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<title>20 February, 2024</title>
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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>Robust SARS-CoV-2 Neutralizing Antibodies Sustained through Three Months Post XBB.1.5 mRNA Vaccine Booster</strong> -
<div>
SARS-CoV-2-neutralizing antibodies were substantially expanded one month after a shot of XBB.1.5 monovalent mRNA vaccine (XBB.1.5 MV) booster, but the durability of this response remained unknown. Here, we addressed this question by performing neutralization assays on four viral variants (D614G, BA.5, XBB.1.5, and JN.1) using sera from 39 adult participants obtained at ~1 month and ~3 months post an XBB.1.5 MV booster. Our findings indicate that the resultant neutralizing antibody titers were robust and generally maintained at stable levels for the study period, similar to those following XBB infection. Importantly, this durability of neutralizing antibody titers contrasts with the decline observed after a booster of the original monovalent or BA.5 bivalent mRNA vaccine. Our results are in line with the recent national data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, showing the efficacy against symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection is sustained for up to 4 months after an XBB.1.5 MV booster.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.02.16.580687v1" target="_blank">Robust SARS-CoV-2 Neutralizing Antibodies Sustained through Three Months Post XBB.1.5 mRNA Vaccine Booster</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>COVID-19 during pregnancy alters circulating extracellular vesicle cargo and their effects on trophoblast</strong> -
<div>
SARS-CoV-2 infection and the resulting coronavirus disease (COVID-19) complicate pregnancies as the result of placental dysfunction which increases the risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes. While abnormal placental pathology resulting from COVID-19 is common, direct infection of the placenta is rare. This suggests maternal response to infection is responsible for placental dysfunction. We hypothesized that maternal circulating extracellular vesicles (EVs) are altered by COVID-19 during pregnancy and contribute to placental dysfunction. To examine this, we characterized maternal circulating EVs from pregnancies complicated by COVID-19 and tested their functional effect on trophoblast cells in vitro. We found the timing of infection is a major determinant of the effect of COVID-19 on circulating EVs. Additionally, we found differentially expressed EV mRNA cargo in COVID-19 groups compared to Controls that regulates the differential gene expression induced by COVID-19 in the placenta. In vitro exposure of trophoblasts to EVs isolated from patients with an active infection, but not EVs isolated from Controls, reduced key trophoblast functions including hormone production and invasion. This demonstrates circulating EVs from subjects with an active infection disrupt vital trophoblast function. This study determined that COVID-19 has a long-lasting effect on circulating EVs and circulating EVs are likely to participate in the placental dysfunction induced by COVID-19.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.02.17.580824v1" target="_blank">COVID-19 during pregnancy alters circulating extracellular vesicle cargo and their effects on trophoblast</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>A Genome-Wide Arrayed CRISPR Screen Reveals PLSCR1 as an Intrinsic Barrier to SARS-CoV-2 Entry</strong> -
<div>
Interferons (IFNs) play a crucial role in the regulation and evolution of host-virus interactions. Here, we conducted a genome-wide arrayed CRISPR knockout screen in the presence and absence of IFN to identify human genes that influence SARS-CoV-2 infection. We then performed an integrated analysis of genes interacting with SARS-CoV-2, drawing from a selection of 67 large-scale studies, including our own. We identified 28 genes of high relevance in both human genetic studies of COVID-19 patients and functional genetic screens in cell culture, with many related to the IFN pathway. Among these was the IFN-stimulated gene PLSCR1. PLSCR1 did not require IFN induction to restrict SARS-CoV-2 and did not contribute to IFN signaling. Instead, PLSCR1 specifically restricted spike-mediated SARS-CoV-2 entry. The PLSCR1-mediated restriction was alleviated by TMPRSS2 over-expression, suggesting that PLSCR1 primarily restricts the endocytic entry route. In addition, recent SARS-CoV-2 variants have adapted to circumvent the PLSCR1 barrier via currently undetermined mechanisms. Our study contributes to understanding the association between PLSCR1 variants and severe COVID-19 cases reported in a recent GWAS.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.02.16.580725v1" target="_blank">A Genome-Wide Arrayed CRISPR Screen Reveals PLSCR1 as an Intrinsic Barrier to SARS-CoV-2 Entry</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>A critical reexamination of recovered SARS-CoV-2 sequencing data</strong> -
<div>
SARS-CoV-2 genomes collected at the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic are valuable because they could help understand how the virus entered the human population. In 2021, Jesse Bloom reported on the recovery of a sequencing dataset that had been removed from the NCBI SRA database at the request of the data generators, a scientific team at Wuhan University. Bloom suggested that the data may have been removed in order to obfuscate the origin of SARS-CoV-2, questioning the generating authors' statements that the samples had been collected on and after January 30, 2020. Here, we show that sample collection dates were published in 2020 together with the sequencing data, and match the dates given by the authors in 2021. We examine mutations in these sequences and confirm that they are entirely consistent with the previously known genetic diversity of SARS-CoV-2 of late January 2020. Finally, we explain how an apparent phylogenetic rooting paradox described by Bloom was resolved by subsequent analysis. Our reanalysis demonstrates that allegations of cover-up or metadata manipulation were unwarranted.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.02.15.580500v1" target="_blank">A critical reexamination of recovered SARS-CoV-2 sequencing data</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Robust Neutralization of SARS-CoV-2 Variants Including JN.1 and BA.2.87.1 by Trivalent XBB Vaccine-Induced Antibodies</strong> -
<div>
Newly emerged SARS-CoV-2 variants like JN.1, and more recently, the hypermutated BA.2.87.1, have raised global concern. We recruited two groups of participants who had BA.5/BF.7 breakthrough infection post three doses of inactivated vaccines: one group experienced subsequent XBB reinfection, while the other received the XBB-containing trivalent WSK-V102C vaccine. Our comparative analysis of their serum neutralization activities revealed that the WSK-V102C vaccine induced stronger antibody responses against a wide range of variants, notably including JN.1 and the highly escaped BA.2.87.1. Furthermore, our investigation into specific mutations revealed that fragment deletions in NTD significantly contribute to the immune evasion of the BA.2.87.1 variant. Our findings emphasize the necessity for ongoing vaccine development and adaptation to address the dynamic nature of SARS-CoV-2 variants.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.02.16.580615v1" target="_blank">Robust Neutralization of SARS-CoV-2 Variants Including JN.1 and BA.2.87.1 by Trivalent XBB Vaccine-Induced Antibodies</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>MobileLAMP: A portable, low-cost, open-source device for isothermal nucleic acid amplification</strong> -
<div>
Isothermal amplification-based methods for pathogen DNA or RNA detection offer high sensitivity, rapid detection, and the potential for deployment in remote fields and home testing. Consequently, they are emerging as alternatives to PCR and saw a surge in research activity and deployment for the rapid detection of SARS-CoV-2 during the Covid-19 pandemic. The most common isothermal DNA detection methods rely on minimal reagents for DNA amplification and simple hardware that can maintain isothermal conditions and read-out a fluorescent or colorimetric signal. Many researchers globally are working on improving these components based on diverse end-user needs. In this work, we have recognized the need for an open-source hardware device for isothermal amplification, composed of off-the-shelf components that are easily accessible in any part of the world, is easily manufacturable in a distributed and scalable way using 3D printing, and that can be powered using a wide diversity of batteries and power sources. We demonstrate the easy assembly of our device design and demonstrate its efficacy using colorimetric LAMP for both RNA and DNA targets.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.02.13.580127v1" target="_blank">MobileLAMP: A portable, low-cost, open-source device for isothermal nucleic acid amplification</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Disaster, Facial Recognition Technology, and the Problem of the Corpse</strong> -
<div>
The overlapping disasters of the Australian 2019-2020 bushfire season and the COVID-19 pandemic, figured alongside the imaginary of projected future disasters, have provided a space of legitimation to experiment with controversial facial recognition technologies (FRTs). Drawing upon interviews conducted with senior Australian government administrators and researchers, I argue that FRTs are being used to respond to the trauma of disaster through its novel mediation and refiguration, tied to discourses of resilience which have been used to justify the expansion of FRT as a means for relief and the provision of aid. This legitimation however is challenged by the difficulty FRT encounters in capturing the face in its vital and its mortal malleability. What I term ‘the problem of the corpse’ serves to bring to light the ‘paranoid’ gaze of the biometric apparatus, disrupting the aim of using biometric infrastructure to produce a ‘new normal’ in the ongoing aftermath of disaster.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/j4wdh/" target="_blank">Disaster, Facial Recognition Technology, and the Problem of the Corpse</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Viral Automation: The Case of COVID-19</strong> -
<div>
Manuscript of editor’s introduction to forthcoming special issue for New Media &amp; Society on legacies of the COVID-19 pandemic for automated decision-making.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/u6fht/" target="_blank">Viral Automation: The Case of COVID-19</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>UBA1-CDK16: A Sex-Specific Chimeric RNA and Its Role in Immune Sexual Dimorphism</strong> -
<div>
RNA processing mechanisms, such as alternative splicing and RNA editing, have been recognized as critical means to expand the transcriptome. Chimeric RNAs formed by intergenic splicing provide another potential layer of RNA diversification. By analyzing a large set of RNA-Seq data and validating results in over 1,200 blood samples, we identified UBA1-CDK16, a female-specific chimeric transcript. Intriguingly, both parental genes, are expressed in males and females. Mechanistically, UBA1-CDK16 is produced by cis-splicing between the two adjacent X-linked genes, originating from the inactive X chromosome. A female-specific chromatin loop, formed between the junction sites, facilitates the alternative splicing of its readthrough precursor. This unique chimeric transcript exhibits evolutionary conservation, evolving to be female-specific from non-human primates to humans. Furthermore, our investigation reveals that UBA1-CDK16 is enriched in the myeloid lineage and plays a regulatory role in myeloid differentiation. Notably, female COVID-19 patients who tested negative for this chimeric transcript displayed higher counts of neutrophils, highlighting its potential role in disease pathogenesis. These findings support the notion that chimeric RNAs represent a new repertoire of transcripts that can be regulated independently from the parental genes, and a new class of RNA variance with potential implications in sexual dimorphism and immune responses.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.02.13.580120v1" target="_blank">UBA1-CDK16: A Sex-Specific Chimeric RNA and Its Role in Immune Sexual Dimorphism</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>SARS-CoV-2 serosurvey of healthy, privately owned cats presenting to a New York City animal hospital in the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic (2020-2021)</strong> -
<div>
Both domestic and non-domestic cats are now established to be susceptible to infection by SARS-CoV-2, the cause of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. While serious disease in cats may occur in some instances, the majority of infections appear to be subclinical. Differing prevalence data for SARS-CoV-2 infection of cats have been reported, and are highly context-dependent. Here, we report a retrospective serological survey of cats presented to an animal practice in New York City, located in close proximity to a large medical center that treated the first wave of COVID-19 patients in the US in the Spring of 2020. We sampled 79, mostly indoor, cats between June 2020 to May 2021, the early part of which time the community was under a strict public health lock-down. Using a highly sensitive and specific fluorescent bead-based multiplex assay, we found an overall prevalence of 13/79 (16%) serologically-positive animals for the study period; however, cats sampled in the Fall of 2020 had a confirmed positive prevalence of 44%. For SARS-CoV-2 seropositive cats, we performed viral neutralization test with live SARS-CoV-2 to additionally confirm presence of SARS-CoV-2 specific antibodies. Of the thirteen seropositive cats, 7/13 (54%) were also positive by virus neutralization, and 2 of seropositive cats had previously documented respiratory signs, with high neutralization titers of 1:1024 and 1:4096; overall however, there was no statistically significant association of SARS-CoV-2 seropositivity with respiratory signs, or with breed, sex or age of the animals. Follow up sampling of cats, while limited in scope, showed that positive serological titers were maintained over time. In comparison, we found an overall confirmed positive prevalence of 51% for feline coronavirus (FCoV), an endemic virus of cats, with 30% confirmed negative for FCoV. We demonstrate the impact of SARS-CoV in a defined feline population during the first wave of SARS-CoV-2 infection of humans, and suggest that human-cat transmission was substantial in our study group. Our data provide a new context for SARS-CoV-2 transmission events across species.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.02.13.580068v1" target="_blank">SARS-CoV-2 serosurvey of healthy, privately owned cats presenting to a New York City animal hospital in the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic (2020-2021)</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>A single-dose MCMV-based vaccine elicits long-lasting immune protection in mice against distinct SARS-CoV-2 variants</strong> -
<div>
Current vaccines against COVID-19 elicit immune responses that are overall strong but wane rapidly. As a consequence, the necessary booster shots have led to vaccine fatigue. Hence, vaccines that would provide lasting protection against COVID-19 are needed, but are still unavailable. Cytomegaloviruses (CMV) elicit lasting and uniquely strong immune responses. Used as vaccine vectors, they may be attractive tools that obviate the need for boosters. Therefore, we tested the murine CMV (MCMV) as a vaccine vector against COVID-19 in relevant preclinical models of immunization and challenge. We have previously developed a recombinant murine CMV (MCMV) vaccine vector expressing the spike protein of the ancestral SARS-CoV-2 (MCMVS). In this study, we show that the MCMVS elicits a robust and lasting protection in young and aged mice. Notably, S-specific humoral and cellular immunity was not only maintained but even increased over a period of at least 6 months. During that time, antibody avidity continuously increased and expanded in breadth, resulting in neutralization of genetically distant variants, like Omicron BA.1. A single dose of MCMVS conferred rapid virus clearance upon challenge. Moreover, MCMVS vaccination controlled two immune-evading variants of concern (VoCs), the Beta (B.1.135) and the Omicron (BA.1) variants. Thus, CMV vectors provide unique advantages over other vaccine technologies, eliciting broadly reactive and long-lasting immune responses against COVID-19.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.11.25.517953v2" target="_blank">A single-dose MCMV-based vaccine elicits long-lasting immune protection in mice against distinct SARS-CoV-2 variants</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Infer metabolic directions and magnitudes from moment differences of mass-weighted intensity distributions</strong> -
<div>
Metabolic pathways are fundamental maps in biochemistry that detail how molecules are transformed through various reactions. Metabolomics refers to the large-scale study of small molecules. High-throughput, untargeted, mass spectrometry-based metabolomics experiments typically depend on libraries for structural annotation, which is necessary for pathway analysis. However, only a small fraction of spectra can be matched to known structures in these libraries and only a portion of annotated metabolites can be associated with specific pathways, considering that numerous pathways are yet to be discovered. The complexity of metabolic pathways, where a single compound can play a part in multiple pathways, poses an additional challenge. This study introduces a different concept: mass spectra distribution, which is the empirical distribution of the intensities times their associated m/z values. Analysis of COVID-19 and mouse brain datasets shows that by estimating the differences of the point estimations of these distributions, it becomes possible to infer the metabolic directions and magnitudes without requiring knowledge of the exact chemical structures of these compounds and their related pathways. The overall metabolic momentum map, named as momentome, has the potential to bypass the current bottleneck and provide fresh insights into metabolomics studies. This brief report thus provides a mathematical framing for a classic biological concept.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://osf.io/jmgea/" target="_blank">Infer metabolic directions and magnitudes from moment differences of mass-weighted intensity distributions</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>“Some distance between us:” a mixed methods study exploring experiences of remote care for eating disorders during COIVD-19</strong> -
<div>
Introduction: COVID-19 necessitated a rapid move from face-to-face services to remote care for eating disorders/eating distress (EDs). This study explores the advantages and challenges of remote care, identifying future implications for service provision. Methods: Using a mixed methods approach, data were collected from 211 people with lived experience (PWLE); 27 participating in semi-structured interviews/workshops and 184 via an online survey. Participants reported on their ED status; the impact of the pandemic on symptoms; benefits and challenges of remote care (and type of support accessed); any reasons for not accessing support; and future recommendations. Participation was open to PWLE with and without formal diagnosis. Results: ED symptoms were reported as worsening during the pandemic with contributing factors including isolation, lack of routine, negative emotions, and feeling like the external situation was outside of one’s control. Exercise was reported as a coping mechanism (although it is noted that responses did not allow for clarifications of respondents’ understanding of what constitutes healthy or unhealthy exercise). Remote care was positively attributed to increased flexibility and facilitation of social connection. However, identified barriers to access included a lack of awareness about support availability, digital access and/or literacy, and competing commitments (e.g., childcare). Further challenges included approaches being perceived as too clinical; uncertainty around remote care quality, and concerns that remote platforms may facilitate masking of symptoms. Participants also reflected heavily upon distress caused by default self-view during video calls. Participants expressed a need for more holistic approaches including “real stories” of recovery, and hybrid (online and offline) options for greater flexibility and widening of access choices; complimented by appropriate training to mitigate digital literacy barriers. Discussion: Future recommendations emphasise user-centered holistic, hybrid approaches to ED remote support, supported by training to address digital literacy barriers and facilitate user control of platform functionalities (e.g., self-view). The study underscores the need for continued remote care with a focus on inclusivity and user empowerment.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://osf.io/5rpg3/" target="_blank">“Some distance between us:” a mixed methods study exploring experiences of remote care for eating disorders during COIVD-19</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>A Broad-Spectrum Multi-Antigen mRNA/LNP-Based Pan-Coronavirus Vaccine Induced Potent Cross-Protective Immunity Against Infection and Disease Caused by Highly Pathogenic and Heavily Spike-Mutated SARS-CoV-2 Variants of Concern in the Syrian Hamster Model</strong> -
<div>
The first-generation Spike-alone-based COVID-19 vaccines have successfully contributed to reducing the risk of hospitalization, serious illness, and death caused by SARS-CoV-2 infections. However, waning immunity induced by these vaccines failed to prevent immune escape by many variants of concern (VOCs) that emerged from 2020 to 2024, resulting in a prolonged COVID-19 pandemic. We hypothesize that a next-generation Coronavirus (CoV) vaccine incorporating highly conserved non-Spike SARS-CoV-2 antigens would confer stronger and broader cross-protective immunity against multiple VOCs. In the present study, we identified ten non-Spike antigens that are highly conserved in 8.7 million SARS-CoV-2 strains, twenty-one VOCs, SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV, Common Cold CoVs, and animal CoVs. Seven of the 10 antigens were preferentially recognized by CD8+ and CD4+ T-cells from unvaccinated asymptomatic COVID-19 patients, irrespective of VOC infection. Three out of the seven conserved non-Spike T cell antigens belong to the early expressed Replication and Transcription Complex (RTC) region, when administered to the golden Syrian hamsters, in combination with Spike, as nucleoside-modified mRNA encapsulated in lipid nanoparticles (LNP) (i.e., combined mRNA/LNP-based pan-CoV vaccine): (i) Induced high frequencies of lung-resident antigen-specific CXCR5+CD4+ T follicular helper (TFH) cells, GzmB+CD4+ and GzmB+CD8+ cytotoxic T cells (TCYT), and CD69+IFN-g+TNF-a+CD4+ and CD69+IFN-g+TNFa+CD8+ effector T cells (TEFF); and (ii) Reduced viral load and COVID-19-like symptoms caused by various VOCs, including the highly pathogenic B.1.617.2 Delta variant and the highly transmittable heavily Spike-mutated XBB1.5 Omicron sub-variant. The combined mRNA/LNP-based pan-CoV vaccine could be rapidly adapted for clinical use to confer broader cross-protective immunity against emerging highly mutated and pathogenic VOCs.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.02.14.580225v1" target="_blank">A Broad-Spectrum Multi-Antigen mRNA/LNP-Based Pan-Coronavirus Vaccine Induced Potent Cross-Protective Immunity Against Infection and Disease Caused by Highly Pathogenic and Heavily Spike-Mutated SARS-CoV-2 Variants of Concern in the Syrian Hamster Model</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Probability Discounting and Adherence to Preventive Behaviors During the COVID-19 Pandemic</strong> -
<div>
This brief communication reports preliminary findings of a study conducted to investigate the relationship between probability discounting and people’s adherence to preventive behaviors recommended during the COVID-19 pandemic. A sample of 112 adults living in Brazil completed an online survey composed of a Probability Discounting Questionnaire (PDQ) and a 10-item assessment of how often they complied with the health authorities’ recommendations (e.g., wash the hands frequently, practice social distancing, stay at home as much as possible, wear a mask when in public). Data analysis included the participants who showed higher (n = 40) and lower (n = 40) adherence to preventive behaviors. Results revealed that probability discounting measures are related to people’s preventive actions. Participants in the higher adherence group present significantly larger risk aversion indices (i.e., larger h values) than participants in the lower adherence group. Also, participants who showed lower adherence to preventive behaviors were more likely to perform risky choices in the PDQ than participants who demonstrated higher compliance with health authorities’ recommendations. These preliminary results suggest that probability discounting can play an essential role in people’s self-protective decisions during a global health emergency, such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/p4a76/" target="_blank">Probability Discounting and Adherence to Preventive Behaviors 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>Correlation of Antibody Response to COVID-19 Vaccination in Pregnant Woman and Transplacental Passage Into Cord Blood.</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: Covid-19 <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Diagnostic Test: COVID-19 Spike Protein IgG Quantitative Antibody (CMIA) <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: Vachira Phuket Hospital <br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>UNAIR Inactivated COVID-19 Vaccine as Homologue Booster (Immunobridging Study)</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: COVID-19 Pandemic; COVID-19 Vaccines; COVID-19 Virus Disease <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Biological: INAVAC (Vaksin Merah Putih - UA- SARS CoV-2 (Vero Cell Inactivated) 5 μg <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: Dr. Soetomo General Hospital; Universitas Airlangga; Biotis Pharmaceuticals, Indonesia; Indonesia-MoH <br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Safety and Immunogenicity of a Sub-unit Protein CD40.RBDv Bivalent COVID-19 Vaccine, Adjuvanted or Not, as a Booster in Volunteers.</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: COVID-19 <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Drug: CD40.RBDv vaccin (SARS-Cov2 Vaccin) <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: ANRS, Emerging Infectious Diseases; LinKinVax; Vaccine Research Institute (VRI), France <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>High-definition Transcranial Direct Current Ctimulation and Chlorella Pyrenoidosa to Reduce Cardiovascular Risk</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: Cardiovascular Diseases; Long Covid19 <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Other: High Definition-transcranial Direct Current Stimulation; Dietary Supplement: Chlorella Pyrenoidosa <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: Federal University of Paraíba; City University of New York <br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>SGB for COVID-induced Parosmia</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: COVID-19-Induced Parosmia <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Drug: Stellate Ganglion Block; Drug: Placebo Sham Injection <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: Washington University School of Medicine <br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Investigating the Effectiveness of Vimida</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: Long COVID; Post COVID-19 Condition <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Behavioral: vimida <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: Gaia AG; Medical School Hamburg; Institut Long-Covid Rostock <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>Effects of Physiotherapy Via Video Calls in Patients With COVID-19</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: COVID-19; Long COVID-19; Cardiopulmonary Function; Physical Function <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Behavioral: Exercise training <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: Chulabhorn Hospital <br/><b>Active, not 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>Acute Cardiovascular Responses to a Single Exercise Session in Patients With Post-COVID-19 Syndrome</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: Post-Acute COVID-19 Syndrome <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Behavioral: Exercise session; Behavioral: Control session <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: University of Nove de Julho <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>Reducing Respiratory Virus Transmission in Bangladeshi Classrooms</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: SARS-CoV2 Infection; Influenza Viral Infections; Respiratory Viral Infection <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Device: Box Fan; Device: UV Germicidal Irradiation Lamp Unit; Device: Combined: Box Fan and UV Germicidal Irradiation Lamp Units <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: Stanford University; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh <br/><b>Not yet 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>Type-II IFN inhibits SARS-CoV-2 replication in human lung epithelial cells and ex vivo human lung tissues through indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase-mediated pathways</strong> - Interferons (IFNs) are critical for immune defense against pathogens. While type-I and -III IFNs have been reported to inhibit SARS-CoV-2 replication, the antiviral effect and mechanism of type-II IFN against SARS-CoV-2 remain largely unknown. Here, we evaluate the antiviral activity of type-II IFN (IFNγ) using human lung epithelial cells (Calu3) and ex vivo human lung tissues. In this study, we found that IFNγ suppresses SARS-CoV-2 replication in both Calu3 cells and ex vivo human lung tissues….</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>Development of a quantitative ELISA for SARS-CoV-2 vaccine candidate, NDV-HXP-S, with CpG 1018® adjuvant</strong> - NDV-HXP-S is a Newcastle disease virus (NDV) vectored vaccine candidate which expresses the S-antigen of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). This vaccine candidate is under evaluation in human clinical studies with and without cytosine phosphate guanine (CpG) 1018® adjuvant. Existing potency methods for NDV-HXP-S do not allow for quantification of the S-antigen when the adjuvant is present. To support evaluation of NDV-HXP-S with CpG 1018® adjuvant, an inhibition…</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><em>Syringa reticulata</em> potently inhibits the activity of SARS-CoV-2 3CL protease</strong> - The ongoing coronavirus infectious disease (COVID-19) pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) still urgently requires effective treatments. The 3C-like (3CL) protease of SARS-CoV-2 is a highly conserved cysteine protease that plays an important role in the viral life cycle and host inflammation, providing an ideal target for developing broad-spectrum antiviral drugs. Herein, we describe the discovery of a large number of herbs mainly produced 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>A Case Report of Drug Interactions Between Nirmatrelvir/Ritonavir and Tacrolimus in a Patient With Systemic Lupus Erythematosus</strong> - Nirmatrelvir/ritonavir is a treatment for COVID-19 consisting of nirmatrelvir, which has anti-SARS-CoV-2 activity, and ritonavir, a booster to maintain blood levels. Ritonavir is known to be a potent inhibitor of cytochrome P450 3A (CYP3A), and interactions with CYP3A-metabolized drugs, such as the immunosuppressant tacrolimus, can be problematic. Ritonavir’s inhibition of CYP3A is irreversible due to covalent binding, and its inhibitory effects are expected to persist until replaced by new…</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>Second Boost of Omicron SARS-CoV-2 S1 Subunit Vaccine Induced Broad Humoral Immune Responses in Elderly Mice</strong> - Currently approved COVID-19 vaccines prevent symptomatic infection, hospitalization, and death from the disease. However, repeated homologous boosters, while considered a solution for severe forms of the disease caused by new SARS-CoV-2 variants in elderly individuals and immunocompromised patients, cannot provide complete protection against breakthrough infections. This highlights the need for alternative platforms for booster vaccines. In our previous study, we assessed the boost effect of the…</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>Preparation and characterization of a fluorogenic ddRFP-M biosensor as a specific SARS-CoV-2 main protease substrate</strong> - The conventional peptide substrates of SARS-CoV-2 main protease (Mpro) are frequently associated with high cost, unstable kinetics, and multistep synthesis. Hence, there is an urgent need to design affordable and stable Mpro substrates for pharmacological research. Herein, we designed a functional Mpro substrate based on a dimerization-dependent red fluorescent protein (ddRFP) for the evaluation of Mpro inhibitors in vitro. The codon-optimized DNA fragment encoding RFP-A(1) domain, a polypeptide…</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>Neutralizing antibodies to block viral entry and for identification of entry inhibitors</strong> - Neutralizing antibodies (NAbs) are naturally produced by our immune system to combat viral infections. Clinically, neutralizing antibodies with potent efficacy and high specificity have been extensively used to prevent and treat a wide variety of viral infections, including Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), Dengue Virus (DENV) and Hepatitis B Virus (HBV). An overwhelmingly large subset of clinically effective NAbs operates by…</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>Interferon-stimulated gene PVRL4 broadly suppresses viral entry by inhibiting viral-cellular membrane fusion</strong> - CONCLUSION: Overall, our studies not only identify PVRL4 as an intrinsic broad-spectrum antiviral ISG, but also provide a candidate host-directed target for antiviral therapy against various viruses including SARS-CoV-2 and its variants in the future.</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>FEOpti-ACVP: identification of novel anti-coronavirus peptide sequences based on feature engineering and optimization</strong> - Anti-coronavirus peptides (ACVPs) represent a relatively novel approach of inhibiting the adsorption and fusion of the virus with human cells. Several peptide-based inhibitors showed promise as potential therapeutic drug candidates. However, identifying such peptides in laboratory experiments is both costly and time consuming. Therefore, there is growing interest in using computational methods to predict ACVPs. Here, we describe a model for the prediction of ACVPs that is based on the…</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>Taming the cytokine storm: small molecule inhibitors targeting IL-6/IL-6α receptor</strong> - Given the increasing effectiveness of immune-based therapies, management of their associated toxicities is of utmost importance. Cytokine release syndrome (CRS), characterized by elevated levels of cytokine, poses a significant challenge following the administration of antibodies and CAR-T cell therapies. CRS also contributes to multiple organ dysfunction in severe viral infections, notably in COVID-19. Given the pivotal role of IL-6 cytokine in initiating CRS, it has been considered a most…</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 can we promote vaccination of the mass population?-Lessons from the COVID-19 vaccination defaults</strong> - While vaccines are pivotal in combating COVID-19, concerns about side effects and complex procedures have hindered complete vaccination. Prior studies suggest that individuals defaulted to opt-out exhibit higher COVID-19 vaccination rates compared to those in opt-in systems. However, these studies were conducted in countries with a tolerant attitude towards vaccination and default changes, targeting specific age groups, and did not address potential deterrents like the increase in cancellation…</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>Nanobody engineering for SARS-CoV-2 neutralization and detection</strong> - In response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the quest for coronavirus inhibitors has inspired research on a variety of small proteins beyond conventional antibodies, including robust single-domain antibody fragments, i.e., “nanobodies.” Here, we explore the potential of nanobody engineering in the development of antivirals and diagnostic tools. Through fusion of nanobody domains that target distinct binding sites, we engineered multimodular nanobody constructs that neutralize wild-type…</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>Effect of rifampicin administration on CYP induction in a dermatomyositis patient with vasospastic angina attributable to nilmatrelvir/ritonavir-induced blood tacrolimus elevation: A case report</strong> - Ritonavir (RTV), which is used in combination with nilmatrelvir (NMV) to treat coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), inhibits cytochrome P450 (CYP) 3A, thereby increasing blood tacrolimus (TAC) levels through a drug-drug interaction (DDI). We experienced a case in which a DDI between the two drugs led to markedly increased blood TAC levels, resulting in vasospastic angina (VSA) and acute kidney injury (AKI). Rifampicin (RFP) was administered to induce CYP3A and promote TAC metabolism. A…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>SARS-CoV-2 spike protein receptor binding domain promotes IL-6 and IL-8 release via ATP/P2Y<sub>2</sub> and ERK1/2 signaling pathways in human bronchial epithelia</strong> - The spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 as well as its receptor binding domain (RBD) has been demonstrated to be capable of activating the release of pro-inflammatory mediators in endothelial cells and immune cells such as monocytes. However, the effects of spike protein or its RBD on airway epithelial cells and mechanisms underlying these effects have not been adequately characterized. Here, we show that the RBD of spike protein alone can induce bronchial epithelial inflammation in a manner of…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Targeting mevalonate pathway by zoledronate ameliorated pulmonary fibrosis in a rat model: Promising therapy against post-COVID-19 pulmonary fibrosis</strong> - CONCLUSION: ZA in a dose-dependent manner prevented the pathological effect of CCl4 in the lung by targeting mevalonate pathway. It could be promising therapy against PCPF.</p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-patent-search">From Patent Search</h1>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-down" id="daily-dose">Daily-Dose</h1>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" data-aos-anchor-placement="top-bottom" id="contents">Contents</h1>
<ul>
<li><a href="#from-new-yorker">From New Yorker</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-vox">From Vox</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-the-hindu-sports">From The Hindu: Sports</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-the-hindu-national-news">From The Hindu: National News</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-bbc-europe">From BBC: Europe</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-ars-technica">From Ars Technica</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-jokes-subreddit">From Jokes Subreddit</a></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-new-yorker">From New Yorker</h1>
<ul>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The New Yorker’s Luke Mogelson and Masha Gessen Win Polk Awards</strong> - Mogelson received the Magazine Reporting prize for his work in the trenches in Ukraine, and Gessen was honored for their commentary on historical memory and the Israel-Hamas war. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/the-new-yorkers-luke-mogelson-and-masha-gessen-win-polk-awards">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Legal Weed in New York Was Going to Be a Revolution. What Happened?</strong> - Lawsuits. Unlicensed dispensaries. Corporations pushing to get in. The messy rollout of a law that has tried to deliver social justice with marijuana. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/02/26/legal-weed-in-new-york-was-going-to-be-just-and-fair-what-happened">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Snake with the Emoji-Patterned Skin</strong> - In the wild, ball pythons are usually brown and tan. In America, breeding them to produce eye-catching offspring has become a lucrative, frenetic, and—for some—troubling enterprise. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/02/26/inside-the-world-of-designer-ball-pythons">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Matt Gaetz’s Chaos Agenda</strong> - The Florida Republican is among the most brazen and controversial figures in Donald Trump’s G.O.P. He’s also among the most influential. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/02/26/matt-gaetz-profile">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Trials of Alejandro Mayorkas</strong> - The Secretary of Homeland Security has been forced to respond to an unprecedented flow of migrants to the U.S.-Mexico border. Why are Republicans in Congress impeaching him for it? - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/02/26/the-trials-of-alejandro-mayorkas">link</a></p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-vox">From Vox</h1>
<ul>
<li><strong>Living in an abortion ban state is bad for mental health</strong> -
<figure>
<img alt="Rows of women march in front of the US Capitol building, the front row carrying an orange banner." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/oj6OH3QirEZDFRuJ2yGf2UJ1XNM=/487x0:8072x5689/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73151211/1242000690.0.jpg"/>
<figcaption>
From left, Democratic Reps. Nydia Velázquez, Ilhan Omar, Jackie Speier, and Carolyn Maloney make their way to the Supreme Court for a sit-in to protest the decision to overturn <em>Roe v. Wade</em>, on July 19, 2022. | Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Worsened anxiety and depression is a predictable (and costly) effect of abortion bans.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Qx3KsU">
The false idea that getting an <a href="https://www.vox.com/abortion">abortion</a> makes women irreparably depressed and anxious, that it causes a deep psychic wound, has <a href="https://www.guttmacher.org/gpr/2006/08/abortion-and-mental-health-myths-and-realities">for decades</a> been used by anti-abortion activists to support abortion restrictions.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ktf4gd">
But the argument is entirely based on anecdotes, personal beliefs, and vibes. <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19014789/">No good science</a> has demonstrated this link.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="61c1r7">
That’s not because nobody’s tried to answer the question of what the <a href="https://www.vox.com/mental-health">mental health</a> impacts of abortion are on the women who obtain them. It’s because the answer to that question, over and over again, is: none. In <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/fullarticle/2592320?utm_campaign=articlePDF&amp;utm_medium=articlePDFlink&amp;utm_source=articlePDF&amp;utm_content=jama.2023.26816">study</a> after <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24402590/">study</a>, researchers have consistently shown that getting an abortion does not cause mental health problems.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="hyWCxi">
What does<em> </em>reliably worsen women’s mental health, however, is banning or restricting abortion access.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="juDb4B">
A wealth of research has shown that when people are forced to carry unwanted pregnancies, it <a href="https://www.ansirh.org/research/ongoing/turnaway-study">negatively impacts</a> their <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31958829/">physical health</a> and <a href="https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/abs/10.2105/AJPH.2017.304247r">finances</a> — and mental health. In a survey conducted before the US <a href="https://www.vox.com/scotus">Supreme Court</a> overturned the constitutional right to abortion, women living in states with more abortion restrictions had <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352827323000939?via%3Dihub">higher rates of mental distress</a>. In another study, states enforcing abortion restrictions between 1974 and 2016 had <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/fullarticle/2799597?utm_campaign=articlePDF&amp;utm_medium=articlePDFlink&amp;utm_source=articlePDF&amp;utm_content=jama.2023.26816">higher suicide rates</a> in women of childbearing age in particular.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="jBCUo5">
But when the court <a href="https://www.vox.com/2022/6/24/23181720/supreme-court-dobbs-jackson-womens-health-samuel-alito-roe-wade-abortion-marriage-contraception">decided to overturn <em>Roe v. Wade </em>in 2022</a>, it wasn’t making a decision grounded in science.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="k3s3Ky">
Now we’re more than a year and a half into living with the consequences. And when it comes to women’s mental health, the fallout is following the exact pattern scientists predicted.
</p>
<h3 id="8rmKun">
Research shows the thing we thought was true is, in fact, true
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="UBPy9E">
In a <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2814133">study</a> published last month, researchers at Johns Hopkins University found that people living in states that banned abortion in the immediate wake of the Court’s decision have worse symptoms of anxiety and depression than those who live in states without bans.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="92LXlx">
Using data gathered as part of US Census <a href="https://www.census.gov/data/experimental-data-products/household-pulse-survey.html">Household Pulse</a> surveys, the researchers looked at respondents’ self-reported anxiety and depression scores from about six months before and six months after the Court overturned the constitutional right to abortion. They compared scores on a scale of zero to 12 among people in states with and without <a href="https://www.vox.com/2022/6/25/23182753/roe-overturned-abortion-access-reproductive-rights-trigger-laws">trigger bans</a>, abortion restrictions that went into effect as soon as the Supreme Court issued its ruling.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="q1NiKd">
What they found was, frankly, predictable: Before the Court’s decision, anxiety and depression scores were already higher in trigger states — a population-wide average of 3.5 compared with 3.3 in non-trigger states. After the decision, that difference widened significantly, largely due to changes in the mental health of women 18 to 45, what the authors defined as childbearing age. Among this subgroup, anxiety and depression scores subtly <a href="https://publichealth.jhu.edu/2024/analysis-of-us-census-survey-data-reveals-uptick-in-anxiety-and-depression-among-women-in-states-with-trigger-laws-post-dobbs-abortion-decision">ticked up</a> in those living in trigger states (from 4.62 to 4.76) — and dropped in those living in non-trigger states (from 4.57 to 4.49). There was no similar effect in older women, nor in men.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="kjZxxp">
These differences were small but statistically meaningful, especially since they sampled the entire population, not just women considering an abortion. Moreover, they were consistent across trigger states, whether their <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy">policies</a> and political battles around abortion had been high- or low-profile. Even when the researchers omitted data from states with particularly severe restrictions on women’s reproductive health (<a href="https://www.vox.com/2023/8/5/23820360/texas-abortion-ban-medical-exception">looking</a> <a href="https://www.vox.com/23997727/kate-cox-texas-abortion-ban">at</a> <a href="https://www.vox.com/scotus/2024/1/3/24023889/abortion-supreme-court-emtala-fifth-circuit-texas-becerra">you</a>, <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy/2023/4/7/23593396/medication-abortion-pills-mifepristone-misoprostol-pregnancy-texas">Texas</a>), the results held up.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="FpvKhM">
It’s notable that the different levels of mental distress across states after <em>Roe </em>was overturned weren’t just a consequence of worsened anxiety and depression in states with trigger bans. Also contributing: an improvement in these symptoms in states without these bans. We can’t tell from the study exactly why that is, but it seems plausible that women living in states that protect their right to access necessary <a href="https://www.vox.com/health-care">health care</a> simply <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2814160">feel some relief</a>.
</p>
<h3 id="FkyBPu">
Americans don’t need more mental health stressors right now
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="S5mVyz">
In bird’s-eye-view studies like this, it can be hard to pick apart the nuances behind a finding. For example, it’s possible other <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9654574/">social</a> or <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4737478/">cultural</a> factors are more likely to disproportionately affect women in trigger states — like variability in gender equity, interpartner violence, abortion stigma, and mental health care access.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="batPOg">
Still, it should set off our alarm bells when high-quality research finds a causal relationship between big societal shifts and worsening depression and anxiety on a population-wide level.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="j1Vdft">
People who sense limitations to their personal freedom and autonomy feel a sense of “violation and powerlessness,” says Benjamin Thornburg, a health economics PhD student who led the study. It stands to reason that the opposite of that, a sense of freedom and autonomy, would improve people’s overall mental health.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="CRqSCO">
Anxiety and depression rates are reaching <a href="https://news.gallup.com/poll/505745/depression-rates-reach-new-highs.aspx">record highs</a> and are especially pronounced among <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2812389#:~:text=Both%20chronic%20and%20recent%20stress,and%20depression%20symptoms%20and%20disorders.&amp;text=Indeed%2C%20high%20levels%20of%20anxiety,increase%20from%20prior%2Dyear%20levels.">young adults</a>, and suicide deaths are <a href="https://www.kff.org/mental-health/issue-brief/a-look-at-the-latest-suicide-data-and-change-over-the-last-decade/">ticking up</a>. At the same time, Americans are living in an age of broadly unmet mental health care needs: <a href="https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/explainer/2023/may/understanding-us-behavioral-health-workforce-shortage">160 million Americans</a> live in areas with provider shortages and insurance denials, and only <a href="https://www.inseparable.us/AccessAcrossAmerica.pdf">one-third</a> of people diagnosed with a behavioral health condition get the care they need.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="pkRZNw">
Policymakers need to understand “there could be an increase in the need for mental health services in states where these bans have happened,” says Thornburg.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="IFBcbk">
But it’s not at all clear they do.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="5RA2W6">
<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></li>
<li><strong>How Israel’s war went wrong</strong> -
<figure>
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Y3-olHxV_noOPrFH1DyyY6ugS2M=/240x0:1680x1080/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73151087/AP24042387102851.0.jpg"/>
<figcaption>
Israeli soldiers drive a tank on the border with the Gaza Strip on February 11, 2024. | Ariel Schalit/AP Photo
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The conflict in Gaza has become “an era-defining catastrophe.” It’s increasingly clear what — and who — is to blame.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="aD7ihF">
At the end of November, Israeli reporter Yuval Abraham broke one of the most important stories of the war in <a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/11/20/18080046/gaza-palestine-israel">Gaza</a> to date — <a href="https://www.972mag.com/mass-assassination-factory-israel-calculated-bombing-gaza/">an inside look at the disturbing reasoning that has led the Israeli military</a> to kill so many civilians.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Ip2FIj">
Citing conversations with “seven current and former members of Israel’s intelligence community,” Abraham reported that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) had changed its doctrine to permit far greater civilian casualties than it would have tolerated in previous wars. IDF leadership was greenlighting strikes on civilian targets like apartment buildings and public infrastructure that they knew would kill scores of innocent Gazans.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="SHqoII">
“In one case,” Abraham reported, “the Israeli military command knowingly approved the killing of hundreds of Palestinian civilians in an attempt to assassinate a single top Hamas military commander.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="z4mIje">
Abraham’s reporting showed, in granular detail, the ways that this war would not be like others: that Israel, so grievously wounded by Hamas on October 7, would go to extraordinarily violent lengths to destroy the group responsible for that day’s atrocities. In doing so, it would commit atrocities of its own.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="M5JIbN">
At least <a href="https://apnews.com/article/israel-hamas-war-news-02-12-2024-4ade5edf47711c6b0c13d1380980de2b">28,000 Palestinians</a> are already confirmed dead, with more likely lying in the rubble. Around <a href="https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/gaza-destruction-bombing-israel-aa528542">70 percent of Gaza’s homes</a> have been damaged or destroyed; at least <a href="https://press.un.org/en/2024/sc15564.doc.htm#:~:text=A%20staggering%2085%20per%20cent,proposing%20that%20Palestinians%20should%20be">85 percent of Gaza’s population has been displaced</a>. The indirect death toll from starvation and disease will likely be higher. One academic estimate suggested <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/dec/29/health-organisations-disease-gaza-population-outbreaks-conflict">that nearly 500,000 Palestinians will die within a year</a> unless the war is brought to a halt, reflecting both the physical damage to Gaza’s infrastructure and the consequences of Israel’s decision to besiege Gaza on day three of the war. (While the siege has been relaxed somewhat, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/11/middleeast/why-only-a-trickle-of-aid-is-getting-into-gaza-mime-intl/index.html">limitations on aid flow remain strict</a>.)
</p>
<div class="c-wide-block">
<div class="c-image-grid">
<div class="c-image-grid__item">
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/MZCfD_0mUDOT_LHsZxv3R87JzxU=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25289630/GettyImages_2001849490.jpg"/> <cite>Mohammed Abed/AFP via Getty Images</cite>
<figcaption>
A girl pushes a cart loaded with a jerrycan while walking past the rubble of a building that was destroyed during Israeli bombardment in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on February 14, 2024.
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<figure class="e-image">
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Yeds1PnVezz7CjNEwS__Siic1c0=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25289634/GettyImages_2002936349.jpg"/> <cite>Said Khatib/AFP via Getty Images</cite>
<figcaption>
Displaced Palestinians stand outside their tents in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on February 14, 2024.
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</div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="E3Osi3">
The Israeli government describes civilian death as a regrettable but inevitable consequence of waging a war to eliminate Hamas. But as of right now, that goal is still very far away — and may ultimately prove to be impossible.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="F8w0kb">
There’s no doubt that the IDF has done significant damage to Hamas’s infrastructure. Israel has killed or captured somewhere around <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/live-blog/israel-hamas-war-live-updates-rcna132421">one-third of Hamas’s fighting force</a>, destroyed<a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2024-01-28/ty-article/.premium/ahead-of-hostage-summit-idf-presses-in-khan-yunis-and-engages-in-tunnel-warfare/0000018d-4c91-d35c-a39f-eedb64220000"> at least half of its rocket stockpile</a>, and demolished somewhere between <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2024-01-28/ty-article/report-80-percent-of-gaza-strips-tunnel-network-still-intact/0000018d-4fab-d35c-a39f-effbcb0a0000">20 and 40 percent of its tunnel network under Gaza</a>. The more the war goes on, the higher those numbers will become.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="sNJXIA">
But as significant as these achievements are, “none of them come close to eliminating Hamas,” says <a href="https://www.csis.org/people/daniel-byman">Dan Byman</a>, a professor at Georgetown who studies Israeli counterterrorism policy.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="LWC4n2">
The group, he explains, has “very deep roots in Gaza” — ones that could only be permanently removed if Israel had a good plan for a postwar political arrangement in Gaza. Yet at present, <a href="https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/netanyahu-puts-political-survival-ahead-of-tough-decisions-on-gaza-783cb8e6?mod=world_feat2_middle-east_pos3">Israel still has no plan at all</a>. With <a href="https://apnews.com/article/israel-hamas-palestinians-opinion-poll-wartime-views-a0baade915619cd070b5393844bc4514#:~:text=Despite%20the%20devastation%2C%2057%25%20of,October%20attack%2C%20the%20poll%20indicated.">support for Hamas rising</a> in reaction to Israeli brutality, Israel runs a real risk of actually <em>strengthening</em> the terrorist group’s political position in the long run.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="L7jcy3">
A world where hundreds of thousands of Gazans suffer and only Hamas benefits is the worst of all possible worlds. Yet it is increasingly looking like a likely one.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="F0zzkl">
How did we get here?
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="kdgtWs">
The truth is that this nightmare was depressingly predictable. When I surveyed <a href="https://www.vox.com/2023/10/20/23919946/israel-hamas-war-gaza-palestine-ground-invasion-strategy">over a dozen experts about the war back in October</a>, they warned that Israel had a dangerously loose understanding of what the war was about. The stated aim of “destroying Hamas” was at once maximalist and open-ended: It wasn’t clear how it could be accomplished or what limit there might be on the means used in its pursuit.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="jhK2o3">
Israel’s conduct in the war so far has vindicated these fears. The embrace of an objective at once so massive and vague has dragged Israel down the moral nadir documented in Abraham’s reporting, with unclear and perhaps even self-defeating ends. It is a situation that <a href="https://internationalpolicy.org/about/#staff__meet_our_team">Matt Duss</a>, the executive vice president at the Center for International Policy, terms “an era-defining catastrophe.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="wwyqAL">
Things did not have to be this way. After the horrific events of October 7, Israel had an obviously just claim to wage a defensive war against Hamas — and the tactical and strategic capabilities to execute <a href="https://www.vox.com/2023/10/20/23919946/israel-hamas-war-gaza-palestine-ground-invasion-strategy">a smarter, more limited, and more humane war plan</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="OTcLyQ">
The blame for this failure lies with Israel’s terrible wartime leadership: an extremist government headed by <a href="https://www.vox.com/23910085/netanyahu-israel-right-hamas-gaza-war-history">Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu</a>, a venal prime minister <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/12/4/netanyahu-corruption-trial-to-resume">currently on trial for corruption</a> who has placed his personal interests over his country’s even during wartime.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="utGn0g">
“You couldn’t have had a worse government to respond to a worse moment,” says <a href="https://polisci.ucla.edu/person/dov-waxman/">Dov Waxman</a>, the director of UCLA’s Center for Israel Studies. “People like to separate the war from the government that’s running it, but I think you can’t.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="SZuHcA">
It’s not too late for Israel to try something different.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="iBs9YC">
While Netanyahu won’t change course voluntarily, both Israeli voters and the <a href="https://www.vox.com/joe-biden">Biden administration</a> have significant leverage over their policies. Their combined pressure might produce either a change in policy or a change in government, pulling Israel away from the abyss.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="lF7XKB">
And in the longer run, a postwar Israel might <a href="https://www.vox.com/23954323/return-of-liberal-zionism-israel">begin reckoning with the deeply mistaken assumptions</a> behind its terrible policy — and, in doing so, transform the future of the <a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/11/20/18079996/israel-palestine-conflict-guide-explainer">Israel-Palestine conflict</a>.
</p>
<h3 id="36LICL">
The inevitability of atrocity
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="df3Kts">
Michael Walzer is the world’s greatest living military ethicist. His 1977 book <em>Just and Unjust Wars</em> is <a href="https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/war/">the seminal modern text</a> in what’s called “just war theory,” the branch of political philosophy dedicated to examining when and how war can be waged ethically. Whether one agrees with it or not, his work is the baseline by which all other work in the field is judged and has influenced law and policy around the world.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="OIFuMo">
On the American left, Walzer is also known as one of Israel’s most famous defenders. In <a href="https://fathomjournal.org/1967-remembering-the-six-day-war/">a 2017 essay</a>, he describes <em>Just and Unjust Wars </em>as<em> </em>the outgrowth of his <a href="https://fathomjournal.org/1967-remembering-the-six-day-war/">attempt to reconcile</a> his opposition to the Vietnam War with his support for Israel’s 1967 war against its Arab neighbors. After October 7, he has repeatedly defended Israel’s right to defend itself and put the majority of the moral blame for human suffering on Hamas. “Israel’s military response to the atrocities of October 7th is a just and necessary war,” <a href="https://quillette.com/2023/12/01/gaza-and-the-asymmetry-trap/">he wrote in December</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="yb8YCH">
Yet when we spoke in early February, Walzer was far more critical of Israel’s war effort than I expected.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="suG7yr">
“Israel has created new conditions on the ground [that] made it virtually impossible to continue the war” ethically, he told me. “I am hoping for a kind of ceasefire.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="LlnVm6">
Walzer is referring to the geography of the fighting. When Israel began its ground offensive in Gaza, it concentrated the fighting in the northern Gaza Strip — instructing Palestinian civilians to flee to the south to stay out of harm’s way. But today, Israel is <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/11/world/middleeast/netanyahu-rafah-gaza-israel-hamas.html">threatening a major ground offensive</a> in the southern city of Rafah, where huge numbers of Palestinian civilians have fled with nowhere else to go. For Walzer, Israel cannot wage war justly when Gazan civilians truly cannot escape.
</p>
<div class="c-wide-block">
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt="Palestinians inspect the damage to residential buildings in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ZOqiJ2LmQX7htuxfHDqfBGV334Q=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25289604/AP24043351816479.jpg"/> <cite>Fatima Shbair/AP Photo</cite>
<figcaption>
Palestinians inspect the damage to residential buildings in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, on February 12, 2024.
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="s6yLsb">
But Walzer also pointed to a deeper moral problem with Israel’s seemingly impossible objective of destroying Hamas.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="vAKBTi">
Generally, just war theorists believe that war cannot be ethically waged without having “reasonable prospects for success.” The logic is intuitive: War inevitably involves a lot of killing, and killing can only be justified if it accomplishes a greater good. If the objective behind the killing is impossible (or extremely implausible), then there is no greater good to be won from the bloodshed.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="GvD99Q">
Walzer believes that many Israelis, traumatized by the events of October 7, did not fully appreciate how intermingled Hamas — the de facto government of Gaza — was with Gazan society. It’s an organization made up of not only tens of thousands of fighters, but also many civilian functionaries and a vast physical infrastructure. Truly destroying such an entity cannot reasonably be accomplished through force of arms alone — at least not without a yearslong military campaign and an unthinkable amount of civilian death.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="5hp2a0">
Some Israelis are beginning to acknowledge this reality. In January, Gadi Eisenkot — a senior minister in Israel’s wartime Cabinet — <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/jan/19/israeli-minister-says-only-ceasefire-can-free-hostages-as-cabinet-rift-deepens">declared that</a> “whoever speaks of absolute defeat [of Hamas] is not speaking the truth,” and that Israeli hostages in Gaza could only be brought home as part of a ceasefire deal. A <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/report-idf-intel-assesses-that-hamas-will-survive-as-terror-group-post-war/">classified Israeli military intelligence assessment</a>, reported by Israel’s Channel 12 news station, predicts that Hamas will persist as a terrorist organization even if Israel destroys much of its more conventional military capabilities.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="pde6wo">
“It was when they grasped the extent of the embeddedness and the tunnel city that they realized that was not a possible goal and therefore not a just goal,” Walzer says, speaking of his contacts in Israel. “The goal as stated on October 8 wasn’t wrong because we [outside Gaza] were so ignorant of what Hamas had become.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="AQuTyV">
Walzer may be judging Israel’s leadership a bit too leniently. Hamas’s deep entrenchment in Gaza was well-known prior to the war and was part of the reason previous Israeli governments had opted not to destroy the militant group. But Walzer is correct that the nature of the objective shapes the war’s morality — even down to the kinds of tactics Israel was willing to employ.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="fs7xxb">
In previous wars with Hamas, Israel’s primary objective had been degrading Hamas’s military capabilities and deterring it from attacking Israel in the near future. These are relatively limited aims that can be accomplished through more discriminate military means. Israel didn’t need to destroy every Hamas rocket launcher or kill every commander — but rather do just enough damage to buy itself some safety.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="fmVjLm">
“If your war aim is complete destruction of your adversary, then the military advantage of every strike increases because it’s a greater contribution to that aim,” says <a href="https://law.rutgers.edu/directory/view/adhaque">Adil Haque</a>, a professor who studies the law and ethics of war at Rutgers University. “Given the physical layout of Gaza, you’re already setting yourself on a path toward killing tens of thousands of civilians.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="vVnX94">
A significant level of civilian death is inevitable in urban warfare, and especially in Gaza given Hamas’s despicable tactic of stationing military assets in and around <a href="https://ctc.westpoint.edu/the-road-to-october-7-hamas-long-game-clarified/">schools</a> and <a href="https://www.fdd.org/analysis/2023/10/23/the-real-gaza-hospital-crisis/">hospitals</a>. The IDF is facing a profoundly challenging operating environment with few true historical parallels.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ezzOQo">
Yet this does not absolve Israel of its decision to adopt a maximalist war aim or the unusually brutal tactics that followed from it. These were choices Israeli leaders made — and they were the wrong ones.
</p>
<div class="c-wide-block">
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/j1tutZUkpGcOxmGdLl0mad_35Tc=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25289650/GettyImages_2001841269.jpg"/> <cite>Mohammed Abed/AFP via Getty Images</cite>
<figcaption>
Men walk through the rubble of a mosque that was destroyed during Israeli bombardment in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on February 14, 2024.
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</figure>
</div>
<h3 id="UjOGbw">
The damning failure to plan for war’s end
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="pJsnOf">
<a href="https://www.rand.org/about/people/c/cohen_raphael_s.html">Lt. Col. Raphael Cohen</a> is no one’s idea of a dove. As a US Army military intelligence officer, Cohen served two tours of combat duty in Iraq at the height of the anti-American insurgency. Now a reserve officer, he spends his days running a program on military strategy and doctrine at the RAND Institute. He has publicly argued that the reality on the ground in Gaza left Israel <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/11/13/israel-hamas-war-gaza-idf-palestinians-civilians-hostages-tunnels-human-shields/">with little choice</a> but to engage in the kind of war that it’s currently waging.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ouzmvW">
Yet there’s one area where Cohen’s review of Israel’s conduct is quite harsh: its lack of planning for the day after the war.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="sqe8k1">
“They need to take the non-lethal side of the operation seriously,” he told me in late January. “If you don’t get the postwar planning right, whatever tactical gains you get are going to be fleeting.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="61kFVS">
In the outlines offered by Israeli leadership early in the war, “destroying Hamas” could only be accomplished by replacing its regime in Gaza with something new and durable. In October, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/gallant-says-after-hamas-vanquished-israel-will-seek-new-security-regime-in-gaza/">said this explicitly</a> — that the war must end with the “creation of a new security regime in the Gaza Strip [and] the removal of Israel’s responsibility for day-to-day life in the Gaza Strip.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="HDVtDH">
Regime change is the <em>only</em> conceivable way Israel could deliver on its long-shot objective of destroying Hamas. Yet, shockingly, Israel has no clear plan for what comes next. Every source I spoke to with knowledge of Israeli planning confirmed this; so <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/israel-gaza-strip-settlers-1.7098854">does</a> a <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/podcasts/2024-02-06/ty-article-podcast/if-we-dont-offer-an-alternative-to-chaos-in-gaza-well-end-up-with-hamas-rule-again/0000018d-7eaa-d6dc-ab9f-7fff5ee50000">volume</a> of <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/report-idf-intel-assesses-that-hamas-will-survive-as-terror-group-post-war/">publicly</a> available <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2024-02-16/ty-article/.premium/netanyahus-total-victory-is-a-political-slogan-not-a-realistic-goal/0000018d-adae-d070-a7fd-ffae37c80000">reporting</a> and some recent comments from <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2024-02-15/ty-article/u-s-arab-countries-to-present-timeline-to-palestinian-state-and-plan-for-post-war-gaza/0000018d-ac49-d221-af9f-efe94e450000">Netanyahu spokesperson Avi Hyman</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="LICkht">
“All discussions about the day after Hamas will be had the day after Hamas,” Hyman said during a press briefing.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="0wYHH0">
For quite some time after the war began, Israel refused to even conceive of a postwar plan. Some sources told me that preparations are getting underway, but there are still no firm conclusions nor any clear route to them. Netanyahu has publicly rejected an American proposal to place the Palestinian Authority (PA), led by the moderate Fatah faction based in the <a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/11/20/18080034/west-bank-israel-palestinians">West Bank</a>, in charge of Gaza after the war. He has offered no alternative in its place.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="886ZSB">
Without a postwar plan, Israel risks something worse than failing to defeat Hamas: bolstering it.
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt="LEBANON-PALESTINIAN-ISRAEL-CONFLICT-PROTEST" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/3flCR-QPoSq4tqDqz_DHLvZ3e4I=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25289975/1734759384.jpg"/> <cite>Joseph Eid/AFP/Getty Images</cite>
<figcaption>
Masked men wearing Hamas headgear at a demonstration in Beirut on October 20, 2023.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="IHUllT">
According to <a href="https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/experts/devorah-margolin">Devorah Margolin</a>, an expert on Hamas at the center-right Washington Institute for Near East Policy, the entire point of the <a href="https://www.vox.com/2023/10/7/23907683/israel-hamas-war-news-updates-october-2023">October 7 attack</a> was to provoke a massive Israeli response. Handbooks and guidance sheets discovered on killed and captured Hamas fighters revealed instructions to be graphically, sadistically violent — instructions we know <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/28/world/middleeast/oct-7-attacks-hamas-israel-sexual-violence.html">were fully carried out</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="mRm3xp">
“The goal of that [ultraviolence] was to create a visceral response from Israel that would be seen as so disproportionate that the violence it carried out on October 7 was pushed to the side, and that Israel would be seen as the irrational actor,” she tells me. “In that sense, I think they actually succeeded.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="1uCldD">
In the long run, making Israel look like the depraved side serves two strategic goals for Hamas. First, it puts the Palestinian issue back at the top of the Arab and international political agenda. Second, it convinces Palestinians that Israel must be fought with arms — and that Hamas, rather than the more peace-oriented Fatah, should be leading their struggle. Polling data both <a href="https://www.pcpsr.org/en/node/961">in Palestine</a> and <a href="https://www.foreignaffairs.com/middle-east/how-israel-hamas-war-gaza-changing-arab-views">elsewhere</a> suggest that they have made inroads on both fronts since October 7.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="I29KRn">
By inflicting mass suffering on Palestinians without a long-term plan for addressing the political consequences of their misery, Israel is playing right into Hamas’s hands. The current Israeli approach is less likely to destroy the militant group than to strengthen it.
</p>
<h3 id="RdYLva">
Blame Bibi
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="01Dz4w">
<a href="https://www.brookings.edu/people/natan-sachs/">Natan Sachs</a> is the director of the Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution — making him, more or less, the leading Israel expert at one of Washington’s leading nonpartisan think tanks. Few people outside of Israel know the country’s politics better than he does.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="PoaBV3">
When I spoke with Sachs in February, he told me that the mood in Israel “remains extremely grim and extremely vulnerable.” Israel’s war reflects a public that remains traumatized by October 7 and is convinced that they can only be protected by inflicting maximum destruction on Israel’s enemies.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="76D2Z4">
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is intentionally stoking the fury. “Responsible leadership would not only channel the anger and the need for prevention in the future,” he says. “It would also try to shape public expectations about what the future might be.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="GLOGI0">
This behavior is even worse than it sounds. Netanyahu is stoking war fervor without engaging in any serious planning for the postwar environment. It’s clear, both from speaking with knowledgeable observers and reading the Israeli press, that Netanyahu’s government is at the heart of this essential gap.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="RAiRZG">
“When you talk to the IDF folks, their issue is like any military’s — they follow the guidance they’re given from politicians, and there is no clear guidance,” Cohen tells me. “They feel hamstrung because they can’t get out too far ahead of where the government is.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="1AvdJH">
Discontent with Netanyahu from inside the military is starting to go public. In late January, Defense Minister Gallant <a href="https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/netanyahu-puts-political-survival-ahead-of-tough-decisions-on-gaza-783cb8e6?mod=world_feat2_middle-east_pos3">warned that</a> “political indecision may harm the progress of the military operation” — suggesting that the government is shirking its duty to “discuss the plan … and determine the goal.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="G6ShBf">
Why is Netanyahu refusing to do his job? The most likely explanation is crass politics.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="s2TT5j">
The prime minister’s ongoing corruption trial is very serious, with a conviction potentially leading to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/03/world/middleeast/netanyahu-corruption-charges-israel.html">an extended stay behind bars</a>. His primary <a href="https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/netanyahu-puts-political-survival-ahead-of-tough-decisions-on-gaza-783cb8e6?mod=world_feat2_middle-east_pos3">motivation</a> is staying in office and using that power to keep out of prison, which requires keeping his government together. As a result, his far-right coalition partners in the Religious Zionism faction — who oppose any Palestinian political control over Gaza and want to rebuild Israeli settlements there — have extraordinary influence over his decision-making.
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt="ISRAEL-POLITICS-ECONOMY" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/gLKmjyV6lBJQlGQiotSuyD83Iy8=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25289973/1257512457.jpg"/> <cite>Gil Cohen-Magen/AFP/Getty Images</cite>
<figcaption>
Benjamin Netanyahu with far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir last May.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="SLfqjb">
To avoid crossing the far right, Netanyahu won’t allow for any serious planning for the war’s end. The necessary parts of any plan — adopting a concrete and achievable vision for victory and a realistic vision for a postwar order — would necessarily infuriate Religious Zionists and likely cause them to quit the coalition, thus throwing the country to new elections that Netanyahu will likely lose. The prime minister is very literally putting his own interests above the nation’s — something that Sachs says “wouldn’t be the case with many other [Israeli] leaders.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="H1zw7p">
“This specific individual,” he adds, “is a constant politician — even in the worst of times.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="XEkoSP">
Of course, pinpointing the roots of Israeli failures isn’t quite that simple. Israelis across the political spectrum immediately called for “destroying” Hamas in the wake of October 7, an understandable response to the day’s horror. Polling shows that the public is deeply divided on what the postwar political order in Gaza should look like, with <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/majority-of-israelis-oppose-annexation-resettlement-of-gaza-poll/">no single option commanding majority support</a>. Israelis are still traumatized and adrift, confident only that a return to the prewar status quo isn’t an option.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="3nZPBX">
But, as Sachs pointed out, it’s not a leader’s job to follow public opinion but rather to mold it. A moment when people are scared and uncertain, where the old security paradigm seems broken and no new one has emerged to replace it, is exactly the kind of time where leaders with vision can convince the public to follow them toward a better future.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="veudGa">
“Every question about Israel’s response has to be considered in light of the members of this government, and particularly Netanyahu’s dependence on the far right,” says Waxman, the UCLA professor.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="jW5be9">
So if “Blame Bibi” is an oversimplification, it’s not much of one. At its heart, the war has gone badly because the man leading it is not up to the task. So long as his government remains in power, the odds of Israel climbing out of its moral and strategic nadir are negligible.
</p>
<h3 id="2wdTiK">
Can things get better?
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="DuHqOl">
<a href="https://arabcenterdc.org/team/dana-el-kurd/">Dana El Kurd</a> is a senior nonresident fellow at the Arab Center Washington and a leading expert on Palestinian politics. When we talked about the scale of suffering in Gaza, the pain in her voice was palpable. “There’s not even words I can put to it,” she told me.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Y7gquY">
Despite this, she managed to have some empathy for Israelis — and warn that their current approach isn’t going to make anything better for them. Based on everything she knows about the internal political dynamics of Palestine, continued mass killing will only empower its violent radicals in the long run.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="YqjXvF">
“I totally understand the shock of the October 7 moment, and what it might have meant to Israelis who thought they were immune,” she tells me. But making [Gaza] uninhabitable…is not going to resolve the conflict.”
</p>
<div class="c-wide-block">
<div class="c-image-grid">
<div class="c-image-grid__item">
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/KSh5bKFFiEbiuuaOreZmm9ZJofo=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25289662/AP24043379683767.jpg"/> <cite>Fatima Shbair/AP Photo</cite>
<figcaption>
Palestinian children are silhouetted on a damaged tent following an Israeli airstrike in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, on February 12, 2024.
</figcaption>
</figure>
</div>
<div class="c-image-grid__item">
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt="People stand in the rubble of buildings that have been bombed and destroyed." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/uT_C62VY39Ft77Mdg4BxWUYHK7c=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25289663/AP24043354951492.jpg"/> <cite>AP Photo/Fatima Shbair</cite>
<figcaption>
Palestinians inspect damage to residential buildings in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, on February 12, 2024.
</figcaption>
</figure>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="NNLUzL">
The first step for things getting better is for Israel to take what El Kurd is saying seriously — and fundamentally revise its war aims accordingly.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="csonWy">
Israel could do this by committing to a version of the American proposal for the PA to take over Gaza, reorienting its strategy around laying the groundwork for PA entry. The PA has its flaws — it is both demonstrably <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2023/10/palestinian-authority-gaza-hamas/675695/">corrupt</a> and <a href="https://jewishcurrents.org/abbas-is-americas-man">authoritarian</a> — but it is at least credibly committed to peace. And there is no real alternative: An international occupation of Gaza is <em>extremely </em>unlikely, and an indefinite Israeli occupation would be <a href="https://www.vox.com/2023/10/20/23919946/israel-hamas-war-gaza-palestine-ground-invasion-strategy">a disaster for Israelis and Palestinians alike</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="XNFTl0">
“The big thing is that something needs to replace Hamas in Gaza, and I think the Biden administration pushing the PA is appropriate,” Byman says. “God help us all, but this is the best we got.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="QZnRg4">
An alternative option is Israel abandoning its current hope for regime change in Gaza, instead seeking an indefinite ceasefire with Hamas in exchange for full release of the remaining Israeli hostages. This outcome would almost certainly leave Hamas in power. But it would stop a war that’s currently helping no one, allow for a flood of humanitarian aid to help Gazan civilians, and accomplish what <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/slim-majority-believes-return-of-hostages-should-be-primary-war-aim-in-gaza-poll/">a majority of Israelis now see as the primary war aim</a>, bringing the hostages home.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="j7vwxe">
These approaches have their problems, but both are much better than the status quo. Yet Netanyahu has ruled them out, believing that his right flank would abandon him were he to take either option. This means one of two things has to happen: Netanyahu needs to be forced to hold elections or somehow pressured into changing policy.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="iUq3O4">
Part of the pressure will inevitably come domestically. Israeli frustration with the government’s handling of the war, especially its inability to bring the hostages home, is rising. 2024 has seen <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/protesters-tel-aviv-call-change-netanyahu-government-2024-01-20/">some return to anti-government protests</a> that were common before the war (though currently at a much smaller scale).
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt="People hold signs saying “mothers cry stop the war bring them home” and “how many more lives.”" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/63vUbfB9rtZcrB_mbZNqkig1cbM=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25289685/GettyImages_1993693379.jpg"/> <cite>Saeed Qaq/Anadolu via Getty Images</cite>
<figcaption>
Relatives of Israeli hostages protest against Netanyahu’s government’s refusal to call a ceasefire and exchange hostages with Gaza, in Jerusalem on February 10, 2024.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="CqJ9Yu">
Other forms of pressure should come from foreign powers — which is also already happening. A group of Arab states are drafting a proposal in which <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/11890426-0250-4a3c-ba48-d8523924eb9c">they offer to normalize diplomatic relations</a> with Israel in exchange for a ceasefire and “irreversible” moves toward a Palestinian state. The United States has issued a first-ever <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2024-02-07/ty-article/.premium/u-s-sanctions-on-extremist-settlers-put-israels-far-right-finance-minister-in-a-bind/0000018d-801b-d6dc-ab9f-cf7f01d60000">executive order sanctioning violent settlers in the West Bank</a> — an economic weapon that could easily be directed against the extremist ministers in Netanyahu’s cabinet.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="9uRpoE">
These efforts can and should be expanded, especially on the American side. President Biden’s early and loud support for Israel after October 7 has bought him extraordinary goodwill inside Israel, where he has <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/us-biden-more-popular-in-israel-than-almost-anywhere-else-poll-shows/">a roughly 68 percent approval rating</a>. His popularity vastly outstrips Netanyahu’s, which means that the prime minister’s current <a href="https://www.axios.com/2024/01/19/biden-netanyahu-phone-frustration-gaza-war">antagonistic approach toward the White House</a> may be a political miscalculation.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="G4j7qC">
But even if Netanyahu can be forced to change course — or simply forced out of power — the underlying problem will not be resolved. What is needed is not just a temporary peace, but a means to start addressing the roots of the conflict to ensure that the fighting doesn’t start up again.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="A8yMqk">
“The main thing is that people aren’t trying to solve the conflict,” el-Kurd insists. “That’s why the conflict is ongoing.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="d3R4jh">
Any kind of real solution, then, aims at not just a temporary end to the fighting but resetting the fundamental dynamics of the conflict that brought us to such a terrible place.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="r5yWYS">
“Out of a deal to secure the release of the hostages could become a lasting ceasefire. And out of a lasting ceasefire could become a political process leading to the creation of a Palestinian state,” says Waxman.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Q35NTr">
This is hard to imagine in the midst of war, with Hamas’s popularity among Palestinians surging and the two-state solution polling poorly among Israelis. But what’s true now may not continue to be true after the shooting stops. Aluf Benn, the editor of leading Israeli newspaper Haaretz, calls the period after October 7 “<a href="https://www.foreignaffairs.com/israel/israels-netanyahu-self-destruction?utm_medium=newsletters&amp;utm_source=pre_release&amp;utm_campaign=&amp;utm_content=20240207&amp;utm_term=PressCFR%20and%20Member%20Press">a turning point</a>”: a moment where the traditional contours of politics have been called into question and it’s possible for things to go differently.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="mnpMGK">
“It is up to Israelis to decide what kind of turning point it will be,” he writes in <a href="https://www.foreignaffairs.com/israel/israels-netanyahu-self-destruction?utm_medium=newsletters&amp;utm_source=pre_release&amp;utm_campaign=&amp;utm_content=20240207&amp;utm_term=PressCFR%20and%20Member%20Press">Foreign Affairs</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="GkRuQC">
Benn is pessimistic that Israelis will take the opportunity to turn toward peace on their own. But there are also signs that <a href="https://www.vox.com/23954323/return-of-liberal-zionism-israel">the far right’s star is fading in Israel</a>. And with the rest of the world renewing its attention to the conflict, new ideas are starting to emerge. The Arab states’ decision to tie future normalization to a Palestinian state, together with at least some American willingness to put pressure on Israel to change course, are signs that fundamental assumptions are being challenged.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="FB9HQa">
“The only silver lining of things being what they are is that, when they are so bad, people are actively thinking about making it better,” says <a href="https://carleton.ca/polisci/people/sucharov-mira/">Mira Sucharov</a>, a political scientist at Carleton University in Ottawa.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="pWdpy0">
That this passes for optimism is a testament to the grim reality on the ground. So many innocent people have already died, and more will die every day until the war ends. Nothing can bring them back to life.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="1v8nNm">
But holding out some hope, even amid the darkness, is better than a descent into nihilism: a belief that Palestinians are defined by Hamas or Israelis by Netanyahu. They are not. We outsiders owe them faith that their basic decency can triumph.
</p></li>
<li><strong>How to look at art — and really see it</strong> -
<figure>
<img alt="A drawing of two people looking at a square canvas on a wall." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/WDnOkKwso1oM1Nld8Ry7Y_-1tLg=/185x0:4754x3427/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73149400/GettyImages_1252382061.0.jpg"/>
<figcaption>
You don’t have to be an expert to get a lot out of art. | Getty Images/fStop
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Art is for everyone. Here’s how to approach your next trip to a gallery or museum.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="YtE1IO">
“If you tried to reimagine your life without art … it would look radically different,” says Karen K. Ho, a writer for ARTNews. “Art intersects with more things than people think.” It’s not just the van Goghs and Monets that hang on museum walls. It’s in works like Anish Kapoor’s innovative Cloud Gate (a.k.a. “The Bean”) in Chicago’s Millennium Park, or the spiral architecture of the Guggenheim building in New York. It’s the murals along the bike path or on the side of the school. Art adorns movie posters and storefront signage. Artists influence the clothes you wear, the music you listen to, the products you consume. Simply put, art is everywhere.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="V0Rnz1">
If art’s such a central tenet of our culture, though, why do so many of us feel like we just don’t get it?
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="iBWg8c">
In a <a href="https://today.yougov.com/entertainment/articles/45623-art-styles-being-artistic-Americans-poll">YouGov survey</a> released in 2023, nearly half of Americans said they didn’t consider themselves artistic. At 58 percent, even more respondents said they weren’t familiar with famous artistic movements or styles. For most of my life, that was me. I didn’t grow up surrounded by paintings or pottery. My elementary school art “classroom” was a windowless utility closet between the boiler and the gym that smelled like dirty socks and doubled as a tornado shelter; we met there every other day to scratch stars into linoleum and glue strips of newspaper together in an attempt at making sculptures out of papier-mâché. That limited education didn’t teach me much about art, or how to understand it.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="TnyaVe">
So when I arrived at the brutalist Kahler building housing Milwaukee’s lakefront art museum for the first time at 20, I had no idea what I was even looking at. I wanted to be a person who appreciated art, but to become an aficionado, I realized, I had to build a relationship with art. I not only had to take it in regularly — akin to something the writer Julia Cameron calls <a href="https://lithub.com/looking-to-nurture-your-artistic-self-go-on-an-artist-date/">“artists’ dates”</a> in her book on creativity, <em>The Artist’s Way</em> — but I would also need to sit with it when I did.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Dpez4V">
As I began to build an art habit, visiting museums and galleries and fairs with regularity, I felt a lot like the child in the <a href="https://www.openculture.com/2016/06/how-to-look-at-art-a-short-visual-guide-by-cartoonist-lynda-barry.html#google_vignette">old Lynda Barry cartoon</a> that’s been making its way around <a href="https://www.vox.com/instagram-news">Instagram</a> again. In the four-panel line drawing, a mother and child are standing in front of a framed sketch of another mother with a child on her lap. The childish viewer asks: “What’s sposta happen?”
</p>
<h3 id="NoHPWO">
Look at art as an interactive adventure
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Xd5fUZ">
For a long time, I shared that sentiment, asking, “What does this even mean?” Using <a href="https://www.academia.edu/41548334/The_Value_of_Art_Museum_Audio_Guides">audio guides or listening to artists’ talks</a> sometimes helped clarify a work’s history but it didn’t always help me connect with the art. It wasn’t until I landed in front of a Monet at Zurich’s Kunsthaus that I understood that deciphering the meaning of a work demands looking past its physicality. Looking at a painting of a Parisian pond with water lilies is only the first step to engaging with it. The strong response I had to the turn-of-the-century waterscape arose not because of its artistic qualities, but as a result of a memory it triggered — that of an art teacher who regularly insulted her students with the suggestion we would never understand the beauty of Monet.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="aifMKR">
Connecting a work of art to other cultural artifacts while also relaying my own life experiences onto it follows the Surrealist belief that meaning is derived from the triangulation of the work itself, the artist’s intention, and the viewer’s response to it. Art’s meaning stems from the interaction between the viewer and the artist; what the viewer brings to the piece is important regardless of the artist’s intent. From that perspective, “getting” art should feel less intimidating, as there are no right or wrong ways of reading a piece — only ideas that can be expanded or guided by the artist.
</p>
<div class="c-float-right">
<aside id="48kg5c">
<q>There are no right or wrong ways of reading a piece — only ideas that can be expanded</q>
</aside>
</div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="OHg0iw">
“I don’t need the viewer of my paintings to know exactly what I meant, but I would like to have a handshake,” <a href="https://mollyovenden.com/">Molly Ovenden,</a> an artist, poet, and creative coach in Duluth, Minnesota, said in an interview. “It’s more about an openness to a conversation … or an invitation to an experience.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="jMIjPh">
In that regard, considering your visit to a museum or gallery as an active, not passive, undertaking might help to solidify a relationship to art. Even in the days before mobile phones became such a central part of our lives, most of us were sparing just a short amount of time to engage with individual works. A <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2016-10247-001">20-year-old study reaffirmed in 2017</a> revealed that on average, we only look at a work of art in a museum, including its title and accompanying information, for around 27 seconds.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ocyPNR">
“There’s an effort to create work that you don’t have to spend a lot of time thinking about,” the multidisciplinary artist <a href="https://www.greggdeal.com/">Gregg Deal</a> told me. Yet he believes that critical thinking is vital to any art, on the part of both the artist and the viewer.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="DsKHxj">
“In school, we learn how to interact with poetry or art in a similar way that we learn to dissect frogs. We identify all of the pieces and we take them apart,” Ovenden says. In her work as a coach, she tries to get people to consider what comes after that dissection. “We don’t learn what we do once it’s all pulled apart. We kind of just move on.” It’s in the process of putting the world back together that Ovenden believes the relationship between a viewer and a work is formed.
</p>
<h3 id="6uTGUr">
Be open to sitting with discomfort
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="qmYsKl">
If art is a process of imagination that makes “reality conceivable, memorable, sometimes even predictable,” as culture philosopher <a href="https://doi.org/10.2307/3331349">Susanne K. Langer writes</a>, such engagement can go even further, as it gives rise to feelings we aren’t in touch with every day, like disgust and awe. In viewing Deal’s works, I experienced that firsthand. Several of his pieces inspire humor as they remix Western cowboy tropes, while others depicting the Indigenous experience give rise to feelings of shame because the humanity portrayed reveals a disturbing truth about American conquest.
</p>
<div class="c-float-right">
<aside id="iaFo0Y">
<q>“How do you teach a willingness to be uncomfortable?”</q>
</aside>
</div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="w5gPkL">
“I’m not trying to make work and think that people are going to like it,” Deal told me, noting that his role as an artist is to convey his ideas with honesty. And truthful art can make people wildly uncomfortable. “But that discomfort is such an important part of the work,” Deal says.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="11b8nH">
In this case, part of not <em>getting</em> the art could stem from a reluctance to confront that discomfort. As Langer writes, teaching art is an education in feeling; when art gives rise to emotions that we do not always have access to, it can feel too tough to manage. Yet it is in grappling with those emotions that the connection to art — and, ultimately, understanding it — is forged.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="DV4BUu">
“How do you teach a willingness to be uncomfortable?” asks Ovenden. Even as an avid lover of art, she finds the emotional response doesn’t always come easy. “It can be really overwhelming.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="RR9W8E">
Perhaps that overwhelm is a positive sign, as it reveals an authenticity that we don’t confront in much of our daily lives.
</p>
<h3 id="Jj4ipK">
Keep an eye out for glimmers of your own experience
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="gcUz06">
In an interview with <a href="https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2010/12/01/lynda-barry-on-picture-this/">the Paris Review</a>, the cartoonist Barry said that she saw the way we relate to art as proof of catharsis. “That’s what the arts do. In the course of human life we have a million phantom-limb pains — losing a parent when you’re little, being in a war, even something as dumb as having a mean teacher — and seeing it somehow reflected, whether it’s in our own work or listening to a song, is a way to deal with it.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="54Lcka">
That relatability could also serve to explain why Barry’s cartoon has remained so popular after being in circulation for years: it depicts the process of revelation the art onlooker experiences. After the mother lifts her child up to view the artwork more closely, they cuddle in a move that mirrors the model in the painting. Mom sees herself reflected in the painting and — epiphany! It’s a meta response to seeing ourselves in a cartoon depicting us seeing ourselves.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="OGbLGH">
Or, as Karen K. Ho told me, if you start to think about the arts as a way of transforming time or transforming your experience — if you move beyond the surface response of “this is a nice picture” or “this is a picture that sucks” — then looking at art can be a really interesting endeavor. She <a href="https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/rijksmuseums-vermeer-exhibition-attendance-record-1234670184/">refers to the Vermeer exhibition at Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum in 2023</a>, a show that sold out almost immediately and drew visitors from around the world. While you might believe that your life bears little relevance to that of 17th-century Dutch aristocrats, she says that in portraying the beauty of everyday moments, Vermeer inspires you to look at your life anew. “Hopefully when you think about doing those things, you understand there can be beauty in that moment, too.”
</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>Vyasa, Magnetic, Rise And Reign, Elfin Knight and Tesorino 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>Geographique and Dexa please</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>Ranji Trophy | Passive Kerala failed to seize chances</strong> - KCA secretary Vinod says that it will seek a report from the team management on the performance; coach Venkataramana adds that the team has tremendous potential with certain gaps to be improved upon</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>England coach McCullum backs struggling Bairstow to come good</strong> - McCullum acknowledged that Bairstow had underperformed during the series but said he deserved some time to get back on track</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>After fallout in China, Messi insists politics had nothing to do with Hong Kong no-show</strong> - China’s state-run newspaper had published an editorial highlighting a “theory” that suggested Messi’s actions had “political motives” and that “external forces” wished to embarrass Hong Kong</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>Seven students from top institutes caught cheating on Duolingo English Test in Hyderabad</strong> - Four students instead of appearing for the exam had reportedly hired the services of another student to write on their behalf</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>Cultural, protest events to mark 151 years of Kolkata tram</strong> - During the peak of its popularity, in the 1970s, this non-polluting mode of transport boasted over 50 routes across the city</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>Here are the big stories from Karnataka today</strong> - Welcome to the Karnataka Today newsletter, your guide from The Hindu on the major news stories to follow today. Curated and written by Nalme Nachiyar.</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>Money laundering case | ED tells Bombay HC it won’t arrest Sameer Wankhede till March 1</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>Sandeshkhali: IPS officer slams BJP workers for calling him ‘Khalistani’, saffron camp denies charge</strong> - The BJP, however, denied the charge and accused the police officer of not performing his duty as per the Constitution.</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>Russian pilot who defected to Ukraine ‘shot dead’</strong> - Maxim Kuzminov - who fled Russia on a military helicopter - was found dead in Spain, according to reports.</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>Navalny’s body ‘to be held for two weeks’</strong> - The wife of the dead Putin critic says Russian authorities are waiting until nerve agent traces disappear.</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>Poland spyware inquiry to quiz former ministers</strong> - Lawmakers are set to investigate claims the former government snooped on the phones of its opponents.</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>Navalny’s widow faces daunting challenge</strong> - Yulia Navalnaya has made a dramatic and deliberate move to the forefront of Russian opposition politics.</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 Russia has rebranded Wagner in Africa</strong> - Russia has taken the mercenary group into its intelligence services, using it to destabilise Africa.</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>Measles erupts in Florida school where 11% of kids are unvaccinated</strong> - Over 100 children at the school are susceptible to virus. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=2004510">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>New compact facial-recognition system passes test on Michelangelo’s David</strong> - Flatter, simpler prototype system uses 5-10 times less power than smartphone tech. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=2004326">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Reddit sells training data to unnamed AI company ahead of IPO</strong> - If you’ve posted on Reddit, you’re likely feeding the future of AI. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=2004431">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>“So violated”: Wyze cameras leak footage to strangers for 2nd time in 5 months</strong> - “In some cases an Event Video was able to be viewed.” - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=2004402">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>International Nest Aware subscriptions jump in price, as much as 100%</strong> - Modern plans get a 25 percent increase, while older plans double in price. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=2004301">link</a></p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-jokes-subreddit">From Jokes Subreddit</h1>
<ul>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>I got this uncle who’s really rich. But he’s also a miser, a real skin flint if you will</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
You know howard hughes? How he would wear empty boxes on his feet instead of buying shoes? That’s my uncle, the only difference is he wouldn’t even use boxes. He would just go barefoot. Thats how much of a tight bastard he was,may god rest his soul.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
I tell ya, He was a miserable man, his only joy in life is fly fishing. Every year he would traverse to this same cabin out in the middle of no where where the fishing was good.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
And every year for 20 years he had the same taxi driver pick him up at the airport and drive him to this same god forsaken cabin. this cabin was at the bottom of this huge ravine, a canyon you might call it, with a long snakey road to drive down to it.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Nigh on 20 years without incident until one year my uncle made his annual trip, and then on this fateful day a deer jumps out in front of the taxi and the driver swerves to miss it right? And runs right off the road. So they go off barreling ass over elbows down this canyon, the taxi doing flip after flip nearly killing them until by the good lords grace the pandemonium stops and they find themselves amidst the wreckage the near the cabin. My uncle starts to wale the tar out of this poor taxi driver with his umbrella, he always carried an umbrella you know, even when it wasn’t raining, so he’s hitting him left and right and up the side and says
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“ all these years you knew a shortcut and were over charging me?!”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
He would rather go through a horrible accident than pay a few more dollars
</p>
</div>
<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/an_ol_chunk_of_coal"> /u/an_ol_chunk_of_coal </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1av7xq4/i_got_this_uncle_whos_really_rich_but_hes_also_a/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1av7xq4/i_got_this_uncle_whos_really_rich_but_hes_also_a/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A gynecologist decides to change careers…</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
A gynecologist is hitting his midlife crisis, and realises that he’s miserable in his career. He never really wanted to be a doctor, he just gave into pressure from his parents, and he’s made his money, paid off the house, seen the kids through college and decided “stuff it” he’s going to go back and retrain.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
He thinks of all the things he likes and what would make him happy, and decides to retrain as a mechanic. He goes to trade school, studies hard, and reaches the final exam.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The final exam is having to strip down an engine to its individual components, then rebuilding it. He disassembles it, and then puts it all back together. He’s pretty confident he’s passed with flying colours.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
A couple weeks later the results come out, and he’s got 150% on the final exam! He’s confused, so he reaches out to the teacher.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The teacher explains “well, the first 50% of the exam was for disassembling it, and you did that perfectly. The second 50% of the exam was for rebuilding it, and you did that perfectly, too”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“OK” says the now-former-gynecologist, “but what about the extra 50%?”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“Well”, says the teacher, “it’s the first time we’ve ever seen that done entirely through the exhaust port.”
</p>
</div>
<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/BellaSantiago1975"> /u/BellaSantiago1975 </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1avcc9i/a_gynecologist_decides_to_change_careers/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1avcc9i/a_gynecologist_decides_to_change_careers/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>What’s the difference between a casual dinner party and a pirate orgy.</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The dinner party you come as you are, the orgy you arrr as you cum.
</p>
</div>
<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Process_M"> /u/Process_M </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1avbh5o/whats_the_difference_between_a_casual_dinner/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1avbh5o/whats_the_difference_between_a_casual_dinner/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Boyfriend</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
A teenager brings home her new boyfriend to meet her parents. They’re disgusted by his haircut, tattoos &amp; piercings. Later, the girl’s mom says, “Honey, he doesn’t seem to be a very nice boy.” “Oh come on Mom” says the daughter. “If he wasn’t nice, would he be doing 500 hours of community service?”
</p>
</div>
<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/IFullerBucheet"> /u/IFullerBucheet </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1auwbzi/the_boyfriend/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1auwbzi/the_boyfriend/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Woman and the green spot</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
This woman noticed every time she had sex with her boyfriend, a green spot would develop on the inside of her inner thigh. It would stay there a couple days, then disappear. She got very concerned and made an appt with the Doctor.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
She goes to the Doctor, explains her issue. The Doctor asks her a few questions about it and looks at it. The Doctor is stumped and said he will run some blood tests to see if he can get to the cause of the green spot.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The following week, the woman gets a call from the Doctor, asking her to come in and bring her boyfriend.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
At the appt, the Doctor said, “I have good news and bad news.” “The good news is, you are perfectly fine, nothing is wrong with you.” The boyfriend then asks, what is the bad news???
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The Doctor looked at the boyfriend and said, “That earing in your left ear is fake, not real gold.”
</p>
</div>
<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/hyflyinthesky"> /u/hyflyinthesky </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1av2qoy/woman_and_the_green_spot/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1av2qoy/woman_and_the_green_spot/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
</ul>
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