vox--2020-10-07--What a Pence presidency would look like

What a Pence presidency would look like

Vice President Mike Pence has kept a low profile for much of the Trump administration .
Known for good manners and a distaste for negative campaigning , he has often faded into the background behind a president famous for bombastic rants and verbal abuse .
But with Trump ’ s activities curtailed due to his Covid-19 diagnosis , Pence has been thrust into the spotlight .
Now he ’ ll take the stage at the vice presidential debate on Wednesday with questions swirling around what kind of president he ’ d be if forced to take over for Trump , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ already have answers to a lot of those questions .
Though Pence may be quieter than Trump , he ’ s actually shown far more commitment to rolling back both abortion rights and protections for LGBTQ Americans .
In fact , many of the administration ’ s actions in these areas appear to have been driven by Pence .
( The White House did not respond to Vox ’ s request for comment on this story . )
“ We have been acutely aware of and gravely concerned about Mike Pence for quite @ @ @ @ @ @ @ executive director of the National Black Justice Coalition , which works on behalf of Black LBGTQ people , told Vox .
Indeed , while Trump has vacillated on social issues during his career in the public eye , Pence has never wavered : From his time in Congress to his years in the White House , he ’ s maintained a laser-like focus on issues of paramount importance to Christian conservatives — most notably abortion restrictions and “ religious freedom ” protections that essentially permit discrimination against LGBTQ people .
If Pence were @ @ @ @ @ @ @ likely take center stage like never before .
Social conservatism , influenced by Christianity , has been a driving force for Pence from the beginning Pence ’ s Christian faith has long been core to his public image .
Raised Catholic , he converted to evangelical Christianity in college and has described himself in interviews as “ a Christian , a conservative and a Republican , in that order , ” as the New York Times reported in 2016 .
In his political career , that has meant a singular focus on a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ opposition to abortion one of its core tenets .
Starting from his time in Congress , where he served from 2001 to 2013 , Pence was in many ways the architect of contemporary Republican attempts to weaken Planned Parenthood by restricting its access to government funding .
The idea “ sort of originated with him , ” Mary Alice Carter , senior adviser at Equity Forward , a reproductive rights watchdog group , told Vox .
As a member of Congress , beginning in 2007 Pence repeatedly proposed bills to cut Planned Parenthood @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the House in 2011 .
Though the bill did not pass the Senate , the strategy of defunding Planned Parenthood spread to the states , where it has now become common .
Texas , for example , began cutting family-planning funding in 2011 in an effort to target Planned Parenthood — as a result , one in four family-planning clinics in the state , many of which were not even operated by Planned Parenthood , closed .
Such efforts at the state level were a preview of what would happen nationally with Pence @ @ @ @ @ @ @ elected governor of Indiana in 2013 , he remained an enthusiastic opponent of abortion .
In 2016 , for example , he signed what was one of the most restrictive abortion laws in the country at the time , mandating an ultrasound and 18-hour waiting period and banning the procedure for reasons of fetal sex , race , or a diagnosis of Down syndrome , among many other restrictions .
“ I sign this legislation with a prayer that God would continue to bless these precious children , mothers and families , ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ time .
As governor , Pence would face some of the consequences of his strategy to reduce Planned Parenthood ’ s funding .
In 2013 , his first year in office , the only Planned Parenthood in Scott County , Indiana , closed its doors due to budget cuts .
The clinic also happened to be the county ’ s only HIV testing center .
Two years later , with an HIV outbreak growing in Scott County , residents had nowhere to get tested .
Because the outbreak was linked to injectable drug @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to establish a needle-exchange program .
Finally , over two months after the epidemic was reported , Pence changed his mind — after praying on the issue .
But he refused to do more than a short-term program , saying , “ I don ’ t believe effective anti-drug policy involves handing out drug paraphernalia.
” The influence of Pence ’ s religion was also evident in his policy positions regarding LGBTQ rights .
As a member of the House ’ s Republican Study Committee in 2006 , for example , he spoke @ @ @ @ @ @ @ banning same-sex marriage , arguing that “ societal collapse was always brought about following an advent of the deterioration of marriage and family.
” In the same speech , he said banning gay couples from marrying was a way to enforce “ God ’ s idea , ” according to Time .
While in Congress , he also opposed the Employment Non-Discrimination Act , which would have banned workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation .
He said the legislation “ wages war on freedom of religion in the workplace.
” He @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of religion when he became governor .
In March 2015 , for example , in a private ceremony attended by religious leaders , he signed Indiana ’ s Religious Freedom Restoration Act , which barred the state from infringing on residents ’ religious liberty .
The bill was one of several proposed by conservative state legislators around the country in response to the legalization of same-sex marriage in many states and in anticipation of a Supreme Court decision on the issue , as the New York Times reported at the time .
( @ @ @ @ @ @ @ bans on same-sex marriage in the landmark 2015 case Obergefell v. Hodges ) .
Pence cast the measure as necessary to protect the rights of religious residents , but LGBTQ rights groups and others cautioned it could be used to protect businesses that discriminated against LGBTQ customers or employees .
Indeed , many supporters of the law said they hoped it would protect wedding vendors who refused service to same-sex couples , according to the Times .
One Indiana restaurant owner told a local radio station he had discriminated against same-sex couples in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to getting the governor ’ s explicit permission to keep doing so , ” Mediaite reported at the time .
“ We don ’ t want to have this in our place of business , it ’ s just not right , ” the restaurant owner said .
Pence didn ’ t help matters when he failed to directly answer questions about the law in an interview with ABC ’ s George Stephanopoulos .
When the host asked Pence if he thought it should be legal in Indiana to discriminate against gay people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ leaders were critical of the law , and the NCAA , headquartered in Indiana , threatened to stop holding events there unless it was changed .
Ultimately , Pence signed an amended version that said businesses could not use the law to discriminate based on sexual orientation .
However , many said the clarification was insufficient .
And overall , many LGBTQ rights advocates say Pence ’ s record is clear : In a letter to USA Today ’ s Susan Page , who will moderate the vice presidential debate on Wednesday , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the National Black Justice Coalition — urged Page to press Pence on LGBTQ issues .
“ As Governor of Indiana , Pence led the charge to weaken LGBTQ protections and demonize and dehumanize our community , ” the letter states .
Pence has been a big influence on the Trump administration when it comes to LGBTQ rights and abortion When Pence became vice president in 2017 , he suddenly had a much bigger charge to lead .
Despite periodic attempts to appear religious , Trump seems to have little personal interest in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in a 1999 interview , for example , he described himself as “ very pro-choice.
” That left a vacuum for Pence to fill with his own views .
Shortly after he took office , Pence became the first vice president to speak at the March for Life , the country ’ s largest anti-abortion rally .
“ Because of all of you and the many thousands who stand with us in marches like this all across the nation , life is winning again in America , ” he told the crowd in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ years that followed , Pence helped shepherd many of his Indiana associates into high-profile roles in the Trump administration , Equity Forward ’ s Carter noted — including key positions shaping policies around reproductive health and LGBTQ rights .
Seema Verma , for example , who was confirmed administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in 2017 , had previously been in charge of remaking Indiana ’ s state Medicaid program during Pence ’ s time as governor .
And Alex Azar , who became secretary of Health and Human Services @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Indiana-based pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly when Pence was governor .
Under the leadership of Verma , Azar , and others , the Trump administration has made restricting abortion access and stripping funding from Planned Parenthood a nationwide policy .
In 2019 , for example , the administration finalized a rule barring recipients of Title X family-planning funds from not only performing abortions but also referring patients to other providers .
That resulted in the exit of Planned Parenthood and a number of other clinics from the Title X program , as well as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ program ’ s ability to provide contraception to low-income and other underserved patients .
In a January 2020 statement on the March for Life , Azar boasted that the HHS “ took numerous actions in 2019 to protect life by enforcing the laws on the books , like ensuring Title X dollars aren ’ t subsidizing the abortion industry ” and said it was “ proud to be ‘ the Department of Life.
’ ” “ What we ’ ve seen is the ideology of Mike Pence showing up across the board all @ @ @ @ @ @ @ That ideology has also impacted the administration ’ s policies on LGBTQ rights .
Since 2017 , the Trump administration has launched a veritable onslaught of attacks on the freedoms of queer and trans people , as Katelyn Burns has written for Vox .
The White House has banned trans people from serving in the military , rolled back protections for trans students in schools , and issued a rule allowing doctors and insurance companies to refuse care to LGBTQ people , among many other actions .
Pence has been a driving force @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Though Trump has a long history of making racist and xenophobic statements , he ’ s focused less on LGBTQ Americans specifically , the National Black Justice Coalition ’ s Johns noted .
Pence , meanwhile , has been involved in rolling back protections for LGBTQ people since his time in Indiana .
Today , “ [ Pence ] remains very active in this administration ” and continues to “ make more difficult the lives of members of the communities that I ’ m a part of and I advocate for , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ presidential debate approaching at a time when the president ’ s health remains uncertain , there ’ s been a renewed focus on Pence ’ s record and what he might be like in charge of the country .
“ This is the first debate we ’ ve ever had in the shadow of a possible presidential succession or inability crisis , ” Joel K. Goldstein , emeritus professor of law at Saint Louis University , told Vox .
For Pence , that means viewers will be asking , “ Is he presidential @ @ @ @ @ @ @ would be more “ presidential , ” at least in a superficial sense , than Trump .
“ He ’ s not going to be calling Sen. Warren ‘ Pocahontas , ’ ” Goldstein said .
“ The rhetoric of politics would be very different.
” But when it comes to the content of policy , we ’ ve already seen what a Pence administration would look like : a concerted effort to advance the views of a subset of religious conservatives , perhaps at the expense of LGBTQ Americans and anyone who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ strong conservative majority on the Supreme Court if nominee Amy Coney Barrett is confirmed , Pence might have even more leeway than he ’ s had under Trump to make the priorities of America ’ s religious right a reality .
In fact , the biggest change under a President Pence could be a more single-minded focus to pursue the goals of restricting abortion and LGBTQ rights , freed from the shifting and chaotic attentions of Trump .
When it comes to a possible Pence presidency , “ the biggest difference — and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ” Johns said .
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Vice President Mike Pence has kept a low profile for much of the Trump administration.
Known for good manners and a distaste for negative campaigning, he has often faded into the background behind a president famous for bombastic rants and verbal abuse. But with Trump’s activities curtailed due to his Covid-19 diagnosis, Pence has been thrust into the spotlight. Now he’ll take the stage at the vice presidential debate on Wednesday with questions swirling around what kind of president he’d be if forced to take over for Trump, whether temporarily or permanently.
But we already have answers to a lot of those questions. Though Pence may be quieter than Trump, he’s actually shown far more commitment to rolling back both abortion rights and protections for LGBTQ Americans. In fact, many of the administration’s actions in these areas appear to have been driven by Pence. (The White House did not respond to Vox’s request for comment on this story.)
“We have been acutely aware of and gravely concerned about Mike Pence for quite some time,” David Johns, executive director of the National Black Justice Coalition, which works on behalf of Black LBGTQ people, told Vox.
Indeed, while Trump has vacillated on social issues during his career in the public eye, Pence has never wavered: From his time in Congress to his years in the White House, he’s maintained a laser-like focus on issues of paramount importance to Christian conservatives — most notably abortion restrictions and “religious freedom” protections that essentially permit discrimination against LGBTQ people.
If Pence were to become president, these issues would likely take center stage like never before.
Social conservatism, influenced by Christianity, has been a driving force for Pence from the beginning
Pence’s Christian faith has long been core to his public image. Raised Catholic, he converted to evangelical Christianity in college and has described himself in interviews as “a Christian, a conservative and a Republican, in that order,” as the New York Times reported in 2016.
In his political career, that has meant a singular focus on a particular strand of social conservatism, with opposition to abortion one of its core tenets. Starting from his time in Congress, where he served from 2001 to 2013, Pence was in many ways the architect of contemporary Republican attempts to weaken Planned Parenthood by restricting its access to government funding. The idea “sort of originated with him,” Mary Alice Carter, senior adviser at Equity Forward, a reproductive rights watchdog group, told Vox.
As a member of Congress, beginning in 2007 Pence repeatedly proposed bills to cut Planned Parenthood funding, with one amendment finally passing the House in 2011.
Though the bill did not pass the Senate, the strategy of defunding Planned Parenthood spread to the states, where it has now become common. Texas, for example, began cutting family-planning funding in 2011 in an effort to target Planned Parenthood — as a result, one in four family-planning clinics in the state, many of which were not even operated by Planned Parenthood, closed. Such efforts at the state level were a preview of what would happen nationally with Pence as vice president.
When Pence was elected governor of Indiana in 2013, he remained an enthusiastic opponent of abortion. In 2016, for example, he signed what was one of the most restrictive abortion laws in the country at the time, mandating an ultrasound and 18-hour waiting period and banning the procedure for reasons of fetal sex, race, or a diagnosis of Down syndrome, among many other restrictions.
“I sign this legislation with a prayer that God would continue to bless these precious children, mothers and families,” Pence said in a statement at the time.
As governor, Pence would face some of the consequences of his strategy to reduce Planned Parenthood’s funding. In 2013, his first year in office, the only Planned Parenthood in Scott County, Indiana, closed its doors due to budget cuts. The clinic also happened to be the county’s only HIV testing center. Two years later, with an HIV outbreak growing in Scott County, residents had nowhere to get tested.
Because the outbreak was linked to injectable drug use, public health experts pressed Pence to establish a needle-exchange program. Finally, over two months after the epidemic was reported, Pence changed his mind — after praying on the issue.
But he refused to do more than a short-term program, saying, “I don’t believe effective anti-drug policy involves handing out drug paraphernalia.”
The influence of Pence’s religion was also evident in his policy positions regarding LGBTQ rights. As a member of the House’s Republican Study Committee in 2006, for example, he spoke out in favor of a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, arguing that “societal collapse was always brought about following an advent of the deterioration of marriage and family.” In the same speech, he said banning gay couples from marrying was a way to enforce “God’s idea,” according to Time.
While in Congress, he also opposed the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which would have banned workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. He said the legislation “wages war on freedom of religion in the workplace.”
He continued to use such arguments around freedom of religion when he became governor. In March 2015, for example, in a private ceremony attended by religious leaders, he signed Indiana’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which barred the state from infringing on residents’ religious liberty. The bill was one of several proposed by conservative state legislators around the country in response to the legalization of same-sex marriage in many states and in anticipation of a Supreme Court decision on the issue, as the New York Times reported at the time. (Indeed, the Court struck down state bans on same-sex marriage in the landmark 2015 case Obergefell v. Hodges.)
I signed SEA 101 today to ensure religious liberty is fully protected under IN law http://t.co/vCOASZBZnH pic.twitter.com/CMFJh6aLDx — Governor Mike Pence (@GovPenceIN) March 26, 2015
Pence cast the measure as necessary to protect the rights of religious residents, but LGBTQ rights groups and others cautioned it could be used to protect businesses that discriminated against LGBTQ customers or employees. Indeed, many supporters of the law said they hoped it would protect wedding vendors who refused service to same-sex couples, according to the Times.
One Indiana restaurant owner told a local radio station he had discriminated against same-sex couples in the past and was “looking forward to getting the governor’s explicit permission to keep doing so,” Mediaite reported at the time. “We don’t want to have this in our place of business, it’s just not right,” the restaurant owner said.
Pence didn’t help matters when he failed to directly answer questions about the law in an interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos. When the host asked Pence if he thought it should be legal in Indiana to discriminate against gay people, Pence responded:
What I am for is protecting, with the highest standards in our courts, the religious liberty of Hoosiers. I signed the bill, we’re going to continue to explain it to people who don’t understand it, and if possible, we will find a way to amplify what this bill really is in the legislative process. But I stand by this law.
But business leaders were critical of the law, and the NCAA, headquartered in Indiana, threatened to stop holding events there unless it was changed. Ultimately, Pence signed an amended version that said businesses could not use the law to discriminate based on sexual orientation.
However, many said the clarification was insufficient. And overall, many LGBTQ rights advocates say Pence’s record is clear: In a letter to USA Today’s Susan Page, who will moderate the vice presidential debate on Wednesday, a number of LBGTQ organizations — including the National Black Justice Coalition — urged Page to press Pence on LGBTQ issues. “As Governor of Indiana, Pence led the charge to weaken LGBTQ protections and demonize and dehumanize our community,” the letter states.
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Pence has been a big influence on the Trump administration when it comes to LGBTQ rights and abortion
When Pence became vice president in 2017, he suddenly had a much bigger charge to lead. Despite periodic attempts to appear religious, Trump seems to have little personal interest in the issues many social conservatives care about — in a 1999 interview, for example, he described himself as “very pro-choice.”
That left a vacuum for Pence to fill with his own views.
Shortly after he took office, Pence became the first vice president to speak at the March for Life, the country’s largest anti-abortion rally. “Because of all of you and the many thousands who stand with us in marches like this all across the nation, life is winning again in America,” he told the crowd in January 2017.
In the months and years that followed, Pence helped shepherd many of his Indiana associates into high-profile roles in the Trump administration, Equity Forward’s Carter noted — including key positions shaping policies around reproductive health and LGBTQ rights. Seema Verma, for example, who was confirmed administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in 2017, had previously been in charge of remaking Indiana’s state Medicaid program during Pence’s time as governor. And Alex Azar, who became secretary of health and human services in 2018, was an executive at the Indiana-based pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly when Pence was governor.
Under the leadership of Verma, Azar, and others, the Trump administration has made restricting abortion access and stripping funding from Planned Parenthood a nationwide policy. In 2019, for example, the administration finalized a rule barring recipients of Title X family-planning funds from not only performing abortions but also referring patients to other providers. That resulted in the exit of Planned Parenthood and a number of other clinics from the Title X program, as well as an estimated 46 percent reduction in the program’s ability to provide contraception to low-income and other underserved patients.
In a January 2020 statement on the March for Life, Azar boasted that the HHS “took numerous actions in 2019 to protect life by enforcing the laws on the books, like ensuring Title X dollars aren’t subsidizing the abortion industry” and said it was “proud to be ‘the Department of Life.’”
“What we’ve seen is the ideology of Mike Pence showing up across the board all over HHS,” Carter said.
That ideology has also impacted the administration’s policies on LGBTQ rights. Since 2017, the Trump administration has launched a veritable onslaught of attacks on the freedoms of queer and trans people, as Katelyn Burns has written for Vox. The White House has banned trans people from serving in the military, rolled back protections for trans students in schools, and issued a rule allowing doctors and insurance companies to refuse care to LGBTQ people, among many other actions.
Pence has been a driving force behind much of this, many say. Though Trump has a long history of making racist and xenophobic statements, he’s focused less on LGBTQ Americans specifically, the National Black Justice Coalition’s Johns noted. Pence, meanwhile, has been involved in rolling back protections for LGBTQ people since his time in Indiana. Today, Pence “remains very active in this administration” and continues to “make more difficult the lives of members of the communities that I’m a part of and I advocate for,” Johns said.
With the vice presidential debate approaching at a time when the president’s health remains uncertain, there’s been a renewed focus on Pence’s record and what he might be like in charge of the country. “This is the first debate we’ve ever had in the shadow of a possible presidential succession or inability crisis,” Joel K. Goldstein, emeritus professor of law at Saint Louis University, told Vox. For Pence, that means viewers will be asking, “Is he presidential?”
It’s likely Pence would be more “presidential,” at least in a superficial sense, than Trump. “He’s not going to be calling Sen. Warren ‘Pocahontas,’” Goldstein said. “The rhetoric of politics would be very different.”
But when it comes to the content of policy, we’ve already seen what a Pence administration would look like: a concerted effort to advance the views of a subset of religious conservatives, perhaps at the expense of LGBTQ Americans and anyone who needs reproductive health care.
With a strong conservative majority on the Supreme Court if nominee Amy Coney Barrett is confirmed, Pence might have even more leeway than he’s had under Trump to make the priorities of America’s religious right a reality. In fact, the biggest change under a President Pence could be a more single-minded focus to pursue the goals of restricting abortion and LGBTQ rights, freed from the shifting and chaotic attentions of Trump.
When it comes to a possible Pence presidency, “the biggest difference — and the nightmare — would be fewer distractions,” Johns said.
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vox--2020-10-07--Chicken plants are more dangerous places to work than coal mines

Taking chickens and pigs from the highly concentrated farms where they live to supermarket shelves isn ’ t an easy process .
The animals have to be processed at slaughterhouses where they ’ re killed and dismembered for their meat .
And because chickens and pigs ( and cows and lambs and turkeys … ) are living things whose shapes and sizes vary , cutting and pulling breast meat from chickens , for example , can ’ t be done with machines or robots .
It has to be done by human beings , and to achieve the output that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has to be done quickly .
The plants ’ practice of placing workers shoulder to shoulder , while doing exhausting work that leads to heavy breathing , has made them epicenters for the coronavirus outbreak this year .
The Trump administration has tried to keep the mostly low-income workers in these plants working all the same out of fear of a “ meat shortage , ” putting the workers at considerable risk .
That ’ s hardly the only risk , however , that workers in these plants face .
According to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ animal slaughter and production face higher rates of injury than coal miners or construction workers .
Poultry processing in particular is the leading occupational cause of finger amputations in the US .
Workers in these plants have to use sharp knives to cut apart animal carcasses for hours on end , leaving them at risk for both brutal cuts and repetitive stress injuries .
Currently , chicken plants can process up to 140 birds every minute , usually in an assembly-line fashion that gives workers a few seconds , at most , to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ each bird .
The Trump administration is trying to increase that to 175 birds , which could pose a serious danger to workers .
It could also potentially pose a serious danger to consumer health .
In order to speed up the line , certain test plants have introduced a new form of meat inspection that the USDA claims improves safety .
But a report from the Office of the Inspector General found fault with the quality of inspection at these test plants , and Jill Mauer , a federal meat inspector who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ been blowing the whistle out of concern that US meat will be less safe if this new inspection technique is adopted nationwide .
In the third season of the Vox Media Podcast Network series Future Perfect , we — my cohost Sigal Samuel , our reporter/producer Byrd Pinkerton , and I , Dylan Matthews — are delving into the way the meat we eat affects all of us .
And in episode four , Byrd and I explored the debate over increasing line speed at meat-processing plants , in particular poultry plants : @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Spotify , Apple Podcasts , Google Podcasts , Stitcher , or wherever you get your podcasts .
• Isaac Arnsdorf ’ s ProPublica investigation into the human cost of high poultry line speeds • Morgan Radford and Aaron Franco ’ s NBC News piece on the risk of unsafe pork from new food inspection processes — with whistleblower Jill Mauer • Vox ’ s Nicole Narea on why meatpacking plants are such Covid-19 hot spots This podcast was made possible thanks to support from Animal Charity Evaluators , a nonprofit that researches and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ animals .
Sign up for the Future Perfect newsletter .
Twice a week , you ’ ll get a roundup of ideas and solutions for tackling our biggest challenges : improving public health , decreasing human and animal suffering , easing catastrophic risks , and — to put it simply — getting better at doing good .
Help keep Vox free for all Millions turn to Vox each month to understand what ’ s happening in the news , from the coronavirus crisis to a racial reckoning to what is , quite possibly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ our lifetimes .
Our mission has never been more vital than it is in this moment : to empower you through understanding .
But our distinctive brand of explanatory journalism takes resources .
Even when the economy and the news advertising market recovers , your support will be a critical part of sustaining our resource-intensive work .
If you have already contributed , thank you .
If you haven ’ t , please consider helping everyone make sense of an increasingly chaotic world : Contribute today from as little as $ 3 .

Taking chickens and pigs from the highly concentrated farms where they live to supermarket shelves isn’t an easy process. The animals have to be processed at slaughterhouses where they’re killed and dismembered for their meat.
And because chickens and pigs (and cows and lambs and turkeys … ) are living things whose shapes and sizes vary, cutting and pulling breast meat from chickens, for example, can’t be done with machines or robots. It has to be done by human beings, and to achieve the output that slaughterhouses and meatpacking plants want, it has to be done quickly.
The plants’ practice of placing workers shoulder to shoulder, while doing exhausting work that leads to heavy breathing, has made them epicenters for the coronavirus outbreak this year. The Trump administration has tried to keep the mostly low-income workers in these plants working all the same out of fear of a “meat shortage,” putting the workers at considerable risk.
That’s hardly the only risk, however, that workers in these plants face. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, workers in animal slaughter and production face higher rates of injury than coal miners or construction workers. Poultry processing in particular is the leading occupational cause of finger amputations in the US.
Workers in these plants have to use sharp knives to cut apart animal carcasses for hours on end, leaving them at risk for both brutal cuts and repetitive stress injuries. Currently, chicken plants can process up to 140 birds every minute, usually in an assembly-line fashion that gives workers a few seconds, at most, to do their portion of the job on each bird. The Trump administration is trying to increase that to 175 birds, which could pose a serious danger to workers.
It could also potentially pose a serious danger to consumer health. In order to speed up the line, certain test plants have introduced a new form of meat inspection that the USDA claims improves safety. But a report from the Office of the Inspector General found fault with the quality of inspection at these test plants, and Jill Mauer, a federal meat inspector who worked at one of them, has been blowing the whistle out of concern that US meat will be less safe if this new inspection technique is adopted nationwide.
In the third season of the Vox Media Podcast Network series Future Perfect, we — my cohost Sigal Samuel, our reporter/producer Byrd Pinkerton, and I, Dylan Matthews — are delving into the way the meat we eat affects all of us. And in episode four, Byrd and I explored the debate over increasing line speed at meat-processing plants, in particular poultry plants:
You can subscribe to Future Perfect on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Read more:
This podcast was made possible thanks to support from Animal Charity Evaluators, a nonprofit that researches and promotes the most effective ways to help animals.
Sign up for the Future Perfect newsletter. Twice a week, you’ll get a roundup of ideas and solutions for tackling our biggest challenges: improving public health, decreasing human and animal suffering, easing catastrophic risks, and — to put it simply — getting better at doing good.


vox--2020-10-07--The seductive absurdity of Netflix’s Emily in Paris

I tuned in to Emily in Paris , Netflix ’ s new rom-com series , expecting one kind of fantasy : an episodic version of The Devil Wears Prada , a European love affair between a young woman and her enviably stylish job .
I also anticipated that maybe the show would go in a different direction , something more akin to Sex and the City , co-created by Emily in Paris showrunner Darren Star .
I thought I might get a season-long extension of that iconic rom-com ’ s series finale in which American narcissist Carrie Bradshaw moves to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a new city while romantically tethered to an aging Russian playboy artist is not as romantic as it sounds .
Paris , in these two shows , is the city where the clouds part , your brain clears , and your soul finds meaning .
Having burned through Emily in Paris ’ s 10-episode first season , I can report that Paris doesn ’ t really work that way for Emily , who is more the antithesis to The Devil Wears Prada ’ s relentless workaholic Andy Sachs , or a less romantic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s Carrie .
Five minutes into the show ’ s first episode , however , I found myself watching something entirely different .
What I found in Emily in Paris was , instead , a fantasy about millennial laziness that I couldn ’ t look away from .
Emily in Paris creates an entire utopia for Emily where she , and only she , is allowed to resist conventional ideas of self-improvement and personal betterment , like that pesky myth that hard work results in success .
Emily doesn ’ t have to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ get better at her marketing job , which she herself says she ’ s underqualified for .
Emily doesn ’ t have to speak French , even though everyone tells her that to have a life in Paris means learning the language .
Emily doesn ’ t have to go to bars or parties to find new people to befriend or seduce ; friends and lovers find her instead .
Emily is not curious about the new world she lives in .
Even though she has rejected all norms and logic about the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the universe bends to her will , and everything works out in the end .
Her clients treat her ideas about “ social media engagement ” as treasured gospel .
Her Instagram posts of desserts and cheeseburgers are extremely popular .
The men who find her inexplicably intoxicating are all explicably handsome and wealthy .
All this inanity offers a comforting , ironically thrilling dreamland that disregards everything we ’ ve been told about professional and personal achievement .
Instead , Emily in Paris imagines a passive existence rewarded over and over .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ so much grief and drama seemingly packed into every hour , the show ’ s portrait of a land where nothing bad ever happens feels like a much-needed respite .
Emily in Paris is about success without much sacrifice Emily in Paris starts off not abroad , but in Chicago .
Emily Cooper ( Lily Collins ) , a young woman of otherwise indeterminate age , works at a marketing firm as a professional with an indeterminate title .
She is presented as both very experienced at marketing and very surprised by the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , work .
But thanks to her mentor Madeline ’ s ( Kate Walsh ) surprise pregnancy , Emily ’ s asked to move to Paris to take Madeline ’ s new job : Madeline was supposed to be doing something for Savoir , a marketing service for luxury brands that Emily ’ s Chicago firm has just acquired .
It ’ s a swift introduction to Emily ’ s world , because in reality , her mentor ’ s job would likely go to someone in a more senior position given the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Madeline .
In a more normal scenario , Madeline would likely hand over her role to someone more knowledgeable about French luxury brands .
For Emily , these terrestrial conundrums do not exist Emily has recently been working on a presentation about irritable bowel syndrome .
Yet the only characters we are introduced to at her apparently gigantic , multimillion-dollar firm are Emily and Madeline .
Emily and Madeline , we are made to realize , are the only people who matter here .
Apparently the only thing tethering Emily to Chicago is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ if Emily has a family in Chicago , or at all .
She talks about her youth in a way that seems more like a remastered greatest hits of childhood memories than actual human experience .
For most humans , the prospect of starting a new job you ’ re unqualified for in a country where you don ’ t speak the language would require serious deliberation .
You ’ d likely talk to friends and family and colleagues to get their advice .
Weighing these options would take time .
There would @ @ @ @ @ @ @ HR issues to work out first , too .
But for Emily , these terrestrial conundrums do not exist .
And so , in a move that makes it seem like she is not actually living real life but is stuck in a simulation , IBS marketing expert Emily goes to Paris what seems like the very next day .
In Paris , Emily ’ s two main conflicts are figuring out how to count flights of stairs in her apartment building and failing to please Sylvie ( Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu ) , her @ @ @ @ @ @ @ neither of these things well .
Her neighbor Gabriel ( Lucas Bravo ) , like almost all of the named male characters on the show , is immediately attracted to Emily , seemingly because she can not count .
Sylvie is angry with her , not because of Emily ’ s inability to count but because she believes Emily is tarnishing the reputations of Savoir ’ s brands by making them too “ common ” for posh French consumers .
Instead of learning arithmetic or French , as she ’ s advised by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on and forces the people she encounters to adapt to her .
She tells Savoir that she ’ s a hard worker , despite barely attempting to learn the language her clients and boss speak .
She doesn ’ t seem to keep a meetings calendar , despite claiming to be meticulously organized .
She also doesn ’ t have many promotional ideas for her clients besides “ making something popular on Instagram.
” At the same time , Emily starts a new Instagram account ( handle : emilyinparis ) , where she @ @ @ @ @ @ @ what Parisians consider touristy .
She takes selfies from her balcony overlooking the city and fawning over the Eiffel Tower .
She also shares very mundane things , like a photo of herself eating a pain au chocolat and captioning it “ butter+chocolate= < 3 [ our publishing system doesn ’ t recognize the pink vibrating heart emoji ] .
” Under any other circumstances , Emily ’ s lack of curiosity about her new city and job would probably get her fired and annoy her friends and neighbors .
But she somehow @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Her Instagram following also grows exponentially , from nothing to the tens of thousands , even though she continues to post clichéd pictures and captions like “ cheeseburger in paradise.
” While real-life people have to take multiple shots to ensure one great one for Instagram , in Emily ’ s world , effort isn ’ t necessary for success .
She can have her cake and caption it “ sugar+butter= < 3 ” too .
Emily ’ s upward and onward trajectory isn ’ t a traditional career fantasy of slowly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , nor is her seduction of Gabriel a traditionally romantic one save for Gabriel being extremely handsome .
Rather , Emily ’ s story is about living an anxiety-free existence without any negative consequences .
And while she lives an intellectually uncurious life , Emily in Paris never punishes her for it , nor do we ever witness Emily reflecting on her possibly embarrassing behavior .
A thing to consider is that while Emily ’ s life is idle bliss , the people in her orbit are all working really hard .
Her @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ) speaks at least three languages , has the singing voice of a pop star , and is left at the end of the season with a so-called dream job of a twice-a-week gig singing at an unnamed drag bar .
Somehow , every time Emily messes up , the universe pats her on the back and assures her that she is worthy of every single one of its riches .
And I realized after the first few episodes that maybe I ’ ve been praying to the wrong god , because wouldn @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Emily ?
Why I ’ m fine with letting Emily in Paris eat my brain Part of the fun of watching Emily in Paris is figuring out what media Darren Star has plucked directly from and mashed up to create this show .
The introduction of Mindy ( Ashley Park ) , Emily ’ s best friend , as a good-hearted Chinese zipper heiress with a bunch of very wealthy Chinese friends makes me believe he very much enjoyed Crazy Rich Asians .
The way Sylvie talks feels like he told Leroy-Beaulieu to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in The Devil Wears Prada over and over .
Gabriel ’ s chef drama signals that Starr may have marathoned both seasons of Sweetbitter and/or loves Top Chef .
But the way Emily spouts off talking points about social engagement , audience , and interactions makes me believe Starr was probably called into a corporate meeting with a social media team to learn how to relate to the youths .
Emily comes across as a character written by someone who had heard good things about those millennials but never actually encountered one in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ away from his education was a sense of relentless pressure to work hard and perform well .
Starr ’ s conclusion seems to have been that millennials have a constant need to work all the time , and if they aren ’ t working , then they ’ re not succeeding .
There ’ s no need to edit a life as perfect as hers Millennial lives on social media are built on work , curation , editing , and planning .
But content-blessed Emily gets the right shot on the first try @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s no need to edit a life as perfect as hers .
If Emily ’ s life is supposed to be a millennial woman ’ s dream come true , then that dream is not built on upward trajectory , money , or the knowledge that she made the world a better place .
Rather , it ’ s a relatively worry-free , intellectually slovenly existence , in which a metropolitan place like Paris is more amusement park than a large , imperfect city .
Considering the current state of events — a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , a presidential race that could very well determine the future of American democracy , raging wildfires whose smoke chokes out the sun , and a burgeoning economic collapse , among many other problems — it ’ s actually a huge relief to watch something that does not care about such depressing things .
The only politician who ’ s mentioned prominently in the show is France ’ s first lady Brigitte Macron , for instance , and she ’ s only used as a prop for a joke about vaginas .
Watching @ @ @ @ @ @ @ warm bath for my brain cells , an isolated , low-effort form of pleasure .
The conflicts never last long enough to actually matter , and even then , they ’ re low-consequence .
As we ’ re told in the later episodes , getting fired in France rarely actually happens , because there ’ s too much paperwork attached .
There ’ s never going to be a worst-case scenario for Emily .
If times were different , and the pandemic hadn ’ t exposed how absolutely rotten life can feel , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in Paris in favor of something more insightful , more grounded in reality .
But for now , I want to ditch work and watch 10 more episodes .
Emily in Paris is now streaming on Netflix .
Help keep Vox free for all Millions turn to Vox each month to understand what ’ s happening in the news , from the coronavirus crisis to a racial reckoning to what is , quite possibly , the most consequential presidential election of our lifetimes .
Our mission has never been more vital than it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ you through understanding .
But our distinctive brand of explanatory journalism takes resources .
Even when the economy and the news advertising market recovers , your support will be a critical part of sustaining our resource-intensive work .
If you have already contributed , thank you .
If you haven ’ t , please consider helping everyone make sense of an increasingly chaotic world : Contribute today from as little as $ 3 .

I tuned in to Emily in Paris, Netflix’s new rom-com series, expecting one kind of fantasy: an episodic version of The Devil Wears Prada, a European love affair between a young woman and her enviably stylish job.
I also anticipated that maybe the show would go in a different direction, something more akin to Sex and the City, created by Emily in Paris showrunner Darren Star. I thought I might get a season-long extension of that iconic rom-com’s series finale in which American narcissist Carrie Bradshaw moves to Paris and finds out that relocating to a new city while romantically tethered to an aging Russian playboy artist is not as romantic as it sounds.
Paris, in these two shows, is the city where the clouds part, your brain clears, and your soul finds meaning. Having burned through Emily in Paris’s 10-episode first season, I can report that Paris doesn’t really work that way for Emily, who is more the antithesis to The Devil Wears Prada’s relentless workaholic Andy Sachs, or a less romantic version of Sex and the City’s Carrie.
Five minutes into the show’s first episode, however, I found myself watching something entirely different. What I found in Emily in Paris was, instead, a fantasy about millennial laziness that I couldn’t look away from.
Emily in Paris creates an entire utopia for Emily where she, and only she, is allowed to resist conventional ideas of self-improvement and personal betterment, like that pesky myth that hard work results in success.
Emily doesn’t have to listen to her bosses or mentors or get better at her marketing job, which she herself says she’s underqualified for. Emily doesn’t have to speak French, even though everyone tells her that to have a life in Paris means learning the language. Emily doesn’t have to go to bars or parties to find new people to befriend or seduce; friends and lovers find her instead.
Emily is not curious about the new world she lives in. Even though she has rejected all norms and logic about the way things are supposed to work, the universe bends to her will, and everything works out in the end.
Her clients treat her ideas about “social media engagement” as treasured gospel. Her Instagram posts of desserts and cheeseburgers are extremely popular. The men who find her inexplicably intoxicating are all explicably handsome and wealthy.
All this inanity offers a comforting, ironically thrilling dreamland that disregards everything we’ve been told about professional and personal achievement. Instead, Emily in Paris imagines a passive existence rewarded over and over. And given that the real world has so much grief and drama seemingly packed into every hour, the show’s portrait of a land where nothing bad ever happens feels like a much-needed respite.
Emily in Paris is about success without much sacrifice
Emily in Paris starts off not abroad, but in Chicago. Emily Cooper (Lily Collins), a young woman of otherwise indeterminate age, works at a marketing firm as a professional with an indeterminate title. She is presented as both very experienced at marketing and very surprised by the way common things, like time zones, work.
But thanks to her mentor Madeline’s (Kate Walsh) surprise pregnancy, Emily’s asked to move to Paris to take Madeline’s new job: Madeline was supposed to be doing something for Savoir, a marketing service for luxury brands that Emily’s Chicago firm has just acquired.
It’s a swift introduction to Emily’s world, because in reality, her mentor’s job would likely go to someone in a more senior position given the apparent gulf in expertise between Emily and Madeline. In a more normal scenario, Madeline would likely hand over her role to someone more knowledgeable about French luxury brands.
For Emily, these terrestrial conundrums do not exist
Emily has recently been working on a presentation about irritable bowel syndrome. Yet the only characters we are introduced to at her apparently gigantic, multimillion-dollar firm are Emily and Madeline. Emily and Madeline, we are made to realize, are the only people who matter here.
Apparently the only thing tethering Emily to Chicago is her boyfriend. It’s unclear if Emily has a family in Chicago, or at all. She talks about her youth in a way that seems more like a remastered greatest hits of childhood memories than actual human experience.
For most humans, the prospect of starting a new job you’re unqualified for in a country where you don’t speak the language would require serious deliberation. You’d likely talk to friends and family and colleagues to get their advice. Weighing these options would take time. There would probably be all kinds of visa and HR issues to work out first, too.
But for Emily, these terrestrial conundrums do not exist.
And so, in a move that makes it seem like she is not actually living real life but is stuck in a simulation, IBS marketing expert Emily goes to Paris what seems like the very next day.
In Paris, Emily’s two main conflicts are figuring out how to count flights of stairs in her apartment building and failing to please Sylvie (Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu), her new boss at Savoir. She does neither of these things well. Her neighbor Gabriel (Lucas Bravo), like almost all of the named male characters on the show, is immediately attracted to Emily, seemingly because she cannot count. Sylvie is angry with her, not because of Emily’s inability to count but because she believes Emily is tarnishing the reputations of Savoir’s brands by making them too “common” for posh French consumers.
Instead of learning arithmetic or French, as she’s advised by both Gabriel and Sylvie, Emily trudges on and forces the people she encounters to adapt to her. She tells Savoir that she’s a hard worker, despite barely attempting to learn the language her clients and boss speak. She doesn’t seem to keep a meetings calendar, despite claiming to be meticulously organized. She also doesn’t have many promotional ideas for her clients besides “making something popular on Instagram.”
At the same time, Emily starts a new Instagram account (handle: emilyinparis), where she posts pictures and boomerangs of herself doing what Parisians consider touristy. She takes selfies from her balcony overlooking the city and fawning over the Eiffel Tower. She also shares very mundane things, like a photo of herself eating a pain au chocolat and captioning it “butter+chocolate= <3 [our publishing system doesn’t recognize the pink vibrating heart emoji].”
Under any other circumstances, Emily’s lack of curiosity about her new city and job would probably get her fired and annoy her friends and neighbors. But she somehow succeeds at work and at charming Gabriel.
Her Instagram following also grows exponentially, from nothing to the tens of thousands, even though she continues to post clichéd pictures and captions like “cheeseburger in paradise.” While real-life people have to take multiple shots to ensure one great one for Instagram, in Emily’s world, effort isn’t necessary for success. She can have her cake and caption it “sugar+butter=<3” too.
Emily’s upward and onward trajectory isn’t a traditional career fantasy of slowly mastering and getting better at your job, nor is her seduction of Gabriel a traditionally romantic one save for Gabriel being extremely handsome. Rather, Emily’s story is about living an anxiety-free existence without any negative consequences. And while she lives an intellectually uncurious life, Emily in Paris never punishes her for it, nor do we ever witness Emily reflecting on her possibly embarrassing behavior.
A thing to consider is that while Emily’s life is idle bliss, the people in her orbit are all working really hard. Her best friend Mindy Chen (Ashley Park) speaks at least three languages, has the singing voice of a pop star, and is left at the end of the season with a so-called dream job of a twice-a-week gig singing at an unnamed drag bar.
Somehow, every time Emily messes up, the universe pats her on the back and assures her that she is worthy of every single one of its riches. And I realized after the first few episodes that maybe I’ve been praying to the wrong god, because wouldn’t it be nice to be Emily?
Why I’m fine with letting Emily in Paris eat my brain
Part of the fun of watching Emily in Paris is figuring out what media Darren Star has plucked directly from and mashed up to create this show. The introduction of Mindy (Ashley Park), Emily’s best friend, as a good-hearted Chinese zipper heiress with a bunch of very wealthy Chinese friends makes me believe he very much enjoyed Crazy Rich Asians. The way Sylvie talks feels like he told Leroy-Beaulieu to just watch Meryl Streep’s performance in The Devil Wears Prada over and over. Gabriel’s chef drama signals that Starr may have marathoned both seasons of Sweetbitter and/or loves Top Chef.
But the way Emily spouts off talking points about social engagement, audience, and interactions makes me believe Starr was probably called into a corporate meeting with a social media team to learn how to relate to the youths. Emily comes across as a character written by someone who had heard good things about those millennials but never actually encountered one in real life.
And what he took away from his education was a sense of relentless pressure to work hard and perform well. Starr’s conclusion seems to have been that millennials have a constant need to work all the time, and if they aren’t working, then they’re not succeeding.
There’s no need to edit a life as perfect as hers
Millennial lives on social media are built on work, curation, editing, and planning. But content-blessed Emily gets the right shot on the first try — every single time. There’s no need to edit a life as perfect as hers.
If Emily’s life is supposed to be a millennial woman’s dream come true, then that dream is not built on upward trajectory, money, or the knowledge that she made the world a better place. Rather, it’s a relatively worry-free, intellectually slovenly existence, in which a metropolitan place like Paris is more amusement park than a large, imperfect city.
Considering the current state of events — a pandemic with no clear end in sight, a presidential race that could very well determine the future of American democracy, raging wildfires whose smoke chokes out the sun, and a burgeoning economic collapse, among many other problems — it’s actually a huge relief to watch something that does not care about such depressing things. The only politician who’s mentioned prominently in the show is France’s first lady Brigitte Macron, for instance, and she’s only used as a prop for a joke about vaginas.
Watching Emily in Paris is like drawing a warm bath for my brain cells, an isolated, low-effort form of pleasure. The conflicts never last long enough to actually matter, and even then, they’re low-consequence. As we’re told in the later episodes, getting fired in France rarely actually happens, because there’s too much paperwork attached. There’s never going to be a worst-case scenario for Emily.
If times were different, and the pandemic hadn’t exposed how absolutely rotten life can feel, I’d probably have dropped Emily in Paris in favor of something more insightful, more grounded in reality. But for now, I want to ditch work and watch 10 more episodes.
Emily in Paris is now streaming on Netflix.


vox--2020-10-07--The 2020 vice presidential debate

The 2020 vice presidential debate

Mike Pence and Kamala Harris will take the stage in Salt Lake City , Utah , on Wednesday night .
Despite health experts ’ warnings , Vice President Mike Pence and Sen. Kamala Harris will face off in person in the first and only 2020 vice presidential debate Wednesday night in Salt Lake City , Utah .
USA Today Washington bureau chief Susan Page will moderate the debate , which will run from 9 to 10:30 pm ET .
Because President Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden are the two oldest presidential candidates in American history , this year @ @ @ @ @ @ @ extra significance .
That ’ s only compounded because Trump just spent three days in the hospital and is still being treated for Covid-19 , raising the specter that the vice president could have to assume presidential duties .
Page could ask the candidates about succession , as well as the more general topics of leadership in the middle of a public health emergency .
With Pence having been exposed to Trump and other top government officials who have tested positive for the coronavirus , there was some question as to whether the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The candidates will be positioned 13 feet apart with a plexiglass barrier between them .
Neither campaign has called for a remote debate .
The two remaining presidential debates are still on for now , scheduled for October 15 in Miami , Florida , and October 22 in Nashville , Tennessee .
Follow along below for Vox ’ s debate coverage , including how to watch , breaking news updates , analysis , and more .

Mike Pence and Kamala Harris will take the stage in Salt Lake City, Utah, on Wednesday night.
Despite health experts’ warnings, Vice President Mike Pence and Sen. Kamala Harris will face off in person in the first and only 2020 vice presidential debate Wednesday night in Salt Lake City, Utah.
USA Today Washington bureau chief Susan Page will moderate the debate, which will run from 9 to 10:30 pm ET. Because President Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden are the two oldest presidential candidates in American history, this year’s vice presidential debate takes on extra significance.
That’s only compounded because Trump just spent three days in the hospital and is still being treated for Covid-19, raising the specter that the vice president could have to assume presidential duties. Page could ask the candidates about succession, as well as the more general topics of leadership in the middle of a public health emergency.
With Pence having been exposed to Trump and other top government officials who have tested positive for the coronavirus, there was some question as to whether the debate would still take place in person. The candidates will be positioned 13 feet apart with a plexiglass barrier between them. Neither campaign has called for a remote debate.
The two remaining presidential debates are still on for now, scheduled for October 15 in Miami, Florida, and October 22 in Nashville, Tennessee.
Follow along below for Vox’s debate coverage, including how to watch, breaking news updates, analysis, and more.


vox--2020-10-07--Hurricane Delta: What we know about the storm in the Gulf of Mexico

Hurricane Delta , the latest storm in this year ’ s “ hyperactive ” Atlantic hurricane season , made landfall 20 miles south of Cancun , Mexico early Wednesday morning as a category 2 storm , and is expected to bring life-threatening storm surge and heavy winds to the Yucatan Peninsula .
After battering the Yucatan , the storm is expected to head toward the Gulf Coast of the US .
“ There is an increasing likelihood of life-threatening storm surge and hurricane-force winds , especially along the coasts of Louisiana and Mississippi , beginning on Friday , ” the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ past day and a half , the storm morphed from a mere tropical depression ( indicating wind speeds less than 38 mph ) to a Category 4 hurricane— a record-setting intensification , according to Samuel Lillo , a postdoctoral meteorologist at the University of Colorado Boulder Climate change has increased the frequency and intensity of Atlantic hurricanes , and rapidly intensifying hurricanes like Delta are becoming more common due to climate change as well .
As of Tuesday evening , Delta had reached maximum sustained winds of 145 mph as it barreled through @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at least a 30 percent chance of growing into the strongest type of hurricane , Category 5 ( with wind speeds in excess of 156 miles per hour ) by the time it reached land , according to meteorologist Jeff Masters .
The tourist hot spot Cancun may have avoided severe physical destruction since the storm didn ’ t make a direct hit , and instead landed 25 miles away .
The government ordered evacuations on Tuesday morning , and tens of thousands of tourists had to relocate to shelters .
After moving @ @ @ @ @ @ @ projected to travel up the Gulf of Mexico and make landfall again on the US Gulf Coast on Friday .
Where exactly Delta might land remains uncertain , but the current trajectory shows it primarily hitting Louisiana as a Category 2 storm .
It could also impact Mississippi , Alabama , and the Florida panhandle , and could bring 4 to 8 inches of rain , even up to 12 inches in some places .
These states are still rebounding from the impact of Hurricane Laura and Hurricane Sally over the past two @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Yucatan will slow the storm , it is expected to pick up speed again .
“ Although some weakening is likely when Delta moves over the Yucatan peninsula , re-strengthening is forecast when the hurricane moves over the southern Gulf of Mexico , ” according to the National Hurricane Center briefing on Tuesday afternoon .
As Vox ’ s Brian Resnick explained , forecasts for a hurricane ’ s trajectory , particularly beyond the immediate 24 hours .
are more prone to uncertainty , and forecasting storm intensity is particularly difficult .
But @ @ @ @ @ @ @ major storm in line with the latest National Hurricane Center projections .
• The National Hurricane Center has a page updating every few hours with the latest watches and warnings for Delta .
Check it out .
• Here ’ s a Twitter list of weather experts who will provide up-to-the-second forecasts and warnings .
Help keep Vox free for all Millions turn to Vox each month to understand what ’ s happening in the news , from the coronavirus crisis to a racial reckoning to what is , quite possibly , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Our mission has never been more vital than it is in this moment : to empower you through understanding .
But our distinctive brand of explanatory journalism takes resources .
Even when the economy and the news advertising market recovers , your support will be a critical part of sustaining our resource-intensive work .
If you have already contributed , thank you .
If you haven ’ t , please consider helping everyone make sense of an increasingly chaotic world : Contribute today from as little as $ 3 .

Hurricane Delta, the latest storm in this year’s “hyperactive” Atlantic hurricane season, is forecast to make landfall in southwest Louisiana this evening as a Category 3 storm. The hurricane’s path is projected to fall between Lafayette and Lake Charles, areas that were badly affected by Hurricane Laura, the Category 4 storm that hit the Gulf Coast on August 27.
Delta’s windspeed clocked in at 120 mph Friday morning, according to the National Hurricane Center. The storm has a widening range, with tropical-storm-force winds reaching up to 160 miles outward. The NHC projects that the hurricane will bring a “life-threatening” storm surge; the stretch of coast between Louisiana’s Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge and Morgan City could be the worst inundated, with a surge of up to 7 feet in some areas and 11 feet in others.
Heavy rainfall is also expected: up to 15 inches in some areas of southwestern and central Louisiana, the NHC forecasts, which will cause significant flooding.
The hurricane is the seventh major storm to hit Louisiana since June, the New York Times reports. The Gulf of Mexico as a whole has seen more hurricane activity in recent years, with climate change increasing the frequency and intensity of Atlantic hurricanes.
Hurricane Delta previously made landfall 20 miles south of Cancun, Mexico, early Wednesday morning as a Category 2 storm.
On its approach to the Yucatan Peninsula, the storm morphed from a mere tropical depression (indicating wind speeds of less than 38 mph) to a Category 4 hurricane — a record-setting intensification, according to Samuel Lillo, a postdoctoral meteorologist at the University of Colorado Boulder
Delta just went from 35mph tropical depression to 130mph category 4 hurricane in 30 hours!
I can't find any other storm on record in the Atlantic that has achieved this feat.
The next largest 30-hour intensification from tropical depression is Celia 1970: 35mph to 115mph. — Sam Lillo (@splillo) October 6, 2020
This kind of rapid intensification is becoming more common due to climate change. Warmer waters essentially provide extra fuel for hurricanes, which allows them to not only become stronger, but also intensify more quickly, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration climate scientist Jim Kossin told the Associated Press.
The tourist hot spot Cancun avoided severe physical destruction since the storm didn’t make a direct hit, instead landing 25 miles away. The Mexican government ordered evacuations on Tuesday morning, and tens of thousands of tourists had to relocate to shelters. Almost 300,000 people lost power due to the storm.
Though its brush with the Yucatan slowed the storm, it picked up speed again as it headed north toward the Gulf Coast.
Evacuation orders have been issued for many parishes in Louisiana, including Calcasieu Parish where Lake Charles is located. as well as parts of Alabama.
The National Hurricane Center advised residents this morning to quickly make preparations for the storm, with tropical-storm-force winds imminently arriving.
Preparations for the arrival of Hurricane #Delta need to be rushed to completion, with tropical-storm-force winds expected to reach the coast in the next couple of hours, making preparations dangerous or impossible to complete. pic.twitter.com/au1F6bV5dS — National Hurricane Center (@NHC_Atlantic) October 9, 2020
How to follow Delta


vox--2020-10-07--How to watch the vice presidential debate between Kamala Harris and Mike Pence

In what could be the most important vice presidential debate in American history , Vice President Mike Pence and Sen. Kamala Harris will take the stage in Salt Lake City , Utah , on Wednesday evening .
The University of Utah will host the debate , moderated by USA Today Washington bureau chief Susan Page .
The debate will run from 9 to 10:30 pm ET ( that ’ s 8 to 9:30 pm CT , 7 to 8:30 pm MT , and 6 to 7:30 pm PT ) , and will be broadcast on all major networks and cable @ @ @ @ @ @ @ t have cable , it will also be streamed live on YouTube and by multiple organizations , including C-SPAN and NPR .
Vox will also embed a livestream here closer to the debate ’ s kickoff .
Page has not released a list of topics , though the candidates will have to cover each one quickly — she will address nine topics , with just 10 minutes devoted to each .
The Covid-19 pandemic is sure to be a focus , especially with President Donald Trump and several other top government officials testing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ At 74 and 77 respectively , Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden are the two oldest presidential candidates in US history , giving the vice presidential nominees — and thus the debate — extra significance .
The president is still being treated for Covid-19 after spending three days in the hospital , bringing to light the possibility that the vice president may have to assume presidential responsibilities and making questions about succession particularly salient .
After last week ’ s first presidential debate saw each candidate , but particularly Trump , repeatedly interrupt @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The Commission on Presidential Debates plans to adopt rule changes for the remaining debates , including giving the moderator the ability to cut off either candidate ’ s microphone if they are talking out of turn .
Other things — like the decision to hold an in-person event in the midst of a pandemic — not so much .
How the White House coronavirus cluster is affecting the debates Despite warnings from health experts , the debate will be held in person , albeit with some extra precautions .
The debate commission @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 13 feet apart , an increase from the originally planned 7 feet .
Page , however , will still be less than 6 feet from Pence and Harris .
A plexiglass barrier will also be placed between the candidates .
Harris ’ s campaign supported the extra line of defense , but Pence ’ s opposed it — Pence spokesperson Katie Miller told Politico that “ If Sen. Harris wants to use a fortress around herself , have at it.
” Several health experts have said the additional precautions still aren ’ t @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be moved to a virtual event .
Kumi Smith , an assistant professor of epidemiology and community health at the University of Minnesota , told Vox that in-person debates require more people coming together in an indoor space than social distancing guidelines recommend .
Rochele Walensky , an infectious disease expert at Harvard University , took an even stronger position , noting that Pence has been in contact with Trump and several other individuals who have tested positive for the virus .
Walensky told the New York Times that “ there is no @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be anywhere but in his home.
” Neither candidate , however , has called for a remote debate .
Trump campaign adviser Jason Miller noted on Meet The Press on Sunday that Biden and Harris have both been campaigning in person , while Biden said he would be comfortable attending the two remaining presidential debates if scientists say it ’ s safe and with proper distancing .
No decisions have yet been made regarding those last two presidential debates , which for now are still scheduled for October 15 in Miami , Florida @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Tennessee .
Will you help keep Vox free for all ?
The United States is in the middle of one of the most consequential presidential elections of our lifetimes .
It ’ s essential that all Americans are able to access clear , concise information on what the outcome of the election could mean for their lives , and the lives of their families and communities .
That is our mission at Vox .
But our distinctive brand of explanatory journalism takes resources .
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In what could be the most important vice presidential debate in American history, Vice President Mike Pence and Sen. Kamala Harris will take the stage in Salt Lake City, Utah, on Wednesday evening.
The University of Utah will host the debate, moderated by USA Today Washington bureau chief Susan Page. The debate will run from 9 to 10:30 pm ET (that’s 8 to 9:30 pm CT, 7 to 8:30 pm MT, and 6 to 7:30 pm PT), and will be broadcast on all major networks and cable news channels. If you don’t have cable, it will also be streamed live on YouTube and by multiple organizations, including C-SPAN and NPR.
Page has not released a list of topics, though the candidates will have to cover each one quickly — she will address nine topics, with just 10 minutes devoted to each. The Covid-19 pandemic is sure to be a focus, especially with President Donald Trump and several other top government officials testing positive for the coronavirus last week.
At 74 and 77 respectively, Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden are the two oldest presidential candidates in US history, giving the vice presidential nominees — and thus the debate — extra significance. The president is still being treated for Covid-19 after spending three days in the hospital, bringing to light the possibility that the vice president may have to assume presidential responsibilities and making questions about succession particularly salient.
After last week’s first presidential debate saw each candidate, but particularly Trump, repeatedly interrupt the other, some things have changed. The Commission on Presidential Debates plans to adopt rule changes for the remaining debates, including giving the moderator the ability to cut off either candidate’s microphone if they are talking out of turn.
Other things — like the decision to hold an in-person event in the midst of a pandemic — not so much.
How the White House coronavirus cluster is affecting the debates
Despite warnings from health experts, the debate will be held in person, albeit with some extra precautions. The debate commission will move the candidates’ podiums to 13 feet apart, an increase from the originally planned 7 feet. Page, however, will still be less than 6 feet from Pence and Harris.
A plexiglass barrier will also be placed between the candidates. Harris’s campaign supported the extra line of defense, but Pence’s opposed it — Pence spokesperson Katie Miller told Politico that “If Sen. Harris wants to use a fortress around herself, have at it.”
Several health experts have said the additional precautions still aren’t enough, calling for the debate to be moved to a virtual event. Kumi Smith, an assistant professor of epidemiology and community health at the University of Minnesota, told Vox that in-person debates require more people coming together in an indoor space than social distancing guidelines recommend.
Rochele Walensky, an infectious disease expert at Harvard University, took an even stronger position, noting that Pence has been in contact with Trump and several other individuals who have tested positive for the virus. Walensky told the New York Times that “there is no way under the sun that Pence should be anywhere but in his home.”
Neither candidate, however, has called for a remote debate. Trump campaign adviser Jason Miller noted on Meet The Press on Sunday that Biden and Harris have both been campaigning in person, while Biden said he would be comfortable attending the two remaining presidential debates if scientists say it’s safe and with proper distancing.
No decisions have yet been made regarding those last two presidential debates, which for now are still scheduled for October 15 in Miami, Florida, and October 22 in Nashville, Tennessee.


vox--2020-10-07--When is the next presidential debate? It’s scheduled for October 15.

With President Donald Trump ’ s recent Covid-19 diagnosis , the next presidential debate is looking a lot less certain .
After a chaotic first debate that left Trump lagging in the polls , the president and Democratic nominee Joe Biden are scheduled , at least for now , to debate each other on Thursday , October 15 .
The debate is to be moderated by CSPAN political editor Steve Scully .
The debate is scheduled to air live on ABC , CBS , CNN , C-SPAN , Fox , and NBC from 9 to 10:30 pm ET , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Center for the Performing Arts in Miami .
( That ’ s 8-9:30 pm CT , 7-8:30 pm MT , and 6-7:30 pm PT . )
As in previous debates , organizers from the Commission for Presidential Debates have secured the Cleveland Clinic as a health adviser to try to ensure that the debates can continue safely amid the pandemic .
Still , much has changed since the first debate on September 29 .
Most importantly , Trump is in isolation in the White House after testing positive for Covid-19 on October 2 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ number of cutting-edge therapies for the deadly airborne coronavirus , but Biden has said he is hesitant to appear onstage with Trump because he could still be contagious on the day of the debate .
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends people who have Covid-19 stay away from others for at least 10 days following the appearance of symptoms , and notes that patients who — like Trump — were hospitalized and needed oxygen may be wise to self-isolate for at least 20 days .
The debate date would seem to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ before the 20-day mark , based on what is publicly known about the onset of the president ’ s symptoms .
“ I think if he still has Covid , we shouldn ’ t have a debate , ” Biden told reporters Tuesday after delivering a speech in Gettysburg , Pennsylvania .
“ I think we were gon na have to follow very strict guidelines .
Too many people have been infected .
It ’ s a very serious problem , so I will be guided by the guidelines of the Cleveland Clinic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ right thing to do.
” Even though Trump is still being treated for Covid-19 , he has so far seemed eager to debate , tweeting , “ I am looking forward to the debate on the evening of Thursday , October 15th in Miami .
It will be great !
” The decision will ultimately be up to the Commission for Presidential Debates and the Cleveland Clinic , which is partnering with the commission to keep the debates safe .
Their ability to do so was called into question during the first debate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ family declined to wear face masks throughout the proceedings .
The city of Cleveland reported at least 11 people became infected , and city officials said the cases originated from the pre-debate planning and set-up .
Covid-19 testing for Trump and Biden was up to the campaigns before the September 29 debate , and it ’ s not clear when Trump ’ s last negative test was .
There ’ s still one more presidential debate scheduled after Miami There will one more presidential debates on October 22 in Nashville , Tennessee .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ to moderate that event .
With just weeks to go before the November 3 election , Biden ’ s advantage in the polls has only increased since the first debate and Trump ’ s Covid-19 diagnosis .
His national polling average on FiveThirtyEight rose from 7 percentage points last week to 9 percentage points as of Tuesday .
Biden is carrying a somewhat narrower lead in critical swing states , including Michigan , Pennsylvania , Nevada , and Arizona , according to RealClearPolitics averages .
Several polls after the first debate showed that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ constant interruptions of Biden during the first debate .
Polling also seems to suggest the first debate solidified two worrying trends for the president , the movement of older voters and suburban women away from Trump and towards Biden .
A recent CNN poll showed Biden winning older voters by 22 percentage points , and a post debate poll from NBC and the Wall Street Journal found the Democrat leading the president by 25 percentage points among suburban women .
It remains to be seen how much — or little — the Thursday @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on October 22 , will shift those numbers .
Help keep Vox free for all Millions turn to Vox each month to understand what ’ s happening in the news , from the coronavirus crisis to a racial reckoning to what is , quite possibly , the most consequential presidential election of our lifetimes .
Our mission has never been more vital than it is in this moment : to empower you through understanding .
But our distinctive brand of explanatory journalism takes resources .
Even when the economy and the news advertising @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a critical part of sustaining our resource-intensive work .
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Following President Donald Trump’s recent Covid-19 diagnosis, the next debate has been canceled by the Commission on Presidential Debates, according to the Wall Street Journal and CNN.
On Thursday, Trump upended recently unveiled plans for a remote debate, saying on Fox Business, “I’m not going to waste my time on a virtual debate.”
A back-and-forth ensued on Thursday and Friday, as the campaigns floated potential alternate arrangements. Both campaigns are planning to hold separate events instead of the debate.
The second presidential debate, initially set for October 15, was to be moderated by C-SPAN political editor Steve Scully. However, much has changed since it was arranged — and since Trump and Biden first met onstage on September 29. Most importantly, Trump is in partial isolation in the White House after testing positive for Covid-19 on October 2. The president has been treated with a number of cutting-edge therapies for the airborne coronavirus, but Biden has said he is hesitant to appear onstage with Trump because he could still be contagious on the day of the debate.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends people who have Covid-19 stay away from others for at least 10 days following the appearance of symptoms, and notes that patients who — like Trump — were hospitalized and needed oxygen may be wise to self-isolate for at least 20 days. The debate date would seem to fall after the 10-day window but before the 20-day mark, based on what is publicly known about the onset of the president’s symptoms.
On Tuesday, before the debate was made virtual, Biden told reporters he was uncertain about the wisdom of participating in it as planned.
“I think if he still has Covid, we shouldn’t have a debate,” he said after delivering a speech in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, adding, “Too many people have been infected. It’s a very serious problem, so I will be guided by the guidelines of the Cleveland Clinic and what the docs say is the right thing to do.”
Until recently, Trump had seemed eager to debate despite still being treated for Covid-19, tweeting, “I am looking forward to the debate on the evening of Thursday, October 15th in Miami. It will be great!”
However, after the Commission on Presidential Debates announced the second debate would be held virtually, Trump said he no longer wanted to participate, arguing, “That’s not what debating’s all about; you sit behind a computer and do a debate, it’s ridiculous. And then they cut you off whenever they want.”
"I'm not going to waste my time on a virtual debate" -- Trump, on with Maria Bartiromo, begins his first post-coronavirus interview by saying he's pulling out of the second debate. (He sounds a little hoarse.) pic.twitter.com/R43JSszfll — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 8, 2020
In a statement released Thursday morning, Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien reiterated Trump’s comments, and said that “President Trump will have posted multiple negative tests prior to the debate, so there is no need for this unilateral declaration.” The White House, however, still has not said when Trump’s last negative Covid-19 test was.
Stepien vowed to get his candidate back on the campaign trail in short order. This promise could be difficult to deliver on, as Trump is still actively being treated for Covid-19.
“We’ll pass on this sad excuse to bail out Joe Biden and do a rally instead,” Stepien said.
And given Trump’s refusal, Democratic nominee Joe Biden will also plan a solo event, his campaign said midday Thursday.
“Joe Biden will find an appropriate place to take questions from voters directly on October 15th, as he has done on several occasions in recent weeks,” Biden’s deputy campaign manager, Kate Bedingfield, said in a statement. “Given the President’s refusal to participate on October 15th, we hope the Debate Commission will move the Biden-Trump Town Hall to October 22nd, so that the President is not able to evade accountability.”
The ability of the Commission on Presidential Debates and the advising Cleveland Clinic to conduct debates safely was called into question during the first event, during which Trump’s family declined to wear face masks throughout the proceedings.
Wednesday night, some Pence supporters — including his wife, Karen Pence — failed to follow masking protocol. And following the first debate, the city of Cleveland reported at least 11 people became infected; city officials said the cases originated from the pre-debate planning and setup.
Covid-19 testing for Trump and Biden was up to the campaigns before the September 29 debate.
Vox is part of Vox Media. Find more coverage of the 2020 election across its other 13 networks: how to vote, in-depth analysis, and how policies will affect you, your state and the country over the next four years and beyond.
There’s still one more presidential debate scheduled
The final presidential debate — on October 22 in Nashville, Tennessee — remains on the Commission on Presidential Debates’ schedule. NBC anchor Kristen Welker has been selected to moderate that event.
With just weeks to go before the November 3 election, Biden’s advantage in the polls has only increased since the first debate and Trump’s Covid-19 diagnosis. His national polling average on FiveThirtyEight rose from a 7 percentage point lead on Trump last week, to a 10 percentage point lead as of Friday, October 9.
Biden is carrying a somewhat narrower lead in critical swing states, including Michigan, Pennsylvania, Nevada, and Arizona, according to RealClearPolitics averages. Several polls after the first debate showed that voters did not like Trump’s constant interruptions of Biden during the first debate.
Polling also seems to suggest the first debate solidified two worrying trends for the president; the movement of older voters and suburban women away from Trump and toward Biden. A recent CNN poll showed Biden winning older voters by 22 percentage points, and a post-debate poll from NBC and the Wall Street Journal found the Democrat leading the president by 25 percentage points among suburban women.