Source: Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines — 21st September 2020 at 08:16 (about 52 minutes ago)
The Hong Kong-based company Woke Up Like This (WULT) launched a collection of liquid blushes that were named after "inspiring, famous women." #
Source: Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines — 21st September 2020 at 08:16 (about 52 minutes ago)
A multi-day rain event is just what the northwestern United States needs to help put out the dozens of active wildfires, and forecasters say that is in the offing later this week. But could there be too much of a good thing?From last Friday into the weekend, the region received some relief from the smoke and haze that has persisted due to the fires as a weak storm moved in from the Pacific. Light rain fell across western Washington and Oregon, but areas east of the Cascades received very little rainfall.While mainly dry weather has since moved in and will last into at least Tuesday, the next storm will be knocking on the doorstep at midweek -- and forecasters say this one will be more potent. From Wednesday through Friday, rainfall, heavier and more widespread than what occurred late last week, will move into southwestern Oregon and much of Washington state, according to AccuWeather Lead Long-Range Meteorologist Paul Pastelok."This should keep down the amount of smoke in the air," Pastelok said.In addition, the steadier rain will help to douse the active blazes across the region and give firefighting crews the upper hand.Over 4.0 million acres of land has already been burned as a result of nearly 80 large fires currently burning across 12 states. The majority of these fires are located across California, Idaho and Oregon. So far in 2020, nearly 7.0 million acres of land has been scorched by wildfires, according to the National Interagency Fire Center."Any amount of rain is beneficial for those across the Pacific Northwest, with many locations still in the midst of moderate to extreme drought conditions," AccuWeather Meteorologist Mary Gilbert said.CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE ACCUWEATHER APPDuring the multi-day event, a general 1-2 inches of rainfall along the coast, with locally higher amounts along the western slopes of the Cascades and over the Olympic Peninsula is not out of the realm of possibility. Even areas east of the Cascades could receive on the order of 0.50 of an inch of rain or more.Seattle and Portland, Oregon, are likely to have their wettest period since June, when 2.28 inches and 3.51 inches fell respectively for the month. High temperatures will hover in the 60s F in these cities from Wednesday to Friday, about 5-10 degrees Fahrenheit below normal, during the rainy pattern. While good news for the drought and wildfire situation, the rainfall could be particularly troublesome for land charred by this summer's blazes."There could be issues with flash flooding and mudslides and debris flows in the burn scar areas," AccuWeather Meteorologist Jake Sojda said.Burn scar areas in higher terrain pose a particularly dangerous risk to communities downstream. People living near burn scar areas or active blazes should pay close attention to the weather situation during the second half of the week."Rainfall that would normally be absorbed will run off extremely quickly after a wildfire, as burned soil can be as water repellent as pavement. As a result, much less rainfall [than normal] is required to produce a flash flood," according to the National Weather Service.Even in the absence of flooding and mudslides, the rainfall can lead to travel delays on the road and in the air. Drivers on stretches of interstates 5, 82, 84 and 90 should be prepared to slow down during periods of steadier rainfall, as visibility will be reduced and there will be a heightened risk of hydroplaning at highway speeds. A few showers could clip northwestern California, with some rain possibly reaching where the Red Salmon Complex Fire is actively charring over 103,000 acres of land. The bulk of the rainfall is expected to stay north of this area, however.Even farther south and east, continued dry weather and gusty winds are likely to lead to a high fire threat later this week across much of the balance of California, as well as part of the Great Basin and Snake River Valley in Idaho.AccuWeather's long-range team expects the entirety of the West to dry out and turn significantly hotter during the last days of September.Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios. #
Source: Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines — 21st September 2020 at 08:16 (about 52 minutes ago)
Rather than confront the reality of child abuse, Trump fans have dreamed up an elaborate fiction to justify their support for a morally indefensible president In recent weeks the groups have moved offline and into the real world, using their Facebook pages to organize in-person rallies outside tourist attractions like the Big Red Wagon in Spokane, Washington, and the state capitol building in Salem, Oregon. The believers hold signs that say things like ?SavetheChildren? and ?Stop Child Trafficking.? They?re often accompanied by their children, wearing T-shirts and onesies that read ?I am not for sale.?At first glance they seem innocuous, like petitioners for a non-profit or an inoffensive social cause. But there are giveaways. Some of the signs bear images of pizza slices, a reference to the Pizzagate conspiracy theory that held that Hillary Clinton was operating a pedophilia ring out of a gimmicky Washington DC pizza parlor called Comet Ping Pong. Sometimes the rally-goers wear T-shirts bearing the acronym ?WWG1WGA,? which stands for ?Where we go one we go all,? a fist-pumping slogan for adherents of the elaborate and baseless online conspiracy theory called QAnon.The QAnon conspiracy theory is vast, complicated and ever changing, and its adherents are constantly folding new events and personalities into its master narrative. But the gist of it is that national Democrats, aided by Hollywood and a group of ?global elites?, are running a massive ring devoted to the abduction, trafficking, torture, sexual abuse and cannibalization of children, all with the purpose of fulfilling the rituals of their Satanic faith. Donald Trump, according to this fantasy, is the only person willing and able to mount an attack against them.The conspiracy theory began on 4chan, a digital cesspool of hate speech and conspiracy theorizing, and adherents derive their beliefs from the cryptic postings of Q, an anonymous commenter who they believe to be a highly credentialed member of the Trump administration who is assisting Donald Trump in his heroic fight against the Satanic pedophile Democrats. The conspiracy has spread widely during the pandemic, migrating out of the dark shadows of the internet and on to Facebook, where it is now spreading among an audience of frightened and credulous parents.If the stories spun by QAnon conspiracists strike you as inventive or creatively bizarre, that they are not. The fictions of QAnon are mostly regurgitations of other disproven conspiracy theories. The idea of a secret, all-powerful ?cabal? of sadistic Satanists preying on children is not a new one. In that part of its lore, the QAnon conspiracy theory borrows heavily from the Satanic Panic of the 1980s, a strange phenomenon in which hundreds of thousands of otherwise reasonable Americans became convinced that secret cadres of Satanists were operating out of daycare centers, torturing and molesting children for rituals. Meanwhile, the QAnon assertion that Satanist Democrats are farming children underground in order to harvest and drink their blood harkens back to an even older conspiracy theory, the antisemitic blood libel, a medieval fiction that posited that Jewish people stole and murdered Christian children in order to use their blood to make matzah. QAnon may seem detailed and weird in its fantasies, but it is a deeply derivative conspiracy theory, remixing old lies more often than it conjures new ones.Why do conservatives periodically become fixated on elaborate conspiracy theories involving the rape and torture of children? The details of the QAnon narrative don?t bear any relation to the way that child sexual abuse actually happens. The Q believers are correct that the sexual abuse of minors is much more common than many assume, but any relation between their beliefs and fact ends there.According to the Centers for Disease Control, about one in four girls and one in 13 boys experience sexual abuse sometime in childhood ? an alarmingly high number. A sizable minority of those abuses are committed by other children. The prevalence of children being sexually abused by adults is about one in nine girls and one in 53 boys, according to Rainn ? a lower but still alarming number. By and large, the adults who sexually abuse children are not strangers or traffickers (or national Democratic politicians). Instead, they tend to be men ? and overwhelmingly it is men who sexually abuse children ? whom the abused child knows. Ninety-three per-cent of child molesters are known to their victims. fifty-nine per-cent are acquaintances or family friends, and 34% are family members.This reality does not lend itself to splashy headlines. It does not suggest a predator lurking in the shadows, let alone a dark network of nefarious liberals waiting to steal your children. It is less sensational, and it is also sadder. Acknowledging the real ways that children are sexually abused would mean confronting the ways that families and communities can keep dark secrets and enable harm to the most vulnerable. It would mean confronting the fact that for those it happens to, child sexual abuse is not only a matter of sexual violation but also of betrayal by someone they trusted.None of these facts are helpful for conservatives, so they disregard them. But that does not change the psychological purpose that QAnon serves for its adherents. When conservatives take up the mantle of child sexual abuse with conspiracy theories and disinformation, they are assuming a moral position that is usually occupied by liberals: defending the powerless, the voiceless, the disenfranchised. It?s not dissimilar to the psychological function of conservative opposition to abortion rights ? it?s about conservatives? need to see themselves not as the inflictors of pain and needless suffering, but as defenders of the innocent. But like in the abortion debate, the innocent victims in the QAnon conspiracy theory only exist in conservatives? minds.QAnon is an elaborate fiction dreamed up by Trump fans to meet the psychological needs of those who cannot allow themselves to admit what is plain as day to everyone else: that the man they voted for and support is mendacious, narcissistic, incompetent, corrupt and horrifically unfit, both morally and intellectually, for his office. He is so ostentatiously unfit to be president that the only way even his most ardent supporters can justify his position is to elevate their own denial into a baroque theology in which his opponents are Satanic pedophiles, and he is the defender of the children.This delusion has already endangered innocent people and taken lives: one supporter of QAnon famously arrived at Comet Ping Pong with a rifle that he shot into the air, and another QAnon believer assassinated an alleged mob boss on Staten Island whom he reportedly believed was involved in the pedophile ring. If the delusion continues to fester and spread, the violence is sure to continue. * Moira Donegan is a Guardian US columnist #
Source: Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines — 21st September 2020 at 08:16 (about 52 minutes ago)
Source: Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines — 21st September 2020 at 08:16 (about 52 minutes ago)
Democrats?livid and galvanized by the GOP?s confirm-at-all costs approach to the new U.S. Supreme Court vacancy?have spent the last 24 hours boosting their 2020 candidates, rallying around the banner of Merrick Garland, and, increasingly, hashing out their own scorched-earth political tactics.?Mitch McConnell set the precedent. No Supreme Court vacancies filled in an election year,? tweeted Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA), hours after the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Friday. ?If he violates it, when Democrats control the Senate in the next Congress, we must abolish the filibuster and expand the Supreme Court.?The idea, previously confined to the party?s left flank, is quietly gaining steam among staffers and aides in corners of the Senate Democratic caucus, who were livid on Saturday at seeing Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and other top Republicans urging a swift confirmation of President Trump?s nominee?whoever that person ends up being?after blocking Garland, Obama?s nominee, in 2016, by saying the voters should decide who got to fill the slot.On a caucus conference call Saturday to discuss the party?s strategy, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) spoke to that anger. ?If Leader McConnell and Senate Republicans move forward with this, then nothing is off the table for next year,? Schumer told his members, according to a source on the call. ?Nothing is off the table.? Though Schumer didn?t endorse the court-packing idea explicitly, plenty of Democrats interpreted his remarks as a careful nod to it.But if Democrats aimed to present an aggressive posture heading into what?s expected to be a brutal confirmation fight, Trump?s political orbit reacted with chuckles and yawns to the ratcheted-up rhetoric on court-packing. Six sources across Trumpworld?administration officials, campaign aides, and others close to the White House and the president?told The Daily Beast they weren?t worried about such a threat, even in a scenario in which Democrats were to take back the White House and Senate and hold onto the House. Some said such a proposal would inevitably backfire and become politically advantageous for conservatives. Others weren?t even sure if Democrats would have the internal support or, ultimately, the guts to actually pull the trigger on packing the court.?It almost destroyed FDR. It should really backfire on them,? Rudy Giuliani, the former New York City mayor who?s served as President Trump?s personal lawyer, told The Daily Beast on Saturday night. Asked about his thoughts on Trump?s potential next Supreme Court nomination, Giuliani gave something of an endorsement of Amy Coney Barrett, a federal judge in Indiana who is considered one of the top choices on Trump?s shortlist. ?AMY BARRETT WOULD BE EXCELLENT AND I BELIEVE PRESIDENT SHOULD DO IT NOW,? messaged Giuliani in all-caps, ?WHOMEVER HIS CHOICE IS??Indeed, there?s likely to be substantial opposition to the court-packing idea within the Democratic caucus if they ever get the chance to do it. In any Democratic Senate majority, a handful of moderates are likely to have the greatest sway on key votes?and they?re unlikely to ever get on board with the idea.But there?s also concern that the rhetoric could backfire, even if its main purpose right now is as a messaging tactic. Democrats? path to capturing the Senate majority runs through states Trump won in 2016, where a slate of moderate candidates are running careful campaigns focusing largely on health care and the COVID-19 response. For example, Cal Cunningham, the Democratic challenger to Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC), doesn?t need to be debating whether he wants to pack the court in the last 40 days of the election, a Democratic operative told The Daily Beast. ?That?s an argument that doesn?t get anywhere,? said the operative.Mitch Ready to Steamroll Dems on Ginsburg ReplacementAs Democrats debated the merits of the court-packing issue, key Republicans laid out their plans for the high court vacancy at hand, charting a course that could be equally fraught for the GOP?s hold on the White House and the Senate. Heading to a rally on Saturday, Trump said a nominee could be announced as soon as next week; on Friday night, McConnell announced that Trump?s nominee for the court ?will receive a vote? on the Senate floor.?Both the White House and the Senate majority have a moral duty to fulfill the promises they made to the voters, and that is exactly what we are going to do,? the president said at a North Carolina campaign rally on Saturday night. Trump has also told the crowd that ?I could see most likely [the nominee] would be a woman.? Crucially, McConnell didn?t specify whether that vote would come before or after the Nov. 3 election. Privately, many Republicans believe it would be tough for McConnell to hold a vote before the election due to the varying political implications of that vote for the GOP majority that is at risk this November. A lame-duck session, which ends on Jan. 3 with the swearing-in of the new Congress, is seen as a more likely venue for a confirmation battle. The high court vacancy is going to sway the election no matter when the vote occurs, however: with a Trump nominee soon to be named, the GOP conference?s most vulnerable members will face questions over their views on that pick during the crucial closing days of the election. Some are already being hammered: Sen. Cory Gardner (R-CO), facing one of the toughest battles in the country, was asked in a Saturday appearance if he stood by his 2016 stance that a vacancy should wait until after the election. He didn?t answer the question, instead pivoting to praise of Ginsburg?s life and accomplishments.A nominee who clearly views Roe v. Wade as incorrectly decided? as some on Trump?s shortlist do, is set to be a problem for Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), who defended her vote for Justice Brett Kavanaugh in part because she believed he considered Roe to be settled law. An injection of abortion politics into Collins? battle against Democratic candidate Sara Gideon, who has led in nearly all public polls of the race, is seen by some Democrats as basically sealing Collins? defeat. That Collins announced on Saturday that she will oppose any confirmation vote before the election?and that the winner of the presidential race should get the next pick?is unlikely to ward off the scrutiny.There?s also the issue of health care: some members of Trump?s shortlist, such as Barrett, have disputed the court?s 2012 decision upholding the Affordable Care Act. That law, and GOP attempts to dismantle it, are at the center of Democrats? playbook against vulnerable incumbents like Tillis and Gardner. With the court expected to hear another challenge to Obamacare after the election?this time missing one more liberal justice?Democrats see the health care implications of the fight as central to the politics of the confirmation fight.When it comes to the actual confirmation itself, four Republicans would be needed to join with all Democrats to block a nominee. Democrats acknowledge that this will be a tough task; if Trump selects a strong nominee, it could be even more problematic. A judge reportedly on Trump?s shortlist, Barbara Lagoa of Florida, earned 26 Democratic votes in her confirmation to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals last November?an unusually high number for a Trump nominee. Democrats also see Britt Grant, another 11th Circuit judge on the shortlist, as a formidable pick after a smooth confirmation hearing in 2018. Either way, many Capitol Hill Republicans have the utmost faith in McConnell to handle the situation as he sees fit. ?He played things perfectly with Garland and Kavanaugh, and through those instances he has proven to the base that he will assume all sorts of political risk and heat to ultimately get an outcome desirable for conservatives,? said a senior GOP congressional aide. ?I think everyone has the expectation that he will do that again now.?Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more. #
Source: Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines — 21st September 2020 at 08:16 (about 52 minutes ago)
The newly formed U.S. Space Force is deploying troops to a vast new frontier: the Arabian Peninsula. #
Source: Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines — 21st September 2020 at 08:16 (about 52 minutes ago)
The husband of a major donor to Boris Johnson's Conservatives has allegedly been secretly funded by a Russian oligarch with links to Vladimir Putin. #
Source: Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines — 21st September 2020 at 08:16 (about 52 minutes ago)
US president has long history of praising his own genetic make-up #
Source: Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines — 21st September 2020 at 08:16 (about 52 minutes ago)
Armed Black groups like the Minnesota Freedom Fighters work to protect the streets as calls for racial justice mount. #
Source: Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines — 21st September 2020 at 08:16 (about 52 minutes ago)
Alaska senator joins Susan Collins as Republicans opposed to quick confirmation fight and vote #