Typhoon Kong-rey Hits Taiwan’s East Coast, Leaving At Least One Dead

TAIPEI, Taiwan — A powerful typhoon made landfall in Taiwan on Thursday, killing one person and bringing high winds and floods to much of the island’s east coast and northern areas, after barreling past the northern Philippines.

Flights and train service were suspended in Taiwan and 8,600 people moved to shelters.

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Typhoon Kong-rey was blowing at 184 kilometers (114 miles) per hour with gusts of up to 227 kph (141 mph) as it moved over the eastern county of Taitung. Parts of Yilan and Hualien counties were inundated by heavy rain, but many farmers in the largely rural areas had already brought in their crops in anticipation of damage from the storm.

Taiwan authorities reported one death and 73 injuries from the storm as of Thursday afternoon. The fatality occurred after a tree fell on a vehicle. Officials also said they were trying to contact a pair of Czech tourists who had been hiking in Hualien’s Tarako National Park, famed for its steep cliffs and mountain trails. Other travelers were advised to stay where they were.

The capital, Taipei, was largely shut down as it was hit by high winds and heavy rains. Offices and schools across the island were closed. Off the north coast, a tugboat was dispatched to tow away a Chinese-registered freighter that floundered and had been abandoned by its crew amid heavy seas.

Earlier Thursday, the typhoon’s eye blew about 110 kilometers (68 miles) east of the northernmost Philippine province of Batanes, a cluster of islands and islets of about 19,000 people. Villagers in northern Philippine provinces evacuated to shelters on Wednesday.

The Philippines weather agency had warned the the storm could blow away roofs and shatter windows and wreak extensive damage to farmland, but there were no immediate reports of casualties.

“It’s so, so powerful and we haven’t seen the extent of the damage yet because the wind outside is still so strong,” Batanes Governor Marilou Cayco told The Associated Press by cellphone before the line was cut off.

Kong-rey, the 12th weather disturbance to hit the Philippine archipelago this year, lashed the Southeast Asian nation while it’s still recovering from a storm last week that left 179 dead and missing. Hundreds of thousands of people are still in emergency shelters from Tropical Storm Trami.

China, which claims Taiwan as its own territory and regularly sends planes and warships around the island, largely suspended its patrols, with just eight planes detected around the island between Wednesday and Thursday, according to Taiwan’s Defense Ministry

source https://time.com/7160777/typhoon-kong-rey-hits-taiwans-east-coast-leaving-1-dead/

Hearing Is Set on Effort to Stop $1M-a-Day Sweepstakes From Elon Musk PAC

PHILADELPHIA — A Philadelphia judge plans to hold a hearing Thursday in the city prosecutor’s bid to shut down Elon Musk’s $1 million-a-day sweepstakes in battleground states. The giveaways come from Musk’s political organization, which aims to boost Donald Trump’s presidential campaign.

Lawyers for Musk filed a motion late Wednesday seeking to move the case to federal court, saying it involves a federal election issue. However, a spokesperson for Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner said Thursday the initial hearing at City Hall was still scheduled.

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Krasner, a Democrat, filed suit Monday to stop the America PAC sweepstakes, which is set to run through Election Day. Judge Angelo Foglietta is set to preside in the case.

Matthew Haverstick, one of several lawyers representing the defendants, declined to say late Wednesday if Musk would attend the hearing.

The sweepstakes is open to people in battleground states who sign a petition supporting the Constitution.

Krasner has said he could still consider criminal charges, saying he is tasked with protecting the public from both illegal lotteries and “interference with the integrity of elections.”

Election law experts have raised questions about whether it violates federal law barring someone from paying others to vote. Musk has cast the money as both a prize as well as earnings for work as a spokesperson for the group.

Krasner, in the suit, said that America PAC and Musk “are indisputably violating Pennsylvania’s statutory prohibitions against illegal lotteries and deceiving consumers.”

Both Trump and Kamala Harris have made repeated visits to the state as they fight for Pennsylvania’s 19 electoral votes.

Musk, who founded SpaceX and Tesla and owns X, has gone all in on Trump this election, saying he thinks civilization is at stake if he loses. He is undertaking much of the get-out-the-vote effort for Trump through his super PAC, which can raise and spend unlimited sums of money.

He has committed more than $70 million to the super PAC to help Trump and other Republicans win in November.

source https://time.com/7160769/elon-musk-pac-million-giveaway-donald-trump-hearing/

Supreme Court Allows Virginia to Resume Its Purge of Voter Registrations

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed Virginia to resume its purge of voter registrations that the state says is aimed at stopping people who are not U.S. citizens from voting.

The justices, over the dissents of the three liberal justices, granted an emergency appeal from Virginia’s Republican administration led by Gov. Glenn Youngkin. The court provided no rationale for its action, which is typical in emergency appeals.

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The justices acted on Virginia’s appeal after a federal judge found that the state illegally purged more than 1,600 voter registrations in the past two months. A federal appeals court had previously allowed the judge’s order to remain in effect.

Such voting is rare in American elections, but the specter of immigrants voting illegally has been a main part of the political messaging this year from former President Donald Trump and other Republicans.

Trump had criticized the earlier ruling, calling it “a totally unacceptable travesty” on social media.

“Only U.S. Citizens should be allowed to vote,” Trump wrote.

The Justice Department and a coalition of private groups sued the state earlier in October, arguing that Virginia election officials, acting on an executive order issued in August by Youngkin were striking names from voter rolls in violation of federal election law.

The National Voter Registration Act requires a 90-day “quiet period” ahead of elections for the maintenance of voter rolls so that legitimate voters are not removed from the rolls by bureaucratic errors or last-minute mistakes that cannot be quickly corrected.

Youngkin issued his order on Aug. 7, the 90th day before the election. It required daily checks of data from the state Department of Motor Vehicles against voter rolls to identify people who are not U.S. citizens.

U.S. District Judge Patricia Giles said elections officials still could remove names on an individualized basis, but not through a systematic purge. Court records indicated that at least some of those whose registrations were removed are U.S. citizens.

Giles had ordered the state to notify affected voters and local registrars by Wednesday that the registrations have been restored.

Nearly 6 million Virginians are registered to vote.

In a similar lawsuit in Alabama, a federal judge this month ordered the state to restore eligibility for more than 3,200 voters who had been deemed ineligible noncitizens. Testimony from state officials in that case showed that roughly 2,000 of the 3,251 voters who were made inactive were actually legally registered citizens.

source https://time.com/7157613/supreme-court-allows-virginia-resume-purge-of-voters/

The Horror of the Pelicot Trial Goes Far Beyond This Case

The trial of Dominique Pelicot, the man in the South of France who pleaded guilty in September to charges of secretly drugging his wife of 50 years, Gisèle, and, over the course of about a decade, filming dozens of men as they had sex with her while she was sedated, would have been disturbing enough just as the story of an epically vile husband. But the even more puzzling and horrifying questions are about the other men. Who were they? How could they? How can there be so many men willing to rape an unconscious woman?

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Over the past five weeks of the trial, which began on Sept. 2 in Avignon, the five judges—and aghast onlookers from around the world—have had the chance to hear from several of Dominique Pelicot’s 50 codefendants, most of whom have been charged with aggravated rape. It would be comforting to think that there are more psychopaths and sexual deviants in that part of France than elsewhere, but it does not seem to be the case.

Clearly, Dominique Pelicot, 71, is a deranged, deceptive, and dangerous human. But most of the accused are unremarkable men with no criminal record who say they are not guilty of rape. Many have offered similar rationales for their behavior: they didn’t think it was nonconsensual. They thought they had license to have sex with Mrs. Pelicot, because they had permission from Mr. Pelicot.

One of the defendants, a 43-year-old carpenter, who went to the Pelicots’ home in October 2019 and again in January 2020, told the judges that after Dominique Pelicot told him Gisèle, now 72, was a consenting partner in a sex game, he hadn’t given the matter of her willingness much more consideration. He was “at a couple’s home, invited by the husband,” he said. “Now that I am being told how the events unfolded, yes the acts I committed would amount to rape,” he added, but still claimed he was innocent of the charge.

Another man, a 37-year-old unemployed agricultural laborer, who is accused of raping Gisèle Pelicot on New Year’s Eve in 2018, asserted he didn’t intend to rape her. “As the husband had given me permission, in my mind she agreed to it,” he said. A 40-year-old computer expert with two university degrees had a similar excuse for his alleged crime in June 2020. “I did not go there with the aim of committing a crime,” he said. “I had absolutely no idea that Mrs. Pelicot was not consenting.”

If we take these men at their word—and there are certainly reasons not to—they genuinely believed that if a husband allows someone to have sex with his wife, then his wife is available for sex. Given that Dominique Pelicot fooled many people, including his relatives, who have said they had always thought theirs was a happy family, it’s plausible that the men thought they were dealing with a normal spouse who had an unusual kink. But, and here’s the rub, that means they also thought that husbands can grant access to their wives’ bodies. In France. In 2023.

What does it say about society that men still accord husbands this kind of authority? If it were a woman’s brother or father or cousin, would the men still have proceeded? Unlikely. They’d have called the police. If the shoe were on the other foot, and a wife invited women to commit a lesser violation, such as stealing a husband’s car and taking it for a joyride while he slept in the backseat, claiming that her spouse enjoyed the adventure of waking up in a strange place, would the women have gone ahead without checking in with the husband first? OK, maybe some, but 50? 

So sturdy is the reputation of husbands as protectors of wives and families that these men can claim they were fooled into raping Gisèle Pelicot, who has been at court observing their testimony during much of the proceedings and has testified. Many of the accused brought wives, girlfriends, sisters, and mothers to the court to attest to their character, to explain that these men were not real rapists, though their support is somewhat undercut by the fact that the men came in contact with Dominique via an online forum called “à son insu,” which means “without her knowledge.” Gisèle Pelicot, who has since divorced Dominique, addressed those women during her testimony on Oct. 23. She noted that she didn’t used to think her husband was a rapist either. “A rapist is not just someone you meet in a dark car park late at night,” she said. “He can also be found in the family, among friends.”

At least one of the defendants has argued that he was told Gisèle was pretending to be asleep because she was shy. Some claimed they had been manipulated by Dominique once they got to the home or suspected he had drugged them. Two said they were gay and had been hoping to sleep with Dominique. And a depressingly large number of them said they were sexually abused as minors. Nevertheless, “her husband said I could” has been a common theme in their testimonies, probably because their lawyers see it as the strongest legal defense they have. It is perhaps this, even as much as the psychopathic behavior of Dominique Pelicot, that is sending a chill down many women’s spines. This recognition of how vulnerable women are not just to husbands who have ill-intent, but to a community that holds husbands in such an exalted position that it does not question fundamentally sketchy situations if the man of the house is present.

So far, nobody has come forward to say they went to the Pelicots’ house and left in horror. Police have produced no reports from visitors who realized something was amiss and raised the alarm. Pelicot was unmasked only because he was caught photographing up women’s skirts by a security guard in 2020, and the cops found a cache of pornography on his devices, including videos of his wife in a folder marked “abuse.” There are no hero men in this story, except for those whose job it is to unearth crime. There is, of course, a hero woman: Gisèle Pelicot. If not for her determination to make this case public and her willingness to waive anonymity, it might have attracted very little attention.

Marriage has been a foundational institution for the organizing of society and raising of young children for hundreds of years. Many reports suggest that it is now in decline, despite the robust data that a good marriage improves health and happiness. Perhaps this case adds to the list of possible reasons why. The institution has become caught between two very different societal expectations. On the one hand, marriage is still viewed as a hierarchical power structure, with men at the head, rather than as an agreement between two equals to throw in their lot together. On the other hand, marriage no longer offers a robust assumption of monogamy, fidelity, or exclusivity. A wedding ring has less and less power as a repellent to other men’s sexual approaches. 

In other words, people hold Victorian ideals about the power in a marriage, but 1970s notions about the willingness of all people, including women, to be responsive to all sexual desires at all times, no matter the context. It is conservative and libertine at once. The combination of these two beliefs is uniquely treacherous for women, as this case has proved. When people believe that a husband calls the shots in marriage and can persuade themselves that anyone is available for sex in any situation, it leaves wide open the door for wives to be predated upon.

Women can now earn their own money. They can have children without a partner. There’s scant stigma attached to being single. Obviously, very few husbands are as diabolical as Dominique Pelicot and not all men are potential rapists, but one of marriage’s benefits for women used to be a measure of security: not just from poverty or physical attack, but from the expectations of other men. If marriage no longer makes women feel safer, maybe that’s one more reason to go it alone.

source https://time.com/7132718/gisele-pelicot-dominique-rape-trial-marriage/

What to Expect at an Annual Physical

If you already head to the doctor’s office once a year for an annual physical: good job. If you don’t, let this be your reminder to go ahead and book that appointment—and perhaps let go of some of your anxiety surrounding your check-up.

And yes, you should schedule an annual physical exam even if you feel relatively healthy. “Many of us may only visit a doctor when we are sick, but having a primary care doctor and an annual physical is important,” says Dr. Heather Viola, an assistant professor of medicine and primary care physician at Mount Sinai Doctors-Ansonia in New York City. “It’s important to establish a relationship with a physician that you trust, and this starts with yearly well visits.”

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Here’s who should schedule an annual physical, what to expect at the appointment, and how to ease anxiety leading up to your yearly exam.

Why should you get an annual physical?

One of the reasons doctors advocate so strongly for annual physicals is because they’re important for catching “silent” disease early and treating it before it leads to a bigger problem, says Dr. Erika Kalabacas, a family-medicine physician at Northwell Health Physician Partners in Greenlawn, N.Y. She can recount numerous appointments where she has caught high blood pressure, diabetes, depression, and even breast and skin cancer at early and treatable stages. 

Your annual physical is also essential as a mental-health screening tool. “Your mental health is a big part of your physical health, and this is why we have included anxiety and depression screenings into the annual,” says Kalabacas. Mental-health issues have a way of flying under the radar, Viola says, as they “may not otherwise be addressed or identified if not for the routine visit.”

Read More: The Surprising Health Benefits of Pain

Another important vital that’s measured and tracked at your annual physical exam is your weight. While Kalabacas concedes this can be a sensitive topic for many, she explains that by taking this measurement your doctor can help identify if there are any underlying causes for weight issues, such as thyroid irregularities, medications, side effects, or hormonal changes due to menopause. “Your primary care physician can discuss important diet and exercise recommendations, medications, or referrals to dietitians,” she says—stressing that since obesity is on the rise, and is the leading cause of almost all chronic diseases, it’s essential to make every effort to get ahead of it. 

Doctors caution against skipping annual physicals just because you consider yourself healthy. Viola believes these once-a-year visits—especially for young, healthy patients—are a great way to get to know your doctor better. Plus, they allow your provider to get to know you so that they can best help you stay healthy going forward, she says.  

What happens at an annual physical?

Sometimes called an “annual” or “yearly physical,” these appointments are essential for monitoring your health and taking proactive steps towards safeguarding it. During the appointment, a primary-care provider evaluates your overall health and your risk factors for chronic disease. 

The visit, which takes about 30 minutes, typically includes a blood draw, physical examination by your physician, an evaluation of your vital signs such as blood pressure and weight, and a review of your medical history and medications. Your doctor may also conduct age-appropriate screening tests for certain cancers and administer vaccines as necessary, as well as administer mental-health questionnaires—and, if necessary, provide you with resources such as therapy referrals or medications to treat anxiety or depression. You’ll also have the chance to ask your doctor any questions you may have regarding your health.

Read More: 5 Gastroenterologists on the 1 Thing You Should Do Every Day

A physical isn’t only about unearthing new problems. Rather, annual physicals are an important time to discuss preventive health: what you can do to stay healthy based on your individual risk factors and family history, says Viola. “By regularly monitoring your health, your doctor can identify and address any changes in your health and take steps to prevent chronic illnesses from developing or worsening,” she says.

“I generally recommend everyone meet with their doctor once a year for a well visit,” Viola says. “You can talk to your doctor about how often they should see you. For most adults, it’s once a year. For some younger, healthy adults, it may be less.”

How to prepare for a physical

Kalabacas and Viola share that you should do the following before your physical exam. 

• If your blood draw will happen at or after your visit, you may want to fast from eating for at least eight hours before your appointment. You’ll also want to avoid alcohol the night before to get the most accurate results, and you may be instructed to abstain from caffeine. However, it’s important to drink water and take your medications without pause, says Kalabacas. If the office doesn’t contact you in advance with specific fasting directions, check with administrative staff about the proper protocol leading up to your appointment. 
• If you are a new patient, come prepared with your health history. Viola advises bringing a list of your medical history, family history, medications, supplements, and allergies. Include any specialists you see, your last blood work result, and your vaccination record, Kalabacas says. 
• Get records from other specialists forwarded to your primary care physician’s office. “It’s also helpful to bring records from other specialists if you have them,” says Viola. These may include recent mammograms, colonoscopies, and bone density reports. “If you don’t have access to the reports, let us know at which facility you had the testing done so we can obtain the results for you,” says Kalabacas.
• Write down your key issues. “Before your appointment, prioritize your concerns and identify the things most important to you to cover so time can be used efficiently,” suggests Viola.  “Tell your doctor your concerns at the beginning of the appointment to ensure they know what is most important to you.” 
• Get familiar with your family history. Your provider will ask you questions about your family history of medical conditions, says Kalabacas. “So if you are a younger patient, knowing your mom’s, dad’s, and grandparents’ medical conditions is important to help evaluate your genetic risks,” says Kalabacas. Doctors use this info o best determine next steps.  
• Find out if there are any special instructions to follow. If you are a male over age 50, for instance, it is recommended to refrain from sexual intercourse or masturbation for 24 hours before prostate blood testing, which can sometimes happen at a physical, says Kalabacas.
• Write notes down during your visit, advises Viola. “This can help you keep track of your doctor’s recommendations so that you can refer to them later,” she says.
• Arrive early. Doing so will allow some time to sit quietly for a few moments to help you relax, says Viola.

After your exam, what’s next?

Before you even leave the office, there are some steps you can take to make the most of your visit. At the conclusion of your appointment, Viola always recommends asking for a recap of the visit if one hasn’t been provided. “Ask the doctor to repeat the instructions you’re supposed to follow, and ensure that you are on the same page,” she says.

Often, people won’t ask questions when their doctor is right in front of them, she says. Instead of this missed opportunity, advocate for yourself and don’t be afraid to make inquiries, says Viola. “If you are concerned or confused about a diagnosis or proposed treatment, always ask your provider to explain why they are choosing this path,” she says.

Read More: 9 Things You Should Do for Your Brain Health Every Day, According to Neurologists

One last thing to do before you wrap up your physical is to ask for a referral if needed. “If you would like to see a specialist, ask your provider who they recommend. It can be really helpful to see a specialist that your primary care physician works closely with and can improve coordination of your care,” says Viola.

Once the appointment is over, ask the front desk staff what the best way to contact your provider is if you have any follow-up questions. Many doctors use an electronic health system where they share blood work results via the patient portal. 

The timeline for receiving your lab results and having your doctor review them may be a few days to a few weeks. “Most doctors will call or write you a message within a few days with their recommendations,” says Viola. “Ask your doctor what to expect in regard to your results: ‘Should I expect a phone call to review?’ ‘Will you write to me through the patient portal?’”

What to do if you’re anxious about your physical

If you’re feeling anxious or nervous leading up to your exam, you’re not alone. Both Viola and Kalabacas share that it’s common to be nervous about visiting your doctor, especially a new one. “But remember, they are here to help you,” says Viola.

To quell nerves, Kalabacas says having a list of questions to “direct the appointment towards your needs,” bringing a friend or family member for support, and choosing a primary care physician that you are comfortable with can all help. (To that last point, Kalabacas says some of the best referrals for primary care providers come from loved ones; Zocdoc is another great option to find a local physician that accepts your insurance.)  

“The most important thing is to show up. We know it’s hard, and we do our best to make you feel comfortable,” says Kalabacas. “We are here to educate and guide you; you ultimately make the decisions.”

The goal is to become more proactive about your health instead of reactive. “You should feel empowered by knowing more about your health, because then you can control your health outcome,” Kalabacas says.

source https://time.com/7098720/annual-physical-what-to-expect-doctors-appointment/

We Had Martha Stewart Wrong All Along

Long before Instagram and TikTok existed as places for us to stoke our insecurities, there was Martha Stewart. Martha, circa 1995, smiling from the pages of her namesake magazine as she put the finishing touches on a Versailles-worthy pastel cake. Martha, again in the mid-1990s, ably demonstrating the only proper way to prune an unruly tree. Martha, in early 2004, the picture of quiet luxury in her downy, twig-colored woolens as she strode into the Manhattan federal courthouse during her trial on nine criminal counts associated with the ImClone insider-trading scandal. You could love her, you could hate her, you could love to hate her or vice versa. Her mission, it seemed, was twofold: to teach you how to do seemingly unachievable things around the home, and to make you feel inadequate.

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But if Martha Stewart gave many of us our first taste of feeling terrifically ill-suited to any domestic task or even just to basic living, she also inadvertently reminded us that when it comes to nurturing self-confidence, we’re our own worst enemies. Her confidence and drive for perfection made us feel bad; we decided our hurt feelings were her fault. But now—when our social media feeds are filled with beautiful people doing remarkable things that most of us will never be able to pull off, or afford—it’s time to reconsider the rise, fall, and rise of Martha Stewart. The degree to which she both inspired and angered so many of us is still something to reckon with. As Eleanor Roosevelt said, “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.”

If you still need convincing that Martha Stewart is a human being much like the rest of us—albeit one who can cook a turkey inside a puff pastry without once bursting into tears—R.J. Cutler’s documentary Martha, streaming on Netflix, should do the trick. Stewart has done some remarkable things: She worked as a teenage model. She was a stockbroker in the late 1960s, a rarity for a woman at the time. She launched a successful catering business in 1973. That spurred the release of her first cookbook, 1982’s Entertaining, which led to television appearances and more books. By the late 1990s, she had built herself into a juggernaut of a brand; she was the first woman in the United States to become a self-made billionaire.

But her background was hardly privileged. Martha introduces us to young, fresh-faced Martha Kostyra, one of a family of six kids growing up in Nutley, N.J., in the 1940s and ’50s. Her mother taught her about home-making; her perfectionist father passed his love of gardening on to her. Stewart acknowledges she was her father’s favorite; like him, she was a stickler for details. But her childhood and youth weren’t easy. The family was often broke, so Stewart needed that modeling money: the $15 per hour it brought in made a world of difference. After graduating from high school, she enrolled at Barnard and began dating Andy Stewart, the brother of a fellow student. The two married in 1961. They had a daughter, Alexis, and eventually bought and restored an old farmhouse in Westport, Conn. The property became both proof of Stewart’s homemaking-skills-in-overdrive and an inspiration to millions of others who hoped to work the same magic in their own homes.

But the marriage fell apart, and even Martha Stewart—poised, sometimes, to the point of frostiness—has a heart to break. Perfectionists are also often idealists; dashed expectations can crush them. “I always said I was a swan,” she says on camera, noting that swans are monogamous. “I thought monogamy was admirable … but it turned out it didn’t save the marriage.” She pauses. Her expression shifts from wistfulness to something more resolute before she says, “Can we get on to a happier subject?”

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But then, Stewart—not as perfect as we may have thought—also admits on camera to having had an adulterous affair herself, though she notes that it was fleeting. As a documentarian, Cutler knows how to nudge his subjects into being perhaps a little more revealing than they’d like. His superb 2009 documentary The September Issue pulled back the curtain on the inner workings of Vogue magazine, as orchestrated by the indomitable Anna Wintour. Stewart is an even better subject for Cutler, because she, unlike Wintour, fell from a very high perch—and not only recovered but also managed to transform into a better version of her old self. In 2005, Stewart was sentenced to five months in prison, for lying to the FBI when she was questioned about her involvement in the ImClone case. Her early days at West Virginia’s Alderson Federal Prison Camp were bleak. Her compatriots found her aloof, and some wanted to hurt her. She spent a day in solitary confinement for inadvertently touching a prison officer. The food was the opposite of fresh. Her boyfriend at the time, software billionaire Charles Simonyi, visited her only once. (Not long after her release, he abruptly dropped her.) “I feel very inconsequential today,” she wrote in her journal, in the early days of her incarceration. “As if no one would miss me if I never came back to reality.”

There’s probably someone out there who delights in knowing that the always perfect Martha Stewart ever felt this low. But would you really want to meet that person? In the 1980s and ’90s, Stewart was an easy target for mass derision and mockery, on Saturday Night Live and everywhere else. And in some ways, she invited it: she really did come off as smug. But no one in her 80s is the same person she was in her 20s, 50s, or 60s. And not even Martha Stewart is still the Martha Stewart we knew from her earlier books, magazines, and television shows. In Martha, she appears on camera in a silky black blouse trimmed with a simple neckband of tiny, discreetly sparkly stones. Her fair, dewy skin looks better than just “young.” Rather, it’s ageless in a suitably age-appropriate way. This is also a woman who graced the cover of Sports Illustrated’s swimsuit issue at age 81, wearing only a simple white bathing suit and a drape made of apricot taffeta. Her smile is both daring and darling, as if she’s harboring a valuable secret gleaned from years of experience—though she’s not giving it away for nothing.

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Cutler’s documentary, though, spills some of those secrets for her. It shows us, through re-enactments rendered in drawings, how Stewart made the most of her time in prison. She gave talks, advising the other women on how they might start their own businesses after their release. She cleaned bathrooms. She made sure she learned something new every day. And when her sentence was complete, she stepped back into the world wearing a swingy-chic poncho that a friend and fellow inmate had hand-crocheted for her. DIY devotees grabbed their hooks and eagerly made their own versions.

That poncho was a symbol of something Stewart had always stood for, even though many had over the years misread—and even been angered by—her message. Stewart believed in the democracy, and the pleasure, of the “domestic arts,” historically the province of women. She wanted us to know that those skills, long considered inferior to manly pursuits, had value. You could learn to crochet. You could use gold leaf to make an Easter egg worthy of a king. You could assemble a bunch of garden flowers in an earthenware vase and make it look like a million bucks. Your results might not be as perfect as Martha’s, and she probably knew that as well as you did. But maybe setting the bar high was a sign of respect for her audience, rather than condescension. Really, she just wanted you to try.

The subtext of Martha is that Stewart has been punished enough. She’s earned her day in the sun. And sure enough, today, almost everyone loves her. Her Instagram account—complete with “thirst trap” selfies and photos taken with one of her besties, Snoop Dogg—is a delight. Her 100th cookbook will be published this month. And maybe now those of us who once snickered at her dogged pursuit of perfection, or delighted in hearing that she wasn’t a particularly nice person—I confess I used to be one of them—can see that we were participating in an insidious form of misogyny. As her son-in-law, lawyer John Cuti, puts it in Martha, “She was a tough boss, but some of the behavior that she would be taken to task for would be applauded if a man did it in the business world. That’s a cliché at this point, but it doesn’t mean it wasn’t true.”

We also see vintage 1990s footage of Owen J. Lipstein, the editor in chief of the ever sardonic Spy magazine, making this lofty pronouncement: “The more you know about this woman, the less you like her.” Being liked: it’s what every woman wants. Right? Yet maybe Stewart—particularly the younger, bolder, world-conquering Stewart, who asked for everything she wanted even as men in power tried to block her—didn’t care so much. And today, the more we know about this woman, the more we like her. She no longer makes us feel bad about ourselves. Because after all, it has always been our job, not hers, to guard our self-worth. And if, along the way, we learned something about how to make exceptionally lifelike fondant butterflies, daisies, or forget-me-nots? That was just the icing on the cake.

source https://time.com/7097438/martha-stewart-netflix-documentary/

We Must Restore Nature to Keep Our Planet Habitable For Future Generations

“As the planet heats up, we are facing growing problems of either too much or too little water.” That was the warning from Celeste Saulo, Secretary General of the World Meteorological Organization, this month. From major rivers like the Ganges, Amazon, Mekong, and Mississippi dropping to historically low levels, to the U.S., Mexico, and much of Europe being repeatedly hit by catastrophic storms and flooding, the world is facing unprecedented climate extremes. Either way—too wet or too dry—we all feel the consequences of this environmental degradation. As U.N. Secretary General António Guterres once put it: “Humanity is waging a war on nature. This is senseless and suicidal.”

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The urgency of this moment cannot be overstated. We have no choice but to act now or face even worse devastation. In addition to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, we must restore nature and the health of our land if we want to keep our planet inhabitable for future generations. This work cannot be done by individual nations alone; it requires a coordinated global effort to meet these existential threats.  

The root cause of nature and biodiversity loss lies in how we use land. And agriculture is one of the main drivers. Over 70% of ice-free land on earth has been altered by human activity, primarily for food production. As we continue to convert wildlands to agriculture, we degrade ecosystems, pushing countless species to the brink of extinction and devastating livelihoods for local and Indigenous communities. Unsustainable agricultural practices further exacerbate biodiversity loss and the decline of ecosystems that provide the basics for sustaining life like clean air and water, and fertile soils. But we can produce healthy and nutritious food in a sustainable way by managing and restoring our productive lands. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has put it quite simply, saying in a speech at the World Economic Forum earlier this year, “without good soil, crops fail, prices rise, people go hungry.”

There are important global meetings this fall—known as Conferences of the Parties (COP)—which will provide global leaders critical opportunities to unite around the important cause of bringing our earth’s systems back into balance—and find the funding to do it. In November, the COP climate conference in Azerbaijan will focus on financing for climate mitigation and adaptation. Meanwhile, the Biodiversity COP currently underway in Colombia centers on halting the loss of nature and finding financing to achieve the ambitious global goal of conserving 30% of the planet by 2030.  

A third key event, the Conference of the Parties to the U.N. Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), will spotlight the restoration of degraded lands and the need of building drought resilience working with communities, companies and citizens in rural and urban landscapes around the globe. The UNCCD is a critical global voice for conserving and restoring land, and one of the three major U.N. treaties known as the Rio Conventions, alongside climate and biodiversity. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is leading the way to make this UNCCD COP16 in Riyadh “a moonshot moment to raise global ambition and accelerate action on land and drought resilience through a people-centered approach.” 

The benefits of restoring degraded lands are vast. Roughly $44 trillion of economic output—more than half of global GDP—depends on functioning natural systems. Restoring land is not just an environmental issue; it is key to addressing global challenges such as food and water insecurity, human migration, and poverty. As UNCCD Executive Secretary Ibrahim Thiaw emphasized: “By restoring land, we restore life, restore our economies, restore our communities, and so much more. We cannot stop the climate crisis today, biodiversity loss tomorrow, and land degradation the day after. We need to tackle all these issues together.” As former environmental ministers from countries across the globe—North and South, developed and developing—and part of the Nature Now Commission, we could not agree more. The time to act for nature and healthy land, and the people who depend on it, is now.

Andrea Meza is Deputy Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification.

The Nature Now Commission is an informal collaboration of former government officials and international leaders from across the world who support the ambitious implementation of the three Rio Conventions and advocate collectively and individually for global actions that safeguard the well-being of people and planet. Current members include: Andrea Meza, Cynthia Barzuna, Carlos Correa, Alfredo Giron, Zac Goldsmith, Gustavo Manrique Miranda, Monica Medina, and Mohamed Nasheed.

source https://time.com/7130427/restore-nature-to-keep-our-planet-habitable/

In Texas, Colin Allred Targets Ted Cruz’s Weak Spots: Cancun and Jan. 6

This article is part of The D.C. Brief, TIME’s politics newsletter. Sign up here to get stories like this sent to your inbox.

Colin Allred has the packed soccer stadium hanging on his every word.

It’s a Friday night under the lights here in Houston and the high-energy crowd is taking a break from what feels like a giant block party to hear from a string of health care providers, families who availed themselves of those doctors and nurses for abortions. Soon, Willie Nelson, Beyonce, and Kamala Harris (technically the headliner) will have turns on the stage. But for those 10 minutes the stadium is focused on Allred, a former NFL linebacker-turned-U.S. House member vying to unseat Sen. Ted Cruz, and it is like watching a rock star at his peak—because this might be the zenith for Allred’s political career.

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“Everything is bigger in Texas. But Ted Cruz is too small for Texas,” Allred says to deafening cheers.

That talent, right here, is why Democrats have found hope that maybe they might deny Cruz a third term next week. To be clear, Texas is a stretch for the party. Texans haven’t elected a Democrat to a statewide office in 30 years. But Allred, a third-term House member from Dallas, has lapped Cruz in fundraising and has captured the excitement of both Texas Democrats and outside groups at a clip unthinkable even six months ago. The FiveThirtyEight polling average puts Cruz ahead by just three points, within the margin of error—but not a single projection from the quants there has ever shown Allred ahead. 

Nonetheless, Republicans are clearly nervous about Texas. In a sign of how seriously they’re taking Allred’s prospects, Trump routed his plane to Austin on Friday, the same day Harris picked up Beyoncé’s public support. There was a hat-in-hand Cruz, grinning through gritted teeth aside a man who once baselessly accused Cruz’s father of playing a role in the John F. Kennedy assassination and disparaged his wife’s appearance.

“I couldn’t ask for a better summation of this campaign than Allred and Harris arm-in-arm at the same time that President Trump and I are standing together,” Cruz said at that private airfield. “That’s the clear choice Texans have, that’s the clear choice Americans have.”

Along with Trump’s coattails, Cruz is also counting on strong support from the rural parts of Texas that remain deep red and are more comfortable than the state’s fast-growing urban areas with the severe restrictions on abortion that the Harris campaign and Beyoncé held the rally to highlight. On top of that, Cruz’s allies are running an ad saying that Allred wants to let transgender student athletes compete in girls’ sports, giving them an unfair advantage. (Fact-checkers have debunked this, an Oregon school district has asked Cruz to stop running the ads that feature cisgender student athletes there, and Allred is running his own ad distancing himself from the accusations.) Cruz himself is also cruising around the state like he’s running his first campaign, although he certainly wishes he could have that blank slate again.

Since he arrived in the Senate after the 2012 elections coasting on a 16-point victory, Cruz has been something of his own creature in the Upper Chamber. A proud irritant to Republican Leader Mitch McConnell and the national party, he’s made some missteps that misread the modern GOP. His 2016 bid for the White House left him as the last person standing between Trump and his first presidential nomination. His initial refusal to bend the knee—even trying for a last-minute coup at the Republican convention in Cleveland with a protest speech from the stage—put him in the MAGA column for disloyalty. (He endorsed Trump a few weeks later.)

Cruz eventually was among those who indulged Trump’s false claims that the 2020 election was stolen. That campaign culminated on Jan. 6, 2021, when a mob stormed the Capitol.

“I know many of y’all probably know where you were on January 6th. I know where I was. I was on the House floor doing my job,” Allred said. “I texted my wife, Aly, who was seven months pregnant with our son, Cameron: ‘Whatever happens, I love you.’ Because when you are the only former NFL linebacker in the room and there’s a mob at the door, everybody’s like, Whatcha’ gonna’ do, Colin?”

After telling the rapt audience that he took off his suit jacket and let the muscle memory come into play should the barricaded doors break, Allred delivered the blow: “Ted Cruz was hiding in a supply closet. That’s OK, that’s OK. I don’t want him to get hurt by the mob. The point is, there shouldn’t have been a mob.”

Then, there is Cancun, Cruz’s ultimate misstep. When a freak winter storm left millions of Texans without utilities for days and killed scores of people, Cruz and his family booked tickets to Mexico. It was a move that has not faded in many Texans’ minds, and Allred knows it.

“Can you imagine having the privilege and the responsibility of representing our great state and a crisis hits our state, you think I need to go check out the Ritz Carlton in Cancun? You wouldn’t do it. If you did and you ran for office again, you’re going to lose your job.” Allred said at the campaign rally, drawing chants of “Lose Your Job” from the crowd.

Not that the crowd needed much reminding. 

“There are enough people who are tired of Cancun Cruz,” says Michael Juge, a 51-year-old intelligence analyst for the government. Juge, who calls Houston home, cited Cruz’s sojourn southward even before Allred appeared on stage and points to the slow gains Democrats have made in Texas in recent cycles. “The major metro cities are not like the rest of the state,” he says, standing along the security fencing at that Friday evening Harris-Beyoncé-Allred party.

Or, as 44-year-old realtor Monica Vega, sporting a camouflage Harris-Walz hat, only half-joked: “We aren’t all riding horses. We all don’t all live in the sticks.”

Still, this is Texas. 

“I’m optimistic about Colin Allred. His chances are legit,” Juge says. “If he can win this, that makes Texas the swing state for 2028.”

Many were making similar predictions six years ago when Beto O’Rourke caught fire, only for him to lose to Cruz by three points. Allred has tapped into that same anti-Cruz sentiment well enough to raise the kind of money to run a competitive race. In Texas, in particular, that’s no small feat.

“We’re three times the size of Michigan, OK? We have more people in this city than all of Arizona, right?” Allred tells me the morning after his rally. “This is an incredibly expensive state. I don’t think folks understand the scale of Texas.” 

This Saturday morning, we are in an office complex not far from Rice University. About three dozen volunteers have synced up in the lobby to hear from Allred and Houston-based Rep. Lizzie Fletcher, whose office is the launching point for these local activists to go knock on doors for the next two hours. Their targets are mostly people who they believe would vote for Democrats if they just showed up to vote so they’re getting a little nudge from their neighbors to do their part in a state that is perpetually a white whale for liberals.

“There’s been this assumption that someday it’s going to happen, but it takes work,” Fletcher tells me standing on the sidewalk outside of her outpost here. Yet you can’t help but shake the feeling that this has been the case for a very long time. “That’s what you’re seeing with Colin Allred. He’s been working very hard and he’s been doing all the things he needs to do to win. And so it’s our job to make sure that we are supporting him and that we’re getting out.”

This operation—like ones before it in Texas—is all very impressive, both for its earnest nature and the political machinery behind it. But it also is creeping into strong headwinds. Trump is polling well ahead of Harris in the state, but Allred argues that all she really needs is voters in Texas’ urban areas to turn out in stronger numbers than they have in the past.

“We can win the election right here,” Allred tells the crowd about to hit the doors. “I’m not kidding. Not just Harris County, but the Houston metro can win this election on its own.”

It’s a heavy lift and a narrow path, yet not an impossible one. That’s why Democrats are rushing into the state and Cruz is campaigning like he’s never had to before, even if that means leaning on the MAGA movement for a buffer. And it’s why Democrats think Texas could, improbably, be the reason they hold on to the Senate.

Make sense of what matters in Washington. Sign up for the D.C. Brief newsletter.

source https://time.com/7109942/ted-cruz-polls-texas-allred/

How a Racist Joke About Puerto Rico at a Trump Rally Could Impact the Election

Comedian Tony Hinchcliffe was supposed to be one of over a dozen warm-up acts for Donald Trump’s campaign rally on Sunday in Madison Square Garden. He ended up stealing the show with a raft of racist jokes targeting Latinos, Black Americans, Jews, and Muslims that drew swift condemnation from Democrats and Republicans alike.

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But the Puerto Rican community may ultimately be the most mobilized by Hinchcliffe’s set, after he made a series of incendiary comments about the U.S. territory. He referred to Puerto Rico as “a floating island of garbage” and suggested that Latinos “love making babies,” which was met with a mix of claps and jeers.

The comments ignited a firestorm of criticism, highlighting the delicate political landscape as Puerto Rican voters play a crucial role in key battleground states like Pennsylvania. Hinchcliffe, known for his podcast “Kill Tony,” addressed the furor on social media on Sunday evening, saying that his critics “have no sense of humor” and that he “made fun of everyone.”

On Monday, the Trump campaign tried to distance itself from Hinchcliffe’s set. “The joke does not reflect the views of President Trump or the campaign,” senior advisor Danielle Alvarez said in a statement to TIME. Asked for clarity about which joke they were referring to, the campaign’s national press secretary Karoline Leavitt replied in an email, “You do know he’s a COMEDIAN, and these are JOKES, right????” The campaign later followed up with a new statement attributable to Alvarez: “These jokes do not reflect the views of President Trump or the campaign.” 

Prominent Trump allies condemned Hinchcliffe’s remarks following the rally. David Urban, a campaign strategist, labeled them “unfunny” and offensive to Puerto Rican communities. Florida Sen. Rick Scott, who relies heavily on support from Puerto Rican voters in his home state, wrote that, “It’s not funny and it’s not true. Puerto Ricans are amazing people and amazing Americans!” Florida Rep. Carlos Gimenez, a close ally of Trump, characterized the joke as “classless” and not representative of Republican values.

While Hinchcliffe and the Trump campaign have insisted that the remarks were meant as humor, some in the community feel differently. “This was not considered a joke,” says Frankie Miranda, the president and CEO of the Hispanic Federation, a Latino non-profit membership organization. “We were not in a space for jokes. This was a space to set the agenda for the future by a presidential candidate, and this is extremely damaging. We can no longer continue to stay silent when this is the tone that is set at a campaign rally a week before a presidential election.”

The timing of Hinchcliffe’s comments could not have been more poignant. Vice President Kamala Harris was in Philadelphia that same day, delivering a speech at a Puerto Rican restaurant where she outlined her plans to support the island and enhance its electrical infrastructure. Her campaign continued to seize on the comments from Trump’s rally about Puerto Rico, quickly clipping the video and posting it on social media.

Some have likened this moment to an “October surprise,” a term used to describe unexpected events that can significantly impact the election landscape just before voting begins. “Memory is hard to fade within just days of an election,” says Fernando Tormos-Aponte, a sociology professor at the University of Pittsburgh who specializes in Puerto Rican political mobilization. “With how viral this went, and the sort of WhatsApp networks and other means whereby people find out about this, folks are likely to remember this on Election Day.”

Puerto Rican superstar Bad Bunny, who recently enjoyed unprecedented success with his album “Un Verano Sin Ti,” posted a video of Harris outlining her support for Puerto Rico shortly after Hinchcliffe’s set. Although there’s no evidence linking his endorsement to the controversy, the move underscores the potential repercussions for the Trump campaign among a demographic already feeling marginalized, Miranda says.

“This reinforces what we already knew—that Puerto Rico is not a priority for Trump,” he says, noting that as President he withheld about $20 billion in hurricane relief for Puerto Rico following the devastating aftermath of Hurricane Maria in 2017. “This sets the tone, and this is definitely going to have an impact on many Puerto Ricans and other Latinos across the United States when casting their votes.”

The battle for Puerto Rican voters has been particularly pronounced in Pennsylvania, a critical battleground state that is home to the third-largest population of Puerto Ricans outside the island—around 472,213, according to 2021 census data. At least 100,000 Puerto Ricans live in the swing states of Georgia and North Carolina, and around 60,000 in Arizona and Wisconsin. Historically, Puerto Rican voters have leaned Democratic, but Trump has been making efforts to woo them, despite previous tensions.

Last month, Trump invited reggaeton star Nicky Jam to endorse him at a rally in Las Vegas where Trump mistakenly misgendered him. “Do you know Nicky?” Trump asked the crowd. “She’s hot!” (Nicky Jam initially downplayed the misstep, but later removed an Instagram post supporting Trump amid backlash from fans). Earlier, Trump touted endorsements from Puerto Rican reggaeton stars Anuel AA and Justin Quiles during a rally in Pennsylvania. “Do you know who the hell they are? Come up here, just fast, fast, fellas,” he said. “Come on ’cause I don’t know if these people know who the hell you are.”

Despite his targeted outreach efforts, many within the community remain skeptical of his intentions, largely due to his Administration’s previous actions and rhetoric surrounding Puerto Rico. The recent controversial comments at his rally could deepen this skepticism. “If my family in Puerto Rico is still suffering from blackouts today, still suffering from the delay in the recovery of Puerto Rico, it is because of the response of the Trump Administration,” Miranda says. “This is very emotional for me.”

With the Nov. 5 election in just over a week, many within the Puerto Rican community are not just processing their anger but are mobilizing in response to what they perceive as a lack of respect and acknowledgment from the Trump campaign. Sunny Hostin, host of ‘The View,’ began her popular daytime show with a message directly at Trump: “Puerto Rico is trash? We are Americans, Donald Trump,” she said. “My fellow Puerto Ricans, trash collection day is November 5, 2024. Don’t forget it.”

While that sentiment may resonate strongly within the community, it could also resonate with other racial and ethnic groups, says Tormos-Aponte. “An event like this can trigger a number of folks who also see themselves as vulnerable minorities who are starting to see a pretty distinct pattern,” he says. “First it was Haitians in Springfield, Ohio, now it’s Puerto Ricans and undocumented immigrants. I think that it could trigger a lot of mobilization on election day and some solidarity across racial and ethnic minority groups.”

With reporting by Brian Bennett / New York

source https://time.com/7113564/puerto-rico-racist-joke-trump-rally-election/

Philadelphia D.A. Says He Is Suing Elon Musk’s America PAC Over its $1 Million Giveaway

The district attorney of Philadelphia has filed a lawsuit to halt Elon Musk ‘s $1 million giveaways as part of his political organization’s effort boosting Donald Trump ‘s presidential campaign.

The suit by Democratic District Attorney Larry Krasner is the first legal action to be brought over the America PAC’s sweepstakes offering $1 million every day until Nov. 5 to a person in a battleground state who has signed a petition supporting the Constitution.

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Krasner’s office said the lawsuit, coming just over a week before Election Day, doesn’t preclude potential criminal action.

“The Philadelphia District Attorney is charged with protecting the public from public nuisances and unfair trade practices, including illegal lotteries. The DA is also charged with protecting the public from interference with the integrity of elections,” Krasner’s office said in a statement published on its website.

A spokesperson for the billionaire tech mogul’s America PAC, emailed for comment on the lawsuit and asked if the cash awards would continue, responded with a link to an X post, which showed the latest $1 million winner holding an oversized check.

Krasner’s office didn’t immediately respond to questions about the lawsuit, including whether it compels Musk to immediately stop the giveaway or whether the dispute can be resolved before Election Day.

Reflecting the state’s importance in the election, both Harris and Trump have made numerous recent visits to Pennsylvania, including Trump’s photo op at a suburban Philadelphia McDonald’sand Harris’ Sunday visit in the city that included stops at a church and a barbershop.

Musk’s giveaway requires entrants to sign a petition backing the First and Second Amendments of the Constitution and calls for them to serve as spokespeople for the organization as a condition of winning.

The awards have carried on after election law experts raised questions that it violates federal law barring anyone from paying a person to vote or register to vote. The issue, they say, is that winning the award requires contestants to be registered to vote in one of a handful of battleground states. Musk has cast the money as both a prize as well as earnings for work as a spokesperson for the group.

In his statement announcing the lawsuit, Krasner characterized the $1 million prize as a “lottery,” which would make it more heavily regulated than if it were a prize or work-related.

Brought in Pennsylvania court, Krasner’s suit doesn’t directly apply to the other swing states whose residents are eligible for the $1 million.

Musk, who founded SpaceX and Tesla and owns X, has gone all in on Trump this election, saying he thinks civilization is at stake if he loses. He is undertaking much of the get-out-the-vote effort for Trump through his super PAC, which can raise and spend unlimited sums of money. He has committed more than $70 million to the super PAC to help Trump and other Republicans win in November.

source https://time.com/7113168/philadelphia-district-attorney-to-sue-musk-1-million-giveaway/

11 Things to Say to Your Relative Whose Politics You Hate

At this point in election season, you might be as interested in voting your outspoken uncle out of the family as you are in casting your ballot for the next president of the United States. Differing political views can rip family members apart, making everyone feel like they’re walking on eggshells in the lead-up to Nov. 5.

“There’s a lot of stress that people carry knowing everybody is feeling tense about this,” says Jenna Glover, chief clinical officer with the mental health app Headspace. “Some people have actually lost relationships, and it’s important to acknowledge how that impacts our mental health.”

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With that in mind, we asked experts exactly what to say to the relative whose politics you despise in order to keep (or restore) family peace.

“I won’t be talking about politics today.”

You know what they say: Never talk about religion, politics, or money in mixed company. Setting a clear boundary is one of the most effective ways to preemptively squash disagreements, experts agree. Make your intentions clear ahead of time: Before hosting your kid’s birthday celebration or meeting up for a Halloween costume party, reach out to family members and establish some guidelines, says Bradford Stucki, a psychotherapist in Provo, Utah. “Suggest a politics-free zone for the gathering,” he advises. Emphasize that you want to keep the focus on the kids, or the festivities at hand, and ask for a commitment to avoid polarizing topics. If the conversation still ends up turning in that direction, shut it down: “OK, that’s enough of that,” or, “We’re not talking about that here today.”

Read More: How to Set Boundaries With Relatives, According to Family Therapists

“Can you tell me a story that helps me understand how you came to believe that?”

If you’re sitting at the kitchen table with a family member, and they say something opposite of what you believe politically, take a breath and summon your curiosity. Then ask them to tell you about the personal experiences that shaped their perspective. “Our most polarizing conversations are often an exchange of talking points divorced from context,” says Jill DeTemple, a professor and chair of religious studies at Southern Methodist University in Dallas and an associate with Essential Partners, a non-profit that helps people build relationships across differences.

Asking for the story behind someone’s beliefs can help us remember that our family members are complex, and that their ideas might come from a place we recognize, even if we don’t also subscribe to them. “Maybe I disagree with my uncle, deeply, about guns, but his story about his sense of accomplishment and belonging after shooting his grandfather’s rifle for the first time will help me remember how kind he was to me as a child,” she says. DeTemple recommends asking yourself: “Am I having dinner with family because I want to convince everyone to think like me, or because I want to be reminded that I’m a part of something bigger?”

“If I heard only what was on your news feed, I’m sure I’d think the same thing, but I’ve had different experiences in my life.”

This approach resonates with Nealin Parker, executive director of Common Ground USA, an organization dedicated to peace-building. She thinks of it as a gentle reminder that even the most compelling news stories “don’t apply equally to everyone’s lives.” Plus, it can be a helpful way to remind people that the most well-informed and sincerely held opinions are often grounded in lived experiences, Parker says. That can open the door to conversations centered around a desire for mutual understanding.

“What kind of compromise or solution might work for both sides?”

Make a point to seek common ground in politically charged conversations, Glover advises. One way to do that is to raise the subject of potential compromises or solutions—which will help you and Cousin Bob come together, rather than focusing on how different your views are. Talk out how you’d both tackle a problem with the economy or health care that you feel strongly about. As Glover puts it: “How do we work to come up with a solution that’s inclusive and that’s helpful for most people?” These brainstorming sessions encourage people to feel like they’re on the same team, she says—and are more productive than picking a fight.

Read More: 11 Things to Say to Persuade Someone to Vote

“Tell me more.”

It might seem counterintuitive, but Parker likes this tactic because, if you can convince someone you really want to hear their perspective, they tend to shift from ranting into talking. “It can make people reconsider their most inflammatory comments, and sometimes even make them want to hear more from you about your beliefs,” she says. So the next time your brother starts bashing your favorite candidate, ask him to tell you more about where he’s coming from—and you might be surprised at how quickly the temperature in the room lowers.

“Could I have permission to share my point of view?”

It’s OK to share your perspective with people on the opposite side of the political spectrum—but Glover likes to start the conversation by asking for permission. Doing so is a technique commonly used in counseling called elicit-provide-elicit: First, you find out what someone else’s point of view is; then, you provide your own perspective; and finally, you ask the other person for their reaction. “The other person has actively said, ‘Yes, I do want to hear,’ and it puts them in a different place of openness,” she says. “And of course, if they were to say no, then that’s good for you to know. Why waste your breath on somebody who’s not going to listen?” In the 20 years she’s been employing this strategy, however, she’s never had someone opt out of hearing what she had to say.

“I’d like to have a chance to learn from each other, because I respect you but see the world differently.”

This phrasing is effective because it lets your family members know that while you may disagree with them, you intend to ground your discussion in respect and genuinely want to better understand where they’re coming from, Parker says. It’s essential, however, to mean what you say. If you don’t want to learn something from your relatives or maintain a relationship with them, that’s fine—but in those cases, it’s usually best not to engage. If you decide to proceed, aim to talk one-on-one—privacy makes conversations more constructive—and remember that good things don’t happen overnight. “One conversation is unlikely to result in significant change,” Parker says, but it’s a start to build on over time.

“Maybe we could revisit this conversation when we’re both feeling more calm.”

If you recognize that you and your family member are both on edge—maybe your pulse is starting to spike, or your chest is getting tight—it’s time to step away. “As humans, when we feel pushed, we’re going to push back,” Glover says. That all but guarantees the conversation won’t go anywhere good. By suggesting you revisit things later, “You’re basically letting go of the balloon that’s about to pop, and saying, ‘Let’s just take a break from this.’” That way, you can ensure neither one of you says something you’ll regret later, Glover adds.

Read More: How to Survive Election Season Without Losing Your Mind

“I mean, I’ll vote for any candidate who will boost the economy, cut my taxes, and…prosecute people who remove their shoes on the airplane.”

Sometimes, humor is the best tool to diffuse heated situations. That’s why a simple comedic device called the “comic triple” can work well, says Paul Osincup, a comedian and author of The Humor Habit. The idea is to list three things: The first two should be obvious or mundane, while the third is funny or surprising. By utilizing this technique, “You’re gently redirecting the conversation to a lighter topic: pet peeves,” he says. Your family members will likely start laughing and chime in, “I know, that’s so gross!” Or, Osincup adds, they might tick off the pet peeves they’d abolish if they were president. “When everyone is in on the joke, they feel more connected,” he says. “Shared laughter is empathy in action.”

“I’ll just be glad when all of the campaign commercials are over with—they’re ridiculous!”

Here’s another way to get a smile out of your family members. Describe what a political attack ad against you (or one of them) might sound like, Osincup suggests: “Kyle says he’ll make the best VP for accounting, but he still spends $8 a day at Starbucks. Would you trust your money to Cappuccino Kyle?” “You’re poking fun at a pretty universally shared experience—disliking political commercials—and then redirecting the humor to yourself,” Osincup says. He recommends giving yourself a nickname (preferably with alliteration) and delivering your ad in a booming, dramatic voice.

“Looks like the Cowboys might beat the Eagles this year.”

If things start going downhill at one of Glover’s family gatherings, she redirects to a topic that has the same energy, but feels a lot safer: sports. It’s much more fun, after all, to fight about football teams than political parties. And remember: If your family member won’t let the election go and is determined to pick a fight, you don’t need to participate. “Some people are going to continue to create an environment that’s not going to be healthy, and it’s going to impair your judgment,” she says. “Take control over what you can, and recognize that sometimes, there’s nothing you can do other than remove yourself from the situation.”

source https://time.com/7027412/what-to-say-family-political-voting-disagreement/

Across Pennsylvania, Musk Deploys His Fame and Fortune For Trump

It’s become something of a trademark. When Elon Musk strutted onstage Saturday night for a town hall supporting Donald Trump, he waited a moment to bask in the crowd’s applause before jumping like a child, extending his arms in the air and his T-shirt above his waistline. To this, he received another thundering ovation. 

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For the hundreds gathered in the Lancaster, Pa., hotel ballroom, Musk’s leap had become a symbol of his MAGA metamorphosis. It practically broke the internet earlier this month when he frolicked around the stage at Trump’s rally in Butler, Pa, the site of an assassination attempt against him months earlier. Since then, Musk has only elevated his efforts to return Trump to the White House: pouring more than $100 million into his new PAC to boost the former President in the battleground of Pennsylvania and barnstorming the commonwealth for freewheeling question-and-answer sessions to turn out Trump enthusiasts.

On a stage festooned with a giant American flag and signs that said “Vote Early,” Musk meandered for nearly two hours on a range of curiosities mixed with right-wing talking points. The billionaire waxed poetic on his ambition to colonize other planets: “The future of civilization could depend on creating a self-sustaining city on Mars.” He spread the baseless conspiracy theory that elites are directing undocumented immigrants into swing states to vote for Democrats, calling it a “massive importation” operation. He characterized Kamala Harris as beholden to the ruling class—which was why, he said, she hasn’t been the target of a shooting like Trump. If Harris were removed from the race, he suggested, an amorphous cabal would “just replace her with another puppet.” (Authorities have found no clear political motives in Trump’s would-be assassins.) The most striking moment of the night was when someone asked why voters shouldn’t fear that a second Trump term would result in democratic backsliding. Musk’s response? He denied that Jan. 6, 2021, when a pro-Trump mob stormed the U.S. Capitol to block the peaceful transfer of power, was an assault on American democracy. “Jan. 6 was in no way a violent insurrection,” he said.  

The spectacle exhibited Musk’s singular role in the 2024 election: The world’s richest man, who owns one of the world’s most powerful communications platforms, deploying his vast fortune and influence to promote a presidential candidate. Trump has vowed to put Musk in charge of a “government efficiency commission” that would oversee the agencies that regulate his companies such as SpaceX, Tesla, Neuralink, and X, formerly known as Twitter. But when addressing the Lancaster crowd, Musk portrayed Trump’s candidacy as a final bulwark to thwart irreversible national decline: “We are at a fork in the road of destiny.”

Musk’s detractors say he represents a dangerous marriage of economic and political power. “He is abusing power in a way we’ve never really seen,” says Lisa Gilbert, president of the government watchdog Public Citizen. The group filed a complaint last week against Musk with the Federal Election Commission over his plan to give $1 million a day to a randomly chosen registered voter in a swing state who signs a petition in support of free speech and gun rights. The Department of Justice has also reportedly warned Musk that the scheme could violate federal law if it amounts to a monetary incentive to register to vote. When one of the attendees in Lancaster asked Musk why he hadn’t yet announced a winner on X that day, he brought onstage a large check written to a woman sitting in the audience. “You don’t have to vote,” he told her. “It would be nice if you voted, but you don’t have to.”

The checks are far from the only concern critics are raising about Musk in the election’s final days. “We’ve been most worried about the misinformation and disinformation that could happen both in the lead up and aftermath of the election when people question the results,” Gilbert says. “Musk has positioned himself to be the number one bad actor.”

For now, Musk is camping out in Pennsylvania, where the two candidates are stuck in a dead heat. Trump holds less than a half percentage point lead in the current 538 average of state polls. Yet even a small margin of victory here could reverberate far beyond the nation’s fifth most-populated state. “If we win Pennsylvania, we win the whole thing,” Trump said at a rally last month. “It’s very simple.” 

To that end, an allied network of pro-Trump organizations has systematically sought to tip the state in their column. Four years ago, Biden won Pennsylvania by 80,555-votes, propelling him to the White House. Republicans have since funneled millions into the state for targeted voter registration and mobilization drives. In March 2021, registered Democrats outnumbered registered Republicans in Pennsylvania by 630,000. As of this month, that lead has been reduced to roughly 300,000. Musk has buoyed that effort with his political action committee, America PAC, which he has given at least $118 million in donations since July.

Read more: Democrats Lose Ground in Swing States

In Lancaster, many of those who came to see Musk said they were drawn to him because of his self-styled free-speech evangelism. “If you don’t have free speech, you don’t have freedom of thought,” says Betsy Stecz, a marketing specialist from Mount Joy wearing a Philadelphia Eagles sweatshirt. In a long line outside before the event, Stecz says she follows Musk on X and thinks his broadsides against the “woke mind virus” and his backing of the former President has helped to unleash what was previously a silent majority. “You have people finally feeling like, Okay, I can hold my head up and say: I’m not ashamed to vote for Donald Trump.” 

For Chris Hill, who runs operations for a commercial bathroom remodeling firm in nearby Mechanicsburg, Musk is taking a stand against cosmopolitan elites who want to censor his language and suppress his political views. “That is really what resonates with me the most,” says Hill, donning a red MAGA hat and a Tesla sweatshirt. “I’m a strong advocate of communication.” 

Throughout Musk’s two hours on stage, he captured a mix of hard-right grievances, such as immigration (despite reports that, early in his career,  he worked in the U.S. illegally as an immigrant) and declining birth rates. “If masculinity is toxic,” he asked, “how come the people who are so messed up don’t have dads?” Garnering one of the loudest applauses of the night, he excoriated critics who say that Trump, given power once again, would govern as an authoritarian. “Those who say Trump is a threat to democracy,” he said, “are the threat to democracy.” 

Many of people there expressed admiration for his entrepreneurial triumphs. But Musk was not there to talk about his career trajectory. He was there to get Trump over the finish line. Midway through the town hall, someone walked up to the microphone and asked him for the “most useful” and “most powerful” piece of advice he’s ever received. After a long pause, he chuckled. “Vote Republican.”

source https://time.com/7099161/elon-musk-donald-trump/

Vance Calls Russia an American Adversary But Won’t Label Moscow an Enemy

WILMINGTON, Del. — Republican vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance says Russia is a U.S. adversary but suggests it’s counterproductive to approach Moscow as an enemy.

The Ohio senator also said Donald Trump is committed to NATO, the transatlantic military alliance seen as the bulwark preventing further Russian aggression in Europe, although the former president has pledged to “finish the process we began under my administration of fundamentally reevaluating NATO’s purpose and NATO’s mission.”

[time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”]

Vance, in a series of television interviews that aired Sunday, nine days before the election, made clear that Trump, if back in the White House, would press European members to spend more on defense and that their administration would work to quickly wind down Moscow’s war in Ukraine that began in February 2022 when Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered troops across the border.

“We’re not in a war with him, and I don’t want to be in a war with Vladimir Putin’s Russia,” Vance said when pressed during an interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press” on whether Russia is an enemy. Vance said “we have to be careful about the language that we use in international diplomacy. We can recognize, obviously, that we have adversarial interests with Russia.”

U.S. officials this past week confirmed that North Korea has sent 3,000 troops to Russia for training before potentially being deployed in Ukraine. U.S. officials say Russia has ramped up a disinformation campaign aimed at sowing distrust in the results in U.S. election on Nov. 5.

Officials on Friday confirmed Moscow’s role in creating a video that appears to show the destruction of mail ballots in Pennsylvania, in what was the latest effort linked to Russia on spreading false information on social media.

Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris has argued that Trump is too cozy with Putin and that Trump’s return to the White House would be calamitous for Ukraine and America’s European allies.

Vance was circumspect about supporting further sanctions against Russia, saying the Biden administration’s use of the tool for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has been as effective as a “wet firecracker.”

“I don’t think that we should overreact to anything. What we should do is encourage our fellow Americans to be careful,” Vance told CBS’ “Face the Nation.” “Don’t trust everything that you see on social media. And of course, we should push back where appropriate. But that’s the big question is, what is an appropriate response to a country making social media videos? I’m not going to make a commitment to that sitting right here.”

Trump has boasted of having had an effective relationship with Putin when Trump was in office. The former president has praised the Russian leader, suggested cutting U.S. money for Ukraine and repeatedly criticized NATO.

The former president has said he would not defend NATO members that failed to meet defense spending targets, and warned he would “encourage” Russia “to do whatever the hell they want” to alliance countries that he considered “delinquent.”

Vance underscored that a Trump administration would continue to support NATO but that it would lean on Europe to increase defense spending.

NATO announced in June that a record 23 of the 32 member nations were reaching the alliance’s defense spending target, 2% of GDP, this year. That’s a nearly fourfold increase from 2021, when only six nations were meeting the goal.

“Of course, we’re going to honor our NATO commitments,” Vance said. “But I think it’s important … that we recognize that NATO is not just a welfare client. It should be a real alliance.”

Former Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, a prominent Republican critic of Trump who has endorsed Harris, said Trump’s approach to Putin demonstrates “a total lack of understanding of the importance of our allies in keeping the peace.

Trump “talks about our allies as though he were a mafia boss,” Cheney said on CNN’s State of the Union. “He seems to completely fail to understand that, in order to keep peace, we have to have allies with us.”

In the wide-ranging interviews, which included with CNN, Vance also played down recent comments by Trump about ending the federal income tax.

Trump said in a Fox News appearance last week “there is a way, if what I’m planning comes out” to do away with it. He told podcaster Joe Rogan on Friday that he was serious about replacing revenue the income tax by raising tariffs.

Trump has pledged to also end taxes on tips, Social Security and overtime pay if elected.

“He’s talking aspirationally about something that he himself thinks is less of a focus than cutting taxes on tips,” Vance said of Trump’s call to eliminate the federal income tax.

source https://time.com/7099157/vance-calls-russia-american-adversary-but-wont-label-as-enemy/