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<title>19 January, 2024</title>
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<title>Daily-Dose</title><meta content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" name="viewport"/><link href="styles/simple.css" rel="stylesheet"/><link href="../styles/simple.css" rel="stylesheet"/><style>*{overflow-x:hidden;}</style><link href="https://unpkg.com/aos@2.3.1/dist/aos.css" rel="stylesheet"/><script src="https://unpkg.com/aos@2.3.1/dist/aos.js"></script></head>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-down" id="daily-dose">Daily-Dose</h1>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-right" data-aos-anchor-placement="top-bottom" id="contents">Contents</h1>
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<ul>
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<li><a href="#from-new-yorker">From New Yorker</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-vox">From Vox</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-the-hindu-sports">From The Hindu: Sports</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-the-hindu-national-news">From The Hindu: National News</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-bbc-europe">From BBC: Europe</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-ars-technica">From Ars Technica</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-jokes-subreddit">From Jokes Subreddit</a></li>
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</ul>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-new-yorker">From New Yorker</h1>
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<ul>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Anxious Precision of Jacqueline Novak’s Comedy</strong> - “Get on Your Knees,” her new Netflix special, is a ninety-minute reflection on the blow job. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/01/22/jacqueline-novak-profile">link</a></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A Drug-Decriminalization Fight Erupts in Oregon</strong> - An ambitious law set forth a more humane way to address addiction. Then came the backlash. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/01/22/a-new-drug-war-in-oregon">link</a></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Birth of My Daughter, the Death of My Marriage</strong> - Now that I was doing little besides keeping this tiny creature alive, it was impossible to ignore my desire to wander the streets with our baby, in ever-widening loops away from home. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/01/22/the-birth-of-my-daughter-the-death-of-my-marriage">link</a></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Price of Netanyahu’s Ambition</strong> - Amid war with Hamas, a hostage crisis, the devastation of Gaza, and Israel’s splintering identity, the Prime Minister seems unable to distinguish between his own interests and his country’s. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/01/22/benjamin-netanyahu-israel-gaza-hamas-war-hostages">link</a></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>How Ten Middle East Conflicts Are Converging Into One Big War</strong> - The U.S. is enmeshed in wars among disparate players in Israel, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/how-ten-middle-east-conflicts-are-converging-into-one-big-war">link</a></p></li>
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</ul>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-vox">From Vox</h1>
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<ul>
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<li><strong>Why have our winters gotten so weird?</strong> -
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<figure>
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<img alt="Children are sledding in front of the Capitol Building in Washington, DC, on January 16, after the region received 2-4 inches of snow, marking the first significant snowstorm in over two years for the city." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/JAhTvWxkQ6kfbJ9psUjd25PMUrc=/781x0:7056x4706/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73068135/GettyImages_1931227878.0.jpeg"/>
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<figcaption>
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Much of the US is experiencing frigid cold temperatures, but winters have been warming across the country in recent decades. | Aaron Schwartz/NurPhoto via Getty Images
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</figcaption>
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</figure>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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Yes, it’s freezing now. But winters are actually warming dangerously fast.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="CAlYdW">
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Bitter cold continues to grip the United States as unusual freezing temperatures stretch <a href="https://www.wesh.com/article/florida-cold-wind-chill-wednesday-temperatures/46421158">as far south as Florida</a> this week. Even <a href="https://www.foxweather.com/weather-news/deadly-cold-continues">more chilly weather</a> is in store through the weekend, putting more than 80 percent of the US population under some type of cold weather advisory.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ClZLu0">
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But this jarring cold snap is sandwiched between the end of what was the <a href="https://www.vox.com/23969523/climate-change-cop28-paris-1-5-c-uae-2023-record-warm">hottest year on record</a> and the start of another year that <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/us-scientists-say-one-in-three-chance-2024-another-year-record-heat-2024-01-12/">could be even hotter</a>. And even as temperatures <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us/arctic-blast-ends-new-york-snow-drought-brings-record-cold-west-2024-01-16/">plunge to new depths</a>, the recent weather isn’t remotely enough to derail an ominous trend.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="MwQHoC">
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As the climate changes, the bottom of the temperature scale is rising faster than the top. This pronounced winter warming is often less palpable than the triple-digit summer heat waves that have become all the more frequent across much of the country, but no less profound.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="QxlXJ1">
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According to <a href="https://www.climatecentral.org/climate-matters/fewer-frigid-nights-2023">Climate Central</a>, more than 200 locations around the United States have lost almost two weeks of below-freezing nights since 1970. By 2050, 23 states are projected to lose upward of a month of freezing days.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="DSks3u">
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“In general, winters have been getting warmer across the country, and really across the world,” said <a href="https://cropsoil.uga.edu/people/faculty/pam-knox.html">Pamela Knox</a>, an agricultural climatologist at the University of Georgia extension. “It turns out that the colder seasons are warming up more quickly than the warmer seasons.” Warmer winters are one of the strongest examples of how humanity has changed the world with its ravenous appetite for fossil fuels, which emit greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and drive up global temperatures.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="6KFe9M">
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That doesn’t just mean <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/dec/26/ski-resorts-battle-for-a-future-as-snow-declines-in-climate-crisis">fewer good ski days</a> or the end of <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/24001256/snow-winter-climate-change-solastalgia-warming">white Christmases</a> for some regions; cold weather is an important, essential signal for plants and animals, and losing it has far-reaching effects on the economy, food production, and health.
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</p>
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<h3 id="pSDTnr">
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Why winters in particular are heating up
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</h3>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="7Pd8V0">
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Though Earth is warming on average, those changes aren’t distributed evenly across the planet or throughout the year. The Arctic, for example, is warming about <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-022-00498-3">four times as fast</a> as the rest of the world as the sunlight-reflecting ice yields to the darker, heat-absorbing ocean below.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="fhfxrK">
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The cold seasons are also heating up disproportionately further south, albeit at a slower pace than the North Pole. According to the fifth <a href="https://www.vox.com/climate/23959402/national-climate-assessment-nca-report-biden-trump">National Climate Assessment</a>, a report by 14 US government agencies published last year, “Winter is <a href="https://nca2023.globalchange.gov/chapter/2/#key-message-1">warming nearly twice as fast</a> as summer in many northern states.”
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</p>
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<figure class="e-image">
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<img alt="Maps showing changes in hot and cold extremes across the US. " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/-etY8O__BdIfduR_nqcMyLhXnbM=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25234579/figure2_7.jpeg"/> <cite><a class="ql-link" href="https://nca2023.globalchange.gov/chapter/2/#key-message-1" target="_blank">National Climate Assessment</a></cite>
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<figcaption>
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The number of hot extreme days has increase over the past 20 years across the US while cold extremes are declining.
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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="5O7qzX">
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Why? Winters, it turns out, tend to have a stronger response to heat-trapping gases than summers. That’s not just due to carbon dioxide and methane, but also water vapor. For every 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit increase in temperature, air can hold on to 7 percent more moisture. “Cold atmospheres are especially sensitive to the additional moisture because the air is usually dry to start with, and a little more water vapor means a lot more heat is trapped near the surface,” <a href="https://www.woodwellclimate.org/staff/jennifer-francis/">Jennifer Francis</a>, a senior scientist at the Woodwell Climate Research Center, an independent team of climate scientists, wrote in an email.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Jyuena">
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In places where winter temperatures are rising above the freezing point, that’s leading to more rain than snow. But in areas where winter is warming but not yet above 32 degrees Fahrenheit, that extra moisture in the air can lead to more snowfall.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="enAbeK">
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“Snowfall is generally declining except where it’s still plenty cold enough for snow (rather than rain) to fall,” Francis said. “There is also a clear increased frequency of heavy precipitation events in all seasons.”
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="e9FLBP">
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Warming winters could also have some paradoxical effects and may even contribute to sudden cold snaps like the one underway across the US, although scientists are <a href="https://www.vox.com/22287295/texas-uri-climate-change-cold-polar-vortex-arctic">debating the mechanisms at work</a>. One idea is that the rapid warming in the Arctic is destabilizing the polar vortex, the band of fast-moving air that typically contains frigid air to the far north. The National Climate Assessment <a href="https://nca2023.globalchange.gov/chapter/2/#key-message-1">notes</a> that “some recent studies suggest that Arctic warming results in increasing disruptions of the stratospheric polar vortex that cause cold air from the Arctic to spill down over the United States, as seen in recent severe winter weather events such as the February 2021 cold snap that affected large parts of the country.”
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="riTGEX">
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However, with more greenhouse gases accumulating in the atmosphere, more heating is in store for the coldest regions of the world, which in turn will raise sea levels, alter ocean currents, and warp weather patterns around the globe. This is already having far-reaching effects near the equator, from reshaping shorelines to hampering harvests of prized fruit.
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</p>
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<h3 id="KFiD98">
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You’ll miss this cold when it’s gone
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</h3>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="5RVQz8">
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Consider the peach. For the state of Georgia, it’s kind of its thing.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="OPavEZ">
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Georgia’s official nickname is “<a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2023/01/29/official-state-nicknames-50-united-states/11032943002/">The Peach State</a>.” “George peach” is a <a href="https://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/paint-colors/color/031/georgia-peach">trademarked paint color</a>. They’re on the <a href="https://mvd.dor.ga.gov/motor/plates/PlateDetails.aspx?pcode=AA">license plate</a>. The Atlanta metro area has <a href="https://www.atlantamagazine.com/news-culture-articles/the-somewhat-definitive-ranking-of-atlantas-peachtree-streets/">more than 70 Peachtree streets</a>.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="5iUuPI">
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These perfect, pinkish, plump, pulpy, pitted produce are products of pride for the state (despite Georgia ranking <a href="https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/chart-gallery/gallery/chart-detail/?chartId=107215">a distant third</a> in peach production). So, the <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/05/30/1178773390/weather-is-to-blame-for-roughly-90-of-georgias-peach-crop-being-destroyed">loss of 90 percent of the crop</a> last year — the worst harvest since at least 1955 — hit Georgians hard. Even as <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/miami/news/georgia-the-peach-state-is-out-of-peaches-heres-why-and-how-locals-are-coping/">prices tripled</a>, many farmers didn’t have any peaches to sell, leaving picky connoisseurs to scramble for what was left.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="tQTT4K">
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“Buying peaches from any other state is completely out of the question,” Henryk Kumar, director of operations at the Butter & Cream ice cream shops in Georgia, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/15/business/georgia-peach-shortage/index.html">told CNN last year</a>.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="3AtYTi">
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Like much of the country, Georgia was hammered by severe and often hot weather in 2023. The extremes proved to be an <a href="https://www.walb.com/2023/07/19/peach-state-saw-90-its-namesake-crop-destroyed/">especially deadly combination</a> for the state’s precious fruit. A heat wave in February followed by two back-to-back cold snaps then heat waves again in the summer devastated the crop.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="lLciFV">
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The string of weather last year was especially unlucky, but warmer temperatures from November through February are posing a long-term threat to the future of Georgia peaches.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="131H2C">
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Georgia isn’t known for chilly winters, but what little cool weather it gets is precious. To produce ample fruit, peach trees require a minimum number of chill hours at temperatures below 45 degrees Fahrenheit. Depending on the variety, that requirement can range from <a href="https://newswire.caes.uga.edu/story/6157/peach-crop.html">500 to 800 hours</a>. The cool weather signals the tree to save up energy and resources. Once a tree reaches its minimum cold exposure, it can suspend its dormancy and resume growing in the spring.
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</p>
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<figure class="e-image">
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<img alt="A road sign with a peach on it welcomes travelers to Georgia on July 24, 2023, in Fort Valley, Georgia. It reads, “Welcome to Georgia. We’re glad Georgia’s on your mind.”" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/vmJd0wZndS5zqkhqNvgIvI_5Fdg=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25234718/GettyImages_1568145839.jpeg"/> <cite>Joe Raedle/Getty Images</cite>
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<figcaption>
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Peaches are Georgia’s iconic fruit, but warming winters are threatening harvests.
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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="E7Fw6J">
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However, with warmer winters, peach trees are experiencing seasonal insomnia. It’s disrupting the timing of when they blossom, making it harder for farmers to ensure they’re pollinated and end up bearing fruit. “A lot of times they bring in bees, so they want to have the maximum amount of pollination in a certain amount of time,” Knox said. “What happens when you don’t get enough chill hours is that the plants will still produce buds, but they’re not all ready to bloom at the same time.”
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="RREC58">
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If warming continues at its current pace, Georgia will face <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2225-1154/7/8/94">more frequent seasons</a> where it won’t be cold enough to grow many common peach varieties. The optimal growing regions for fruit like peaches and apples are going to shift northward, according to Knox: “Maybe they’ll grow more in north Georgia rather than in central Georgia where they do now.”
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Xnw884">
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This is just one example of how much the world as we know it counts on cool weather and the stakes of losing it. Another critical winter threshold is the freezing point of water. In places like the Sierra Nevada, snow serves as a water battery, charging up in the winter to power streams and rivers in the western US throughout the year. Warmer winters can thus fuel a <a href="https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/23550073/california-floods-rainfall-weather-climate-change-whiplash">weather whiplash</a> with flooding in the winter and drought in the summer, even if overall precipitation doesn’t change very much.
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</p>
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<figure class="e-image">
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<img alt="Graph showing the number of unfrozen days across the US since 1979. " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/vovxdwLHw1HmR3q6FX9NJF8aFbI=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25234565/freeze_thaw_download1_2023.png"/> <cite><a class="ql-link" href="https://www.epa.gov/climate-indicators/climate-change-indicators-freeze-thaw-conditions" target="_blank">Environmental Protection Agency</a></cite>
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<figcaption>
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The number of days with unfrozen ground is rising across the continental US.
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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="Uno0Eh">
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The loss of cold weather in the winter can also amplify warming through the spring and summer. “Earlier loss of spring snow cover more generally means that the strong spring sun can dry out the soil earlier, and when the soil dries out, it can warm up much faster,” Francis said. “This is contributing to summer heat waves, droughts, and more intense fire seasons.”
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ryAzKf">
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Warmer winters do have some upsides. Since the beginning of the 20th century, warming has <a href="https://www.epa.gov/climate-indicators/climate-change-indicators-length-growing-season">extended the growing season by two weeks</a>. For farmers growing annual crops like corn or wheat, that can let them squeeze in more plantings in a year. Last year, the US saw increases in soy and wheat production, as well as a <a href="https://www.vox.com/climate/23971356/thanksgiving-2023-food-steak-olive-oil-record-heat-climate-change">record corn harvest</a>. But for orchards that bear fruit once a year, that longer season doesn’t offer much help.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="RrZAqm">
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Rising winter temperatures also mean that severe chills and sudden frost events may be less likely in some areas. A dip below freezing after plants begin to awaken from their winter slumber can damage fragile leaves, stems, and roots, thereby hurting crop yields. But even in a warmer climate, frost events can still occur within the ordinary chaos of weather — as it did with Georgia’s peaches last year — though their timing may change. “The national climate system is like a bowl of jello,” Knox said. “It’s always jiggling.”
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</p></li>
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<li><strong>Congress averted a shutdown. Here’s what’s next.</strong> -
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<figure>
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<img alt="Mike Johnson, tieless in a blue suit and shirt, holds a hand up as he speaks, paintings and statues behind him." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/OFwRri1nLZ6ju-BEvVrB6XmjtIY=/388x0:3500x2334/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73067281/GettyImages_1930882826.0.jpg"/>
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<figcaption>
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House Speaker Mike Johnson speaks at the US Capitol ahead of the government funding deal. | Valerie Plesch/Bloomberg/Getty Images
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</figcaption>
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</figure>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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Congress’s interminable shutdown cycle, explained.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="MKUQ0L">
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On Thursday, <a href="https://www.vox.com/congress">Congress</a> <a href="https://www.vox.com/videos/22808675/us-government-shutdown-appropriations-bill-spending">narrowly averted</a> a <a href="https://www.vox.com/politics/2023/9/28/23894486/government-shutdown-federal-employees-services-closed">government shutdown</a>, one day before a January 19 funding deadline.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="eDX8cF">
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That’s welcome news: Government employees won’t be furloughed and programs won’t be delayed — but only for now. The deal does nothing to resolve the spending disagreements that put the government in danger of a shutdown in the first place, and could threaten the House’s ability to function if far-right Republicans unhappy with the deal manage to oust Speaker Mike Johnson over what they see as intolerable compromises with Democrats.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="zTEs49">
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The short-term spending bill Congress passed — known as a continuing resolution, or CR — will only keep the government funded until early March. At that point, Congress, and the country, will have to navigate questions about a potential shutdown all over again.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="UHeEJQ">
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||
In recent years, shutdowns — or the threat of one — have become more common as Congress has become more polarized and as lawmakers, particularly Republicans, have sought to leverage these must-pass annual spending bills to send a message to their base. Conservatives, for instance, have recently threatened to shut down the government if the spending deal didn’t include more <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/house/4390204-5-things-to-know-about-border-bill-hr2-gop-shutdown-threats/">aggressive border security policies</a> that make it harder to seek asylum.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="8S5aOA">
|
||
This week, Democrats jumped in to help the House GOP pass the CR without the assistance of these hardliners, but it’s this kind of partisan grandstanding that leads to the government feeling like it’s <a href="https://www.vox.com/videos/22808675/us-government-shutdown-appropriations-bill-spending">constantly on the verge of a shutdown</a> and that Congress is unable to complete even its most basic tasks.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h3 id="pviozg">
|
||
Why are we talking about a potential shutdown again?
|
||
</h3>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="O5iPq1">
|
||
Each year, lawmakers have to pass either 12 full-year spending bills or a CR by the end of September in order to keep the government open.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="q3rCjL">
|
||
Because Congress tends to procrastinate, lawmakers are often working up until that deadline on these bills, heightening concerns that they might not finish the job.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="DT85JZ">
|
||
That’s exactly what happened <a href="https://www.vox.com/politics/2023/9/30/23897597/shutdown-congress-kevin-mccarthy-ukraine">last September</a> when Congress approved a short-term spending bill that gave them until mid-November to finish the full-year spending bills. At the time, then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy had to rely on Democrats to help keep the government open since the right flank of his caucus was refusing to do so.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="XLoWDe">
|
||
That dynamic ultimately led to complete chaos in House Republican leadership. Because of a new rule that McCarthy agreed to this term, any single lawmaker is able to force a vote removing the speaker if they’re unhappy with that person. McCarthy’s decision to work with Democrats, which conservatives slammed, ultimately led to a vote on his removal as speaker, which succeeded.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="W0k60k">
|
||
McCarthy’s removal, however, didn’t mean Congress’s approach to the funding bills changed. With the November deadline fast approaching, House Republicans once again worked with Democrats to approve <a href="https://www.vox.com/politics/2023/11/15/23962996/house-funding-bill-government-shutdown-mike-johnson">another short-term spending bill,</a> this time giving them two new deadlines to pass legislation: Funding for some agencies expired on January 19, while funding for other agencies expired on February 2.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Y6Run7">
|
||
To prevent the latest batch of funding from expiring, Congress scrambled this week to try to find a deal. Really, they only had one option: a short-term spending bill, as they didn’t leave themselves enough time for the negotiations involved with a full-year spending package — especially given the conservative demands around the border that are nonstarters with most Democrats.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="qxuAE0">
|
||
Such CRs are unpopular with Republicans and have been criticized by Johnson, too, fueling concerns that the government could shut down this winter. In order to avoid that scenario, Johnson ultimately relied on Democratic votes just like McCarthy did to ensure a short-term funding bill could pass.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h3 id="Telh9E">
|
||
What does it mean that Democrats are bailing out the House GOP?
|
||
</h3>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="JLI3kk">
|
||
In a sign of the ongoing fracturing among House Republicans — and opposition to spending by the party’s right flank — 106 GOP members voted against the short-term spending legislation backed by their leadership on Thursday.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="OeZU9B">
|
||
This dynamic underscores how divided House Republicans continue to be, and the power that Democrats have to make or break certain votes. Democrats did not reportedly extract any major concessions from Johnson in exchange for their support to keep the government open, since lawmakers were hoping to avoid a shutdown. If Johnson continues to rely on their backing, however, it’s possible that they could make such demands.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="tC3Kft">
|
||
By working with Democrats, Johnson, like his predecessor, also jeopardizes his support from his own conference, particularly from more conservative members who are irked about the partnership. If they were to abandon him, that would plunge the House (and the government funding process) into chaos. Again.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h3 id="0DMYeQ">
|
||
What’s next?
|
||
</h3>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="sas2BK">
|
||
The short-term spending bill sets new spending deadlines for Congress with funding for some agencies — including the Agriculture Department, Transportation Department, and Energy Department — expiring on March 1 and funding for the remaining agencies expiring on March 8. We’ll probably revisit the question of whether there will be a government shutdown once more around that time.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="a0fOJe">
|
||
Lawmakers have said they hope to wrap the full-year spending bills by then. Thus far, the House and Senate have reached a deal on how much non-defense and defense spending levels should be for 2024, <a href="https://www.npr.org/2024/01/08/1223445221/up-first-briefing-congress-avoids-government-shutdown-lloyd-austins-hospital-sta">$886 billion and $704 billion respectively</a>, but they still need to hammer out the specifics for how much particular agencies and programs should receive.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ZDV8ps">
|
||
Congress also has the potential to do yet another CR ahead of the March deadline, but it runs the risk of activating a 1 percent across-the-board spending cut if it hasn’t passed full-year spending bills by April 30. An agreement lawmakers previously inked on the <a href="https://www.vox.com/2023/5/9/23715753/debt-ceiling-limit-default-deal-crisis">debt ceiling</a> included this spending cut in order to motivate Congress to get its work done more quickly. If lawmakers don’t approve full-year spending bills by April 30, agencies will have to navigate how they’d cut back on their spending to meet the 1 percent threshold.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Gw38U0">
|
||
Complicating all of this is that Johnson could face threats to his speakership.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ULqmRi">
|
||
It doesn’t appear that most Republicans want to wade back into the mess caused by McCarthy’s ouster, and there’s no clear candidate to replace Johnson if the party got rid of him. But <a href="https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2024/01/10/congress/conservatives-blast-johnson-00134782">conservatives are very angry with him</a> over his decision to use a CR and to work with Democrats. And some in his caucus, including <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/house/4416370-shutdown-funding-house-biden/">Texas Rep. Chip Roy and Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene</a> have signaled willingness to depose him, just like McCarthy.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h3 id="i1Mak0">
|
||
Can we stop this cycle of almost shutting down?
|
||
</h3>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="aqoc14">
|
||
Congress absolutely has the tools to prevent future shutdowns but is hesitant to use them, in part because some of the options have their own downsides.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="UH5L7y">
|
||
First, lawmakers could simply pass spending legislation on time and stop using it as a political cudgel, an unlikely prospect. Second, there have been bills proposed that would impose an automatic continuing resolution if Congress doesn’t manage to approve full-year bills in time.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="qONRqh">
|
||
A past measure from Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), for example, would have guaranteed the automatic institution of a new CR any time Congress missed a deadline and simultaneously halted funding to the executive and legislative branches in order to incentivize lawmakers to take action on full-year bills.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="mLVLpL">
|
||
The disadvantage of an approach like this is that the knowledge that there’s a CR waiting in the wings could deter lawmakers from negotiating on annual spending levels and providing resources to new programs.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="1Q5PIZ">
|
||
Because Congress is forced to compromise on spending bills under the current system, lawmakers have to engage with how government programs are being funded on an annual basis, something that could be lost if the approval of such measures is automated.
|
||
</p></li>
|
||
<li><strong>Vox podcasts tackle the Israel-Hamas war</strong> -
|
||
<figure>
|
||
<img alt="Orange glowing lights blaze in the night sky over a dark city skyline." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/szI7HHbPMHFKWkg3MZu8sG8kXdc=/107x0:1814x1280/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/72847308/AP23310764413057.0.jpg"/>
|
||
<figcaption>
|
||
Israeli forces’ flares light up the night sky in Gaza City on November 6, 2023. | Abed Khaled/AP
|
||
</figcaption>
|
||
</figure>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
Looking to understand the Israel-Hamas war? Start with these Vox podcast episodes.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="hruIUo">
|
||
The Israel-Palestine conflict goes back decades, but this <a href="https://www.vox.com/2023/10/7/23907683/israel-hamas-war-news-updates-october-2023">latest war</a> has taken <a href="https://apnews.com/article/israel-hamas-war-news-11-6-2023-51286d15dddd77ae0dd7ea76ee52bc71">an unprecedented toll in terms of the number of people killed</a>, and represents a significant step back from any hopes of securing a two-state solution and a permanent peace. <a href="https://www.vox.com/pages/podcasts">Vox podcasts</a> are covering the conflict in depth, offering our listeners context and clarity about the history of the conflict, a deeper understanding of the players in Israel and Palestine and on the world stage, and the toll of Hamas’s attack and Israel’s retaliation on the people in the region.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="MnBYNc">
|
||
<a href="https://vox.com/todayexplained"><em>Today, Explained</em></a>,<strong> </strong>Vox’s daily news explainer podcast, has been covering the conflict since it began,<strong> </strong>with an episode posted right after Hamas’s <a href="https://www.vox.com/2023/10/7/23907683/israel-hamas-war-news-updates-october-2023">October 7 attack on Israel</a> that took the lives of around 1,200 people and resulted in the kidnapping of an estimated 240 hostages. The show has since continued to cover many threads in this story, from<strong> </strong>where Hamas comes from to<strong> </strong>how false information about the conflict has spread on social media and how information warfare is used in the Middle East. Vox podcasts <a href="https://www.vox.com/the-weeds"><em>The Weeds</em></a> and <a href="https://www.vox.com/the-gray-area"><em>The Gray Area</em></a> have also been covering the unfolding crisis, its stakes, and its impact.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="2kKr31">
|
||
You can find those and all our other episodes on the topic below; we’ll continue to add more as new episodes are published.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<hr class="p-entry-hr" id="RGqWVo"/>
|
||
<h3 id="woPdiu">
|
||
How the war in Gaza ends
|
||
</h3>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="wK2sNB">
|
||
<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-the-war-in-gaza-ends/id1346207297?i=1000642138582">January 18, 2024</a> | Israel’s war against Hamas has now been raging for over 100 days. According to Ian Lustick, professor emeritus at the University of Pennsylvania, history tells us what it will take to end it.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<div id="SJLUcy">
|
||
|
||
</div>
|
||
<h3 id="asQmed">
|
||
Israel’s next move
|
||
</h3>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="QBV4Pr">
|
||
<a href="https://link.chtbl.com/IsraelsNextMove">January 3, 2023</a> | Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces trouble at home and abroad. AP correspondent Tia Goldenberg and scholar Hussein Ibish explain the significance of a high-profile killing in Lebanon.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<div id="oVyQ9x">
|
||
|
||
</div>
|
||
<h3 id="sEM2EX">
|
||
The fight over campus antisemitism
|
||
</h3>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="vPOwm3">
|
||
<a href="https://link.chtbl.com/TEXCampusAntisemitism">December 12, 2023</a> | Three elite university presidents walk into Congress for a hearing on antisemitism. Only two still have their jobs. New York magazine reporter Nia Prater tells us what happened, and a Harvard professor of Jewish history explains why he thinks resignations won’t make campuses safer.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<div id="6iFn6a">
|
||
|
||
</div>
|
||
<h3 id="00z9DI">
|
||
How Palestine went global
|
||
</h3>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="M1KvMn">
|
||
<a href="https://link.chtbl.com/TEX124">December 4, 2023</a> | People with no direct connection to the Middle East have taken to seeing the Palestinian cause as an anti-colonial struggle connected to their own experience. Columbia historian Rashid Khalidi explains why “decolonization” is resonating worldwide.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<div id="FJHviO">
|
||
|
||
</div>
|
||
<h3 id="7YHBXd">
|
||
The American politics of Israel
|
||
</h3>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="VFRGF2">
|
||
<a href="https://link.chtbl.com/TEXIsraelPolitics">November 29, 2023</a> | The Israel-Hamas war is dividing the previously united Democrats and uniting the recently fractured Republican Party. Semafor’s David Weigel explains what that means going into 2024.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<div id="Iwx2oi">
|
||
|
||
</div>
|
||
<h3 id="01MAY0">
|
||
The hostage deal (brought to you by Qatar)
|
||
</h3>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="GRrFTr">
|
||
<a href="https://link.chtbl.com/TEXHostageDeal">November 27, 2023</a> | After 50 days of the Israel-Hamas war, both sides took a breather to save lives. And it couldn’t have happened without Qatar.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<div id="2NKTTW">
|
||
|
||
</div>
|
||
<h3 id="XW3Wm8">
|
||
Inside the occupied West Bank
|
||
</h3>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="8hpwWy">
|
||
<a href="https://link.chtbl.com/TEXWestBank">November 20, 2023</a> | With the world focused on Gaza, Israeli settlers and soldiers are increasing attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank. Writer Nathan Thrall and journalist Dalia Hatuqa explain the decades of tension that shape life in the West Bank.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<div id="mgBn6Z">
|
||
|
||
</div>
|
||
<h3 id="UtoCGa">
|
||
A call from Gaza
|
||
</h3>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="faJMeF">
|
||
<a href="https://link.chtbl.com/TEXCallFromGaza">November 14, 2023</a> | People are desperately trying to escape Gaza as the siege on the strip continues. Mohammed Ghalaieny, a Palestinian British man, tells us why he is choosing to stay, even as other foreign nationals escape through the Rafah border crossing with Egypt.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<div id="YjDHNi">
|
||
|
||
</div>
|
||
<h3 id="eAjDEC">
|
||
A Jew and a Muslim get honest about Israel and Gaza
|
||
</h3>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="WCxb8i">
|
||
<a href="https://link.chtbl.com/GrayArea1113">November 13, 2023</a> | <a href="https://www.vox.com/authors/zack-beauchamp">Zack Beauchamp</a>, a Vox senior correspondent who writes about democracy and Israel, speaks with Shadi Hamid, a columnist at the Washington Post, research professor of Islamic studies at Fuller Seminary, and author of<em> The Problem of Democracy: America, the Middle East, and the Rise and Fall of an Idea</em>. They discuss the October 7 attack, the subsequent war in Gaza, what it means for Israelis and Palestinians, and how Jews and Muslims in the United States can find common ground amid their communities’ grief. This conversation was recorded on November 2, 2023.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<div id="VYKxSV">
|
||
|
||
</div>
|
||
<h3 id="EHONIG">
|
||
BDS and the history of the boycott
|
||
</h3>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="BmwHyD">
|
||
<a href="https://link.chtbl.com/WeedsBDS">November 8, 2023</a> | If you turn on the news or scroll through your social media feed of choice, there’s a good chance you’ll see the latest on the Israel-Hamas war — and the reaction to it. But there’s one call to action making its way down social media feeds that feels different from all these other responses. It’s called <a href="https://www.vox.com/world-politics/23935054/boycott-movement-palestine-against-israel-bds">BDS, short for boycott, divest, and sanction</a>. And like just about everything related to this conflict, it’s complicated and controversial. <a href="https://www.vox.com/the-weeds"><em>The Weeds</em></a> host <a href="https://www.vox.com/authors/jonquilyn-hill">Jonquilyn Hill</a> sits down with Vox senior reporter <a href="https://www.vox.com/authors/whizy-kim">Whizy Kim</a> to explain the controversial movement, and with Cornell professor and author of <em>Buying Power: A History of Consumer Activism in America</em> Lawrence B. Glickman to discuss the history of boycotts and whether they even work.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<div id="W9bkwx">
|
||
|
||
</div>
|
||
<h3 id="eCQMxj">
|
||
Ceasefire?
|
||
</h3>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="0njnUb">
|
||
<a href="https://link.chtbl.com/TEXCeasefire">November 8, 2023</a> | Protesters, politicians, and the pope are <a href="https://www.vox.com/world-politics/2023/11/9/23953714/biden-campaign-alumni-want-gaza-ceasefire-state-department-dissent-memo">calling for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war</a>, but the US and Israeli governments remain opposed. Vox’s Jonathan Guyer and Jon B. Alterman from the Center for Strategic and International Studies explain what happens next.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<div id="qI0QXG">
|
||
|
||
</div>
|
||
<h3 id="7PpXDq">
|
||
The view from Israel
|
||
</h3>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="nWyxFA">
|
||
<a href="https://link.chtbl.com/TEXviewfromisrael">November 2, 2023</a> | Israelis overwhelmingly disapprove of their government’s handling of the October 7 attacks, but their desire for unity keeps Prime Minister <a href="https://www.vox.com/23910085/netanyahu-israel-right-hamas-gaza-war-history">Benjamin Netanyahu</a> in power. Michael Koplow of the Israel Policy Forum explains what Israel’s government should do next, and professor Noah Efron of Bar-Ilan University describes the mood among Israelis.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<div id="VUWe5b">
|
||
|
||
</div>
|
||
<h3 id="LW92hD">
|
||
Gaza’s humanitarian crisis
|
||
</h3>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="X9Ru7m">
|
||
<a href="https://link.chtbl.com/TEXgazacrisis">October 30, 2023</a> | Cut off from water and power and recovering from a communications blackout, Gaza is plunged deeper into crisis. It’s not just a humanitarian problem, says leading human rights attorney Kenneth Roth — it’s a violation of international law.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<div id="PIruUH">
|
||
|
||
</div>
|
||
<h3 id="YuKMW7">
|
||
Why does the US always side with Israel?
|
||
</h3>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="cKU4E4">
|
||
<a href="https://link.chtbl.com/TEXisraellistenerQs">October 25, 2023</a> | This was the top question we got when we asked <a href="https://www.vox.com/today-explained-podcast"><em>Today, Explained</em></a> listeners hat they wanted to know about this conflict. Joel Beinin, Middle East history professor emeritus at Stanford, has answers.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<div id="vAxsQA">
|
||
|
||
</div>
|
||
<h3 id="tUX2Xg">
|
||
Hearts, minds, and likes
|
||
</h3>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="sufAJi">
|
||
<a href="https://link.chtbl.com/TEXheartsmindslikes">October 23, 2023</a> | False information about what is happening in Israel and Gaza is taking over social media faster than journalists like BBC Verify’s Shayan Sardarizadeh can check it. That’s exactly how digital propagandists want it, says professor and social media expert Marc Owen Jones.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<div id="IFsoiN">
|
||
|
||
</div>
|
||
<h3 id="u8x3t1">
|
||
Biden goes to Israel
|
||
</h3>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ubWEil">
|
||
<a href="https://link.chtbl.com/TEXbidenisrael">October 18, 2023</a> | It’s been 11 days since Hamas attacked Israel, killing civilians and taking hostages. Israel’s retaliation has killed hundreds of Palestinians and created a humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment Aaron David Miller and Middle East analyst Michael Wahid Hanna explain what role diplomacy will play in the coming days.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<div id="YOjqzu">
|
||
|
||
</div>
|
||
<h3 id="zsE1x2">
|
||
How Palestinians view Hamas
|
||
</h3>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="gvB3t6">
|
||
<a href="https://link.chtbl.com/TEXpalestiniansviewhamas">October 16, 2023</a> | The US along with Israel and many of its allies have long considered Hamas a terrorist group. Khaled Al-Hroub, a professor at Northwestern University in Qatar, explains how its reputation is a lot murkier among Palestinians, who elected the group to political power in 2006.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<div id="Uc1VlQ">
|
||
|
||
</div>
|
||
<h3 id="8vk1M3">
|
||
Israel, Hamas, and how we got here
|
||
</h3>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="56kmG2">
|
||
<a href="https://link.chtbl.com/TEXIsraelHamas">October 10, 2023</a> | This Israel-Hamas war is unlike the ones that came before it, says Haaretz’s Allison Kaplan Sommer. But it was years in the making, says Vox’s Zack Beauchamp.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<div id="SWtk9m">
|
||
|
||
</div>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="cuDbml">
|
||
</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>AIFF league committee suggests promotion-relegation system in IWL</strong> - The committee also examined the proposed calendar for the AIFF Club competitions starting from the 2024-25 season</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>Mother-daughter duo guns for glory beyond Meghalaya Games</strong> - Daughter Toiaibha’s bronze in the 10m air pistol event has made Marbarisha target a podium finish at the next event</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 ex-Indian footballers from Kerala to set off on odyssey across tribal pockets with the goal of kick-starting academies</strong> - Campaign ‘Soccer Safari – Exploring India’s Football Heartlands’, jointly organised by Thirteenth Foundation and Plan D Trips, is likely to be flagged off by actor Mammootty later in January</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>Australian Open | Defending champ Sabalenka crushes Tsurenko to reach 4th round</strong> - The second-seeded Belarusian, who won her first Grand Slam title at the same venue 12 months ago, needed just 52 minutes for victory over the Ukranian Lesia Tsurenko</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>AFC Asian Cup | Uzbekistan brushes aside a lacklustre India with 3-0 win</strong> - The loss leaves India’s chances of progressing past the group stage to a miracle</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>MEDISEP: Finance department issues new orders on deducting ‘arrears on premium’</strong> - For new employees, the ‘arrears on premium’ from July 1, 2022, will be deducted in equal installments from their first salary onwards</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>Govt. teachers take out rally seeking payment of arrears</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>Here are the big stories from Karnataka today</strong> - Welcome to the Karnataka Today newsletter, your guide from The Hindu on the major news stories to follow today. Curated and written by Nalme Nachiyar.</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>Srikakulam artist showcases talent with a miniature painting of Ayodhya Ram’s temple</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>NASA spacecraft pings India’s Chandrayaan-3 lander on the moon</strong> - “We’ve showed that we can locate our retroreflector on the surface from the moon’s orbit.“</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 war: Russian oil depot hit in Ukrainian drone attack</strong> - Fire breaks out over a large area in the Bryansk region, a day after another oil facility is targeted.</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>Bay of Biscay: France temporarily bans fishing to protect dolphins</strong> - The move comes after pressure from conservation groups, but local fishermen have called it “absurd”.</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>Georgia: Stalin Icon removed from Tbilisi church</strong> - The icon showed the Soviet dictator being blessed by a saint, but the Church says it has to be changed.</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>Russian dog-lovers fight to save strays from cull in Siberia’s Ulan-Ude</strong> - Eighteen have been put down in Siberia’s UIan-Ude but hundreds are sent on trains to safety.</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>Olympic Finnish sauna in Kent given Grade II listed status</strong> - Historic England says the sauna, gifted after the 1948 Olympic Games, is a “remarkable survival”.</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>Axiom, SpaceX launch third all-private crew mission to space station</strong> - A US-Spanish dual citizen commands a crew of Italian, Swedish, and Turkish astronauts. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1997288">link</a></p></li>
|
||
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>DeepMind AI rivals the world’s smartest high schoolers at geometry</strong> - DeepMind solved 25 out of 30 questions—compared to 26 for a human gold medalist. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1997186">link</a></p></li>
|
||
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Zuckerberg’s AGI remarks follow trend of downplaying AI dangers</strong> - Zuckeberg and Altman both tamp down fear and hype with casual statements about AGI. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1997158">link</a></p></li>
|
||
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Amazon plans to charge for Alexa in June—unless internal conflict delays revamp</strong> - Report claims Amazon is struggling to build a subscription version of Alexa. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1997184">link</a></p></li>
|
||
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is a new first-person Nazi-whipping journey</strong> - Modern action/FPS is set inside Indy’s classic post-<em>Ark</em>, pre-<em>Crusade</em> era. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1997200">link</a></p></li>
|
||
</ul>
|
||
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-jokes-subreddit">From Jokes Subreddit</h1>
|
||
<ul>
|
||
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Five pigs walk into a bar. The first pig orders one beer, the second pig orders two beers, the third pig orders three beers, the fourth pig orders four beers, and the fifth pig orders five beers.</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
|
||
<div class="md">
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
The first pig drinks his beer, goes to the bathroom, and leaves. The second pig drinks both his beers, goes to the bathroom, and leaves. The third pig drinks all three of his beers, goes to the bathroom, and leaves. The fourth pig drinks all four of his beers, goes to the bathroom, and leaves. The fifth pig drinks all five of his beers, and then leaves without going to the bathroom.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
“Wait a minute!” says the bartender. “Why aren’t you going to the bathroom like your four friends did? I mean, you drank more beer than any of them!”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
“Because,” says the pig. “I’m the pig that goes wee wee wee all the way home.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
</div>
|
||
<!-- SC_ON -->
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/wimpykidfan37"> /u/wimpykidfan37 </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/199xx4q/five_pigs_walk_into_a_bar_the_first_pig_orders/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/199xx4q/five_pigs_walk_into_a_bar_the_first_pig_orders/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
||
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin, meet on a skyscraper…</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
|
||
<div class="md">
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
My father told me this joke today, thought I’d share:
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin want to prove that their generals have a larger sense of duty and tenacity compared to the other nations’ soldiers. So they all meet on top of a skyscraper.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
Roosevelt goes first, and orders his finest general to jump off the ledge, stating that it was for God and country. The general, states " Sir, you are the greatest president this country has seen, but I cannot jump over the ledge, I have a family to think of!"
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
Churchill goes second, and orders his finest general to jump off the ledge, stating that it was for God and country. The general, states " Sir, you are the greatest prime minister and have bravely led us through hell and back, but I cannot jump over the ledge, I have a family to think of!"
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
Stalin goes last, and orders his finest general to jump off the ledge, stating that it was for the greater good of the Soviet state. The general immediately jumps off the ledge, and is caught by a net a few stories down, where he is met by the three leaders.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
Roosevelt and Churchill ask the Soviet general, “Why’d you jump?” The soldier grimly replies: “I have a family to think of.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
</div>
|
||
<!-- SC_ON -->
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Playful-Arm-674"> /u/Playful-Arm-674 </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/19a9tgs/roosevelt_churchill_and_stalin_meet_on_a/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/19a9tgs/roosevelt_churchill_and_stalin_meet_on_a/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
||
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A woman and a dress</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
|
||
<div class="md">
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
A woman was cleaning her closet and came across her old wedding dress. The dress was custom-made and very ornate - it was also one of the only items the woman had kept after her husband passed away.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
While cleaning, a hangar caught on one of the hems of the dress and ripped a large hole. Horrified, the woman dropped what she was doing, grabbed the dress, and ran to the tailor to have it fixed.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
Upon arriving at the tailor, she tells him she will pay any cost to repair the dress. The tailor replies, “Ah, I am so sorry but this dress is quite the work of art and repairing it is beyond my skill set. In fact, I know of only one man in the world equal to the task. However, you likely won’t want to go to him, as he lives in Greece.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
Frantic and distressed that she may have ruined such a sentimental item, she demanded to know how she could find this legendary tailor.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
The man told her that he was named Euripides and lived on the Isle of Crete, but that he was reclusive and did not have any modern means of communication. He only serviced customers who came to his store - in person.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
Frustrated but determined, the woman bought a plane ticket to Greece and caught a ferry to Crete. She asked locals where she could find the legendary tailor and eventually, after many days of searching, arrived at what she was sure was his humble storefront.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
Upon entering, she nearly shouts at the man, “Please… PLEASE tell me you are the legendary tailor, Euripides.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
In a heavy Greek accent he replies, “Ahhh, I do believe I am who you seek, child. However, that is not my name. I am Iamenides”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
At this, the woman becomes hysterical. Sobbing, she replies, “No. NO! I was told only ONE man could fix my dress and THAT man is EURIPIDES!”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
Calmly, the man replies, "You misunderstand, my friend…
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
YOU-rip-a-dese, and I-a-mend-a-dese."
|
||
</p>
|
||
</div>
|
||
<!-- SC_ON -->
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Tjohn184"> /u/Tjohn184 </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/19a8wha/a_woman_and_a_dress/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/19a8wha/a_woman_and_a_dress/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
||
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A world championship of pickpockets.</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
|
||
<div class="md">
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
The final round. A pavillion is full of people wanting to see the three sets of finalists in action.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
The first two go on stage:
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
<strong>Pickpocket</strong>: Bonjour everyone. We are Jean and Alain, the best pickpockets in France. Please turn off the lights for one minute.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
The lights go off for one minute.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
<strong>Jean</strong>: Gentleman at row eight, seat twelve, please come here to take back your pocketwatch and your pen.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
A round of applause.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
The next two contestants go on stage.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
<strong>Pickpocket</strong>: Good day everyone. We are Tommy and Joe, the best pickpockets in USA. Turn off the lights for half a minute.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
Once the lights come back:
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
<strong>Tommy</strong>: Lady at row ten, seat six, come here for your purse, your necklace, you earrings and your wristwatch.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
A wild and long round of applause.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
The final two contestants go on stage:
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
<strong>Pickpocket</strong>: Hello guys. We are the best pickpockets in Russia. I am Petya. No need to turn off the lights. Vasya, give everyone their socks back.
|
||
</p>
|
||
</div>
|
||
<!-- SC_ON -->
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Omeganian"> /u/Omeganian </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/19ab3em/a_world_championship_of_pickpockets/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/19ab3em/a_world_championship_of_pickpockets/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
||
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Stuttering</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
|
||
<div class="md">
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
A man had a bad case of stuttering. He went to many doctors over the years, but none of them could help him. Finally, one doctor said to him, ‘I believe I found the reason for your stuttering.’
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
The man asked, ‘Waah.. waaah.. waah.. what is my pro… proo… problem?’
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
The doctor replied, ‘Your penis is very, very large. The weight of your penis is causing a strain on your larynx, and this results in your stuttering. The only solution to this is to perform a penis transplant.’
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
The man was really tired of his stuttering, so he agreed to a transplant. Several days later, the doctor called the man up and informed him that they had found a suitable donor. The transplant operation was successfully performed and the man could speak without any stutter.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
At first, he was happy, but after a while, he began to miss his large penis, and how the girls used to love it.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
He finally went back to his doctor and said, ‘Doctor, I am grateful for the opportunity you have given me to speak without a stutter, but I miss my old penis. Please find the transplant donor and tell him that we have to exchange penises back.’
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
The doctor shook his head and replied, ‘N…n…no w…w…way!’
|
||
</p>
|
||
</div>
|
||
<!-- SC_ON -->
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Just_Sarah82"> /u/Just_Sarah82 </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/19ag5a4/stuttering/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/19ag5a4/stuttering/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
||
</ul>
|
||
|
||
|
||
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