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<title>17 February, 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 Trials of Alejandro Mayorkas</strong> - The Secretary of Homeland Security has been forced to respond to an unprecedented flow of migrants to the U.S.-Mexico border. Why are Republicans in Congress impeaching him for it? - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/02/26/the-trials-of-alejandro-mayorkas">link</a></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Is the Media Prepared for an Extinction-Level Event?</strong> - Ads are scarce, search and social traffic is dying, and readers are burned out. The future will require fundamentally rethinking the press’s relationship to its audience. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/the-weekend-essay/is-the-media-prepared-for-an-extinction-level-event">link</a></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Friendship Challenge</strong> - How envy destroyed the perfect connection between two teen-age girls. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/02/12/the-friendship-challenge">link</a></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Art World Before and After Thelma Golden, by Calvin Tomkins</strong> - When Golden was a young curator in the nineties, her shows, centering Black artists, were unprecedented. Today, those artists are the stars of the art market. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/02/12/the-art-world-before-and-after-thelma-golden">link</a></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A Teen’s Fatal Plunge Into the London Underworld</strong> - After Zac Brettler mysteriously plummeted into the Thames, his grieving parents were shocked to learn that he’d been posing as an oligarch’s son. Would the police help them solve the puzzle of his death? - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/02/12/a-teens-fatal-plunge-into-the-london-underworld">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>This Is Me… Now is the most J. Lo thing J. Lo’s ever done</strong> -
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<figure>
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<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/4TrQazucQhAhoiimPOFH4_7uazM=/846x0:2390x1158/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73146266/Screen_Shot_2024_02_16_at_2.25.31_PM.0.png"/>
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<figcaption>
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Jennifer Lopez singing in the film <em>This Is Me… Now: A Love Story.</em> | Courtesy of Prime Video - © Prime Video
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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 bonkers, star-studded musical-biopic-fantasia-mess proves Jennifer Lopez can do whatever she wants.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="DaW42o">
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Throughout her career but particularly over the last decade, Jennifer Lopez has earned the title of one of the busiest people in the entertainment industry. From <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pILCn6VO_RU">performing at the Super Bowl halftime show</a> to churning out rom-com after rom-com to repurposing “Let’s Get Loud” at a<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QEGv7REuXw"> presidential inauguration</a> and headlining a Las Vegas residency, the multihyphenate is truly everything everywhere.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="NHHBno">
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It only makes sense that she would tax herself with a superfluous three-part project revamping one of her highest-performing albums, 2002’s <em>This Is Me… Then</em> — not even during its anniversary, by the way — all of which essentially serves to emphasize her persisting dominance in pop culture. (And oh yeah, her current state of bliss with her husband, Ben Affleck.)
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="OPym92">
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The first part of this trifecta, which includes a <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/jennifer-lopez-documentary-greatest-love-story-never-told-trailer-1234969683/">forthcoming documentary</a> and a new album out today, is the <a href="https://www.vox.com/amazon-prime-video">Prime Video</a> movie <a href="https://youtu.be/Osu2N9gysYk?si=OEkxZplQqBgSwLnJ"><em>This Is Me… Now: A Love Story</em></a>. The trippy musical isn’t the sort of high-brow, experimental venture one might expect from a pop star of Lopez’s caliber (think more like a wacky <a href="https://www.vox.com/marvel">Marvel</a> film than Beyoncé’s <em>Lemonade</em>). If anything<em>, This Is Me… Now</em> is a confirmation of the singer/actress’s elite showmanship and her ability to bounce back as a cultural figure and chronic divorcée. It’s exactly the sort of galaxy-brained project one makes when one has nothing to prove and $20 million to spend — and one is high on love.
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</p>
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<h3 id="7WjWsF">
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<em>This Is Me… Now</em> is a messy, green-screen fantasia — but to what end?
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</h3>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ZgYN6I">
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From the moment the movie trailer dropped on social media, <em>This Is Me… Now</em> seemed primed for jokes about Lopez’s theater-kid-level earnestness and whatever Oscar-winner Ben Affleck planned on doing in the film. (He’s almost unrecognizable as a rambunctious news anchor, in addition to a few other cameos.)
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="WNlki0">
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On one hand, it is obvious <a href="https://www.vox.com/internet-culture">meme</a> material. We’re talking about Lopez here, who has largely opted for maximalism over subtlety as a performer. (This is a woman who inserted a pole-dancing routine from <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/2019/9/29/20884151/jennifer-lopez-hustlers-body">her role in <em>Hustlers</em></a> into a <a href="https://www.vox.com/super-bowl">Super Bowl</a> halftime show, after all.) And as the star of a slew of romantic comedies (<em>Maid in Manhattan</em>, <em>The Wedding Planner</em>, <em>Second Act</em>, <em>Marry Me</em>), she’s no stranger to reveling in cheesiness.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="eO9CCn">
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That being said, the semi-autobiographical movie relies a lot on big metaphors and unsubtle imagery. For example, in a dream sequence, Lopez’s heart is represented by a giant, combustible apparatus operated by dancing factory workers and fueled by rose petals. But it somehow feels right from the brain of such an iconic Leo, known for wearing her heart on her sleeve.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="zB7l8R">
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The hour-long movie opens with Lopez reciting the Puerto Rican myth of <a href="https://teachersinstitute.yale.edu/curriculum/units/1982/5/82.05.09/3">Alida and Taroo</a>, two star-crossed lovers from rival tribes. After Alida’s father forbids their romance, Alida prays to the gods for help, who then turn her into a red flower. When Taroo asks the gods to help him find Alida, he is transformed into a hummingbird, leading him on a continual search for his one true love. If you’re fluent in the <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/22629442/bennifer-jennifer-lopez-ben-affleck-reunion-explained">history of Bennifer</a> and all the tabloid scrutiny that followed the first round of their relationship, you’ll see where all this allegory is going.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="rEIOPp">
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But before Lopez can reunite with her Prince Charming, we’re taken on a fantastical musical odyssey through her tumultuous, star-studded romantic history. Directed by notable music video director Dave Meyers, the film is admittedly reminiscent of some of his later, less visually appealing work — from the overly glossy, video-game-like sheen to the depressingly gray-and-amber Zack Snyder look of the film. The constantly rotating, borderline nauseating <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcYodQoapMg">camera angles</a> brought to mind his <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffxKSjUwKdU">unfortunate</a> collaborations with Ariana Grande.
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</p>
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<figure class="e-image">
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<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/1IPUREs4sjDQwszlL7KHdCwCCSM=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25290009/Screen_Shot_2024_02_16_at_2.32.14_PM.png"/> <cite>Courtesy of Prime Video</cite>
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<figcaption>
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Jennifer Lopez holding flowers in <em>This Is Me… Now: A Love Story</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="aSHYy1">
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In slightly more grounded moments— if you could describe any part of this film as grounded — Lopez is able to overcome a vexing amount of green screen to convey something real and exciting. In one particularly fun number where she reimagines her three ill-fated marriages, she adds new life to the otherwise middling single “Can’t Get Enough.” In arguably the movie’s most powerful scene, she makes amends with her younger self for putting men before her personal happiness. This is also where she performs the title track “This Is Me… Now,” a standout on an album that doesn’t seem to be brimming with hits.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ZVUVrK">
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Of course, Lopez’s <a href="https://www.glamour.com/story/jennifer-lopez-zodiac-themed-dress-searching-meaning">penchant</a> for <a href="https://www.thecut.com/2022/08/jennifer-lopez-reportedly-didnt-want-virgo-dancers-on-tour.html">astrology</a> is included throughout the film. One of the funniest and most enjoyable aspects is the Zodiac Love Council, who struggle to match Lopez with her one true love. The astrological gods are played by a random but somehow pitch-perfect ensemble of <a href="https://www.vox.com/celebrities">celebrities</a> including Lopez’s <em>Monster-In-Law</em> co-star Jane Fonda, rapper-singer Post Malone, actress Sofia Vergara, astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, America’s sweetheart Keke Palmer, comedian Trevor Noah, screen legend Jennifer Lewis, and hyper-pop singer Kim Petras.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="066gHo">
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Oddly enough, these supporting characters have more chemistry than you might expect and are as committed to the bit as Lopez is — and really, isn’t commitment the most you can ask for from an overstuffed vanity project?
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</p>
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<h3 id="205IcS">
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The movie isn’t as confessional as you may think
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</h3>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Kh5DIu">
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<em>This Is Me… Now</em> is more disorienting than revelatory. The fast-paced, CGI-on-steroids element feels like a purposeful distraction from the fact that viewers will not learn anything about Lopez’s love life and psyche that she hasn’t been open about before. If you haven’t noticed, she and Affleck have been extremely public about their rekindling. Since reuniting in April 2021, the two have <a href="https://people.com/movies/ben-affleck-jennifer-lopez-the-last-duel-nyc-premiere-red-carpet/">posed</a> on <a href="https://www.elle.com/culture/celebrities/a37545754/jennifer-lopez-ben-affleck-pda-photos-venice-film-festival-2021/">numerous</a> red <a href="https://www.harpersbazaar.com/celebrity/latest/a43862753/jennifer-lopez-sequined-bra-skirt-mother-premiere-kiss-ben-affleck/">carpets</a> together, <a href="https://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/pictures/ben-affleck-jennifer-lopez-quotes-about-their-relationship/">gushed over each other in interviews</a>, starred in <a href="https://youtu.be/Ve2miT5iF2M?feature=shared">Dunkin’</a> commercials, and even <a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/ellendurney/jennifer-lopez-ben-affleck-jenny-from-the-block-recreated">recreated a moment</a> from the “Jenny From the Block” music video on a yacht for paparazzi.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="4mvWyF">
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The therapy scenes between Lopez and fellow Bronxite Fat Joe are almost entirely played for laughs, revealing nothing novel, despite a perfect opportunity in the film for deeper introspection. Plus, the narrative explored in <em>This Is Me… Now</em> feels similar to many of her albums exploring her mishaps in love, including <em>Love?, </em>her 2011 comeback album.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ozwmCa">
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In her 2014 memoir <em>True Love</em>, she takes readers on the same self-love journey, investigating her regrettable approaches to her past relationships and what she describes as a tendency to mistake passion for genuine love. Even a striking sequence in the film where Lopez dances with a volatile partner inside a glass house isn’t particularly shocking, given that in her book, she <a href="https://people.com/books/jennifer-lopez-in-new-book-true-love-says-she-felt-abused-in-relationships/">writes</a> about being “mentally, emotionally, verbally” abused by an unnamed ex.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="XJTKIQ">
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A raw, more transparent piece of art would likely confront the public’s treatment of her love life, given that the <a href="https://slate.com/human-interest/2021/05/jennifer-lopez-ben-affleck-relationship-history-dating.html">media’s ridicule</a> and other <a href="https://www.harpersbazaar.com/celebrity/latest/a42088213/jennifer-lopez-discusses-heartbreak-breakup-ben-affleck-this-is-me-now/">external pressures</a>, according to Lopez, were such a huge part of her and Affleck’s initial estrangement. It could at least include a few fun, lighthearted Easter eggs. Perhaps she’s saving more personal anecdotes for her documentary, <em>The Greatest Love Story Never Told</em>, out February 27, but <em>This Is Me… Now</em> seems like a prime vehicle for some juicy details about her past.
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</p>
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<h3 id="LshpoR">
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<em>This Is Me… Now</em> is more about J. Lo’s power as a celebrity than an artist
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</h3>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="reCSxL">
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It’s a bit ironic that the thing Lopez’s character overcomes in this film — a need for external validation — is what seems to be driving its existence. It’s hard not to view the movie within the larger context of Hollywood failing to take her seriously as an actress, despite being one of the most bankable movie stars and turning over some genuinely good performances throughout her career.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="o5aFfh">
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For example, Lopez <a href="https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2022/05/jennifer-lopez-recalls-emotional-hustlers-oscar-snub-in-halftime-trailer">has been open</a> about the disappointment that was her failed <a href="https://www.vox.com/oscars">Oscars</a> campaign for the 2019 movie <em>Hustlers</em>, even <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdptUgnusFQ">capturing her tears during nominations morning</a> in her <a href="https://www.vox.com/netflix">Netflix</a> documentary <em>Jennifer Lopez:</em> <em>Halftime</em>. While the actress earned other big awards nominations that year, including for the Screen Actors Guild Awards and the <a href="https://www.vox.com/golden-globes">Golden Globes</a> — she already has a Golden Globe nomination for the 1997 film <em>Selena </em>— the Hollywood establishment seems hesitant to see her as much more than a commercial star. Such treatment has presumably caused her to feel like an “<a href="https://www.tmz.com/2021/09/18/jennifer-lopez-doesnt-belong-in-hollywood-outsider-hustlers/">outsider</a>” in Hollywood.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="h4YkmN">
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Regardless, it’s hard to point to a moment in time since her breakthrough in the late ‘90s when Lopez’s name has not been in the public conversation, whether for her personal life or professional ventures.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="2m3pZA">
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Even initially questionable film and <a href="https://www.vox.com/tv">television</a> roles, like starring in the NBC cop show <em>Shades of Blue </em>or lending her voice to the <em>Ice Age</em> franchise, now feel like necessary stepping stones in her trajectory. For instance, despite having a spotty, often poorly reviewed filmography, her choices in projects — particularly rom-coms and two-handers — have at least contributed to her specific brand as a movie star. Fans know what to expect from a classic J. Lo movie. It’s why she can star in a chaotic, objectively bad rom-com, like 2022’s <em>Shotgun Wedding,</em> without any expectations beyond being generally entertaining and delivering nostalgia.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="BAXAgH">
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The same resilience and ingenuity can be seen in her bumpy music career, which saw a <a href="https://www.rap-up.com/2007/10/17/jlos-brave-disappoints-on-the-charts-new-song-with-santana/">downturn</a> in 2007 following the release of her Spanish-language album <em>Como Ama una Mujer </em>and her return-to-pop-R&B album <em>Brave</em>. Her decision to judge <em>American Idol</em> in 2011 — a surprising gig for a pop star at her level of fame — gave her a platform to regain the country’s interest as well as advertise new music. Plus, her Las Vegas residency, <em>All I Have</em>, from 2016 to 2018 would also set the stage for a revival of her musical catalog.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="eTENqb">
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All in all, Lopez’s career has demonstrated reinvention and, more importantly, redemption that not many can emulate. Her determination is, of course, the result of a celebrity culture that enjoys building women up until they’re deemed past their prime. For women of color, this cycle can be more brutal. Nevertheless, it’s historically resulted in some of our most fascinating divas and pop cultural stories.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="O3GtPD">
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<em>This Is Me… Now</em> is a statement of Lopez’s cultural resilience, if not just her ability to rebound from a bad relationship and find herself in another attention-grabbing power couple. She’s the kind of celebrity who can make sense out of any creative decision, including funding a self-important long-form music video based on her therapy sessions. There’s a level of shamelessness (and megalomania) required in crafting a movie like this, but it’s the sort of unabashed confidence that makes our celebrity ecosystem go round.
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</p></li>
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<li><strong>How to handle the winter blues, no matter where you live</strong> -
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<figure>
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<img alt="A woman in a red coat stands in a dark blue snowy landscape." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/KsVmhJwQG8V_TBzTeyj1N-DRPjA=/240x0:1680x1080/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73146196/PotentialLede_Cecilia_Blomdahl_4.0.jpg"/>
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<figcaption>
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Chasing the light isn’t the only way to enjoy winter. Cecilia Blomdahl documents her life on Svalbard, a Norwegian island close to the North Pole. | Photo courtesy of Cecilia Blomdahl
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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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What seasonal affective disorder can tell us about ourselves.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="STcXuo">
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“I get emotionally down with the short days and feel like hibernating,” says Annabel Lagasse. So she gets on her bicycle and heads up the hill to London’s Hampstead Heath, where the <a href="https://www.mixedpondassociation.org.uk/winter-swimming.html">Winter Swimmers Club</a> meets by a natural pond, come rain or shine; when we spoke in December the water, was 39 degrees Fahrenheit. Lagasse describes swimming in near-freezing water as visceral and sensual: “It’s an exciting shock. Afterward, you feel that calm, and a greater alertness too.”
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="HKQSTC">
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There’s nothing like the dim light in the depths of winter to make us feel like we’re really just plants: We seek out the sun and wither without it. At its most serious, that moody winter tiredness is called <a href="https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/seasonal-affective-disorder">seasonal affective disorder (SAD)</a>, which the Diagnostic Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) lists as “Major Depressive Disorder with Seasonal Pattern.” The symptoms are similar to regular depression: sadness, loss of energy, difficulty concentrating, and hopelessness. But SAD has a few unique features too: an extreme desire for sleep, strong cravings for carbohydrates, and it’s strictly seasonal: SAD disappears entirely in spring. According to the American Psychiatry Association, <a href="https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/seasonal-affective-disorder#:~:text=About%205%20percent%20of%20adults%20in%20the%20U.S.%20experience%20SAD">up to 5 percent</a> of people experience clinical SAD, which lasts about 40 percent of the year. Additionally, <a href="https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/9293-seasonal-depression#:~:text=About%2010%25%20to%2020%25%20of%20people%20in%20America%20may%20get%20a%20milder%20form%20of%20the%20winter%20blues.">10 percent to 20 percent</a> get a milder version more fitting of the term “winter blues,” called subsyndromal SAD.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Fq2lIF">
|
||
Lagasse’s pond mornings have become a beloved ritual: “When it’s cold, dark, and wet, you think you don’t want to go, but often it’s worse in your head than it actually is.” This is why experts recommend pushing yourself out the door in winter, to get the benefits of <a href="https://www.vox.com/even-better/24022918/morning-light-happiness-seasonal-depression-sad">bright morning light</a>. A course of <a href="https://www.nccih.nih.gov/health/providers/digest/seasonal-affective-disorder-and-complementary-health-approaches-science#:~:text=Cognitive%20Behavioral%20Therapy,for%20most%20people.">SAD-specific cognitive behavioral therapy</a> can also be very effective. You should always see a doctor if you’re struggling — <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3181778/#:~:text=Data%20from%20randomized%2C%20controlled%20trials,in%20the%20treatment%20of%20SAD.">SAD responds to antidepressants</a> and can be every bit as serious as any <a href="https://www.vox.com/mental-health">mental health</a> condition.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="zN4DwQ">
|
||
Scientists are still uncovering how SAD works, but the key is light. “SAD has been linked to the shortage of daylight,” says <a href="https://thl.fi/en/web/thlfi-en/research-and-development/research-professors/timo-partonen">Timo Partonen</a>, research professor at the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare. In addition to sunlight, bright artificial light can be used for treatment — Partonen explains that you might be able to lessen the symptoms of SAD if you start using <a href="https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/seasonal-affective-disorder/in-depth/seasonal-affective-disorder-treatment/art-20048298">a light box omitting at least 10,000 lux</a> a couple of weeks before symptoms tend to start. Just make sure to get in front of it before 10 am: “It should be at least five mornings a week, up to one hour each time,” says Partonen. <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3181778/">Eight out of 10 people who have SAD see good results from light therapy</a>, which has been found to <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2670336/">reduce the amount of melatonin</a> secreted into the bloodstream.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Z7li2x">
|
||
In the US, SAD increases the farther north you go: <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4673349/#:~:text=For%20example%2C%20in%20the%20United%20States%2C%201%25%20of%20those%20who%20live%20in%20Florida%20and%209%25%20who%20live%20in%20Alaska%20experience%20SAD">1 percent of people in Florida and 9 percent in Alaska</a> have SAD. But Europe is different: Partonen says that while only <a href="https://bmcpsychiatry.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12888-021-03313-z">1 percent to 2 percent of Central and Southern Europeans have SAD</a>, there’s <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4673349/#B40">a lot more subsyndromal SAD</a>: “In the Nordic countries, a larger portion of the population has <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10082184/">milder SAD symptoms</a>,” says Partonen, explaining that subsyndromal SAD is probably a physiological reaction, affecting people whose bodies are sensitive to light. “But when it comes to [full] SAD you also need to have a predisposition to depression.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<div class="c-float-right">
|
||
<aside id="MwRhcy">
|
||
<q>There’s nothing like the dim light in the depths of winter to make us feel like we’re really just plants</q>
|
||
</aside>
|
||
</div>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="4iVXp9">
|
||
Light is crucial because of how it impacts the body clock. Your circadian rhythm doesn’t just impact alertness, but everything from <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8230716/#:~:text=Blood%20pressure%20(BP)%20follows%20a,mechanisms%20are%20still%20not%20clear.">blood pressure</a> and <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7002226/">glucose release</a> to <a href="https://academic.oup.com/biomedgerontology/article/78/10/1844/7160318">memory consolidation</a> at night — all things that could impact your mental state.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="rke4Wj">
|
||
<a href="https://www.ndcn.ox.ac.uk/team/russell-foster">Russell Foster</a>, head of the Sleep and Circadian Neuroscience Institute at the University of Oxford, says we still don’t understand the fundamental causes of SAD. “In harsh winter conditions, we want to snuggle in, we want to conserve energy,” he says, “but is that driven by biology, or is it a social phenomenon?”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="QBlWLg">
|
||
While SAD makes you tired, extra sleep isn’t restorative because what you really need is light. Foster, also the author of <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Life-Time-Clock-Essential-Health/dp/030026691X"><em>Life Time: Your Body Clock and Its Essential Roles in Good Health and Sleep</em></a>, explains that we’re most sensitive to light at dusk and dawn — while light at lunchtime is nice, it hardly does anything to ground your body clock. “Dog owners are supposed to have lower rates of depression,” says Foster, who thinks the reason is clear: “You have to get out of bed and take them for a walk, and you get the morning light!”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Motq5z">
|
||
Attitude matters too when it comes to SAD. “Developing new thought patterns can change the wiring in your brain,” says <a href="http://www.roecklein.pitt.edu/">Kathryn Roecklein</a>, an associate professor of <a href="https://www.vox.com/psychology">psychology</a> at the University of Pittsburgh. While trauma can cause depression in part because it changes our physiology, it works both ways: Positive habits can change our physiology as well.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<div class="c-wide-block">
|
||
<figure class="e-image">
|
||
<img alt="A woman wearing a coat stands with a dog on a hill within a dark blue landscape. They are looking down at a small town lit by the lights on the buildings." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/o6eUc1KSmjeg2PSSPkSguyIXijc=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25288461/Cecilia_Blomdahl_5.jpg"/> <cite>Photo courtesy of Cecilia Blomdahl</cite>
|
||
<figcaption>
|
||
Cecilia Blomdahl documents her life on Svalbard, a Norwegian island close to the North Pole.
|
||
</figcaption>
|
||
</figure>
|
||
</div>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="3XHGyK">
|
||
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for SAD might work for up to 70 percent of people, says Roecklein. While <a href="https://www.apa.org/ptsd-guideline/patients-and-families/cognitive-behavioral">general CBT</a> aims to change unhelpful thinking about the self, <a href="https://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletter_article/cognitive-behavioral-therapy-more-effective-than-light-therapy-for-relieving-seasonal-depression">SAD CBT</a> focuses on thoughts and behaviors unique to winter. “A lot of people with winter depression have summer, spring, and fall activities they really enjoy [and miss]. One approach is to [find] winter activities that are similarly enjoyable, social, and maybe include physical activity,” says Roecklein. So if you can’t go cycling in winter, you could snowboard instead, and if you miss the heat, you could go to a steam room. Any CBT-trained therapist can create a SAD program; Roecklein recommends Kelly Rohan’s <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Coping-Seasons-Behavioral-Cognitive-behavioral-Treatments-ebook/dp/B001NPE8OU/ref=sr_1_2?qid=1702651242&refinements=p_27%3AKelly+J+Rohan&s=digital-text&sr=1-2&text=Kelly+J+Rohan">guide</a> and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Coping-Seasons-Cognitive-Behavioral-Treatments-ebook/dp/B005OKZB7S/ref=sr_1_1?qid=1702651271&refinements=p_27%3AKelly+J+Rohan&s=digital-text&sr=1-1&text=Kelly+J+Rohan">workbook</a>.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="OpDC93">
|
||
Even if the arrival alongside the November gloom is a dead giveaway that it’s SAD, depression rarely exists in a vacuum. “If there are parts of your life that particularly bother you [when you have SAD] … you might want to do some thinking, feeling, reconsidering,” says <a href="https://jennifergriesbach.com/">Jennifer Griesbach</a>, a therapist in New York City and teacher at <a href="https://www.gestaltassociates.org/">Gestalt Associates for Psychotherapy</a>.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="2GOePf">
|
||
While no one actually wants to be moody and <a href="https://www.vox.com/netflix">Netflix</a>-bound for months every year, self-care for SAD can start to feel like going against nature. After all, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CzxgE-bMDQW/">seasonality is only natural</a>, and bears in hibernation don’t drag themselves to spin class.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="9yD1B3">
|
||
“This is a problem not just with SAD, but of living in the 21st century,” says Griesbach. “How do we work with the difference between what society wants for us and what our bodies want?” Griesbach recommends experimentation and paying close attention to how we feel afterward: “Sometimes you need to go to bed early, and sometimes you need to go out. It’s hard to tell the difference, but we can get better at it.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<div>
|
||
<aside id="zw6GT6">
|
||
<q>While SAD makes you tired, extra sleep isn’t restorative because what you really need is light</q>
|
||
</aside>
|
||
</div>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="MhMDEu">
|
||
Chasing the light isn’t the only way to enjoy winter. Darkness is truly magical for <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@CeciliaBlomdahl">Cecilia Blomdahl</a>, whose <a href="https://www.vox.com/youtube">YouTube</a> channel documents her life on Svalbard, a Norwegian island close to the North Pole that experiences two and a half months of darkness during <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVXKwNlvKSs&t=2s">polar night</a>. “I look forward to polar night like a kid looks forward to Christmas,” says Blomdahl, who left her native Sweden eight years ago. “I see this as a season to slow down and appreciate the serenity the darkness brings. There’s so much beauty in the darkness.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<div class="c-float-right">
|
||
<figure class="e-image">
|
||
<img alt="A woman is standing on a box looking out on snowy, hilly terrain lit only by moonlight." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/QWKN7p-1qreXkM32VO_MFOTaNHM=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25288453/Cecilia_Blomdahl_3.jpg"/> <cite>Photo courtesy of Cecilia Blomdahl</cite>
|
||
<figcaption>
|
||
Try a different approach — “feeling like it” isn’t required to enjoy winter.
|
||
</figcaption>
|
||
</figure>
|
||
</div>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="BRyt2D">
|
||
Blomdahl admits polar night comes with challenges: “There’s nothing telling your body to wake up, so naturally, all I want to do is sleep!” A <a href="https://www.wired.com/gallery/best-sunrise-alarm-clocks/">wake-up light</a> helps, as does sticking to healthy routines. Blomdahl learned that in 2021, during one particularly tough polar night: “I’d just started my own business and was very stressed, and didn’t have a good routine at all. That really showed me the importance of a good sleep schedule and prioritizing things that make me feel good, like exercise and being outdoors.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="VQp2s9">
|
||
If the idea of strong-arming yourself to be active when your body just wants to cosplay as a couch cushion still just feels plain wrong, you might be intrigued to learn that even for people who don’t have SAD, “feeling like it” isn’t required to enjoy winter. “Last night I went outside at 6 pm and it was 14°F. You do have to force yourself,” says <a href="https://www.instagram.com/svommedama/">Trude Witzell</a>, a photographer living in Trondheim, Norway. “Of course, after dinner, you just want to go to bed when it’s cold and dark like this!” <em>(This interview was conducted in Norwegian and has been translated into English by the author.)</em>
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="FIwew5">
|
||
Hibernation isn’t the solution; researchers were confident about this, as we’re creatures <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8266116/">driven by light</a>. Winter requires many of us to work a little harder, though. SAD can make it difficult to tell whether we should be pushing ourselves out the door for a bundled-up morning walk across a frosty park, or if this is the night for lighting a candle while reading under a blanket. But we can use this slightly more difficult season to learn how to listen to ourselves and do what will truly make us feel good.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="r3expr">
|
||
Most evenings, Witzell heads down to the fjord for a swim, often in the dark because at midwinter, the sun sets at 2:30 pm: “It’s incredible to lie back and look at the dark sky.” Norwegians have a saying, dørstokkmila, meaning the doorstep mile, that is especially relevant this time of year: “The hardest step to take is the one out your front door.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<div>
|
||
<figure class="e-image">
|
||
<img alt="A woman in a swimsuit and swim cap is wading into a body of water with another person. There is low, warm light and snow on the ground." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/WkDGRDtWHIFET-8-sQVtW5rlBCE=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25288441/Trude_Witzell_2.png"/> <cite>Photo courtesy of Trude Witzell</cite>
|
||
<figcaption>
|
||
Trude Witzell heads down to the fjord for a swim in Trondheim, Norway.
|
||
</figcaption>
|
||
</figure>
|
||
</div></li>
|
||
<li><strong>Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s death, explained</strong> -
|
||
<figure>
|
||
<img alt="A photo of a row of yellow candles in glass jars; at the end, surrounded by roses, is a color photo of Navalny, a clean-shaven white man with sandy brown hair." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/uVf_T0CQRgZCYlXWLzK9-kJ-JTI=/264x0:5807x4157/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73145746/GettyImages_2008848074.0.jpg"/>
|
||
<figcaption>
|
||
A vigil for Alexei Navalny in Krakow, Poland, on February 16, 2024. | Omar Marques/Anadolu/Getty Images
|
||
</figcaption>
|
||
</figure>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
Navalny’s death is the end of an era for Russia — and cements Putin’s grip on power.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="OYSrzz">
|
||
Alexei Navalny, <a href="https://www.vox.com/russia">Russia</a>’s most famous opposition figure and President Vladimir Putin’s most effective rival, has been reported dead.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="4viLtX">
|
||
Russian state media — which is loath to even say Navalny’s name — reported the death on Friday. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2024/02/16/world/aleksei-navalny/russia-aleksei-navalny?smid=url-share">Prison authorities say Navalny fell unconscious and died</a> after taking a walk in the prison complex where he has been held since December. Though it’s difficult to verify information coming from the Russian state apparatus, Navalny’s team indicated they believe the reports to be true due to unusual conditions around the prison camp close to the Arctic Circle where Navalny was being held, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2024/02/16/world/aleksei-navalny/b20a6d2d-0645-5e6a-8cb4-f5ffc8746c01?smid=url-share">namely that they could not make contact with the prison</a>. Navalny’s lawyers are headed to the prison to investigate his death,<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2024/02/16/world/aleksei-navalny/78f52262-1f80-53db-bd5f-ee0f489c6dbd?smid=url-share"> according to his spokesperson, Kira Yarmysh</a>.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="rd6udW">
|
||
Navalny’s partner, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/16/world/europe/aleksei-navalny-wife-munich.html?smid=url-share">Yulia Navalnaya</a>, appeared at the Munich Security Conference Friday and warned that Putin’s regime is not to be trusted but, should the reports of Navalny’s death be true, “I would like Putin and all his staff, everybody around him, his government, his friends, I want them to know that they will be punished for what they have done with our country, with my family and with my husband.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="vD6Rxe">
|
||
Whether the Putin regime directly assassinated Navalny or his death was the result of grueling conditions — including being poisoned in 2020, being held in Russian penal colonies, and going on a hunger strike in 2021 — it will be understood by many as a signal about Russia’s future.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Q1dI1A">
|
||
US <a href="https://www.vox.com/joe-biden">President Joe Biden</a>, for example, said the US did not know details of what happened but told reporters Friday: “Make no mistake: Putin is responsible for Navalny’s death.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="4R7Kxo">
|
||
Navalny’s reported death comes right before the country’s March elections, in which he was attempting from jail to <a href="https://www.politico.eu/article/vladimir-putin-alexei-navalny-2024-russia-election-campaign/">persuade fellow Russians to reject Putin</a>, who is essentially guaranteed a fifth term.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="L4wPbl">
|
||
“The war against liberalism that we have seen in Russia, taking place at the same time as the war against Ukraine, [the Kremlin] is doubling down on that,” Graeme Robertson, director of the Center for Slavic, Eurasian, and East European Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, told Vox in an interview. “Their sense of their ability to act with impunity is really just, it’s really off the charts.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="YTiiqq">
|
||
That impunity also signals to Russians in the country and the diaspora that there’s no Russia without Putin.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h3 id="je8Mst">
|
||
Navalny, the anti-corruption campaigner
|
||
</h3>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="SvY5aG">
|
||
During the late 2000s, Navalny made his name as an anti-corruption blogger, <a href="https://www.vox.com/22254292/alexei-navalny-prison-hunger-strike-end-russia-protests-vladimir-putin">Vox’s Alex Ward</a> wrote in 2021. But it was during the wave of anti-government protests, or the so-called <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/snow-revolution">Snow Revolution</a>, starting in 2011, that Navalny first came to national prominence. At the time, he was one of the many voices denouncing the Putin regime after Putin announced his return to the presidency and his <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/06/world/europe/russian-parliamentary-elections-criticized-by-west.html">United Russia party was caught rigging a legislative election</a>.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<div id="CBPgGq">
|
||
<div class="volume-video" id="volume-placement-563">
|
||
|
||
</div></div></li>
|
||
</ul>
|
||
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="xT1jYp">
|
||
Navalny ran on a highly nationalistic platform for mayor of Moscow in 2013, losing to Putin ally Sergei Sobyanin. And though his platform was alienating to many young urban people who might have otherwise been interested in an opposition candidate, his impressive showing paved the way for him to stay in the political spotlight — and seek more power.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="b5yXLp">
|
||
Over time, Navalny realized that his <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2023/05/19/georgetown-invited-navalnys-kid-to-commencement-chaos-followed-00097954">nationalistic</a> and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/feb/08/amnesty-international-employee-sacked-alexei-navalny">Islamophobic message</a> wasn’t going to appeal to a broad swath of Russians and instead focused on corruption, something he thought people could see made their everyday lives more difficult.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="WFlnTZ">
|
||
He built a network of opposition politicians throughout Russia and a massive social media following, in part through posting corruption exposés on <a href="https://www.vox.com/youtube">YouTube</a>. That built Navalny’s profile, but it could only do so much to challenge Putin’s popularity.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="8YsVH3">
|
||
“Millions of people saw [Navalny’s] videos,” Robertson said. “Millions of people are very aware of how corrupt their system is. But on a certain level, it doesn’t attach itself to Putin, it doesn’t attach itself to the higher levels of the Russian state, in part because people see it as inevitable — they’re criminals, but they’re our criminals.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="tIbY9p">
|
||
Navalny announced in 2016 that he would run for president against Putin in the elections two years later. Though that campaign was likely largely symbolic — given both <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2018-03-19/russian-observers-charge-fraud-in-putin-s-landslide-re-election">the doubts about how free or fair those elections were</a> and Navalny’s low levels of support among Russians — his international support picked up over time, as he became one of the only vocal dissidents within Russia.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="1OIstU">
|
||
Since the widespread protests of 2011 to 2013, the Kremlin has <a href="https://freedomhouse.org/country/russia/freedom-world/2018">cracked down</a> on <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/a-year-into-russia-crackdown-protesters-try-again/2013/05/05/b7c35870-b5a4-11e2-b94c-b684dda07add_story.html">essentially all types </a>of<a href="https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2023/11/17/russian-artist-sentenced-to-7-years-in-prison-over-ukraine-supermarket-protest_6263259_4.html#:~:text='Five%20peaces%20of%20paper',explain%20the%20trial%20against%20her."> opposition to the Putin regime</a>, and in many ways, it seems as though any hope for a free Russia has died with Navalny.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h3 id="cxnwaG">
|
||
What does his death mean to the Kremlin, to Russians, and to the world?
|
||
</h3>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="pczKP5">
|
||
Navalny has been imprisoned several times; in 2014 he was put under house arrest for embezzlement charges that critics say were meant to discredit him, and he was detained in 2019 for what authorities claimed was an unauthorized protest.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="muW8oe">
|
||
In August 2020, Navalny was poisoned with the nerve agent Novichok while on a flight from the Siberian city of Tomsk to Moscow; he spent several <a href="https://www.npr.org/2024/02/16/1231975533/navalny-rick-and-morty-flight-moscow-2021">months in Germany</a> recovering from the near-fatal poisoning. When he returned to Russia in January 2021, he was almost immediately detained and imprisoned until at least 2031 for<a href="https://apnews.com/article/alexei-navalny-russia-charges-vandalism-f374723355fd4847b68afa7959f32128"> various charges, including extremism</a>.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="z4SMwp">
|
||
“We’re in this perpetual state of being shocked but not surprised” about Navalny’s death, Sam Greene, director for democratic resilience at the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA), told Vox in an interview. “There’s no question about who’s culpable, but how that culpability is structured is a question to which we’ll probably never know the answer. The fundamental truth is that the Kremlin killed its most potent opponent.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Rr9MCZ">
|
||
That is how Navalny’s death is being processed among Russian dissident expatriates.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="nal9yn">
|
||
“This is not death, this is a brutal murder,” Russian <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/C3azH06P5i9/">dissident</a> and member of the artist collective Pussy Riot Nadya Tolokonnikova wrote on her <a href="https://www.vox.com/instagram-news">Instagram</a> Friday. “Navalny is the soul of free Russia and I, like you all, was sure that he is immortal as a soul.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="qzSxO3">
|
||
Navalny’s probable death strengthens a reality Putin has been building in Russia for a while — that there is no alternative to Putin, and that there is no hope and no room for dissent.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="53aPTz">
|
||
“Now, there’s not even the slightest public wiggle room when it comes to opposition,” Eliot Borenstein, interim vice chancellor and vice provost for Global Programs at New York University, told Vox in an interview.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="DjHevz">
|
||
Since Putin’s return to power, Russia has made public dissent almost impossible, <a href="https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-ekho-moskvy-closed/31733880.html">essentially </a><a href="https://meduza.io/en/news/2023/01/26/russia-has-outlawed-meduza">outlawing the free press</a> or <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/03/13/how-russian-journalists-in-exile-are-covering-the-war-in-ukraine">pushing it into exile</a>, outlawing protests and speech that condemn <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/03/05/1084729579/russian-law-bans-journalists-from-calling-ukraine-conflict-a-war-or-an-invasion">the Russian invasion of Ukraine</a>, and most recently,<a href="https://www.vox.com/world-politics/2023/12/5/23988527/russia-anti-lgbtq-ruling-extremist-putin"> cracking down on LGBTQ Russians by labeling the global LGBTQ movement an extremist movement</a>. That’s not to mention the effects of those crackdowns and what happens to people who dissent — whether that’s arrest, prison, or worse.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="DNUoYn">
|
||
“That’s been the goal for years — to make post-Putin Russia, Russia without Putin, unimaginable,” Borenstein said.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-the-hindu-sports">From The Hindu: Sports</h1>
|
||
<ul>
|
||
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>El Asesino, Amazing Ruler, Blue God, Inspire, Aldgate, and Helios impress</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>Jade excelles</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>Jyothi Yarraji rewrites own record to win 60m hurdles gold at Asian Indoor Athletics Championships</strong> - The 24-year-old athlete topped her heat with a timing of 8:22s and in the final she did better to finish ahead of Japan’s Asuka Tereda</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>Indian women’s badminton side enter maiden Asian final after beating Japan</strong> - The women’s team defeated former champions Japan 3-2 in the semifinal</p></li>
|
||
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Ind vs Eng 3rd Test | Yashasvi rocks England with ton as India take 322-run lead on Day 3</strong> - The overall lead swelled to 322 by stumps, after Indian bowlers made a splendid comeback, getting last five England wickets for only 29 runs with visitors being bowled out for 319.</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>Kerala CM reviews Wayanad situation, orders more expansive camera network to monitor wildlife movement near human habitations</strong> - Pinarayi Vijayan convenes emergency meeting of top forest and police officials in the wake of violent protests in Wayanad following fatal wild elephant attack on a man 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>T.N. CM Stalin announces permanent minority status certificates for minority educational institutions</strong> - The CM also made a slew of other announcements, including extension of the flagship breakfast scheme for students at government-aided minority schools and educational loans of ₹5 lakh to students of minority communities</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>Gulzar, Sanskrit scholar Rambhadracharya selected for Jnanpith Award</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>Cabinet Ministers in Champai Soren government assume office</strong> - With the exception of a few, most Ministers retained the portfolios they were assigned during the previous Hemant Soren government.</p></li>
|
||
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>BJP winning 370 seats will be true tribute to Syama Prasad Mookerjee: PM Modi</strong> - Mookerjee was a strident opponent of Article 370, which granted Jammu and Kashmir special rights. The Modi government scrapped the article in August 2019</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 troops pull out of key eastern town Avdiivka</strong> - President Volodymyr Zelensky says the decision was taken to save the lives of Ukrainian soldiers.</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>Putin critic Navalny dies in Arctic Circle jail, says Russia</strong> - Jailed Russian politician Alexei Navalny has died in a penal colony, the country’s prison service says.</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>Navalny was often asked: ‘Do you fear for your life?’</strong> - Sarah Rainsford on how Putin’s opponent never abandoned his belief in “the beautiful Russia of the future”.</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>Navalny’s life in ‘Polar Wolf’ remote penal colony</strong> - Only those accused of the very worst crimes are sent to IK-3, the strictest penal colony imaginable.</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>Alexei Navalny: What we know about his death</strong> - Many believe the opposition leader paid the ultimate price for opposing Putin - what do we know?</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>New FDA-approved drug makes severe food allergies less life-threatening</strong> - Injections over several months allowed people to tolerate larger doses of trigger foods. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=2004231">link</a></p></li>
|
||
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Elon Musk’s X allows China-based propaganda banned on other platforms</strong> - X accused of overlooking propaganda flagged by Meta and criminal prosecutors. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=2004185">link</a></p></li>
|
||
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Microsoft fixes problem that let Edge replicate Chrome tabs without permission</strong> - Edge update is first proof that this was definitely a glitch. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=2004077">link</a></p></li>
|
||
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Wyze outage leaves customers without camera coverage overnight</strong> - Company points to “AWS partner” for cameras disappearing from users’ apps. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=2004138">link</a></p></li>
|
||
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Android 15 Developer Preview 1 is out for the Pixel 6 and up</strong> - Low-level developer features include fs-verify support, more screen-sharing modes. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=2004059">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>Scientists removed the left half of a man’s brain and asked him to count to 10. He said, “2, 4, 6, 8, 10.”</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
|
||
<div class="md">
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
Then they put it back, and removed the right half of his brain and asked him to count to 10. He said, “1, 3, 5, 7, 9.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
Finally they removed his entire brain and asked him to count to 10. He said, “Oh I can count to 10. Believe me. People are saying I can count to 10 better than anyone in the history of our country. If you ask me to count to 10, I will count to 10 the likes of which no one has ever seen before.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
(Edit: “put it 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/ajcpullcom"> /u/ajcpullcom </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1as840m/scientists_removed_the_left_half_of_a_mans_brain/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1as840m/scientists_removed_the_left_half_of_a_mans_brain/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
||
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Bob was excited about his new rifle and decided to try bear hunting.</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
|
||
<div class="md">
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
He traveled up to Alaska, spotted a small brown bear and shot it. Soon after there was a tap on his shoulder, and he turned around to see a big black bear.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
The black bear said, “That was a very bad mistake. That bear was my cousin, I’m going to give you two choices. Either I maul you to death or we have sex.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
After considering briefly, Bob decided to accept the latter option. So the black bear had his way with Bob.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
Even though he was sore for two weeks, Bob soon recovered and vowed revenge. He headed out on another trip to Alaska where he found the black bear and shot it dead. Right after, there was another tap on his shoulder. This time, a huge grizzly bear stood right next to him.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
The grizzly said, “That was a big mistake. That bear was my cousin and now you’ve got two choices - either I maul you to death or we have sex.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
Again, Bob thought it was better to co-operate with the grizzly bear than be mauled to death. So the grizzly bear had his way with Bob.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
Although he survived, it took several months before Bob fully recovered. Now Bob was completely outraged, so he headed back to Alaska and managed to track down the grizzly bear and shot it. Once again, moments later, there was a tap on his shoulder. He turned around to find an enormous polar bear standing there.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
The polar bear looked at him and said, “Admit it, Bob, you don’t come here just for the hunting, do 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/JustOurKind"> /u/JustOurKind </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1asuf08/bob_was_excited_about_his_new_rifle_and_decided/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1asuf08/bob_was_excited_about_his_new_rifle_and_decided/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
||
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Putin made a huge mistake in his plans to increase the birth rate in Russia</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
|
||
<div class="md">
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
He just had killed the only Russian with balls
|
||
</p>
|
||
</div>
|
||
<!-- SC_ON -->
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/n3w57ake"> /u/n3w57ake </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1asx17s/putin_made_a_huge_mistake_in_his_plans_to/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1asx17s/putin_made_a_huge_mistake_in_his_plans_to/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
||
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Woman: “Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned.”</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
|
||
<div class="md">
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
Priest: “What did you do dear?”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
Woman: “I called a man a son of a bitch.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
Priest: “Why did you call him a son of a bitch?”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
Woman: “Because he touched my hand.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
Priest: “Like this?” (as he touches her hand)
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
Woman: “Yes, father.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
Priest: “That’s no reason to call a man a son of a bitch.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
Woman: “Then he touched my breast.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
Priest: “Like this?” (as he touched her breast)
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
Woman: “Yes, father.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
Priest: “That’s no reason to call him a son of a bitch.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
Woman: “Then he took off my clothes, father.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
Priest: “Like this?” (as he takes off her clothes)
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
Woman: “Yes, father.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
Priest: “That’s no reason to call him a son of a bitch.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
Woman: “Then he stuck his you know what into my you know where.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
Priest: “Like this?” (as he stuck his you know what into her you know where)
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
Woman: “Yes father! YES FATHER! YES FATHER!!!”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
Priest: (after a few minutes): “That is still no reason to call him a son of a bitch.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
Woman: “Then he told me he has AIDS.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
Priest: “SON OF A BITCH.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
</div>
|
||
<!-- SC_ON -->
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/JustOurKind"> /u/JustOurKind </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1aseg4t/woman_forgive_me_father_for_i_have_sinned/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1aseg4t/woman_forgive_me_father_for_i_have_sinned/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
||
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Proof that weed is better than alcohol.</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
|
||
<div class="md">
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
Five drunk guys will start a fight.<br/> Five stoned guys will start a band.
|
||
</p>
|
||
</div>
|
||
<!-- SC_ON -->
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/StarsBear75063"> /u/StarsBear75063 </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1as9we7/proof_that_weed_is_better_than_alcohol/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1as9we7/proof_that_weed_is_better_than_alcohol/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
||
</ul>
|
||
|
||
|
||
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