Why Run?
“It’s the perfect sport for a pandemic,” The New York Times wrote in 2021, explaining the surge in popularity of running in the face of Covid-19 restrictions.
“All you need is a pair of shoes and a six-foot buffer from the next person,” the author Talya Minsberg described what she called a “back-to-basics exercise boom.”
With gym closures and restrictions on indoor activities and team sports, people turned to outdoor exercise as a safe and accessible way to stay active and maintain their physical and mental well-being.
Running offered a sense of freedom, a chance to escape the confines of home, and an opportunity to connect with nature amidst lockdowns and social distancing measures.
And while Covid-19 restrictions have long been lifted, many pandemic runners have kept at it, thanks to the addictive nature of a sport often belittled as boring and repetitive. According to a 2023 survey of roughly 4,000 active runners conducted by RunRepeat, almost 30 percent of the respondents started running during the pandemic.
So what is it that motivates runners to tie their laces several times a week? Beyond the immediate health benefits, the motivation to run often stems from a desire for personal challenge, stress relief and the pursuit of fitness goals. As Statista’s Felix Richter shows in the chart below, based on survey data from Running USA, shows, staying in shape and healthy is by far the most-cited reason to run in the post-pandemic world, followed at quite some distance by stress relief and simply enjoyment.
Whether it’s training for a race, improving cardiovascular health or simply enjoying the hypnotic rhythm of footfalls on pavement, running has become a cornerstone of many people’s daily routines, fostering a global community united by a shared passion for movement, fresh air and athletic achievement.
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Germany May Outlaw Private Vehicles on Weekends
German Transport Minister Volker Wissing has come under fire after saying the country may need to implement a ban on driving on weekends during the summer if reforms to their controversial Climate Protection Act are not passed by July.
Germany’s transportation sector has been struggling to meet its client targets, even as they managed to bring their greenhouse emissions down to their lowest level in 70 years last year. The country’s climate protection law dictates that sectors that are underperforming in this regard must take steps to get back on track toward meeting the goals.
The German transport ministry said that it will be more difficult to reform their sector than other parts of the nation’s economy because it is difficult for people to make significant changes when it comes to transportation in a short period of time.
Wissing said that if incoming amendments to the law – which would permit the transport sector to miss some of its carbon dioxide reduction targets as long as the country meets its overall emissions target – are not approved soon, the ministry will be forced to enforce a ban on driving on weekends.
In a letter to parliamentary leaders, he added: “The fact that the amendment is still not in force leads to considerable legal and factual uncertainties. This serves neither the climate nor the reputation of the federal government.”
Therefore, he said it may be necessary to adopt measures that will be unpopular among the German population.
“A corresponding reduction in traffic performance would only be possible through restrictive measures that are difficult to communicate to the population, such as nationwide and indefinite driving bans on Saturdays and Sundays.”
Coalition partners and environmental groups alike accused the minister of scaremongering. A group of environmental organizations, including Fridays for Future, the German Federation for the Environment and Nature Conservation BUND, and Greenpeace said that abolishing targets for individual sectors will obscure the impact of those that have an outsized influence, especially traffic, which often fails to meet its goals.
The transport ministry clarified that the letter was not a threat. Instead, it was an effort to highlight the dangers of failing to reach an agreement on the amendment.
Transport minister accused of scaremongering
Green Party parliamentary leader Katharina Droege said that the minister should be making reasonable suggestions for protecting the climate in the transport sector rather than stirring up “unfounded fears.”
Detlef Mueller, the deputy parliamentary leader of the Social Democrats party, said that these comments will not help the negotiations on the amendments, noting: “Scaremongering through absurd proposals does not help climate protection in the transport sector at all, on the contrary.”
Green Party leader Julia Verlinder suggested a different tact, telling the German Press Agency that a speed limit could serve to tackle climate issues. The topic has long been the subject of controversy in Germany, and Wissing said earlier this month that they did not intend to introduce a speed limit on highways.
Others sided with Wissing, however, with Finance Minister Christian Lindner warning on X: “The climate protection law of the previous government could soon lead to driving bans!”
The country has also seen a dramatic drop in new electric car registrations as sales of these vehicles dropped 30% year over year. The government aims to have 15 million electric cars on the road by 2030, and there are currently just 1.4 million, demonstrating the reluctance among consumers to change their behaviors to align with government climate initiatives.
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Zelensky Signs Draconian Mobilization Bill
President Vladimir Zelensky signed a controversial military mobilization bill into law on Tuesday, a legislation card publicly available on the Ukrainian parliament’s website indicates.
The new legislation was passed by the Verkhovna Rada earlier this month, following a drawn-out debate over its contents. In a last-minute turn of events, its provisions became even stricter than originally proposed, with a demobilization clause withdrawn.
The adopted legislation effectively means that all draftees are set to remain in the military indefinitely, with the change reportedly lobbied by Aleksandr Syrsky, the recently appointed commander-in-chief of the armed forces. A demobilization procedure is expected to be introduced in separate legislation, though it remains unclear when exactly such a bill could materialize.
The new law further simplifies draft procedures, with all Ukrainians obliged to “update data” on themselves with the military authorities within 60 days after the legislation comes into force. The provision applies to Ukrainians living abroad as well.
Apart from that, all the eligible individuals aged 18 to 60 now must always carry their military ID on them. Moreover, a conscription notice is now considered to be delivered to a draftee even should conscription officers fail to meet them in person at their residence and actually hand them their notice.
The legislation also introduces new penalties for breaches, including fines and suspension of a driver’s permit. The police can also forcibly deliver a suspected draft dodger to an enlistment office should a draftee fail to show up on being deemed to have received their conscription notice.
Critics of the legislation have been arguing it will only drive a wedge between the Ukrainian authorities and ordinary people. It has also reportedly received a poor reception within the military itself, given the lack of any demobilization mechanisms. The reception was apparently also influenced by the fact that the bill’s introduction was justified largely by the purported need to relieve war-weary soldiers from their military service.
Kiev has maintained its mobilization drive since the early days of the conflict with Russia, which broke out in late February 2022. The mobilization effort grew increasingly chaotic and lawless over time, with numerous videos circulating online showing Ukrainian enlistment officers chasing potential soldiers in the streets, violently detaining them, beating them up, and so on. Senior Ukrainian officials, however, have routinely dismissed concerns over mounting violations as Russian propaganda.
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British Gov’t To Make Cigarettes ILLEGAL in the UK
The British government has announced plans to make the purchasing of cigarettes illegal in the UK under a draconian new law aimed at controlling the social behaviors of citizens. MP’s are plotting to ban cigarettes […]
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Aaron Rodgers Drops Bombshell: ‘Fauci Created AIDS in 80’s as Part of Depopulation Experiment’
New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers has declared that Dr. Anthony Fauci created AIDS in a lab in the 1980’s as part of a sick depopulation experiment on humanity. According to Rodgers, AIDS was the […]
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UK Prime Minister Liz Truss Sounds the Alarm: “New World Order Will Do ANYTHING To Destroy Trump”
Former UK Prime Minister Liz Truss has warned that the ‘New World Order’ will stop at nothing until Trump is destroyed. According to Truss, the Deep State is working behind the scenes to sabotage Trump’s […]
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