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<title>21 January, 2024</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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<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>The Woman Who Spent Five Hundred Days in a Cave</strong> - Beatriz Flamini liked to be alone so much that she decided to live underground—and pursue a world record. The experience was gruelling and surreal. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/01/29/the-woman-who-spent-five-hundred-days-in-a-cave">link</a></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Anxious Precision of Jacqueline Novak’s Comedy</strong> - “Get on Your Knees,” her new Netflix special, is a ninety-minute reflection on the blow job. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/01/22/jacqueline-novak-profile">link</a></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A Drug-Decriminalization Fight Erupts in Oregon</strong> - An ambitious law set forth a more humane way to address addiction. Then came the backlash. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/01/22/a-new-drug-war-in-oregon">link</a></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Birth of My Daughter, the Death of My Marriage</strong> - Now that I was doing little besides keeping this tiny creature alive, it was impossible to ignore my desire to wander the streets with our baby, in ever-widening loops away from home. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/01/22/the-birth-of-my-daughter-the-death-of-my-marriage">link</a></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Trump on the Trail and on Trial</strong> - Is it clever, or deluded, for Trump—who complained last week that he has been indicted more times than Al Capone—to see his trials as a political opportunity? - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/01/29/trump-on-the-trail-and-on-trial">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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<li><strong>What the conspiracy theory about Nikki Haley’s citizenship is really about</strong> -
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<figure>
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<img alt="Nikki Haley speaking into a microphone and surrounded by American flags at a campaign stop in New Hampshire." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/8KKVqnXtrzVQTQ4O1OEZdi-ZRrM=/295x0:4475x3135/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73073111/1938497667.0.jpg"/>
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<figcaption>
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Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley speaks at a campaign event in New Hampshire. | Spencer Platt/Getty Images
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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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Why is Donald Trump so fixated on birthright citizenship?
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="c8JQtY">
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<a href="https://www.vox.com/donald-trump">Donald Trump</a>, who <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/10/the-first-white-president-ta-nehisi-coates/537909/">propelled his political career</a> with the lie that Barack Obama wasn’t born in the United States, is again spreading baseless claims about who is and isn’t legally qualified to serve as president. And it’s revealing his vision for what he thinks American democracy should look like.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Ho4eNV">
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Just as in 2016, when Trump claimed that his primary opponent Texas senator Ted Cruz was <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2016/01/05/trump-says-cruzs-canadian-birth-could-be-very-prec/">potentially ineligible to be president</a>, Trump is now casting doubt on yet another Republican rival’s citizenship. This time, it’s <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2023/2/14/23599194/nikki-haley-donald-trump-2024-presidential-campaign">Nikki Haley</a>, the former South Carolina governor who is seeking to replace him as the GOP’s standard bearer. On his social media platform, Trump <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/10/us/politics/trump-birther-nikki-haley.html">shared a post from the Gateway Pundit</a> — a right-wing website that traffics in hoaxes and conspiracy theories — that falsely claimed she might not be legally eligible for the presidency because she’s somehow not a natural-born citizen.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="mJYgjY">
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For background, the US Constitution requires that presidents be natural-born citizens. While the founders didn’t offer a specific definition of “natural born,” the term has generally been understood to mean Americans who are citizens at birth, be it because they were born on US soil or because they were born to American parents.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="EtRH11">
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In the past, Trump claimed that Obama and Cruz weren’t natural-born citizens because they were born outside the United States. But Obama is, in fact, a natural-born citizen because he was — contrary to what Trump claimed — born in Hawaii. And while Cruz was actually born abroad, in Canada, the general <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/itsallpolitics/2015/03/23/394713013/is-ted-cruz-allowed-to-run-since-he-was-born-in-canada">consensus among legal scholars</a> was that he was also a citizen at birth because he was born to an American mother.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="PrbPlr">
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The latest conspiracy theory about Haley’s citizenship is slightly different. It doesn’t contest that she was born in the United States (she was, in a South Carolina hospital). It <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/10/us/politics/trump-birther-nikki-haley.html">contends</a>, wrongly, that Haley is not a natural-born citizen — and therefore disqualified from the presidency — because her parents, who immigrated from <a href="https://www.vox.com/india">India</a>, were not yet US citizens at the time of her birth.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="08UhdP">
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Whatever Haley’s parents’ citizenship status was, the fact that she was born in a US state means that she is, undeniably, a natural-born citizen. It is her <a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/7/23/17595754/birthright-citizenship-trump-14th-amendment-executive-order">birthright</a>, as enshrined in the 14th Amendment of the Constitution. Unsurprisingly, that <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/111721484609384209">didn’t stop Trump from sharing</a> the conspiracy theory about her citizenship.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="hG2gj7">
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By promoting the falsehood that Haley isn’t a natural-born citizen despite<em> </em>the fact that she was born in South Carolina, Trump isn’t just casting doubt on her citizenship; he’s normalizing the dangerous idea that, on its own, being born in the United States is an insufficient claim to full and unconditional citizenship — 14th Amendment be damned.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="3vVGUE">
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There’s a common thread among those whom Trump has accused of not being natural-born citizens: Obama was the country’s first black president; Haley, an Indian-American, would be the country’s first South Asian president if she somehow finds a path to victory; and had he won in 2016, Cruz would’ve been the first Cuban-American president.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="VTre3A">
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To say that racism is the driving force behind Trump’s attacks on their citizenship would be to state the obvious. But couple that with the fact that the jurisdictions Trump baselessly claimed were bastions of voter fraud in 2020 <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/2020/11/20/f0d11954-2b71-11eb-9b14-ad872157ebc9_story.html">had large Black populations</a>, and his ideas about who is and isn’t really American become even clearer. That’s why Trump’s attack on Haley is so insidious: It fits squarely within his broader political project to redefine and dramatically limit who ought to be counted as a legitimate participant in American democracy.
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</p>
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<h3 id="FBsG2f">
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Why the United States has birthright citizenship
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</h3>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="kSPYNW">
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Before the Civil War, there were conditions on who could be an American citizen, and Black people, whether free or enslaved, were routinely denied citizenship. In 1857, for example, the US <a href="https://www.vox.com/scotus">Supreme Court</a> delivered one of its most infamous decisions — <em>Dred Scott v. Sandford —</em> where the majority ruled that Black people could not be citizens of the United States. Black people, the Court <a href="https://www.vox.com/2022/6/25/23181976/case-against-the-supreme-court-of-the-united-states">argued</a>, were “beings of an inferior order, and altogether unfit to associate with the white race either in social or political relations, and so far inferior that they had no rights which the white man was bound to respect.”
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Yl23HS">
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That’s the racist legal doctrine that the United States sought to eradicate when it ratified the Civil War Amendments. Specifically, the 14th Amendment — which enshrined citizenship as an unconditional constitutional right to anyone born in the country regardless of their race — states, in no uncertain terms, that “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="NgiBmW">
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That amendment, ratified in 1868, had a profound impact on how we define American identity. “Birthright sets an even bar when it comes to being a citizen — all those born here are subject to the same threshold test, no matter whom they descended from. It ensures that, for those born in the United States, citizenship will not be conferred depending on their politics, race, faith, culture, gender, or sexuality,” Martha S. Jones, a history professor at Johns Hopkins University and author of the book <em>Birthright Citizens: A History of Race and Rights in Antebellum America</em>, <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/07/birthright-citizenship-trump-desantis-2024/674583/">wrote last year</a>. “Birthright safeguards those born here from political leaders who would mete out citizenship as a reward or withhold it as a punishment.”
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="nYCVrw">
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But while the legal framework around birthright citizenship has more or less been settled for the last century and a half, that hasn’t prevented the United States from severely limiting people’s civil rights on the basis of race or national origin, nor has it stopped people from questioning a person’s citizenship, especially if that person is nonwhite. That’s why Trump’s lie about where Obama was born, for example, didn’t come out of nowhere. As <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/10/the-first-white-president-ta-nehisi-coates/537909/">Ta-Nehisi Coates wrote in the Atlantic</a> in 2017, birtherism was merely a “modern recasting of the old American precept that Black people are not fit to be citizens of the country they built.”
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="cnW01l">
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To be sure, Trump didn’t come up with the idea of rolling back birthright citizenship; it has <a href="https://www.nationalaffairs.com/publications/detail/the-question-of-birthright-citizenship">been festering</a> in right-wing circles for <a href="https://www.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/serials/files/cato-journal/2012/1/cj32n1-10.pdf">decades</a>, and Republicans have <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/07/birthright-citizenship-trump-desantis-2024/674583/">repeatedly introduced legislation</a> in <a href="https://www.vox.com/congress">Congress</a> to significantly <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/6612/text?s=5&r=1&q=%7B%22search%22%3A%22%5C%22birthright+citizenship+act%5C%22%22%7D">narrow down</a> who the citizenship clause in the 14th Amendment would apply to.
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="SvScjO">
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Those efforts didn’t get very far but, with more and more support from people like Trump, that might not forever be the case.
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</p>
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<h3 id="D2H2g5">
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Trump’s fixation on birthright citizenship isn’t new
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</h3>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="YOjyMJ">
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The fact that Trump would attack Haley for benefiting from birthright citizenship shouldn’t come as a surprise. When he was campaigning for president in 2015, Trump <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2015/08/19/politics/donald-trump-birthright-american-citizenship/index.html">said that he doesn’t consider</a> Americans who were born to undocumented immigrants in the United States to be US citizens. He also said that Congress should pass a law to curtail birthright citizenship — though <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/30/us/politics/birthright-citizenship-executive-order-trump.html">most experts doubt</a> that’s possible short of a constitutional amendment.
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="wBCLPa">
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While Congress did no such thing during his time in the White House, Trump still tried to undermine the legitimacy of birthright citizenship when he was president. “How ridiculous — we’re the only country in the world where a person comes in, has a baby, and the baby is essentially a citizen of the United States for 85 years with all of those benefits,” he said in a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0d21nQBY8o">2018 interview with Axios</a>. “It’s ridiculous, and it has to end.” (Trump was also wrong: While relatively uncommon around the world, the United States is <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2018/10/birthright-citizenship-other-countries-trump/574453/">hardly the only country</a> with unconditional birthright citizenship.)
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="wyme45">
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At the time, Trump said he could simply end birthright citizenship <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2015/08/19/politics/donald-trump-birthright-american-citizenship/index.html">through an executive order</a> (he could not). And while he continued to say he was <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/21/politics/trump-birthright-citizenship-14th-amendment/index.html">seriously considering it</a>, he had no legal authority to circumvent the citizenship clause of the 14th Amendment.
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="s4A66n">
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Still, Trump turned to alternatives to limit cases of birthright citizenship during his presidency. Early on, his administration scrapped an Obama-era rule that sought to limit the practice of holding pregnant undocumented women in custody, and <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/pregnant-immigration-detainees-spiked-52-percent-under-trump-administration/2019/12/05/610ed714-16bb-11ea-8406-df3c54b3253e_story.html">the number of pregnant women detained</a> by Immigration and Customs Enforcement grew by over 50 percent. And in 2020, Trump’s <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2020/01/23/trump-administration-cracks-down-on-birth-tourism-102713">State Department issued a rule</a> that made it harder for pregnant foreigners to get US visas, arguing that “birth tourism” — the practice of traveling with the intent of giving birth in the US — “poses risks to national security.”
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="qmXFsV">
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Since then, opposition to birthright citizenship has only <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/07/birthright-citizenship-trump-desantis-2024/674583/#:~:text=When%20we%20talk%20about%20birthright,for%20The%20Atlantic%20Daily%20newsletter.">grown louder</a> in conservative circles. In fact, in addition to Trump’s <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/meetthepressblog/trump-renews-call-ban-birthright-citizenship-rcna86864">renewed promise</a> to restrict birthright citizenship, several of his opponents in the Republican primaries have tagged along. <a href="https://www.vox.com/ron-desantis">Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis</a>, for example, <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/desantis-seek-end-birthright-citizenship-children-undocumented-immigrants/story?id=100377864#:~:text=Ron%20DeSantis%20announced%20Monday%20that,born%20in%20the%20United%20States.">pledged</a> to “end the idea that the children of illegal aliens are entitled to birthright citizenship.” Businessman <a href="https://www.vox.com/2024-elections/23720391/vivek-ramaswamy-affirmative-action-woke-capitalism-ideas">Vivek Ramaswamy</a>, who recently dropped out of the race, argued that the 14th Amendment has (unbeknownst to most legal scholars) <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/09/27/republican-debate-immigration/">been misinterpreted</a> and that, if properly enforced, it would already exclude children of undocumented immigrants from getting citizenship.
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="mIQ5JK">
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Even Haley echoed Trump’s sentiment. “For the 5 million people who’ve entered our country illegally, I am against birthright citizenship,” she <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/2024-presidential-candidates-stand-immigration/story?id=103313097">told Fox News last summer</a>.
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</p>
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<h3 id="9758Yc">
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The politics of birthright citizenship
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</h3>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="3y35zD">
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Ending birthright citizenship is an unpopular idea in the US. While public polls <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2018/11/02/what-americans-really-think-about-birthright-citizenship/">have varied</a>, it’s clear that <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/01/politics/numbers-birthright-citizenship/index.html">a solid majority</a> of Americans support birthright citizenship. On the question of whether children of undocumented immigrants should automatically qualify for citizenship if they’re born on US soil, Americans are more evenly split — though even then, some polls have <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2018/11/02/what-americans-really-think-about-birthright-citizenship/">shown considerable opposition</a> to changing the Constitution to exclude children born to unauthorized immigrants from the birthright citizenship clause.
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="2ka2Cl">
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So while campaigning against birthright citizenship might seem like a fool’s errand, there’s a reason Trump and some of his Republican opponents are doing it anyway: to use white identity politics to drum up support among the GOP’s base. As Ashley Jardina, a public policy professor at the University of Virginia, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2018/11/02/what-americans-really-think-about-birthright-citizenship/">argued in the Washington Post</a> in 2018, “Trump’s potential proposal to end birthright citizenship is perfectly consistent with an identity politics centered on white grievances.” And in writing her 2019 book, <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/white-identity-politics/5C330931FF4CF246FCA043AB14F5C626"><em>White Identity Politics</em></a>, Jardina found that white people who felt a “sense of solidarity with their racial group” were more likely than others to support ending birthright citizenship.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="E84BRa">
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That’s why it’s such a dangerous campaign pledge: It makes yearning for an ugly past — when access to American citizenship depended on a person’s race — all the more acceptable in mainstream politics. That doesn’t necessarily mean that birthright citizenship is about to be upended anytime soon, but the debate over it could have lasting consequences for American democracy. After all, it’s probably easier to convince someone that an election was stolen if they already believe that a good chunk of the American electorate should not have had the right to vote in the first place.
|
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</p></li>
|
|||
|
|
<li><strong>How to be alone with your thoughts</strong> -
|
|||
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<figure>
|
|||
|
|
<img alt="An illustration of a woman with brown hair wearing a red shirt and gray pants sitting on the floor in front of a window with her dog curled next to her. They sit on a green striped rug. Sun pours in from the window." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/3x9f2ujfvooUUtG7whJrZGlixdU=/164x0:4733x3427/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73071091/GettyImages_1264127389.0.jpg"/>
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<figcaption>
|
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|
Getty Images/fStop
|
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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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|
Spend some time with your inner monologue (and actually enjoy it).
|
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</p>
|
|||
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="DeAy2U">
|
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|
Sitting in silence is, for some, an experience more dreadful than physical pain. One <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1250830">oft-cited study</a> from 2014 found that many people would rather give themselves electric shocks than spend just a few minutes alone with their thoughts. So don’t be ashamed if you’d rather listen to a podcast while you shower than bathe with nothing but the dull thrum of water on tile — when so much entertainment is readily available at all times, why wouldn’t you take advantage? With few moments of silence in your routine, you become less practiced at sitting with your thoughts.
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</p>
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="qENQBY">
|
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|
One reason people find spending spending quality time with their inner monologue so wildly unpleasant is that, left to your own devices, every embarrassing memory, every argument, every sad recollection can come flooding back, effectively derailing what was supposed to be a moment of peace. But while people often dread, and therefore avoid, mining their minds, they can find the actual experience enjoyable in practice, says <a href="https://www.thuyvytnguyen.com/">Thuy-vy Nguyen</a>, an associate professor at Durham University and principal investigator of the <a href="https://www.solitude-lab.com/">Solitude Lab</a>, where researchers study the effects and experiences of both lifelong and spontaneous alone time. Thinking about people and memories that are meaningful to us is more enjoyable than other pursuits we regularly engage in during downtime, like playing video games, checking social media, or texting, according to a <a href="https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/emo-emo0001029.pdf">2022 study</a>.
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</p>
|
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<div class="c-float-right">
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<div id="VjydQG">
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<div>
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</div>
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</div>
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</div>
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="MAgJk4">
|
|||
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|
Harnessing the power of silence can have profound benefits. Left to work without distractions, our minds can dream up imaginative musings, solve problems, and create — as well as allow us to savor pleasant memories, set goals, reflect on our lives, and build excitement for the future, says <a href="https://www.ethankross.com/">Ethan Kross</a>, a professor at the University of Michigan and author of <a href="https://www.ethankross.com/chatter/"><em>Chatter: The Voice in Our Head, Why It Matters, and How to Harness It</em></a>. “You’ve got to give yourself space to have those kinds of insights,” he says.
|
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|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="rCqzhR">
|
|||
|
|
So how can we disconnect from the noise and tap into positive and inspired thinking? In short, structure your time strategically, avoid tempting distractions, and know how to cope when troubling thoughts arise.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<h3 id="DEPivg">
|
|||
|
|
Make a plan for your thinking time
|
|||
|
|
</h3>
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="R4sPgd">
|
|||
|
|
<a href="https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/emo-emo0001029.pdf">People often grab their phones</a> during unstructured downtime, a habit that neither enriches our lives nor is too detrimental — it simply cures boredom, Nguyen says. Being intentional with how you’ll spend your free time alone with your thoughts can help make the process easier and more enjoyable. Researchers refer to this practice as “<a href="https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/emo-emo0001029.pdf">intentional thinking for pleasure</a>,” as opposed to daydreaming or mind wandering, which often occurs unintentionally when you’re attempting other tasks.
|
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</p>
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Z39w0Z">
|
|||
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|
Turn off notifications on your phone or stow it in another room for 15 to 20 minutes to create space for thinking, Kross suggests. <a href="https://support.apple.com/en-us/105112">Apple</a> and <a href="https://support.google.com/android/answer/9069335?hl=en">Android</a> offer Do Not Disturb modes that easily make your phone distraction-free. Maintain a list of topics you want to explore, like your upcoming wedding day or what your life would be like if you lived in Paris; this helps keep your thinking on track, <a href="https://www.erinwestgate.com/uploads/7/6/4/1/7641726/westgatewilsongilbert.emotion.pdf">according to research</a>, and gives you something to return to should your mind wander toward less pleasant thoughts. For example, <a href="https://gloriamark.com/">Gloria Mark</a>, a professor emerita in the department of informatics at the University of California Irvine and author of <a href="https://gloriamark.com/attention-span/"><em>Attention Span: A Groundbreaking Way to Restore Balance, Happiness and Productivity</em></a>, reflects on three positive things from the day before bed each night. When the topics of thought are more personally meaningful and positive, people find the practice more enjoyable, <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33661664/">studies show</a>.
|
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</p>
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="xGXWt0">
|
|||
|
|
Kross is a proponent of using time he already allots in his schedule to specific activities, like running or cycling, to think of creative solutions to research or writing blocks. “I’ll just activate what the issue is that I want to work through, and then I go on the treadmill,” he says, “and inevitably, my mind starts working, coming up with all sorts of solutions. I have lots of insights that way.”
|
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</p>
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="5iOLaP">
|
|||
|
|
Other activities conducive to thinking include a walk outside (research has found <a href="https://news.stanford.edu/2014/04/24/walking-vs-sitting-042414/">walking to improve creativity</a>) and other undertakings that don’t involve much attention, like bathing, driving a familiar route, or folding laundry, Mark says.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<h3 id="SR8Vaj">
|
|||
|
|
Embrace negative thoughts as they come
|
|||
|
|
</h3>
|
|||
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|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ETlwMe">
|
|||
|
|
Now for the unfortunate truth: A product of sitting with your thoughts is facing negative ones head-on. No one is immune to worry or embarrassment. Some negative thoughts may be fleeting, like a memory of a joke that didn’t land in a meeting. This is where a list of thinking topics can come in handy, Mark says, so you can return to the items you want to mull over. “It’s pretty easy [for me] to manage getting rid of that negative thought,” she says, “because I had this goal of moving on to get to these three positive things.”
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
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|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Olwxjo">
|
|||
|
|
But some negative thoughts are more persistent and require assessment, Kross says. For these more profound instances, try to think objectively about the issue at hand — say, improving communication with your partner if you keep circling back to a recent fight — to determine why you encountered the issue and to find a meaningful way forward. Or take the conversation out of your head and into the real world with an adviser, like a therapist or impartial friend. Mark uses negative thoughts as a learning opportunity: How can you grow from the negative experience you’re thinking about?
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="jNplFv">
|
|||
|
|
Keep in mind that if you’re constantly mulling over the same issues, getting stuck in the emotions of the experience without finding solutions, you may be <a href="https://www.psychiatry.org/news-room/apa-blogs/rumination-a-cycle-of-negative-thinking">ruminating</a>. Rumination is repetitive thinking of negative emotions or experiences. Those who ruminate may not be able to process emotions effectively and may have increased anxiety and depression.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="gCbH2h">
|
|||
|
|
“Rather than coming up with a solution, you instead start spinning, rehearsing the emotional elements of those experiences over and over again in ways that can be really debilitating,” Kross says. “Rumination can lead to problems in your ability to think and perform, problems in your relationships, and it can also undermine your physical and <a href="https://www.vox.com/mental-health">mental health</a>.” Try to look at the memory from an outsider’s perspective so you’re less likely to become immersed in the emotions, he suggests.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="8xRz4F">
|
|||
|
|
You don’t have to sit with negative feelings, either, Nguyen says. You want your solo time to be one of enjoyment and not despair. Switch to an activity you enjoy doing, like listening to music, reading, exercise, or gardening, to shift gears.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<h3 id="5nxGj2">
|
|||
|
|
Start small and keep practicing alone time with your thoughts
|
|||
|
|
</h3>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="w4K6jN">
|
|||
|
|
As with any skill, the more time you dedicate to solitary thinking, the easier it becomes, Nguyen says. Begin with a few minutes alone with your thoughts each day and build up as you feel comfortable. Maybe you’ll come to an epiphany in the shower or while on a walk. These aha moments don’t simply materialize out of thin air — we have to give our minds space to wander.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="c4Izt7">
|
|||
|
|
If your goal is to maximize your thinking power, you have to be intentional with your time. Instead of reflexively reaching for your phone during a break at work, see what happens when your mind is left to its own devices. Try thinking through ways out of an interpersonal conundrum or imagining the perfect vacation. It can be just as entertaining as whatever’s happening on TikTok today.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="VZAlEB">
|
|||
|
|
“You can be more deliberate,” Kross says, “about giving yourself opportunities to have those experiences more regularly.”
|
|||
|
|
</p></li>
|
|||
|
|
<li><strong>The GOP is moderating — and coming unhinged</strong> -
|
|||
|
|
<figure>
|
|||
|
|
<img alt="House Speaker Mike Johnson Holds News Conference On Capitol Hill" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/MLv-zroo_VjyvOa0BNcKLYQNQaY=/334x0:5667x4000/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73071027/1932863230.0.jpg"/>
|
|||
|
|
<figcaption>
|
|||
|
|
Photo by Kent Nishimura/Getty Images
|
|||
|
|
</figcaption>
|
|||
|
|
</figure>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
While far-right Republicans make it hard to keep the government running, others in their party have been reaching constructive legislative compromises.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="zD5RL8">
|
|||
|
|
Last week, House Republicans once again struggled to meet the most basic obligation of a governing party as roughly half its members effectively voted to force a government shutdown.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="XHVkkd">
|
|||
|
|
This was only the latest chapter in <a href="https://www.vox.com/congress">Congress</a>’s long, strange quest to pass a budget for 2024.<strong> </strong>Eight months ago, then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy <a href="https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2023/05/debt-ceiling-deal-explained.html">cut a deal</a> with <a href="https://www.vox.com/joe-biden">Joe Biden</a> over this year’s spending bill. Before that agreement, McCarthy and his caucus had held the nation’s economic health hostage, threatening to force the United States into a debt default — a course of action that could trigger a global financial crisis — unless the Democratic president <a href="https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2023/05/debt-ceiling-extortion-historical-republican-congress-hostage-default-threat-kevin-mccarthy.html">acquiesced to conservative policy goals</a>.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="txmTtB">
|
|||
|
|
Nevertheless, when Biden made it clear that he would not be coerced into repealing his own climate and student debt policies, McCarthy accepted a relatively ordinary fiscal compromise.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="lfTs1I">
|
|||
|
|
This cost McCarthy his job. In order to secure election as speaker in the first place, McCarthy had needed to appease the far-right flank of his party’s narrow House majority. He did this by, among other things, giving conservative hardliners the power to vote him out of his leadership position at any time. Still smarting over McCarthy’s traitorous openness to legislative compromise, the hardliners <a href="https://www.vox.com/politics/2023/10/4/23903781/kevin-mccarthy-speaker-house-chaos-questions-answered">ousted the speaker in October</a>.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="dquzGi">
|
|||
|
|
The party’s new leader, <a href="https://www.vox.com/politics/2023/10/29/23935362/mike-johnson-house-speaker-ukraine-israel-immigration">Mike Johnson</a>, himself extremely right-wing, is a member of the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus. Unfortunately for his right-wing comrades, however, Johnson is also capable of understanding that his party does not control the White House or Senate and must therefore compromise with Democrats in order to pass legislation. Thus, earlier this month, Johnson <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/12/politics/speaker-mike-johnson-topline-spending-deal/index.html">reached a budget deal </a>with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer that closely resembled McCarthy’s agreement with Biden from last year. Yet Johnson’s House allies in the Freedom Caucus still feel entitled to dictate terms to Democrats, so they have <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/10/us/politics/house-republicans-johnson-deal-shutdown.html">denounced</a> the new agreement for its excessive social spending and lack of <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2024/01/18/disappointed-and-upset-conservatives-bemoan-lack-of-anti-abortion-win-in-funding-fight-00136235">anti-abortion provisions</a>.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="1Vi4fw">
|
|||
|
|
Now, nearly one year after the initial deal between House Republicans and the president, McCarthy is out of Congress, and Congress still hasn’t passed a budget for 2024.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Wzsx5Y">
|
|||
|
|
Instead, lawmakers have been keeping the government running through a series of temporary emergency spending bills, the latest of which was set to expire on January 19. This week, Congress scrambled to extend temporary funding through March and finally got a <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/senate-government-shutdown-stopgap-bill/">continuing resolution</a> to Biden’s desk on Thursday night, January 18. But the House’s GOP majority proved incapable of keeping the government open on its own. While 107 House Republicans voted to pass the continuing resolution, 106 voted against it. If House Democrats had not been largely unified behind the legislation, Johnson’s caucus could have forced a government shutdown.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="VvTWft">
|
|||
|
|
And yet, even as the House’s conservative hardliners were making it difficult for the party to execute the rudimentary task of keeping Uncle Sam’s lights on, other Republicans were crafting <a href="https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2024/1/16/24035922/child-tax-credit-wyden-smith-deal#:~:text=How%20big%20a%20deal%20is,a%20year%20out%20of%20poverty.">a bipartisan plan</a> for reducing child poverty in the United States.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="bZhKwY">
|
|||
|
|
This jarring split screen — in which Republicans look like anarchic extremists in one picture and constructive partners for important legislative reforms in the other — is actually quite typical of today’s GOP. The Republican leadership has been far more open to bipartisan cooperation in the Biden era than they were in the Obama years, even as their party’s presidential frontrunner and House hardliners remain as radical and reckless as they’ve ever been.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<h3 id="ZObtTZ">
|
|||
|
|
In the Biden era, the GOP’s congressional leadership has been doing its best impression of a normal center-right party
|
|||
|
|
</h3>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="LWIQug">
|
|||
|
|
On Tuesday, House Ways and Means Chair Jason Smith <a href="https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2024/1/16/24035922/child-tax-credit-wyden-smith-deal">announced</a> that he and his Democratic colleague Sen. Ron Wyden had struck a deal on tax policy: Democrats had agreed to support more favorable tax treatment for corporate spending on research and development, among other business tax breaks, in exchange for the GOP’s backing of an expansion in the child tax credit for poor and working-class families.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="meL4lA">
|
|||
|
|
The details of these policies are deeply technical. But the upshot is that the changes to the child tax credit will primarily benefit families earning between $10,000 and $50,000 a year, with the average benefiting household securing $1,130 in additional annual income from the change, according to the <a href="https://www.taxpolicycenter.org/model-estimates/options-modify-refundability-child-tax-credit-november-2023/t23-0095-increase-ctc">Tax Policy Center</a>. Altogether, the expanded benefits are sizable enough to pull 400,000 children above the poverty line and increase the household incomes of 3 million more, according to the <a href="https://www.cbpp.org/research/federal-tax/about-16-million-children-in-low-income-families-would-gain-in-first-year-of-0">Center on Budget and Policy Priorities</a>.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="GMG9z1">
|
|||
|
|
What’s more, some of the business tax breaks are defensible on the merits. For instance, the bill would enable firms to immediately deduct from their taxable income any investments they make into research and development. Before <a href="https://www.vox.com/donald-trump">Donald Trump</a> took office, businesses already enjoyed such a deduction. But the Trump tax cuts scrapped that benefit in order to generate revenue for across-the-board corporate tax breaks. Giving companies a financial incentive to invest in R&D for new technologies — instead of merely accumulating cash or paying it out to shareholders — may be socially beneficial, especially at a time when innovation in the energy sector <a href="https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021/05/climate-biden-green-tech-innovation.html">is an environmental imperative</a>. The bill pays for these changes by rolling back the now-obsolete Employee Retention Credit, which encouraged businesses to keep their workers on staff during the Covid-19 pandemic.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Xpak8H">
|
|||
|
|
In other words: Republicans agitated for one of corporate America’s more reasonable requests while acquiescing to an expansion in pro-family social welfare policies.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="v6DcOB">
|
|||
|
|
This is the sort of thing that one would expect from a healthy center-right party. And the tax deal is not wholly an aberration for the Biden-era GOP.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="8FGD2i">
|
|||
|
|
In marked contrast to his <a href="https://swampland.time.com/2012/08/23/the-party-of-no-new-details-on-the-gop-plot-to-obstruct-obama/">conduct</a> during Barack Obama’s tenure in the White House, Mitch McConnell has not reflexively obstructed Biden’s every legislative ambition. Instead, the Senate minority leader has facilitated the passage of bipartisan bills increasing federal investment in <a href="https://www.vox.com/22770447/infrastructure-bill-democrats-biden-water-broadband-roads-buses">infrastructure</a>, <a href="https://new.nsf.gov/chips#:~:text=About%20the%20%22CHIPS%20and%20Science%20Act%22&text=On%20August%209%2C%202022%2C%20President,use%2Dinspired%2C%20translational%20research.">scientific research</a>, and <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/2022/7/27/23277664/chips-act-solve-chip-shortage-biden-manufacturing'">domestic semiconductor production</a>. He also <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2022/12/2/23488517/same-sex-marriage-bill-respect-for-marriage">allowed the enactment</a> of federal legislation effectively codifying equal <a href="https://www.vox.com/marriage-equality">marriage rights</a> for same-sex couples.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="H6TI4Y">
|
|||
|
|
The Biden-era GOP therefore has two distinct faces. Look at its Senate leadership, and most pragmatic House members, and it may appear to be a relatively ordinary (if unusually conservative) pro-business party in a Western democracy. This GOP has sheepishly retreated from its Obama-era contempt for the necessity of compromise under divided government, having decided that forcing government shutdowns is bad politics and that securing incremental legislative gains through bipartisan horse-trading is good policy.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="3pYQJY">
|
|||
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This wing of the Republican Party still offends the moral sensibilities of any liberal. Its members are still committed to redistributing income and power away from workers and toward bosses. And their brand of social conservatism remains exceptionally reactionary, while their approach to <a href="https://www.vox.com/climate">climate change</a> would only accelerate ecological decline. But the party nevertheless evinces an interest in sustaining democratic governance through its upholding of election results and sharing of power with co-equal branches of government controlled by its rivals.
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</p>
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Of course, if you look at the House GOP’s perpetual failures of governance, or at the candidate winning its presidential primary, the party will seem like an authoritarian personality cult too suffused with rage and nihilism to fulfill its most basic civic obligations.
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</p>
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<h3 id="2VS9f2">
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Why today’s Republican Party looks reckless in one moment and weirdly responsible in the next<strong> </strong>
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</h3>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ed9SE0">
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The causes of this duality aren’t mysterious: Different factions of the GOP serve different interests. McConnell’s wing is aligned with both big and small business. The Chamber of Commerce’s agenda is focused on the short term and often cruel, favoring tax breaks for the rich <a href="https://www.uschamber.com/health-care/us-chamber-supports-american-health-care-act">over maintaining health insurance for working poor Americans</a>. But it is nevertheless an agenda. The nation’s business owners and shareholders have things they want to get out of public policy, and they have an interest in political stability. They are therefore served by pragmatic legislative compromise and the upholding of liberal democratic norms.
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</p>
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But many in the House Freedom Caucus are either too reactionary or too nihilistic to have use for such things. These Republicans’ first loyalty is to either their own radical ideology, the conservative infotainment complex, or both. Such right-wingers often believe — or pretend to believe — that the Democratic Party has no legitimate claim to power (due to its reliance on the votes of <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/tucker-carlson/tucker-carlson-worst-attack-our-democracy-160-years-how-about-immigration-act-1965">immigrants</a> and/or <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/06/upshot/wisconsin-republicans-rural-urban-voters.html">city slickers</a>), that the nation’s culture and moral character are in catastrophic decline, that true patriots are at risk of irrevocably losing their country, and that the Republican leadership has enabled red America’s dispossession through its perennial refusal to truly fight.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ioiUoc">
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Conservative media reflects and cultivates this paranoid and protoauthoritarian worldview. Right-wing entertainers have long recognized that fear and outrage drive viewership. They also long ago ascertained the appeal of morality plays in which a small band of true conservatives struggles against a Republican leadership too craven or cowardly to stick up for “real” Americans. Encouraging brinksmanship and legislative dysfunction may not be a sound way of obtaining conservative reforms, but the primary aim of <a href="https://www.vox.com/media">Fox News</a> et al is generating ratings, not achieving policy goals.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="fEsxNi">
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Some Republican lawmakers, reared on right-wing agitprop, sincerely believe themselves to be in an epochal struggle with an essentially evil adversary. But it’s likely that others simply see more to gain from performing for the Fox News faithful than from carrying water for the GOP leadership. Why seek coveted committee assignments through quiet service to the party when you can earn a national following through anti-establishment theatrics?
|
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</p>
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="a6rAOb">
|
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Giving yourself a starring role in a headline-generating legislative fiasco can bring attention to your social media feeds, which can then be monetized via appeals to small-dollar donors or else a future career hawking paranoid rage, gold bars, and supplements. Matt Gaetz boasts little affection from his party’s congressional leadership (indeed, at least one of his colleagues has tried to <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/matt-gaetz-is-miraculously-more-hated-than-ever-in-congress">physically attack</a> him in recent months, while others decry him as “diabolical”). But his <a href="https://twitter.com/mattgaetz">2.4 million-strong X following</a> may ultimately be more valuable than the admiration of his peers.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="CfOd58">
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Donald Trump did not need to pander to conservative media devotees to gain fame and fortune. But his insatiable appetite for attention and adoration (combined with his own Fox News obsession) gave him many of the same incentives as far-right House backbenchers. Throughout his 2016 campaign and ensuing presidency, Trump often concerned himself less with advancing policy than with giving voice to right-wing America’s id.
|
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="6Ig1lU">
|
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The GOP’s more staid wing is complicit in the extremism and nihilism of its more radical faction. To build a majority coalition for their plutocratic agenda, business Republicans <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2020/07/07/republican-party-uses-populist-politics-advance-plutocratic-policy/">cultivated</a> the resentments and anxieties of white conservative Christians and abetted the rise of conservative media. The latter’s propaganda was supposed to be a means to the ends of legislative action. Now, many Republicans — including the party’s likely 2024 standard-bearer — see legislative action as a means to the ends of propaganda.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="2xeFC4">
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Whether due to the shock of January 6 or personal affection for their former Senate colleague in the White House, Senate Republicans have proven more amenable to compromise during the Biden era than they were under Barack Obama. Yet almost all of the party’s senators are nevertheless prepared to support Trump over Biden this November. So long as the GOP’s most functional faction remains more enamored of power than alarmed by its co-partisans’ illiberal extremism, the party’s truest face will be its ugliest.
|
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="eyZAv3">
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<em><strong>Correction, Jan. 20, 1:45 pm ET:</strong></em> <em>An earlier version of this article identified Jason Smith as a Senate Republican when he is actually the chair of the House Ways and Means Committee. The article has been corrected to address his title, as well as to remove language indicating that House Republicans were not involved in the crafting of a bipartisan compromise on tax policy.</em>
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</p></li>
|
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</ul>
|
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<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-the-hindu-sports">From The Hindu: Sports</h1>
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<ul>
|
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Des Marquis and Supernatural show out</strong> -</p></li>
|
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Australian Open 2024 | Djokovic, Sabalenka in ruthless form to reach quarterfinals</strong> - With this win, Novak Djokovic powered through to the last eight of a Grand Slam for the 58th time, equalling Roger Federer’s men’s record.</p></li>
|
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>IND vs ENG Test series | England batsman Brook to miss series, returns home for personal reasons</strong> - England and Wales Cricket Board said it will announce a replacement for Brook in due course for the series, beginning at Hyderabad from January 25.</p></li>
|
|||
|
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Australian Open | Djokovic reaches quarterfinals matching Federer’s Grand Slam record</strong> - Novak Djokovic has advanced 6-0, 6-0, 6-3 over Adrian Mannarino to the Australian Open quarterfinals and matched another of Roger Federer’s Grand Slam records</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>Sania Mirza has been divorced for a few months now, reveals father</strong> - We request fans to respect her need for privacy, says Sania Mirza’s father</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>Ayodhya in grip of religious fervour, magical festive atmosphere before ‘Pran Pratishtha’</strong> - Ayodhya was bedecked with multi-coloured flowers as recordings of ‘Ram dhun’ played from loudspeakers and townsfolk dressed as Lord Ram, Sita, Lakshman and Hanuman paraded down the streets</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>Power deficit year pushes the implementation of multi-year tariff in Karnataka to next FY</strong> -</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>No ST candidates recruited in IIMB between 2020 and 2023 despite special drives for reserved categories</strong> - Currently, there are 10 faculty members from the OBC category, five from the SC category and one from the ST category teaching at IIMB</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>Government-funded science institutes contributed to Ram temple: Science Minister</strong> - The CSIR and DST-funded institutes contributed to the temple’s structural design, earthquake-resilience, and surya tilak mechanism; made tulips bloom out of season for the consecration ceremony</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>Y.S. Sharmila’s convoy in Vijayawada not stopped: Police Commissioner</strong> - There were reports on a TV channel that the police had stopped APCC president Y.S. Sharmila’s convoy</p></li>
|
|||
|
|
</ul>
|
|||
|
|
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-bbc-europe">From BBC: Europe</h1>
|
|||
|
|
<ul>
|
|||
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Explosion at St Petersburg gas terminal, officials say</strong> - Officials did not say what caused the fire, but local media reported drones had been seen in the area.</p></li>
|
|||
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|
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>AfD: Germans float ban on elected far-right party after scandal</strong> - Germans are angered by reports that AfD figures joined a meeting that discussed mass deportations.</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>Fifa boss calls for tougher action on racism</strong> - Fifa president Gianni Infantino calls for an automatic forfeit of games for teams whose fans commit racist abuse.</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>‘Say you’re sorry’: Russia’s trend for humiliating videos</strong> - Forced video apologies have become increasingly common since Russia’s war in Ukraine began.</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>Théo Luhaka: French police officers given suspended sentences for brutal assault</strong> - Théo Luhaka suffered severe injuries from a police baton in a case which triggered days of protests.</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>What happens when you trigger a car’s automated emergency stopping?</strong> - Experiencing the sequence of events in a car programmed for automated emergency stopping. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1995333">link</a></p></li>
|
|||
|
|
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Microsoft network breached through password-spraying by Russian-state hackers</strong> - Senior execs’ emails accessed in network breach that wasn’t caught for 2 months. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1997633">link</a></p></li>
|
|||
|
|
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Elizabeth Holmes barred from federal health programs for 90 years</strong> - The former Theranos CEO is barred from receiving payments from federal health program. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1997609">link</a></p></li>
|
|||
|
|
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>WordPad out; 80Gbps USB support and other Win 11 features in testing this month</strong> - Microsoft’s next batch of Windows 11 feature updates is taking shape. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1997547">link</a></p></li>
|
|||
|
|
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Big Pharma hiked the price of 775 drugs this year so far: Report</strong> - Meanwhile, Senate to consider subpoenas to force pharma CEOs testify on prices. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1997565">link</a></p></li>
|
|||
|
|
</ul>
|
|||
|
|
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-jokes-subreddit">From Jokes Subreddit</h1>
|
|||
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|
<ul>
|
|||
|
|
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>NASA was preparing for the Apollo project</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
|
|||
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|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
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When NASA was preparing for the Apollo project, some of the training of the astronauts took place on a Navajo reservation.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
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|
One day, a Navajo elder and his son were herding sheep and came across the space crew. The old man, who spoke only Navajo, asked a question that his son translated. “What are these guys in the big suits doing?”
|
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</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
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|
A member of the crew said they were practicing for their trip to the moon. The old man got all excited and asked if he could send a message to the moon with the astronauts. Recognizing a promotional opportunity, the NASA folks found a tape recorder.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
After the old man recorded his message, they asked his son to translate it. He refused. The NASA PR people brought the tape to the reservation, where the rest of the tribe listened and laughed, but refused to translate the elder’s message.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
Finally, the NASA crew called in an official government translator. His translation of the old man’s message was: “Watch out for these guys; they have come to steal your land.”
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
</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/dp37405"> /u/dp37405 </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/19brkhh/nasa_was_preparing_for_the_apollo_project/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/19brkhh/nasa_was_preparing_for_the_apollo_project/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
|||
|
|
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A boy grows up being told by his mother never to touch a woman’s private parts because “They have teeth!” One day when he’s older he starts seeing a lovely girl who he begins to fall in love with.</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
|
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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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Things are going great, but she starts to feel frustrated at his lack of sexual progression with her. Finally, she decides to broach the subject. She says, “hey, I really like you and I’m really getting into our relationship but howcome whenever we’re making out you never touch my pussy, I’d love it if you did”. “oh no” he says, my mom always told me, “never touch a woman’s private parts. They have teeth down there!”. She says, “that’s completely ridiculous and I’ll prove it”. She strips naked and spreads her beautiful legs apart giving him a very intimate view. “See!” she says, “No teeth!” The, young man crouches down and looks carefully… “No wonder” he says. “Look. At the state of your gums!”
|
|||
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|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
</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/YZXFILE"> /u/YZXFILE </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/19bvims/a_boy_grows_up_being_told_by_his_mother_never_to/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/19bvims/a_boy_grows_up_being_told_by_his_mother_never_to/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Three sisters, Linda, Martha, and Fanny, are invited to a party. The day before the party, they go to the local shoe store to buy new dancing shoes.</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
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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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Linda and Martha both have rather large size 10 feet, but are able to find dancing shoes in their size. Fanny on the other hand, has feet that are a whopping size 12, and cannot find any shoes at all in her size. So, the next day, Linda and Martha are able to wear their dancing shoes to the party, while Fanny is forced to wear her regular shoes.
|
|||
|
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</p>
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
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Fanny sits at her table, watching her sisters dance. While Linda and Martha are dancing, a man walks up to them and says, “Whoa! Has anyone ever told you that you have huge feet?”
|
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</p>
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
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“You think our feet are huge?” replies Linda. “Wait until you see our Fanny’s!”
|
|||
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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/wimpykidfan37"> /u/wimpykidfan37 </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/19bu09m/three_sisters_linda_martha_and_fanny_are_invited/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/19bu09m/three_sisters_linda_martha_and_fanny_are_invited/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>First time in Vegas</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
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First time in Vegas I stayed for one night. Checked out in the morning, the bill was $250, and they had added resort fees, and I asked what the heck is that for?! She said the hotel had a pool and internet here and available for use. I said I didn’t even use them! She said “Well they were here and available and you could’ve used them.”<br/> So I just wrote out a check, but made it out for $50 and handed it to her. She said: “Sir this check is for only $50.”<br/> I said “That’s right! I charged you $200 for sleeping with me.”<br/> “But I didn’t!” she said.<br/> I said: “Well I was here and available, and you could have!”
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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/dp37405"> /u/dp37405 </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/19bewks/first_time_in_vegas/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/19bewks/first_time_in_vegas/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>An elephant is walking through the jungle, and gets a painful splinter in his foot</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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An ant sees the elephant in pain and says “I can pull that splinter out of your foot. But then you have to let me fuck you in the ass”
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</p>
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The elephant is hurting too much to laugh, so he agrees. The ant goes to work on his foot, and gets the splinter out. The ant says, “remember, we have a deal. Now I get to fuck you in the ass”
|
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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The elephant says “a deal is a deal - go ahead”. So the ant climbs up his hind leg, goes under his tail, and starts thrusting away.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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Meanwhile, a monkey in a tree has been watching this whole thing. The monkey grabs a coconut and throws it, hitting the elephant right in the head. The elephant rears up on his hind legs and roars in pain.
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The ant yells, “Take it all, bitch!”
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/edfitz83"> /u/edfitz83 </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/19blkxu/an_elephant_is_walking_through_the_jungle_and/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/19blkxu/an_elephant_is_walking_through_the_jungle_and/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
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