navan
/
Daily-Dose
mirror of https://github.com/navanchauhan/Daily-Dose.git
1
0
Fork 0
Code Issues Projects Releases Wiki Activity
Daily-Dose/archive-daily-dose/26 February, 2024.html

648 lines
88 KiB
HTML
Raw Blame History

This file contains invisible Unicode characters

This file contains invisible Unicode characters that are indistinguishable to humans but may be processed differently by a computer. If you think that this is intentional, you can safely ignore this warning. Use the Escape button to reveal them.

This file contains Unicode characters that might be confused with other characters. If you think that this is intentional, you can safely ignore this warning. Use the Escape button to reveal them.

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="" xml:lang="" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head>
<meta charset="utf-8"/>
<meta content="pandoc" name="generator"/>
<meta content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0, user-scalable=yes" name="viewport"/>
<title>26 February, 2024</title>
<style>
code{white-space: pre-wrap;}
span.smallcaps{font-variant: small-caps;}
span.underline{text-decoration: underline;}
div.column{display: inline-block; vertical-align: top; width: 50%;}
div.hanging-indent{margin-left: 1.5em; text-indent: -1.5em;}
ul.task-list{list-style: none;}
</style>
<title>Daily-Dose</title><meta content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" name="viewport"/><link href="styles/simple.css" rel="stylesheet"/><link href="../styles/simple.css" rel="stylesheet"/><style>*{overflow-x:hidden;}</style><link href="https://unpkg.com/aos@2.3.1/dist/aos.css" rel="stylesheet"/><script src="https://unpkg.com/aos@2.3.1/dist/aos.js"></script></head>
<body>
<h1 data-aos="fade-down" id="daily-dose">Daily-Dose</h1>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" data-aos-anchor-placement="top-bottom" id="contents">Contents</h1>
<ul>
<li><a href="#from-new-yorker">From New Yorker</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-vox">From Vox</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-the-hindu-sports">From The Hindu: Sports</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-the-hindu-national-news">From The Hindu: National News</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-bbc-europe">From BBC: Europe</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-ars-technica">From Ars Technica</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-jokes-subreddit">From Jokes Subreddit</a></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-new-yorker">From New Yorker</h1>
<ul>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Israeli Settlers Attacking Their Palestinian Neighbors</strong> - With the world’s focus on Gaza, settlers have used wartime chaos as cover for violence and dispossession. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/03/04/israel-west-bank-settlers-attacks-palestinians">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>What a Major Solar Storm Could Do to Our Planet</strong> - Disturbances on the sun may have the potential to devastate our power grid and communication systems. When the next big storm arrives, will we be prepared for it? - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/03/04/what-a-major-solar-storm-could-do-to-our-planet">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A Professor Claimed to Be Native American. Did She Know She Wasn’t?</strong> - Elizabeth Hoover, who has taught at Brown and Berkeley, insists that she made an honest mistake. Her critics say she has been lying for more than a decade. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/03/04/a-professor-claimed-to-be-native-american-did-she-know-she-wasnt">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Inside North Korea’s Forced-Labor Program in China</strong> - Workers sent from the country to Chinese factories describe enduring beatings and sexual abuse, having their wages taken by the state, and being told that if they try to escape they will be “killed without a trace.” - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/03/04/inside-north-koreas-forced-labor-program-in-china">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Russia After Alexei Navalny</strong> - Speculative history can be hollow, and a country in need of martyrs and saints is not to be envied, and yet it is hard to overstate the loss of Navalny. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/03/04/russia-after-alexei-navalny">link</a></p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-vox">From Vox</h1>
<ul>
<li><strong>9 charts that show US factory farming is even bigger than you realize</strong> -
<figure>
<img alt="A row of confined dairy cows." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/HEM3_m90bLMlNEbLGJiOtiVf0go=/193x0:3749x2667/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73164747/GettyImages_539037074.0.jpg"/>
<figcaption>
Cows stand in the milking parlour at the Lake Breeze Dairy farm in Malone, Wisconsin, in 2016. | Daniel Acker/Bloomberg via Getty Images
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Factory farms are now so big that we need a new word for them.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="JgiPIi">
In a few generations, factory farming — the set of economic, genetic, chemical, and pharmaceutical innovations that enabled humanity to raise <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/animal-welfare#:~:text=This%20is%20especially%20true%20when,in%20painful%20and%20inhumane%20conditions.">tens of billions of animals</a> for food every year — has transformed America.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="fI6tXM">
It has <a href="https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/23003487/north-carolina-hog-pork-bacon-farms-environmental-racism-black-residents-pollution-meat-industry">polluted</a> our water and air, ruining quality of life for people who live near animal confinements. It has altered entire landscapes, helping drive the conversion of much of the Midwest’s biodiverse prairie grasslands to <a href="https://civileats.com/2018/08/03/why-the-midwests-food-system-is-failing/">soy and cornfields</a> <a href="https://www.vox.com/2014/8/21/6053187/cropland-map-food-fuel-animal-feed">growing feed</a> for billions of animals warehoused in industrial sheds. It contributes an outsized share of <a href="https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/22905381/meat-dairy-eggs-climate-change-emissions-rewilding">planet-warming emissions</a>, heightens <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/23/opinion/bird-flu.html">the</a> <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/03/opinion/bird-flu-h5n1-pandemic.html">risk</a> of another <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.add6681">zoonotic pandemic</a>, and causes unfathomable, normalized suffering for the animals themselves.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="xOpH19">
The factory farmification of the American food system <a href="https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2023/2/10/23589333/cecile-steele-chicken-meat-poultry-eggs-delaware">dates back</a> about a century and <a href="https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2022/9/12/23339898/global-meat-production-forecast-factory-farming-animal-welfare-human-progress">accelerated</a> post-World War II. But today’s factory farms have taken on an even more extreme dimension. Forty years ago, a <a href="https://agcensus.library.cornell.edu/wp-content/uploads/1982-United_States-CHAPTER_1_State_Data-121-Table-20.pdf">facility</a> raising <a href="https://agcensus.library.cornell.edu/wp-content/uploads/1978-United_States-CHAPTER_1_State_Data-181-Table-19.pdf">100,000 chickens</a> per year would have passed for a large factory farm; now more than three-quarters of chickens live on massive complexes that sell more than 500,000 animals annually. These mega factory farms, as some observers have <a href="https://www.ewg.org/news-insights/news/2024/02/new-usda-data-reveal-largest-factory-farms-keep-growing-number">called</a> them, look more like chicken megalopolises. The same pattern holds for other animals raised for food, like cows and pigs.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="felmj9">
These trends are reflected in data released this month by the US Department of Agriculture’s <a href="https://www.nass.usda.gov/Publications/AgCensus/2022/index.php">Census of Agriculture</a>, a massive report published every five years on the state of farming in America. The report reveals a picture of an ever-consolidating, ever-intensifying system of animal agriculture that’s squeezing out small and medium-sized farms and packing more animals on less land.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="RRPFbd">
Here are some of our top takeaways.
</p>
<h3 id="lg2TzK">
We raise twice as many animals for food as we did in the late 1980s
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="RTNAYB">
In 2022, the most recent year for which data was available, the number of chickens, cows, pigs, and turkeys in the US food system exceeded 10 billion for the first time in the census’s history — up from 5.2 billion animals in 1987.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="irbmk6">
That’s largely been driven by the <a href="https://www.press.jhu.edu/books/title/11097/chickenizing-farms-and-food">chickenization</a> of the American diet. One of the most important shifts in the US food system over the last several decades has been declining beef consumption and rapidly <a href="https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/22287530/chicken-beef-factory-farming-plant-based-meats">increasing consumption of chicken</a>, often <a href="https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2023/8/4/23818952/chicken-meat-forecast-predictions-beef-pork-oecd-fao">perceived</a> as healthier than red meat. The ethical implications of that trade are profound. As Vox has <a href="https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2023/8/4/23818952/chicken-meat-forecast-predictions-beef-pork-oecd-fao">written</a> many <a href="https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/22430749/beef-chicken-climate-diet-vegetarian">times</a>, swapping beef for chicken means slaughtering many more individual animals because chickens are small, so it takes about 100 of them to get the same amount of meat as from one cow.
</p>
<div class="c-wide-block">
<div class="c-image-grid">
<div class="c-image-grid__item">
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt="chart showing the number of animals farmed for food increase from about 5 billion in 1987 to 10 billion in 2022. The vast majority of these are chickens. " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/JCG7_yJgDynOGGvNpnx329AhTF0=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25299595/xJz9y_the_number_of_land_animals_farmed_for_food_in_the_us_has_nearly_doubled_in_35_years.png"/>
</figure>
</div>
<div class="c-image-grid__item">
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt="Pie chart showing meat chickens make up about 90 percent of animals raised for food, while other animals — cows, pigs, turkeys, and egg-laying hens — make up much smaller slivers. " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/wFmN-Uv8J8q-JN_Et68LPvIl7fE=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25299596/GPb9b_meat_chickens_account_for_90_percent_of_animals_farmed_on_land_nbsp_.png"/>
</figure>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="wLsEfm">
US chicken meat consumption first <a href="https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2023/2/10/23589333/cecile-steele-chicken-meat-poultry-eggs-delaware">surpassed</a> beef consumption in the mid-1990s; around the same time, farm animal population growth accelerated, as seen in the chart above.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="OYVAD2">
Chickens now make up more than 90 percent of land animals farmed in the US. In 2022, we slaughtered 9.2 billion of them, about 27 for every person in the country. We farm so many chickens for food that they’re now the <a href="https://carnegiemnh.org/counting-your-chickens-the-worlds-most-numerous-bird/">most populous</a> bird species in the world, and scientists believe their remains may leave a <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.180325">permanent mark</a> on our geological record. “We live in the Age of the Chicken,” as the New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/11/science/chicken-anthropocene-archaeology.html">put it</a> in 2018.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="X3Xphq">
The numbers of other farmed animals are also massive, but next to meat chickens, they look like a rounding error.
</p>
<h3 id="huxoNO">
The rise of mega factory farms
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="0BKp1l">
With every passing year, farmed animals are increasingly concentrated on the largest factory farms.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="9HFmZo">
In the chicken meat industry, mega factory farms that each raise more than 500,000 chickens per year now overwhelmingly dominate. In 2022, 7.2 billion chickens — the vast majority of chickens raised for meat in the US — came from one of these facilities. (The other 2 billion still overwhelmingly came from factory farms — just smaller ones.)
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt="chart showing the number of chickens raised on mega-factory farms increase from about a billion in 1987 to more than 7 billion in 2022. The number not raised in such facilities decreased from just over 3 billion in 1987 to 2 billion in 2022.&amp;nbsp;" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Oblg1W_t2LIjHyKdrwiW5a72JyA=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25299917/q0Yrm_the_number_of_meat_chickens_raised_on_mega_factory_farms_has_grown_almost_sevenfold_in_35_years_2.png"/>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="xJ5Z3c">
In the egg industry, which uses about 388.5 million hens per year, the biggest factory farms are even bigger, sometimes housing millions of animals in one place.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="m96JU6">
Such high concentrations of animals — and their waste — smell terrible and <a href="https://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/FS_2004_FacFarms2020-WEB.pdf">release</a> hazardous air pollution linked to respiratory problems in the communities in which they’re located, a growing environmental justice issue.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="pyc6DT">
These facilities have also <a href="https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/23963820/bird-flu-surge-us-ventilation-shutdown-veterinarians">exacerbated</a> US <a href="https://www.vox.com/2015/4/22/8469967/bird-flu-outbreak">avian flu</a> crises over the last decade: Having so many animals in one place means that when a case of bird flu hits one animal, it can quickly spread to hundreds of thousands of others (which also creates more opportunities for the disease to mutate into something potentially dangerous to humans). For disease control purposes, the USDA requires farms to kill every animal on a farm where a case of bird flu has been detected, setting off a chain of events that can disrupt the food supply chain and <a href="https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/23588340/egg-prices-expensive-bird-flu-shortage-price-gouging">inflate egg prices</a>. In the span of one month in spring 2022, for example, <a href="https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ourfocus/animalhealth/animal-disease-information/avian/avian-influenza/hpai-2022/2022-hpai-commercial-backyard-flocks">bird flu cases</a> at just five massive egg factory farms in Iowa, Wisconsin, and Nebraska wiped out more than 4 percent of the country’s egg-laying hens.
</p>
<div class="c-float-right">
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt="Rows of thousands of chickens inside a large barn. " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/d9VwvxHDWl2V2XfmCFSLeffmXdo=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25300633/GettyImages_159235695.jpg"/> <cite>Edwin Remsberg/Getty Images</cite>
<figcaption>
A chicken mega factory farm on Maryland’s Eastern Shore.
</figcaption>
</figure>
</div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="AIHGhc">
And because it’s logistically difficult to cull so many animals in a massive complex, these mega factory farms have also been linked to the rise of an especially disturbing method being used to mass kill animals in the bird flu: <a href="https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/23963820/bird-flu-surge-us-ventilation-shutdown-veterinarians">ventilation shutdown</a>, in which birds are killed via heatstroke using industrial heaters.
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt="chart showing the number of dairy cows on mega farms of more than 1,000 cows increase from 1 million to over 6 million between 1987 and 2022. All other cows (not on mega dairies) decreased from over 8 million to 3.3 million over the same period. " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/UVNs-H1XEy3XOFNE99Qn_vRwjng=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25299918/cABjE_the_number_of_us_dairy_cows_raised_on_mega_dairies_increased_more_than_sixfold_in_30_years_2.png"/>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="MTveoz">
Cows are enormous, so the threshold for the largest cattle farms is much lower than it is for chickens. Remember the <a href="https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/23683141/texas-farm-fire-explosion-dimmitt-cows-factory-dairy">massive fire at an 18,000-cow Texas dairy farm</a> last April? That’s what we would call a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jun/01/there-are-ghosts-in-the-land-how-us-mega-dairies-are-killing-off-small-farms">mega dairy</a> — and they’ve taken over the dairy industry. Although the overall population of US dairy cows is not increasing, the number of cows concentrated on the biggest dairy farms has skyrocketed over the last 30 years, as smaller operations shut down.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="QHraa9">
The Texas dairy explosion last spring was a perfect illustration of the hazards of mega farms. It stemmed from a malfunction with the farm’s manure management equipment, instantly setting ablaze thousands of animals. Supersized factory farms create supersized disasters.
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt="Rows of thousands of outdoor hutches." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/hdYM6yNcRqN1NxGYX3GMXYyjz24=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25300637/WAM33862.jpg"/> <cite>Ram Daya/We Animals Media</cite>
<figcaption>
Tens of thousands of calf hutches are visible from the roadside at Turkey Creek Dairy, Pearce, Arizona. Calves born to dairy cows are separated from their mothers soon after birth and each kept inside a penned-in hutch.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="7jGYcq">
Mega dairies have been especially on the rise in the American West, Amanda Starbuck, research director for environmental advocacy group <a href="https://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/">Food &amp; Water Watch</a>, told Vox. The group’s analysis of agricultural census data <a href="https://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/2024/02/14/new-usda-data-show-60-increase-in-factory-farmed-dairy-cows-in-oregon-over-20-years/">found</a> a 60 percent increase in the number of cows in mega dairies in Oregon between 2002 and 2022. Although the state is not known for dairy production, it has seen a proliferation of especially large dairy farms in recent years, and local residents have <a href="https://oregoncapitalchronicle.com/2023/07/21/epa-could-stop-drinking-water-crisis-and-dangerous-mega-dairy/">complained</a> about the industry’s pollution of their water supply. “Oregon has potentially the largest mega dairies in the world,” Starbuck said.
</p>
<div class="c-wide-block">
<div class="c-image-grid">
<div class="c-image-grid__item">
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt="Chart showing the number of pigs raised on mega-factory farms increase from about 11 million in 1987 to more than 116 million in 2022.&amp;nbsp;" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/CdZtFd9xzGMbsK97wnJqAthBi7w=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25299920/iBPRI_the_number_of_pigs_raised_on_mega_factory_farms_in_the_us_has_increased_more_than_10_fold_over_35_years_2.png"/>
</figure>
</div>
<div class="c-image-grid__item">
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt="chart showing the number of pigs raised in Iowa increase from about 13 million in 1987 to 24 million today, while total number of farms decreased from over 35,000 to just over 5,000 over the same period." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/8Z2Ti19MOBtCSWeDPuhe817P4YY=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25299606/1vboX_iowa_s_raising_more_pigs_on_fewer_bigger_farms.png"/>
</figure>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="bLiiod">
The shift to mega factory farms has perhaps been even more dramatic in the pork sector. In 2022, more than 90 percent of pigs were raised on mega factory farms.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="YXYstW">
Iowa, the top pork-producing state, has 30,000 fewer pig farms than it did in the late 1980s, yet it’s home to more pigs than ever. The rapid consolidation has meant that big farms are getting bigger while the rest go out of business, a trend consistent across the country.
</p>
<div class="c-float-right">
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt="Pigs inside holding pens in a large barn. " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/N-84n5sGjRPdAJTXEgnAQFtfSqY=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25300648/GettyImages_1215826105.jpg"/> <cite>Dan Brouillette/Bloomberg via Getty Images</cite>
<figcaption>
Pigs stand in pens at a farm near Le Mars, Iowa.
</figcaption>
</figure>
</div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="QVW3YY">
Many US pig farmers who can hang on do so by contracting with the biggest pork processors, like <a href="https://www.iowapublicradio.org/agriculture/2022-09-23/production-contracts-hog-farming-investigate-midwest">Smithfield Foods and JBS</a>. In these contract arrangements, the farmer takes on much of the risk by taking out large loans to build the operations, while the company supplies the pigs and their feed. More than <a href="https://www.ers.usda.gov/webdocs/publications/104437/err-308_summary.pdf?v=1704.5">two-thirds</a> of pigs were raised on contract in 2015.
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt="Chart showing the volume of factory farm manure increasing from around 650 billion lbs in 2002 to 941 billion lbs in 2022. Waste produced by humans increased from just under 400 billion lbs in 2022 to 452 billion lbs in 2022. " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/jPyhyGtoXJU7a6_N-IAyQe7u4RI=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25299607/7Xyjx_factory_farm_animals_release_nearly_1_trillion_pounds_of_manure_annually_that_s_twice_as_much_as_humans_.png"/>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="AfiFoH">
As the number of animals farmed for food has exploded, so has their waste, adding up to almost 1 trillion pounds of it each year, according to an <a href="https://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/2024/02/13/new-usda-data-shows-nearly-50-increase-in-u-s-factory-farmed-animals-in-20-years/">analysis</a> by Food &amp; Water Watch.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="m9saMK">
Between 2017 and 2022, growth in the livestock population has added manure “equivalent to two New York City metro areas — or 40 million people,” Starbuck said.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="yRSPaw">
The manure isn’t treated at sewage plants like human waste, but rather stored on the farm in piles or vast pits that are <a href="https://therevelator.org/cafo-conundrum-manure-lagoons/">prone to leakage</a>. Farmers also over-apply manure on crop fields to dispose of it and much of it washes away during storms into rivers and streams, causing widespread pollution.
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt="Aerial view of four large pig sheds with large manure lagoons behind them and nothing else all around." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/HdDRn_LmoJRJXqt-JGsnZnQhKlA=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25300640/GettyImages_1449681133.jpg"/> <cite>Jon G. Fuller/VW Pics/Universal Images Group via Getty Images</cite>
<figcaption>
A Smithfield Farms hog-raising facility in Utah with large manure lagoons.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="oM46XH">
In <a href="https://www.thegazette.com/environment-nature/iowa-impaired-waters-list-grows-in-2022/#:~:text=About%2056%20percent%20of%20Iowa%27s,recreation%20or%20supporting%20aquatic%20life.">Iowa</a>, more than half of the state’s rivers are “impaired,” meaning they’re not suitable for at least one of their main purposes, like serving as a habitat for aquatic animals, drinking, or recreation. Animal agriculture is the <a href="https://www.thegazette.com/environment-nature/iowa-impaired-waters-list-grows-in-2022/#:~:text=About%2056%20percent%20of%20Iowa%27s,recreation%20or%20supporting%20aquatic%20life.">main culprit</a>, and many rural Americans who depend on wells for drinking water have found them <a href="https://www.wisfarmer.com/story/news/2021/07/07/study-manure-likely-cause-most-illness-contaminated-wells/5326199001/">contaminated</a> with factory farm waste. It’s a national problem too: A recent US Environmental Protection Agency <a href="https://apnews.com/article/rivers-streams-nitrogen-pollution-fertilizer-agriculture-farming-571eb54cb69cc06f43d5f1253e990337">report</a> found that a third of US river miles were considered to be in poor shape for fish, mainly due to farm runoff.
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt="Chart show soybean acreage increasing from about 55 million in 1987 to 85 million in 2022. Corn increase from 65 million acres to 85 million over the same period." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/_ByHy3LRSVd0N1sAOVuRjUVFn5I=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25304521/Z64Vq_factory_farming_and_ethanol_have_fueled_the_growth_of_corn_and_soy_acreage.png"/>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="mVtEQa">
Midwest farmland and its valuable fertile soil have increasingly become devoted to growing food for farmed animals, primarily corn and soy. Like manure, much of the fertilizer and pesticide sprayed on these crops washes away during storms and pollutes waterways.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Wg9JBR">
Livestock feed isn’t the only reason the US grows so much corn. There was a big spike in corn acreage starting in the early 2000s, when Congress <a href="https://www.everycrsreport.com/reports/RL33302.html#:~:text=Gasoline%20sold%20in%20the%20United,7.5%20billion%20gallons%20in%202012.">mandated</a> that billions of gallons of gasoline for cars be mixed with biofuels, which is mostly ethanol made with corn.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="oKn9yT">
It was a terrible policy because corn is an inefficient use of land to produce energy: “It takes about 100 acres worth of biofuels to generate as much energy as a single acre of solar panels,” <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/06/opinion/climate-change-biofuels-corn-ethanol.html">wrote</a> agriculture and environmental writer Michael Grunwald in the New York Times. But it’s been hard to roll back, given the political power of the farm lobby: Ethanol policy is “mainly a way to suck up to farmers and enrich agribusinesses,” Grunwald wrote.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="awdDVJ">
Almost <a href="https://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/pub-details/?pubid=105761#:~:text=Ethanol%20manufacturers%20use%20about%2040,the%20domestic%20transportation%20fuel%20market">40 percent</a> of US corn goes into gas tanks and <a href="https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/crops/corn-and-other-feed-grains/feed-grains-sector-at-a-glance/#:~:text=Feed%20use%2C%20a%20derived%20demand,of%20total%20domestic%20corn%20use.">40 percent</a> is fed to livestock, while <a href="https://www.usda.gov/sites/default/files/documents/coexistence-soybeans-factsheet.pdf">70 percent</a> of soy is livestock feed.
</p>
<h3 id="b2NtnQ">
Overall farmland is decreasing
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Is8sb3">
It bears mentioning that industrialized agriculture is not bad per se (at least, it doesn’t have to be). Researchers and corporations have devised ways to make crops and animals grow bigger and faster, allowing us to get more food from less land. Total US farmland has declined by 24 percent since 1954 — equivalent to saving more than the combined land area of California and Texas.
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt="chart showing total US farmland decreasing by 24 percent between 1954 and 2022, from 1.16 billion acres to 880 million acres." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/3bAgDGYoEbmPQg5OB4Ul-EcpTCo=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25299630/U3BcT_total_farm_land_has_decreased_by_a_quarter_over_the_last_70_years.png"/>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="4gjsqV">
Making factory farming more land-efficient, though, has come with terrible costs not factored into the price tag at the supermarket: mass animal cruelty, pollution, and <a href="https://ikerdj.mufaculty.umsystem.edu/presentation-papers/factory-farms-cafos/with-factory-farms-there-is-no-middle-ground">economic inequality</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="OcXPut">
Even on its own terms, factory farming is still <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/land-use-diets">radically inefficient</a> compared to a system with far fewer animals and more plant-based foods, which would require less land and water, emit less pollution and climate-warming gases, and allow the country to <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s44185-022-00009-9">free up</a> land for wild ecosystems that benefit the climate.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="qhY08u">
If we’re willing to imagine a different world, one not dependent on slaughtering billions of animals for food, such a system is within reach. “The factory farm system is not inevitable,” Starbuck said.
</p></li>
<li><strong>Older Americans are working longer. Some want to; others have to.</strong> -
<figure>
<img alt="Illustration of an older man working a construction job." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/TiZo2Z9sfqLZZ4YSyN48tO9Nm2M=/0x0:7333x5500/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73164707/GettyImages_2024885312.0.jpg"/>
<figcaption>
Today, about 19 percent of Americans 65 and older are still working. | Getty Images
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
How long will baby boomers keep working? For some, the answer is forever.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="sm4BJ3">
To grossly paraphrase Kim Kardashian, nobody stops <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/marisadellatto/2022/03/28/kim-kardashians-widely-mocked-nobody-wants-to-work-comments-taken-out-of-context-she-says/?sh=3f5d1d29407d">working anymore</a>. Just look at who’s in the running for the top job in the nation: a 77-year-old against an 81-year-old, both vying to keep working for another four years. Yet they’re in lockstep with a national trend — older Americans are working longer, into their 60s and even their 70s and beyond. Among Americans 65 and older, <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2023/12/14/older-workers-are-growing-in-number-and-earning-higher-wages/">19 percent were still working</a> last year, which is almost a twofold increase from the late 1980s.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="mE7xPk">
Last year, the average retirement age was 62, according to a <a href="https://news.gallup.com/poll/506330/americans-outlook-retirement-worsened.aspx">Gallup survey</a>, up from <a href="https://news.gallup.com/poll/168707/average-retirement-age-rises.aspx">59 in the early 2000s</a>. Older people aren’t just delaying retirement, but working longer hours: On average, this group’s annual work hours are <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2023/12/14/the-annual-earnings-of-older-workers">almost 30 percent higher</a> than they were in 1987.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="7o3Xup">
The question of why is hard to answer. People keep working because they want to and because they have to, and sometimes a mix of both. “You can think of it as both a reflection of empowered preferences to go work more and longer — versus curtailed savings that force you into the labor force. They’re both happening,” says economist Kathryn Edwards.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="fJPFZa">
Joan Madden-Ceballos, a 65-year-old health care administrator in California, has no plans to retire. She enjoys her job; it’s flexible and fulfilling. She’s not sure what she’d do with herself if she didn’t work. “I’m a baby boomer, so work is sort of ingrained in our lives,” she says. “My daughter gets so mad at me. ‘You need boundaries!’ I’m like, that’s not something baby boomers know.” She’s also making the most money she’s ever made in her career, and that’s not a non-zero factor. “Five years ago, I got a divorce. At that point, my house was paid off — but now it’s only half paid off.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="YWHcfw">
Lori Hvizda Ward, 64, recently returned to teaching part-time after 27 years. “I was bored after pandemic restrictions were lifted, and my kids returned to college and high school full time,” she tells Vox. Her local school district needed more substitute teachers, and the flexibility of the schedule was a perk. But for her, too, it’s not only about personal fulfillment, but that pricey tuition too. “I thought it would be beneficial to have the extra income,” she says.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="q3hzPZ">
We have a tight labor market right now, which means there are a lot of open jobs desperate for workers — so college-educated workers who have good, interesting jobs can more easily choose to keep working. There’s also less of a social norm to retire at a certain age than before. But what’s also undeniable is that retirement security has gotten a lot less attainable, thanks to decades of stagnant wages, recessions, an intense few years of high inflation, and the disappearance of pensions.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="GcBwW2">
Around the world, as people live longer — and face <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/03/31/1167378958/social-security-medicare-entitlement-programs-budget">future shortfalls in government retirement funds</a> — the age at which people get full retirement benefits keeps going up. Last year, <a href="https://www.vox.com/world-politics/2023/3/24/23655280/france-protests-retirement-age-paris-social-security">French people staged massive, incendiary protests</a> against a government proposal to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64; the law passed anyway. In the US, anyone born after 1960 doesn’t get full retirement benefits until they turn 67. You can retire at age 62, but you’ll get less money, which is a good incentive to keep working. <a href="https://www.vox.com/congress">Congress</a> has continued to debate whether full retirement age should be <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2023/03/04/social-security-reform-may-mean-changes-to-retirement-age-payroll-tax.html">nudged even higher</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="TIYcL9">
Monique Morrissey, a senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute, says that not being financially secure is likely the bigger factor in why we’re seeing more older people work for longer. In 2022, according to the <a href="https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/scf/dataviz/scf/chart/#series:Retirement_Accounts;demographic:agecl;population:all;units:have">Survey of Consumer Finances</a>, almost 43 percent of people between 55 and 64 didn’t have a retirement savings account. In just the past few years, there has been a spate of viral headlines about older Americans continuing to work difficult jobs out of necessity — like an <a href="https://www.fox5dc.com/news/82-year-old-walmart-employee-retires-after-viral-tiktok-leads-to-100000-gofundme">82-year-old man working</a> as a Walmart cashier until a GoFundMe raised $100,000, or the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2020/09/30/family-raised-20000-tips-their-89-year-old-pizza-delivery-man/">89-year-old man who delivered pizza</a> to pay his bills until he, too, received $20,000 thanks to a fundraising campaign.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="HfYiym">
“It is really very much a tale of two types of older workers,” says Morrissey. “Half have it good and half have it bad.”
</p>
<h3 id="Jx3nuL">
A tale of two workers — but it’s not always clear which is which
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="kTUelC">
It’s true that part of why the American workforce is older is because Americans in general are older. The baby boomers — famously part of a generation in which many babies were born after World War II — are now in their <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2024/02/08/baby-boomers-hit-peak-65-in-2024-why-retirement-age-is-in-question.html">60s and 70s</a>. Meanwhile, the birth rate since the post-war era has fallen steeply, jostling the age distribution of workers. The US is far from alone in facing a rapidly aging workforce. It’s happening across the globe in rich nations, as their populations age amid decades of falling birth rates. In Japan, almost <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2023/07/19/aging-workforce-older-people-to-fill-over-150-million-jobs-globally.html">40 percent of workers</a> are projected to be 55 and older by 2031.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="BuirgM">
Yet the fact that there are more older Americans doesn’t totally explain the older worker phenomenon. Just look at the labor force participation rate, which measures the percentage of people 16 and older who are employed or looking for work. From about 1950 to 1990, the <a href="https://www.bls.gov/mlr/1999/12/art1full.pdf">participation rate of people 65 and older</a> had fallen a lot. “That’s largely attributed to a larger share of the workforce getting Social Security, and it was regarded as a good thing,” says Edwards. Since the early ’90s, though, we’ve seen that trend reverse.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="WMJGwC">
The median age of a working American today is now 42, and what’s more, in the last few decades the participation rate of people 75-plus has increased more than that of people 65-plus. Some theories why: Americans are living longer today than in the 1980s (though Covid actually dropped the US age expectancy by a couple years, and <a href="https://data.oecd.org/healthstat/life-expectancy-at-65.htm">life expectancy at age 65</a> in the US isn’t great compared to other wealthy nations). The share of 75-and-older workers, as a group, is more likely to include people who want to keep working rather than are forced to do so by financial circumstances, says Morrissey. Data from Pew shows that older workers are more likely to be self-employed. That may give them a little more independence to work flexible hours or to reduce work hours as they age rather than retire completely.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="KoMAwn">
Technology has made some jobs in some industries physically easier to perform — you can now even do work from the comfort of your home. That doesn’t mean hard labor has gone away. “There’s this idea that people used to dig ditches or they were farmers, and now they’re sitting in front of a computer,” says Morrissey. “No, they’re not. They might be stuck, if they’re lucky, stocking shelves or waiting tables, but those are not easy jobs.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="PZOAHn">
One common industry for older workers, particularly older women, is caregiving. “Working in nursing homes or in people’s homes is very physically demanding and has very high injury rates,” Morrissey says. A third of home <a href="https://www.vox.com/health-care">health care</a> workers are 55 and older, according to <a href="https://www.bls.gov/cps/cpsaat18b.htm">the Bureau of Labor Statistics</a> (BLS). A study of <a href="https://comptroller.nyc.gov/reports/spotlight-care-workers-and-the-new-york-city-economy/">care workers in NYC</a> shows a much higher distribution of older care workers than there is in other industries. Bus service and urban transit workers are also outliers, with a <a href="https://www.bls.gov/cps/cpsaat18b.htm">median age over 50</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="XoLIxw">
According to the <a href="https://www.economicpolicyresearch.org/jobs-report/physically-demanding-jobs-and-involuntary-retirement-worsen-retirement-insecurity">Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis</a>, more than 40 percent of older Black and Latino workers — people between 55 to 64 — work “physically demanding jobs” like farming, truck driving, delivery, and more. A quarter of white older workers do. It also varies by education: Over 40 percent of workers 55 to 64 without a college degree worked physically demanding jobs as of 2018, as did almost a third of those 65-plus without a degree.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="cdzshO">
Older people in physically demanding jobs are also less likely to be earning enough to save a lot for retirement, or to have access to an employer-sponsored retirement account. If they retire too early, they won’t get full <a href="https://www.vox.com/social-programs">Social Security</a> benefits — but sometimes they don’t have a choice if they become disabled. “All of the things that make it more likely that they didn’t save enough would also make them less likely to be able to work longer,” says Edwards. Of the workers in physical jobs who can keep working, we see many working to an older age because they need to, says Morrissey.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="hZql1s">
And while age discrimination is a real and serious problem, hard, low-paying jobs — say, janitorial or caregiving work — are often less likely to reject candidates for age reasons, so it may be exactly the thing they turn to.
</p>
<h3 id="Hq2IDi">
Retirement is still a fairly new idea
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="azwY0q">
The idea that people stop working when they get older is still pretty fresh in the grand scheme of human history. It didn’t arise until the modern labor market did, according to Edwards, when lots of people started selling their labor to others rather than work on their family farm.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="4yA8ZF">
“Before Social Security, most people’s retirement plan was death,” says Edwards. “Dying on the job, dying in your kid’s house. This whole notion of an independent, work-free retirement is truly a modern one.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="UPX1eK">
Social Security remains the nation’s biggest anti-poverty program — by a factor of about four, Edwards adds — and mostly thanks to it, elder poverty has plummeted since the 1950s. But the program is currently on the path to a deficit by 2034 because the US is not collecting enough from the highest earners, explains Edwards. Social Security tax only applies to the first $168,600 someone makes in a year; in the last few decades, wage inequality has shot up, with a lot of income growth at the very top and <a href="https://www.epi.org/publication/charting-wage-stagnation/">mostly stagnant pay everywhere else</a>. That means the amount of money not going toward Social Security has ballooned — and that the highest-income Americans pay a much lower effective tax rate than the lowest earners do.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="3tWybY">
The program also wasn’t designed to be someone’s only retirement plan, yet people have become increasingly reliant on its benefits because they can’t save enough, and most don’t have pensions. It was meant to provide a floor for Americans, a safety net. “But we’re creating a labor market in which many people live at the floor,” says Edwards.
</p>
<div id="VxObck">
</div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="tQDfGk">
A Credit Karma survey last year found that over a quarter of people 59 and older had <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-04-17/how-much-money-do-i-need-to-retire-a-quarter-of-americans-have-no-savings">no retirement savings</a>. Part of the problem is that access to a retirement account varies greatly by industry and whether or not you’re a high earner. Pensions are now extremely rare, unless you work in the public sector, and only about <a href="https://tcf.org/content/report/as-the-population-ages-more-workers-are-unprepared-for-retirement-can-states-help-close-that-gap/">half of workers have a retirement plan</a> offered through their private employer. Low earners, people of color, and women are even less likely to have access to employer-sponsored retirement accounts.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="5cSNDk">
Last December, the average payment for Social Security retirement benefits was <a href="https://www.ssa.gov/OACT/ProgData/icp.html">$1,905</a>. Whether Social Security is enough to live on depends on many factors, including marital status, debt, health care costs, and how high the cost of living is where they live. According to the <a href="https://www.bls.gov/opub/btn/volume-5/spending-patterns-of-older-americans.htm">BLS</a>, about 81 percent of people between 65 and 74 are homeowners, but 30 percent still have a mortgage; 19 percent are renters.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="d2VVg1">
While Americans’ access to employer retirement plans is spotty, every working person pays Social Security taxes. Shoring up Social Security so that it is both well-funded and pays more, and ensuring all of its benefits are easy to access, would do a lot toward giving people retirement security — particularly for those who need it most, those who don’t work cushy jobs with generous salaries, stock rewards, or <a href="https://www.shrm.org/topics-tools/news/benefits-compensation/one-four-workers-miss-full-401k-match">401(k) contributions matched by their employer</a>. Retirement is a modern concept, and it deserves to be further modernized.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="aa90BU">
The fact that there are divergent reasons why Americans are working longer doesn’t change the path forward — which is to make it easier for those who do want to quit working earlier.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Ek0jaa">
When trying to figure out what’s going on in a labor market — like why people are working longer — it’s important to keep in mind that it’s a reflection of both people’s preferences and their constraints, says Edwards. “Both predict an outcome, and it’s not clear which one is ruling the day.” Often, individuals aren’t quite sure themselves whether it’s a preference or constraint that has led to delaying retirement. But, says Edwards, “Policy’s job is to change the constraints, knowing that preferences are varied.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="XCoBkp">
Beyond fixing Social Security, Morrissey notes, we could change these constraints for older workers with better labor standards and protections, as older workers face a high rate of workplace injury, as well as better pay for workers of all ages — so that people can actually save more.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="7nfGuD">
“A lot of what would help older Americans would help all Americans,” says Morrissey.
</p></li>
<li><strong>I got to see the IRS’s free tax-filing software in action. Here’s what I learned.</strong> -
<figure>
<img alt="A government software engineer leans over an otherwise empty conference table pointing to a spot on a large board covered in writing." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/IEJepz_K0lmS-hCmYc_r9nq_Ryo=/0x0:4032x3024/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73164628/IMG_7097.0.jpeg"/>
<figcaption>
Chris Given, Direct File product lead at the IRS, shows a “fact map” of all taxpayer information the tax software has to know, during a presentation to journalists at the Treasury Department. | Dylan Matthews/Vox
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Meet Direct File, the federal government’s TurboTax alternative. It’s not perfect, but it’s a start.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Vc5U7x">
It is oddly hard to file your income tax return in the US without working with a private company.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="jbp5NJ">
<a href="https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p55b.pdf#page=14">Over 90 percent of returns</a> are filed either by a paid tax preparer or by a taxpayer using commercial software, like TurboTax, which can <a href="https://turbotax.intuit.com/personal-taxes/online/">cost as much as $169</a> per cycle, plus extra if you have state taxes. To date, most of the Internal Revenue Service’s efforts to make tax filing more available to low-income people have involved throwing business to private companies through the <a href="https://www.irs.gov/filing/free-file-do-your-federal-taxes-for-free">“Free File Program,”</a> in which those companies agree to prepare certain returns for free.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="SSOiDk">
But the tax companies, preferring profit, have worked hard to make sure <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/intuit-turbotax-h-r-block-gutted-free-tax-filing-internal-memo">people don’t actually use Free File</a>. Over its decade-plus of operation, <a href="https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/IF/IF11808#page=2">fewer than 3 percent of eligible taxpayers</a> used the program. The end result is these tax companies are responsible for more than 90 percent of returns filed in the US, with Americans more or less forced to give their financial information, and usually their money, to a private company.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="nkB4xw">
Until this year. The 2024 filing season represents the debut of <a href="https://directfile.irs.gov/">Direct File</a>, the IRS’s new program to allow taxpayers to file their taxes directly through a government website.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="hFtAE7">
But there’s a catch. Well, several catches. The program is, for now, a limited pilot, available in 12 states, representing a little under half the US population. Even in those states, the software is rolling out slowly. It only <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2024/02/21/irs-direct-file-open/">opened to general users on February 22</a>, and then only for a small number. The <a href="https://www.irs.gov/about-irs/strategic-plan/direct-file-pilot-news">IRS</a> says it will “continue to open for new taxpayers in pilot states for short availability windows” throughout the spring.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="CT0CLX">
And the software is limited in what tax situations it can handle. If you have wages or salary income and/or interest income, and nothing else, you’re probably eligible. But if you have self-employment, freelance, or income from owning a business, you’re not.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="k06iMb">
Treasury spokesperson Ashley Schapitl told me the IRS estimates that about one-third of taxpayers in participating states have tax situations simple enough that they can use the Direct File software. She explained that about 19 million taxpayers, total, will be eligible this season and that the department expects “at least several hundred thousand” to participate.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="SHpOyM">
This all, I have to admit, bummed me out slightly. For years now, I’ve been a <a href="https://www.vox.com/2016/3/29/11320386/turbotax-boycott-lobbying-tax-filing-season-tax-day-april-15">booster</a> of <a href="https://www.vox.com/2016/4/13/11417676/elizabeth-warren-tax-return-free-filing-tax-day-intuit-hr-block-turbotax-automatic-simple">efforts</a> to make <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/22596072/irs-turbotax-hr-block-free-file-tax-return">tax</a> filing <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy/2023/4/15/23682351/irs-vita-volunteer-tax-policy">easier</a> and break the TurboTax/H&amp;R Block duopoly on tax prep. Direct File, which is the result of a provision included in the 2022 <a href="https://www.vox.com/2022/8/8/23296951/inflation-reduction-act-biden-democrats-climate-change">Inflation Reduction Act</a>, seemed like the first effort by the federal government to do just that, to free the tax system from these parasitic corporations.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="XB3leM">
And the first draft of Direct File didn’t feel big enough for the task. Some of the team building it showed the software off to me and a couple other journalists in January, and while the technical details were cool in a nerdy way (the program logic is written in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scala_(programming_language)">Scala</a>!), what I kept thinking was: This can’t compete with TurboTax. It can’t do my very simple taxes; I just have a W-2 from Vox and a couple 1099s from <a href="https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/23933962/malaria-vaccine-challenge-trials-drugs-tropical-disease-africa-research">participating in a medical study</a>. And if we’re not giving taxpayers something better than the private sector, what are we doing here?
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ucF69X">
The answer, essentially, is that the IRS is taking things slowly. It didn’t want to release software capable of handling all tax situations from the start because that philosophy — build it all, deploy it suddenly — is historically a recipe for disaster in projects like this. That was, for instance, what happened with <a href="http://HealthCare.gov">HealthCare.gov</a> in 2013. Instead of a working product, users got so many outages, delays, and crashes that a <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2013/12/27/257398910/the-number-6-says-it-all-about-the-healthcare-gov-rollout">grand total of six people</a> were able to enroll in health insurance on the website’s first day. The idea this time was to build it gradually so that each limited form of the software works before moving forward.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="6OSkHb">
That might not be satisfying for impatient people like me. But it might be a wiser approach.
</p>
<h3 id="2VtaBC">
Limitations of the pilot
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="IivQzM">
The 12 states participating in the Direct File pilot were chosen deliberately. They include eight states that don’t levy a general income tax (Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming), meaning there’s no need for the IRS software to integrate with a state tax system. The other four states at least had state-level Direct File systems and opted to integrate their own state tax software with the IRS’s (Arizona, California, Massachusetts, and New York).
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="kqbPsy">
Alaska, the ninth state with no state income tax, was originally going to be in the pilot, but a Direct File staffer explained to me that the <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/2/13/16997188/alaska-basic-income-permanent-fund-oil-revenue-study">Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend</a>, an annual cash payment to all residents funded out of oil revenue, is reported on a 1099-MISC. That meant basically no one in the state would be able to use the pilot software.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="6lMidS">
Early on in the software steps, users are given a couple of lists of reasons why they might not be eligible. Taxpayers who itemize their deductions won’t be able to do that in the software, for instance, and the software won’t calculate if itemizing is a better choice for you. Nor is anyone with dividend, capital gains, self-employment, or non-Social Security pension income eligible. For context, over 20 percent of taxpayers in 2022 reported dividend income.
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt="You can’t use Direct File if you have any other types of income, including: - Dividend income (1099-DIV) - Capital gains and losses (1099-B and 1099-S) - Individual Retirement Accounts (IRA) distributions (1099-R) - Pensions and annuities (1099-R) - Payments received from a payment app or online marketplace (1099-K) - Income from independent contractor and gig work (1099-NEC) - Income from self-employment - Income from rent, prizes, awards, and more (1099-MISC)." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/SI1kbheCq1ZSyHu8n2XkuXB2rKo=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25297416/IMG_7111.jpeg"/> <cite>Dylan Matthews/Vox</cite>
<figcaption>
A screen of the Direct File software explaining which kinds of income make one ineligible for the program.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="1LJKKg">
Users can claim the three most-used tax credits — the earned income tax credit for low-income working people, the <a href="https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/23965898/child-poverty-expanded-child-tax-credit-economy-welfare-phase-ins">child tax credit</a>, and the credit for other dependents, which covers dependents other than children under 17. But other common credits, like the premium credit from the <a href="https://www.vox.com/obamacare">Obamacare</a> exchanges or<strong> </strong>tax credit for child care expenses or credits covering college tuition and other higher education expenses, can’t be claimed with Direct File. Educators can deduct out-of-pocket expenses, and folks with student loans can deduct their interest, but mortgage interest, charitable, state and local tax deductions, and anything else on the “itemized” list is out. For the large majority of people, the standard deduction will still wind up being a better deal, but other tax prep software gives people tools to figure out which is better.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="gYPuGa">
Add up all the left-out income types and unavailable credits and pretty soon you get to the IRS’s estimate that two-thirds of people in pilot states won’t be eligible to use the software this year.
</p>
<h3 id="Nqgtew">
The case for going gradually
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="X3U45q">
I couldn’t use Direct File this year, both because of some 1099 income and because DC, where I live, isn’t a pilot state (or <a href="https://www.vox.com/2020/7/17/21327791/washington-dc-statehood">disenfranchised non-state fiefdom</a> as the case may be). So I did my taxes in Cash App, like normal.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="f2j1G5">
<a href="https://cash.app/taxes">Cash App Taxes </a>is a bit of a funny product; why, exactly, does an app that I otherwise only use to send my dad money for my share of the Verizon family plan offer tax prep software? Even stranger is that it’s pretty good. It’s full-featured, even handling business income and some complex expensing options, and it handles state taxes too. Plus, it’s free. The company has <a href="https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1512673/000162828022003825/sq-20211231.htm#:~:text=We%20consider%20the%20free%20services%20such%20as%20stock%20investing%2C%20Cash%20App%20Tax%2C%20and%20certain%20Cash%20Card%20and%20peer%2Dto%2Dpeer%20services%20offered%20Cash%20App%20customers%20to%20be%20marketing%20initiatives%20aimed%20at%20attracting%20new%20customers%20and%20encouraging%20the%20usage%20of%20Cash%20App">explained</a> that Cash App Taxes makes no revenue and exists solely as a marketing device “aimed at attracting new customers and encouraging the usage of Cash App.” There isn’t a premium option, and as someone who’d rather do my taxes with pen and paper than give any money to TurboTax or H&amp;R Block, I like that.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="UBgYa6">
I kept wondering, as I played around with Direct File, why it couldn’t just be like Cash App Taxes. Why not just buy up existing private software? Why are we reinventing the wheel?
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="HRYTwV">
“A lot of states have free public tax filing systems, and the majority of the states that offer them use tax software from a private company,” Ariel Jurow Kleiman, a professor at Loyola Law School and lead author of an <a href="https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p5788.pdf#page=36">independent study</a> commissioned by the IRS to investigate the idea of a Direct File system, told me. One service, <a href="https://v2prod-fwstatic-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/assets/pdf/solution/gentax-brochure-2023-04.pdf">GenTax by Fast Enterprises</a>, dominates this market. So it was certainly possible for the government to contract with a company to supply software fueling a Direct File system.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="kQ9IrC">
But that approach comes with certain disadvantages: Enlisting private contractors raises concerns about <a href="https://www.vox.com/privacy">data privacy</a> (could this private company see my income information?) and data security (is this private company really able to secure my information against hackers?), Jurow Kleiman notes, and those are less pronounced for a government-developed product. Ayushi Roy, a veteran government technologist now at <a href="https://www.newamerica.org/new-practice-lab/">New America’s New Practice Lab</a>, and a collaborator on the independent study with Jurow Kleiman, notes that existing private software has not been developed or optimized for the same things that we’d want to optimize Direct File for.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="nGDbDb">
Cash App Taxes, say, is most optimized to get people to download Cash App, not to be maximally helpful for taxpayers currently ill-served by private options. “Even if, hypothetically, the IRS were to license” a private piece of software, Roy says, that private provider might not “be able to service customer support needs in the way that this target demographic might need, that are unique to them.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="02UdVu">
That means the IRS probably wouldn’t be taking a product off the shelf. You’d be contracting a vendor to build a product — or modify an existing off-the-shelf similar product that vendor has built before — and then paying them to keep it updated and working well. That can be the worst of all worlds because it locks government into using one vendor going forward, even if that vendor fails catastrophically. That has happened before: Rhode Island’s United Health Infrastructure Project had a <a href="https://www.rimonthly.com/unified-health-infrastructure-project/">disastrous rollout</a>, but the state still re-awarded the contract to fix the system to Deloitte, the same contractor that made it and was responsible for its failures in the first place.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="IQInVW">
Roy notes that the US has already tried heavy reliance on private developers for tax preparation. That was the basis of the Free File system, which has only served a tiny fraction of eligible taxpayers throughout its history. Relying on these companies has failed so far; building a system from scratch in-house might avoid those problems.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="c8POh4">
Of course, building the software in-house comes with its own trade-offs, not least of which is a development process where early releases have fewer features than commercial alternatives. The Direct File team is following a philosophy known in software engineering as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agile_software_development">“agile”</a> development. Older approaches, sometimes called “plan-based” or <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waterfall_model">“waterfall,”</a> envisioned software projects as linear sequences: First you build a plan for what the software will do, then you write all the software, then you test the software.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="X3wJHl">
The downside is that testing, in this approach, only comes late, after much of the software has already been written. Developers don’t get regular feedback as they’re developing that they can use to strengthen the product. Agile development, by contrast, emphasizes launching more barebones products first, enabling rapid testing and iteration, ensuring very basic features are working well before moving on to additional ones.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="tu4FDN">
In government circles, agile approaches have gained popularity in part because of a case in which they were not used effectively: HealthCare.gov, which was infamously unreliable in its early months and was developed without much early testing and iteration. An <a href="https://oig.hhs.gov/oei/reports/oei-06-14-00350.asp">Inspector General’s investigation</a> of that debacle notes that while developers stated they were trying to use agile methods, time and resources weren’t available for the kind of rapid iteration and testing that would actually make it work. “That product, HealthCare.gov, was not allowed to have any sort of gradual rollout, not allowed to have a learning curve,” Roy notes.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="xM2ZNm">
The Direct File approach is sort of the inverse of the HealthCare.gov one: lots of early testing, a pilot release before a broad release, testing with a small group of government employees before pushing to the broad public, and testing a bare-bones version first before a decked-out one.
</p>
<h3 id="f7SsyU">
What comes next
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="y2CEfB">
An optimistic read of the Direct File experience is that this is just the start. The limited rollout in 2024 will lead to a more full-featured rollout in 2025, perhaps extending to more states and including more kinds of income and credits. In time, perhaps the IRS can partner with states so taxpayers can file both state and federal taxes in the same software.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="aBjqs9">
Most excitingly, at least to me, a future version could feature pre-filling. The IRS already has all the information it needs: It receives W-2, 1099, and other tax documents from your employers, contractor clients, mortgage companies, and so forth. One of the strange things about filing your taxes, even with Direct File, is that you have to enter all this information. Jurow Kleiman has proposed letting future versions of Direct File, and of private software too, <a href="https://news.bloombergtax.com/tax-insights-and-commentary/pre-filled-irs-forms-would-help-taxpayers-as-much-as-direct-file">directly import these forms from the IRS</a>. Recalling her work leading a team writing the independent report on Direct File, she says, “We felt there were no technological barriers to pre-filling.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="2aVo8q">
Eliminating returns or moving to a system where entire returns are pre-filled by the IRS would take a lot more work. The barriers there are at least <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy/2023/4/15/23682351/irs-vita-volunteer-tax-policy">as much about the tax code</a> as a lack of IRS software. For instance, the ability of married taxpayers to file joint returns, an option that isn’t available in many peer countries like the UK, Canada, and Australia, makes taxes way more complicated and prevents the IRS from withholding precisely the amount people owe. Reforming that system is a good idea but a much more challenging task.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="xbWlQk">
Politics, as they say, is the strong and slow boring of hard boards. And to impatient people like me, the development of Direct File can feel very slow indeed. It’s a small step toward a world where people don’t need commercial tax software. But it’s a meaningful step, and the case for taking things slow is surprisingly compelling.
</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>Hardik Pandya returns to competitive cricket after long injury layoff</strong> - Hardik Pandya is preparing up for a comeback in the Indian Premier League as the new skipper of the five-time champion Mumbai Indians.</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 Tests | We can’t just keep talking to youngsters, need to give them environment to excel, says Rohit Sharma</strong> - Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sarfaraz Khan and Akash Deep were also among the fresh blood who made an impact in the series.</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>World Test Championship ranking | India consolidates second position with five-wicket win against England</strong> - The hosts, led by Rohit Sharma, took an unassailable 3-1 lead in the five-Test series.</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>Daily Quiz | On Ravichandran Ashwin</strong> - Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin completed 500 Test wickets recently. A quiz on the players who have achieved this milestone</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 fourth Test | ‘Bazball’ meets its match, India secure 17th straight Test series win at home</strong> - The team’s last home series loss was a 1-2 defeat to an Alastair Cook-led England in 2012-13. Since then, India have won 39 out of 50 Tests at home.</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>Farmer denied entry into Namma Metro over ‘unsuitable attire’, BMRCL dismisses supervisor after viral video sparks outrage</strong> - Despite having a valid ticket, the farmer, dressed in a white shirt and carrying clothes on his head, was halted at the security checkpoint in Rajajinagar metro station.</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>Assam to bring UCC through ‘front door’, says Himanta</strong> - Sarma had said last month that Assam will be the third state after Uttarakhand and Gujarat to introduce a Bill seeking the UCC</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>Manoj Jarange, others booked for illegal protests seeking Maratha quota under OBC category</strong> - About 80 people were booked on charges of unlawful assembly, disobedience to an order lawfully promulgated by a public servant, wrongful restraint, and section 135 of the Maharashtra Police Act</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>Union Minister Shobha Karandlaje says men think that power should always be in their hands</strong> - A few people, said to be workers of the BJP, wrote letters to the BJP high command against Shobha Karandlaje</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>Watch | India’s first-ever restaurant dedicated to regenerative agriculture</strong> - One of the highlights of the cafe is the 3D relief map of Araku Valley in Andhra Pradesh, highlighting the villages where tribal farmers grow coffee across over 60,000 small estates</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>Navalny was to be freed in prisoner swap before death - ally</strong> - Maria Pevchikh said the Russian opposition leader was going to be exchanged for a hitman when he died.</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>Zelensky says 31,000 troops killed in war in Ukraine</strong> - It is rare for officials to say how many Ukrainian soldiers have died since Russia’s full-scale invasion.</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>Watch: Brussels police fire water cannon at burning tyres</strong> - Europe correspondent Nick Beake is at the scene as farmers enter the city centre in protest.</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>The Indians ‘duped’ into fighting for Russia in Ukraine</strong> - Their families have appealed to the Indian government for help getting them back home.</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 body returned to mother 8 days after death</strong> - Alexei Navalny’s mother has been demanding the return of his body since his death in a Russian prison.</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>How your sensitive data can be sold after a data broker goes bankrupt</strong> - Sensitive location data could be sold off to the highest bidder. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=2005720">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Yelp: It’s gotten worse since Google made changes to comply with EU rules</strong> - Users are even more likely to stick with Google due to one change, says Yelp. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=2005729">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>RTO doesn’t improve company value, but does make employees miserable: Study</strong> - Data is consistent with bosses using RTO to reassert control and scapegoat workers. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=2005794">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Vending machine error reveals secret face image database of college students</strong> - Facial-recognition data is typically used to prompt more vending machine sales. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=2005753">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Plucky crew of Star Trek: Discovery seeks a strange artifact in S5 trailer</strong> - “It has been a hell of a journey. But everything ends someday.” - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=2005705">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>I try to be a modern man, and not get upset with my wife using a dildo ….</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
I just wish she wouldn’t use mine.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
​
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
(first joke I’ve ever written, hope you enjoy)
</p>
</div>
<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Comfortable_Fly_3050"> /u/Comfortable_Fly_3050 </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1b0bkxw/i_try_to_be_a_modern_man_and_not_get_upset_with/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1b0bkxw/i_try_to_be_a_modern_man_and_not_get_upset_with/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>My wife and I sat down with our son and I said…</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“Billy, you were adopted.” Billy looked at us. His face was red and full of anger “I demand to meet my biological parents!” My wife softly said “We ARE your biological parents. Now, hurry and pack.”
</p>
</div>
<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Major_Independence82"> /u/Major_Independence82 </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1azurlo/my_wife_and_i_sat_down_with_our_son_and_i_said/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1azurlo/my_wife_and_i_sat_down_with_our_son_and_i_said/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>6 Life Lessons</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
6 life lessons
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
<strong>Lesson 1:</strong>
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
A man is getting into the shower just as his wife is finishing up her shower when the doorbell rings. The wife quickly wraps herself in a towel and runs downstairs. When she opens the door, there stands Bob, the next door neighbour. Before she says a word, Bob says, “I’ll give you $800 to drop that towel.” After thinking for a moment, the woman drops her towel and stands naked in front of Bob.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
After a few seconds, Bob hands her $800 dollars and leaves. The woman wraps back up in the towel and goes back upstairs. When she gets to the bathroom, her husband asks,…
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“Who was that?” “It was Bob the next door neighbour,” she replies. “Great!” the husband says, “Did he say anything about the $800 he owes me?”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
<em>Moral of the story:</em>
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
If you share critical information pertaining to credit and risk with your shareholders in time, you may be in a position to prevent avoidable exposure.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
<strong>Lesson 2:</strong>
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
A sales rep, an administration clerk, and the manager are walking to lunch when they find an antique oil lamp. They rub it and a Genie comes out. The Genie says, “I’ll give each of you just one wish” “Me first! Me first!” says the administration clerk. “I want to be in the Bahamas, driving a speedboat, without a care in the world.” Poof! She’s gone. “Me next! Me next!” says the sales rep. “I want to be in Hawaii, relaxing on the beach with my personal masseuse, an endless supply of Pina Coladas and the love of my life.” Poof! He’s gone. “OK, you’re up,” the Genie says to the manager. The manager says, “I want those two back in the office after lunch.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
<em>Moral of the story:</em>
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Always let your boss have the first say
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
<strong>Lesson 3:</strong>
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
A priest offered a lift to a Nun. She got in and crossed her legs, forcing her gown to reveal a leg. The priest nearly had an accident. After controlling the car, he stealthily slid his hand up her leg. The nun said,”Father, remember Psalm 129?” The priest removed his hand. But, changing gears, he let his hand slide up her leg again. The nun once again said, “Father, remember Psalm 129?” The priest apologized “Sorry sister but the flesh is weak.” Arriving at the convent, the nun went on her way. On his arrival at the church, the priest rushed to look up Psalm 129. It said, “Go forth and seek, further up, you will find glory.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
<em>Moral of the story:</em>
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
If you are not well informed in your job, you might miss a great opportunity
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
<strong>Lesson 4</strong>
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
A crow was sitting on a tree, doing nothing all day. A rabbit asked him, ”Can I also sit like you and do nothing all day long?” The crow answered: “Sure, why not.” So, the rabbit sat on the ground below the crow, and rested.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
A fox jumped on the rabbit and ate it.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
<em>Moral of the story:</em>
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
To be sitting and doing nothing, you must be sitting very high up
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
<strong>Lesson 5:</strong>
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Power of Charisma
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
A turkey was chatting with a bull “I would love to be able to get to the top of that tree,” sighed the turkey, but I haven’t got the energy.” “Well, why don’t you nibble on my droppings?” replied the bull. “They’re packed with nutrients.” The turkey pecked at a lump of dung and found that it gave him enough strength to reach the lowest branch of the tree. The next day, after eating some more dung, he reached the second branch. Finally after a fourth night, there he was proudly perched at the top of the tree. Soon he was spotted by a farmer, who shot the turkey out of the tree.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
<em>Moral of the story:</em>
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Bullshit might get you to the top, but it wont keep you there
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
<strong>Lesson 6</strong>
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
A little bird was flying south for the winter. It was so cold the bird froze and fell to the ground into a large field. While he was lying there, a cow came by and dropped some dung on him. As the frozen bird lay there in the pile of cow dung, he began to realize how warm he was. The dung was actually thawing him out! He lay there all warm and happy, and soon began to sing for joy. A passing cat heard the bird singing and came to investigate. Following the sound, the cat discovered the bird under the pile of cow dung, and promptly dug him out and ate him.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
<em>Moral of the story:</em>
</p>
<ol>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Not everyone who shits on you is your enemy
</li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Not everyone who gets you out of shit is your friend
</li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
And when you’re in deep shit, it’s best to keep your mouth shut!
</li>
</ol>
</div>
<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Uncle_Taj"> /u/Uncle_Taj </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1b01gut/6_life_lessons/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1b01gut/6_life_lessons/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A man has been at the Pub all night drinking…..</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The bartender finally says that the bar is closed. So our man stands up to leave and falls flat on his face. He figures he’ll crawl outside and get some fresh air and maybe that will sober him up.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Once outside he stands up but again falls flat on his face. He crawls home. Reaching the door he tries to stand up, and yet again, falls flat on his face. He crawls through the door and up the stairs. When he reaches his bed he summons the last of his strength and tries one final time to stand.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
It’s no use. He tumbles into bed and is soon sound asleep, only to awaken the next morning to the sound of his wife standing over him shouting.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
‘So… you’ve been out drinking again!’
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
‘How did you know?’ he asks, his head hung in shame.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
‘The pub called– you left your damn wheelchair down there again!’
</p>
</div>
<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/vect77"> /u/vect77 </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1azs39k/a_man_has_been_at_the_pub_all_night_drinking/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1azs39k/a_man_has_been_at_the_pub_all_night_drinking/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>My wife rang me at the bar and said “if you’re not home in 10 minutes, I’m giving your dinner to the dog”</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
I was home in 5 minutes.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
I’d hate for anything to happen to the dog.
</p>
</div>
<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/1poundbookingfee"> /u/1poundbookingfee </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1b0567d/my_wife_rang_me_at_the_bar_and_said_if_youre_not/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1b0567d/my_wife_rang_me_at_the_bar_and_said_if_youre_not/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
</ul>
<script>AOS.init();</script></body></html>
Reference in New Issue View Git Blame Copy Permalink