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<title>Daily-Dose</title><meta content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" name="viewport"/><link href="styles/simple.css" rel="stylesheet"/><link href="../styles/simple.css" rel="stylesheet"/><style>*{overflow-x:hidden;}</style><link href="https://unpkg.com/aos@2.3.1/dist/aos.css" rel="stylesheet"/><script src="https://unpkg.com/aos@2.3.1/dist/aos.js"></script></head>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-down" id="daily-dose">Daily-Dose</h1>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-right" data-aos-anchor-placement="top-bottom" id="contents">Contents</h1>
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<ul>
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<li><a href="#from-new-yorker">From New Yorker</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-vox">From Vox</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-the-hindu-sports">From The Hindu: Sports</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-the-hindu-national-news">From The Hindu: National News</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-bbc-europe">From BBC: Europe</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-ars-technica">From Ars Technica</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-jokes-subreddit">From Jokes Subreddit</a></li>
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</ul>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-new-yorker">From New Yorker</h1>
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<ul>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Vindication of Andrew Cuomo’s Accusers</strong> - Charlotte Bennett, Lindsey Boylan, and Ron Kim discuss their roles in bringing about the New York Governor’s reckoning. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-local-correspondents/the-vindication-of-andrew-cuomos-accusers">link</a></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>“Not Our Tragedy”: the Taliban Are Coming Back, and America Is Still Leaving</strong> - President Biden made it very clear this week that we’re out of Afghanistan, no matter what. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/letter-from-bidens-washington/not-our-tragedy-the-taliban-are-coming-back-and-%20america-is-still-leaving">link</a></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>France’s Vaccination-Pass Experiment</strong> - An expert in French politics discusses Emmanuel Macron’s approach to vaccination policy and how the current wave of protests in France differs from the American anti-vaccine movement. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/frances-vaccination-pass-experiment">link</a></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Return of the Taliban</strong> - Their comeback has taken twenty years, but it is a classic example of a successful guerrilla war of attrition. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/the-return-of-the-taliban">link</a></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Bonus Daily Cartoon: Hothead</strong> - Lady Liberty sweats it out with the rest of us. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/cartoons/daily-cartoon/bonus-daily-cartoon-hothead">link</a></p></li>
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</ul>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-vox">From Vox</h1>
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<ul>
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<li><strong>The Texas GOP’s war on governing</strong> -
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<figure>
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<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-
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cdn.com/thumbor/wXml21Ji2GJVtNnAmGPZSEiyk3U=/0x0:2440x1830/1310x983/cdn.vox-
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cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/69724991/AP21194738860626_copy.0.jpg"/>
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<figcaption>
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Rep. Jim Murphy (R-Houston), center, stands alongside other members of the Republican caucus during a news conference in Austin, Texas on July 13. | Eric Gay/AP
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</figcaption>
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</figure>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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Republican lawmakers in Texas have put political ambition above public good amid statewide crises.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="wzTcYK">
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Republicans in Texas are on a warpath.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="aToVhQ">
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They’re fighting to fortify their trifecta control of state government despite a <a href="https://www.statesman.com/news/20190414/why-texas-legislature-doesnt-reflect-states-growing-diversity">rapidly diversifying electorate</a>, and to establish themselves as the bastion of arch-conservatism in the United States. Victory seems imminent, at least in the upcoming election cycle, if not in the years thereafter. But the people of Texas — Republican, independent, and Democrat — have become collateral damage. Because in having dedicated themselves to battle, Texas Republicans have forgotten how to govern.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="5gKJfY">
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This is certainly the case for the Texas legislature, whose GOP majority has just led it through its most conservative session in decades.<strong> </strong>During that session, GOP lawmakers failed to pass much-needed structural reforms to the state’s electrical grid after it collapsed during a catastrophic winter storm earlier this year, as well as a <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2021/04/22/texas-house-medicaid-expansion-uninsured/">federal Medicaid expansion program</a> that would have given health care coverage to <a href="https://files.kff.org/attachment/fact-sheet-medicaid-
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expansion-TX">1.4 million uninsured Texans </a>amid a raging pandemic. Instead, the legislature has prioritized bills that allow any adult in the state to carry a handgun without a license or permit and that ban abortions after six weeks.
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</p>
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<figure class="e-image">
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<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-
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cdn.com/thumbor/9YtTLIMV86QZkgYdmO_FGTD0l1M=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-
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cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22781206/AP21198714461243_copy.jpg"/> <cite>Eric Gay/AP</cite></figure></li>
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</ul>
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<figcaption>
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Empty seats are seen in the House Chamber at the Texas Capitol in Austin on July 13 as Texas Democrats left the state to block sweeping new election laws.
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</figcaption>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="HexCvG">
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It is now <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2021/08/11/texas-voting-bill-
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filibuster/?utm_source=Texas+Tribune+Newsletters&utm_campaign=84416601c3-trib-newsletters-breaking-
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alert&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_d9a68d8efc-84416601c3-102627369&mc_cid=84416601c3&mc_eid=ce79b4cb9b">on track to enact</a> one of the <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/7/13/22573680/democrats-texas-flee-greg-abbott-voting-
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election-special-session-quorum">most restrictive voting laws</a> in the country after an effort that has literally rendered the legislature unable to govern: Democrats fled the state to deprive the legislature of the quorum it needs to operate to protest the bill, leaving Texans without a representative governing body. In response, the Republican House speaker did not offer to negotiate a policy compromise, but has tried to arrest the Democrats who fled.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="VNIxnJ">
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Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, meanwhile, has become a prominent national right-wing figure on both immigration and the pandemic.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="jO8o1v">
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He has waded into battles with the Biden administration over the US- Mexico border, setting off on a misleading quest to <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-
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politics/2021/8/4/22605595/biden-immigration-border-title-42-deportation-mexico">construct a wall on his own</a> (the taxpayer funds he’ll use for the effort are enough for only a few miles of wall, at most) and <a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/08/10/1026178171/republicans-migrants-covid-19-surges">falsely claiming</a> that migrants are behind Covid-19 surges. And as the delta variant is infecting <a href="https://txdshs.maps.arcgis.com/apps/dashboards/ed483ecd702b4298ab01e8b9cafc8b83">almost 12,000</a> Texans a day in reported tests, he has also refused to reinstate mask mandates at the state level, banned local governments from doing so, and <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/dallas-texas-mask-mandate-legal-challenge-greg-abbott-ken-paxton/">sued those that defy him</a>.
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</p>
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<figure class="e-image">
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<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-
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cdn.com/thumbor/6Zgm-02kzXr6Mn5f7l697trV7mE=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-
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cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22781210/GettyImages_1233910101_copy.jpg"/> <cite>Tamir Kalifa/Getty Images</cite>
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<figcaption>
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Texas Gov. Greg Abbott holds a border security briefing with sheriffs from border communities in Austin on July 10.
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</figcaption>
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</figure>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="372HTq">
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It’s all a bid to keep the GOP base happy in the lead-up to next year’s midterm elections, as Republicans in the state are more concerned about potential primary challenges from the right than any serious offensive from Democrats. But with their focus on raising their political profiles and defeating potential rivals, they have forgotten to actually govern amid several statewide crises in recent months: the winter storm that left tens of thousands without power and in the cold, the arrival of increasing numbers of migrants at the border, and the recent resurgence of Covid-19 cases due to the delta variant.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ypYmgp">
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According to Brendan Steinhauser, a GOP strategist based in Austin who ran Texas Sen. John Cornyn’s 2014 reelection campaign, Republicans are just doing their job by responding to what Texas Republican voters want: “The voters are driving Republican policies,” Steinhauser said.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="35hZJZ">
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But at some point, elected officials have a responsibility to protect the health and safety of their constituents and the basic human rights of anyone who passes through their state, even if it’s not what their base wants. Few Texas Republicans have embraced that sense of duty; state Rep. Lyle Larson, a Republican from San Antonio, has been a <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2021/05/25/lyle-
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||
larson-texas-tribune-podcast/">lone dissenting voice</a> calling on his colleagues to “<a href="https://twitter.com/RepLyleLarson?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor">do the right thing</a> with no expectation of getting re-elected” on issues like Covid-19, Medicaid expansion, and election law.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="VMlA13">
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“We’ve come to a point where Republican elected officials in Texas treat their jobs like they’re Fox News contributors as opposed to people with responsibilities to their constituents,” said Zack Malitz, co-founder of the progressive <a href="https://ballotpedia.org/Real_Justice_PAC">Real Justice PAC</a> and a former adviser on Democrat Beto O’Rourke’s 2018 Texas Senate campaign.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="EV6G6X">
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Malitz’s view reflects the general frustration of Democrats. But there is a limited amount they — or anyone concerned about Texas government — can do. The reality of how districts are drawn, as well as Texas Republicans’ push to restrict voting, means many of those GOP lawmakers with little interest in lawmaking are likely to hang on to their seats next year. And that means the problems Texans have faced due to their government’s neglect are likely to continue.
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</p>
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<h3 id="hEVnHa">
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||
The Texas legislature is scoring political points at the expense of addressing the most pressing issues
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</h3>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Hf8rf1">
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For a while after the 2018 elections, Texas Republicans were focused on bread and butter issues like property taxes and school finance that wouldn’t offend many independents and Democrats. Democrats made some major inroads that year, not just retaking the US House, but also picking up 12 seats in the Texas House and two in the Texas Senate. That shook Republicans’ confidence a bit, and left them looking to play it safe.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="G12x2F">
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||
But after Democrats’ predictions that they would<a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/21417460/texas-blue-democrat-biden-beto-2020-election"> turn Texas blue in 2020</a> failed to come to fruition, Republicans felt that they were given a mandate, marking the return of culture war-type issues that most energize their base in the Texas legislature.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="3VeuAC">
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“In Texas, Republicans still win statewide and have done so in the last couple of election cycles, even though we had some narrower races in 2018,” Steinhauser said. “If you’re a Republican running statewide, you still have to speak to the Republican Party first, not only to get the nomination, but to turn them out and win in November.”
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="1mi1VB">
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That pressure has manifested in what Steinhauser described as the most conservative session of the state legislature in his memory. The governor has already signed legislation that <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2021/06/16/texas-constitutional-carry-greg-
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abbott/">removed permit requirements</a> to carry a handgun and also established an<a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2021/08/10/texas-abortion-law-fetal-heartbeat/"> effective ban on abortion</a> that is currently facing <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2021/07/13/texas-heartbeat-bill-lawsuit/">legal challenges</a>.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="H1kC0L">
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But there is also a <a href="https://gov.texas.gov/news/post/governor-abbott-
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announces-second-special-session-date-agenda">special session</a> of the state legislature underway where lawmakers are supposed to work on legislation that would prevent schools from teaching critical race theory or mandating masks or Covid-19 vaccines, and to provide funding for border security, among other Republican causes.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="fxRpNx">
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All the while, the failure of the Texas power grid during the winter storm — a statewide crisis that impacted Texans regardless of political party — has been glossed over. Though the governor <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2021/06/08/greg-
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abbott-texas-power-grid-ercot/">signed laws</a> to prepare the electrical grid to withstand future extreme weather events, the legislature hasn’t passed any bills delivering direct relief for consumers who were <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2021/05/25/electricity-market-financing-winter-storm/">slammed</a> with huge electricity bills as a result of the blackouts or making the kind of forward-looking structural changes to Texas’s electricity market that many experts have called for.
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</p>
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<div class="c-wide-block">
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<figure class="e-image">
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<pre><code> <img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-</code></pre>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">cdn.com/thumbor/0FnAMTtHJMrvrNGBrtlaK-n3y-8=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox- cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22781221/AP21194749783455_copy.jpg" /> <cite>Eric Gay/AP</cite></p>
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<figcaption>
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Wendy Rodriguez (right) joins a rally to protest proposed voting bills on the steps of the Texas state Capitol on July 13.
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</figcaption>
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</figure>
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<figure class="e-image">
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||
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-
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cdn.com/thumbor/ZBDW_eyiwWxdLOdh_VL4w9Zl2uI=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-
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||
cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22781229/GettyImages_1234359341_copy.jpg"/> <cite>Mark Felix/Bloomberg via Getty Images</cite>
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<figcaption>
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||
Former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke (right) marches with Luci Baines Johnson (center), the daughter of former President Lyndon B. Johnson, during a voting rights rally near the Texas State Capitol on July 31.
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</figcaption>
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</figure>
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</div>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="YKldUQ">
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Nor did the legislature, in either their regular or special sessions, find time to address many other pressing concerns in Texas, like Medicaid expansion and <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2021/05/25/texas-george-floyd-police-reform-legislation/">police reforms </a>that were proposed in the aftermath of former Houston resident George Floyd’s death.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Q2JUu0">
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||
“These cultural war issues get people to hunker down in the trenches that they’re used to being in around elections and refocus voters’ attention on how much they hate the other side,” Malitz said. “These issues are being deliberately used as a distraction from really widely felt stuff in Texas right now: Covid, economic recovery, the blackouts, baseline bad governance.”
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="pZqflM">
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||
Republicans are also trying to strip Texans of the only tool they have to demand good governance with a bill that would make the state’s already very restrictive voting laws even more so. It passed the state Senate on Thursday despite a more than<a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2021/08/11/texas-voting-bill-
|
||
filibuster/"> 15-hour filibuster</a> from an Austin Democrat, but still needs to pass the House and be signed by the governor.
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</p>
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||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="evzT0c">
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||
As my colleague <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/7/13/22573680/democrats-texas-flee-greg-
|
||
abbott-voting-election-special-session-quorum">Ian Millhiser notes</a>, the bill would strengthen constraints on absentee voting; ban drive-through polling sites; introduce new limitations and paperwork requirements on people who help disabled voters and non-English speakers cast a ballot; make it harder to remove partisan poll watchers who harass voters or otherwise disrupt an election; and impose harsh new penalties on people who commit even minor violations of Texas election law.
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||
</p>
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||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="RyaaDq">
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||
Steinhauser said that Texas Republicans are more unified behind that agenda than they have been in a long time.
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||
</p>
|
||
<div class="c-float-right">
|
||
<aside id="pO5IzD">
|
||
<q>“If you’re a Republican running statewide, you still have to speak to the Republican Party first”</q>
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||
</aside>
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||
</div>
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||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="TLqJ3f">
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||
“Part of that is probably the party being out of power nationally and having a common political enemy, if you will — to have the White House and Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer to point to,” he said. “Also having Trump be a little less front and center in the party has allowed them to focus their critiques on national Democrats.”
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||
</p>
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||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="XcVGMN">
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||
But for Texas Democrats, there isn’t room for compromise on the Republican agenda. House Democrats had fled the state en masse last month in an effort to prevent votes on the voting bill in particular. But after Republican Speaker Dade Phelan signed <a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/08/10/1026573381/texas-democrats-can-bec-lawmakers-can-be-arrested-for-evading-
|
||
votes">civil arrest warrants </a>for absent Democrats on Tuesday night with a green light from the Texas Supreme Court, nearly enough of them have returned to form a quorum, a two-thirds majority of the chamber required to conduct business, giving the Republican majority a chance to move forward with their agenda.
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||
</p>
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||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="vei4LX">
|
||
Though Republicans have decried Democrats’ actions as <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2021/08/09/texas-democrats-legislature-
|
||
relationships/">breaking relationships</a> in a chamber that has historically sought to give the minority party a seat at the table, Republicans had already drawn battle lines with a legislative agenda designed to exploit partisan divisions.
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||
</p>
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||
<h3 id="VP5MRv">
|
||
Gov. Abbott has tried to pass off his failures on the Covid-19 resurgence on migrants
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||
</h3>
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||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="VYyDIQ">
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||
Beyond the problems with the legislature, Texas is in the middle of another statewide crisis: a third wave of Covid-19, this time brought on by the highly contagious delta variant. It has left hospitals with <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2021/08/10/coronavirus-texas-hospitals-icu-beds/">dwindling numbers of ICU beds</a> and delaying <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2021/08/09/texas-hospitals-elective-procedures-covid-greg-
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||
abbott/">non-emergency medical procedures</a> while the governor calls in <a href="https://apnews.com/article/business-
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||
health-education-coronavirus-pandemic-368eb9eb57b1d3b1a473d4414c42a522">out-of-state medical staff</a> to come to the rescue.
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</p>
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||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="t5CPXQ">
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||
Nevertheless, Abbott hasn’t budged in refusing to use his gubernatorial powers to try to get rising case — and death — numbers under control. He could, for instance, implement statewide mask or vaccine mandates, but will not, saying that curbing the epidemic now comes down to “<a href="https://gov.texas.gov/news/post/governor-
|
||
abbott-attorney-general-paxton-aligned-in-defense-of-executive-order-prohibiting-mask-mandates">personal responsibility</a>.”
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="KXaj18">
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||
He has instead actively worked against the interests of public health, issuing an executive order that prohibits any government entity from issuing its own mask mandates, effectively hamstringing local governments that are bearing the brunt of Covid-19 surge in keeping Texans safe. Several counties have gone ahead and <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2021/08/11/texas-mask-mandates-covid-19-greg-abbott/">implemented mask mandates anyway</a>, but Abbott is going to court in an effort to reverse them.
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</p>
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||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Zwf2mc">
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||
Though he has praised the vaccine and has gotten the jab himself, Abbott is focused on protecting the rights of the unvaccinated.
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</p>
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||
<figure class="e-image">
|
||
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-
|
||
cdn.com/thumbor/OGHPOkLnpuIai2qFRbTmrjUr47o=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-
|
||
cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22781271/GettyImages_1234463888_copy.jpg"/> <cite>Callaghan O’Hare/Bloomberg via Getty Images</cite>
|
||
<figcaption>
|
||
A Coivd-19 test drive-thru testing site in Houston, Texas. Gov. Abbott issued an executive order prohibiting any government entity from issuing mask mandates.
|
||
</figcaption>
|
||
</figure>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="TPBYle">
|
||
“They have the individual right and responsibility to decide for themselves and their children whether they will wear masks, open their businesses and engage in leisure activities,” Abbott told the <a href="https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2021/07/29/texas-gov-greg-abbott-issues-broad-covid-19-order-that-touts-
|
||
personal-responsibility-not-edicts/">Dallas Morning News</a>. “Vaccines, which remain in abundant supply, are the most effective defense against the virus, and they will always remain voluntary — never forced — in the State of Texas.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="JB1XUc">
|
||
Steinhauser said that Abbott is trying to balance the desire of millions of Texans not to return to the shutdowns of last year with the real immediate need to get millions more Texans vaccinated. Democrats, however, see it as an abdication of the governor’s responsibility to protect public health.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="uuW4QX">
|
||
“This is beyond inaction — this is the governor tying the hands of health experts who are trying to keep Texans healthy as cases and hospitalizations increase,” Texas state Rep. Donna Howard, a former critical care nurse, said in a <a href="https://texashousedems.com/statement-rep-donna-howard-responds-to-governors-covid-19-executive-
|
||
order/">statement</a>.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Cbx2HR">
|
||
What’s more, Abbott has sought to blame the recent delta surge on migrants arriving on the southern border — playing into a false, nativist, and damaging right-wing narrative that might be particularly attractive to Republican voters in the state, who have long identified immigration and border security as <a href="https://texaspolitics.utexas.edu/set/most-important-issue-facing-texas-june-2021#party-id">top priorities</a> in public opinion polling.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ETa0Op">
|
||
At a national level, a recent <a href="https://immigrationforum.lt.acemlnb.com/Prod/link-
|
||
tracker?redirectUrl=aHR0cHMlM0ElMkYlMkZ3d3cuYXhpb3MuY29tJTJGYXhpb3MtaXBzb3MtcG9sbC1ibGFtZS1nYW1lLWNvcm9uYXZpcnVzLTQ3ZGZhMDYyLWMyYzUtNGU2Ni1iNzBiLTMwY2M5NDM2MWQ5Mi5odG1sJTNGdXRtX3NvdXJjZSUzRG5ld3NsZXR0ZXIlMjZ1dG1fbWVkaXVtJTNEZW1haWwlMjZ1dG1fY2FtcGFpZ24lM0RuZXdzbGV0dGVyX2F4aW9zYW0lMjZzdHJlYW0lM0R0b3A=&a=26236480&account=immigrationforum%2Eactivehosted%2Ecom&email=hu6B9F%2F5%2BMqDdHMocBLWR%2BLxSsT2%2BS3NdHXUV2aLA0U%3D&s=66a4b25f8b3106061c6bdbd1ec8cb296&i=788A955A24A20131">Axios</a> poll found that nearly 37 percent of unvaccinated Americans blame “foreign travelers in the US” for the rise in Covid-19 cases. Abbott has played no small part in creating that perception.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="SvqmdO">
|
||
They’re “allowing free pass into the United States of people with a high probability of Covid, and then spreading that Covid in our communities,” he said in <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/texas-abbott-executive-order-biden-covid">an interview</a> last month on Fox News.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="5Mqipm">
|
||
But available data hasn’t shown migrants on the border to be any more likely to test positive for Covid-19. In March, the acting head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) told Congress that <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/covid-immigration-migrants-mexico-border/">less than 6 percent</a> of migrants at the border had tested positive for Covid-19, a lower percentage than the Texas positivity rate at that time.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="i6MyL9">
|
||
Scapegoating migrants serves two purposes for Abbott: It obscures his role in failing to prevent the current Covid-19 surge and provides him with an excuse to pursue the kind of restrictive immigration policies that former President Donald Trump both popularized and made a priority.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<div class="c-wide- block">
|
||
<figure class="e-image">
|
||
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/6XBrXVOdVctT--
|
||
t5xi-3tsc0MsI=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-
|
||
cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22781273/GettyImages_1233738317_copy.jpg"/> <cite>Sergio Flores/AFP via Getty Images</cite>
|
||
<figcaption>
|
||
Former President Trump is joined by Gov. Greg Abbott, during a visit to the border wall near Pharr, Texas, on June 30, 2021.
|
||
</figcaption>
|
||
</figure>
|
||
</div>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="buS7zc">
|
||
He recently issued an <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2021/07/28/abbott-immigrant-travel-501378">executive order</a> allowing public safety officers to stop and reroute vehicles suspected of transporting migrants with Covid-19, though the measure has been <a href="https://twitter.com/valontheborder/status/1422687122381852678?s=21">blocked in federal court</a> for now.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="8Cexzw">
|
||
He has told Texas child care regulators to <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2021/06/08/migrant-
|
||
children-biden-lawsuit/">revoke the licenses</a> of facilities that house migrant children and state troopers to <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2021/07/30/texas-greg-abbott-border-security/">jail migrants </a>for state crimes, such as trespassing on private property when they cross the border.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="EmTl9E">
|
||
And he is trying to <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2021/7/9/22566733/texas-border-wall-abbott-trump-immigration">finish the wall</a> along the Texas border, putting forth a $250 million “down payment” drawn from state disaster relief funds — money that could have gone to the aid of those still recovering from last winter’s storms, or those struggling under the burden of the pandemic — and crowdfunding <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/poll-shows-just-12-texans-definitely-plan-
|
||
donate-construct-mexico-border-wall-1606945">almost another $500,000</a> as of June 23. That’s still a drop in the bucket of what he might need to finish the project, which the federal government estimated could cost as much as <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/briefing-room/2021/06/11/fact-sheet-department-of-defense-and-department-of-
|
||
homeland-security-plans-for-border-wall-funds/">$46 million per mile</a> in some sectors of the border.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="oQrSKr">
|
||
But it doesn’t really matter if Abbott finishes the wall or whether his executive order is ever allowed to go into effect. The policies have generated news cycles that boost his profile nationally, which will be important if he pursues a <a href="https://www.texasstandard.org/stories/is-abbott-setting-the-stage-for-a-2024-presidential-run-if-so-
|
||
he-needs-to-win-reelection-first/">2024 presidential bid</a> as rumored.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="OARcGJ">
|
||
“It’s a fantastic talking point for his primary electorate, both next year and in 2024,” Malitz said. “It’s government by theater. The things that they are doing with government in Texas are, by and large, for the purpose of introducing a message into the right wing media machine with obviously catastrophic humanitarian results.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="rL1Jdn">
|
||
Abbott and his fellow Texas Republicans have been very successful at controlling messaging, and have had many wins in energizing state conservatives. Their party is poised to retain control of Texas. But these victories have come at a great cost, carried by the people of Texas.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<ul>
|
||
<li><strong>Apple would like to clear a few things up</strong> -
|
||
<figure>
|
||
<img alt="VPNE Parking Solution lot with an Apple iPhone billboard regarding privacy on Broad Street in
|
||
Boston on October 7, 2020." src="https://cdn.vox-
|
||
cdn.com/thumbor/V7MWrP6Pd7NR0-DI0NoprdVqBko=/279x0:4728x3337/1310x983/cdn.vox-
|
||
cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/69704538/GettyImages_1230252505.0.jpg"/>
|
||
<figcaption>
|
||
Apple’s advertising focuses on user privacy, but a recent move to check iPhone photos for child abuse has privacy advocates concerned. | Craig F. Walker/The Boston Globe/Getty Images
|
||
</figcaption>
|
||
</figure>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
The privacy-first company’s invasive approach isn’t going over well with many.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="oOFMNi">
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="JDd35F">
|
||
Apple, the company that proudly touted its user privacy bona fides in its recent <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/2021/6/7/22522994/apple-ios15-privacy-
|
||
icloud">iOS 15 preview</a>, recently introduced a feature that seems to run counter to its privacy-first ethos: the ability to scan iPhone photos and alert the authorities if any of them contain child sexual abuse material (CSAM). While fighting against child sexual abuse is objectively a good thing, privacy experts aren’t thrilled about how Apple is choosing to do it.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="oaIFot">
|
||
The new scanning feature has also confused a lot of Apple’s customers and, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/technology/exclusive-apples-child-protection-features-spark-concern-within-its-own-
|
||
ranks-2021-08-12/">reportedly</a>, upset many of its employees. Some say it builds a back door into Apple devices, something the company swore it would never do. So Apple has been doing a bit of a damage control tour over the past week, admitting that its initial messaging wasn’t great while defending and trying to better explain its technology — which it insists is not a back door but in fact better for users’ privacy than the methods other companies use to look for CSAM.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="w5njkE">
|
||
Apple’s new “expanded protections for children” might not be as bad as it seems if the company keeps its promises. But it’s also yet another reminder that <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/2021/6/23/22545534/peloton-tread-membership-now-required-recall">we don’t own our data or devices</a>, even the ones we physically possess. You can buy an iPhone for a considerable sum, take a photo with it, and put it in your pocket. And then Apple can figuratively reach into that pocket and into that iPhone to make sure your photo is legal.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h3 id="VqBW7X">
|
||
Apple’s child protection measures, explained
|
||
</h3>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="WQlbUu">
|
||
In early August, Apple <a href="https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1516588&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.apple.com%2Fchild-
|
||
safety%2F&referrer=vox.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.vox.com%2Frecode%2F2021%2F8%2F10%2F22617196%2Fapple-
|
||
ios15-photo-messages-scanned" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank">announced</a> that the new technology to scan photos for CSAM will be installed on users’ devices with the upcoming iOS 15 and macOS Monterey updates. Scanning images for CSAM <a href="https://blog.chron.com/techblog/2014/08/google-microsoft-others-scan-your-data-looking-for-
|
||
child-porn/">isn’t a new thing</a> — Facebook and <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2014/8/5/5970141/how-google-scans-
|
||
your-gmail-for-child-porn">Google</a> have been scanning images uploaded to their platforms for years — and Apple is already able to access photos uploaded to iCloud accounts. Scanning photos uploaded to iCloud in order to spot CSAM would make sense and be consistent with Apple’s competitors.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="YAmwa3">
|
||
But Apple is doing something a bit different, something that feels more invasive, even though the company says it’s meant to be less so. The image scans will take place on the devices themselves, not on the servers to which you upload your photos. Apple also says it will use new tools in the Message app that scan photos sent to or from children for sexual imagery, with an option to tell the parents of children ages 12 and under if they viewed those images. Parents can opt in to those features, and all the scanning happens on the devices.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="OEj4yE">
|
||
In effect, a company that took <a href="https://www.vox.com/2016/2/25/11588232/apple-files-its-motion-to-throw-out-court-order-to-hack-san">not one</a> <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/2020/5/18/21262731/fbi-apple-unlock-iphone-encryption-bill-barr-alshamrani">but two</a> widely publicized stances against the FBI’s demands that it create a back door into suspected terrorists’ phones <a href="https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2021/08/apple-adds-a-backdoor-to-imesssage-and-icloud-storage.html">has seemingly created a back door</a>. It’s not immediately clear why Apple is making this move this way at this time, but it could have something to do with pending laws abroad and potential ones in the US. Currently, companies can be fined up to $300,000 if they find CSAM but do not report it to authorities, though <a href="https://stratechery.com/2021/apples-mistake/">they’re not required to look for CSAM</a>.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="kVBroh">
|
||
Following backlash after its initial announcement of the new features, Apple on Sunday <a href="https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1516588&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.apple.com%2Fchild-
|
||
safety%2Fpdf%2FExpanded_Protections_for_Children_Frequently_Asked_Questions.pdf&referrer=vox.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.vox.com%2Frecode%2F2021%2F8%2F10%2F22617196%2Fapple-
|
||
ios15-photo-messages-scanned" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank">released an FAQ</a> with a few clarifying details about how its on-device scanning tech works. Basically, Apple will download a database of known CSAM images from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) to all of its devices. The CSAM has been <a href="https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1516588&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.apple.com%2Fchild-
|
||
safety%2Fpdf%2FExpanded_Protections_for_Children_Technology_Summary.pdf&referrer=vox.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.vox.com%2Frecode%2F2021%2F8%2F10%2F22617196%2Fapple-
|
||
ios15-photo-messages-scanned" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank">converted into strings of numbers</a>, so the images aren’t being downloaded onto your device. Apple’s technology scans photos in your iCloud photo library and compares them to the database. If it finds a certain number of matches (Apple has not specified what that number is), a human will review it and then report it to NCMEC, which will take it from there. It isn’t analyzing the photos to look for signs that they might contain CSAM, like the Messages tool appears to do; it’s just looking for matches to known CSAM.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<div class="c-float-right">
|
||
<aside id="xKwxjr">
|
||
<q>“A thoroughly documented, carefully thought-out, and narrowly-scoped backdoor is still a backdoor”</q>
|
||
</aside>
|
||
</div>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="V9BfR0">
|
||
Additionally, Apple says that only photos you choose to upload to iCloud Photos are scanned. If you disable iCloud Photos, then your pictures won’t be scanned. Back in 2018, <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/11/apple-could-sell-icloud-for-the-enterprise-barclays-
|
||
says.html">CNBC reported</a> that there were roughly 850 million iCloud users, with 170 million of them paying for the extra storage capacity (Apple offers all iPhone users 5 GB cloud storage free). So a lot of people could be affected here.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="XRLQzQ">
|
||
Apple says this method has “significant privacy benefits” over simply scanning photos after they’ve been uploaded to iCloud. Nothing leaves the device or is seen by Apple unless there’s a match. Apple also maintains that it will only use a CSAM database and refuse any government requests to add any other types of content to it.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h3 id="FOIry2">
|
||
Why some privacy and security experts aren’t thrilled
|
||
</h3>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Bu03ZM">
|
||
But privacy advocates think the new feature will open the door to abuses. Now that Apple has established that it can do this for some images, it’s almost certainly going to be asked to do it for other ones. The Electronic Frontier Foundation <a href="https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2021/08/apples-plan-think-different-about-encryption-opens-backdoor-your-private-
|
||
life">easily sees</a> a future where governments pressure Apple to scan user devices for content that their countries outlaw, both in on-device iCloud photo libraries and in users’ messages.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="AX5TLS">
|
||
“That’s not a slippery slope; that’s a fully built system just waiting for external pressure to make the slightest change,” the EFF said. “At the end of the day, even a thoroughly documented, carefully thought-out, and narrowly-scoped backdoor is still a backdoor.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="b4tkBS">
|
||
The Center for Democracy and Technology said in a statement to Recode that Apple’s new tools were deeply concerning and represented an alarming change from the company’s previous privacy stance. It hoped Apple would reconsider the decision.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="rYccsf">
|
||
“Apple will no longer be offering fully end-to-end encrypted messaging through iMessage and will be undermining the privacy previously offered for the storage of iPhone users’ photos,” CDT said.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="8fEH5v">
|
||
Will Cathcart, head of Facebook’s encrypted messaging service WhatsApp, blasted Apple’s new measures in a Twitter thread:
|
||
</p>
|
||
<div id="FPYgUO">
|
||
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" dir="ltr" lang="en">
|
||
Instead of focusing on making it easy for people to report content that’s shared with them, Apple has built software that can scan all the private photos on your phone – even photos you haven’t shared with anyone. That’s not privacy.
|
||
</p>
|
||
— Will Cathcart (<span class="citation" data-cites="wcathcart">@wcathcart</span>) <a href="https://twitter.com/wcathcart/status/1423701477705404418?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 6, 2021</a>
|
||
</blockquote></div></li>
|
||
</ul>
|
||
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="TcG6dn">
|
||
(Facebook and Apple <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/22254815/facebook-apple-privacy-
|
||
ios-14-lawsuit">have been at odds</a> since Apple introduced its anti-tracking feature to its mobile operating system, which Apple framed as a way to protect its users’ privacy from companies that track their activity across apps, particularly Facebook. So you can imagine that a Facebook executive was quite happy for a chance to weigh in on Apple’s own privacy issues.)
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="G7qbMu">
|
||
And Edward Snowden expressed his thoughts in meme form:
|
||
</p>
|
||
<div id="YwCGaA">
|
||
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" dir="ltr" lang="und">
|
||
<a href="https://t.co/yN9DcTsBNT">pic.twitter.com/yN9DcTsBNT</a>
|
||
</p>
|
||
— Edward Snowden (<span class="citation" data-cites="Snowden">@Snowden</span>) <a href="https://twitter.com/Snowden/status/1423482640791969793?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 6, 2021</a>
|
||
</blockquote>
|
||
</div>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="1AMLUp">
|
||
Some experts think Apple’s move could be a good one — or at least, not as bad as it’s been made to seem. Tech blogger John Gruber <a href="https://daringfireball.net/2021/08/apple_child_safety_initiatives_slippery_slope">wondered</a> if this could give Apple a way to fully encrypt iCloud backups from <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/22565926/police-law-enforcement-
|
||
data-warrant">government surveillance</a> while also being able to say it is monitoring its users’ content for CSAM.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="K6QARG">
|
||
“If these features work as described and <em>only</em> as described, there’s almost no cause for concern,” Gruber wrote, acknowledging that there are still “completely legitimate concerns from trustworthy experts about how the features could be abused or misused in the future.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="gmrujr">
|
||
Ben Thompson of Stratechery <a href="https://stratechery.com/2021/apples-mistake/">pointed out</a> that this could be Apple’s way of getting out ahead of potential laws in Europe requiring internet service providers to look for CSAM on their platforms. Stateside, American lawmakers have <a href="https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2020/12/2020-congress-threatened-our-speech-and-security-
|
||
earn-it-act">tried to pass</a> their own legislation that would supposedly require internet services to monitor their platforms for CSAM or else lose their <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/2020/5/28/21273241/section-230-explained-
|
||
trump-social-media-twitter-facebook">Section 230 protections</a>. It’s not inconceivable that they’ll reintroduce that bill or something similar this Congress.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="7y8Yrn">
|
||
Or maybe Apple’s motives are simpler. Two years ago, the New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/11/09/us/internet-child-sex-abuse.html">criticized</a> Apple, along with several other tech companies, for not doing as much as they could to scan their services for CSAM and for implementing measures, such as encryption, that made such scans impossible and CSAM harder to detect. The internet was now “overrun” with CSAM, the Times said.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h3 id="CuzT1u">
|
||
Apple’s attempt to re-explain its child protection measures
|
||
</h3>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ez0SIo">
|
||
On Friday, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/technology/exclusive-apples-child-protection-
|
||
features-spark-concern-within-its-own-ranks-2021-08-12/">Reuters reported</a> that Apple’s internal Slack had hundreds of messages from Apple employees who were concerned that the CSAM scanner could be exploited by other governments as well as how its reputation for privacy was being damaged. A new PR push from Apple followed. Craig Federighi, Apple’s chief of software engineering, talked to the Wall Street Journal in a <a href="https://www.wsj.com/video/series/joanna-
|
||
stern-personal-technology/apples-software-chief-explains-misunderstood-iphone-child-protection-features-
|
||
exclusive/573D76B3-5ACF-4C87-ACE1-E99CECEFA82C?mod=hp_lead_pos7">slickly produced video</a>, and then Apple <a href="https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1516588&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.apple.com%2Fchild-
|
||
safety%2Fpdf%2FSecurity_Threat_Model_Review_of_Apple_Child_Safety_Features.pdf&referrer=vox.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.vox.com%2Frecode%2F2021%2F8%2F10%2F22617196%2Fapple-
|
||
ios15-photo-messages-scanned" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank">released</a> a security threat model review of its child safety features that included some new details about the process and how Apple was ensuring it would only be used for its intended purpose.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ZjS9Ks">
|
||
So here we go: The databases will be provided by at least two separate, non-government child safety agencies to prevent governments from inserting images that are not CSAM but that they might want to scan their citizens’ phones for. Apple thinks that this, combined with its refusal to abide by any government’s demands that this system be used for anything except CSAM as well as the fact that matches will be reviewed by an Apple employee before being reported to anyone else, will be sufficient protection against users being scanned and punished for anything but CSAM.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="xzvf19">
|
||
Apple also wanted to make clear there will be a public list of the database hashes, or strings of numbers, that device owners can check to make sure those are the databases placed on their devices if they’re concerned a bad actor has planted a different database on their phone. That will let independent third parties audit the database hashes as well. As for the source of the databases, Apple says the database must be provided by two separate child safety organizations that are in two separate sovereign jurisdictions, and only the images that both agencies have will go into the database. This, it believes, will prevent one child safety organization from supplying non-CSAM images.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="wbhBkX">
|
||
Apple has not yet said exactly when the CSAM feature will be released, so it’s not on your device yet. As for how many CSAM matches its technology will make before passing that along to a human reviewer (the “threshold”), the company is pretty sure that will be 30, but this number could still change.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="2g9TL5">
|
||
This all seems reassuring, and Apple seems to have thought out the ways that on-device photo scans could be abused and ways to prevent them. It’s just too bad the company didn’t better anticipate how its initial announcement would be received.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="09axQC">
|
||
But the one thing Apple still hasn’t addressed — probably because it can’t — is that a lot of people simply are not comfortable with the idea that a company can decide, one day, to just insert technology into their devices that scans data they consider to be private and sensitive. Yes, other services scan their users’ photos for CSAM, too, but doing it on the device is a line that a lot of customers didn’t want or expect Apple to cross. After all, Apple spent years convincing them that it never would.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="crdin8">
|
||
<strong>Update, August 13, 4:55 pm: </strong>Updated to include new information about Apple’s messaging around its CSAM scanning technology.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="AQBJyD">
|
||
</p>
|
||
<ul>
|
||
<li><strong>How Ron DeSantis’s Covid response became the model of what not to do</strong> -
|
||
<figure>
|
||
<img alt="Minority Leader McCarthy And Florida Gov. De Santis Hold Press Conference On Cuba" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/hrTSmzVRvnq6rjirS8zFWYh3as8=/173x0:3000x2120/1310x983/cdn.vox-
|
||
cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/69720942/1332538177.0.jpg"/>
|
||
<figcaption>
|
||
DeSantis speaks at at event on August 5. | Joe Raedle/Getty Images
|
||
</figcaption>
|
||
</figure>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
“These waves are just something you have to deal with.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="4NQxae">
|
||
It wasn’t that long ago that major media outlets were publishing stories proclaiming Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) “<a href="https://www.politico.com/newsletters/politico-nightly/2021/03/18/how-ron-desantis-won-
|
||
the-pandemic-492163">won the pandemic</a>,” or <a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/where-does-ron-desantis-
|
||
go-to-get-his-apology/">deserved an apology</a> from pundits and public health experts who have panned his laissez faire approach to the coronavirus. But those notions have aged poorly, as Florida struggles with spiking Covid-19 hospitalizations that DeSantis seems particularly unequipped to handle.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="vhKcuo">
|
||
Comments DeSantis made to reporters on Wednesday in an attempt to downplay the grim reality that Florida currently leads the nation in Covid hospitalizations for children were case in point. Instead of implementing policies to address the issue, DeSantis <a href="https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021/08/ron-desantis-takes-hatred-of-mask-mandates-to-a-new-level.html">banned mask mandates</a> in schools. On Wednesday, he went as far as to suggest — citing no evidence other than anonymous anecdotes — that families of school-age children should be more worried about children contracting <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2021/08/12/texas-rsv-covid-19-childrens-hospitals/">respiratory syncytial virus</a> (RSV).
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="vxD7em">
|
||
“COVID, I view as a very minor risk,” DeSantis said. “RSV is a little more serious and it just shows certain things that are focused on versus not. I’ve had doctors tell me that parents have come in with kids who were sick that have gotten a negative COVID test and a positive RSV and the parents were relieved at that.”
|
||
</p></li>
|
||
</ul>
|
||
<div id="vHWeId">
|
||
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" dir="ltr" lang="en">
|
||
It’s not COVID-19 in kids. It’s RSV. <a href="https://t.co/huZBgY1LCO">pic.twitter.com/huZBgY1LCO</a>
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">— Daniel Uhlfelder (<span class="citation" data-cites="DWUhlfelderLaw">@DWUhlfelderLaw</span>) <a href="https://twitter.com/DWUhlfelderLaw/status/1425475493822963721?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 11, 2021</a></p>
|
||
</blockquote>
|
||
</div>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="I9KkNJ">
|
||
DeSantis’s remarks are at odds with <a href="http://www.floridahealth.gov/diseases-
|
||
and-conditions/respiratory-syncytial-virus/_documents/2021-w29-30-rsv-summary.pdf">data</a> from his own state Department of Health showing that RSV cases have decreased in recent weeks and can currently be counted on one hand. By contrast, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) <a href="https://www.tampabay.com/news/health/2021/08/02/florida-leads-the-nation-in-kids-hospitalized-for-
|
||
covid/">reported</a> earlier this month that Florida had more than 30 Covid-stricken kids in the hospital each day between July 24 and 30.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="4VUEmW">
|
||
That press conference came one day after DeSantis expressed confusion about officials from his own state requesting ventilators and smaller breathing devices from the federal government — equipment needed to prevent the state’s hospitals from becoming overwhelmed.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<div id="wJ2Z5L">
|
||
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" dir="ltr" lang="en">
|
||
ℹ Florida COVID-19 Update for August 10, 2021<br/><br/> Total Confirmed Hospitalizations: 14,787 <a href="https://t.co/T3thlJwHyL">pic.twitter.com/T3thlJwHyL</a>
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">— Florida Hospital Association (<span class="citation" data-cites="FLHospitalAssn">@FLHospitalAssn</span>) <a href="https://twitter.com/FLHospitalAssn/status/1425165145890820103?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 10, 2021</a></p>
|
||
</blockquote>
|
||
</div>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="7xrIKa">
|
||
DeSantis — who last week <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/05/politics/ron-
|
||
desantis-joe-biden-donald-trump-covid-politics/index.html">admonished</a> President Joe Biden, “why don’t you get this border secure and until you do that, I don’t want to hear a blip about Covid from you” — made comments on Tuesday to reporters seeming to indicate that he’s either oblivious to the ventilator request or trying to intentionally mislead people about it.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="99yV6R">
|
||
“I would honestly doubt that that’s true, but I’ll look because we have a lot of stuff that we stockpiled over the last year and a half through the Department of Emergency Management,” DeSantis said. “I’ve not had any requests across my desk. I have not been notified of that.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="1ZpsBM">
|
||
A short time after, NBC <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/u-s-government-sends-hundreds-ventilators-florida-covid-surge-
|
||
continues-n1276515">reported</a> not only that the request had been made, but that the federal government had already sent the breathing gear to Florida.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="hZ2Crp">
|
||
In a written response to an email sent by Vox, Weesam Khoury, communications director for the Florida Department of Health (DOH), claimed, “to be clear, there is not a shortage of ventilators in Florida,” adding that the request is “a proactive measure to ensure there are consistent resources available in the state stockpile for deployment” made by “health care facilities.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<div class="c-float-right">
|
||
<div id="kwP1eB">
|
||
<div>
|
||
|
||
</div>
|
||
</div>
|
||
</div>
|
||
<h3 id="6ONeBt">
|
||
“These waves are something you just have to deal with”
|
||
</h3>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="1Ji4vp">
|
||
DeSantis, a former Congress member who distinguished himself during his 2018 gubernatorial run with his <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/ron-desantis-trump-ad-704926/">sycophantic praise of Trump</a>, became something of a national conservative hero last year due to his hands-off approach. As my colleague German Lopez <a href="https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2020/7/17/21324398/florida-coronavirus-covid-cases-deaths-
|
||
outbreak">explained</a> last year:
|
||
</p>
|
||
<blockquote>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="7PcSRk">
|
||
Florida was relatively late in closing down statewide, but it was also among the first to reopen. The state also reopened very quickly — letting restaurants, bars, and other businesses reopen, sometimes at high or full capacity, within weeks of ending its lockdown. That fast pace of reopening not only made it easier for people to infect each other with the coronavirus, but also made it much harder to evaluate, due to lags in coronavirus case reporting, if each phase of reopening was leading to uncontrollable growth in infections.
|
||
</p>
|
||
</blockquote>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="3Ae4iT">
|
||
Relatively speaking, the Covid situation in Florida was far from a disaster until quite recently, and DeSantis has <a href="https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?v=430735104893934&ref=search">touted</a> his ability to keep the state’s unemployment rate low throughout the pandemic. The state is still in the middle of the pack overall in terms of Covid deaths per 100,000 residents. But sadly, there’s no guarantee that will remain the case, as in recent weeks Florida has accounted for the second-highest number of Covid cases per capita in the US, and the <a href="https://www.wwltv.com/article/news/health/coronavirus/nearly-1-in-every-15-us-covid-deaths-in-august-is-in-
|
||
louisiana/289-b31ae392-2bb2-4325-aa92-1d03a7264d42">highest number of deaths</a> (141 per day).
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="NaI1dN">
|
||
Dr. Jonathan Reiner of the George Washington University School of Medicine <a href="https://news.yahoo.com/florida-were-
|
||
country-d-ban-162402114.html">said</a> during a recent CNN appearance that if Florida were a foreign country, the federal government would consider banning travel to it.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="bvogrl">
|
||
“The viral load in Florida is so high right now, there are really only two places on the planet where it’s higher,” Reiner said. (Those two places: Botswana and Louisiana.)
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="DOqRLt">
|
||
In a Talking Points Memo piece arguing that DeSantis “<a href="https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/ron-desantis-is-the-nations-worst-covid-governor">is the nation’s worst Covid governor</a>,” Josh Kovensky details how DeSantis enabled the ongoing Covid surge with his two-front war on mask mandates and vaccine mandates:
|
||
</p>
|
||
<blockquote>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="9rW5J5">
|
||
As all of this preventable carnage began, DeSantis shrugged it off with a series of orders that, epidemiologists say, poured gasoline on the already more contagious Delta variant. He has made national news this year by banning two mandates that public health officials have said are needed to keep hospitalizations down: vaccine and indoor mask requirements. The Florida government has prohibited businesses and government agencies from requiring vaccines, and has forbid schools from instituting mask requirements.
|
||
</p>
|
||
</blockquote>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="FTdJ9f">
|
||
Notably, DeSantis’s vaccine mandate prohibition includes cruise ships — a policy MSNBC’s Chris Hayes has <a href="https://twitter.com/chrislhayes/status/1422981255419813890">characterized</a> as the “single most deranged Covid policy we’ve seen.” But a federal judge earlier this week <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us/norwegian-cruise-says-us-judge-allows-it-ask-passengers-vaccine-
|
||
proof-2021-08-09/">ruled</a> that Florida can’t bar cruise companies from requiring proof of vaccination.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="JomXmU">
|
||
Likewise, DeSantis’s mask mandates ban is being <a href="https://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/politics/2021/08/10/florida-judge-consider-challenge-governor-ron-desantis-
|
||
school-mask-order/5560977001/">challenged</a> in court by parents and <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/florida-
|
||
broward-county-schools-face-mask-requirement-desantis-ban-covid-19/">ignored</a> by at least one school board. DeSantis has responded by saying the Florida Board of Education might withhold paychecks from board members and administrators who enforce mask mandates, which in turn has prompted the White House to suggest <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/biden-desantis-schools-
|
||
masks/2021/08/10/371d4308-fa0a-11eb-9c0e-97e29906a970_story.html">it might try to step in</a>. (On Thursday, the DeSantis administration <a href="https://www.politico.com/states/florida/story/2021/08/12/desantis-backpedals-on-threat-
|
||
to-withhold-salaries-of-defiant-school-officials-1389870">backed down</a> from its threat to withhold pay.)
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="lHbpJc">
|
||
Biden indirectly took aim at DeSantis during a speech earlier this month, saying, “Just two states, Florida and Texas, account for one-third of all new Covid-19 cases in the entire country. We need leadership from everyone … I say to these governors, please help, but if you aren’t going to help, at least get out of the way.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<div id="i5MSxB">
|
||
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" dir="ltr" lang="en">
|
||
“Just two states, Florida and Texas, account for one-third of all new Covid-19 cases in the entire country. We need leadership from everyone … I say to these governors, please help, but if you aren’t going to help, at least get out of the way” – Biden <a href="https://t.co/dPDnGAJ38u">pic.twitter.com/dPDnGAJ38u</a>
|
||
</p>
|
||
— Aaron Rupar (<span class="citation" data-cites="atrupar">@atrupar</span>) <a href="https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1422659254184517632?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 3, 2021</a>
|
||
</blockquote>
|
||
</div>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="x62KkL">
|
||
On Thursday, news broke that just days into Florida’s school year, 440 students in Palm Beach County have already been <a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/08/12/1027222426/palm-beach-florida-school-
|
||
district-440-students-quarantine-covid">asked to quarantine</a> because of Covid-19 exposure. And Friday morning brought <a href="https://twitter.com/brikeilarcnn/status/1426157325019189249">reports</a> of four Broward County teachers dying of Covid in a single day.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="bQIcbM">
|
||
But DeSantis seems undeterred.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="mjKjEq">
|
||
“It’s airborne. It’s aerosolized,” he <a href="https://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/as-covid-hits-floridas-children-desantis-stands-firm-says-
|
||
deal-with-it/2528378/?amp&__twitter_impression=true">said</a> of the delta variant on Thursday. “So we just have to understand when that’s happening these waves are something you just have to deal with.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="I2UWCi">
|
||
DeSantis Press Secretary Christina Pushaw dismissed <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2021/03/12/fact-check-
|
||
cdc-study-links-mask-mandates-slowed-covid-infections/6938262002/">research</a> linking mask mandates to reduced Covid-19 spread in an email to Vox, writing, “Governor DeSantis will continue to protect individual rights from unscientific mandates promoted by overreaching politicians who are desperate to give the appearance of ‘doing something’ even if it has no effect.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h3 id="fSfYeC">
|
||
DeSantis doesn’t seem big on self-reflection
|
||
</h3>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Z92fLo">
|
||
What explains DeSantis’s stubborn refusal to acknowledge the gravity of the Florida Covid case spike and stop working against public health best practices? The answer to that question is up for debate, but one factor may be a belief that reversing course would undermine his brand as the governor who stuck it to the libs by thumbing his nose at the Dr. Faucis of the world. That brand has established DeSantis as the non-Trump <a href="https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1414577857506983939">frontrunner</a> for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="GFx5vN">
|
||
After all, it was just last month that DeSantis was selling “<a href="https://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/dont-fauci-my-florida-gov-ron-desantis-selling-koozies-spoof-
|
||
merchandise/2494318/">Don’t Fauci My Florida</a>” merchandise on his website.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="EvR1ZT">
|
||
As Fauci has conducted local and national interviews obliquely <a href="https://www.eatthis.com/news-fauci-delta-covid-florida/">criticizing DeSantis’s policies</a>, DeSantis has continued to downplay the surge, <a href="https://twitter.com/therecount/status/1423359744585129988">saying</a> last week that “this is our COVID season.” Meanwhile, hospitals in the state are <a href="https://www.abcactionnews.com/news/in-depth/floridas-covid-19-surge-
|
||
creates-unprecedented-wait-times-for-hospital-beds">reporting</a> “unprecedented” wait times for beds.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="SAeVsN">
|
||
Press Secretary Pushaw pointed to the fact that Covid-19 hospitalizations <a href="https://www.jacksonville.com/story/news/coronavirus/2021/08/11/jacksonville-covid-19-hospitalizations-slow-state-
|
||
numbers-rise/5565565001/">dipped</a> this week in the Jacksonville area, writing to Vox, “COVID cases in the areas of the state that were earliest hit in this wave, such as Jacksonville, have already started their decline as predicted — without any government authority imposing non-pharmaceutical interventions.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Qiycxj">
|
||
“Governor DeSantis continues to support vaccination for Covid-19 as well as promoting monoclonal antibody treatment for anyone who tests positive and is at risk of severe illness from Covid-19,” she continued.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="oaFV3h">
|
||
It’s possible that as the news grows more dire, Floridians will adjust their behavior and/or get vaccinated if they haven’t already, prompting new cases to begin trending down again. But even in that scenario, the fact remains that by stubbornly working at cross- purposes with public health experts, DeSantis has made Florida’s Covid-19 problem worse than it had to be.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="HWdJze">
|
||
<strong>Update, August 13, 4:40 pm: </strong>Updated to include comment from DeSantis’s office and the Florida Department of Health.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="3l99MZ">
|
||
</p>
|
||
<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"><strong>Eng vs Ind second Test | Root and Bairstow take England to comfortable position</strong> - India’s total was built on impressive innings by their openers, with KL Rahul making a well-judged 129 and Rohit Sharma</li>
|
||
</ul>
|
||
<ol start="83" type="1">
|
||
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"></li>
|
||
</ol>
|
||
<ul>
|
||
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Hurt Rahul used axing from Test team as “fuel” to make strong comeback</strong> - Before the England tour, Rahul last played in a Test in August 2019, against the West Indies in Kingston.</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>Shooting world cups may not carry Olympic qualification status in future</strong> - India’s 15-strong squad failed to win a single medal, returning empty-handed from the Games for the second straight time, five years after the disaster in Rio 2016.</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>Eng. vs Ind. second Test | Rahul backs Pujara, Rahane to find form soon; says they know how to turn things around</strong> - The experienced duo of Pujara and Test vice-captain Rahane have not been at their best of late, averaging in the 20s this year</p></li>
|
||
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>West Indies lead Pakistan by 34 runs after day 2 in 1st test</strong> - The West Indies began the day at 2-2 and were 251-8, a lead of 34, when stumps were drawn early due to bad light. Joshua da Silva was 20 not out.</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>BSNL carries out massive upgrades of Lakshadweep Satellite Bandwidth</strong> - The increased bandwidth will translate into better telecom services, with lesser call drops and fewer call congestion, benefitting islanders and tourists</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>Oppn terms ‘Partition Horrors Day’ a divisive move</strong> - Diversionary move by PM ahead of Uttar Pradesh Assembly election, say Congress leaders</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>Amidst U.S., U.K. embassy evacuation, government reviews plans for Indian Embassy in Kabul</strong> - On Thursday, MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi had said there were “no plans” to evacuate staff from Kabul</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>Andhra Pradesh CM Jagan Mohan Reddy to launch phase-I of Nadu-Nedu programme</strong> - The Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh also launch the second phase of Jagananna Vidya Kanuka for the academic year 2021-22 at the same event.</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>Proud of J&K Police’s bravery, sacrifices for protecting country’s sovereignty: L-G Sinha</strong> - Lt. Governor Manoj Sinha on Saturday said he is proud of the Jammu and Kashmir Police’s bravery and the sacrifices made by the force in defending the</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>Turkey floods: Death toll near Black Sea rises to 31</strong> - Flash floods in northern Turkey are the country’s second natural disaster this month.</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>Sarah Rainsford on Russia: ‘I’ve been told I can’t come back - ever’</strong> - The BBC’s Sarah Rainsford, who is being expelled from Russia, speaks about the country she loves.</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>Plymouth shooting: Jake Davison was licensed gun holder</strong> - Jake Davison killed five people, including a three-year-old girl, before turning the gun on himself.</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>Climate change: Does Germany produce double the UK’s carbon emissions?</strong> - MP John Redwood claims that, on carbon emissions, Germany “puts out twice as much as we do”. Is he right?</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>Romelu Lukaku: Chelsea re-sign Belgium striker from Inter Milan for a club record £97.5m</strong> - Chelsea have re-signed Belgium striker Romelu Lukaku from Inter Milan for £97.5m.</p></li>
|
||
</ul>
|
||
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-ars-technica">From Ars Technica</h1>
|
||
<ul>
|
||
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Perl Foundation is fragmenting over Code of Conduct enforcement</strong> - “I’m fresh out of ideas with regards to handling toxicity in the Perl community.” - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1787157">link</a></p></li>
|
||
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Why Perseverance’s first Mars drilling test came up empty</strong> - Sampling might offer tantalizing clues about the past of the red planet. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1787091">link</a></p></li>
|
||
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A simple software fix could limit location data sharing</strong> - With Pretty Good Phone Privacy, carriers wouldn’t always know where you are. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1787083">link</a></p></li>
|
||
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>It’s time for more undead shenanigans with What We Do in the Shadows S3</strong> - The series also snagged an early S4 renewal. Huzzah! - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1787188">link</a></p></li>
|
||
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Boeing to ground Starliner indefinitely until valve issue solved</strong> - “I know this is very, very hard on our NASA and Boeing teams.” - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1787128">link</a></p></li>
|
||
</ul>
|
||
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-jokes-subreddit">From Jokes Subreddit</h1>
|
||
<ul>
|
||
<li><strong>A virus walks into a bar, and sits down. The bartender tells him, “We don’t serve your kind here.”</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
|
||
<div class="md">
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
The virus is momentarily taken aback by this unexpected and blatant display of bigotry, the likes of which he’s only seen in history textbooks.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
For a brief moment, he considers the bartender. What kind of life experiences would shape someone into such a pathetic piece of garbage? What happened to this man to instill in him such an absolute dislike of viruses? All this goes through his mind in a matter of seconds.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
The virus senses an awkward silence about to fall. Purely on instinct, he responds with an attempt at humor, and says, “Well, you’re not a very good host.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
</div>
|
||
<!-- SC_ON -->
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/CurtisMarauderZ"> /u/CurtisMarauderZ </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/p40v2j/a_virus_walks_into_a_bar_and_sits_down_the/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/p40v2j/a_virus_walks_into_a_bar_and_sits_down_the/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
||
<li><strong>A Chinese doctor cant find a job in a hospital in America, so he opens a clinic and puts a sign outside that reads “GET TREATMENT FOR $20 - IF NOT CURED GET BACK $100.”</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
|
||
<div class="md">
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
An American lawyer thinks this is a great opportunity to earn $100 and goes to the clinic.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
Lawyer: “I have lost my sense of taste.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
Chinese: “Nurse, bring medicine from box No. 14 and put 3 drops in patient’s mouth.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
Lawyer: “Ugh. this is kerosene.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
Chinese: “Congrats, your sense of taste is restored. Give me my $20.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
The annoyed lawyer goes back after a few days to try to recover his money.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
Lawyer: “I have lost my memory. I can’t remember anything.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
Chinese: “Nurse, bring medicine from box no. 14 and put 3 drops in his mouth.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
Lawyer (annoyed): “This is kerosene. You gave this to me last time for restoring my taste.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
Chinese: “Congrats. You got your memory back. Give me $20.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
The fuming lawyer pays him, then comes back a week later determined to get back $100.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
Lawyer: “My eyesight has become very weak I cannot see at all.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
Chinese: “Well, I don’t have any medicine for that, so take this $100.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
Lawyer (staring at the note): “But this is $20, not $100!”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
Chinese: “Congrats, your eyesight is restored. Give me $20”
|
||
</p>
|
||
</div>
|
||
<!--
|
||
SC_ON -->
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/littleboy_xxxx"> /u/littleboy_xxxx </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/p3p30u/a_chinese_doctor_cant_find_a_job_in_a_hospital_in/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/p3p30u/a_chinese_doctor_cant_find_a_job_in_a_hospital_in/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
||
<li><strong>After you die, the last part of your body to stop working are your pupils because…</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
|
||
<div class="md">
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
…they dilate!
|
||
</p>
|
||
</div>
|
||
<!-- SC_ON -->
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/808gecko808"> /u/808gecko808 </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/p45xvp/after_you_die_the_last_part_of_your_body_to_stop/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/p45xvp/after_you_die_the_last_part_of_your_body_to_stop/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
||
<li><strong>A businessman boards a flight and is lucky enough to be seated next to an absolutely gorgeous woman</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
|
||
<div class="md">
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
A businessman boards a flight and is lucky enough to be seated next to an absolutely gorgeous woman. They exchange brief hellos and he notices she is reading a manual about sexual statistics.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
He asks her about it and she replies, "This is a very interesting book about sexual statistics. It identifies that American Indians have the longest average penis and Polish men have the biggest average diameter.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
By the way, my name is Jill. What’s yours?" He coolly replies, “Tonto Kawalski, nice to meet you.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
</div>
|
||
<!-- SC_ON
|
||
-->
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/punboy1"> /u/punboy1 </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/p3viy0/a_businessman_boards_a_flight_and_is_lucky_enough/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/p3viy0/a_businessman_boards_a_flight_and_is_lucky_enough/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
||
<li><strong>"An old, blind cowboy wanders into an all-girl biker bar by mistake…</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
|
||
<div class="md">
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
"An old, blind cowboy wanders into an all-girl biker bar by mistake…
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
He finds his way to a bar stool and orders a shot of Jack Daniels.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
After sitting there for a while, he yells to the bartender, ‘Hey, you wanna hear a blonde joke?’
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
The bar immediately falls absolutely silent.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
In a very deep, husky voice, the woman next to him says, ’Before you tell that joke, Cowboy, I think it is only fair, given that you are blind, that you should know five things:
|
||
</p>
|
||
<ol>
|
||
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
The bartender is a blonde girl with a baseball bat.
|
||
</p>
|
||
</li>
|
||
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
The bouncer is a blonde girl with a ‘Billy-Club’.
|
||
</p>
|
||
</li>
|
||
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
I’m a 6-foot tall, 175-pound blonde woman with a black belt in karate.
|
||
</p>
|
||
</li>
|
||
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
The woman sitting next to me is blonde and a professional weight lifter.
|
||
</p>
|
||
</li>
|
||
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
The lady to your right is blonde and a professional wrestler.
|
||
</p>
|
||
</li>
|
||
</ol>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
‘Now, think about it seriously, Cowboy … do you still wanna tell that blonde joke?’
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
The blind cowboy thinks for a second, shakes his head and mutters, ’No … not if I’m gonna have to explain it five times"…
|
||
</p>
|
||
</div>
|
||
<!--
|
||
SC_ON -->
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/mycocks-a-floppin"> /u/mycocks-a-floppin </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/p3x0ia/an_old_blind_cowboy_wanders_into_an_allgirl_biker/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/p3x0ia/an_old_blind_cowboy_wanders_into_an_allgirl_biker/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
||
</ul>
|
||
|
||
|
||
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