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634 lines
78 KiB
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<title>12 July, 2023</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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<body>
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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>Sotol and the Making of the Next Big Drink</strong> - The Mexican spirit has been called the next mezcal. But its newfound popularity has brought problems, too. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/letter-from-the-southwest/sotol-and-the-making-of-the-next-big-drink">link</a></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>What to Do with Climate Emotions</strong> - If the goal is to insure that the planet remains habitable, what is the right degree of panic, and how do you bear it? - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/annals-of-a-warming-planet/what-to-do-with-climate-emotions">link</a></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Wes Moore Would Like to Make History</strong> - Maryland’s first Black governor talks about his surprise win, what working in banking taught him about power, his grandmother’s advice, and the importance of service. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/the-new-yorker-interview/wes-moore-would-like-to-make-history">link</a></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Is It Hot Enough Yet for Politicians to Take Real Action?</strong> - The latest record temperatures are driving, again precisely as scientists have predicted, a cascading series of disasters around the world. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/is-it-hot-enough-yet-for-politicians-to-take-real-action">link</a></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Alternative Facts of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.</strong> - The Democratic Presidential candidate talks about his right-wing admirers, his distrust of scientists and the media, and his belief that the C.I.A. was involved in J.F.K.’s death. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/the-alternative-facts-of-robert-f-kennedy-jr">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>New York’s shark-infested waters are a good thing. Yes, really.</strong> -
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<figure>
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<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/D0iIFeifapCExKfvhr3XTEVOycw=/0x0:3075x2306/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/72445822/GettyImages_1213787081.0.jpeg"/>
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<figcaption>
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A sand tiger shark off the coast of North Carolina. | Gregory Sweeney/Getty Images
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</figcaption>
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</figure>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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Nature is healing.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="84O2dD">
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In most past summers, New York beaches were, at their worst, crowded, dirty, and loud. Now, however, beachgoers must contend with something slightly more unsettling: sharks.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="hKsdVJ">
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Along the south shore of Long Island, on some of New York’s most popular beaches, shark attacks appear to be on the rise. Over the long July Fourth weekend, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/long-island-shark-drone-patrols-7b8be390a3272ea4e7bdfa6fa7d447ea">several people</a> reported being bitten, including <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/06/nyregion/shark-bites-safety-long-island.html">two 15-year-olds</a>. The bites were not fatal, and no one lost a limb.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="LG9MSq">
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These reports follow a <a href="https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/science/shark-bites-tied-for-10-year-low-in-2022-but-spiked-in-regional-hotspots/">record of eight confirmed shark bites</a> last summer, some of which may have been caused by sand tiger sharks. Prior to 2022, no year in at least the last three decades had more than two confirmed shark bites in New York, according to data shared with Vox from the University of Florida, which compiles statistics on shark attacks.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="PcwGp9">
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Shark bites are, of course, frightening, but there’s actually a bit of good news behind the recent spate of attacks. A rise in bites typically points to a rise in sharks, and a rise in sharks indicates that the marine habitat is full of fish, i.e., shark food.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="bqP3QN">
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“Sharks are a sign of a healthy ecosystem,” said Chris Paparo, a shark expert at Stony Brook University in Long Island. “I look at that as a sign of successful conservation.”
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</p>
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<figure class="e-image">
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<img alt="A drone flying over a crowded beach." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/HQszeVo7luR-Rp-Z1BrC7lxsrrU=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24782559/AP23187732126464.jpg"/> <cite>John Minchillo/AP</cite>
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<figcaption>
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A drone used to spot sharks returns from a flight at Jones Beach State Park in Long Island.
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</figcaption>
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</figure>
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<figure class="e-image">
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<img alt="Two lifeguards on a personal watercraft in the ocean." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/1kHw4O1jTX_uATQZj2KX4iVwn1I=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24782574/AP23187732838373.jpg"/> <cite>John Minchillo/AP</cite>
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<figcaption>
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Lifeguards patrol the water for sharks at Jones Beach in Long Island on July 6, 2023.
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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="x3RPI7">
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Globally, the abundance of sharks and rays has declined by <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-03173-9">more than 70 percent</a> in the last 50 years, largely due to industrial fishing. Fishing vessels not only kill sharks directly — by harvesting them or catching them accidentally — but also by depleting their food supply.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ERQ5pb">
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The US has tried to reverse this trend along the Eastern Seaboard. Over the last few decades, fisheries have adopted regulations designed to safeguard declining populations of sharks and their prey. New York, meanwhile, has cleaned up some of its rivers that flow into the ocean, reducing the amount of dirty water that reaches coastal seas.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Yh8Llr">
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At least some of these efforts appear to be working.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="r6vvDn">
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“Are there more sharks now than there were five or 10 years ago? Absolutely,” said Tobey Curtis, a fishery management specialist at NOAA Fisheries, a government organization that oversees fishing in the US. “We’ve been managing and conserving shark populations since 1993.”
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="uM5tOR">
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So there are more sharks by design, and scientists want this trend to continue. The challenge ahead is educating the public about <a href="https://www.vox.com/life">how to live</a> with them.
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</p>
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<h3 id="Hw8Eqn">
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Sharks don’t want a taste of human flesh. They’re trying to catch fish.
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</h3>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="NY8DgT">
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This may bring you some discomfort, but: The waters of coastal New York are very much shark habitat. In fact, the south shore of Long Island is a nursery for a variety of marine species including <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2021.643831/full">great white sharks</a>. This is where they grow up.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="pkZ0O8">
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Fortunately for us, these animals typically don’t want to eat people. The most common sharks in Long Island are dusky sharks, sandbar sharks, and sand tiger sharks (which are, confusingly, different than tiger sharks) and their diet is largely fish. Sand tiger sharks, for example, will go after schools of Atlantic menhaden (a.k.a. bunker), sleek sliver fish that have a distinct black dot behind their gills. Frightening as they may appear, the teeth of a sand tiger shark are not designed for ripping through human flesh.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="5IjoOE">
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Human bites are almost always accidental: A shark might confuse a person for marine life or simply snag them accidentally while trying to chomp down on some fish. Sharks hunt using organs on their face that sense electrical signals, relying only partially on smell and vision. Sometimes rowdy humans can mimic the signal emitted by schools of bunker, according to Gavin Naylor, a shark researcher at the University of Florida.
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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/N5s1fWUg7VO4Rqk5bbwojYuCuGQ=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24782614/GettyImages_1289435359.jpg"/> <cite>Eliot Ferguson/Getty Images</cite>
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<figcaption>
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A blue shark (Prionace glauca) off the coast of Montauk in Long Island.
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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="9Vitg9">
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So that’s how bites can happen. The next question is: Why do they seem to be happening more often in New York?
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</p>
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<h3 id="QFufa2">
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There are more sharks — and more shark food — in the water. Good.
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</h3>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="s8InvY">
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Sharks make headlines when they accidentally bite a single human. Severe human-caused declines of sharks draw far less attention.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="1MWeTl">
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Since the mid-20th century, fishing has utterly decimated populations of sharks. <a href="https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(21)01198-2">Nearly one-third</a> of shark species are threatened with extinction worldwide, and that number is much higher for those that live in <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-35091-x">coral reefs</a> and the <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-03173-9">open ocean</a>. Globally, the sand tiger shark — which has been linked to bites in New York — is <a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/3854/2876505">critically endangered</a>, meaning it’s at imminent risk of extinction.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="OU9ytD">
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This is a problem for the oceans and for us. Like wolves that eat deer, sharks are apex predators that manage populations of prey, such as smaller fish and crustaceans. Those prey graze on seagrass and chow down on coral. If they aren’t being hunted by sharks, those ecosystems could suffer. “The loss of sharks has led to the decline in coral reefs, seagrass beds, and the loss of commercial fisheries,” according to the <a href="https://europe.oceana.org/importance-sharks-0/">nonprofit marine conservation organization Oceana</a>.
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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/FvX9vnhMUODvPg3Pa6457gFCBnc=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24782689/GettyImages_763164521.jpg"/> <cite>Ken Kiefer/Getty Images</cite>
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<figcaption>
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A sandbar shark near Jupiter, Florida.
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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="OfetbR">
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Yet at least along the East Coast, the populations of many sharks — which were once <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/10947059_Collapse_and_Conservation_of_Shark_Populations_in_the_Northwest_Atlantic">freefalling</a> due to commercial fishing — are recovering.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="5TxRlf">
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In 1993, NOAA Fisheries introduced a regulation to protect sharks in the Atlantic Ocean, from Maine to Texas. Among its many provisions, the regulation restricted the kinds of gear fishermen can use and what species of sharks they can harvest. <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.2216891120#fig01">One recent analysis</a> suggests that this management plan worked: All 11 species that the authors studied, from white sharks to great hammerheads, either increased or stabilized after 1993.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="6WcIuf">
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“Along the Atlantic coast, we’ve actually rebuilt or are in the process of rebuilding a lot of shark populations,” Curtis said, “including a lot of the sharks common off Long Island.”
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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/lzjysPcIIgLemqt4xMuGVWXRfEI=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24782697/GettyImages_1098348216.jpg"/> <cite>Vicki Jauron/Getty Images</cite>
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<figcaption>
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A school of Atlantic menhaden fish near Long Beach, New York.
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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="Oj3jv8">
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It’s not only sharks that are recovering along the East Coast but some of the fish they eat, including bunker.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="vPzYdY">
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Bunker populations have followed a similar trend as sharks: In past decades they were in decline due to overfishing, but a number of regulations have revived their populations. In 2019, New York passed a bill that <a href="https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2019/S2317">restricts menhaden fishing</a> in state waters. The fish are also managed by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, an organization that oversees fisheries along the eastern seaboard.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="MAVJo1">
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“Our Atlantic menhaden populations have been doing well over the last few years near shore,” Chris Scott, a marine biologist with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), said at a press briefing last year. “This is bringing in predators such as striped bass, tuna, seals, dolphins, whales, and of course, sharks. It’s a really positive sign that we’re seeing these animals in our waters.”
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="4525A4">
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While bunker are more abundant today, it’s still not clear why they’re schooling so close to shore, scientists say. That’s ultimately what draws in the sharks. Rising ocean temperatures or cleaner water may affect their distribution, but “the exact cause is unknown,” a DEC spokesperson told Vox.
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</p>
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<h3 id="aT2ziO">
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4 simple rules to follow to avoid a shark bite
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</h3>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="hAq1mP">
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Even if you regularly swim at Long Island beaches, you are almost certainly not going to be bitten by a shark. As you might imagine, you are far more likely to die in a car accident than even see a shark in New York, let alone be injured by one. (Last year, 255 people died in traffic incidents, compared to just eight confirmed shark bites.)
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="jwkNxJ">
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“The disconnect that sometimes drives me nuts is that we do so many things in our daily lives that are so much more dangerous than going swimming in the ocean,” Paparo said, and yet so many people are terrified of sharks.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="WYpiCm">
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If you want to further shrink the chance of a shark encounter, here’s what Paparo and other experts suggest:
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</p>
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<ol>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="IHT0Rz">
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Avoid swimming in areas where you see lots of fish or seals, or where people are actively fishing. Sharks might confuse you for prey.
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</li>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="44BEUx">
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Don’t swim at dusk or dawn, or at night. That’s when sharks are most likely to be hunting.
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</li>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="SD3TIY">
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Try to avoid swimming in murky water. Sharks will have a harder time telling you apart from a fish. (They rely on their eyes to an extent.)
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</li>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="U6HBMi">
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Only swim when there’s a lifeguard on duty. Lifeguards are trained to spot marine animals and communicate the risk to swimmers.
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</li>
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</ol>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="2VXNIj">
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Most of all, remember that having sharks around is a rare victory for conservation and — as we learn to live with them — human communities. These animals help sustain the ecosystems that support us all.
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</p></li>
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<li><strong>What loving Barbie says about us</strong> -
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<figure>
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<img alt="Robbie is mid-clap during a dance number at a big party at the Barbie Dreamhouse, surrounded by other guests in party outfits." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/2rafCE-V4rO5SsvZpd170K7Y2B8=/799x0:3610x2108/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/72445673/rev_1_BARBIE_TP_0006_High_Res_JPEG.0.jpeg"/>
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<figcaption>
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Margot Robbie as Barbie in <em>Barbie</em>, a movie about Barbie | Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures
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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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A Barbie aficionado and certified doll expert explains why life in plastic has suddenly become so fantastic.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="nt0wHF">
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This summer belongs to<em> </em>Barbie<em>. </em>Thanks to the Margot Robbie-led movie and the inescapable marketing surrounding it, Mattel’s 64-year-old doll has once again become America’s sweetheart. <a href="https://www.today.com/popculture/movies/barbie-posters-internets-new-favorite-meme-rcna78348">Everyone wants</a> a Barbie. Everyone wants to be a Barbie. And everyone wants to <a href="https://deadline.com/2023/06/barbie-oppenheimer-box-office-projection-1235427370/">go see <em>Barbie</em></a>.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Xl551X">
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It raises the question: When did life in plastic become so fantastic? And further: Is this love for Barbie something that’s always existed? Is it just brilliant marketing? Why <em>Barbie</em> and why now?
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="AUYeX2">
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Barbie’s moment is one of those rare things that feels both like a fiery overnight phenomenon and a long-simmering success. To better understand Barbie culture, Barbie’s history, and what we mean when we talk about Barbie, I spoke to <a href="https://www.mariateresahart.com/">Maria Teresa Hart</a>, a Barbie expert and author of <em>Doll</em>, which she describes as a “non-fiction pop-culture feminist critique of dolls, doll history, and doll culture.”
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="uSOINK">
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Loving Barbie, she explains, isn’t as simple as it seems.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="5Gk96Y">
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<strong>I want to get your vibe on this movie. Are you excited for it?</strong>
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="UotPUU">
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I am elated about this movie. Which might be a little bit of a surprise because in my book I do have criticisms. I’m sort of like a mother that wags her finger at a beloved child — in this case Barbie — being like, you could do better, you know? But I do love Barbie. My criticism is an act of love.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="mYVaJd">
|
||
<strong>Does the fanfare surrounding the movie surprise you?</strong>
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="HDzDLv">
|
||
I mean, it’s this moment where you recognize that you’re not alone — there’s so many other people that are just desperate to get back into their toy box and want to relive their moments they had in their childhood bedroom. You know, walking Barbie up and down the plastic stairs and having her jump into the Corvette and drive off into the sunset.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="qSk9TY">
|
||
There’s an entire wave of people that have grown up with this toy that feel this attachment and want to have this giddy moment. I see people planning their outfits or, what you saw last summer which you’re seeing again, which is the Barbie-core stuff coming — not just the clothes, but also the interiors, and really anywhere where you can have that moment of exuberant girliness.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="1UoBy9">
|
||
When I’ve been on book tour, there are people that will come up to me and they’ll tell me their favorite Barbie. It’s almost like they’re telling you what their sign is astrologically. Like, when they say, “I was a Peaches ’n Cream Barbie,” “I was a Day-to-Night Barbie,” they’re giving you their personality. They’re giving you this, like, key piece of themselves. They still identify that way as an adult.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="6SaGt3">
|
||
<strong>I want to stop you there. What kind of Barbie are you?</strong>
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="pJ0KzD">
|
||
I’m very much a <a href="https://barbie.fandom.com/wiki/Day-to-Night_Barbie_Doll">Day-to-Night Barbie</a>, I guess. I’m a working gal. But that doesn’t really suit my fantasy because I would prefer to be something a little more glamorous, more frivolous, you know?
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="dEyjBS">
|
||
<strong>Wait. Back up. What is the Day-to-Night Barbie? Is it just a Barbie that has a job and then goes out?</strong>
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="HZeCO5">
|
||
No, she’s actually better. She is a Barbie that wears a little pink suit, and the outfit is reversible. You know how a mullet is business in the front and party in the back? That was her. Her pink business suit — you would essentially reverse it. You take off the jacket and turn the suit skirt into this party skirt, and she’d be ready for a night on the town.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<figure class="e-image">
|
||
<img alt="Rae, dressed in a pink jumpsuit and wearing a sash that says president, is raising one arm and appears mid-speech, while other women dressed in pink jumpsuits cheer from behind her in an all-pink room" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/GDKMcm18IdJovdhBwd5t2LUF9QA=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24781794/rev_1_BARBIE_TP_0004_High_Res_JPEG.jpeg"/> <cite>Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures</cite>
|
||
<figcaption>
|
||
Issa Rae (center) as a Barbie who is president in <em>Barbie.</em>
|
||
</figcaption>
|
||
</figure>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Mwlz1A">
|
||
<strong>Does Day-to-Night Barbie like espresso martinis?</strong>
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="eSOibT">
|
||
I don’t think she did, but I’m pretty sure she came with a giant brick of a cellphone and a little plastic business briefcase. Funnily enough, she also had a kind of boater hat that had a ribbon around it, which is very strange. I don’t know what kind of business Barbie was supposed to be in, but apparently that’s what Mattel thought businesswomen were wearing to the office.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="2ezkho">
|
||
<strong>Oooh. On that note — I wanted to ask you about criticism. I’m an old millennial, and I think when you see this excitement toward </strong><em><strong>Barbie</strong></em><strong>, it feels a little weird because, in my adult life, I think I’ve seen several different iterations of Barbie and Mattel criticized for being sexist.</strong>
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="j0qRCT">
|
||
<strong>Like I remember multiple stories about how Barbie’s proportions are actually </strong><a href="https://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/health/barbie-real-womaan-anatomically-impossible-article-1.1316533"><strong>anatomically impossible</strong></a><strong>.</strong>
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="n7SUIv">
|
||
In the ’70s, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1972/02/29/archives/feminists-protest-sexist-toys-in-fair.html">there was a protest</a> of the New York Toy Fair, where people were protesting, in part, against Barbie and how sexist she was. It’s like what you said, there’s historically been a wave of articles critiquing her body and calling out these unrealistic proportions and the expectations they put on young girls.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="BzpzRU">
|
||
<strong>Those critiques weren’t necessarily wrong.</strong>
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="iWsBIG">
|
||
Not at all. Barbies in the early days really doubled down on both unrealistic beauty standards and on diet culture. One of them was <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/slumber-party-barbie-diet-book_n_2245556">Slumber Party Barbie</a>. I believe she came with a scale and had these little diet books with the “diet advice” in them that was like, “Don’t eat.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="3yMHWm">
|
||
That was the advice!
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="T4LqXU">
|
||
<strong>Oh my god.</strong>
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="3TPE9V">
|
||
Right, it’s really damaging and damning stuff to put into a little girl’s head. The scales were set to a certain number, I think it was like 110 or something like that. The point is these toys were like an instruction manual, and you’re giving them to a little girl saying, “Do this.” And with these toys, you’re really starting them down this lifetime path of potential body dysmorphia and issues with weight. Barbie is definitely complicit in that historically, and I think we have to remember that Barbie, she has all these incredible careers now — but her very first career was teen model.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="4G0oVL">
|
||
<strong>Everyone needs a first job! </strong>
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="86xLKX">
|
||
So like, the very early history of Barbie is that she was <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/barbie-history-bild-lilli-mattel-ruth-handler-german-comic-strip-2023-5">a cartoon in a saucy German tabloid</a>, called Bild Lilli. That character was very much for the male gaze. She was created for men. The original prototype was a novelty toy that was sold in gag gift shops for bachelors. She came with all of that baggage, but then her world, the world that she exists in, is where so much of what we consider patriarchal norms gets subverted. So this is very much a world where women are centered, their needs are centered, their aesthetics are centered. And it is about kind of entering this fantasy world where a lot of patriarchal norms are completely reversed.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ufRSxh">
|
||
<strong>Right, like the Barbie paradox. She’s capable of everything in her world — even if that world hasn’t always been a “great” place. </strong>
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="eKOgb0">
|
||
<strong>In your book, you mention that Barbie’s world is a utopia or a fantasy, and on the one hand, it’s great. But on the other hand, the woman who gets to experience that power fantasy has to be a beautiful, blonde, skinny woman.</strong>
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="eZlXxo">
|
||
I think Barbie represents the pinnacle of womanhood and an achievement of that — and so she’s always going to be a mixed bag. We can think about supermodels or you know, young A-list starlets that are walking the red carpet or what have you. They are existing within the patriarchy and they are reflecting some of those values the Barbie does too.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<figure class="e-image">
|
||
<img alt="Young girls look up to a giant-sized Barbie in a striped swimsuit standing in the desert, in a still from the Barbie movie." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/VubDGkvsH8rvubriXSatqWjFOmE=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24781798/rev_1_BARBIE_TP_0001_High_Res_JPEG.jpeg"/> <cite>Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures</cite>
|
||
<figcaption>
|
||
This Barbie is the “pinnacle of womanhood.”
|
||
</figcaption>
|
||
</figure>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ji8Tzn">
|
||
I do mention this in one of my chapters, but there are women who take that as 100% prescriptive and they think, “If I can achieve this ideal, then doors will open for me.” And so it becomes this goal that they’re trying to attain through plastic surgery, through extreme dieting, through whatever means in order to have access to the things that Barbie portrays. And it’s not necessarily wrong, because we know that we live in a society that is patriarchy-based and is shaped with those issues.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="7qoY0J">
|
||
<strong>Obviously, I don’t think Slumber Party Barbie and her scale are making the cut in Greta Gerwig’s </strong><em><strong>Barbie</strong></em><strong> movie. I want to ask you where you think this all turned. Like everyone seems genuinely excited about this movie. How do we go from “Barbie is problematic” to now?</strong>
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="rX61e9">
|
||
I know for me, it turned out quite some time ago. I think I came to a place in kind of my own feminist journey where I was embracing a lot of the things that I had rejected.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="gpd28f">
|
||
I think that there’s been this feminist adjustment that’s been happening for some time. I see my own femininity and hyper-femininity as things that shouldn’t be villainized, or things that should be considered like a tool of the patriarchy.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="T0PGXu">
|
||
They are genuine aspects of myself and my own joy.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="vdxfWv">
|
||
And you know … oh, here we go [sighs].
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="lWDWkb">
|
||
<strong>Hahaha. Go on!</strong>
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="sLUU2x">
|
||
Okay, so there was this <a href="https://www.vox.com/internet-culture">meme</a> years ago going around. It’s this classroom of young girls that were having their photo taken, and it might have been costume day because they were all dressed like princesses. And then there’s one little girl that was dressed as Darth Vader. And then the caption was something like, “Be the Darth Vader you wish to see in the world or something like that.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="n1f8DZ">
|
||
It was like, let’s reject princess culture as being foolish and silly and like, and embrace the fact that, you know, this one little girl was being a rebel and was dressing up as Darth Vader. It was very cute!
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="HVCtey">
|
||
<strong>Was it “cute” though?</strong>
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="pw4yKo">
|
||
Hahaha! Right? At the same time, I was like, this feels like corporate feminism. It was like, “Hey, instead of being a girly girl, why don’t you be a person that owns an evil empire?”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="iKDdmp">
|
||
Like, that’s the message. Instead of dressing up in pink and a bunch of bows, what if you ran a completely horrible corporation? This current moment that we’re living in now, I think we’ve been looking back, saying we’re wrong about these things, and reevaluating.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ddQ4GR">
|
||
<strong>I think it’s also if you’re gonna go back to that meme, I think the whole binary of like, running an evil empire or being a princess, I think the Barbie line would now be like, “Why can’t I do both?”</strong>
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="EFnq9c">
|
||
Be the princess that runs an empire!
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="tVJRcY">
|
||
<strong>The </strong><em><strong>Barbie</strong></em><strong> tagline would be “This Barbie runs an evil empire!”</strong>
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="aCXHus">
|
||
Absolutely. It totally would. She would get her own poster!
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="RxIh7d">
|
||
<strong>It’s funny that we’re talking about death and destruction because </strong><a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/greta-gerwig-barbie-vs-oppenheimer-margot-robbie-foot-1235531801/"><em><strong>Barbie</strong></em><strong> is going up against </strong><em><strong>Oppenheimer</strong></em><strong>,</strong></a><strong> which is probably the most guy-coded movie this summer — a movie about mass death and destruction. And the way the two </strong><a href="https://www.vox.com/movies"><strong>movies</strong></a><strong> have been positioned seem like diametric opposites.</strong>
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="yBcGUZ">
|
||
I love it.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="TLQvyF">
|
||
<em>Barbie</em> is the type of movie that I think gets overlooked. Like it’s not created to be Oscar bait. That’s very much an <em>Oppenheimer</em> thing — you know, vehicles that are this hyper-masculine, very tortured, and have a dark and sinister type of vibe to it. That appeals to Oscar voters.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="DL7861">
|
||
And <em>Barbie</em> is one of those things where the more feminine something is, the more discredited it can be. <em>Barbie</em> feels like the underdog. So the movie and its press tour have been this message that “Hey femininity matters too and this is also worth your attention, your awards, and your rave reviews.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="TMaTt6">
|
||
<strong>Thematically,</strong><em><strong> Barbie </strong></em><strong>vs.</strong><em><strong> Oppenheimer </strong></em><strong>also feels like opposing forces. </strong><em><strong>Barbie</strong></em><strong> seems to be about creation, imagination, and finding a new world, and </strong><em><strong>Oppenheimer</strong></em><strong> is about massive destruction.</strong>
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="iIW1Sg">
|
||
I still have my criticisms of Barbie. I know she exists in this gray space. But I think with <em>Barbie</em>, I hope it acknowledges she has this exuberance, this feminine joy that comes with her. I don’t want to diminish that by saying yes, okay, there can be improvements that are made, there are things that Barbie gets wrong, very wrong and historically extremely wrong.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ufGI2E">
|
||
But there’s also a freedom that comes with Barbie.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="N8yqvL">
|
||
<strong>If Barbie can be anything, why not let her be everything? That’s sort of beautiful.</strong>
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="EhY0LG">
|
||
There’s freedom to be able to throw on the sequins and the marabou feathers. To saying here I am, and like feeling that Barbie’s world is something that’s made for this — to validate and to amplify this feminine energy.
|
||
</p></li>
|
||
<li><strong>The next wave of abortion rights ballot measures looks different from the last</strong> -
|
||
<figure>
|
||
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/P_LLwFgBbybqxw2X9p3RWzUqp_Y=/240x0:1680x1080/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/72445591/AbortionRights_Vox.0.jpg"/>
|
||
<figcaption>
|
||
Joan Wong for Vox; Getty Images
|
||
</figcaption>
|
||
</figure>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
How the tactics and arguments are changing ahead of 2024.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="yQOIdU">
|
||
Last election cycle, <a href="https://www.vox.com/abortion">abortion</a> rights won in <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/23451074/abortion-ballot-measure-midterms-kentucky-montana-michigan">all six states</a> with abortion ballot measures, including in red states like Kentucky and Montana that otherwise elected Republican lawmakers.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="usNho5">
|
||
Now, this fall and in next year’s election, national liberal groups are planning to invest more heavily in ballot measure campaigns, seeing them as vehicles both to protect access to abortion care and to amplify their broader political message that abortion bans are out of step with voters.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="cV1MKt">
|
||
Advocates in at least 10 states are considering ballot measure campaigns over the next two years to codify abortion rights. In some states — including<strong> </strong>Florida, South Dakota, Ohio, Arizona, and Missouri — the measures could help restore rights that have already been lost. In other states, such as Nevada, Maryland, Colorado, and New York, voters could enshrine existing state protections.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="CDwkzG">
|
||
Anti-abortion activists, in turn, have vowed to spend millions more dollars to defeat them.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="7M7aAK">
|
||
The results last year were “a wake-up call that taught us we have a ton of work to do,” Kelsey Pritchard, the state public affairs director for Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2023/03/19/abortion-on-the-ballot-not-if-these-republican-lawmakers-can-help-it-00087688">told Politico in March</a>. “We’re going to be really engaged on these ballot measures that are often very radical and go far beyond what <em>Roe </em>ever did.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="XAwYyD">
|
||
Some abortion rights activists do hope to codify protections beyond what <a href="https://www.vox.com/2022/5/3/23055125/roe-v-wade-abortion-rights-supreme-court-dobbs-v-jackson"><em>Roe </em>v. <em>Wade</em></a><em> </em>guaranteed — sparking internal debates among reproductive rights advocates about tactical ballot measure language.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="OJEWEt">
|
||
Most of these measures would be on the ballot in 2024. The exception is Ohio, where reproductive rights advocates are organizing <a href="https://ohioansforreproductivefreedom.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/OhioansForReproductiveFreedom-TheRightToReproductiveFreedomWithProtectionsForHealthAndSafety-SummaryAndFullTextOfProposedAmendment_2023-0303.pdf">for a new constitutional amendment</a> to protect abortion rights during the upcoming election this<strong> </strong>November.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="VBFJAX">
|
||
As campaigns to get abortion on the ballot begin, fights are also brewing about ballot measures themselves, which provide voters with opportunities to weigh in directly on state policy changes.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="An8TdS">
|
||
In some states, citizens can collect petition signatures to get measures on the ballot; in others, lawmakers have to first approve the proposals. The recent success of abortion rights measures has catalyzed <a href="https://ohiocapitaljournal.com/2023/03/07/as-abortion-measures-loom-gop-raises-new-barriers-to-ballot-initiatives/">efforts by Republican lawmakers to restrict these<strong> </strong>voter initiatives</a>. As of late June, according to the <a href="https://ballot.org/attacks-threats/">Ballot Initiative Strategy Center</a>, a progressive group that supports state referendum campaigns, 14 states are considering a total of 50 pending measures that raise new hurdles for ballot measures.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="wEEB2Q">
|
||
Republican lawmakers in Arkansas, for example, <a href="https://www.thv11.com/article/news/politics/measure-triples-signatures-needed-arkansas-ballot-measures/91-2300c21f-7481-4710-b06b-b6f1236bb4ad">recently passed new requirements</a> for ballot measures to have signatures of support from 50 counties, rather than just 15. (Three years ago, Arkansas <a href="https://ballotpedia.org/Arkansas_Issue_3,_Initiative_Process_and_Legislative_Referral_Requirements_Amendment_(2020)">voters had rejected</a> a similar requirement.) Republican lawmakers in other states are seeking to raise the number of votes needed for a ballot measure to pass.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ARq6kX">
|
||
GOP elected officials say they want to protect the integrity of the ballot initiative process, which they argue is too easily influenced by out-of-state interests.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Fxqdtb">
|
||
But abortion rights advocates see a direct response to their past victories. In <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/11/08/us/elections/results-kentucky-constitutional-amendment-2-no-right-to-abortion.html">Kentucky</a>, <a href="https://ballotpedia.org/Kansas_No_State_Constitutional_Right_to_Abortion_and_Legislative_Power_to_Regulate_Abortion_Amendment_(August_2022)">Kansas</a>, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/11/08/us/elections/results-michigan-proposal-3-constitutional-right-to-reproductive-freedom.html">Michigan</a>, and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/11/08/us/elections/results-montana-legislative-referendum-131-born-alive-infants-regulation.html">Montana</a> in 2022, between 52 and 59 percent of voters cast their ballots in support of reproductive rights. If their referendum thresholds had been 60 percent, as some states now propose, all those initiatives would have failed.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="gPeW8B">
|
||
While Republicans mostly deny their proposed changes to ballot initiatives <a href="https://www.cleveland.com/open/2023/03/proposal-to-make-it-harder-to-amend-ohio-constitution-could-make-august-ballot-pre-empting-abortion-rights-amendment-in-november.html">are motivated by opposition to abortion rights</a>, some of their less guarded remarks and contradictory behavior have suggested otherwise.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ugmTit">
|
||
The fight over abortion rights and access to the ballot is playing out right now in Ohio. Advocates are organizing there <a href="https://ohioansforreproductivefreedom.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/OhioansForReproductiveFreedom-TheRightToReproductiveFreedomWithProtectionsForHealthAndSafety-SummaryAndFullTextOfProposedAmendment_2023-0303.pdf">for a new constitutional amendment</a> to protect abortion rights, and last week filed more than 700,000 signatures to place it on the upcoming November ballot. They’ll need <a href="https://www.dispatch.com/story/news/politics/elections/2023/07/05/ohio-abortion-measure-backers-to-submit-signatures-to-make-nov-ballot/70356717007/">413,487 valid signatures</a> to qualify.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="48jvQ1">
|
||
It’s not yet clear how many votes the referendum will need to pass. State Republican lawmakers, who <a href="https://woub.org/2023/03/29/ohio-secretary-of-state-august-elections/">voted last year to repeal August special elections</a> as low-turnout wastes of money, recently authorized one anyway: This August, Ohio voters will determine whether to raise the vote threshold for passing future constitutional changes from a simple majority, as has been the case for 100 years, to 60 percent.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="l5vjhZ">
|
||
For months, Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose <a href="https://ohiocapitaljournal.com/2023/06/05/ohio-sec-of-state-larose-admits-making-constitution-harder-to-amend-is-100-about-abortion/">denied</a> he had switched positions on August special elections because of abortion rights. In June, though, video footage reported by News 5 Cleveland and the Ohio Capital Journal<strong> </strong>showed LaRose admitting abortion was motivating his stance. “Some people say this is all about abortion. Well, you know what?” he was <a href="https://ohiocapitaljournal.com/2023/06/05/ohio-sec-of-state-larose-admits-making-constitution-harder-to-amend-is-100-about-abortion/">recorded saying</a>. “It’s 100 percent about keeping a radical pro-abortion amendment out of our constitution — the left wants to jam it in there this coming November.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="3HQAxR">
|
||
Ohio Republican<strong> </strong>state Senate President Matt Huffman separately <a href="https://www.cleveland.com/news/2023/03/spoiling-abortion-rights-amendment-a-great-reason-to-have-august-special-election-ohio-senate-president-matt-huffman-says.html">went so far as to say</a> that holding a $20 million August special election would be worth it “if we save 30,000 lives as a result.” (There were <a href="https://www.cleveland.com/news/2022/10/ohio-department-of-health-nearly-87-of-abortions-in-state-last-year-were-performed-in-first-trimester.html">21,813</a> abortions performed in Ohio in 2021.)
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h3 id="XMiIhr">
|
||
Anti-abortion groups are casting Ohio’s abortion rights amendment as about parents’ rights and youth transgender health care instead
|
||
</h3>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="QxbQh5">
|
||
Ohio’s is the only abortion rights referendum battle expected this year, which means the messaging and campaign tactics for and against reproductive rights are being closely watched by leaders nationwide.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="w0HMJL">
|
||
Since polling continues to suggest the proposed amendment for reproductive freedom has popular support — a poll last month found <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/u/0/d/e/2PACX-1vTmJm0hqJPaeo0TAlYWqiQIH8rmmDzJ46JdPqN02qi662u_nntNHoCR_cDCNibAROSMAJEo0gJVOYDx/pubhtml?gid=1434668642&single=true">nearly 60 percent of Ohioans support</a> the idea — opponents have been working to change the subject to <a href="https://www.vox.com/health-care">health care</a> for <a href="https://www.vox.com/lgbtq">transgender youth</a>, something they hope voters will find more politically objectionable.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="SKb1yL">
|
||
Ohio’s proposed amendment would affirm that “every individual has a right to make and carry out one’s own reproductive decisions, including but not limited to decisions on contraception, fertility treatment, continuing one’s own pregnancy, miscarriage care, and abortion.” Opponents claim the language is so broad that it would create a new right to gender-affirming surgery, and therefore invalidate the state’s current requirement for parental consent.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="yPaqtA">
|
||
Opponents organizing under the banner of “Protect Women Ohio” have made the trans youth health care argument central to their strategy, spending <a href="https://protectwomenohio.com/2023/04/protect-women-ohio-launches-two-new-ads-to-defeat-extreme-anti-parent-amendment/">over $5 million on TV and digital advertising this past spring</a>. They are regularly referring to the measure as an <a href="https://protectwomenohio.com/2023/07/protect-women-ohio-releases-statement-on-aclus-submission-of-signatures-for-anti-parent-ballot-initiative/">“anti-parent”</a> amendment.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="N5xCD6">
|
||
Jonathan Entin, a constitutional law professor at Case Western University, <a href="https://ohiocapitaljournal.com/2023/04/12/fact-check-no-mention-of-transgender-parental-rights-in-abortion-amendment/">said it’s a “bogus” and “dishonest” interpretation</a> of the amendment, noting that many things can have bearing on one’s ability to reproduce. “If you drink too much alcohol, if you ingest certain drugs, if you drive too fast — all of those things could have shorter or longer term implications for your ability to reproduce,” Entin <a href="https://www.news5cleveland.com/news/politics/ohio-politics/fact-check-ohio-abortion-amendment-says-nothing-about-transgender-or-parental-rights-contrary-to-ads-claims">told News 5 Cleveland</a>. “That doesn’t mean that speed limits and drug laws and alcohol regulations are somehow going to be affected by this amendment if it’s adopted.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="De6z6Y">
|
||
Other experts say it <a href="https://www.daytondailynews.com/local/both-sides-disagree-on-parental-control-on-proposed-abortion-amendment/2BWAUVXJRBFVTFK6FVOIHB736E/">could only affect</a> parental consent laws if someone were to successfully challenge the rules as unconstitutional, though opponents allege that is the long-term goal of the ACLU. The civil liberties group <a href="https://www.aclu.org/documents/laws-restricting-teenagers-access-abortion">has long</a> <a href="https://www.aclu.org/documents/aclu-ad-illustrating-dangers-requiring-teens-tell-their-parents-obtaining-abortion">opposed</a> parental consent laws, and an ACLU Ohio lawyer in February said existing laws that conflict with a constitutional amendment <a href="https://www.statenews.org/government-politics/2023-03-15/foes-of-planned-ohio-abortion-amendment-launch-effort-to-discourage-voters-from-signing-petitions">“should not be enforced.”</a> Andrew Everett, an ACLU spokesperson, told Vox they “currently have no plans to challenge parental consent laws in Ohio.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="WvFGv7">
|
||
Coalition leaders pushing for the abortion rights amendment say the focus on transgender issues is a desperate attempt to distract from the unpopularity of abortion bans, and that <a href="https://www.brouse.com/when-can-minors-consent">Ohio case law generally requires parental consent</a> for youth medical care.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="CiSB7n">
|
||
Nationwide, activists organizing for other abortion rights measures are preparing for similar opposition campaigns.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="9oBFjZ">
|
||
In May, activists in Florida <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/florida-group-launches-initiative-abortion-constitutional-amendment-2024/story?id=99192847">launched a new campaign</a> to place a constitutional amendment protecting abortion rights on the ballot in 2024. To preempt some of the attacks being deployed in Ohio, activists kept their proposed wording more narrowly tailored to abortion, and explicitly say that their proposed amendment “does not change the Legislature’s constitutional authority to require notification to a parent or guardian before a minor has an abortion.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="6MA9Q7">
|
||
In Arizona, where <a href="https://www.azmirror.com/2023/02/24/with-abortion-challenges-heating-up-arizona-advocates-turn-their-focus-to-2024/">activists are considering</a> launching a constitutional ballot campaign to protect abortion rights in 2024, leaders are strategizing on how to word their proposal in light of the kinds of attacks being fired elsewhere. “We expect all those tactics in Ohio and other states to be exported here,” said Susan Shapiro, the director of Indivisible Northern Arizona.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h3 id="TohJkS">
|
||
Abortion rights leaders are debating whether to codify <em>Roe v. Wade </em>standards or push beyond them
|
||
</h3>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="RZaXma">
|
||
The major ballot campaigns that have launched so far are mostly seeking to restore the rights that existed under <em>Roe </em>v. <em>Wade, </em>where women could end pregnancies up to 24 weeks, or the point at which a fetus could survive outside the womb — known as the “viability standard.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="EejBD7">
|
||
<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/71/ss/ss7110a1.htm#T10_down">More than 90 percent of</a> US abortions occur within the first 13 weeks of a pregnancy, and those occurring later are typically due to a fetal complication, a life-threatening risk to the pregnant person, or an inability to pay. The ballot measures so far have generally sought to preserve exceptions for abortion beyond viability if a doctor recommends it.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="zU6qIv">
|
||
In Florida, for example, activists are collecting signatures <a href="https://dos.elections.myflorida.com/initiatives/initdetail.asp?account=83927&seqnum=1">for an amendment</a> that would ban restrictions on abortion “before viability or when necessary to protect the patient’s health, as determined by the patient’s healthcare provider.” In Ohio, the <a href="https://ohioansforreproductivefreedom.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/OhioansForReproductiveFreedom-TheRightToReproductiveFreedomWithProtectionsForHealthAndSafety-SummaryAndFullTextOfProposedAmendment_2023-0303.pdf">amendment says</a> “abortion may be prohibited after fetal viability” except in cases when “the pregnant patient’s treating physician” deems it necessary to protect their life or health.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="aii4nn">
|
||
And in South Dakota, a state that has a long track record of winning progressive ballot measures, a group of activists who formerly led a winning campaign to expand Medicaid are now looking to <a href="https://sdsos.gov/elections-voting/assets/2024CARickWeilandabortionpetition.pdf">pass a referendum</a> that would ban restrictions on abortion during the first trimester, and allow regulation beyond that in consultation with the medical judgment of the pregnant patient’s physician. They are calling their campaign an effort to <a href="https://www.dakotans4health.com/codify-roe-v-wade">“restore <em>Roe</em>.”</a>
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="miD7aR">
|
||
But some advocates say it’s not worth investing time, money, and energy into codifying the viability framework that existed under <em>Roe </em>v. <em>Wade, </em>given that the exceptions to abortion often proved too difficult for women to use in practice. Many activists see an opportunity to fight for stronger protection now that the overturn of <em>Roe </em>has wiped the slate clean, similar to what activists <a href="https://ballotpedia.org/Vermont_Proposal_5,_Right_to_Personal_Reproductive_Autonomy_Amendment_(2022)">passed on the ballot in Vermont</a> last fall, which added language about reproductive autonomy to the state’s constitution, and made no mention of viability or restrictions at stages of pregnancy.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Pq7Y7p">
|
||
These tensions are evident in Missouri, a state that bans <a href="https://apnews.com/article/abortion-us-supreme-court-missouri-government-and-politics-7bb5798bae32c3f15abad3a10941dfb5">nearly all abortions</a>. Activists have filed 11 versions of a proposed initiative petition to codify abortion rights in the state’s constitution. All versions would permit restrictions after fetal viability, or 24 weeks of gestation. (Some also make clear the state can enact parental consent laws for minors; others make no mention of that.) The precise version advocates might rally behind is not yet clear, but back in March, Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2023/04/04/divisions-threaten-abortion-rights-ballot-campaigns-00090021">withdrew its support</a> due to the proposals’ language around viability.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="6KXcWr">
|
||
The Planned Parenthood affiliate <a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2023/03/09/group-files-ballot-measures-adding-abortion-protections-to-missouri-constitution/#:~:text=Specifically%2C%20the%20memo%20panned%20the,and%20it%20did%20not%20work.%E2%80%9D">argued</a> in a memo that viability “is not a medical construct and has no relevance to clinical care. It is a political construct set under <em>Roe v. Wade</em>. We now know that the viability standard tried and failed to balance state and personal interests, and it did not work.” Pamela Merritt, the Missouri-based executive director of Medical Students for Choice, likewise <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2023/04/04/divisions-threaten-abortion-rights-ballot-campaigns-00090021#:~:text=Adopting%20a%20viability%20limit%2C%20however,and%20Medical%20Students%20for%20Choice.">told Politico</a> in April her group would never advocate for a viability limit. “It’s a legacy of <em>Roe</em> that we don’t need to resurrect,” she said.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="wjfS20">
|
||
Colleen McNicholas, the chief medical officer at Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri, told Vox they believe people deserve abortion access “locally where they are,” but that “we can not forget that the <em>Roe </em>framework did leave so many people behind.” On whether they would support a constitutional ballot measure if one emerged from the 11 proposed, McNichols said the group will “continue to stay engaged and will reassess our engagement every step of the way.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="pBcl1Y">
|
||
Supporters of using the viability standard say advocates need to be practical about politics. According to Pew, just 22 percent of adults say abortion should be legal <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2022/05/06/americans-views-on-whether-and-in-what-circumstances-abortion-should-be-legal/">after the fetus can survive outside the womb</a>, though most say there should be exceptions if the pregnant person’s life is in danger or the baby would be born with severe disabilities.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="QXcDPZ">
|
||
The ambivalence over these questions has led to muted support from national organizations for the ballot campaign in South Dakota — a red state with a real shot at overturning its abortion ban. A poll last year found <a href="https://www.sdnewswatch.org/stories/new-poll-majority-of-south-dakotans-oppose-total-ban-on-abortion-and-want-voters-not-lawmakers-to-make-the-rules/">65 percent of South Dakotans</a> thought their state’s restrictions on abortion were too strong, and that the question should be decided at the ballot box. In the last decade activists have won voter referendums on <a href="https://ballotpedia.org/South_Dakota_Revision_of_State_Campaign_Finance_and_Lobbying_Laws,_Initiated_Measure_22_(2016)">campaign finance</a>, <a href="https://www.governing.com/archive/gov-south-dakota-payday-lending-ballot-measures.html">payday lending</a>, <a href="https://listen.sdpb.org/politics/2022-10-28/south-dakota-focus-initiated-measure-27">medical and recreational marijuana</a>, and most recently, <a href="https://www.vox.com/health-care/2022/9/30/23377495/medicaid-expansion-states-south-dakota-ballot-initiative">Medicaid expansion</a>.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="sVQosP">
|
||
Planned Parenthood North Central States, which represents Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, and South Dakota, has also not issued any public statements on the campaign, and did not return requests for comment.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<h3 id="pXXWHx">
|
||
Some pro-choice states are looking to ballot measures to strengthen abortion rights further
|
||
</h3>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="bPJwsK">
|
||
Following on the heels of Michigan, Vermont, and California in 2022, more blue and purple states are considering ballot measures as ways to both<strong> </strong>protect existing abortion rights and expand them further.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="QdMdgB">
|
||
Maryland lawmakers <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2023/03/30/maryland-abortion-vote-referendum/">have already voted</a> to put abortion rights on their 2024 general election ballot, in a constitutional amendment that affirms every person has the fundamental right to reproductive freedom, including the ability to decide to prevent, continue, or end one’s own pregnancy. A poll from last year <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2023/03/30/maryland-abortion-vote-referendum/">found 78 percent</a> of Maryland voters supported the idea of a state constitutional amendment protecting abortion.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="raVagh">
|
||
New York lawmakers also plan to put before voters an amendment to the state’s equal protection amendment that would bar discrimination based on “pregnancy outcomes” or “gender expression.” While they could put it on the upcoming November ballot, <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2023/01/24/lawmakers-to-codify-abortion-rights-in-state-constitution-sending-it-to-voters-00079246#:~:text=New%20York-,New%20York%20lawmakers%20ask%20voters%20to%20codify%20abortion%20rights%20in,as%20early%20as%20this%20November.&text=ALBANY%2C%20N.Y.,-%E2%80%94%20The%20next%20decision">lawmakers are holding it until 2024</a> to boost its chances.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="lJ5iXr">
|
||
Nevada is a third state that is likely to place an amendment on the ballot to protect abortion rights, though not until 2026. A majority vote is required by the Nevada legislature in two successive legislative sessions, and a proposed abortion rights measure received its first round of approval <a href="https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/lawmakers-pass-abortion-protections-putting-them-one-step-closer-to-nevada-constitution">this past spring</a>. The next time lawmakers could vote on it would be in 2025. An April Nevada Independent poll <a href="https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/poll-majority-of-nevadans-back-lottery-gun-control-abortion-protections-in-constitution">found 62 percent</a> of respondents said they’d support adding the right to obtain an abortion to the state’s constitution.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Hi6Hyv">
|
||
Whether Colorado activists will pursue an abortion rights ballot measure remains an open question, though leaders have been exploring the idea for the last nine months. “A decision has not been made about pursuing it,” Olivia Cappello, a spokesperson for Planned Parenthood Federation of America, told Vox. In 2020 Colorado voters <a href="https://coloradonewsline.com/2020/10/26/colorado-initiative-would-further-limit-access-in-middle-americas-abortion-desert/">rejected a ballot initiative</a> that would have banned abortion after 22 weeks, and last year Colorado lawmakers enacted <a href="https://coloradonewsline.com/briefs/landmark-bill-affirming-abortion-rights-colorado-polis/">the Reproductive Health Equity Act</a>, a statutory right<strong> </strong>to abortion.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="xFR0yW">
|
||
Meanwhile, anti-abortion activists in Colorado <a href="https://coloradonewsline.com/2023/06/19/abortion-ban-ballot-initiative-colorado-ballot/">are eyeing the ballot box once again for their own ends</a>. Last month, the Colorado Life Initiative <a href="https://www.sos.state.co.us/pubs/elections/Initiatives/titleBoard/filings/2023-2024/26Original.pdf">filed an amendment</a> for 2024 that would define a “living child” as “any living human being during any developmental stage.” The proposal adds that anyone who intentionally causes the death of a “living child” would be held to “equal penalties” as those for “causing the death of any other living child.”
|
||
</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>Duleep Trophy final, Day 1 | Bowlers help West Zone gain command over South Zone</strong> - Captain Hanuma Vihari offered a lone battle while making 63 off 130 balls for South; West Zone pacers Arzan Nagwaswalla, Chintan Gaja and Atit Sheth should be lauded for maintaining a tight leash</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>Imperial Gesture, Raisina Star, Touch Of Grey, Champions Way, Ruling Dynasty and Northern Lights catch the eye</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>Lord And Master and Champagne Smile show out</strong> -</p></li>
|
||
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>My wife thought I was probably joking, says Kumble on bowling with broken jaw</strong> - The former India captain said that even after breaking his jaw he felt it was his responsibility to get some wickets for the team</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>MCC recommends extra funding for Test cricket and women’s game, significant reduction in ODIs after 2027</strong> - They emphasised the need for additional funding to sustain the five-day format and requested ICC member boards to support and strengthen women’s cricket globally</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>Three capitals case: Supreme Court adjourns hearing of SLP filed by A.P. govt. to December</strong> - The Andhra Pradesh government had challenged the impugned order of the High Court, which ruled that the State had no legislative competence to decide on the capital issue, and it should develop Amaravati as the capital in a time-bound manner</p></li>
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||
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Hassan resident attempts to end life, dies in Bengaluru hospital</strong> - Vinay had circulated a video accusing his wife and her relatives as being responsible for his death</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>Man makes an attempt to abduct girl in vain</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>India’s retail inflation jumps to 4.81% in June due to surging food prices</strong> - The country’s industrial output picked up some pace in May to grow 5.2% compared to 4.46% in April</p></li>
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||
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Stalin inaugurates housing units in Vellore</strong> - The 400 sq.ft. housing units have a living room, bedroom, kitchen and attached washroom, each costing ₹10.91 lakh</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>G7 to announce long-term Ukraine security package at Nato summit</strong> - It comes after Nato refused to provide Kyiv with a timeline for joining the alliance.</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>French to get bonus to make do and mend clothes</strong> - In a bid to tackle fast fashion, consumers will get a discount worth up to €25 (£21) per repair.</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>Missing German man’s remains found in Thailand freezer</strong> - The Pattaya-based businessman’s dismembered body turned up after he had gone missing for a week.</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>Far-right Finnish leader Riikka Purra sorry in racist posts uproar</strong> - Riikka Purra admits making the comments in 2008, while the PM vows no tolerance of racism.</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>Wimbledon 2023: Elina Svitolina says war has made her stronger after reaching semis</strong> - Ukrainian Elina Svitolina says war in her homeland has made her mentally stronger after she reaches a surprise Wimbledon semi-final.</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>NASA decides not to launch two already-built asteroid probes</strong> - The Janus asteroid probes will remain on Earth. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1953108">link</a></p></li>
|
||
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>One Ukrainian soldier had six extensively drug-resistant bacterial infections</strong> - One soldier’s horrifying collection of superbugs highlights hidden war. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1953090">link</a></p></li>
|
||
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>It’s Amazon Prime Day—and here are links to everything awesome we could find</strong> - We’ll be adding deals throughout the day, so check back when you can! - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1949667">link</a></p></li>
|
||
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>We get our first good look at Grand Admiral Thrawn in Ahsoka trailer</strong> - “War is inevitable. One must destroy in order to create.” - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1952878">link</a></p></li>
|
||
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>No more NUC: Intel’s weirdly named mini PCs seem to be going away</strong> - Intel has exited several side-businesses as it tries to stop losing money. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1952999">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>A man answered an ad that read “Hiring welders $18-$24 per hour”..</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
|
||
<div class="md">
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
When he arrived he was told he’d have to take a welding test.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
He turned in 2 sets of welds. One was a great weld, the other was a mess.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
When the boss asked him why he did this he replied “One is $18/hr, the other is $24/hr”.
|
||
</p>
|
||
</div>
|
||
<!-- SC_ON -->
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/HelpingHandsUs"> /u/HelpingHandsUs </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/14x7ayp/a_man_answered_an_ad_that_read_hiring_welders/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/14x7ayp/a_man_answered_an_ad_that_read_hiring_welders/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
||
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>I hate when people don’t know the difference between “you’re” and “your”..</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
|
||
<div class="md">
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
There stupid.
|
||
</p>
|
||
</div>
|
||
<!-- SC_ON -->
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/kiefferray"> /u/kiefferray </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/14xabk6/i_hate_when_people_dont_know_the_difference/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/14xabk6/i_hate_when_people_dont_know_the_difference/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
||
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Famed pirates Anne Bonny and Mary Read would board ships with their tits out to distract and intimidate enemy sailors.</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
|
||
<div class="md">
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
It had no effect on their own crew because pirates only care about booty.
|
||
</p>
|
||
</div>
|
||
<!-- SC_ON -->
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/2Scarhand"> /u/2Scarhand </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/14xbus8/famed_pirates_anne_bonny_and_mary_read_would/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/14xbus8/famed_pirates_anne_bonny_and_mary_read_would/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
||
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A man went to the doctor.</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
|
||
<div class="md">
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
A man went to the doctor.<br/> He said, “Doc, you gotta check my leg. Something’s wrong. Just put your ear up to my thigh, you’ll hear it!”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
The doctor cautiously placed his ear to the man’s thigh only to hear, “Gimme 20 bucks, I really need 20 bucks.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
“I’ve never seen or heard anything like this before, how long has this been going on?” The doctor asked.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
“That’s nothing Doc. put your ear to my knee.” The doctor put his ear to the man’s knee and heard it say “Man, I really need 10 bucks, just lend me 10 bucks!!”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
“Sir, I really don’t know what to tell you. I’ve never seen anything like this.” The doctor was dumbfounded.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
“Wait Doc, that’s not it. There’s more, just put your ear up to my ankle,” the man urged him.<br/> The doctor did as the man said and was blown away to hear his ankle plead, “Please, I just need 5 bucks. Lend me 5 bucks please if you can.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
“I have no idea what to tell you,” the doctor said.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
“There’s nothing about it in my books,” he said as he frantically searched all his medical reference books.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
“I can make a well educated guess though. Based on life and all my previous experience I can tell you that your leg appears to be <strong>broke</strong> in three places.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
</div>
|
||
<!-- SC_ON -->
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/naturalizedcitizen"> /u/naturalizedcitizen </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/14x6tet/a_man_went_to_the_doctor/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/14x6tet/a_man_went_to_the_doctor/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
||
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A holocaust survivor goes to heaven</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
|
||
<div class="md">
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
A holocaust survivor dies of old age and goes to heaven. When he gets there he meets God and tells him a holocaust joke.
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
God says, “That’s not funny.”
|
||
</p>
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||
And the man says, “I guess you had to be there. “
|
||
</p>
|
||
</div>
|
||
<!-- SC_ON -->
|
||
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/biplane_curious"> /u/biplane_curious </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/14x1n6u/a_holocaust_survivor_goes_to_heaven/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/14x1n6u/a_holocaust_survivor_goes_to_heaven/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
||
</ul>
|
||
|
||
|
||
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