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Middle-aged Andie Walsh lives in a Chicago suburb with her underemployed and estranged husband, Mike, whom she can’t afford to divorce, because they both stupidly pursued creative careers instead of going into finance. That means their retirement savings are in the triple digits, he wears only dirty white tank tops, and she still drives the pink Karmann Ghia she had in high school.

Andie has a best friend named Phillip “Duckie” Dale. An eccentric outsider, Phillip used to wear vintage clothing but now wears Kirkland Signature khakis because they’re more roomy on his dad bod. He’s in love with Andie but keeps it a secret because his multiple SSRIs dull most of his emotions.

Duckie and Andie belong to the local pickleball league, where the arrogant “richie” members constantly bully them. Specifically, hotshot Steff McKee, who always wears a white blazer and open-necked dress shirt because he misses Miami Vice and wishes that toxic masculinity still ruled. He’s the league champion, even though he has a bad case of emphysema from smoking for forty years.

The Yemeni Armed Forces and Islamic Resistance in Iraq have launched joint military operations against Israel, marking a new phase in regional support for Palestine. Exclusive details reveal the intricate coordination and strategic alliance behind these operations.

The post Exclusive: Yemen and Iraq Unite Against Israel in Coordinated Attacks appeared first on MintPress News.

Been There, Smelled That explores the aromas of places around the world. Travel writer Maggie Downs investigates some of the world’s most potent smells, looks at how odor cultivates a connection to place, and presents how humans engage with smells, from scents that have endured generations to the latest innovations in aroma-making.

It was possible I’d never had pizza before. Not really. Certainly nothing that smelled or tasted like the dish that sizzled on the table before me.

It was a November night in Rome. The weather was mild but chilly enough that it felt good to duck inside a restaurant, trading the gasoline fumes of the clogged street for the aromas of a wood-fired oven. The scent of rising dough was warm and comfortable, like leaning into the neck of a lover.

When we first opened NEVERTHELESS, a West Village bakery rooted in my family’s rich traditions of Sardinian pastry and throat singing (cantu a tenóre), we had one simple goal: we wanted our food to tell a story. To bring the city baked goods brimming with the same love and passion we hold for the culinary traditions of our ancestors. We are proud to be the first bakery in New York City to graft lip tissue onto the throats of croissants and hear them scream.

At the core of the ongoing rise of far-right populists sits their claim to be on the side of the people against the corrupt elites. That’s how they’ve managed to exploit the popular anger against mainstream parties across Europe — particularly in countries where the Left has failed to present itself as a credible alternative […]