Oct. 25, 2024 "'We must mobilize': Harris rallies with Beyoncé and Willie Nelson in Texas": Today I found this article by Natasha Korecki on NBC:
HOUSTON — In a star-studded evening before an electrified crowd of tens of thousands of supporters, Vice President Kamala Harris on Friday implored women and men to cast their ballots on Nov. 5 in defense of their freedoms and as a rejection to former President Donald Trump’s policies.
“Texas, what we’re experiencing here is a health care crisis, and Donald Trump is the architect of it,” Harris said.
“We know freedom is not to be given.
It is not to be bestowed.
It is ours by right, and we are prepared to fight for it,”
she added.
“We must be loud.
We must organize.
We must mobilize.
We must energize.”
The largest event that Harris has held during her abbreviated run for president featured cameos from Houston native Beyoncè Knowles-Carter and Texas legend Willie Nelson.
Beyoncé sent the stadium into a frenzy when she took the stage with Kelly Rowland, who was in the group Destiny's Child with her. The superstar, whose song “Freedom” has served as an anthem to Harris’ campaign, did not perform. She said she there not as an entertainer or a politician but as a mother.
“Imagine our daughters growing up,
seeing what’s possible,
with no ceilings,
no limitations,”
she said, adding that she wanted a world where
“my children and all of our children,
we have the freedom to control our bodies,
a world where we’re not divided.”
“It’s time for America to sing a new song. Our voices sing a chorus of unity. They sing a song of dignity and opportunity. Are y’all ready to add your voice to the new American song?” she said to cheers before introducing Harris to the stage.
With just 11 days left in the race and Democrats and Republicans competing to break through to voters, Harris’ team saw the Friday rally as a way to capture the attention of voters across the country.
At the same time, the vice president used the event to underscore what she said is the serious choice for Americans at the ballot box, and that included sending former President Donald Trump a message for pushing through Supreme Court justices who overturned Roe v. Wade.
Choosing the red state of Texas as the stage for the event was meant to highlight that it has some of the most stringent laws restricting abortion in the nation.
The evening was partly somber, focusing heavily on the subject of reproductive rights and first-person stories about how restrictive laws nearly caused women’s deaths — or had caused them.
At one point taking the stage was a large group of doctors wearing white medical coats who said they were on the front lines of reproductive care.
They said women’s health was at stake and urged the crowd to vote. In between speakers, clips were played of Trump taking credit for the fall of Roe, which elicited boos.
Harris’ team believes that the focus on reproductive rights also speaks to men, citing a campaign ad that tested well with men.
On Friday, Harris specifically called out men, saying they didn’t want to see their daughters or wives’ lives put at risk because of limited health care choices.
“I see the men here and I thank you!” Harris said. “The men of America don’t want this.”
Harris at one point noted that Trump has refused to disclose his medical records
but some places like Texas, after Roe was overturned, wanted to enact requirements that women must report if they have an abortion or miscarriage.
“Simply put, they are out of their minds!” Harris said.
Part of the night was meant to shine a light on Democratic Rep. Colin Allred, who is in a tight race against Republican Sen. Ted Cruz.
Chants of “Beat Ted Cruz! Beat Ted Cruz!” erupted after the congressman asked the crowd for their vote.
“Everything is big in Texas, but Ted Cruz is too small for Texas,” he said to another crowd eruption.
The tens of thousands streamed into the arena for hours and transformed the venue into a massive dance party, moving along to a DJ. The campaign estimated that roughly 30,000 people showed up.
In the crowd, Vicki Lewis was wearing a red, white and blue shirt that read “Vote” in large letters. Lewis said her message to other voters was to vote early.
“You have no right to be on the fence. You should already know.
You should vote for who represents you and your future,” said Lewis, who already voted for Harris.
She cited
health care,
reproductive rights
and concern about her retirement.
“I need somebody who is going to fight for me and represent me.”
She took issue with Trump bashing Harris and calling her “dumb.”
“She has a resume. He needs to look at her resume,” she said.
“He’s the one who’s unqualified.
She serves the people.
She is a people person and he doesn’t.
It’s all about him and his cronies.”
Austin Valdezstapp said he turned out specifically to give a boost to women.
“It’s a large reason I’m here is to support women, and make sure that the things and the rights that they’re supposed to have continue to be put in place, and I think those are in threat here in Texas right now so it’s vital,” Valdezstapp said.
Another attendee, Michael White,, said he had grown tired of the outrageous things Trump says and does.
“Some of the stuff he gets away with — if I said what he said, if Obama said what he said, if Harris did — do you think we’d get away with it?” White said, saying it specifically bothered him that Trump was “disrespectful to women.”
CORRECTION (Oct. 26, 2024, 11:13 a.m.): A previous version of this article misstated who appeared onstage with Beyoncé. It was Kelly Rowland, whom Beyoncé referred to as her sister, not her actual sister.
Oct. 7, 2024 "Sally Field Details Her ‘Traumatic’ and ‘Hideous’ Illegal Abortion From 1964 to Urge Voters to Elect Kamala Harris: ‘We Can’t Go Back’": Today I found this article by Zack Sharf on Yahoo and Variety:
Sally Field posted a video to Instagram in which she remembered the “hideous” and “traumatic” illegal abortion she underwent in 1964 before her Hollywood acting career took off. The Oscar winner first wrote about the abortion in her 2018 memoir “In Pieces,” but she revived the story ahead of the upcoming presidential election as a call for voters to elect Kamala Harris.
“I’ve been so hesitant to do this, to tell my horrific story,” Field wrote in the caption to the video. “It was during a time even worse than now. A time when contraception was not readily available and only if you were married.
But I feel that so many women of my generation went through similar, traumatic events and I feel stronger when I think of them.
I believe, like me, they must want to fight for their grandchildren and all the young women of this country.”
“It’s one of the reasons why so many of us are supporting Kamala Harris and Tim Walz,” the actor continued.
“Everyone, please, pay attention to this election, up and down the ballot, in every state – especially those with ballot initiatives that could protect reproductive freedom. PLEASE. WE CAN’T GO BACK!!”
Field explained in the video that she still feels “very shamed” about the illegal abortion “because I was raised in the ’50s, and it’s ingrained in me.” The actor said that her family doctor brought her to Tijuana, Mexico after she became pregnant in order to perform the abortion.
“We parked on a really scroungy-looking street, it was scary and he parked about three blocks away and said, ‘See that building down there?’ And he gave me an envelope with cash and I was to walk into that building and give them the cash and then come right back to him,” Field said.
The actor called the experience “beyond hideous and life-altering” and said she “had no anesthetic” during the procedure.
“There was a technician giving me a few puffs of ether but he would then take it away, so it just made my arms and legs feel numb [and] weird, but I felt everything — how much pain I was in,” Field said.
“Then the situation turned darker. I realized that the technician was actually molesting me, so I had to figure out, how can I make my arms move to push him away? So it was just this absolute pit of shame. And then, when it was finished, they said, ‘Go go go go go!’, like the building was on fire. And they didn’t want me there, you know, it was illegal.”
Field noted that she “wasn’t really an actor” at the time of the procedure. She’d go on to book her breakout sitcom “Gidget” a few months afterwards. Hollywood painted her as “the quintessential, all-American girl next door,” which was in contrast to the shame she felt over the abortion.
“And these are the things that women are going through now —
when they’re trying to get to another state,
they don’t have the money,
they don’t have the means,
they don’t know where they’re going,”
Field said. “And it’s beyond, how you can go back to that and do that to our little girls and our young women, and not have respect and regard for their health and their own decisions about whether they feel they’re able to give birth to a child at that time.”
Field has endorsed Harris for president since the vice president officially launched her campaign in August after Joe Biden stepped down from the ticket. The actor told Variety at the time:
“I am so grateful to Joe Biden for his extraordinary 54 years serving this country. The decision he made to step down is heroic and that of a great man. And, as a working woman, a mother and grandmother to a very diverse group, I support the candidacy of Vice President Kamala Harris with my whole 77-year-old heart.”
Watch Field’s video post below.
"Flexible workplaces with work-life balance 'win-win' for workers, employers: study"/ "Flexible work options influence employee decisions to remain or leave: Survey"
"Trump refers to CNN's Anderson Cooper by a woman's first name"/ "Scotiabank Economist Says Trump Win Would Bring ‘Ruinous’ Policy"
A popular Indian restaurant franchise in northeastern Ontario is giving away free meals to anyone in need from October until the end of March.
Amrit Singh, the co-owner of Sukdhev Restaurant in Sudbury, said one tenet of his family's Sikh religion and culture is that they should donate 10 per cent of their income to charitable causes.
Singh said when he came to Canada in 2019, he visited a friend in the town of Cochrane, Alta., who owned a restaurant there.
"I saw he always gave a free meal to all the needy people there," he said.
When Singh and his brother Gurpreet opened the first Sukdhev location in the northern Ontario town of Espanola in 2020, they decided to do the same thing.
Now there are eight Sukhdev locations across the northeast — from Sault Ste. Marie to North Bay — and all the franchise owners follow the same philosophy.
Singh said they set aside 10 meals a day at each location to give away to people in need, but they often go over that number.
"Every day in our Sudbury location, we give around 20 meals every day for the needy people," he said.
Singh said there are no requirements for people to qualify for a free meal.
"We don't ask any name, we don't ask, like; What's your religion? What's your caste? Why you want [a free meal]?" he said.
"You just have to come in our restaurant and ask, 'I am here for a free meal,' and my server serves this food to you without any question."
He said in some cases, people who needed food one day, later paid it forward and donated $20 for the restaurant to provide other people meals.
When Singh posted about the initiative on Facebook this month, he said the post went viral.
Around 1,100 people shared the post on the first day, and 85,000 people saw it.
Although restaurants often have thin margins, Singh said they've made it a priority to give away free meals to those in need every day.
"I believe if everyone wants to do something [for a] good cause they always make a way to do that."
Oct. 28, 2024 "Saoirse Ronan silences male stars with reaction to self-defence joke": Today I found this article by Brock Wilson on CBC:
Today I found this article by Brock Wilson on CBC:
The Little Women star appeared as a guest alongside Paul Mescal, Eddie Redmayne and Denzel Washington on BBC's The Graham Norton Show.
On the talk show, Redmayne, 42, spoke about the physical training he underwent for his role in the upcoming miniseries The Day of the Jackal, in which he plays an assassin.
After Redmayne said he was taught how to use his phone as a weapon if someone was attacking him, Mescal, 28, made a joke saying someone wouldn't think of using their phone if they were in a dangerous situation.
"Who is actually going to think about that?" Mescal asked. "If someone actually attacked me, I'm not going to go 'phone.'"
Norton, 61, then pointed to an imaginary attacker and said, "Can you hold on a second?" while pretending to pull out his phone.
After initially trying to make a comment while the men laughed and continued to joke about the scenario for roughly 15 seconds, Ronan, 30, spoke up.
"That's what girls have to think about all the time," she said, smiling.
As the men sat stunned in silence, Ronan then gestured toward the audience and asked, "Am I right, ladies?" which garnered a roar of applause.
There's also been significant reaction on social media, with many users praising Ronan.
"Saoirse ronan gagging men we love to see it," reads one post on X.
"The thing that angered me the most is that Saoirse Ronan, the only woman on the panel, had to almost fight to make her point amongst a group of laughing men who didn't consider her input or the experiences of women," reads another post.
A number of social media users pointed out that Ronan had tried to speak up earlier but was spoken over.
"Notice how she tried to say her piece before they all started spouting those things but they just all talked over her so she just waited," said one user.
"Saoirse Ronan is a queen. Men need a reminder what it's like being a woman so they can appreciate their privilege. The silence after she said that speaks volumes," wrote another.
In 2018, one in three women were subjected to unwanted sexual behaviour while in a public place, according to Statistics Canada. Women are also more likely than men to report experiencing certain forms of violence, including sexual assault, online harassment or unwanted sexual behaviour in the workplace.
My opinion: I have never seen any of Ronan's work.
Mescal and Redmayne did nod like they agree with what Ronan said.
It was like all the men on stage and probably in the audience, and viewers at home were like: "Oh yeah. We should be more sensitive about that."
The silence went from funny to serious.
I really like this because they're talking about a serious issue about sexual harassment and assault.
