487 lines
60 KiB
HTML
487 lines
60 KiB
HTML
<!DOCTYPE html>
|
||
<html lang="" xml:lang="" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head>
|
||
<meta charset="utf-8"/>
|
||
<meta content="pandoc" name="generator"/>
|
||
<meta content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0, user-scalable=yes" name="viewport"/>
|
||
<title>06 November, 2022</title>
|
||
<style type="text/css">
|
||
code{white-space: pre-wrap;}
|
||
span.smallcaps{font-variant: small-caps;}
|
||
span.underline{text-decoration: underline;}
|
||
div.column{display: inline-block; vertical-align: top; width: 50%;}
|
||
</style>
|
||
<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>
|
||
<body>
|
||
<h1 data-aos="fade-down" id="daily-dose">Daily-Dose</h1>
|
||
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" data-aos-anchor-placement="top-bottom" id="contents">Contents</h1>
|
||
<ul>
|
||
<li><a href="#from-new-yorker">From New Yorker</a></li>
|
||
<li><a href="#from-vox">From Vox</a></li>
|
||
<li><a href="#from-the-hindu-sports">From The Hindu: Sports</a></li>
|
||
<li><a href="#from-the-hindu-national-news">From The Hindu: National News</a></li>
|
||
<li><a href="#from-bbc-europe">From BBC: Europe</a></li>
|
||
<li><a href="#from-ars-technica">From Ars Technica</a></li>
|
||
<li><a href="#from-jokes-subreddit">From Jokes Subreddit</a></li>
|
||
</ul>
|
||
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-new-yorker">From New Yorker</h1>
|
||
<ul>
|
||
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Why Republican Insiders Think the G.O.P. Is Poised for a Blowout</strong> - The consensus among pollsters and consultants is this Tuesday’s election will be a “bloodbath” for the Democratic Party. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/the-political-scene/why-republican-insiders-think-the-gop-is-poised-for-a-blowout">link</a></p></li>
|
||
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Aftermath of Israel’s Gevalt Election</strong> - Benjamin Netanyahu’s orchestration of a union between two ultranationalist groups will likely return him to power and may allow him to escape prosecution. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/the-aftermath-of-israels-gevalt-election">link</a></p></li>
|
||
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Political Attack on the Native American Vote</strong> - Voters on Navajo, Apache, and Hopi reservations helped swing Arizona for the Democrats in 2020. In response, the Republican governor and state legislature have curtailed ballot access for an already marginalized constituency. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/dispatch/the-political-attack-on-the-native-american-vote">link</a></p></li>
|
||
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Iran Arms Russia in the War in Ukraine</strong> - Tehran has deepened its alliance with Putin amid widespread protests at home. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/iran-arms-russia-in-the-war-in-ukraine">link</a></p></li>
|
||
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Chuck Schumer’s Final Call</strong> - The Senate Majority Leader navigated one of the most sweeping legislative sessions in memory—why haven’t voters seemed to notice? - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/the-political-scene/chuck-schumers-final-call">link</a></p></li>
|
||
</ul>
|
||
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-vox">From Vox</h1>
|
||
<ul>
|
||
<li><strong>An atmosphere of violence: stochastic terror in American politics</strong> -
|
||
<figure>
|
||
<img alt="FBI Warns of Broad Threat to New Jersey Synagogues, Urges Caution" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/oCKvP_s0Q2tvsqcu4CLrnLYGAVc=/440x0:7512x5304/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/71589279/1244474329.0.jpg"/>
|
||
<figcaption>
|
||
Lokman Vural Elibol/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
|
||
</figcaption>
|
||
</figure>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
Q&A with Kurt Braddock about how rhetorical strategies can lead to violence.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="oQHmiA">
|
||
The political environment less than a week before the <a href="https://time.com/6227754/political-violence-us-states-midterms-2022/">midterm elections</a> has a broad swathe of the American public on edge, particularly after high-profile incidents of <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2022/10/29/23428956/political-attacks-increasing-far-right-congress-pelosi">political violence</a> — both foiled and perpetrated.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="w8yusn">
|
||
According to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/11/04/poll-americans-concern-political-violence/">a new poll by the Washington Post and ABC News</a>, about 88 percent of US adults from across the political spectrum are concerned about political violence around the midterm elections. Of the 1,005 people surveyed, 63 percent said they were very concerned about politically-motivated violence — not a surprising statistic given the rise in public antisemitic speech, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/11/04/new-jersey-synagogue-threats-fbi/">a foiled plot to attack synagogues in New Jersey</a>, and a physical attack on Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s husband Paul last week.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="u06OE9">
|
||
Pelosi’s alleged attacker apparently wrote hundreds of blog posts with far-right messages and memes containing conspiracy theories about Jewish people, Black people, and Democrats, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/2022/10/29/david-depape-blog-pelosi-fairies/">the Post reported last week</a>. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/04/nyregion/new-jersey-synagogue-security-threat-suspect.html">Threats against New Jersey synagogues</a>, made in the wake of celebrities <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/kanye-west-twitter-kyrie-irving-1234623761/">Kanye West (now known as Ye) and basketball player Kyrie Irving </a>espousing antisemitic conspiracy theories and hate speech added to a general atmosphere of fear and unease.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="UilUca">
|
||
Though incidents of direct, specific violence are rare, the risk feels heightened. But another critical element that creates an environment of fear and paranoia is oblique, veiled threats or acceptance of violence that public figures, including former President Donald Trump, make about their adversaries.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="j9i2bx">
|
||
<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/05/us/politics/civil-war-social-media-trump.html">Stochastic terror</a> <strong>— </strong>the idea that even if people in power don’t specifically call their followers to violence, by entertaining it as a legitimate tactic or by demonizing a political enemy on a platform capable of reaching millions of people, one of those millions will be inspired to violent action — provides a framework for understanding the current moment. But it’s impossible to know who’s going to perpetrate that violent act, where and how they’ll strike, or even<strong> </strong>who or what the target could be.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="jwq75i">
|
||
To explain the concept of stochastic terror, Vox spoke to <a href="https://twitter.com/KurtBraddock">Kurt Braddock</a>, an assistant professor at American University’s school of communication. <a href="https://www.kurtbraddock.com/">Braddock’s research</a> focuses on how communication techniques influence social behavior, particularly in relation to violence. His book <a href="https://www.start.umd.edu/publication/weaponized-words-strategic-role-persuasion-violent-radicalization-and-counter"><em>Weaponized Words: The Strategic Role of Persuasion in Violent Radicalization and Counter-Radicalization</em></a><em>, </em>explores the communications methods that contribute to radicalization, as well as techniques to combat radicalization and stochastic terror. Our conversation below is edited for length and clarity.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h4 id="SjamHB">
|
||
Ellen Ioanes:
|
||
</h4>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="6yuxkG">
|
||
Can you define political violence?
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h4 id="pl6TKi">
|
||
Kurt Braddock:
|
||
</h4>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="23O4BM">
|
||
Political violence is a large category — researchers define it as any violence that’s politically motivated, but doesn’t include things like large-scale war. Oftentimes, when we talk about political violence, we use it as a catch-all term, usually to mean terrorism — violence against noncombatants, for the purposes of furthering a political goal or an ideological goal. So that can be something religious, it can be something purely political, it can be something related to a conspiracy theory, but we’re typically talking about violence or the threat of violence against noncombatants to achieve some sort of ideological goal.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h4 id="Zfxeht">
|
||
Ellen Ioanes:
|
||
</h4>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="uabFG2">
|
||
Is stochastic terror a uniquely American phenomenon?
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h4 id="MC5YjV">
|
||
Kurt Braddock:
|
||
</h4>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="H2QuE0">
|
||
Stochastic terrorism is not uniquely American. There have been cases abroad where similar situations have occurred. In one example, Brenton Tarrant, the Christchurch attacker, seems to have been motivated (in part) by fringe media figures who espoused ideas consistent with the “Great Replacement.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h4 id="rClvFT">
|
||
Ellen Ioanes:
|
||
</h4>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="HnxYMs">
|
||
Part of this phenomenon is the atmosphere of violence — the feeling that we don’t know what could happen at any given moment. What’s the theory behind stochastic terror, why is it effective, and why does it need its own designation?
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h4 id="f2k04G">
|
||
Kurt Braddock:
|
||
</h4>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="C5Xvw5">
|
||
Stochastic terrorism or stochastic terror is a unique kind of phenomenon that we’ve only really seen emerge in recent years. Stochastic is a term related to statistics that’s meant to define processes that, individually, they’re absolutely impossible to predict when and where something happens.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="JcEWXa">
|
||
The example that I always give is, if you’re sitting on your front porch, and you see dark storm clouds rolling in toward your neighborhood, you can be pretty confident that lightning is going to strike at some time in the next half hour, but you can never really predict when and where that’s going to happen. Stochastic terrorism is the same kind of idea, whereby an individual who you designate a stochastic terrorist, makes statements that seem to implicitly advocate the use of violence without actually directing it. It’s the kind of rhetoric that justifies or advocates the use of violence without directing it. The speaker gets this level of plausible deniability, where if somebody does carry out an attack, then they can say, “Well, I never actually directed them to do something.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Do9e2q">
|
||
The stochastic element relates to the use of a mass mediated channel to broadcast these kinds of messages. Terrorism is a very low base rate phenomenon — typically a person’s likelihood of engaging in terrorism is a fraction of a fraction of one percent. But when you’re reaching millions and millions of people, you start to approach complete likelihood that at least one person will interpret what that person said as a call to violence.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="UdYfta">
|
||
We’re getting people acting on behalf of some of these ideas, although they’re not directly incited per actual legal standards for incitement, they are motivated by the language. There have been several cases where individuals have cited some of the statements that have been made by people like former President Donald Trump.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="UWGo9r">
|
||
It’s important to note that stochastic terrorism, this indirect incitement, is not illegal. It’s protected by the First Amendment because the legal threshold for incitement to violence is so high. There’s a case, <em>Brandenburg v. Ohio</em>, where the Supreme Court ruled that for something to be incitement, there needs to be direction, and the incident needs to happen immediately after the direction. And stochastic terrorism doesn’t achieve either of those. So although the language does not meet the legal threshold for incitement, it nonetheless motivates people to actually engage in violence.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h4 id="Y9BFKY">
|
||
Ellen Ioanes:
|
||
</h4>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="INuo1Y">
|
||
To what extent does disinformation also play into it, in addition to having a large platform?
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h4 id="z0zvto">
|
||
Kurt Braddock:
|
||
</h4>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="M6qDYq">
|
||
I think most of what we call stochastic terrorism has been initiated or has been motivated by deliberately spread disinformation — that demonizes others, that tags other individuals, usually political opponents, as mortal threats. And if you look at most models for violent radicalization or radicalization to terrorism, one of the steps in those processes usually involves perceiving the intended target as being a direct mortal threat to an individual’s survival. So the kinds of disinformation that are being spun about certain targets as being these threats to the United States, to election processes, to political parties, by spinning them as mortal threats, the individual who’s exposed to the message is much more likely to perceive that person as a threat and deserving of violence against them.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h4 id="kKubi5">
|
||
Ellen Ioanes:
|
||
</h4>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="SdZBHA">
|
||
This is an environment that also enables threats against election workers and others, where people are picking up the phone or getting on their Twitter account and making vile, upsetting threats and disrupting people’s lives. So how does that action play into stochastic terror?
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h4 id="OUyouW">
|
||
Kurt Braddock:
|
||
</h4>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="cai41K">
|
||
Definitions for mobilized terrorism, that kinetic terrorism, include not just the performance of violence — it’s also the threat of violence against certain targets for political reasons. So when an individual has political enemies, who they peg as demons and as viable targets of aggression, that’s going to cause fear in those populations. So if we look at the standard definitions for terrorism, we can consider that to be almost a form of terrorism.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="gP8cm2">
|
||
Now, the part that people have a tough time reconciling, and I think rightfully so because I consider the First Amendment to be sacrosanct, is that the language is actually protected. But just because the language is protected by the First Amendment doesn’t mean that it doesn’t have negative implications and doesn’t cause actual harm to people. It’s important not to conflate something being legal, with being not harmful.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h4 id="nyZax6">
|
||
Ellen Ioanes:
|
||
</h4>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="p50FGl">
|
||
This phenomenon has had, I think, a demonstrable chilling effect on our political environment.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h4 id="xCU8r5">
|
||
Kurt Braddock:
|
||
</h4>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="DmwBYR">
|
||
I think that a lot of times, that’s the goal — that by inciting people, even indirectly, against the kinds of ideas stochastic terrorists see as being divergent from their own, they’re trying to keep people quiet, because if they speak up too much, then the individual who has the platform of millions and millions of people just needs to say some indirect word or blow some dog whistle, and then they’ll have people at their doorstep.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h4 id="7YMZwJ">
|
||
Ellen Ioanes:
|
||
</h4>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="rj1qN7">
|
||
Are there any effective interventions, or is this just how the world is now?
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h4 id="2fjvTv">
|
||
Kurt Braddock:
|
||
</h4>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="EXM4H0">
|
||
It’s how the world is, but I think we do have tools to fight back against it. Something that I’ve studied, even outside the domain of stochastic terrorism is something called attitudinal inoculation — providing individuals with information about a persuasive attempt they’re going to face. So in the event of stochastic terrorism, what I might do is go to somebody and tell them, “Listen, I know you’re not violent, I know you have no intention of becoming violent. But there are these actors out there who are going to make certain statements that will justify violence against others, and they’re trying to get you to consider maybe engaging in violence.” Then you provide the target with different counter arguments against that particular idea or that particular course of action. There’s 60 years of research on this strategy, typically in health communication and more standard political communication.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="2vE7x7">
|
||
If I provide someone with an inoculation message that undermines the strategy of this implicit incitement — if I get to those people and tell them about this particular strategy before they’re exposed to it, they’re much less likely to be influenced by it. I think this goes part and parcel with just a larger emphasis on media literacy in the United States. We are so media illiterate, not just kids who are kind of engaging with online content, disinformation, and conspiracy theories with nothing to defend themselves against it. But adults too, we need to help people do a better job of parsing apart ideas that they see online and recognizing when they’re being manipulated.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h4 id="nao2CM">
|
||
Ellen Ioanes:
|
||
</h4>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="FlcAZc">
|
||
It’s my sense that this is much more of a right wing phenomenon than it is a left wing phenomenon. Democratic political leaders are swift to denounce violence most of the time, whereas leaders on the right do not always do that explicitly.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h4 id="kmmJxQ">
|
||
Kurt Braddock:
|
||
</h4>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="mrJEeR">
|
||
If we just look at the data at the number of attacks that have occurred, the number of people who’ve been arrested for plots, the number of individuals who have actually cited things that have been said by elected leaders, the right wing violence far outpaces left wing violence. That’s not to say that it hasn’t happened on the left. But if we look at raw numbers of how much it occurs, and even scarier, how often it seems that right wing public officials seem to be perfectly happy to use [it] as a persuasive communication strategy, it’s not even close.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="PMUs1l">
|
||
I think that a lot of times these attacks are sanitized, and that allows for room for interpretation. If you look at the Pelosi attack, it took less than 12 hours for conspiracy theories to come out. If individuals look at what the attackers themselves say, which is often very indicative of their motivations, we’ll see an overlap between their reasons for the attack and the language used by some of their elected leaders and other political leaders that they admire. It’s almost verbatim. Once we see the A to B connection, I do think that the public would at least demand greater responsibility from their elected officials. And I think that’s the key — to recognize that this is being used as a political communication tool, and that we should demand federal responsibility from our elected leaders, right wing and left wing, especially right wing right now. Because what these things they’re saying — although we have every freedom to say whatever we want — these things have implications, and we need to see those implications.
|
||
</p></li>
|
||
<li><strong>3 Senate races that could still surprise us</strong> -
|
||
<figure>
|
||
<img alt="Former President Trump Holds Rally With Iowa Candidates In Sioux City" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/TUut1Uqutl9d_-ELL-tdueXpWWI=/362x0:4977x3461/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/71589240/1438800476.0.jpg"/>
|
||
<figcaption>
|
||
Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA) speaks during a campaign event at Sioux Gateway Airport on November 3, 2022 in Sioux City, Iowa. | Stephen Maturen/Getty Images
|
||
</figcaption>
|
||
</figure>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
The unexpectedly close contests in Iowa, Utah, and Washington, briefly explained.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="NyRCXU">
|
||
Every cycle, <a href="https://www.vox.com/2022/9/25/23356692/most-competitive-senate-races-georgia-nevada-wisconsin">there are the obvious Senate races</a> that could decide the majority. In this year’s midterms, <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2022/10/4/23387712/herschel-walker-georgia-senate-raphael-warnock">Georgia</a>, <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2022/10/13/23401531/fetterman-oz-pennsylvania-senate-polls-crime">Pennsylvania</a>, and <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/23402652/catherine-cortez-masto-nevada-senate">Nevada</a> are the closely watched contests that fall into this category. Beyond these, however, there are a couple of states where unique dynamics have made the races more competitive — and interesting — than previously expected.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="sFyLBU">
|
||
In Iowa, Utah, and Washington, Senate contests are still likely to favor the incumbents, who retain major partisan advantages. But polling in these places has been tighter than anticipated as challengers have launched surprisingly strong campaigns.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="OJQ2R7">
|
||
Across each of these races, the states’ political leanings and the sitting candidates’ advantages make it an uphill battle for those who are looking to unseat them. Still, the closeness of recent surveys has been surprising, leaving the door open for potential upsets.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="YA1odn">
|
||
“Every cycle, especially in the Senate, there’s a who-da-thunk-it race. I think any of those races may be options for that who-da-thunk it race,” says J. Miles Coleman, an elections expert at Sabato’s Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h3 id="kV3fGd">
|
||
Iowa
|
||
</h3>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="gPHz7w">
|
||
In Iowa, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R) is facing one of the most competitive reelection races of his career against retired Navy admiral Mike Franken (D). Grassley, 89, would become one of the oldest lawmakers to ever serve in Congress if he wins. Franken has argued that he’d provide a more independent — and fresh — alternative.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="VxyDKN">
|
||
A fixture in the Senate who is seeking his eighth term, Grassley has easily won most of his previous races, though his margins could be much tighter this time around. <a href="https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/polls/senate/2022/iowa/">According to the FiveThirtyEight polling average</a>, Grassley is ahead of Franken by roughly seven percentage points. In 2016, he beat his Democratic competitor by more than 20.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="9I5zSa">
|
||
“It says to me that Franken is running a competent campaign and has a shot to defeat the seemingly invincible Chuck Grassley,” pollster J. Ann Selzer <a href="https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/iowa-poll/2022/10/15/iowa-us-senate-race-chuck-grassley-mike-franken-poll-election/69562063007/">told the Des Moines Register</a> in October after a survey she fielded for the publication showed the two candidates within three percentage points of one another among likely voters.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="JHHd6n">
|
||
Grassley’s candidacy has been weakened in 2022 by a couple of factors including higher disapproval ratings, driven by his alignment with Trump, and scrutiny of his age, which 60 percent of voters viewed as <a href="https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/iowa-poll/2022/10/15/iowa-us-senate-race-chuck-grassley-mike-franken-poll-election/69562063007/">a concern in the Des Moines Register poll.</a>
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="sSIkDo">
|
||
“I think there are some Iowans who think he’s just too old for the job and unsure he’s going to be effective at doing the job for the next six years,” says Iowa State political scientist Dave Peterson. Grassley has defended himself by pointing to his packed work schedule, as well as the seniority he’s achieved in the Senate, which Republicans argue gives the state more clout.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="OmuFnr">
|
||
Franken, meanwhile, has argued that politics has become too contentious, calling out Grassley’s partisanship and framing himself as an independent option that puts “country over party.” He’s also emphasized his support of abortion rights and defense of programs like Social Security. Franken faced scrutiny for allegations that he kissed a former staffer without consent <a href="https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/elections/2022/09/19/mike-franken-us-senate-candidate-accused-assault-former-staffer/10426749002/">this past March</a>, which he has denied.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="lFW12r">
|
||
National Democrats have balked at investing in this race after putting significant resources toward the 2020 Senate election and multiple House races, only to lose. As such, Franken’s bid remains a longshot, though he’s made more inroads than Democrats initially anticipated.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h3 id="euYitk">
|
||
Utah
|
||
</h3>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="B4LGa4">
|
||
Sen. Mike Lee (R) is staring down a robust challenge from a candidate he once voted for himself.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="J1VpPC">
|
||
Lee opposed Trump in the 2016 election, instead supporting the independent candidate and former CIA officer Evan McMullin. Six years later, McMullin, a former Republican, is now running for Lee’s seat as an independent, positioning himself as the anti-Trump option once again.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="aA2ZbC">
|
||
“It’s a Republican state, but it’s not necessarily a pro-Trump state,” says Coleman about Utah.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Kh6Axd">
|
||
Lee eventually allied himself with Trump, and he has picked up flack for his support of the former president’s attempts to challenge the results of the 2020 election. While Lee did not vote to contest the electoral outcomes like some of his other Senate colleagues, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/capitol-siege-2022-midterm-elections-mark-meadows-utah-mike-lee-bcd25f8edaa18f6419ef275a8229e868">text messages with former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows</a> revealed that he’d supported other legal schemes to challenge the results. McMullin has seized on Lee’s actions as part of his campaign, <a href="https://www.msnbc.com/the-last-word/watch/evan-mcmullin-is-building-a-cross-partisan-coalition-to-unseat-gop-sen-lee-152370245568">arguing that this election serves as “ground zero for the defense of American democracy.”</a>
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="wMzjWd">
|
||
McMullin is aiming to rally support from moderate Republicans and Democrats — neither are running their own candidate in the race. Sen. Mitt Romney has also opted not to endorse in the election, a move that could potentially help McMullin win some of his supporters.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="bGnnpy">
|
||
Lee has argued that McMullin’s stances are unclear and that he’s a Democrat camouflaged as an independent. Lee also maintains a strong edge in the state, where a majority of voters still backed Trump in 2020, and where the <a href="https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/polls/senate/2022/utah/">FiveThirtyEight polling average</a> has him leading by about ten points. He has acknowledged the success of McMullin’s run, though, <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/utah-senate-race-evan-mcmullin-mike-lee-trump/">noting recently that “it’s close.”</a>
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h3 id="PFjWqV">
|
||
Washington
|
||
</h3>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="a9IZxV">
|
||
Sen. Patty Murray (D) is another DC veteran whose race has gotten a surprising amount of attention despite playing out in a deep blue state.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="w5KyxT">
|
||
Murray, a five-term incumbent, is running against Tiffany Smiley (R), a veterans affairs advocate and strong fundraiser who claims Murray is not in touch with her constituents in the same way she was when she first ran. Smiley has put the focus on both inflation and upticks in crime during the pandemic, arguing that Democrats are responsible for both.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="K0znbf">
|
||
“If there is an anti-incumbent, anti-establishment type situation, that could be fueling it for Smiley,” says Jessica Taylor, a Senate elections expert at Cook Political Report.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ysYKcq">
|
||
Murray, for her part, <a href="https://www.thecentersquare.com/washington/sen-murray-smiley-make-town-hall-pitch-to-washington-voters-as-polls-tighten/article_f0f8a0da-5952-11ed-9ad0-f36edf1c1a87.html">has pointed to her support for the Inflation Reduction Act</a>, which would reduce prescription drug costs, and to her defense of abortion rights, which Smiley has taken a vaguer position on. Smiley has said she wouldn’t support a national ban or a national vote codifying Roe into law.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="L5OkHb">
|
||
While Murray had a strong performance against Smiley in the state’s top-two primary earlier this year, winning 52 percent to her opponent’s 34 percent, polls have been closer in the weeks since, prompting Democrats to pump more money into the race. FiveThirtyEight’s polling average has <a href="https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/polls/senate/2022/washington/">Murray up by just six points,</a> a sign that Smiley’s campaign has gained momentum and could be benefiting from a national boost in Republican energy.<strong> </strong>Unlike the other two incumbents, Murray’s party is losing rather than gaining momentum with voters as election day approaches, making Republicans more bullish on Smiley as Election Day approaches.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="OBOaCX">
|
||
Political experts, however, note that Smiley would still have major ground to make up given the significant Democratic lean of the state and are skeptical she’d be able to fully cover it.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="qQa3lo">
|
||
Because of this, Murray remains the favorite, though she’s warned Democrats not to get complacent. “We are a Democratic state if people vote,” she said at a recent event, according <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/02/us/politics/patty-murray-tiffany-smiley-washington-senate.html">to a New York Times report</a>.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="iquINX">
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="6pXoUw">
|
||
</p></li>
|
||
<li><strong>North Korean missile launches may mean new nuclear tests</strong> -
|
||
<figure>
|
||
<img alt="U.S. Bombers Stage Joint Drills With South Korean Fighter Jets" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/-80G1zGgkRpKRBx_DNUwvKzTnb0=/490x0:5718x3921/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/71588892/1439166424.0.jpg"/>
|
||
<figcaption>
|
||
In this handout image released by the South Korean Defense Ministry, two U.S. B-1B Lancer strategic bombers, four South Korean Air Force F-35 fighter jets and four U.S. Air Force F-16 fighter jets fly over South Korea during the “Vigilant Storm” joint air drill on November 05, 2022. | South Korean Defense Ministry via Getty Images
|
||
</figcaption>
|
||
</figure>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
Nuclear diplomacy is urgently needed amid rising tensions but politically untenable.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="YI0F9Q">
|
||
US and South Korean officials believe North Korea may be gearing up for its seventh nuclear test after the country, led by dictator Kim Jong Un, launched a barrage of missiles this week, including an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in violation of repeated <a href="https://www.armscontrol.org/factsheets/UN-Security-Council-Resolutions-on-North-Korea">United Nations Security Council</a> efforts to stop such actions.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="mKhmuT">
|
||
Two US B-1B bombers, along with four F-16s and four South Korean F-35s, flew in South Korean airspace as part of the extended Vigilant Storm training exercises, as North Korea launched an <a href="https://apnews.com/article/japan-united-states-south-korea-evacuations-north-5d8f0935f50d013d7e9c375cc27456e5?user_email=d0ae70922af541a4cf45e48d2575200542345a2aa90b689d43e7a2924e4e3869&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Nov06_MorningWire&utm_term=Morning%20Wire%20Subscribers">additional four short-range ballistic missiles Saturday</a>. That display capped off a week of surging tensions on the peninsula; North Korea launched 23 missiles on Wednesday — the most it has ever launched on a single day — and six on Thursday including the ICBM, according to<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/02/world/asia/north-korea-missile-japan.html"> the New York Times</a>. One of Wednesday’s missiles fell so close to South Korea that Seoul <a href="https://apnews.com/article/seoul-south-korea-north-joint-chiefs-of-staff-government-and-politics-7d6079c606fe796dc4771fa48b9c2bfe">launched its own air-to-surface missile tests in return</a>.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="AT2HpC">
|
||
Pyongyang has said the missile launches are its response to military drills the US, Japan, and South Korea routinely conduct in the area. North Korea views such exercises as a provocation; <a href="https://apnews.com/article/seoul-south-korea-nuclear-weapons-north-d3a1d9d6633e6fc910bfd8a6eadf9158">according to the Associated Press</a>, Pyongyang had already obliquely threatened to use nuclear weapons should the US and South Korea launch an attack.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ZU0Ddr">
|
||
South Korean officials indicated that the ICBM launch had failed to reach its intended altitude and speed, and Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada refuted early reports that one of the missiles flew over Japanese airspace; still, the launches indicate an increasingly paranoid North Korean regime that has persisted in its weapons development program despite international condemnation.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="RsxBXD">
|
||
“The US-ROK [Republic of Korea] response in the last 24 hours — extending the US-ROK drills for a longer period, plus the report that the United States is accelerating the rotation of nuclear-capable fighter jets in the region, is only going to reinforce Kim Jong Un’s paranoia about the capabilities of the United States and the ROK to conduct decapitation strikes on his regime,” Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association told Vox on Friday.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="C1qmpC">
|
||
At the very least, according to both US and South Korean officials, as well as experts who spoke to Vox, North Korea is likely planning a nuclear test — <a href="https://www.armscontrol.org/factsheets/dprkchron">the seventh in its history</a> and the fifth under current leader Kim Jong Un.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="d30h6p">
|
||
The US and its allies are in an extremely tense and unsustainable standoff with North Korea, and it’s increasingly difficult to find a way to stop it. “We’re in the middle of an escalatory cycle that I think both sides need to step back from,” Kimball said.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h3 id="8zQHHg">
|
||
Nuclear postures are becoming more bellicose
|
||
</h3>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="qWRE8V">
|
||
Since first developing its nuclear weapons program in earnest in the 1990s, North Korea, or its official title, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) has managed to produce some 40 to 50 nuclear warheads, although some estimates put that number as high as 116, according to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/energy/what-nukes-does-north-korea-have-and-could-they-hit-the-us/2022/11/03/d69177aa-5b35-11ed-bc40-b5a130f95ee7_story.html">the Washington Post</a>. This week’s missile launches demonstrate how North Korea would deliver those weapons — on short-range missiles to neighboring adversaries like Japan or South Korea, and an ICBM to the United States.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="xoiGI4">
|
||
“The frequency of the short-range missile tests that North Korea’s conducting, the scrambling of the aircraft in response to the US-ROK drills — in my view, this indicates that North Korea is very nervous about US-ROK combined capabilities, [and] trying to demonstrate its retaliatory capabilities,” Kimball said.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Aszhu2">
|
||
Nuclear development, production, and testing has accelerated significantly under Kim Jong Un, the country’s third ruler from the Kim dynasty. The DPRK’s weapons program under Kim is developing a missile capable of reaching the Pacific island of Guam, a US territory and military installation, in addition to missiles that can reach US allies in the region like South Korea and Japan.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="tM7Lx0">
|
||
Kim has been testing ICBMs, <a href="https://www.38north.org/2022/04/revisiting-the-hwasong-17-15-controversy-what-if-north-korea-had-launched-a-hwasong-15/">the Hwasong-15 and the Hwasong-17</a>, capable of reaching targets in the United States itself since 2017, although there remains some doubt about whether those weapons are consistent and sophisticated enough to actually hit their intended locations. And although Thursday’s test failed, each ICBM launch provides information for the next one.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="iDUGYV">
|
||
In addition to technical advancements, Kim has made significant policy changes around nuclear weapons use. <a href="https://www.armscontrol.org/act/2022-10/news/north-korea-passes-nuclear-law">The DPRK’s new nuclear weapons law</a>, which Kim announced in September, maintains that North Korea is officially a nuclear state and will not pursue disarmament. Perhaps more alarmingly, the new policy indicates that the DPRK will launch a nuclear attack in the case of a so-called “decapitation strike” to take out North Korean leadership, or if the DPRK’s military objectives aren’t being met through conventional warfare.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="1Kwu20">
|
||
Kim’s increasing fear that his adversaries are planning to take him out isn’t unfounded; South Korea’s military policies in relation to the North are called the Kill Chain — a plan to take out DPRK leadership, including Kim, with conventional weapons — and Korean Massive Punishment and Retaliation (KMPR), which is the military’s retaliatory strategy in case of an attack, as <a href="https://carnegieendowment.org/2022/08/15/south-korea-s-decapitation-strategy-against-north-korea-has-more-risks-than-benefits-pub-87672">the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace’s Ankit Panda wrote in August</a>.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="tjrU5g">
|
||
The US’s latest <a href="https://fas.org/blogs/security/2022/10/2022-nuclear-posture-review/">Nuclear Posture Review</a> also contains a new specific threat against the Kim regime: “Any nuclear attack by North Korea against the United States or its Allies and partners is unacceptable and will result in the end of that regime.” Although the new threats are not pre-emptive, they still promise that, ”there is no scenario in which the Kim regime could employ nuclear weapons and survive.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="0ewvp6">
|
||
But part of any deterrent strategy — and a part that seems to be missing in the US and South Korea’s strategy, Panda told Vox, is reassuring an adversary. “That is traditionally a part of deterrence,” he said. “Not just making credible threats, but giving credible assurances that if the adversary doesn’t do the bad thing that you don’t want them to do, you’re not going to inflict pain on them anyway.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="maxYtw">
|
||
There are also indications that the DPRK is preparing for a test, Kimball said, including construction at the DPRK’s Punngye-ri nuclear test site, as well as the fact that Kim has abandoned a unilateral nuclear weapons and long-range missile testing moratorium agreed in April 2018. Furthermore, Kim in 2021 discussed tactical nuclear weapons for the first time publicly; those capabilities had never been part of the DPRK’s military doctrine, but it’s likely that they would be testing lower yield nuclear weapons this time.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="dmhjkF">
|
||
“They’ve been telling us that they’re going to do it for a while,” Dalton said.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h3 id="zLunpJ">
|
||
Negotiations have broken down — and it’s not clear how to get them back on track
|
||
</h3>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="9Ahoyl">
|
||
The <a href="https://www.vox.com/2022/3/6/22964312/russia-putin-nuclear-disarmament-nonproliferation-interview">global status of nuclear treaties</a> overall has seriously declined in recent decades — not that North Korea has considered itself subject to any since <a href="https://www.cfr.org/timeline/north-korean-nuclear-negotiations">unilaterally withdrawing from the Non-Proliferation Treaty in 2003</a>. Nuclear and missile tests in violation of international norms and agreements have become par for the course in the DPRK; it doesn’t mean that nuclear war is about to break out, and it’s not particularly helpful to spin out every time it happens. But it is important to pay attention.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="cPPJQ5">
|
||
“[The escalations are] disconcerting and worrisome because there are more missiles being tested in a short period of time, but putting all of this together, this is the unsurprising and worrisome result of some four-and-a-half years of no meaningful diplomatic dialogue about risk reduction, and denuclearization and peace on the peninsula.” Kimball said.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="UBIn3z">
|
||
Kimball pointed out that although the US has offered dialogue with North Korea to de-escalate the situation, the DPRK has refused to engage.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="cBWFwv">
|
||
Kim likely feels wary of engaging in diplomacy with the US or South Korea because of the <a href="http://ytimes.com/2019/03/02/world/asia/trump-kim-jong-un-summit.html">spectacular breakdown</a> of peace talks with former President Donald Trump, Dalton said. That process ended in a humiliating failure in Hanoi, Vietnam, when Trump tried to push for full denuclearization in return for an end to the punishing sanctions regime the US has built up over the decades.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Fl9kap">
|
||
“[Kim] took some risks in terms of his domestic constituency in terms of pursuing that diplomacy — and then it fell apart and I think he was embarrassed by that,” Dalton said. From North Korea’s perspective, “they’re not willing to trust South Korea or the US to engage in diplomacy,” he told Vox, and the parties involved aren’t even in agreement about what the outcome of that diplomacy would be.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="XDX39N">
|
||
Since that breakdown, the global order has shifted, too. “China and Russia have a different view of North Korea and they both view Kim Jong Un as more of an asset than a liability,” Panda said, noting recent reports that North Korea is providing artillery to Russia in its ongoing invasion of Ukraine. “Then we might ask, reasonably, what is the quid pro quo there? <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/un-chief-urges-north-korea-resume-denuclearization-talks-2022-11-04/">Probably that Russia is going to support North Korea at the UN Security Council,</a>” he said.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="sE5wvH">
|
||
Despite all of these consequential changes, the US and its allies are using the same tools to try and fix the problem of proliferation. While conventional weapons drills and sanctions may have been useful years ago, when the DPRK’s nuclear program was much smaller, Kim has made clear that the calculus has changed and he’s forging ahead with the nuclear program — perhaps with even more determination than in the past.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="7ZXSzy">
|
||
Increasingly harsh sanctions have helped push North Korea further away from engagement with the US and toward Russia and China, as well as driving the North Korean people further into extreme poverty. But they haven’t stopped the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/24/world/asia/tankers-north-korea-china.html">illicit trade</a>, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/09/08/politics/fbi-north-korea-hackers-30-million-axie-infinity/index.html#:~:text=North%20Korean%20government%2Dbacked%20hackers,according%20to%20the%20United%20Nations.">outright theft</a>, and sheer determination on the part of the Kim regime to support the nuclear program.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="jdMcS4">
|
||
“Kim Jong Un has invested, over his 10-plus years in power now, in domestic talent,” Panda said. “He is ensuring that North Korea has a long-term supply of human resources and talent to sustain their missile and nuclear forces.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Lu6P51">
|
||
The US could take take the temperature down by removing some sanctions to signal a desire to avoid greater conflict, although that would be “politically controversial,” Dalton said. The US could also recognize in some way North Korea’s demonstrated status as a nuclear state — also an unpopular tack, due to fears that officially recognizing that reality would send Japan and South Korea scrambling for nuclear weapons of their own.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="gOTcjk">
|
||
But any deviation from standard practice is unlikely, Dalton said, because “nobody wants to take the blame for allowing North Korea to become a state with nuclear weapons.”
|
||
</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>ICC Twenty20 World Cup | Dugout can really be at ease when he is batting, says Rohit on Suryakumar</strong> - Suryakumar reaffirmed his status as the world's number one T20 batter with another magnificent effort</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>Surya’s brilliance shines through as India drubs Zimbabwe</strong> - Bowlers strike after batters set imposing target; Men in Blue top group and will take on England in the semifinals at Adelaide</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>My Opinion, Storm Breaker, Zucardi, Turf Melody and Pirate’s Love shine</strong> -</p></li>
|
||
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Pramod Bhagat and Manisha win gold</strong> - Bhagat also takes men’s doubles silver with Manoj Sarkar</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>Bhagat, Ramadass bag gold at BWF Para Badminton World Championships</strong> - Pramod Bhagat also takes men’s doubles silver with Manoj Sarkar</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>Dredging in Korappuzha to begin on November 11</strong> - Minister Roshi Augustine to open works</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>Kottayam to host eighth edition of Saras mela in December</strong> -</p></li>
|
||
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Three youths killed in road accident at Aroor</strong> -</p></li>
|
||
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Health Ministry working on guidelines to scrap bond policy for doctors</strong> - According to the bond policy, doctors are required to serve for a specific period in State hospitals after the completion of their undergraduate and postgraduate degrees</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>Congress likely to move Election Commission on Modi allegedly pressurising BJP rebel in Himachal Pradesh</strong> - Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi accused the Prime Minister of ‘misusing his power’ to influence the elections results</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>Italy stops adult male migrants from disembarking</strong> - The new far-right government allows only vulnerable people to leave a migrant ship stuck for two weeks.</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 war: Zelensky accuses Iran of lying over Russia support</strong> - Western officials believe Russia is using Iranian drones to target Ukrainian infrastructure.</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>Kostroma: Deadly fire in Russian bar started by ‘flare gun’</strong> - Authorities say 13 people died in a club in Kostroma after a man fired a flare gun on the dance floor.</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>Jordan Bardella: French National Rally has new leader to replace Le Pen</strong> - The appointment of Jordan Bardella, 27, allows Ms Le Pen to focus on leading the parliamentary party.</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>Spain cannabis: Police claim largest ever seizure</strong> - The weight of the seized plants is roughly equivalent to more than five adult African elephants.</p></li>
|
||
</ul>
|
||
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-ars-technica">From Ars Technica</h1>
|
||
<ul>
|
||
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The 2023 BMW i7 proves a luxury car doesn’t need internal combustion</strong> - The fully electric version of the new 7 Series is the best of the bunch. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1894874">link</a></p></li>
|
||
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>How The Wire helped me understand the 2023 BMW 760i xDrive</strong> - A long drive to nowhere remains a good use for an outmoded powertrain. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1895247">link</a></p></li>
|
||
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The weekend’s best deals: A bunch of Apple devices, Sony headphones, 4K TVs, and more</strong> - Dealmaster also includes PC and console storage, gaming keyboards, and much more - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1895592">link</a></p></li>
|
||
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>10 years of FTL: The making of an enduring spaceship simulator</strong> - Developers Justin Ma and Matthew Davis look back at the game’s creation and legacy. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1895421">link</a></p></li>
|
||
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Age of Empires is 25 years old and fans are shaping the franchise</strong> - A chat with Xbox CEO Phil Spencer and Worlds’s Edge Studio chief Michael Mann. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1895192">link</a></p></li>
|
||
</ul>
|
||
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-jokes-subreddit">From Jokes Subreddit</h1>
|
||
<ul>
|
||
<li><strong>I asked my boss for a raise.</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
|
||
<div class="md">
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
“What for,” he said.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
I told him, “There are three companies that are after me.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
“Which ones?”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
“Electric, gas, and water.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
</div>
|
||
<!-- SC_ON -->
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/LiwetJared"> /u/LiwetJared </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/ynlamc/i_asked_my_boss_for_a_raise/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/ynlamc/i_asked_my_boss_for_a_raise/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
||
<li><strong>The CEO offered an employee a bonus of $10k or to double it and pass it on</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
|
||
<div class="md">
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
The CEO offered an employee a bonus of $10k or to double it and pass it on to the next employee.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
The first employee elected to double and pass it on. The CEO thought what a generous individual this was and then moved on to the next employee.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
The next employee also declined the (now) $20k bonus and elected to double and pass it on. “Wow” the CEO thought - even 20k is being passed on! What a sense of camaraderie in this team.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
The next employee also chose to double and pass on….This continued for 6 more employees and the bonus offer now stood at over $2.5m. In a panic, the CEO had to call his wealthy father to get a loan, otherwise his business will be bankrupted.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
Meanwhile the nine employees were in the kitchen deciding how to split the $2.5m evenly.
|
||
</p>
|
||
</div>
|
||
<!-- SC_ON -->
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/tenderstocks"> /u/tenderstocks </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/yn0ixd/the_ceo_offered_an_employee_a_bonus_of_10k_or_to/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/yn0ixd/the_ceo_offered_an_employee_a_bonus_of_10k_or_to/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
||
<li><strong>A guy walks into a bar ………</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
|
||
<div class="md">
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
A guy walks into a bar after a long day at work and orders a drink. As he sits there mulling over his day he hears a high pitched voice say, “That shirt looks great on you!” The guy looks around, doesn’t see anything, and returns to his drink thinking no more of it. The voice, however, returns saying, “You know, you seem like a really cool guy!” Again the guy looks around but sees nothing. Now he’s wondering if maybe he’s losing it or something. He’s OK for awhile and doesn’t hear any more from the voice so he finishes his drink and orders another. Right about then he hears another voice! This one is saying, “Oooo, I’ll bet your parents are very, very proud of you!” The guy’s shook up now! He slams his drink down and yells to the bartender, “What’s with these voices I keep hearing? They’re driving me crazy!” Bartender says, “Oh those are just the peanuts. They’re complementary.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
(Yes, I know how to spell complimentary and what it means)
|
||
</p>
|
||
</div>
|
||
<!-- SC_ON -->
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/harrygatto"> /u/harrygatto </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/ynlced/a_guy_walks_into_a_bar/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/ynlced/a_guy_walks_into_a_bar/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
||
<li><strong>Whats the difference between a school in Pakistan and an Al Qaeda base?</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
|
||
<div class="md">
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
Not too sure. I just fly the drone.
|
||
</p>
|
||
</div>
|
||
<!-- SC_ON -->
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/SaikiYAY"> /u/SaikiYAY </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/yngdtk/whats_the_difference_between_a_school_in_pakistan/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/yngdtk/whats_the_difference_between_a_school_in_pakistan/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
||
<li><strong>James Bond always holds his farts while in bed</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
|
||
<div class="md">
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
Otherwise he would blow his cover.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
(Look I’m not funny this was my first and only attempt so sorry X_X)
|
||
</p>
|
||
</div>
|
||
<!-- SC_ON -->
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Lord_Zahkrosis"> /u/Lord_Zahkrosis </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/ymwvwj/james_bond_always_holds_his_farts_while_in_bed/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/ymwvwj/james_bond_always_holds_his_farts_while_in_bed/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
||
</ul>
|
||
|
||
|
||
<script>AOS.init();</script></body></html> |