reports that the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/apr/10/global-covid-vaccine-rollout-threatened-by-shortage-of-vital-components">filters used in the manufacturing process</a>, and <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/b2f4f9cf-af80-428f-a198-2698ceb4c701">large plastic bags</a> (for lining bioreactors where pharmaceutical ingredients are mixed) have run short. It’s unclear how big this problem is — we don’t have systematic data on global shortages — but many suppliers and even countries have cited these shortages as a reason for delays.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="M5VnaK">
|
|||
|
|
Companies can’t just turn to anybody to meet their needs — they can only use qualified suppliers that meet the global standards set by regulators like the US Food and Drug Administration. These suppliers sell products that have been vetted through studies proving their plastic bags, for example, don’t leak toxins into vaccines or cause allergic reactions.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="CkmeeO">
|
|||
|
|
“Those tests take time — it’s months of lab studies and animal studies,” said Matthew Johnson, associate director of the Duke Human Vaccine Institute. So even companies that could pivot to producing the vaccine products in short supply would need to take time to study them and ensure safety.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="1evySM">
|
|||
|
|
There’s another problem IP waivers can’t solve: Technology transfer, from one vaccine maker to another, involves sharing trade secrets, know-how, and even trained personnel. The companies currently making Covid-19 vaccines “might not have 20 to 40 people to send to these other locations” to help new producers get up to speed, Johnson added. So while waiving patents would help — it’s only part of the solution.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<h3 id="1lEdla">
|
|||
|
|
Vaccinating the world doesn’t need to take so long — rich countries could take action now
|
|||
|
|
</h3>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="MlqsFW">
|
|||
|
|
Still, it’s not a given that it’ll take years to vaccinate the world from Covid-19. There are ways to speed up the process.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="TS8mEJ">
|
|||
|
|
Rich countries could donate more doses to poorer countries — a move global health groups have been calling for for months and one that’s starting to <a href="https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2021/04/indias-covid-19-crisis-prompts-global-response">happen in response to the crisis in India</a>.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="0Jy01n">
|
|||
|
|
Rich countries could also simply start investing more in helping poorer countries respond to the crisis. They could answer <a href="https://www.devex.com/news/covax-facility-seeks-an-additional-2b-for-covid-19-vaccines-99671">Covax’s call for more donor funds</a>, for example. Or Omer called for something akin to <a href="https://www.pepfar.gov/about/">PEPFAR</a>, America’s global health program to combat AIDS around the world. Launched under George W. Bush in 2003, to date, it’s provided $90 billion toward fighting AIDS.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="7Ysv9X">
|
|||
|
|
“It sounds lofty but the cost to everyone, including high-income countries, is huge with each passing month or week where there is transmission going on around the world,” Omer added. “What is happening in India can happen in other large chunks of population and that should concern us all.”
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<ul>
|
|||
|
|
<li><strong>The myth of a president’s “first 100 days”</strong> -
|
|||
|
|
<figure>
|
|||
|
|
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/40Ufu_nr1tdCHygVfJX70rPqYQM=/295x0:4295x3000/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/69204124/GettyImages_1232562265.0.jpg"/>
|
|||
|
|
<figcaption>
|
|||
|
|
President Joe Biden speaks in front of the White House on April 27, 2021. | Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images
|
|||
|
|
</figcaption>
|
|||
|
|
</figure>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
It’s a media construct that’s out of step with the modern presidency.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="OY2nt6">
|
|||
|
|
President Joe Biden’s 100th day in office is Thursday, April 29, and with that fairly arbitrary milestone comes media hype and “<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/04/26/biden-first-100-days-report-card-power-ranking/">report</a> <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2021/04/23/biden-100-day-report-card/">card</a>” <a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-donald-trump-climate-iran-nuclear-immigration-de7b288aa2b4315b5b7fe38559a6e666">articles</a> from journalists and pundits assessing how the new president has been doing so far (a tradition I’ve <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/4/28/15326036/trump-100-days-accomplishments-achievements">indulged in in the past</a>).
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="joNrpM">
|
|||
|
|
The 100 days concept is grounded in some history (Franklin D. Roosevelt was the first to use this framing <a href="https://www.npr.org/2017/04/29/525810758/the-first-100-days-a-standard-that-not-even-roosevelt-achieved">to brag about</a> his early New Deal accomplishments), and Biden himself scheduled his <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/4/27/22404275/biden-congress-address-state-of-the-union-policing-infrastructure-wednesday">first major address to Congress</a> to coincide with it. But this cutoff point doesn’t have any substantive consequence, and the focus on it seems to be out of step with the nature of the modern presidency.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="kleaKk">
|
|||
|
|
The conventional wisdom about the importance of the 100 days goes something like this: When a new president takes office, he begins with a “honeymoon” period in which he’s quite popular. However, there’s a time limit on this as presidents tend to see an <a href="https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/biden-approval-rating/">approval rating drop</a> as they stay in office. Therefore, time is of the essence. The new president should rush to enact as much of his agenda as possible before the honeymoon ends because he’ll find it more difficult to do so afterward.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Xro714">
|
|||
|
|
But there are a few problems with this analysis. First off, the presidential “honeymoon” approval boost is no longer so apparent in our age of polarization — Biden <a href="https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/biden-approval-rating/">isn’t really getting one</a> and Trump didn’t either. (Neither did George W. Bush, for that matter.)
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="WT9HKJ">
|
|||
|
|
Second, since FDR’s presidency, it has been quite rare for major legislation to get passed in the first 100 days. In times of crisis, both Biden and Obama managed to pass large stimulus bills quickly, but most other signature legislative accomplishments for presidents fell outside the 100-day window. The true deadline here is probably the 2022 midterm elections, which are still a way off.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="V5KPfM">
|
|||
|
|
Finally, when it comes to executive actions, there’s no real reason the president’s important accomplishments “have” to come during the first 100 days, and indeed, they’ve often historically come later. In part that’s because presidents tend to <a href="https://www.vox.com/2014/9/9/5964421/obama-lawsuit-republicans-abuse-of-power">turn to executive power</a> more once their hopes of scoring major legislative victories are frustrated.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="yY4XKB">
|
|||
|
|
So really, it’s silly to assess the president’s performance after so short a time. The only appropriate grade is “incomplete.”
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<h3 id="I3zkTs">
|
|||
|
|
The presidential honeymoon has been canceled
|
|||
|
|
</h3>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="15xi7x">
|
|||
|
|
For most of the mid-to-late 20th century, there was a common pattern in the approval ratings of new presidents: They’d <a href="https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/biden-approval-rating/">often start off very popular</a>. Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Jimmy Carter started off with approval ratings in the high 60s or low 70s. Others — Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, and George H.W. Bush — got smaller or later bounces. Still, the belief that a new president usually gets a honeymoon was well-grounded.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="3zYada">
|
|||
|
|
That has been changing, though. Only one of the past four presidents — Barack Obama — started out with an approval rating north of 60 percent, per FiveThirtyEight’s <a href="https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/biden-approval-rating/">tracker</a>. Donald Trump’s approval was in the 40s for his whole first 100 days, and George W. Bush (coming into office after the divisive, contested 2000 election) had approval ratings in the low-to-mid 50s.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="y57NKD">
|
|||
|
|
Biden’s approval rating is about where George W. Bush’s was — it’s <a href="https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/biden-approval-rating/">currently 54 percent</a>. But, significantly, his disapproval rating at this point is higher than any other modern president’s except for Trump’s (though Bill Clinton’s was close around day 100). This likely reflects polarization — it’s just harder now for a new president to get the benefit of the doubt from the other side. (Indeed, the only 21st-century president to ever top 70 percent approval for a prolonged period was George W. Bush in the months after 9/11.)
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="oChYy5">
|
|||
|
|
It’s still possible that this will prove to be the high-water mark of Biden’s popularity — his approval rating has been stable, but his disapproval rating has risen about 5 points since he took office. But the broader point is that he did not start off with a special honeymoon that gave him widespread popularity.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<h3 id="ufNQP3">
|
|||
|
|
Big legislation takes longer in the modern Congress
|
|||
|
|
</h3>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="UFUzkz">
|
|||
|
|
The assumption that the first 100 days presents a unique opportunity to get things through Congress is also complicated by the reality that, in practice, major legislation takes longer.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="3VIfbc">
|
|||
|
|
The original 100 days concept, as framed by FDR, was specifically about major bills Congress had passed as a response to the crisis of the Great Depression. Helpfully, Democrats came in with massive congressional majorities (311 of 430 House seats and 58 of 96 Senate seats). And they did indeed manage to pass a flurry of major bills (though Roosevelt’s own role in dictating that agenda <a href="https://www.npr.org/2017/04/29/525810758/the-first-100-days-a-standard-that-not-even-roosevelt-achieved">has been overstated</a>).
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="UHjjxI">
|
|||
|
|
In any case, FDR was an exception — no subsequent president has replicated anything like this in the 100-day period. Generally, what we’ve seen since is that the most a new president can expect before April is passing a big emergency spending bill, and perhaps some smaller bills. One reason for this is that a lot of the Senate’s time is chewed up confirming the president’s nominees, but it’s also that serious reforms inherently seem to take some time.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="1itDkQ">
|
|||
|
|
The signature economic and tax bills of Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Donald Trump, for instance, didn’t become law until after the first 100 days had ended (May for Bush, August for Reagan and Clinton, December for Trump). Obama didn’t sign the Affordable Care Act until March 2010 (14 months after he took office). A 100-day count for Lyndon Johnson is complicated by his unexpected ascendancy to the presidency in November 1963, but the Civil Rights Act of 1964 took longer than 100 days after that, and most of his major Great Society bills didn’t pass until the summer and fall of 1965.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="JbOvzD">
|
|||
|
|
In contrast to FDR, Biden has the narrowest Senate majority possible, and a pretty narrow House majority too. He also has to deal with the routine use of the Senate filibuster, which means a 60-vote supermajority is required to advance almost all bills. He has the <a href="https://www.vox.com/22310269/third-stimulus-update-2021-package">American Rescue Plan</a> as a legislative accomplishment to his name, but as far as whether he’ll be able to pass anything broader, it’s too early to say.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<h3 id="wgfld7">
|
|||
|
|
Presidents’ most significant executive actions often happen later in their terms
|
|||
|
|
</h3>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="v7mE98">
|
|||
|
|
When I took stock of <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/4/28/15326036/trump-100-days-accomplishments-achievements">Donald Trump’s first 100 days in office</a>, I said he may have missed his “best chance to transform America,” arguing that his governing agenda lay in “tatters” because courts blocked his “Muslim ban” and the GOP’s effort to repeal Obamacare was foundering. More broadly, I pointed out that Trump had embraced Republican establishment policies on trade and foreign policy and had neglected to shake up partisan dynamics by backing infrastructure reform.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="LtWwNV">
|
|||
|
|
With hindsight, a lot of that holds up, but there were certain areas where Trump at least sort of learned from his mistakes. He <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/26/us/politics/supreme-court-trump-travel-ban.html">crafted</a> a more limited version of the travel ban that got the Supreme Court’s blessing in 2018. He eventually <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/robert-lighthizer-blew-up-60-years-of-trade-policy-nobody-knows-what-happens-next">empowered economic advisers</a> who were more willing to wage trade war. He ultimately set the US on a course for <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-54968200">withdrawal of its troops from Afghanistan</a>.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="1es92E">
|
|||
|
|
The common thread here is that these were policy changes Trump could enact through the executive branch. Indeed, though his administration generally continued to be a chaotic mess, he did get at least somewhat better at getting what he wanted from his appointees as his presidency went on.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Z7udNK">
|
|||
|
|
Barack Obama also didn’t start really pushing the limits of policymaking by executive power until <a href="https://www.vox.com/2014/9/9/5964421/obama-lawsuit-republicans-abuse-of-power">several years into his presidency</a>. This was partly out of frustration with his inability to get priorities past the Republican House. But often, the flurry of executive actions a president announces at the start of his term are low-hanging fruit. More consequential actions require more deliberation — if they’re sloppily crafted, they can be thrown out by the courts — and often happen later.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="qhd6Hf">
|
|||
|
|
When it comes to matters of war and peace, and foreign policy more generally, the timeline is even less predictable — George W. Bush’s first 100 days ended up being largely irrelevant to his legacy because his presidency was so shaped by his response to 9/11. Overall, though, there’s no 100th-day deadline on when the president can use his executive power, as he’ll have that authority for his whole term. So again, the only defensible “grade” for Biden right now is: incomplete.
|
|||
|
|
</p></li>
|
|||
|
|
</ul>
|
|||
|
|
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-the-hindu-sports">From The Hindu: Sports</h1>
|
|||
|
|
<ul>
|
|||
|
|
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Covid-19 | South Korea inoculates Olympic athletes ahead of Tokyo Games</strong> - A total of 930 athletes, coaches, officials and other support staff will be vaccinated ahead of the Tokyo Games, which is set to open on July 23.</p></li>
|
|||
|
|
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>IPL 2021 | Rajasthan Royals announces contribution of ₹7.5 crores for COVID-19 relief</strong> - A few days back, Pat Cummins had donated $50,000 to purchase oxygen supplies for Indian hospitals.</p></li>
|
|||
|
|
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Indian Premier League 2021 | Samson, Buttler take Royals to competitive total against Mumbai</strong> - Mumbai Indians made one change while Rajasthan Royals decided to field unchanged playing XI.</p></li>
|
|||
|
|
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>IPL 2021 | Punjab Kings have task cut out against RCB</strong> - Punjab’s inconsistent batting has been a letdown so far.</p></li>
|
|||
|
|
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Mumbai Cricket Association defers T20 League</strong> - The MCA had planned to start the league from June 4 but the plan was shelved after the recent resurgence of COVID-19.</p></li>
|
|||
|
|
</ul>
|
|||
|
|
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-the-hindu-national-news">From The Hindu: National News</h1>
|
|||
|
|
<ul>
|
|||
|
|
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Woman drowns while trying to save child</strong> - A 25-year-old woman drowned while trying to save a child who fell into Nayikali river in Mattannur on Thursday morning. The deceased has been identifi</p></li>
|
|||
|
|
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Plea seeks relief for migrant labour amid fresh lockdowns</strong> - Activists approach SC to ensure dry rations, transport as curbs hit workers again</p></li>
|
|||
|
|
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Centre, States failed to prepare for predictable second wave: ICJ</strong> - Follow judicial orders regarding medical care and vaccines, it says</p></li>
|
|||
|
|
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Reviving memories of Cochin State Forest Tramway in Parambikulam Tiger Reserve</strong> - A short film clip shows the Cochin State Forest Tramway in Parambikulam Tiger Reserve making it way through the Western Ghat forest with lumber. Considered an engineering marvel, it connected Chalakudy and Chinnar</p></li>
|
|||
|
|
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Covid-19 | Delhi LG seeks report on vaccination drive after GNCTD Act comes into force</strong> - Anil Baijal’s office creates a Twitter handle saying it will share official announcements, press releases, reactions and other useful information.</p></li>
|
|||
|
|
</ul>
|
|||
|
|
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-bbc-europe">From BBC: Europe</h1>
|
|||
|
|
<ul>
|
|||
|
|
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Covid: Turkey prepares for its first full lockdown</strong> - Turkey was seen as a success story early in the pandemic but now has the highest infection rate in Europe.</p></li>
|
|||
|
|
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Checkers: Furore over Russian draughts player’s flag removal</strong> - Poland apologises but says it had to remove a Russian draughts player’s flag mid-game.</p></li>
|
|||
|
|
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>German climate change law violates rights, court rules</strong> - Germany’s highest court says the current law puts the burden of curbing CO2 emissions on the young.</p></li>
|
|||
|
|
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Italy theft: Two suspects die in jewellery shop robbery</strong> - The owner opened fire after armed thieves broke into his shop on Wednesday, Italian media report.</p></li>
|
|||
|
|
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>El Risitas: Man behind ‘Spanish laughing guy’ meme dies</strong> - Spanish comedian Juan Joya Borja, known as The Giggles, was famous for his infectious laughter.</p></li>
|
|||
|
|
</ul>
|
|||
|
|
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-ars-technica">From Ars Technica</h1>
|
|||
|
|
<ul>
|
|||
|
|
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Returnal review: Roguelite arcade combat has never felt this epic—or hard</strong> - Legendary dev Housemarque nails its most ambitious game yet, but beware its pitfalls. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1760537">link</a></p></li>
|
|||
|
|
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>This is the slightly sportier, slightly more efficient 2022 Honda Civic</strong> - The next Civic looks less like a starfighter, inside and out. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1761031">link</a></p></li>
|
|||
|
|
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Facing uncharted waters, Apple reports 54% year-over-year revenue increase</strong> - Chip shortages and a waning pandemic might make growth unsustainable, though. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1761059">link</a></p></li>
|
|||
|
|
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Office default Calibri will join Clippy, Internet Explorer in Windows retirement</strong> - “Calibri in Office” could almost drive (15 years old), but a new sans serif will soon emerge. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1760924">link</a></p></li>
|
|||
|
|
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Verizon “leads” all US carriers in mmWave 5G availability at 0.8%</strong> - Phones capable of using mmWave 5G access it less than 1% of the time. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1761029">link</a></p></li>
|
|||
|
|
</ul>
|
|||
|
|
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-jokes-subreddit">From Jokes Subreddit</h1>
|
|||
|
|
<ul>
|
|||
|
|
<li><strong>If you like lawyer jokes, here are some of the best recorded interactions that have happened in actual courts or trials</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
|
|||
|
|
<div class="md">
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
ATTORNEY: What was the first thing your husband said to you that morning?
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
WITNESS: He said, ‘Where am I, Cathy?’
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
ATTORNEY: And why did that upset you?
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
WITNESS: My name is Susan!
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<hr/>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
ATTORNEY: What gear were you in at the moment of the impact?
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
WITNESS: Gucci sweats and Reeboks.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<hr/>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
ATTORNEY: Are you sexually active?
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
WITNESS: No, I just lie there.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<hr/>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
ATTORNEY: What is your date of birth?
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
WITNESS: July 18th.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
ATTORNEY: What year?
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
WITNESS: Every year.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<hr/>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
ATTORNEY: How old is your son, the one living with you?
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
WITNESS: Thirty-eight or thirty-five, I can’t remember which.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
ATTORNEY: How long has he lived with you?
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
WITNESS: Forty-five years.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<hr/>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
ATTORNEY: This myasthenia gravis, does it affect your memory at all?
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
WITNESS: Yes.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
ATTORNEY: And in what ways does it affect your memory?
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
WITNESS: I forget..
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
ATTORNEY: You forget? Can you give us an example of something you forgot?
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<hr/>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
ATTORNEY: Now doctor, isn’t it true that when a person dies in his sleep, he doesn’t know about it until the next morning?
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
WITNESS: Did you actually pass the bar exam?
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<hr/>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
ATTORNEY: The youngest son, the 20-year-old, how old is he?
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
WITNESS: He’s 20, much like your IQ.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<hr/>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
ATTORNEY: Were you present when your picture was taken?
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
WITNESS: Are you shitting me?
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<hr/>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
ATTORNEY: So the date of conception (of the baby) was August 8th?
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
WITNESS: Yes.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
ATTORNEY: And what were you doing at that time?
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
WITNESS: Getting laid
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<hr/>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
ATTORNEY: She had three children , right?
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
WITNESS: Yes.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
ATTORNEY: How many were boys?
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
WITNESS: None.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
ATTORNEY: Were there any girls?
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
WITNESS: Your Honor, I think I need a different attorney. Can I get a new attorney?
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<hr/>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
ATTORNEY: How was your first marriage terminated?
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
WITNESS: By death..
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
ATTORNEY: And by whose death was it terminated?
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
WITNESS: Take a guess.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<hr/>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
ATTORNEY: Can you describe the individual?
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
WITNESS: He was about medium height and had a beard
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
ATTORNEY: Was this a male or a female?
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
WITNESS: Unless the Circus was in town I’m going with male.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<hr/>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
ATTORNEY: Is your appearance here this morning pursuant to a deposition notice which I sent to your attorney?
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
WITNESS: No, this is how I dress when I go to work.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<hr/>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
ATTORNEY: Doctor , how many of your autopsies have you performed on dead people?
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
WITNESS: All of them. The live ones put up too much of a fight.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<hr/>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
ATTORNEY: ALL your responses MUST be oral, OK? What school did you go to?
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
WITNESS: Oral…
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<hr/>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
ATTORNEY: Do you recall the time that you examined the body?
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
WITNESS: The autopsy started around 8:30 PM
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
ATTORNEY: And Mr. Denton was dead at the time?
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
WITNESS: If not, he was by the time I finished.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<hr/>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
ATTORNEY: Are you qualified to give a urine sample?
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
WITNESS: Are you qualified to ask that question?
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<hr/>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
ATTORNEY: Doctor, before you performed the autopsy, did you check for a pulse?
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
WITNESS: No.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
ATTORNEY: Did you check for blood pressure?
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
WITNESS: No.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
ATTORNEY: Did you check for breathing?
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
WITNESS: No..
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
ATTORNEY: So, then it is possible that the patient was alive when you began the autopsy?
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
WITNESS: No.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
ATTORNEY: How can you be so sure, Doctor?
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
WITNESS: Because his brain was sitting on my desk in a jar.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
ATTORNEY: I see, but could the patient have still been alive, nevertheless?
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
WITNESS: Yes, it is possible that he could have been alive and practicing law.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
</div>
|
|||
|
|
<!-- SC_ON -->
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/UKxFallz"> /u/UKxFallz </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/n0o3cl/if_you_like_lawyer_jokes_here_are_some_of_the/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/n0o3cl/if_you_like_lawyer_jokes_here_are_some_of_the/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
|||
|
|
<li><strong>Corona must have hit India hard…</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
|
|||
|
|
<div class="md">
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
I´ve not recieved a single phone call this week from Microsoft to warn me about a virus on my computer.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
</div>
|
|||
|
|
<!-- SC_ON -->
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/r3ap4r"> /u/r3ap4r </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/n0zqm9/corona_must_have_hit_india_hard/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/n0zqm9/corona_must_have_hit_india_hard/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
|||
|
|
<li><strong>My favorite Dad joke, because it’s my cake day.</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
|
|||
|
|
<div class="md">
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
Why does a chicken coup only have two doors?
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
Because if it had four doors, it would be a sedan.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
</div>
|
|||
|
|
<!-- SC_ON -->
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Daddywags42"> /u/Daddywags42 </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/n0iwvm/my_favorite_dad_joke_because_its_my_cake_day/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/n0iwvm/my_favorite_dad_joke_because_its_my_cake_day/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
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<li><strong>200 IQ baby</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
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<div class="md">
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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Father: “Say Daddy”
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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Baby: “Mommy”
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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Father: “No, say Daddy”
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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Baby: “Mommy”
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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Father: “Fuck you! Say Daddy!”
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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Baby: “Fuck you”
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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<em>Mother arrives home</em>
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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Mother: Honey, I’m back! How’s the baby?
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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Baby: “Fuck you”
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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Mother: “What?! Who taught you that awful word?”
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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Baby: “Daddy”
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</p>
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</div>
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<!-- SC_ON -->
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/CyberGuy419"> /u/CyberGuy419 </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/n10ek1/200_iq_baby/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/n10ek1/200_iq_baby/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
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|
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<li><strong>Two Jews, Moishe and Abram, are arguing.</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
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<div class="md">
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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Moishe: Black is a color
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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|
Abram: No it is not.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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Moishe: I’m telling you, black is a color.
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|
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</p>
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|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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|||
|
|
Abram: No, it’s not.
|
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|
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</p>
|
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|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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|
|
They go to the rabbi.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
Moishe: Rebbe, is black a color?
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
Rabbi: Yes, Moshe, black is indeed a color.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
Moshe: See, Abram, I told you.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
Abram: Okay, but white is not a color,
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
Moishe: Yes it is.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
Abram: No, it is not.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
Moishe: Rebbe, is white a color?
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
Rabbi: Yes, Moishe, white is indeed a color.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
Moishe: See, I told you I sold you a color TV.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
</div>
|
|||
|
|
<!-- SC_ON -->
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/MudakMudakov"> /u/MudakMudakov </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/n0f2mc/two_jews_moishe_and_abram_are_arguing/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/n0f2mc/two_jews_moishe_and_abram_are_arguing/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
|||
|
|
</ul>
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
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|
|
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