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545 lines
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<title>Daily-Dose</title><meta content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" name="viewport"/><link href="styles/simple.css" rel="stylesheet"/><link href="../styles/simple.css" rel="stylesheet"/><style>*{overflow-x:hidden;}</style><link href="https://unpkg.com/aos@2.3.1/dist/aos.css" rel="stylesheet"/><script src="https://unpkg.com/aos@2.3.1/dist/aos.js"></script></head>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-down" id="daily-dose">Daily-Dose</h1>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-right" data-aos-anchor-placement="top-bottom" id="contents">Contents</h1>
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<ul>
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<li><a href="#from-new-yorker">From New Yorker</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-vox">From Vox</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-the-hindu-sports">From The Hindu: Sports</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-the-hindu-national-news">From The Hindu: National News</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-bbc-europe">From BBC: Europe</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-ars-technica">From Ars Technica</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-jokes-subreddit">From Jokes Subreddit</a></li>
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</ul>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-new-yorker">From New Yorker</h1>
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<ul>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Midterm Elections Deliver a Stunning Return to the Status Quo</strong> - The red wave never materialized, Trump’s handpicked candidates underperformed, some new faces emerged—but the country appears as evenly divided as ever. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/the-political-scene/the-midterm-elections-deliver-a-stunning-return-to-the-status-quo">link</a></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Unlikely Victory of John Fetterman</strong> - In the early hours of the morning, as it became clear that Fetterman had won his crucial Senate race, his watch party turned from tension to celebration. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/the-unlikely-victory-of-john-fetterman">link</a></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The 2022 Midterm Elections: Live Results Map</strong> - The latest vote counts, news, and updates from the U.S. House, Senate, and gubernatorial races. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/midterm-election-2022/live-results-map-senate-house-governors-races">link</a></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Nevada Awaits a Winner in a Pivotal Senate Race</strong> - For now, the Republican Adam Laxalt, who backed Trump’s 2020 election denialism, is urging patience from his supporters as all the votes are counted. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/dispatch/nevada-awaits-a-winner-in-a-pivotal-senate-race">link</a></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Accurate Election Polls That No One Believed</strong> - The predictors got the midterms mostly right. Was it a fluke? - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/the-political-scene/the-accurate-election-polls-that-no-one-believed">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>Hollywood’s Black film problem, explained by Elvis Mitchell</strong> -
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<figure>
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<img alt="The poster of the film, featuring a Black woman with 1970s-style hair and wearing shades while sitting in a chair." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Pj0XtbU_iREQ88KQ3pOXMs4Oj8M=/181x387:1281x1212/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/71614122/EN_US_ISTBEFY_Main_Vertical_1x1_RGB_PRE.0.jpg"/>
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<figcaption>
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Is That Black Enough For You?!? is a personal dive into the history of Black representation on screen. | Netflix
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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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The venerated film critic on the unheralded Black influence on everything from soundtracks to Don’t Worry Darling.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="pUIrq7">
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Over the past few years, movies like <em>Black Panther </em>and <em>Get Out</em> have raked in both accolades and box office returns, and <a href="https://www.vox.com/22332389/oscars-academy-diversity-membership-2021">the Oscar nominations hit new diversity records</a>. To the casual observer, it may seem like Hollywood has made massive strides in moving from being overwhelmingly dominated by white actors, directors, and writers and toward a more inclusive environment. But from the standpoint of history, it’s startling how little has changed — and what that tells us about the industry.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="2cNlXc">
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That’s why Elvis Mitchell’s documentary <em>Is That Black Enough For You?!?</em>, which starts streaming on Netflix on November 11, is so revealing. The veteran critic and journalist, a former New York Times film critic, has, among many other pursuits, hosted KCRW’s phenomenal interview show <em>The Treatment</em> since 1996. He brings a wry and curious lens to the history of Black film in Hollywood, weaving interviews with renowned Black actors and filmmakers from Harry Belafonte to Zendaya into his own story. In so doing, he challenges many of the settled ideas about the film canon, Hollywood history, and what it’s meant to be a Black artist on screen.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="arhWcU">
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I met Mitchell at a hotel on Manhattan’s Lower East Side to talk about those matters and a lot more. I wanted to ask him about Hollywood’s claims to inclusivity, about the still-common axiom that “Black films don’t travel,” and about why all of this history is really not so different from today. Our conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.
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</p>
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<figure class="e-image">
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<img alt="A Black man sits behind a movie camera." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ILk7wf62MAFXLpOsBbMIJVJu5Rc=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24178661/Is_That_Black_Enough_For_You_Unit_00153.jpeg"/> <cite>Hannah Kozak/Netflix</cite>
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<figcaption>
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Elvis Mitchell on the set of <em>Is That Black Enough For You?!?</em>
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</figcaption>
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</figure>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="vT2lZ5">
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<strong>You say in the film that Hollywood appointed itself “the myth-maker” for the world. Early studio heads saw themselves as the guardians of America’s morality and morale, and the exporters of a message about America to the world. </strong>
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="jNJ70m">
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<strong>But as you demonstrate, the story Hollywood told about Black people was often demeaning, and very far from the truth. What kind of an effect does that have on the myth that the country and the world internalize?</strong>
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="38fjKW">
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I think [Hollywood] was unique to film culture, different from any place else in the world. American movies were made by people who fled [their home countries] under enormous persecution, and then decided to create out of whole cloth this ideal of what America was — this America that they <em>wanted</em> to come to. And the America that they created is still being seen — it’s something popular culture is still responding to.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="cm08nd">
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We noticed as we were putting the movie together that so many of the people on camera — Samuel L. Jackson, <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0210867/">Suzanne de Passe</a>, <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0122344/">Charles Burnett</a>, <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000401/">Laurence Fishburne</a> — talked about Westerns. The myth became that there was never a Black person on a horse. That would have been empowerment; as soon as you put a Black person on a horse, you’re saying that they have some control over where they’re going, literally, within their lives. We can’t do <em>that</em>.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="HbwCvv">
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Back when Paul Thomas Anderson was talking about his film <em>Boogie Nights</em>, <a href="https://www2.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/news-bfi/features/praise-don-cheadle-paul-thomas-anderson-boogie-nights">he talked about</a> how absurd the idea of a Black cowboy is. So even Paul Thomas Anderson has been kind of rolled under by the idea the movies have created about what cowboys are <em>supposed</em> to be, rather than what <a href="https://www.vox.com/the-highlight/23178769/gabriela-hasbun-bill-pickett-black-rodeo">they actually were</a>.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="lFJ4O7">
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So much of Black culture has been about responding to myths created about Black people through various forms of media. That response came from actors as much as filmmakers, because so many of these movies are not directed by Black people. Actors took some claim over [reclaiming the truth about being Black], and that confidence and that brio becomes this really transfixing quality.
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</p>
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<div class="c-float-right">
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<aside id="TdOpbh">
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<q>“So much of Black culture has been about responding to myths created about Black people through various forms of media”</q>
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</aside>
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</div>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="r4w9VM">
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<strong>But it’s not just about telling America what it is, or what its own history is, but also exporting an idea of America and its history to people who aren’t American. My sense as a film critic is that we still see the reverberations of world perceptions of American Black culture through that influence.</strong>
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="AloL5x">
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That gets to this message that’s constantly pushed in Hollywood — that <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/2018/2/20/17029156/black-panther-international-overseas-box-office-black-films-hidden-figures-proud-mary">Black film won’t sell overseas</a>.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="N8h6nC">
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<strong>Exactly.</strong>
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="BvnvYT">
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This shibboleth that exists to this very day, one that was constantly fed and cared for, <a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/8/6/17656176/sorry-to-bother-you-boots-riley-black-films-international-distribution">that Black movies “don’t travel.”</a> But think about [renowned Senegalese filmmaker] Ousmane Sembène in Africa, seeing what Ossie Davis is doing [in America], or seeing 1972’s <em>Sounder</em>, and being inspired by that, and creating his own … I’m not going to say mythology, but his own worldview about Black masculinity. When that’s missing, what does that do to the culture?
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="l6POtJ">
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It’s very convenient to say, “This stuff doesn’t travel.” Because it’s still this peculiar view of Black culture, even though it seeps in and subsumes everything. When you hear somebody on Fox say “24/7” — that’s hip-hop. They’re terrified by the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2008/jun/13/television.barackobama">“fist bump,”</a> but they’ll say something is happening “24/7,” and thus they’re missing the entire point of their argument.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Ii3KTa">
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<strong>Yes — here Ossie Davis is making films like </strong><em><strong>Cotton Comes to Harlem</strong></em><strong> and </strong><em><strong>Black Girl</strong></em><strong>, with roles in which Black characters can exercise self-determination, and it sparks something for filmmakers because their imaginations are expanded. </strong>
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="VpjCJy">
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<strong>At the same time, though, you bring up that Sidney Poitier was, at one point, the number one box office draw, and yet Hollywood executives couldn’t imagine that any other Black actor could </strong><em><strong>also</strong></em><strong> be popular with a broader audience. The thinking is that it’s just Poitier; it’s an exception, it’s an anomaly, it’s just this one guy. </strong>
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="w7wutB">
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<strong>It reminded me of how people talk about huge, massive hits like </strong><em><strong>Black Panther </strong></em><strong>or </strong><em><strong>Get Out </strong></em><strong>today. There’s still a reluctance to greenlight big-budget Black films, because the thinking is, “Oh, well, that was a fluke.”</strong>
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="yybCqU">
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And what happens? We get a white remake of <em>Get Out</em>, called <em>Don’t Worry Darling</em>.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="u2KbkW">
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<em><strong>You</strong></em><strong> said it.</strong>
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="alDTjL">
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So at the same time, we have to be careful about the way we deal with Black film, because [Hollywood doesn’t think there are] “genres” in Black film; it’s just “Black film.” So when any Black film fails, it is a “Black film” that is failing, not that movie.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="0Kka6q">
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I remember when <em>Black Panther</em> came out, I talked to so many people, including Oprah, who said, “This is going to bring in a whole new way of [making] film.” No, it’s not. Because what happens when a film succeeds in a major way? It’s <em>imitated</em>. How many <em>Jurassic World</em> [imitations] have there been since the first <em>Black Panther</em> movie? And now, how many imitations of <em>Black Panther</em> have we seen? The answer is none, because they’re still treated as if lightning struck.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="deWqCr">
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<strong>Absolutely. Hollywood loves to make big creature movies, even if none of them hit quite like </strong><em><strong>Jurassic Park</strong></em><strong>. And this goes to something I think about a lot, which is that Hollywood is fundamentally conservative. Often people think of Hollywood as a very progressive, forward-looking industry, but it’s risk-averse and prone to sticking with whatever they know — which becomes a problem when what you know is stuck in some false idea of reality.</strong>
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="LES92P">
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<strong>Do you think the reluctance to mainstream Black film in the industry is due to failure of imagination, built-in biases that they’d be horrified to be accused of, or what?</strong>
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="aPKFq5">
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How much time do you have? Let’s send out for lunch.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="7lgCod">
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To your point, Hollywood is a community that thinks of itself as being incredibly liberal, except when it comes to exercising that liberal impulse. Maybe they think their liberalism and commerce are two different things, but no, they’re not.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="UWSTMv">
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While we were trying to get [<em>Is That Black Enough For You?!?</em>]<em> </em>going, it got shut down by Covid; this was all happening at the same time that the country was reeling from the George Floyd attack, and the responses to that.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="iljQcn">
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Back then, I would get these calls, saying, “So we want to put together this blue ribbon panel to figure out what we can do to make things [in Hollywood] different.” Look, we don’t need a panel. I don’t have time for this. I have three words for you: <em>Hire Black people</em>. It’s as simple as that. And not just one [Black person], but several, so the one person doesn’t have to labor under the burden of having to explain all of Black culture.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Vq6mJD">
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<strong>Your film feels a little bit like a story about all the people who have been told that something “simply isn’t done” or “just can’t be done.” But when it </strong><em><strong>is</strong></em><strong> done, it’s a wild success — like Melvin van Peebles self-financing </strong><em><strong>Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song </strong></em><strong>because no studio would make it, and then it being a huge, era-defining hit. I sort of feel like that might apply to your own film — am I right? I can imagine people saying, “We can’t do this, nobody’s going to watch it, nobody’s going to be interested.”</strong>
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="e2e8e3">
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People in effect said that when they turned down this same material in a book pitch. I thought, oh, this is the kind of thing that could go on a bookshelf next to <em>Easy Riders, Raging Bulls</em>, or <em>Pictures at a Revolution</em>. This isn’t esoterica. I’m not talking about a wave of art films.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="rwj9Ur">
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In fact, these movies are not only enormous successes as movies, but they also created these soundtracks that were enormous successes, and then were imitated in ways that were enormous successes.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="kLmicc">
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People who know and understand film history say, “Why hasn’t this documentary happened before?” I say, “I don’t know. If a tree falls in the forest, and there’s nobody to hear it, is that a legacy?” I mean, this is what this comes down to. I hate to torture a metaphor like that, but if it’s not reported on, then it’s not a legacy — if it’s not examined, if there’s not context offered.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="9cQ3fT">
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<strong>I think a problem is that people get very emotional and defensive when you threaten their canon, their idea of who did what first. </strong>
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="dgdGmN">
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<strong>Why do you think this is?</strong>
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="oYO3V6">
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There is this consistent boxing up of Black film culture. It’s <em>this</em>. It’s <em>solely</em> this. It is <em>only</em> this. It is Sidney Poitier. It is Black filmmakers finally getting a chance to work in the 1960s. It’s this thing that Melvin van Peebles has tried to fight his way, and then after that Spike Lee, and Robert Townsend, and so many filmmakers.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="R9JpC5">
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One of the reasons I wanted to present the idea of the dangers of canonical thought is that nobody tends to think about blackface in Alfred Hitchcock, in the 1937 film <em>Young and Innocent</em>. I remember seeing that as a kid, and thinking, “Oh my god, there’s blackface in an Alfred Hitchcock movie?” Or there is this idea in canonical thought that 1939 is the greatest movie era in American movie history. Some of us disagree with that.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="WzzNv1">
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<strong>But it’s accepted as fact, along with the idea that a set of white filmmakers changed film in the early 1970s. There’s truth to it, but there’s more to the story.</strong>
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="T8VrnF">
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They end up feeding into that river of myth. “These filmmakers came and changed everything” — well, they did sometimes, but they didn’t exist in a vacuum.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="fjvbEl">
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<strong>Getting a chance to see these things on screen, in front of me, might be what’s good about doing this in film form instead of a book. I had honestly never really been struck by the similarities between depictions of Mickey Mouse and minstrelsy, but of course, it was obvious once you showed it to me in the film. </strong>
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="vhn34P">
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This feels like this innocent thing. In fact, it is not. Or, I’m not going to say it’s <em>not</em> innocent, but certainly there are layers to this that need to be pulled away, so we can see the entirety of it.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="VPBBcw">
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Mickey wasn’t keeping on gloves so he doesn’t leave any clues for a CSI team or something. “These are Mickey Mouse’s fingerprints, now we know who killed him.”
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="NiQPMH">
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<strong>Music is really important to this film, and it’s especially interesting to hear about how releasing a soundtrack before the movie’s release — pretty common now — was virtually unheard of before </strong><em><strong>Super Fly</strong></em><strong>.</strong>
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Iqo7m8">
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By releasing the soundtrack [before the movie], and having it be such an immediate success, it created a must-see feeling around the movie. And it was constantly being played. If you drove around LA, you heard the commercial for the release of <em>Super Fly</em>. People respond to these songs, and then go out and buy the soundtrack. It is that rare case where you had people listen to the soundtrack before they saw the movie. So they created their own movie in their head through Curtis Mayfield’s soundtrack. And the movie, in some ways, couldn’t live up to that movie they created in their head.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="dq0xYD">
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Let’s be honest, those songs are better than the movie. There’s great stuff in the movie, but as a dramatic creation, as a narrative with its own life, that soundtrack is extraordinary. The soundtrack was a huge artistic and commercial success, and every song was released as a single. This isn’t like you’re making <em>A Hard Day’s Night</em>, and the Beatles are already a hit; this is something that becomes a mainstream hit that then propels the movie to enormous success. <em>Shaft</em> followed its example, and it started to happen so much that by the time <em>Saturday Night Fever </em>was coming out, they had the soundtrack out two months before the movie.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="OCRGU5">
|
||
Then music videos also started coming out before the movie, and that became the coin of the realm for the ’80s, that the soundtrack was as important, if not more so, than the film. <em>Super Fly</em> did that.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="yez2tY">
|
||
<strong>Now that’s all TikTok, 10-second clips. This summer the music from Baz Luhrmann’s </strong><em><strong>Elvis</strong></em><strong> started circulating on TikTok before the movie came out. I’m not even sure people knew what it was from, or that the “Hound Dog” remix was based on an Elvis song.</strong>
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="s81nkb">
|
||
<strong>Every year I’ve been doing this job, and especially when Oscar season arrives, the industry starts touting how far they’ve come in terms of inclusivity — the whole #OscarsSoWhite issue having pushed it recently. That is, frankly, embarrassing, when you actually look at who gets jobs and who wins awards. </strong>
|
||
</p>
|
||
<div class="c-float-left">
|
||
<aside id="xlTI9F">
|
||
<q>“Maybe in some fundamental way things have changed, but it’s still about trying to wrest some control of this narrative”</q>
|
||
</aside>
|
||
</div>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="xQQIIh">
|
||
Here’s the example. Suzanne de Passe was nominated for Best Original Screenplay in 1973 [for co-writing <em>Lady Sings the Blues</em>]. How many other Black women have been nominated since that, in that category? <em>None</em>.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="PFz42U">
|
||
So when people would say to me, “Are you afraid this documentary’s going to seem dated?” No.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="I4kvTz">
|
||
My fear is that it will <em>never</em> seem dated. In the film, Zendaya says, “It’d be great to see Black kids playing together on camera, or to see more Black people in a sci-fi fantasy.” Was that going to seem like old hat by the time this movie came out? No.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="BC59Qk">
|
||
It’s weird to show this history to young people and have them go, “God, nothing has changed.” This is the thing that I wanted to try to find a way to deal with, too: Every decade we hear about this “resurgence in Black film.” But where did it go? It didn’t go anywhere; it just wasn’t being covered.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="QhZJgE">
|
||
To your question, maybe in some fundamental way things have changed, but it’s still about trying to wrest some control of this narrative. Certainly, the visibility of the phenomenon may change, but Black women aren’t getting opportunities to write movies. It’s as simple as that.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Q9cF5c">
|
||
It would be fun to say, “Well, god, in the three years since I’ve started working on this, so much has changed.” No.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="PMD265">
|
||
Is That Black Enough For You?!? <em>premieres on Netflix on November 11.</em>
|
||
</p></li>
|
||
<li><strong>How abortion rights advocates won every ballot measure this year</strong> -
|
||
<figure>
|
||
<img alt="A photo illustration shows a line of marching protesters carrying signs, silhouetted in black against a light purple background. Among them are men and women holding signs and microphones." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/-S8NbpLlUDw64HwwR04bSkbo8RU=/280x0:1631x1013/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/71613895/abortion_stakes_board2_a.0.jpg"/>
|
||
<figcaption>
|
||
Christina Animashaun/Vox; Getty Images
|
||
</figcaption>
|
||
</figure>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
Pro-choice coalitions prevailed in red, blue, and purple states.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="dgE8hL">
|
||
Americans voiced their preference for abortion rights on Tuesday, casting votes in support of reproductive freedom everywhere they <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/23449529/chart-abortion-rights-ballot-measures-midterm-elections-kentucky-results-2022">appeared on the ballot</a>: Kentucky, Michigan, Vermont, Montana, and California.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="gXrabG">
|
||
Counting <a href="https://www.vox.com/23273455/kansas-abortion-roe-dobbs-ballot-initiative-constitutional-amendment">a pivotal ballot measure</a> Kansas voters <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2022/8/2/23278845/kansas-abortion-vote-constitutional-amendment">weighed in on in August</a>, reproductive rights have been on the ballot in six states since the Supreme Court <a href="https://www.vox.com/2022/6/24/23181720/supreme-court-dobbs-jackson-womens-health-samuel-alito-roe-wade-abortion-marriage-contraception">overturned <em>Roe v. Wade</em></a><em> </em>in June. Each time, abortion rights supporters have won.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="lLE9z1">
|
||
While Democratic candidates running on abortion access <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/23444732/2022-midterm-elections-results-abortion-rights-nebraska-north-carolina">also did extremely well</a> in their contests this week, the vote tallies indicate that the ballot initiatives were often able to draw even more support than the Democratic candidates, garnering votes from individuals who otherwise cast ballots for Republicans, libertarians, or no candidate at all.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Z6uQ4C">
|
||
“Organizers communicated in a nonpartisan way and that was key,” said Ashley All, who served as communications director for the pro-choice coalition in Kansas. “Their messaging around personal liberty and reproductive freedom and protecting the constitutional rights of women to make the decisions for themselves resonated because it’s shared American values.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="KmlNDy">
|
||
The organizers also succeeded in winning over voters who may personally oppose abortion or have reservations about it. While a majority of Americans say they believe <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/05/03/most-americans-say-supreme-court-should-uphold-roe-post-abc-poll-finds/"><em>Roe </em>v.<em> Wade </em>should be upheld</a>, <a href="https://www.dataforprogress.org/blog/2022/5/5/voters-uphold-roe">roughly one-third</a> of those backing legal abortion do not personally support it. And many who support abortion rights believe it should only be legal in cases of rape or a threat to a woman’s life.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="bS0n1q">
|
||
Ethan Winter, the research and strategy director for <a href="https://www.famsunitedforfreedom.org/">Families United for Freedom</a>, an abortion rights political action committee, emphasized that the ballot measure campaigns all leaned heavily on persuasion tactics.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="cwpLwZ">
|
||
“Montana is a heavily Republican state, Kentucky is a heavily Republican state,” he told Vox. “All of these victories depend on Republicans voting for you, on people who self-identify as ‘pro-life’ voting for you.” In Kansas, where Trump won handily in 2020 and registered Republicans outnumber Democrats almost <a href="https://sos.ks.gov/elections/elections-statistics-data.html">two to one</a>, the pro-choice side won by a nearly <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/23290714/kansas-abortion-referendum-primary-turnout-charts">20-point margin</a>. Even California’s measure codifying abortion rights in the state constitution passed this week with roughly <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/11/08/us/elections/results-california-proposition-1-constitutional-right-to-reproductive-freedom.html">6 percent more support</a> than other Democrats currently have<strong> </strong>on the statewide ballot.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="tWDcL2">
|
||
Abortion rights organizers say they hope their successes this year across diverse states inspires other leaders to follow suit. How to get<strong> </strong>issues on the ballot varies from state to state; in some cases citizens can collect signatures, while in others lawmakers have to approve turning issues over to voters. In Michigan, activists collected <a href="https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/michigan/2022/07/11/group-submit-750-k-signatures-bid-enshrine-abortion-rights-constitution/10027036002/">more than 750,000 signatures</a> to get their abortion rights measure on the November ballot. In <a href="https://apps.montanafreepress.org/capitol-tracker-2021/bills/hb-167">Montana</a>, <a href="https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/record/21rs/hb91.html">Kentucky</a>, and <a href="http://kslegislature.org/li/b2021_22/measures/hcr5003/">Kansas</a>, by contrast, Republican lawmakers had voted to place their anti-abortion measures on the ballot.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="2FBfLN">
|
||
“Our resounding victory now provides a model for the future of coalition-based reproductive ballot initiatives all across the country,” <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/detroit/video/reproductive-freedom-for-all-leaders-speak-on-passage-of-proposal-3/#x">declared</a> Nicole Wells Stallworth, the executive director for Planned Parenthood Advocates of Michigan, in a press conference on Wednesday.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="FAoIYL">
|
||
“I’m hoping other states are looking at the outcomes of last night,” Jodi Hicks, the head of Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California, told Vox. “And looking at what they too can do and really start polling, message-testing, and laying the groundwork.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h3 id="tb8aui">
|
||
Voters don’t like big status quo disruptions, and overturning <em>Roe </em>was just that
|
||
</h3>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="GP0nMX">
|
||
This past summer when Kansas voters went to cast their ballots, advocates for abortion rights were cautiously optimistic they’d have one advantage on their side: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFuHZEYwTac">status quo bias</a>.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="KQTPtw">
|
||
Americans tend not to like big, disruptive changes, which is why political science researchers believe they observe a <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1532440018815067?journalCode=spaa">“status quo bias”</a> when people weigh in on ballot initiatives. Voters often reject measures they perceive as introducing major change.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="sfMwCB">
|
||
Anti-abortion politicians in Kansas had proposed an amendment to the Kansas constitution that would have overruled a Kansas <a href="https://www.kscourts.org/Newsroom/News-Releases/News/2019-News-Releases/April-2019/Supreme-Court-announces-decision-in-Hodes-Nauser">Supreme Court decision</a> affirming Kansans’ right to end a pregnancy. Passing the amendment would have given state lawmakers the power to ignore this ruling and legislate a total abortion ban in the wake of the <em>Dobbs </em>decision<em>. </em>
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ot1x7E">
|
||
Activists in Kansas, in other words, could frame the amendment as an effort to take away<em> </em>rights Kansans currently enjoyed under their state constitution, something they called extremist, radical, and disruptive. This general electoral instinct to avoid major shifts to the status quo, organizers believe, helped them defeat the amendment in August.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="kL8OyS">
|
||
While the abortion ballot choices on Tuesday weren’t quite as straightforward as asking voters whether they want to remove an existing state constitutional protection, organizers did lean on “status quo bias” messaging in their respective campaigns. In Michigan, for example, though Proposition 3 was an affirmative amendment to codify reproductive freedom in Michigan’s constitution, activists framed their language around the idea of restoring<em> </em>the rights of <em>Roe v. Wade, </em>of bringing back the reality Americans had known for five decades.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ywL9yt">
|
||
In Kentucky activists similarly emphasized a theme of restoration. “We focused our messaging on restoring access and making sure things do not go any further in the extremist direction,” explained Rachel Sweet, who <a href="https://protectkentucky.com/">led the Kentucky coalition</a> organizing to defeat the anti-abortion amendment.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h3 id="wDa2eS">
|
||
Abortion rights organizers used state-specific messaging to win
|
||
</h3>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="SPnZmM">
|
||
Activists and researchers experimented with different messages <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/23390955/men-pro-choice-messaging-abortion-rights">and messengers</a> to win their ballot initiative campaigns, deploying themes that were specific to the histories and values of each state.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="h7raQx">
|
||
In Montana, for example, organizers looked to capture the deep sense of pride voters have in their state’s right to privacy. “Montanans of every ideology here are deeply proud of our constitution which <a href="https://leg.mt.gov/bills/mca/Constitution/II/10.htm">enshrines the right to privacy</a>,” said Hillary-Anne Crosby, a spokesperson for the coalition organizing to defeat Montana’s anti-abortion ballot measure. “This amendment really came down to private medical decisions.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="W64axq">
|
||
Montana’s referendum — known as LR 131 — was spurred by a bill Republican lawmakers passed last year asking voters to affirm that an embryo or fetus is a legal person with the right to medical care if it survives an abortion or delivery. Under the law, health care providers could face up to 20 years in prison and a $50,000 fine if they failed to provide such care.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="oL7Z3X">
|
||
While Republican lawmakers framed the measure as a moral choice for anyone opposed to abortion, reproductive rights advocates argued that the proposal itself had little to do with abortion and everything to do with palliative care and compassion for bereft parents.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="I9rfNg">
|
||
That’s because infanticide is already illegal in Montana, and the idea that infants were being killed after<em> </em>an abortion is intentionally misleading, part of a longstanding effort by anti-abortion leaders to depict “<a href="https://www.factcheck.org/2019/03/the-facts-on-the-born-alive-debate/">botched abortions</a>” that they say can result in live births.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ZtlvtL">
|
||
Under current Montana law, if an infant has a fatal prognosis parents can spend those final and few moments holding their dying child and saying goodbye. Under LR 131, a doctor would have been obligated to take the infant away to attempt medical treatment, even if they knew nothing would work.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="c3E4Ln">
|
||
In mobilizing support against the referendum, advocates chose to de-emphasize abortion, often not mentioning the word at all. They ran ads featuring <a href="https://nolr131.org/addressing-lr-131">neonatologists</a>, <a href="https://nolr131.org/perspectives/v/forcing-invasive-care">obstetricians</a> and <a href="https://nolr131.org/perspectives/v/misleading-government-mandate">pediatricians</a>, and grieving parents who said elected officials <a href="https://nolr131.org/perspectives/v/why-dr-bonnie-stephens-is-voting-no-on-lr131">wanted to politicize their tragedies</a>. Leaning in on status quo bias, doctors <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGy90pgRUaQ">gave media interviews</a> explaining how the proposed amendment would threaten the existing rights of parents and criminalize “the current practice of medicine.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="7G9N8D">
|
||
“We’re not trying to pull the wool over anyone’s eyes, we’ve been clear that one of the values of Compassion for Montana Families is uplifting and empowering reproductive and sexual health care,” Crosby told Vox. “But we felt abortion language was a misleading, deceptive thing to be talking about, and we wanted to accurately reflect what the bill in question would mean.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="LAh3yF">
|
||
This doesn’t mean Montana advocates aren’t celebrating the outcome as a victory for reproductive rights. “Conservatives tried to make abortion a boogeyman and people didn’t buy it,” Crosby added.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="vyeQAv">
|
||
Vermont organizers <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3L8Y0XEwhXh8tv-7pD4dPw">also emphasized, in their campaign messaging</a>, doing things “the Vermont way” — referring to the state’s independent and nonpartisan ethos.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<div id="LhKqoN">
|
||
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0; padding-bottom: 56.25%;">
|
||
|
||
</div>
|
||
</div>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="FCyxph">
|
||
<em>“</em>Vermont is sometimes seen as this very liberal place because of Bernie Sanders or whatever, but historically Vermont has held a Republican majority as well as the governor’s seat, and Vermonters regularly split their tickets,” said Lucy Leriche, a spokesperson for the abortion rights coalition in Vermont.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="iiNYAq">
|
||
Vermont, unlike most other states, also enjoyed 50 years of unlimited and unrestricted reproductive freedom. While states were permitted under <em>Roe </em>v. <em>Wade </em>to restrict pregnancies after viability (typically around 24 weeks in a pregnancy) Vermont lawmakers never did.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="byzxUn">
|
||
“The [anti-abortion] side is very quick to talk about all the bad things that would happen if you don’t restrict abortion rights, but in Vermont we never had any restrictions, so those arguments really do fall flat,” Leriche told Vox. “They don’t stick because we know better.” The measure to codify reproductive rights in Vermont’s constitution passed on Tuesday with <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/11/08/us/elections/results-vermont-proposal-5-constitutional-right-to-reproductive-autonomy.html">77 percent</a> of the vote.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h3 id="onIj8h">
|
||
Abortion rights activists haven’t historically focused on state ballot measures
|
||
</h3>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="4f1KQX">
|
||
Shoring up abortion rights on the state level was not something reproductive health advocates prioritized when <em>Roe v. Wade </em>provided a nationwide constitutional protection. Anti-abortion activists would occasionally push state ballot measures, often in deep red states, but fighting them at the polls seemed less critical than challenging them in court for violating <em>Roe. </em>
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="5PjYnM">
|
||
<em>“</em>Ballot measures are a space where there hasn’t been a ton of money on the pro-choice side and I think Families United for Freedom is indicative of more money moving in, and what I hope to be a larger trend,” said Winter. Families United for Freedom <a href="https://uploads-ssl.webflow.com/63221fca5f54e9c15be22a0a/636c098a13f5913fbda6cc31_FAMILIES_UNITED_FOR_FREEDOM_NOV_9_IMMEDIATE_RELEASE.pdf">raised about $2 million this cycle</a>, contributing $600,000 in Kansas, $275,000 in Kentucky, $500,000 in Michigan and $275,000 in Montana. Rachael Bedard, the PAC’s executive director, told Vox that they partnered with and supported local grassroots organizations, providing them with polling and media support, and avoided “a super-imposed national strategy.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ltIEBI">
|
||
Sweet, who managed the campaigns in both Kentucky and Kansas, told Vox that their success was driven by the expertise of these local grassroots leaders. “We also had a lot of volunteers who have never knocked doors for a candidate, and they don’t consider themselves super politically active,” Sweet said. “But they are concerned and motivated by this one issue.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="jciDxX">
|
||
One key research point Families United for Freedom found is that even among voters who supported the overturn of <em>Roe </em>v. <em>Wade, </em>a majority of them want abortion to be legal to save the life of the mother and in the case of rape and incest. Even in a hypothetical scenario in which abortion was illegal, the group found,<strong> </strong>16 percent of those who said they approve of the <em>Dobbs</em> decision wouldn’t want the woman who had an abortion to face penalties.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="13FXoO">
|
||
“In other words,” Bedard said, “they disapprove of abortion but less than they disapprove of criminalization.” Winning on these abortion ballot measures, Bedard said, means creating the space for someone to continue living their life as a “pro-life” person, while emphasizing that doesn’t extend to making their neighbor’s choice for them.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="SltY4E">
|
||
“We need to let voters have their own personal feelings about abortion, but invite them to join us in the fundamental belief that women should make the decisions for themselves,” added Ashley All, who joined Families United for Freedom after defeating the Kansas ballot measure. “That is pro-choice and that is a way to really bridge the gap.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="AnQcvU">
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="VUkvPN">
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="5jJvgQ">
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="cv8jjN">
|
||
</p></li>
|
||
<li><strong>Lauren Boebert’s extremely tight race in a safe Republican district, explained</strong> -
|
||
<figure>
|
||
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Do5kL6hu_DfikO7JxIWO4Jtv5FM=/79x0:3546x2600/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/71607727/GettyImages_1239298604a.0.jpg"/>
|
||
<figcaption>
|
||
Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert arrives to the US Capitol for a House vote on March 18. | Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
|
||
</figcaption>
|
||
</figure>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
Boebert could lose her Colorado House race. It would be a stunning upset.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="RHwHZr">
|
||
Conservative firebrand Rep. Lauren Boebert could be on the verge of losing her race in what would be the most stunning congressional upset of the cycle.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="eee6E5">
|
||
<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/11/08/us/elections/results-colorado-us-house-district-3.html">Boebert and her Democratic opponent Adam Frisch</a> were virtually tied Thursday evening in the House race for Colorado’s Third District, which includes much of the western half of the state. She led for a time Thursday afternoon; the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-colorado-lauren-boebert-congress-becdfdac0dadce7dcf7940befbdc2be3">Associated Press</a> estimates about 1 percent of the votes are left to count.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Tu7jXP">
|
||
The closeness of the race is surprising given the district’s Republican lean and polling that heavily favored Boebert ahead of Election Day. A loss — or even a narrow win — would signal that many voters are fed up with the controversy and antics that Boebert has trafficked in since taking office, and would be a notable rebuke of one of former President Donald Trump’s most vocal and bombastic backers in Congress. It also would <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/06/10/lauren-boebert-pueblo-colorado-487118">nod to concerns expressed by her constituents</a> — some of whom have said that she seems to care more about her celebrity than addressing issues in the district, including funding for infrastructure, which would bolster steel jobs in the area.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="XvQxbP">
|
||
During her tenure in the House, Boebert, previously a gun rights activist, has spent much of her time on attention-grabbing stunts including <a href="https://www.vox.com/22814386/lauren-boebert-islamophobic-comments-omar-house-republicans">Islamophobic comments targeting Rep. Ilhan Omar</a>, attempts to <a href="https://www.cpr.org/2021/01/12/boebert-clashes-with-capitol-police-after-setting-off-metal-detectors/">carry a gun throughout the Capitol</a>, and <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/02/politics/lauren-boebert-heckle-biden-state-of-the-union/index.html">heckling President Joe Biden</a> during his State of the Union address. She’s faced scrutiny for these actions as well as for controversial social media posts advancing false and dangerous theories suggesting that LGBTQ people “groom” children.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="9LYMzp">
|
||
Frisch, a moderate businessman and former Aspen city council member, has attempted to appeal to voters tired of what he described as the “<a href="https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-biden-colorado-32d5a1cd93ea61f259043ce55e5cb7d8">angertainment</a>” Boebert provides. He’s also leaned into qualms constituents have had about the focus Boebert has put on her own image versus delivering for the district. A Frisch win would be a surprising pick-up for Democrats in a place that <a href="https://www.cookpolitical.com/ratings/house-race-ratings">Cook Political Report,</a> a nonpartisan political analysis firm, has rated as Solid Republican.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="1kEGyy">
|
||
His ability to unseat a high-profile and far-right lawmaker would also signal that there are still limits to the controversial approach that Boebert, and others such as former Rep. Madison Cawthorn, have taken to politics.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h3 id="4dFhwk">
|
||
How Boebert’s race got so close
|
||
</h3>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="bessVH">
|
||
Polling up until this point had Boebert as the likely winner: <a href="https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2022-election-forecast/house/colorado/3/">FiveThirtyEight’s predictive model</a>, for example, gave Frisch a 3 in 100 chance of taking the district.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="BpSRBu">
|
||
And while it’s possible that Boebert could manage a victory, the unexpected tightness of this election suggests that she’s facing significant backlash from certain voters since getting elected just two years ago.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="YqkyXd">
|
||
In that timeframe, Boebert has fielded pushback <a href="https://www.cpr.org/2022/05/04/lauren-boebert-don-coram-colorado-congressional-race/">from her constituents</a> for the stunts she’s pulled as well as her ultra-conservative approach to policy. Boebert has supported hardline immigration policies that would <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2022/08/09/remain-in-mexico-migrant-protection-protocols-judge-injunction/">bring back the “remain in Mexico” program</a> as well as proposals to preserve expansive gun rights. She’s also garnered criticism for evangelizing <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/boebert-gop-qanon-congress-democrats-b1819868.html">QAnon conspiracy theories on social media</a>, sharing updates about <a href="https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/01/12/nation/colorado-republican-tweeted-about-pelosis-location-during-capitol-siege-shes-now-facing-calls-resign/">House Speaker Nancy Pelosi during the January 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection</a>, and <a href="https://www.axios.com/local/denver/2022/09/16/political-pulse-lauren-boebert-rhetoric-scrutiny">calling for a Christian takeover of government</a>. Plus, certain residents haven’t been satisfied with how responsive she is to their day-to-day policy needs.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="9m05bz">
|
||
Frisch, Boebert’s centrist Democratic opponent, has argued that Boebert’s interest in elevating her own profile as a social media influencer and television commentator surpasses her commitment to representing the district — calling out the fact that none of the bills she’s sponsored have passed. He’s also sought to sway Republican voters by stressing that he’d work across the aisle if he were elected and by promising to join a bipartisan group of lawmakers known as the Problem Solvers Caucus.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="yCg4Dz">
|
||
“I have this calm belief that that 40 percent of the Republican Party wants their party back,” <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/trump-loyalist-lauren-boebert-faces-nail-biting-race-to-keep-her-colorado-house-seat/ar-AA13UsHI">Frisch has said</a>.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Ujj7Yg">
|
||
This race could potentially take longer to settle, depending on if Boebert requests a recount. In Colorado, a recount is automatically triggered if candidates are within 0.5 percentage points of one another, and any candidate can request one if the margin is bigger than that.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h3 id="TW8qir">
|
||
A Boebert loss would add to Trump’s not-so-great election week
|
||
</h3>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="fY2tRA">
|
||
If Boebert loses, it would deal another blow to Trump this week.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="RHkeey">
|
||
Already, several of the high-profile candidates he’s backed, including Pennsylvania Senate candidate Mehmet Oz and House candidates Bo Hines and John Gibbs have lost their elections. Some of his picks, including Ohio Senate candidate and author J.D. Vance, were successful, but the overall picture hasn’t necessarily been a strong one for Trump. That’s been the case even as some of his potential 2024 rivals — <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/23448695/trump-2024-republicans-desantis-abbott-scott-sununu">like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Sen. Tim Scott</a> (R-SC) — had solid showings themselves.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="uMyUnN">
|
||
Boebert’s struggles follow those of Cawthorn earlier this year. Much like Boebert, Cawthorn drew attention for his far-right views and a number of high-profile scandals, including trying to carry a firearm through airport security and claiming that colleagues had invited him to an orgy. He ultimately lost his primary because members of his own party turned against him and backed an alternative candidate.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="dkFzCL">
|
||
If Boebert is defeated, that would be the latest development to signal that Trump’s support can only go so far, and that many voters aren’t willing to support contentious lawmakers who don’t deliver results.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="8N6mAv">
|
||
<em><strong>Update, November 10, 7:15 pm: </strong></em><em>This story was originally published on November 9 and has been updated to reflect the most recent vote tallies.</em>
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="P5FjxA">
|
||
<em><strong>Correction, November 9, 6:27 pm:</strong></em><em> A previous headline that appeared in search results erroneously said Boebert lost her race. The votes are still being counted.</em>
|
||
</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>Chennai’s Nov. 11 races postponed to Nov. 18</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>Baby Bazooka, Mysterious Girl and Intense Belief show out</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>Siege Courageous, Forseti, Konabos, Triumphant, Ruling Goddess and Listen To Me 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>FIFA World Cup | Dutch players to meet migrant workers in Qatar</strong> - The Royal Dutch Football Association announced the plan Thursday night, on the eve of coach Louis van Gaal announcing his final squad on Friday.</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>La Liga 2022/23 | Kroos leads Real Madrid to 2-1 victory over Cadiz</strong> - Real opened the scoring in the 40th minute when Kroos delivered a perfect deep cross from a short corner on the left touchline that found Militao who headed into the empty net</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>Industrial output grows 3.1% in September</strong> - Inflation continued to hurt consumption demand from households, reflected in the output of consumer durables as well as non-durables contracting sharply by 4.5% and 7.1%, respectively.</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>Maharaja’s College alumni bodies blame partial treatment of student unions for frequent clashes</strong> - One students’ body given undue freedom on campus at the cost of organisational freedom of others, they allege</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>Ongole railway station in Andhra Pradesh to get a facelift</strong> - Railway Board has given green signal for construction of two more platforms, says National Railway Users Consultative Council member</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 slams KCR govt. for not celebrating Maulana Azad’s birth anniversary</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>Two die in hit-and-run in Hosanagar</strong> -</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>Ukraine: We will not negotiate with war criminals</strong> - Prosecutor-General Andriy Kostin dismisses reports that Ukraine could negotiate with Russia.</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>Inside the capture of a Russian oligarch’s superyacht</strong> - A $325m luxury boat is floating in a US cargo port after the FBI tracked it down in the Pacific.</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>Belgium stabbing suspect ‘on extremist watch list’</strong> - The knifeman, who was known to police, shouted “God is greatest” during the attack, prosecutors say.</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>Salto de Castro: Spanish village on sale for €260,000</strong> - With 44 homes, a hotel and a church, an uninhabited town on the Portuguese border is on the market.</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>France suspends migrant deal with Italy over boat row</strong> - Paris was going to accept 3,500 migrants until Italy turned away a rescue boat with 230 on board.</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>Microsoft links Russia’s military to cyberattacks in Poland and Ukraine</strong> - The hacking group Microsoft ID’d is among the world’s most cutthroat and skilled. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1896971">link</a></p></li>
|
||
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Stable Diffusion in your pocket? “Draw Things” brings AI images to iPhone</strong> - It’s not fast, but it’s free—and it runs locally on pocket-sized hardware. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1896689">link</a></p></li>
|
||
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Reddit now lets you mute subreddits you don’t like</strong> - The muting feature comes first to Android and iOS, later to desktop and the web. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1896624">link</a></p></li>
|
||
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Measles outbreak erupts among unvaccinated children in Ohio daycare</strong> - Officials reportedly expect that more cases will be identified. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1896909">link</a></p></li>
|
||
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Spotify is the first to launch non-Google Android billing in the US</strong> - Spotify is the first partner for Google Play’s “User Choice Billing.” - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1896688">link</a></p></li>
|
||
</ul>
|
||
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-jokes-subreddit">From Jokes Subreddit</h1>
|
||
<ul>
|
||
<li><strong>It’s my cake day, so one of my favorite jokes … A sixteen year-old boy came home with a brand new Ford F150.</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
|
||
<div class="md">
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
His parents look at the truck and ask, “Where did you get that truck?!”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
“I bought it today,” he says. “With what money?” says his mother. They knew what a new F150 cost.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
“Well,” he says, “this one cost me just fifteen dollars.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
The father looks at him like he’s crazy. “Who would sell a truck like that for fifteen dollars?” he says.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
“It was the lady up the street,” says the boy. “I don’t know her name - they just moved in. She saw me ride past on my bike and asked me if I wanted to buy her F150 for fifteen dollars.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
“Oh my Goodness!” says the mother. “Maybe she’s mentally ill or has Alzheimer’s something. John, you better go see what’s going on.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
So the boy’s father walks up the street to the house where the lady lives and finds her out in the yard calmly planting flowers. He introduces himself as the father of the boy to whom she had sold a new Ford F150 truck for fifteen dollars and asks to know why she did it.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
“Well,” she says, “two days ago my husband left on a business trip. Yesterday I got a phone call from his boss and found out that he really ran off to Hawaii with his secretary and doesn’t intend to come back.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
“Oh, my goodness, I’m so sorry,” the father says. “But what does that have to do with my son and your truck?”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
“Well, this morning he called and told me he was stranded because he got robbed of his wallet with all his credit cards and cash. He told me to sell his new F150 and send him the money. So I did.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
</div>
|
||
<!-- SC_ON -->
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Waitsfornoone"> /u/Waitsfornoone </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/yrxur9/its_my_cake_day_so_one_of_my_favorite_jokes_a/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/yrxur9/its_my_cake_day_so_one_of_my_favorite_jokes_a/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
||
<li><strong>The King of France, The King of England and The King of Spain are having an argument over who has the biggest penis.</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
|
||
<div class="md">
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
Eventually they decide to let the people judge. They all stand on a stage in front of the people and drop their pants one by one.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
The King of France drops his and the French crowd shout “Vive la France!!”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
The King of Spain drops his and the Spanish crowd shout “Viva España!!”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
The King of England drops his, but there is a long silence from the crowd, and then everybody shouts “God save the Queen!!!”
|
||
</p>
|
||
</div>
|
||
<!-- SC_ON -->
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Waitsfornoone"> /u/Waitsfornoone </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/yrze3e/the_king_of_france_the_king_of_england_and_the/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/yrze3e/the_king_of_france_the_king_of_england_and_the/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
||
<li><strong>I’m a physicist.</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
|
||
<div class="md">
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
It’s 3 AM. A woman paces angrily in her house waiting for her physicist husband to come home. Finally he does. As he walks through the door she glares and demands “where have you been!?” Sheepishly, the physicist husband tries to explain himself. He says, “well my colleagues and I went out just for a friendly drink. A group of women invited us to join them, so we did. We drank and had fun talking and it got a little flirty. I got swept up in the moment and one thing led to another. I ended up making out with one of the women we met.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
His wife listens impatiently, arms crossed, furiously tapping her foot the whole time. When he finishes, she blurts out “Liar! LIAR! You were in the lab again weren’t you!”
|
||
</p>
|
||
</div>
|
||
<!-- SC_ON -->
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/gandalfwasgrey"> /u/gandalfwasgrey </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/yro93a/im_a_physicist/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/yro93a/im_a_physicist/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
||
<li><strong>Tomorrow’s date will be 11/11</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
|
||
<div class="md">
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
Unless you’re from the UK, in which case it’ll be 11/11
|
||
</p>
|
||
</div>
|
||
<!-- SC_ON -->
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/FitzyFarseer"> /u/FitzyFarseer </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/yrkymr/tomorrows_date_will_be_1111/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/yrkymr/tomorrows_date_will_be_1111/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
||
<li><strong>A cat walks into a bar.</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
|
||
<div class="md">
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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He’s having a bad day. He asks the bartender for a shot of whiskey. The bartender puts it on the counter and the cat slowly nudges the shot glass onto the floor breaking the shot glass. The cat looks up at the bartender and says leave the bottle. I’m not done yet.
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/badpuffthaikitty"> /u/badpuffthaikitty </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/yrzuxs/a_cat_walks_into_a_bar/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/yrzuxs/a_cat_walks_into_a_bar/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
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