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<title>09 December, 2022</title>
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<title>Daily-Dose</title><meta content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" name="viewport"/><link href="styles/simple.css" rel="stylesheet"/><link href="../styles/simple.css" rel="stylesheet"/><style>*{overflow-x:hidden;}</style><link href="https://unpkg.com/aos@2.3.1/dist/aos.css" rel="stylesheet"/><script src="https://unpkg.com/aos@2.3.1/dist/aos.js"></script></head>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-down" id="daily-dose">Daily-Dose</h1>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-right" data-aos-anchor-placement="top-bottom" id="contents">Contents</h1>
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<ul>
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<li><a href="#from-new-yorker">From New Yorker</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-vox">From Vox</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-the-hindu-sports">From The Hindu: Sports</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-the-hindu-national-news">From The Hindu: National News</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-bbc-europe">From BBC: Europe</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-ars-technica">From Ars Technica</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-jokes-subreddit">From Jokes Subreddit</a></li>
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</ul>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-new-yorker">From New Yorker</h1>
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<ul>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>How Dissent Grows in China</strong> - The protests of recent weeks carry an echo, and a warning, from the Maoist era. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/how-dissent-grows-in-china">link</a></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Some Lessons from Herschel Walker’s Campaign Debacle in Georgia</strong> - The Senate candidate’s weak performance relative to his fellow-Republicans provides strong evidence that the biggest impediment to his campaign was himself. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/some-lessons-from-herschel-walkers-campaign-debacle-in-georgia">link</a></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Harvey Weinstein Trial and the Myth of the Perfect Perpetrator</strong> - If Weinstein is acquitted in L.A., it will be tempting to conclude that #MeToo is over. But, even if he is convicted, some may reach the same conclusion. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/letter-from-los-angeles/harvey-weinstein-the-monster-of-metoo-trial-los-angeles">link</a></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Trump’s 2024 Campaign So Far Is an Epic Act of Self-Sabotage</strong> - But is this really the end of an error? - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/letter-from-bidens-washington/trumps-2024-campaign-so-far-is-an-epic-act-of-self-sabotage">link</a></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Respect for Marriage Act Is Also a Victory for Same-Sex-Marriage Opponents</strong> - It favors the rights of religious groups over those of gay couples—and, if Obergefell were to be overruled, it would create two classes of marriage. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/the-respect-for-marriage-act-is-also-a-victory-for-same-sex-marriage-opponents">link</a></p></li>
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</ul>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-vox">From Vox</h1>
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<li><strong>Megan Thee Stallion, Me Too, and hip-hop’s cycle of misogynoir</strong> -
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<img alt="Megan Thee Stallion onstage." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/FKEV-6kR3g-JbIrLdp9BDuI_r18=/366x0:3967x2701/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/71729738/1438997494.0.jpg"/>
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Megan Thee Stallion performs during the Amazon Music Live Concert Series on November 3 in Los Angeles, California. | Jerritt Clark/Getty Images for Amazon Music
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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 outcome of the Tory Lanez shooting trial won’t erase Megan Thee Stallion’s pain.
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="wWO1wg">
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From the moment Megan Thee Stallion came forward with the news that she was shot — and that fellow MC Tory Lanez had fired the gun — critics have<a href="https://people.com/music/50-cent-apologizes-megan-thee-stallion-sharing-insensitive-meme-shooting-incident/"> doubted her</a> story,<a href="https://www.vulture.com/2020/07/megan-thee-stallion-calls-out-draya-twitter-tory-lanez-jokes.html"> joked</a> about the violence she faced, shared<a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/megan-thee-stallion-tory-lanez-dj-akademiks-lawsuit-b2022104.html"> false information</a><a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/tory-lanez-court-hearing-megan-thee-stallion-shooting-case-postponed-1311656/"> about it</a>, and displayed<a href="https://www.xxlmag.com/camron-megan-thee-stallion-tory-lanez-transphobia-insensitive-joke/"> outright disdain</a> for the 25-year-old Grammy-winning hip-hop star. More recently,<a href="https://www.insider.com/megan-thee-stallion-slams-drake-lyrics-about-her-shooting-2022-11"> Drake released a song</a> featuring the lyrics “This bitch lie about getting shot but she still a stallion.” Listeners suggested this was the Canadian rapper’s not-so-subtle way of expressing skepticism about Megan’s claims, adding to the discord already surrounding the case.
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On July 12, 2020, after a night of partying in the Hollywood Hills, Megan was in an SUV with Lanez, his bodyguard, and her former friend Kelsey Nicole, when, as she told <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ay-hCMcE2o">Gayle King on <em>CBS Mornings</em></a>, an argument ensued. According to a <a href="https://www.lapdonline.org/newsroom/detectives-seeking-information-regarding-shooting-nr20168ll/">police report</a> from that night, LAPD responded to a call regarding a “shots fired investigation,” and during the resultant traffic stop, Lanez was arrested for carrying a concealed firearm. Megan, who was there <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nuUzhf6CvTo">during the arrest</a>, was taken to the hospital since she was <a href="https://twitter.com/tnhtalk/status/1283561620246016000">bleeding from her feet</a>.
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At that point, Megan didn’t tell officers that she had been shot, and the story circulating in the media was that her injury was due to stepping on shards of broken glass. It wasn’t until three days later that Megan <a href="https://www.tmz.com/2020/07/15/megan-thee-stallion-shot-twice-foot-tory-lanez-arrest-glass-injury/">publicly announced</a> she had been shot and it wasn’t until <a href="https://www.xxlmag.com/megan-thee-stallion-tory-lanez-confirms-shot/">August 20</a> that she publicly identified Lanez as the perpetrator. “You shot me, and you got your publicist and your people going to these blogs, lying and s***,” she said on Instagram Live. “Stop lying. Why lie? I don’t understand. I tried to keep the situation off the internet, but you’re dragging it.”
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Since then, Megan has continually <a href="https://twitter.com/theestallion/status/1284236881971085313?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1284236881971085313%7Ctwgr%5E51c126e1063b1d8775dcbb5a9491fec7a967d09d%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.npr.org%2F2022%2F12%2F05%2F1140092493%2Ftory-lanez-assault-trial-megan-thee-stallion-shooting">defended herself</a> against online harassment — and against a rap industry complex that has <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2020/07/the-women-who-still-dont-matter-to-hip-hop/613681/">long perpetuated violence against women</a>, particularly <a href="https://archives.law.nccu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1796&context=ncclr">Black women</a>, trans women, and gender-nonconforming people. News outlets obtained the <a href="https://pagesix.com/2022/04/25/megan-thee-stallions-medical-report-from-tory-lanez-shooting-revealed/">medical report</a> that documents the presence of bullet fragments in her feet, and <a href="https://twitter.com/CBSMornings/status/1518624917981442049">screenshots of text messages</a> in which Kelsey Nicole told the bodyguard “Tory shot Meg.” Megan has shared <a href="https://www.tmz.com/2020/08/19/megan-thee-stallion-shares-gruesome-pics-foot-shooting-injury-tory-lanez/">graphic photos</a> of her injuries and <a href="https://www.vulture.com/2022/02/megan-thee-stallion-tory-lanez-apology-texts.html">screenshots of text messages</a> in which Lanez apologizes to her for an unspecified incident. Lanez, whom the LA district attorney has charged with felony assault with a semiautomatic firearm, <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/tory-lanez-new-felony-charge-megan-thee-stallion-shooting-1234642370/">among other felony charges</a>, has denied any wrongdoing and released an album with lyrics claiming his innocence in September 2020. In October 2022, he was placed under <a href="https://www.billboard.com/pro/tory-lanez-house-arrest-until-megan-thee-stallion-trial/">house arrest</a> for<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Cip9v7Hujee/?utm_source=ig_embed&ig_rid=7e646a7b-51a0-452e-8f13-6d4141c0f979"> allegedly assaulting</a> singer August Alsina. Lanez faces up to 22 years and eight months in prison if a jury finds him guilty of assaulting Megan Thee Stallion with a firearm.
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Megan’s supporters<a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/megan-thee-stallion-open-letter-violence-women-1234628981/"> say</a> the case highlights the routine violence that Black women face, in addition to being ridiculed and not believed if they come forward. (According to a 2011 report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention<strong> </strong>, <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/nisvs_report2010-a.pdf">4 in 10 Black women</a> have been stalked, beaten, or raped by an intimate partner. Among female homicides not linked to intimate partners, Black women are <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/66/wr/pdfs/mm6628a1.pdf">significantly more likely</a> than white women to be killed by an acquaintance.) Lanez’s protectors suggest that he is the victim of a purported scheme to “<a href="https://twitter.com/marnevermissed/status/1318714193491775488">bring down</a>” Black men, a freighted charge that can become pernicious when used to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/03/06/bill-cosby-sexually-assaulted-me-i-didnt-tell-because-i-didnt-want-to-let-black-america-down/">silence Black women</a>. As the trial against Lanez gets underway, I reached out to Treva Lindsey, a professor in the women’s, gender, and sexuality studies department at Ohio State University and author of the recent book<a href="https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520384491/america-goddam"> <em>America, Goddam: Violence, Black Women, and the Struggle for Justice</em></a><em>.</em>
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Lindsey and I discussed how misogynoir — the unique hatred that Black women face — has combined with the culture of violence in the rap music industry to create a “<a href="https://twitter.com/Xoleelah1/status/1597596686318448642">both sides</a>” narrative around the harm Megan has had to navigate, how stereotypes about Black women are being used, and how Megan’s trauma has been policed. We also talked about how a rumor of an intimate relationship with Lanez has been used to undermine Megan’s story (<a href="https://www.thecut.com/2022/12/megan-thee-stallion-and-tory-lanezs-assault-case-recap.html#:~:text=Megan%20again%20denied%20Lanez's%20claims,the%20deaths%20of%20their%20mothers.">she has denied</a> ever being sexually involved with Lanez), what the role is for the criminal legal system in doling out “justice” between former friends, and what the outcome of this case and the public reaction to it will say about where America stands when it comes to ending violence against women in the post-Me Too era.
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<strong>The “jokes” and memes about what happened that night seem unending, and they all seem to be directed at Megan in an effort to mock or discredit her. On a podcast, former reality TV star Draya Michele said, “I want you to like me so much you shoot me in the foot too […] This shit is fun.” A few days after the incident, Chrissy Teigen</strong><a href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/terrycarter/chrissy-teigen-apologized-megan-thee-stallion-joke"><strong> tweeted</strong></a><strong>, “I have a megan thee stallion joke but it needs to be twerked on.” Rapper 50 Cent shared</strong><a href="https://cassiuslife.com/267209/50-cent-trolls-megan-thee-stallion-tory-lanez/"><strong> multiple memes</strong></a><strong> that made light of the alleged assault. Rapper Cam’ron</strong><a href="https://www.xxlmag.com/camron-megan-thee-stallion-tory-lanez-transphobia-insensitive-joke/"><strong> shared a transphobic “joke”</strong></a><strong> on Instagram. Random</strong><a href="https://twitter.com/mazayahlegend/status/1284863460099198977?s=20"><strong> Twitter</strong></a><a href="https://twitter.com/ChoppaTX93/status/1285127033144606720?s=20"><strong> users</strong></a><strong> began seizing on a narrative that Lanez “set the tone for the summer.” What has your reaction been to all of this since news about the shooting began to circulate in July 2020?</strong>
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My first reaction was shock and sadness. Megan had already been through so much publicly, from the<a href="http://vulture.com/2022/08/1501-entertainment-megan-thee-stallion-lawsuit.html"> ongoing issues with her label</a> to the loss of her mother and grandmother. It made me very sad because not only was she harmed, based on the photos of her feet, but I also recognized that this was happening at a very important moment in her career. She had a loyal fan base and was gaining mainstream popularity, but then all of a sudden, this violent interaction happened.
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When these moments happen, whether it’s Drake or DJ Akademiks, I always think about how there’s the option to say nothing. In this race to be in proximity to someone who’s been accused of harm, it seems like there’s an intensification of protection around them and less and less around her.
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<figure class="e-image">
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<img alt="close up of Megan Thee Stallion on an interview set" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/o_pzoQl-aCxqZuRxWN1kRL7OU3g=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24275865/GettyImages_1240231997.jpg"/> <cite>CBS via Getty Images</cite>
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<figcaption>
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Megan Thee Stallion talking to Gayle King on <em>CBS Mornings.</em>
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<strong>Since Megan came forward, she has faced constant skepticism and criticism. People online doubted her story and criticized her for the choices she made that night, most notably her decision to not initially tell the police that Tory Lanez shot her. Critics have used this detail to try to discredit her. Megan has explained repeatedly that she did not initially tell the police about the shooting because she feared for the lives of everyone in the car. Why would Megan, who had just been shot, not choose to tell the police that Tory Lanez assaulted her? And how is this connected to the pressure Black women feel to protect Black men, even the ones who harm them?</strong>
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In instances of intimate violence, most survivors <a href="https://kpu.pressbooks.pub/nevr/chapter/why-do-survivors-not-report-to-police/">don’t come forward</a>. And given what was happening in 2020 [with police violence against Black Americans], it wasn’t shocking that Megan didn’t tell police officers in the moment that a crime was committed against her. She ultimately wanted to protect everyone at the scene. And even without that 2020 backdrop, that’s often the choice that Black women make when it comes to intimate encounters with violence.
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When the incident occurred, it was only a couple of months after the murder of George Floyd, which set off mass uprisings around the world. There was also nonstop talk about what the police did to<a href="https://www.vox.com/2020/5/13/21257457/breonna-taylor-louisville-shooting-ahmaud-arbery-justiceforbreonna"> Breonna Taylor</a> and<a href="https://www.vox.com/identities/2020/6/23/21295432/police-black-trans-people-violence"> Tony McDade</a> and other people harmed by the police since May 2020. This is all important context that helps us understand what Megan meant when she said she felt that she was protecting everybody at the scene by not saying exactly what happened and, more importantly, who enacted violence on her.
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In my book <em>America Goddam</em>, I talk about this notion of “silently endure, unequivocally protect” that Black women face. So many of us imbibe that mantra very early — that it is our duty to protect those who harm us, especially if it’s someone we care about that we don’t want another form of harm to happen to them. Megan embodied this idea when she didn’t say anything that night; she didn’t want the police to harm them. I am familiar with Megan’s rationale, but for some others, it became fodder to call her a liar, denigrate her, or tap into this deep mistrust and hatred that so many people have for Black women.
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<strong>It appears that the only reason Megan came forward in August 2020 to name Tory Lanez was because he and his team kept allegedly publicly lying about the situation, she said in </strong><a href="https://www.billboard.com/music/rb-hip-hop/megan-thee-stallion-calls-out-tory-lanez-tweet-1235035322/"><strong>tweets</strong></a><strong>. But as you stated, most survivors don’t come forward to talk about the violence they experience, and when they do, they often face additional harm. </strong>
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<strong>Can you comment on what it has meant for Megan, a young Black woman, to actually come forward and speak her truth, to unequivocally say that she was shot by a contemporary and former friend, by a Black man in the music industry? </strong>
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Thank you for saying “young Black woman” because Megan is, in fact, a young Black woman.
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There’s a way that we often talk about Megan and other young Black women — we talk about their bodies and stature in a way that blinds us to the fact that this is a 27-year-old Black woman who was 25 at the time that this happened. Some of this has to do with sizeism, and she is viewed as an impossible victim. She has a persona as “Thee Stallion,” is assertive, dynamic, a “take control” person, and she’s the “hot girl coach,” so she’s not allowed any vulnerability. There’s no sense of needing to protect Megan.
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<q>“40 percent of Black women at some point in their lifetime will experience some form of physical violence”</q>
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I can’t imagine the fortitude that it took for Megan to go on Instagram Live that day, of all places — not traditional media where the narrative could’ve been controlled — to say out of her mouth, “This man shot me,” and, “I was trying to spare him and y’all are not sparing me.” As much as I was angry, it was heartbreaking that she felt the need to protect him but also had to defend herself after saying <em>she </em>was the one who was harmed. For all the folks who are saying it was a clout-chasing move, it’s interesting to look at that timeline and see that she was countering a narrative that began to form in the aftermath.
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="SW6Wbx">
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<strong>Can you talk about what it means for women, particularly Black women, to not be believed despite all the evidence that supports their stories of abuse?</strong>
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This case is a mind trip in many ways because, no matter what happens within the criminal legal system, Megan will be blamed. If Tory is found guilty, she’ll be blamed for going through with the claim, and if he is found not guilty, then she will be called a liar. There’s no ground in which she wins. And at the end of the day, she has already been shot, so she has already lost irrespective of the outcome. There’s no real justice for that having happened to her. Justice is when that doesn’t happen to her, when we create the circumstances in which that interaction doesn’t happen in the first place.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="T7M1sn">
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It took 30 years of serious allegations against <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/2018/4/25/17248084/r-kelly-sexual-misconduct-allegations-timeline">Robert Kelly</a> to even have the criminal legal system respond. And after all the time it took, there were people who said, “I’m still not sure. This seems like a setup.” I’m thinking of that case alongside what happens when someone accuses any famous person.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="uSmtij">
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This is also happening at what seems to be a turning point in Tory’s career as well, so some are suggesting that he’s being brought down and being targeted — that Black men are being targeted by the criminal legal system and that Black women are henchwomen for white supremacy and how it operates within this. Megan is contending with a very fraught history that is undeniably complicated because there absolutely are Black men who’ve been falsely accused. Black women have been alongside Black men protesting and rallying against that. Megan is contending with that history and the pain of what it means to be this public about what happened, to be believed by some and not believed by others, and having to rely on the criminal legal system that very rarely provides justice for any Black person, and certainly not for Black women.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="HHzQ4E">
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<strong>Can you talk about how sex is being used in online discourse about this case? At one point, Lanez</strong><a href="https://twitter.com/torylanez/status/1496576915037167619?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1496576915037167619%7Ctwgr%5E2a1200a9ac065d47fdf9398014af5f8c0e189414%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.hot97.com%2Fhot-news%2Ftory-lanez-claps-back-at-megan-thee-stallions-claims-says-he-apologized-for-having-sex-with-megan-her-friend-kelsey"><strong> tweeted</strong></a><strong> that he was sleeping with both Megan and her former friend Kelsey Nicole, who was present that night. Megan has denied ever being intimately involved with Tory Lanez and explained that they became close friends who bonded over the deaths of their mothers. </strong>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="wMomxq">
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<strong>Some hip-hop fans have used the idea that Megan was sexually intimate with Lanez to play into stereotypes and narratives about female jealousy and Black women’s sexuality. In a song, Rapper DaBaby, who</strong><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/thelife/news/megan-thee-stallion-called-out-dababy-for-retweeting-a-tory-lanez-shooting-joke-but-the-rapper-denies-sharing-it/articleshow/83733712.cms"><strong> joked about Megan being shot</strong></a><strong> and has</strong><a href="https://variety.com/2021/music/news/da-baby-tory-lanez-megan-thee-stallion-rolling-loud-1235027337/"><strong> supported Lanez</strong></a><strong>,</strong><a href="https://www.billboard.com/music/rb-hip-hop/dababy-claims-he-slept-with-megan-thee-stallion-new-song-boogeyman-1235143707/"><strong> claimed</strong></a><strong> that he slept with Megan the night before Lanez allegedly shot her. Why do commentators constantly bring up Megan’s sex life, and apparently spread misinformation about it, in the context of this case?</strong>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="0FFzh0">
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There are two things happening here, and they go back to who people believe Megan to be based on her persona. She is openly excited and explicit about her sexuality. Her persona is sexualized, and it is more extreme when combined with the ways that Black women are already hypersexualized. Black women are often seen as sex objects and are thought to be pervasively sexually violated. A lot gets projected onto Black women — our sexuality is villainized, it is seen as too lascivious, and in some ways it is criminalized. Because critics see [Megan] as hypersexual, it’s easy for them to believe that Tory slept with both of those women and that this is a lover’s spat.
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The hard part in responding to that is, let’s say that that’s true, which brings me to my second point. Let’s actually say that that’s what happened, that Tory was sexually involved with both women. In what world is it then okay for Tory to allegedly shoot [Megan]? This is the way that misogynoir operates. It’s a vicious kind of mistrust and hatred. It makes people believe that [Tory] is credible because we’ve already read [Megan] as hypersexualized and someone undeserving of care and unworthy of being protected in those moments. There’s a very real combination of slut-shaming and victim-blaming that is happening in this case, as well.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="i3SS8P">
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<strong>Megan is also being scrutinized. Whether it’s the pause she took before she answered Gayle King’s question about whether she was intimate with Tory Lanez or people </strong><a href="https://twitter.com/Adrianh85/status/1597529578121007105"><strong>questioning</strong></a><strong> why she was on the cover of Forbes or why she wrote an </strong><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/13/opinion/megan-thee-stallion-black-women.html"><strong>op-ed</strong></a><strong> in the New York Times or why she went out partying “too soon” after she was shot, her every move in the past two years seems to be watched and policed. Can you talk about the level of scrutiny she’s been receiving since she made the allegations?</strong>
|
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="B7DkMG">
|
|||
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|
The criticism she received for pausing after Gayle asked her that question is an extended metaphor. Why can’t she have a pause? Can she have a moment? Everything she’s doing at this moment is being examined. She’s not the one on trial. She’s not the one that’s being brought before the criminal legal system. He is. And yet, every single movement, blink, gesture, or decision that she is making is under this very powerful microscope has the ability to reshape the narrative.
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</p>
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<div class="c-float-left c-float-hang">
|
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<aside id="fBoKED">
|
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|
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<q>“The criticism she received for pausing after Gayle asked her that question is an extended metaphor”</q>
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</aside>
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</div>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="nIOvaT">
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The pause in that moment, I think she might have just been caught off guard by the question. And having to disclose your sexual life — it really is no one’s business. Because even if she were intimately involved with Tory, even if she had said yes, there’s nothing that changes about what that violation is. And had she said yes, that would have been a confirmation for folks of all of these other narratives that she’s jealous and lying. The conundrum that a lot of Black women victims and survivors of intimate violence face is that, no matter the outcome, they will forever be under this microscope. And not only that, folks will make jokes, and malign and vilify these women to make these women the ones who are accountable for harm, and not the person who harmed them.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Ea40fX">
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<strong>I’d like to talk a little more about the stereotypes about Black women that we’ve seen emerge in this case that are being put onto Megan. We’ve already talked about some of them, like Black women as hypersexual jezebels. And then there’s also the idea that she is aggressive and angry, aided by her “Black” facial features and skin complexion. I’ve seen people argue that Megan had to have done something to provoke Tory, whether that was to hit him or berate him. Megan has even had to come out and say she didn’t first assault Tory that night. How has this stereotype factored into how this case is being treated? </strong>
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="I2JQM7">
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The stereotypes abound in this case. It’s a terrible storm of these racialized gender stereotypes of Black women. It’s about her size, Blackness, and womanhood that are being put on display here and being used to say that she is the aggressor. We heard that with Chris Brown and Rihanna — that because she’s a West Indian woman, she had to have been beating on him first. With Megan, we’ve heard the “she’s so big and he’s so small” narrative that plays into this physicality argument that’s being made about her. Even with her saying this is what happened that evening, people latch onto these problematic narratives that are rooted in stereotypes that Black women are loud, angry, and they put their hands on you. People have claimed that Tory was just defending himself. These stereotypes about Black women endure, and there’s no grace or compassion.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="8kTKWq">
|
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And there’s no sense that Tory could be lying. We don’t even have a framing or a term for how we think about distrust of men in the way that we do for women. There is this framing of women as irrational and emotional, which is viewed as a negative. At the same time, it’s impossible for the general public to imagine Tory having an emotional response that night and acting out of that emotional response. His emotionality isn’t put on trial. No one is really asking, why do you think the gun even came out? Or what does it mean for him to be in that space? What is the emotional geography of what happened in that car?
|
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</p>
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="kjpBMz">
|
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<strong>And in thinking about Tory’s emotional response in that way, it seems like the public also doesn’t have the range to fathom that such violence could have actually happened to Megan. It seems that people can’t process or aren’t even trying to process the allegation that someone could have just pulled a gun out and shot at another person’s feet, saying “Dance, bitch!”</strong><a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-12-14/judge-upholds-assault-charges-against-tory-lanez"><strong> according to an LAPD detective</strong></a><strong>. This, despite the many examples of this kind of violence taking place against Black women and despite Megan showing photos of her foot with bullet fragments, among other evidence that’s so far available to the public. What do you make of that?</strong>
|
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</p>
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="oazPXB">
|
|||
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|
When I talk to people about the data around the prevalence and pervasiveness of violence against Black women, their jaws drop because they don’t really conceive of it as an everyday occurrence. But it’s something that’s a part of so many Black women’s experiences that it becomes very easy to dismiss this case as spectacular. And so they treat it as something to choose a side on. That’s a misguided approach because the side that we all need to be on is ending interpersonal and intimate violence. We don’t want anyone harmed. And there are more layers to this; not only are some people saying Tory wasn’t the one to harm Megan, but they are also saying she just wasn’t harmed at all.
|
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</p>
|
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|
|
<figure class="e-image">
|
|||
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|
<img alt="A man with a microphone center stage wearing all black with a DJ behind him." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/BKlBOZIMi1qHu28oShGF2U1niFM=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24275914/GettyImages_1182210755.jpg"/> <cite>Scott Dudelson/Getty Images</cite>
|
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|
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<figcaption>
|
|||
|
|
Tory Lanez performing in 2019.
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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="4JWb6J">
|
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The broad consideration here is that <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/nisvs_report2010-a.pdf">40 percent</a> of Black women at some point in their lifetime will experience some form of physical violence, quite often in an intimate or interpersonal context. That is a significant number. Megan has now become part of a club no one wants to belong to — the club of millions of Black women historically and contemporarily who have faced non-fatal assaults, and in some cases fatal assaults. I think getting people to understand the gravity of this problem, the reality of interpersonal violence, and its frequency is an important part of this work.
|
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</p>
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="mXJcel">
|
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<strong>This case comes at an interesting time in our country, in which</strong><a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/23150632/johnny-depp-amber-heard-trial-verdict-me-too-backlash"><strong> Me Too backlash</strong></a><strong> is real. What final thoughts can you share with us about where we are as a culture when it comes to violence against women and violence against Black women? And what might this case’s outcome mean for discourse going forward?</strong>
|
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</p>
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="l09rBI">
|
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It’s important to note that these are artists of a particular generation, so everything is online. Megan came forward with what happened to her on Instagram Live. That is a marker of the times. This is also happening post-Me Too, so of course there is backlash and the idea that we have gone too far. We are seeing that retrenchment in real time, and it’s occurring alongside the growth of incel movements. We tend to think of that movement as white, but we are <a href="https://www.elle.com/life-love/opinion-feature/a38819237/black-manosphere-online-dating/">seeing Black men in these spaces</a> who are committed to this hatred of Black women and women more broadly. This case sits at a nexus of these various movements, both progressive and regressive colliding. The outcome of this case and the responses to it will tell us a lot more about where we are and what it means to go forward.
|
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</p>
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="THCMhs">
|
|||
|
|
Watching this case unfold, I’m sure it’s only made Black women and girls less assured of coming forward given what’s at stake. But this might also move some women to come forward, since Megan came forward despite the onslaught she has faced. Those are both possible. The outcome of this case will also further reveal our very ambivalent and complicated relationship with the criminal legal system, guilty or not guilty. The way we respond in this moment is very telling. There is a selective way that we deal with the criminal legal system when we want it to dole out what we believe is justice. Because there is a Black person on both sides of this, the faith we have and the lack of faith we have in the criminal legal system will be put on display in a very robust way.
|
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</p>
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="p4ME8Y">
|
|||
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</p></li>
|
|||
|
|
<li><strong>A guide to 2022, in charts</strong> -
|
|||
|
|
<figure>
|
|||
|
|
<img alt="An illustration of a hand holding a piece of a pie chart pointing at one of many dots on a grid." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/vDQBq0eQETiVQdUR2n9C0hflV4Q=/189x0:1629x1080/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/71729692/recode_chart_roundup_board_1b.0.jpg"/>
|
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|
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<figcaption>
|
|||
|
|
Christina Animashaun/Vox
|
|||
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|
</figcaption>
|
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|
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</figure>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
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From concerts to crypto and from unions to Ukraine: 14 charts that explain this wild year.
|
|||
|
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</p>
|
|||
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="VXA5hp">
|
|||
|
|
It has been nearly three years since the start of the pandemic, and a lot has changed. Some parts of the world are returning to normal, as people go to live events and restaurants, while other things, like going back to the office, feel stuck in time. Internationally, a war is raging, and in the US, politics have been as contentious as ever.
|
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</p>
|
|||
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="rItlFs">
|
|||
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The pandemic seems to have irreversibly changed Americans’ relationship with work. They’re continuing to <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/22841490/work-remote-wages-labor-force-participation-great-resignation-unions-quits">quit their jobs</a> in search of greener pastures, even as the economy sours. Meanwhile, the <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/2022/10/29/23429085/big-tech-boom-over-wall-street-stock-meta-amazon-google-alphabet-apple">tech stocks</a> that flourished when Americans were staying home and were very online have come back down to earth — as has their more speculative cousin, <a href="https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2022/11/23/23473340/crypto-ftx-sam-bankman-fried-contagion-bankruptcy-coinbase">crypto</a>. People are getting priced out of <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2022/9/4/23326772/housing-market-mortgage-rate">homeownership</a>, thanks to high prices and growing interest rates. But they’re getting priced into <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/23333356/ev-electric-vehicle-self-driving-cars-internal-combustion-driving">electric vehicle</a> ownership as some EV prices decline. That should be good news for Telsa, but it isn’t. The company is suffering from growing competition and its CEO’s divided attention at <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/23440075/elon-musk-twitter-layoffs-check-mark-verification">Twitter</a>.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="2DAYG2">
|
|||
|
|
To try and make sense of all the changes we’ve seen this past year, we’ve put together a series of charts that tackle some of the year’s biggest trends. It’s not exhaustive, but we hope it helps you make sense of another very weird year.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
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<h3 id="FeNI8H">
|
|||
|
|
What has returned and what hasn’t
|
|||
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</h3>
|
|||
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="dnYvzr">
|
|||
|
|
One way to measure progress since the pandemic upended the world in 2020 is to look at what has returned and what hasn’t. From the looks of it, many things have come back. US <a href="https://str.com/press-release/str-us-hotel-results-week-ending-26-november">hotel occupancy</a> at the end of November was at the same level it was in 2019, as was attendance at <a href="https://www.predicthq.com/events/sports">sporting events</a>. People are once again <a href="https://www.opentable.com/state-of-industry">eating at restaurants</a> and <a href="https://www.tsa.gov/coronavirus/passenger-throughput">flying on planes</a>. They’re also going to <a href="https://www.predicthq.com/events/concerts">concerts</a>, though at 88 percent, attendance is still shy of 2019 levels.
|
|||
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</p>
|
|||
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="O4gHrS">
|
|||
|
|
The holdout here is offices, whose occupancy is at less than half what it was pre-pandemic. The remote work revolution taught many office workers — and their employers — that office space wasn’t essential to work. And that lesson <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/2022/11/30/23484001/recession-cost-cutting-return-to-office-software">might stick</a>. Future of work experts, like Stanford’s Nick Bloom, expect current levels to hold, even after the pandemic becomes a distant memory.
|
|||
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</p>
|
|||
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<div id="v96vWk">
|
|||
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|||
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</div></div></li>
|
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</ul>
|
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<figure class="e-image">
|
|||
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<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/xJvo3vlZZGjwIEf2w76xD5Z24vU=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24277771/1JgjM_in_person_activities_are_returning_mostly.png"/>
|
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</figure>
|
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<hr class="p-entry-hr" id="vOsaRN"/>
|
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|
|||
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</p>
|
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<h3 id="SnG3E0">
|
|||
|
|
Flu season is worse than ever
|
|||
|
|
</h3>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="2oXdYG">
|
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The last week of November saw <a href="https://www.vox.com/2022/12/6/23494948/flu-influenza-rsv-covid-vaccine-chart-tripledemic-tridemic">more positive flu test results</a> than any week on record, which goes back to 1997. The flu has also spread earlier and more quickly than it has in previous years. Part of the rise has to do with more people getting tested, but that’s not all of it. Hospitalization rates are four times as high as they typically are at this time of year.
|
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</p>
|
|||
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="c6RVLD">
|
|||
|
|
One main reason for this bonkers flu season is that the population has <a href="https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/23473231/immunity-debt-respiratory-cold-virus-rsv-flu-influenza">low levels of flu antibodies</a>, since many Americans didn’t get the flu in the past two years, as preventive measures like masks and quarantining kept people from getting sick. Now, however, that means that lots of people are getting sick all at once, so it’s probably time to dust off those measures, this time to flatten the curve for the flu.
|
|||
|
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</p>
|
|||
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<div id="Ypmc0w">
|
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<div id="datawrapper-SC2rp">
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</div>
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</div>
|
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<figure class="e-image">
|
|||
|
|
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/05Zut3-ylFYEcuzEHPXD3iw79r8=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24276736/SC2rp_the_flu_spread_early_and_quickly_this_year.png"/>
|
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</figure>
|
|||
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<h3 id="ZfqL7U">
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People are still getting abortions
|
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</h3>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ir1sTl">
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With its <em>Dobbs v. Jackson</em> decision in June, the Supreme Court overturned the half-century-old <a href="https://www.vox.com/2022/6/24/23181720/supreme-court-dobbs-jackson-womens-health-samuel-alito-roe-wade-abortion-marriage-contraception"><em>Roe v. Wade</em></a> and effectively made abortion <a href="https://www.vox.com/23013308/supreme-court-roe-wade-abortion-legal-oklahoma-dobbs-jackson-womens-health">illegal in nearly half of US states</a>. New <a href="https://www.societyfp.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/SFPWeCountReport_AprtoAug2022_ReleaseOct2022-1.pdf">data from the Society of Family Planning</a> shows that the number of clinician-provided abortions in those states has plummeted. (It’s important to remember that data wouldn’t include <a href="https://www.vox.com/2022/6/22/23170229/abortion-roe-medication-pills-pregnancy-unplanned">self-managed abortions</a>, where women take abortion pills at home.)
|
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="4PKXKz">
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What’s perhaps more interesting is the notable jumps in abortion in states surrounding those where abortion is illegal, suggesting that women are traveling to get medical care. In Kansas, the number of abortions rose 36 percent from April to August; abortion became illegal in neighboring Oklahoma during the same time.<strong> </strong>North Carolina, which is surrounded by the less abortion-friendly South Carolina, Georgia, and Tennessee, saw a 37 percent jump.
|
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</p>
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="vRA4Zx">
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Those jumps show up in national numbers. Despite declining by 100 percent in a number of states, the number of recorded abortions in the US only declined a modest 6 percent nationwide, from 85,020 in April to 79,620 abortions in August 2022. Of course, traveling to another state can be <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/abortion-costs-roe-v-wade-out-of-state-supreme-court-2022-5">prohibitively expensive</a> for many, meaning that poorer people will have a harder time terminating pregnancies in the states with strict abortion laws.
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<figure class="e-image">
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<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/bVoEzTJCWSdEY_g2n1IO7bM8knw=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24277716/PDxLz_post_i_roe_i_abortions_have_generally_declined_where_they_re_illegal_and_jumped_where_they_aren_t.png"/>
|
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</figure>
|
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<hr class="p-entry-hr" id="e2J8QV"/>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="VXvPnM">
|
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</p>
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<h3 id="4tsvry">
|
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Homes are increasingly unaffordable
|
|||
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</h3>
|
|||
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="1ESXwD">
|
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|
On an annual basis, existing single-family home prices went up just 8 percent through September this year according to data from <a href="https://www.spglobal.com/spdji/en/documents/indexnews/announcements/20221129-1458251/1458251_cshomeprice-release-1129.pdf">S&P Dow Jones Indices</a>. That represents a welcome reprieve from the breakneck <a href="https://www.spglobal.com/spdji/en/index-announcements/article/sp-corelogic-case-shiller-index-reports-188-annual-home-price-gain-for-calendar-2021/">19 percent growth</a> last year. On a monthly basis, prices have actually come down for three consecutive months.
|
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</p>
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Gg8FXj">
|
|||
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|
That doesn’t mean it’s a good time to buy a house. Prices are still very high, and it’s <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/whats-going-on-with-the-housing-market-11670430769">not clear</a> if and when they’ll come down in a meaningful way. Meanwhile, rising interest rates have made buying a home even more expensive. Homeownership affordability is currently the worst on record, with annual payments for a median home representing 46.3 percent of the median income, according to the <a href="https://www.atlantafed.org/center-for-housing-and-policy/data-and-tools/home-ownership-affordability-monitor">Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta’</a>s Home Ownership Affordability Monitor.<strong> </strong>The threshold is considered to be 30 percent of income, after which housing is considered unaffordable.
|
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</p>
|
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</div>
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</div>
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<figure class="e-image">
|
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<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/iKQ8zfRfvE8tEjVHhJQ2aNoM4M0=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24276744/7ysSN_home_ownership_is_the_least_affordable_on_record.png"/>
|
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</figure>
|
|||
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<hr class="p-entry-hr" id="1J0845"/>
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="oECYkU">
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<h3 id="Gi3Tzp">
|
|||
|
|
The Great Resignation continued
|
|||
|
|
</h3>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="BwlrX3">
|
|||
|
|
The Great Resignation is real, with <a href="https://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2022/article/empirical-evidence-for-the-great-resignation.htm">empirical evidence</a> showing that it’s more than just a fun catchphrase. It’s also still happening. Even as high interest rates, high-profile layoffs, and a potential recession batter the job market, Americans have continued to quit their jobs at elevated rates.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="4EbjaN">
|
|||
|
|
Part of that has to do with the still-tight job market, which is enabling these workers to find better opportunities. In October, the <a href="https://www.bls.gov/news.release/jolts.nr0.htm">Bureau of Labor Statistics</a> found there were an impressive 10.3 million job openings in the US, or 6.3 percent of employment. Meanwhile, the rate of layoffs was well below its historic rate, as employers chose to make cuts <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/2022/11/30/23484001/recession-cost-cutting-return-to-office-software">elsewhere</a>. Perhaps there’s been a cultural shift as well, as the pandemic helped put work — once a cornerstone of American identity — into perspective.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
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<div id="3AMK4l">
|
|||
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|
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</div>
|
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|
</div>
|
|||
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|
<figure class="e-image">
|
|||
|
|
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/RSHYpyuh4fTXi6BedPLlvVqZ1MI=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24276750/F1Y6c_this_year_was_characterized_by_a_remarkably_high_rate_of_job_openings_and_quits_and_very_low_layoffs.png"/>
|
|||
|
|
</figure>
|
|||
|
|
<hr class="p-entry-hr" id="sUdhyf"/>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="nFTCEd">
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<h3 id="RQ23Ly">
|
|||
|
|
Wages are going up, but inflation is ruining it
|
|||
|
|
</h3>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="fZ6czc">
|
|||
|
|
In March, the Federal Reserve <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/business/consumer/interest-rates-going-up-2022-federal-reserve-how-much-rcna20270">raised interest rates</a> for the first time since 2018 — and has done so several more times since, with <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/fed-could-pencil-in-higher-interest-rates-next-year-while-slowing-hikes-in-december-11670208857">more to come</a>. The hope is that if money is more expensive to borrow, people will spend less of it, and inflation, which was at a 40-year high, will subside. While down from its peak of 9 percent in June, inflation is still pretty high. Prices for all goods were <a href="https://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm">up 7.7 percent on average nationally</a> in October, compared with a year earlier.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="sLkrOv">
|
|||
|
|
Part of the issue is that the interest rate hikes haven’t been enough to stunt the job market, which keeps adding jobs and raising wages. However, thanks to inflation, those higher wages don’t mean as much as they used to. While actual wages are up about <a href="https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/eci.pdf">5 percent</a> year over year, workers end up having less buying power when you factor in inflation.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<div id="qW6smy">
|
|||
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|
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</div>
|
|||
|
|
</div>
|
|||
|
|
<figure class="e-image">
|
|||
|
|
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/zpFmfW92POG3I7RPfd40w8uo0u0=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24276756/QNHgK_inflation_has_risen_faster_than_wages.png"/>
|
|||
|
|
</figure>
|
|||
|
|
<hr class="p-entry-hr" id="PrLMmE"/>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="dbUa8v">
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<h3 id="EDPjNA">
|
|||
|
|
Remote work continues to work
|
|||
|
|
</h3>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="tU0Xn6">
|
|||
|
|
A full 78 percent of Americans who can work from home are doing so, either in a hybrid or fully remote setting, according to <a href="https://www.gallup.com/workplace/397751/returning-office-current-preferred-future-state-remote-work.aspx">Gallup</a>. Considering some 56 percent of full-time workers, or more than 70 million Americans, are in remote-capable jobs, that has big impacts on the future of work.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="rIWinC">
|
|||
|
|
For most office workers, that means they’ll work from home some of the time while spending some of the time in the office. About 30 percent of all paid full work days in the US were spent working from home in November, <a href="https://wfhresearch.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/WFHResearch_updates_November2022.pdf">according to WFH Research</a> — a rate they expect to see continue after the pandemic. One reason is that even though many employers would like their workers to return, they’re up against employee desires in a tight labor market and a potential recession, in which they may have to <a href="https://www.gallup.com/workplace/397751/returning-office-current-preferred-future-state-remote-work.aspx">cut back on office space</a> to save money.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<div id="axOuAG">
|
|||
|
|
<div id="datawrapper-iHdT6">
|
|||
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|
|||
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|
</div>
|
|||
|
|
</div>
|
|||
|
|
<figure class="e-image">
|
|||
|
|
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/vIIiag8W2lyi5UOPfI5vE17VnLc=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24276761/iHdT6_most_people_whose_jobs_can_be_remote_are_working_remotely.png"/>
|
|||
|
|
</figure>
|
|||
|
|
<hr class="p-entry-hr" id="oyBQQN"/>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="xgOkbm">
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<h3 id="qdP73H">
|
|||
|
|
A good year for unions
|
|||
|
|
</h3>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="FkpVDP">
|
|||
|
|
This year, more than 1,000 unions have won their elections — the most since 2015 and potentially longer, according to data from Bloomberg Law. These numbers only track activity through the beginning of December and are preliminary, meaning that they will likely be revised upward. The rate at which unions won their elections was also very high at 75 percent, up from about 53 percent in 2000, meaning unions that hold elections are increasingly more likely to win them.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="XK9Wc1">
|
|||
|
|
Unions are also popping up in industries previously thought ununionizable, like retail. Retail name brands like Apple, Starbucks, Amazon, Trader Joe’s, and REI all saw successful union drives this year, despite an <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/2022/8/25/23309517/starbucks-union-contract-bargaining-strikes">incredibly difficult unionization process</a> in the US. The number of strikes so far this year was up nearly 50 percent from last year, according to data from Cornell’s <a href="https://striketracker.ilr.cornell.edu/">ILR Labor Action Tracker</a>. Some <a href="https://abc17news.com/money/cnn-business-consumer/2022/09/12/massive-health-care-strike-15000-minnesota-nurses-walk-off-the-job/">15,000 nurses in Minnesota</a> went on strike in September to get better staffing and patient care. Congress <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2022/11/29/23484623/congress-rail-strike-biden-sick-days">narrowly avoided a crippling rail strike last week</a>, as rail workers fought for paid sick days.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="21W1Sj">
|
|||
|
|
This is all happening as American approval of unions is at its <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/2022/8/30/23326654/2022-union-charts-elections-wins-strikes">highest level since the 1960s</a>. While this might not be enough to counter the decades-long decline in union membership, it certainly can’t hurt.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<div id="ydnmqG">
|
|||
|
|
<div id="datawrapper-zy0ph">
|
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|
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</div>
|
|||
|
|
</div>
|
|||
|
|
<figure class="e-image">
|
|||
|
|
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/px_wkarFu9mZ9B236mWFiy2vo9o=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24277724/zy0ph_union_election_wins_are_at_their_highest_since_2015_.png"/>
|
|||
|
|
</figure>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="H3OVZW">
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<hr class="p-entry-hr" id="6gnkVe"/>
|
|||
|
|
<h3 id="X0LURO">
|
|||
|
|
</h3>
|
|||
|
|
<h3 id="fteWyX">
|
|||
|
|
Twitter is Tesla’s albatross
|
|||
|
|
</h3>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="XWD3fY">
|
|||
|
|
Tesla is a notoriously volatile stock, known to swing wildly from one day to the next. This year, however, it has mostly headed south. Tesla’s share price is down more than 50 percent from the start of the year, while the S&P 500 is down just 17 percent.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="55f9pa">
|
|||
|
|
A number of issues have plagued the electric carmaker, from a tightening economy to increased competition, but Elon Musk’s decision to buy Twitter has made matters worse. Musk, who already split his time as CEO of both Tesla and SpaceX, decided to buy Twitter back in April and has since spent <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-sleeping-at-twitter-hq-until-company-fixed-2022-11">long hours</a> trying — and seemingly <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/11/25/1139180002/twitter-loses-50-top-advertisers-elon-musk#:~:text=Press-,Twitter%20has%20lost%20half%20of%20its%20top%20100%20advertisers%20since,on%20Twitter%20ads%20since%202020.">failing</a> — to right the social media company. Meanwhile, Musk’s controversial decisions to do things like bring back right-wing extremists, including <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/2022/11/19/23468634/trump-twitter-elon-musk-ban-allowed-back-president-2024">former President Donald Trump,</a> are causing consumers and investors to <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/elon-musks-twitter-politics-add-to-pressure-on-teslas-brand-image-11669764014">sour</a> on him and, by extension, Tesla.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<div id="nVlt3v">
|
|||
|
|
<div id="datawrapper-Zanq3">
|
|||
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|
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</div>
|
|||
|
|
</div>
|
|||
|
|
<figure class="e-image">
|
|||
|
|
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/0X8bBLuY_q8b6tG5QFIPsxhWc6U=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24276768/Zanq3_twitter_is_one_of_many_reasons_for_tesla_s_stock_decline.png"/>
|
|||
|
|
</figure>
|
|||
|
|
<hr class="p-entry-hr" id="ol4rYC"/>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="gDqga6">
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<h3 id="vyvluC">
|
|||
|
|
Electric vehicles go mainstream
|
|||
|
|
</h3>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="GrpJwb">
|
|||
|
|
This was a big year for electric vehicles, thanks to high gas prices, more affordable models, and <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/23023671/ev-charging-network-gas-station-fast-charger">huge government investment</a>, including a <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/23331223/electric-vehicles-biden-ev-inflation-reduction-act">revamped tax credit</a>. President Joe Biden has said he wants half of the new cars sold in the US to be electric by 2030, and that’s a possibility. EVs made up nearly 6 percent of all new vehicle registrations in the third quarter, even as supply chain issues meant that many Americans were necessarily able to purchase the electric vehicles they wanted. While still a minority of total auto sales, that’s three times the rate it was at just two years ago, and a big step toward moving Americans away from dependence on fossil fuels.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="okzbmn">
|
|||
|
|
Growth has been stronger on a global level, with plug-in electric vehicles representing <a href="https://cleantechnica.com/2022/12/05/100-electric-vehicles-11-of-new-vehicle-sales-globally-2/">16 percent of vehicles sold</a> in October. Interestingly, as electric vehicles become more mainstream, the most well-known EV brand, Tesla, is losing its dominance. As companies like Ford and GM enter the market, Tesla’s share of new electric vehicle registrations dropped from 71 percent at the start of the year to 61 percent in the third quarter of 2022, according to data from S&P Global Mobility. S&P has forecast that Tesla’s market share will <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/11/29/teslas-dominance-of-evs-is-eroding-as-cheaper-cars-hit-the-market.html">decline to less than 20 percent by 2025</a>.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<div id="943ZCA">
|
|||
|
|
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|
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</div>
|
|||
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|
</div>
|
|||
|
|
<figure class="e-image">
|
|||
|
|
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/gV1G6X2AKIri7W2p0WlCRcnYzw8=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24276774/D9k9C_electric_vehicles_made_up_nearly_6_percent_of_new_vehicle_registrations_in_the_third_quarter.png"/>
|
|||
|
|
</figure>
|
|||
|
|
<hr class="p-entry-hr" id="SLikwC"/>
|
|||
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<h3 id="7xaL5h">
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Supply chain issues eased but aren’t over
|
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</h3>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="4DiOzM">
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Last year, supply chain issues caused delays in getting everything from furniture to food. Things have <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/2022/10/19/23410720/supply-chain-fix-holidays-pandemic">eased up quite a bit</a> this year, thanks in part to slowing demand, which caused<strong> </strong>the cost of goods and delivery, along with the time it takes to ship them, to fall.
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="kO6MPq">
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To combat international supply chain problems, the Biden administration has made a concerted <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/02/24/the-biden-harris-plan-to-revitalize-american-manufacturing-and-secure-critical-supply-chains-in-2022/">effort</a> to move more manufacturing to the US and to crack down on high shipping industry prices, but such efforts will take a long time and the supply chain is <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/2022/10/19/23410720/supply-chain-fix-holidays-pandemic">by no means fixed</a>. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s <a href="https://www.newyorkfed.org/research/policy/gscpi">Global Supply Chain Pressure Index</a> ticked back up in October and November, due to slow delivery times in China.
|
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<figure class="e-image">
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<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/GpG20IJF9DZtlJ0SLbjWPFNGBE4=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24277730/BX0TU_global_supply_chain_pressures_were_headed_back_to_normal_but_ticked_up_in_the_last_two_months.png"/>
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</figure>
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<hr class="p-entry-hr" id="NteIh9"/>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ac0cWv">
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</p>
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<h3 id="CssiQ2">
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Tech market cap collapse
|
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</h3>
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="DzJE6l">
|
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This was the year that Big Tech’s seemingly inexorable growth finally slowed. As tech companies have matured, there just isn’t as much room for rapid growth — and they don’t have anything wildly profitable on the horizon. So while revenue is still growing for most of the major companies, it’s not growing as fast as it used to.
|
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="4QQwe9">
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Wall Street has <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/2022/10/29/23429085/big-tech-boom-over-wall-street-stock-meta-amazon-google-alphabet-apple">taken notice</a>, and stock prices at major tech companies have plummeted. Apple, Meta, Amazon, Alphabet, and Microsoft combined have lost more than $3 trillion in market cap this year. That has meant hiring freezes and even mass layoffs, which were once unheard of in Silicon Valley. It has also meant that these companies have had to cut down on some of their more innovative projects. Amazon is <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-alexa-job-layoffs-rise-and-fall-2022-11">gutting Alexa</a>. Apple has tapped the brakes on its <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-12-06/apple-scales-back-self-driving-car-and-delays-launch-until-2026?sref=qYiz2hd0">self-driving car project</a>. Meta is scaling back its <a href="https://www.platformer.news/p/facebook-shrinks-its-experimental">experimental products division</a> and <a href="https://mashable.com/article/facebook-meta-gives-up-smartwatch-portal">Portal</a> to make way for the metaverse.
|
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</p>
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="0XPlKQ">
|
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|
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Of course, these companies aren’t going anywhere. They just might not be as indestructible as they used to be.
|
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</p>
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<div id="6jGy6J">
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<figure class="e-image">
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<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/qoAExI8UDyOONVDm75mVkWdHDpk=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24276798/Jcsho_since_the_start_of_the_year_the_biggest_tech_companies_lost_3_5_trillion_in_market_cap.png"/>
|
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</figure>
|
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<hr class="p-entry-hr" id="ATozm0"/>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="pboFpa">
|
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</p>
|
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<h3 id="kpqJUa">
|
|||
|
|
Crypto freezes over
|
|||
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</h3>
|
|||
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="48ZSlB">
|
|||
|
|
While 2021 was a <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/22832030/2021-year-charts-botox-billionaires-crypto-antitrust-trends-inflation-meme-stocks">boom year</a> for cryptocurrencies and affiliated technologies like NFTs and Web3, 2022 was a bust. And things appear to be going<strong> </strong>from bad to worse. What was dubbed a “<a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/23158583/crypto-winter-crash-bitcoin-eth-bubble-peter-kafka">crypto winter</a>” in the first half of the year became a <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/2022/11/16/23462260/ftx-bankruptcy-cryptocurrency-sam-bankman-fried">crypto ice age</a> in the second half.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="fZ5YTn">
|
|||
|
|
Thanks to impressively irresponsible financial skullduggery by its <a href="https://www.vox.com/the-goods/23458837/sam-bankman-fried-ftx-sbf-downfall-explained">boy genius leader Sam Bankman-Fried</a>, the spectacular fall of crypto exchange FTX caused much of the rest of the crypto industry to tumble. As of early December, the largest cryptocurrencies by market cap were down more than 50 percent. Whether this spells the <a href="https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2022/11/23/23473340/crypto-ftx-sam-bankman-fried-contagion-bankruptcy-coinbase">end of crypto</a> or just another drop in its long-chaotic ride remains to be seen.
|
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</p>
|
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|
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</div>
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</div>
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<figure class="e-image">
|
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<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/H_rpmE2iksWb-nJLR5M3_HyP1-o=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24276812/peZWv_cryptocurrency_prices_have_plummeted_this_year__1_.png"/>
|
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|
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</figure>
|
|||
|
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<hr class="p-entry-hr" id="tofzCg"/>
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="GJxu2i">
|
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</p>
|
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<h3 id="eLHvqn">
|
|||
|
|
The US continues to spend money fighting the war in Ukraine
|
|||
|
|
</h3>
|
|||
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="3SVz2k">
|
|||
|
|
The <a href="https://www.vox.com/2022/2/23/22948534/russia-ukraine-war-putin-explosions-invasion-explained">war in Ukraine</a>, which began in February when Russia invaded its neighbor, is raging on. Ukrainians are enduring missile strikes, <a href="https://www.vox.com/world/2022/11/18/23460933/ukraine-infrastructure-strikes-russia-blackouts-war">blackouts</a>, and <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-63829973">death</a>. It has also become a source of growing international tensions, as Europe and the US have <a href="https://www.vox.com/world/2022/12/6/23490654/price-cap-60-russian-oil-european-union-ban-group-of-seven-united-states">ratcheted up sanctions</a> against Russia.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="9egDzi">
|
|||
|
|
Perhaps the most direct way to measure US involvement is its military aid. Since the start of the war, the US has given Ukraine more than $18 billion in security assistance, according to an <a href="https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/3210297/400-million-in-additional-security-assistance-for-ukraine/">announcement</a> by the Department of Defense in early November. That amount has doubled since Vox last wrote about it <a href="https://www.vox.com/23069517/ukraine-military-aid-weapons-chart">in May</a>. Russia’s President Vladimir Putin recently <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/12/07/world/russia-ukraine-war-news">said</a> the war in Ukraine could be a “long process,” so we might see that aid rise even more.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
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<div id="Uenq3y">
|
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|
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</div>
|
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</div>
|
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|
<figure class="e-image">
|
|||
|
|
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/_wFYElCG4W4uAYX9WjRs-ZW8xFc=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24276819/zO4Aw_us_security_assistance_to_ukraine_this_year_exceeds_all_2021_recipients.png"/>
|
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|
|
</figure>
|
|||
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="EOSBOb">
|
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|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<ul>
|
|||
|
|
<li><strong>The US government wants to stop the biggest deal in video game history</strong> -
|
|||
|
|
<figure>
|
|||
|
|
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/PyZ41ZvMV0j4DH0YfTMjJ7EniM0=/907x0:8163x5442/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/71728217/1240746639.0.jpg"/>
|
|||
|
|
<figcaption>
|
|||
|
|
FTC Chair Lina Khan testifying at a congressional hearing in May 2022. | Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
|
|||
|
|
</figcaption>
|
|||
|
|
</figure>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
Microsoft is facing a US antitrust suit. Again.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="6MdbMQ">
|
|||
|
|
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) <a href="https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2022/12/ftc-seeks-block-microsoft-corps-acquisition-activision-blizzard-inc">is suing</a> to block Microsoft’s massive $69 billion acquisition of video game giant Activision Blizzard, saying it will harm competition in the gaming market.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="iDTzeg">
|
|||
|
|
The move is FTC chair <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/2022/6/9/23160578/lina-khan-ftc-interview">Lina Khan’s biggest yet</a> against a Big Tech company in her year-and-a-half tenure. Since Khan’s <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/2021/6/15/22398320/federal-trade-commission-lina-khan-chair-big-tech-antitrust-competition-law-amazon">surprise appointment</a> to chair the consumer protection and competition agency in June 2021, many have waited to see which Big Tech merger Khan would go after, believing it was not a matter of if she would block a merger but when and which one.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="kP2OSm">
|
|||
|
|
The deal will be closely watched by media and tech companies that would like to snap up smaller players but have been wondering how aggressive the Biden administration would be about this mega-merger. Biden’s Justice Department has already <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-obtains-permanent-injunction-blocking-penguin-random-house-s-proposed">stopped a much smaller merger</a> this fall, by successfully suing to block book publisher Random House from buying rival Simon & Schuster.
|
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|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ruvQ7M">
|
|||
|
|
Microsoft <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/22893117/microsoft-activision-antitrust-big-tech">managed to avoid</a> most of the scrutiny and criticism that its Big Tech peers have endured over the last several years, and there was a sense that it already had its big reckoning and learned its lesson back in the late ’90s and early 2000s, when an antitrust lawsuit from the Department of Justice nearly broke up the company. Then Microsoft decided to make the biggest acquisition in its history as well as the history of gaming in general and became impossible to ignore.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="9YRph6">
|
|||
|
|
The FTC’s suit notes that Microsoft has a track record of buying gaming companies and making some of their titles exclusive to Microsoft’s platforms, including the Xbox console and Game Pass, its game subscription streaming service. It argues that Activision makes some of the world’s most popular games and that Microsoft could make them more expensive or harder — if not impossible — to play on competitors’ platforms.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="3Dlwax">
|
|||
|
|
“Microsoft has already shown that it can and will withhold content from its gaming rivals,” Holly Vedova, director of the agency’s bureau of competition, <a href="https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2022/12/ftc-seeks-block-microsoft-corps-acquisition-activision-blizzard-inc">said in a statement</a>. “Today we seek to stop Microsoft from gaining control over a leading independent game studio and using it to harm competition in multiple dynamic and fast-growing gaming markets.”
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="uJlVKe">
|
|||
|
|
For its part, Microsoft says the acquisition will make competition better and be great for consumers, a line that its president, Brad Smith, repeated today in response to the lawsuit.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="lvvvZV">
|
|||
|
|
“We continue to believe that our deal to acquire Activision Blizzard will expand competition and create more opportunities for gamers and game developers,” Smith <a href="https://twitter.com/BradSmi/status/1600939963377254400">tweeted</a>. He <a href="https://twitter.com/BradSmi/status/1600940065399533568">added</a> that Microsoft tried to make concessions to the FTC to avoid a lawsuit, which his company intends to fight and believes it will win.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="bwVnpO">
|
|||
|
|
Smith and Microsoft have been increasingly vocal about various peace offerings they have floated to placate Washington, most of them centered around Call of Duty, Activision’s blockbuster game franchise. The company has repeatedly said it would continue to license Call of Duty to other platforms — notably Sony, which also has a game console with exclusive game licenses. And this week, Microsoft announced a plan to bring Call of Duty to Nintendo’s Switch consoles.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="1vwFMm">
|
|||
|
|
Microsoft has some basic logic in its favor when it comes to Call of Duty: It would be enormously costly if it cut off a huge part of the game’s user base after buying it. Which is the same reason that AT&T didn’t prevent other distributors from selling HBO subscriptions when the telecom company owned what used to be called WarnerMedia.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="g7kG08">
|
|||
|
|
But in the <a href="https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2022/12/ftc-seeks-block-microsoft-corps-acquisition-activision-blizzard-inc">press release</a> announcing the move, the FTC focused on Microsoft’s track record with Bethesda, a game developer it bought for $7.5 billion in 2021. “Microsoft decided to make several of Bethesda’s titles including <em>Starfield</em> and <em>Redfall</em> Microsoft exclusives despite assurances it had given to European antitrust authorities that it had no incentive to withhold games from rival consoles,” the FTC said.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="9FZnGE">
|
|||
|
|
This isn’t the FTC’s only battle with big tech. The agency inherited and <a href="https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2021/08/ftc-alleges-facebook-resorted-illegal-buy-or-bury-scheme-crush-competition-after-string-failed">then re-upped the Trump administration’s antitrust suit against Meta</a>, and then created a new fight with the same company by trying <a href="https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2022/07/ftc-seeks-block-virtual-reality-giant-metas-acquisition-popular-app-creator-within">to block</a> Meta’s acquisition of a virtual reality game developer last July (the trial <a href="https://www.axios.com/2022/12/08/meta-ftc-within-acquisition-trial">began</a> on Thursday). But while Khan is best known for her critiques of Amazon, the FTC <a href="https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/entertainment/mgm-joins-prime-video-and-amazon-studios">took no action</a> against Amazon’s $8.5 billion merger with MGM.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="AQtjJB">
|
|||
|
|
Given the agency’s limited resources, Khan has to pick her battles. Microsoft and a $69 billion merger is almost as big a battle as it gets.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="dQhYgX">
|
|||
|
|
<em>Peter Kafka contributed reporting to this article.</em>
|
|||
|
|
</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>Veteran Joshna and teen Anahat to vie for women’s crown</strong> - Top-seeded Abhay takes on Velavan in men’s finals</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>Bindyarani finishes 25th at World championships</strong> - Commonwealth Games medallist weightlifter S Bindyarani Devi finished 25th in the women’s 59kg event at the World Championships</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>Dream Alliance and Endurance impress</strong> -</p></li>
|
|||
|
|
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>FIFA World Cup | Portugal looks to end Morocco's dream run to quarterfinals</strong> - Cristiano Ronaldo and his Portugal team will look to end Morocco's surprising World Cup run that has brought joy to African football and the Arab world</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>India vs Australia Women’s T20 series | Focus on lesser lights too in run-up to T20 World Cup</strong> - The Women T20I series between India and Australia opens at the D.Y. Patil Stadium in Mumbai today by 7 pm.</p></li>
|
|||
|
|
</ul>
|
|||
|
|
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-the-hindu-national-news">From The Hindu: National News</h1>
|
|||
|
|
<ul>
|
|||
|
|
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Mysuru’s AAP celebrates party’s win in MCD polls</strong> -</p></li>
|
|||
|
|
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>CAG report on govt. schools submitted to Governor</strong> -</p></li>
|
|||
|
|
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Watch | Data Point: How BJP, AAP and Congress fared in Gujarat 2022 Assembly elections</strong> - A video dissecting the vote share and seats won by major parties in the Gujarat Assembly elections 2022</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>Chirag Paswan accuses Bihar government of silence on “rising crimes against Dalits”</strong> - The LJP (Ram Vilas) leader Chirag Paswan raised this issue during Zero Hour in the Lok Sabha</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>‘Mukhyamanthri’ to be staged in Chikkamagaluru on Dec. 11</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>Brittney Griner lands in US after prisoner swap with Russia</strong> - The basketball star returns home 10 months after she left the US to play the game in 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>How the Brittney Griner prisoner swap with Russia was done</strong> - The US and Russia were willing to talk despite worsening relations - but there were limits to the deal.</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>Huge fire engulfs Russian shopping mall Mega Khimki near Moscow</strong> - Video of the blaze shows explosions at the massive Mega Khimki complex outside Moscow.</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>France makes condoms free for 18 to 25 year olds</strong> - The new health measure follows an increase in sexually transmitted infections in France.</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>Portugal euthanasia: New legislation expected to approve assisted suicide</strong> - The legislation will allow medically assisted suicide in certain limited circumstances.</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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|
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>“The Game Awards” Awards: Picking the night’s best new game trailers</strong> - <em>Hades</em> and <em>Death Stranding</em> sequels, <em>Bioshock</em>’s spiritual successor, and more. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1903238">link</a></p></li>
|
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|
|
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Pentagon picked four tech companies to form $9B cloud computing network</strong> - Microsoft agrees multi-cloud strategy is “the right one” for defense department. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1903180">link</a></p></li>
|
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|
|
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>“Memory Saver” might cure Chrome’s insatiable appetite for RAM</strong> - Background tabs will get kicked out of memory, but only if you allow it. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1903044">link</a></p></li>
|
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|
|
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>DeepMind’s latest AI project solves programming challenges like a newb</strong> - Google’s AI division tackles programming languages with a language model. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1903113">link</a></p></li>
|
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|
|
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Twirling parasitic worms throw dance party in man’s scrotum</strong> - In medical terms, the dance party is called the “filarial dance sign.” - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1903038">link</a></p></li>
|
|||
|
|
</ul>
|
|||
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|
<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>The maid asked her boss, the wife, for a raise, and the wife was upset.</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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|
|
The wife asked “Why do you think you deserve a pay increase?”
|
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|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
Maid: “There are three reasons. The first is that I iron better than you.”
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
Wife: “Who said that?”
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
Maid: “Your husband.”
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
Wife: “Oh.”
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
Maid: “The second reason is that I am a better cook than you.”
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
Wife: “Who said that?”
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
Maid: “Your husband.”
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
Wife: “Oh.”
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
Maid: “The third reason is that I am better at sex than you.”
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
Wife: “Did my husband say that as well?”
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
Maid: “No, the gardener did.”
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
Wife: “So how much do you want?”
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
</div>
|
|||
|
|
<!-- SC_ON -->
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/MEforgotUSERNAME"> /u/MEforgotUSERNAME </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/zgimvn/the_maid_asked_her_boss_the_wife_for_a_raise_and/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/zgimvn/the_maid_asked_her_boss_the_wife_for_a_raise_and/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
|||
|
|
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Brittney Griner had been traded for Viktor Bout</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
|
|||
|
|
<div class="md">
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
This is the first WNBA trade that I paid attention to.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
</div>
|
|||
|
|
<!-- SC_ON -->
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Ruffle2Shuffle"> /u/Ruffle2Shuffle </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/zg8sfs/brittney_griner_had_been_traded_for_viktor_bout/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/zg8sfs/brittney_griner_had_been_traded_for_viktor_bout/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
|||
|
|
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>I think my family is racist</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
|
|||
|
|
<div class="md">
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
I brought my Asian girlfriend home for dinner and my wife and kids were very rude to her.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
</div>
|
|||
|
|
<!-- SC_ON -->
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/liquidporkchops"> /u/liquidporkchops </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/zg0ovz/i_think_my_family_is_racist/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/zg0ovz/i_think_my_family_is_racist/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
|||
|
|
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A woman has twin boys and gives them up for adoption.</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
|
|||
|
|
<div class="md">
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
The first goes to a family in Egypt, which names him Ahmal.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
The second goes to a family in Spain, which names him Juan.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
Years later, Juan sends a picture of himself to his birth mother.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
Excited at receiving the picture, she tells her husband that she wishes she also had a picture of Ahmal.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
Her husband responds, “They’re twins! If you’ve seen Juan, you’ve seen Ahmal.”
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
</div>
|
|||
|
|
<!-- SC_ON -->
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/EndersGame_Reviewer"> /u/EndersGame_Reviewer </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/zft1wl/a_woman_has_twin_boys_and_gives_them_up_for/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/zft1wl/a_woman_has_twin_boys_and_gives_them_up_for/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
|||
|
|
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A little girl gets a bike for Christmas one year.</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
|
|||
|
|
<div class="md">
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
All excited, she immediately takes the bike out to ride it.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
A cop passing by says to the little girl, “Did Santa get you that?”
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
“Yes,” replies the little girl. “Well tell him to put a reflector light on it next year!” and fines her $5.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
The little girl looks up at the cop and says, “Nice horse you’ve got there, did Santa bring you that?”
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
The cop chuckles and replies, “He sure did!”
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
“Well,” says the little girl, “Next year tell Santa that the dick goes under the horse, not on top of it!”
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
</div>
|
|||
|
|
<!-- SC_ON -->
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/lachjeff"> /u/lachjeff </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/zgrcb0/a_little_girl_gets_a_bike_for_christmas_one_year/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/zgrcb0/a_little_girl_gets_a_bike_for_christmas_one_year/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
|||
|
|
</ul>
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
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