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<title>27 March, 2024</title>
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<title>Covid-19 Sentry</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"/><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="covid-19-sentry">Covid-19 Sentry</h1>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" data-aos-anchor-placement="top-bottom" id="contents">Contents</h1>
<ul>
<li><a href="#from-preprints">From Preprints</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-clinical-trials">From Clinical Trials</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-pubmed">From PubMed</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-patent-search">From Patent Search</a></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-preprints">From Preprints</h1>
<ul>
<li><strong>Inference of epidemic dynamics in the COVID-19 era and beyond</strong> -
<div>
The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated the key role that epidemiology and modelling play in analysing infectious threats and supporting decision making in real-time. Motivated by the unprecedented volume and breadth of data generated during the pandemic, we review new analytic opportunities and methodological developments available to address questions that emerge during a major modern epidemic. Following the broad chronology of insights required - from understanding initial dynamics to retrospective evaluation of interventions, we describe the theoretical foundations of each approach and the underlying intuition. Through a series of case studies, we illustrate real life applications, and discuss implications for future work.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://osf.io/bmjxf/" target="_blank">Inference of epidemic dynamics in the COVID-19 era and beyond</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Changes in values and well-being amidst the COVID-19 pandemic in Poland</strong> -
<div>
COVID-19 caused a global change in the lifestyles of people around the world. It provided a unique opportunity to examine how external circumstances impact two crucial aspects of functioning relating to “who I am” (values) and “how I feel” (well-being). Participants (N = 150) reported their values, subjective and eduaimonic well-being nine months before lockdown in Poland, two weeks and four weeks into lockdown. We observed significant changes in values: an increase in self-direction, achievement, security, conformity, humility, benevolence and universalism, and a decrease in hedonism. All well-being indices showed a decrease in well-being with one specific difference between men and women: women experienced a more significant increase of negative affect compared to men. Finally, we showed that Openness to change values predict lower negative affect and higher eudaimonic well-being two weeks into lockdown. This study is unique in that it shows, that well-being and individually held values are flexible and adaptive systems that react to external circumstances, such as global critical events.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/xr87s/" target="_blank">Changes in values and well-being amidst the COVID-19 pandemic in Poland</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Social norms (not threat) mediate willingness to sacrifice in individuals fused with the nation</strong> -
<div>
Identity fusion with the community has been previously found to mediate altruism in post-disaster settings. However, whether this altruistic response is specifically triggered by ingroup threat, or whether it can also be triggered by global threats remains unclear. We evaluated willingness to sacrifice in the context of the covid-19 pandemic across three surveys waves. Against expectations, participants fused with the nation (vs. non-fused) did not differentially respond to a national vs. global threat condition. Conversely, social norms decisively influenced willingness to sacrifice in this sample, with fused individuals with stronger norms about social distancing reporting the highest altruistic response during the first weeks of the pandemic. Longitudinally, after an initial peak in the altruistic response, deteriorating social norms mediated decreases in willingness to sacrifice in individuals fused with the nation (versus non-fused). Implications of these results for the development of interventions aimed to address global challenges are discussed.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/r6hf4/" target="_blank">Social norms (not threat) mediate willingness to sacrifice in individuals fused with the nation</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Chronumental: time tree estimation from very large phylogenies</strong> -
<div>
Phylogenetic trees are an important tool for interpreting sequenced genomes, and their interrelationships. Estimating the date associated with each node of such a phylogeny creates a “time tree”, which can be especially useful for visualising and analysing evolution of organisms such as viruses. Several tools have been developed for time-tree estimation, but the sequencing explosion in response to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has created phylogenies so large as to prevent the application of these previous approaches to full datasets. Here we introduce Chronumental, a tool that can rapidly infer time trees from phylogenies featuring large numbers of nodes. Chronumental uses stochastic gradient descent to identify lengths of time for tree branches which maximise the evidence lower bound under a probabilistic model, implemented in a framework which can be compiled into XLA for rapid computation. We show that Chronumental scales to phylogenies featuring millions of nodes, with chronological predictions made in minutes, and is able to accurately predict the dates of nodes for which it is not provided with metadata.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.10.27.465994v3" target="_blank">Chronumental: time tree estimation from very large phylogenies</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Unrestricted versus Regulated Open Data Governance: A Bibliometric Comparison of SARS-CoV-2 Nucleotide Sequence Databases</strong> -
<div>
Two distinct modes of data governance have emerged in accessing and reusing viral data pertaining to COVID-19: an unrestricted model, espoused by data repositories part of the International Nucleotide Sequence Database Collaboration and a regulated model promoted by the Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza data. In this paper, we focus on publications mentioning either infrastructure in the period between January 2020 and January 2023, thus capturing a period of acute response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Through a variety of bibliometric and network science methods, we compare the extent to which either data infrastructure facilitated collaboration from different countries around the globe to understand how data reuse can enhance forms of diversity between institutions, countries, and funding groups. Our findings reveal disparities in representation and usage between the two data infrastructures. We conclude that both approaches offer useful lessons, with the unrestricted model providing insights into complex data linkage and the regulated model demonstrating the importance of global representation.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.05.13.540634v3" target="_blank">Unrestricted versus Regulated Open Data Governance: A Bibliometric Comparison of SARS-CoV-2 Nucleotide Sequence Databases</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Can we rely on trust in science to beat the COVID-19 pandemic?</strong> -
<div>
In order to provide time critical information on the social determinants of health during the COVID-19 pandemic, we relate levels of trust in science with government responses to the pandemic and the extent to which populations reduced mobility, a measure identified by epidemiologists as critical to halt the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. We used data from the 2018 Wellcome Global Monitor to develop a comparable index of trust in science across 144 countries using confirmatory analysis models for categorical data (often referred as Item Response Models) with alignment optimisation. We use this index to provide evidence on the association between trust in science, country level mobility changes following the COVID-19 pandemic and the stringency of regulations to halt COVID-19 spread. We find that trust in science was highest in Nordic European countries, among individuals with high educational attainment and income. Differences by religiosity, gender and residency were less pronounced. Countries where individuals trust science the most enacted less stringent regulations in reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic than countries where individuals trust science the least. Irrespective of country-specific trust in science, behaviors such as mobility reductions changed the most in countries with more stringent regulations. Stringent regulations were associated with large reductions in mobility irrespective of levels of trust in science. By contrast, where regulations were less stringent, mobility decreased more in countries with lower levels of trust in science. Many governments are considering relaxing regulations that were put in place following the rapid surge of cases and deaths and the risk that health care systems would be overwhelmed. At the country level, higher levels of trust in science appear to be associated with less voluntary adoption of behaviors that could reduce transmission, such as mobility reductions.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/yq287/" target="_blank">Can we rely on trust in science to beat the COVID-19 pandemic?</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>The impact of COVID-19 on physical activity and mental health: A mixed-methods approach</strong> -
<div>
The global COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted people’s physical and mental health, and studies on ways to support people are scarce. This mixed-methods study investigated how and why physical activity (PA), anxiety, depression and self-perceived loneliness are related, and the feasibility of social prescribing in supporting individuals. Data from the UCL-Penn Global COVID Study wave 1 (17 April – 17 July 2020, N = 1,037) were analysed. Twenty-one UK adults who self-identified as low (n = 15) and high (n = 6) on PA at wave 1 were interviewed at wave 4 (18 March – 1 August 2022). At wave 1, depression was associated with higher odds of low-PA (OR = 1.05; 95% CI 1.01-1.10, p = .02). Both high/low-PA groups cited the threat of contracting coronavirus, general impacts of COVID-19 policies and heightened awareness of the mind-body connection. Findings detail practical and emotional challenges in engaging with social prescribing through clinical settings.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://osf.io/64u7j/" target="_blank">The impact of COVID-19 on physical activity and mental health: A mixed-methods approach</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Influenza sequence validation and annotation using VADR</strong> -
<div>
Tens of thousands of influenza sequences are deposited into the GenBank database each year. The software tool FLAN has been used by GenBank since 2007 to validate and annotate incoming influenza sequence submissions, and has been publicly available as a webserver but not as a standalone tool. VADR is a general sequence validation and annotation software package used by GenBank for Norovirus, Dengue virus and SARS-CoV-2 virus sequence processing that is available as a standalone tool. We have created VADR influenza models based on the FLAN reference sequences and adapted VADR to accurately annotate influenza sequences. VADR and FLAN show consistent results on the vast majority of influenza sequences, and when they disagree VADR is usually correct. VADR can also accurately process influenza D sequences as well as influenza A H17, H18, H19, N10 and N11 subtype sequences, which FLAN cannot. VADR 1.6.3 and the associated influenza models are now freely available for users to download and use.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.03.21.585980v1" target="_blank">Influenza sequence validation and annotation using VADR</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>System and transcript dynamics of cells infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)</strong> -
<div>
Statistical laws arise in many complex systems and can be explored to gain insights into their structure and behavior. Here, we investigate the dynamics of cells infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) at the system and individual gene levels; and demonstrate that the statistical frameworks used here are robust in spite of the technical noise associated with single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) data. A biphasic fit to Taylor's power law was observed, and it is likely associated with the larger sampling noise inherent to the measure of less expressed genes. The type of the distribution of the system, as assessed by Taylor's parameters, varies along the course of infection in a cell type-dependent manner, but also sampling noise had a significant influence on Taylor's parameters. At the individual gene level, we found that genes that displayed signals of punctual rank stability and/or long-range dependence behavior, as measured by Hurst exponents, were associated with translation, cellular respiration, apoptosis, protein-folding, virus processes, and immune response.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.03.25.586528v1" target="_blank">System and transcript dynamics of cells infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>A human commons cell atlas reveals cell type specificity for OAS1 isoforms</strong> -
<div>
We describe an open source Human Commons Cell Atlas comprising 2.9 million cells across 27 tissues that can be easily updated and that is structured to facilitate custom analyses. To showcase the flexibility of the atlas, we demonstrate that it can be used to study isoforms of genes at cell resolution. In particular, we study cell type specificity of isoforms of OAS1, which has been shown to offer SARS-CoV-2 protection in certain individuals that display higher expression of the p46 isoform. Using our commons cell atlas we localize the OAS1 p44b isoform to the testis, and find that it is specific to round and elongating spermatids. By virtue of enabling customized analyses via a modular and dynamic atlas structure, the commons cell atlas should be useful for exploratory analyses that are intractable within the rigid framework of current gene-centric cell atlases.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.03.23.586412v1" target="_blank">A human commons cell atlas reveals cell type specificity for OAS1 isoforms</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Do abortion bans somehow save pregnant people’s lives? A cautionary research note on trends in maternal death post-Dobbs</strong> -
<div>
The National Center for Health Statistics’ published provisional monthly estimates of maternal death (12-month ending counts) appear to demonstrate that the end of federal protection for abortion rights in June 2022 was associated with an immediate and dramatic decline in maternal deaths. In this research note we investigate this apparent association by comparing the 12-month ending counts with monthly counts of maternal death. We decompose change in the 12-month ending counts into change due to months leaving the sum and change due to the current month entering the sum and conclude that the rapid decline in the 12-month ending counts is driven by events in 2021, specifically the shock to maternal deaths during the Delta and Omicron waves of the COVID-19 pandemic. Actual monthly final and provisional maternal deaths from the National Vital Statistics Surveillance System did not decline after June 2022. We caution that any analysis of change in maternal deaths should exercise extreme caution when using summed measures in general and the 12-month ending counts in particular.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/jtkqe/" target="_blank">Do abortion bans somehow save pregnant people’s lives? A cautionary research note on trends in maternal death post-Dobbs</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Online Data Collection in Applied Linguistics</strong> -
<div>
During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers became resourceful and many transitioned to online methods for remote data collection, suddenly bringing many platforms and methods to prominence in new experimental contexts. As in-person data collection resumed, online data collection remained as these methods have proven particularly useful in the field of applied linguistics and especially Second Language Acquisition (SLA), which often requires researchers to recruit participants who are inherently difficult to find (e.g., individuals proficient in less-commonly taught languages or living in a context far from the researcher’s university). In this chapter, we highlight factors that researchers should consider when implementing online research along with a high-level troubleshooting guide. We cover recruitment, enhancing participant performance, implementation, and deployment. Within these topics, we highlight important technological, procedural, and participant privacy recommendations for visual, aural, and oral online data collection designs specially tailored for applied linguists.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://osf.io/pxfc4/" target="_blank">Online Data Collection in Applied Linguistics</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Identification of Novel Allosteric Sites of SARS-CoV-2 Papain-Like Protease (PLpro) for the Development of COVID-19 Antivirals</strong> -
<div>
Coronaviruses such as SARS-CoV-2 encode a conserved papain-like protease (PLpro) that is crucial for viral replication and immune evasion, making it a prime target for antiviral drug development. In this study, three surface pockets on SARS-CoV-2 PLpro that may function as sites for allosteric inhibition were computationally identified. To evaluate the effects of these pockets on proteolytic activity, 52 residues were separately mutated to alanine. In Pocket 1, located between the Ubl and thumb domains, the introduction of alanine at T10, D12, T54, Y72, or Y83 reduced PLpro activity to &lt;12% of that of WT. In Pocket 2, situated at the interface of the thumb, fingers, and palm domains, Q237A, S239A, H275A, and S278A inactivated PLpro. Finally, introducing alanine at five residues in Pocket 3, between the fingers and palm domains, inactivated PLpro: S212, Y213, Y251, K254, and Y305. Pocket 1 has a higher druggability score than Pockets 2 and 3. MD simulations showed that interactions within and between domains play critical roles in PLpro activity and thermal stability. The essential residues in Pockets 1 and 2 participate in a combination of intra- and inter-domain interactions. By contrast, the essential residues in Pocket 3 predominantly participate in inter-domain interactions. The most promising targets for therapeutic development are Pockets 1 and 3, which have the highest druggability score and the largest number of essential residues, respectively. Non-competitive inhibitors targeting these pockets may be antiviral agents against COVID-19 and related coronaviruses.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.05.16.540953v3" target="_blank">Identification of Novel Allosteric Sites of SARS-CoV-2 Papain-Like Protease (PLpro) for the Development of COVID-19 Antivirals</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Neural networks built from enzymatic reactions can operate as linear and nonlinear classifiers</strong> -
<div>
The engineering of molecular programs capable of processing patterns of multi-input biomarkers holds great potential in applications ranging from in vitro diagnostics (e.g., viral detection, including COVID-19) to therapeutic interventions (e.g., discriminating cancer cells from normal cells). For this reason, mechanisms to design molecular networks for pattern recognition are highly sought after. In this work, we explore how enzymatic networks can be used for both linear and nonlinear classification tasks. By leveraging steady-state analysis and showing global stability, we demonstrate that these networks can function as molecular perceptrons, fundamental units of artificial neural networks-capable of processing multiple inputs associated with positive and negative weights to achieve linear classification. Furthermore, by composing orthogonal enzymatic reactions, we show that multi-layer networks can be constructed to achieve nonlinear classification.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.03.23.586372v1" target="_blank">Neural networks built from enzymatic reactions can operate as linear and nonlinear classifiers</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Neutralisation sensitivity of the SARS-CoV-2 BA.2.87.1 variant</strong> -
<div>
Against the backdrop of the rapid global takeover and dominance of BA.1/BA.2 and subsequently BA.2.86 lineages, the emergence of a highly divergent SARS-CoV-2 variant warrants characterization and close monitoring. Recently, another such BA.2 descendent, designated BA.2.87.1, was detected in South Africa. Here, we show using spike-pseudotyped viruses that BA.2.87.1 is less resistant to neutralisation by prevailing antibody responses in Sweden than other currently circulating variants such as JN.1. Further we show that a monovalent XBB.1.5-adapted booster enhanced neutralising antibody titers to BA.2.87.1 by almost 4-fold. While BA.2.87.1 may not outcompete other currently-circulating lineages, the repeated emergence and transmission of highly diverged variants suggests that another large antigenic shift, similar to the replacement by Omicron, may be likely in the future.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.03.21.586176v1" target="_blank">Neutralisation sensitivity of the SARS-CoV-2 BA.2.87.1 variant</a>
</div></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-clinical-trials">From Clinical Trials</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>Diaphragmatic Breathing Exercises for Post-COVID-19 Diaphragmatic Dysfunction (DD)</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: Post-Acute Sequelae of COVID-19 <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Other: Usual care of traditional treatment; Other: Specific DB program/Diaphragmatic manipulation program <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: University of Minnesota <br/><b>Recruiting</b></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>Valacyclovir Plus Celecoxib for Post-Acute Sequelae of SARS-CoV-2</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: Long COVID; PASC Post Acute Sequelae of COVID 19 <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Drug: Valacyclovir celecoxib dose 1; Drug: Valacyclovir celecoxib dose 2; Drug: Placebo <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: Bateman Horne Center <br/><b>Recruiting</b></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>Supervised Computerized Active Program for People With Post-COVID Syndrome (SuperCAP Study)</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: Post-COVID Condition <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Device: SuperCAP Program <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: Fundación FLS de Lucha Contra el Sida, las Enfermedades Infecciosas y la Promoción de la Salud y la Ciencia; Institut de Recerca de la SIDA IrsiCaixa; Germans Trias i Pujol Hospital <br/><b>Recruiting</b></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>Utilizing Novel Blood RNA Biomarkers as a Diagnostic Tool in the Identification of Long COVID-19</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: Long COVID <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Diagnostic Test: RNA Biomarker Blood Test <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: MaxWell Clinic, PLC <br/><b>Recruiting</b></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>Home-Based Circuit Training in Overweight/Obese Older Adult Patients With Knee Osteoarthritis and Type 2 Diabetes</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: Aerobic Exercise; Strength Training; Glycemic Control; Blood Pressure; Oxidative Stress; Metabolic Syndrome <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Behavioral: 12-week home-based circuit training (HBCT); Behavioral: Standard of care (CONT) <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University <br/><b>Completed</b></p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-pubmed">From PubMed</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>In vitro and in vivo validation of the antiviral effect of hCypA against SARS-CoV-2 via binding to the RBD of spike protein</strong> - The novel coronavirus disease 2019 has stimulated the rapid development of new biological therapeutics to inhibit SARS-CoV-2 infection; however, this remains a challenging task. In a previous study using structural analysis, we revealed that human cyclophilin A inhibits the entry of SARS-CoV-2 into host cells by interfering with the interaction of the receptor-binding domain of the spike protein with angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 on the host cell surface, highlighting its potential for…</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>Exosomes from senescent epithelial cells activate pulmonary fibroblasts via the miR-217-5p/Sirt1 axis in paraquat-induced pulmonary fibrosis</strong> - CONCLUSION: These findings highlight a potential strategy for the treatment of pulmonary fibrosis induced by PQ poisoning. Disrupting the communication between senescent epithelial cells and pulmonary fibroblasts, particularly by targeting the miR-217-5p/SIRT1/β-catenin axis, may be able to alleviate the effects of PQ poisoning on the lungs.</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>Predicting anti-COVID-19 potential: in silico analysis of Mauritine compound from Ziziphus-spina christi as a promising papain-like protease (PLpro) inhibitor</strong> - The COVID-19 pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO), has led to 164,523,894 confirmed cases and 3,412,032 deaths globally as of May 20, 2021. SARS-CoV-2 encodes crucial proteases for its replication cycle, including the papain-like protease (PLpro), presenting a potential target for developing COVID-19 treatments. Mauritine, a cyclopeptide alkaloid found in the Ziziphus-spina christi plant, exhibits antiviral properties and was investigated for…</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>The antiviral potential of the antiandrogen enzalutamide and the viral-androgen signaling interplay in seasonal coronaviruses</strong> - The sex disparity in COVID-19 outcomes with males generally faring worse than females has been associated with the androgen-regulated expression of the protease TMPRSS2 and the cell receptor ACE2 in the lung and fueled interest in antiandrogens as potential antivirals. In this study, we explored enzalutamide, an antiandrogen used commonly to treat prostate cancer, as a potential antiviral against the human coronaviruses which cause seasonal respiratory infections (HCoV-NL63, -229E, and -OC43)….</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>Potential use of proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) inhibition and prevention method in viral infection</strong> - Cellular lipid membranes serve as the primary barrier preventing viral infection of the host cell and provide viruses with a critical initial point of contact. Occasionally, viruses can utilize lipids as viral receptors. Viruses depend significantly on lipid rafts for infection at virtually every stage of their life cycle. The pivotal role that proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin Type 9 (PCSK9) plays in cholesterol homeostasis and atherosclerosis, primarily by post-transcriptionally…</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>Phosphatidylserine-exposing extracellular vesicles in body fluids are an innate defence against apoptotic mimicry viral pathogens</strong> - Some viruses are rarely transmitted orally or sexually despite their presence in saliva, breast milk, or semen. We previously identified that extracellular vesicles (EVs) in semen and saliva inhibit Zika virus infection. However, the antiviral spectrum and underlying mechanism remained unclear. Here we applied lipidomics and flow cytometry to show that these EVs expose phosphatidylserine (PS). By blocking PS receptors, targeted by Zika virus in the process of apoptotic mimicry, they interfere…</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>Diammonium Glycyrrhizinate Inhibited Inflammatory Response and Modulated Serum Metabolism in Poly(I:C)-induced Pneumonia Model Mice</strong> - Currently, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is becoming a serious threat to human health worldwide. Therefore, there is a great need to develop effective drugs against viral pneumonia. Diammonium glycyrrhizinate (DG), derived from Glycyrrhiza glabra L., has been demonstrated with significant anti-inflammatory properties. However, the therapeutic effects and mechanisms of DG on pneumonia require further clarification. In this study, mice received intratracheal injection of…</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>Solid-liquid distribution of SARS-CoV-2 in primary effluent of a wastewater treatment plant</strong> - Distributions of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and fecal viral biomarkers between solid and liquid phases of wastewater are largely unknown. Herein, distributions of SARS-CoV-2, Pepper Mild Mottle Virus (PMMoV), and F-RNA bacteriophage group II (FRNAPH-II) were determined by viral RNA RT-qPCR. Comparison of viral recovery using three conventional fractionation methods included membrane filtration, a combination of mid-speed centrifugation and membrane filtration,…</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>Recent advances in the therapeutic potential of nobiletin against respiratory diseases</strong> - CONCLUSIONS: With the wide range of pharmacological activities, high efficiency and low toxicity, nobiletin can be used as a potential agent for preventing and treating RDs. These findings will contribute to further research on the molecular mechanisms of nobiletin and facilitate in-depth studies on nobiletin at both preclinical and clinical levels for the treatment of RDs.</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>Lymphopenia associated with survivin and its downstream pathway in COVID-19 serving as a potential route in COVID-19 pathogenesis</strong> - CONCLUSION: The role of survivin and its related pathway was first discovered in the development of COVID-19 and may serve as a potential prognostic and therapeutic target.</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>Discovery of Covalent Lead Compounds Targeting 3CL Protease with a Lateral Interactions Spiking Neural Network</strong> - Covalent drugs exhibit advantages in that noncovalent drugs cannot match, and covalent docking is an important method for screening covalent lead compounds. However, it is difficult for covalent docking to screen covalent compounds on a large scale because covalent docking requires determination of the covalent reaction type of the compound. Here, we propose to use deep learning of a lateral interactions spiking neural network to construct a covalent lead compound screening model to quickly…</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>Establishment, Optimization and validation of a fluorescence polarization-based high-throughput screening assay targeting Cathepsin L inhibitors</strong> - Cathepsin L (CTSL), a lysosomal cysteine proteinase, is primarily dedicated to the metabolic turnover of intracellular proteins. It is involved in various physiological processes and contributes to pathological conditions such as viral infection, tumor invasion and metastasis, inflammatory status, atherosclerosis, renal disease, diabetes, bone diseases, and other ailments. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), with its rapid global spread and significant mortality, has been a worldwide…</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>C1q enables influenza hemagglutinin stem binding antibodies to block viral attachment and broadens the antibody escape repertoire</strong> - Antigenic drift, the gradual accumulation of amino acid substitutions in the influenza virus hemagglutinin (HA) receptor protein, enables viral immune evasion. Antibodies (Abs) specific for the drift-resistant HA stem region are a promising universal influenza vaccine target. Although anti-stem Abs are not believed to block viral attachment, here we show that complement component 1q (C1q), a 460-kilodalton protein with six Ab Fc-binding domains, confers attachment inhibition to anti-stem Abs and…</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>Molecular docking and molecular dynamic simulation-based phytoconstituents against SARS-CoV-2 with dual inhibition of the primary protease targets</strong> - A novel coronavirus has caused major health problems and is spreading globally. The main protease enzyme plays a significant role in the number of copies of ss-RNA produced during the proteolytic cleavage of polypeptides. This work aims to find possible dual inhibitors of the 3-Chymotrypsin-like proteases PDB-6W63 and 6LU7 which increase efficiency and faster inhibition activity. By using an in-silico technique, polyphenols are molecularly docked against these targets to inhibit protease…</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>N-Arylsulfonamide-based adenosine analogues to target RNA cap N7-methyltransferase nsp14 of SARS-CoV-2</strong> - RNA cap methylations have been shown to be crucial for the life cycle, replication, and infection of ssRNA viruses, as well as for evading the host’s innate immune system. Viral methyltransferases (MTases) therefore represent an attractive target for the development of compounds as tools and inhibitors. In coronaviruses, N7-methyltransferase function is localized in nsp14, which has become an increasingly important therapeutic target with the COVID-19 pandemic. In recent years, we have been…</p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-patent-search">From Patent Search</h1>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-down" id="daily-dose">Daily-Dose</h1>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" data-aos-anchor-placement="top-bottom" id="contents">Contents</h1>
<ul>
<li><a href="#from-new-yorker">From New Yorker</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-vox">From Vox</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-the-hindu-sports">From The Hindu: Sports</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-the-hindu-national-news">From The Hindu: National News</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-bbc-europe">From BBC: Europe</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-ars-technica">From Ars Technica</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-jokes-subreddit">From Jokes Subreddit</a></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-new-yorker">From New Yorker</h1>
<ul>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Aftermath of China’s Comedy Crackdown</strong> - Standup flourished during the pandemic. Now performers fear the state—and audience members. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/dispatch/the-aftermath-of-chinas-comedy-crackdown">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>What Have Fourteen Years of Conservative Rule Done to Britain?</strong> - Living standards have fallen. The country is exhausted by constant drama. But the U.K. can’t move on from the Tories without facing up to the damage that has occurred. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/04/01/what-have-fourteen-years-of-conservative-rule-done-to-britain">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Lila Neugebauer Interrogates the Ghosts of “Uncle Vanya”</strong> - A director of the modern uncanny steers the first Broadway production of Chekhov’s masterpiece in twenty years. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/04/01/lila-neugebauer-profile-theatre">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Bryan Stevenson Reclaims the Monument, in the Heart of the Deep South</strong> - The civil-rights attorney has created a museum, a memorial, and, now, a sculpture park, indicting the city of Montgomery—a former capital of the domestic slave trade and the cradle of the Confederacy. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/04/01/bryan-stevenson-reclaims-the-monument-in-the-heart-of-the-deep-south">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A Dutch Architect’s Vision of Cities That Float on Water</strong> - What if building on the water could be safer and sturdier than building on flood-prone land? - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/04/01/a-dutch-architects-vision-of-cities-that-float-on-water">link</a></p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-vox">From Vox</h1>
<ul>
<li><strong>Baltimore’s bridge collapse is global shipping’s smallest problem</strong> -
<figure>
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/FzIxVoDLRopTL1Cp40nGp9_XZE8=/332x0:5668x4002/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73235766/GettyImages_2115632217.0.jpg"/>
<figcaption>
The cargo ship Dali sits in the water after running into and collapsing the Francis Scott Key Bridge. | Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
From drought in the Panama Canal to the Houthis in the Suez to pirates off Somalia, we’re all paying the price.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ZyPyLV">
Baltimore woke up yesterday to horrific images of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsing into the harbor after the cargo ship Dali lost power and collided with a support column.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="LDxnou">
It’s a horrible tragedy — six construction workers who were on the bridge at the time are missing and presumed dead — and one that will likely <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/live-blog/2024-03-26/baltimore-bridge-collapse?cursorId=6602E06168B40000">take at least several billion dollars</a> to repair.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="mjxIMc">
In a small bright spot, the macroeconomic impact will likely be limited. (While Baltimore is the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/26/us/baltimore-port-cargo-ships.html">US’s 17th largest port</a> and there will be some <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2024/03/26/baltimore-bridge-collapse-shipping-disruptions/c75b7e2c-eb97-11ee-8f2c-380a821c02db_story.html">costs and delays, </a><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/26/us/baltimore-port-cargo-ships.html">particularly around automobiles and coal</a>, other ports will quickly handle rerouted container ships.)
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="okGuv0">
There is a reason, however, that economic concerns immediately spiked: The global shipping industry is having a bit of a rough time right now.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="szFoj7">
International shipping traffic is being choked at two separate, vital points — the Panama Canal in the Western hemisphere and the Suez Canal in the Eastern — <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/416310ed-9ad0-4cf8-b7df-fd59ce79847b">which combined account for more than half of the container shipping that links Asia and North America</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="S1RAaZ">
And as awful as this Baltimore incident was, it was, by all accounts, a rogue accident. The root causes of these other disruptions, though? They’re not quite as easily fixed.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="sUgtmP">
Oh, plus <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/somali-pirates-return-adds-crisis-global-shipping-companies-2024-03-21/">pirates are back</a>.
</p>
<h3 id="FaFJfw">
Global shipping’s current problems, briefly explained
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="YJoDdS">
The Baltimore incident encapsulates one thing really well: just how globalized the shipping industry is. The Dali was a <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2024/03/26/dali-crew-survived-baltimore-bridge-collapse/">Singapore-flagged ship</a>, with an <a href="https://thewire.in/world/baltimore-bridge-collapse-dali-ship-crew-all-indians">all Indian-nationality crew</a>, <a href="https://www.vox.com/2024/3/26/24112776/baltimore-bridge-collapse-francis-scott-key-maryland-cargo-ship-explainer-analysis">operated by the Danish company Maersk and on its way to Sri Lanka</a>. (Thankfully, there were no injuries reported among the crew of the ship.)
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="EnTmzc">
This degree of interconnectedness — and how fragile it all is — probably feels familiar by now. Remember <a href="https://www.vox.com/22410713/lumber-prices-shortage">the</a> <a href="https://money.yahoo.com/foam-shortage-affecting-furniture-automotive-123500451.html">wide</a> <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/2021/8/5/22611031/chip-shortage-cars-electronics-automakers-gm-tesla-playstation-xbox">swath</a> of <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/9a497f21-e3e4-4c74-8737-07cd13209475">consumer</a> <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2021-chip-production-why-hard-to-make-semiconductors/?sref=qYiz2hd0">goods</a> that were subjected to back orders and shortages in 2021 as the global supply chain fell victim to a series of interconnected problems, including (but definitely not limited to) issues with container ships and ports?
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="oZcm2P">
Or, more hilariously, remember the delays (<a href="https://www.indy100.com/news/suez-canal-ship-blocked-africa-memes-b1821520">and memes</a>) the ship <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/ever-given-global-supply-chain/">Ever Given spawned when it got stuck in the Suez Canal</a>?
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Mft64n">
This year is shaping up to be another difficult one for global shipping.
</p>
<aside id="wY7VPb">
<div>
</div>
</aside>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ASvnh8">
Low water levels in Panama — the result of <a href="https://www.woodwellclimate.org/drought-panama-canal-7-graphics/">a prolonged drought that began in early 2023</a> — forced canal officials late last year to cut the number of ships that pass through each day from the normal 38 to just 24. That’s <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/416310ed-9ad0-4cf8-b7df-fd59ce79847b">left some ships stranded for more than two weeks</a>, and others taking costly roundabout routes; major shipping companies are even switching some freight to railroad “<a href="https://gcaptain.com/maersk-to-implement-land-bridge-to-bypass-drought-hit-panama-canal/">land bridges</a>” across parts of the country.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="e1SUdp">
And in the Red Sea, the Houthis, a Yemen-based rebel group that controls much of the country’s north, have been waging an increasingly serious campaign of <a href="https://www.vox.com/world-politics/24094638/houthis-red-sea-yemen-gaza-israel">attacks against shipping</a>, purportedly in protest of <a href="https://www.vox.com/israel">Israel</a>’s war in <a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/11/20/18080046/gaza-palestine-israel">Gaza</a>. Ships are rerouting here, too, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/ships-rerouted-by-red-sea-crisis-face-overwhelmed-african-ports-2023-12-22/">this time around the Horn of Africa</a>, or facing the risk at added cost. At the start of this month, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/03/03/rubymar-houthi-attack-red-sea/">the Houthis sank a ship</a>. And while the group is reportedly allowing safe passage to some ships — <a href="https://www.defenseone.com/threats/2024/03/houthis-granting-china-russia-safe-passage-red-sea-centcom-says/395143/?oref=defense_one_breaking_nl&amp;utm_source=Sailthru&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=Defense%20One%20Breaking%20News:%20March%2021%2C%202024&amp;utm_term=newsletter_d1_alert">those affiliated with Russia and China</a> — that’s <a href="https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3256505/chinese-owned-tanker-hit-houthi-missiles-red-sea-days-after-china-told-its-ships-are-safe">not necessarily a foolproof guarantee</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="482Crr">
Between the two, prices for freight containers from Asia to the US have <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2024/03/26/baltimore-bridge-collapse-shipping-disruptions/c75b7e2c-eb97-11ee-8f2c-380a821c02db_story.html">doubled over the last six months</a>.
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/qwfi0D0jLWEuiQ7xI4ixd12zj_k=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25357078/GettyImages_1762119060.jpg"/> <cite>Walter Hurtado/Bloomberg via Getty Images</cite>
<figcaption>
Low water levels outside the Miraflores locks of the Panama Canal near Panama City, Panama, last November.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h3 id="D6gCx8">
Can’t we fix this?
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ksQWiP">
It would be tempting to look at both of these issues and think, “Things will get better soon.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="RwgoPd">
And in some ways, they will. “The industry is going to find medium- to short-term solutions against these particular obstacles,” Nikos Nomikos, a professor of shipping finance and risk management at Bayes Business School in London, told me.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="gZ0OTH">
Take the Panama Canal problem: The cuts are, canal officials repeatedly say, a responsible adaptation to a particularly bad year. Droughts have happened before, and the weather phenomenon <a href="https://www.vox.com/climate/23738846/el-nino-2023-weather-heat-wave-climate-change-disaster-flood-rain">El Niño</a> is exacerbating droughts throughout the Americas, <a href="https://www.vox.com/climate/23992678/el-nino-south-america-peru-bolivia-flood-drought-dengue-cop28-climate">with devastating consequences</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="WlPtpO">
But this isn’t <em>just </em>a bad year. There are systemic issues at play with no quick answers. Climate change is worsening extreme weather events around the world, including droughts.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="TSzGv5">
And that’s running up against another competing need. As Dulcidio De La Guardia, a director at the Morgan &amp; Morgan Group in Panama, <a href="https://www.thedialogue.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/LAA240212.pdf">told the Latin American Advisor in February</a>, “The lakes that provide water to the Canal are the same ones used to supply drinking water to the major cities of the country.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="CfToT3">
“And water consumption has increased more rapidly than forecasted due to population growth, and poor management, waste, inefficiencies and corruption at the state-owned water company,” he said. There are potential solutions, but no easy or immediate ones.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="N2wZib">
And then in the Red Sea: While the Houthis might temporarily halt or reduce their attacks if a ceasefire between Israel and <a href="https://www.vox.com/politics/2023/10/10/23911661/hamas-israel-war-gaza-palestine-explainer">Hamas</a> comes through, there’s no guarantee that they’ll stop altogether.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="u2uJ8G">
That’s because, as one Yemeni analyst told <a href="https://www.vox.com/world-politics/24094638/houthis-red-sea-yemen-gaza-israel">my colleague Josh Keating</a>, the attacks serve a lot of the group’s other aims, allowing them to “disrupt economic activity, extract political concessions, and bolster their standing.” Having achieved that, they show no signs of backing down, even in the face of Western military strikes.
</p>
<div id="sve34f">
<div class="volume-video" id="volume-placement-221">
</div></div></li>
</ul>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="lcRHs3">
Moreover, this is part of a broader trend of increased geopolitical instability, all of which can impact — and increasingly is impacting — global shipping. See also: <a href="https://www.vox.com/russia">Russia</a> blocking Ukrainian grain from transiting the Black Sea at times during that war, fears about how a war over Taiwan will affect the global economy, and more.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="U479eG">
What’s happening in the Red Sea, in other words, is symptomatic of something fundamental.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="mbVlO5">
The “principle of freedom of navigation is being challenged here,” Rahul Kapoor, the head of shipping analytics &amp; research at S&amp;P Global Commodity Insights, <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2023-12-21/s-p-global-s-kapoor-on-shipping-outlook-video?sref=qYiz2hd0">told Bloomberg in December about the Houthis’ attacks</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="JLUH54">
I’m not trying to be alarmist. Global shipping is a “resilient industry,” Nomikos told me.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="l1eezs">
But countries’ militaries and international shipping companies alike are <a href="https://www.economist.com/international/2024/01/11/welcome-to-the-new-era-of-global-sea-power">thinking and planning for more maritime disruptions</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="1St3Ca">
Customers, unfortunately, should too.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="JabHdC">
Any disruption’s net result “will be an increase in the freight cost, either because you have more fuel consumption and longer transit times, or because you require a premium to compensate you for the risks that you face,” Nomikos said.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="gQkzXM">
<em>This story appeared originally in </em><a href="https://www.vox.com/today-explained-podcast"><em><strong>Today, Explained</strong></em></a><em>, Vox’s flagship daily newsletter. </em><a href="https://www.vox.com/pages/today-explained-newsletter-signup"><em><strong>Sign up here for future editions</strong></em></a><em>.</em>
</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>The Baltimore bridge collapse and its potential consequences, explained</strong> -
<figure>
<img alt="Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge Collapses After Being Struck By Cargo Ship" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/4wt5z6XxYjAN3EwMddO979k9XtQ=/107x0:1814x1280/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73235012/GettyImages_2115132792.0.png"/>
<figcaption>
Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
From search efforts to how a ship can knock down a bridge, here’s what you need to know.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="USHlth">
The shocking collapse of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge after it was hit by a cargo ship early Tuesday morning has the region reeling as authorities continue to search for survivors who may have fallen into the Patapsco River.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="MIgMRk">
Thus far, two people who were working on the bridge have been rescued and six are presumed dead by their employer, Brawner Builders, given the temperature of the water and the time that has passed since the accident, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/baltimore-bridge-collapse-53169b379820032f832de4016c655d1b">the Associated Press reported Tuesday evening</a>.<strong> </strong>Sonar, robots, and human divers were among the resources being deployed in the search, which was continuing in the late afternoon.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="pPsWXq">
“This is an unthinkable tragedy,” <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/baltimore/news/francis-scott-key-bridge-collapse-baltimore-mayor-brandon-scott-prayers-search-rescue/">Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott said</a> at a press conference on Tuesday morning.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="pam9vL">
The collapse of the bridge will also affect <a href="https://www.vox.com/transportation">transportation</a> in the region — and potentially global trade.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="gaWo7H">
Used by 31,000 vehicles each day, the Key Bridge is a central conduit for traffic in the area. The incident also comes as the <a href="https://www.barrons.com/articles/baltimore-key-bridge-collapse-maersk-ship-stock-news-29bd3caf">global shipping industry</a> is facing several other challenges, including a record-breaking <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/01/26/climate/panama-canal-drought-shipping.html">drought in Panama</a> and <a href="https://www.vox.com/world-politics/24094638/houthis-red-sea-yemen-gaza-israel">Houthi strikes on ships in the Red Sea</a>. Due to closures at the Port of Baltimore — one of the busiest in the country, especially for foreign cargo — logistics and shipping companies will likely need to reroute more key deliveries.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="7nB5VB">
Authorities have acknowledged these concerns — and the challenges they pose — but emphasized that they’re secondary to the urgent search effort that’s still underway.
</p>
<h3 id="FrIQKq">
Why did the Baltimore bridge collapse? What happened with the ship?
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="SPSjBb">
The incident took place around 1:30 am ET Tuesday when a large cargo ship called the Dali abruptly lost power and collided with a support column on the Key Bridge, a 1.6-mile structure that stretches across the Patapsco River.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="mKO5VB">
After the ship — which holds a volume of 95,000 gross tons — hit the column, video shows parts of the four-lane bridge crumbling rapidly and collapsing into the water.
</p>
<div id="zCs4tn">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" dir="ltr" lang="en">
BREAKING: Ship collides with Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, causing it to collapse <a href="https://t.co/OcOrSjOCRn">pic.twitter.com/OcOrSjOCRn</a>
</p>
— BNO News (<span class="citation" data-cites="BNONews">@BNONews</span>) <a href="https://twitter.com/BNONews/status/1772515766929097088?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 26, 2024</a>
</blockquote></div></li>
</ul>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Gootfs">
Shortly before the collision, the crew of the ship, which is owned by a Singaporean company called Grace Ocean, reported that they had lost control of the vessel and issued a “mayday” call. Dali was originally headed from Baltimore to Colombo, Sri Lanka, on behalf of Maersk, the major Danish shipping and logistics company.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="T7VwHi">
<a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2024/03/26/francis-scott-key-bridge-didnt-stand-chance/73103213007/">As experts told USA Today</a>, the bridge failure was so catastrophic because the ship took out a support column — a key component that kept it structurally sound — while going at a high speed. “Any bridge would have been in serious danger from a collision like this,” <a href="https://cee.umd.edu/clark/faculty/1722/Nii-O-Attoh-Okine">Nii Attoh-Okine</a>, the chair of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Maryland, <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2024/03/26/francis-scott-key-bridge-didnt-stand-chance/73103213007/">said</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="rh9zbN">
For now, it’s not clear what caused the ship to lose power, though the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is conducting an investigation. Authorities have also concluded that there’s no evidence this was an intentional incident or terrorist attack. “Everything so far indicates that this was a terrible accident. At this time we have no other indication,” <a href="https://www.vox.com/joe-biden">President Joe Biden</a> said Tuesday afternoon <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2024/03/26/remarks-by-president-biden-on-the-collapse-of-the-francis-scott-key-bridge/">in a press conference</a>.
</p>
<h3 id="D9RuEJ">
What do we know about casualties from the Francis Key Bridge collapse?
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ztZFSR">
When the collapse happened, a group of eight construction workers were filling in potholes on the bridge. Two of those workers have been rescued, including one who was in stable condition and one who was hospitalized. The remains of the six other workers have not yet been found.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="VFtSZ6">
The tragedy could have been far worse: thousands of vehicles <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2024/03/26/remarks-by-president-biden-on-the-collapse-of-the-francis-scott-key-bridge/#:~:text=Over%2030%2C000%20vehicles%20cross%20the,Bridge%20on%20a%20daily%20basis.">cross</a> the bridge each day on average. But immediately after the ship’s “mayday” call — and before it collided with the bridge — government officials were able to shut down additional vehicle traffic, preventing cars and passengers from being harmed. (Vehicles can be seen falling into the river in videos, but authorities said these were the parked cars of construction workers.)
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="AVEdxZ">
“These people are heroes. They saved lives last night,” Maryland Gov. Wes<strong> </strong>Moore said at a press conference about the ship’s crew.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="AhaHKh">
There’s tremendous urgency behind a sweeping search-and-rescue effort that’s continuing to take place — at this point, for the six workers’ presumed remains. Workers who fell into <a href="https://www.today.com/news/baltimore-bridge-collapse-survivors-cold-water-rcna145083">the water</a>, which was an estimated 48°F on Tuesday, were stuck in frigid temperatures that are difficult to survive in, experts say.
</p>
<h3 id="4EhLaS">
Are bridges safe? Has a cargo ship crashed into a bridge before?
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="irqyc0">
Yes, bridges are safe — but not as safe as they could be.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Y8u0BW">
In the 1970s, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) adopted the National Bridge Inspection Standards regulations, after a horrible 1967 accident in West Virginia where the <a href="https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/a44851472/silver-bridge-collapse-mothman/">Silver Bridge collapsed and killed 46 people</a>. The accident ushered in a new era of bridge safety at the national level. In 2022, the <a href="https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/bridge/nbis.cfm">FHWA updated</a> its standards to incorporate recent technological advancements.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Bwl1O0">
But not all bridges are created equally. One in three bridges in the US are in need of repair or replacement, according to the <a href="https://artbabridgereport.org/">American Road and Transportation Builders Association</a>. Maintenance helps bridges be able to withstand stressors such as natural disasters, for instance. The FHWA <a href="https://highways.dot.gov/public-roads/autumn-2021/05">classifies bridges into three ratings</a>: good, fair, and poor. Those with poor ratings are prioritized for repairs first.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="6HphU0">
To be clear, Key Bridge was <a href="https://www.wsj.com/us-news/baltimore-bridge-francis-scott-key-collapse-ship-6649dd14">structurally sound</a> with a fair rating. It’s just not designed to absorb the shock of an incredibly large and heavy cargo ship ramming into it, <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/francis-scott-key-bridge-baltimore-condition-container-ship-what-we-know-how-collapse-happened/">engineers say</a>. (As the Guardian’s Oliver Milman points out, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/mar/26/baltimore-bridge-condition-up-to-code-supersized-ships">current bridge code doesn’t account for today’s supersized cargo ships</a>, some of which are far bigger than the Dali.)
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="wJ1TCN">
Nonetheless, the National Transportation Safety Board, the federal agency responsible for investigating transportation accidents, will be looking deeper into the safety of the bridge.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Z5Qr4M">
“Part of our investigation will be how this bridge was constructed,” said NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy during a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFBfLXSwE3A&amp;ab_channel=NTSBgov">press briefing Tuesday</a>. She stressed it will take time, referencing the investigation for the 2022 Fern Hollow Bridge collapse in Pennsylvania, which took two years to fully complete.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="nOj4Z6">
When it comes to the cargo ships: It is not uncommon for a ship to lose power as the Dali did Tuesday, according to attorney <a href="https://www.smslegal.com/team/matthew-d-shaffer/">Matt Shaffer</a>, who handles maritime law cases, and without power, a ship of that size can cause extensive damage.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="T7eXzi">
But cargo ships bumping into a bridge and causing it to collapse isn’t common. Since 1960, it’s <a href="https://apnews.com/article/bridge-collapses-barges-list-1f2d6261d523ddc625aaaf3b32c626bc">happened just 35 times worldwide</a>. As of 2015, a total of 342 people have <a href="https://conference-service.com/pianc-panama/documents/agenda/data/full_papers/full_paper_46.pdf">died from bridge failures caused by ships</a>. To put that in perspective, more than 40,000 people in the US died in a car accident in 2020, <a href="https://injuryfacts.nsc.org/motor-vehicle/overview/comparison-of-nsc-and-nhtsa-estimates/">according to some estimates</a>.
</p>
<h3 id="gbNksu">
How important is the Francis Scott Key Bridge, and what’s next for it?
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ov57YH">
The Francis Scott Key Bridge — named after <a href="https://apnews.com/article/maryland-bridge-collapse-francis-scott-key-e9ff2dcc76bae8444f83c15a656a50f1">the poet</a> who wrote the lyrics to what became the national anthem — not only connects commuters from one part of the harbor to another, it plays an important industrial role. It’s one of three major crossways for the Baltimore Harbor.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="azI0nv">
In 2023, more than 12.4 million passenger and commercial vehicles crossed the bridge, according to the <a href="https://mdta.maryland.gov/sites/default/files/Final%20MDTA%20FY%202024%20Traffic%20and%20Revenue%20Forecast%20Update%20Report.pdf">Maryland Transportation Authority</a>. Bloomberg News <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/live-blog/2024-03-26/baltimore-bridge-collapse?srnd=homepage-americas">reported</a> that it transports $28 billion in goods annually — with nearly 4,900 trucks crossing daily. The bridge and its almost nine miles worth of approaches serve as a final link in I-695. From there, the interstate connects the city’s port to I-95, the major highway along the East Coast.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="F2RqJX">
Construction of the bridge started in 1972 and was completed March 1977. It cost $60.3 million at the time to build. The bridge is mostly made of lightweight concrete, according to a November 2021 <a href="https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/bridge/concrete/hif19067_Nov2021.pdf">report</a> by the US Federal Highway Administration. Lightweight concrete, the report notes, isn’t typically used for bridge construction, but it “can be used as a durable and cost-effective material for bridges.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="mCd0DU">
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrZa-iAzcXQ&amp;ab_channel=OnthePULSE">Bridges are a feat of engineering</a> — and are rightfully expensive. A $60 million project in the 1970s would cost far more to execute today, especially given increased scrutiny for speed and safety (and <a href="https://www.vox.com/videos/2023/2/24/23613892/inflation-prices-rising-explained">inflation</a>). Rebuilding the bridge will likely cost “several billion dollars,” Yonah Freemark, a researcher at the Urban Institute, <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/live-blog/2024-03-26/baltimore-bridge-collapse?srnd=homepage-americas">told Bloomberg</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="w0yCN2">
Biden, during the press conference Tuesday afternoon, said that it is his “intention” that the federal government will pay for reconstructing the bridge. “And I expect Congress to support my effort,” he added.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="gHxSb1">
Even with federal money, it could take months, if not years, to rebuild, disrupting both commercial and commuter traffic in the region.
</p>
<h3 id="lk7E9X">
What does this mean for the shipping industry?
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="qEpKwp">
The search and rescue operations have shut down the port of Baltimore, which has become an increasingly important shipping hub for the eastern US.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="xwHqSp">
The port is the 17th largest in the nation based on the amount of cargo that goes through the port, and it handles the largest amount of transportation cargo — cars and trucks, but also farm equipment and construction machinery, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/26/us/baltimore-port-cargo-ships.html">the New York Times reported</a>. Kevin Doell, Maersk’s North American media representative, told Vox that the Dali was carrying a “wide variety of cargo” from a number of different customers, but did not elaborate.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Igsnb5">
The broader economic impact will likely be limited — already, <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/live-blog/2024-03-26/baltimore-bridge-collapse?cursorId=6602EAD6688C0000">nearby ports like one in Virginia are talking about supporting temporary diversions</a>. But the terminal’s closure is another setback for the global shipping industry in an already difficult year.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="yONeWo">
Maersk, the company that owns the Dali, <a href="https://www.maersk.com/news/articles/2024/01/24/red-sea-gulf-aden-service-updates">said in January</a> that it would no longer send its vessels through the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandeb strait near Yemen, where <a href="https://www.vox.com/world-politics/24094638/houthis-red-sea-yemen-gaza-israel">Houthi forces have targeted ships</a> since November in response to the Israeli war in Gaza. Because of the risk of damage, injury, and kidnapping, some global shipping companies have opted to take the longer shipping route around the Horn of Africa, which can add as much as two weeks to a voyage and comes with attendant fuel and salary costs for the companies.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="owEHSZ">
The Panama Canal, another global commercial transit hub, is also causing issues for the industry. A massive <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/01/26/climate/panama-canal-drought-shipping.html">drought in Panama</a> has severely limited the number of ships that can use the canal, slowing transit times and increasing costs.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="MTMB5H">
Though the Baltimore port has played an increasing role in trade, it’s too soon to see what the commercial fallout will be. But companies have the option to send their cargo to ports throughout the East Coast, including in New York and Virginia, industry executives <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/26/us/baltimore-port-cargo-ships.html">told the Times</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="rt3ZCF">
<a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/gm-ford-will-reroute-baltimore-shipments-after-bridge-collapse-2024-03-26/">General Motors and Ford</a> were already re-routing their vehicles and auto parts to Brunswick, Georgia, as of Tuesday; that could mean some supply chain delays, but any disruptions are expected to be minimal, according to a statement from GM.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="VFoxf4">
Some companies may opt to send their goods to West Coast ports and then ship them east, rather than risk bottlenecks as eastern ports reorient their operations, <a href="http://bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-03-26/baltimore-bridge-fallout-to-extend-coast-to-coast-in-cargo-shift?embedded-checkout=true">Flexport CEO Ryan Petersen told Bloomberg</a>. That was already going on prior to the accident, as <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/east-coast-gulf-coast-dockworker-talks-are-starting-under-threat-of-a-strike-9787ef96">45,000 dockworkers</a> with the International Longshoremen’s Association on the East and Gulf Coasts were threatening to strike should the union not reach a fair contract with ports and shipping companies by October 1.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="7tR2cG">
<em><strong>Update, March 26, 7 pm ET: </strong></em><em>This story, originally published March 26, has been updated with further developments.</em>
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="dKllHq">
</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Should we care about RFK Jr. and his new running mate?</strong> -
<figure>
<img alt="Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaking into a handheld microphone while gesturing with his other hand." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/2XXx86n4wDJmHOJPQHinFxkVB9I=/0x0:3696x2772/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73234298/2020977324.0.jpg"/>
<figcaption>
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. hosts a fireside chat with rapper and producer Eric B. at The Gentleman’s Factory on February 18, 2024, in New York City. | John Nacion/Getty Images
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The Kennedy conspiracy theorist, his VP pick Nicole Shanahan, and their potential to upend the 2024 presidential election, explained.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ad0rYv">
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has named <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/26/us/politics/rfk-jr-vice-president-nicole-shanahan.html">Nicole Shanahan</a>, a Silicon Valley lawyer and ex-wife of <a href="https://www.vox.com/google">Google</a> co-founder Sergey Brin, as his running mate in his 2024 independent presidential bid.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="N1ITfR">
Shanahan does not have political experience, but she has previously donated to Democrats, including <a href="https://www.vox.com/joe-biden">President Joe Biden</a>’s 2020 campaign, and paid for the Kennedy campaign’s <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/13/us/politics/rfk-jr-super-bowl-ad-kennedy.html">Super Bowl ad</a> earlier this year. She founded<strong> </strong>ClearAccessIP, a company that uses AI to manage patent portfolios. Kennedy made the announcement at a <a href="https://www.kennedy24.com/vp-announcement">campaign event</a> in Oakland, California, on Tuesday.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="FtXuX5">
“Technology has been a lifelong passion for my future vice president,” he said in an address. “This is important because I also wanted a vice president who shares my indignation about the participation of Big Tech as a partner in the censorship, and the surveillance and the information warfare that our government is currently waging against the American people.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="kN9uXE">
Naming a running mate doesn’t make Kennedy, an environmental lawyer with <a href="https://time.com/6287001/rfk-jr-interview-2024-campaign/">several </a><a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/rfk-jr-utilizes-holocaust-analogy-in-speech-to-dc-anti-vaccine-rally/">controversial</a> <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/robert-f-kennedy-jr-conspiracy-theory-twitter-elon-musk-1234747479/">views</a> and a storied last name, any less of a longshot candidate. Just like every third-party candidate before him, he’s unlikely to come anywhere near winning the White House.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="wV4wRa">
But he does have the potential to tip the election, though it’s not yet clear in which direction.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="p7QGTR">
Kennedy is currently averaging about 12 percent in the polls, according to <a href="https://www.realclearpolling.com/polls/president/general/2024/trump-vs-biden-vs-kennedy">RealClearPolling</a>. Celinda Lake, a pollster for President Joe Biden’s 2020 campaign who continues to work with the Democratic National Committee, said that’s a worrying signal for Biden, based on polling and focus groups her firm has been conducting that suggest Kennedy will pull voters from Biden. Clifford Young, who leads Ipsos’s global election and political polling risk practice, said it’s too early to be certain whether Biden or Trump <a href="https://www.ipsos.com/en-us/whos-voting-robert-kennedy-jr">stands to lose the most</a> from Kennedy’s rise, but if he actually received such a large share of the vote, he has real potential to be a spoiler.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="fPYGAD">
Kennedy’s ability to seriously cut into either Biden’s or Trump’s chances of winning, however, is limited by his ability to get on the ballot in all 50 states, which will require amassing a lot of signatures in an effort that would cost millions of dollars before fast-approaching deadlines. His campaign says he has <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/rfk-jrs-vp-pick-comes-big-difficult-ballot-access-push-rcna143321">qualified</a> in four states so far, including two key battlegrounds: Nevada and Arizona.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="2Af902">
The more states where he can get on the ballot, the more potential for chaos his presence in the race creates. Democrats are beginning to take that threat more seriously.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Nh3DdN">
“This election is going to be extremely close just like the last election, so every vote that does not go to Joe Biden is going to hurt Joe Biden, whether it goes to <a href="https://www.vox.com/donald-trump">Donald Trump</a> or to RFK. It’s all the same, and with the race this close, we can’t afford to lose any votes,” said Chuck Rocha, a senior adviser on Sen. <a href="https://www.vox.com/bernie-sanders">Bernie Sanders</a>’s (I-VT) 2020 presidential campaign.
</p>
<h3 id="iZkXjn">
Who is RFK Jr.?
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="mGQKJ7">
It’s still very early in the election cycle, and many voters may not know much about Kennedy beyond his name — and they may not have heard what he believes. Some analysts think his support in the current polling represents more symbolic discontent from voters who dislike both Biden and Trump than a real commitment to supporting him as an individual candidate.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="tJRsmn">
“People are not paying attention,” Young said. “He’s filling a vacuum. And that vacuum is this disaffected voter vacuum. I think he’s a placeholder more than anything else.” Kennedy, who <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/boston/news/robert-f-kennedy-jr-2024-presidential-election-campaign-announcement/">announced</a> his candidacy in April, is the nephew of former President John F. Kennedy and son of former Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy. For much of his life, he has been a scion for one of the most storied families in Democratic Party politics and <a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/news/robert-kennedy-jr-endorses-hillary-clinton-194331841.html">backed Democrats</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="CK3Brq">
But his relationship with the Democratic political establishment has frayed.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="dprCvV">
Disavowed by <a href="https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2019/05/08/robert-kennedy-jr-measles-vaccines-226798/">members of his own family</a>, the previously celebrated environmental justice lawyer who <a href="https://www.eenews.net/articles/rfk-jr-green-hero-turned-anti-vaccine-activist-takes-on-biden/">helped clean up New York’s Hudson River</a> now peddles <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/06/us/politics/rfk-conspiracy-theories-fact-check.html">false conspiracy theories </a>about the <a href="https://www.vox.com/coronavirus-covid19">Covid-19</a> vaccine. While his primary bid against Biden failed to gain traction, his independent run has received the praise of prominent right-wing figures and Silicon Valley billionaires.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="tcMoF7">
His campaign is predicated on ending what he calls the “corrupt merger of state and corporate power that is threatening now to impose a new kind of corporate feudalism in our country,” he said in his <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/boston/news/robert-f-kennedy-jr-2024-presidential-election-campaign-announcement/">announcement speech</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="2FHeL8">
He can sound more like a MAGA Republican than a Democrat. Kennedy himself has acknowledged that he holds controversial views.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="upKDL9">
“I am not an ideal presidential candidate,” he <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/boston/news/robert-f-kennedy-jr-2024-presidential-election-campaign-announcement/">said</a> in his 2023 campaign announcement. “I’m not one of these people who said I have to be careful because one day I’m going to be in the White House.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="rDmCps">
Biden <a href="https://www.vox.com/politics/2023/4/27/23700848/donald-trump-joe-biden-presidential-debates-2024-election">wouldn’t debate</a> Kennedy or any other of his Democratic challengers, as is typical in a primary where an incumbent is running for reelection. But if he did, a debate would have revealed stark differences between them.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="VbxYF3">
Kennedy has become one of the leading voices of the anti-vaccine movement. He has pushed disinformation about vaccines <a href="https://www.salon.com/2011/01/16/dangerous_immunity/">since 2005</a>, when he falsely claimed that some childhood vaccines had dangerous levels of mercury that could cause autism, despite the fact scientists had already proven that mercury levels in those vaccines <a href="https://www.statnews.com/2017/09/22/robert-kennedy-vaccine-safety/">were not harmful and did not lead to autism</a>. Some of his family members spoke out against his anti-vaccine rhetoric: “He has helped to spread dangerous misinformation over social media and is complicit in sowing distrust of the science behind vaccines,” two of his siblings and his niece wrote in a 2019 <a href="https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2019/05/08/robert-kennedy-jr-measles-vaccines-226798/">Politico op-ed</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="hu5aZd">
But Kennedy’s profile nevertheless took off during the pandemic. He <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/rfk-jr-utilizes-holocaust-analogy-in-speech-to-dc-anti-vaccine-rally/">likened vaccine passports to the Holocaust</a> in remarks at a January 2022 rally in Washington that he later apologized for, and that were even condemned by his wife, <em>Curb Your Enthusiasm</em> actress Cheryl Hines.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="FKedJS">
In a bestselling 2021 book, he accused Anthony Fauci, former chief medical adviser to Biden and a member of Trump’s White House coronavirus task force, of using the pandemic to <a href="https://www.nzz.ch/english/robert-kennedys-new-book-is-full-of-covid-19-conspiracy-theories-ld.1658762">organize</a> a “coup against Western democracy.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ULekmx">
He also founded the nonprofit Children’s Health Defense, which has become one of America’s most influential anti-vaccine advocacy groups. <a href="https://www.vox.com/facebook">Facebook</a> and <a href="https://www.vox.com/instagram-news">Instagram</a> took<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/18/technology/facebook-instagram-robert-kennedy-jr-misinformation.html"> down</a> the group’s accounts but have since reinstated Kennedy’s personal account now that he’s running for president.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="mtAlhH">
Kennedy’s views might resonate with the quarter of Americans who were <a href="https://pro.morningconsult.com/trackers/covid-19-vaccine-adoption-tracker">still skeptical of Covid-19 vaccines</a> as of March 2023. But it’s out of step with the majority <a href="https://pro.morningconsult.com/trackers/covid-19-vaccine-adoption-tracker">who have been vaccinated or plan to get vaccinated</a>. Kennedy seems to recognize that gap and has <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/rfk-jr-anti-vaccine-push-white-house-rcna89470">largely refrained</a> from discussing his views on vaccines on the campaign trail except in veiled references.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="HA4JLE">
Kennedy’s embrace of conspiracy theories, however, isn’t limited to vaccines.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="YKZA27">
He claims that <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2018/05/26/who-killed-bobby-kennedy-his-son-rfk-jr-doesnt-believe-it-was-sirhan-sirhan/">his father wasn’t killed by Sirhan Sirhan</a> and has pushed for Sirhan’s release from prison, opposed by <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/26/us/robert-kennedy-covid-vaccine.html">all but one of his seven siblings</a>. He’s argued that 5G cellphone transmission towers are being used to “<a href="https://time.com/6287001/rfk-jr-interview-2024-campaign/">harvest our data and control our behavior</a>.” He claimed that Republicans <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/25/fashion/25bobby.html">stole</a> the 2004 presidential election. He blames <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/robert-f-kennedy-jr-conspiracy-theory-twitter-elon-musk-1234747479/">psychopharmaceuticals for mass shootings</a>; he says the <a href="https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/3993563-robert-kennedy-jr-sees-overwhelming-evidence-cia-involved-in-jfk-assassination/">CIA had a role</a> in former President Kennedy’s assassination and that the agency <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/rfk-jr-joe-rogan-cia-assassinate-him-1234772584/">could one day come after him</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="rwAO9Z">
But despite Kennedy’s polarizing record, Democratic strategists are worried that some voters might be more inclined to support him simply because he’s a Kennedy.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="vjsZHi">
“Sure, he’s a crazy anti-vaxxer, conspiracy theorist, [rumored] <a href="https://newrepublic.com/post/173941/far-right-reaction-rfk-jr-shiny-muscles">steroid enthusiast</a>, and tough communicator, but at the end of the day, his last name is still Kennedy, and I believe that will allow him to gain way more Democratic votes than Republican, so I think he hurts Joe Biden more than Donald Trump,” Rocha said.
</p>
<h3 id="PF0Wmw">
Why Kennedy could be a spoiler candidate
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="YcClnP">
Third-party candidates tend to poll much better than they actually perform on Election Day, when their supporters are confronted with the reality that their preferred candidate won’t win.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="2iGyND">
What’s unusual this year is the sheer number of disaffected voters who don’t like either Biden or Trump and just want someone — anyone — as an alternative. Young said that, when Ipsos polls a theoretical no-name candidate as an alternative to Biden and Trump, that person gets about 10 percent. (That share is not far from Kennedy’s current level of support.)
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="L7x9gj">
“We haven’t had a situation where we have had so many viable third-party candidates, and so many people who don’t like either [major party] candidate,” Lake said.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="XsJLQa">
In addition to Kennedy, the group “No Labels” headed by former Senator and Democratic vice presidential nominee Joe Lieberman as well as the Green Party and the Libertarian Party have promised to name presidential tickets of their own. Cornel West, the progressive political commentator, is also running as an independent.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="1LQP5X">
Kennedy’s supporters span the race, age, and income spectrums, according to <a href="https://www.ipsos.com/en-us/whos-voting-robert-kennedy-jr">Ipsos’s polling</a>. They are slightly more likely to be women and to identify as independents, leaning a bit more right than left and embracing more conservative economic <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy">policies</a> but centrist stances on social issues, Young said.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="v6iitL">
Lake said that in her polling and focus groups, about half of Kennedy’s supporters back him because they associate him with his father. Other Democrats or Democratic-leaning independents, particularly young voters, embrace his credentials as an activist environmental lawyer.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="1t9bES">
Young said it’s difficult to tell at this point whether that suggests that Biden or Trump is more likely to benefit from his presence in the race.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="hgwUPL">
“It’s going to confuse things. Things are going to get cloudy. I don’t think it’s so easy to say that he’s gonna hurt one or the other,” he said, citing <a href="https://www.ipsos.com/en-us/whos-voting-robert-kennedy-jr">Ipsos polling </a>showing how his supporters aren’t strong partisans and how their views on particular issues are scattered.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="RHJZ4x">
But Lake said that “it would take a real jiujitsu of people’s thinking” for Kennedy to hurt Trump.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ZbGLl7">
Accordingly, Democrats have sought to hamper Kennedy’s independent bid. The party recently established a team of lawyers dedicated to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/20/us/politics/democrats-third-party-candidates.html">ensuring that he won’t</a> make it on more state ballots<strong> </strong>if he violates complicated ballot access rules.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="u3p8nB">
But Democrats may also have to work to better define him as a candidate. Democratic primary voters’ initially net-positive impression of him became net-negative once they learned more about his positions through the primary process, and that could serve as a model, Lake said.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="6c5o0I">
“There would need to be a serious effort to define or reveal who he is,” she added.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="uqZuNY">
<em><strong>Update, March 26, 4 pm ET: </strong></em><em>This story has been updated with additional information from Kennedy’s announcement that he has picked Shanahan as his running mate. </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>Time And Tide and Dufy 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>Massimo Costantini’s return as foreign coach of Indian TT team appears bright</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>Aca Sports Counselling in Hyderabad integrates sports and academics, providing personalised guidance to athletes</strong> - Padmavathi Devarakonda’s Aca Sports Counselling in Hyderabad blends the spirit of sports with academic guidance to help aspiring athletes achieve their dreams</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>Bopanna-Ebden reach Miami Open semifinals</strong> - The duo won the Australian Open earlier this year</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Euro 2024 | Ukraine, Georgia and Poland qualify after late drama in playoffs</strong> - Poland became the last team to book its ticket to Germany, beating Wales 5-4 in a penalty shootout</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>ED attaches assets worth ₹82.12 crore in Parabolic Drugs Limited case</strong> - According to the ED, from 2009 to 2014, the company, its directors, unknown public servants, and private persons, caused a wrongful loss of about ₹1,626.70 crore to the Central Bank of India, and other banks and financial institutions</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>Left has been at forefront of setting agenda to take on BJP, will improve tally in 2024 polls: Yechury</strong> - Sitaram Yechury said his party will improve its position in the upcoming polls.</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>SCR Vijayawada division achieves record freight revenue of ₹3,975 crore</strong> - It is the best performance since the division’s entry in the freight revenue segment, says DRM Narendra A. Patil</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>ED issues fresh summons to Thomas Isaac</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>Nitin Gadkari files nomination for Nagpur Lok Sabha seat, calls for strong support for NDA</strong> - The Union Minister has won the Nagpur seat for two consecutive terms; Nagpur goes to the polls in the first phase of voting on April 19</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>Five dead in FlixBus crash on German motorway</strong> - The coach veered to the right on the busy A9 autobahn before falling on to its side.</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>After Moscow attack, migrants from Central Asia are on alert</strong> - Migrants in Russia reported an uptick in xenophobia after Moscow said Tajiks were behind last week’s attacks.</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>Russia blames West and Kyiv for Moscow jihadist attack</strong> - Ukraine accuses the Kremlin of lies, after it alleges Kyiv and the West were involved in the atrocity.</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>Holidaymakers caught out by 10-year-passport rule</strong> - UK passports can have up to 10 years and nine months on them but EU countries won’t accept them.</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>Georgia create history by reaching Euro 2024</strong> - Georgia create history by reaching their first major tournament with a penalty shootout win over Greece in their Euro 2024 play-off.</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>The Ars Technica guide to keyboards: Mechanical, membrane, and buckling springs</strong> - Explaining the mushy and the magnificent. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=2007717">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Cows in Texas and Kansas test positive for highly pathogenic bird flu</strong> - The risk to the public is low, and the milk supply is safe. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=2012750">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Taylor Swift fans dancing and jumping created last year’s “Swift quakes”</strong> - “Shake It Off” produced tremors equivalent to a local magnitude earthquake of 0.851. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=2010047">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>SCOTUS mifepristone case: Justices focus on anti-abortion groups’ legal standing</strong> - The case has big implications for women’s health and the authority of the FDA. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=2012710">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Thousands of phones and routers swept into proxy service, unbeknownst to users</strong> - Two new reports show criminals may be using your device to cover their online tracks. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=2012682">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>took my wife to a swingers club. ( copied from r/maariage)</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
I took my wife to a swingers club, I hope this wasn’t a huge mistake.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
So after talking it over for the past few months my wife finally agreed to go with me to a swingers club. She wore a really cute skirt, so I knew she was more excited than she let on.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Anyway, we got there and the hostess greeted us and instantly could tell she was nervous so she offered us the use of a more private area so we could watch some of the other people a bit discreetly while we got comfortable with what happens there.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
We ordered a couple of drinks and then got settled in and my wife began to relax bit and I could tell she was enjoying it more and more as time went on.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
After a while another couple came over to our area and offered to join us and my wife enthusiastically said yes. Well, a couple drinks later and I’ll tell you my wife was relaxed enough that most of her shots were getting right on target and she was hitting her driver a solid 175 yards.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Anyway we’ll be going back to top golf next week and now I’m afraid she’s really getting interested in the lifestyle. A big thanks to the staff at Top Golf for turning the Mrs into a swinger. Now she’s shopping for a whole new wardrobe.
</p>
</div>
<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/piper63-c137"> /u/piper63-c137 </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1bot63i/took_my_wife_to_a_swingers_club_copied_from/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1bot63i/took_my_wife_to_a_swingers_club_copied_from/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Rough day</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
A man walks into a bar and says to the bartender “four double whiskeys and coke please”.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“Wow… rough day?” asks the bartender.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The man replies “Yeah, I just found out my brother is gay”.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“Oh well, to each their own” says the bartender.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The next day the man walks into the bar again. “4 double whiskeys and coke please!” he says.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“Another rough day?” asks the bartender.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“Yeah, I just found out my oldest son is gay” the man replies.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“Well, that’s his choice I suppose” says the bartender.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
For a third day, the man walks into the bar again. “4 double whiskeys and coke please!” he says.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“Jesus, another tough day?” asks the bartender.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“Yeah, I just found out my youngest son is gay” the man replies.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“Totally up to him who he is attracted to” says the bartender.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
A fourth day comes around and the man walks into the bar yet again. “4 double whiskeys and coke please!” he says.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“Fuck me! Doesnt anyone in your family like women?” asks the bartender.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The man replies “yeah… My wife!”
</p>
</div>
<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/DISCIPLINE191"> /u/DISCIPLINE191 </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1boolda/rough_day/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1boolda/rough_day/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>My girlfriend just told me she is going to start calling my manhood “Hand Grenade.” I asked why.</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
She said “because it explodes after 30 seconds.”
</p>
</div>
<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/belljs87"> /u/belljs87 </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1botri5/my_girlfriend_just_told_me_she_is_going_to_start/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1botri5/my_girlfriend_just_told_me_she_is_going_to_start/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>My dad just sent me this one, as the squirrels continue to run amok at his non-denominational church.</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
There was once a small town experiencing an overpopulation of squirrels.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The Presbyterian church called a meeting to decide what to do about their squirrel infestation. After much prayer and consideration, they concluded that the squirrels were predestined to be there, and they should not interfere with God’s divine will.
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At the Baptist church, the squirrels had taken an interest in the baptistry. The deacons met and decided to put a water-slide on the baptistry and let the squirrels drown themselves. The squirrels liked the slide and, unfortunately, knew instinctively how to swim, so twice as many squirrels showed up the following week.
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The Lutheran church decided that they were not in a position to harm any of God’s creatures. So, they humanely trapped their squirrels and set them free near the Baptist church. Two weeks later, the squirrels were back when the Baptists took down the water-slide.
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The Episcopalians tried a much more unique path by setting out pans of whiskey around their church in an effort to kill the squirrels with alcohol poisoning. They sadly learned how much damage a band of drunk squirrels can do.
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But the Catholic church came up with a more creative strategy! They actually baptized all the squirrels and made them members of the church. Now they only see them at Christmas and Easter.
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Not much was heard from the Jewish synagogue. They took the first squirrel and circumcised him. They haven’t seen a squirrel since.
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((As a total sidenote, the picture attachment he sent me with this was absolutely giving the most early 2000s punk-metal amateur album cover vibe I’ve ever felt. The Squirrely Bois, self titled album.))
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/FascinatingFall"> /u/FascinatingFall </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1bondyd/my_dad_just_sent_me_this_one_as_the_squirrels/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1bondyd/my_dad_just_sent_me_this_one_as_the_squirrels/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>People ask me how i stay so calm.</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
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I tell them, every morning i make a list of all the things i will let myself get angry about. Only the important things in life get to be on the list. This morning, i could not find a pen. I was going to get mad about it, but it wasn’t on the list.
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/orangeineer"> /u/orangeineer </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1boy355/people_ask_me_how_i_stay_so_calm/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1boy355/people_ask_me_how_i_stay_so_calm/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
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