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509 lines
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<title>16 October, 2022</title>
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<title>Daily-Dose</title><meta content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" name="viewport"/><link href="styles/simple.css" rel="stylesheet"/><link href="../styles/simple.css" rel="stylesheet"/><style>*{overflow-x:hidden;}</style><link href="https://unpkg.com/aos@2.3.1/dist/aos.css" rel="stylesheet"/><script src="https://unpkg.com/aos@2.3.1/dist/aos.js"></script></head>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-down" id="daily-dose">Daily-Dose</h1>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-right" data-aos-anchor-placement="top-bottom" id="contents">Contents</h1>
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<ul>
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<li><a href="#from-new-yorker">From New Yorker</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-vox">From Vox</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-the-hindu-sports">From The Hindu: Sports</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-the-hindu-national-news">From The Hindu: National News</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-bbc-europe">From BBC: Europe</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-ars-technica">From Ars Technica</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-jokes-subreddit">From Jokes Subreddit</a></li>
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</ul>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-new-yorker">From New Yorker</h1>
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<ul>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Donald Trump, January 6th, and the Elusive Search for Accountability</strong> - Susan B. Glasser writes about the final hearing of the House select committee investigating the January 6, 2021, insurrection, and asks whether all of the panel’s work will result in Donald Trump facing any accountability. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/letter-from-bidens-washington/donald-trump-january-6th-and-the-elusive-search-for-accountability">link</a></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Why Is High Inflation Proving So Persistent?</strong> - The final Consumer Price Index before the midterms came in higher than expected, but price rises are likely to moderate in the months ahead. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/why-is-high-inflation-proving-so-persistent">link</a></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>North Carolina’s Overlooked Senate Race</strong> - Democrats have a chance to flip a Republican seat. Meanwhile, the state legislature is fighting to reduce judicial oversight in federal elections. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/north-carolinas-overlooked-senate-race">link</a></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Extreme Economic Pain of Running a Restaurant in the U.K.</strong> - In a country where eating out is seen as more of a luxury than a necessity, it is one of the first expenses that people forgo in hard times. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/dispatch/the-extreme-economic-pain-of-running-a-restaurant-in-the-uk">link</a></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Supreme Court, for Now, Is Playing a Central Role in Discrediting Donald Trump</strong> - But the former President will continue to search relentlessly for friendly judges nationwide between now and 2024. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/the-supreme-court-for-now-is-playing-a-central-role-in-discrediting-donald-trump">link</a></p></li>
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</ul>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-vox">From Vox</h1>
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<ul>
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<li><strong>The skills you should know before moving out on your own</strong> -
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<figure>
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<img alt="A cartoon of a person looking through blinds into a room filled with tax forms, garbage, and cooking utensils." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/oeHeTT9HwYHPmQMHZ8zwAQKXlOA=/600x0:4200x2700/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/71502140/V2_PaigeVickers_VoxFinal_10_12.0.jpg"/>
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<figcaption>
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Paige Vickers for Vox
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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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How to budget, make a phone call, and other important life skills you should know.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="nMXF3E">
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When Genevieve Bellaire graduated from law school in 2015 at 26 years old, she had acquired ample knowledge of case law, but didn’t really understand the deal with health insurance, taxes, or how to find an apartment. What were all these forms she was being asked to complete at her new job? How do you set up a 401(k)? “I found that I just really didn’t have the answer,” Bellaire says, “and oftentimes, didn’t even know the question to ask to make smart decisions.”
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="sRkyin">
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Bellaire realized many young people were similarly ill-equipped to deal with the realities of adulthood. According to <a href="https://swnsdigital.com/us/2021/07/eighty-one-percent-of-recent-college-graduates-wish-they-were-taught-more-life-skills-before-graduating/">a 2021 survey</a> of recent US college grads, 81 percent wished they were taught more life skills before they graduated. After years of following a syllabus, there are few instructions for how to get your act together outside the confines of a classroom or your parents’ home, she thought. In 2021, Bellaire launched Realworld, an app designed to answer those same adulting questions for its user base of over 100,000.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="cEAJRZ">
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The responsibilities newly independent adults face are vast, and range from hard skills, like budgeting, to soft skills, like relationship deftness. Everyone’s experience on the road to adulthood won’t mirror Bellaire’s exactly — maybe you’ve been working full time since before leaving home; maybe you didn’t pursue higher education; maybe you’re the primary caregiver for your parents, siblings, or children. Regardless of your situation, there are common responsibilities and skills that can be mystifying if you’ve never heard of them before or were never taught. You don’t need to be an expert in all aspects of adulting (and many of these topics are expansive and complicated), but experts say having some baseline knowledge about key subjects will help make the transition into self-reliance a little smoother.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="oXn61B">
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These tips are meant as a general framework rather than a purely prescriptive guide, since so much of how you approach finances and relationships depends on your situation — so come up with systems that work for you.
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</p>
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<h3 id="Z3A5MM">
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Budgeting and finances
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</h3>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="NwBdts">
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Realworld users are consistently most concerned about budgeting, Bellaire says. Surveys show Gen Z Americans are <a href="https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/generation-z-money-survey/">anxious about their finances</a> yet <a href="https://mint.intuit.com/blog/budgeting/spending-knowledge-survey/">don’t know how much they spend in a given month</a>.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="DL1MuO">
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Budgeting doesn’t need to be complicated. First, determine how much money you take home every month. This is the amount of money you earn after taxes, social security, health insurance, and retirement are taken from your paycheck. This is easier to calculate if you have a salary or work a set amount of hours each week, and your employer already removes these deductions. If you’re a freelancer or contract employee, <a href="https://www.keepertax.com/self-employment-tax-rate-calculator">set aside</a> <a href="https://www.thebalancemoney.com/how-much-do-i-budget-for-taxes-as-a-freelancer-453676">20 to 30 percent</a> of your earnings for taxes.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="A3P7O3">
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Next, tally up your expenses. This includes rent or mortgage, utility bills, student loans, health insurance premiums (if you pay for health insurance independently), food, transportation, car insurance, child care, and any other bills.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="LRcwfw">
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From there, you’ll need to figure out how you’re going to allocate your income to cover your expenses and beyond. Bellaire is a proponent of the <a href="https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/finance/nerdwallet-budget-calculator">50/30/20 budget</a>, in which 50 percent of your income goes to needs (housing, food, transportation, child care, utilities), 30 percent goes to wants (streaming subscriptions, dining out, concerts, entertainment), and 20 percent goes to yourself (savings account, retirement account, paying off debt). These breakdowns won’t work for everyone’s circumstances, especially if you financially support other people, but you should have a general idea of how much you’re spending versus bringing in.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="79KRcO">
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It’s also worth incorporating some buffer money, says Alyssa Mairanz, founder of the online platform and e-course <a href="https://adultingintherealworld.com/">Adulting In The Real World</a>. “Not every month is going to be the exact same expenses,” she says. “Things come out of the blue.”
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ajb0fu">
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You can track your budget in a spreadsheet, a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/best-budgeting-apps">budgeting app</a> or go old-school with a notebook.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="zB2jyF">
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If you can, start saving for retirement, Bellaire says. Read through any materials given to you by your employer if you’re enrolling in their 401(k) plan. Mairanz suggests seeking out a <a href="https://www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/050815/what-do-financial-advisers-do.asp">financial adviser</a> who can offer financial advice and can help with retirement planning. (Just be aware of <a href="https://money.usnews.com/financial-advisors/articles/financial-advisor-fees-and-costs">how they get paid</a>: through a fee or commission.)
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="NZmKGr">
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Young adults should also know their credit score, Bellaire says. Your <a href="https://www.consumerfinance.gov/ask-cfpb/what-is-a-credit-score-en-315/">credit score</a> measures your trustworthiness as a consumer and the likelihood of you paying back a loan. “We like to call it the GPA of the real world,” Bellaire says. “It’s the most important three-digit number that can have a big impact on your ability to rent an apartment, to buy a house, buy a car, even get a job.” Yes, the calculation for determining a credit score is <a href="https://www.vox.com/the-goods/22736387/how-credit-scores-work-equifax-experian-transunion">discriminatory and arbitrary</a>, but it’s still a figure worth having in your back pocket. You can check <a href="https://www.usa.gov/credit-reports/">your credit report online</a> to keep tabs on your credit score.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="hDnB7q">
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Young people may not have credit and will need to build it in order to get a loan or rent an apartment. You can <a href="https://www.bankrate.com/personal-finance/credit/how-to-build-credit/">build credit</a> by <a href="https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/finance/how-to-build-credit">getting a credit card</a>, or becoming an authorized user on your parents’ card, and setting up automatic payments. Sometimes, putting a major expense, like a medical bill, on a credit card is unavoidable, but if you can, try to avoid making major purchases on a credit card. Try to pay back your credit card bills in full if you can; interest will accrue quickly and you don’t want to struggle for years with paying off credit card debt.
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</p>
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<h3 id="efyweK">
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Health insurance
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</h3>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="rOe9on">
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Young people can stay on their parents’ health insurance until they’re 26, but may choose to get their own insurance if their parents are not insured, they prefer to join their company plan, or they purchase their own insurance through <a href="http://HealthCare.gov">HealthCare.gov</a>, the health insurance marketplace. (<a href="https://www.healthcare.gov/quick-guide/dates-and-deadlines/">Open enrollment through the marketplace</a> is November 1, 2022, through January 15, 2023.)
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="qUvg08">
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If you’re covered under your workplace plan, double check the dates for open enrollment and if you need to reelect coverage each year. If you lost coverage, got married, or had a baby and need to change your coverage during the year, you qualify for a <a href="https://www.healthcare.gov/glossary/special-enrollment-period/">special enrollment period</a> and can make those changes.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="nsfkaO">
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When you’re shopping for plans or making selections on your company plan, you’re going to need to learn some lingo. “People need to understand deductibles,” Mairanz says. A deductible is what you pay when you see a doctor who is covered by your insurance before your insurance starts to pay. If your <a href="https://www.healthcare.gov/glossary/deductible/#:~:text=The%20amount%20you%20pay%20for,insurance%20plan%20starts%20to%20pay.">deductible</a> is $2,000, you’ll need to pay for $2,000 worth of services by an in-network provider. After you hit your deductible, you’ll pay a copay or coinsurance for covered services and the insurance company will pay the rest. Most health insurance plans cover <a href="https://www.healthcare.gov/coverage/preventive-care-benefits/">preventive services</a>, like shots and screenings, for free before you’ve met your deductible.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="iNOvBn">
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If you’ve met your deductible and have continued paying copayments until you’ve reached your <a href="https://www.healthcare.gov/glossary/premium/">out-of-pocket maximum</a>, you won’t have to pay for anything else after that; your insurance plan will. Another term worth knowing is <a href="https://www.healthcare.gov/glossary/premium/">premium</a>, the amount you pay every month for health insurance coverage.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="IdoEYW">
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Always remember to check if a doctor is covered by your insurance before you make an appointment. If you go to an out-of-network provider <a href="https://www.patientadvocate.org/explore-our-resources/understanding-health-insurance/out-of-network-costs-and-how-to-handle-them-2/">you may be responsible</a> for paying the full amount of the service <a href="https://help.ihealthagents.com/hc/en-us/articles/223661067-What-Happens-if-I-Go-To-an-Out-of-Network-Provider-">or other costs</a>. Should you receive a massive medical bill by surprise, Elise, co-host of the podcast <a href="https://www.instagram.com/kindaadultingpod/?hl=en"><em>Kinda Adulting</em></a>, suggests calling your medical provider and requesting a payment plan instead of paying the large sum at once — or worse, not paying it at all. “Because it will get to collections,” says Elise, who, along with her co-hosts, Jordan and Simone, asked that their last names not be used in order to avoid conflicts with their employers. Also, she says, make sure you have your health insurance card ready when dealing with doctors’ offices and billing departments.
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</p>
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<h3 id="KEYMgF">
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Cooking basics
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</h3>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ab2Qjp">
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A major part of living away from your parents is knowing how to feed yourself. Mairanz suggests always keeping your kitchen stocked with the basics of your typical diet. (Meaning, if you’re gluten-intolerant or dairy-free, you won’t want to stock up on bread or milk even if they are considered staples.) This can include eggs, pasta, chicken, and frozen veggies. Make sure you have the appropriate tools to make these foods, too: frying pan, pots, microwave, baking tray.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="rsUhJb">
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Beyond having the necessary equipment, think about your lifestyle and what kind of cooking habits you’ll have. If you work two jobs and only have time to pick up a bite on the go, you might be better suited allocating your food budget for takeout, premade meals, or kits. If you genuinely enjoy cooking and food shopping, your dollars will go further at the grocery store. “A lot of it gets back to budgeting to where you’re putting your dollar and your time budget as well,” Bellaire says.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="YH1pgs">
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Accustomed to grocery shopping with her family, Jordan, of the <em>Kinda Adulting</em> podcast, had to learn to shop and cook for one once she moved out on her own. Buying in bulk and storing copious leftovers occupies precious space in what may be a small apartment and refrigerator, so only buy what you need to feed yourself for the week. “Look on YouTube so you can see how people are preparing things if you don’t have somebody that you can learn from in person,” Jordan says. Elise frequently uses <a href="https://www.hellofresh.com/recipes">HelloFresh recipes</a> for inspiration, since they’re often portioned for a single diner, and then purchases the ingredients on her own.
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</p>
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<h3 id="hPFeOa">
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Making a phone call
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</h3>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="S6qLMN">
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A popular topic in Mairanz’s adulting course is how to make a phone call. “We’re in more of a digital age and with online booking and texting, people talk on the phone less,” she says, “but there are times that this is something that has to be done.” From doctors’ appointments to customer service requests, feeling comfortable talking to another human on the phone is a must.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="gJhmgL">
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Mairanz suggests writing down the main points you want to discuss in the call ahead of time and to be prepared for either talking to another person or leaving a voicemail. Your script can be as simple as “Hi, I’m a customer and I just received a bill that I think is incorrect. Could I speak to someone who can review and explain my bill?” Be prepared with your account information and questions about next steps.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="JWD0RZ">
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For voicemails, Elise suggests leaving your full name, repeating your phone number twice, your email address, and the reason for your call.
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</p>
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Build new structure
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</h3>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="uQcVsM">
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If you’ve been living at home for a significant chunk of time, you’ve developed set patterns and dynamics. Maybe your parents always bought the groceries and did your laundry; there were expectations and standards. On your own, you’re going to need to rebuild these frameworks.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="aQ7VVg">
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Regardless if you’re living with roommates, a partner, or solo, have a discussion both with your housemates and with yourself about how your home is going to operate, says clinical psychologist <a href="https://www.drjamiegoldstein.com/">Jamie Goldstein</a>, author of <a href="https://bookshop.org/books/how-to-adult-a-practical-guide-advice-on-living-loving-working-and-spending-like-a-grown-up/9781647397210"><em>How to Adult, A Practical Guide: Advice on Living, Loving, Working, and Spending Like a Grown-Up</em>.</a> When are cleaning days? When will you go food shopping? What day are you doing laundry? What guests are able to visit and how long are you comfortable with them staying? “That structure can then follow you out into the world of other dynamics that you’re navigating,” she says.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="pnZPfW">
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<a href="https://www.vox.com/even-better/23310442/vox-conversations-boundaries-nedra-glover-tawwab-even-better">Setting these home boundaries</a> with yourself and others lays the foundation for maintaining limits in other relationships, like work and romance.
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</p>
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<h3 id="RWO8Pj">
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Interpersonal skills
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</h3>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="mBV1eU">
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Early adulthood comes with many new faces and responsibilities. For those first moving out of their parents’ house, they’re <a href="https://www.vox.com/even-better/23279320/roommate-tips-getting-along-chores">navigating living with new people</a>. Professional environments place people of different ages, experience levels, and backgrounds in one place. <a href="https://www.vox.com/23184875/dating-pandemic-tips-better-dater">Dating as an adult</a> is rife with interpersonal misfires. One of the greatest skills young people can have is learning how to navigate these relationships, Goldstein says.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="c7M7wv">
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Two keys to navigating the murky waters of real-world conversations, Goldstein says, are to engage with curiosity and learning to deal with discomfort. Some conversations will be hard, but she advises entering them not by accusing another person, but by hearing them out and learning from their experience. “The world of ‘adulting’ can be a really uncomfortable place to be, and you’re navigating all of these relationships and situations that bring you a heck of a lot of discomfort,” she says. “Discomfort of figuring out your budget, discomfort of how am I going to split groceries with roommates, discomfort of these <a href="https://www.vox.com/even-better/23161444/splitting-home-chores-unfair-equitable">dishes have to get done</a>, but they’re not my dishes, and how do we deal with that and talk about that?”
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="n15UJ2">
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Goldstein is also a proponent of running your errands in person instead of shopping online, to get the benefit of interacting with others. There’s value in feeling confident approaching an employee at a store to ask if they have a shirt in your size or if there’s a restroom available. You’re practicing asking questions and potentially hearing “no” and troubleshooting from there.
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</p>
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When you’re engaging with store employees or customer service reps, maintain your composure even if you’re frustrated and feel like your requests are not being met, says Simone, another co-host of <em>Kinda Adulting</em>. “My mom always tells me to ignore attitudes,” Simone says. “I just keep going on with what I have to do. That’s a part of adulting: you’re dealing with [customer] service all the time, and a lot of times it’s not the best and you have something to accomplish.”
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="1iiUiN">
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These skills aren’t as easily Google-able as budgeting spreadsheets, but are equally as important to living a successful adult life. Because these conversations and relationships are so difficult, you might stumble and say something you regret, or act in a way that exacerbates the problem. Be kind to yourself and others when these missteps occur (because they will). Another thing they don’t teach you in school: even in adulthood, everyone’s still learning.
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</p>
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<a href="http://www.vox.com/even-better"><em>Even Better</em></a><em> is here to offer deeply sourced, actionable advice for helping you live a better life. Do you have a question on money and work; friends, family, and community; or personal growth and health? Send us your question by filling out this </em><a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfiStGSlsWDBmglim7Dh1Y9Hy386rkeKGpfwF6BCjmgnZdqfQ/viewform"><em>form</em></a><em>. We might turn it into a story.</em>
|
||
</p></li>
|
||
<li><strong>What Xi Jinping’s third term means for China and the world</strong> -
|
||
<figure>
|
||
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/bYpqWmErXwfJv1ifzn9tmlFC5UI=/336x0:3796x2595/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/71501783/GettyImages_1242937078a.0.jpg"/>
|
||
<figcaption>
|
||
People stand in front of a display of images of Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Museum of the Communist Party of China in Beijing on September 4. | Noel Celis/AFP via Getty Images
|
||
</figcaption>
|
||
</figure>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
6 questions about the biggest political event of the year.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="2DHVPU">
|
||
The biggest political event of the year is happening this weekend — and it’s not an election.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="cT0gBN">
|
||
Beginning on October 16, some 2,300 delegates from around China will assemble in Tiananmen Square’s Great Hall of the People for the Chinese Communist Party’s <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-62970531">week-long</a> Party Congress. After much <a href="https://macropolo.org/analysis/most-consequential-political-event-of-the-year/">behind-the-scenes deliberations among party elites</a>, the choices for China’s <a href="https://thediplomat.com/2022/10/what-to-watch-for-at-the-20th-party-congress-the-leadership-shuffle/">top leadership</a> for the next five years will be presented to the country. The party will also review last term’s progress and set out its domestic and foreign policy goals for the next one. Decisions on both policy and personnel will be finalized officially in the spring.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="lVGuJ5">
|
||
The stakes of what happens during this Congress for China and the rest of the world will probably be the most momentous in decades. President <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-pacific-11551399">Xi Jinping</a>, who has <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/china/ways-chinas-xi-jinping-amassed-power-over-decade-2022-10-10/">more personal power</a> over China than any leader since Mao Zedong, is expected to be confirmed to serve an <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/china/ways-chinas-xi-jinping-amassed-power-over-decade-2022-10-10/">unprecedented third term</a>.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="qXmZeJ">
|
||
“The question is: How elevated will Xi Jinping be?” said <a href="https://quincyinst.org/author/mswaine/">Michael Swaine</a>, the director of the East Asia program and an expert on Chinese defense and foreign policy at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. “There’s going to be a lot of continuity with a probable strengthening of his position.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="hlBJPd">
|
||
China has changed dramatically under Xi’s now <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2022-xi-jinping-chongqing-ccp/?sref=qYiz2hd0">decade-long rule</a>. Xi will likely laud his administration’s success on <a href="https://thediplomat.com/2021/09/how-successful-was-chinas-poverty-alleviation-drive/">ending extreme poverty</a>, <a href="https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2022/9/29/23375616/china-climate-adaptation-heat-wave-future">tackling climate change</a>, <a href="https://thediplomat.com/2022/05/chinas-anti-corruption-campaign-tigers-flies-and-everything-in-between/">curbing corruption</a>, and, at least <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/china-2nd-quarter-gdp-covid-lockdowns-rcna38352">until recently</a>, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/dec/31/decade-china-west-china-ascent">growing the economy</a>. Despite its <a href="https://thediplomat.com/2020/04/chinas-early-covid-19-struggles-have-an-all-too-mundane-explanation/">initial missteps</a> in containing the virus, China’s <a href="https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/23057000/beijing-covid-zero-lockdown-china-pandemic">zero-Covid guidelines</a> succeeded at limiting mortality from Covid-19 compared to many other countries, though that success has come with <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/01/world/asia/china-covid-zero.html">serious economic and political side effects</a>. China also transformed its foreign policy and became the world’s largest creditor with <a href="https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/23279714/biden-global-infrastructure-development-g7-china-belt-road-explained">the Belt and Road Initiative</a>, a massive global infrastructure and development program.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="8zcpqC">
|
||
During Xi’s time in power, however, China has also become more nationalist, authoritarian, and repressive. The government has engaged in what many critics, including the United States, have called <a href="https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2022/9/14/23351153/china-uyghur-muslim-genocide-xinjiang-united-nations">genocide</a> toward the Uyghurs and other Muslim ethnic minority groups in Western China and crushed any semblance of autonomy <a href="https://www.vox.com/2022/7/2/23192550/xi-hong-kong-john-lee-china">in Hong Kong</a>. Abroad, China has become more assertive of territorial claims in the <a href="https://www.cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker/conflict/tensions-east-china-sea">East</a> and <a href="https://www.cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker/conflict/territorial-disputes-south-china-sea">South China Seas</a>, engaged in <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/india-china-clash-sikkim/2021/01/25/7d82883c-5edb-11eb-a177-7765f29a9524_story.html">border skirmishes with India</a>, and most notably, ratcheted up military action and <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/8/10/china-reaffirms-threat-of-military-force-to-take-taiwan">threatening to use force</a> to bring Taiwan under its control.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="f15LOT">
|
||
Given that all of the major policy and personnel decisions have already been made behind the scenes, the best way to think about the Party Congress is as a weather forecast for China and the world. Internally, China is dealing with significant <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-62830775">economic issues</a>, partly as a consequence of its strict zero-Covid policies and a <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/e9e8c879-5536-4fbc-8ec2-f2a274b823b4">real estate crisis</a>. It’s also facing more <a href="https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2022/9/29/23375616/china-climate-adaptation-heat-wave-future">climate catastrophes</a> and a looming demographic collapse as <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2022/07/china-population-shrink-60-years-world/">its population appears to have begun to decline</a>. Externally, China finds itself with frostier relations with the US and European Union — its largest trading partners — while the Global North’s <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2022/09/28/how-global-public-opinion-of-china-has-shifted-in-the-xi-era/">public opinion of China has soured</a> because of its pandemic response.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="jQIdh6">
|
||
This year’s Party Congress will begin to make clear whether and how Xi and the Chinese government will reframe their approach to a world that has hugely changed since the last Party Congress five years ago. Xi “still recognizes that China must remain an international player in many, many different ways in order to succeed,” Swaine said. “He cannot isolate China and turn it into a sort of self-contained entity.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="BBk76N">
|
||
To learn more about the future of China, I spoke with Swaine about what to expect and how Xi views the current geopolitical moment. Our conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h4 id="5mPhdt">
|
||
Muizz Akhtar
|
||
</h4>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ZLSHvn">
|
||
What does a third term for Xi Jinping mean? Why is it such a big deal?
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h4 id="zxG0Kn">
|
||
Michael Swaine
|
||
</h4>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Ik94kX">
|
||
Under normal circumstances, at least in recent decades, Xi Jinping would be stepping down, but of course, he will not. What this means is that Xi Jinping is truly a very powerful, dominant figure within the Chinese Communist Party. He will likely continue to exercise that dominance over the next five years, at least. He may <a href="https://asia.nikkei.com/Editor-s-Picks/China-up-close/Xi-Jinping-sends-shock-waves-with-his-2035-manifesto">even stay in power until 2035</a>, which is one big milestone or benchmark that the party has put in its development plans. What that really does suggest is that he’s continuing to make and remake the party in some ways in his own image, but also put his supporters in positions of power. That’s really the critical other issue: to what extent will people seen as very loyal and beholden to him be put even more so in positions of power through the Party Congress?
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="3iXvUn">
|
||
This is not just a question of Xi Jinping having removed any possible opponents to himself and put in his own supporters. Large numbers of the party leadership support the general thrust of Xi Jinping’s direction and his governance. His whole role has been to strengthen party leadership and party control within China to correct the corruption, the backsliding, and the confusion that emerged over recent decades as to what the party’s role is in society, the economy, in politics, and foreign policy. His whole tenure has really been focused on strengthening the party and leading China into the 21st century.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h4 id="wjHMKA">
|
||
Muizz Akhtar
|
||
</h4>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="6AKqnM">
|
||
So it sounds pretty much like we know what’s going to happen — at least the top line. Can we expect any surprises? Is there anything we should be watching out for?
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h4 id="Uej9pV">
|
||
Michael Swaine
|
||
</h4>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="s9ecBJ">
|
||
There aren’t really any individuals in the leadership who you can say are opposing factions. He has essentially eliminated those kinds of potential leaders, like <a href="https://madeinchinajournal.com/2021/01/11/the-chongqing-model-one-decade-on/">Bo Xilai</a> and other people from the past, who might have been able to challenge him in any really significant way.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="jOCb9C">
|
||
What people look for in terms of changes are individuals who are perhaps not so closely tied to Xi Jinping, who are more in the realm of technocrats or reformers, who are interested in [the question of]: “How do we really try to maintain market incentives and China’s role in the global trading system while we’re sort of increasing party control?”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="S8uS4p">
|
||
Today, it’s really all about your stance toward specific policy questions, issues of economic reform, how much success you’re having in your policies at home and overseas. So Xi Jinping’s future rests more with his policy failure or success than it does with his power relationships with other factions.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h4 id="qIqy2n">
|
||
Muizz Akhtar
|
||
</h4>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="PWPPbN">
|
||
How has Xi maintained his support in the CCP in spite of the domestic crises that have come about? I’m thinking about the economic problems, real estate bubble, and fallout from the zero-Covid policies.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h4 id="mM5bUA">
|
||
Michael Swaine
|
||
</h4>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Xjmcpz">
|
||
I wouldn’t go so far as to say that everybody moves in lockstep, and nobody’s unhappy and there’s no grumbling going on in the ranks or among some fairly high leaders. China is encountering increasing numbers of both domestic and foreign problems, in part because of Xi Jinping’s policies. Over time, if these continue and they worsen — say, zero-Covid, which I think the Party Congress will continue to back, continues to grate a lot of people in the country, and it expands in nature — these things could rebound against Xi Jinping over time. But I would not say that at this point in time, that there is a movement afoot, let’s say, to sort of challenge Xi Jinping on policy issues.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="5leSwz">
|
||
It’s a qualified leadership. His leadership is strong, and is likely to get stronger in many ways if the policies don’t fall apart. And there’s all sorts of arguments as to whether the economy is going to tank or whether relations with the West are becoming so strained that it creates problems for China domestically. But if that doesn’t happen, you’re still probably going to get Xi Jinping ruling, but the policy questions will remain.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h4 id="9fzFmr">
|
||
Muizz Akhtar
|
||
</h4>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="1PPkP1">
|
||
Why does what happens at this Party Congress matter to China’s broader population? What will tell us about China’s domestic trajectory under Xi?
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h4 id="SJXsOE">
|
||
Michael Swaine
|
||
</h4>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="62QHTb">
|
||
There are several issues. The first one is that Xi Jinping is connected to very specific types of policies and visions for China’s future. Like <a href="https://www.cfr.org/excerpt-third-revolution">the grand rejuvenation of China</a>, which he hopes to achieve by 2049, the elimination of inequality so that you have a more just society, corruption, etc. All of those things are going to be continued under Xi Jinping. And those have important consequences for Chinese society.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="xXrWyl">
|
||
It also involves a very strong role for the party. There’s greater effort to try to control the activities of interest groups in China and the activities of institutions. All of this is something that does grate up against what some people regard as the importance of some level of free communication and some level of market-based activity.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h4 id="TdXgMv">
|
||
Muizz Akhtar
|
||
</h4>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="CGftK8">
|
||
What does this mean for China’s relationship with the United States and the world more broadly?
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h4 id="BC9EwM">
|
||
Michael Swaine
|
||
</h4>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="osPclY">
|
||
You’ll see continuity with what’s been established under Xi Jinping already, which is that China is fully committed to engaging the world, and pursuing “<a href="https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/mfa_eng/zxxx_662805/202209/t20220924_10771028.html">win-win</a>” outcomes. It wants to invest more in the world and be a part of the world community. At the same time, it wants to see changes in some of the norms and standards that have governed in certain areas in the direction of greater justice as defined by the Chinese, which means justice for developing societies and developing countries, and justice for China’s own influence — in other words, giving China greater say at the seat of the table.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="V8KkCD">
|
||
Alongside that, you’ll have the desire to preserve and protect China against what is seen now as efforts by the United States to contain the development of the People’s Republic of China. The Communist Party will define US policy as not just anti-party but anti-China.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="gZjRi4">
|
||
So the Chinese government under Xi Jinping will continue to try to guard against greater levels of US pressure because they see the US struggling with its own problems internally, and in other ways, China’s leadership sees the United States as potentially more dangerous. Which is exactly the same kind of argument that people [in the US] project against China’s leadership. I think both of those arguments are overblown, but they do get some traction within the leaderships of both of these governments. And so the competition between the US and China will deepen and the danger of continuing down this route is that it really does pose some serious dangers, particularly over Taiwan.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h4 id="22Pvpf">
|
||
Muizz Akhtar
|
||
</h4>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="btxFGQ">
|
||
What do you think the media gets wrong about the 20th Party Congress and political succession in China?
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h4 id="m7ahlx">
|
||
Michael Swaine
|
||
</h4>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="vFSSC3">
|
||
The media often tends to take a very sort of one-dimensional and simplistic look at the way the party exists and how it operates in China. Yes, the Party Congress is kind of a showcase more than it is a deliberative body. But the party in China is nearly 100 million people. This is not a small elite group of power-hungry people at the top of the system who are keeping everybody down; it is deeply infused in Chinese society in many ways that are in some respects seen by ordinary Chinese as good and beneficial. This is no doubt a one-party dictatorship — there’s no question about it. They do not tolerate dissent, either in words or inactions.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="tlcKPA">
|
||
However, the policies of the party, that representation at local levels, how they interact with this Chinese society at the root level, is much more complex than that simple narrative of a dictatorial one-party, top-down system. The media needs to appreciate that complexity more and understand that the party is, in many ways, serving the interests of Chinese society, while at the same time in some ways threatening the future of China because of this heavy-handedness that is exercised under Xi Jinping.
|
||
</p></li>
|
||
<li><strong>What we learned from the Walker-Warnock debate</strong> -
|
||
<figure>
|
||
<img alt="Herschel Walker Campaigns For Senator Of Georgia With Nikki Haley" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/FCeXcA6jNrzLfJ6amXwCyWRG0W8=/334x0:5667x4000/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/71500587/1243073901.0.jpg"/>
|
||
<figcaption>
|
||
Herschel Walker speaks at a campaign event on September 9, 2022 in Gwinnett, Georgia. | Megan Varner/Getty Images
|
||
</figcaption>
|
||
</figure>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
Despite his antics, Walker outperformed low expectations.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="4omQD7">
|
||
In a debate punctuated as much by theatrics as real issues, Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA) faced off against first-time senate candidate and former professional football player Herschel Walker, highlighting the crucial role Georgia plays in the struggle over control in the Senate — which seems to be slipping out of Democrats’ grasp.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="tTscYO">
|
||
For months leading up to the debate, it was unclear whether Walker, a frequently nonsensical public speaker prone to promoting lies related to the 2020 election, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/lifestyle-sports-nfl-college-football-coronavirus-pandemic-5e2875eec11e93f9a3bf1fc859137ff8">his business ventures</a>, and on Friday night, his connections with law enforcement agencies would even debate Warnock, the Savannah-born pastor of Atlanta’s historic Ebenezer Baptist Church, as <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2022/10/14/walker-warnock-georgia-abortion-00061971">Politico’s Natalie Allison reported</a>.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="vdqCBb">
|
||
However, Walker outperformed low expectations on the debate stage in Savannah, mainly opting to repeatedly tie Warnock to President Joe Biden by emphasizing Warnock’s voting record, and by attempting to call into question Warnock’s spiritual bona fides. Warnock focused on Walker’s repeated lies, about everything from whether he had asked a former girlfriend to have an abortion to <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/nicholasreimann/2022/10/15/herschel-walker-prop-badge-candidate-has-long-record-of-claiming-to-be-a-cop-hes-not/?sh=25cbb4e211fa">Walker’s claims that he was an FBI agent and worked for the Cobb County Police Department</a>, despite there being no record of him working there.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<div id="GZ1QoP">
|
||
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" dir="ltr" lang="en">
|
||
Raphael Warnock: “One thing I have not done — I have never pretended to be a police officer. And I’ve never threatened a shootout with the police.”<br/><br/>Herschel Walker: [pulling out a badge prop, in violation of debate rules] “I am work with many police officers.”<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GASenDebate?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GASenDebate</a> <a href="https://t.co/pyUzXkw7yT">pic.twitter.com/pyUzXkw7yT</a>
|
||
</p>
|
||
— Keith Boykin (<span class="citation" data-cites="keithboykin">@keithboykin</span>) <a href="https://twitter.com/keithboykin/status/1581068149599875072?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 14, 2022</a>
|
||
</blockquote></div></li>
|
||
</ul>
|
||
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="lSIu6w">
|
||
Walker’s law enforcement claims led to the viral moment of the night; in response to Warnock’s point that he himself had never falsely claimed to be a member of law enforcement, Walker whipped out what his campaign later <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/15/us/walker-warnock-debate-police-badge.html">told the New York Times</a> was an honorary sheriff’s badge, given in appreciation of community service Walker performed for one of Cobb County, Georgia’s law enforcement offices. Though he claimed it was proof that he worked with police, the debate moderators <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/walker-warnock-meet-for-only-debate-in-georgia-senate-race/2022/10/14/9a021cc6-4bd2-11ed-8153-96ee97b218d2_story.html">admonished him to put the badge away</a>, reminding him of the rules against props.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="4c84sx">
|
||
“If anything, it’s good that we at least got a debate in this race — in a lot of other key races across the country, it’s hard to get candidates to sit and debate anymore,” Miles Coleman, who works for Sabato’s Crystal Ball, which provides nonpartisan political analysis through the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics, told Vox.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="l412oM">
|
||
Georgia’s senate race is one of three close midterm elections that could deliver a stronger Democratic majority — or put the chamber in Republican control. Though typically the midterm elections swing Congress to the opposite party of the current president, that’s not necessarily a given in this contest; factors including the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn <em>Roe v. Wade,</em> the impact of former President Donald Trump’s influence in the Republican party, and the Republican candidates themselves have made the contests in Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Nevada in particular difficult to predict.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h3 id="jBIXUv">
|
||
Democrats are facing tough races, despite unappealing GOP candidates
|
||
</h3>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="f9HIMy">
|
||
Walker, the one-time high school all-American and current Trump ally, has struggled with terrible press coverage in recent weeks, primarily over allegations that he requested a former girlfriend have an abortion in 2009, and paid for the procedure when she agreed. Walker has denied the incident, originally reported <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/pro-life-herschel-walker-paid-for-girlfriends-abortion-georgia-senate">by the Daily Beast</a>, in Friday’s debate; since the original allegations came out, the same<strong> </strong>woman has also said that Walker asked her to have a second abortion in 2011. When she refused, they ended their relationship, and she told the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/10/07/us/elections-midterms">New York Times</a> earlier this month that Walker has barely been involved in their child’s life other than paying child support and sending occasional gifts. One of his other children, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/christianwalk1r/?hl=en">Christian Walker</a>, who is a conservative internet celebrity, <a href="https://twitter.com/christianwalk1r/status/1577104266543497216">also claimed that Walker threatened his son and ex-wife with violence and engaged in extramarital affairs</a>.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Ax6bW7">
|
||
That’s in contrast with Walker’s support of what his website calls “<a href="https://www.teamherschel.com/issues/stand-for-conservative-family-values/">conservative family values</a>” and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/14/us/politics/georgia-debate-badge-key-moments.html">his previous position</a> that abortion should be banned without exception. During the debate, he seemed to soften his previous stance to be more in line with what the Georgia legislature has passed — <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/20/us/georgia-abortion-ban.html">a six-week abortion ban</a> with exceptions for the life of the pregnant person, or in cases of rape or incest.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="6j3yzQ">
|
||
Though Walker’s personal life is rife with baggage — the abortion and abuse allegations, his struggles with <a href="https://apnews.com/article/lifestyle-sports-nfl-college-football-coronavirus-pandemic-5e2875eec11e93f9a3bf1fc859137ff8">dissociative identity disorder</a>, and his dubious business claims — he widely professes his Christian faith and has the backing of Trump and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/10/us/herschel-walker-evangelical-christians-georgia.html">conservative organizations like the Family Research Council</a>.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="xkGITF">
|
||
Walker’s <a href="https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2022/10/herschel-walkers-desperate-religious-counterattack.html">profession of faith and his narrative of redemption</a> seem to offer cover for his past indiscretions; furthermore, as with Trump, the politically prominent <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/10/us/herschel-walker-evangelical-christians-georgia.html">Christian Evangelical community has proved itself willing to overlook otherwise disqualifying flaws for the sake of consolidating power</a>. The GOP overall <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/10/04/us/elections-midterms#herschel-walker-abortion-allegation-georgia-senate">quickly mobilized to stand behind Walker</a> despite the allegations, and the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/13/us/politics/senate-republicans-fundraising.html">Senate Leadership Fund</a>, a super PAC associated with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, has already booked $34 million in ad buys in Georgia, according to<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/10/04/us/elections-midterms#herschel-walker-abortion-allegation-georgia-senate"> the New York Times.</a>
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="uEQaYQ">
|
||
“One of the key stories that has emerged this cycle is the quote-unquote low candidate quality on the Republican side. I think, of the Republicans who fall into that category, I think Walker might be the most palatable — I think Blake Masters, for example, he comes across as a 4chan guy,” Coleman said of the Trump-backed Arizona Republican candidate. “He seemed very apocalyptic and distant. Dr. Oz as well, there’s something that comes up with him every week, and he doesn’t seem genuine.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="sg1vxS">
|
||
Oz, who is competing against current Lt. Gov. John Fetterman (D) for one of Pennsylvania’s senate seats, likely can’t win that race, according to Sabato’s Crystal Ball, but the Nevada seat is considered a toss-up, Coleman said. “Nevada tends to be a very straight-ticket race, it’s a race where getting out your base is important.” But this contest is the first after the death of former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D), and his signature get-out-the-vote operation may not be enough to keep Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto’s seat <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/elections/2022/10/12/nevada-midterms-democrats-republicans/">in the face of high inflation and Republican gains with Latinx voters in the state</a>.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="aAxwQn">
|
||
Whether Walker’s many failings as a candidate, as well as his latest scandals, can appreciably move the needle in Warnock’s direction remains to be seen, although recent polling indicates Warnock has a slight lead over Walker <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/14/briefing/herschel-walkers-senate-midterms.html">due at least in part to Walker’s recent media attention</a>. In fact, Sabato’s Crystal Ball, has the Georgia race as a toss-up as of Saturday, Coleman said.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="izn98o">
|
||
However, there are weeks to go until the elections, and <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/c6608a00-d705-4fb1-a5f6-b6e842b56385">economic issues like inflation have begun to affect voters more</a>; the consumer price index, or CPI, which measures inflation on consumer goods like groceries and fuel, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/10/13/business/inflation-cpi-report">showed that prices rose 8.2 percent this year through the end of September</a>. Grocery, rent, and fuel costs will likely remain high as winter settles in, and the cost of borrowing money is set to increase as well <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/inflation-report-seals-case-for-0-75-point-fed-rate-rise-in-november-11665667815">if the Federal Reserve raises interest rates again in November</a>. Furthermore, Walker’s numbers haven’t dipped too badly, Coleman pointed out; “He hasn’t plunged, he’s maybe lost two or three points over the last week.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h3 id="q5rYnr">
|
||
Georgia politics are shifting
|
||
</h3>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="T5zGbS">
|
||
Georgia, which has a Republican governor and went for Trump in 2016, went Democratic in the 2020 election; a Biden victory, as well as the elections of Warnock and Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) to replace Republicans Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue, turned the state solidly purple. Although Gov. Brian Kemp is likely to defeat challenger Stacy Abrams, it’s quite possible that Georgia voters will again split their ballots as they did in 2020, Coleman told Vox.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="HvDlYL">
|
||
“Something you have to keep in mind, I think is in the Atlanta suburbs, counties like Cobb, Gwinnett, there are Democratic voters there who used to be Republicans,” Coleman said. “I think what might help Warnock there is, unlike Abrams, he’s running against a Trump-backed opponent.” Kemp, meanwhile, isn’t as closely tied with the Trump brand, which works to his advantage among this group, Coleman said. “I’m really interested to see, the voters who are excited about Kemp, who are deciding whether they’re going to have to hold their nose and vote for Herschel Walker.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="wqt2PJ">
|
||
Walker’s scandals “probably will make it harder for him to win outright,” Coleman told Vox, but Georgia’s election laws require state candidates to win a majority of the vote, or face a runoff as both Warnock and Ossoff did in 2020. If Warnock fails to capture that 50 percent during the November contest, Walker could conceivably gain ground before a runoff.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="PQ68Yf">
|
||
<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucelee/2022/10/15/herschel-walker-asked-about-insulin-costs-says-you-got-to-eat-right/?sh=18e45e51dff5">Walker’s appeal as a candidate is extremely limited</a>, but, Coleman said, “He has some goodwill from his time as a football star, and that might play with older Georgians.” It’s also possible that he’ll pick up support among Black voters in rural Georgia, a group that backed Warnock in 2020. Walker’s attempt to “chip away at Warnock’s image as a preacher” was important because these areas, stretching from Columbus to Macon and up to Augusta, went stronger for Warnock than they did for Ossoff or Biden, and collecting some of those votes could be important.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="HvGZ5s">
|
||
Indeed, some Black voters — mostly men, as Leah Wright Rigueur, an associate research professor at Johns Hopkins University <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2020/11/why-black-men-and-women-vote-so-differently/617134/">explained in a piece for the Atlantic in 2020</a> — have drifted to the GOP in recent years. That’s due, according to Wright Rigueur’s research, to disillusionment with a Democratic party that has failed to achieve anything resembling equality for Black people, despite its promises and reliance on the Black community to win elections. Republicans, at least, encourage an appealing, if illusory, vision of achievable hypercapitalist wealth and independence.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="TE80aN">
|
||
Among the factors that could shift the tide in Georgia’s race — new Walker scandals, a changing voter demographic — Friday’s debate isn’t likely to be one of them, Coleman said. “Not a lot of people watch these — I think in this case, they were planning it at the same time as a Braves game.”
|
||
</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>T20 World Cup | 11-year-old bowls to Rohit Sharma at nets</strong> - India will take on Australia and New Zealand on October 17 and 19 in the two official warm-ups ahead of tournament</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>India’s marksmen will make a mark at Paris 2024, says Jeppesen</strong> - Norwegian ace all praise for Narang’s Gun For Glory trainees’ dedication to the sport</p></li>
|
||
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Sindhu waxes eloquent on Jwala’s ‘excellent academy’</strong> - International-standard facilities, coaching staff, ambience come in for high praise from champion shuttler</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>Twenty20 World Cup | ‘Historic day’ as Namibia stuns Sri Lanka in opening game</strong> - The African minnows are on course for a second straight Super 12 place</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>Regasa, Cheptai win elite races at Delhi Half Marathon</strong> - Regasa won the race with a time of 1 hour 30 seconds, while Cheptai came up with a personal best of 1:06:42 to top the women's event.</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>Health Ministry not to procure fresh COVID-19 vaccines; surrenders ₹4,237 crore from vaccination budget</strong> - The Health Ministry is surrendering nearly 85% of the 2022-23 budget allocation for inoculation purposes to the Finance Ministry</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>Tri-junction in Wayanad forest turns to be a major gateway of drugs</strong> - Drug mafia is reportedly using various routes on the State’s border to smuggle in drugs from other States</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>BJP puts out animation video of Rahul Gandhi on ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’</strong> - Congress slams video as frustration, desperation of BJP</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>Surgical tool in body cavity: panel formed to inquire into suspected medical negligence</strong> - Woman had undergone Caesarean section surgery at Kozhikode Government Medical College Hospital five years ago</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>BJP leader Arun Singh mocks Bharat Jodo Yatra as Rahul Gandhi’s ‘morning and evening walk’</strong> - BJP General Secretary and Karnataka-in-charge Arun Singh said Congress was facing a wave of defeat while BJP was riding the wave of victory</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>How Ukraine is winning the social media war</strong> - Despite civilian and military bloodshed, Ukraine’s online information war keeps a sense of humour.</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: Russian’s exhausting ordeal to escape conscription</strong> - This young man calls the Ukraine invasion a ‘war against our own people’.</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>Belgorod shooting: Gunmen kill 11 in attack on Russian trainee soldiers</strong> - Two attackers opened fire on recruits who had volunteered to fight in Ukraine, local media report.</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>Kyiv told to save electricity after Russian missile strike</strong> - A power installation near Ukraine’s capital was heavily damaged by another Russian missile strike.</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>Greece: Vehicles dragged into the sea as flash floods hit Crete</strong> - At least one person is killed as heavy rains hit the Greek island.</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 hell with it”—Elon Musk to keep funding Ukrainian Starlink service [Updated]</strong> - “we’ll just keep funding Ukraine govt for free” - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1890216">link</a></p></li>
|
||
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>New, transparent AI tool may help detect blood poisoning</strong> - The algorithm scans electronic records and may reduce sepsis deaths. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1889636">link</a></p></li>
|
||
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Removing notes from Mendelssohn overture shows plight of humpback whales</strong> - <em>Hebrides Redacted</em> is meant to show “how human activities have silenced nature.” - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1890094">link</a></p></li>
|
||
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Since Crew Dragon’s debut, SpaceX has flown more astronauts than anyone</strong> - “Thank you for an incredible ride up to orbit and an incredible ride home.” - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1890316">link</a></p></li>
|
||
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Apple’s AR/VR headset will scan your iris when you put it on</strong> - Apple’s headset will also scan users’ legs for inclusion in virtual space. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1890235">link</a></p></li>
|
||
</ul>
|
||
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-jokes-subreddit">From Jokes Subreddit</h1>
|
||
<ul>
|
||
<li><strong>Where can you still get gas for $1.39?</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
|
||
<div class="md">
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
Taco Bell
|
||
</p>
|
||
</div>
|
||
<!-- SC_ON -->
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/laugh_at_this_user"> /u/laugh_at_this_user </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/y55imp/where_can_you_still_get_gas_for_139/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/y55imp/where_can_you_still_get_gas_for_139/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
||
<li><strong>I’m not having much luck with jobs lately.</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
|
||
<div class="md">
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
I wasn’t suited to be a tailor.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
The muffler factory was just exhausting.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
I couldn’t cut it as a barber.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
I didn’t have the patience to be a doctor.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
I wasn’t a good fit in the shoe factory even though I put my soul into it.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
The paper shop folded. Pool maintenance was too draining.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
I got fired from the cannon factory.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
And I just couldn’t see any future as a historian.
|
||
</p>
|
||
</div>
|
||
<!-- SC_ON -->
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/vect77"> /u/vect77 </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/y4ska6/im_not_having_much_luck_with_jobs_lately/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/y4ska6/im_not_having_much_luck_with_jobs_lately/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
||
<li><strong>What does a robot do after sex</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
|
||
<div class="md">
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
He nuts and bolts…
|
||
</p>
|
||
</div>
|
||
<!-- SC_ON -->
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Opening-Archer9830"> /u/Opening-Archer9830 </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/y57jur/what_does_a_robot_do_after_sex/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/y57jur/what_does_a_robot_do_after_sex/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
||
<li><strong>A man dies one day and finds himself in Hell, much to his surprise.</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
|
||
<div class="md">
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
The man has never sinned, he has attended church somewhat regularly and often gives to charity.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
He asks at the gate if there has been a mistake to which the ferryman gives no answer.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
He figures there is little hope for him, but somehow he will make the best of his situation.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
He greets every demon with a smile, learns all of their names, he finds ways to keep himself somehow entertained as he is tortured, like counting every tile in the wall (yes, hell has masonry)
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
He’s been there a while, it’s hard to measure eternity until one day he spots The Devil himself.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
He goes up and introduces himself, saying that despite everything it’s an honour to meet him.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
The devil returns the greeting and they make some idle small talk, until the man asks: “In all of Eternity, what is the one thing you are most proud of accomplishing?”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
The devil smiles and replies simply “I convinced humanity that there was an alternative to this”.
|
||
</p>
|
||
</div>
|
||
<!-- SC_ON -->
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Affectionate_Crow327"> /u/Affectionate_Crow327 </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/y59akk/a_man_dies_one_day_and_finds_himself_in_hell_much/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/y59akk/a_man_dies_one_day_and_finds_himself_in_hell_much/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
||
<li><strong>A cook gets married and the bride is a virgin.</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
|
||
<div class="md">
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
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On the wedding night, she cowers under the bed sheets as her husband undresses. He climbs in bed and tries to gently reassure her.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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“Darling,” he says, “I know this is your first time and you are very frightened but I promise you, I’ll give you anyting you want, I’ll do anyting you want. What you want?”
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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“I would like number 69,” she replies shyly.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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He says, “You want beef with broccolli?”
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</p>
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</div>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/vect77"> /u/vect77 </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/y4vn1h/a_cook_gets_married_and_the_bride_is_a_virgin/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/y4vn1h/a_cook_gets_married_and_the_bride_is_a_virgin/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
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</ul>
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