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<title>17 February, 2021</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>The Evolution of Alexey Navalny’s Nationalism</strong> - The Russian opposition politician has placed the right to self-determination at the center of his politics. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/the-evolution-of-alexey-navalnys-nationalism">link</a></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>History Will Find Trump Guilty</strong> - The former President avoided conviction in the Senate, but his era will be recalled for its authoritarian politics and lawless compulsions. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/history-will-find-trump-guilty">link</a></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Fight for Fifteen at an Orlando McDonald’s</strong> - For Cristian Cardona and his co-workers, the pandemic brought new meaning to a nationwide movement to raise the minimum wage. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/us-journal/the-fight-for-fifteen-at-an-orlando-mcdonalds">link</a></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>When Climate Change and Xenophobia Collide</strong> - During a hurricane, migrants in the Bahamas were told that they could seek shelter without fear. More than a thousand were deported, reflecting a global trend. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/dispatch/when-climate-change-and-xenophobia-collide">link</a></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A Survival Center Tries to Survive the Pandemic</strong> - Bobby Simpson has been distributing food in Kentucky for decades. Now the people who usually help him help others are hurting, too. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/us-journal/a-survival-center-tries-to-survive-the-pandemic">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>Why Biden can’t ignore Iraq and Afghanistan, even if he might want to</strong> -
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<figure>
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<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/gh1te4LRpxR38XA5Jnt7tOcE8nk=/469x0:3310x2131/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/68827408/1231073314.0.jpg"/>
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<figcaption>
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Afghanistan’s forces take part in a military operation against Taliban militants in Shirzad, Afghanistan, on February 9. | Saifurahman Safi/Xinhua via Getty
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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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Biden can’t forever ignore the forever wars.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="y11298">
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When President Joe Biden gave his first <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2021/02/04/remarks-by-president-biden-on-americas-place-in-the-world/">foreign policy address</a> two weeks ago, he didn’t once mention the words “Iraq” or “Afghanistan.” But events in those two countries over the past 24 hours have offered a stark reminder to the administration that it can’t forever ignore America’s forever wars.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="plM1hu">
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In Iraq, <a href="https://twitter.com/OIRSpox/status/1361581419227734016?s=20">rockets</a> seemingly launched by an <a href="https://twitter.com/PhillipSmyth/status/1361440123737542660?s=20">Iranian-backed militia</a> on Monday killed a non-American civilian contractor at a military base in Erbil. Nine others were injured, including four US contractors and one service member, according to Col. Wayne Marotto, the spokesperson for the US-led coalition against ISIS.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ELJpc2">
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And in Afghanistan, the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/15/world/asia/taliban-afghanistan.html">Taliban has closed in on major cities</a> just a few months before the scheduled departure of US forces on May 1. The insurgent group released an <a href="http://alemarahenglish.net/?p=42767">open letter</a> to Americans on Tuesday, basically asking the Biden administration to trust the Taliban to lead the nation and respect human rights after the troops leave — a dubious claim at best.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="hQDjDd">
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Even as Biden would prefer to spend most of his time addressing <a href="https://www.vox.com/2020/8/18/21334630/joe-biden-foreign-policy-explainer">the coronavirus, China, and climate change</a>, it’s clear that, like every president since George W. Bush, he’ll continually have his attention diverted toward Afghanistan and Iraq.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="UtTm7Q">
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It’s not that he and his team have neglected those countries. Defense chiefs from NATO nations are meeting over the next two days in large part to discuss plans for <a href="https://www.defense.gov/Explore/News/Article/Article/2503402/nato-defense-ministers-to-discuss-future-of-alliance-during-ministerial/">Afghanistan and Iraq</a>. The administration is also <a href="https://www.vox.com/22272240/biden-trump-national-security-council-yemen-myanmar">reviewing</a> its policies in the two countries, weighing what to keep from the past four years and what to change.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="S6oSs0">
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But recent events have added an extra sense of urgency, with US troops under threat in an increasingly unstable Iraq, and a tough decision looming for the president in Afghanistan: leave the country to almost certain ruin, or stay and face another deadly fighting season against the Taliban?
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="3IObde">
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In normal times, those would be tough issues for any administration to handle. In this era, they’re extra difficult.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="xZOreO">
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“It does seem like the bandwidth for Afghanistan and Iraq is limited,” said Andrew Watkins, senior analyst for Afghanistan at the International Crisis Group. “It’s not that there’s no interest; it’s just that there are other priorities.”
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</p>
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<h3 id="JzEz4s">
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Iraq “will put itself on the agenda”
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</h3>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="kr4S9s">
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Iran has long used its ties to <a href="https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/shia-militia-mapping-project">Shia militia groups in Iraq</a>, many of which are funded and directed by Tehran, to expand its influence in the country and thwart the US war effort there, including through attacks <a href="https://www.vox.com/2020/3/13/21178125/us-attack-iraq-iran-hezbollah-pentagon">targeting US, Iraqi, and other international troops</a>. Monday’s attack, then, was a lethal continuation of that standoff.
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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/OUPdtBwcG2riA22fbe_oNlGOMk8=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22308403/1231195522.jpg"/> <cite>Safin Hamed/AFP via Getty Images</cite>
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<figcaption>
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A worker cleans shattered glass outside a damaged shop on February 16 following a rocket attack in Erbil, Iraq.
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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="cjL7sM">
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It’s unclear why the rocket attacks happened now. The most likely explanation experts have offered is that <a href="https://twitter.com/AOstovar/status/1361429942739763203?s=20">Iran is trying to pressure the US</a> to lift sanctions on it and reenter the nuclear deal. Whatever the reason, the assault makes clear that Iraq remains a battleground between the US and Iran — meaning it will continue to be a problem for the Biden administration as long as US forces remain in the country.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="2PpuKQ">
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“Iraq is going to keep rearing its head,” said Randa Slim, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute in Washington, DC. “It will put itself on the agenda.”
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="cY55O3">
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Some analysts I spoke to said their hope is that the Biden team won’t view its Iraq policy solely as an extension of Iran policy. Indeed, beyond the Iranian proxy problem, Iraq is suffering from a <a href="https://carnegieendowment.org/sada/81976">deep governance crisis as millions go hungry due to a collapsing economy</a>. Experts fear an Iraq in decline could prove fertile ground for <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/19/us/politics/isis-iraq-syria.html">ISIS’s resurgence</a>.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="XbMMyw">
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For the moment, though, experts aren’t overly pleased by what they see from Biden’s team.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Ofbi0q">
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“During the Obama administration, [Iraq] policy was crafted to not aggravate Iran and sometimes work indirectly together, whether to guard the nuclear deal or fight ISIS, with little regard to Iraq itself,” said Rasha Al Aqeedi, senior analyst at the Newlines Institute for Strategy and Policy in DC. “Under Trump, Iraq was merely a front to confront Iran. It appears the Biden administration is readopting the former’s policy.”
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="QoXPkl">
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“Not considering an independent Iraq policy has had an awful outcome” in the past, she concluded.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="BpYeDT">
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The White House didn’t respond to a request for comment. But the administration has been saying the right things, at least so far. A <a href="https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Releases/Release/Article/2503969/readout-of-secretary-of-defense-lloyd-j-austin-iiis-call-with-iraqi-minister-of/source/GovDelivery/">summary</a> of a Tuesday call between Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and his Iraqi counterpart noted that “the United States remains committed to supporting our Iraqi partners in their efforts to defend Iraq’s sovereignty” and the reaffirmation of the “strategic partnership” between the two countries.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="u23m8Y">
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But whether Biden can sustain the needed time and attention for such complicated, long-term problems in Iraq — with all that’s already going on in the world — remains an early question.
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</p>
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<h3 id="ZsvbQu">
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Afghanistan’s US troop-withdrawal deadline is fast approaching
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</h3>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="geqsAa">
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By May 1, Biden must make a crucial decision: withdraw all 2,500 US troops from Afghanistan, or stay involved in the 20-year war?
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Olmyj5">
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Such a choice was forced on this administration by the last one. The <a href="https://www.vox.com/world/2020/2/29/21158939/us-taliban-sign-peace-deal-troops-afghanistan">US and the Taliban last February struck a deal</a>: All American troops would leave the country by early May, and in the meantime the Taliban wouldn’t attack US or NATO coalition troops. Both sides have held their ends of the bargain, as roughly 10,000 service members have left the country while the US has suffered <a href="https://www.stripes.com/news/middle-east/us-goes-one-year-without-a-combat-death-in-afghanistan-as-taliban-warn-against-reneging-on-peace-deal-1.661464">no combat deaths</a>.
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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/nJPPc_z5PC1uIFtVKHrCntkI8fg=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22308406/1231073325.jpg"/> <cite>Xinhua/Saifurahman Safi via Getty Images</cite>
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<figcaption>
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Afghan National Security Forces take part in a military operation against Taliban militants in Shirzad, Afghanistan, on February 9.
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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="1qGEwH">
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<a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/21439556/2020-election-trump-biden-peace-war">Biden has promised to bring home US combat troops from Afghanistan</a>, but he never committed to doing so right away, giving himself until the <a href="https://www.cfr.org/article/presidential-candidates-war-afghanistan">end of his first term</a>. He also said he would still potentially keep a small US military presence in the country to continue counterterrorism operations <a href="https://thehill.com/opinion/international/536694-recalibrating-us-strategy-for-peace-in-afghanistan">against ISIS and al-Qaeda</a>. That meant it was always possible Biden wouldn’t abide by the terms of the Trump-era deal.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="xfqxkw">
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His administration has signaled as much. In January, chief Pentagon spokesperson <a href="https://apnews.com/article/troop-withdrawals-military-and-defense-taliban-john-kirby-afghanistan-5fe4ff472db4e9795cab2a520053229e">John Kirby</a> said the Taliban’s violence against Afghans and continued ties to al-Qaeda cast doubt on America’s scheduled departure in May, and the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/15/world/asia/taliban-afghanistan.html">New York Times</a> reported this week that the Defense Department has requested more military options for the country — including an increase of troops.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Fdef4y">
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Administration officials and experts tell me Biden’s team is deep into its Afghanistan policy review. Some worry, that it’s a plodding process that could run up to the May 1 deadline. “They seem pretty set on taking their time,” said the International Crisis Group’s Watkins. Meanwhile, two US officials told me the review is nearly complete, well ahead of schedule.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="QfbIA1">
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Still, that the review hasn’t wrapped may explain why the Taliban put out a letter Tuesday pressuring the US to get out sooner rather than later. “The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan is aware of its obligations, other parties must also discharge their own obligations,” read the <a href="http://alemarahenglish.net/?p=42767">statement</a> by Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar Akhund, chief of the Taliban’s political office, using the group’s preferred name for its political organization.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="FJcYfP">
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Of course, Biden faces a near-impossible decision. If he commits to the withdrawal, many analysts fear the Taliban will exploit the resulting vacuum to push for another complete takeover of the country. The <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/15/world/asia/taliban-afghanistan.html">New York Times</a> reports that the insurgent group has taken military outposts outside major cities like Kunduz and Kandahar, perhaps in preparation for such a fight.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="oNMGq7">
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But if Biden chooses to keep US troops in the country, it’s likely the US will see more Americans killed, adding to the <a href="https://www.defense.gov/casualty.pdf">2,400</a> already lost since the US invaded the country in 2001. What’s more, violating the terms of the US-Taliban agreement<strong> </strong>might end any near-term chance for peace. “It could be a generationally defining moment in the Taliban where they decide talking isn’t worth it,” Watkins told me.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="znWCip">
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There are other issues that will come up during the NATO meeting this week, and discussions there might inform what Biden will do. But the looming deadline might be cause for the administration — and the president in particular — to prioritize Afghanistan policy more than it has already.
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</p></li>
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<li><strong>Why the Texas power grid is struggling to cope with the extreme cold</strong> -
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<figure>
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<img alt="The Texas Capitol is surrounded by snow on February 15 in Austin, Texas." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/B9nif6CPyALZD1OPg237XJqC4cQ=/353x0:5612x3944/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/68825373/GettyImages_1231190396.0.jpg"/>
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<figcaption>
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A sudden winter storm has triggered power outages across Texas, including its capital, Austin. | Montinique Monroe/Getty Images
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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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A sudden spike in energy demand and a loss of natural gas, coal, nuclear, and wind energy during a winter storm triggered blackouts across the state.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="RXTsWz">
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Winter Storm Uri chilled large areas of the western, central, and southern US over the weekend, straining the power grid in some places so badly that millions of Americans have had to go without power in temperatures below freezing.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="vrRJnt">
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The <a href="https://www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/discussions/hpcdiscussions.php?disc=pmdspd">National Weather Service</a> on Monday reported that 150 million Americans were under various winter storm warnings, with heavy snow and ice still likely to sweep from the southern Plains, to the Ohio Valley, to the Northeast.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="MIZlmg">
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Thousands of utility customers in states like <a href="https://www.wwltv.com/article/weather/severe-weather/power-outages-latest-updates-winter-storm-louisiana/289-c55bfe6f-b4fd-41e5-835d-58873d70c671">Louisiana</a> and <a href="https://www.wtok.com/2021/02/15/mississippi-power-outage-update/">Mississippi</a> suffered blackouts as ice knocked out power lines.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="vBSYql">
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Texans, however, may be shivering more than others, with some of the coldest temperatures in 30 years, and some of the biggest power grid problems. More than <a href="https://poweroutage.us/area/state/texas">4.2 million customers</a> had lost power as of Tuesday morning, when temperatures dipped as low as 4 degrees Fahrenheit — lower than Anchorage, Alaska — in cities like Dallas. Flights were canceled out of <a href="https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/austin-airport-flights-canceled-winter-weather/269-954ab80c-f1c3-4931-9154-de0f8a64e2f7">Austin-Bergstrom International Airport</a>. On Sunday, President Joe Biden approved a <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/02/14/president-joseph-r-biden-jr-approves-texas-emergency-declaration/">state of emergency</a> declaration for Texas following a request from Gov. Greg Abbott.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="F90SJT">
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For residents of the Lone Star State, the problem stems from both a record spike in electricity demand in a place that rarely gets this cold, as well as an unexpected drop in the supply of energy from <a href="https://www.statesman.com/story/news/politics/2021/02/15/rolling-texas-blackouts-2-million-without-power-statewide/6752280002/">natural gas, coal, wind, nuclear, and solar</a> sources besieged by cold and ice.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="nLym6Z">
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This combination of shortfalls has forced power grid operators to conduct rolling blackouts, where power is shut off to different areas for a limited period of time. Local utilities are asking customers to conserve power and set their thermostats lower. For some customers, these blackouts aren’t rolling, instead stretching on for an unknown duration. On Tuesday afternoon, grid operators told Texas legislators that <a href="https://www.dallasnews.com/news/weather/2021/02/16/ercot-says-they-have-no-idea-when-texas-power-outages-will-end/">outages could last for days</a> and that they weren’t sure when the power outages would end.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="TPbs5S">
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In Harris County, which includes the city of Houston, health workers <a href="https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Harris-County-hustles-to-distribute-8-400-15952293.php">scrambled to distribute Covid-19 vaccines</a> as freezers lost power and backup generators failed. The county had to hurriedly administer 8,500 doses of the Covid-19 Moderna vaccine, which must be stored at temperatures between minus 13 degrees and 5 degrees Fahrenheit.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="GFnQNZ">
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Throughout the state, the <a href="https://twitter.com/HaydenJSparks/status/1361421456484093955">National Guard has been deployed</a> and 135 public warming centers have opened up to give people a respite from the frigid weather, although Covid-19 precautions remain in effect.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="GDsj2H">
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Texas’s grid crisis is a stark reminder that extreme weather events like Uri remain a threat to energy infrastructure across the country. There are, however, some unique factors in Texas that have put the state in such a precarious position. And with more frigid weather in store this week, Texans can’t come in from the cold just yet.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h3 id="Uw6x8J">
|
||
Why the extreme cold has the Texas power grid shaking in its boots
|
||
</h3>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ZHqAfh">
|
||
Unlike other states, Texas operates its own internal power grid that serves much of the state. Managed by the nonprofit Electric Reliability Council of Texas, or <a href="http://www.ercot.com/">ERCOT</a>, the grid provides 90 percent of the state’s electricity and serves 26 million customers.
|
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</p>
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="4Hzb1B">
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It draws on a diverse range of power sources in a competitive market. The <a href="https://www.eia.gov/state/?sid=TX#tabs-4">largest source of electricity</a> in Texas is natural gas, followed by wind and solar, coal, then nuclear. The state is the largest oil, natural gas, and wind energy producer in the US.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="h8A7Mw">
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||
The sudden cold snap this weekend put the state’s ample resources to the test, with demand reaching a record high peak for the winter, more than 69,000 megawatts. That’s 3,200 MW higher than the previous record set in 2018.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<div id="L1EPqy">
|
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" dir="ltr" lang="en">
|
||
<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ERCOT?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ERCOT</a> set a new winter peak demand record this evening, reaching 69,150 MW between 6 and 7 p.m. This is more than 3,200 MW higher than the previous winter peak set back in January 2018. Thanks to everyone who has been conserving today. We appreciate it! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/conserve?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#conserve</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/saveenergy?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#saveenergy</a> <a href="https://t.co/eq56LLxcAS">pic.twitter.com/eq56LLxcAS</a>
|
||
</p>
|
||
— ERCOT (<span class="citation" data-cites="ERCOT_ISO">@ERCOT_ISO</span>) <a href="https://twitter.com/ERCOT_ISO/status/1361142665140711427?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 15, 2021</a>
|
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</blockquote></div></li>
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||
</ul>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="oiU9Xe">
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As demand reached new heights, the supply of electricity fell drastically in the past few days, far below what operators expected. Ordinarily, ERCOT plans for winter to be much warmer and anticipates a lower energy demand. Power providers often schedule downtime and maintenance during the winter months to prepare for the massive annual surge in electricity demand in the hot Texas summer. The state’s ample wind and solar energy resources are also diminished in the winter, so ERCOT doesn’t depend on them to meet much of the demand they anticipate.
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||
</p>
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||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="PFq0b0">
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However, the cold itself posed a direct challenge to the power sources that the state was counting on. <a href="https://www.statesman.com/story/news/2021/02/14/historic-winter-storm-freezes-texas-wind-turbines-hampering-electric-generation/4483230001/">Wind turbines</a> iced up. Coal piles froze.
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||
</p>
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||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="a5PJeN">
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The biggest shortfall in energy production stemmed from natural gas. <a href="https://www.news-leader.com/story/news/local/ozarks/2021/02/15/springfield-city-utilities-issues-alert-natural-gas-shortage-cold-weather/6750133002/">Gas pipelines</a> were blocked with ice or their compressors lost power. Much of the gas that was available was prioritized for heating homes and businesses rather than generating electricity. That’s helpful for people who use gas for heating but less so for those who use electric furnaces.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<div id="7s9Qgo">
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||
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" dir="ltr" lang="en">
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||
The Texas power grid has not been compromised.<br/><br/>The ability of some companies that generate the power has been frozen. <br/><br/>This includes the natural gas & coal generators.<br/><br/>They are working to get generation back on line. <br/><br/>ERCOT & PUC are prioritizing residential consumers. <a href="https://t.co/wDiDXN17Fu">https://t.co/wDiDXN17Fu</a>
|
||
</p>
|
||
— Greg Abbott (<span class="citation" data-cites="GregAbbott_TX">@GregAbbott_TX</span>) <a href="https://twitter.com/GregAbbott_TX/status/1361398774216744967?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 15, 2021</a>
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||
</blockquote>
|
||
</div>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="bqW9zx">
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||
Wholesale natural gas prices, meanwhile, shot up as much as <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-02-12/weekend-freeze-to-set-records-in-u-s-as-energy-prices-spike">4,000 percent</a>. According to <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-02-12/weekend-freeze-to-set-records-in-u-s-as-energy-prices-spike">Bloomberg</a>, electricity prices in northern Texas jumped to $300 per megawatt-hour, up from the average this month of $18 per megawatt-hour.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="j8y5On">
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||
In total, about <a href="http://www.ercot.com/news/releases/show/225244">34,000 megawatts of power generation</a> in Texas went offline during the winter blast, more than 40 percent of peak winter demand. So even with a diverse range of energy sources, Texas was left scrounging for electrons in the bitter cold.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h3 id="zmgsfG">
|
||
Many parts of the country suffer outages in extreme weather, but everything is bigger in Texas
|
||
</h3>
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||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Oc93JU">
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||
The power grid is a complex beast, but it becomes unstable when there is more energy demand than supply, which forces drastic actions like deliberate blackouts.
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||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="7dmCjC">
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||
One question many Texans are asking is whether ERCOT should have seen a scenario like this coming and done more to prepare. ERCOT has historically been more worried about meeting peak summer demand, which can top <a href="https://www.eia.gov/electricity/state/texas/">125,000 megawatts</a> as hundreds of thousands of air conditioners switch on to cool during the summer heat.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="l9vxgP">
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||
However, Texas has faced cold snaps before, and the current winter storm was forecast days in advance. Some <a href="https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1516588&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nature.com%2Farticles%2Fs41467-018-02992-9%3Fftag%3DYHF4eb9d17&referrer=vox.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.vox.com%2F2021%2F2%2F16%2F22284140%2Ftexas-blackout-outage-winter-storm-uri-ercot-power-grid-cold-snow-austin-houston-dallas" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank">research suggests that as climate change warms the Arctic</a>, periods of extreme winter weather may become more frequent in the United States, and cold snaps that stress the power grid may become more common. But other climate researchers are skeptical of these results and think that periods of <a href="https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1516588&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nature.com%2Farticles%2Fs41558-020-00954-y&referrer=vox.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.vox.com%2F2021%2F2%2F16%2F22284140%2Ftexas-blackout-outage-winter-storm-uri-ercot-power-grid-cold-snow-austin-houston-dallas" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank">extreme cold will become less likely</a> as the planet warms.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="KCddhC">
|
||
ERCOT did do some modeling and planning ahead of this winter, but they used past winters as their benchmarks, which aren’t much help when the cold dips to record-breaking lows. “We studied a range of potential risks under both normal and extreme conditions, and believe there is sufficient generation to adequately serve our customers,” said Peter Warnken, manager of resource adequacy at ERCOT, in a report <a href="http://www.ercot.com/content/wcm/lists/197378/SARA-FinalWinter2020-2021.pdf">forecasting winter energy demand and supply</a> in Texas.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="wPJi3q">
|
||
The state was only expecting to lose about 8,600 megawatts in power generation over the winter, with a peak demand of roughly 58,000 megawatts. That forecast was far off the mark from the 34,000 megawatts that went offline and the peak of 69,000 megawatts in the recent winter storm.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="swgvu4">
|
||
Part of the problem may also be Texas’s go-it-alone approach to its electricity. “The Texas power grid is really an island,” said <a href="https://www.bakerinstitute.org/experts/daniel-cohan/">Daniel Cohan</a>, an associate professor of environmental engineering at Rice University who has done modeling research on the state’s power systems. “Whatever happens in Texas stays in Texas.” While there are some interconnections between Texas and neighboring states, those power lines aren’t adequate to draw the power it would need to cope with such a massive shortfall.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="0U5Fv5">
|
||
<a href="https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2018/1/3/16844854/energy-markets-coal-bailout-winter-cold-snap">Energy trading across states</a> has helped cushion the blow of extreme cold in past winters, but it’s not clear that there would be much power available for Texans to buy from other states right now, as many are also coping with their own soaring energy demands and supply shortfalls.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="7xVn96">
|
||
The Texas blackouts may also be a symptom of a lack of proper upkeep. “The ERCOT grid has collapsed in exactly the same manner as the old Soviet Union,” Ed Hirs, an energy fellow in the department of economics at the University of Houston, told the <a href="https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/energy/article/Wholesale-power-prices-spiking-across-Texas-15951684.php?utm_campaign=CMS%20Sharing%20Tools%20(Premium)&utm_source=t.co&utm_medium=referral">Houston Chronicle</a>. “It limped along on underinvestment and neglect until it finally broke under predictable circumstances.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="CtrgIM">
|
||
And Texas isn’t the only part of the country that has struggled to stay warm in chilly winters. In 2019, a winter storm swept across the <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/1/31/18205244/polar-vortex-cold-heat-natural-gas">Midwest and Northeast</a>, with spikes in electricity demand and sudden drops in natural gas production that forced people to ration heat and reduce power use.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="O3iTIW">
|
||
On the other end of the spectrum, <a href="https://grist.org/energy/renewables-didnt-cause-californias-blackouts-so-what-did/">California suffered rolling blackouts</a> last summer as energy demand surged amid <a href="https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/147256/california-heatwave-fits-a-trend">record-breaking heat</a>. California utilities also shut off power to customers to <a href="https://www.cpuc.ca.gov/general.aspx?id=6442465765">prevent the ignition of wildfires</a>, when high winds picked up amid dry weather.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="dvJ3Lj">
|
||
These events triggered by weather extremes can overwhelm energy systems, even for those that face such spikes and dips on a regular basis. It’s too reductive to blame any individual factor like intermittent renewable energy, fossil fuel generator shutdowns, decrepit infrastructure, or inadequate planning, though such events often become a <a href="https://twitter.com/tedcruz/status/1296134869320380419">political Rorschach test</a>.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="yqNJlS">
|
||
Rather, it’s a combination of multiple cascading failures that leaves millions of people in the dark. The hope now is that the power outages in Texas will provide important lessons and help avoid similar problems in the future. “I think this is an event that people are going to be looking back at for years,” Cohan said.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="4ReSpk">
|
||
</p>
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||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="VzRUU3">
|
||
</p>
|
||
<ul>
|
||
<li><strong>Understanding Silence of the Lambs’ complicated cultural legacy</strong> -
|
||
<figure>
|
||
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/J5HQIajzL0A0QRuTws4NqjobGgU=/98x0:1761x1247/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/68827001/silence.0.png"/>
|
||
<figcaption>
|
||
Jodi Foster’s Clarice Starling in <em>Silence of the Lambs</em>. | Orion Pictures
|
||
</figcaption>
|
||
</figure>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
30 years after its debut, the classic horror film’s influence is so much bigger than Hannibal Lecter.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Vbkrvm">
|
||
The movie version of <em>The Silence of the Lambs</em> just turned 30 years old, and even setting aside all the fava beans and chianti jokes, it’s not a stretch to call the 1991 horror movie about an epicurean cannibal and the young FBI agent he mentors in the hunt for a serial killer one of the most important films ever made.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="y2vKMI">
|
||
On one level, <em>Silence of the Lambs</em>’ critical accolades speak for themselves. It remains the only horror movie in history to win the Oscar for Best Picture. It is one of <a href="http://oscartrivia.com/acting.html#bothbest">the few films ever</a> to deliver lead acting Oscars to both of its leads: Jodie Foster as the troubled agent Clarice Starling and Anthony Hopkins as psychopath-cum-psychologist Hannibal Lecter — though Hopkins appeared in the movie for less than half an hour. And it’s one of <a href="https://reelrundown.com/film-industry/only-films-to-win-all-big-five-oscars">only three films</a> in history to sweep the “big five” Oscar awards — a full house of the two lead acting Oscars, Best Adapted Screenplay (to writer Ted Tally), Best Picture, and Best Direction to Jonathan Demme.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="rilSrT">
|
||
Then there’s the cultural staying power of <em>Silence of the Lambs</em> and its characters, as well as the entire series of novels by Thomas Harris on which they’re based. A previous attempt to bring the Harris novels to the screen, Michael Mann’s 1986 film <em>Manhunter</em>, which <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TN244X4OiLQ">featured</a> <em>Succession</em>’s Brian Cox as Lecter, was a box office flop. But the success of <em>Silence of the Lambs</em> in 1991 eventually spawned a sequel (2001’s <em>Hannibal</em>), two prequels (2002’s <em>Red Dragon</em> and 2007’s <em>Hannibal Rising</em>), the critically acclaimed NBC series <em>Hannibal</em> (2013-2015), and the CBS crime procedural <em>Clarice</em>, which debuted this month.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="cy83vn">
|
||
It also engendered decades of parodies, references, and homages throughout every corner of pop culture, from <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9cERvUX6sE">Billy Crystal’s famous entrance to the Oscars</a> in 1992 to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Js6-uvTIu0s">comedy sketches</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uS5FvK7AQZ4">Lego reenactments</a>, and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfnqIMvrduo">countless riffs in movies and on TV</a>. The sheer cultural dominance of <em>Silence of the Lambs</em> over the years is hard to quantify; at this point, it’s likely that every major scene from the film is recognizable to many Americans, even if they’ve never seen it, just from the overwhelming number of references that have permeated pop culture — from the fava beans to the lotion in the basket to Precious the dog.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ulHcLN">
|
||
There are few other films in existence that we can make similar claims about — especially R-rated horror movies whose graphic, gory, and/or terrifying content would typically prevent them from reaching cultural saturation. And yet today, one has only to mimic Hannibal Lecter’s unforgettable “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEQZiElLp-E">fffffffff hiss-slurp</a>” to invoke the entire film and our collective impressions of it, both overwrought and chilling.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="76RPRb">
|
||
Even at 30, <em>Silence of the Lambs</em> — for all it’s been endlessly parodied — remains a well-acted, superbly directed, and deeply disturbing film. Outside of giving us decades of bad Hannibal impressions, it’s had a profound impact on just about every aspect of pop culture: the media’s portrayal of women in the workplace; a collective fascination with serial killers as well as a collective interest in true crime and crime procedurals; the roles that women in Hollywood are “allowed” to play; and the cultural reception not only of horror movies but of genre movies in general. It has also profoundly impacted the trans community, though decidedly not for the better.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="PXEwQ2">
|
||
That’s a hell of a legacy for one film to have, so let’s break down some of <em>Silence of the Lambs</em>’ biggest cultural impacts.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h3 id="PV2ZZL">
|
||
<em>Silence of the Lambs</em> elevated mainstream horror after a decade of schlocky teen camp — and proved genre films could also have prestige
|
||
</h3>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="5mxGmn">
|
||
From the beginning, <em>Silence of the Lambs</em> was a cultural event. I was too young to see the movie when it first came out, but its opening weekend still made a vivid impression on me: I remember my mother’s reaction after attending a packed showing, as she excitedly described the experience of being in the dark with Jodi Foster at the film’s climax.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="qJdw6L">
|
||
Foster’s agent Starling was terrified as she navigated a pitch-black room, unaware that the film’s villain, Buffalo Bill (played by Ted Levine), was watching her through night-vision goggles. Thanks to director Jonathan Demme’s skillful manipulation of the audience’s point of view, viewers were watching Clarice through the same lenses — and to my preteen ears, listening to my mom recall the ending and the gasps of the audience, few things had ever been more harrowing. That immediate audience buzz made <em>Silence of the Lambs</em> a sleeper hit, propelling it to unexpected box office success.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="MXrlOn">
|
||
The film eventually grossed <a href="https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0102926/">$130 million</a> at the domestic box office — more than any other horror film at that point except <em>Jaws</em> and <em>The Exorcist</em>. In the 15 years after those films, horror had become the realm of schlocky teen slashers, with the focus shifting away from the psychological horror of the ’70s to a more overwrought, teen-friendly aesthetic, in keeping with the ’80s as a whole. The genre became a landscape of elaborate practical effects and gore, punctuated by animatronic creatures (think <em>Gremlins</em> or any ’80s werewolf movie), with campy slashers like <em>Nightmare on Elm Street</em> or <em>Sleepaway Camp</em> prevailing.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="7PvKKX">
|
||
Today, there’s a lot about <em>Silence of the Lambs</em> that feels like caricature. Taken out of the context of the movie and its restrained tone, nearly every famous performance in it can come across as hammy and comical, from Hopkins’s leering Lecter to Foster’s deep Southern drawl to the creepy exaggerated sexism of her FBI colleagues. As a film, however, <em>Silence of the Lambs</em> is methodical, suspenseful, and eerie, with flashes of nightmarish details that hint at a much larger world of horror — and it felt that way to contemporary viewers. “‘The Silence of the Lambs’ is delicious with foreboding, a masterly suspense thriller that toys with our anticipation like a well-fed cat,” Rita Kempley wrote in the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/videos/thesilenceofthelambsrkempley_a0a158.htm">Washington Post’s review of the film</a>. “Adroitly directed by Jonathan Demme, it lurks about the exquisite edge of horror, before finally leaping into an unholy maw of bloody bones and self-awareness.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Ybr2fv">
|
||
While <em>Silence of the Lambs</em> did owe something to the idea that horror movies are just for teen date nights — it premiered on Valentine’s Day, after all — it also took a drastic tonal shift from most mainstream horror of the era. The film reverted to the much more sophisticated and atmospheric moods of previous decades of horror, announcing ’90s horror as a class that would mix the genre’s most overwrought elements with a thorough grounding in reality, thus paving the way for most of the decade’s important horror work, from <em>The Sixth Sense</em> to <em>The X-Files</em>.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="qm9I00">
|
||
It also proved that genre films and box office blockbusters could be taken seriously by critics and Academy voters — a subject that remains a sticking point for cinephiles and genre buffs. To date, while <em>Silence of the Lambs</em> is still the only horror film that has won Best Picture, its success and cultural dominance have helped make space for other genre films in the main Oscar categories — like <em>Get Out</em>’s Best Picture nomination in 2017, and fantasy <em>The Shape of Water</em>’s Best Picture win that same year.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="CS13FH">
|
||
But if <em>Silence of the Lambs</em> felt grounded in reality, despite its many overblown performances and tropes, that was largely thanks to one character — Clarice Starling — and her struggle to navigate a ruthlessly sexist workplace.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h3 id="22A00W">
|
||
Clarice Starling influenced a generation of women detectives and “strong female characters”
|
||
</h3>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="vt4XuC">
|
||
“I felt the twinge that Clarice had the potential for joining the ranks of the great all-time movie heroines,” Demme told the Hollywood Reporter in 2016, in response to <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lists/50-best-female-characters-entertainment-industry-survey-results-951483">a survey ranking agent Starling</a> as one of Hollywood’s most loved female heroines. “Jodie led the charge on bringing the film’s theme — one young woman fighting her way through a male-dominated ecosystem to save the life of another young woman — into vivid cinematic focus.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="cEqq2I">
|
||
Foster’s performance — and the seriousness with which she and Demme took Starling as a character — elevated <em>Silence of the Lambs</em> and made Starling a film icon, a now-<a href="https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/article/fearless-female-movie-heroes-who-inspire-us/">routine</a> <a href="https://www.goldderby.com/gallery/strong-female-characters-greatest-films/women-taking-charge-norma-rae/">addition</a> to every “strong female character” list. Her mix of fragility, determination, and independence gave her complexity at a time when women’s workplace struggles were <a href="https://slate.com/human-interest/2017/04/director-jonathan-demme-faced-down-silence-of-the-lambs-gay-backlash.html">usually depicted</a> as comedic, and broke ground for an entire generation of female characters. Without her, we arguably wouldn’t have had <em>The X-Files</em>’ agent Scully; <em>Silence of the Lambs</em> <a href="http://strangehorizons.com/non-fiction/articles/the-x-files-faith-and-paranoia-in-america/">reportedly inspired</a> series creator Chris Carter’s concept of the show as well as <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/BL-SEB-89468">Gillian Anderson’s portrayal</a> of Scully herself.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="SY6znL">
|
||
<em>Silence of the Lambs</em> also kicked off a decade that saw a huge boom in television crime procedurals, many featuring dogged women ferreting their way through cases while battling institutional sexism. One can trace a direct line from Clarice Starling to characters like <em>Law & Order: SVU</em>’s Olivia Benson or Helen Mirren’s brusque Jane Tennison in the long-running British classic <em>Prime Suspect.</em> Even the string of late ’90s and early 2000s thrillers about broken women surviving trauma seem to have a relationship to Starling or to <em>Silence of the Lambs</em>’ kidnap victim Catherine (Brooke Smith) — think, like, every Ashley Judd thriller of the era, from <em>Kiss the Girls</em> (1997) to <em>Double Jeopardy</em> (1999). At opposite ends of a spectrum of women in uniform, Frances McDormand’s deceptively laconic police chief in <em>Fargo</em> (1996) and Demi Moore’s determined <em>G.I. Jane </em>(1997) also feel like characters who couldn’t exist without Starling.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Jgyvb9">
|
||
Through Clarice Starling, Foster and Demme created a template for women battling organizational sexism outside of the corporate arena of ’80s films, while retaining their rugged individualism. When all efforts to navigate and work within the system have failed, these strong female characters usually find themselves being forced to work on their own, relying on their intuition, training, and judgment with little or no backup. Decades later, agent Starling is still one of the most immediately familiar examples of this trope in action — and one of its best.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h3 id="p3DgHd">
|
||
<em>Silence of the Lambs</em> revealed a cultural fascination with serial killers and gave us decades of media devoted to criminal profiling
|
||
</h3>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="0xxdyC">
|
||
Sterling’s methodical approach to profiling and catching serial killer Buffalo Bill is something that resonates in countless works today. One of the most obvious recent examples is <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/8/18/20807968/mindhunter-season-2-review-netflix-btk-true-story">Netflix’s <em>Mindhunter</em></a>, which fits right into the litany of television procedurals and true crime documentaries that have attempted to chronicle similar hunts to profile and catch criminals.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="lVb4FB">
|
||
In 1991, audiences were primed to fear serial killers and abductions after a decade of mass hysteria, warnings of “stranger danger,” and <a href="https://www.vox.com/2016/10/30/13413864/satanic-panic-ritual-abuse-history-explained">Satanic Panic</a>. The improbable elements of the plot, like Buffalo Bill’s motive for killing (to make and wear skin suits) or his placement of live moths inside the bodies of his victims, weren’t that outlandish after years of false media claims about nonexistent satanic rituals.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="C7nPFe">
|
||
Additionally, the 1980s were a <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-45324622">peak time for serial killers</a>. The movie capitalized on their prevalence in headlines, and in fact, real-life serial killers like Ed Gein and John Wayne Gacy, as well as serial abductor Gary Heidnik, all became famous — or at least more famous — after its release because different elements of the Buffalo Bill character were based on them. This was a time rife with depictions of such criminals in true crime writing and tabloid media, so if anything, viewers were likely to expect their serial killers to be garish and horrifically over-the-top.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="LbcE2O">
|
||
Because <em>Silence of the Lambs</em>’ plot validated so many of the dominant ’80s narratives about crime, the movie became the main reference point many people had for understanding such crimes at all. That’s not entirely a good thing: Hannibal Lecter’s popularity <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2021/02/who-is-clarice-without-hannibal-silence-of-the-lambs/618002/">far overshadows</a> that of Clarice, in a way that closely mirrors <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/2019/5/3/18212473/ted-bundy-movie-documentary-true-crime-podcasts">pop culture’s long-established tendency to glamorize</a> and fixate on the criminals at the expense of their victims and the people working to catch them. (This tendency has increasingly been criticized and <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/21494787/american-murder-netflix-review-chris-watts-shanann-watts-case">reversed</a> in recent years in favor of <a href="https://www.vox.com/22258961/netflix-the-ripper-review-yorkshire-ripper-documentary">reframing these narratives</a>, but the cultural fascination with serial killers hasn’t gone away.) If anything, <em>Silence of the Lambs</em>’ popularity validated that approach to true crime for decades.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="uXmSDV">
|
||
Unfortunately, we now know that <a href="https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2018/11/12/18044688/criminal-profilers-mindhunter-hannibal-criminal-minds">criminal profiling doesn’t work</a> — a harsh truth that invalidates not only some of the realism of <em>Silence of the Lambs</em> but also the many crime shows that have followed in its wake. It also undermines many of the reasons we attempt to study serial killers to begin with.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="9hwKd5">
|
||
It’s arguable that the movie’s impact on real-world crime narratives has lessened greatly due to the current true crime boom, which has arguably shifted the focus away from glorifying and profiling killers and expanded several related conversations about the justice system. But there’s another real-world community that’s still feeling the film’s repercussions — and not in a good way.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h3 id="a8IKu6">
|
||
The film profoundly — if unintentionally — impacted transgender people for the worse
|
||
</h3>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="imVslf">
|
||
A <a href="https://qz.com/quartzy/1566136/silence-of-the-lambs-is-a-win-for-women-but-fails-lgbtq-culture/">huge amount</a> of <a href="https://crookedmarquee.com/the-continuing-power-and-complicated-legacy-of-the-silence-of-the-lambs/">discourse</a> has occurred over the past three decades surrounding <em>Silence of the Lambs’</em> transphobia. From the moment of the film’s release, the movie drew sustained criticism from LGBTQ+ people and advocacy groups for its depiction of Buffalo Bill, including <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1992/03/31/the-triumph-of-the-lambs/afbc3636-881a-4918-ba0f-eb11045f7175/">an Oscar-night protest</a> that resulted in the arrests of 10 people.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="6BtKTD">
|
||
Recall that Buffalo Bill, the film’s villain, is a queer-coded serial killer obsessed with wearing the skins of his victims, keeping their clothes and often dressing like them. This aspect of his character was based on 1950s serial killer Ed Gein, who also served as the basis for Norman Bates’s cross-dressing serial killer in 1960’s <em>Psycho</em>.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="pmuQAN">
|
||
For years, director Jonathan Demme found himself both <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/silence-of-the-lambs-lgbt-criticism_n_5609372">justifying</a> and <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/jonathan-demme-on-gaza-transphobia-in-the-silence-of-the-lambs-and-meryl-streep-as-a-rock-star">apologizing for</a> the film’s portrayal of the character, acknowledging that while the serial killer wasn’t intended to be trans, Demme had failed to get that point across to audiences.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="tMPPxU">
|
||
In Demme’s defense, <em>Silence of the Lambs</em> explicitly tries to distance Buffalo Bill’s behavior from transgender identity. Lecter observes that Bill isn’t transgender, and Starling reminds the audience that there’s no link between transgender identity and violence. The film overtly tries to separate its villain from the trans community — in stark contrast to many of its predecessors in the horror genre.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="EwJTkA">
|
||
When <em>Silence of the Lambs</em> came out in 1991, it followed many other horror films that had problematically portrayed transgender and cross-dressing characters — films like <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/jul/25/brian-de-palma-dressed-to-kill-psycho"><em>Psycho</em></a>, <a href="https://idontlikemundays.com/31-days-of-fright-the-house-with-the-laughing-windows/"><em>The House With the Laughing Windows</em></a> (1976), <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/jul/25/brian-de-palma-dressed-to-kill-psycho"><em>Dressed to Kill</em></a> (1980), and <a href="https://www.dreadcentral.com/editorials/295274/going-back-to-sleepaway-camp-revisiting-the-problematic-classic/"><em>Sleepaway Camp</em></a><em> </em>(1983). Almost universally, those films depict queer and genderqueer identity as either synonymous with evil or as the <em>reason</em> for the villainous character’s deviance. (The LGBTQ horror community has since <a href="https://harmonycolangelo.medium.com/the-transgender-defense-of-angela-baker-and-sleepaway-camp-82dd54ddf9cd">reclaimed</a> some of these films, reinterpreting them through trans-positive lenses while still acknowledging their problematic aspects, though transphobia continues to be a pernicious horror film trope, as in 2013’s <a href="https://bloody-disgusting.com/editorials/3478531/horror-queers-insidious-chapter-2/"><em>Insidious: Chapter 2</em></a>.)
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="U4FZtz">
|
||
So <em>Silence of the Lambs</em> does notably distance itself from that legacy by insisting that’s not the case with this villain; he just, apparently, happens to cross-dress.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="8e5bdb">
|
||
When most people think of Buffalo Bill, however, they don’t remember Clarice Starling and Hannibal Lecter clinically discussing how he’s not transgender; they remember, as Vox critic at large Emily VanDerWerff <a href="https://twitter.com/emilyvdw/status/1358873646094118914">recently pointed out</a> on Twitter, “a weirdo serial killer dancing around in women’s clothes.” So its textual denial can only do so much.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<div id="BT5Kj8">
|
||
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" dir="ltr" lang="en">
|
||
Obviously, knowing the intent of a work doesn’t mean shit, because the intent is less important than the impact. And when people saw SotL, they didn’t hear “Buffalo Bill isn’t trans.” They saw a weirdo serial killer dancing around in women’s clothes.
|
||
</p>
|
||
— Emily VanDerWerff ♀️ (<span class="citation" data-cites="emilyvdw">@emilyvdw</span>) <a href="https://twitter.com/emilyvdw/status/1358874372753092608?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 8, 2021</a>
|
||
</blockquote></div></li>
|
||
</ul>
|
||
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="lh3C0v">
|
||
In fact, the film’s intentions seem to have amounted to little for many trans people; <a href="https://www.anrdoezrs.net/links/8532386/type/am/sid/vox/https://www.shudder.com/blog/the-lambs-still-scream-reanalyzing-silence-of-the-lambs" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank">at Shudder</a>,<strong> </strong>Harmony Colangelo recently wrote about “every experience I’ve had where people compare me to Buffalo Bill, snicker as they’ve asked me if ‘I’d fuck me so hard,’ or generally see me as some sort of threat directly because of this film.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="kDrY8F">
|
||
“There is no film that leaves me feeling worse than <em>Silence of the Lambs</em>,” she concluded, “and it is elevated because of how I have been treated as a result of it.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Wzs8OI">
|
||
Not everyone in the LGBTQ community views <em>Silence of the Lambs</em> as purely transphobic. Some have argued for <a href="https://slate.com/human-interest/2017/04/director-jonathan-demme-faced-down-silence-of-the-lambs-gay-backlash.html">a redemptive view</a> of the film’s queer aesthetic, while others have reframed its perceived depiction of villainous trans identity as “<a href="https://www.them.us/story/trans-artists-empowered-monstrousness">empowered monstrosity</a>.” But it’s difficult to deny that the film has disseminated a transphobic worldview that many viewers readily accepted, regardless of either its intent or the other positive aspects of its legacy. As VanDerWerff <a href="https://twitter.com/emilyvdw/status/1358877275802935297">noted</a>, “It is one of the most influential movies ever made. Its influence includes transphobia.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="9VViXF">
|
||
In other words, the cultural legacy of <em>The Silence of the Lambs</em> is a mixed bag, full of positives and pejoratives alike, all of which are impossible to ignore.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="x5Pp2L">
|
||
We might even say it’s a bit like its main character, Clarice: It’s damaged and imperfect, but it’s unquestionably persistent — and its impact is here to stay.
|
||
</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"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>JLN Stadium at Margao to host ISL final for record third time on March 13</strong> - The first-leg semifinals will be held at two venues - GMC Stadium at Bambolim and JL Nehru Stadium - on March 5 and 6. The return legs are scheduled for March 8 and 9 at the same venues.</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>Ind vs Eng | India keeps all players in squad for last 2 Tests except Thakur</strong> - Shardul Thakur is the only player who has not been kept as he will be released to compete in the Vijay Hazare Trophy.</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>IPL franchise Kings XI Punjab renamed Punjab Kings</strong> - The franchise, jointly owned by Mohit Burman, Ness Wadia, Preity Zinta and Karan Paul, is yet to win an IPL title since the event’s inaugural edition in 2008</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>Cramping at end, Daniil Medvedev beats Andrey Rublev in Australian Open quarterfinal</strong> - No. 4-seeded Medvedev moved into the third Grand Slam semifinal of his career and pushed his current winning streak to 19 matches by beating good pal Rublev 7-5, 6-3, 6-2</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>Ashwin jumps to fifth in Test all-rounder rankings, retains seventh spot among bowlers</strong> - India’s Ravichandran Ashwin jumped to fifth spot among all-rounders in the latest ICC Test Player Rankings following his brilliant show with the bat</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>Software tool for automated diagnosis of COVID-19 lung infection</strong> - IISc-led team comes up with AnamNet, which is freely available to the public</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>Petrol at ₹100 | PM Modi says reducing import dependence</strong> - Price of petrol crossed the ₹100 per litre mark in Rajasthan after fuel rates were hiked for the ninth day in a row</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>Allot new exam centres, CBSE told</strong> - The Kerala State Commission for Protection of Child Rights has directed the CBSE Regional Officer here to sanction new examination centres for CBSE s</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>No info on cow science exam, say VCs</strong> - UGC circular says examination will be held on February 25</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>Mumbai Mayor travels in local train to spread awareness about face masks</strong> - She also conducted a raid on a hotel where several people who returned from Gulf countries were quarantined as part of the COVID-19 protocols.</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>Pablo Hasel protests: Thousands demand rapper’s release in Spain</strong> - Demonstrations were seen in dozens of cities after Pablo Hasel was jailed over tweets and lyrics.</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>Covid: Dutch crisis as court orders end to Covid curfew</strong> - Judges ordered the measure removed immediately but it will remain in place pending an appeal.</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>China overtakes US as EU’s biggest trading partner</strong> - China’s demand for cars and luxury goods from Europe bounced back in 2020 as its economy recovered.</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>In pictures: Greece’s Acropolis blanketed in snow</strong> - The snowfall is some of the heaviest seen in the Greek capital for years.</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>Barcelona 1-4 Paris St-Germain: Kylian Mbappe hat-trick after Lionel Messi opener</strong> - Kylian Mbappe scores a stunning hat-trick as Paris St-Germain rip Barcelona apart in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie at the Nou Camp.</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>Two visionaries: Marie Curie forged a friendship with dancer Loïe Fuller</strong> - Liz Heinecke on her new book <em>Radiant</em>, a parallel biography of two extraordinary women. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1741723">link</a></p></li>
|
||
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>France ties Russia’s Sandworm to a multiyear hacking spree</strong> - Destructively minded group has exploited an IT monitoring tool from Centreon. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1742949">link</a></p></li>
|
||
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>McLaren drops the V8, moves to V6 plug-in hybrid for its next supercar</strong> - It’s the first car to use McLaren’s new V6, as well as its new MCLA platform. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1742895">link</a></p></li>
|
||
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Online fighting games during COVID: How rollback helps us connect</strong> - We played <em>Guilty Gear Strive’s</em> online beta to see how its netcode holds up - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1742694">link</a></p></li>
|
||
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>An anniversary for great justice: Remembering “All Your Base” 20 years later</strong> - Back in our day, memes didn’t benefit from centralized services like YouTube, Twitter. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1742713">link</a></p></li>
|
||
</ul>
|
||
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-jokes-subreddit">From Jokes Subreddit</h1>
|
||
<ul>
|
||
<li><strong>I was reversing my car in the garage and asked my son to spot me, and let me know when I hit the wall.</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
|
||
<div class="md">
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
I heard a bang. “3:45 PM”, he said.
|
||
</p>
|
||
</div>
|
||
<!-- SC_ON -->
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/theriffguy"> /u/theriffguy </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/llnr2e/i_was_reversing_my_car_in_the_garage_and_asked_my/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/llnr2e/i_was_reversing_my_car_in_the_garage_and_asked_my/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
||
<li><strong>What’s the difference between a clitoris and Budweiser?</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
|
||
<div class="md">
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
A clitoris only tastes like piss for a minute.
|
||
</p>
|
||
</div>
|
||
<!-- SC_ON -->
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/wotmate"> /u/wotmate </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/llnbsc/whats_the_difference_between_a_clitoris_and/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/llnbsc/whats_the_difference_between_a_clitoris_and/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
||
<li><strong>Amazing how a colon can completely change the meaning of a sentence</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
|
||
<div class="md">
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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For example:
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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-Jane ate her friend’s sandwich.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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-Jane ate her friend’s colon.
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</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/HannibalGoddamnit"> /u/HannibalGoddamnit </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/ll5rv7/amazing_how_a_colon_can_completely_change_the/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/ll5rv7/amazing_how_a_colon_can_completely_change_the/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
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<li><strong>What did the cannibal do after dumping his girlfriend?</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
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<div class="md">
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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Wipe his ass
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</p>
|
||
</div>
|
||
<!-- 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/MoneyIsKindaCool"> /u/MoneyIsKindaCool </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/llny7l/what_did_the_cannibal_do_after_dumping_his/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/llny7l/what_did_the_cannibal_do_after_dumping_his/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
||
<li><strong>A soldier who has recently been promoted to corporal is taken to a bar by his sergeant.</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
|
||
<div class="md">
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
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The sergeant orders ten shots of tequila. The corporal is about to order the same, when the sergeant says, “Are you sure about that?”
|
||
</p>
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
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“Of course I’m sure!” replies the corporal. “I am no longer a private. I am a corporal now!” So the sergeant lets him order ten shots of tequila.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
Afterwards, the two men walk drunk out of the bar and run into two prostitutes, a blonde and a brunette. “Hey!” say the prostitutes. “Wanna have a good time?”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
“I would!” says the sergeant. “Me too!” says the corporal.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
“Are you sure about that?” the sergeant asks again. “Of course I’m sure!” replies the corporal. “I am no longer a private. I am a corporal now!” So the sergeant takes the blonde and the corporal takes the brunette.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
“I must warn you,” says the brunette, “I have the clap.” Neither of the two soldiers know what “the clap” is, so the sergeant looks it up in his pocket dictionary. “It’s safe,” he tells the corporal.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
A week later, the sergeant visits the corporal in the hospital. “Why did you tell me it was safe?” asks the corporal.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
“The dictionary told me the clap only affects the privates,” replies the sergeant, “and you are a corporal now.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
</div>
|
||
<!-- SC_ON -->
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/wimpykidfan37"> /u/wimpykidfan37 </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/ll7py7/a_soldier_who_has_recently_been_promoted_to/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/ll7py7/a_soldier_who_has_recently_been_promoted_to/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
||
</ul>
|
||
|
||
|
||
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