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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>Distal Protein-Protein Interactions Contribute to SARS-CoV-2 Main Protease Substrate Binding and Nirmatrelvir Resistance</strong> -
<div>
SARS-CoV-2 main protease, Mpro, is responsible for the processing of the viral polyproteins into individual proteins, including the protease itself. Mpro is a key target of anti-COVID-19 therapeutics such as nirmatrelvir (the active component of Paxlovid). Resistance mutants identified clinically and in viral passage assays contain a combination of active site mutations (e.g. E166V, E166A, L167F), which reduce inhibitor binding and enzymatic activity, and non-active site mutations (e.g. P252L, T21I, L50F), which restore the fitness of viral replication. Although the mechanism of resistance for the active site mutations is apparent, the role of the non-active site mutations in fitness rescue remains elusive. In this study, we use the model system of a Mpro triple mutant (L50F/E166A/L167F) that confers not only nirmatrelvir drug resistance but also a similar fitness of replication compared to the wild-type both in vitro and in vivo. By comparing peptide and full-length Mpro protein as substrates, we demonstrate that the binding of Mpro substrate involves more than residues in the active site. In particular, L50F and other non-active site mutations can enhance the Mpro dimer-dimer interactions and help place the nsp5-6 substrate at the enzyme catalytic center. The structural and enzymatic activity data of Mpro L50F, L50F/E166A/L167F, and others underscore the importance of considering the whole substrate protein in studying Mpro and substrate interactions, and offers important insights into Mpro function, resistance development, and inhibitor design.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.04.01.587566v1" target="_blank">Distal Protein-Protein Interactions Contribute to SARS-CoV-2 Main Protease Substrate Binding and Nirmatrelvir Resistance</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Single-cell analysis of lung epithelial cells reveals age and cell population-specific responses to SARS-CoV-2 infection in ciliated cells</strong> -
<div>
The ability of SARS-CoV-2 to evade antiviral immune signaling in the airway contributes to the severity of COVID-19 disease. Additionally, COVID-19 is influenced by age and has more severe presentations in older individuals. This raises questions about innate immune signaling as a function of lung development and age. Therefore, we investigated the transcriptome of different cell populations of the airway epithelium using pediatric and adult lung tissue samples from the LungMAP Human Tissue Core Biorepository. Specifically, lung lobes were digested and cultured into a biomimetic model of the airway epithelium on an air-liquid interface. Cells were then infected with SARS-CoV-2 and subjected to single-cell RNA sequencing. Transcriptional profiling and differential expression analysis were carried out using Seurat. The clustering analysis identified several cell populations: club cells, proliferating epithelial cells, multiciliated precursor cells, ionocytes, and two biologically distinct clusters of ciliated cells (FOXJ1high and FOXJ1low). Interestingly, the two ciliated cell clusters showed different infection rates and enrichment of processes involved in ciliary biogenesis and function; we observed a cell-type-specific suppression of innate immunity in infected cells from the FOXJ1low subset. We also identified a significant number of genes that were differentially expressed in lung cells derived from children as compared to adults, suggesting the differential pathogenesis of SARS-CoV-2 infection in children versus adults. We discuss how this work can be used to identify drug targets to modulate molecular signaling cascades that mediate an innate immune response and begin to understand differences in COVID-19 outcomes for pediatric vs. adult populations.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.04.02.587663v1" target="_blank">Single-cell analysis of lung epithelial cells reveals age and cell population-specific responses to SARS-CoV-2 infection in ciliated cells</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Mapping immunodominant sites on the MERS-CoV spike glycoprotein targeted by infection-elicited antibodies in humans</strong> -
<div>
Middle-East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) first emerged in 2012 and causes human infections in endemic regions. Most vaccines and therapeutics in development against MERS-CoV focus on the spike (S) glycoprotein to prevent viral entry into target cells. These efforts, however, are limited by a poor understanding of antibody responses elicited by infection along with their durability, fine specificity and contribution of distinct S antigenic sites to neutralization. To address this knowledge gap, we analyzed S-directed binding and neutralizing antibody titers in plasma collected from individuals infected with MERS-CoV in 2017-2019 (prior to the COVID-19 pandemic). We observed that binding and neutralizing antibodies peak 1 to 6 weeks after symptom onset/hospitalization, persist for at least 6 months, and broadly neutralize human and camel MERS-CoV strains. We show that the MERS-CoV S1 subunit is immunodominant and that antibodies targeting S1, particularly the RBD, account for most plasma neutralizing activity. Antigenic site mapping revealed that polyclonal plasma antibodies frequently target RBD epitopes, particularly a site exposed irrespective of the S trimer conformation, whereas targeting of S2 subunit epitopes is rare, similar to SARS-CoV-2. Our data reveal in unprecedented details the humoral immune responses elicited by MERS-CoV infection, which will guide vaccine and therapeutic design.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.03.31.586409v1" target="_blank">Mapping immunodominant sites on the MERS-CoV spike glycoprotein targeted by infection-elicited antibodies in humans</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Biologically informed machine learning modeling of immune cells to reveal physiological and pathological aging process</strong> -
<div>
The immune system undergoes progressive functional remodeling from neonatal stages to old age. Therefore, understanding how aging shapes immune cell function is vital for precise treatment of patients at different life stages. Here, we constructed the first transcriptomic atlas of immune cells encompassing human lifespan, ranging from newborns to supercentenarians, and comprehensively examined gene expression signatures involving cell signaling, metabolism, differentiation, and functions in all cell types to investigate immune aging changes. By comparing immune cell composition among different age groups, HLA highly expressing NK cells and CD83 positive B cells were identified with high percentages exclusively in the teenager (Tg) group, whereas CD4_CTL precursors were exclusively enriched in the supercentenarian (Sc) group. Notably, we found that the biological age (BA) of pediatric COVID-19 patients with multisystem inflammatory syndrome accelerated aging according to their chronological age (CA). Besides, we proved that inflammatory shift- myeloid abundance and signature correlate with the progression of complications in Kawasaki disease (KD). Finally, based on those age-related immune cell compositions, we developed a novel BA prediction model, PHARE (https://xiazlab.org/phare/), which applies to both scRNA-seq and bulk RNA-seq data. Overall, our study revealed changes in immune cell proportions and function associated with aging, both in health and disease, and provided a novel tool for successfully capturing features that accelerate or delay aging.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.04.01.587649v1" target="_blank">Biologically informed machine learning modeling of immune cells to reveal physiological and pathological aging process</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Host factor PLAC8 is required for pancreas infection by SARS-CoV-2</strong> -
<div>
Background Although COVID-19 initially caused great concern about respiratory symptoms, mounting evidence shows that also the pancreas is productively infected by SARS-CoV-2. However, the severity of pancreatic SARS-CoV-2 infection and its pathophysiology are still under debate. Here we investigated the consequences of SARS-CoV-2 pancreatic infection and the role of the host factor Placenta-associated protein (PLAC8) Methods We analyzed plasma levels of pancreatic enzymes and inflammatory markers in a retrospective cohort study of 120 COVID-19 patients distributed in 3 severity-stratified groups. We studied the expression of SARS-CoV-2 and PLAC8 in the pancreas of deceased COVID-19 patients as well as in non-infected donors. We performed infection experiments in PLAC8 knock-out PDAC cell lines with full SARS-CoV-2 virus. Results We found that analysis of circulating pancreatic enzymes aided the stratification of patients according to COVID-19 severity and predict outcomes. Interestingly, we found an association between PLAC8 expression and SARS-CoV-2 infection in postmortem analysis of COVID-19 patients. Using full SARS-CoV-2 infectious virus inoculum from Wuhan-1 and BA.1 strains, we demonstrated that PLAC8 is necessary for productive infection of PDAC cell lines. Finally, we observed an overlap between PLAC8 and SARS47 CoV-2 immunoreactivities of the pancreas of deceased patients. Conclusion Our data indicate the human pancreas as a SARS-CoV-2 target with plausible signs of injury and demonstrate that the host factor PLAC8 is required for SARS-CoV-2 pancreatic infection, thus defining new target opportunities for COVID-19-associated pancreatic pathogenesis.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.08.18.553908v2" target="_blank">Host factor PLAC8 is required for pancreas infection by SARS-CoV-2</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Large-scale statistical mapping of T-cell receptor β sequences to Human Leukocyte Antigens</strong> -
<div>
Interactions between diverse sets of T-cell receptors (TCRs) and peptides presented by human leukocyte antigens (HLAs) are the foundation of the adaptive immune system but population-level analysis of TCR-HLA interactions is lacking. Here we use the TCR{beta} repertoire of 4,144 HLA-genotyped subjects to associate [~]10^6 public TCRs (i.e., TCRs observed in multiple subjects) with specific HLAs, providing a new window into the functional characteristics of HLAs. We find that the vast majority of these HLA-associated public TCRs are specific to unique HLA allotypes, not allelic groups, and to the paired -{beta} heterodimer of class II HLAs though we observe some exceptions and also that the breadth of the TCR response is proportional to HLA zygosity. Identification of public HLA-specific TCRs permits highly accurate imputation of 248 class I and II HLAs from the TCR{beta} repertoire alone. Notably, 45 HLA-DP and -DQ heterodimers cannot be imputed due to a lack of associated TCRs, despite high representation in our training set. Gene linkage analysis indicates these heterodimers primarily arise from trans-complementation resulting in non-functional -{beta} pairs. Cell sorting, clonal expansion, and comparisons between SARS-CoV-2-exposed and -naive populations suggest that public class I and class II HLA-associated TCRs we identify are primarily expressed on CD8+ and CD4+ memory T cells, respectively, which are responding to a mix of common antigens. Our results recapitulate fundamental immunology, provide critical new insights into the functionality of HLAs, and demonstrate the power and potential of population-level TCR repertoire sequencing.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.04.01.587617v1" target="_blank">Large-scale statistical mapping of T-cell receptor β sequences to Human Leukocyte Antigens</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Robotic-inspired approach to multi-domain membrane receptor conformation space: theory and SARS-CoV-2 spike protein case study</strong> -
<div>
The spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 is a highly flexible membrane receptor that triggers the translocation of the virus into cells by attaching to the human receptors. Like other type I membrane receptors, this protein has several extracellular domains connected by flexible hinges. The presence of these hinges results in high flexibility, which consequently results in challenges in defining the conformation of the protein. Here, We developed a new method to define the conformational space based on a few variables inspired by the robotic field's methods to determine a robotic arm's forward kinematics. Using newly performed atomistic molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and publicly available data, we found that the Denavit-Hartenberg (DH) parameters can reliably show the changes in the local conformation. Furthermore, the rotational and translational components of the homogenous transformation matrix constructed based on the DH parameters can identify the changes in the global conformation of the spike and also differentiate between the conformation with a similar position of the spike head, which other types of parameters, such as spherical coordinates, fail to distinguish between such conformations. Finally, the new method will be beneficial for looking at the conformational heterogeneity in all other type I membrane receptors.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.03.29.587391v1" target="_blank">Robotic-inspired approach to multi-domain membrane receptor conformation space: theory and SARS-CoV-2 spike protein case study</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>ViRNN: A Deep Learning Model for Viral Host Prediction</strong> -
<div>
Viral outbreaks are on the rise in the world, with the current outbreak of COVID-19 being among one of the worst thus far. Many of these outbreaks were the result of zoonotic transfer between species, and thus understanding and predicting the host of a virus is very important. With the rise of sequencing technologies it is becoming increasingly easy to sequence the full genomes of viruses, databases of publicly available viral genomes are widely available. We utilize a convolutional and recurrent neural network architecture (ViRNN) to predict the hosts for the Coronaviridae family (Coronaviruses) amongst the eleven most common hosts of this family. Our architecture performed with an overall accuracy of 90.55% on our test dataset, with a micro-average AUC-PR of 0.97. Performance was variable per host. ViRNN outperformed previously published methods like k-nearest neighbors and support vector machines, as well as previously published deep learning based methods. Saliency maps based on integrated gradients revealed a number of proteins in the viral genome that may be important interactions determining viral infection in hosts. Overall, this method provides an adaptable classifier capable of predicting host species from viral genomic sequence with high accuracy.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.03.30.587436v1" target="_blank">ViRNN: A Deep Learning Model for Viral Host Prediction</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Synthetic coevolution reveals adaptive mutational trajectories of neutralizing antibodies and SARS-CoV-2</strong> -
<div>
The Covid-19 pandemic showcases a coevolutionary race between the human immune system and SARS-CoV-2, mirroring the Red Queen hypothesis of evolutionary biology. The immune system generates neutralizing antibodies targeting the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein's receptor binding domain (RBD), crucial for host cell invasion, while the virus evolves to evade antibody recognition. Here, we establish a synthetic coevolution system combining high-throughput screening of antibody and RBD variant libraries with protein mutagenesis, surface display, and deep sequencing. Additionally, we train a protein language machine learning model that predicts antibody escape to RBD variants. Synthetic coevolution reveals antagonistic and compensatory mutational trajectories of neutralizing antibodies and SARS-CoV-2 variants, enhancing the understanding of this evolutionary conflict.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.03.28.587189v1" target="_blank">Synthetic coevolution reveals adaptive mutational trajectories of neutralizing antibodies and SARS-CoV-2</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Emotional distress and affective knowledge representation one year after the Covid-19 outbreak</strong> -
<div>
This study examines whether the detrimental effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the affectivity of the population extend one year after the outbreak. In an online-mobile session, participants completed surveys (i.e. demographic characteristics, positive-negative affectivity, interoceptive awareness) and a similarity judgment task of triplets of emotional concepts, from which we derived 2D maps of their affective knowledge representation. Compared with pre-pandemic data derived from a comparable population, we report three main findings. First, we observed enhanced negative affectivity during the pandemic, but no changes in positive affectivity levels. Second, increased self-reported interoceptive awareness compared to pre-pandemic data, with greater attention to bodily sensations and adaptive aspects of interoceptive sensitivity. Furthermore, female participants reported higher scores than males on the questionnaire subscales of Emotional Awareness and Attention Regulation. Third, the effect of pandemic-related conditions is also apparent in the mental organization of emotional concepts, especially for female participants (i.e., reduced coherence in the organization of the concepts along the arousal dimension and more misclassification of concepts based on arousal) and participants who did not perform physical activity (a collapse of the arousal dimension). Some of the effects of the pandemic, thus, persist about a year after the outbreak. These results advise providing programs of psychological and emotional assistance throughout the pandemic beyond the outbreak, and that age-dependent gender differences should be accounted for to define tailored interventions. Physical activity might relieve pandemic-related stressors, so it should be promoted during particularly stressful periods for the population.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://osf.io/gmazn/" target="_blank">Emotional distress and affective knowledge representation one year after the Covid-19 outbreak</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Nanoscale cellular organization of viral RNA and proteins in SARS-CoV-2 replication organelles</strong> -
<div>
The SARS-CoV-2 viral infection transforms host cells and produces special organelles in many ways, and we focus on the replication organelle where the replication of viral genomic RNA (vgRNA) occurs. To date, the precise cellular localization of key RNA molecules and replication intermediates has been elusive in electron microscopy studies. We use super-resolution fluorescence microscopy and specific labeling to reveal the nanoscopic organization of replication organelles that contain vgRNA clusters along with viral double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) clusters and the replication enzyme, encapsulated by membranes derived from the host endoplasmic reticulum (ER). We show that the replication organelles are organized differently at early and late stages of infection. Surprisingly, vgRNA accumulates into distinct globular clusters in the cytoplasmic perinuclear region, which grow and accommodate more vgRNA molecules as infection time increases. The localization of ER labels and nsp3 (a component of the double-membrane vesicle, DMV) at the periphery of the vgRNA clusters suggests that replication organelles are enclosed by DMVs at early infection stages which then merge into vesicle packets as infection progresses. Precise co-imaging of the nanoscale cellular organization of vgRNA, dsRNA, and viral proteins in replication organelles of SARS-CoV-2 may inform therapeutic approaches that target viral replication and associated processes.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.11.07.566110v3" target="_blank">Nanoscale cellular organization of viral RNA and proteins in SARS-CoV-2 replication organelles</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>A mechanism that transduces lysosomal damage signals to stress granule formation for cell survival</strong> -
<div>
Lysosomal damage poses a significant threat to cell survival. Our previous work has reported that lysosomal damage induces stress granule (SG) formation. However, the importance of SG formation in determining cell fate and the precise mechanisms through which lysosomal damage triggers SG formation remains unclear. Here, we show that SG formation is initiated via a novel calcium-dependent pathway and plays a protective role in promoting cell survival in response to lysosomal damage. Mechanistically, we demonstrate that during lysosomal damage, ALIX, a calcium-activated protein, transduces lysosomal damage signals by sensing calcium leakage to induce SG formation by controlling the phosphorylation of eIF2. ALIX modulates eIF2 phosphorylation by regulating the association between PKR and its activator PACT, with galectin-3 exerting a negative effect on this process. We also found this regulatory event of SG formation occur on damaged lysosomes. Collectively, these investigations reveal novel insights into the precise regulation of SG formation triggered by lysosomal damage, and shed light on the interaction between damaged lysosomes and SGs. Importantly, SG formation is significant for promoting cell survival in the physiological context of lysosomal damage inflicted by SARS-CoV-2 ORF3a, adenovirus infection, Malaria hemozoin, proteopathic tau as well as environmental hazard silica.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.03.29.587368v1" target="_blank">A mechanism that transduces lysosomal damage signals to stress granule formation for cell survival</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Aversive personality and COVID-19: A first review and meta-analysis</strong> -
<div>
The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has strongly affected individuals and societies worldwide. In this review and meta-analysis, we investigated how aversive personality traits—i.e., relatively stable antisocial personality characteristics—related to how individuals perceived, evaluated, and responded to the COVID-19 pandemic. Across 34 studies with overall 26,780 participants, we found that people with higher scores in aversive personality traits were less likely to perceive guidelines and restrictions to curb the spread of the virus as protective (p̂ = -.11), to engage in health behaviors related to COVID-19 (p̂ = -.16), and to engage in non-health related prosocial behavior related to COVID-19 (p̂ = -.14). We found no consistent relation between aversive personality and negative affect regarding the pandemic. The results thus indicate the importance of aversive personality traits in understanding individual differences with regard to COVID-19.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/vg465/" target="_blank">Aversive personality and COVID-19: A first review and meta-analysis</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Information about herd immunity through vaccination and empathy promote COVID-19 vaccination intentions</strong> -
<div>
Objective: An effective vaccine against COVID-19 is a desired solution to curb the spread of the disease. However, vaccine hesitancy might hinder high uptake rates and thus undermine efforts to eliminate COVID-19 once an effective vaccine became available. The present contribution addresses this issue by examining two ways of increasing the intention to get vaccinated against COVID-19. Methods: Two pre-registered online studies were conducted (N = 2,315 participants from the UK) in which knowledge about and beliefs in herd immunity through vaccination, as well as empathy for those most vulnerable to the virus, were either measured (Study 1) or manipulated (Study 2). As a dependent variable, individuals’ self-reported vaccination intention once a vaccine against COVID-19 became available was assessed. Results: In Study 1 (N = 310), the intention to get vaccinated against COVID-19 was correlated with knowledge about and belief in herd immunity (r = .58, p &lt; .001), as well as with empathy for those most vulnerable to the virus (r = .26, p &lt; .001). In Study 2 (N = 2,005), information about herd immunity (Cohen’s d = 0.13, p = .003) and empathy (Cohen’s d = 0.22, p &lt; .001) independently promoted vaccination intention. Conclusions: The motivation to get vaccinated against COVID-19 was related to and could be causally promoted by both mere information about herd immunity and by empathy. As such, the present research provides a better understanding of the intention to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/wzu6k/" target="_blank">Information about herd immunity through vaccination and empathy promote COVID-19 vaccination intentions</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>The emotional path to action: Empathy promotes physical distancing and wearing of face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic</strong> -
<div>
The COVID-19 pandemic presents a major challenge to societies all over the globe. To curb the spread of the disease, two measures implemented in many countries are minimizing close contact between people (“physical distancing”) and wearing face masks. In the present research, we tested the idea that physical distancing and wearing face masks can be the result of a genuine prosocial emotion—empathy for those most vulnerable to the virus. In four pre-registered studies (total N = 3,718‬, Western population), we show that (i) empathy is indeed a basic motivation for physical distancing and wearing face masks, and (ii) inducing empathy for those most vulnerable to the virus promotes the motivation to adhere to these measures (whereas providing mere information about its importance is not). In sum, the present research provides a better understanding of the promoting factors underlying the willingness to follow two important measures during the COVID-19 pandemic.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/y2cg5/" target="_blank">The emotional path to action: Empathy promotes physical distancing and wearing of face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic</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>Evaluation of the Impact of Rehabilitation Strategies and Early Discharge After Respiratory Failure</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: Acute Respiratory Failure <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Behavioral: Standard of Care; Behavioral: Rehabilitation <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein <br/><b>Not yet 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>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>
</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>Why have SGLT2 Inhibitors Failed to Achieve the Desired Success in COVID-19?</strong> - The SARS-CoV-2 virus emerged towards the end of 2019 and caused a major worldwide pandemic lasting at least 2 years, causing a disease called COVID-19. SARS-CoV-2 caused a severe infection with direct cellular toxicity, stimulation of cytokine release, increased oxidative stress, disruption of endothelial structure, and thromboinflammation, as well as angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) down-regulation-mediated renin-angiotensin system (RAS) activation. In addition to glucosuria 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>The death domain-associated protein suppresses porcine epidemic diarrhea virus replication by interacting with signal transducer and activator of transcription 1 and inducing downstream ISG15 expression</strong> - Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) is an enteric coronavirus that causes acute enteric disease in piglets and severely threatens the pig industry all over the world. Death domain-associated protein (DAXX) is a classical chaperone protein involved in multiple biological processes, such as cell apoptosis, transcriptional regulation, DNA damage repair, and host innate immunity. However, whether DAXX functions in the anti-PEDV innate immune responses remains unclear. In this study, we found that…</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>Quantitating SARS-CoV-2 Neutralizing Antibodies from Human Dried Blood Spots</strong> - CONCLUSION: SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing titers can be derived with confidence from DBS eluates, thereby opening the door to the use of these biospecimens for the analysis of vulnerable populations and normally hard to reach communities.</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>Lipid Nanoparticle-Based Inhibitors for SARS-CoV-2 Host Cell Infection</strong> - CONCLUSION: Both LNP-Trap and LNP-Trim formulations were able to safely and effectively inhibit SARS-CoV-2 pseudoviral infection in airway epithelial cells. These studies provide proof-of-principle for a localized treatment approach for SARS-CoV-2 in the upper airway.</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>Transcriptional-profile changes in the medial geniculate body after noise-induced tinnitus</strong> - Tinnitus is a disturbing condition defined as the occurrence of acoustic hallucinations with no actual sound. Although the mechanisms underlying tinnitus have been explored extensively, the pathophysiology of the disease is not completely understood. Moreover, genes and potential treatment targets related to auditory hallucinations remain unknown. In this study, we examined transcriptional-profile changes in the medial geniculate body after noise-induced tinnitus in rats by performing RNA…</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>Acceptance, safety, and immunogenicity of a booster dose of inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccine in patients with primary biliary cholangitis</strong> - Inactivated coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines showed impaired immunogenicity in some autoimmune diseases, but it remains unclear in primary biliary cholangitis (PBC). This study aimed to explore the antibody response to the inactivated COVID-19 vaccine in individuals with PBC, as well as to evaluate coverage, safety, and attitudes toward the COVID-19 vaccine among them. Two cohorts of patients with PBC were enrolled in this study. One cohort was arranged to evaluate the immunogenicity…</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>Vgamma9Vdelta2 T-cells are potent inhibitors of SARS-CoV-2 replication and represent effector phenotypes in COVID-19 patients</strong> - Vγ9Vδ2 T-cells play a key role in the innate immune response to viral infections through butyrophilin (BTN)-3A. Here, we reported that blood Vγ9Vδ2 T-cells decreased in clinically mild COVID-19 compared to healthy volunteers (HV), and was maintained up to 28-days and in the recovery period. Terminally differentiated Vγ9Vδ2 T-cells tend to be enriched on the day of diagnosis, 28-days after and during the recovery period. These cells showed cytotoxic and inflammatory activities following…</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>Isolation, characterization and SARS-CoV-2 3CL protease inhibitory activity of a new methylsulfinyl-butanyl derivative from Raphani Semen</strong> - A new compound named raphanised A (1), along with two known methylsulfinyl -butanyl derivatives (2-3) and seven known indole derivatives (4-10), were isolated from the Raphani Semen. Among the indole derivatives, 5 was identified as a new natural product, and 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 were isolated from the genus of Raphanus for the first time. Their structures were elucidated based on the NMR and HR-EI-MS analysis. Additionally, the inhibitory activity of methylsulfinyl-butanyl derivatives 1-3 on SARS…</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>CD151 Maintains Endolysosomal Protein Quality to Inhibit Vascular Inflammation</strong> - CONCLUSIONS: Distinct from its canonical function in strengthening cell adhesion at cell surface, CD151 maintains endolysosome function by sustaining VCP/p97-mediated protein unfolding and turnover. By supporting protein quality control and protein degradation, CD151 prevents proteins from (1) buildup in endolysosomes and (2) discharge through exosomes, to limit vascular inflammation. Also, our study conceptualizes that balance between degradation and discharge of proteins in endothelial cells…</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>Comparative evaluation of tocilizumab and itolizumab for treatment of severe COVID-19 in India: a retrospective cohort study</strong> - CONCLUSIONS: The CI with itolizumab is similar to tocilizumab. Better oxygenation can be achieved with itolizumab and it can be a substitute for tocilizumab in managing severe COVID-19.</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>Synthesis and pharmacodynamic evaluation of Dihydropteridone derivatives against PDCoV in vivo and in vitro</strong> - Porcine Delta Coronavirus (PDCoV) infection can induce serious dehydration, diarrhea and even death of piglets, which has caused huge losses to the breeding industry. PDCoV has been reported to have the potential for cross species transmission, and even reports of infecting humans have emerged. At present, there are still no effective prevention and control measures for PDCoV. In this study, we have designed and synthesized a series of unreported Dihydropteridone derivatives. All of these…</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>New conjugates based on N4-hydroxycytidine with more potent antiviral efficacy in vitro than EIDD-2801 against SARS-CoV-2 and other human coronaviruses</strong> - The spread of COVID-19 continues due to genetic variation in SARS-CoV-2. Highly mutated variants of SARS-CoV-2 have an increased transmissibility and immune evasion. Due to the emergence of various new variants of the virus, there is an urgent need to develop broadly effective specific drugs for therapeutic strategies for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19. Molnupiravir (EIDD-2801, MK-4482), is an orally bioavailable ribonucleoside analogue of β-D-N4-hydroxycytidine (NHC), has demonstrated…</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>Biological responses in Danio rerio by the disinfectant SDBS in SARS-CoV-2 pandemic</strong> - The use of disinfectants, such as Sodium Dodecylbenzene Sulfonic acid salt (SDBS), has grown since the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, with environmentally unknown consequences. The present study analyzed SDBS effects in the fish species Danio rerio, using a combination of biomarkers. Our data reported that larvae had their total locomotor activity increased when exposed to 1mg/L of SDBS, but this parameter was decreased in fish exposed to 5mg/L. A significant increment of erratic movements was reported in…</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>Preclinical evaluation of the SARS-CoV-2 M(pro) inhibitor RAY1216 shows improved pharmacokinetics compared with nirmatrelvir</strong> - Although vaccines are available for SARS-CoV-2, antiviral drugs such as nirmatrelvir are still needed, particularly for individuals in whom vaccines are less effective, such as the immunocompromised, to prevent severe COVID-19. Here we report an α-ketoamide-based peptidomimetic inhibitor of the SARS-CoV-2 main protease (M^(pro)), designated RAY1216. Enzyme inhibition kinetic analysis shows that RAY1216 has an inhibition constant of 8.4 nM and suggests that it dissociates about 12 times slower…</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>A new DNA aptamer which binds to SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and reduces pro-inflammatory response</strong> - COVID-19 caused by SARS-CoV-2 spread rapidly around the world, endangering the health of people globally. The SARS-CoV-2 spike protein initiates entry into target cells by binding to human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2). In this study, we developed DNA aptamers that specifically bind to the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, thereby inhibiting its binding to ACE2. DNA aptamers are small nucleic acid fragments with random structures that selectively bind to various target molecules. We identified…</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>Biden’s Increasingly Contradictory Israel Policy</strong> - A former State Department official explains the Administration’s sharpening public critique of Israel’s war and simultaneous refusal to “impose a single cost or consequence.” - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/bidens-increasingly-contradictory-israel-policy">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>How Chinese Students Experience America</strong> - COVID, guns, anti-Asian violence, and diplomatic relations have complicated the ambitions of the some three hundred thousand college students who come to the U.S. each year. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/04/08/how-chinese-students-experience-america">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Hottest Restaurant in France Is an All-You-Can-Eat Buffet</strong> - Les Grands Buffets features a seven-tiered lobster tower, a chocolate fountain, and only what it considers traditional French food. Gourmands are willing to wait months for a table. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/04/08/les-grands-buffets-and-the-art-of-all-you-can-eat">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>So You Think You’ve Been Gaslit</strong> - What happens when a niche clinical concept becomes a ubiquitous cultural diagnosis. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/04/08/so-you-think-youve-been-gaslit">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Brazilian Special-Forces Unit Fighting to Save the Amazon</strong> - As miners ravage Yanomami lands, combat-trained environmentalists work to root them out. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/04/08/the-brazilian-special-forces-unit-fighting-to-save-the-amazon">link</a></p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-vox">From Vox</h1>
<ul>
<li><strong>The safety net program trapping people in poverty</strong> -
<figure>
<img alt="A bicyclist pedals past a stone-fronted bank building, framed by large columns." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/9IHA3DDWoqM6YPnt4zXK4QrNOhU=/219x0:3716x2623/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73252160/GettyImages_536611540.0.jpg"/>
<figcaption>
David Williams/Bloomberg via Getty Images
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
What if you were legally allowed to only ever have $2,000 in financial assets at one time?
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="leANJg">
Saving is hard. Whether for emergencies, special occasions, or retirement, a lot of us fall short. In fact, <a href="https://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/2023-economic-well-being-of-us-households-in-2022-expenses.htm">almost half of Americans don’t have three months worth of expenses saved</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="rnd4Gh">
And for some, it’s partly because they aren’t allowed to.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="yPdvZI">
Imagine you have to stop working for whatever reason, but legally you’ve only been allowed to build up $2,000 in savings.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="agsl2m">
Could you make it through one month — let alone more? First, you have rent. Let’s say it runs you $1,109 (that’s <a href="https://www.forbes.com/advisor/mortgages/average-rent-by-state/">an average monthly rent for Michigan</a>, one of the cheaper states in the US).
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="6S9t8O">
That leaves you with $891. After utilities and internet and groceries and any other bills, there’s not much left for day-to-day life or unexpected emergencies. And rent the next month would be impossible.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="xF5jcD">
But this isn’t a pretend “let’s learn <a href="https://www.vox.com/personal-finance">personal finance</a>” moment. This is a real financial barrier that millions of Americans have to live with.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="1UvlGA">
Americans like Tyler Lima-Roope, <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@tylerlimaroope">a popular TikToker</a> from California who raises awareness about living with a disability and who receives Supplemental Security Income, or SSI.
</p>
<div id="sajWfB">
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0; padding-bottom: 56.25%;">
</div>
</div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="YFHjnp">
SSI is a program that supports low-income adults and children with disabilities. So why does a program that’s supposed to help Americans who have nowhere else to turn, instead … trap them <a href="https://www.vox.com/poverty">in poverty</a>?
</p>
<h3 id="XdJtiS">
How SSI traps people in poverty, explained
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="1O2ZwA">
To get an answer to that question on a recent episode of <a href="https://www.vox.com/the-weeds"><em>The Weeds</em></a>, I reached out to Kathleen Romig, the director of Social Security and disability policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="0GXvHl">
According to her, when the program was founded in 1972, it was — and still is — considered a last resort: You receive it after applying for all the other social safety nets you qualify for. Qualifying requires specific medical <em>and</em> vocational criteria, meaning that in order to receive the benefit, you not only need to be living with a disability, but the disability must also prevent you from earning $1,500 a month.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="5LCWs6">
SSI is about more than just a stipend, though; <a href="https://www.vox.com/health-care">health care</a> access comes along with it. In some states, receiving SSI means you’re automatically eligible for Medicaid, and Medicaid covers what’s known as “home and community-based services.” That means people with disabilities can receive care in their homes rather than in institutional settings.
</p>
<aside id="jOfps6">
<div>
</div>
</aside>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="wfjxev">
But in order to qualify for SSI, individual beneficiaries can’t have assets worth over $2,000 and couples can’t have assets over $3,000. And that’s not just checking accounts: it takes things like mutual funds, retirement, and even car values into account. If you go over that limit, you lose that month’s check.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="KcDk8R">
The asset cap hasn’t been updated since the 1980s — and not for any particular reason. When it was created, it wasn’t enacted to be automatically adjusted for inflation; if it had been, the SSI cap would be about six times what it is right now.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Cmypoh">
SSI has fallen by the policy wayside, leaving the 7.5 million Americans who rely on the program between a rock and hard place: lose health care and other benefits, or forgo opportunities like saving for the future and getting married.
</p>
<h3 id="f93pRO">
Is there any way out?
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Z7tJkI">
Given that not much has changed for SSI in the past 40 years, the obvious answer is raising the asset cap. But that can’t happen short of an act of <a href="https://www.vox.com/congress">Congress</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="rRgz8y">
The good news? There’s bipartisan <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/senate-bill/2767/text?s=1&amp;r=1&amp;q=%7B%22search%22%3A%22S.2767%22%7D">legislation</a> proposed in the House and Senate that would raise the limit to $10,000 per individual and $20,000 per couple. This would allow individuals to save more and also rids the program of its marriage penalty.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="s5tSft">
The less than good news? Neither bill has yet come up for a floor vote. And in our current era of hyperpolarization, Congress is moving especially slow, even on legislation that keeps the country running, let alone updating outdated caps for social safety net programs.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="JYxyN8">
Romig says the lack of change regarding SSI isn’t really a political issue — she has yet to come across anyone on either side of the aisle who thinks raising the asset limit is a bad idea. It’s an attention issue; many people who don’t interact with SSI on a day-to-day basis aren’t aware of the low asset cap.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="nNG4pv">
The better news is that there is a possible workaround: ABLE accounts.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="db35Uk">
These are state-run tax-advantaged accounts, similar to 529 accounts that parents use to save for a child’s education. ABLE account limits can be as high as $550,000, depending on the state, and don’t count toward the asset limit.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="wkVLUW">
At its inception, it was for people who had a disability before the age of 26, but a new provision in the 2020 appropriations bill raised the qualification age by 20 years, <a href="https://choosework.ssa.gov/blog/2023-08-22-able-accounts-what-you-should-know.html">starting in 2026</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="6IoKV6">
But once again, there’s a gap in awareness: less than 1 percent of people who qualify for ABLE accounts have one.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="IKtoiy">
Here’s hoping this story — and my full conversation with Romig on the latest episode of <em>The Weeds </em>— are one tiny step toward changing that.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="4yQLw5">
<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>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="cODySr">
</p></li>
<li><strong>Biden is doing everything to reach Latinos. Trump is barely trying.</strong> -
<figure>
<img alt="Joe Biden sits at a restaurant booth, surrounded by other diners. The wall behind them is painted with a vibrant mural." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/9dO5Et1ebKxp8sZ4LEf_MCcBGSQ=/471x0:7810x5504/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73252110/2089859034.0.jpg"/>
<figcaption>
President Joe Biden attends a campaign event at El Portal Restaurant in Phoenix, Arizona, on March 19, 2024. | Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Democrats are starting their Latino outreach early because they know they have a problem.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="XMbJKF">
<a href="https://www.vox.com/joe-biden">Joe Biden</a> knows he has a problem with <a href="https://www.vox.com/politics/2023/5/4/23708278/joe-biden-kamala-harris-2024-election-latino-voters-julie-chavez-rodriguez">Latino voters</a>. He acknowledged as much during a visit to Arizona last month: “I need you badly,” he said, with a tinge of exasperation, to a room of supporters.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="MxmfyX">
He was visiting a longtime Mexican restaurant, a staple in a working-class corner of downtown Phoenix, as his presidential campaign officially launched its general election effort to woo and win back Latino voters in Arizona and other battleground states. The effort, called “Latinos con Biden-Harris,” is starting off much earlier than the muted version that played out in 2020, long after a bruising and cash-strapped primary campaign had ended and as the <a href="https://www.vox.com/coronavirus-covid19">coronavirus</a> pandemic spun out of control. This year, it couldn’t be coming at a more necessary time.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="aVxpi8">
Across just about every kind of poll and survey, Biden (and his party) seems to be struggling to hold onto the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/02/us/politics/trumps-support-among-latinos-grows-new-poll-shows.html">high levels of support</a> that the <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2024/01/10/key-facts-about-hispanic-eligible-voters-in-2024/">second-fastest growing ethnic voting group</a> has historically given Democrats. More Hispanic and Latino voters say they are <a href="https://www.vox.com/2024-elections/24091684/democrats-latino-voters-trump-biden-polling">open to switching parties</a> than before. They are dissatisfied with the <a href="https://www.vox.com/2024-elections/23992436/black-latino-americans-economy-biden-democrats-voters-poll-inflation">state of the economy</a> under Biden’s leadership. Many <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/04/us/politics/trump-biden-policies-help-hurt.html">pine</a> for the pre-pandemic Trump days. And more worrying for Democrats, they view <a href="https://www.vox.com/donald-trump">Donald Trump</a> <a href="https://www.vox.com/2024-elections/24105970/donald-trump-popularity-favorability-rising-latino-black-young-working-class">more positively today</a> than they did after the <a href="https://www.vox.com/2020-presidential-election">2020 election</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Ojqqtx">
Still, none of that means that Republicans are actively taking advantage of this moment. For now, the Trump campaign and the GOP don’t seem to have a concrete strategy to make more inroads with these voters. As the Republican National Committee undergoes a major transition with more Trump-aligned leadership, its much-lauded community outreach centers to nonwhite voters stand in limbo. Those centers were <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/08/31/1120176699/republicans-have-invested-millions-in-nonwhite-voter-outreach-ahead-of-the-midte">celebrated</a> by <a href="https://www.governing.com/now/republicans-efforts-for-hispanic-vote-may-pay-off-in-florida">Republican</a> <a href="https://prospect.org/politics/rncs-ground-game-of-inches-convert-minorities-into-republicans/">politicians</a> and <a href="https://www.nationaljournal.com/s/715638/can-community-centers-help-gop-court-voters-of-color/">strategists</a> ahead of the <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/23357154/2022-midterm-elections-guide">2022 midterms</a> for <a href="https://gop.com/blog/rnc-holds-5000-events-at-rnccommunity-centers-makes-50-million-voter-contacts/">hosting</a> cultural events and establishing a <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/rnc-investing-millions-engage-asian-american-voters-minorioties-ahead-midterms">direct presence</a> for the party in minority communities. Many are now closed, though the RNC has backtracked on reported plans to close even more and shut down its minority outreach program.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="okd0Xv">
The recent rollout of the “Latinos con Biden-Harris” effort is a perfect example of these contrasting realities: During the last two weeks, the most the Republican Party, or the Trump campaign, has done in reaching out to Hispanic and Latino voters was to recirculate a fan-created musical jingle that it repackaged as an ad toward the end of the 2020 campaign cycle, and fire off a few social media posts. They made no ad buys, nor did Trump make any campaign stops or public statements directed specifically at these voters.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="I9N9cE">
But will this slow Republican outreach end up mattering? The last two weeks show, in a nutshell, the dueling struggles of Democratic and Republican outreach to Latino voters in 2024. Despite having some momentum on their side, the Republican Party seems unable, or unwilling, to seize the opportunity they have in swing states to lock up support from America’s newest swing voters. Meanwhile, spooked Democrats, on the defensive, are ready to pour in huge amounts of money and dedicate resources early on — but they may be focusing on a message that just doesn’t resonate with the voters most upset with the Biden years.
</p>
<h3 id="udIO1m">
The Biden-Harris launch in Arizona is a stand-in for their Southwestern and Latino strategy
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="GNY8nj">
The launch of the Latinos con Biden-Harris effort was intentional and symbolic. The restaurant Biden visited, El Portal, was opened and is owned by two longtime fixtures in Arizona Hispanic politics, and it has served as the “<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2022/11/hispanic-voters-fleeing-democratic-party/671851/">de facto headquarters</a>” of Phoenix’s Latino and Hispanic Democrats for years. That movement, starting as grassroots pro-immigrant activism through small businesses, has been building gradually over the last two decades. It bore fruit during the Trump era, when moderates, progressives, white, Black, and Latino voters turned out for Democrats.
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt="John Kirby, wearing a suit, walks past a black SUV flying a small American flag and official government flag. Behind him is a yellow building with rust-colored awnings and a blue door. " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/24f19pn55fW6GR9mZ5u7tMTwQXA=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25367157/2089861944.jpg"/> <cite>Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images</cite>
<figcaption>
National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby waits as US President Joe Biden speaks to supporters at El Portal Restaurant in Phoenix, Arizona.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Mfknce">
Arizona is now the quintessential battleground state, and at its core is Maricopa County — the county that has seen some of the <a href="https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2023/population-estimates-counties.html">biggest</a> <a href="https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2024/population-estimates-more-counties-population-gains-2023.html">gains</a> in population through Phoenix and its expanding, wealthier suburbs. A combination of a rapidly growing young Latino electorate, the Republican Party’s shift to the MAGA right, and more independent- and moderate-minded suburban voters concentrated in Maricopa has made the conservative bastion competitive for Democrats. Since the Trump era of <a href="https://www.vox.com/politics">national politics</a> began, Arizona has elected two Democratic senators, a Democratic governor and attorney general, and voted for Biden — after not voting for a Democratic presidential candidate for 20 years.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="FqLSeo">
That history and those trends contextualize the Biden-Harris campaign’s decision to launch their Latino outreach effort in Phoenix before stopping in Nevada, another Latino-heavy swing state, and then making a fundraising visit to Houston, all within the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/elections/2024/03/21/election-2024-campaign-updates/">span of a week</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="MWBsz0">
“In both states, we’re building robust campaign infrastructure to meet voters where they are,” the Biden-Harris campaign manager, Julie Chavez Rodriguez, said in a memo distributed before the campaign stops. “Both Nevada and Arizona represent the diverse coalition of voters who elected Joe Biden president in 2020, including Latino, Black, [Asian American/Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander], and Native American voters.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="CBmygw">
That week of March 18 saw Biden and his campaign’s Latino surrogates spread across local and national <a href="https://www.vox.com/tv">television</a> and radio programs, in English- and Spanish-language markets, to pair with the president’s in-person visits. The campaign timed the release of its first Latino-focused digital ad with this launch, and the ad ran in English, Spanish, and Spanglish with voiceovers using different regional accents depending on the battleground.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="tOMjvu">
Later that week, on March 23, the campaign pushed out a second digital ad in Spanish and English in Arizona, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, Wisconsin, and Florida. Both video shorts are part of a $30 million advertising push this spring that is specifically directed at reaching voters in battleground states, including nonwhite voters.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="jqEMtB">
“This is not parachuting into any community two weeks before the election,” California Sen. Alex Padilla, campaign advisory board member, said in a statement about the release. “We’re starting months and months and months even before the Democratic convention this summer, to get the message out.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="MIt2Ue">
The message in Biden’s visit, his surrogates’ statements, and the ads targeting Latino voters is both an evolution and a retreading of old ground. It plays up the well-worn anti-Republican attacks that have worked for them before: Republicans’ opposition to <a href="https://www.vox.com/abortion">abortion</a> rights and reproductive freedom, their plans to cut entitlement spending, and Trump’s track record of anti-immigrant or bigoted statements. What’s new is the focus on Biden’s accomplishments: lowering the cost of some prescription drugs, attempting to “ease” student debt, supporting Latino-owned small businesses and Hispanic-serving colleges and universities, and lowering Hispanic unemployment.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Gs8rcZ">
Still, that doesn’t mean the message is resonating just yet. Latino views of Biden’s handling of the <a href="https://www.vox.com/economy">economy</a> and job performance, as well as overall approval, are still <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/03/05/us/elections/times-siena-poll-registered-voter-crosstabs.html">negative, or on par</a> with the views of white voters. While this initial outreach is playing up elements of social issues that have helped Democrats with other voting groups, the state of the economy and the perception of an out-of-control border and immigration crisis continue to be weak spots for Democrats.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="EluVCV">
And Biden and his allies have yet to develop a coordinated message in response. Biden talked briefly about his vision of economic opportunity in his Phoenix stop, for example, but none of the Latino-focused ads released so far play up those accomplishments. And none of the campaign’s Latino-specific messaging appears to address immigration at the southern border beyond playing up Trump’s previous talk of “an invasion” that is “poisoning the blood of our country.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="21TJ5M">
So to be a Latino — and most likely a Mexican American — voter in Arizona or the Southwest right now is to feel an early sampling of the saturation the Democrats plan for this year. You’re likely hearing more about a choice between two candidates instead of a referendum on the incumbent, hearing about the threat Trump and Republicans pose to the status quo, and hearing about how the economy is getting better, even if you don’t fully agree. You’re hearing little to nothing about immigration or the southern border from Democrats beyond identity politics. Still, at least you’re hearing from Democrats, whether at the local, state, or national level, who are making early entreaties to you and your community specifically.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Q11t1o">
The same is not true on the Republican side.
</p>
<h3 id="8z9C72">
Republicans seem unwilling to make the same kind of early investment
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="VYiOvH">
The GOP has a golden opportunity, and many Republicans recognize this: They have a window to win over even more Latino voters than in 2020, and nearly all polling shows they have reason to be optimistic.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="PPk71T">
Still, a Latino exodus from the Democratic Party is unlikely to happen without<strong> </strong>active and intentional efforts to win over voters. At least for now, either because of a lack of money, strategy, or will, the Republican Party is doing the bare minimum.
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt="A crowd of people stand in a dimly lit room. Above them hangs a screen displaying the words: TRUMP WINS NEVADA! " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/tflvrn4GjjpFHiKwsYL3N1mM1Wk=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25367160/1996833756.jpg"/> <cite>Mario Tama/Getty Images</cite>
<figcaption>
Trump’s supporters attend his caucus-night watch party at the Treasure Island Hotel and Casino on February 8 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="oyIPcS">
Between 2020 and the 2022 midterms, the best piece of evidence Republicans could use to show that they were serious about winning over more Latino (and other nonwhite) voters was the <a href="https://gop.com/press-release/rnc-opens-its-first-asian-pacific-american-center-in-ca-ahead-of-midterms/">opening</a> <a href="https://gop.com/press-release/gop-to-open-community-centers-to-reach-out-to-black-voters-in-battleground-state/">and</a> <a href="https://gop.com/blog/rnc-opens-hispanic-community-center-in-phoenix-and-blake-masters-launches-hispanic-coalition-az/">expansion</a> of community outreach centers in predominantly minority neighborhoods in battleground states. Launched when <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2022/11/hispanic-voters-fleeing-democratic-party/671851/">hype over Latinos “fleeing” the Democratic Party</a> was building, these community centers were framed by Republican leadership as “part of our party’s commitment to building relationships with the Hispanic community,” according to then-RNC chair Ronna McDaniel.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="obF5Vl">
“Democrats take Hispanic voters for granted, and we want to earn your vote and build a better future for our children,” she said when the RNC, in conjunction with a US senate campaign, opened an outreach center in Maricopa County — a center meant to be a part of a “permanent, data-driven ground game in Arizona” and a “place to come together, host events and spark conversations with Hispanic Arizonans.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="fUcSxa">
Less than two years later, that center was shuttered, along with the vast majority of the 20 Hispanic community centers the RNC had opened ahead of the 2022 midterms. Five remain open today, including two that <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20240125012200/https://themessenger.com/politics/the-rnc-shuttered-most-of-the-hispanic-community-centers-it-touted-as-critical-to-winning-over-latino-voters">The Messenger had reported</a> were opened in 2023. And these closures seem to be part of a broader retreat by the Republican Party: other centers aimed at reaching Black, Asian, and Native American voters have <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/13/us/politics/republican-community-centers-closed.html">also been reportedly shut down</a> and their outreach programs ended as new, Trump-aligned leadership <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/make-the-rnc-white-again-gop-ends-minority-outreach-program?ref=wrap">purged and laid off staff</a>, including communications staff and those who worked on minority outreach.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ERyknp">
The RNC contests those closures, saying it is keeping a number of centers open for its early voting education program and says it intends to open more. After the Phoenix center closed, for example, some news reports suggested that the RNC would instead open a new branch in Tucson, another urban area in Arizona with a large Hispanic population and a bedrock of support for Democrats in the state. But the Arizona Republican Party did not reply to requests for comment or clarification on the status of that center, or other centers in the state. Nor did the Trump campaign reply to Vox’s requests for comment on its plans or strategy for Latino voter outreach, instead referring me to the RNC, which provided the following statement attributed to its Hispanic communications director, Jaime Florez.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="wKZMcC">
“Democrats have taken the Hispanic community for granted for far too long, and no amount of money the Biden campaign spends will change the fact that Biden and Harris have been a disaster for our community,” Florez said in the statement. ”Republicans will continue receiving with open arms thousands of Hispanics that are moving to our party, disappointed with Democrats and their policies, and will be fundamental to Republican victories all over the country in 2024.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="bhEE95">
This intra-party turmoil and a stretched budget for outreach and campaign infrastructure seem to be at the heart of the Trump-era GOP’s ability to compete for nonwhite voters’ support. The tenuous state of Latino outreach in Arizona, for example, is replicated in Nevada and <a href="https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/03/28/former-rnc-hispanic-outreach-center-in-milwaukee-remains-vacant/72987260007/">Wisconsin</a>, two other states where Republicans had talked up their efforts to win over Latino voters.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="72HF6O">
So far, the extent of the GOP’s Latino outreach while the Democrats rolled out a highly coordinated effort was a recirculated social media clip of a “Latinos por Donald Trump” ad from 2020 and a few tweets about illegal immigration and the border. Trump did boast about his polling among Latino voters during a <a href="https://www.npr.org/2024/02/10/1230546093/republicans-see-latino-voters-in-nevada-as-key-to-retaking-the-white-house-in-20">February visit</a> to Las Vegas, but he still has yet to visit Arizona.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="WOUJRm">
It’s a limited approach, but even at this level of outreach, the abbreviated messages Trump and Republicans are sending may still be compelling. That 2020 ad, for example, was successful when it ran four years ago because it was organically produced — a short jingle written by a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pNQL7CD2zc">Cuban salsa band</a> made up of Trump fans — and because it summarized the key planks of Trump’s 2020 pitch to Latino voters: “la buena vida” (the good life), “la economia” <em>(</em>the economy), and “tu familia” (your family). Coupled with clips and tweets hyping up an “<a href="https://x.com/RNCResearch/status/1771574949322363075?s=20">invasion</a>” at the southern border, and Republicans have the barebones of another persuasive pitch.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="7WZAOv">
That’s the extent of the messaging Latino voters in swing states like Arizona are getting from Republicans right now. No Hispanic-specific Trump ads are running on television or radio in Arizona, either in English or Spanish. Trump did not hold any campaign events during the week the Biden-Harris operation rolled through the Southwest, let alone anything directed at these voters. And the former president has held <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trumps-trials-throw-wrench-campaign-schedule-biden-gets/story?id=108445942">only two campaign rallies</a> since Super Tuesday in Georgia and Ohio, aimed at boosting his preferred candidates in primary races.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="GvjNtR">
Still, the lack of early investment by the party and campaign might not be as big of a deal, since the work to target and fine-tune a pitch to these voters might be better suited to external organizations and super PACS, the Republican pollster Patrick Ruffini told me. “The vast majority of that [Latino shift to the right] is being driven by the environment politically. Right now, both dissatisfaction with Biden and Trump being more of an anti-elitist candidate who has a more natural appeal to working class voters, that is what we’re seeing reflected in the polls right now,” he said. “When it comes to the organization to actually bring that vote out in November, you’re going to see a pretty big ecosystem pop up. We’re no longer in the era of the RNC [doing] everything or the campaign [doing] everything. You have so much outside the formal party apparatus, and I do think you’ll see more efforts on that side to capitalize on those shifts because that’s where the resources are.”
</p>
<h3 id="Aacqau">
Democrats can’t afford to fall behind, while Republicans seem to be riding on coattails
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="3zkdsU">
This early Democratic start with Hispanic and Latino voters contrasts with the sluggish Republican operation — but it also shows just how much Democrats have to fear and have to lose with these voters. Democrats have no choice but to start big and early because of how far they’ve fallen behind their historical levels of Latino support.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="KgHEkG">
The last three presidential cycles have each delivered Democrats <a href="https://centerforpolitics.org/crystalball/book-excerpt-party-of-the-people/">consistently smaller margins of support</a> with all kinds of nonwhite voters, but especially with Latinos: During Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign, for example, the Democratic advantage over Republicans with these voters was a 39-point difference in vote preference; by 2020, that advantage <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/re0gtn1o57fzwp5/Catalist_What_Happened_2022_Public_National_Crosstabs_2023_05_18.xlsx?e=2&amp;dl=0">had shrunk by 16 points</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="K31I1e">
As Hispanic and Latino Americans become <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/14/us/politics/trump-biden-campaign-latino-voters.html">swing voters</a>, the stakes of outreach and persuasion could not be higher for the party that has enjoyed their support for so long.
</p></li>
<li><strong>Why Republican federal judges are fighting among themselves</strong> -
<figure>
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/l0OKEawEHJHX9QDcf9yYQO8gKpc=/115x0:1943x1371/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73252074/1464154286.0.jpg"/>
<figcaption>
Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett talk before President Joe Biden delivers the State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress in the House Chamber at the US Capitol on February 7, 2023. | Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Simmering tensions between traditionalist Republican judges and MAGA judges are starting to boil over.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="2VglXi">
A federal court is <a href="https://www.reuters.com/legal/texas-federal-court-will-not-adopt-policy-against-judge-shopping-2024-03-30/#:~:text=March%2030%20(Reuters)%20%2D%20A,practice%20of%20%22judge%20shopping.%22">picking an unusual fight</a> with one of the federal judiciary’s governing bodies — one with implications for literally all aspects of US policy.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="xawuaq">
In March, the Judicial Conference of the United States, one of the federal courts’ internal governing bodies, announced a <a href="https://www.vox.com/scotus/2024/3/12/24098760/supreme-court-matthew-kacsmaryk-judge-shopping-republicans-judicial-conference">new policy intended to combat “judge-shopping.”</a> Some federal courts effectively allow plaintiffs to choose their own judges, which has allowed many litigants with <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2022/12/13/23505459/supreme-court-birth-control-contraception-constitution-matthew-kacsmaryk-deanda-becerra">dubious</a> or even <a href="https://www.vox.com/scotus/2024/3/21/24105984/supreme-court-mifepristone-abortion-pills-fda-alliance-hippocratic-medicine">ridiculous</a> claims to obtain court orders blocking pretty much any federal policy that they find objectionable.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="8S20xU">
One court that allowed such judge-shopping, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas, announced on Friday that <a href="https://www.reuters.com/legal/texas-federal-court-will-not-adopt-policy-against-judge-shopping-2024-03-30/#:~:text=March%2030%20(Reuters)%20%2D%20A,practice%20of%20%22judge%20shopping.%22">it will defy the Judicial Conference</a> and refuse to implement the new policy. This defiance, if allowed to stand, would render the Judicial Conference’s new policy virtually useless, as the Northern District of Texas is the locus of the nation’s worst problem with judge-shopping.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="znwkKl">
Among other things, the fact that many right-wing plaintiffs can select Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk to hear their lawsuits has turned this obscure Trump appointee to this Texas federal court <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2022/12/17/23512766/supreme-court-matthew-kacsmaryk-judge-trump-abortion-immigration-birth-control">into one of the most powerful public officials in the country</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="75TkzL">
Kacsmaryk is a former lawyer at a Christian right law firm with a <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2022/12/17/23512766/supreme-court-matthew-kacsmaryk-judge-trump-abortion-immigration-birth-control">long record of hostility</a> toward <a href="https://www.vox.com/lgbtq">LGBTQ</a> rights, <a href="https://www.vox.com/abortion">abortion</a>, and <a href="https://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/2015/09/15612/">even many forms of heterosexual sexuality</a>. He is the judge who <a href="https://www.vox.com/scotus/2024/3/21/24105984/supreme-court-mifepristone-abortion-pills-fda-alliance-hippocratic-medicine">attempted to ban the abortion medication mifepristone</a>. And, in his brief period on the bench, he’s handed down a long line of orders implementing right-wing <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy">policies</a> on <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2022/12/13/23505459/supreme-court-birth-control-contraception-constitution-matthew-kacsmaryk-deanda-becerra">birth control</a>, <a href="https://www.vox.com/2022/6/30/23189965/supreme-court-biden-texas-remain-in-mexico-john-roberts">immigration</a>, and <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2022/12/17/23512766/supreme-court-matthew-kacsmaryk-judge-trump-abortion-immigration-birth-control">LGBTQ discrimination</a>. He even backed a <a href="https://www.vox.com/scotus/2024/3/15/24099943/drag-shows-supreme-court-ban-texas">ban on theater performances he finds objectionable</a>.
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt="Kacsmaryk sits in a government hearing." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/WWVHjDIp7lFtjkx0lfXKrM5sUoo=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25332763/temp.png"/> <cite>Courtesy of the Senate Judiciary Committee</cite>
<figcaption>
Now-Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk during his confirmation hearing.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="eFEjMj">
The Northern District of Texas’s decision to defy the Judicial Conference sets up what could be a very significant conflict between this far-right court, and a broader federal judiciary that is controlled by more center-right judges — and it’s hardly the only such conflict brewing within the federal courts.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="gsaKYg">
In its current term, the <a href="https://www.vox.com/scotus">Supreme Court</a> heard an <a href="https://www.vox.com/scotus/23845702/supreme-court-fifth-circuit-term-cfpb-guns-voting-chevron">unusually long list of cases</a> arising out of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, the <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2022/12/27/23496264/supreme-court-fifth-circuit-trump-court-immigration-housing-sexual-harrassment">MAGA movement’s most loyal stronghold within the judiciary</a>. These include <a href="https://www.vox.com/scotus/2024/3/26/24112540/supreme-court-mifepristone-fda-alliance-hippocratic-medicine-abortion-pills">the mifepristone case</a>, a case where the Fifth Circuit held that many <a href="https://www.vox.com/scotus/2023/11/7/23950520/supreme-court-us-rahimi-oral-argument-second-amendment-roberts-gorsuch-barrett-jackson">domestic abusers have a right to own guns</a>, a decision <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2022/9/19/23361050/supreme-court-texas-twitter-facebook-youtube-social-media-fifth-circuit-netchoice-paxton">allowing Republican lawmakers to seize control</a> of what content is published online, and a decision about the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that, if upheld, could <a href="https://www.vox.com/scotus/2023/9/23/23864355/supreme-court-cfpb-unconstitutional-consumer-financial-fifth-circuit-great-depression">trigger a second Great Depression</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="pWSYaA">
At least based on the oral arguments in those cases, however, it appears likely that an alliance between the Court’s three Democrats and its three least hardline Republicans will prevent the Fifth Circuit from reshaping the nation in MAGA’s image.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="RLwAau">
Similarly, it’s significant that, when the Judicial Conference announced its new policy against judge-shopping, it <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2024/03/12/federal-courts-move-against-judge-shopping-00146594">chose Chief Judge Jeffery Sutton as its spokesperson</a> on this issue.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="IiJqDu">
Sutton is a conservative George W. Bush appointee to the Sixth Circuit, and is an <a href="https://www.vox.com/scotus/2023/7/10/23789633/supreme-court-lgbtq-lw-skrmetti-transgender-health-care-jeffrey-sutton-sixth-circuit">intellectual leader among more traditionalist Republican judges</a> who believe in limited judicial power. By making Sutton the face of the new judge-shopping rules, the Judicial Conference seemed to signal that the federal courts’ non-MAGA Republicans shared many Democrats’ frustration with judges like Kacsmaryk.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ybXw6t">
It remains to be seen how the broader judiciary — and the Supreme Court in particular — will react to the Northern District of Texas’s insistence that anyone who wants to sabotage a <a href="https://www.vox.com/joe-biden">Biden administration</a> policy should be allowed to select Matthew Kacsmaryk as their judge. And, no matter how the broader judiciary reacts in the short term, lawyers like Kacsmaryk could easily find themselves in charge of the entire court system if former <a href="https://www.vox.com/donald-trump">President Donald Trump</a> has the opportunity to appoint more of him to the federal bench.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="5SoFHk">
But, for the time being, there are significant signs that more traditionalist Republican judges are willing to ally with Democrats against the federal judiciary’s far right.
</p>
<h3 id="PKctP2">
The judiciary is designed to be more resistant to political trends than the two elected branches
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="zb5oEq">
If you’re an elected Republican, publicly disagreeing with Donald Trump is a dangerous proposition. Some Republicans who cross Trump <a href="https://www.vox.com/23899688/2024-election-republican-primary-death-threats-trump">face literal death threats from MAGA voters</a>, and even those who don’t are unlikely to prevail in their next primary election. As the Washington Post’s Josh Dawsey and Michael Scherer described Trump’s approach to the <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/23357154/2022-midterm-elections-guide">2022 midterms</a>, “he made it a near-singular mission to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/02/06/trump-revenge-republicans/">defeat GOP lawmakers</a> who voted for his impeachment and who publicly disputed his claims of election fraud.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="MJkjCT">
The federal courts, by contrast, are designed to insulate judges from shifting political winds. Federal judges <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/articleiii">serve for life</a>, and as a practical matter can only be removed against their will through impeachment. So they have no reason to take a stance that they personally disagree with out of fear that acting according to their own conscience will cost them their job.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="8tJ9Mt">
Of course, the fact that judges serve for life does not mean that they are immune to far-right ideas. Many federal judges, including Kacsmaryk, <a href="https://www.vox.com/scotus/23841718/edgelord-federal-judiciary-james-ho-fifth-circuit-abortion-guns">already</a> <a href="https://archive.thinkprogress.org/clarence-thomas-most-important-legal-thinker-in-america-c12af3d08c98/">embraced</a> a reactionary worldview when they joined the bench. Others have <a href="https://www.vox.com/2020/4/23/21228636/alito-racism-ramos-louisiana-unanimous-jury">flexible ideologies</a> that <a href="https://archive.thinkprogress.org/the-most-partisan-supreme-court-justice-of-all-fd31c58a25aa/">match whatever views are ascendant within the Republican Party</a> at any given moment. Still others <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/12/9/20962980/trump-supreme-court-federal-judges">hope for a promotion</a> and seek to catch the next Republican president’s eye by deliberately handing down extreme opinions. (Democratic judges sometimes engage in similar behavior, although they often have to temper their views because a GOP-controlled Supreme Court can reverse them if they push too hard.)
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="mYsbKz">
But the fact that judges have more freedom to break with their party than, say, members of <a href="https://www.vox.com/congress">Congress</a>, means that the federal judiciary is currently a better reflection of the diversity of viewpoints within the GOP than, say, the US House of Representatives. Nearly every Republican member of the House is there because they survived a Republican primary, often after adjusting their public stances to ensure that they will not attract Trump’s ire.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="uoroNB">
The judiciary, by contrast, includes holdovers appointed during the Reagan and Bush administrations, as well as some Trump appointees who reject at least some of MAGA’s goals. That explains why Trump-appointed Justice Brett Kavanaugh has <a href="https://www.vox.com/scotus/2024/3/18/24104880/supreme-court-brett-kavanaugh-murthy-missouri-vullo-nra-first-amendment-jawboning">become one of the judiciary’s most vocal critics of Republican proposals</a> to control who gets to speak online. It also explains why some of Trump’s attempts to overturn his loss in the <a href="https://www.vox.com/2020-presidential-election">2020 presidential election</a> were <a href="https://www2.ca3.uscourts.gov/opinarch/203371np.pdf">rejected by his own judicial appointees</a>.
</p>
<h3 id="v1gLwY">
Republican judges still act like Republicans, even if they are not MAGA stalwarts
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="hosGIe">
Of course, the fact that some Republican judges are more moderate than others does not mean that they are not Republicans. All six of the Supreme Court’s Republican appointees, for example, <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/22pdf/20-1199_l6gn.pdf">voted to end affirmative action</a> at nearly all universities. All of them <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/21pdf/20-843_7j80.pdf">voted for a sweeping expansion of gun rights</a>. All of them back novel legal doctrines which seek to <a href="https://www.vox.com/scotus/23791610/supreme-court-major-questions-doctrine-nebraska-biden-student-loans-gorsuch-barrett">dismantle much of the federal administrative state</a>. All of the Republican justices except for Chief Justice John Roberts <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/21pdf/19-1392_6j37.pdf">voted to overrule <em>Roe v. Wade</em></a>, and Roberts did not so much endorse <em>Roe</em> as suggest that his Court dismantle it more slowly.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="s4KlDA">
What all of these issues share in common, however, is that <a href="https://www.vox.com/scotus/2023/7/8/23784320/supreme-court-2022-term-affirmative-action-religion-voting-rights-abortion">the Republican Party long ago reached a consensus on them</a>. Abortion foes, gun groups, and opponents of <a href="https://www.vox.com/2023/6/14/23761092/supreme-court-affirmative-action-college-admissions-race">affirmative action</a> have long been powerful voices within the GOP. And, while most Americans probably have no opinion on how the administrative state should function, the Federalist Society — the powerful conservative lawyers’ group which functions as the de facto legal arm of the Republican Party — has been <a href="https://archive.thinkprogress.org/the-little-noticed-conservative-plan-to-permanently-lock-democrats-out-of-policymaking-9f776ad16635/">obsessed with weakening federal agencies since the Obama administration</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="3xAfEB">
There are plenty of issues, however, where the post-Trump Republican Party has broken with its pre-Trump consensus. And, on these issues, Republican judges are much more divided.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="iVxXFu">
Consider, for example, free speech. Before Trump took over the GOP, there was a broad bipartisan consensus that even the most repugnant speech is protected by the Constitution. Thus, in <a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/559/460/"><em>United States v. Stevens</em></a> (2010), the Supreme Court struck down a poorly drafted federal law banning “crush” videos, fetish videos that often depict a woman crushing an animal to death (Congress <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/111th-congress/house-bill/5566">reenacted the ban</a> in a differently worded statute that is less vulnerable to a First Amendment lawsuit). And, in <a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/562/443/"><em>Snyder v. Phelps</em></a> (2011), the Court sided with members of a notorious church who protested a fallen marine’s funeral with signs featuring anti-gay slurs and the message “Thank God for Dead Soldiers.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="UZElbr">
Both were 8-1 decisions, with only Justice Samuel Alito in dissent.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="XJVvcZ">
Indeed, before Trump ran for office, Republican judges generally took an even more expansive view of free speech than their Democratic colleagues. That’s because Republicans typically saw the First Amendment as a <a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/558/310/">vehicle to dismantle campaign finance laws</a>, while Democrats believed that the public interest in preventing political corruption overcomes the free speech arguments against such laws.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="QOxosF">
Much of the post-Trump GOP, by contrast, is eager to use the power of government to control political debates. The Republican legislatures of Texas and Florida, for example, both enacted laws seeking to <a href="https://www.vox.com/scotus/2024/2/26/24083652/supreme-court-netchoice-paxton-moody-texas-florida-first-amendment-social-media-facebook-youtube">seize control of content moderation</a> at major social media outlets like <a href="https://www.vox.com/facebook">Facebook</a>, <a href="https://www.vox.com/twitter">Twitter</a>, and <a href="https://www.vox.com/youtube">YouTube</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="GD0gNP">
When the Texas law reached the Supreme Court in 2022, however, it <a href="https://www.vox.com/2022/5/31/23149183/supreme-court-texas-social-media-ruling-netchoice-paxton">cleaved the Republican justices down the middle</a>. Roberts, Kavanaugh, and <a href="https://www.vox.com/2020/9/26/21457704/trump-amy-coney-barrett-supreme-court-nominee">Justice Amy Coney Barrett</a> all voted to suspend the law, while Justices Clarence Thomas, Alito, and Neil Gorsuch voted to let it take effect. Similarly, when the Court heard oral arguments last February to decide whether to permanently block these laws, Roberts, Kavanaugh, and Barrett all seemed to <a href="https://www.vox.com/scotus/2024/2/26/24083652/supreme-court-netchoice-paxton-moody-texas-florida-first-amendment-social-media-facebook-youtube">cling to the pre-Trump Republican position</a> that the government should not regulate speech.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="9LK8PP">
Similarly, while all six of the Court’s Republicans voted in <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/21pdf/20-843_7j80.pdf"><em>New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen</em></a> (2022) to drastically expand gun rights, Roberts, Kavanaugh, and Barrett all appeared to recoil from <em>Bruen</em>’s implications once they realized it could <a href="https://www.vox.com/scotus/2023/11/7/23950520/supreme-court-us-rahimi-oral-argument-second-amendment-roberts-gorsuch-barrett-jackson">arm domestic abusers who are subject to restraining orders</a>. Kacsmaryk’s order attempting to ban <a href="https://www.vox.com/2023/4/10/23677220/texas-abortion-pills-usa-updates-mifepristone-misoprostol-kacsmaryk">mifepristone</a> could have also <a href="https://www.vox.com/scotus/2024/3/21/24105984/supreme-court-mifepristone-abortion-pills-fda-alliance-hippocratic-medicine">forced the courts to remove thousands of medications</a> from the market if it were upheld by higher courts — which may explain why only two justices, Thomas and Alito, dissented from the <a href="https://www.vox.com/politics/2023/4/21/23686788/supreme-court-abortion-pill-ruling-mifepristone-fda-alliance-hippocratic-medicine">Court’s decision to block Kacsmaryk’s order last year</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="hdkGbo">
So, while the Court’s Republican appointees tend to see eye-to-eye on issues that unite Republicans, they also divide on the sort of issues where there is no GOP consensus. And that means there’s a meaningful divide between the judiciary’s center right and its far right.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="sFdowE">
That said, this divide could stop mattering very quickly if Trump gets to fill additional seats on the Supreme Court. While lifetime appointments allow long-serving judges like Roberts or Sutton to drift away from their political parties, they do nothing to prevent a sitting president from appointing new judges who share that president’s views.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="3crUif">
And so, if Trump wins, he could potentially fill the bench with Kacsmaryks — destroying the relevance of holdover Republicans with more moderate views, and tipping the debate in favor of the far right for good.
</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>Fighton, Magileto and Time And Tide catch the eye</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>Cristiano Ronaldo nets second hat trick in Saudi Arabia Pro league as Al Nassr beats Abha</strong> - The hat trick was his third of the league season following his treble in Saturday’s 5-1 win over Al-Tai. The Portugal star leads the league with 29 goals</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>Mayank Yadav says goal is to play for India after LSG beats RCB</strong> - Mayank Yadav had missed the last season due to injury and he fully knows the importance to fitness</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>Morning Digest | Sri Lankan media hit out at Modi’s Katchatheevu remarks; Kejriwal the ‘kingpin’, ‘key conspirator’ in Delhi Excise policy case, says ED, and more</strong> - Here is a select list of stories to start the day</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>Grigor Dimitrov rolls back the time</strong> - The 32-year-old Bulgarian returns to the top-10 after nearly five and half years and has also rehabilitated the one-handed backhand following a brief exile</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>Slain jawan’s family thanks Telangana CM for help</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>KTR slaps legal notice on Minister Konda Surekha, two others</strong> - The notices were sent for alleging that KTR has a role in the ‘phone tapping’ controversy; he demanded the leaders to tender an unconditional apology and refrain from dragging his name in the issue</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>How is democracy measured by global indices | Explained</strong> - How do researchers measure democracy? What are the strengths and weaknesses of global datasets? Why does India want to make its own democracy index?</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>BJP to seek Telangana Governor’s intervention on phone tapping case</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>India to build first commercial crude oil strategic storage</strong> - Bids are due by April 22 and the tender is to be awarded by June 27, the document said.</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>Ukraine lowers combat call-up age to boost numbers</strong> - The move will allow Ukraine to call up more people after facing a reduction in volunteer fighters.</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>Rubiales arrested in corruption investigation</strong> - The ex-president of the Spanish football federation was arrested in Madrid, before being released.</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>Jockey Cherchi, 23, dies two weeks after fall</strong> - Jockey Stefano Cherchi dies aged 23 two weeks after suffering a head injury in a fall at Canberra in Australia.</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>France’s unique orphanage for police children</strong> - Orpheopolis cares for the children of officers who have died in the line of duty or by suicide.</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>Dunst: ‘I didn’t even think to ask for equal pay’</strong> - Now starring in Alex Garland film Civil War, she says she experienced “major pay disparity” as a young star.</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 fine art of human prompt engineering: How to talk to a person like ChatGPT</strong> - People are more like AI language models than you might think. Here are some prompting tips. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=2010159">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Missouri county declares state of emergency amid suspected ransomware attack</strong> - Outage occurs on same day as special election, but election offices remain open. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=2014470">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>X filing “thermonuclear lawsuit” in Texas should be “fatal,” Media Matters says</strong> - Musk’s attempt to venue-shop Media Matters lawsuit is not likely to end well. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=2014411">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Billie Eilish, Pearl Jam, 200 artists say AI poses existential threat to their livelihoods</strong> - Artists say AI will “set in motion a race to the bottom that will degrade the value of our work.” - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=2014327">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Broadcom execs say VMware price, subscription complaints are unwarranted</strong> - Industry groups aren’t giving up hope for government intervention. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=2014318">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>A man joins a very exclusive nudist colony…</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
…On his first day there, he takes off his clothes and starts to wander around. A gorgeous petite blonde walks by, and the man immediately gets an erection.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The woman notices his erection, comes over to him, and says, ‘Did you call for me?’
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The man replies, ‘No, what do you mean?’
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
She says, ‘You must be new here. Let me explain. It’s a rule here that if you get an erection, it implies you called for me.’
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Smiling, she leads him to the side of the swimming pool, lies down on a towel, eagerly pulls him to her, and happily lets him have his way with her.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The man continues to explore the colony’s facilities. He enters the sauna and, as he sits down, he farts…
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Within minutes, a huge, hairy man lumbers out of the steam room toward him, ‘Did you call for me?’ says the hairy man.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
‘No, what do you mean?’ says the newcomer.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
‘You must be new,’ says
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
the hairy man, ‘it’s a rule that if you fart, it implies that you called for me.’ The huge man easily spins him around, bends him over a bench, and has his way with him.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The newcomer staggers back to the colony office, where the smiling, naked receptionist greets him, ‘May I help you?’ she says.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The man yells, ‘Here’s my membership card. You can have the key back and you can keep the £500 membership fee.’
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
‘But, Sir,’ she replies, ‘you’ve only been here for a few hours. You haven’t had the chance to see all our facilities.’
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The man replies, ‘Listen lady, I’m 69 years old. I only get an erection once a month. I fart 26 times a day!’
</p>
</div>
<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/gulamanster"> /u/gulamanster </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1bukhjy/a_man_joins_a_very_exclusive_nudist_colony/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1bukhjy/a_man_joins_a_very_exclusive_nudist_colony/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The duchess invited the whole royalty for tea at the palace.</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The duchess invited the whole royalty for tea at the palace.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
When everyone got there, the duchess suggested to play “Solve the riddle”, a game at which, she claimed, she was very good at.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Before starting, the duchess looked outside the window and saw her daughter riding her favourite mare…
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“I’ve got one”, she said. “It’s big and shaky, and girls often ride one”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“A DICK!”, shouted one of the guests.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“Dear Lord, how extremely rude of you”, said the duchess. “Perkins, please bring the Count’s cape and bowler, he is leaving immediately!”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The rest of the guests asked the duchess to forgive the Count. After some considerations, she decides to give him another opportunity.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“Oh, well… let’s try another one” she said.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Noticing a lady guest playing with her ring, she goes “It is shiny and round and fits the ladies like a glove”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“A DICK!!”, shouted the Count.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“Dear Lord, this is unforgiveable! Perkins, please bring his cape and bowler, the Count is leaving right now!”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“I’m sorry, my lady” said the Count, while the other guests begged her to forgive him, “I promise it will not happen again”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
After some time, she agreed. “But it will be your last opportunity,” she said to the Count.
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The duchess sees one of her guests dipping a toast in his tea, and begins her third riddle “it goes in dry, it comes out wet and dripping”
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“Perkins, bring my cape and bowler, THAT’s a fucking dick!”
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/elmarmotachico"> /u/elmarmotachico </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1buesi4/the_duchess_invited_the_whole_royalty_for_tea_at/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1buesi4/the_duchess_invited_the_whole_royalty_for_tea_at/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The seven dwarves are in Rome and they go on a tour of the city. After a while they go to the Vatican and meet the Pope. Grumpy, for once, seems to have a lot to say.</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
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He keeps asking the Pontiff questions about the church and, in particular, the nuns. “Your Holiness, do you have any really short nuns?” Grumpy asks. “No, my son, all of our nuns are at least five feet tall,” smiles the Pope. “Are you sure? I mean, you wouldn’t have any nuns that are, say, about my height? Maybe a little shorter?” “I’m afraid not. Why do you ask?” “No reason,” replies Grumpy. “But you’re positive? Nobody in a habit that’s about three feet tall, maybe two-and-a-half feet tall?” “I’m sure, my vertically-challenged son,” says the Pope, trying not show his curiosity. “Okay,” moans Grumpy. So the Pope listens to the dwarves as they leave the building. “What’d he say? What’d he say?” chant the other six dwarves. Grumpy mutters, “He said they don’t have any.” And the other six start chanting, “Grumpy fucked a penguin! Grumpy fucked a penguin!”
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/YZXFILE"> /u/YZXFILE </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1buo0tn/the_seven_dwarves_are_in_rome_and_they_go_on_a/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1buo0tn/the_seven_dwarves_are_in_rome_and_they_go_on_a/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Sex with the priest’s wife</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
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Jack goes to his buddy Bob and says … “I’m sleeping with the priest’s wife. Can you hold him in church for an hour after mass for me?” The friend doesn’t like it but being a buddy, he agrees. After mass, Bob starts talking to the priest, asking him all sorts of stupid questions, just to keep him occupied. Finally the priest gets annoyed and asks him what he’s really up to. Bob feeling guilty, finally confesses to the priest… “My friend is sleeping with your wife right now, so he asked me to keep you occupied.” The priest smiles, puts a brotherly hand on Bob’s shoulder and says… “You better hurry home now. My wife died a year ago”.
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/MyNaughtyPlum"> /u/MyNaughtyPlum </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1btwrr3/sex_with_the_priests_wife/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1btwrr3/sex_with_the_priests_wife/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A prince was put under a spell so that he could speak only one word each year.</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
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If he didn’t speak for two years, the following year he could speak two words and so on.<br/> One day, he fell in love with a beautiful lady. He refrained from speaking for two whole years so he could call her “my darling.” But then he wanted to tell her he loved her, so he waited three more years. At the end of these five years, he wanted to ask her to marry him, so he waited another four years.<br/> Finally, as the ninth year of silence ended, he led the lady to the most romantic place in the kingdom and said, “My darling, I love you! Will you marry me?”<br/> And the lady said, “Pardon?”
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/eddible-choclate"> /u/eddible-choclate </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1bup18z/a_prince_was_put_under_a_spell_so_that_he_could/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1bup18z/a_prince_was_put_under_a_spell_so_that_he_could/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
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