595 lines
65 KiB
HTML
595 lines
65 KiB
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<title>03 December, 2020</title>
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<title>Daily-Dose</title><meta content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" name="viewport"/><link href="styles/simple.css" rel="stylesheet"/><link href="../styles/simple.css" rel="stylesheet"/><style>*{overflow-x:hidden;}</style><link href="https://unpkg.com/aos@2.3.1/dist/aos.css" rel="stylesheet"/><script src="https://unpkg.com/aos@2.3.1/dist/aos.js"></script></head>
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<body>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-down" id="daily-dose">Daily-Dose</h1>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-right" data-aos-anchor-placement="top-bottom" id="contents">Contents</h1>
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<ul>
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<li><a href="#from-new-yorker">From New Yorker</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-vox">From Vox</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-the-hindu-sports">From The Hindu: Sports</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-the-hindu-national-news">From The Hindu: National News</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-bbc-europe">From BBC: Europe</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-ars-technica">From Ars Technica</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-jokes-subreddit">From Jokes Subreddit</a></li>
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</ul>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-new-yorker">From New Yorker</h1>
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<ul>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Biggest Challenge Facing Joe Biden’s New Economic Team</strong> - The President-elect’s advisers are keenly aware that many of the Administration’s policy proposals will likely have to go through, or around, Mitch McConnell. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/the-biggest-challenge-facing-joe-bidens-new-economic-team">link</a></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Duelling Realities of the Coronavirus in Russia</strong> - People have learned to live with the pandemic, though not necessarily with all of its precautions and limitations. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/the-duelling-realities-of-the-coronavirus-in-russia">link</a></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Using the Homeless to Guard Empty Houses</strong> - As the pandemic makes an already terrible housing crisis worse, a new version of house-sitting signals a broken real-estate market. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/12/07/using-the-homeless-to-guard-empty-houses">link</a></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Dangerous Possibilities of Trump’s Pardon Power</strong> - Trump has used pardons to reward loyalty and tweak perceived enemies. In the last weeks of his Presidency, he may use them to protect his associates—and himself. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/the-dangerous-possibilities-of-trumps-pardon-power">link</a></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Climate Debt the U.S. Owes the World</strong> - We can’t meet our moral and practical burdens simply by reducing our own carbon emissions; we also need to make amends. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/annals-of-a-warming-planet/the-climate-debt-the-us-owes-the-world">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>Decking the halls for pandemic Christmas</strong> -
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<img alt="A lavishly lit Christmas tree in a traditional study" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/6nvAPU4F_haRc-xxIDpiRNCt3Rw=/0x0:1428x1071/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/68448241/Holiday_Room_2.0.jpg"/>
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Holiday-themed interior design from designer Bronson van Wyck. | Courtesy of Bronson van Wyck
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</figcaption>
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</figure>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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Revelers are going hard on decor this year, both inside and out.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="PjeUPq">
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A 9-foot nutcracker. Magic crystals that light up a fireplace with green and purple flames. Glass-glitter pinecones so sharp, they have to be handled with protective gear.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="kIO0KL">
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These are just some of the decorations that Christmas enthusiasts are using to show their holiday cheer in an otherwise dreary year. Dorinda Medley, a former star of Bravo’s <em>The Real Housewives of New York City</em>, is known for “making it nice,” especially the exuberant Christmas displays she installs each year at Blue Stone Manor, her home in the Berkshires. But she’s going extra-big this holiday season — literally, if that giant nutcracker she bought is any indication. “When I pressed the button, I was like, ‘What have I done?’ But now it’s on the American Express, paid for, and I’m happy for it,” Medley says.
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Being happy for it, for small pockets of merriment in a time when everything seems not very merry, is adding up to big business for purveyors of Christmas decor, who are selling holiday cheer at a fast clip. “I’ve got to put in the effort this year,” Medley says of her big spending, “because it would be easy just to fall into the doldrums of 2020 and say forget it. But I think that, at the end of the day, people need to feel hopeful.”
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="d1gYEh">
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Medley is not alone. In this year of diminished holiday celebrations, with many skipping the holidays entirely and others doing their best to adjust traditions to fit the safety measures called for by the <a href="https://www.vox.com/coronavirus-covid19">Covid-19</a> pandemic, Christmas enthusiasts are choosing to redirect energy they would usually spend on parties, meals, and frantic shopping trips to putting up over-the-top decorations and light displays.
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View this post on Instagram
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; white-space: nowrap;">
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<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CIEUMNFAnb7/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">A post shared by Dorinda Medley (<span class="citation" data-cites="dorindamedley">@dorindamedley</span>)</a>
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Celebrants are expressing holiday cheer inside as well, through old-fashioned Yuletide activities like gingerbread-house building and garland-stringing as people seek out what Medley describes as a Norman Rockwell-esque Christmas. “I want to evoke that feeling of home — because we’ve all been <em>home</em>,” she says. (It doesn’t hurt, of course, that Christmas crafts are highly, highly Instagrammable.)
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It’s a scene that is playing out across the country. “Over the last two months, we’ve seen a 45 percent increase in holiday lighting over the same time frame last year, and a 42 percent increase with wreaths and garland,” says Andrew Wolf, a holiday merchant at Ace Hardware. And John DeCosmo, president of Ulta-Lit Tree Company, says, “Light sets sales are up, outdoor decor sales are up, and artificial Christmas tree sales are up, so yes, we are seeing it. Our own sales online are up over 30 percent this year.”
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Caroline Moss, an author and host of the podcast <a href="https://www.geethanksjustboughtit.com/about"><em>Gee Thanks Just Bought It</em></a>, is doing an outdoor lights display for the first time and saw no reason to wait until after Thanksgiving to illuminate her home. “I put up an outdoor tree and outdoor lights on November 2,” she confesses. Moss, who relocated to Los Angeles this year with her husband Dan, was concerned about what her new neighbors might think, though she needn’t have worried. “I was very nervous because I didn’t want to be seen as the crazy new neighbors. I texted my next-door neighbor, and she was like, ‘Oh, we’re doing it too.’”
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According to DeCosmo, the day after Thanksgiving is typically the most popular day of the year for Christmas decorating. But this year, people like Moss got an early start, perhaps wanting to wear their holiday cheer on their lawns. Bronson van Wyck, a decorator who services a high-end clientele, saw a noted increase in business — especially among early birds. “We would typically do somewhere between six to 10 homes for Christmas, and we would probably have booked them by about [mid-November],” he says. “This year we had a dozen bookings before Labor Day.”
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<div class="c-float-right">
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<aside id="b8IIRf">
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<q>“I think it’s important to show that we are here, we’re celebrating” </q>
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Van Wyck is capitalizing in another way: For $475, his website offers something called a “<a href="https://www.vanwyck.net/shop/p/sugar-and-spice-sensory-delights-package">Sugar and Spice, Sensory Delights Package</a>” featuring “(1) Evergreen, cedar and juniper wreath adorned with dried citrus, cinnamon stick and faux berries hand-crafted by genuine Van Wyck Elves,” a full-color smart LED light bulb from GE, and a tube of those magic crystals for tossing in the fire (<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Rutland-715-Rainbow-Flame-Crystal/dp/B004T36Y04" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Amazon retail price: $15.26</a>). Van Wyck isn’t the only one trotting out elves. On the new Netflix show <em>Holiday Home Makeover with Mr. Christmas</em>, interior designer Benjamin Bradley, the titular Mr. Christmas, and his team (yes, of <a href="https://media.netflix.com/en/only-on-netflix/81090012">elves</a>) gives four families holiday home makeovers that feature hand-flocked trees, Della Robbia-style wreaths, lucite diamonds, hanging lanterns, and luminescent deer. Mr. Christmas, in his own words, goes “Christmas balls to the walls.”
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Preston Davis, the editor of <a href="https://keepitchic.com/">Keep it Chic</a>, is another newcomer to festive outdoor holiday displays. “I have never put lights outside or in windows and I plan to do that this year! I think it’s important to show that we are here, we’re celebrating,” Davis says.
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In holiday seasons past, Davis hosted a series of luncheons to visit with old friends returning home for the holidays. But with travel and large gatherings off the table, Davis is thinking about building a gingerbread house and making old-fashioned popcorn garland with her adult daughters, ages 20 and 25 — provided they’re able to safely travel home. “I plan on really ramping up, the tree with the popcorn strings and all that stuff. I really want to go all out,” she says.
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She’s also hoping her kids will want in on the fun. “I want them to help decorate and do some of those traditions, gingerbread houses and cookies. Maybe I’ll even get them to produce sugar cubes for Santa. Who knows?!” She views these hands-on activities as a way to break her habit of multitasking — which, she acknowledges, “takes a lot of value away from the time I spend with my family.”
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It’s no surprise that in this socially distant year, with touch and physical proximity largely off-limits, people are finding creative visual and aural ways to connect with others. Springtime’s nightly <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/27/us/new-york-claps-for-first-responders-trnd/index.html">clapping and cheering</a> for first responders beget the summer’s <a href="https://gothamist.com/news/illegal-fireworks-soar-nyc-complaints-2020">illegal fireworks shows</a>, which gave way to <a href="https://nypost.com/2020/10/02/home-depot-12-foot-skeleton-is-halloween-2020s-most-coveted-item/">giant skeletons</a> come Halloween. Now, at Yuletide, the creative means have become literal, with people taking up those highly Instagrammable crafting projects.
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<img alt="Garlands made of popcorn and cranberries, laid over a chair back." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Bkrng6en8F4NbbxBL6bkoqDKz0c=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22137040/IMG_4920.jpg"/> <cite>Courtesy of Elizabeth Schulte</cite>
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<figcaption>
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Elizabeth Schulte’s garlands.
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In keeping with the nostalgic tone of this Christmas, Elizabeth Schulte of Salem, Oregon, is stepping up her garland-making, using dried fruits like oranges and apples alongside more traditional popcorn and cranberries. The dried apples are the literal fruits of illicit labor; she engaged in a practice called scrumping to obtain them. “It means, um, <em>liberating</em> apples that are maybe not necessarily legally yours, from a place where there’s no one really necessarily guarding them,” Schulte says. To atone for the scrumping, she’s also considering adopting another historic holiday activity: wassailing. “It’s where they would go around and sing Christmas songs to the orchard” to encourage the trees to grow more apples, she says. “Considering how we have just been robbing apples all over the state, maybe we should go and give them some encouragement.”
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Schulte is incorporating nostalgia in another way. “I’m going to use some strange glitter on one of the garlands, I think maybe on the pine cones.” Strange glitter? Schulte explains that before World War II, glitter was made mostly from ground glass out of Germany, and she wanted the real deal. “It’s quite annoying to find, I found some online,” she says.
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The German ground-glass glitter presented another problem, albeit one with a very 2020 solution. “I’m low-key concerned that I’m going to get ground glass into my lungs and eyes,” Schulte says. “I think in order to safely use it, I have to wear a mask.”
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<ul>
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<li><strong>How millennials became the burnout generation</strong> -
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<figure>
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<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/sL2GWmQh1iJawuxbFNukGufwXmE=/384x0:2687x1727/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/68448073/capitalist_millenials.0.jpg"/>
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<figcaption>
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Photo Illustration by Javier Zarracina/Vox; Getty Images
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</figcaption>
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</figure>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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Author Anne Helen Petersen on why millennials have internalized the worst parts of their condition.
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="eEeGYL">
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“We’re trying to build a solid foundation on quicksand.”
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="m1BlBt">
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That’s how Anne Helen Petersen, author of <a href="https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1516588&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fbookshop.org%2Fbooks%2Fcan-t-even-how-millennials-became-the-burnout-generation%2F9780358315070&referrer=vox.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.vox.com%2Fpolicy-and-politics%2F21473579%2Fmillennials-great-recession-burnout-anne-helen-petersen" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank"><em>Can’t Even: How Millennials Became the Burnout Generation</em></a>, describes the plight of most millennials in America. We’re a generation that has never quite been able to find any stability, economic or otherwise. And it’s not just because we’ve endured two financial crises (the Great Recession and now the <a href="https://www.vox.com/coronavirus-covid19">coronavirus</a>), though that’s obviously part of it. It’s because the world we’ve inherited set us up for burnout.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="yZ2pES">
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The sort of burnout Petersen describes goes beyond mere exhaustion, which is at least fleeting. If you’re truly burned out, there’s no escape. It’s what happens when you live without any margin for error, when you’re always one accident or illness away from bankruptcy or eviction. Living so close to ruin saps the joy out of nearly everything because there’s no security, no peace of mind.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="s6mNe9">
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|
According to Petersen, this is the baseline condition for the vast majority of millennials — whether they work in retail or the gig economy — and it’s become so internalized that most of us can scarcely imagine a different way of being in the world.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="38TzlY">
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|
I reached out to Petersen to talk about millennial burnout and why she thinks it’s similar to but also different from the experiences of previous generations. We also discussed the role of capitalism in transforming society, the collapse of the American dream, the impossible dilemma faced by parents in this culture, and why social media is making everything worse.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="tsWPFU">
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|
A transcript of our conversation, lightly edited for length and clarity, follows.
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</p>
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<h4 id="h04sHa">
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|
Sean Illing
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</h4>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="qRZE6H">
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|
You did a ton of survey research for this book asking millennials to describe the state of their lives. What were the most common complaints or themes?
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</p>
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<h4 id="NrmWkU">
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|
|
Anne Helen Petersen
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</h4>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="tdYnvx">
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A lot of sadness and regret. Many people I heard from believed they made the choices they were supposed to make and it led them to a deeply unsatisfying place. They had confidence in the path, society assured them it was the right path, so they went to college and took out debt and expected things to work out. Or they pursued a certain career and found themselves continually exploited and continually behind. The end result of that is a kind of despair and anger, and it came across in the surveys I conducted.
|
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</p>
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<h4 id="EhIJRC">
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Sean Illing
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</h4>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="hSLiLW">
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What is it about the world millennials inhabited that makes burnout so pervasive?
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</p>
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<h4 id="p4a0hX">
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|
Anne Helen Petersen
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</h4>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="HXIqkZ">
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The overarching thing is precarity. Precarity has been connected to burnout historically — we just haven’t called it that. We haven’t paid much attention to it because it was always a smaller percentage of the population that had to grapple with it. People in poverty have been dealing with burnout forever. The burnout experienced by millennials is textured by how we interact with digital technologies, and some of our ideas about work and the fetishization of overwork. There’s a feeling of instability that’s the baseline economic condition for many, many millennials, and it’s enhanced by these other components of our lives that make it harder to turn away from.
|
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</p>
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<h4 id="FkHgjl">
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Sean Illing
|
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</h4>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="A6oB64">
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Can you unpack what you mean by “precarity” and “burnout”? Because I think these are slippery terms for a lot of people.
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</p>
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<h4 id="7EY5mQ">
|
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|
|
Anne Helen Petersen
|
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</h4>
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="MiKFeT">
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|
Precarity is the state that most Americans find themselves in. It’s operating with the knowledge that one big life gust (a car accident, a serious illness, a house fire, a lost job) could send you spiraling towards bankruptcy or eviction. It’s living with massive amounts of debt and not knowing how you’ll service that debt if your income stream fails. It’s not having family members in [a] financial position to support you. It’s basically operating without a safety net.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="oO2zKS">
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|
Burnout is the feeling that you’ve hit the wall exhaustion-wise, but then have to scale the wall and just keep going. There’s no catharsis, no lasting rest, just this background hum of exhaustion. It manifests in not being able to make the sort of decisions you actually want to make — my classic example is that you’re so tired, you just scroll Instagram instead of reading the book that you legitimately do want to read — and everything in your life flattens into one endless, ever-recyling to-do list that you just feel like you have to get through so that you can do the next thing on the list. Things that should feel good or joyful or restful (like vacation!) just feel like another thing to get through, because everything is work and work is everything.
|
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</p>
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<div class="c-float-right">
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<aside id="XnTh9o">
|
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|
|
<q>“We’re supposed to live in one of the most developed countries in the world — having children shouldn’t be this hard”</q>
|
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</aside>
|
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|
</div>
|
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|
<h4 id="sKai0T">
|
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|
Sean Illing
|
|||
|
|
</h4>
|
|||
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="e7Nuc4">
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|
|
How has our relationship to technology intensified the burnout problem?
|
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|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<h4 id="TA1gF9">
|
|||
|
|
Anne Helen Petersen
|
|||
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</h4>
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="bMNbTp">
|
|||
|
|
I think it’s two things. One is that our phones and our wifi-equipped laptops enable work to spread into virtually every corner of our lives. We’re always connected, always reachable. It’s so much harder to maintain any sort of boundary.
|
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</p>
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="zOPOnG">
|
|||
|
|
The other thing is that social media — Facebook and Instagram in particular — and this idea of packaging your life and leisure in a way that makes it part of your personality, whether you think about it or not, has made a lot of us turn ourselves into a brand. And maintaining that brand is exhausting.
|
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|
</p>
|
|||
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|
<h4 id="4n3UZd">
|
|||
|
|
Sean Illing
|
|||
|
|
</h4>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="G90YKQ">
|
|||
|
|
The kind of burnout you describe definitely applies to a subset of millennials (highly educated, knowledge-economy workers, people carrying laptops everywhere). But do you think this applies to millennials in the retail or service sector as well? Is it universal?
|
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|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<h4 id="N4lF7y">
|
|||
|
|
Anne Helen Petersen
|
|||
|
|
</h4>
|
|||
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|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="87wLEj">
|
|||
|
|
Of course! Burnout occurs when you are asked to do more than you are capable of, and you keep doing that day after day after day. It happens when you’re not given autonomy in your job, when you’re surveilled in some capacity, when you’re not making enough to find financial security, when you’re scrambling every day to figure out child care or housing.
|
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|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="BXh6NH">
|
|||
|
|
Middle class or “knowledge workers” often confront burnout by throwing money at it — which doesn’t really work but does provide some semblance of stability. Retail workers dealing with lack of health insurance, algorithm-controlled scheduling, harassment on the job with little recourse — they get burned out, don’t have money to throw at the problem, and just keep going. Sometimes that means they end up in the emergency room, on disability, reported to child services.
|
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|
|
</p>
|
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|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="0fZ7L2">
|
|||
|
|
The stakes of burnout are just so much higher. I think it’s incredibly important to be clear about that — but I also think that we can still use a word to gesture towards what’s shared between those sorts of jobs, if only to create the sort of larger solidarity that makes as many people as possible believe that the system that creates burnout across the income spectrum needs changing. Yes, middle-class people should care about the working conditions of poor people, even if they haven’t experienced themselves. But that presumption has led us to where we are now.
|
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|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<h4 id="995Elt">
|
|||
|
|
Sean Illing
|
|||
|
|
</h4>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="o3w8Uc">
|
|||
|
|
Every generation has had some version of this, and probably every time it seems like it’s more intense and more widespread. You even concede in the book that burnout isn’t a uniquely millennial condition. So what is it about <em>this</em> world and <em>this</em> moment that makes millennial burnout different? The digital tech is obviously new, but is this condition?
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<h4 id="Deucw1">
|
|||
|
|
Anne Helen Petersen
|
|||
|
|
</h4>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="RAzQS6">
|
|||
|
|
A lot of it has to do with timing. One of the things that people have said about millennials is that we’re unlucky. I don’t like that because it suggests that there weren’t decisions made that made us unlucky, and that we’re just unfortunate to have been born at the wrong time. It’s true that millennials graduated from high school or college into the 2008 recession and its aftermath, and that delayed any sort of adult stability for a significant amount of time. It also limited our ability to pay off student loans or start saving money for the future. There are cumulative effects to these things that stack up and create more instability.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="C1aVsJ">
|
|||
|
|
But the recession didn’t come out of nowhere. We intersected with it right out of school, and it was decisions made by people — most of whom weren’t millennials — that brought us to that precipice. And then boom, we’re hit with another wave of precarity with the pandemic, right around the age a lot of people want to have children and start families, and now we’re grappling with the reality of trying to school those children or find child care. It’s forcing people to drop out of the workforce after reaching their breaking point.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<h4 id="N0m4xj">
|
|||
|
|
Sean Illing
|
|||
|
|
</h4>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="YgASyw">
|
|||
|
|
Millennial burnout might seem strange or counterintuitive to some, because in so many ways the world has never been easier or freer, but levels of <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/13/health/Covid-mental-health-anxiety.html">anxiety and depression</a> keep going up. We have more — more stuff, more options, more distractions — and yet there’s still this latent despair about the world. How do you make sense of that?
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<h4 id="Gzj4VY">
|
|||
|
|
Anne Helen Petersen
|
|||
|
|
</h4>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="2i2zOH">
|
|||
|
|
There’s this general American idea that more is always better, whether it’s more choices or more profits or more anything. But there’s a lot of anxiety that attends having so many choices. I think the reason why sites like Wirecutter and recommendation sites in general are so popular is because we’re so overwhelmed with options to the point of paralysis. You want to make the best choice, the best decision. You don’t want to blunder. You want to go on the best vacation. You want to choose the best preschool for your children. And so on. Making choices all the time increases anxiety.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="d2LU0k">
|
|||
|
|
And there’s the reality that maintaining a middle-class life is just harder today than it was in the past, which I think is a huge part of the burnout problem. How do I maintain middle-class stability like my parents had, when doing so requires so much more debt? There’s a compulsion to keep borrowing and spending to simply maintain a decent life in an increasingly unforgiving economy.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<div class="c-float-right">
|
|||
|
|
<figure class="e-image">
|
|||
|
|
<img alt="The cover of Can’t Even: How Millennials Became the Burnout Generation, a book by Anne Helen Petersen" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/PmI6SfgHBECx1VodjOiTX52NiRc=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/21991930/Can_t_Even.jpg"/>
|
|||
|
|
</figure></div></li>
|
|||
|
|
</ul>
|
|||
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|
|||
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|
<h4 id="WNWHsO">
|
|||
|
|
Sean Illing
|
|||
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|
</h4>
|
|||
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|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="rbShah">
|
|||
|
|
All of this really boils down to capitalism, doesn’t it? And not just the economic system we call capitalism, but the way of life that system promotes. There’s the precarity problem on the one hand, and then there’s the reality that our value as human beings is bound up with our value as workers, and that seems like a recipe not just for burnout but for a deep spiritual malaise.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<h4 id="nRnq0x">
|
|||
|
|
Anne Helen Petersen
|
|||
|
|
</h4>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="m_6345597818411924107gmail-m_-278618107543988021gmail-vlKmWV">
|
|||
|
|
Yeah, it’s such a complicated dynamic. I was reading this old book from 1951 by a sociologist talking about the American understanding of work, which he saw as the culmination of a couple of ideals. One is this idea that working hard without reward is evidence of deep virtue, and if you don’t work like that you internalize a sense of guilt. That’s kind of the whole Calvinist work ethic.
|
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|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="m_6345597818411924107gmail-m_-278618107543988021gmail-uJtEAv">
|
|||
|
|
But there’s another component, which is this notion that we’re supposed to do what we love, which he attributes to the Renaissance style of artisans who worked to produce art, even if it’s a wagon wheel or something like that, and that’s somehow operating outside of capitalism. And I think it’s fine to believe that work is good and that idle hands make mischief, or whatever. It’s also fine to believe that work ought to be fulfilling. But the ethos we’re operating in says that work is good when you’re most like a robot and you make money. But we don’t talk about that. We just talk about work as “good.”
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<div class="c-float-right">
|
|||
|
|
<aside id="RYtTGC">
|
|||
|
|
<q>“The meritocracy at the heart of the American dream was just a lie”</q>
|
|||
|
|
</aside>
|
|||
|
|
</div>
|
|||
|
|
<h4 id="5MjPfz">
|
|||
|
|
Sean Illing
|
|||
|
|
</h4>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="yKfZZx">
|
|||
|
|
George Carlin had this great line about the American dream. He said “They call it a dream because you have to be asleep to believe it,” and that’s kind of what we’re talking about. This fantasy that if you work hard, if you matriculate through the system, you’ll find your footing and have a stable life is just dead. Millennials might be the first generation to really confront this, although I’m sure Gen-Xers would disagree.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<h4 id="37CYY7">
|
|||
|
|
Anne Helen Petersen
|
|||
|
|
</h4>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="z3UrBh">
|
|||
|
|
Yeah, well, and I think people who weren’t white and middle class already knew that for a long time, right? That the meritocracy at the heart of the American dream was just a lie. And now that white middle-class people are discovering it’s a lie, it’s become a majority consensus. Of course, as a society, we should’ve been paying attention before. But here we are.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<h4 id="z9kFcL">
|
|||
|
|
Sean Illing
|
|||
|
|
</h4>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Tj1mZZ">
|
|||
|
|
The chapter on “parenting burnout” hit me hard as a new dad. We have a society that’s arranged as if every family has a caretaker who’s home all the time, but the reality is that both parents have to work in most families and no one has any answers for this disjunction. So parents, especially mothers, are just collapsing under the weight of impossible responsibilities.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="XR07EK">
|
|||
|
|
How central is this to the burnout problem?
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<h4 id="qmwdxG">
|
|||
|
|
Anne Helen Petersen
|
|||
|
|
</h4>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="fmuwvP">
|
|||
|
|
It’s a huge component. Fear of this exact problem is why a lot of people, myself included, are opting out of parenthood. And I’ll say, there are plenty of good reasons why people should feel free to choose not to be parents, but being frightened about the mental load that’s going to fall on you, and struggling with financial precarity, shouldn’t be one of them. We’re supposed to live in one of the most developed countries in the world — having children shouldn’t be this hard. We ought to make this easier. Other countries have done it. But we haven’t.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<h4 id="18GMEf">
|
|||
|
|
Sean Illing
|
|||
|
|
</h4>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="0w70gd">
|
|||
|
|
Let me push you a little because I think the book may let millennials off the hook by casting them as helpless victims of outside forces. Is it possible that millennials have too eagerly absorbed the values that imprison them, and that if they choose to do so, could’ve revolted against this culture rather than working so hard to succeed within its parameters?
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<h4 id="3UM1M6">
|
|||
|
|
Anne Helen Petersen
|
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</h4>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="NoOQvm">
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You know how ideology works. It’s so hard to push back against something that you don’t realize is an ideological force. I grew up in a culture that told me to go to college and get a degree and do what I love no matter what. I didn’t realize I was choosing an ideology when I was consuming those things. I just thought I was doing what people did. I think that’s true for most of us.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="IXDI7C">
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We’re all surrounded by media that tells us these are the things we’re supposed to do. It’s in all the movies, with characters saying, “I’m going to Stanford no matter what it takes.” Or it’s in Steve Job’s commencement speech, telling everyone to “do what you love, if you’re not doing what you love, quit and go find it.” And lots of millennials saddled themselves with student debt in the hopes that it would pay off.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="onbGk3">
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When I was in college, people thought it was the obvious thing to do. It’s a low-interest debt that will pay for itself because you’re investing in your future. This was the idea of student debt as it was conceived in the ‘70s and ‘80s, when overall debt numbers were so much smaller. But tuition just kept rising, debt payments kept rising, the labor market kept shifting, and most people have found it impossible to get out from under all the debt they thought they had to acquire if they wanted to succeed.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="BVpgug">
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There was also public student loan forgiveness problems that we were sold. We were told you can go into a career that’s underpaid and under-resourced and it won’t matter because in 10 years that debt will zero out. A lot of people made decisions with that knowledge in hand. They trusted the programs would endure. <a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/annehelenpetersen/student-debt-college-public-service-loan-forgiveness">But it hasn’t worked out that way</a>. It’s such a white, middle-class bourgeois thing, right? We expected the government to keep a promise and were surprised when it didn’t. But an Indigenous person who grew up 10 miles from you is like, “Of course the government’s not going to keep their promise.” They know that you don’t trust anything the government tells you.
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</p>
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<h4 id="GkLTEZ">
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Sean Illing
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</h4>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="al2SRd">
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What’s your advice to people who feel like they’ve lost control of their own life and have to find some kind of balance now?
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</p>
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<h4 id="2i9vDE">
|
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Anne Helen Petersen
|
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</h4>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="zHO1xA">
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I really do think that being able to identify what’s going on is a huge first step. To recognize and say, “I don’t want it to be this way anymore,” that’s a big deal. Many people don’t even have the time or mental space to arrive at that point. But if you get there, and you want to be analytical about your life and lay it down flat and say, “What’s going on? Where did I get this idea? How can I look at this idea from a distance and see that it’s not necessarily true just because I believed it, or because I’ve done it for so long?” Because you don’t have to have an Instagram account. You don’t have to have a Facebook account. You don’t have to be on Twitter. You don’t have to answer that email at 11 pm. That doesn’t mean you have to quit those things, but if you can articulate that to yourself, you can just see it as a choice you get to make.
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</p>
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<ul>
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<li><strong>South Korea just changed a longstanding military law for the sake of BTS</strong> -
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<figure>
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<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/sof9_cWed_ys7DW46xJGr-Q9RuI=/977x0:3058x1561/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/68446349/1287539009.0.jpg"/>
|
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<figcaption>
|
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|
|
Members of BTS attend a press conference for the release of the group’s new album, BE, on November 20, 2020. | JTBC PLUS/Imazins via Getty Images
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</figcaption>
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</figure>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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BTS’s success has won the male K-pop idols a reprieve from South Korea’s mandatory military assignment.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="1606935316.010100">
|
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|
Just one day after BTS made Billboard chart history (for the nth time), the South Korean government made a little history of its own. On December 1, the National Assembly <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/01/world/asia/korea-bts-law-military-deferment.html">changed a longstanding law</a> concerning compulsory military service in order to allow a brief respite for artists and entertainers who’ve elevated the nation’s global reputation — including, of course, BTS.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="zkDvXT">
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The law previously required all male South Korean citizens to complete about two years of military service by age 30, meaning they had to enroll by the time they turned 28. Now eligible idols and other artists may defer the beginning of their service until they’re 30, pushing their enrollment deadline back by two years. The change arrives just in time to exempt the band’s oldest member, Kim Seok-jin (a.k.a. Jin), from having to enlist when he turns 28 on December 4. The timing also coincides with BTS setting a new record in the US music industry.
|
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="QTPJeX">
|
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|
On November 30, BTS became the first band in history to top the Billboard Hot 100 chart with a song sung primarily in Korean: “Life Goes On,” the second chart-topping single from the group’s <a href="https://www.vox.com/21579003/bts-be-new-album-review">new pandemic-themed album <em>Be</em></a>. (The first was the English-language track “<a href="https://www.vox.com/21498770/bts-dynamite">Dynamite</a>,” which debuted at No. 1 in August.) The band also broke <a href="https://twitter.com/billboardcharts/status/1333876434797015041">a slew</a> of <a href="https://www.billboard.com/articles/business/chart-beat/9491645/bts-career-best-seven-entries-billboard-hot-100/">other records</a> at the same time, including the fastest accumulation of three No. 1 songs on the Hot 100 <a href="https://twitter.com/billboardcharts/status/1333482263150026756">since the Bee Gees accomplished that feat in 1978</a>.
|
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</p>
|
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<aside id="E9E0Of">
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<div>
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</div>
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</aside>
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="0g0wkI">
|
|||
|
|
Exemptions to the Korean mandated military service law <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/13/world/asia/sports-stars-south-korea-draft-exemptions.html">already existed</a> for athletes, entertainers, and other public figures, but those exemptions from active service still require those who qualify for them to complete a term of military training. The new law allows eligible artists to defer their conscription for an additional two years, effectively giving K-pop band members like Jin and many other idols a grace period before they have to enlist.
|
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|
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</p>
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="uV7rTX">
|
|||
|
|
Korea’s military service requirement has long loomed over the country’s pop idol industry, with many successful bands seeing members enlist for their service period during the height of their success. Bands with many members can afford to lose one or two to the draft without losing momentum, but the requirement can be disruptive. <a href="https://www.republicworld.com/entertainment-news/music/exos-chen-just-became-4th-exo-member-to-enlist-in-military-service.htm">Four members</a> of the wildly popular band EXO, for example, have had to enroll,<strong> </strong>and though they — <a href="https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/celebrity/article/3101228/k-pop-icons-back-front-exos-xiumin-and-do-btobs-minhyuk">along with many other idols</a> — could be released from service within the next year or two, the timeline isn’t hard and fast, and the uncertainty of a discharge date means it’s not exactly easy to plan a comeback tour. (Unfortunately, the law doesn’t appear to be retroactive, so those idols currently serving their time probably won’t get a sudden reprieve.)
|
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</p>
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ddjxwI">
|
|||
|
|
Media reports have framed the new legal exemption as one made for BTS specifically as a result, but it’s probably more accurate to say that the change is a respite for Korea itself. As of 2019, <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/features/bts-is-back-musics-billion-dollar-boy-band-takes-next-step-1244580">BTS reportedly contributed a staggering $4.7 billion</a> to the national economy. The group’s massive fandom famously shows its love for the band through highly organized <a href="https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2020/2/20/21136529/bts-billion-dollar-fandom">mass shows of consumerism</a>, which are aimed at helping the band break more records, push more sales, and land ever higher on the charts. That mighty fandom machine has been in place for years, but it seemed to reach critical mass in 2020, propelling BTS toward a steady string of global<strong> </strong>chart-toppers.
|
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</p>
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<aside id="fzgLIx">
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<div>
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</div>
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</aside>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="zSkHGH">
|
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|
|
During a highly unusual year for entertainment, BTS has amassed a <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/arts-culture/music/bts-break-another-guinness-world-record-this-time-for-an-online-concert-1.1054604">nearly unreal</a> set of achievements — this year alone, the group <a href="https://variety.com/2020/digital/news/bts-dynamite-youtube-record-most-viewed-24-hour-1234743960/">broke the record</a> for the most-viewed YouTube video in 24 hours, joined Taylor Swift as one of only two artists to simultaneously debut <a href="https://www.billboard.com/articles/business/chart-beat/9491513/bts-taylor-swift-hot-100-billboard-200-chart-club/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter">an album and a single</a> at the top of the Billboard charts, and became the <a href="https://twitter.com/btschartdata/status/1333938413280645120">most-streamed group of 2020</a> on Spotify. In Korea, BTS broke a 30-year-old record for the <a href="https://twitter.com/charts_k/status/1332949301060923392">most music award show wins</a> in a single year, putting the group literally in a class by itself.
|
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</p>
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="JNogNE">
|
|||
|
|
Much of this success has come from a single song. The commercial success of “Dynamite” alone has pumped an estimated <a href="https://www.news18.com/news/buzz/k-pop-group-bts-new-release-dynamite-can-add-1-4-billion-to-south-koreas-economy-2856115.html">$1.4 billion</a> into the Korean economy — enough money to create roughly 8,000 new jobs. When the band debuted the song at No. 1 on the Hot 100 in August (before promptly going on to repeat that feat two more times, no big deal), Korean president Moon Jae-in issued a public statement congratulating the band and thanking BTS for spreading hope during the Covid-19 pandemic.
|
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</p>
|
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|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="qhL17y">
|
|||
|
|
The band’s Hot 100 achievement, Moon said, “is a splendid feat that further raises pride in K-pop.”
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<div id="C4INTH">
|
|||
|
|
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
|
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|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" dir="ltr" lang="en">
|
|||
|
|
It is truly amazing. It is a splendid feat that further raises pride in K-pop. The song “Dynamite,” which topped the list, is all the more meaningful as it has been composed to give a message of comfort and hope to people around the world who are struggling with COVID-19.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
— 문재인 (<span class="citation" data-cites="moonriver365">@moonriver365</span>) <a href="https://twitter.com/moonriver365/status/1300609967653699584?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 1, 2020</a>
|
|||
|
|
</blockquote></div></li>
|
|||
|
|
</ul>
|
|||
|
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|
|||
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Ks66tm">
|
|||
|
|
It was the international popularity of BTS, particularly “Dynamite,” that ultimately prompted Korean lawmakers to introduce the bill, which essentially carves an idol-shaped exemption in the Military Service Act. In October, ruling party member <a href="https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/art/2020/10/398_297098.html">Noh Woong-rae pushed the legislation forward</a> on behalf of the band, arguing that its members should be allowed to serve the nation in other ways to meet its service requirements. And those who have advocated in the past for changing this law have frequently cited BTS in their arguments. “I think that members of BTS should also get the exemption,” speedskater Song Kyung-taek <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/13/world/asia/sports-stars-south-korea-draft-exemptions.html">told the New York Times</a> in 2018 when discussing the draft. “When South Koreans go abroad, we can mention BTS to explain where we come from.”
|
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|
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</p>
|
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<aside id="1nb3aF">
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<div>
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</div>
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</aside>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="AhFrE9">
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</p>
|
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|
<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>New Zealand vs West Indies, 1st Test Day 1: Williamson puts Kiwis on top</strong> - West Indian bowlers labour after electing to bowl on a green-top pitch</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>Investigation opened into F1 driver Romain Grosjean’s crash</strong> - Grosjean was discharged from a military hospital.</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 | Tour games will be Australia’s opportunity to land first punch before Tests: Joe Burns</strong> - Before India and Australia begin the Test battle, the visitors are scheduled to play two three-day tour games against Australia A</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>Lionel Messi fined 600 euros for tribute to Maradona</strong> - The Argentine player has been fined for his actions after scoring in Barcelona’s 4-0 win over Osasuna in the Spanish league.</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>Fate of two new IPL teams to be decided on December 24</strong> - The decision over adding two new teams to the Indian Premier League (IPL) bandwagon is set to be taken during the Board of Control for Cricket in In</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>Data | India’s GDP contracts for the second consecutive quarter</strong> - In the second quarter, India was among the most worse-off economies for which data were available</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>Revelations highly sensitive: Customs</strong> - Remand of Swapna, Sarith extended</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>5,376 new cases reported in State</strong> - Test positivity rate at 8.89%, recoveries at 5,590</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>Property registration put on hold till Tuesday</strong> - Telangana HC extends stay order</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>MBBS aspirants seek third allotment in all India quota</strong> - Appeal by students who scored above 600 marks in NEET</p></li>
|
|||
|
|
</ul>
|
|||
|
|
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-bbc-europe">From BBC: Europe</h1>
|
|||
|
|
<ul>
|
|||
|
|
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>France launches checks on dozens of mosques</strong> - The 76 places of worship are under scrutiny over possible Islamist extremism.</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>Nagorno-Karabakh conflict killed 5,000 soldiers</strong> - The tally comes as Azerbaijan details for the first time its losses in the six-week war with Armenia.</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>Alieu Kosiah: Liberian ex-commander faces war crimes trial</strong> - Alieu Kosiah, 45, is accused of murder, rape, recruiting child soldiers and a host of other crimes.</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>Stockholm mother no longer suspected of imprisoning son</strong> - Prosecutors say there is no evidence the adult male was held against his will, as the woman is freed.</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>Reptiles smuggled from Mexico found at German airport stitched inside dolls</strong> - Ten of 26 rare animals from Mexico discovered at a German airport did not survive.</p></li>
|
|||
|
|
</ul>
|
|||
|
|
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-ars-technica">From Ars Technica</h1>
|
|||
|
|
<ul>
|
|||
|
|
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>One of the Internet’s most aggressive threats could take UEFI malware mainstream</strong> - New feature targets the most critical component of all modern-day computers. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1727276">link</a></p></li>
|
|||
|
|
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Lupin trailer offers a fresh retelling of classic French gentleman thief</strong> - Omar Sy stars as a master thief inspired by the French equivalent of Sherlock Holmes. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1727169">link</a></p></li>
|
|||
|
|
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Microsoft’s latest Game Pass Ultimate deal gives new users 3 months for $1</strong> - Dealmaster also has tons of leftover tech deals from Cyber Monday. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1727029">link</a></p></li>
|
|||
|
|
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Apple’s MagSafe Duo charger finally shows up in online stores</strong> - The accessory was announced back in October alongside the iPhone 12. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1727214">link</a></p></li>
|
|||
|
|
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>It’s happening: Starship may fly to 15km as early as Friday</strong> - For this test, Starship will ascend above nearly 90 percent of the atmosphere. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1727143">link</a></p></li>
|
|||
|
|
</ul>
|
|||
|
|
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-jokes-subreddit">From Jokes Subreddit</h1>
|
|||
|
|
<ul>
|
|||
|
|
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>I tried to warn my son about the dangers of Russian roulette…</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">
|
|||
|
|
It went in one ear and out the other.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
</div>
|
|||
|
|
<!-- SC_ON -->
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Stonekidd1"> /u/Stonekidd1 </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/k5ticu/i_tried_to_warn_my_son_about_the_dangers_of/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/k5ticu/i_tried_to_warn_my_son_about_the_dangers_of/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
|||
|
|
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>My husband commented on the new store that is being built nearby: “That’s a nice looking Aldi!”</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
|
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<div class="md">
|
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I told him it just looks like Aldi others.
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</p>
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…
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</p>
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Sorry y’all. It’s been such a bad day, and this little exchange my hubby and I had earlier had us both laughing probably more than we should have. Hope it makes one of you out there smile too.
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/bedaan"> /u/bedaan </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/k5irrn/my_husband_commented_on_the_new_store_that_is/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/k5irrn/my_husband_commented_on_the_new_store_that_is/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>My kid and I wrote this together: Why did the vegetable thief wet his pants?</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
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Because he took a leek!
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</p>
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(Please don’t kick us out, just lettuce leave)
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/AFKOIC"> /u/AFKOIC </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/k5jwpa/my_kid_and_i_wrote_this_together_why_did_the/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/k5jwpa/my_kid_and_i_wrote_this_together_why_did_the/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Word is Hollywood executives are mad about Elliot Page transitioning from a woman to a man…</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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Now they’ll have to pay him 20% more…
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</p>
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</div>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/BelligerantnNumerous"> /u/BelligerantnNumerous </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/k5glfo/word_is_hollywood_executives_are_mad_about_elliot/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/k5glfo/word_is_hollywood_executives_are_mad_about_elliot/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>So a politician dies…</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
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<div class="md">
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And ends up standing in front of the pearly gates. Saint Peter looks at him for a second, flicks through his book, and finds his name.
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</p>
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‟So, you’re a politician…” ‟Well, yes, is that a problem?” ‟Oh no, no problem. But we have recently adopted a new system for people in your line of work, and unfortunately you will have to spend a day in Hell. After that however, you’re free to choose where you want to spend eternity!”
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</p>
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‟Wait, I have to spend a day in Hell??” says the politician. ‟Them’s the rules” Says St Peter, clicks his fingers, and WOOMPH, the guy dissapears…
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</p>
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And awakes, curled up with his hands over his eyes, knowing he’s in Hell. Cautiously, he listens for the screams, sniffs the air for brimstone, and finds… Nothing. Just the smell of, is that fabric softener? And cut grass, this can’t eb right?
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</p>
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‟Open your eyes!” says a voice. ‟C’mon, wakey wakey, we have only got 24 hours!”. Nervously, he uncovers his eyes, looks around, and sees he’s in a hotel room. A nice one too. Wait, this is a penthouse suite… And there’s a smiling man in a suit, holding a martini. ‟Who are you??” The politician asks. ‟Well, I’m Satan!” says the man, handing him the drink and helping him to his feet. ‟Welcome to Hell!” ‟Wait, this is Hell? But… Where’s all the pain and suffering?” he asks. Satan throws him a wink. ‟Oh, we have been a bit mis-represented over the years, it’s a long story. Anyway, this is your room! The minibar is of course free, as is the room service, there’s extra towels next to the hot-tub, and if you need anything, just call reception. But enough of this! It’s a beautiful day, and if you’d care to look outside…” Slightly stunned by the opulent surroundings, the man wanders over to the floor-to-ceiling windows through which the sun is glowing, looks far down, and sees a group of people cheering and waving at him from a golf course. ‟It’s one of 5 pro-level courses on site, and there’s another 6 just a few minutes drive out past the beach and harbour!” says Satan, answering his unasked question. So they head down in the lift, walk out through the glittering lobby where everyone waves and welcomes the man, as Satan signs autographs and cherrily talks shop with the laughing staff. And as he walks out, he sees the group on the golf course are made up of every one of his old friends, people he’s admired for years but never met or worked with, and people whose work he’s admired but died long before his career started. And out of the middle of this group walks his wife, with a massive smile and the body she had when she was 20, who throws her arms around him and plants a delicate kiss on his cheek. Everyone cheers and applauds, and as they slap him on the back and trade jokes, his worst enemy arrives, as a 2 foot tall goblin-esque caddy. He spends the day in the bright sunshine on the course, having the tme of his life laughing at jokes and carrying important discussions, putting the world to rights with his friends while holding his delighted wife next to him as she gazes lovingly at him. Later, they return to the hotel for dinner and have an enormous meal, perfectly cooked, which descends into a food-fight when someone accidentally throws a bread roll at the next table (where Ghandi is having a game of truth-or-dare with Marylin Monroe). As everyone is falling about laughing and flinging breadsticks at each other, his wife whispers in his ear… And they return to their penthouse suite, and spend the rest of the night making love like they did on their honeymoon. After 6 hours of intense passion, the man falls deep into the 100% Egyptian cotton pillows, and falls into a deep and happy sleep…
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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And is woken up by St Peter. ‟So, that was Hell. Wasn’t what you were expecting, I bet?” ‟No sir!” says the man. ‟So then” says St Peter ‟you can make your choice. It’s Hell, which you saw, or Heaven, which has choral singing, talking to God, white robes, and so on”. ‟Well… I know this sounds strange, but on balance, I think I would prefer Hell” says the politician. ‟Not a problem, we totally understand! Enjoy!” Says St Peter, and clicks his fingers again.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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The man wakes up in total darkness, the stench of ammonia filling the air and distant screams the only noise. As he adjusts, he can see the only light is from belches of flame far away, illuminating the ragged remains of people being tortured or burning in a sulphurous ocean. A sudden bolt of lightning reveals Satan next to him, wearing the same suit as before and grinning, holding a soldering iron in one hand and a coil of razor-wire in the other. ‟What’s this??” He cries. ‟Where’s the hotel?? Where’s my wife??? Where’s the minibar, the golf-courses, the pool, the restaurant, the free drinks and the sunshine???”
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</p>
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‟Ah”, says Satan. ‟You see, yesterday, we were campaigning. But today, you voted…”
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</p>
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</div>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/tracklessgrenadier"> /u/tracklessgrenadier </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/k5ourg/so_a_politician_dies/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/k5ourg/so_a_politician_dies/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
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</ul>
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