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447 lines
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<meta content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0, user-scalable=yes" name="viewport"/>
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<title>10 April, 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>Watching the Eclipse from the Highest Mountain in Vermont</strong> - People cracked cans of beer and smoked cannabis and popped mushroom gummies and ate smoked-meat sandwiches as totality approached at fifteen hundred miles per hour. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/dispatch/watching-the-eclipse-from-the-highest-mountain-in-vermont">link</a></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Jessica Tisch, the Ex-N.Y.P.D. Official Trying to Tame New York’s Trash</strong> - The city has lived in filth for decades. Can Jessica Tisch, a scion of one of the country’s richest families, finally clean up the streets? - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/04/15/the-ex-nypd-official-trying-to-tame-new-yorks-trash">link</a></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Maggie Rogers’s Journey from Viral Fame to Religious Studies</strong> - The singer-songwriter’s sudden celebrity made her a kind of minister without training. So she went and got some. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/04/15/maggie-rogers-profile">link</a></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Battling Under a Canopy of Russian and Ukrainian Drones</strong> - The commander of one of Ukraine’s most skilled units sent his men on a dangerous mission that required them to elude a swarm of aerial threats. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/04/15/battling-under-a-canopy-of-drones">link</a></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Park Chan-wook Gets the Picture He Wants</strong> - With “The Sympathizer,” the director of “Oldboy” and “The Handmaiden” comes to American television. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/04/15/park-chan-wook-profile">link</a></p></li>
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</ul>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-vox">From Vox</h1>
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<ul>
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<li><strong>The rise of the scammy car loan</strong> -
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<figure>
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<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/UJ0Fa-jiRN94m28m9RYqFmkbb4s=/333x0:3000x2000/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73268641/GettyImages_1187783682.0.jpg"/>
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<figcaption>
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The 2021 Chevrolet Tahoe is revealed by General Motors. | Bill Pugliano/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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How much is too much to pay for a car?
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="K7Bmtk">
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A few weeks ago, a <a href="https://www.vox.com/tiktok">TikTok</a> user named Blaisey Arnold posted a video about her Chevy Tahoe.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="diZKYD">
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“After three years with my Tahoe, I’m finally getting rid of it,” Arnold <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@theblaiseyarnold/video/7345840612819815726?lang=en">said</a>. It was her dream car, and she’d taken out a loan for the $84,000 — yes, <a href="https://www.morningstar.com/news/marketwatch/2024040979/a-1400-suv-payment-a-1600-truck-payment-sounds-absurd-but-its-becoming-more-common">you read that right</a>, $84,000 — vehicle. Since then, she’d been paying $1,400 a month for the last three years, totaling about $50,000. But because of her high interest rate, only $10,000 of that money went toward paying off the balance of the car. “Honestly, that blows my mind,” she said.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="NjNQUZ">
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It blew her viewers’ minds, too.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="NQmlU1">
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“The math isn’t mathing,” one commenter wrote. “Seriously, what is your interest rate???????” asked another. The video currently has about 2.5 million views. The situation was so untenable that <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@theblaiseyarnold/video/7347109466174754094?lang=en">Arnold joked</a> in a follow-up video that she was considering leaving the Tahoe in a “bad part of town,” hiring the mob, or (more seriously) defaulting and letting it get repossessed.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="F1QxoX">
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There’s a lot we can’t know about her situation, without looking at her finances and the terms of her loans. But she’s not the only one shelling out huge amounts of cash for a fancy car: Other women have also been <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@_.jackie_.13/video/7345623885875907883?_r=1&_t=8lMn8QoMi3H">sharing</a> the <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@juliabroome/video/7335620274303323423?_r=1&_t=8lMn5CukHN4">details</a> of their <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@juliaxdanielle/video/7342951878981864746?_r=1&_t=8lMmu2PUP1i">major</a> monthly <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@brii.acastillo/video/7337406552053206314?_r=1&_t=8lMmvBBaT18">car payments</a> on <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@sidneymariecarter/video/7344008873029815594?_r=1&_t=8lMnGQk8NGE">TikTok</a>.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="DDPCKx">
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Still, the online reactions seem to unite around a central theme: Arnold messed up big time by taking out a loans at a terrible rate. Defaulting and letting her car get <a href="https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/what-happens-if-i-default-on-my-car-loan">repossessed,</a> as she seems to be considering, will wreak havoc on her credit.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="gFHuCD">
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You could argue that Arnold’s decisions were irresponsible (and I really don’t recommend paying what amounts to a mortgage on a car) but it’s worth looking beyond this one wacky example at the larger structural forces that make car ownership such a necessary burden – and, at times, such an unnecessary scam.
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</p>
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<h3 id="fKwr6q">
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Car ownership has gotten very expensive — but opting out can be difficult
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</h3>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="EO0yxI">
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In a society built almost entirely around the <a href="https://www.vox.com/23178764/florida-us19-deadliest-pedestrian-fatality-crisis">supremacy of cars</a> as a means of <a href="https://www.vox.com/transportation">transportation</a>, most working-age adults seem to consider owning one necessary.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="hTSijh">
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According to the 2021 Census, nearly <a href="https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDP5Y2021.DP04?hidePreview=true">92 percent of American households</a> had at least one vehicle, and the benefits of owning a car in a landscape built for them are so great that research suggests people will <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0739456X18823252">go out of their way to get one</a> even if they can’t really afford it.
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</p>
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<aside id="T71P5L">
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</div>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="omioHu">
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In the last few years, the costs around car ownership <a href="https://www.vox.com/23753949/cars-cost-ownership-economy-repossession">have soared</a>, placing tremendous burdens on working class families and the poor.
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="r7ZYIg">
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The pandemic <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-06-30/car-prices-are-starting-to-ease-as-pandemic-supply-chain-issues-fade?sref=qYiz2hd0">disrupted supply chains</a>, manufacturers <a href="https://www.politico.eu/article/automaker-earn-make-fewer-car/">turned their attention toward expensive luxury vehicles</a>, and <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/23354658/federal-reserve-interest-rate-increase">interest rates soared</a>. New cars are now unaffordable for <a href="https://jalopnik.com/more-than-80-percent-of-americans-can-t-afford-new-cars-1850906956">more than 80 percent of Americans</a>. Used car prices are <a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/news/car-market-fundamentally-broken-130000935.html">up 34 percent</a> from early 2020, too. On top of that, auto insurance rates have reached <a href="https://www.vox.com/2024/2/21/24078362/inflation-car-insurance-distracted-driving-costs">mind-boggling heights</a>.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="GvPWaa">
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Owning a car is also much more than just a practical necessity: For a lot of people, it’s an outward symbol of prosperity, freedom, and even <a href="https://www.vox.com/2016/9/9/12843120/rolling-coal-government-overreach">political ideology</a>.
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</p>
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<h3 id="mFA8P9">
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Car buyers are really vulnerable to exploitation — especially if they’re low-income
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</h3>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="vo6ieG">
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Cars are really expensive in America right now. But some car payments are astronomically — indeed, exploitatively — high.<strong> </strong>
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="0eAEvd">
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To give one example: In their 2023 book, <a href="https://www.orbooks.com/catalog/cars-and-jails/"><em>Cars and Jails: Freedom Dreams, Debt and Carcerality</em></a>, authors Julie Livingston and Andrew Ross spoke with men recently released from prison who found that their credit histories prevented them from getting reasonable loans at affordable interest rates.
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</p>
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<figure class="e-image">
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<img alt="Older cars drive along a street lined with people." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/sTFA18XD5rcKF4Cscc1njzWxnC0=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25382593/GettyImages_1258597852.jpg"/> <cite>Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images</cite>
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<figcaption>
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Classic cars during a parade in San Francisco.
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</figcaption>
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</figure>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="MtMqoL">
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“A lot of people we were interviewing were driving pretty fancy cars. We were stroking our chins, going: ‘How did you afford that?’ It turned out that some of them were walking into dealerships and being told they couldn’t get financing for the Hondas they wanted, but could for a top-of-the-line Mercedes,” <a href="https://www.vox.com/23735896/racism-car-ownership-driving-violence-traffic-violations">Ross told Vox</a> last year.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="QvSUOr">
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“Why would a lender and dealer do that? Because they know they’re going to be able to repossess the car quickly.”
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="WwOWPg">
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It’s not just formerly incarcerated people who are vulnerable.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="sker5h">
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A 2021 <a href="https://www.consumerreports.org/money/car-financing/how-loophole-ridden-auto-lending-laws-harm-consumers-a3113489289/">Consumer Reports investigation</a> found that the lack of a federal interest rate limit, combined with a complicated patchwork of state laws, leaves consumers vulnerable to being preyed upon by shady lenders.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="oZFbCu">
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The investigation begins with an anecdote about a man who received disability payments from the Social Security Administration; he received a loan for a Jaguar with an astonishing annual percentage rate of 75 percent. “I don’t know APRs, I don’t know nothing about that,” the man told Consumer Reports. “I’m just trying to go in there and get the car.”
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="1VdGRm">
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In another piece, <a href="https://www.consumerreports.org/money/car-financing/the-big-business-of-bad-car-loans-a2181686536/">the publication found</a> that lenders and dealers often lent money to people with poor credit, sometimes at higher rates, with the aim of collecting the high interest and repossessing the vehicles when people defaulted on their loans.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="0Hn8oB">
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There is some hope that things will get better. A few states have started to address the problem of hidden fees and predatory loans. At the end of 2023, the Federal Trade Commission <a href="https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2023/12/ftc-announces-cars-rule-fight-scams-vehicle-shopping">announced a new rule</a> aimed at cracking down on a slew of deceptive auto lending and sales practices. (It takes effect at the end of July 2024.)
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="JygXJu">
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Meanwhile, auto debt reached a <a href="https://www.newyorkfed.org/microeconomics/hhdc">record-high $1.61 trillion</a> last year, and that debt is, of course, most onerous for the people who can least afford to pay.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="1XJidO">
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Understanding how auto loans work — as Blaisey Arnold’s critics point out — is necessary, but it’s insufficient. Going after the lenders who prey on people who need cars to survive, and who often don’t realize they’re getting a bad deal, is paramount.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="4yQLw5">
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<em>This story appeared originally in </em><a href="https://www.vox.com/today-explained-podcast"><em><strong>Today, Explained</strong></em></a><em>, Vox’s flagship daily newsletter. </em><a href="https://www.vox.com/pages/today-explained-newsletter-signup"><em><strong>Sign up here for future editions</strong></em></a><em>.</em>
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</p></li>
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<li><strong>How DC’s Metro lured riders back</strong> -
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<figure>
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<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ys2V5-NDaYKxrfNGfShlTIzvXkw=/446x0:7567x5341/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73268620/GettyImages_1973346373.0.jpg"/>
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<figcaption>
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A DC Metro transit train pulls into the Rosslyn Station in January. | J. David Ake/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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What other cities can learn from DC’s transit recovery.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="GRKZn0">
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If the United States had a public transit problem, Washington’s Metro was a good case in point. In the years leading up to the <a href="https://www.vox.com/coronavirus-covid19">Covid-19 pandemic</a>, DC’s transit system — widely considered to be one of the best in the nation — found itself plagued by frequent delays, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/trafficandcommuting/metro-offers-defense-on-recent-safety-issues/2018/03/08/e3b8f1d8-2309-11e8-86f6-54bfff693d2b_story.html">safety concerns</a>, and <a href="https://www.wmata.com/initiatives/ridership-portal/upload/2017_historical_rail_ridership.pdf">falling ridership</a>.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Av3c3Q">
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Other US cities were struggling, too. America’s public transit agencies often fall victim to <a href="https://cee.utk.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/15/2021/05/TR-News-Brakewood.pdf">a vicious cycle</a> that looks something like this: Politicians slash budgets, agencies cut their services, riders look for alternative ways to get around town, and fare revenues take a hit — eventually leading to even more cuts, fewer riders, and so on.
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</p>
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Over the last couple of years, despite being bogged down by <a href="https://dcist.com/story/23/02/28/metro-will-spend-55-million-take-three-years-to-fix-7000-series-trains/">some safety issues</a>, DC has tried to break out of that cycle. Flush with cash from federal pandemic aid, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transportation Authority (WMATA) doubled down on an “if you build it, they will come” strategy. It improved bus and train services and, in some cases, <a href="https://dcist.com/story/23/06/05/new-metro-fare-for-low-income-riders/">made fares more affordable</a> in order to lure riders back. While other transit agencies took similar approaches — including <a href="https://www.boston.gov/news/free-fares-bus-routes-23-28-and-29-extended-two-more-years">reduced fares</a> for riders or <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/boston/news/mbta-bus-driver-jobs-hiring-apply-bonus/">handing out signing bonuses</a> to hire more workers — many still <a href="https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/02/24/metro/short-dispatchers-operators-trains-mbta-says-subway-service-cuts-continue/">imposed service cuts</a> rather than <a href="https://chi.streetsblog.org/2023/10/06/from-bad-to-worse-unpacking-the-ctas-latest-schedule-changes-effective-october-8th">expansions</a>.
|
|||
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|
</p>
|
|||
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|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="suGEBA">
|
|||
|
|
<a href="https://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/2023-11/Surmounting%20the%20Fiscal%20Cliff.pdf">WMATA’s strategy</a> has been successful so far: In February, ridership across the system was <a href="https://www.wmata.com/initiatives/ridership-portal/upload/February-2024-Ridership-Snapshot.pdf">at 83 percent</a> of pre-pandemic levels, and DC has now seen a <a href="https://ggwash.org/view/90163/soaring-ridership-leads-transit-recovery-in-us">faster transit recovery</a> than <a href="https://twitter.com/yfreemark/status/1766211252810916211/photo/1">any other major metro area</a> with a comparable public <a href="https://www.vox.com/transportation">transportation</a> network.
|
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</p>
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="yxUZUA">
|
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|
“It’s a risky approach, because it means they’ve spent more money more quickly,” said <a href="https://www.urban.org/author/yonah-freemark#:~:text=Yonah%20Freemark%20is%20a%20principal,housing%2C%20transportation%2C%20and%20governance.">Yonah Freemark</a>, a researcher at the Urban Institute who often focuses on transportation policy. “At the same time, the process has paid dividends.”
|
|||
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|
</p>
|
|||
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|
<h3 id="j6m3St">
|
|||
|
|
For transit agencies like DC’s Metro, Covid relief funds created a new paradigm
|
|||
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|
</h3>
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="HqpeXo">
|
|||
|
|
Fares alone never cut it. In 2019, for example, fare revenue covered <a href="https://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/2023-11/Surmounting%20the%20Fiscal%20Cliff.pdf">less than a quarter</a> of the operating costs of the country’s 100 largest transit agencies — nowhere near enough to keep the trains running. And that was before the pandemic.
|
|||
|
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</p>
|
|||
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="aoRjUP">
|
|||
|
|
“Transit is not a money-making endeavor,” said <a href="https://transitmatters.org/team-index/2020/1/11/jarred-johnson">Jarred Johnson</a>, executive director of TransitMatters, a public transportation advocacy group in Massachusetts. “There’s really very, very few places in the world where transit makes money, and where it does, driving is extraordinarily expensive.”
|
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</p>
|
|||
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="PtYIph">
|
|||
|
|
That’s why federal Covid relief money was so transformational for agencies like WMATA. It freed them from worrying about revenue — at least in the short term — and gave them the ability to focus on providing a good and affordable service. Had there been no federal aid, DC’s transit agency wouldn’t have been able to invest in hiring staff, improving train and bus frequency, or reducing costs for riders. And ridership would likely be nowhere near where it is today.
|
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</p>
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="M5pF0V">
|
|||
|
|
Despite this obvious lesson, transportation agencies across the country will still have to overcome a deep-rooted culture in government that deprioritizes transit, dating back to Ronald Reagan and his crusade against welfare and public services. In 1979, President Jimmy Carter <a href="https://archive.curbed.com/2018/11/20/18103459/transportation-mass-transit-funding">proposed a $50 billion</a> spending plan to “reclaim and revitalize America’s transit systems.” But “that initiative fell apart during the Reagan years due to austerity politics,” Freemark said.
|
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</p>
|
|||
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="TDMhVo">
|
|||
|
|
The Reagan administration swiftly abandoned Carter’s idea and cut transit funding by over 30 percent. During those years, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1986/01/05/us/reagan-seeks-cut-of-40-in-funds-for-mass-transit.html">the idea</a> of meaningfully subsidizing public transit was under attack. David Stockman, Reagan’s first director of the Office of Management and Budget, for example, <a href="https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/highwayhistory/reagan_staa.cfm">considered subsidies</a> for transit agencies’ operating costs a “special abomination.”
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="IoBW8f">
|
|||
|
|
Since then, the federal government has largely steered clear of subsidizing operating costs of public transit, particularly in large urban areas, and has focused its money mostly on capital improvement projects. So instead of cobbling together funds for necessities like hiring more bus drivers to provide more frequent service, cities end up spending hundreds of millions of dollars on splashy <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/trafficandcommuting/how-dc-spent-200-million-over-a-decade-on-a-streetcar-you-still-cant-ride/2015/12/05/3c8a51c6-8d48-11e5-acff-673ae92ddd2b_story.html">projects like an isolated streetcar line</a> that comparatively serves very few people.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="69m8P9">
|
|||
|
|
Covid funds changed all of that. Through the various relief packages, the federal government injected $14 billion into transit agencies to make up for lost revenue and pay for day-to-day operations. Agencies like WMATA showed Americans just how much federal subsidies can achieve when they are directed toward operational costs: In 2023, Metro announced that it would <a href="https://www.wmata.com/about/news/FY25-Bus-and-rail-service-improvements.cfm">run more train service</a> than at any point in its history.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<h3 id="eQ5nFT">
|
|||
|
|
Transit shouldn’t just prioritize 9-to-5 commuters
|
|||
|
|
</h3>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="EI3BVH">
|
|||
|
|
One of <a href="https://www.vox.com/joe-biden">President Joe Biden</a>’s successes has been getting <a href="https://www.transit.dot.gov/BIL#:~:text=The%20Bipartisan%20Infrastructure%20Law%2C%20as,transportation%20in%20the%20nation%27s%20history.">the federal government to invest</a> in America’s infrastructure. The Federal Transit Administration, for example, <a href="https://www.transit.dot.gov/BIL#:~:text=The%20Bipartisan%20Infrastructure%20Law%2C%20as,transportation%20in%20the%20nation%27s%20history.">says</a> the bipartisan infrastructure law is the “largest federal investment in public transportation in the nation’s history.”
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="tQueIt">
|
|||
|
|
Still, throwing more money at America’s public transit problem alone isn’t going to fix it. Transit agencies and elected officials also have to embrace a different culture around public transit and reimagine the purpose it serves.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="HHkUO0">
|
|||
|
|
Historically, transit networks have been designed around a 9-to-5 work schedule, shuttling people from residential areas into downtowns and back. With <a href="https://www.vox.com/remote-work">remote work</a> sticking around, it’s unlikely that 9-to-5 commuters will fully return to pre-pandemic levels anytime soon. If transit agencies hope to bring in new riders, they have to start catering more deliberately to nonwork commuters.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="zRef6p">
|
|||
|
|
“We have to move away from transit serving work trips,” Johnson said. “Transit needs to be useful for doctor’s visits, for going to see friends and family, for going to a play.” In order to get there, Johnson says transit agencies have to provide better schedules throughout the day, not just during rush hours, and to rethink when they schedule repair work.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="e9rOYJ">
|
|||
|
|
It also means getting creative with pricing. WMATA <a href="https://dcist.com/story/21/08/17/metro-rolls-out-lower-weekend-fare-and-increased-service/">reduced fares on weekends</a>, added more service during off-peak hours, and discounted passes for seniors, people with disabilities, and low-income riders. According to the Brookings Institution, off-peak and weekend ridership in Washington, DC, <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/articles/ensuring-the-intertwined-post-pandemic-recoveries-of-downtowns-and-transit-systems/">has seen a better recovery</a> than rush-hour transit commutes. Weekend ridership has also surpassed pre-pandemic levels by 17 percent on Saturdays and 28 percent on Sundays, <a href="https://www.wmata.com/initiatives/ridership-portal/upload/February-2024-Ridership-Snapshot.pdf">according to Metro</a>.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="X6ABzU">
|
|||
|
|
Changing the culture around using public transportation, however, can’t fall on transit agencies alone. One of the biggest impediments to maximizing service is that most systems still mostly revolve around office buildings that have only become more vacant since Covid. “The problem with the US that we face is that our downtowns have historically been, and most cities continue to be, quite monofunctional in form,” Freemark said. American downtowns are “almost entirely devoted to office uses.”
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="2zZt3d">
|
|||
|
|
One fix would be for cities to redevelop their downtowns to be more residential. And while that’s not necessarily an easy — or inexpensive — task, it’s a critical step toward encouraging people to be less reliant on cars. Some cities, <a href="https://wtop.com/dc/2024/03/in-push-to-attract-residents-downtown-dc-is-transforming-offices-into-homes/">including DC</a>, are trying to do just that. Earlier this year, for example, Boston <a href="https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/07/10/business/wu-administration-will-offer-tax-breaks-turn-office-buildings-into-housing/">announced</a> that it would offer tax credits to developers seeking to convert empty offices into housing.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<h3 id="nkEkxX">
|
|||
|
|
Governments should recognize that public service isn’t a business
|
|||
|
|
</h3>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="En3tYE">
|
|||
|
|
The federal government has long imposed unrealistic standards for agencies to operate like businesses. But transit is a public service and ought to be treated as such. That means accepting that it will require investing a lot more taxpayer money — from both the federal and state governments — to make it run efficiently and serve people well.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="vmVDUR">
|
|||
|
|
As Randy Clarke, WMATA’s general manager, put it in an <a href="https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/transportation/qa-with-metro-gm-its-time-to-talk-about-a-regional-tax-to-help-fund-wmata-he-says/3496999/">interview with NBC4 Washington</a> last year: “We are a public service, right? So whether it’s people five days a week, three days a week, every day of the week, it doesn’t matter. We have to value public transit and fund it accordingly, or have a diminished system, and then we have to be honest: We’re gonna have impacts to our <a href="https://www.vox.com/economy">economy</a>; we’re gonna have impacts to equity; impacts to the climate.”
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="aaAqpQ">
|
|||
|
|
In December, WMATA was projecting a $750 million deficit by 2025. The agency warned that if that gap wasn’t closed, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/transportation/2023/12/12/metro-budget-service-cuts/">the proposed service cuts</a> would be catastrophic: Metro said it would have to lay off over 2,000 workers, eliminate almost half of the system’s bus lines, close down entire Metro stations, and increase wait times — all while hiking fares by as much as 20 percent.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="IyL7xR">
|
|||
|
|
Clarke oversaw the Covid-era investments in DC’s transit and capitalized on the popularity of the system’s improved service to pressure the region’s jurisdictions to <a href="https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/transportation/qa-with-metro-gm-its-time-to-talk-about-a-regional-tax-to-help-fund-wmata-he-says/3496999/">invest more money in Metro</a>.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="RbnRH7">
|
|||
|
|
The months that followed showed that Clarke had made a successful gamble: Not only did liberally spending pandemic aid help build a service that people wanted to ride, but by the time the cash started running out, WMATA had made subsidizing transit a more popular idea.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="bUxk6G">
|
|||
|
|
Since the agency warned of its proposed service cuts, the jurisdictions it serves started coughing up cash. The District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia have proposed committing <a href="https://dcist.com/story/24/02/02/dc-metro-deficit-proposed-funding-prevent-cuts/">a total of $480 million</a> toward closing the projected budget deficit.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="0vOZGq">
|
|||
|
|
“The approach to spending money on improving service is really about creating public support for the transit network, and political support, ultimately,” Freemark said.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="oI8uKq">
|
|||
|
|
Ultimately, WMATA made a bet based on a simple premise: Give people a public good they like, and politicians <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/03/coronavirus-relief-bill-big-government/608167/">will have a hard time taking it away</a>. And it seems to be working — at least for now.
|
|||
|
|
</p></li>
|
|||
|
|
<li><strong>Are young voters really embracing Donald Trump?</strong> -
|
|||
|
|
<figure>
|
|||
|
|
<img alt="A kid in a crowd wearing a Trump shirt." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/13rLs-UsbJNHohs6KoUlq5sWQLw=/0x0:7339x5504/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73268534/1476391166.0.jpg"/>
|
|||
|
|
<figcaption>
|
|||
|
|
A child waits in line at the Waco Regional Airport ahead of Donald Trump’s rally on the 30-year anniversary of the deadly standoff between Branch Davidians and federal law enforcement on March 25, 2023, in Waco, Texas. | Brandon Bell/Getty Images
|
|||
|
|
</figcaption>
|
|||
|
|
</figure>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
Plenty of data suggests Trump is making surprising gains with young Americans. The debate, explained.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="e89JoU">
|
|||
|
|
Are young voters abandoning <a href="https://www.vox.com/joe-biden">Joe Biden</a>? And, if so, are they flocking to <a href="https://www.vox.com/donald-trump">Donald Trump</a>?
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="v3qP8H">
|
|||
|
|
Just about every national poll seems to show that Biden is underperforming with young people compared to his 2020 results as well as polls at the same point in the 2020 cycle. But the crosstab results of some of these surveys also suggest that Biden is not only losing ground; Trump is gaining support. That’s an especially surprising result for the famously progressive and Democratic-leaning youth vote. What gives?
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="0hrSVK">
|
|||
|
|
The debate can be broken down roughly into two camps. There are those who believe Trump and Republicans are gaining with this group, telling you to trust the data. There are just too many polls and surveys, they say, reporting favorable conditions for Republicans and for Trump to not believe that young voters are swinging his way. Polling aggregates show Republicans making gains with younger voters, they point out.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="jYJo4Z">
|
|||
|
|
The skeptical side is splintered. There are those who say the pro-Trump shift exists but is being overstated, noting polls specifically of younger voters still show a Biden edge — albeit a diminished one. There are others who question the validity of the polling, saying wild swings between surveys suggest there may be methodological problems. And others say third-party support shows Biden has room to win back voters in a way that Trump doesn’t.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="4zdc4s">
|
|||
|
|
The reality is still a warning sign for Biden and Democrats. Something is happening to their support from the youngest voters, and they’ll need to win back these folks or make up any deficit with support from other voters. Let’s dive in.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<h3 id="GEzmnX">
|
|||
|
|
The case that there’s a real pro-Trump youth shift happening
|
|||
|
|
</h3>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="zS6bMu">
|
|||
|
|
<strong>Look at what the polling aggregates tell us.</strong> Instead of looking at any single poll, take their sum view, conveniently updated every month in <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/16D9GSxqF5LFIRTcoVJlvWWefU_h-ZMzlomghgbvYRaM/edit#gid=226205122">this cross-tabulation tracker</a> from the former Democratic pollster Adam Carlson. Regardless of whether you look at the 18–34 or 18–29 subgroups that are often used in polling young voters, it’s clear that Biden is underperforming his 2020 <a href="https://twitter.com/admcrlsn/status/1777455195485585734/photo/1">numbers</a>. In March 2024 polls alone, that shift from 2020 for those adults aged 18–29 was about 13 points toward Trump, even though Biden still holds an overall advantage of 11 points in the aggregate. Among adults aged 18–34, Trump holds a slight lead of about 1.5 percentage points. And this has generally been consistent when looking at the aggregate results of January and February 2024 polls as well.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="B54OLs">
|
|||
|
|
<strong>Trump is also viewed more favorably among young voters.</strong> Another consistent picture has emerged over the last few years: Trump’s<a href="https://www.vox.com/2024-elections/24105970/donald-trump-popularity-favorability-rising-latino-black-young-working-class"> favorability rating</a> among the youngest cohort of voters has been steadily increasing. As of the end of 2023, that improvement has brought his standing with adults aged 18–34 back from a post-January 6 low point right to the same support he had on the eve of the <a href="https://www.vox.com/2020-presidential-election">2020 election</a>, according to Gallup polling. Other polls, like the<a href="https://x.com/admcrlsn/status/1762483996963872958"> Economist/YouGov’s surveys</a>, found that by February 2024, Trump’s favorability among those under the age of 30 had finally turned positive, improving about 30 points since February 2021.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="3g0Dbb">
|
|||
|
|
<strong>Are there issues that are motivating this? </strong>Looking under the hood at what might be motivating a pro-Trump youth shift also reveals that Trump might be getting support from younger voters who trust him on specific issues. The<a href="https://iop.harvard.edu/youth-poll/46th-edition-fall-2023"> Harvard Youth Poll</a> in December, for example, showed Trump had an edge over Biden on a range of key issues with younger voters. On the <a href="https://www.vox.com/economy">economy</a>, Trump had a 15-point lead; on <a href="https://www.vox.com/defense-and-security">national security</a>, he had a 9-point lead; on the <a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/11/20/18080046/gaza-palestine-israel">Gaza</a> war, Trump led by 5 points; and on “strengthening the working class,” Trump had a 4-point advantage. Biden, meanwhile, had an edge on <a href="https://www.vox.com/climate">climate change</a>, <a href="https://www.vox.com/abortion">abortion</a>, education, and “protecting democracy,” among a few other issues.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Nv8zaM">
|
|||
|
|
<strong>It might not be isolated to Trump. </strong>Republicans have also seen gains in voter registration numbers with younger voters, most recently in North Carolina, as well as in swing states like Nevada and Pennsylvania, per<a href="https://x.com/MichaelPruser/status/1774622941944193051"> tracking from the analyst Michael Pruser</a>. In North Carolina, for example, younger voters are currently a larger share of all new registrants than at this point in the last two electoral cycles — but Democrats have lost a net 40,000 registrants in that time, while new young Republican registrants outnumbered new young Democratic registrants. So while both parties are gaining new voters, the Democratic advantage with this age cohort is narrowing quickly.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<h3 id="roBCUk">
|
|||
|
|
The case that Republican youth support is overhyped or nonexistent
|
|||
|
|
</h3>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="RZ7r0Q">
|
|||
|
|
<strong>Skepticism is healthy.</strong> Polls this far out, this side of the argument says, are unlikely to fully and accurately capture what is happening with demographic groups that are harder to reach and less engaged and aware of politics. This caveat applies both to polls taken before and during the primary — when plenty of voters aren’t even sure that the two choices they are being presented with will end up being the eventual nominees — and for polls of young voters specifically, who are notoriously uninformed about or disengaged with national electoral politics.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="F7foFd">
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<strong>Trump’s support may be overstated; just look at third-party support and his favorability.</strong> Polls specifically of young voters, like the Harvard Youth Poll, continue to show a large Biden advantage with younger voters (it was 11 points in December). They show that among the youth most likely to vote, Biden has an even bigger advantage (24 points).
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="zLin98">
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But they also show the threat of third-party candidates, which may be artificially dragging down Biden’s support. Adding those independent candidates, like Robert F. Kennedy Jr., brings down Biden’s support tremendously in both the Harvard poll and in the election tracking site Split Ticket’s recent poll of young voters. Biden has an edge with them over both Trump and RFK, and that lead grows when looking at those most likely to vote. But RFK is still pulling a “non-trivial” amount of support from young Democrats and independents, groups that went for Biden in 2020, in both the Harvard Youth Poll and the Split Ticket poll.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="szTC4K">
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Complicating the picture for Republicans and Trump is the problem of favorability. Yes, Trump has recovered from his low point in 2021, but he consistently hits a roof of support in Split Ticket’s polling. Though both Biden and Trump are viewed unfavorably (65 percent for Biden, 70 percent for Trump), those who hold a “strongly unfavorable” view of Trump drastically outnumber the same category for Biden: 61 percent of young voters view Trump very negatively compared to just 44 percent who feel like that about Biden. “If young voters are defecting from Joe Biden, they’re not doing so out of any affinity for Donald Trump,” write the Split Ticket authors. So instead of a Trump youth rise, we’re seeing a collapse of youth support for Biden.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="q7q8sR">
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<strong>We’re forgetting who we’re talking about.</strong> Younger voters <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2024/04/09/age-generational-cohorts-and-party-identification/">tend</a> to be more progressive and align with Democratic positions on a range of social and economic issues; they’ve voted for Democrats by overwhelming numbers; and they’re continuing to support Democratic positions in a variety of elections during midterms, off-year races, and special elections. Younger voters are especially likely to register or identify with neither political party, opting to be independents or unaffiliated voters when they register to vote, helping to explain why in some states, like North Carolina, Nevada, and Colorado (per Pruser’s analysis), unaffiliated registrants are outpacing Democratic and Republican registrants. With this context, it does seem hard to believe that we’re heading toward a generational realignment.
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</p>
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<h3 id="aEqynp">
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Is it just too early?
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</h3>
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="aonbCz">
|
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The answers here aren’t easy, most notably because polling seems to be extra noisy and sending conflicting messages. Even this month, the results of two high-quality national polls, one from Quinnipiac University and another released by <a href="https://www.vox.com/media">Fox News</a>, showed conflicting realities. In Quinnipiac’s survey, the results for young adults aged 18–34 gave Biden a 20-point advantage over Trump. Meanwhile, Fox’s survey showed that adults aged 18–29 backed Trump with an 18-point margin. This 38-point gap seems illogical, even if there are some discrepancies with the cohorts used in the surveys.
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</p>
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="chGY9q">
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And that leads us to a methodological question hanging over all of this. The way <a href="https://www.vox.com/2022/9/23/23353634/polls-bias-democrats-midterms">pollsters conduct</a> their <a href="https://www.vox.com/politics/24034416/young-voters-biden-trump-gen-z-polling-israel-gaza-economy-2024-election">operations</a>, as we have <a href="https://www.vox.com/24040494/iowa-caucus-poll-trust-results-winner-trump-desantis-haley-ramaswamy-data-takeaways-analysis">detailed before</a>, has been evolving to address difficulty with telephone polling and non-response bias (when the results of a poll are affected by the unwillingness or absence of a specific kind of voter). In 2016 and 2020, for example, this non-response bias affected how pollsters were able to measure Trump’s support and therefore underestimated it. 2024 could very well be the reverse, but it’s much too early right now. The answers will reveal themselves after Election Day. One thing, though, feels certain: If the polls are right, Democrats have a problem with young voters. They have time to fix that, but they have a major problem if they can’t.
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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>Asian wrestling from today</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>Morning Digest | MHA orders withdrawal of 50 companies of Central forces from Manipur; States, UTs asked to submit data on heat stroke cases and deaths, and more</strong> - Here is a select list of stories to start the day</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>Real Madrid and Man City draw 3-3 in frantic 1st leg of Champions League quarterfinals at Bernabeu</strong> - The result extended Madrid’s 28-match unbeaten streak in all competitions, as well as City’s 26-match unbeaten run across all tournaments</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>Arsenal rescues 2-2 draw with Bayern in Champions League after Kane scores against old rival</strong> - The game went ahead as scheduled despite an alleged Islamic State terror threat against Champions League matches this week</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>The Kohli conundrum: is the format evolving faster than he is?</strong> - Two things have to be done right for a team to win the IPL or indeed the World T20 — getting the selection right and ignoring advice from the past</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>Cyberabad SOT nabs eight drug peddlers in two cases</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>Congress accuses BJP of shamelessly peddling lies to implicate the chief minister in Chhattisgarh after Supreme Court ruling on liquor scam</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>Film producer Gandhimathi Balan passes away</strong> - Gandhimathi Balan, who entered into film production with Balachandra Menon’s Ithiri Neram Othiri Karyam, was under treatment at a private hospital in the capital</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>Not James Bond movie with sequels: HC deprecates repeated pleas for Arvind Kejriwal’s removal as Delhi CM</strong> - Delhi High Court expresses displeasure over repeated petitions seeking removal of Arvind Kejriwal as Delhi Chief Minister, imposes costs on petitioner</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>Caste and cinema: The long shadow of Amar Singh Chamkila</strong> - Ahead of the release of the popular Punjabi singer’s biopic, a look at how Chamkila’s ethnic identity informed his art</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>Threats spark security headaches ahead of Paris Olympics</strong> - Officials stress IS-linked threats are not new, but police put on a show of force ahead of the Games.</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>Drone video from Russia shows highest ever levels of flooding</strong> - In the Russian region of Orenburg, thousands of people have been evacuated as water levels surge.</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>Search after deadly blast at Italian power plant</strong> - Three people are dead and several missing after a fire at a hydroelectric plant near Bologna.</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>Eurovision condemns online abuse of contestants</strong> - The organisers’ statement comes amid reports that Israeli entrant Eden Golan received death threats.</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>Racist policing under-reported in EU, report says</strong> - Young men, ethnic minorities and people who do not identify as heterosexual are stopped most often by police.</p></li>
|
|||
|
|
</ul>
|
|||
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<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>The 2024 Fiat 500e is a $34K EV that appeals to emotion, not logic</strong> - It fits a niche, but it won’t suit everyone’s needs. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=2015720">link</a></p></li>
|
|||
|
|
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>After a fiery finale, the Delta rocket family now belongs to history</strong> - “It is bittersweet to see the last one, but there are great things ahead.” - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=2015864">link</a></p></li>
|
|||
|
|
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>RIP Peter Higgs, who laid foundation for the Higgs boson in the 1960s</strong> - Higgs shared the 2013 Nobel Prize in Physics with François Englert. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=2015827">link</a></p></li>
|
|||
|
|
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Elon Musk denies knowing who’s suing him to dodge defamation suit</strong> - Musk failed to keep his most recent deposition hidden from the public. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=2015897">link</a></p></li>
|
|||
|
|
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>EPA seeks to cut “Cancer Alley” pollutants</strong> - Chemical plants will have to monitor how much is escaping and stop leaks. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=2015882">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>A young lad went to a tailor shop in Scotland. He told the tailor, “I’d like ye to make me a kilt with this material here, and if ye don’t mind, I’d like ye to make me a pair of matching underwear for it. I hear it gets a might drafty up dem tings.”</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">
|
|||
|
|
A few days later, the tailor called the lad back to the shop. “Here’s ye kilt, and here’s ye matching underwear, and here’s five yards of material left over. Take it home and keep it in case you want anything else made of it.” The lad rushed home and donned his kilt. He decided to run to his girlfriend’s house to show off his new purchase. Unfortunately, in his excitement, he forgot to wear his underwear. When his girlfriend answered the door, he pointed to his kilt and said, “Well, what’d ye think?” “Ah, but dat’s a fine looking kilt,” she exclaimed. “Aye, and if ye like it, y’ell really like what’s underneath,” he bragged as he lifted his kilt. “Oh, but dat’s a dandy,” his girlfriend shouted admiringly. Still not realizing that he didn’t have his underwear on, he exclaimed quite proudly, “Aye, and if ye like it, I’ve got five more yards of it at home!”
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
</div>
|
|||
|
|
<!-- SC_ON -->
|
|||
|
|
<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/1c0i1ya/a_young_lad_went_to_a_tailor_shop_in_scotland_he/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1c0i1ya/a_young_lad_went_to_a_tailor_shop_in_scotland_he/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
|||
|
|
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Three guys were sitting in a biker bar. A man came in, already drunk, sat down at the bar and ordered a drink. The man looked around and saw the 3 men sitting at a corner table.</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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He got up, staggered to the table, leaned over, looked the biggest one in the face and said, “I went by your grandma’s house and I saw her in the hallway, buck naked. Man, she is fine!” The biker looked at him and didn’t say a word. His buddies were confused,because he was a bad ass, and would fight at he drop of a hat. The drunk leaned on the table again and said, “I got it on with your grandma and she is good, the best I ever had!” The biker still said nothing. His buddies were starting to get mad. The drunk leaned on the table again and said, “I’ll tell you something else boy, your grandma liked it!” The biker stood up, took the drunk by the shoulder and said, “Damn it, Grandpa, you’re drunk! Go home!”
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
</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/YZXFILE"> /u/YZXFILE </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1c0i9ag/three_guys_were_sitting_in_a_biker_bar_a_man_came/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1c0i9ag/three_guys_were_sitting_in_a_biker_bar_a_man_came/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
|||
|
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>On a plane full of Redditors, a man starts having a heart attack.</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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A flight attendant notices, and quickly shouts: “We’re having an emergency! Is anyone on this plane a doctor?”
|
|||
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</p>
|
|||
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
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Immediately, five people stand up and say
|
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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’m not a doctor, but…”
|
|||
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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/ES_FTrader"> /u/ES_FTrader </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1c0bufj/on_a_plane_full_of_redditors_a_man_starts_having/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1c0bufj/on_a_plane_full_of_redditors_a_man_starts_having/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
|||
|
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A man in the locker room of an upscale gym in NYC answers a cell phone and puts it on speaker while he dresses.</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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Everyone else in the room stops to listen. Man : Hello? Woman : Hi honey, it’s me. Are you at the club? Man : Yes. Woman : I’m out shopping and found a beautiful leather coat. It’s only $2,000 – is it OK if I buy it? Man : Sure, go ahead if you like it that much.
|
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</p>
|
|||
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
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Woman : I also stopped by that new Lexus dealership and saw one of the new models I really like – it’s on an opening special. Man : How much? Woman : $90,000. Man : Wow! OK, but for that price I want it with all the options. Woman : Great! Oh, and one more thing … I was just talking to Jamie and found out that the house we wanted to buy last year is back on the market … they’re asking $980,000 for it. Remember it was well over a million when we looked at it? Man : I dunno. Make an offer for $900,000 and they’ll probably take it. If not, we can go the extra $80,000 if that’s what you really want. Woman : OK. I’ll see you later! I love you so much! Man : I love you too. The man hangs up. The other men in the locker room were staring at him in astonishment, mouths wide open. The man turns around and says, “Anyone know whose phone this is?”
|
|||
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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/ReasonableGator"> /u/ReasonableGator </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1c004xa/a_man_in_the_locker_room_of_an_upscale_gym_in_nyc/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1c004xa/a_man_in_the_locker_room_of_an_upscale_gym_in_nyc/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
|||
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Two idiots decided that they weren’t going anywhere in life and thought they should go to college to get ahead. The first goes in to see the counselor, who tells him to take Math, History, and Logic.</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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“What’s Logic?” the first idiot 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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The professor answers by saying, “Let me give you an example.”
|
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</p>
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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“Do you own a weedeater?”
|
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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 sure do.”
|
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</p>
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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“Then I can assume, using logic, that you have a yard,” replied the professor.
|
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</p>
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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“That’s real good!”
|
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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 professor continues, “Logic will also tell me that since you have a yard, you also own a house.”
|
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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Impressed, “Amazin!”
|
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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“And since you own a house, logic dictates that you have a wife.”
|
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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“That’s Betty Mae! This is incredible!” The idoit is obviously catching on.
|
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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“Finally, since you have a wife, logically I can assume that you are heterosexual,” said the professor.
|
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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’re absolutely right! Why that’s the most fascinatin’ thing I ever heard! I can’t wait to take that logic class!!”
|
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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 idiot, proud of the new world opening up to him, walks back into the hallway, where his friend is still waiting.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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“So what classes are ya takin’?” asks the friend.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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“Math, History, and Logic!” he replies.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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“What in tarnation is logic???” asked his friend.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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“Let me give you an example. Do ya own a weedeater?” he asked.
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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,” his friend replied.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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“Gay.”
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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/Make_the_music_stop"> /u/Make_the_music_stop </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1bzped0/two_idiots_decided_that_they_werent_going/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1bzped0/two_idiots_decided_that_they_werent_going/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
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</ul>
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