561 lines
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561 lines
71 KiB
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<meta content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0, user-scalable=yes" name="viewport"/>
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<title>24 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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<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>The Dilemma of Gaza’s Christians</strong> - In the wake of two deaths at Holy Family Catholic Church, Palestinian Christians are weighing the costs of speaking out against the Israeli government. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/the-dilemma-of-gazas-christians">link</a></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Sofia Coppola’s Path to Filming Gilded Adolescence</strong> - There are few Hollywood families in which one famous director has spawned another. Coppola says, “It’s not easy for anyone in this business, even though it looks easy for me.” - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/01/29/sofia-coppola-profile">link</a></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>How to Eat a Tire in a Year, by David Sedaris</strong> - Walking and talking with my friend Dawn. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/01/29/how-to-eat-a-tire-in-a-year-david-sedaris">link</a></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Rules for the Ruling Class</strong> - How to thrive in the power élite—while declaring it your enemy. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/01/29/rules-for-the-ruling-class">link</a></p></li>
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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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</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>Fans have officially infiltrated Bravo. Is that a good thing?</strong> -
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<figure>
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<img alt="Whitney Rose, Meredith Marks, Monica Garcia, Andy Cohen, Heather Gay, Lisa Barlow, and Angie Katsanevas standing on set." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/staR0VZA6RNA7wx01I3dgNsEZco=/167x0:2834x2000/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73080597/GettyImages_1898120999.0.jpg"/>
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<figcaption>
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It’s becoming harder to ignore social media on “Housewives” — and it makes for irresistible drama. | Cllifton Prescod/Bravo via Getty
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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 Von Tease bombshell on SLC points to a Bravo fan-pocalypse.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="CwpoY5">
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Earlier this month, <em>The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City</em> hit a major milestone in iconic-ness. During its highly anticipated season four finale — the series’ <a href="https://variety.com/2024/tv/news/the-real-housewives-salt-lake-city-season-4-finale-ratings-1235867014/">highest-rated episode</a> since its premiere in 2020 — fan favorite Heather Gay outed new cast member Monica Garcia as one of the users behind the <a href="https://www.vox.com/instagram-news">Instagram</a> troll account <a href="https://www.instagram.com/realityvontease2/?hl=en"><span class="citation" data-cites="realityvontease2">@realityvontease2</span></a>, which had been targeting the women on the show for years.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="kAc6t6">
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Like a scene straight out of <em>Big Little Lies,</em> Gay delivered this bombshell to her fellow original castmates, Whitney Rose, Lisa Barlow, and Meredith Marks — all dressed in gowns on a windy beach in Bermuda. Later in the episode, the<em> Bad Mormon</em> author performed an Oscar-worthy rant that’s since been <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vUXBZJaPxc">quoted by an actual Oscar winner</a> and a <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2024/01/11/democratic-lawmaker-rhoslc-hunter-biden-donald-trump/72196262007/#:~:text=%E2%80%9CAnd%20what%20do%20we%20have,the%20show's%20recent%20season%20finale.">member of Congress</a>. (Gay also claimed that former castmate and convicted felon Jen Shah was responsible for her <a href="https://people.com/rhoslc-recap-jen-shah-gave-heather-gay-black-eye-season-4-finale-8421152">mysterious black eye</a> last season.) Social media, increasingly accustomed to <a href="https://screenrant.com/real-housewives-beverly-hills-season-9-puppygate-story/">leaks</a> and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/timeline-the-real-housewives-of-beverly-hills-aspen-drama-2022-10">spoilers</a>, had no idea these revelations were coming.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="cHTNNL">
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Overall, Garcia’s unmasking made for an excellent hour of <a href="https://www.vox.com/tv">television</a> — and likely will be lauded as the funniest reunion the franchise has ever seen.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="48aYBg">
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At the same time, <em>RHOSLC</em>’s finale underscored a prominent issue that looms over Bravo in the age of social media: A crucial separation between reality shows and their fan bases has been lost. Audiences have more access to their favorite — and least favorite — reality stars than ever before, through podcasts, through fan events, through a constant drip-drip-drip of leaks from tea accounts on social media. Now a stan has stirred up their own drama as a cast member of a show. What happens to <a href="https://www.vox.com/reality-tv">reality TV</a> as a genre when it becomes this penetrable?
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</p>
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<h3 id="LwwEb1">
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<strong>The fourth wall on Bravo has been obliterated for a while now</strong>
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</h3>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="cVlsq8">
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The rise of social media has given reality TV audiences a great deal of power over the past decade. In the Bravo <a href="https://www.vox.com/internet-culture">fandom</a>, viewers spend an ungodly amount of time on Instagram and on X, the site formerly known as <a href="https://www.vox.com/twitter">Twitter</a>, analyzing storylines <a href="https://images.app.goo.gl/i4z9ZuMCUgGoT3Le8">like Charlie Day</a> in that one <em>It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia</em> GIF. As a result, fans have also become an integral part of the shows they fervently post about.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="FoPFu0">
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On the <em>Real Housewives </em>franchise and other flagship programs, like <em>Vanderpump Rules</em>, you can expect a fair amount of drama to involve the masses of (usually angry or incessantly curious) fans on the internet. As the women have become more and more famous, it’s become harder to ignore the outside noise that’s affected their lives and, occasionally, made for some irresistible drama. In fact, several storylines involving social media chatter are playing out right now.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="EqB5jh">
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On <em>The Real Housewives of Potomac</em>, Robyn Dixon is currently upset with Candiace Dillard Bassett for “weaponizing” social media against her after she hid <a href="https://people.com/rhop-season-8-premiere-recap-robyn-dixon-blasts-juan-dixon-affair-rumors-8384798">a scandal involving her husband</a>, Juan Dixon, during last season’s filming. Meanwhile, on the <em>Miami </em>franchise<em>,</em> viewers are being forced to watch Larsa Pippen and new beau Marcus Jordan, son of NBA legend Michael Jordan, poorly record a podcast, <em>Separation Anxiety</em>, in response to <a href="https://people.com/larsa-pippen-traumatized-michael-jordan-comments-relationship-marcus-jordans-7559518">online criticism</a> of their relationship. (Pippen is 16 years older than Jordan and famously the ex-wife of Michael Jordan’s teammate and former friend Scottie Pippen.)
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="fevcYS">
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Over on<em> Beverly Hills</em>, Kyle Richards seems to be getting pleasure out of indulging in <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@upandadamlive/video/7309208699749272862">TikTok</a> <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@stephwithdadeets/video/7251288618692562222">theories</a> about her romantic life — mainly speculation about whether she’s dating a queer country singer almost half her age.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="yBN8XP">
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Wit social media commentary so often proving too juicy to ignore on Bravo, it’s no wonder the internet has become a supporting character in these franchises, the way New York City is the “fifth character” on <em>Sex and the City</em>. Still, these storylines rarely make for a compelling narrative, simply because viewers know what to expect because they’ve witnessed it on their timelines. Plus, the execution is usually underwhelming. (Look at the past five seasons of <em>RHOBH </em>if you need proof.)
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="IB5RYO">
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Bravo has found ways to use social media to its advantage, the <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/2023/3/7/23629293/vanderpump-rules-tom-sandoval-cheating-raquel-leviss-scandoval">frenzy around “Scandoval”</a> being a primary example. Still, the outsized role of social media has made the existence of a fourth wall increasingly harder to manage.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="RLns7S">
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It’s especially difficult with the media apparatus that surrounds Bravo: press, blogs, podcasts, DeuxMoi, and fan and troll accounts dedicated to dissecting every editing choice and exposing behind-the-scenes tea. If a <em>Real Housewives</em> or <em>Vanderpump Rules</em> star wants to do PR after a rough season, they’ll go to a podcast or even create their own to share the “real” side of the story.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Ck6koy">
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What’s more interesting, though, is how social media users have learned to engage with Bravo because their the network has indulged their reactions. Fans aren’t just commenting on the ridiculous antics or vexing cast members they watch on a weekly basis. In many cases, it seems like they want to participate in the production of the show itself. Monica Garcia’s entry onto <em>RHOSLC</em> is the most extreme example of this.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="GX203q">
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While working as an assistant to Shah, Garcia began exposing the now-felon’s abusive behavior toward her employees and other cruel comments about the cast through posts on <span class="citation" data-cites="realityvontease2">@realityvontease2</span>, which were discussed on the show. Her reporting jumped up a level when she became a witness in the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/jen-shah-sentenced-to-78-months-in-prison-for-fraud-2023-1">FBI case against Shah</a>, detailing her boss’s wire fraud to the feds. Soon after, she became a cast member on the Bravo show herself.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ApffZb">
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Part of this phenomenon is Bravo’s own doing. The cable brand — delivering entertainment “<a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-features/real-housewives-bravo-stars-thrive-cable-downturn-1235648008/">for the people</a>” — has encouraged fan involvement by featuring shady audience questions at reunions and during <em>Watch What Happens Live, </em>the late-night talk show where Bravo mastermind Andy Cohen and guests break down the network’s goings-on multiple nights a week. On that show, producers also poll viewers about whose side they’re on in a <em>Housewives</em> feud or which <em>Summer House </em>member they think is the hottest. And at BravoCon, the network’s annual convention, fans can speak directly to their favorite or most loathed Bravolebrities, often creating <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@devotedly.yours/video/7298154989917097259?lang=en">viral moments</a> in the process.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="EJn88d">
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But in recent years, Bravo lovers (and reality-TV fans in general) have also used their collective voices to challenge executive decision-making and the shows’ casts. Fans have pressured cast members to <a href="https://people.com/kyle-richards-wanted-to-shock-with-dating-women-comment-regrets-putting-spotlight-on-morgan-wade-8425399">address their relationships</a>, <a href="https://variety.com/2023/tv/news/rhony-erin-lichy-explains-trump-stop-the-steal-donation-1235683632/">who they voted for in 2016</a>, and their <a href="https://pagesix.com/2022/01/25/jennie-nguyen-fired-from-rhoslc-after-controversial-posts-surface/">posts on Facebook</a>. In the most severe cases, fan outcry has resulted in <a href="https://variety.com/2020/tv/news/stassi-schroeder-kristen-doute-fired-vanderpump-rules-1234629172/">several</a> <a href="https://pagesix.com/2022/01/25/jennie-nguyen-fired-from-rhoslc-after-controversial-posts-surface/">firings</a> (although the overlords at Bravo probably wouldn’t admit to that).
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="KY0Pcm">
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“We’ve seen a lot of successful mobilization on the internet for good and legitimate causes,” Joan Summers, gossip reporter and co-host of the <em>Eating for Free</em> podcast, tells me.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="mZag69">
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“I think what Bravo fans have realized with social media is that you can control the story now. You can produce from your home the show that you want to see, whether that is trying to whip up people to get cast members fired or trying to double down on stories,” she said.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="dUPN93">
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To be clear, this isn’t so much an observation about “cancel culture” or a “mob mentality” that exists within the fanbase — anyone who’s been fired from Bravo for some offensive wrongdoing has typically deserved to be fired. Rather, it’s fascinating to see how fans have learned to infiltrate and alter this particular medium to their liking. Instead of sitting back and enjoying the chaos as it comes to them, viewers have come to treat reality TV as an interactive format, gamifying the nature of these network-sponsored parasocial relationships.
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</p>
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<h3 id="j9tI8b">
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<strong>Monica’s fourth-wall moment made good TV, but how long can audiences stay entertained?</strong>
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</h3>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="MXmRs4">
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In the case of <em>RHOSLC</em>, Garcia’s social media storyline was genuinely fascinating to observe. For one, there was a refreshing element of surprise. In a rare feat, none of the cast members ran to the press beforehand. Bravo also went above and beyond to make sure the revelation didn’t leak, even <a href="https://www.accessonline.com/articles/whitney-rose-reveals-why-rhoslc-wont-have-a-panel-at-2023-bravocon-exclusive">axing the cast’s panel</a> at BravoCon this year to ensure no one would spill the beans.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="RdyELM">
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Kara Berry, host of the <em>Everyone’s Business but Mine</em> podcast, also credits Garcia for being an enthralling, complex character outside of the revelation that she was just one of the avid stan accounts we scrolled by on our feeds every day.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="mBfYnN">
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“Without the Reality Von Tease reveal, Monica still would have had a stand-out season,” she says. “She was bright, scrappy, willing to admit things like sleeping with her brother-in-law, and had a relationship with a mother that is <em>Salt Lake</em>’s answer to <em>Mommy Dearest</em>.”
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="zbGWxK">
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The revelation in the finale was also a testament to good production and Gay’s oratory skills. It’s typical online hyperbole to call a Bravo monologue “award-worthy.” But Gay’s performance was so convincing that it didn’t matter whether she spent an hour in her bathroom getting the timing of “Receipts! Proof! Timeline!” just right. And once it was clear this would be an iconic moment, the rest of the women rose to the occasion.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="5t3yam">
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At the reunion, it was equally amusing watching Gay and the rest of the cast’s performance be exposed as just that — a performance. In trying to condemn Garcia for her dishonesty and fakeness, the women only underscored the increasingly artificial world of reality TV they all play in. Even host Andy Cohen admitted that there was technically “nothing wrong” with Garcia plotting her way onto the show.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Gq9thX">
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Yes, Garcia has proven to be untrustworthy. But over the course of four seasons, these Housewives have shown themselves to be one of the most calculated and strategic casts on Bravo, often using the gossip mill to their advantage. This was highlighted during the discussion about Gay’s black eye: Cohen gently scolded her for all the deception tactics she used — including suggesting producers harmed her — to conceal Shah as her alleged assailant. By the end of the reunion, Garcia didn’t look <em>so</em> terrible compared to some of her peers.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="XFzuhu">
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Going forward, it’s hard not to see Bravo continuing in this bizarre, meta direction. And I can’t say I won’t oblige. First and foremost, though, it has to be exciting TV.
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</p>
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</p></li>
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<li><strong>Hawaii’s out-of-control, totally bizarre fight over stray cats</strong> -
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<figure>
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<img alt="A battered-looking stray cat lying down in a bare field." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Nv-ipatcYCHo6ZsWKeAF8W2CpVI=/381x0:2664x1712/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73080541/9U3A2122.0.png"/>
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<figcaption>
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Benji Jones/Vox
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</figcaption>
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</figure>
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Stray cats harm wildlife. Should we kill them?
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On a warm day last spring, dozens of protesters gathered outside a shopping center on the west side of Hawaii’s Big Island. They weren’t there to boycott a store or a pipeline or to deride a politician. They came to revolt against a new ban on feeding cats in the parking lot. “Stop starving the cats,” the protesters chanted, according to a <a href="https://bigislandnow.com/2023/04/18/protest-at-big-island-shopping-center-over-state-ordered-removal-of-cat-feeding-stations/">local newspaper</a>.
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The lot outside Queens Marketplace, the shopping center, is home to one of the island’s many colonies of stray, or free-ranging, cats. While there are no formal estimates, experts guess that there are hundreds, if not thousands, of these colonies across Hawaii, each comprising anywhere from a few to more than a hundred felines. Hawaii is, to put it simply, teeming with cats.
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These furry strays are descended from, or are themselves, abandoned pet cats, though they’re not really abandoned. Most of them have at least one “colony manager,” a term you’ll hear in Hawaii and elsewhere for locals who provide groups of free-ranging cats with food, water, and even medical care. Sometimes colony managers (or their friends) will also build feeding stations, like the one pictured below. These are self-described do-gooders, common across the Hawaiian islands, who feed cats that don’t live with them.
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<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/bMoNCEUgvtB-apDEZB11IWO2pUc=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25241969/IMG_1102.JPG"/> <cite>Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources</cite>
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Free-ranging cats lounge in the shade at a feeding station at the Queens Marketplace shopping center.
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Caring for stray cats sounds pretty harmless — sweet, even. What makes it so contentious in Hawaii and in many other parts of the world is that outdoor cats, which are not native to Hawaii, kill local birds and can sicken humans and other animals. Kibble fuels their deadly outings. Researchers <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms2380?WT.mc_id=FBK_NCOMMS#abstract">estimate</a> that free-ranging cats kill between 1.3 and 4 billion birds each year in the continental US. This number doesn’t even include Hawaii, where there are, according to <a href="https://www.mauiforestbirds.org/invasive-small-mammals-on-maui-cats/">various</a> <a href="https://www.civilbeat.org/2016/10/69-percent-of-voters-want-feral-cats-removed-from-hawaii/">estimates</a>, at least tens of thousands of cats — and <a href="https://www.vox.com/down-to-earth/2023/12/14/23990382/extinction-capital-hawaii-endangered-species-act">more endangered species than any other state</a>. In Hawaii, many bird species are on the edge of extinction.
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That’s why Hawaii’s wildlife agency <a href="https://dlnr.hawaii.gov/blog/2023/04/13/nr23-67/">decided to ban cat feeding</a> outside the shopping center last year (the state still allows feeding stray cats in most other areas on the islands, <a href="https://www.staradvertiser.com/2018/12/22/hawaii-news/ige-signs-rules-banning-feeding-feral-cats-at-harbors/#:~:text=The%20new%20rules%20prohibit%20anyone,sharks%2C%20turtles%20and%20other%20creatures.">except at boat harbors</a>). During the protest, <a href="https://dlnr.hawaii.gov/blog/2023/04/19/nr23-72/">two women were cited</a> by state officers for putting bowls of cat food on the ground. The food was not only drawing in cats but attracting a federally threatened goose, known as the nēnē. The geese — which are the state bird of Hawaii and protected by federal law — were eating<strong> </strong>the cat food, exposing them to disease, predation by cats, and potential car collisions, the state said.
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<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/VgEUR7QJ92AFBhOfYtVXtrdmkBc=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25241971/IMG_1104.JPG"/> <cite>Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources</cite>
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A nēnē sits in the shade next to a feeding station.
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“We are lovers of all animals but have a responsibility to protect our native species first and foremost,” Raymond McGuire, a state wildlife biologist, said in a <a href="https://dlnr.hawaii.gov/blog/2023/04/13/nr23-67/">statement</a>.
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The protest at Queens Marketplace inflamed a longstanding tension in Hawaii between cat advocates and ecologists. The advocates want to keep feeding the islands’ colonies, and they blame ecologists for putting the lives of one animal over another. Ecologists, meanwhile, say that is exactly what cat lovers are doing by propagating colonies: When you protect cats, more native species die by their hands (or rather, fangs).
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Bg6Xz4">
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Ultimately, cats are not the problem. It’s the humans who dump them on the street.
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</p>
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<h3 id="fbixo4">
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How deadly is a cat?
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</h3>
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Hawaii, like many islands, is a paradise for non-native species. The weather is warm and, at least historically, the state had a large number of native animals that evolved without predators, leaving them largely defenseless and easy to eat.
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="gVF1rS">
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When cats arrived in the <a href="https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/csp2.179">1700s</a> — on European ships, where they were likely used to kill mice and rats — they had plenty to eat. Their numbers ballooned. When Mark Twain visited Honolulu in 1866, stray cats were already abundant. As he wrote in the Sacramento Union<em> </em>at the time, he saw “tame cats, wild cats, singed cats, individual cats, groups of cats, platoons of cats, companies of cats, regiments of cats, armies of cats, multitudes of cats, millions of cats.”
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="nAzQIM">
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<a href="https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1111&context=usgspubs#:~:text=Domestic%20cats%20(Felis%20catus)%20were,ships%20during%20the%20long%20voyages.">Not long after</a>, it became clear that cats are good at killing things. Although they often seem lazy at home, luxuriating on the couch and only occasionally springing for a shoelace or Ping-Pong ball, house cats are highly skilled predators outdoors. One cat can kill <a href="https://abcbirds.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/CatPredation2011.pdf">a hundred or more</a> animals in a single year.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="qTlzoS">
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State officials in Hawaii <a href="https://dlnr.hawaii.gov/hisc/info/invasive-species-profiles/feral-cats/#:~:text=Feral%20Cats%20are%20wild%2Dliving,to%20Hawai'i%20by%20Europeans.">warn</a> that these animals are “devastating” to native wildlife, preying on everything from small native forest birds to waterfowl. Cats have almost certainly also <a href="https://www.civilbeat.org/2021/06/why-the-pandemic-made-it-harder-to-protect-birds-from-hawaiis-feral-cats/">contributed</a> to the extinction of birds in the state, helping turn Hawaii into the “<a href="https://www.vox.com/down-to-earth/2023/12/14/23990382/extinction-capital-hawaii-endangered-species-act">extinction capital of the world</a>.”
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<div>
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<div class="c-image-grid">
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<div class="c-image-grid__item">
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<figure class="e-image">
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<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/OEPkBkBsjUrJTO5mtiwXZT44upQ=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25241996/Cat_killing__A_o_A_Raine__2_.jpg"/> <cite>Courtesy of André Raine</cite>
|
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<figcaption>
|
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A free-ranging cat with a seabird in its mouth.
|
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</figcaption>
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</figure>
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<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/7tjpVoJXcvjdMWOsLAJ9BcqO9IU=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25241999/Cat_killing__ua_u_A_Raine__2_.jpg"/> <cite>Courtesy of André Raine</cite>
|
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<figcaption>
|
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These shots were captured on cameras placed inside the burrows of seabirds in Kauai.
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André Raine, a seabird expert, has seen the damage that free-ranging cats can do. Much of his work is in remote seabird colonies in Kauai, which are home to the federally endangered ua’u (Hawaiian petrel) and federally threatened a’o (Newell’s shearwater). The birds nest in the ground, making them highly vulnerable to prowling strays. And while a number of other invasive species like rats will eat bird eggs and chicks, cats kill the adults, too, Raine said. That’s much more damaging to the colonies since only a portion of seabirds survive to adulthood even without feline predation.
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“[Cats] are an apex predator,” said Raine, who lives on Kauai, where he’s the science director at the ecological consulting firm Archipelago Research and Conservation. “In areas where you’ve got lots of birds, it’s like ringing a dinner bell. They’re cuing in on scent and sound. The cats are like, ‘Oh, here is a hole in the ground with a meal inside.’”
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A video he shared with Vox, below, shows a free-ranging cat killing an a’o chick and then returning to the burrow to kill its parent, according to Raine. (Warning: This video is somewhat gruesome.)
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<div class="caption">
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Courtesy of André Raine
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="178Qqd">
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Jordan Lerma, a conservation researcher and native Hawaiian, has also come across nēnē with “obvious signs” that they’ve been attacked by a cat, he told Vox. Strays likely kill nēnē chicks more than adults, he said, though these kills are hard to document because cats typically don’t leave a carcass behind.
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Beyond directly killing things, <a href="https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/csp2.179">many</a> stray cats in Hawaii (and elsewhere) carry a parasite called Toxoplasma gondii, which can cause the disease toxoplasmosis. The parasite only reproduces in cats, but it can infect warm-blooded animals, sometimes proving fatal in wildlife. Toxo has killed <a href="https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/resource/outreach-materials/cat-borne-threat-monk-seals#:~:text=Hawaiian%20monk%20seals%20and%20toxoplasmosis%E2%80%94infographic%20and%20frequently%20asked%20questions.&text=Toxoplasmosis%20is%20one%20of%20the,almost%20always%20lethal%20for%20them.">at least a dozen</a> federally endangered Hawaiian monk seals, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The parasite has also been linked to the death of several bird species and even spinner dolphins, <a href="https://dlnr.hawaii.gov/hisc/news/resolution-19-2-keeping-cats-indoors-using-peer-reviewed-science/">according to</a> the state.
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="H299pY">
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Then there’s this whole question of how toxoplasmosis affects human behavior — an area of research that, at times, sounds like science fiction. Some scientists suspect, based on their read of animal and some human studies, that the parasite may alter human minds to make us less fearful of cats. <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26859275/">One study</a> found that chimpanzees, our closest living relatives, lost their aversion to the urine of leopards, the apes’ main non-human predator, if they were infected by the parasite. Other research has linked toxoplasmosis to <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41537-022-00292-2#:~:text=Toxoplasma%20gondii%20is%20a%20neuroinvasive,a%20higher%20prevalence%20in%20schizophrenia.">cognitive decline</a>, <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29068607/">schizophrenia</a>, and other behavioral disorders in humans.
|
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|
|||
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<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/1aq9YFUk3x28GO8C54nNE7gsf9o=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25242030/9U3A1388.png"/> <cite>Benji Jones/Vox</cite>
|
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<figcaption>
|
|||
|
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A nēnē, Hawaii’s state bird, standing in an agricultural field in Kauai.
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="VKz5Ee">
|
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Leaning on this evidence, some ecologists in Hawaii suggest that people who manage cat colonies — who refuse to stop feeding cats — are infected by toxo, which makes them irrationally invested in caring for these animals. This claim remains untested. Colony managers say they just love cats.
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<h3 id="JtIdrX">
|
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The great cat divide
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|
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Free-ranging cats can do serious damage to native wildlife. That’s not controversial. The debate heats up when you start asking what to do about them.
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Many <a href="https://www.vox.com/animal-welfare">animal welfare</a> advocates want to keep feeding them. They claim that, by giving these cats kibble, they’ll have full bellies and be less likely to wander around, hunting down native species, entering buildings, and digging through trash. “They’re less likely to be a problem if you feed them,” said Debbie Cravatta, who runs the KARES pet adoption agency on the Big Island. “Starvation is not the answer.”
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In an effort to rein in cat populations — which people like Cravatta very much want to do; she doesn’t want a world full of outdoor cats — these groups also tend to support a management approach called trap, neuter, return, or TNR. This practice essentially involves fixing stray cats and then putting them back outside, where they’ll no longer be able to breed.<strong> </strong>Feeding stations make it much easier to trap cats. And with enough TNR, the outdoor cat populations should eventually dwindle, these groups say.
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The only reason this hasn’t worked yet, they say, is that there aren’t enough affordable spay and neuter services. “We could be fixing more cats if we had more resources,” said Malia Wisch, a designer in Oahu who works with Pōpoki Place, a nonprofit cat advocacy organization. “Supply [of spay and neuter services] does not meet current demand.”
|
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|
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|
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<figure class="e-image">
|
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<img alt="A black cat sitting on blacktop." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/IcGrZYnzSHFWplXXa8Znq0cXrmU=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25242022/9U3A2127.png"/> <cite>Benji Jones/Vox</cite>
|
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<figcaption>
|
|||
|
|
A free-ranging cat in a colony on the Big Island.
|
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|
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|
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Conservation scientists say that many of these claims are, in a word, bogus. Fed cats <a href="https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ecs2.3737">still hunt</a>, said Raine, who has a pet cat himself. While <a href="https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(20)31896-0">some research</a> suggests that feeding cats food that is higher in meat may reduce the number of wild animals they kill, these animals are instinctive hunters. What’s more is that even if the cat colonies are in urban or suburban areas, they can still do damage to threatened species. That’s the thing about Hawaii: Endangered species are everywhere, not only in reserves but in parking lots and golf courses. What feeding does, ecologists told me, is help sustain these colonies.
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="3SuYPi">
|
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TNR, meanwhile, is largely ineffective, according to Christopher Lepczyk, an ecologist at Auburn University who’s one of the world’s top experts on free-ranging cats. Unless the cat population is fenced in, restricting migration, TNR typically fails to shrink colonies over the long term, <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10530-022-02888-2">research by him and others shows</a>. Plus, outdoor cats tend to have a poor quality of life and live far shorter lives than indoor felines, according to <a href="https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/csp2.13018">additional studies</a>.
|
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For these and other reasons, some animal welfare groups, including PETA, don’t support TNR. “Having witnessed firsthand the gruesome things that can happen to feral cats, we cannot in good conscience advocate trapping and releasing as a humane way to deal with overpopulation,” PETA <a href="https://www.peta.org/about-peta/faq/what-is-petas-stance-on-programs-that-advocate-trapping-spaying-and-neutering-and-releasing-feral-cats/">states</a>. “Then there’s the inconvenient truth that TNR doesn’t even work. On the contrary, it actually encourages <em>more</em> people to abandon their cats because they think the animals will be cared for.”
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Lepczyk and other scientists say that effective control requires a mix of approaches: more adoption, enclosed sanctuaries, and, yes, euthanasia. “If you remove euthanasia from your toolbox, you’re not really going to solve anything,” he said.
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="0ZexhP">
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What’s frustrating, Lepczyk said, is that this reality often doesn’t reach colony managers. Understandably, they don’t want to kill cats. Understandably, it’s harder to choose to kill animals — especially pet-like animals — than to let them live, even if they’re unwell.
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|
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No one actually wants to kill cats, Raine said. Yet, he added, choosing not to kill cats is akin to choosing to kill native species.
|
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</p>
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<div class="c-float-right">
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<div id="0rvh33">
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<div>
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</div>
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</div>
|
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</div>
|
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<h3 id="dHfQjm">
|
|||
|
|
The human problem behind the cat problem
|
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</h3>
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="tsvFIh">
|
|||
|
|
In the weeks after the feeding ban at Queens Marketplace, cat advocates still found ways to feed the animals, Cravatta said. They’d go shopping, she said, and quietly dump kibble from their cars as they pulled out of the parking lot. Many of the resident cats have since been trapped, fixed, and relocated, <a href="https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/01/14/hawaii-news/despite-efforts-feral-cats-still-roam-waikoloa-queens-marketplace/">according to</a> the Tribune-Herald, but a number of them remain.
|
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</p>
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="kijhvX">
|
|||
|
|
The state’s cat crisis is a tough problem with equally tough solutions. It mirrors similar tensions between animal welfare advocates and conservationists the world over. In the West, for example, these two camps have been sparring for decades over what to do with free-ranging horses, which are technically nonnative. It seems impossible to make both groups happy.
|
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|
</p>
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="1tHG9D">
|
|||
|
|
In Hawaii, cat advocates are still pissed at ecologists, accusing them of vilifying cats and fueling <a href="https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2023/07/18/police-searching-suspect-after-pregnant-cat-shot-by-pellet-gun-haleiwa/">violence</a> toward them. Ecologists are annoyed with colony managers for carelessly pushing native species closer to extinction. Meanwhile, both cats and wildlife continue to suffer.
|
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|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<figure class="e-image">
|
|||
|
|
<img alt="Cats in a vacant lot, seen through a chainlink fence." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/xU66MBuEwdV_jk_jjN-22dJXKBk=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25242039/GettyImages_894545968.jpg"/> <cite>Bonnie Jo Mount/Washington Post via Getty Images</cite>
|
|||
|
|
<figcaption>
|
|||
|
|
A colony of free-ranging cats in Maui.
|
|||
|
|
</figcaption>
|
|||
|
|
</figure>
|
|||
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|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="0LXQhZ">
|
|||
|
|
There is, however, a solution that everyone seems to agree on: Get people to stop dumping their pet<strong> </strong>cats on the street. It’s these actions that created the problem in the first place, and they continue to undermine control efforts today, be they TNR or euthanasia. Even if vets spay or euthanize free-ranging cats, more will still get dropped off outdoors.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="d69nma">
|
|||
|
|
In some cases, people can’t afford to spay or neuter their pets. Free services are hard to come by in Hawaii. And if you pay out of pocket, you could be charged as much as $300 per cat, Cravatta said, due in part to a vet shortage.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ndZQLd">
|
|||
|
|
One simple solution, she said, is for the state government to make it easier for licensed vets from other states to practice in Hawaii; vets from the mainland could, for example, come to Hawaii for a few months on vacation and help out pet owners. (As it <a href="https://hawaiivetmed.org/for-veterinarians/hawaii-licensure/#:~:text=Veterinarians%20Already%20Licensed%20in%20Another%20U.S.%20State&text=Submit%20a%20%E2%80%9CVerification%20of%20License,directly%20to%20the%20Hawaii%20Board.">stands today</a>, vets from other states have to take a licensing exam or work under the supervision of a vet licensed to practice in Hawaii.)
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ejkBRq">
|
|||
|
|
More fundamentally, Lepczyk said, is that many people — in Hawaii but really everywhere — simply don’t understand the responsibility of owning a pet, whether it’s a cat, a dog, or an iguana. Fixing cats may be especially costly in Hawaii, but pet ownership is always expensive and full of unexpected costs. “It’s not your right to have a pet,” Lepczyk said. “It’s a privilege.”
|
|||
|
|
</p></li>
|
|||
|
|
<li><strong>A new Supreme Court case threatens to take away your right to protest</strong> -
|
|||
|
|
<figure>
|
|||
|
|
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/RR7kT-H8GC9sW3BrZH3Ytf5bL6c=/309x0:3577x2451/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73080461/545751904.0.jpg"/>
|
|||
|
|
<figcaption>
|
|||
|
|
Baton Rouge police rush a crowd of protesters and start making arrests on July 9, 2016, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. | Photo by Mark Wallheiser/Getty Images
|
|||
|
|
</figcaption>
|
|||
|
|
</figure>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
The Fifth Circuit has spent years harassing a civil rights activist, and they gutted much of the First Amendment in the process.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="dSb1X5">
|
|||
|
|
A renegade federal appeals court — one <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2022/12/27/23496264/supreme-court-fifth-circuit-trump-court-immigration-housing-sexual-harrassment">dominated by MAGA-aligned judges</a> who routinely read the law in ways that even the current, very conservative <a href="https://www.vox.com/scotus">Supreme Court</a> finds untenable — has spent the last half-decade <a href="https://www.vox.com/politics/2023/6/21/23766954/first-amendment-protest-supreme-court-fifth-circuit-deray-mckesson-doe">harassing DeRay Mckesson</a>, a prominent civil rights activist and an organizer within the <a href="https://www.vox.com/race">Black Lives Matter</a> movement
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="2AvxvE">
|
|||
|
|
As part of this crusade, two of the Fifth Circuit’s judges effectively eliminated the First Amendment right to organize a protest in a case known as <a href="https://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub/17/17-30864-CV4.pdf"><em>Doe v. Mckesson</em></a>.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="EPYnHc">
|
|||
|
|
Mckesson’s case has already been up to the Supreme Court once, and the justices strongly hinted in a 2020 opinion that the Fifth Circuit’s attacks on Mckesson’s First Amendment rights should end — labeling this case “<a href="https://www.scotusblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/mckesson-v-doe.pdf">fraught with implications for First Amendment rights</a>.” But the Fifth Circuit did not take the hint, issuing a new opinion last July <a href="https://www.vox.com/politics/2023/6/21/23766954/first-amendment-protest-supreme-court-fifth-circuit-deray-mckesson-doe">reaffirming its attack on First Amendment-protected political protests</a>.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="yk0oGj">
|
|||
|
|
Now the case is before the Supreme Court again, and Mckesson’s lawyers want the justices to <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/23/23-373/284271/20231005143924647_Mckesson%20v%20Doe%20Petition%20for%20a%20Writ%20of%20Certiorari.pdf">restore the First Amendment as fast as they possibly can</a>.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<figure class="e-image">
|
|||
|
|
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/m_tog3dnywU0yHU61dlzEsqMWRc=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25235348/1200262920.jpg"/> <cite>JC Olivera/Getty Images</cite>
|
|||
|
|
<figcaption>
|
|||
|
|
Civil rights activist DeRay Mckesson accepts the Best Political Podcast award for <em>Pod Save the People</em> onstage during the 2020 iHeartRadio Podcast Awards at iHeartRadio Theater on January 17, 2020, in Burbank, California.
|
|||
|
|
</figcaption>
|
|||
|
|
</figure>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="PvYt1Y">
|
|||
|
|
In 2016, Mckesson helped organize a protest near Baton Rouge’s police department building, following the <a href="https://www.vox.com/2016/7/6/12105380/alton-sterling-police-shooting-baton-rouge-louisiana">fatal police shooting of Alton Sterling</a> in that same Louisiana city. At some point during that protest, an unknown individual threw a rock or some other hard object at a police officer, identified in court documents by the pseudonym “Officer John Doe.”
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Wffb21">
|
|||
|
|
Sadly, the object hit Doe and allegedly caused “<a href="https://casetext.com/case/doe-v-mckesson-7">injuries to his teeth, jaw, brain, and head</a>, along with other compensable losses.”
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="pbr9nI">
|
|||
|
|
There is no excuse for throwing a rock at another human being, and whoever did so should be held responsible for their illegal act, including serious criminal charges. But even Judge Jennifer Elrod, the author of the Fifth Circuit’s most recent opinion targeting Mckesson, admits that “<a href="https://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub/17/17-30864-CV4.pdf">it is clear that Mckesson did not throw the heavy object that injured Doe</a>.”
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="AFhP3M">
|
|||
|
|
Nevertheless, Doe sued Mckesson, claiming that, as the organizer of the protest where this injury occurred, Mckesson should be liable for the illegal action of an unidentified protest attendee. But that is simply not how the First Amendment works. The Supreme Court held in <a href="https://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-supreme-court/458/886.html"><em>NAACP v. Claiborne Hardware</em></a> (1982) that “civil liability may not be imposed merely because an individual belonged to a group, some members of which committed acts of violence.”
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ymsbQr">
|
|||
|
|
It should be obvious why protest leaders must not be held legally responsible for the actions of random protest attendees. No one will ever organize a political protest if they know that they could face financially devastating liability if a reckless or violent individual happens to show up.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="DP35eT">
|
|||
|
|
Indeed, as Judge Don Willett, a Fifth Circuit judge who dissented from Elrod’s opinion, pointed out, Elrod’s approach could potentially force protest organizers to pay for “<a href="https://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub/17/17-30864-CV4.pdf">the unlawful acts of counter-protesters and agitators</a>” who show up for the very purpose of undermining the protest organizer’s political goals. Under Elrod’s opinion, Mckesson could be held liable if the unknown rock-thrower turns out to be a member of the Ku Klux Klan who showed up for the very purpose of undermining the Black Lives Matter movement by associating them with violence.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="u9tJbM">
|
|||
|
|
In their petition to the Supreme Court, Mckesson’s attorneys make an audacious ask claiming that Elrod’s “decision is so ‘flatly contrary to this Court’s controlling precedent’ to be <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/23/23-373/284271/20231005143924647_Mckesson%20v%20Doe%20Petition%20for%20a%20Writ%20of%20Certiorari.pdf">appropriate for summary reversal</a>.”
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="xRiAvd">
|
|||
|
|
A “summary reversal” is the judicial equivalent of a spanking. It means that the lower court’s decision was so erroneous that the justices decided to skip a full briefing or an oral argument in a case, and issue a permanent order overturning that lower court’s decision.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="KUyjlS">
|
|||
|
|
This process is rarely used, and it is distinct from the temporary orders the Court frequently hands down on its so-called <a href="https://www.vox.com/2020/8/11/21356913/supreme-court-shadow-docket-jail-asylum-covid-immigrants-sonia-sotomayor-barnes-ahlman">shadow docket</a>. The Supreme Court <a href="https://www.vox.com/2022/3/23/22993107/supreme-court-wisconsin-race-gerrymander-voting-rights-act-legislature-elections-commission">typically requires six justices to agree</a> before summarily reversing another court’s decision.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="fOXDxd">
|
|||
|
|
Nevertheless, such a spanking is warranted in this case. Elrod’s opinion flouts exceedingly well-established First Amendment law. And it does so in a way that would make organized mass protests impossible, because anyone who tried to organize one would risk bankruptcy.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<h3 id="QXwwdZ">
|
|||
|
|
The Fifth Circuit’s <em>Mckesson </em>decision openly defies the First Amendment and the Supreme Court
|
|||
|
|
</h3>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="eXzvZU">
|
|||
|
|
To understand just how ridiculous Elrod’s decision is, and how egregiously she defies the Supreme Court’s caselaw, it’s helpful to start with the <a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/458/886/">facts of the <em>Claiborne</em> case</a>.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="q0IPLk">
|
|||
|
|
Like <em>Mckesson</em>, <em>Claiborne</em> involved a civil rights activist who organized a protest that allegedly included some violent individuals. In 1966, Charles Evers was the field secretary of the Mississippi chapter of the NAACP. In that role, he was the principal organizer of a boycott against white merchants in Claiborne County.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="3alQuV">
|
|||
|
|
The Mississippi Supreme Court claimed that some of the individuals who joined this boycott also “engaged in acts of physical force and violence against the persons and property of certain customers and prospective customers” of these white businesses. Evers, meanwhile, allegedly did far more to encourage violence than DeRay Mckesson is accused of in his case. He allegedly gave a speech to potential customers at these stores, where he said that “<a href="https://caselaw.findlaw.com/court/us-supreme-court/458/886.html">if we catch any of you going in any of them racist stores, we’re gonna break your damn neck</a>.”
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="zAto0Y">
|
|||
|
|
The Supreme Court nonetheless held that this “emotionally charged rhetoric … did not transcend the bounds of protected speech.” <em>Claiborne</em> also warned that courts must show “extreme care” before imposing liability on a political figure of any kind.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="VitxRh">
|
|||
|
|
That said, the Court’s decision also listed <a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/458/886/">three limited circumstances</a> when a protest leader may be held liable for the violent actions of a protest participant:
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<blockquote>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="BUnZoH">
|
|||
|
|
There are three separate theories that might justify holding Evers liable for the unlawful conduct of others. First, a finding that he authorized, directed, or ratified specific tortious activity would justify holding him responsible for the consequences of that activity. Second, a finding that his public speeches were likely to incite lawless action could justify holding him liable for unlawful conduct that in fact followed within a reasonable period. Third, the speeches might be taken as evidence that Evers gave other specific instructions to carry out violent acts or threats.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
</blockquote>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="LRFMBZ">
|
|||
|
|
None of these circumstances are present <em>Mckesson</em>. To the contrary, the Fifth Circuit <a href="https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/5977762/4-24-19-5th-Circuit-Doe-v-McKesson.pdf">admitted in an earlier decision in this very case</a> that Officer Doe “has not pled facts that would allow a jury to conclude that Mckesson colluded with the unknown assailant to attack Officer Doe, knew of the attack and ratified it, or agreed with other named persons that attacking the police was one of the goals of the demonstration.”
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="lEhXMp">
|
|||
|
|
So how on earth did Elrod arrive at the conclusion that Mckesson could be held liable for the actions of an unknown protest attendee? For starters, she claimed that <a href="https://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub/17/17-30864-CV4.pdf">her court could just add new items to the list</a> of three circumstances that could justify such liability in her <em>Mckesson </em>opinion. According to Elrod, “nothing in <em>Claiborne</em> suggests that the three theories identified above are the only proper bases for imposing tort liability on a protest leader.”
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="cy62G0">
|
|||
|
|
This is, to put it mildly, a very unusual way to read a Supreme Court opinion that held that threats to break someone’s neck can be First Amendment-protected speech, which calls for “extreme care” before targeting protest organizers, and which laid out only three very specific circumstances that “might justify” an exception. Elrod cites no other court decision that has ever read <em>Claiborne</em> in such a counterintuitive way.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="fBE0FM">
|
|||
|
|
Then, after giving herself the power to invent new exceptions to the First Amendment, Elrod writes that this amendment does not apply “where a defendant creates unreasonably dangerous conditions, and where his creation of those conditions causes a plaintiff to sustain injuries.”
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ymdJP8">
|
|||
|
|
And what are the “dangerous conditions” created by Mckesson? Mckesson “organized the protest to begin in front of the police station, obstructing access to the building.” He did not “dissuade” protesters who allegedly stole water bottles from a grocery store. And he “led the assembled protest onto a public highway, in violation of Louisiana criminal law.”
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Vndaxs">
|
|||
|
|
Seriously, she said that the First Amendment begins to fade the minute a protest occupies a street.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<figure class="e-image">
|
|||
|
|
<img alt="The kings lead marchers in a black-and-white photo." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/X-qgckYabznc-nQkGQJ_NfNlt5k=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25235343/51240107.jpg"/> <cite>William Lovelace/Getty Images</cite>
|
|||
|
|
<figcaption>
|
|||
|
|
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King lead marchers in “unreasonably dangerous activity,” according to Jennifer Elrod.
|
|||
|
|
</figcaption>
|
|||
|
|
</figure>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="j4gr0g">
|
|||
|
|
It’s hard to imagine a more lawless, unpersuasive, and historically ignorant decision than the one Elrod put her name on in the <em>Mckesson</em> case. And if the Supreme Court can’t find the votes to reverse that decision, the right to engage in mass protest will become meaningless.
|
|||
|
|
</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>We need players with confidence in front of goal: Stimac after India’s Asian Cup exit</strong> - India lost all their three group matches and conceded six goals in the Asian Cup tournament, the worst in all the five editions the country had participated</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>Siraj’s warning: If England play Bazball, the match might get over within two days</strong> - ‘Bazball’ coined after Test team head coach Brendon McCullum, gave England tremendous success last year</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>Australian Open | Gutsy Medvedev outlasts Hurkacz to reach semis</strong> - The Russian, twice a losing finalist at Melbourne Park, went toe-to-toe with the big Pole for almost four energy-sapping hours on Rod Laver Arena</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>Mitchell Marsh to captain Australia for Windies T20 series, Pat Cummins rested</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>Qualifier Dayana Yastremska beats Linda Noskova to book Melbourne semi-final spot</strong> - Dayana Yastremska creates history to become the first women’s qualifier to reach the last four in Melbourne since 1978</p></li>
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</ul>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-the-hindu-national-news">From The Hindu: National News</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>4 arrested in connection with Ambedkar statue desecration in Kalaburagi</strong> - When asked about the protests that followed, and the consequent damage to public property, Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister Priyank Kharge said that action would be taken against them too</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>Punjab CM Mann reiterates solo foray in Punjab for 2024 Lok Sabha election</strong> - Mann said that around 40 names of probable candidates for the 13 Parliamentary seats have come up after the party recently held deliberations on the election</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>Gauhati High Court asks Assam government to explain its socio-economic survey of indigenous Muslims</strong> - The petition says the mixing of ethnic identity with religion is unconstitutional</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>Congress Govt approached retired IAS Murali, former IPS Praveen Kumar before selecting ex-DGP Mahender Reddy for TSPSC chief post</strong> - Former DGP Mahender Reddy chosen among 50 applicants</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>Present UNSC does not reflect today’s reality: UNGA President</strong> -</p></li>
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</ul>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-bbc-europe">From BBC: Europe</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>Russian jet crashes carrying Ukrainian PoWs - Moscow</strong> - A Russian transport plane with 65 Ukrainians onboard crashes in a region bordering Ukraine, says Russia.</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>Turkey parliament backs Sweden’s Nato membership</strong> - Sweden applied to join Nato in 2022 after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.</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>French protests: Female farmer and daughter killed as car hits French protesters</strong> - As French farmers expand their protests, a car crashes into a roadblock on a road south of Toulouse.</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>Ukrainian-born model winning Miss Japan re-ignites identity debate</strong> - A beauty queen has once again re-ignited a debate on what it means to be Japanese.</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>Spanish triple murder linked to online romance scam</strong> - Police say the motive appeared to be a debt linked to two sisters getting caught up in the scam.</p></li>
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</ul>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-ars-technica">From Ars Technica</h1>
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<ul>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Mass exploitation of Ivanti VPNs is infecting networks around the globe</strong> - Orgs that haven’t acted yet should, even if it means suspending VPN services. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1998442">link</a></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Sierra Space is blowing up stuff to prove inflatable habitats are safe</strong> - “We are well on our way to having our habitats ready for launch in 2026.” - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1998174">link</a></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The White House has its own pharmacy—and, boy, was it shady under Trump</strong> - It wasted $750K during the Trump years and freely handed out Ambien and Provigil. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1998430">link</a></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A “robot” should be chemical, not steel, argues man who coined the word</strong> - Čapek: “The world needed mechanical robots, for it believes in machines more than it believes in life.” - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1998255">link</a></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Patreon: Blocking platforms from sharing user video data is unconstitutional</strong> - The 1980s law is considered one of the country’s strongest privacy protections. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1998335">link</a></p></li>
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</ul>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-jokes-subreddit">From Jokes Subreddit</h1>
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<ul>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Meanwhile, at the Hall of Justice, the Justice League meets to discuss their plan to defeat the evil Count Dracula.</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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Wonder Woman says, “The problem is, we don’t know where Dracula could be hiding! He moves around so much, we’ll never find him!”
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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“I’ve been tracking his appearances for the past 72 hours,” Batman replies, “and based on his movements so far, I have good reason to believe he’ll be at the local cemetery, hiding in the crypt tonight.”
|
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</p>
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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“Guys, I think I’ll sit this one out,” says Superman.
|
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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/Meatslinger"> /u/Meatslinger </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/19dxcat/meanwhile_at_the_hall_of_justice_the_justice/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/19dxcat/meanwhile_at_the_hall_of_justice_the_justice/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>How many Brexiteers does it take to change a light bulb?</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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One to promise a brighter future and the rest to screw it up.
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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/Orn46777"> /u/Orn46777 </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/19edama/how_many_brexiteers_does_it_take_to_change_a/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/19edama/how_many_brexiteers_does_it_take_to_change_a/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Holiday Stress</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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An elderly couple was flying to Hawaii for a two-week vacation to celebrate their 50th anniversary.
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</p>
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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Suddenly, over the public address system, the captain announces, “Ladies and gentlemen, I am afraid I have some very bad news. Our engines have ceased functioning and we will attempt an emergency landing. Luckily, I see an uncharted island below us and we should be able to land on the beach. However, the odds are that we may never be rescued and will have to live on the island for the rest of our lives.”
|
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</p>
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
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Thanks to the skill of the flight crew, the plane lands safely on the island.
|
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</p>
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
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An hour later, the husband turns to his wife and asks, “Honey, did we pay the car bill this month?”
|
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</p>
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
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|
“No, sweetheart,” she responds.
|
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</p>
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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Still shaken from the crash landing, he then asks, “Did we pay our credit card bill yet?”
|
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</p>
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
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|
“Oh no! I’m sorry. I forgot to send the check,” she says.
|
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</p>
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
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|
|
“One last thing, did you remember to pay the medical bill for the hospital visit last month?” he asks.
|
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|
|
</p>
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
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“Oh, forgive me, sweetheart,” begged the wife. “I didn’t send that one, either.”
|
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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 husband grabs her and gives her the biggest hug in 50 years. She pulls away and asks him, “What was the hug for?”
|
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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 husband answers, “They’ll find us!”
|
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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/DocRogue2407"> /u/DocRogue2407 </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/19e025a/holiday_stress/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/19e025a/holiday_stress/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A woman goes into labor</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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She rushes to the hospital. When the nurse puts her into position, the baby pops his head out of the vagina and asks the nurse “are you my father?” The nurse surprised, gasps and runs off to get the doctor.<br/> The doctor comes and the baby pops his head out of the vagina and asks the doctor “are you my father?” The doctor surprised, gasps and tells the nurse to get the father of the baby. As the father arrives, the doctor pulls the baby out of the laboring woman and places him in the dad’s arms. The baby asks “are you my father?” The dad was super excited and shouts “yes yes I am your father!!!”
|
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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 baby jams his finger into the dad’s eye repeatedly over and over again and shouts “how do you like that? Huh huh huh huh huh???”
|
|||
|
|
</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/OverallVacation2324"> /u/OverallVacation2324 </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/19dzz3k/a_woman_goes_into_labor/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/19dzz3k/a_woman_goes_into_labor/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
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|
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Yo Mama so fat, when she breaks a plate…</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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|
|
It’s usually of the tectonic variety.
|
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|
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</p>
|
|||
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</div>
|
|||
|
|
<!-- 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/Orn46777"> /u/Orn46777 </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/19dxn39/yo_mama_so_fat_when_she_breaks_a_plate/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/19dxn39/yo_mama_so_fat_when_she_breaks_a_plate/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
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</ul>
|
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