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470 lines
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<title>08 July, 2022</title>
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<title>Daily-Dose</title><meta content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" name="viewport"/><link href="styles/simple.css" rel="stylesheet"/><link href="../styles/simple.css" rel="stylesheet"/><style>*{overflow-x:hidden;}</style><link href="https://unpkg.com/aos@2.3.1/dist/aos.css" rel="stylesheet"/><script src="https://unpkg.com/aos@2.3.1/dist/aos.js"></script></head>
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<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>Highland Park and an Illegitimate Supreme Court</strong> - Recent rulings on gun and abortion rights have revealed a conservative majority executing a long-standing agenda of radical right-wing ideas. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/highland-park-and-an-illegitimate-supreme-court">link</a></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Haiti a Year After the Presidential Assassination</strong> - Justice evades Jovenel Moïse’s family and the rest of the country. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/haiti-a-year-after-the-presidential-assassination">link</a></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Restrictions on Contraception Could Set Women Back Generations</strong> - The right to access contraception radically expanded women’s economic prospects. By overturning Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court has laid a road map for reconsidering that right. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/business/currency/restrictions-on-contraception-could-set-women-back-generations">link</a></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Ethical Health Care After Roe</strong> - Isaac Chotiner speaks with Louise Perkins King, a surgeon and bioethicist at Harvard and the vice-chair of ethics at the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, about how bioethicists think about abortion, how the medical community should approach its own members who are opposed to abortion, and whether it is ever appropriate for medical-care providers to break the law. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/ethical-health-care-after-roe">link</a></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>How Boris Johnson’s Government Finally Collapsed</strong> - In twenty-four hours, more than three dozen ministers and aides deserted the Prime Minister. On July 7th, he announced his plan to resign. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/boris-johnsons-government-is-collapsing-in-on-itself">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>Marvel’s villains are eclipsing its heroes</strong> -
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<figure>
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<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/BTBlTY0NXIn475NQMSRO1MCafXo=/904x0:3192x1716/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/71067984/MSB3810_comp_mtm_v004.1017.0.jpg"/>
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<figcaption>
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Christian Bale as Gorr the God Butcher | Marvel Studios
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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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Marvel’s Phase 4 has given us great villains, like Christian Bale’s Gorr, but they rarely stick around.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="HdPVj8">
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</p>
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<figure class="e-image">
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<img alt="Image of a spoiler warning" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/uPQF4l3Wvpgo7pB7TTD6_3CasSQ=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/8565937/spoilers_below.png"/>
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</figure>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="LNWxIg">
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Without a shadow of a doubt, the best thing about <em>Thor: Love and Thunde</em>r is its villain: Gorr the God Butcher (Christian Bale).
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="uH6lV1">
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It’s a great name. A butcher isn’t just a killer, he doesn’t just end a life and move on. He repurposes and reconfigures his victims, hacking at hunks of their meat with a cleaver. The name brings to mind flesh and metal and thwacks against a divine cutting board.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="4IQYad">
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Then there’s the great story. Gorr, born in an unnamed world far away, was eternally devout — even in his own suffering, even after the death of his daughter. But then on his judgment day, he came face to face with the god he worshiped, Rapu (Jonny Brugh). High on haughtiness, Rapu told Gorr he didn’t care about him. With no faith to lose, Gorr killed Rapu with the magical <a href="https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Glossary:Necrosword">Necrosword</a>. Now, tries to make everyone feel the same hopelessness he does. He does this by butchering those gods, one by one.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="KR3vC3">
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But — spoiler alert — even though Gorr the God Butcher is the best thing about <em>Thor: Love and Thunder</em>, it’s likely to be the last fans ever see of him.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="3tTLaI">
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Maybe we’ll get lucky and he’ll be around for a grand flashback, but he dies at the end of the movie, and history shows that’s usually the end of the road for Marvel villains. Like Michael B. Jordan’s Killmonger from <em>Black Panther</em> and Cate Blanchett’s Hela from <em>Thor: Ragnarock</em>, Bale’s Gorr probably won’t be back for another round.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="LSYx8Z">
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That’s all sort of a shame.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="reBJgN">
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Marvel has created an acclaimed and highly profitable web of interconnected superhero movies, but their villains are largely treated as disposable. Unless it’s <em>the</em> ultimate guy (see: Thanos), bad guys don’t stick around in the MCU. They’re just temporary obstacles that stand in until our heroes can unite to fight the biggest, baddest evil. When the villains are pretty forgettable (quick: name the villain in the first Ant-Man movie without Googling it) and are a part of heroes’ origin stories, it’s usually not a problem.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="MMKWQm">
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But it feels a little wasteful when you have a performance like Bale’s. This misuse is especially glaring now because for the first time in a while, it feels like the MCU is starting over.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="TbdVJu">
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The current slate of movies, known as Phase Four and following the events of 2019’s <em>Endgame</em>, aren’t yet bound to an overarching story. The Avengers are all scattered to the wind at this point: many of Marvel’s established heroes are gone (dead, or retired). Returning heroes like Thor and Doctor Strange are just making their way back. The new crop of supes like <a href="https://www.vox.com/22638536/shang-chi-review-representation-simu-liu-awkwafina">Shang Chi</a> and the <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/11/8/22766114/eternals-ending-post-credits-blade-harry-styles-avengers">Eternals</a> aren’t household names yet.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="l6iaEu">
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The only consistently great thing in the current MCU is the series of fantastic villains like Bale’s Gorr the God Butcher, most of whom are only around for a movie. Marvel could do anything right now, but it seems frustratingly locked into its formula, stifling its most powerful assets.
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</p>
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<h3 id="TRoF2D">
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The best thing about Thor is Gorr
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</h3>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Hx5Iia">
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I feel so strongly about Bale’s performance in <em>Thor: Love and Thunder </em>because<em> </em>I (surprisingly) didn’t enjoy the film. <em>Love and Thunder</em> is one of those movies that has four or five not-great movies rattling inside of it.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="BiBLra">
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There’s a patchy flick about how Thor (Chris Hemsworth) deals with all his friends and family members dying; a loose Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) origin story that tries valiantly to round out a character that was underwritten in the first two <em>Thor</em> movies; a defiantly un-horny rom-com starring Thor and Jane; a satire about homelands turning into tourist destinations starring Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson); and the fantasy adventure about defeating the great evil we’ve all come to expect.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="usO6HI">
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These all sound good in theory, but there’s just too much going on — The Shadow Realm! The Guardians of the Galaxy! A snowy bloodbath! Jane’s cancer treatments! The salvation of New Asgard! — to really allow any of the actors or director Taika Waititi to do them justice.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="t4rARo">
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Some of the set pieces indeed are funny and flashy (see: Omnipotent City), but feel as though they only exist for one specific joke or moment to meme. And even with the quick changes in scenery, the pace still somehow lurches, plodding along as if <em>Love and Thunde</em>r was just trying to cover all the bases, rather than thoughtfully unfold any of its many plots.
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</p>
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<figure class="e-image">
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<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/QzdEjc4KtJVeASTEA2ghwnrXZZI=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23674896/MSA5300_comp_cin_v009.1051.jpg"/> <cite>Marvel Studios</cite>
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<figcaption>
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Gorr and his absolutely jaunty veil!
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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="RXWJ1U">
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Coming from Waititi, it’s a little bit disappointing that some of these stories never find their mark. <em>Love and Thunder</em>, like <em>Thor:</em> <em>Ragnarok</em>, has a lot more freedom than a lot of Marvel movies, thanks in part to its director. It’s largely self-contained aside from the Guardians cameo in the beginning and there’s no direct connection to the multiverse, the big interlocking plot that Marvel has seeded in movies and television shows like <em>Wandavision</em>, <em>Loki</em>, and <em>Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness</em>.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="X65oxr">
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But the film’s third act works, and I’d argue saves the entire thing. That’s because of Bale as Gorr.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="CGE5X0">
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Gorr’s tragedy grounds the movie, and Bale gets to splash around in monologues about fear, faith, and decapitation. If Gods are symbols of faith, their deaths should be soul-crushing for their worshippers, he believes, and the bloodier and gorier the death, the better. In Bale’s hands, Gorr’s so convincing that I found myself on his side. He raises compelling questions about modern-day hero worship, including how Marvel is responsible for so much of it.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="yTvPH4">
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As the God Butcher, Bale is under pounds of powder-white makeup punctuated by trails of crumbly charcoal around his eyes. It looks like someone smeared a blood sausage smile across his mouth. You have to assume he smells like rot. Yet there’s a gothic elegance about him. Gorr isn’t lumbering around in armor; he has this cute little veil. Bale could have easily phoned it in and the character would still have been effective because of his striking visuals.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="8OAG2i">
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But instead, Gorr’s gothic grandeur gives Bale something to chew on. He can be over the top and rev up the anger and enigma because the character is so striking.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="BbOvPK">
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Still, Gorr’s clear ending — he makes the dying wish to bring back his daughter, which also grants him a heroic redemption — pretty much seals his fate as a one and done villain in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="gYzjkv">
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That’s not extremely surprising.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="6mHbG9">
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Marvel’s MCU is structured so that villains, with the exception of Loki (Tom Hiddleston), are one-movie threats. Phase One, for example, encompasses the origin story-based movies like<em> Iron Man</em>, <em>Captain America: The First Avenger</em>, <em>Thor </em>and capped it with 2012’s <em>The Avengers</em>, which brought all of those heroes together. Essentially, Marvel movies build and build towards a team-up movie in which a villain who’s supposed to be bigger and badder than the rest presents the biggest threat to the universe. <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/4/26/18514287/avengers-endgame-ending-explained-spoiler"><em>Endgame</em></a> was the culmination of a decade of cinematic storytelling, a.k.a. Phases One through Three.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="e1Sfiv">
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Allowing smaller villains — unless they’re Thor’s brother — to have stories that continue across multiple movies takes away from that grand threat. By the time the next Marvel movie comes out, you likely won’t remember what was so terrifying the last time around.
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</p>
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<h3 id="P7OnKl">
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Marvel’s Phase Four could be all about the bad guys
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</h3>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="jgpKmR">
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Marvel is now in its Phase Four of movies — <em>Shang Chi</em>, <em>Eternals</em>, <em>Spider-Man: No Way Home</em>, <em>Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness</em>, and <em>Thor: Love and Thunder </em>are all part of this chapter — but they have yet to weave in a big bad for this cycle. According to <a href="https://www.cbr.com/kang-the-conqueror-mcu-phase-4-deadliest-villain/">rumors</a>, the ultimate villain is supposed to be the legendary, time-traveling Kang the Conqueror. While a multiverse variant of Kang was introduced in <em>Loki</em>, there hasn’t really been the buildup with Kang that we saw with Thanos who was referenced in many Easter eggs and credits scenes. Kang hasn’t been in<a href="https://www.vox.com/22893634/marvel-post-credits-scene-history"> Marvel’s last few post-credits scenes</a> (which are mostly<a href="https://www.vox.com/22761699/eternals-post-credits-scenes-spoilers-harry-styles-nick-fury"> casting announcements</a> at this point) nor has he been a looming presence.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="jcouur">
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At the same time, like Gorr, the villains of Marvel’s Phase 4 movies have been the best parts of their respective films, often eclipsing the heroes they’re facing off against. Wenwu (Tony Leung) stole the show in <em>Shang-Chi</em>. Spider-Man’s Rogues Gallery, especially Doctor Octopus (Alfred Molina) and Green Goblin (Willem DaFoe) were just as powerful as the Spiders-Man in <em>No Way Home</em>. Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) should’ve been the titular character in the <a href="https://www.vox.com/2022/5/6/23059922/multiverse-of-madness-review-wanda-maximoff-avengers-coworkers"><em>Multiverse of Madness</em></a>.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="hZ2Z35">
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They’re all really great performances by fantastic actors, and they helped give the first crop of post-<em>Endgame</em> MCU movies gravity and importance.. Marvel’s subsequent movies have the difficult job of introducing new characters in the wake of departing stalwarts like Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark, Scarlet Johansson’s Black Widow, and Chris Evans’s Steve Rogers.
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</p>
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<div class="c-float-right">
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<aside id="fyoV7w">
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<q>There’s no real reason Marvel’s villains have to follow in the footsteps of the hooligans before them</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="ViAJDY">
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Without its established vets (Hemsworth aside), it’s the villains — not the heroes — who are soaking up the spotlight in the MCU. I suppose that’s why I’m more inclined than ever to see Marvel’s stable of super-powered baddies reappear and to see defeats that leave the door open for them to return, much like the way they do in the comic books.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="BRjOiC">
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For a company that revolutionized the way studios can build entire movie universes around characters, Marvel has rarely dared to try anything thrilling with its assembly belt of antagonists. There’s no real reason Marvel’s villains have to follow in the footsteps of the hooligans before them, especially now that it’s more of a free for all in the MCU than it’s ever been.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="hSQRtT">
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So why not have Bale’s glorious God Butcher or even Gorr’s predecessor in <em>Ragnarok</em>, Hela (Cate Blanchett) come back for a couple more swings? What if Wenwu didn’t have to step aside to make way for Shang Chi? Why not let these villains stick around, especially if A-list actors are signing on for these roles and delivering time and time again?
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="6vob44">
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The timing is perfect: with Disney’s acquisition of <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/2017/12/14/16738852/disney-fox-marvel-acquisition-x-men-superhero">Fox’s Marvel properties</a> there’s going to be an influx of iconic evildoers and antiheroes like the Fantastic Four’s Doctor Doom and Galactus, as well as the X-Men’s Magneto, Apocalypse, and Mystique. They’re too high profile to be disposable or interchangeable, which might end up forcing Marvel’s hand.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="f5zySD">
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While Marvel’s formula can certainly feel safe now, the studio didn’t reach the pinnacle of pop culture by sticking to the rules. Its universe full of connected movies, and now television shows, is still something that only Marvel has done successfully. With its villains, it’d be fantastic if Marvel would dare to break the rules again. Even if the company wrote those rules themselves.
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</p></li>
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<li><strong>Preparing for extreme weather is a community concern. Here’s how to be ready.</strong> -
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<figure>
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<img alt="Two people in a boat rescue a man stuck on the roof" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/D6YKlm4uM6f-GIOzR7Qg8n9iN3M=/202x0:3399x2398/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/71068019/GettyImages_1388241841a.0.jpg"/>
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<figcaption>
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Getty Images/iStockphoto
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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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Between hurricanes, droughts, wildfires, and more, scientists have dubbed summer the “Danger Season.”
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Q34zvi">
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Summer traditionally brings to mind vacation, rest, and relaxation in the United States. Thanks to climate change, though, this time of year has increasingly become what the <a href="https://www.ucsusa.org/">Union of Concerned Scientists</a> has termed the “<a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/kristy-dahl/were-naming-summer-danger-season-in-the-us-heres-why/">Danger Season</a>.” Due to some historical weather trends this year, like the <a href="https://news.climate.columbia.edu/2022/02/14/megadrought-in-southwest-is-now-the-worst-in-at-least-1200-years-study-confirms/">megadrought</a> in the American Southwest and <a href="https://public.wmo.int/en/media/press-release/stubborn-la-ni%C3%B1a-persists">La Niña conditions</a> in the Gulf of Mexico, we are in for a Danger Season like no other when it comes to natural disasters and extreme weather events. This includes <a href="https://www.noaa.gov/news-release/noaa-predicts-above-normal-2022-atlantic-hurricane-season">an above-average</a> hurricane season, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/15/us/heat-wave-midwest-southeast.html">extreme heat waves</a> and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/13/us/fires-california-sheep-arizona.html">wildfires</a>, and other disasters<strong> </strong>— which, in 2021, had already affected at least <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2021/09/04/climate-disaster-hurricane-ida/">1 in 3 Americans</a>.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="2AlWl7">
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You’re probably wondering right now what you can do as an individual to prepare for these disasters — what to buy, what to read up on, which resources to seek out. And indeed, if you’re able, there are things individuals can and should do, like packing an <a href="https://www.fema.gov/blog/10-items-include-your-emergency-kit">emergency kit</a>, making a <a href="https://www.weather.gov/ffc/family_plan">game plan</a> with loved ones, and <a href="https://www.bankrate.com/insurance/homeowners-insurance/natural-disaster-preparation/">preparing your home</a>.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="FNDcpU">
|
||
However, the very concept of disaster preparation carries an underlying conceit: that we, as individuals, can prepare for catastrophic weather events if we just plan accordingly. The truth is that not everyone has <a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2022-06-22/disaster-disparities-natural-hazards-climate-change-threaten-underserved-communities">equitable access</a> to necessary resources in times of natural disaster. And whether it was <a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/peteraldhous/texas-winter-storm-power-outage-death-toll">Winter Storm Uri</a> in Texas, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/national/wp/2018/09/12/feature/residents-see-a-failure-at-all-levels-of-government/">Hurricane Maria</a> in Puerto Rico, or <a href="https://psmag.com/environment/how-california-failed-to-prevent-the-carr-fire">the 2018 wildfires</a> in California, governments at all levels have shown a remarkable capacity to fail residents in times of crisis, from basic infrastructure to evacuation.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="FuyYvc">
|
||
Now, government actors like city emergency management departments are increasingly rolling out <a href="https://www.houstonoem.org/resilienthouston/">resiliency plans</a>; disaster <a href="https://www.urban.org/urban-wire/why-does-disaster-recovery-take-so-long-five-facts-about-federal-housing-aid-after-disasters">recovery</a>, though, can take a long time, and there are <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2022/05/27/unfair-fema-climate-program-floods-00032080">vast disparities</a> among those who end up getting aid, if at all. Thus, the effects of disasters are often long-term, and as the number of disasters increases, some people, especially those in <a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2022-06-22/disaster-disparities-natural-hazards-climate-change-threaten-underserved-communities">marginalized communities</a>, end up trapped in a vicious cycle. <a href="https://publicpolicy.unc.edu/person/davis-cassandra/">Cassandra Davis</a>, a professor who researches the impact of natural disasters on low-income communities of color at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, told me many people “don’t have the ability to recover because they’re constantly trying to respond” to the next disaster.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="hIUeAp">
|
||
There are still a lot of things you can do, not merely as an individual, but as a member of a community, to be prepared for the worst while hoping for the best. Whether it’s a wildfire in the Southwest, a hurricane along the Gulf of Mexico, or extreme heat from coast to coast, any kind of preparation could be the difference between life and death.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h3 id="UJ2fJZ">
|
||
What you and your community can do when a disaster is on its way
|
||
</h3>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="gdRe4x">
|
||
You need to build a social network within your community of people you can reach out to before, during, and after a disaster. “Knowing who your neighbors are, where they’re at, what resources that they have, and resources that they’re able to share is absolutely vital,” Davis told me. This can involve traditional methods like knocking on the doors of your neighbors and attending community meetings, but social media also plays a key role here. Getting on a group chat with your community can help you feel connected to your community in good times and bad, Ben Hirsch, co-director at <a href="https://www.weststreetrecovery.org/about/">West Street Recovery</a>, a grassroots organization focused on disaster recovery in Houston, Texas, told me. “It’s not going to save your life to be part of a WhatsApp chat, but it might actually make you feel way less alone and way less desperate or helpless.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<div class="c-float-right">
|
||
<aside id="49Sm0l">
|
||
<q>“When people are panicking, they make bad decisions”</q>
|
||
</aside>
|
||
</div>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="C0IB6U">
|
||
This all also highlights the importance of approaching disaster preparation in a systematic way, which can help people feel ready for any incoming disaster. By taking steps like preparing a <a href="https://www.ready.gov/kit">kit</a> with essential items, <a href="https://southerlymag.org/2022/06/06/make-copies-of-everything-documents-to-have-in-case-of-a-hurricane/">making copies</a> of all your major documents, and creating an emergency plan with your household, you’re not only tangibly getting ready but also <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/how-to-prepare-disaster-emotionally-mentally/">mentally fortifying yourself</a>. Hirsch told me that, for a lot of people his group serves, the best part of disaster preparedness bags is the feeling that they took steps to protect themselves. “When people are panicking, they make bad decisions. I think that one thing people really can do is look around their house and ask themselves, ‘What here actually is [helping] me survive?’”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="gfO2dp">
|
||
Staying informed is also crucial to disaster preparedness, and this can involve gathering information from sources like your local city and county government, as well as local and national weather services. This can sometimes be cumbersome, so start with the basics by <a href="https://weather.com/news/news/2021-03-25-how-to-get-wireless-emergency-alerts-cell-phone-severe-weather">signing up for weather alerts</a> on your cell or smartphone, as they are location-specific, and can signal whether hurricanes, tornadoes, flooding, or wildfires are encroaching upon your community. Additionally, be aware of what kinds of disasters can affect your area, and how that may be different from past years. For example, this year has been a particularly <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/19/us/texas-mesquite-heat-fire.html">bad wildfire year in Texas</a>, and extreme heat can even affect the <a href="https://news.uchicago.edu/story/new-study-lays-out-hidden-backstory-behind-deadly-pacific-northwest-heat-wave">Pacific Northwest and Western Canada</a>, where <a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/06/28/1010923130/the-pacific-northwest-has-limited-a-c-making-the-heat-wave-more-dangerous">air conditioning isn’t universal</a>. Last, don’t forget to responsibly share crucial information with your community — not everyone will have the time or capacity to keep up.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Z9YxUF">
|
||
That said, according to Hirsch, government agencies can sometimes be too focused on stopping panic, rather than being more forthright about what they don’t know. <a href="https://www.vox.com/coronavirus-covid19/22870268/cdc-covid-19-guidelines-isolation-boosters-masks">As we saw with Covid-19</a>, this can lead to confusion and a false sense of security; in the worst cases, leading to death; and breeding a cycle of mistrust in communities for the long term.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="SctE4L">
|
||
<a href="https://environment.yale.edu/profile/jennifer-marlon">Jennifer Marlon</a>, a research scientist at Yale University specializing in communicating about climate change, acknowledged that it’s important for different actors to strike a balance between caution and over-exaggeration. “These are fraught communication issues. It’s hard to get it right. But I think that’s where acknowledging the uncertainty and acknowledging the benefits of planning,” can make all the difference, she said.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="2TS6Ds">
|
||
Whatever information you gather to make preparations, as Marlon told me, consider also what individual preparations you can make that are also communal. In the case of a wildfire, for example, not taking care of your property and allowing your trees and vegetation to grow unabated can make your home a potential tinderbox for your entire community. “Your actions are actually affecting the people in your community and making them less safe or more safe, depending on what you do,” Marlon told me.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Q6NVna">
|
||
If you do need to evacuate, say from a wildfire or hurricane, get ready to follow a <a href="https://www.ready.gov/evacuation">plan of action</a> for yourself, but also consider who else in your community needs assistance. Davis said, ideally, evacuation would be a choice people can make for themselves, but in reality, that’s usually not an option for a lot of people. And as Andrew Barley, another co-director at West Street Recovery, told me, local, state, and federal governments usually only directly aid in evacuating people when the worst-case scenario has already happened, when “there’s already four or five feet [of floodwater] in the neighborhood, and someone’s calling from their roof trying to get out.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="gM7agb">
|
||
So, think about community members who will need help. For example, elderly people and those with mobility issues can have a difficult time escaping, as can those without personal means of transportation like a car. There may even be some people who are unwilling to leave, but rather than passing judgment, it’s important to have empathy and help them be prepared for the worst-case scenario.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h3 id="L32i1k">
|
||
What you and your community can do to prepare for the long term
|
||
</h3>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="lYJCyr">
|
||
Extreme weather and natural disasters may seem to come and go, but thanks to climate change, they are becoming a more frequent uninvited guest in our lives, so we all need to start preparing for them. The term “natural disaster” belies the fact that the devastation they bring is anything but natural; it’s exacerbated, like everything else, by structural and systemic problems in our society. These are collective problems and they demand collective action.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="mMg7Kk">
|
||
The first step to organizing your community is to recognize that you and everyone else have something to contribute. As Marlon told me, get a sense of who has big power tools, who has a generator, who has medical expertise in your neighborhood, and so on, and make a list. Hirsch shared that his upbringing in Boston made him well equipped to guide people when Winter Storm Uri hit Texas (and the <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2021/02/19/texas-emergency-communication-power-outages/">state failed to respond</a> adequately). This all ties into the concept of <a href="https://www.vox.com/the-goods/22289581/mutual-aid-helps-texas-storm">mutual aid</a>, where communities foster interdependence to solve their own problems, particularly in the face of governments that are slow, unable, or unwilling to solve crises. In this way, you not only engage with your neighbors for community-wide solutions, but also build long-term muscles for disaster response.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="AB00Qb">
|
||
Nevertheless, it’s still crucial to work with local officials and hold them accountable. Marlon said, “Putting a little bit of time into helping your local officials understand that you want to make [your community] more resilient, or future proof your community, can have outsize benefits across the community that can shape the health of the residents.” Working with your neighbors to get politicians and bureaucrats to address issues such as having more trees and shade, better water usage, and cooling centers in areas affected by heat waves and drought can make communities less vulnerable in the long run, and also be the difference between life and death for marginalized residents.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<div class="c-float-right">
|
||
<aside id="0rn4tt">
|
||
<q>“For a lot of communities, resiliency is a dirty word”</q>
|
||
</aside>
|
||
</div>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="2l6SLE">
|
||
This all gets at a much larger question: what does it mean for communities to be “resilient?” The <a href="https://www.undrr.org/terminology/resilience">United Nations</a> defines this as a community that’s exposed to disasters and is able to resist, recover, and adapt to the effects of a disaster in a timely and efficient manner. Hirsch criticized the way many government actors and politicians have invoked the concept, saying that resiliency can sometimes “just mean marginalized people’s capacity to continue surviving through suffering.” Davis agreed, saying, “For a lot of communities, resiliency is a dirty word. A lot of times that the media, political figures, individuals will say, ‘oh, they’re such a resilient bunch!’ But it … kind of glosses over the systemic issues … all of the isms, around why a [particular] group was hit.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="vsI3J4">
|
||
That isn’t to say resiliency has no merits as a concept. There’s a difference between using it as rhetorical sleight-of-hand to cover up state failure and actually doing the work to ensure a community is habitable and thriving. Hirsch mentioned that, in the hurricane and storm recovery work that he and West Street Recovery have done, they have found that simple, lower-cost interventions such as helping households switch their flooring to tile and get flood insurance, can make a big difference if their homes do end up getting flooded.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="vgpePo">
|
||
The question is whether these solutions can be scaled up and taken on by the state, as it can’t just be left up to individuals to take on the cost burdens of, say, making sure their homes have proper air conditioning in the case of extreme heat.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="9JGFIx">
|
||
Ultimately, the story of disaster preparation, relief, and recovery, and of building resiliency into communities is actually about all of us adapting to the consequences of a changing climate. Hirsch remarked that governmental and media responses to disasters are often quick to move past disasters and the areas they damaged in a haste to “get back to normal,” and this makes light of how long the impacts of disasters truly last. “[We’re five years later] still meeting people that have received no assistance from any organization and <a href="https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/in-depth/2022/02/03/418332/more-than-four-years-after-hurricane-harvey-thousands-of-houston-homeowners-are-still-waiting-for-assistance-and-might-not-get-it/">are living in homes [badly damaged by Hurricane Harvey] now</a> … in Houston, the normal is like a disaster just happened,” he told me. To challenge and upend this unsustainable status quo, Marlon said, “the more you can tune in and start coordinating and organizing now, the better.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ijayi6">
|
||
It’s up to us and our neighbors to collectively organize and prepare our communities for the increasingly disaster-prone future. Starting today can make all the difference.
|
||
</p></li>
|
||
<li><strong>Boris Johnson was a winner, until he wasn’t</strong> -
|
||
<figure>
|
||
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/votxZDTlyP1ubSd-FQm-56HAtPs=/128x0:4707x3434/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/71056183/1241752429.0.jpg"/>
|
||
<figcaption>
|
||
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson announces his resignation outside 10 Downing Street on July 7. | Carl Court/Getty Images
|
||
</figcaption>
|
||
</figure>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
Scandals finally forced the Conservatives to abandon their leader, as Johnson announces he will resign.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="P2MXiw">
|
||
<a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/6/10/18638824/boris-johnson-tory-leader-prime-minister-brexit">Boris Johnson</a> always seemed to defy political odds.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="9Coak1">
|
||
He went the typical path of the political class — <a href="https://www.thelondoneconomic.com/politics/letter-to-boris-johnsons-dad-from-eton-college-resurfaces-online-and-it-explains-a-lot-2-271549/">Eton</a>- and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/politics/the-absurd-life-of-boris-johnson-the-man-that-could-be-britains-next-conservative-prime-minister/slidelist/52910419.cms#slideid=52910420">Oxford</a>-educated — but sold himself as an outsider and populist man-of-the-people, <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/boris-johnson-hair-messy-interview-b1776176.html">messy hair and all</a>. He was <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/why-are-we-so-surprised-that-boris-johnson-lied-when-he-s-been-sacked-for-lying-twice-before-a7105976.html">fired from journalism for fabrication</a>, and his reporting and political careers were <a href="https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/7196421/boris-johnson-cheating-accusations-from-wife/">marred</a> with <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/jul/14/journalist-stuart-collier-boris-johnson-phone-call-darius-guppy-demands-apology">scandal</a> after <a href="https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/7196421/boris-johnson-cheating-accusations-from-wife/">scandal</a>, professional and personal, and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/21/world/europe/boris-johnson-jennifer-arcuri-uk.html">sometimes a mix of the two</a>. For some of his supporters, <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=johnson+zipline&rlz=1C5GCEM_en&sxsrf=ALiCzsbVtktyTBsyAfXZbGYoToU0rWh6ow:1657208467911&tbm=isch&source=iu&ictx=1&vet=1&fir=B0kgJqGxEaaWeM%252C-V0xSaqTJ6xEKM%252C_%253BU1vzAFBRtrtHsM%252Cgrjc-f-j1ER0pM%252C_%253BNAFFMCD2g2HTpM%252Cl-cxszWm-6RpVM%252C_%253B6TnX5_Ms86Q_VM%252CW_FijcnqF6nmPM%252C_%253BFdJDzJlMSWaHNM%252CVvPW_Q_GUdjfEM%252C_%253B4FiD8uqoKqWipM%252Cw-OvQbg1LJ35CM%252C_%253Bsy_oE0OIrDe1gM%252CDXOMdJ2J6AL1jM%252C_%253Bu1eFaBVKmJSy4M%252C1f3oaW6LDN1ewM%252C_%253BqBVjzsEhmceSPM%252CA2q8kgD_GiOkJM%252C_%253BvNawocySIb7gWM%252C91wAEJ0mb_YEnM%252C_%253BizZGiq0ixlCnzM%252CMXFVk-qf8R9-YM%252C_%253BCpdnfztsCvddcM%252CQXSGcl-Nz1NW2M%252C_%253BgrqjH_Zgj6hZbM%252CFzOosDpvhJkAdM%252C_%253BurrANwTAARZ-WM%252CyEW7JeZEIiC2BM%252C_&usg=AI4_-kQqyso4Zd4IUHqf3f7QUX25kyy5aQ&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwitsrHQjuf4AhU_k4kEHRKEB5AQ9QF6BAgFEAE#imgrc=B0kgJqGxEaaWeM">his gaffes</a> and his disregard for the norms added to his appeal.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="e894E6">
|
||
And he continued to rise: <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/jul/16/total-chaos-boris-johnson-london-mayor">the Conservative mayor of London, a Labour town</a>; a prominent face of the “Leave” campaign that prevailed in the <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/6/10/18638824/boris-johnson-tory-leader-prime-minister-brexit">2016 Brexit referendum</a>; the leader of a <a href="https://www.vox.com/world/2019/12/12/20999535/boris-johnson-uk-election-results-brexit">party that won a historic majority</a> in 2019, making him the <a href="https://www.npr.org/2019/12/13/787705261/boris-johnson-and-conservative-party-win-large-majority-in-parliament">prime minister with the biggest Conservative majority in three decades</a>. As prime minister, he officially <a href="https://www.vox.com/world/2020/1/23/21070594/brexit-royal-assent-january-31-uk-eu-trade">took the United Kingdom out of the European Union</a> after years of a divisive Brexit debate.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="uE93YO">
|
||
Those successes helped Johnson defy those political odds — until they couldn’t anymore.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="WX97wc">
|
||
After a dizzying few days of <a href="https://www.vox.com/2022/7/6/23196704/boris-johnson-uk-cabinet-resignations-scandal-revolt">fresh scandals and unprecedented government resignations</a>, the British prime minister announced his resignation Thursday, <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/7/23/20690391/boris-johnson-prime-minister-brexit-conservative-leadership-contest">marking the close of his leadership of the Conservative Party</a> nearly three years <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/7/23/20690391/boris-johnson-prime-minister-brexit-conservative-leadership-contest">after he took on the job</a>.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="r3ohaw">
|
||
In the end, Johnson was taken down by someone else’s sex scandal, <a href="https://www.vox.com/2022/7/6/23196704/boris-johnson-uk-cabinet-resignations-scandal-revolt">a minor drama that was only partly of his own making</a>. But this erupted after months of stories about illicit, in-person parties at 10 Downing Street during the height of the Covid-19 lockdowns in England — parties that Johnson originally denied happened, until media reports and investigations proved otherwise.<strong> </strong>Johnson was <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/boris-johnson-fined-breaking-his-own-uk-covid-rules-partygate/">fined for violating the Covid-19 restrictions</a> he himself set — along with dozens and dozens of other officials.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="UHA2Xp">
|
||
<a href="https://www.vox.com/2022/6/6/23156337/boris-johnson-no-confidence-vote-uk-prime-minister">Conservatives, then, had already soured on Johnson</a> by the time this latest scandal broke involving sexual misconduct allegations against the government’s chief deputy whip. They saw <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/06/24/double-blow-for-uks-boris-johnson-as-he-loses-two-key-by-elections.html">a backlash in electoral results</a> and <a href="https://www.politics.co.uk/reference/latest-opinion-polls/">poor polling</a> and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/jul/06/cost-of-living-2m-households-missed-bill-every-month-this-year">an escalating cost-of-living crisis</a>, and they ultimately had to make choice.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="D77LNo">
|
||
“That calculation is Johnson — is he a blessing or is he a burden? And if the tipping point is met, he’s more of a burden than a blessing,” said Matt Beech, a professor at the University of Hull and senior fellow at the University of California Berkeley.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="1QQssz">
|
||
Conservatives chose burden, and so they revolted and dispatched with him, not unlike <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-34673606">past Conservative prime ministers before him</a>. “The Conservative Party, historically, has been very good at getting rid of leaders who they do not think are going to win the next general election,” said Simon Griffiths, a politics professor at Goldsmiths, University of London. “They’ve been much more ruthless about it than other political parties.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="zt8PWr">
|
||
Johnson himself acknowledged this in his resignation speech, though he declined to take any responsibility for bringing about his own political demise. “The herd instinct is powerful; when it moves, it moves,” Johnson said. “No one is remotely indispensable.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="kE9ik1">
|
||
“I want you to know how sad I am to be giving up the best job in the world,” Johnson added. “But them’s the breaks.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="d2WMDi">
|
||
For now, Johnson remains prime minister until a successor is chosen, a process that will likely conclude sometime in the late summer or early autumn. Some Conservatives see Johnson as too much of a political liability to stick around, even for a few weeks, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/07/07/boris-johnson-resign-live-updates/">and want him gone</a> immediately. If that happens — which would be pretty unusual — an interim prime minister would take over until the next leader is selected.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="AvOdIM">
|
||
As Johnson departs, there isn’t an obvious successor to replace him, which may be another reason Johnson lasted as long as he did. Plenty of people are likely to put their names forward, but it is still unclear who might emerge as the true frontrunner. Whoever does will say a lot about the future of the Conservative Party and just how much influence Johnson may have had in shaping it, even as it leaves him behind. Them’s the breaks, after all.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h3 id="wLw5kP">
|
||
Conservatives made a deal that Johnson would deliver on Brexit and win elections. Those requirements no longer apply.
|
||
</h3>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="I6KaKo">
|
||
“The reason I have fought so hard in the last few days to continue … was not just because I wanted to do so, but because I felt it was my job, my duty, my obligation to you to continue to do what we promised in 2019,” Johnson said in his resignation speech on Thursday, outside of No. 10 Downing Street.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="mbUyqa">
|
||
In his brief remarks, Johnson cited that historic 2019<strong> </strong>election victory; delivering on Brexit; the UK’s navigation of the Covid-19 pandemic, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/29/world/europe/covid-vaccine-uk.html">including its vaccine rollout</a>; and the UK’s support for Ukraine against Russia among the achievements of his tenure.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="opk8gL">
|
||
Johnson’s resume is a bit more complicated — <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-61970053">an inquiry is examining the UK’s Covid-19 response</a>, <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/boris-johnson-northern-ireland-conservative-prime-minister-mps-b2118151.html">Brexit is still very, very messy</a> — but on the top-line things, Johnson succeeded at what Conservatives wanted him to do.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="CRFEhf">
|
||
In 2019, he emerged as the <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/6/10/18638824/boris-johnson-tory-leader-prime-minister-brexit">frontrunner for Conservative leader following Theresa May’s resignation</a> because he was seen by Conservatives as the best option to deliver Brexit, but also to win supporters back to<strong> </strong>a party badly battered by the Brexit debates.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="y1B4oF">
|
||
Johnson did both. He mounted a stunning victory in 2019 that brought together more traditional Conservatives and new working-class voters who had traditionally voted for Labour (Britain’s center-left party, now in opposition). Sure, Johnson was assisted by then-<a href="https://www.vox.com/world/2019/12/3/18661683/uk-elections-2019-brexit-jeremy-corbyn-explained">Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn’s unique unpopularity</a>, but 80-seat majorities don’t come around all that often. And while Johnson may have glossed over some of the <a href="https://www.vox.com/2020/9/9/21427210/brexit-uk-eu-northern-ireland-protocol-internal-market">obstacles to his Brexit approach</a>, the bottom line is he <a href="https://www.vox.com/world/2018/11/27/18106619/brext-deal-theresa-may-parliament-european-union">broke the Brexit deadlock that had previously been tearing the country apart</a> and took the United Kingdom out of the European Union.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="UMVNV0">
|
||
Partygate tested that bargain. Juicy details of boozy parties aside, the scandal is fairly straightforward: The people in charge of making and enforcing Covid-19 rules were themselves breaking them. Not only that, but much of the country was on extreme lockdown and couldn’t visit family or friends in the hospital, let alone host parties. “The hypocrisy is too obvious there,” Griffiths said.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="bnAd7r">
|
||
It also put the rest of the Conservative party in a bind. Members of Parliament and government officials had to twist themselves to defend the prime minister — only to have new revelations emerge that showed Johnson wasn’t being honest. Official ethics investigations and police inquiries proved the media reports were as bad as they seemed.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="7gVyfi">
|
||
“I think they can tolerate that if the guy’s a winner,” said Sean Kippin, a lecturer in public policy at the University of Stirling. “But as soon as it starts following through into election results — the polls have been pretty bad for quite a long time — as far as the Conservatives are concerned, it’s a sense that this man is going to drag them down with him.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="v6W1Gq">
|
||
As Kippin said, “Boris Johnson’s been known to be all the things that he’s been shown to be for a long time.” But Conservatives were willing to overlook it in Johnson as long as voters could, and as long as Johnson delivered. But the <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-05-18/uk-inflation-at-a-40-year-high-engulfs-johnson-and-boe-in-crisis#xj4y7vzkg">inflation crisis</a> further dampened support for the prime minister. In May, the Conservatives <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2022/may/05/local-elections-2022-conservatives-labour-boris-johnson-keir-starmer-england-wales-scotland-northern-ireland-live-updates">lost hundreds of seats in local elections</a>, a sign that the electorate was moving against Johnson and his party. Even after Johnson survived a no-confidence vote in June, the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/jun/24/tories-lose-byelections-wakefield-tiverton-honiton-labour-lib-dems">party lost two seats</a> in<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/jun/24/tories-lose-byelections-wakefield-tiverton-honiton-labour-lib-dems"> off-cycle elections to replace</a> Conservative MPs. One, in Tiverton and Honiton, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/jun/24/tories-lose-byelections-wakefield-tiverton-honiton-labour-lib-dems">reversed a Conservative majority of 24,000</a>. If Conservatives needed a sign that Johnson shouldn’t lead them through the next election, this was probably it.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ILTCaa">
|
||
“The biggest driving force behind this decision is the conviction of most Conservative MPs that they cannot win the next election with Boris Johnson as leader,” said Roger Mortimore, professor of public opinion and political analysis at King’s College London. “I think up to this point many of them have been hanging on essentially because Boris does have this past record of pulling improbable things out of the hat. He has a very enviable record of winning elections that other politicians would not have been expected to win.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="aigr8L">
|
||
Johnson probably held on a bit longer than another Conservative leader because there was a sense that if anyone could turn this around, he probably could. But there were also those who saw him as flawed and knew this was always a risk. This time, it finally caught up with him. “They’ve been proven correct because obviously, it’s ended in a kind of chaotic, disorderly [way] — allegations of wrongdoing,” said Ben Williams, a lecturer in politics and political theory at the University of Salford. “And that’s probably what many would say was inevitable.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h3 id="s5JAPM">
|
||
Johnson leaves a Conservative party different from the one he found. It’s just not entirely clear what comes next.
|
||
</h3>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="QMdMxe">
|
||
Johnson’s promise of getting Brexit done helped usher in his rise. That unifying factor isn’t there anymore because the UK left the EU. (The Brexit problems <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/jul/03/germany-and-ireland-denounce-boris-johnsons-bid-to-ditch-northern-ireland-protocol">continue.)</a> That also means the Conservative Party about to choose a new leader is, in lots of ways, very different from the one that bet on Johnson three years ago.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="JVcYvA">
|
||
As experts told me, the Conservative Party is now largely one of Euroskeptics.<strong> </strong>Instead of Brexit, the fault line is likely to be in this new Conservative coalition that Johnson managed to bring together. Divisions are emerging between the<strong> </strong>more traditional Conservatives who want to rein in public spending and want to see tax cuts (basically, what you’d consider low-tax, fiscal conservatives in the US) and these newer Conservative voters, many from working-class or blue-collar backgrounds, that are more likely to support public spending and want to see more state intervention and investments — the <a href="https://www.economist.com/the-economist-explains/2022/01/31/what-is-levelling-up-boris-johnsons-big-idea">“leveling up” that Johnson talked up</a> — come to fruition. Add in an economic and inflation crisis, and those tensions are likely to be even more pronounced.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="PDmGrw">
|
||
How that plays out will depend on who becomes party leader — whoever the heck that might be.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="WeASu2">
|
||
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/jul/07/race-to-replace-boris-johnson-slow-to-take-shape-amid-resignation-chaos">A lot of people</a> are going to put their names forward, though a clear favorite hasn’t really emerged. <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/ben-wallace-boris-johnson-prime-minister-b2118218.html">Ben Wallace</a>, the defense secretary, whose profile has risen during the Ukraine war, is among the possible frontrunners. So is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/jul/07/tory-party-leadership-run-replace-boris-johnson">Rishi Sunak</a>, who is one of the cabinet ministers who launched the government rebellion against Johnson this week. But unlike in 2019, when it was pretty much Johnson from the get-go, this leadership contest is pretty wide open.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="5oZmMB">
|
||
This is kind of by Johnson’s design. “One of the clever things about Johnson, politically, is he’s really good at undermining potential rivals. So it’s not as if there was somebody waiting in the wings to come in and swoop in,” Griffiths said.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="hol6jB">
|
||
All of that has left a huge spread of people, in a pretty factional party, all of whom have decent odds of being the next leader. Typically, Conservative MPs will vote on candidates, eliminating them in rounds of voting until two finalists emerge. About <a href="https://www.politico.eu/article/how-watch-tory-leadership-crisis-like-pro/">200,000 members</a> of the Conservative Party will decide between those finalists. Those members tend to be older, white, and more conservative than probably the party as a whole.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="VOukkh">
|
||
But as experts pointed out, what will be top of mind for all members is which person is most likely to help Conservatives win. And the party is sure of one thing: That person is no longer Boris Johnson.
|
||
</p></li>
|
||
</ul>
|
||
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-the-hindu-sports">From The Hindu: Sports</h1>
|
||
<ul>
|
||
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>SL vs Aus, 2nd Test | Smith, Labuschagne hundreds power Australia to 298/5</strong> - Smith, who hit his first century after a gap of 16 innings, was still batting on 109 not out at stumps on Day 1</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>Sindhu fails to crack Tai Tzu code again, crashes out of Malaysia Masters Super 500</strong> - Sindhu's 17th career defeat to the Tokyo Olympics silver medallist is also her seventh straight defeat to the same opponent</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, 2nd T20 | With youngsters performing, pressure mounts on Virat Kohli ahead of his T20 return</strong> - With Kohli expected to take another break for the five T20s against the West Indies, the two games against England assume more importance as far as his future in the T20 set up is concerned</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 | My mindset doesn't take me too high, neither low: Hardik Pandya</strong> - Hardik Pandya, who helped India comfortably defeat England in the first T20 with his all-round performance, said he gives “equal importance to both batting and bowling”</p></li>
|
||
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Morning Digest | U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson resigns; India beats England by 50 runs in first T20 International, and more</strong> - A select list of stories to read before you start your day</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>Andhra Pradesh: Tiger still lurking in the forest areas of Anakapalli district</strong> - Officials advise people of villages close to the forest areas to remain alert</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>Three held by cyber crime police for duping job aspirant</strong> - Trio had duped him of ₹48 lakh</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>Actor Vikram admitted to hospital, stable</strong> - He complained of discomfort in the chest and he did not have cardiac arrest, says hospital</p></li>
|
||
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>YSR’s memorial in the city once Congress comes to power: Revanth</strong> - Leaders pay tributes to YSR on his 73rd birth anniversary</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>TS team cotton farming in US</strong> - They visit Texas, Tennessee, St. Luis, studying cotton farming practices for last 3 days</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>Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini found not guilty following fraud trial</strong> - Former Fifa president Sepp Blatter and vice-president Michel Platini have been found not guilty following their fraud trial.</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>Ukraine-Russia: Hidden tech war as Slovyansk battle looms</strong> - Ukrainian volunteers are taking part in a largely unseen battle to defend their territory with drones.</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>Sinn Féin tables no confidence motion in Irish government</strong> - Sinn Féin will table the no confidence motion after the governing parties lost their majority.</p></li>
|
||
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Poland confirms scientist being detained in Iran</strong> - Iranian state TV reported that the man was arrested for taking soil samples in a restricted area.</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>Austrian Grand Prix: Max Verstappen sets impressive pace in first practice</strong> - Red Bull’s Max Verstappen sets an impressive pace in first practice at the Austrian Grand Prix.</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>Ars Technica System Guide, “GPUs are kind of affordable again” edition</strong> - For our summer 2022 guide, four cost-effective builds for work and after-work. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1863801">link</a></p></li>
|
||
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Rocket Report: A Minotaur explodes after launch; Starship rolls to the pad</strong> - “You can’t predict the future, but my fingers are crossed.” - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1864146">link</a></p></li>
|
||
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Re-analysis of a fossil finds it’s from the earliest vertebrate branch</strong> - A group of organisms called <em>yunnanozoans</em> had gills, precursor to jaws. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1865009">link</a></p></li>
|
||
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>FDA backpedals on Juul ban, says it’s re-reviewing company’s “unique” issues</strong> - FDA says there are “scientific issues unique” to Juul that warrant further review. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1865015">link</a></p></li>
|
||
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>NASA rebukes Russian use of space station for propaganda purposes [Updated]</strong> - “The space station is supposed to be a symbol of peace and cooperation.” - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1864160">link</a></p></li>
|
||
</ul>
|
||
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-jokes-subreddit">From Jokes Subreddit</h1>
|
||
<ul>
|
||
<li><strong>Every night, the sounds of loud aggressive pornography blast from my neighbours’ apartment.</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
|
||
<div class="md">
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
We’ve tried talking about it but I don’t care what they say; I’m not disconnecting from their Bluetooth speakers.
|
||
</p>
|
||
</div>
|
||
<!-- SC_ON -->
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Justin-Truedat"> /u/Justin-Truedat </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/vu1nck/every_night_the_sounds_of_loud_aggressive/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/vu1nck/every_night_the_sounds_of_loud_aggressive/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
||
<li><strong>A Mechanical Engineer, a software engineer and a purchasing agent…</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
|
||
<div class="md">
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
..are on their way to an industry event when their rental car gets a flat tire. The purchasing agent says
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
“We need to buy a new tire”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
the mechanical engineer says
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
“no, I think I can fix this one”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
and the software engineer says,
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
“let’s drive on it for a while, maybe it’ll fix itself.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
</div>
|
||
<!-- SC_ON -->
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Nocta_Venandi"> /u/Nocta_Venandi </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/vtz558/a_mechanical_engineer_a_software_engineer_and_a/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/vtz558/a_mechanical_engineer_a_software_engineer_and_a/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
||
<li><strong>My beautiful girlfriend has a vagina that smells like Roses.</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
|
||
<div class="md">
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
But Roses is tighter.
|
||
</p>
|
||
</div>
|
||
<!-- SC_ON -->
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/VERBERD"> /u/VERBERD </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/vtten1/my_beautiful_girlfriend_has_a_vagina_that_smells/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/vtten1/my_beautiful_girlfriend_has_a_vagina_that_smells/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
||
<li><strong>A guy sits down at the bar and orders drink after drink. “Is everything okay, pal?” the bartender asks. “My wife and I got into a fight and she said she wasn’t going to talk to me for a month.”</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
|
||
<div class="md">
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
Trying to put a positive spin on things, the bartender says, “Well, maybe that’s kind of a good thing. You know… a little peace and quiet?”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
“Yeah. But today is the last day…”
|
||
</p>
|
||
</div>
|
||
<!-- SC_ON -->
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/YZXFILE"> /u/YZXFILE </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/vu7riv/a_guy_sits_down_at_the_bar_and_orders_drink_after/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/vu7riv/a_guy_sits_down_at_the_bar_and_orders_drink_after/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
||
<li><strong>Wife dreamed that she was attending a dick auction</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
|
||
<div class="md">
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
Wife : “I dreamed they were auctioning off dicks. The big ones went for ten dollars and the thick ones went for twenty dollars.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
Husband : “How about the ones like mine?”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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Wife : “They gave those away.”
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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Husband : “I had a dream too…I dreamed they were auctioning off vaginas. The pretty ones went for a thousand dollars, and the little tight ones went for two thousand.”
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</p>
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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Wife : “And how much for the ones like mine?”
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</p>
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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Husband : “That’s where they held the auction.”
|
||
</p>
|
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</div>
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<!-- SC_ON -->
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/B-L-O-C-K-S"> /u/B-L-O-C-K-S </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/vtk9e2/wife_dreamed_that_she_was_attending_a_dick_auction/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/vtk9e2/wife_dreamed_that_she_was_attending_a_dick_auction/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
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</ul>
|
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