| Trump's closing pitch to voters admits that America has to be made 'great again' all over again Posted: 20 Oct 2020 01:58 PM PDT  In the closing days of the 2020 election that opinion polls show him likely to lose, President Trump has amended his famous 2016 campaign slogan, promising that, if reelected, he will "make America great again, again."
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| Porn Stars Are Terrified of Amy Coney Barrett Posted: 19 Oct 2020 01:47 AM PDT  Who fills the next Supreme Court vacancy matters—and it may even impact your sex life.Yes, if Trump nominee Amy Coney Barrett becomes the next Supreme Court justice, the future of the commercial sex industry could be in grave danger—as could the viewing entertainment of millions of Americans since, according to Pornhub statistics, the U.S. consistently outranks all other countries in maintaining the highest rate of daily traffic to Pornhub. Thus, as the Senate hearings to confirm Amy Coney Barrett draw to a close, her seemingly inevitable spot on the bench has sparked panic among the sex-worker community."If she's confirmed, it could be catastrophic for the adult industry if and when any First Amendment-related cases reach the Supreme Court," argues adult actress Siri Dahl. "Instead of supporting equal free speech for all Americans, she seems to support privileged free speech for religious Americans. There's no way that will be good for the porn industry."As if worrying about the career persecution wasn't enough, Siri anticipates a worse threat will hit much sooner. "I'm worried most about reproductive rights. Our rights to important health care like birth control and abortion are in imminent danger. It's especially scary to me as a sex worker who also happens to have a uterus," says Dahl. "I'd like the government to stay away from my sex organs and my personal health decisions!"How Socialite India Oxenberg Escaped the NXIVM Sex Cult—and Leader Keith RaniereThat's unlikely given the Supreme Court's current conservative majority, which if Barrett is appointed, will become 6-3, reaching an imbalance that could last for decades. It's a potentially frightening group with the power to reshape our legal framework but without the wisdom to effectively balance it. Pornography laws are a prime example of striking that necessary balance.Sexually explicit material is protected by the First Amendment except in such cases where it can be prosecuted for obscenity or child pornography. Obscenity, as the Supreme Court ruled in 1957 (Roth v. United States), is not protected by the First Amendment. To be obscene it must "be utterly without redeeming social value" and "of prurient interest." However, much of this was decided case-by-case and left to the interpretation of the court, with Justice Potter Stewart famously explaining, "I'll know it when I see it," regarding his method of determination on a 1964 obscenity case involving the Louis Malle film The Lovers (Jacobellis v. Ohio).Without a measurable standard, obscenity could be even more subjective. It wasn't until 1973's Miller v. California case when the court engineered a three-part approach to measuring obscenity (known as the Miller test). These criteria continue to inform how the lines are drawn between adult entertainment protected as free speech verses similar, but prosecutable, content found to be "patently offensive," and lacking in "serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value." The court's interpretation of obscenity and freedom of speech nearly 50 years ago shaped the legal framework today's adult industry operates within, which is why who fills that seat matters. In years to come they will be dictating the existence of porn—and quite possibly free speech with it."The adult industry is founded on bodily autonomy and freedom of expression, freedoms that religious extremist Barrett will happily erode or remove. She will even be considering First Amendment cases that could outlaw porn. While she claims to be for freedom and liberty, it's clear she will happily regulate the bedroom on- and off-screen," warns adult actress and former Penthouse Pet Mary Moody. "We might hope that Barrett could separate her extremist religious beliefs from her judgments but while teaching law she argued justices should be allowed to judge based on these beliefs. Her history speaks for itself, and when given the option to rule on cases that will impact sex workers, it is clear she will lean on her radical conservative religious beliefs to aid her."I have the integrity to act consistently with my oath and apply the law as the law," Barrett claimed during the Senate confirmation hearings. Nonetheless, it's nearly impossible to believe her religious views won't impact her judicial duty to the law."I suspect that from what we know of her religious beliefs, that any anti-porn cases that come before the court will stand a good chance of winning for the religious right agenda. This goes hand-in-hand with reproductive, women's, and civil rights protections under the 14th Amendment," says Angie Rowntree, founder of Sssh.com, the web's first porn-for-women feminist site. "Considering that Supreme Court seats are 'for life' her religious/conservative agenda will push the U.S. back to 1960 for a generation in some societal and legal aspects. The TV show Mad Men is enjoyable to watch on television, but not to watch play out in the highest court in the land which affects the lives and rights of millions every day." Adult model and content creator Bea York says she's worried but still trying to be optimistic. "Here's a person that might have the power to undo a lot of important things. As a woman, I'm most concerned with other women getting the help that they need, when they need it. After that, I worry about the impact of having someone on the Supreme Court that seems pretty far removed from the big issues that people are dealing with," York muses.Having presided over 10,000 cases, Judge Herb Dodell, author of From the Trench to the Bench, understands the value of separation of church and state and the importance of it as a judge. He questions Barrett's ability to disengage from her personal biases when deciding a case. "For the adult industry, her confirmation could have a substantial impact. For example, SESTA/FOSTA. That legislation will be before the Supreme Court. The whole subject of free speech versus prior restraint, including liability, especially concerning social media, will be dictated by the Supreme Court. My biggest concern was the equivalent of her saying she would not necessarily be bound by stare decisis (precedent). I would also be concerned about the lack of response regarding severability, which could lead to an all-or-nothing situation," says Judge Dodell."As judges, we are supposed to follow the law, whether we agree with it or not. I am not sure she can do that, given her strong views."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.
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| Singapore Airlines is launching the new world's longest flight that will see flyers spending almost 19 hours on a plane nonstop Posted: 20 Oct 2020 07:41 AM PDT  Singapore Airlines is known for its ultra-long-haul flights with this latest addition securing the top spot on the list of the world's longest flights.
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| U.S. fighter jets intercept Russian bombers near Alaska Posted: 20 Oct 2020 09:52 AM PDT  U.S. fighter jets intercepted four Russian military aircraft in international airspace near Alaska, NORAD said.
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| Record-setting catch of 110-pound catfish in Georgia has angler under fire. Here’s why Posted: 20 Oct 2020 02:59 PM PDT  Some aren't happy about what happened to the catfish
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| Heartbreak in the Magic Kingdom: Laid-off Disney workers turn to food banks as coronavirus devastates Florida tourism Posted: 20 Oct 2020 06:19 AM PDT  The coronavirus has led to thousands of layoffs at Disney in Orlando, and devastated the local economy, reports Richard Hall
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| How to watch the Orionids meteor shower this week Posted: 20 Oct 2020 07:48 AM PDT  The Orionid meteor shower — one of two showers every year caused by Halley's Comet's return to the inner atmosphere — is peaking this week. Here's the best way to see it.
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| Expect a price jump, and new COVID-19 rules, when booking your next cruise Posted: 19 Oct 2020 06:45 AM PDT  Cruise companies say pent-up demand, once the U.S. no-sail order is lifted, will lead to higher ticket costs.
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| Pennsylvania’s rejection of 372,000 ballot applications bewilders voters and strains election staff Posted: 19 Oct 2020 02:00 AM PDT  The administrative nightmare highlights the difficulty of ramping up mail-in voting on the fly
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| More than 50 former intel officials signed a public letter saying they believe the Hunter Biden story has 'all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation' Posted: 19 Oct 2020 10:54 PM PDT  The former intel officials wrote they believed the arrival of emails to the New York Post, which they dubbed a "laptop op," was a cause for suspicion.
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| Televangelist Pat Robertson predicts Trump win, then chaos, then the end of the world Posted: 20 Oct 2020 05:27 PM PDT  Pat Robertson has made similar predictions about the end of the world before and been wrong. This time, he foresees "some kind of asteroid strike."
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| The ‘siege’ of Phil Collins’ Miami Beach mansion continues: Ex wife just got served Posted: 20 Oct 2020 01:22 PM PDT  She got served.
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| Fears of ecological disaster grow over stricken oil tanker in Caribbean Posted: 20 Oct 2020 08:05 AM PDT  Lawmakers from the National Assembly called on the country's government to urgently unload oil from Nabarima to avoid a spill.
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| Early voting begins in crucial Florida as election nears Posted: 19 Oct 2020 05:39 AM PDT  Early voting began in battleground state Florida on Monday, with just two weeks to go until the election.
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| Killer dubbed ‘Black Widow’ gets prison release 30 years after hit on estranged husband Posted: 19 Oct 2020 03:50 PM PDT  Barbara Kogan organised killing to secure life insurance payout
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| SCOTUS mail-in voting ruling raises alarm: Democrats may “never win another national election" Posted: 20 Oct 2020 09:15 AM PDT  Democrats scored a big win in a Pennsylvania mail-in voting case, but the victory "may only last a matter of days"
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| TikTok users are super-gluing vampire fangs to their teeth, and struggling to get them off. Dentists are not happy about it. Posted: 19 Oct 2020 01:18 PM PDT  Users are posting videos, yanking furiously on their fangs to try to remove them. Dentists say it could cause permanent damage.
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| Chipotle is killing one of customers' favorite ways to get free food Posted: 19 Oct 2020 06:37 AM PDT  The era of the free Chipotle tortilla has come to an end. The chain is now charging $0.25 for a side tortilla.
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| Joe Biden supporter who was installing BLM sign arrested for allegedly shooting at passing Trump supporter and son Posted: 20 Oct 2020 12:12 PM PDT  Neighbours said the political signs supporting Democrats had been previously pulled down on multiple occasions
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| Fake nude photos of thousands of real women are circulating online, report finds Posted: 20 Oct 2020 10:18 AM PDT  The report by intelligence company Sensity found most of the images "appeared to be taken from social media pages or directly from private communication, with the individuals likely unaware that they had been targeted."
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| Macy's is offering its lowest prices of the season—here are the best deals Posted: 20 Oct 2020 07:37 AM PDT  This Macy's sale is offering the lowest prices of the season on furniture, bedding, apparel and so much more—shop our top picks.
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| Trump says he wants a 'bigger' COVID-19 stimulus bill than Pelosi, claims Senate GOP 'would go along' Posted: 19 Oct 2020 12:15 AM PDT  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Sunday that if she and the White House can't agree on a COVID-19 stimulus package by Tuesday night, it will have to wait until after the election. Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin have been negotiating for months, and they are reportedly within striking distance of a deal worth between $1.8 trillion and $2.2 trillion. "I am optimistic that we can reach agreement before the election," Pelosi wrote her caucus on Saturday, adding that Democrats are "fully prepared to move forward once we reach agreement."President Trump said Sunday that Pelosi, who passed a $3.4 trillion stimulus bill in May and a $2.2 trillion bill this month, is being too frugal now. "I want to do it at a bigger number than she wants," he said on the tarmac in Carson City, Nevada. "That doesn't mean all the Republicans agree with me, but I think they will in the end. If she would go along, I think they would, too, on stimulus."Senate Republicans have shown few signs they would go along with a bill in that price range. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is scheduling a second vote this week on a bill with about $500 billion in new funds, but last week he said Trump is "talking about a much larger amount than I can sell to my members."McConnell expects Senate Democrats to block his smaller bill, The Associated Press reports, and "once the measure fails, he plans to turn the chamber's full attention to cementing a 6-3 conservative majority on the Supreme Court by confirming Judge Amy Coney Barrett. It is likely to be the Senate's final act before Election Day." Recent polls show that a sizable majority of voters want the Senate to pass another round of stimulus before voting on Barrett's nomination.McConnell said Saturday that "if Speaker Pelosi ever lets the House reach a bipartisan agreement with the administration, the Senate would of course consider it," but given opposition inside his own ranks, it isn't clear he would. Either way, "Congress is past the point at which it can deliver more coronavirus relief before the election," AP concludes, with the differences between Pelosi, Trump, and McConnell "proving insurmountable despite the glaring needs of the country."More stories from theweek.com Will Kansas go blue? What happened to third party candidates? If Roe falls
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| Former Mexican defense minister ordered held in U.S. jail without bond Posted: 20 Oct 2020 03:03 AM PDT  Mexico's former defense minister, Salvador Cienfuegos, was ordered held in U.S. custody without bail on Tuesday, pending his trial on drug trafficking charges in a case that could have far-reaching implications for U.S. and Mexican anti-cartel strategy. A U.S. magistrate judge also ordered Cienfuegos, 72, sent to New York to stand trial. Cienfuegos was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport last week.
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| Editorial: The Supreme Court is taking up two border cases we hope the election makes moot Posted: 20 Oct 2020 03:00 AM PDT  The Supreme Court will hear cases over President Trump's border wall funding and his requirement that asylum seekers wait in Mexico. A Biden win likely would make these cases moot.
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| The 2021 IKEA Catalog Is Finally Here! Posted: 20 Oct 2020 02:31 PM PDT |
| Vaccine scientist says next few months may be 'one of the darkest chapters in modern American history' Posted: 20 Oct 2020 12:30 PM PDT  'As bad as it's been, it's about to get worse,' claims Dr Hotez
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| Infectious diseases specialist challenges airlines' COVID safety analysis Posted: 19 Oct 2020 05:50 AM PDT  A campaign by coronavirus-stricken aviation giants to persuade the world it's safe to fly has been questioned by one of the scientists whose research it draws upon.
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| Polls show Democrats tied or winning Georgia's Senate and presidential races — but there's a catch Posted: 20 Oct 2020 11:00 AM PDT  Democrats have a reasonable chance of sweeping Georgia's Senate and presidential races this Election Day.Georgia has two U.S. Senate seats up for grabs this fall, and as a New York Times/Siena College poll out Tuesday revealed, Democratic candidates are winning one and tied in the other. Meanwhile in the faceoff between President Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden, candidates are tied at 45 percent support in the typically red state.Sen. David Perdue (R-Ga.) is up for re-election this fall, and is tied with Democratic challenger Jon Ossoff at 43 percent support, the poll showed. Raphael Warnock, the Democrat looking to fill the seat vacated by retired Sen. Johnny Isakson, meanwhile has 32 percent support over current Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R). Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.), who is also looking to fill the spot, has 17 percent support, the poll shows.But it's not as if the Republican faceoff could spoil the party's chances of winning. If no one in the three-way race of Collins, Loeffler, and Warnock gets a majority of the vote, the top two candidates will have a runoff election. Still, Warnock led both Collins and Loeffler, 45-41, in a hypothetical runoff, the poll found. Warnock's 46 percent favorability rating was the highest of any candidate on the poll.The New York Times and Siena College surveyed 759 likely voters in Georgia from Oct. 13–19, with a 4.1 percentage point margin of error.More stories from theweek.com Will Kansas go blue? What happened to third party candidates? If Roe falls
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| ‘Cheer’ star Jerry Harris was warned before child porn arrest by the owner of a gym featured on ‘AGT,’ lawsuit claims Posted: 20 Oct 2020 02:18 PM PDT  Cheer Athletics co-owner Angela Rogers warned 'Cheer' star Jerry Harris about a possible investigation into his conduct, according to a lawsuit.
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| Nigeria's anti-police protesters storm prison, free inmates Posted: 19 Oct 2020 09:02 AM PDT  Nigeria's protests against police brutality turned violent Monday when a crowd stormed a prison and freed some 200 inmates in Benin in southern Nigeria. Nigerian officials have not announced if there were casualties from the prison break. For more than two weeks Nigeria has been rocked by demonstrations by many young people protesting alleged police brutality.
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| Gunfire, racist threats reported against Indiana candidate challenging Pence’s brother Posted: 20 Oct 2020 11:27 AM PDT  "It's terrifying to me," Jeannine Lake said.
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| Watch the US Navy stealth destroyer Zumwalt fire off a missile for the first time Posted: 20 Oct 2020 09:10 AM PDT  USS Zumwalt went years without a working combat system, but now the Navy is starting to put its weapons to the test.
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| Submarine murderer Peter Madsen surrounded by armed officers after escaping Danish prison Posted: 20 Oct 2020 03:55 AM PDT  Danish submarine killer Peter Madsen took a female psychologist hostage and then escaped from prison in Copenhagen on Tuesday, keeping police at bay for nearby two hours after he wore what police feared was an explosives belt strapped around his abdomen. The 49-year-old escaped from Herstedvester prison at around 10am, seizing the woman and brandishing a "pistol-like object". "He used her as a shield to threaten the staff to open the gate. It was very violent and the staff, therefore, chose to back off," Bo Yde Sorensen, Chairman of the Danish Prison Federation, told Ekstra Bladet newspaper. "The weapon was life-like so the prison guards at the gate did not dare take any chances in relation to the hostage, who they judged to be in life danger. He threatened to kill her if they did not open the gate." Madsen, who murdered a Swedish journalist on his submarine in 2017, made it little more than half a mile from the prison gates.
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| Electoral college explained: how Biden faces an uphill battle in the US election Posted: 20 Oct 2020 06:42 AM PDT  Trump won the presidency in 2016 despite Clinton receiving almost 3m more votes, all because of the electoral college. How does the system work? Who elects the US president?When Americans cast their ballots for the US president, they are actually voting for a representative of that candidate's party known as an elector. There are 538 electors who then vote for the president on behalf of the people in their state.Each state is assigned a certain number of these electoral votes, based on the number of congressional districts they have, plus two additional votes representing the state's Senate seats. Washington DC is also assigned three electoral votes, despite having no voting representation in Congress. A majority of 270 of these votes is needed to win the presidency.The process of nominating electors varies by state and by party, but is generally done one of two ways. Ahead of the election, political parties either choose electors at their national conventions, or they are voted for by the party's central committee.The electoral college nearly always operates with a winner-takes-all system, in which the candidate with the highest number of votes in a state claims all of that state's electoral votes. For example, in 2016, Trump beat Clinton in Florida by a margin of just 2.2%, but that meant he claimed all 29 of Florida's crucial electoral votes.Such small margins in a handful of key swing states meant that, regardless of Clinton's national vote lead, Trump was able to clinch victory in several swing states and therefore win more electoral college votes. Biden could face the same hurdle in November, meaning he will need to focus his attention on a handful of battleground states to win the presidency.A chart showing electoral college votes by state The unequal distribution of electoral votesWhile the number of electoral votes a state is assigned somewhat reflects its population, the minimum of three votes per state means that the relative value of electoral votes varies across America.The least populous states like North and South Dakota and the smaller states of New England are overrepresented because of the required minimum of three electoral votes. Meanwhile, the states with the most people – California, Texas and Florida – are underrepresented in the electoral college.Wyoming has one electoral college vote for every 193,000 people, compared with California's rate of one electoral vote per 718,000 people. This means that each electoral vote in California represents over three times as many people as one in Wyoming. These disparities are repeated across the country. A visual of population per electoral vote by state Who does it favour?Experts have warned that, after returning two presidents that got fewer votes than their opponents since 2000, the electoral college is flawed.In 2000, Al Gore won over half a million more votes than Bush, yet Bush became president after winning Florida by just 537 votes.A chart showing recent election outcomes by popular vote and electoral college marginsProfessor George Edwards III, at Texas A&M University, said: "The electoral college violates the core tenet of democracy, that all votes count equally and allows the candidate finishing second to win the election. Why hold an election if we do not care who received the most votes?"At the moment, the electoral college favours Republicans because of the way Republican votes are distributed across the country. They are more likely to occur in states that are closely divided between the parties."Under the winner-takes-all system, the margin of victory in a state becomes irrelevant. In 2016, Clinton's substantial margins in states such as California and New York failed to earn her enough electoral votes, while close races in the battleground states of Pennsylvania and Michigan took Trump over the 270 majority.A visual showing margins and electoral votes by state gained by Trump and Clinton in 2016As candidates easily win the electoral votes of their solid states, the election plays out in a handful of key battlegrounds. In 2016, Trump won six such states - Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin – adding 99 electoral votes to his total.The demographics of these states differ from the national average. They are older, have more white voters without college degrees, and often have smaller non-white populations. These characteristics generally favour Republicans, and made up the base of Trump's votes in 2016.For example, 67% of non-college-educated white people voted for Trump in 2016. In all six swing states, this demographic is overrepresented by at least six percentage points more than the national average.default The alternativesSeveral alternative systems for electing the president have been proposed and grown in favour, as many seek to change or abolish the electoral college.Two states – Maine and Nebraska – already use a different method of assigning their electoral college votes. The two "Senate" votes go to the state-wide popular vote winner, but the remaining district votes are awarded to the winner of that district. However, implementing this congressional district method across the country could result in greater bias than the current system. The popular vote winner could still lose the election, and the distribution of voters would still strongly favour Republicans.The National Popular Vote Compact (NPVC) is another option, in which each state would award all of its electoral college votes in line with the national popular vote. If enough states signed up to this agreement to reach the 270 majority, the candidate who gained the most votes nationwide would always win the presidency.However, the NPVC has more practical issues. Professor Norman Williams, from Willamette University, questioned how a nationwide recount would be carried out under the NPVC, and said that partisanship highlighted its major flaws. Only Democratic states are currently signed up, but support could simply switch in the future if a Republican candidate faces winning the popular vote but not the presidency.The NPVC is a solution that would elect the president with the most votes without the difficulty of abolishing the electoral college that is enshrined in the constitution.In 1787, the Founding Fathers could not decide on the best system to elect the president. Some delegates opposed a straight nomination by Congress, while others wanted to limit the influence of a potentially uninformed public and the power a populist candidate could have with a direct popular vote. The resulting electoral college, with electors acting as intermediaries for their states, is their compromise.This system also invoked a clause known as the three-fifths compromise between northern and southern delegates, as they debated how slavery would affect a state's representation. Their agreement was that three-fifths of enslaved individuals (who could not vote) would count towards a state's population, awarding a disproportionate amount of power in the electoral college to the southern states. While the 13th amendment which abolished slavery in effect removed the three-fifths clause, the impacts of an unbalanced electoral college with unequal representation remain.The current system is still vulnerable to distorted outcomes through actions such as gerrymandering. This practice involves precisely redrawing the borders of districts to concentrate support in favour of a party. The result being abnormally shaped districts that disenfranchise certain groups of voters.Today, an amendment that would replace the college with a direct national popular vote is seen by many as the fairest electoral system.According to Professor Edwards III, "There is only one appropriate way to elect the president: add up all the votes and declare the candidate receiving the most votes the winner."default
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| Elon Musk becomes Twitter laughingstock after Bolivian socialist movement returns to power Posted: 20 Oct 2020 02:44 PM PDT  "We will coup whoever we want": the Tesla CEO's braggadocious imperialism comes back to mock him
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| 'Smoke coming from everywhere': Cameron Peak, Calwood fires continue to rage in Colorado Posted: 19 Oct 2020 09:05 PM PDT  Colorado crews scrambled to gain ground against two blazes as this year's historic wildfire season imparted more heartbreak and hardships on the West.
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| U.S. government tries to block Titanic expedition as archeologists say human remains could exist Posted: 19 Oct 2020 06:22 AM PDT  A plan to retrieve the ocean liner's radio received pushback as archaeologists say human remains could still be there.
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