Tag: because

The Bipartisan Appeal Is Partly Because Nobody Can Agree On What Civility Is – Democratic And Republican Voters Both Love Civility
IN OTHER NEWS

The Bipartisan Appeal Is Partly Because Nobody Can Agree On What Civility Is – Democratic And Republican Voters Both Love Civility

When former Vice President Mike Pence declared, in a speech to a conservative group, that “democracy depends on heavy doses of civility,” several attendees stood up and walked out of the Georgetown University auditorium. That speech came just three weeks before the midterm elections as commentators and candidates around the country were calling for greater civility in politics. This is no surprise. Civility is popular with the American people. Across the political spectrum, citizens agree that politics has become dangerously toxic, and they think the problem is worsening. That is one political issue we all agree on – democracy needs to regain civility. If it’s going to, the effort has to start with each of us individually, rather than waiting for someone else to make the first move. ...
Because of Climate Change Landfills Among Many Things Burning
ENVIRONMENT

Because of Climate Change Landfills Among Many Things Burning

Extreme heat over 110°F in India and Pakistan continues to shatter records, threaten human health, cause landfills to combust, threaten power outages, and imperil Indian wheat crops struggling to make up for shortfalls caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “Why is it exceptionally warm this year? The only reason is global warming,” Roxy Mathew Koll, a climate scientist at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, told Bloomberg. Meanwhile, in the southwestern U.S., wildfires are ripping across drought-dried landscapes, especially in New Mexico. A million acres across the U.S. have burned already this year as, “Climate change is taking a situation that would be bad for us normally,” University of Arizona climatologist Gregg Garffin told The Guardian, “and turning the dial up.” (India...
Millions of America’s working poor may lose out on key anti-poverty tax credit because of the pandemic
IN OTHER NEWS

Millions of America’s working poor may lose out on key anti-poverty tax credit because of the pandemic

The pandemic is driving American families to the edge, with tens of millions at risk of losing their homes and over 1 in 10 U.S. adults reporting their households didn’t have enough to eat in the previous week. While Congress debates extending unemployment benefits that expired on July 31 and other additional aid, there’s an important program that already exists that could help struggling Americans get through the crisis however long it lasts. Known as the earned income tax credit, or EITC, it provides aid primarily to the working poor. In a typical year, it lifts more than 8.5 million people out of poverty, while improving the health and well-being of parents and children. Since the credit depends on earned income, many families may be at risk of losing all or some of the benefit becaus...
Older people are at more risk from COVID-19 because of how the immune system ages
COVID-19, HEALTH & WELLNESS, Journalism

Older people are at more risk from COVID-19 because of how the immune system ages

The rapidly spreading coronavirus pandemic is taking a particularly harsh toll on older people. Data from the initial outbreak in China and then Italy show that infected people under the age of 60 are at low – but not no – risk of dying from COVID-19. Curiously, young children do not appear to be at increased risk of serious COVID-19 complications, in contrast to what happens with other viruses, like the seasonal flu. However, the statistics get grimmer as the patients get older. Whereas people in their 60s have a 0.4% chance of dying, people in their 70s have a 1.3% chance of dying, and people over 80 have a 3.6% chance of dying. While this may not sound like a high chance of death, during the current outbreak in Italy, 83% of those who succumbed to COVID-19 infection were over the age ...
Buffalo Wild Wings asks group to move seats because customer ‘didn’t want black people sitting near them’
Journalism

Buffalo Wild Wings asks group to move seats because customer ‘didn’t want black people sitting near them’

A Buffalo Wild Wings near Chicago says it has fired multiple employees after a family claimed they were asked to move tables over another customer's "racist" remarks. Mary Vahl and her family were celebrating a child's birthday at the restaurant chain last week when the alleged incident occurred. Just as their group — the majority of whom were African American — was about to be seated, a staff member asked them if they could move to a new section, due to the request of some "regular customers." "A couple of minutes went by and the host went up to my husband and asked 'what race are you guys?'" Vahl wrote in a now-viral Facebook post describing the encounter. Mary's husband, Justin Vahl, told the Washington Post that he asked the host why their race mattered. The employee responded by sa...
Stormy Daniels sues Trump, says hush agreement is null because he didn’t sign it
CELEBRITIES

Stormy Daniels sues Trump, says hush agreement is null because he didn’t sign it

Stormy Daniels, the porn star who says she was paid to keep quiet about her alleged affair with Donald Trump, sued the president Tuesday, asking the court to declare that her nondisclosure agreement before the 2016 election is void because Trump did not sign it. In the lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, Daniels - whose real name is Stephanie Clifford - said she had wanted to go public with the story of her alleged decade-old affair with Trump in the weeks leading up to the election. The lawsuit was first reported by NBC News. Trump’s lawyer, Michael Cohen, and Daniels’ attorney at the time, Keith Davidson, negotiated what the lawsuit calls a “hush agreement” in which she would be paid $130,000. After delays and even a cancellation of the contract by Daniels on Oct. 17, the pay...
Muslim Man Marries Three Women at Once Because He Couldn’t Afford Three Separate Weddings
Journalism

Muslim Man Marries Three Women at Once Because He Couldn’t Afford Three Separate Weddings

Mohammed Ssemanda, a 50-year-old Muslim man from Uganda, made news headlines all over Africa last month, when he married three women in a single ceremony, because he couldn’t afford to marry them separately. Ssemanda, a food vendor from the town of Katabi, in Uganda’s Wakiso district, caused quite a shock when he showed up at the local parish with three women, all wearing white wedding gowns. He told reporters on the scene that his wives all know that he isn’t doing very well financially, but they all agreed to marry him out of love. The 50-year-old added that the women aren’t jealous of each other and know that he will work very hard to support them. Photo: Watchdog Uganda “My wives are not jealous against each other. Good enough, each has got a home and I promise to work harder and ...
‘It’s Because I’m Black, Isn’t It?’: Obama Misunderstands the Country, Not the Other Way Around
IN OTHER NEWS

‘It’s Because I’m Black, Isn’t It?’: Obama Misunderstands the Country, Not the Other Way Around

Race makes people crazy, but often not in the way you’d expect. A nation watched wide-eyed as Melissa Harris-Perry of MSNBC complained that the Star Wars franchise was racist because the major villain is “black.” Darth Vader is black in the sense that Johnny Cash or Ben Roethlisberger or certain figures from Arthurian legend are “black” — white guys in black outfits — so people kept waiting for Harris-Perry, “America’s foremost public intellectual,” to crack and let us know that she was joking. But she wasn’t joking.One cannot imagine what she’d make of that Adolf Hitler/Darth Vader episode of “Epic Rap Battles of History,” in which the Nazi dismisses the Sith and his off-brand Stormtroopers: “You leading an army of white men? Disgraceful.” And, of course, in the latest installment, The Fo...